“Not that I know of.”
Ken is a studio owner/engineer/producer.
H.o.p. (Hums an intro): This is “Mom’s Questions”. Cast, mom and me. Mom is the questioner, I am the sound man.
I didn’t realize this was “Mom’s Questions”. But it is, of course, to H.o.p. And when he’s an adult and sharing with friends his childhood memories, they’re going to say, “What? Your mom used to drag you around to record people while she asked them if they’d ever seen a UFO?” And he’ll heave a sigh and say yes and wait for the pity.
Idyllopus Press: OK, the first question is always, “Have you ever seen a UFO?”
Ken: Not that I know of.
Idyllopus Press: Not that you know of. OK. The second question is what is the most interesting coincidence you’ve ever experienced.
Ken: Goodness…I’d have to think about that one.
Idyllopus Press: Would you like to think about it while we do the third one?
Ken: Yes.
H.o.p.: Wait! The third question? Sings opening notes of Beethoven’s Fifth.
Idyllopus Press: The third question is also an off-the-top-of-your head thing. What’s a history that comes to mind, a story you might like to relate.
Ken: Gosh, these are difficult questions.
Idyllopus Press: Do you have a favorite story you like to tell?
Ken: Well…we were down at the bottom of White Quarry…
Idyllopus Press: White Quarry?
Ken: White Quarry, a quarry near Cartersville. And we were diving there, and I was putting some air into my buoyancy compensator vest and I lost my regulator, and at this moment my light began flashing on and off so that we had this strobe effect, and my partner was seeing me half drowning and half reaching for my regulator, trying to turn my light back on, and he couldn’t decide whether to give me his air or not, but fortunately by the time he’d decided to I’d grabbed my air and put it back into my mouth so I lived.
I was rather speechless imagining this, the strobing light in the dark watery depths, the confusion with not just the loss of the regulator but the disorientation caused by the light.
Idyllopus Press: How long do you think passed by…
Ken: Uhm, fifteen seconds.
Idyllopus Press: How deep were you?
Ken: 165 feet.
Idyllopus Press: Oh, man.
Ken: Seriously. Plenty deep.
Idyllopus Press: Yes.
Ken: An exciting moment.
Idyllopus Press: That is an exciting moment.
Ken: And then so far as…what was the second question?
Idyllopus Press: Coincidence…
Ken: Coincidence, most amazing coincidence. Uhm, let’s see. Most amazing coincidence.
H.o.p.: Oh,oh, wait, is this the fourth question.
Idyllopus Press: No, shhh. This is the second question.
H.o.p.: Oh, not again.
Ken (laughs): I guess meeting my studio partner at Delta airlines when we were both mechanics there.
Idyllopus Press: All right, tell me about this.
Ken: Well, I was a mechanic at Delta from 1980 through 1985, and while I was there I met a young man named Tim Larson. He was interested in electronic gear and I was interested in music and together we started this studio.
Idyllopus Press: OK. All right.
Ken: And we quit our airline job.
Idyllopus Press: How long after you met?
Ken: About a year. But I stayed on for another four years because I couldn’t afford to quit. So…
Idyllopus Press: Okay. Well, thank you.
Ken (laughs): My pleasure.
H.o.p. hums his finale music.
It is interesting that when people think “coincidence” they are tending to relate stories of bumping into a person after a long separation of years and miles. Here instead there is a first fortuitous meeting, and thus becomes a matter of synchronicity in that the individuals have shared interests.
Leave a Reply