Out of the Wild

Jim is applying to be on the show Out of the Wild on the Discovery Channel. She her for more info: http://pilgrimfilms.tv/casting/otw/

Here is his application:

Dear Discovery Channel and Out of the Wild,

I am inspired by my children. I am the father of two great kids who have both been diagnosed with Dyslexia. They are smart. They are hard workers. And, they struggle every day to do the things in school that other kids take for granted.

I want to be on your show because I want to show my kids how much they they inspire me and that hard work and putting your mind to anything will get you there. We've watched your show (and a lot of other Discovery Channel shows) as a family and we always talk about how much the volunteers are struggling and how they just have to “buckle down” to get through their tough spots. Just like the volunteers, my kids have to try hard, study hard, put in extra time and sometimes they still are in a tough spot, but eventually they will succeed. Applying for this show is my challenge to myself to show them that hard work does pay off.

Here's a little about me and what I do in my spare time when I'm not a doing construction work:
* I'm a former NCAA div 1 football player from Oregon State (inside linebacker)
(1984 to 1989). Don't let the beer gut in the pictures fool you, I used to be "da man"!
* I hike, camp, snowshoe, backpack, and snowboard all the time with my family in California.
* I'm a fisherman and hunter (picture of my latest kill attached -- it's a 22 pound wild turkey).
* I'm a hero to my family and friends when it comes to finding lost bunnies, unclogging clogged pipes, rescuing people from motorcycle crashes, saving people from overturned sailboats and driving kids to soccer practice.
* I've invented several “you-didn't-know-you-needed-until-I-created-it” items like a spud gun (potato grenade launcher), the Coleman crapper (perfect for long camping trips when you need to go #2), homemade crab pots, deluxe chicken palaces, excessive water features for our yard, etc.
* I can bake pies like nobody's business. Apple cranberry is the best!
* I've been married to my vegetarian wife for 20 years and sadly she has never tasted a single fish, deer, crab, pig, turkey, bear, dove, squid that I have ever brought home.
* My weaknesses: I can't spell to save my life (thank you spell check) and get the total creeps from snakes.
* Our family's pets include, a frog, hundreds of tadpoles, a labrador, a chiweenie (she is in the pic with me with my spud gun – her name is Ahi Wasabi), a beta fish, a tarantula, chickens, and a newt. And no, we don't live in the boonies, we live in a residential neighborhood in San Jose, Ca. (AKA Silicon Valley!)
* My son says that I can fix anything in the house in 15 minutes, but it's really more like 5 minutes and 10 minutes of adding "improvements."
* I'm 6'5"; my 14 year old son, Drew, is 6'1"; and my 10 year old daughter, Grace, is 5'1". We are super tall, except for the aforementioned vegetarian wife….must be the lack of meat!
* My other favorite Discovery Channel shows are the Deadliest Catch (We were all bawling like babies for Captain Phil, RIP Phil), River Monsters (I want to try catching some of those beasts!), Man vs. Wild, Survivorman (but he's not on any more), and of course Dirty Jobs (because it makes me happy that other people get dirtier than me in their jobs).

I would love the challenge that your show presents. Just give me a chance to show you my spud gun in action!

Best,
Jim