What does your user name mean?

Okay, here goes — (so you all know, this makes you sooooo special…. 😆 )

“Takavl,” or “Trey Also Known As Vanilla Lips.” It’s not obscure, but then it is obscure, right?

Years ago, circa ’00, I joined the Topica e-mail list for the L.A. funk/ska/rock band Fishbone (John Bigham, who guested on BH’ s “Harbor Lights”, was at that time (1993) a member of Fishbone, playing keys and gits. He had just left Miles Davis’ band to join FB, so it was “kind of a big deal.” Anyhoo…) and made one good friend right away, a guy by the name of John Woodroffe. He and I started right in on hassling each other (via the list, then private e-mail, then by phone) and voila! a great friendship was born. Long story short, he (as a Canadian of the “African Diaspora,” ahem, via London via Barbados) thought that I was African American (must’ve been the name — what do I do, e-mail like Chris Rock? 😆 ), so he was ripping on me for numerous issues…’till he discovered that I was/remain a fine Welsh/Irish pale. One can imagine the hilarity that ensued! 😆 So after I coined him “J Wo” (yes, after the fine but daft J Lo, who’s Puerto Rican/American, but that was just because he lusted after her) he called me “Vanilla Lips,” ’cause I’m white, duh, also in reference to the cheesy disco band “Lipps, Inc” (“Funky Town,” etc). I just thought that it was so beyond-the-pale funny that a black dude from Toronto was mocking me out in both a racist manner AND as a Canadian I kept his insult as my own…

The story becomes a bit more emotional — I’ve kept it since in tribute; J Wo died of a heart attack (genetic defect) in Barbados (March ’07) while vacationing with family. It became even weirder when I could read online about his death in various sports outlets worldwide — his father was a famous test match cricketer (still alive but retired), so I was able to peruse “Famous Cricketer’s Son Dies On Beach In Caribbean” in Brit papers, Pakistani papers, Indian, Iranian, etc. Weird.

So I’ll remain “Trey Known As Vanilla Lips” online forever for John, my beloved racist tormentor.

T

My username is a the word “heart” in a scrambled form. My intention was to spell heart backwards,but since my backward spelling is as good as my skateboarding, :oops:(Isn’t the rule “a before e except after t?”) – I ended up being treah.

When I first joined the Board (or the Forum,as it was known then), I wanted to be as anonymous as possible. I was cautious because this was the first online community in which I really became involved. I probably would have chosen something different if I had “known then what I know now.”

Oh well,I actually kinda like my unique username.

Jackie

Well, seeing as I have the ultimate user name, I feel I must educate the masses:

Way back when, long time ago, I was born and raised in Virginia Beach, VA (in reality, I was born in Princess Anne County, VA, before it incorporated the town of Virginia Beach). Because of all the military installations there, the entire population tends to turn over every three or four years. Very few people can boast that they are natives of the area, much less a life-long resident.

I actually had a run-in with an assistant department manager named “B. Hornsby” at Roses Department store in the Hilltop area. Imagine my surprise when next I encountered him as he was playing at The Cave down at The Beach (and I THINK I remember seeing him at “Mother’s, but not sure). There was also a brief encounter with Bruce at The Cheese Shop in Williamsburg. The local radio station constantly had him and various members of The Range in the studio for interviews and live performances, and they frequently played tapes of shows from around the country.

Fast forward through time many, many (many) years, and a business opportunity in North Carolina came by that was too good to pass up, so I didn’t, and 17 years later, I’m still living here in Gooberville, NC

ANYWAY, not long after arriving here, “The Longest Night” came out. The first time I heard the lyric, “there’s Mr. DE in the corner, dancin’ with the Miss Virginia Former”, I adopted the song as my anthem.

SO, when I first encountered The Board, I signed up as Miss Virginia Former. SOMEBODY who was just too lazy and tired shortened it to “MVF” (David P. Day). At some point, some kind of computer glitch arose that necessitated me creating a new account, but would not delete the old account. So I chose the now-infamous “MVF” for the new account. Through the years, it has been bastardized to mean “Most Vindicative Female”, “Most Vociferous Female”, and, my favorite, “Most Valuable Fan”.

Sometimes, I think it should be “TOPWCKDIC”, The Only Person Who Can Keep David In Check”.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Still mooovin’ and grooovin’ here in Gooberville, NC,
MIss Virginia Former

BTW!
Some time back, I heard Bruce refer to someone as “Dreadlock Dave”, which has now become MY pet name for Mr. DPD, since he’s not creative enough to come up with one of his own. 😆