For the curious...
I remember filling out a "slam book" in junior high school,
and I think I'll do my information page in that style. Here goes nothing.
| Full Name: | Steven Warren Hill [email me] | |
| Birthdate: | 24 June 1966 | |
| Height: | between 5'9" and 5'10" depending on the time of day. | |
| Weight: | around 225 | |
| Shoe size: | 12 | |
| Hair: | I prefer to keep my head shaved | |
| Eyes: | green, I think | |
| Skin: | very pale white | |
| Glasses: | I'm blind without 'em (I can't see more than three inches away). No contacts, thanks. Considering lasik. | |
| Employer: | Environmental Systems Design, Inc, Chicago, IL, since October 2007 (full time since February 2008). The job change from my last position - Harper College, Palatine, IL, since August 1984 (23 years) - was forced by a sudden "position elimination". | |
| Occupation: | Designer of communications systems for construction, mostly network, some nurse call systems, security, and audiovisual. I hold an RCDD certification. | |
| Education: | Graduated from Harper College in 2007, Associate in Arts. Guess it was a good thing I completed that, considering what they did to me a few months later. | |
| Other jobs: | Worked as nightclub DJ at CLUB 950 in Chicago from 1990 to June 1996, specialized in industrial and the "Cure Nights". The new 950 was all-too-briefly open at 2122 W Lawrence Ave. Now we have the Lucky Number Grill at 1931 N Milwaukee Ave, where I am the "standby" DJ. | |
| Other jobs: | Also did newspaper advertising for CLUB 950 from 1992 to June 1996 and developed my graphics skills. | |
| Other jobs: | While unemployed in 2007, I worked on a few movies as a background extra. | |
| Other jobs: | Soon to be a published author; my reference guide to classic horror movies is due for publication in late 2008. It is in two volumes: Silver Scream Volume 1 and Silver Scream Volume 2. Visit the publisher's website here. | |
| Working on: | Just wrapping up rewrites on volume 2 of the above. Also (perpetually) my websites, my next Mysterious Theatre 337 show. | |
| Driving record: | I annoy other drivers by obeying traffic laws. No speeding tickets. | |
| Other annoying traits: | Never tried alcohol, cigarettes, or other drugs. Would be straightedge but I am a carnivore (although I love vegetarian food too). | |
| Least favorite personal thing: | Besides my weight, I get "migraine flashes" - symptoms (obscured vision mostly), (usually) without the headache. Also known as "scintillating scotoma" (link). I also occasionally suffer from Restless Leg Syndrome. (It's funny, now it's almost like a fad disorder! I've had it for years, but actually it hasn't happened in quite a while now. Without treatment.) | |
| Drink of preference: | Diet Dr Pepper, Diet A&W Cream Soda, fresh real lemonade, virgin pina colada, mint chocolate chip milkshakes, Earl Grey iced tea. Many of these things I can no longer drink due to my diet. | |
| Marital status: | Happily married 11 years and counting to Jill Petillo. The date was 24 August 1997. Honeymoon Pictures | |
| Born: | Chicago. | |
| Lived: | Chicago IL 1 yr, Des Plaines IL 1 yr, Hoffman Estates IL 9 yrs, Bolingbrook IL 1 yr, Lauderhill FL 4 yrs, Schaumburg IL 1 yr, Hanover Park IL 2 yrs, Palatine IL 8 yrs, Des Plaines IL 4 yrs, now in Chicago IL since 1997 (11 yrs). | |
| Schools: | Neil Armstrong Elementary School, Woodridge Elementary School, Lauderhill Middle School, Boyd Anderson High School in Florida (81-82) and Hoffman Estates High School (83-84), Class of '84. College: Harper College '07. Check out Classmates.com | |
