By Gracious Command of John Bright's Body
7 things to do before I die:
1. Visit Sharon.
2. Write a book
3. Have a Italian meal with the family - in Italy
4. See a Test Match
5. See a whale
6. Go to Lesbos again - this time in the spring
7. Celebrate the fourth millenium.
7 things I cannot do:
1. Whistle
2. Sing
3. Play a musical instrument
4. Pronounce the 'sh' sound properly, amongst others.
5. Go 24 hours without sleep.
6. Make my tongue curl upwards.
7. Stay tidy for more than , oh, 1 hour
7 things that I like about my county
1. Rayleigh's wide High Street, the church bells. - and the tasty bacon-topped pork pies at Byford's. The election day snack of choice for both Liberal Democrats and Conservatives.
2. Hyde Hall Gardens - up on a hill - and their excellent restaurant - Gooseberry Wine, mmm...
3. The unfashionable Southend United - now top of League 1 , as it happens
4. The archetypal English village of Finchingfield - where I took my wife on our first date. It worked for us....
5. Some favourite pubs - such as the Bull in Hockley, the Worlds End in Tilbury, and the Barge and the Hawk in Battlesbridge.
6. Hockley Woods
7. Darwin's Beagle - finally expired near Paglesham?
7 things I often say:
1. “Give me five minutes"
2. “I said, five minutes "
3. “Well , five more minutes then"
4. “Good morning, sorry to bother you, but I'm one of your local councillors..."
5. “No, I didn't watch that"
6. “What time is dinner?"
7. “Have you got a spare agenda?"
7 books that I love re-reading:
1. A Civil Campaign - Lois McMaster Bujold
2. Surely You're Joking Mr Feynmann - Richard Feynmann
3. The Mote in God's Eye - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
4. City of Illusions - Ursula Le Guin
5. The Stainless Steel Rat for President - Harry Harrison
6. Strong Poison - Dorothy L Sayers
7. Platinum Blues - William Deverall
7 movies I watch over and over again (well, more than once):
1. A Matter of Life and Death
2. Casablanca
3. Dave
4. Groundhog Day
5. Frequency (can bring me and another male friend to tears)
6. Witness
7. Ivan Vasilevich Changes Professions (in Russian - the USSR's closer approach to Monty Python)
It's too late to tag people now, but here's 7 more blogger-related things I'd like to do in say the next 7 years:
1. Watch a Livingston match with Stephen Glenn
2. See Peter Black in action in the Siambr.
3. Hear Kim Ayres play the mandolin. Or the bouzoki. Or the guitar.
4. Pop in to Roger Owen Green in his library in Albany
5. Have lunch with Daniel Drezner.
6. Find time to get to James Graham's Liberal Drinks if he does another one
7. Have a peep a Jonathan Calder's bookshelves. I suspect they are impressive...
6 comments:
Chris - there are quie a few of us Powell & Pressburger fans - AMOLAD was my top film too.
And also ... a fellow Rat fan! The thought of the luscious Angelina did strange things to a 13 year old boy ;-) And President is probably the best of the lot.
Steve,this is how I reviewed President on Amazon.com:
The Stainless Steel Rat stories are generally entertaining , sometimes amusing, written with a sense of the ridiculous and a touch of political comment. "The Stainless Steel Rat For President" is my favourite of them all
Jim Di Griz (alias the Stainless Steel Rat) takes his beautiful but deadly wife Angelina to the delightful holiday world of Paraiso-Aqui, which bears a strong resemblance to the Latin American countries of our Earth - Hispanic and full of gorgeous women, brave men and excellent rum.
Unfortunately Paraiso-Aqui suffers from the worst of Latin American politics. The whole planet is ruled by the sadistic and evil tyrant General-President Julio Zapolote. He has stayed in power by winning 41 consecutive rigged elections (and by regular use of longevity drugs!) Jim decides that Zapolote is going to be unlucky the 42nd time...
From this point on the plot involves a car full of hidden technology, unpredictable political rallies, desperate chases , short skirts , spacecraft rustling and sabotaging of election broadcasts.
I've taken part in about 25 elections and never seen spacecraft rustling once, but this book actually conveys the EXCITEMENT of a close election better than any other book I've read. Every decent politician would love to take part in a contest like this one.
On a more serious note, this book serves as a warning to those who would like to get rid of old-fashioned paper ballots and rely on computers!
Good point about electronic ballots - I'm sure this was in my mind when I heard about Florida in 2000.
Good to see another vote for Powell and Pressburger!
Enjoyed your list, Chris. And if you ever find yourself up in Dumfries & Galloway, I'm sure we could arrange something with the mandolin :)
OK. I'm stealing this for Monday.
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