Article from the 1/18/2017 Avalon Bay News
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"INTERESTING/UNUSUAL QUESTIONS/COMMENTS CONCERNING CATALINA"
From March 10, 2014-March 16, 2017, when I was "Catalina's Official Greeter", through the Catalina Chamber Of Commerce, I answered 64,590 questions from the cruise ships' and cross channel passengers'. That amounts to "greeting" approximately 650,000 visitors to Catalina! Here are some of the inquiries I had to address (additional ones,
www.catalinaislandman.com):
"Do you hire Americans here?"
"Was the Casino barged over here?"
"Which restaurants serve 'sand dollars'?"
"Do you have to get on the boat for 'parasailing'?"
"Where does the water in the harbor go during 'low tide'?"
PLEASE DON'T DO IT!
My younger and only brother, Williams Sims Liddell (Bill) was born in Avalon, August 14, 1949, Dr. Poole officiated. He would have been 68 years old. UNFORTUNATELY, he took his life, in Avalon, January 21, 1974. He was only 24 years old! I have been without my brother for 44 years and it sometimes hurts as much now as it did then! I only simply making a heart felt plea to anyone even thinking about ending their life through suicide. PLEASE DON'T DO IT! THERE ARE ALWAYS OTHER/BETTER WAYS OF ELIVIATING YOUR PAIN! If you need someone to talk to and you feel you are alone (
chuckliddell.catalina@gmail.com) and I will give you my phone #.
"I AM 'ME'?'!"
During the summer of 2015, I greeted a family in my usual friendly manner in hopes of answering questions or simply helping them with their needs. The mother took one look at my name tag and said, as she hurried by, "YOU'RE A LIAR!"
Unless you are a professional politician, you shouldn't have to hear this very often, if at all. This has been my fate since the last week of March, 2004. I was working security at the Casino Ballroom for an event and I got a call from my mother. She said, "NOW I know what you do with your spare time on the Island?" (what 'spare time'? I was gainfully employed then!). I asked her what she was talking about and she told me that I was going to fight a guy by the name of Tito Ortiz in Las Vegas the first Saturday of April! I asked her if she was having trouble with the neighbors again and she needed me to defend the family honor. "No", she said, " saw in on television as a 'Paid Per View'!" "Let me get this straight, Mom. A week from today I am going to be in Las Vegas fighting a guy, I have never heard of, Tito Ortiz, and it is going to be a 'Paid Per View' event? Why would I do THAT!?!" "From the pictures on the screen, it looks like you are going to be wrestling him." "Mom, I haven't the foggiest idea of what you are talking about, but IF there is a chance you can bet on the fight, put ALL of your money on this Ortiz guy, as I have to work at the Casino next Saturday and I don't plan to be in Las Vegas!"
I didn't think much about this, except that maybe my Mom forgot to take her meds! I think it was Billy Delbert who had gone to the match and brought me back the program with a picture of Tito Ortiz and "Chuck Liddell"! BOY, I DIDN'T TAKE A VERY GOOD PICTURE! My beard was gone and I had a Mohawk haircut with the sides of my head shaved to show off my tattoos! It turned out that this was a "Mixed Martials Arts" match and it was for the "Ultimate Fighting Champion" belt. I GUESS I WON!
I started watching these UFO matches on television, in hopes of catching a glimpse of my alter ego, "Chuck Liddell". He/I almost always won! I especially liked the way he/I was introduced, "And Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeers Chuck Liddell!" I was playing with the idea of recording this message and putting it on my phone answering machine, but felt it was a little over the top, even for me!
He was called "The Ice Man", but a young Island friend, Johnny, who followed these matches, started referring to me as "The Nice Man", which he still does! I kind of enjoyed this notoriety, but was sort of sorry that he/I seemed to enjoy beating up our opponents!
I would have been a lot prouder if this man who shared my name could have been the guy who had found the cure for cancer of peace in the Middle East instead of pounding the heck out of other guys! I guess I should have been happy that he wasn't a mass murderer!
Early in his career, people knew that he was from California, but where in California? (I know, but for his privacy, I am not telling!) Because his matches were on DVD under of the label of "Island Entertainment", people started guessing that he must live on Catalina Island. He has visited her a number of times, but I have yet to meet him.