| Computer: | Homemade as usual Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L P35 mainboard, Pentium Intel E6700 Conroe Core2 Duo microprocessor 2.66GHz, 4 GB RAM, 1.5 TB total drivespace, DVD+-RW DL, BDP/DVD+-RW DL, Canon LiDE 500F scanner, Dell 3110cn Color laser printer, Epson Stylus Photo 900, Dell Ultrasharp 2407FP-HC 24" full HD 1080p monitor, EVGA 8800GTS video card, WinXP Pro os, Canopus ADVC-100. | |
| Software: | Premiere Pro 1.5, Encore DVD 1.0, Photoshop 7.0, Visual Studio, Access 2007 (and other Office 2007 apps) are frequently used at home, I'm also well versed in AutoCAD (I use it 8 hours a day now) and some Architectural Desktop. Some experience with Dreamweaver. | |
| Games: | Alternately growing lax on, and rediscovering, City of Heroes. I also enjoy Descent and Age of Empires/Kings/Mythology and Driver, and had a brief obsession with World of Warcraft, though I admit I haven't really had time for games lately. Bought my first console since 1982: a PlayStation 3, and my favorite games are MLB The Show and Motorstorm. I still don't get much time to play. | |
| Current TV: | Doctor Who (above all else). Monk. House MD. Qi. The Simpsons. King of the Hill. Family Guy. South Park. Nothing else current, really. Shows with actors generally can't seem to compete with animated shows... | |
| Older TV: | Doctor Who. Futurama. Monty Python's Flying Circus. Emergency!. The Twilight Zone. The Tick. Black Adder. Red Dwarf. The Thin Blue Line. Black Books. The Prisoner. Columbo. Twin Peaks. Thriller. Target. Return of the Saint. Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Pinky & the Brain. Clarissa Explains It All. The Goodies. Land of the Lost. Lou Grant. Planet of the Apes. Mystery Science Theater 3000. The Avengers. The New Avengers. | |
| Star Trek: | I've never cared for it, in any of its flavors. Except I do enjoy the movies (I-VI). Now, it may surprise you to learn I bought the original series on DVD and am slowly watching them (for the first time). | |
| Doctor Who story: | The Caves of Androzani (old show), The Stolen Earth (new show) | |
| Doctor: | Christopher Eccleston, Peter Davison, then William Hartnell, then the rest | |
| Companion: | Liz for character, Zoe for looks, Sarah Jane and Donna for acting. And Vicki because she doesn't get enough praise. And Steven as the token male companion. Er, no, Ian. Both? | |
| Doctor Who fan since: | September 1975, WTTW-11 Chicago. (Took me a long time to rediscover this fact!) | |
| Authors: | John Wyndham, Stephen Fry, Andrew Cartmel, Stephen King, Alan Dean Foster, James Herbert, Robert Louis Stevenson, Alexandre Dumas, Graham Greene, William Peter Blatty, J K Rowling, Abraham Merritt. | |
| Books: | The Shining (King), DWNA:Warlock (Cartmel), Kidnapped (Stevenson), Treasure Island (Stevenson), Three Musketeers (Dumas), Web (Wyndham) | |
| Currently reading: | Time's Black Lagoon, by Paul Di Filippo. Dracula, by Bram Stoker. (Okay, that last one has been sitting untouched for a while now.) | |
| Male Actors: | Ian Holm, Boris Karloff, Ronald Colman, Cary Grant, Lon Chaney Sr, Kenneth Branagh, Anatoli Solonitsyn, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gary Sinise, Orson Welles, Kevin Spacey, Bruce Willis, William Hartnell, Morgan Freeman, John C Reilly, William H Macy, Michael Jeter, Patrick McGoohan, Sam Neill, George Clooney, Alan Rickman, Richard Attenborough, Peter Lorre, John Mills, William Powell, Humphrey Bogart, Michael Gambon, Charles Boyer, Brendan Fraser, Trey Parker, Paul Robeson, James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Ed Harris, Charles Coburn, Charles Laughton. | |
