Welcome & introduce yourself

[Hoek]

Awesome! I know you've been around a while but nice to get to know you more.

[astro]

Originally Posted by astro

Where were you born? Tampa, FL
Current hometown: Pasadena, CA ... soon to be Seattle
Ever live anywhere else?: Beaufort, SC, Irvine, CA, Okinawa, Japan and several other places for a short amount of time.... good ol' Marine Corps
Nationality/ethnicity: Irish and Puerto Rican
Job: Air Traffic Controller

Favorite hockey team: Lightning, Kings, and Seattle Thunderbirds
Why do you like them? I grew up in Tampa and automatically started to follow them. Kings- well, I live here and want a team that I can attend the games too.
Favorite hockey team as a kid (if different): Hockey? what's that. From the great coverage of hockey growing up, I didn't know what it was.
Least favorite: Flyers, Flames, Rangers and Red Wings
Favorite active player on your favorite team: Lecavalier, Kopitar
Favorite active player on another team: don't have one
All time favorite player if different: Lecavalier
Favorite teams in other sports: Bucs, Gators

Favorite video/other games: World of Warcraft, but I stopped playing....too time consuming. Currently playing World in Conflict
Favorite music: Old School Metal and Punk
Favorite Band: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Chevelle, Tool and Iron Maiden
Favorite movies: I don't really care for movies, but I do like Clockwork Orange and Meet Joe Black
Favorite TV show: Simpsons
Favorite beer or alcoholic beverage of choice: NewCastle
Have any interesting hobbies? Travelling

Anything else to share? I will be transferring to SEATAC some time this year (Between August and December). I am looking forward to it.

It's probably time for me to update this:

Where were you born? Tampa, FL

Current hometown: Seattle (West Seattle)

Ever live anywhere else?: Beaufort, SC, Irvine, CA, Okinawa, Japan and several other places for a short amount of time.... good ol' Marine Corps

Nationality/ethnicity: Irish and Puerto Rican

Job: Air Traffic Controller

Favorite hockey team: Lightning, Kings, and Seattle Thunderbirds

Why do you like them? I grew up in Tampa and automatically started to follow them. Kings- I used to live there and was a season ticket holder.

Favorite hockey team as a kid (if different): Hockey? what's that. From the great coverage of hockey growing up, I didn't know what it was.

Least favorite: Flyers, Rangers, Blackhawks and Red Wings

Favorite active player on your favorite team: Kucherov, Kopitar

Favorite active player on another team: Taransenko

All time favorite player if different: Lecavalier, St Louis

Favorite teams in other sports: Bucs, Seahawks

Favorite video/other games: X Com 2. I stopped playing video games.

Favorite music: Old School Metal and Punk

Favorite Band: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Chevelle, Tool and Iron Maiden

Favorite movies: I don't really have a favorite

Favorite TV show: Leftovers, Ray Donovan, Game of Thrones, West World

Favorite beer or alcoholic beverage of choice: Just about any Pacific Northwest IPA

Have any interesting hobbies? Travelling, brewing beer

[Hoek]

Astro's update inspired me, so here goes!

Originally Posted by Hoek

Where were you born? Florida
Current hometown: Tampa, FL
Ever live anywhere else?: Massachusetts

Add Indiana to the list. I did spend a couple months in St. Louis also if that counts.

Nationality/ethnicity: Argentina (which makes me 'Latino' but really I'm just a European mutt)
Job: Bio Lab/Computer Tech

I'm a Software Developer now. Just got a new gig after my last one relocated. We'll see what happens with that. It's a bit different than my last job where I was the only coder, so I'm hoping I don't end up in over my head with more experienced people around me.

Favorite hockey team: Tampa Bay Lightning
Why do you like them? Hometown team, but heck I objectively like the name, color scheme, and the players, too. I might have picked them if I lived somewhere else. Even the underdog factor was appealing to me back in '95 when playing EA NHL 94 first inspired me to become a hockey fan.
Least favorite: Florida Panthers
Favorite active player on your favorite team: Vincent Lecavalier

No more Vinny. As for now, it's a much tougher choice (though I did waver between Vinny and Marty a lot). I'd have to say Tyler Johnson I guess.

