This week, GTS sat down with Threadless Enginer - Scott Van Den Plas. We talk about robot related pranks, trading lectures for honorary degrees and the reckless lifestyle of Billy Dee Williams. On with the show...

GTS: Hello ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another fantastic installment of Gettin' The Skinny - Intriguing Interviews with Threadless Staff. Today's guest is Scott Van Den Plas. How's is going, Scott?

Scott: Excellent actually, these are very busy times with all of the skinnyCorpses.

GTS: No question, tell the folks at home what you do @ Threadless.

Scott: I am part of the Tech Awesome Dudes, I am one of the few and proud Threadless engineers that make Threadless go. I am personally responsible for the systems architecture behind the scenes, helping Threadless continue to grow.

GTS: Very cool. How long have you been @ Threadless?

Scott: A couple of months now, I started about 3 days prior to Tom, our newish CEO.

GTS: From what I understand, the folks at Threadless love to play pranks. Have you been victimized yet?

Scott: I think everyone has been victimized at some point in time, but I have some how escaped from anything major... unless this interview is completely fake. I guess I hadn't considered that possibility. I did get a phone call in the middle of the night from a wake up service, one of our other engineers set up a call to all of the tech department. When I picked up the phone at 3:30 AM, a robot voice told me to wash my butt. Its not as bad as that time they convinced Charlie he was about to interview Al Gore. Don't bring that up with him though, it is a sore subject. He nearly disowned us.

GTS: Al Gore? That's an epic prank. Awhile back on the blogs, you asked for facial hair grooming advice. What's the good word on your 'stache situation?

Scott: Well, the 'stache situation was directly effecting my marital situation. It takes a very tolerant woman to handle a mustache like that, and apparently my wife is not very tolerant. I have actually retired my Dick Firestorm apparel until the trucker 'stache as back, I feel as if they both need to travel in pairs.

GTS: So no naked ladies or skull tees for you?

Scott: Well, -1 naked lady on shirts and +1 naked lady in real life... so I guess it evens out.

GTS: Definitely. What's your favorite part about working @ Threadless?

Scott: My absolute favorite is evangelizing for us. I am lucky enough to be able to speak on Threadless' behalf from time to time, mostly at technology conferences and schools. I may have finagled my way into an honorary green MBA from Dominican University, Harper and I have promised to speak to their business school in exchange for them. We're still waiting to see if that happens, but I am optimistic. So yeah, we both love speaking, and if you're in school now, tell your professors to give us an honorary degree in anything, and we'll work that out. I really want an honorary degree in economics, I feel as if that will be important in light of our economic situation. So if you are in an economics program, please email me and help me get a degree: scottv@skinnycorp.com

GTS: You need a "Will lecture for honorary degrees" tee.

Scott: I'll submit the typetee slogan now: http://www.threadless.com/profile/316812/scottv/slogans

GTS: Ha ha, you better split that prize money with me. What topics do you and Harper cover during your tech conference/scholastic talks?

Scott: It depends on the audience, when we speak at a tech talk, we may cover an interesting problem that we have solved, or typically something more technical. We did speak at an O'Reilly conference and talked about Giraffes vs. Mustaches called "5 smart things in Small IT".

GTS: Damn dude, that presentation is epic. GTS readers would be very well served to memorize its contents.

Scott: There are many incredible factual nuggets there. Please feel free to add any of those to wikipedia, using this as your referenced source.

GTS: What are some of your favorite Tless tees?

Scott: I love the Liquid Shot hoody, the one with the gold foil. But my favorite design of all time is Speedy's Mr. Mitten's. I am a video game addict, so Madness of Mission 6 and Occupational Hazard are high up there. Braaains! is also a fantastic shirt, and I am really fond of Coffee Cloud.

GTS: Great choices. M.O.M 6 is one of my personal faves. I told my fellow bloggers that we'd be chatting and they posted some questions for you.

Scott: Excellent. By the way, our slogan has 8 votes now, it is not doing well.

GTS: Damn slogan haters. Onto the blogger questions - the first comes from jess4002: What's one thing you would love to do but haven't had the opportunity to do it yet?

Scott: Hunting man for sport. I am a vegetarian though, so it would be catch and release.

GTS: Kind of like a less violent Surviving The Game?

Scott: Or an intensely more violent Running Man. Running man mixed with clockwork orange, but with the ending of Titanic. Wait, not Titanic, if I remember correctly, that did not end well. I wanted a happy ending and that popped into my head first. Ok, so with the ending of the Shining. But everyone lives and eats tofurkey.