| Female Actors: | Fay Wray, Jean Arthur, Isabel Jewell, Myrna Loy, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anne Heche, Sigourney Weaver, Louise Brooks, Emma Thompson, Barbara Stanwyck, Michelle Trachtenberg, Cate Blanchett, Ann Carter, Hayley Mills, Clea DuVall, Julianne Moore, Chloe Franks, Emma Watson, Bridget Moynahan, Loretta Young, Deborah Kerr, Kathleen Byron, Bette Davis, Carole Lombard. | |
| Which Leading Male Actors Appear Most Often in My Video Collection: | Boris Karloff (73), John Carradine (59), Peter Cushing (55), Christopher Lee (54), Vincent Price (49), John Wayne (47), Humphrey Bogart (46), Bela Lugosi (45), Cary Grant, Randolph Scott (40), Lon Chaney Jr (38), George Sanders (36), J Carrol Naish, James Stewart, Peter Lorre (35), Henry Fonda, Michael Ripper (34), Basil Rathbone (33), Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, William Hartnell, William Powell (32), Alan Hale, Edward G Robinson (31). | |
| Which Leading Female Actors Appear Most Often in My Video Collection: | Fay Wray (50), Barbara Stanwyck (46), Bette Davis (45), Isabel Jewell (41), Myrna Loy (39), Loretta Young (31), Jean Arthur (26), Shirley Temple (26), Evalyn Knapp (24), Maureen O'Sullivan (22), Ann Sheridan, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lois Maxwell, Marjorie Main (21), Ingrid Bergman, Mary Astor (20), Carole Lombard, Clea DuVall, Ida Lupino, Joan Blondell, Joan Hickson, Kay Francis (18), Shelley Winters, Spring Byington (17). | |
| Movies: | Brighton Rock, Andrei Rublev, Twelve Monkeys, The Thing, Hamlet, Lawrence of Arabia, Stalker, All the President's Men, M, The Ninth Configuration, South Park Bigger Longer & Uncut, Magnolia, The Curse of the Cat People, The Day the Earth Caught Fire, Black Narcissus, The Exorcist III, The Sixth Sense, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Alien3, Alien, The Seventh Victim, The Mummy, Doctor X, and on and on... | |
| Directors: | Andrei Tarkovsky, David Fincher, Terry Gilliam, Paul Thomas Anderson, Sam Raimi, John Carpenter, James Cameron, John Boulting, Val Guest, Lars von Trier, Kenneth Branagh, Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Wise, Peter Hyams, Fritz Lang, John McTiernan, John Badham, Jacques Tourneur, Peter Weir. | |
| Which Directors Appear Most Often in My Video Collection: | Alfred Hitchcock (51); John Ford (29); Michael Curtiz, Roger Corman (28); Robert Wise, Terence Fisher (23); William A Wellman (22); Fritz Lang, Ishiro Honda, W S Van Dyke (21); John Carpenter (20); Anthony Mann (19); Henry Hathaway, Mervyn LeRoy, Michael Powell (18); Richard Fleischer, William Dieterle (17); Archie Mayo, Edward Dmytryk, Howard Hawks, Jack Conway, Lloyd Bacon, Raoul Walsh, Roy William Neill, Steven Spielberg (16); Alfred E Green, David Cronenberg, Frank Capra, Jacques Tourneur, Tod Browning, William Castle (15). | |
| Film Music Composers: | Patrick Doyle, Wojciech Kilar, Franz Waxman, John Barry, Jerry Goldsmith, many more. | |
| Which Composers Appear Most Often in My Soundtrack Collection: | Jerry Goldsmith (118); Franz Waxman (49); John Williams (48); John Barry (44); Patrick Doyle (33); Bernard Herrmann (30); Elmer Bernstein (29); David Shire (27); Alfred Newman, Miklós Rózsa (25); Wojciech Kilar (24); Hans Zimmer (22); Basil Poledouris (21); Christopher Young (20); Danny Elfman, Maurice Jarre, Max Steiner (19); James Horner (18); James Newton Howard, John Ottman, Roy Webb (17); Elliot Goldenthal, Lalo Schifrin (16); Laurence Rosenthal (15); John Debney, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Alan Silvestri (14), Dimitri Tiomkin (13). | |