Favorite active player on another team: Fredrik Modin

Have not thought about this question in a long time! Kinda stumped without an ex-Bolt to go for. I guess Connor McDavid just because he's fun to watch for sure.

All time favorite player: Shawn Burr
Favorite teams in other sports: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Rays, South Florida Bulls, Florida Gators, Blackburn Rovers, Boca Juniors, all MLS teams but particularly LA Galaxy, Columbus Crew, and NE Revolution at the moment (bring back soccer to Tampa though please!)

Add the Tampa Bay Rowdies to the list. Scratch those MLS teams, though I still love watching random games. Sounders and Timbers in particular! Blackburn have been relegated so they're off the map for me. Enjoyed Leicester's run last year and follow Manchester City for all the Argentine players they have.

Favorite video/other games: Sonic the Hedgehog series, Half-Life series, World of Warcraft (which I HAVE stopped playing until the next expansion comes out), currently primarily a PC and Nintendo DS gamer so currently hooked on Team Fortress 2, Crysis, Bioshock, Phoenix Wright series, Elite Beat Agents, etc.

I've got all the consoles but my most consistent play right now is Final Fantasy XIV on PC. Love it way more I ever did WoW. Gorgeous game and perfectly balanced gameplay. The job system rocks. No more juggling a bunch of characters just to play different roles. My other addiction is Kantai Collection, which is a Japanese web game that involves anime girls representing WW2 ships (current avatar is one). But I also enjoy a lot of story driven games like Uncharted, Mass Effect, etc.

Favorite music: Anything 80s, other than that my taste is literally all over the place (techno, J-pop, ragtime, tango, classical, you name it)

Add ska to the eclectic mix, which I discovered a few years ago.

Favorite movies: Star Wars series, LOTR series, Miracle, Princess Mononoke, Ghost in the Shell, anything Jackie Chan, CGI stuff like Madagascar, Ratatouille
Favorite TV show: Naruto Shippuuden, Futurama

Crazy to think I've been watching Naruto almost 10 years and the main story arc finally ended a couple months ago! Wow. Kill la Kill, Shirobako, Space Dandy, and Space Battleship Yamato 2199 are some of my favorite anime of the past few years.

Recent non-anime favorites are Westworld and The Man in the High Castle.

Have any interesting hobbies? Anime (see above), playing with Photoshop, nature watching, reading about space and bio research

Anything else to share? I love cute and furry animals like arctic foxes. Not that I'm an "animal lover" or PETA member, or even a pet owner. Just think they're awesome. *shrug*

In my period between jobs I've been learning how to make video games so I may be putting something out in the future! It's pretty fun, though I won't have as much free time to work on it going forward. Maybe I'll make something hockey related one day, lol.

[dannybolt]

Jeez, we are closing in on 10 years on this board? I don't post much anymore, mostly due to my current occupation, but I still lurk a whole bunch.
Following Astro's and Hoek's lead:

Originally Posted by dannybolt

Where were you born? Johnson City, TN
Current hometown: St. Pete, FL
Ever live anywhere else?: St. Paul, MN
Nationality/ethnicity: Scottish/Swedish

no change here

Originally Posted by dannybolt

Job: Graphic Designer/Illustrator/Cartoonist

Ah, yeah. I totally switched careers. I'm a CPA. I work as an International Tax Accountant. 180 degrees from the above.

Originally Posted by dannybolt

Favorite hockey team: The Bolts
Why do you like them? Hometown team
Favorite hockey team as a kid (if different): North Stars and Maple Leafs
Least favorite: Philadelphia Flyers
Favorite active player on your favorite team: Lecavalier

Fav player is now Ondrej Palat

Originally Posted by dannybolt

Favorite active player on another team: I tend to follow Swedes that aren't named Daniel Alfredsson
All time favorite player if different: Lecavalier followed by Doug Gilmour

No favorite active player on another team. Anyone without a Bolt on their sweater is irrelevant to me, and we haven't traded or let anybody go that I was upset about.

Originally Posted by dannybolt

Favorite teams in other sports: Devil Rays, Minnesota Gophers, Twins, USF Bulls, FSU Seminoles

The only other sport I have time for is Formula 1, since they only race every few weeks. I like Kimi Raikonnen and Ferrari.

