1-2-1
Created | Updated Jun 21, 2003
This week we are treated to another researcher and his story. Please give a big hand to Baron Bear Slide
Baron Bear Slide is from a little hook of land on the East Coast of Massachusetts, USA called Cape Cod. His parents moved them to this spot of land when he was two years old, and they have lived here ever since. BB Slide finds Cape Cod quite a good place to live with the winters being nice and quiet. On the other hand, the summers are brutal. Not due to the heat ( that is a whole different torture in itself ) but because of the tourists. As with most places that are great attractions for visitors looking for a good vacation spot, it gets quite crowded; too many people in too small an area. For this reason, when summer arrives, he packs up his things and goes away for two months to escape the flood of people. Last summer he lived in a tent in western Massachusetts. The tent was complete with a rather nice home entertainment system. The only fear he had during this getaway was that the roof would leak and ruin all of his precious electronics.
At the moment BB Slide resides with his trusty Basset Hound, Cleo. Lately Cleo has been in a bit of a temperamental mood due to a skin problem which cannot seem to be taken care of. Poor thing just wants a few moments peace without the constant irritation, and she isn't getting it, so it is no wonder she tends to be a bit moody. Hopefully, though, with the help of well-trained vets, she will be back to her normal happy self soon.
BB Slides work tends to vary quite a bit, he does whatever he has to do in order to keep the bills paid. At the moment he is working for himself as a house painter. This is not surprising, as his hobby is art, painting in particular. Actually it's more than a hobby it's his entire life... after spending fifty thousand dollars on art school it should be! When he is not working he can be found sitting before his easels trying to accomplish something that matters. After many years, he finally had his first painting hung in a gallery just a short time ago. Quite a few people have put in bids for it so far, which is quite a surprise to him, as he never thought someone would want to pay him for having a good time!
BB Slide found his way to h2g2 through a computer he purchased last November. There were tons of bookmarks already loaded into his browser. While looking at a list of software publishers he noticed the words 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'. This caught his attention, so he clicked on the link, expecting to find a game of some sort, and, instead, he found this place. He signed up and snooped around for a couple of weeks until finally figuring out what was going on. BB Slide liked the format of h2g2. He found it to be a place where he can have an intelligent conversation one moment and the next...well, you know. He greatly enjoys the lack of the noise and confusion that tends to be found in a chat room. The best part is that the conversation doesn't die the moment he logs off. It's always there to be picked up by anyone, whenever!
When asked what one thing he would like to see changed in h2g2, he responded by telling me that he had been here for well over a month before realising that the Post existed. He feels that it should be given a more prominent listing on the main page rather than the small link at the bottom. ( Being a writer for the Post I must say that I would love to see that happen, but am glad to have even just a small link at the bottom; it is better than nothing )
Since joining h2g2, BB Slide has become a humble Phred of the Church of the True Brownie. His title is Shoe polisher/Misguided Crusader, actually. He would have loved to have been a part of the h2g2 birthday party but, due to working away from home, he was unable to join in the festivities. Maybe next time he will have the pleasure of meeting, in person, some of the friends he has made here. BB Slide tried to mention those researchers whom he has met, but found himself drawing a blank, what with being put on the spot and all, and could only come up with Gwennie and Alicat. Of everyone he has met here he can only recall two bad contacts, but states that they didn't last so it doesn't matter. Everyone here is just great.
He tried to sneak off at this point, but I would not let him go until he explained two things:
- The wings
- The frogs
BB Slide was quite willing to discuss the wings, stating that they tend to get in the way more than anything. He finds that they are not even nice to look at. These wings are not normal, everyday wings, but are cockroach wings, which explains why they are not appealing to the eyes. These wings came about after Gwennie dismembered him. She attempted to put him back together again but, not being very good at stitching, there were a couple of problems with the end product. He has found himself without arms a couple of times due to them falling off! Ok, back to the wings: he has only managed to get them to work once. They tend to do what they want and it is pretty much a case of; if he doesn't bother them, they don't bother him kind of thing. He thinks that, possibly, if he can get enough drink into them, he may be able to trick them into fluttering a bit. Sometimes he finds himself wishing he had butterfly wings instead but, such is life... oh well.
Now the frogs were another story all together... he started by lighting his pipe and blowing smoke rings. It was at this moment that I figured I would have quite a time getting any information out of him on this subject, but I still had to try. After watching his smoke rings dance for a few moments, he turned to look at me and said:
'Frogs? I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about'.
I tried giving him that look that makes someone crack, but it only caused him to sweat as he stammered on that:
'No, really, I'm not talking about the frogs.'
He then begged me not to look at him like that, but I was not going to give up that easily. A few more moments of silence passed and he tried to tactfully change the subject by saying:
'those are some mighty fine shoes you are wearing'.
I had to cut this one down by informing him that I was not wearing any shoes. I almost caught him off guard at this point because he said:
'let me just say this... they were asking for it'
but he caught himself, and once again returned to trying to change the subject by saying
'nice feet then'
I hated to break it to him, but I was sitting on my feet, so there was no way he could tell and, if had seen them, I am sure he would not be calling them nice ( they are a size 12 women's, far from nice.. actually quite large LOL!! ). Ok ok, I could tell that this was getting nowhere, so I decided to leave the tale of the frogs to your imagination as well as mine. Hhhhmmmm... maybe he should have just told us about the frogs LOL!!.
