What year did you graduate from Bluffton High School:
1987
What are you doing now:
I'm a team trainer at Arby's in Bluffton. I teach the new crew how to serve customers and run the equipment. When I'm not teaching, I'm usually found in the drive-thru window.
I understand you have a rather large movie collection. How many movies do you have?
I have about 200 DVD's. The oldest movie I have a copy of is "The Scarlet Pimpernel" with Leslie Howard from 1934.
What's your all-time favorites?
Hmm... That's a tough question because I like some many genres. I'd list "Hamlet" with Mel Gibson, "Phantom of the Opera" with Gerard Butler, "Renaissance Man" with Danny DeVito, "Dragonheart" with Sean Connery, "Formula 51" with Sam Jackson, "Dracula" with Gary Oldman, "Moon Over Parador" with Richard Dreyfuss, and "A Knight's Tale" and "The Order" both with Heath Ledger.
How about the worst movie you ever saw, and why is that.
Worst movie recently was "Drillbit Taylor" with Owen Wilson. High School freshmen are getting beat up on a daily basis, so they put out an ad for a bodyguard. A con-artist bum shows up and proceeds to steal from them, lie to them, and waste their time for a week. I didn't like it because it reminded me too much of getting victimized in high school because I was a bit of an outsider.
Share your philosophy on life with us. Please elaborate.
Try to leave the world a better place than you found it. Enjoy the random and senseless act of kindness. Sometimes it's just a small thing, such as making someone smile. I know from personal experience that one happy moment can make the worst days better.
Tell us about your favorite food dish.
Pasta. It can be made with so much variety. My personal favorite is a Chicken Alfredo with Mixed Vegetables over multi-color Spiral pasta. When I make it, I only add a touch of pepper to the sauce. That way, I can taste all of the other flavors.
When did you start playing the guitar. Please tell us what kind you have:
I started playing ukulele in the 5th grade during our music class. I asked for one for Christmas, and still have it (even thought the back needs re-glued to the body). I currently play a 6-string Fender Gemini II acoustic - a gift from a friend who was moving out of the area back in '95. I also have a 1/2 size guitar and a 3/4 size guitar that I picked up 2nd hand. They need a bit of adjustment to be playable, but they'll make nice travel guitars.
How many songs do you know?
I guess that I have about 100 songs amongst my various "cheat books" that I use in gigs. As far as being able to play completely from memory, maybe about 20.
What are some of your most favorite types of music to play?
Irish pub music, 3&4 chord classic rock from the '50s and '60s, Folk music from the '60s and '70s.
People say that you like to read. How many books would you say you have?
I've got about 800 books, but unfortunately most of them are in storage. If I had a bigger place, I'd have one room as a library.
What have you read lately? Tell us what kind of books you enjoy reading, and what authors.
I've been on an Agatha Christie kick recently. I like Lady Mary Stewart's "Arthurian" series - actually any legends and stories about King Arthur -, J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series, Piers Anthony's "Incarnations of Immortality" series, Vampires, Science Fiction, Mysteries, Dan Brown, Douglas Adams... I'll read just about anything.
If you had a vanity plate what would it say?
"BRUNO" or "DRACO" meaning dragon. I collect dragons - art, statues, T-shirts, books, etc.
How about a tattoo? What design would it be?
I don't have one yet, but I have a few ideas. One is a side view of a humanoid dragon wearing a hooded monk's robe. The foreclaws would be folded in prayer. The tail and hindclaws would stick out from under the hem of the robe.
The wings would come out through slits in the back of the robe. The snout would stick out of the hood and a whisper of smoke would rise from the nostrils. Or I'd get the Murphy coat of arms: "Quarterly Argent et Gules. Four Lions Rampant Counterchanged. Over all, on a Fess Sable, Three Garbs Or."
I understand your political views are unique. Exactly who did you vote for president in the last election. Was that a write-in?
I'm not sure how unique they are. To be honest, I voted for Michael M. Mouse and Donald F. Duck as write-in candidates.
Why? I got tired of all of the mud slinging from both parties. I really didn't want to see either of them win after all of the hate they broadcast for that campaign.
How would you fix the political landscape in the U.S. today if you could fix it.
Imagine 2 boys running with a dog. Each boy holds a separate leash attached to the dog's collar. They approach a big tree at a full run. One boy insists on going left, one insists on doing right. The poor dog smacks right into the tree and gets dragged across the bark as the boys play tug-o-war to get the other to give up.
A third boy approaches and unhooks the leashes from the dog's collar, making a very happy dog. The 3rd boy gets trounced by the first 2 for interfering.
Our political system is like that. Our nation is being harmed by the back and forth fighting between the 2 main political parties. Each pulls the country in a different direction towards a common goal. I could see a 3rd party as a help to draw out unique and workable solutions to our problems.Imagine how happy the dog would be if the 3rd boy convinced the other 2 to go left around one tree and right around the next.
It's a workable compromise that we can't get with everybody playing tug-o-war.
Who is the most famous person you ever met and tell us the circumstances of the meeting.
I got to shake hands with David Copperfield the illusionist/escape artist when he performed at the Lima Civic Center back in the 80's.
Where did you get the nickname "Bruno"?
In 1986, Bruce Willis recorded a collection of R&B covers called "The Return of Bruno" I would usually play a track from that album during my radio show on 88.3 WLFC-FM (Findlay College University of Findlay.) One day, as I was leaving the station, a friend yelled at me "Hey Bruno, how's it going?" I stopped to chat, and the nickname stuck.