Originally Posted by dannybolt

Favorite video/other games: When I was a kid it was the Mario franchise, and NHL94; now NCAA Football and NHL2K
Favorite music: Ramones, Replacements, New Bomb Turks, Johnny Cash, Rocket From the Crypt, Buddy Holly

No idea how I left off The Clash the first time. My big three are The Clash, The Replacements, and The Ramones, not in that order. My tastes still don't stray too far from 70s punk or skuzzy garage punk for the most part.

Originally Posted by dannybolt

Favorite movies: Too many to list, but my favorite directors are Martin Scorcese, Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Hayao Miyazaki, Woody Allen, Alfred Hitchcock and the Coen Brothers. I also really like Westerns, Crime, Film Noir, French New Wave, Documentaries, and goof-ball comedies. I also try to watch films released in the Criterion collection as much as I can.

No change. My film taste remains impeccable. Maybe drop QT and Woody Allen off that list, and add Francois Truffaut and Jean Pierre Melville as favorite filmmakers.

Originally Posted by dannybolt

Favorite TV show: 30 Rock

Right now I'm watching Veep, Rick and Morty, Game of Thrones, Better Call Saul, and Top Gear/Grand Tour.

Originally Posted by dannybolt

Favorite beer or alcoholic beverage of choice: Beer-Amstel Light / Cocktail- Tom Collins
Have any interesting hobbies? I write, draw and publish mini comics.

I mostly drink local brews now. Cage, Cycle, Green Bench and 3 Daughters all have good brews. I also enjoy a good G&T if the mood strikes.
No time for hobbies unfortunately. I still draw a little with my 4 year old when I can.

Originally Posted by Hoek

Crazy to think I've been watching Naruto almost 10 years and the main story arc finally ended a couple months ago!

I had a friend recommend Naruto, but the volume of story was so daunting. Do you have to start at the beginning, or are there re-boots/jumping on points like in American superhero serials?

Alright, gotta get back to work...

[Hoek]

Originally Posted by dannybolt

I had a friend recommend Naruto, but the volume of story was so daunting. Do you have to start at the beginning, or are there re-boots/jumping on points like in American superhero serials?

Alright, gotta get back to work...

Shippuden starts like 3 years after the original series. There's some flashbacks to help put current events in context from time to time but it jumps right into some serious business set up by the end of the first arc, so I recommend starting from the beginning (it's really an excellent series on its own even if you get tired and don't feel like tackling Shippuden right after). The good news is almost half of the episodes in both series are complete filler that you can skip - really, a lot of it's just nonsense. Here's a website that helps break down what is canon and what isn't:

http://www.animefillerlist.com/shows/naruto

http://www.animefillerlist.com/shows/naruto-shippuden

Also if you don't mind or even prefer reading, you could just pick up the manga for Part I and it might be faster that way, and then you can go into Shippuden. Or vice versa I suppose!

It's a lot and sometimes I had to take a break even while keeping up with it, but for me at least, the payoff was worth it. I was choking back a lot of emotions by the end because of all the stuff leading up to it. I think it does a great job of balancing character development, death, etc. without going to one well too many times, keeping in mind it's still about ninjas with super powers of course!

[Xaej]

Following suit! My original post is from July 2010

Originally Posted by Xaej

Hello all, I'm Xaej, a few of you prolly know me from the old TBL official Message board or thenhlarena.

Where were you born? Lakeland, FL
Current hometown: Lakeland/Auburndale,FL

Just Lakeland, FL. Bought my home here.

Ever live anywhere else?: Lots of Good Old Fashion Polk County Excursions

Actually did live in Brandon for a year. And man, the crowds. Never again.

Nationality/ethnicity: American/Caucasian
Job: Pizza Hut Manager

Job: Automotive Collision Estimator (Worked for GEICO for about four years, then Lexus of Tampa Bay, now I'm an independent estimate auditor for ASI - an audit company out of Georgia, we contract with a lot of insurance carriers, most notably USAA)

Favorite Hockey Team: Lightning
Why do you like them? From the area, went to my first game when I was 10, played hockey some when I was 9 and fell in love with the game
Least favorite: Montreal & Toronto

Truth be told, my distaste for those teams in those days was probably just due to elitist fans. Nowadays, I'd say Boston. 'Cuz fuck the broons.

