Author Archives: Alex F.

If I Make This Shot

No matter how bad the coming workday promises to be. I can always count on Liollio to challenge me to some random office sporting event. I can’t remember all the crazy competitions we have had but they most often involve some variation of making a nerf basketball shot, kicking a nerf basketball in a trashcan or throwing a nerf basketball between two file cabinets. In fact, I would guess that in any given work week we spend at least 1-2 hours trying to accomplish various tasks with a nerf basketball. And then there is the inevitable bet that is always attached to one of these seemingly impossible shots.

Below are some of the more interesting bets we’ve made, and they always begin like this:

If I make this shot you have to

• Eat a triple cheeseburger from Wendy’s with double the meat (6 patties)
• Run 3 laps around the office building in 100 degree heat
• Eat lunch outside with the construction workers
• Take two showers a day in the bathrooms downstairs for a week
• Use the women’s bathroom
• Take me out for a nice steak lunch
• Wear a suit to work for a week
• Take a random co-worker that no one likes out to lunch
• Take 3 shots of gin before the dodge ball game after work (Liollio actually did this)
• Drive the 30 mile beltline loop of Raleigh on your lunch break (Liollio I have not forgotten that you still have to do this)
• Drive to the Virginia state line after work
• Drive to New York City after work and photograph yourself in front of the Empire State Building, then drive back and work the following 8-hour day

- Matt Herring

Dancing Machine

One thing about Liollio is that he is not afraid to get down on the dance floor. Some of his better dancing accomplishments that I have been witness to include:

• Freak dancing with a 45 year old woman (who claimed Liollio looked like Johnny Depp) at 42nd St Oyster Bar. All on a $5 bet.

• Dancing with the much older wives of John Deere executives from the corporate Christmas party next door to ours. John Deere is a client of ours, we were specifically asked to be on our best behavior during our Christmas party and do nothing to jeopardize this client relationship.

• Spinning around on the floor at Jessica Padgett’s wedding while encircled by a group of people cheering.

- Matt Herring

246 Miles, 3 Tennis Balls and 1 Peanut Butter Sandwich

It all started on the way back from Asheville coming off a long, cold weekend camping in the mountains of western NC. Liollio and I were both driving full car loads of people and camping gear back to Raleigh. And as with most things that involve Liollio and I, this simple trip home quickly dissolved into a competition. I’m not clear on all the details of how it began but the goal of this particular contest was to get my car in front of Liollio’s Jeep on the highway whereupon my trusty shotgun passenger Justin LaRosa would toss objects back at Liollio through my sunroof. Liollio’s goal was the same. The vehicle that took the most direct hits would be the loser.

It began as soon as we left Asheville, both vehicles jockeying for position in front of the other. And for the most part that opening stretch to Winston was fairly uneventful; we narrowly missed Liollio with two tennis balls that flew to the right. Liollio missed high with one of his tennis balls. It wasn’t until the Winston to Raleigh stretch that business started to pick up. We were out of tennis balls and had only a peanut butter sandwich left to throw. We were sure Liollio, also out of tennis balls, would be forced to resort to leftover food as well. However neither of us were willing to let the other get out in front. I will never forget hitting the I-85 I-40 split doing 100 mph, only to see Liollio, big grin on his face and all, pass me to the right. 15 miles later I witnessed Liollio use the far, far right “breakdown” lane to pass some poor old lady at God knows what speed. At this point I realized it literally might take death to beat Liollio. I had to pull back. We somehow managed to beat Liollio home by taking a shortcut through his neighborhood, surprised him as he pulled into the cul-de-sac and hit him with the peanut butter sandwich. But we both knew that this hardly qualified as victory.

In the end nobody really won and I guess you could say the real victory was that neither of us lost our license, nobody got killed and a trip that normally takes about 4 hours literally felt like 30 minutes.

- Matt Herring

Midnight Hole & Max Patch

During Fall Break in 2005, it was decided that a big group of us should head to the Great Smoky Mountains for a little camping and hiking.

from left: Jennifer Rocha, Alex Liollio, Anna Adams, Alex Ford, Caroline Madigan, Alex Schriber, Josh Agner. Travis Burns, Andy Francis, and Mark Phillips would join us later on.

One of the first things we did was hit up the ice cold waters of one of my favorite places in the whole world, the Midnight Hole in Big Creek. Keep in mind, it’s October, probably 60 degrees outside, and this water is like 50 degrees. It’s 50 degrees even in the middle of summer. Regardless, Liollio was the first one submerged. After a little time, and a little condescending comments concerning our manhood, Josh Agner and I joined him on the towering boulders that line the swimming hole.