One of my first "Chuck Liddell" incidents came from a 12-year-old boy who somehow got my address and sent me a tear jerking letter telling me that I/Chuck Liddell was his "Very Favorite Idol" and ALL he wanted for his birthday was an autographed picture of me/him! I could have simply sent a letter back and inform him that he had contacted the WRONG "Chuck Liddell", but that might have crushed his hopes of EVER making contact with his idol. I then thought of getting a picture of Chuck on the internet, print it, and then sign it myself. Why not!?! I wouldn't be lying about the signature, but what would happen if he ever found the real signature of the "other" Chuck Liddell and the two obviously didn't jive? I then set out to find out all I could about "The Ice Man" in hopes of being able to get the young fan's letter to him. I found his manager and so sent the letter, along with a note that read, "Chuck had better respond to this young fan's request or he will have another 'Chuck Liddell' to answer to!" I felt pretty brave through the mail service. On looking over his website, I noticed that whoever put it up didn't know the difference between the two of us either! It showed that movies and television programs that I was involved in regarding Catalina Island were credited to the wrong "Chuck Liddell"! NOT FAIR as I NEVER take credit for any of his matches on my websites!
In January, 2005, I was in Manhattan, New York, at an entertainment conference and I was walking down Broadway when I came across a three story building that stood out like nothing I had ever seen before! A 30' picture of "Chuck Liddell" was on one side and a 30' Tito Ortiz was on the other side. Obviously advertising the 2004 match, but had yet to be taken down. I quickly contacted two "Broadway Stars" friends of mine, our own Gregory Harrison, who had been starring in "Chicago", and Ivan Rutherford, who had the lead role in "Les Miz". I asked them what the highest compliment an actor on Broadway could receive and they both told me what I already knew, "Your name up in lights over the name of the production!" I told them to take a walk and to go to see what a REAL tribute looks like!
With my name comes a LOT of confusion. I wanted to have a banner made up for my "Liddell Talent Management" at a Kinko's shop in Long Beach and told the guy over the phone that Chuck Liddell would be coming in to pick it up. When I entered the store, I had never seen so many teen-20 year old guys all standing behind the counter at the same time, looking around with much excitement. I didn't get the connection at first, but simply went up and asked to get my banner. "I though 'Chuck Liddell' was going to pick it up!" "He is." "Where is he!?!" "He's, I'm here. I'm Chuck Liddell!" What a bunch of disappointed young men! You would have thought that their fiancés had stood them up at the alter! I realized what the confusion was all about and so I gave them each my business card in hopes that "maybe", when they attend one of his matches, they could show this to the Security Guard . They MIGHT get access to Chuck out of his curiosity regarding the existence of another "Chuck Liddell". It didn't help their overwhelming disappointment very much.
A few years ago I was down in front of "C. C. Gallaghers" corner of Crescent and Clarissa (they are going to closing soon! Another beloved institution lost on Catalina!) when a women, with three kids, came over to me and asked, "Are you 'Chuck Liddell'?" Boy, was my head ever swelled! I thought, SOMEHOW she recognized me as the "Island Historian"! She then told me that she would love to have a picture taken with me! Boy, my head ballooned up even more! She said that she would be taking the picture. "Why not find someone else to who can take the picture of ALL of you with me?" "No, only my husband wants to have the picture taken with you." I looked over at this "bear" of a man and asked, "Why ONLY with him?" It was explained to me that he ran a gym back home and wanted a picture of "Chuck Liddell" for his "Wall Of Fame". I, of course, reminded them that I WASN'T the UFO Champion and she assured me, "We know! My husband wants to have it up on the wall as a 'Gag'!" My head quickly started shrinking. He put his massive arm around my shoulders and then we were told to "smile". I did, but not with much enthusiasm. My head was now almost 1" across. When the picture was taken, the women came up to me with a dollar bill. "What is THAT for?" I was afraid to ask. "For the picture with my husband, of course!" MY PICTURE IS WORTH A WHOLE DOLLAR!?! Both sides of my head were now touching each other! "No thank you. You can keep your dollar!" "Then how about if we take you out for a drink?" "I'm sorry, but I don't drink." "Then how about buying yourself an ice cream cone?" AN ICE CREAM CONE! My head imploded!!!