Favorite active player on your favorite team: Steven Stamkos

Steven Stamkos & Ondrej Palat

Favorite active players on another team: Vinny Prospal, Jan Hejda, Jason Arnott

Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, and I'm really loving what I'm seeing from Zach Werenski, but it's really early

All time favorite player if different: Vinny Prospal
Favorite teams in other sports: There are sports besides hockey?

Favorite video/other games: Halo (1 & 2 were my favorite, 3 was alright, Reach seems decent enough), Super Smash Bros. Original, Melee, and Brawl, Rock Band 2, Fire Emblem, The Legend of Zelda : A Link to the Past, the Pokemon series for Game Boy/DS/whatever, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

Okay. Just going to name whole series as one this time : The Legend of Zelda, Halo, Super Smash Bros., The Last of Us, Bioshock : Infinite, Life Is Strange, Fire Emblem, Rock Band, Pokemon

Favorite music: Rock, Punk Rock, some Heavy Metal - Green Day

Favorite bands are Green Day, Barenaked Ladies, Billy Joel, The Fratellis, & Fun.

Favorite movies: The Stand, Castaway, Saving Private Ryan, Donnie Darko, American Beauty, Pirates of the Caribbean, lots more but haven't done much movie watching recently so having trouble remembering

Shawshank Redemption, Stranger than Fiction, Finding Nemo & Dory, How to Train Your Dragon 1 & 2, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter

Favorite TV show: LOST, Jericho, Heroes, House, Scrubs, Family Guy, South Park, Futurama, LOST (again)

Far and away my favorite show is Game of Thrones. After that, any of Suits, House, and How I Met Your Mother. I still love LOST & Jericho, but I've moved on to bigger and better things

Have any interesting hobbies? Eh, not so much.. hockey, music, video games, etc, the usual

My fiance, her family, & I are deeply rooted and invested in the Pokemon : Trading Card Game community. Aside from that, pretty much the same stuff as before.

[BurnTHalO]

So, apparently I never did this.

Where were you born? Toledo, OH
Current hometown: Marietta, OH
Ever live anywhere else?: St. Pete, Bowling Green OH
Nationality/ethnicity: Scottish
Job: Staff Scientist/Geologist

Favorite hockey team: Lightning
Why do you like them? So kind of a longstory. When I got into hockey it was the years of Probert/Grimson/McCarthy on the Wings. As they started getting rid of those players and changing their style of play, I started liking them less and less. I ended up at Eckerd for college, and went to a game (handed a free ticket as we were walking up) and had fun. Went to another game, and this was the game where Roy fought Sandy McCarthy, tried to go after him again, and then went after the whole Rangers bench. As I didn't like the Rangers in the first place, that made me really like the team. As I got more into hockey, I just watched more and more Tampa and they became my team, and have been ever since.

Favorite hockey team as a kid (if different): Red Wings, Sharks
Least favorite: Boston, Pitt
Favorite active player on your favorite team: rough question, probably Stamkos/Vasi right now. I do really like Palat and Drouin as well.
Favorite active player on another team: Seth Jones (CBJ is my other team).
All time favorite player if different: Andre Roy, Hasek (I was a street hockey goalie and they always joked I played like him cause I taught my self and could flail around and somehow always make the stop).
Favorite teams in other sports: I've given up a lot of other sports. Was a big NFL guy (Browns and Lions), but absolutely refuse to watch it now, and I was a huge MMA guy (Wanderlei Silva, Fedor, Hendo were my top 3), but it's too much of a WWF event now where you talk yourself into fights, not earn them. Trying to get into soccer, but the team I was told I would love got regulated (Newcastle). MLS would have to be the Crew.

Favorite video/other games: I'm old school. Give me Mega Man, Zelda, and Castlevania. I do like the new Batman games.
Favorite music: I'm a metal head, but I do get into some dubstep kicks as well.
Favorite Band: Machine Head, Metallica, Once Human, Nirvana, One Minute Silence, Rammstein, Knife Party, Lindsey Sterling just to name a few.
Favorite movies: I'm not huge into movies, but I do like my comedies. Blazing Saddles, original Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, Young Frankenstein, Star Wars are good too.
Favorite TV show: Seinfeld
Favorite beer or alcoholic beverage of choice: Jack and Coke
Have any interesting hobbies? I can play 7 or so instruments and I'm big into going to Disney.