TriXie Interviews BlackJack One
Published April 6, 2007
His daughter nominated him for the Gamer Spotlight, and I am super jealous he got to hang out with Eddie Van Halen. Say hey to BlackJack One. Shoot him a Friend Request and you might get him to tell you some stories …
TriXie: What's the story behind your gamertag?
BlackJack One: BlackJack is the model name of one of my favorite guitars (Schecter rocks!), and my cell phone as well, so it just seemed to fit. Kind of sounds like a call sign too …
TriXie: Where do you live?
BlackJack One: Northern California, in between San Fran and Sacramento.
TriXie: What do you do for a living?
BlackJack One: I work in the healthcare industry, more specifically in Medical Device Sales.
TriXie: Hehe. "Medical Device." What's the worst or weirdest job you've ever had?
BlackJack One: Worst? A paperboy way back when. Weirdest? Personal bodyguard for Eddie Van Halen at the same hotel the Miss Teen South Dakota Beauty Pageant contestants were staying at … Rough night!!
TriXie: Whoa! Eddie Van Halen?! As a guitar player that has to have been the best gig ever! How did you hook that up?
BlackJack One: Yeah, it was awesome. Back when I was in the military (Air Force), I moonlighted for Rapid City, South Dakota, doing stage security for concerts. After a Van Halen show, some of us were hired to go on to the hotel as bodyguards (because of the Pageant). Spent the whole night there fighting off the contestants ;) and keeping Eddie supplied with kamikazes. Pretty cool night. I also took Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora to a tanning salon before a show, played video games with Sinderella on their tour bus, raced remote control cars backstage with Def Leppard … it was rough work!
TriXie: Wow. Who do you think is the most technically skilled guitar player ever, the guitar player with the most distinctive and influential style?
BlackJack One: It was Randy Rhoads, hands down. What he did was amazing. To think where he could have taken us! And of course my other favorite guitar is a Rhoads style Flying V.
TriXie: Do you have an archenemy on Xbox LIVE®?
BlackJack One: sammcgillicuddy, my brother-in-law. We're our own worst enemies! Honestly, I get along fine with just about anyone …
TriXie: Describe your Xbox® setup.
BlackJack One: My setup is pretty cool. I run the Xbox 360 through a surround sound system into the Xbox 360 High Definition DVD Player into a 32" LCD High Definition TV. The whole setup is solely for Xbox (and the occasional DVD).
TriXie: What's the best feature of Xbox LIVE?
BlackJack One: I think the best feature is being able to play and communicate with people from all over the world … it still amazes me.
TriXie: What do you think is the best game of all time?
BlackJack One: Got to be Gears of War®. Epic has set a standard that won't be broken anytime soon.
TriXie: What's the funniest thing you've ever heard on Xbox LIVE?
BlackJack One: "Is this thing on?!?"
TriXie: What is your greatest Xbox LIVE moment?
BlackJack One: I hosted a Gears match once and turned Friendly Fire on. I was the last one on my team and was outnumbered 2 to 1. I ran right between the two opposing players and they shotgunned each other. What a finish!
TriXie: What's your karaoke song?
BlackJack One: "Little Wing," Stevie Ray's version. No singing, just playin'!
TriXie: If you could trade places with anyone for one day, who would it be?
BlackJack One: Bill Gates … and I'd make a bank deposit from him to me.
TriXie: Who's your favorite superhero?
BlackJack One: Lusiphur from the 'Poison Elves' comics by Drew Hayes.
TriXie: Hot celeb you'd like to be stranded on a desert island with?
BlackJack One: Hmmm, Scarlett Johansson or Jessica Alba. It's a toss up!
TriXie: If you could be any video game character, who would it be?
BlackJack One: Baird from Gears. He looks like me.
TriXie: What's the worst food you've ever eaten?
BlackJack One: Snails … like chewing on rubberbands!
TriXie: What's the last book you read?
BlackJack One: The DaVinci Code. It was way better than the movie.
TriXie: I agree. If you liked that, you should read Angels and Demons. If you could go on tour with any band, which would it be?
BlackJack One: Three Days Grace. They rock!
TriXie: What do you predict will be the "next big thing" in gaming?
BlackJack One: Being able to play Gears of War from my office over Xbox LIVE through my laptop.
TriXie: What do you think is the best thing about the Xbox 360?
BlackJack One: The games, the new friends, the upgradeability … what's not to like? No PS3 here anytime soon!
TriXie: What is the Xbox 360 Achievement that was hardest to get?
BlackJack One: I don't have it yet, but it would have to be Seriously (the 10,000 kills in ranked matches in Gears of War).
TriXie: What would you like to be doing in ten years?
BlackJack One: Anything I want, and getting paid to play my guitars!