When I was conducting tours of the Casino, I would introduce myself and invariably someone in the group would yell, "NO YOU AREN'T!" I would then have to rush into the crowd and quickly show my driver's license. This was satisfactory so that I could go on with the tour. On one of these tours I had a REAL UFC fighter who was soon leaving for Egypt where he was going to go for the championship. He asked me if I didn't mind having a picture taken of him with me administering a "headlock" on him. That, I didn't mind, because at least he showed a little respect for my feelings.
A few years ago I called a tire company on the mainland to purchase a set of tires for my '71 VW Van, that I then had on the Island. I instructed him on how to send them over and I gave him my name and credit card #. He then hesitated, "Because I have never done business with you, and there are so many problems with stolen credit cards now, you will have to come to Signal Hill and appear in person with your card." I thought that this was a bit unusual as I had never been questioned before. I was going to be in Torrance anyway that week, so I told him when I was coming. When I arrived, he had a camera ready! I asked him "WHY THE CAMERA?" and he explained that his girl friend LOVED Chuck Liddell. I assured him that I WASN'T THAT ONE and he, of course, IMMEDIATELY realized his mistake, but still had a picture taken with, you guessed it, placing him in a headlock! I'm getting pretty good at this hold.
When still greeting the visitors coming by boat, I was asked the same questions at least five times a week, "Did you know that you have the same name ......!?!" I usually respond with, "Do you want me to beat up someone ?" One man suggested his wife, who was standing right behind him, not very happy! They usually laugh, move on, or have me get them in the wrestling hold. Once, an older guy responded with "Yes, I WILL TAKE YOU ON!" That obviously threw me off and while staring at him, he simply waked by as if he had shown me who the "Alpha Male" was!
When people sometimes get upset by my using my own name (?), I try to reason with them that with billions of people on the planet, doesn't it seem reasonable that there could be more than one "Chuck Liddell" and that there might conceivably be someone sharing their name? This usually got mixed responses.
I wonder IF the other Chuck sometimes gets people who mistake him for ME! Boy, no ego here! I will have to ask whenever I meet him. Which leads me into a crazy idea I have been playing with for years and still might do. I think it would be a great asset for Catalina to have a mixed martial arts/wrestling summer camp started on the Island in hopes of eventually getting a wrestling program in our local high school which might allow some of our goys and girls to be able to scholarships in this sport thus helping them to attend colleges/universities. I thought ESPN might be interested in covering a match and sponsoring the event between "Chuck Liddell vs. Chuck Liddell"! WHERELSE COULD THIS HAPPEN!?! I wouldn't want to hurt this guy, so we could duke it out in rubber sumo wrestling outfits. Hopefully he will accept my challenge as I know he enjoys working with youth groups and he likes Catalina and might want to connect his name with our fledgling wrestling program. Any thoughts? Now that I think about it, has ANYONE ever seen the two "Chuck Liddells" together in person or in a picture? Neither have I! Maybe we are the same person! SCARY THOUGHT!
Article from the 1/4/2018 Avalon Bay News
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"INTERESTING/UNUSUAL QUESTIONS/COMMENTS CONCERNING CATALINA ISLAND"
From March 10, 2014-March 16, 2017, when I was "Catalina's Official Greeter", through the Catalina Chamber Of Commerce, I answered 64,590 questions from the cruise ships' and cross channel boats' passengers. That amounts to greeting approximately 650,000 visitors! Here are some of the inquiries I had to address (additional ones,
www.catalinaislandman.com):
"I bought a boat ticket to Catalina and they took me to Avalon!"
"I need some information. Where is the 'City Of Commerce'?" Of course, meant the "Chamber Of Commerce".
Before Vons, Safeway wasn't able to give discounts to certain areas of Southern California so whenever they would advertise, they would always have to make a disclaimer. Here was one of their "Holiday Greetings": "Safeway wishes 'Happy Hanukkah' to all our Jewish friends and 'Merry Christmas' to all our Christian friends, except in Big Bear, Arrowhead, and Catalina".