| Film scores: | Hamlet, Conan the Barbarian, The Lion in Winter, Magnolia, A Little Princess, Raise the Titanic, Much Ado About Nothing, The Portrait of a Lady, The Usual Suspects, Ben-Hur, Planet of the Apes, Masada, Citizen Kane, The Constant Nymph, Crimson Tide, City of Lost Children, Alien, Psycho, Gattaca, Emma, Old Acquaintance. See my list. | |
| Hobbies: | Packrat/collector of Doctor Who, film music, movie posters, movie books & novelisations & memorabilia, all manner of SF/horror films mostly pre-1960s, laserdiscs, dvds, filmmaking | |
| Food: | Most kinds, particularly Mexican, Indian, Chinese and Middle Eastern; yes I do like fast food, particularly Taco Bell. I've been (mostly) on Atkins for 3 years (with a two-month break). | |
| Restaurants: | Hmm. Portillo's, Taco Bell, Chipotle, Cheesecake Factory. (Chicago area:) Silk Road, Sabatino's, McNamara's, Gale Street Inn. | |
| Magazines: | Entertainment Weekly, Doctor Who Magazine. | |
| VCRs: | 1 digital VHS (JVC HM-30000U), 1 Worldwide VHS (Aiwa HV-MX100), 4 Beta (3 Sony SL-HF750, 1 dead Sony SL-HF870D), 6 VHS (1 JVC HR-S9900U, 1 JVC HR-S5900U, 1 JVC HR-S3900U, 1 Sony SLV-686HF, 1 Sony SLV-660HF, 1 other I can't remember), 1 on loan (Sony SLV-70HF). Not surprisingly, I don't use them much. | |
| Laserdisc players: | Pioneer CLD-3090, Pioneer LD-V4400, Yamaha CDV-W901 on loan | |
| DVD players: | I can't keep track of them all. I've had or have a Panasonic DVD-A120, Apex AD-600A, JVC XV-410B, JVC XV-SA70BK, Sampo DVE611, a Norcent, a Cyberhome, two Philips DVP5982s, and several different drives, including a Sony DRU-510A (DVD+-RW), Sony DRU-710A (DVD+-RW/DL), LG GGC-H20L (DVD+-RW/DL plus Blu-Ray player). All are region free and do PAL to NTSC. Also have a PlayStation 3 (for Blu-Ray) and an indispensable Panasonic DMR-EH50 recorder. See my DVD collection. | |
| Home theater: | My new home theater includes a Sony STR-DB1070 DTS/DD receiver, my JVC XV-SA70BK progressive scan DVD player, the JVC HR-S3900U SVHS VCR, the Yamaha CDV-W901 laserdisc player, a Sony SL-HF750, and a HiDef digital cable box, all connected to a Toshiba 57HX81 16:9 57" HDTV RP monitor. We like it though the monitor is getting a bit old now. | |
| Number of CDs: | around 2550 | |
| Number of DVDs: | around 3400 titles | |
| Number of laserdiscs: | let's see...a quick rough count says probably around 620 | |
| Posters on wall now: | Mysterious Island 1-sheet, The Dark Man 1-sheet, The Phantom of the Opera 1-sheet, The Day the Earth Caught Fire 1-sheet, Fiend Without a Face 1-sheet, Corridors of Blood insert, Chicago flag, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde reproduction, and PJ Harvey. | |
| Most treasured autographs: | Fay Wray, William Hartnell, Ian Marter, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Zita Johann, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, Deborah Kerr (all deceased). Wendy Padbury, Ogre, Jimmie Vaughan, Kristin Hersh, Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry, John Mills, Richard Attenborough. | |
| Albums: | Soul Mining, by The The. Disintegration, by the Cure. Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, by Roger Waters. In Ribbons, by Pale Saints. The Last Man to Fly, by the Tear Garden. Strange Angels, by Kristin Hersh. Dry, by PJ Harvey. The Figure One Cuts, by Minimal Compact. Us and Us Only, by the Charlatans. Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age, by Public Enemy. OK Computer, by Radiohead. Filigree & Shadow, by This Mortal Coil. X&Y, by Coldplay. Siberia, by Echo & the Bunnymen. Sea Change, by Beck. | |
