Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Tag Team

Good day fellow bloggers; yours truly has been tagged good and proper by blogging buddy Old Cheeser and so I must most humbly submit myself to the task at hand.

The rules are simple (they could have been written for me):

First: post the following rules and a link to the person who tagged you.

Second: share seven interesting facts about yourself. The more amazingly interesting the better.

Third: tag seven people at the end of your post linking their names to their blogs and advising them of their tagged status via the comments facility on their own blogs.

Couldn't be easier. Except finding seven interesting facts about myself is going to be an absolute labour of Hercules...

1) One of my aunts is a distant relation of Audrey Hepburn. But sadly so distant that there is utterly no mileage in me trying to capitalize on the connection.

2) I have met Mel and Sue, Roger McGough and two members of Killing Joke. Mel and Sue I met at Weston-super-Mare train station: Mel was lovely and friendly, Sue was much cooler but still very polite. They made a point of not getting into the same carriage as me. Was it something I said? Roger McGough I met at a book signing - top bloke but he gave me a very weird look. Was it something I said? The KJ band members - Jaz Coleman and Paul Raven - I met during an amazing gig at the Birmingham Institute. Jaz shook my hand (his was very sweaty) and Paul Raven was wandering around brushing his teeth. He just gave me a weird look. Was it something I said...?!?

3) I am a secret Lego geek. I absolutely adore the stuff and am an avid collector. Sad eh? However, the way I look at it, there are worse addictions. I could be into crack, booze or gambling. Or, as Karen has just pointed out: I could be into football. I'm also keen to big up the fact that Lego is a lucrative investment as the models tend to increase in value as they get older.

4) When I was a toddler my mother tells me I used to regularly throw myself down the stairs (was it something she said?) without incurring a single injury. And then one day I fell down the bottom two steps and fractured my leg resulting in a few weeks in hospital. Why my family hadn't invested in a stairgate is still a mystery to me.

5) I started my as yet unrewarded writing career when I was about 7 years old after seeing Star Wars at the local cinema. Since then I have tinkered with stories and poetry with only the occasional year off here and there for bad behaviour. A veritable monster was created. Blame George Lucas.

6) A friend and I once snuck into the grounds of Guy's Cliffe - a local heritage site owned by the Masons and reputedly haunted by the ghost of lady Felice of Warwick who threw herself from one of the windows into the river below - and part-way round were confronted by a very spooky presence. I'm not joking for once either. We didn't actually see a manifestation but something unwelcoming was definitely there. I'm happy to report that we both turned tail and ran, wise poltroons that we were...

7) I have a phobia of moths. I can't stand them anywhere near me and I cannot relax if one gets into the house. Urgh. Horrible flaky, powdery things.

There you go - seven not so fab facts to ponder about yours truly.

And now I'm tagging Ally, Eve, Rol, Laura, Tris, Emily and Per.pri to do the same!

20 comments:

The Poet Laura-eate said...

argh! I'm in panic mode now - not only do I have to follow instructions (I have veritable 'instruction dyslexia'), but I have to think of seven interesting things about myself and seven blogmates who aren't you Steve!

Can I copy and paste yours? (the friends that is!)

Laura :-)
PS: By the by did you know Oliver of Oliver's Poetry website lives in Leamington? Lovely guy (former journalist) who did a set at Reckless Moment comedy club in Robbin's Well last night. If you want to send him any of your poems for publication e-him at http://www.oliverspoetry.com A couple of mine are already on there.

-eve- said...

Thanks for the tag! Will get on it ASAP :-) Glad you tagged per.pri too... she's an intriguing character... :-)

per.pri said...

Love Audrey Hepburn!

3) - Me too!!!

Thanks for the tag, but I have done the seven facts one here. Thanks for thinking of me and including me. :)

Eve - lol - me intriguing?! Hehe. I don't know why but that makes me smile. You're quite intriguing yourself. Can't wait to read yours. :)

The Sagittarian said...

I hate spiders and snakes...hm, d'ya think there might be a song in that??

Steve said...

Hi Laura, I know what you mean. It took me the best part of 24 hours to find anything remotely interesting about myself. And even then I suspect I failed!

I don't know Oliver at all but will check out his site - many thanks for the tip off!

Hi Eve, I look forward to reading what you come up with.

Hey Per.pri - so glad to meet a fellow Lego fan! I know there are millions of us out there... I don't go to the same lengths as some people (i.e. building huge replicas of warships or Star Wars spaceships) but I have, I admit, designed and built my own models. It keeps me sane!

Hi Amanda, spiders and snakes I can cope with (a good job really as our house seems to be a spider sanctuary) but moths and butterflies just give me the heebie-jeebies. And excuse my musical ignorance (I'm sure I'll kick myself when you tell me) but what is the song you are cryptically referring to?!

Old Cheeser said...

Well done Steve and thanks for taking up my challenge! Oh dear, sorry that it was a bit of an ordeal for you to come up with some interesting facts....but you got there in the end! And a very eclectic bunch of facts I might add!

Such a pity that the aunt isn't more closely related to Audrey H. How fab!

Sadly I ran into no-one remotely famous during a fairly recent visit to Weston-Super-Mare! Killing Joke! Takes me back. Jaz C was a bit of a mardy b*stard though wasn't he?

