Random Things about Wes Patterson
1. Raised wild animals and reptiles as pets for ten years in Melrose, Florida, 20 miles from Gainesville and the University.
2. Played the horses for a living, North and South for ten years, after studying three years of past performances in Daily Racing Forms.
3. Graduated from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Florida, Psychology, on full scholarship & fellowship.
4. Greatly interested in all aspects of the paranormal and coincidences, also flying saucers, ghosts, etc.
5. Responsible for selling thousands of ferrets and popularizing them all over the US.
6. His poetry has been translated into Japanese and Russian and compared to James Joyce: http://www.amazon.com/Past-Galaxies-Stars-Wes-Patterson/dp/1583481095
7. Wagered on basketball and football for the last ten years.
8. Able to conduct past life regressions and counseling sessions over the phone
9. Enjoys long philosophical conversations on the the meaning of life
10. Wants to hear from people who have come back from the dead.
11. Once he was called the 99.9% man. That number was his GRE score at the time he graduated Johns Hopkins University. He scored 99.9% on all three sections (verbal, math & psychology). If you know anyone who did better, please notify him immediately.
12. Never angry at anything that happens or anyone. But that doesn't mean that you should try.
13. Finds Eastern philosophy enlightening.
14. Thinks G. I. Gurdjief's theory of self-awareness was revolutionary but way ahead of his time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._I._Gurdjieff
15. Read 3 books by Gordon and Valentina Wasson on their psychedelic mushroom research: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Gordon_Wasson
16. Read 8 books by Dr. John Lilly on ketamine & the isolation box: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Lilly
17. Read Dr Karl Jansen's research book: Ketamine: Dreams and Realities http://csp.org/chrestomathy/ketamine_dreams.html
18. Read 10 books by Dr. Timothy Leary on personality & psychedelic drugs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Leary
19. Read 3 books by Dr. Terrence K. McKenna on his theory that the world will undergo dramatic changes, possibly catastrophic on December 21, 2012: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_McKenna
20. Read 3 books by Marcia Moore (Queen of Ketamine) on ketamine & her ideas: http://www.futurehi.net/docs/journeys/JourneysBrightWorld.html
21. Believes that it's possible to make a living by wagering on NBA & NFL games, but it takes a lot of statistical work.
22. Recommends 2 great books series by Rebecca McClen: Maverick's of the Mind & Voices from the Edge.
23. Favorite Directors: Federico Fellinni, William Wenders, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, David Kronenberg, Werner Fassbinder, Milos Forman, Ingemar Bergman, Jean Luc Godard, Michelangelo Antonioni, Richard Haneke, Hal Hartley.
24. Favorite Actors/Actresses: Robert DeNiro, James Dean, Marcello Mastroianni, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Steve Buscemi, Dennis Hopper, Jessica Lange, Meryl Streep, Christina Ricci, Sam Shepard, Jean Paul Belmondo.
25. Favorite Comedians: Bill Maher, Lewis Black.
26. Favorite Sports Figures: Ted Williams, Jim Brown, Trevor Hoffman, Michael Jordan, A.J. Foyt.
27. Favorite Writers non-fiction: Dr. John Lilly, Malcolm Gladwell, Dr. Terrence McKenna, Rebecca McClen, Drs. Masters & Houston, G. I. Gurdjief, Dr. Timothy Leary, Edgar Cayce.
28. Favorite writers fiction: Albert Camus, J.D. Salinger, John Irving, Herman Hesse, James Joyce, Paul Bowles, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Kafka, Tolstoy, Checkhov, Proust, Dostoevsky, Flaubert, Norman Mailer.
29. Favorite Movies: Don't Come Knocking, Paris Texas, Days of Heaven, Reds, Taxi Driver, Casino, Breathless, Wild Strawberries, Ragtime, The Sting, Lola, Sophie's Choice, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, Blue Velvet,The Best of Youth (Italian).
30. Favorite Sports: Football, Basketball, Auto Racing and Thoroughbred Racing.
31. In the 60's when he was running his wild animal and reptile biz, a Tarzan movie producer came by to buy wild animals and seeing him naked from the waist-up, offered him the Tarzan role on the spot. The original Tarzan got burned during filming and was in a hospital. He said, I don't think so.
32. He was an assistant butcher, one summer, on the Jersey shore. All he remembers is the Budweiser in the meat cooler and putting a play on every mother and daughter that came in, much to the chagrin of the owner. But there was nothing the owner could do about it. He and his buddy Frank were good at their meat-cutting trade, even pie-eyed.
33. His mother was what he would call a perfect wife to his father, cooking and cleaning, staying home. He remembers only one violent incident as a child. That was when, after the thousandth complaint that the pies weren't sweet enough, a quart of strawberry preserves flew in the air and juicy, red goo covered his father from head to toe. For ten seconds nobody breathed. And then his father broke out laughing. It never happened again.
34. Fresh out of college, he was hired by Texaco. Siting on the 37th floor of the Chrysler building he spent his time overworking the pool secretaries and reading magazines.
35. While visiting his mother in Melrose, North Florida, shortly after his father died, he bought his first baby wolf.
36. His book of poetry, Past the Galaxies of Stars: http://www.amazon.com/Past-Galaxies-Stars-Wes-Patterson/dp/1583481095 deals mostly with the great philosophical questions of life, love and death.
37. His mother left her home in Albania with her friends and against her brothers' wishes in the middle of the night. It was a smart move, just before Albania became a dictatorship and eventually joined the Soviet block. She never went back once.
38. An Albanian businessman married to his mother's friend (age 14 at the time) paid for a dozen boat tickets to America for himself, his wife, her siblings and friends. Sadly, at the end, many years later, this gentleman died broke and bitter in Long Branch, New Jersey. He lost all his wealth through bad business deals. But all the people he generously sponsored to come over here managed to thrive and enjoy American life.
40. In the 60's, at his animal and reptile farm, he bred and cross-bred wolves with malamutes (sled dogs). They made loyal and handsome pets. In the meantime, in Minnesota and Canada wolves were shot and poisoned. Looking back, he is happy that he saved a few. He educated ranchers on how to feed wolves from a baby bottle. If you feed a baby animal from a bottle, when he opens his eyes, he will believe that you are his mother. It's called imprinting. He will remain loyal forever.
41. Before he dies, he wants to do what Houdini did. Houdini left secret code words with his wife Bess. He told her when he is gone he will get contact her using those secret code words. For 30 years after his death, his wife and the best psychics in the country went to a room at the top of the Empire State Building waiting for a signal in the dark. But none ever came. After 30 years of trying, Bess gave up and closed the book saying, Houdini is not returning. Now, he plans to repeat this experiment with his wife.
42. Coincidences and strange circumstances have always fascinated him. For instance, Roy Orbison and Loretta Lynn are two of his favorites. He was astounded to learn that Orbison, at a young age suffered a heart attack and was rushed to a hospital, where Loretta was caring for her ailing husband Moonie. Orbison died in Loretta's arms shortly after arrival. Loretta's husband lived a few years longer.