We decided to do some flips:

The next day we headed to the foggy pastures of Max Patch. We hauled our gear to the campsite, a spot tucked away in a small grove of trees a step off of the Appalachian Trail. A spot that was ill prepared for what was about to come crashing down onto its serene setting. The eerie light that filtered through the thick mist and brown leaves was a prelude of the night to come.

Let me make a very long story short. What followed that evening was a string of events that would scare even the strongest of souls. A combination of macaroni and tuna, a constant rain, a wild turkey, a slimy lizard, missing long johns, wet boots (not from the rain), and a powerful fist to the face would threaten friendships and frighten Mother Nature.

But we banded together to overcome the hardships, and our eyes were opened to the beauty of nature and to the simple truth that all we need in life is a good camping spot and our closest friends.

It pleased Liollio when he found that we had all arrived at the same conclusion.


- posted by Alex Ford

Elijah Liollio

Body Pillow

I remember the first time I met Liollio, he past out at my apartment and spent the night straddling my body pillow. I’m so poor I sadly still have that body pillow.

I don’t think the stains are from Liollio…

- posted by David Xiong

LIODON 2006

- pics taken by Tony Brock, Alex’s Graphic Designer professor at NC State, in a London study abroad trip, 2006

The Turtle Dance (Why you should never challenge Liollio to a dance-off)

It was a late night in Peru (ok, it was only 10pm but it felt way later) and we had all drank one too many Pisco Sours. We were at our hostel not quite ready for bed when Emily, Graham, Liollio and I began to discuss all the awesome dance moves we knew how to do. As you know, when discussing dance moves you cannot just describe them. You have to demonstrate.

We started with the easy ones everyone knew: The MC Hammer, The Roger Rabbit, Cabbage Patch, The Butterfly… each one more intricate and impressive than the previous.

Then Alex says, “Oh yeah, well do you know… The Turtle?”

Emily, Graham and I looked at each other in confusion, “The what!?”

Alex hesitated to demonstrate. For some reason, he thought we already knew about this dance made infamous during his time at Clemson (I think). After much begging, he finally agreed to a one time performance.

Lucky for you all, I was able to sneak a couple shots of “The Turtle” in action. (If you move your eyes back and forth really quickly, you can get the effect—stupid wordpress won’t take animated gifs.)


– posted by Colleen Simon

Liolliord

Sometimes people come up to you looking like Jesus, and when someone comes up to you and embraces you, and you don’t think you know them, and they know your name, sometimes you really think its Jesus.

Why Alex is Jesus

1. He had the beard and the long hair.
2. Twelve guys follow him around all the time.
3. He can turn water into wine.
4. He’s always there to listen even if its hours of babble.
5. He brought that one guy back from the dead that one time.
6. He hangs out with drunks and prostitutes.
7. Sometimes he rides into town on a donkey.
8. He tells stories that sometimes don’t make sense to most people until you think about it for a while.
9. He can make a lot of food out of not that much.
10. He draws a pretty big crowd.

Okay I first met Alex at a thanksgiving dinner and then a few weeks later at midnight basketball (through Intervarsity Christian Fellowship). But my fondest memory and the beginning of our friendship began months later. I was in downtown Raleigh at First Friday with some friends when this guy yelled my name, came up to me and gave me a huge hug. It took me a minute to realize it was Alex because he looked so much like Jesus. Alex became a great friend since that day—always willing to listen to me vent, always encouraging and always kept me laughing. Thanks for being there. Have a great Birthday!

P.S. Are you Jesus?

- posted by September Pinckney

Weddings & Nipples

Once upon a time there was an outgoing Greek man with a cast on his leg. And thus our story begins…

So when Ford and I were going to Charleston for Tommy V’s wedding last October, we each needed a date – and a place to stay. Who better to fill both of these positions for us than Mr. Alex Liollio? Perfect date, perfect place to stay. I had many many highlights over the course of my weekend in Charleston. The wedding was fantastic – in the old dungeon/jail in downtown Charleston… although the cells in the basement were a bit creepy.

Meeting the Liollios was definitely way up there on my favorites. I remember Liollio’s dad making some of the most amazing food, and the hospitality of your family in general was overwhelming. Then we spent an afternoon out on the boat (with his awesome lil bro Zac of course) touring the channels of Charleston, seeing the suspension bridge – and tubing!! Probably the best thing was getting to meet his grandparents – my first introduction into the world of 100% Greek 100% of the time. They were lovely.

But my Liollio moment came on the boat. We were cruising around near downtown and were about to pass the Battery – the place where all the tourists are overlooking the water. And as we go by – what do Ford and Liollio decide they should do? Bare their nipples and scream like rednecks at the top of their lungs. Fantastic. And if I remember correctly we actually went by for a 2nd round of “Show Your Nipples to the Tourists”.

You’re a blast, Liollio. Happy Birthday.

- posted by Richelle Hollingshead