You’ve likely seen one of his avatars if you’ve lurked around the forums enough. Well, all those round characters came from SharPhoe, who for the Film Festival last year entered in an animated version of those characters. Since then, that video has been occasionally stuck to the top of the Off Topic forum when we get an influx of trolls.
Here are his answers to the interview questions:
What first brought you to The Escapist?
I was first introduced to The Escapist the same way many other people were, by a friend of mine showing me Zero Punctuation. I came back week after week to check in on the ZP videos, until one day I actually decided to look two inches to the right and … *GASP!* … I saw that this was also a forum. I made an account that I didn’t really plan on using a whole lot because I wanted to post one response in a thread. And the rest … is history.
What is your favorite thing about The Escapist?
Hands down, it’s definitely the community. We may not be perfect – far from it, in fact – but there are more “diamonds in the rough” on this site than any other that I’ve visited. Call me crazy, but there are plenty of folks on my friends list that, given the chance, I would gladly lay down my life for. That’s no lie. This site is also the reason that I’m finally in a relationship with someone very, very dear to me. They know who they are.
If The Escapist suddenly disappeared, what is the first thing you would do?
Probably log onto Steam, Skype, or MSN to attempt to reach other users and find out what happened. If I had any techno-whatsit know-how, I’d try to fix the problem myself …
A zombie is attacking you and you were caught off-guard. You are startled, start running and notice a bag of marshmallows. What do you do?
Well, if I got attacked while at Wal-Mart (where I work), I’d try to find some food coloring and a microwave to go with those marshmallows. If this is one of those slow-moving zombies, I’d have plenty of time to melt the marshmallows together, dye them the color of gray matter, sculpt them into something remotely brain-shaped, then get the heck out of dodge.
If it’s one of those super-fast Romero zombies, then … I run out to Lawn & Garden and hope the plants magically spring to life and protect me.
What is your favorite movie and why?
I actually don’t watch many movies nowadays because I’m always too busy or tired. Of the ones I have seen, though, I would say that it’s probably a toss-up between Sin City and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. And yes, I am FULLY aware of how weird it is for those two movies to tie. I loved Sin City‘s artistic presentation, and all three stories were incredibly action-packed and entertaining (Dwight’s being my personal favorite). As for Dr. Horrible, I enjoy musicals, and it’s got my all-time favorite actor Neil Patrick Harris in it. What’s not to like?
What is your favorite type of music, band, and how did you first discover it/them?
Oh, here it goes …
Okay, you know that saying “Love the music, hate the band?” For me, it’s always a case of “Love the music, don’t pay any attention to the band because it doesn’t really matter to me all that much.” There has only ever been one exception to that rule, and that’s the barbershop quartet called Vocal Spectrum (Seriously, look them up, they’re astounding.) I first saw them perform during a choir field trip back in high school, and I’ve been smitten with them ever since. It would be an absolute honor to be allowed to sing with them someday … *sigh* … Anyway, my favorite type of music usually comes from game soundtracks, but I listen to a little bit of everything (and yes, for once that does include rap and country music). It tends to border a little more on the weirder stuff, though.
What do you do for a living? Do you find it interesting?
I currently work as an overnight door greeter at the nearby Wal-Mart, meaning that my job is to stand there at the door and welcome in all the people who feel like they need to do their grocery shopping before the “normal people” wake up. It pays well considering just how little I have to do, but it’s definitely far from interesting. I manage to entertain myself one way or another until I leave at sunrise, however.
If you could change one thing about The Escapist, what would it be?
Video chatrooms.
Wait … No, no, that’s no good. Personally, I feel the site is just fine on its own merits, though I might change how often some things update (Alt+Escape twice a week, anyone?). The place is in capable hands, though.
Do you like bacon?
Is grass green? Is water wet? Is Na’vi anatomy confusing? If a man talks in a forest and no woman is around to hear him, is he still wrong? Why is the sky??
I expect all these to be answered in essay format and put on my desk by the end of class.
If someone gave you a million US Dollars, tax free, and you were required to spend it instead of investing, what would you spend it on?
Oh, this is an easy one, I’ve been dreaming of it for a long time: Pay off my college loans and fines, give my parents enough money to get out of debt, buy a nice simple house somewhere in the suburbs, buy a certain someone a one-way ticket to the United States, fund all the trips for the other gay-mers to be with the ones they love, hold on to enough cash to be set for the next few years, then donate the rest to several charities.
Many thanks to SharPhoe for letting me shine the spotlight on him!
If you would like to nominate someone for an upcoming Community Member Spotlight, feel free to let me (that is, Kuliani) know through a PM! When nominating, please tell us why this user deserves to be in the next Community Member Spotlight and provide links if possible.
