User:ToddC4176

About Me
My name is Todd C. I have been on Wikipedia since July, 2005. In addition to my historical background, I am a musician, a longtime sports fan, and love to travel.

I was born in Fall River, Massachusetts and currently live in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. I am a graduate of Dartmouth High School, and hold a B.A. in History/Secondary Educatoin from Providence College in Providence, R.I. I am currently out of teaching, however; working as an assistant team leader for an auditing company.

The Areas of My Expertise
I have several interests, most of which i've piped in on on Wikipedia. They include:

History
As previously stated, I have a B.A. in History. I am interested in the War Between The States, as well as Russian History. I am also interested in "weird" history.

My library, over 300 volumes, includes many books on history, including Manhunt: The 12-Day Search for Lincoln's Killers, The South Was Right!, Southern By The Grace of God, Weird History 101, The Pessimist's Guide To History, and books by Kenneth C. Davis, Michael Faquhar, and Tony Horvitz. I also have the two books by James W. Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me and Lies Across America; however, I really do not like him at all. He is a very liberal sociologist, with no background in history, and has a tendency to overstate his position of what is right and wrong ad nauseum. He is extremely anti-Southern due to his strong stance against racism (he spent much of his early career in the South during the Civil Rights Movement), and it tends to grate on me.

Music
In addition to being a historian, I am also a musician. By my best estimation, I have performed about 300 times in various groups, including the Dartmouth High School Marching Band, Stage Band, Concert Band and Orchestra, the Providence College Pep Band, Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble, the Tri-County Symphonic Band, the Mattapoisett Community Band, as well as in student productions at Providence College, as a guest performer for the Atlantis Charter School of Fall River, with Music Corner Studios Productions and in a local band. I have performed as a singer and on ten different instruments at least once, including: Baritone saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Tuba (or Sousaphone), Baritone horn, Trumpet, Guitar (both electric and acoustic), Bass guitar, Synthesizer, and Drum set, as well as occasionally playing a Cowbell solo for the pep band. Vocally, I am a tenor; I have sung everything from rock to showtunes. As embarrassing as it might be, my first solo was, in fact, "(The Sun Will Come Out) Tomorrow," from the Broadway musical "Annie" (of course, it was a Cub Scout show night before my eighth birthday, and I played "Andy" because I had curly reddish hair when I was young!).

With Music Corner Studios, I worked mostly as a show designer/manager, although I do have quite a bit of experience with mixing boards and recording equipment. I also have a 446-disc (as of 26 July 2006) CD collection, with everything from rock to pop to jazz to blues to classical to christmas to irish to traditional to... well, you get the picture. Add in the vinyls, cassettes and 8-track cassettes (not joking!), and it comes out to about 500 albums, about 7,000 songs, and (before this last inventory) about a week and a half of nonstop music.

Massachusetts
Massachusetts is my home state, and has a lot to offer. I have visited and photographed 345 of the 351 cities and towns in the state (I am missing Nantucket, Aquinnah, Chilmark, Edgartown, West Tisbury, and Gosnold). I have begun attempting to add to the Massachusetts entries with the information I have found in various places. As of early March 2008, I have done all of Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes and Plymouth Counties.