| Top 10 Albums I have listened to the most: | The Cure: Disintegration (208); The The: Soul Mining (190); Kristin Hersh: Strange Angels (155); PJ Harvey: Dry (149); New Order: Technique (145); Charlatans: Us and Us Only (139); Marillion: Misplaced Childhood (134); The Cure: Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (133); Charlatans: Wonderland (130); Marillion: Clutching At Straws, Roger Waters: The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (128). | |
| Top 10 Albums I listened to the most in 2007: | Arcade Fire: Neon Bible (39); Skinny Puppy: Mythmaker (35); Modest Mouse: We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (33); Proto-Kaw: Before Became After (28); Firewater: Psychopharmacology (25); Radiohead: In Rainbows (24); Ultravox: Vienna (23); Tony Banks: A Curious Feeling (22); Coldplay: X&Y (19); Public Enemy: How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Souls? (18); Firewater: The Ponzi Scheme (16); Junkie XL: Today (15); Nine Inch Nails: Year Zero (14); The Rainmakers: Flirting With the Universe (13); Yello: Pocket Universe (13); Bruce Springsteen: Darkness on the Edge of Town (13); Shriekback: Glory Bumps (13); Coldplay: Parachutes (12) | |
| Bands I Like: | The Cure, the Legendary Pink Dots, Skinny Puppy, The Jazz Butcher, Throwing Muses, Kristin Hersh, Front Line Assembly, Foetus, The The, Wolfgang Press, Pale Saints, Young Gods, PJ Harvey, The Charlatans, Public Enemy, Björk, Radiohead, Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Keane, Echo & the Bunnymen, Yello, Sparks. | |
| Other bands: | Nine Inch Nails, Shriekback, The Bolshoi, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Alan Parsons Project, That Petrol Emotion, Ministry, Big Country, Minimal Compact, Tears for Fears, The Wonder Stuff, Moby, Electric Light Orchestra, Muse, Killing Joke, Michael Franti, Jon Brion. | |
| Concert act seen most: | Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, seen 8 times. Skinny Puppy, seen ? times. Cure 5 times, Legendary Pink Dots, Ministry, Kristin Hersh 4 times. Fabulous Thunderbirds, My Scarlet Life 3 times each. | |
| I have a song on: | "Thurtene: A Collection of 4AD Covers" (it's a cover of the Wolfgang Press song "Swing Like a Baby") and on the Independent Mechanical Industry album "Disconsolation" | |
| Grocery Store: | Finally switched mostly to Jewel, cheaper than Dominicks. | |
| Not many people know that: | when I was young I wanted to be a radio DJ (and for a few years I did have my own show on WHCM-FM) | |
| Car: | 2002 Saturn SL-2, blue (my 4th car). Retired my 1995 Saturn SL-1, red, with over 101,000 miles. I rarely drive any more, a few miles a week on average. | |
| How many IR remote controls: | Something like 32 in the house. | |
| Last movies seen on big screen (ratings out of 5): | The Dark Night: ****1/2. Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D: ***1/2. Hellboy II The Golden Army: **** | |
| Last movies watched on video (ratings out of 5): | 3:10 to Yuma (2007): *****. The Last Voyage: **** | |
| Last concert attended: | Ministry, at their farewell stop in Chicago. | |
| Most recently bought CDs: | Michael Franti and Spearhead: All Rebel Rockers. Conjure One: Extraordinary Ways. Sparks: Exotic Creatures of the Deep. The Verve: Forth. A pile of soundtracks too. | |
| Most recently bought videotapes, laserdiscs or DVDs: | How the West Was Won Blu-ray, Fox Horror Classics vol 2, Pumpkinhead, Rodan and War of the Gargantuas, Terror in a Texas Town... | |
| What I'm watching or listening to right now: | Conjure One: Extraordinary Ways | |