Me, Me … it’s all about ME! Which is to say, here’s my Hash House Harrier bio, retrieved from the now-defunct Half-Mind Weblog. What prompted me to dig this up and repost it was my Skype interview with Ra yesterday, where we talked about my hashing and hash publishing history. The interview, once edited, will go up on his new Hash House Harriers History & Talk podcast. I’ll let Paul’s Thing readers know when it airs.
Please keep in mind that I wrote this bio several years ago, when I was still actively hashing. When it says, for example, that I’m GM of such-and-such a hash, that was true then but not now. I decided rewriting the entire bio to bring it up to date was not a productive use of my time, and hope you’ll forgive my laziness.
Hashtory
My virgin hash coincided with the inaugural hash of Tampa H3 in Florida in March 1989. My wife Pick’n’Flick started hashing two months later. We subsequently moved to Japan and hashed with Okinawa H3. We lived in Honolulu from 1991 to 1995 and hashed with Honolulu H3, Aloha H3, and Hawaii Full Moon H3. We lived in Nevada from 1995 to 1997, where we hashed with Las Vegas Resur-Erection H3.
Since 1997, Pick’n’Flick and I have lived and hashed in Tucson, Arizona. We hash with jHavelina H3, Mr. Happy’s H3, TWAT H3, PCT H3, PISS H3, Pedalfiles H3, and Harriers MCH3.
I co-founded Hawaii Full Moon H3 in 1992. I founded Harriers MCH3 in 1998 and Pima County Traditional H3 in 2000. Pick’n’Flick and I founded Pima Independent Sunday Social H3 in 2003. At various times over the years, I served the hash as scribe, songmaster, religious advisor, and grandmaster. Currently I’m GM of PCT H3 & PISS H3, and RA for Pedalfiles H3.
In addition, I’m a proud member of the Iguana H3, Warriers H3, Randsberg H3, Sad Bastards H3, Founders’ H3, Knuckledraggers H3MC, and the Fat Boys’ Athletic Club.
Writing & Publishing for the Hash
I began publishing mimeographed lists of Asian hash contacts in 1990, using contacts gathered during hash road trips around the Far East. By 1992 this had grown into the Whole Hash Catalog, a monthly newsletter containing international hash contacts and upcoming events, which I handed out to local and visiting hashers and to hashers I met on road trips.
By 1993 I was mailing the Whole Hash Catalog to several subscribers, including the major hash publishers of the day: Tim “Magic” Hughes (Harrier International, World H3 Handbook & Directory); Mr. Spock (InterHashional News); Larry McDowell (Global Trash); and Sea-Xplanation (Hash Events on a List). Magic and Mr. Spock based much of their own upcoming event calendars on the information I sent them.
In August, 1995 I chose a new (and more hashlike) name — the Half-Mind Catalog — and went online. The HMC was first hashing website to offer international hash kennel contacts and upcoming events calendars. In November 2003 I stepped down as CEO and chief editor, and stewardship of the HMC passed on to an international cast of editors. Today, the HMC is edited by Ra, who does a brilliant job for hashers and hashing.
Since turning the HMC over to more capable hands, I’ve become a blogger. In addition to the Half-Mind Weblog, I publish Paul’s Thing, a personal blog, and Crouton’s Kitchen, a cooking blog. I’ve also been a regular contributor to print publications like Asia-Pacific Harrier and the short-lived On-On Magazine.
How I Got My Name
I didn’t hash in Tampa long enough to get a name. That honor was bestowed on me by the Okinawa H3. “Flying” because I was an Air Force pilot, “Booger” because of a trick I demonstrated at a formal hash dinner (didn’t know hashers had formal dinners, did you?).
Knots in My Whistle String
- Australia: Darwin H3, Sydney Harriettes, Cairns H3, Trinity H3, & the combined Tasmania hashes who hosted IH 2000 in Hobart
- Hong Kong: Little Sai Wan H3, Hong Kong H3H, Royal South Side H3, Wan Chai H3
- Japan: Okinawa H3
- Korea: Osan Bulgogi H3, Seoul H3, Seoul Southside H3
- Mexico: Tijuana Butt Pirates H3, Rocky Point H3
- New Zealand: South Shore Hussies H3 & the combined NZ hashes who hosted IH 1994 in Rotorua
- Philippines: Angeles City H3
- Singapore: Lion City H3
- Thailand: Bangkok H3, Bangkok Monday H3
- USA:
- Arizona: jHavelina H3, Arizona Larrikins Mr Happy’s H3, Old School H3, Pima County Traditional H3 (founder & GM), Pima Independent Sunday Social H3 (founder & GM), Harriers MCH3 (founder & GM),Pedalfiles H3 (current RA), The Wandering Assholes of Tucson H3, Phoenix H3, Zonie H3, Huachuca H3, Howlin’ H3
- California: San Diego H3, San Diego Pickup H3, San Diego Iron Rule H3, North County H3, Orange County H3, Long Beach H3, Sacramento H3, San Francisco H3, Fog City H3, East Bay/Mt Diablo H3, Gypsies in the Palace H3, South Bay H3, Randsberg H3, Full Moon Zombies H3, California Larrikins H3, Clovis/Fresno H3, La Jolla H3
- Colorado: Colorado InviHashional VIII in Steamboat Springs, IAH 2009 in Winter Park
- District of Colombia: Mt. Vernon H3, Washington DC H3
- Florida: Tampa H3, Other Orlando H3
- Hawaii: Honolulu H3, Aloha H3, Hawaii Full Moon H3 (founding member)
- Nevada: Las Vegas H3, Sin City Full Moon H3, Bump’n’Hump H3, Viva Las Vegas H3, Rat Pack H3, Vegas Discovery (VD) H3
- New Mexico: Albuquerque H3
- North Carolina: Carolina Trash H3
- Oregon: IAH 2015 in Portland
- Texas: IAH 2001 in Austin, Tex-Mex 2010 in El Paso H3
- Washington: Seattle H3, Puget Sound H3, Tacoma H3
- Here & There: Iguana H3, Stan Nats H3, Thinking Drinking H3, Global Emeritus H3, USA Nash Hash
The Booger Dynasty
We are hashers, so they say … Pick ‘n’ Flick, my wife of 44 years; our son Nose Candy, former GM of St. Petersburg H3 & Las Vegas H3, and our daughter Green Flagger); our granddaughter and grandson Savvy Navigator on Trail (S.N.O.T.) and Just Quentin; and Low-Flying Booger and Red Over Red Booger, the wonder wiener dogs.
Real Life
I’m a retired US Air Force officer. I flew the F-15 Eagle in Arizona, Virginia, the Netherlands, Alaska, and Japan. At other times in my military career I was a training command T-37 instructor pilot, a joint staff officer with US Special Operations Command, an aircraft accident investigator, and chief of flight safety for Pacific Air Forces. After leaving the USAF in 1997 I worked for eight years as a defense contractor, training USAF fighter aircrews in the USA and Asia. Now that I’m retired, I occupy my time blogging and hashing.
A Personal Note
The life of a fighter pilot is a hard-drinking life; the life of the typical Hash House Harrier even more so. I was no exception, but in in March 2007 I sobered up and am now that rarest of rarities, a non-drinking hasher. So far, so good … I’m still hashing, absolutely loving life without alcohol, and here to prove it can be done.