Monday, February 28, 2011

Day 9: a picture of the person who has gotten you through the most

It would be lovely, and cheesy, to put up a large flowery picture of JESUS.

However, while I'm sure it's true, I'm not one of those people who has always felt him there like a numinous cloud hovering behind my left shoulder, offering support and reassurance. I'm very much a footprints-in-the-sand type of guy, often inferring his presence only when I look back at a single trail of footprints and realise we must have both been hopping.

Or however the poem goes.

So anyway, here is the agent Jesus chooses to use. I give you: Old Father Time.

So often, I've got through things simply by putting my head and down and being aware that the sun will still come up tomorrow and This Too Shall Pass. Even when "this" is a cricket game, which admittedly gives the impression of being able to slow down the advent of sunrise by some considerable degree.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Day 7: a picture of your most treasured item

I give you: Clanger.



Time was he had the proper feet and pipe-cleaner arms and the ears stuck out a bit more ... but hey, he's old. You could have knocked me down with a feather when at the age of 10 or 11 I learned that clangers are pink. We only had b&w TV, so that's probably why he's made out of a grey sock.

What happened to the other sock, I have no idea.

Look very closely and you'll see he's wearing a badge depicting the XVIII Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Another story.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Day 6: a picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day

I give you Steven Paul Jobs, Esq.



Do not mistake this for envy. Oh, no. I have actually become better disposed towards Steve since learning of his key role in the creation of Pixar - but that goes but a little way towards full mitigation of his crimes. I'm not expecting to bring Apple down in a day, but how much damage did Ratner do to his empire with just one badly timed speech? Oh yes, I could do some harm.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Day 3: a picture of the cast from your favourite show

Problematic because my favourite show has a fairly high cast turnover, secondary characters rarely lasting more than a couple of years and the actor playing the main character lasting not much more than another couple after that.

So, in case you hadn't guessed, here's all the actors to play the main character since the show began ...

... my favourite of course being the guy in the hat and the scarf.

I think I know exactly why I liked Doctor Who. My first Doctor was Jon Pertwee, who played him as a gentleman, always courteous and friendly, tolerating no fools but valiant to a fault in opposing evil. I also had no difficulty in equating the crack UNIT – who actually were pretty rubbish, if you look at the old shows closely – with the SAS with which I was more closely acquainted in the real world.

The show finally became must-see for me when without any kind of warning Jon Pertwee turned into Tom Baker; I mean, if the main character could just turn into someone else, who knew what else might happen? It was also helped by Tom Baker’s early performance easily being Doctor Who at its best – I hold this opinion even now, having rewatched much of it on video or DVD – and Sarah Jane Smith weaving a spell on my pre-adolescence that I didn’t really understand but knew I liked.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Day 2: a picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest

Well, I've been close to a lot of people, some of them longer than I've known my dear wife, but she is without doubt the one I am currently closest to, and that should last a lifetime even if other friendships fade away.

So really, she is the only one I can include in today's picture.


That said, I have included the top of Middle Godson's head just to show that we are looking at something and not just demurely casting our eyes downward. He's on my Facebook friend list and I'll be interested to see if he remembers where this was taken ...

Sunday, February 20, 2011

30 day photo challenge - day 1

Here's the rules:


And so here's the picture for Dee Wurn, me (last summer in Gothenburg) with ten facts (presumably about myself).

  1. According to Chinese astrology I am a snake dominated by wood. I don't believe a word of it, which is typical of us Aquarians.
  2. I'm a Belfast child, though you might have difficulty believing this if we ever met.
  3. Of my father's three best mates in his early army days, two were selected as my godfathers and the third became a multi-millionaire. Nice call, Dad.
  4. My first school was Hampton Dene primary school, Hereford.
  5. My first professional sale was "Digital Cats Come Out Tonight", to the anthology Digital Dreams, ed. David V. Barrett, 1991.
  6. 1 September this year will be my decimal birthday - 17,000 days!
  7. My grandfather fought at Kohima, of which fact I am dead proud.
  8. If there can be too much chocolate in my life, I have yet to reach that stage.
  9. I have never met the Queen, the Pope or the President of the USA. I have however shaken hands with Richard Dawkins and have a dedicated copy of Tom Baker's autobiography.
  10. I am a Christian.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Political pensées

I'm currently feeling quite well disposed towards our elected representatives in Westminster so I thought I'd mention it while it lasts.
There are of course drawbacks as well. Things like the expenses scandal are just background noise by now: no, current reservations centre around the Hoff's new buddy.
  • Guess what - he's making the rich richer. He is not an evil man and he's not doing it for the sheer thrill of putting money into his friends' pockets. Thatcher was motivated by spite and ideology in equal part; with Dave it's just ideology, sadly misplaced. He is sincere in his belief that everyone benefits by making the rich richer, just as his predecessor but one was sincere in his belief that you can create paradise on earth with a web of ever more restricting legislation on every aspect of human affairs that will be perfect if everyone only obeys it in exactly the spirit they're meant to. And they're both equally wrong.
  • The Big Society: see above. Lovely idea and fine in a world where everyone is as Dave would like them to be. Which they're not, as brilliantly put by Philip Pullman in a speech mostly about libraries but covering other bases too.
At the moment that's still more plus points than minuses, which is a nice feeling.