Hill walking, reading, art, politics, music.
Radio Four, 6Music, BBC7 is a fantastic invention. In truth I probably listen to too much radio. I enjoy getting lost in the hills and countryside, and being by the sea. Being with my friends.
My favourite places are The Ayrshire Coast, the Sea Front at Southend, the new and even more wonderful than before Kelvingrove Gallery and Museum, and the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow.
I'd like to meet:
People who make me laugh. Anyone who can introduce me to new and exciting music, or indeed old and exciting music.
I'd quite like to meet anyone who could point me in the right direction, after all, as I rush headlong towards 40, I'm still flapping and floundering in the real world.
Music:
In general I take pleasure from listening to The Smiths, Billy Bragg, Janis Ian, Pet Shop Boys, Franz Ferdinand, Elvis Costello, Pulp, Emiliana Torrini, Morrissey, Richard Hawley, Suede, Nick Lowe, Suzanne Vega, Pulp, The Divine Comedy, Kate Bush, Rilo Kiley,Martin Stephenson and The Daintees, The Cure, Tom Robinson, Nanci Griffith, Radiohead, Danny Wilson, Laura Veirs, Missy Higgins, Orange Juice,Prefab Sprout,Trespassers William, The Clash, Kirsty MacColl, Paul Simon, Lloyd Cole, Big Country, Unkle Bob, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, John Holt. BBC 6Music used to be my music station of choice...but it's gone downhill quite rapidly in recent months. So it's BBC Radio London for me these days.
Movies:
Some Like It Hot, Toy Story 1 and 2, Brassed Off, Peter's Friends, Gregory's Girl, Groundhog Day, Manon des Sources, Looking for Richard, Shallow Grave, Withnail and I, The Punch and Judy Man,Jean de Florette, Goodbye Mr Chips, Arsenic and Old Lace, GlenGarry GlenRoss, The Great Dictator, The Usual Suspects, Shawshank Redemption, Se7en. The Wizard of Oz, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Young Frankenstein and Dougal and the Blue Cat.
Television:
Doctor Who. Life On Mars, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, The League of Gentlemen, Qi, Have I Got News For You, Belonging,Spiral, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Coupling, Casanova, Lead Balloon, Jeeves and Wooster, Newsnight,The Thick of It, Planet Earth, New Tricks, State of Play, Jonathan Creek, Paul Merton's Silent Clowns, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Books:
The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks, Frankenstein by William and Mary's girl. Anything by Alexei Sayle, 1984 by Eric, The Motorcycle Diaries, Silent Comedy by Paul Merton, Where Did It All Go Right by Andrew Collins, Cider With Roadies by Stuart Maconie, Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now by the Collins bloke again, Showbusiness by Mark Radcliffe. High Fidelity by Nick "I love Arsenal me" Hornby, Collins again with That's Me In The Corner, and Maconie's Pies and Prejudice. and can I suggest you get yourself a copy of I Think The Nurses are Stealing My Clothes by Linda Smith. Currently enjoying Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain.
Heroes:
Tony Hancock, Billy Bragg, Tony Benn, Mary Wollstonecraft, Eric Thompson,Kevin Greening, Nelson Mandela, Rich Hall, Jeremy Hardy, W H Auden, Ernst Gombrich, Bill Hicks, Linda Smith, Thomas Paine,Andrew Collins,Waldemar Januszczak, Paul Merton, A.A.Milne, Jack Lemmon, Douglas Adams, Mary Shelley, Christopher Morris, Morrissey, Stephen Fry and John Peel
