By far the most popular section of EdgeCurve is the Captions Game. Thousands of captions are submitted every round by players around the world. We thought it would be fun to get to know some of the players that have either been playing for years now, or have an exceptional talent. Today, we talk with Dave Mattingly. Say hello to Dave in the comments below.

Mr. E: Hello Dave, please introduce yourself.
Dave: I’m Dave Mattingly, frequent runner-up at EdgeCurve.

Mr. E: What part of the country do you live in?
Dave: I live in Louisville, Kentucky, the 16th largest city in the US (although we cheated by merging our city and county governments, so that the city took up a lot more area).

Mr. E: What do you do when not playing the Captions Game?
Dave: I program computers, publish roleplaying games, edit magazines, lead church service, clean up after my son, and surf the web.

Mr. E: How did you first hear about EdgeCurve’s Captions Game?
Dave: I first started playing the caption game way back in 2001, so it must have been by carrier pigeon.

Mr. E: How else do you flex your creative muscle?
Dave: I write books, play games, and pretend to be busy at work. I wonder if I can flex my creative muscle to tell my doctor that I’ve been exercising?

Mr. E: What sort of items have you bought with your Amazon winnings?
Dave: Contrary to the name, they do not actually sell amazons, which was quite a disappointment. Plus, they were out of sharks with frickin’ lasers on their heads, so I got a book about the history of comic books.

Mr. E: If we asked, what four words would a best friend use to describe you?
Dave: It depends on which friend you’d ask. Responses may vary.
A. “He owes me money.”
B. “He makes funny faces.”
C. “What a complete dork.”
D. “I hate that guy.”
E. “EdgeCurve? Not you again!”

Mr. E: What would you say are some of your guilty pleasures?
Dave: Keanu Reeves movies and superhero cartoons.

Mr. E: What animal do you think you most resemble?
Dave: Roadkill.

Mr. E: Creamy or chunky peanut butter?
Dave: Ooh, nasty! I can’t stand peanut butter. I much prefer cream cheese.

Mr. E: Do you remember what was the last book or magazine you read?
Dave: The last book I read was “The Vast White,” by BlackWyrm Press, but it is not yet published. The last published book was “Little Girl Lost,” a superhero adventure novel by Arbor Productions.

Mr. E: What historical figure would you most like to have dinner with?
Dave: Ghandi. That way, there’d be more dinner left for me.

Mr. E: If we looked, what would we find on your iPod?
Dave: I have an iPod and nobody told me?!? If you look at my off-brand iPod, you’d find everything from a cappella harmony like The Bobs to neopunk like Rancid to Christian hymns like We Will Dance to industrial goth like Ministry to parody rap like The Great Luke Ski to quirky folk like Ed’s Redeeming Qualities to hip hop like Nappy Rootz to throwbacks like Mystic Eyes to geek chic like The Decemberists to hard country like Kathleen Edwards to Japanese pop like Shonen Knife to psychobilly like Southern Culture on the Skids to golden oldies like The Zombies, and much much more.

Mr. E: Lastly, you win (or are mentioned) a lot at the Captions Game, what advice can you give to all the other players that you beat so consistently?
Dave: Don’t just submit your funniest caption — submit as many as you can think of. My funniest captions never win, because EdgeCurve’s sense of humor is not as refined as my own. Then go back in time so that you can win a caption contest back when the prizes were cool, like the fashionable EdgeCurve t-shirt I proudly wear.