Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: OUR NICKNAMES.

This is topic OUR NICKNAMES. in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by John Spooner (Member # 1565) on 03-25-2003, 10:00 AM:

In the vein of the excellent "who are you" topic, I would be interested to hear if anyone in Film-tech land or their colleagues in the business have nick-names. In Adelaide it has been traditional to have such a name.
I have been called "Scruffy" in the past, the latest name is currently "The Skunk" (hence the e-mail name).
At our work there is "Zoltan", "The old goat", "The Dungworm", "Farmer Nick", "Bald Man", and various others.
Perhaps some other people would care to add their details.
John Spooner. South Australia.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 03-25-2003, 10:23 AM:

At one company, they used to call me "Gisela".
I had handed in a request for a few days off. The manager looked at my signature (which is very wild and dynamic, just like I am) and said he couldn`t read it, who is Gisela Schaffer? From that day on, I was Gisela.
Most of us had nicknames, a lot of which I had created.
A colleague`s last name was "Wobst", so we called him "Obst", which means fruit and has the same connotation as vegetable (=brainless) in German.
A manager`s name was "Backheuer" and we called him "Los Backos".

Posted by Don Bruechert (Member # 1538) on 03-25-2003, 11:57 AM:

I have been called "Fluffy" since about 1992. It's a long story, but I'll try to give the short version. I used to do tech for a local rock band, and the first night I worked for them no one knew my name. I happened to be wearing a T-shirt that said "I'm not fat, I'm just fluffy" on the front of it. One of the guys needed something, and no knowing my name yelled "Hey you - yeah, you - Fluffy". All the band babes thought it was cute, and I didn't find it insulting, so I just left it. I met hundreds of people during the 5 years I worked with that band, and none of them ever knew my real name... still to this day people call me Fluffy, and at my day job too, as the first year I worked here (hospital) the band played for our Xmas party and introduced me to all my co-workers as Fluffy....

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 03-25-2003, 12:48 PM:

For some reason many of my friends call me "Pablo" even though I haven't an ounce of Latin blood in me.

Japanese friends and colleagues simply call me "Pohru-san".

Within our craft, my fans call me "Capt. Video" and my detractors call me "Capt. Vidiot".

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 03-25-2003, 12:49 PM:

My long time friends call me:

Yogibeaglesisyosibugspook [Big Grin]

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-25-2003, 01:34 PM:

Grumpy [Big Grin]

On Film-Tech, "The Weenie Man" [Big Grin]

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 03-25-2003, 02:47 PM:

As I was the second Ian at the Telluride Film Festival, they gave me the radio handle of "Large Ian." It has since morphed to just plain old "Large."

And I ain't getting any smaller! [Big Grin]

Posted by Jacob Huber (Member # 1138) on 03-25-2003, 02:51 PM:

Recently, I've been known as Dirty Dirty Huber. Apparently because I'm a dirty dirty whore. [sex]

Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 03-25-2003, 03:47 PM:

A simple, easy-to-remember one for me: Chris (since 1974).

Posted by Paul Goulet (Member # 297) on 03-25-2003, 05:21 PM:

nick-names...AKA "What the Heck is your nick-name??"

My nick-name since High school is "Chummer"..It originates from the "Tennessee Tuxedo" cartoons. The name of the Walrus in the cartoon is "Chummley". Not sure how it went from Chummley to Chummer..But some how it did. I have had CHUMMR on my license plate since High school.

Paul Goulet

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 03-25-2003, 05:51 PM:

I was 14 before I found out my name wasn't "shithead".

>>> Phil

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 03-25-2003, 06:18 PM:

Somebody lied to you Phil... it still is. [Big Grin]

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 03-25-2003, 06:29 PM:

[fu]

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-25-2003, 06:32 PM:

I've been called Blakes, Spike, and later Stikes (a weird combination of Blakes and Spike, I guess). My brother-in-law used to call me Ace, I never found out where that came from.

