I also realise this blog doesn't give much away about me, which is kind of the way I prefer it. But here are 20 random things about me, if you're interested.
1. I met the band Trio at the Kensington Hilton in 1982. They were going on Top of the Pops that night. And the odd thing is, I'd just bought Da Da Da. I asked the woman who was looking after them if they'd sign it for me, and they did. 'I hope you bought it at a chart return shop!' she said. And I had. I still have this record.
2. I had a girlfriend called Lucy, who I was mad about. She dumped me and I was devastated. I saw her years later - through Friends Reunited and wondered what I could possibly have seen in her. Anyway, a clip exists of her dancing in the crowd to Ryan Paris singing La Dolce Vita on Top of the Pops.
3. On a riverboat in Bangkok in 1986 I bumped into the mother of my best friend when I was nine. She was so surprised she nearly fell over.
4. When I was 17 my friend next door died of meningitis. He was on 15. It was my first real experience of death and I was so shocked I thought about nothing else for years. Death suddenly became very real to me and that feeling has never gone away.
5. I still can't bring myself to really like fish. Okay, I'll eat it, but let's just say I wouldn't order it unless there was no choice. I like sushi though. It's the bones I can't deal with. One bone and that's it for me. With my wife, it's gristle in meat, though she fails to see my point.
6. I went to boarding school from 16 -18 and watched only two tv programmes regularly in that time: Top of the Pops and The Young Ones.
7. My mum was one of Woman's Own Undiscovered British Beauties in the late 50s.
8. At the Southampton Show in 1971 we watched Mum and Dad's acquaintances John and Eleanor Greenhouse perform their dance The Washing Machine, which involved them wearing sheets and cartwheeling across each other. Well, it was 1971.
9. I used to be obsessed with flags of all nations, and I can still name you most of the capitals of most of the countries in the world.
10. My favourite game as a child was knocking on people's doors and running away. Knock Down Ginger, I beleive it's called. Of course if anyone did that to me now, I'd reach for my shotgun.
11. I find the whole celebrity culture very tiresome. In fact, I hate it. I don't want to live in a world where Jordan, Kerry, I'm A Celeb contestants, Posh, Jen, TomKat et al rule.
12. I wish there were still only four channels of TV.
13. My parents lived in Bahrain for 10 years, 1980 - 1990. I used to hate going out there in school/university holidays because a) All my friends were here; and b) It was too hot. What I wouldn' t do now for free flights to the Middle East where I could lie by a pool all day.
14. I was an odd child. I far preferred sitting in reading a book by a radiator than playing outside. That's not to say I didn't enjoy playing outside too, because I did. But I was never - and am still not - sporty, which can be a bit of a social handicap, as anyone who's got no interest in sport will testify. If don't like football then your sexuality is called into question, etc. Very boring. Cos let's not forget: men like football, women like shoes. End of.
15. Favourite film is Midnight Cowboy. My favourite song is Uncertain Smile by The The. My favourite TV show is The Sopranos. My favourite book is a hard one - there are too many. I think I prefer authors: Philip Roth, John Updike, George Orwell, Iris Murdoch, Magnus Mills.
16. My wife and I met when we worked in a bookshop 19 years ago. We've been together for 16 years. We've been married for 11 years. She's a wonder.
17. My grandma was one of 14 children, from Wigan. She moved down south at 20 and died at 93. I don't believe she was ever really happy. She used to run a pub on the outskirts of Portsmouth for a friend, Jack Cuff, who was mad about her. We got all the old records from the jukebox. I was sure mannequins lived in the billiard room.
18. Until I was 20 I had a 28-inch waist. I used to lie awake at night praying to God to make me put on weight. And look what happened. Be careful what you wish for.
19. I wish I was couple of inches taller.
20. I'm a generally happy person, but I'm no good in the mornings.
4 comments:
My equivalent of knock down ginger was filling in the Postage Paid coupons at the back of the Reader's Digest that said 'YES! I WOULD LIKE A VISIT FROM A COAL MERCHANT!' with random addresses from the phone book, and mailing them off, thinking how surprised P Balls of 15 Pound Avenue would be to get a coalman on the doorstep.
Are you going to regale readers with your tales of a record player and a tale that you were a DJ with a prize to offer? I like that one...
PS It took ages to realise that's a picture of Matt Johnson.
I think in a certain half-light that picture could almost be me...
Hmmmm...you're not wrong. But at least you have a lovely head of tousled hair.
Very interesting reading, thanks.
I thought that was you in the picture and was going to remark that you look like Robert Carlyle in Cracker. Oops.
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