SFD: Pick The Lies - Results

First of all, a big Thank You to all who played yesterday.

Congratulations to mamatulip who was the first (and only) person to correctly identify all three lies. (She was also the first commenter of the day. For the record, the first guess of the day came from my wife, with 1, 4, and 5 being lies.)

Lies by Evanescence
Let's move along and look at the "facts" again:

1. I have incredibly good aim with a bow and arrow. I can hit a two inch diameter metal pole from 40 feet away, at dusk.

Status: FALSE
Most of you correctly guessed that this was false. However, interestingly enough, the anecdotal portion (hitting the pole at dusk) was true - about my father. He actually took my uncle's hunting bow and said, "The target is too big. I will hit that pole instead." And then he did.

2. My first encounter with the death of someone I knew was when I was eight years old and a boy (and playmate) who lived at the end of my street was murdered by his mother's boyfriend.

Status: TRUE
Two people thought this was false. The murder is actually "unsolved" because the cops could not prove it was the boyfriend.

3. I once lived in an apartment on top of a strip club adult entertainment establishment.

Status: TRUE
One reader (ironically, the one of only two male readers who commented) thought this was false. It was a co-op work term in Montreal, and my roommate was a modern dance major from Concordia. I swear I am not making this up.

4. When I was in my last year of high school, I was offered a "full ride" by a school in Texas based solely on my SAT scores.

Status: TRUE
This one fooled a few of you who assumed that as a Canadian I would not have written my SATs. In fact, I did have to write them as a requirement for a scholarship. As part of the SAT form I opted to release my scores (I assumed I had to in order to allow the company whose scholarship it was to see them), and a school in Texas contacted me. (As an aside, the scholarship I mentioned? Paid for my tuition for all four years.)

5. I once worked for a mine near Sudbury, Ontario. It was for a co-op job, and I was responsible for driving a lift truck around.

Status: FALSE
I thought this would trip up some people, and nobody thought this was false other than MTM and the eventual winner. I never worked in Sudbury.

6. I was kicked out of Novice IV level hockey (for eight and nine year olds) because I body checked a smaller, faster kid so hard I broke my stick in five pieces and he had to be removed on a stretcher.

Status: TRUE
Nearly everyone thought this was false. Apparently, I don't give off a "bone crusher" vibe. However, this is true.

7. When I was ten my family took a trip to Ottawa, but the hotel didn't have any cots, so I had to sleep in the bathtub.

Status: FALSE
This is the one even my wife didn't get. We did take a family trip to Ottawa, but in my life I have never slept in a bathtub.

8. I can name most of the characters from the late 1980s editions of Days Of Our Lives, Another World, and Santa Barbara. I can also explain plotlines, relationships, and repeat deaths.

Status: TRUE
A couple of you thought this was false. My mother used to tape all the NBC soaps while she was at work, then watch them on the only tv in the house. It was soaps or read a book; really, I had no choice.

9. I have been forcibly removed from The Body Shop, and somewhere there is a video to prove it.

Status: TRUE
Most of you got this one as true. I was in university, working on a scavenger hunt. My buddy dared me to go in and argue that The Body Shop should sell noseplugs for the boyfriends of their customers. Apparently, I argued a little aggressively.

10. When I was 15 my BIL took me to a bar on "open mike" or "jam" night. I played with the house band, and was given a voucher for a free (alcoholic) drink.

Status: TRUE
Everyone got this. Yep. My first paying gig was for a shot of Bailey's.

11. One time a Texas state trooper came home to find me receiving "attention" from his daughter while I sat in his favourite recliner.

Status: TRUE
A number of you got this wrong. It did, in fact, happen to me. Fortunately, the view from the door did not include the recliner, so by the time he entered the room, everything appeared normal.

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Statistically...

Easiest Truth: all of you believed I played in a bar at 15

Most Difficult Lie: only one of you (mamatulip) didn't believe my parents would make me sleep in a bathtub

If there are any truths above that you would like a more thorough treatment of, let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do.

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My father was admitted into the hospital yesterday afternoon for pre-op. He will remain there and have the surgery this afternoon or tomorrow. Please keep him in your thoughts.