Currently I'm mostly nicknameless, except some of my old friends still call me Blakes, and one of my employees calls me "Boss Man" all the time.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 03-25-2003, 06:59 PM:

Since my last name is soooooooo looooong and no one can spell it right, I've become known as "The Guy From CLACO".
Mark

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 03-25-2003, 09:44 PM:

The guy from CLACO...with a soundtrack containing a little echo chamber and heavy reverb while you don your cape in search of DP 70's [Big Grin]

I have had several nicknames....Bitchard was my mother's favorite term for me for obvious reasons...RichRalph which is what my old, sweet, confused grandmother called my brother and myself so she could be 50% right....Dick by an old German boss who could not pronounce Richard....TV Boy, when I worked in television production as a teenager...mustache guy, in high school ( they air brushed it out in the year book - got away with it due to quiet nature and dating the vice principal daughter ).... today, Richard or Russ depending who knows me at what time of this life journey [Wink]

Richard Fowler
Kinoton America

Posted by Mike Fitzgerald (Member # 1304) on 03-25-2003, 11:01 PM:

My nickname has been Fitz since I was little. My father was a Fitz and I am carrying on the tradition.
[beer]

Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 03-25-2003, 11:23 PM:

I have used two nicknames for an extended period of time.

Dexter Caldwell was used after I appeared in a tv show that was done by some classmates at school.
The name of the character was Dexter Caldwell.

The one I use now is Jimmy Cinnamon Roll.
It was born in the summer of 1998 on a local radio program here in Houston.
A friend named Stephen and I stopped by the radio station where his friend Jeff did the show and while he was announcing everyone who was at the station, I was eating a cinnamon roll from the vending machine.
Stephen called me Jimmy Cinnamon Roll and Jeff made it stick.
At first I did not care for the name, so I didn't use it.
He always referred to me by the name regardless.
This past summer, he introduced me to some of his friends as Jimmy Cinnamon Roll, and they kept calling me that as well and it had a nice ring to it, so when I got tired of Dexter Caldwell, Jimmy Cinnamon Roll took over and that is what I use now.

I now use that name on all message boards (except here) and I sometimes skip my real name and introduce myself to people as Jimmy Cinnamon Roll.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 03-25-2003, 11:35 PM:

You can use that name also by introducing yourself as Jimmy C. Roll. People will be all the more surprised when they find your middle name is Cinnamon.

Posted by Barry Martin (Member # 1376) on 03-26-2003, 12:10 AM:

For the most part the only nickname I have (and still use) is GuvnA (the Boston pronounciation of Governor). The origins go back to when I was 16 and working at this laser tag place called "Laserquest" (actually a really fun game, recommend to anyone that has one near by). Well, the employees all go by "codenames" to create that "fun" environment. I can't even remember what I chose for my first name, but for the first two weeks I worked there one of the other guys always greeted me with a "ello, Guvna!" (with poor British accent). Eventually I grew to like it and it has stuck. I still use it when I play the international tournaments Laserquest holds (yeah, that's right, it's my "sport" [Big Grin]

) and for email/message boards.

Other than that, there are some childhood nicknames I will NEVER reveal [Cool]

and my daughter calls me "Da", I think she really did get the full Irish infusion from my side. [Wink]

Posted by Daniel Boisson (Member # 1027) on 03-26-2003, 02:02 AM:

well everyone in the Dorms here calls be Danman.........

Posted by Gunnar Johansson (Member # 1661) on 03-26-2003, 02:14 PM:

My student orchestra has a thing where everybody gets a nick name. I got mine from being extremly drunk (before I was even in the orchestra) and introducing myself. Being from the south of Sweden some people thinks it sounds a bit danish and/or unclear, and a my first rehersal somebody asked me if my name was Curt, which sounds a bit like Gunnar, at least in Swedish. I and they wanted to get rid of it, because you can actually be named Curt, but it stuck. It´s important that it´s with a C.
I´ve talked to older people who used to be in the orchestra, and they totally understand how Gunnar can turn in to Curt. My name is Curt, but my parents sometimes calls me Gunnar...
Then a few I don´t care to menshion. Some from my american friends who couldn´t quite get the swedish version of the name to sound even close.
//Gunnar, ehrmmm Curt

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 03-26-2003, 02:18 PM:

What kind of orchestra do you play in? What instrument?

