Following my visit to London last weekend, during which the Surfer Dude finally plucked up the courage to pop me the question that Missy has apparently been pushing him to put to me for several weeks, I am delighted to confirm that I will be playing an official role in the Lovebirds’ nuptials, which have been set for July 29th next year. And I am not talking about that of bridesmaid or Matron of Honour.
I must admit that the request came as a total surprise. I am, of course, honoured. But it seems ever so slightly bizarre that my first performance, if I can call it that, as Best Man will come two weeks after I pass the big four-o, and that I shall be BM not to a childhood friend, nor to a work colleague of many years’ standing, but to my sister’s betrothed.
Now, for those of you who are not aware of the fact, the Surfer Dude is a Kiwi. He is, therefore, far, far from home, and I am not so obtuse as to imagine that my appointment is entirely unrelated to this fact. It must have seemed a moment of genuine inspiration when the Lovebirds hit on me as the ideal candidate to be the Dude’s Best Man. The only things vaguely salacious I know about his past are those snippets he has been careless enough to let slip after the third or fourth glass of wine over dinner and I know none of his friends, past or present. I don’t even know the address of his business establishment. In other words, in theory the only material I have to work with has been through a prior vetting and filtering process by Missy.
Or has it ?
Once again, I find myself turning to the wonders of modern technology and the information superhighway. Or to be precise, to my old and trusted friend Google. All I have to do is to type the Surfer Dude’s real name into my favourite search engine and whoosh ! – in mere nanoseconds I have all the dirt I could ever need, and more.
Now, obviously I don’t want to spoil things and give away all of the best stuff I have found now. But here’s a little taster of the kind of information – complete with wacky anecdote - to which those of you lucky enough to attend the Wedding of the Century will be treated. And remember, I found it on the internet, here, so it must be true :
[The Surfer Dude] is a former atheist and evolutionist, now a great Bible-defending communicator! [He] began his teaching career as a non-Christian and evolutionist. The details of his spiritual and scientific conversion, From Evolution to Creation (available in pamphlet form and videocassette), include comic incidents. For example, he was a participant in a debate where his science department, defending the Bible, debated the Bible department - which was defending evolution !
I'm afraid there's been a rather embarrassing mistake - that isn't my website at all. This is.
Posted by: Gentleman of the Surfing Persuasion | November 15, 2004 at 11:37 PM