Just when you thought you knew your favorite bloggers, along comes the Bubble Gum Interviews. We ask the really tough questions about things like food preferences, high school stories and favorite hair products.  Today’s victim is Kevin Boer of famed blog Three Oceans who should probably have said no to an interview, but decided to be a good sport anyhow! :) 

What is the nerdiest piece of technology that you own?

My garlic crusher. Or perhaps my leg-mounted altimeter which I use for paragliding, which unfortunately I don’t do much anymore.

You have to loose a sense- which one is it and why?

It would dramatically reduce my quality of life, but if I had to give up one sense, it would be my sense of smell. I love the scent of good food, but I’d give that up to retain the ability to hear Mozart, U2, Thomas Mapfumo, and The African Jazz Pioneers; to retain the ability to see beautiful sunsets, my beautiful wife, and Table Mountain and the Twelve Apostles; and to taste Rijstafel, Kosai, and Suya (though, if I’m not mistaken, losing one’s sense of smell also impacts taste).

Dan Rather and Jessica Alba are sitting at different tables at Starbuck’s and you have the guts to go sit with ONLY one- which one is it and why?

Dan Rather. A bit of a nutcase, but definitely more interesting than Jessica Alba. Besides, my wife is far sexier — than both Dan Rather and Jessica Alba.

Now that you’ve been named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Bloggers, how are you dealing with your celebrity?

Trying to avoid the paparazzi.

Name something you collect- DVDs, porcelain pigs, pet rocks…

Electronic crap. Someday I will open up that 1994 hard drive to see how it works, or boot up my 1983 Osborne to see if I still remember CP/M, or re-install DOS 5.x off a 1.4MB disk.

Tell us about your diverse heritage and how your background makes you different than people around you.

Father is Dutch Canadian. Mom is Dutch American. They met in Michigan. Born there, left after 6 weeks, raised in Nigeria. Came back to Michigan for 2nd grade and then for college. Went to Botswana for 4 years and South Africa for 3. Moved to Santa Barbara (her name is Theresa). New Haven for a year. Got married. London for the summer. New Haven for another year. Nigeria for the summer. Have now finally settled in Menlo Park, CA. I’m different from other people in that my party tricks revolve around Setswana tongue twisters (”Go goga ga gago ga go gontle”), Hausa tongue twisters (”Ba ta taba tabata ba, ko ta taba taba taba, ko bata taba taba taba ba”), and stories of Nigerian taxi drivers.

What are your retirement plans?

Have enough passive income to live comfortably from April to October in the Bay Area, and from October to April in Cape Town. 2 summers every year.

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So, there you have it.  Kevin admits to owning a garlic crusher as if there is shame associated with it, has the hots for a conversation with Dan Rather, has an electronics fetish, can boggle the mind with African tongue twisters and spends his spare time hiding out from the paparazzi!  Now that you really know Kevin, what do you think?