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 03-26-2003, 03:21 PM:

I've been called the "Father of LAD". [Smile]

And because of many projects related to keeping film clean, "Doctor Dirt". [Cool]

Posted by Gunnar Johansson (Member # 1661) on 03-26-2003, 03:32 PM:

Michael:
I´m in an orchestra called the Alliance Orchestra of Gothenburg. We dress up in talis (or what used to be tails after a couple of years) and run around while we play march music. A lot of Sousa, swedish marches and some of the really good german marches (under the Double Eagle). We are actually celebrating our 55th anniversary this saturday, with a show, a party and a new record out. Our balet celebrates 40.
I play Euphonium or Barytone or Tenorhorn, depending on what country you come from. Remember Brassed off (Awesome film) "It´s a bloody euphonium!". But the orchestra isn´t the best there is, so I started trying to learn a lot of other instruments, so now I play trombone, tuba, sousaphone, trumpet, banjo and percussion...

//Gunnar

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 03-26-2003, 03:39 PM:

quote:
I play Euphonium or Barytone or Tenorhorn, depending on what country you come from.

Actually I think these are all slightly different instruments, even though the denomination in different countries is a bit mixed up. But it is even more complicated than historical sound formats...
I play the Horn (the orchestral variation known in England as French Horn), and the double bass, mostly in orchestras.
I have tails too, but haven`t worn them for a long time.
Wearing tails in a marching band is very unusual, but maybe a good idea, it makes the band look less fascist than in uniforms.

Posted by Gunnar Johansson (Member # 1661) on 03-26-2003, 04:03 PM:

I know that in each country they are different instruments, but when you cross the border they magically switch... Never understood that, or why a B is called an H in Sweden. What´s wrong with ABCDEFG? Now we have AHCDEFG!? And people calling B and B flat, and people saying H and B (which is what B flat is called). Maybe it´s a swedish thing.
I actually played trombone and the the trombone arrangement on euphonium in the Swedish Youth orchestra a couple of years ago. But there´s something special about marchmusic... And the Euphonim gets all the best parts. Sucks to play the clarinett. Can´t even hear it when the brass gets going...
The tails is something about students, some orchestras wear coats or t-shirts, but we like to think we have class (until someone smells them). Got some good tails to for formal occasions, which comes around every so often for us poor, hard working students. Trust me, we look anything but fascist (anarchistic if anything, not a political comment)
The double bass as in the brass instrument or as in the string double bass?
For anyone wondering if we are off topic, I think not, we´re finding friends... [Smile]

(Edit)(sorry, wrong thread, but still pertaining to the topic in some way...)(/edit)
//Gunnar

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 03-26-2003, 04:20 PM:

The string instrument. I have never heard of a wind instrument called double bass!
Originally the scale tones were named ABCDEFG everywhere. When musical theory became more complex, the first note to be altered regularly was the B as it is the leading note to C, traditionally the central note in music theory. Some theorists started calling the low B "square B" and the high B "round B" after the way they were written (with a square or round symbol respectively). Other schools chose the next available letter, H, to denote the high alteration. When theory became more complex and involved harmony changes, they started to use the flat and sharp symbols to alter other notes. But the name H was already very widely in use, and that is why some theorists retained it.

Posted by Gunnar Johansson (Member # 1661) on 03-26-2003, 04:24 PM:

Thanks, been thinking for years about that.
No I never heard of it either, but I figured i could be like a F-tuba or something.
Unusual combination: French horn and double bass, but you get to see (and hear things) from at least two angles. Two really cool instruments.
Oh, and being a rodie/runner/rigger I of course play electric guitar, but then again who doesn´t...

/Gunnar

Posted by William Leland III (Member # 1400) on 03-26-2003, 04:26 PM:

When I was a little kid, I carried around a little green chainsaw. My cousins called me chainsaw.

When I put my CB in my truck I needed a handle and so I used Chainsaw. So all my friends call me Chainsaw.

Posted by Gunnar Johansson (Member # 1661) on 03-26-2003, 04:29 PM:

On the internet I ususally call myself Gnr, not to be confused with Guns´n´Roses. It´s jsut short for Gunnar, and works well when entering high-scores on pinball machines, which happens a lot. If not available I go by gundhi, inspired by a punk band propaghandi...
//Gunnar

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 03-26-2003, 04:41 PM:

You wouldn`t have needed to think about that for years (the B-H). You can look it up in every good theory book.
You were very close to the truth. In German, the double bass is called Kontrabass (and in Sweden probably too), and there is also the term Kontrabasstuba for the very big, low orchestral tuba, sometimes used to distinguish it from other typers of tubas.