Travel
I have traveled to 18 states and the District of Columbia. I have been traveling since I was young, going out to North Carolina to visit my aunt in Gastonia. From 1988 to 1994, I went on the annual family trip to Walt Disney World. All in all, I have visited the following places:
 * all of Massachusetts & Rhode Island except Nantucket and Block Island
 * Much of New Hampshire, especially the areas around Concord, Portsmouth, Manchester, Keene and the White Mountains National Park.
 * Augusta, Maine, Freeport, Maine and Houlton, Maine (the end of Interstate 95)
 * Montpelier, Vermont
 * New York City, Sleepy Hollow, Cooperstown, and Lake George, New York
 * Six Flags Great Adventure and Trenton, New Jersey (mostly to check out the New Jersey State Capitol
 * Philadelphia, Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, Gettysburg National Military Park and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
 * Baltimore (Inner Harbor and the B&O Railroad Museum) and the Antietam National Battlefield, Maryland
 * Washington, DC
 * Shenandoah Valley, Virginia (including Winchester, Luray, Skyline Drive and the New Market Battlefield Park), Charlottesville (home to the University of Virginia and Monticello), Natural Bridge, Lexington, Richmond (including the Museum of The Confederacy) and Williamsburg, Virginia and Busch Gardens Europe
 * Charlotte, Gastonia, Asheville (home of the Biltmore Estate), Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Wilmington, North Carolina
 * Greenville (not far from the Cowpens National Battlefield and Kings Mountain National Military Park), Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina
 * Orlando, Cape Canaveral, and the South Florida metropolitan area
 * Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, Alabama
 * Tupelo, Mississippi
 * Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, including Lookout Mountain, Shiloh National Military Park, Nashville and Greenville, Tennessee (home of the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site)
 * The National Corvette Museum, Mammoth Cave National Park, the Kentucky State Capitol and Louisville, Kentucky
 * Marshall University in Huntington and the West Virginia State Capitol, Charleston, West Virginia
 * The Black Hills region of South Dakota, including Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park and Rapid City
 * Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming
 * Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Pompeys Pillar National Monument and Billings, Montana
 * Las Vegas, Nevada
 * San Diego, California, including La Jolla, the San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park, Petco Park, Cabrillo National Monument and the nearby Harrah's Rincon Casino & Resort.

I have also obviously traveled many highways to get to these places, including the entire current length of Interstate 95. I have briefly also been in the states of Colorado, Utah, Nebraska, Texas, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Georgia and Delaware, though mostly for layovers or drive-throughs.

The limits of my travels have been La Jolla, San Diego, California to the west, Biscayne St at Ocean Drive in South Beach to the south, Airport Road in Houlton, Maine (just at the end of Exit 305's offramp off of I-95) to the east, and Ludlow, Maine (the northernmost point on I-95, 14 miles west of Houlton) to the north. (The northwest corner of my travels would be in Yellowstone County, Montana.)

Sports
Finally, I am a HUGE sports fan. I have been a lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox, and will readily admit to bawling my eyes out the night they won the 2004 World Series. I am also a fan of the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Boston Celtics, and the Boston Bruins. As an alumni, I am a fan of the PC Friars. Since PC did not have a college football team, I am also a fan of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Boston College Eagles, and the Penn State Nittany Lions. Due to my aunt bringing back souveniers from the state, I have also become a fan of the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Charlotte 49ers basketball teams.

I have been to the following stadiums and arenas:
 * Fenway Park
 * Foxboro Stadium
 * Boston Garden
 * TD Garden
 * Conte Forum and Alumni Stadium at BC
 * Nickerson Field at BU
 * Harvard Stadium
 * The Yale Bowl
 * Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island
 * McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island (home to the Pawtucket Red Sox, Boston's AAA International League affiliate)
 * The Ryan Center at URI
 * the "second" Yankee Stadium
 * Madison Square Garden
 * Charlotte Coliseum (the "second" one)
 * BJCC Arena
 * Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire
 * Merchantsauto.com Stadium in Manchester, New Hampshire
 * Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte
 * Heinz Field, Pittsburgh
 * Petco Park, San Diego
 * Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida

And not for games:
 * Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts
 * Mullins Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
 * Shea Stadium in Queens, New York
 * Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey
 * Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field, Wachovia Spectrum and the Wachovia Center, Philadelphia (have been in the Phillies clubhouse store)
 * PNC Park and Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh
 * Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore (have been in the Oriole clubhouse store in the B&O Warehouse)
 * Dover International Speedway in Delaware
 * Freedom Hall, Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, Cardinal Stadium and Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville
 * Joan C. Edwards Stadium and Cam Henderson Center at Marshall
 * LP Field in Nashville
 * Scott Stadium and University Hall at the University of Virginia
 * Kenan Memorial Stadium, Woollen Gymnasium, Carmichael Auditorium and Dean Smith Center at the University of North Carolina
 * RBC Center and Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh
 * Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte
 * Bryant-Denny Stadium and Coleman Coliseum, at the University of Alabama
 * Legion Field in Birmingham
 * Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego
 * American Airlines Arena in Miami
 * Verizon Center in Washington, DC
 * Nationals Park in Washington, DC

I have also visited the former site of Forbes Field at the University of Pittsburgh.