"When do they water the 'Submarine Gardens'? I'd like to watch!"
"Do they sell food on the Island? I mean, is there a food market here?"
Ryan Montgomery, who, for so many years, has done such a wonderful job, collecting the shopping carts needlessly left all over Avalon, suggested that Avalon might want to consider putting more bicycle lanes around town to control their traffic flow, especially on cruise ship days. Great idea, Ryan, and I know they are told constantly, that bicycles are not allowed on sidewalks, they are supposed to go with, not against, the traffic, and are expected to stop at all stop signs, just like other vehicles. By the way, Ryan probably doesn't remember, but when I was substituting at the school about 20 years ago, I was working with him on his math and he and I struggled with "long division". I wonder how often he has had to use it over the years!
I have tried to come up with a easy slogan that we Islanders can use when going about our daily routine. Here are a few suggestions of how it can be put into action to make Avalon even a more special place:
1) Along with your own trash, pick up just one more piece of someone else's.
2) When walking your dog and picking up it's poop, bring along an extra blue bag and pick up the poop of just one more dog.
3) When returning your shopping cart at Vons, once you have taken your groceries to your vehicle, pick up just one more cart on the way.
4) When complimenting those who are doing such a GREAT job of maintaining our streets, directing traffic, and construction projects, thank just one more of these workers for the wonderful jobs they are doing.
5) Now that the holidays are over, things will be slowing down quite a bit. Now is the time to get to know each other better and spend more time with old and new friends. Invite just one more person to breakfast/lunch/dinner so that you can spend special time with those who are often neglected with our busy schedules.
"THROW A COIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN" (pt. 2)
"Looking forward to your Parts 2 and 3 of your 'Throw A Coin' column!" I was walking my neighbor's dog when I heard my good friend yell this to me. She had a great loss recently and I was glad that my column seemed to help her get through the holidays a little better. So here goes Part Two! For Pt. One, and all past columns,
www.catalinaislandman.com. Last week I covered the history of "Coin Diving".
During the beautiful and warm summer months, I can't help but "harken back" (does ANYONE talk like that anymore!?!) to the years that I was one of the local coin divers. From 1952-60 (I was 5 years old when I started. O.K., I AM OLD!), I "dove" for coins thrown from the "Great White Steamship", the "S. S. Catalina". I truly feel that this is one off the main activities that sets the "Island Kids" apart from their counterparts on the Mainland. This most unusual activity allowed us to have unprecedented independence that, for good or ill, has made many of us the adults we are today!
I must preface this article by explaining that this "diving for coins" story is only acknowledging my experiences. There no set procedures or rules on how they plied this trade. Each diver had his/her story and I would love to see as many of these stories told so that a more complete collection of experiences can be documented for posterity.
I have had a number of adults from the Mainland tell me how "shocked" they were to even think of young children being "forced" by their parents to participate in this "torture" and some have even called it "child neglect"! to set the record straight, WE WANTED TO AND CHOSE DIVING FOR COINS! I don't recall any kids being directed by their parents to do it; it came from US! It was a great form of exercise that our young bodies craved (I bet we could have all been Olympic Water Polo players if we had only set our sites on it. What we did for hours, athletes were only asked to do it for scrimmages!). It gave us a chance to perform (some even went on to become professional actors, like Gregory Harrison). $15/2 hour day was GREAT money, especially when you consider many of our parents were only bringing home less than $1/hour. Many of us were making more money than our parents! Weekly "allowances" (I was given 10 cents to do the dishes) were certainly not necessary during the summer months. So lucrative was the program that soon after the City Of Avalon was incorporated in 1913, the "City Fathers" instituted a "diver vocation tax" of $12/year. Whether or not this tax is still on the books, I don't know, but I will gladly help out Avalon by coughing up the $90 that I NEVER PAID! Finally, and maybe most important, this unusual diving activity kept us occupied and out of trouble. Around 1966 when the activity ceased, the local newspaper wrote an editorial on what the effect of dissolving coin diving was going to do to the moral breakup of us kids. Were we now going to become "juvenile delinquents"? I was never sent to "juvi", so I guess we didn't go "bad" too quickly.