I used to love Lego too! One of the best children's toys. I used to have two old chest drawers full of the stuff under my bed and would get up in the middle of the night to make some wonderful construction. I think Karen is right and it's good that you're into Lego and not football - you are a very rare breed of heterosexual man and thank the Lord for that!

I feel that all this throwing yourself down stairs when young was rather attention-seeking...but you didn't take up a career as an actor or a showgirl, so it was probably just a phase.

I can see why Star Wars would encourage you to write...

And you felt a ghostly presence! Ugh! Never seen a ghost in my life, perhaps I'm just not physically attuned enough.

I don't like moths much either but they're more annoying than harmful. Snakes and wasps I don't like.

Rol said...

That's seven more interesting facts than I'll ever manage - so I think I might be opting out.

I plead boringness, your honour.

Steve said...

An absolute pleasure as always OC - as for attention seeking, I'm sure my mother would agree with that analysis! Jaz Coleman is still something of a mardy b*st*rd by all accounts though he's looking decidedly crumbly in the last interview I saw him in. I think when I was younger I quite admired his rage and anger. Nowadays I'm into being calm and stress-free wherever possible!

Steve said...

Rol, you're never boring. Just the fact you are choosing to opt out is interesting...!

The Sagittarian said...

http://www.superseventies.com/sl_spidersandsnakes.html

There ya go...sing your socks off!!

How's baby by the way?

per.pri said...

You just gotta love Lego. I still have mine at home under my bed. I have crates of the stuff!!!

Although, I think original Lego is sooo much better than all this new-fangled stuff that is out there. What is the point in having Lego when you can't make it into anything else other than what is on the box? There is no fun in that. Part of the fun is making up something new and original, seeing if you can get the image in your head into a tangible Lego form.

Whoah...too much Lego talk...! I might just have to go get some...lol! :D

Tristan said...

Mate - I don't know any bloggers other than you and my missus (and you bagged her already), but I have shared 7 obscure facts about myself on me blog!

Annie G said...

Hi Steve, just trying to get my head around all this tagging business - it looks a lot of fun. As a non-tagged-ess, I'll just make a few comments.
Your seven facts were really interesting! Hey, I also met Roger McGough when he did a Mersey poets recital with Brian Patten and the late Adrian Henri at the Birmingham Rep Theatre in the 90s. Roger was really nice... no weird looks that I noticed lol. I had a pic taken with the 3 poets.

BTW, I had never heard of Channel Dave until you mentioned it on your blog. Thanks!!! I've managed to watch a couple of "Whose Line...." episodes and have recorded at least 8 to watch.

Old Cheeser looks an interesting chap.

Must get back to Dave.

Daisy said...

i have never been hot on legos...probably because my little brother used to lay them all over the floor and i would end up stepping on them and getting them imbedded in my foot...only thing i found good about them is they make great projectiles :)

Steve said...

Hi Amanda - Tom doing well though has been suffering from cholic a little. However the health visitor recommended something from the chemist which has really helped him; back to being a very calm, very easy to care for baby. Simply gorgeous.

Hi Per.pri, I must admit that initially I shared your disenchantment with the new Lego colours and free-form pieces but eventually they won me over. The models are now so clever and elegant it's untrue. The amount of detail is amazing and far from limiting your imagination the possibilities now are quite endless. I'm sure one day I'll do a post on it and include some pics of the old collection. How sad am I?

Thanks Tris, I shall hotfoot it over to your blog now and read up on all the things you've kept hidden from me during the past 30 odd years...!

Hi Annie, yes Rog (as I like to call him) is actually a lovely bloke though he always looks permanently bemused! I agree: Channel Dave is winning me over more and more and I'm now a Whose Line re-run regular... just the thing to watch while I eat my evening meal! Glad to have been of service. If you want to join the tag just follow the rules - you're very welcome!

Hi Daisy, I agree that discarded Lego can be a painful experience but my wife says I have developed Lego eyes and can spot a brick instantly upon entering a room. I'm thinking of putting myself forward for the next series of Heroes but somehow I don't think my powers will be of much use in the quest to save the world!

Daisy said...

the new series of heroes is a little different...i'm not sure if i like it or not yet...time will tell but as always i continue to watch in hope for something spectacular to happen on the boob tube

Steve said...

Hi again Daisy, you're not the first person to express slight disappointment at the second season of Heroes... it'll be months before we get it here in the UK. I guess I ought to make the most of season one while I can!

Old Cheeser said...

That's a good philosophy Steve - being calm and stress-free that is.

As for Jaz he might have been moody but granted he could be quite funny with it - I remember seeing him on some TV show slagging off Morrisey which was quite amusing.

Daisy said...

steve...sometimes you can get the shows on forumflicks.com or stage6.com it's a bit handy when you want the show NOW...i'm not usually the most patient person...at times :)

Steve said...

Hi again OC, yeah Jaz could and still can be very amusing. I remember an interview where he discussed a point in his life when he wanted to murder someone - there was real genuine menace in his voice but also lunatic amusement at how close he'd come to actually doing it! Scary man! But great lyricist and a truly mesmerizing performer.

Hi Daisy, thanks for the tip off - may have to give those sites a go if and when I get Heroes withdrawal symptoms!