First record?
The first single I bought was ‘Heart of Glass’ by Blondie and the first album I bought was ‘Outlandos D’Amour’ by The Police, both of which I still listen to on my iPod – so they have survived, vinyl, tape, CD and now digital. Not bad going.
The book you’ve always wanted to read?
‘War and Peace’ – I must have looked at it a dozen times over the years and just been overwhelmed by its size. More recently I have tried and failed a number of times to get past the first few pages of Hilary Mantel’s ‘Wolf Hall’.
Favourite TV show?
I have always loved ‘Have I got News for You’, right now it’s ‘Borgen’. Before that it’s probably ‘The Sopranos’ and ‘The West Wing’ in a tie, with ‘The Wire’ pushing them hard. In my more distant past it was a close run thing between ‘Grange Hill’ and ‘Newsround’.
Favourite item of clothing?
My first ever tie, a 1970s kipper from theVictoria and Albert Museum, which has as its pattern a copy of dragons from a 16th century Chinese vase in the museum. I bought it for 10p in a charity shop so I could start work as a bar man in a pub immediately (they had a dress code!) I once turned down £50 from a drunken Welsh rugby fan for it.
Last trip to the cinema/theatre?
I have not managed to get to the theatre for a while but have been to the cinema a lot and most recently saw the new ‘Spiderman’ with my daughters. It was excellent, funny, clever, knowing and made me think happily of the ‘Spiderman’ cartoons I watched as a boy.
What is your most treasured possession (object)?
I have some pieces of clothing that my daughters wore when they were tiny. They are very special to me and remind me of how quickly time passes. I also have some of my granddad’s garden tools that I still use on my allotment which are very sentimental. Whatever bottle of malt whisky I have at times of stress is also quite treasured. It’s a Glenlivet at the moment.
What is your dream holiday destination?
I have always wanted to go to South America. Whenever people ask I say that my plan is to retire to Buenos Aires. So a year-long sabbatical touring round south and central America would do. Failing that I went camping in Yosemite a couple of years ago and that was incredible and I spent a very happy few weeks in Trivandrum on the very tip of India about 20 years ago. Back then, it was pretty much as close as it got to idyllic. I suspect that might not be the case now.
First record?
The first single I bought was ‘Heart of Glass’ by Blondie and the first album I bought was ‘Outlandos D’Amour’ by The Police, both of which I still listen to on my iPod – so they have survived, vinyl, tape, CD and now digital. Not bad going.
The book you’ve always wanted to read?
‘War and Peace’ – I must have looked at it a dozen times over the years and just been overwhelmed by its size. More recently I have tried and failed a number of times to get past the first few pages of Hilary Mantel’s ‘Wolf Hall’.
Favourite TV show?
I have always loved ‘Have I got News for You’, right now it’s ‘Borgen’. Before that it’s probably ‘The Sopranos’ and ‘The West Wing’ in a tie, with ‘The Wire’ pushing them hard. In my more distant past it was a close run thing between ‘Grange Hill’ and ‘Newsround’.
Favourite item of clothing?
My first ever tie, a 1970s kipper from theVictoria and Albert Museum, which has as its pattern a copy of dragons from a 16th century Chinese vase in the museum. I bought it for 10p in a charity shop so I could start work as a bar man in a pub immediately (they had a dress code!) I once turned down £50 from a drunken Welsh rugby fan for it.
Last trip to the cinema/theatre?
I have not managed to get to the theatre for a while but have been to the cinema a lot and most recently saw the new ‘Spiderman’ with my daughters. It was excellent, funny, clever, knowing and made me think happily of the ‘Spiderman’ cartoons I watched as a boy.
What is your most treasured possession (object)?
I have some pieces of clothing that my daughters wore when they were tiny. They are very special to me and remind me of how quickly time passes. I also have some of my granddad’s garden tools that I still use on my allotment which are very sentimental. Whatever bottle of malt whisky I have at times of stress is also quite treasured. It’s a Glenlivet at the moment.
What is your dream holiday destination?
I have always wanted to go to South America. Whenever people ask I say that my plan is to retire to Buenos Aires. So a year-long sabbatical touring round south and central America would do. Failing that I went camping in Yosemite a couple of years ago and that was incredible and I spent a very happy few weeks in Trivandrum on the very tip of India about 20 years ago. Back then, it was pretty much as close as it got to idyllic. I suspect that might not be the case now.