My "diving career", if you want to stretch the definition of "diving", commenced when I was 5, in 1952 (AGAIN, O.K., I AM OLD!). I started by standing on the rocks, South East of the Busy Bee Restaurant (present location of the patio seating of the Blue Water Avalon, 306 Crescent). I bellowed to those going to the flying fish boat, the "Blanch W" (it ran from 1923-2015 and the benches can be seen at the Amphitheatre at the Catalina Island Museum, Metropole, just up from Von's, open everyday, 10-5, except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and July 4th-just a little plug for Julie!). Also, the glassbottom boats and other excursion boats used to leave from this "Steamer Pier" (1887-1968), The bewildered passengers often found it confusing as to "where" to throw the coins, either on the rocks or in the shallow water. Those that picked the ocean did us a BIG favor. It pushed us past the simple intimidation of "yelling" and sorting through the rocks for coins, and into the "real world" of learning to scurry, fend off our fellow divers, and learn to use mask/fins, or whatever we brought into play. This helped us progress to the one of the most important skills, catching the coins on the "fly" before they hit the water. Coins rarely "sank", but hypnotically waved back and forth, making it very difficult to calculate their motion to be able to grab them. Of course, on the "kids" side of the pier, the water was only waist deep, so it really didn't take a lot of skill, but a lesson that would come in handy later on, when we could graduate to the "big side" of the pier. By the way, I made a whole 49 cents my first day of diving. This caused my Mother, Betty Jean, to call my Father, Orval, who was working at the "Island Company", to share the GREAT NEWS and then I was taken down there, a rare occurrence, to actually show him "the money"!
My personal "Right Of Passage" came the following summer when I realized that I was now ready to join the "big kids" on the other side of the pier. I had learned to swim at 18 months and even though "Duke" Fishman took credit for teaching me and even giving me the moniker of "Champ", I really learned to do it on my own by crawling/venturing into the placid ocean from the beach until I finally "took the plunge". I told my fellow child entrepreneurs that I was "going under the pier" which meant that I was ready for the "big time". I was actually going to dive for coins thrown directly from the "S. S. Catalina" (the sister ship, "S. S. Avalon" had been taken out of commission just a few years before, 1951, and would dock on the opposite side of the pier, where we were first learning our "trade"). I remembered the look on my friends' faces (good place to have "looks") when they realized that I was making the "big move". I was no longer one of "them"; I was now a "big kid"!
Unlike many of our predecessors, we had no rowboats. We had to know how to swim and swim well! We were on our own! Once the Steamer had made it's way to the Pier (it arrived at Noon, daily), the coin divers would head to the North Beach, also called "Pete's Beach", now "Step Beach", and go down the stairs, hit the water, and then swim out. The "macho divers" would enter the water by diving off the ledge, or even the thick ropes, overlooking the water, along the edge of the water (present location of "Antonio's Restaurant" patio). This was called "Running The Rail". You would have to watch the wave action so that there would be water UNDER you, when you dove in. I learned this PAINFUL lesson on my first attempt! Instead of watching the wave hit the wall, diving in, and let the wave take me out, I dove as the wave was going out, which meant that I dove face first into the exposed gravel and rocks! I could have broken my stupid necks, but all it did was rip the skin off of my nose and forehead. Bleeding, I pretended that nothing was wrong, and with the salt water burning my face greatly (it eventually went numb and the salt water actually helped heal and acted like an antiseptic).
Believe it or not, last summer when I was working the "Chihuly Seaform Room" at the Museum, at older guy came up to me, read my name tag, and said, "Are you the 'Chuck Liddell' who used to dive for coins!?!" "YES"! He said, "Wait here! (as if I had any place else to go) I have some friends I want to bring over!" A few minutes later he came back with 3 more geriatric members and introduced them. TURNED OUT I HAD DIVED WITH THESE 4 GUYS IN THE '50's! WHAT WERE THE ODDS!?! As we were sharing stories, I told him about my "first encounter" with diving on the "big side". These divers smiled as they explained that each one who entered this water from the wall had a "watcher/spotter" who told them when to dive. I DIDN'T KNOW THIS! I DID IT ON MY OWN! 65 YEARS LATER I FOUND OUT!