RichyRambo

RichyRambo sent along two images for me to consider, one was a normal head shot you might find in a high school year book or possibly a most wanted poster. The other (being the one you see here) is probably a much closer representation of who the man really is.

Read on for the profile and don't worry too much about the gun, I don't think it's loaded.
Who the devil are you?

I'm a 40 year old ne'er-do-well living in Northwest Connecticut. Contrary to popular belief I did not coach the Redskins in '93.

What are you supposed to be doing during the day when youÂ're reading GWJ?

I run a theatre company. Now you ask – But what do you do for money? To keep from being yet another unemployed actor, I work as an aerospace and defense company analyst. Simply put, I write reports on companies such as Boeing, EADS, and Lockheed Martin.

When youÂ're not working or gaming, what do you do with your time?

Most of my free time when not at the PC is taken up on stage. Aside from acting, directing and building, I'm currently hunting down grants in an attempt to turn my avocation into a paying vocation.

How about family? Do you have any kids?

I've a lovely and talented wife, Suzi (who puts up with my gaming binges and occasional LAN parties with great aplomb) and two pups, a yellow Lab, Jaxom, and a mixed bred, Casey. No kids of our own but I do enjoy spoiling our nephews and nieces. We're usually the babysitters of last resort and the ones the kids have the most fun with it - "Whatta ya mean yer mom won't let you play Grand Theft Auto? Let's head down to EB and we'll show her!"

What was your favorite game over the last year or so? Why?

Right now itÂ's a tie between Joint Operations and World of Warcraft. With balanced teams of equal skill level, Joint Ops is an absolute blast. WoW has just sucked me in with great game play and a great community.

Which game are you looking forward to most?

At this point almost all the titles I've been anticipating have been released – WoW, Half-Life 2, Joint Ops: Escalation. The next title I'm eyeing is The Battle for Middle-Earth. After that, the first WoW expansion will be on my must buy list just to see how Blizzard is going to improve an already great game.

What is your fondest gaming memory?

Finally getting Doom to run on a home-built LAN. Once it happened the world of PC gaming changed forever for me. With GWJers SwampYankee and my brother, Shotgun Phil we started holding "Doomfest" weekends every few months. Some of the best times were with Doom and the map Ledges where we made up a game to see who could hold the upper-most room the longest. We played that for DAYS. We still do the LAN weekends on occasion and these are such good times that I look forward to them more than Christmas morning!

Finally, why do you play games at all? Why havenÂ't you outgrown them?

I think the ability to play is a key part of enjoying life and too many folks dismiss play as childish. Gaming allows me to explore new territories and be things I never will be. It fuels the imagination and with the advent of this here intranet thing you can hook up and play with your mates just like you used to do when you were a kid. Yesterday's playing army is today's Joint Ops (only with less exercise!). Bottom line - the reason I play games is it keeps me happy and let's me feel young - and that is a great tonic for the soul.

Thanks for taking the time to answer our hard hitting questions! Any last words?

Never get off the boat. Absolutely G*ddamn right.

Comments

LOL. That's a great picture!

Why am I picturing a gaming version of Hamlet in that picture?

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Wow, that's a pretty scary picture. Is there a story behind that? Maybe it was for a play? I hope it was for a play...

Good guy, good profile!

Is that a Beretta?

No, that's a S&W.

Isn't that picture a reference to how he plays JO?

That was taken after I knocked him out of a 6 player game of Warcraft II 3 minutes into the game. He's very emotional like that.

Man, I envy you guys. Shotgun Phil, Swampy and you being gaming buds for so long...AND close geographically. Very cool.

Very Distirbing picture...Why didn`t you put up the one with you behind the DM screen? Killer DM!!!

Shotgunphil wrote:

Very Distirbing picture...Why didn`t you put up the one with you behind the DM screen? Killer DM!!!

Is he doing the Jack Nicholson face?

Great profile RR! I like your gaming philosophy.

Great learn more about you Richy. You're a top notch WoW group-mate!

Good picture. Good attitude. It is a pleasure to know you, sir.

Wow a fellow thespian, I had no idea. I hope you finally find a way to do theatre full time. I am still struggling with it myself, but I sort of expected that since it has only been about 2 years since I made the plunge into it full time. Thank god I am single and have no one to take care of.

Nice profile... Pictures 2with guns are always fun... I have some I like to keep hidden now that I'm a "responsible father"

Great profile of an interesting longtimer character!! Keep em coming please!

Nice picture too. "This photograph depicts me typing /kill at console"

Aesthetic suggestion: for a next gun-themed shot, gather up with your thespian friends and stage a nice three-way Mexican standoff!

The photo is a shot (no pun intended) from a play called Cat's Paw. In a nutshell it concerned eco-terrorism and the manipulation of the media. That photo is from the end of the play after I've just blown away my fellow terrorist (who happened to be my ex-girlfriend at the time – talk about theatre being cathartic!) while the camera was rolling. Not a play that is much performed in this day I'm sure.

The gun is a specially designed blank-firing replica of a Beretta (Reaper wins!). It fires 8mm blanks with the gas venting through small hole in the top of the barrel (the barrel itself is solid) and it is loud as hell. No Jon-Erik Hexum moments with these pieces.

The most recent gun themed show I directed was The Lonesome West about a pair of battling elder brothers one of whom "accidentally" killed dear old da with a shotgun. The fun part was we had to adapt the shotty to fire 8mm blanks (shotgun blanks would have deafened folks) and then simulate a kitchen stove being shot up. Ahh the magic of theatre.

Here's a shameless link to my theatre company.

Thanks for the kind words! Its a great community to be a part of.

Gaald wrote:

Wow a fellow thespian, I had no idea.

Gee, how many theatrical types are in here? I though all of you guys were programmers?

I, too, have devoted my life to the Art That Doesn't Pay.

Sweet. The theater part, that is.

I met my wife doing musicals. I'm student teaching in vocal music starting in January, and just so that I won't have a spare moment to call my own, I agreed to be the vocal music director of the high school musical at the same time.

So yeah, there's a bunch of us. Not sure if Warlock does musical theater...he may just do music. But yeah, there are a number of us. Wherever I end up teaching...there will be musical theater, even if I have to start something from scratch.

Theatre is a great teaching tool and it really helps people to bond, trust, and (hoepfully) respect one another. It should be mandatory for all High Schoolers to take their freshman year.

Nothing builds trust faster than having to rely on someone else to be there to catch you when you fall.

I agree Richy. I have a long-standing maxim that (if I keep to) has never let me down. To wit: I do not trust anyone who does not do theater.

There is nothing quite like it for teaching people not only trust and trustworthiness, but the value of occasionally sacrificing one's ego for the greater good. The first time I had a stage manager tell me to cram my personal issues and hold 'em until final curtain, it kind of put everything into perspective.

Yep, used that one myself with a few casts. Leave the crap at the door, pick it up on your way out - it ain't what the audience is paying for.