GTS: Chipmnk asked: You are applying to become a hero. However, you still have to decide your animal sidekick. He-Man had Cringer/Battle Cat. The Thundercats had Snarfs. Superman had Krypto. What would your animal sidekick be and why?

Scott: Before working at Threadless, I worked at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. They have millions of specimens there, all sorts of dead animals. I think it would be awesome to command a legion of zombie undead animals. They also have this room full of flesh eating beetles, which would also be a somewhat powerful army... but the problem is that they only eat dead flesh, so it would have to be one or the other. If both legions joined forces, the ensuing civil war would be a massacre. Alternately, Charlie in a Raccoon costume would be a more realistic third. Ask him about that sometime.

GTS: speedyjvw wanted to know: Who is better at guitar hero than you?

Scott: Chris Chike, the current world record holder I believe. That dude is insane but I have never played him. I have actually never been beaten in real life. I say the biggest mistake I have ever made at Threadless was beating Jeffrey. Don't tell him I said anything about that.

GTS: Ouch, yeah, you're supposed to beat the boss at anything. ever.

Scott: About a week later, I won our Puzzle Fighter tournament. It was just salt in the wound.

GTS: Double ouch. iDanSimpson asked: What is your Quest?

Scott: To seek the Grail, obviously.

GTS: Chipmnk chimed in again with this age-old question: How do you feel about hats?

Scott: I guess it depends on why they are worn. Most hats, I am cool with, we are on good terms. Normal hat usage, for fashion or for safety, is perfectly acceptable. Unacceptable headware would be any hat worn for some unscrupulous reason. Hats worn to execute the innocent, for example. A hat worn to execute the guilty would be a tough call... I am generally against the death penalty, but I can't fault anyone for following legal precedent.

GTS: The hat topic is definitely a hot button issue throughout the world.

Scott: What is that quote from Spider Man? With great power comes great responsibility.

GTS: I think that's the one. Scott, it's time to play Pick One - are you familiar with the Pick One rules?

Scott: I sure am fire away.

GTS: #1 Badder Bill: Bill Clinton or Billy Dee Williams?

Scott: Billy Dee. I like Billy C., but Billy Dee has laser guns and an alcohol problem. Seriously, would you screw with someone with lasers slamming colt 45? No.

GTS: #2 Pervy Cartoon Dudes: Jon Arbuckle from Garfield or David Seville from Alvin & The Chipmunks?

Scott: Jon Arbuckle, the internet has done wonderful things to him.

GTS: #3 Brake for Breakfast: Pancakes or Waffles?

Scott: This an ongoing dispute in my household. I believe a waffle iron is necessary, my wife considers it a useless kitchen appliance. I am firmly on the waffle side, yet I order/make them rarely.

GTS: #4 Crisis Craze: Climate Change or Credit Crunch?

Scott: Climate Crunch, it sounds like a cereal.

GTS: Now with 50% more carbon emissions! Yay!

GTS: #5 Old School Gaming: Metroid or Zelda?

Scott: That is one of the most difficult questions anyone has ever asked me. Zelda.

GTS: #6 Trim It Up: Nose Hair or Ear Hair?

Scott: That is not something one should have to choose. Both.

GTS: Good answer!

GTS: #7 Prank Rank: Hand Buzzer or Whoopie Cushion?

Scott: Harper wants to answer this one with "Whoopie Buzzer" I am onboard with that, it sounds uncomfortable. We are pretty sure you would immediately release your bowels

GTS: Messy and hilarious.

GTS: #8 More Likely To Conquer The Planet After We Blow Ourselves Up: Sharks or Robots?

Scott: Robots, they an unrestricted by landscape and unaffected by most radiation. The grey goo of nanobots will be unstoppable, feasting on all organic matter until they master the difficult science of cold fusion.

GTS: #9 Mister Mister: Mr. Rogers or Mr. Belvedere?

Scott: Rogers, he essentially invented public television whereas Mr. Belvedere simply took second place to ALF. I guess he also gave Bob Uecker a home, that guy would have died by 1989 without Belvedere to save him.

GTS: True.

GTS: #10 Now We're Cooking: Grilled or fried?

Scott: Grilled on charcoal.

GTS: Right on. Scott, GTS has come to another bittersweet conclusion. Just two more quick things before you go: first, which Threadless staffer should I interview next and secondly: do you have any words of wisdom for the folks at home?

Scott: There is a camera man from a tv crew filming me as I am talking to you
it is kind of creepy, he didn't say anything to me, and is now filming my legs

GTS: Did you shave your legs today?

Scott: One of them, but they are both covered

GTS: Thank God for pants.

Scott: I think you should interview Tom Ryan, our CEO next. Word of wisdom: stay out of the trees.