Rock-tober 24, 2015

My hair has usually been short cropped, but one day in the early 2000's I decided to grow it out. After about 6 months and for the next 10 years, I was sporting a decent ponytail. For other people, it became one of my primary identifiers and bumped up my uniqueness quotient.

One previous job I held was to help support a national network within the DOJ. I called a lot of these guys regularly on the phone and was on a first name basis with most, but I'd not met many of them personally. Periodically, I'd fly out to one of their locations to deal with technical issues on site. Because security was an issue, theyd ask for my personal description for a positive ID.

I tried to be specific, "I'll be wearing a dark blue shirt, jeans, and a yellow jacket. I'll be carrying a black canvas laptop case." When I arrived at my destination, I'd hang out in an open area and wait for someone to approach. Once, the guy I was meeting slowly walked up and introduced himself. He looked me over and said, "Wayne, it would have been easier if you'd just told me you were the Asian dude with a ponytail."

A few years later, I was in Nairobi for the first time. I'd been in the country for less than three days, and I'm walking down the street when a guy walks over to greet me. He was extremely friendly and welcoming, shaking my hand repeatedly. "Welcome back! It's good to see you again!" All I can do is look at him and shake his hand. "Have we met?" He seemed surprised that I would ask. "Of course! Last week!." Now I'm wondering, just how many Filipinos with ponytails are walking around Nairobi?

A musical term for a copy of someone else's work is a "cover". I'm glad I didn't meet my Nairobi doppelganger. Apart from the possible "timey-wimey" cataclysm, I'd be wondering who was the original and who was the cover.

Spiderbait did a rock version of "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and it became part of the soundtrack of Marvel's Ghost Rider in 2007. The Outlaws, featured today, released their southern rock version of "Ghost Riders" back in 1980. But who were they "covering"? The version I was most familiar with was Johnny Cash's 1979 rendition. In reality, the original was recorded in 1948 by Stan Jones. In the intervening years, Wikipedia shows nearly 100 different releases of this song. However, I can guarantee that none of these was a Filipino with a ponytail.