About Me

Yes, it's the ego section!

OK, let's face it, most personal web sites are a bit of a vanity publishing ego trip and mine is no exception. However, apart from comming across one of the subject pages in a search engine there aren't many reasons for people to visit this site apart from to find out more about me, so here goes:

I was born on 24th September 1965 in Dundee, Scotland where I lived for 19 years. In 1984 I moved to Kirkcaldy for my second and third years of college in pursuit of an HND in Computer Studies, working at the Ice Rink to get some extra cash and moving on to my first full time job when I graduated. In early 1987 my application to join the Civil Service was accepted and they posted me to London, so I emigrated.

After ten years of living in and around London my employers Texas Instruments despatched me to Dallas for a year and then packed up the company and moved it Northampton while I was gone. However, I tracked them down and that's where I'm now located.

Glued to the screen.

I spend a frightening amount of my life sat in front of one screen or another, or even more than one at a time. At work a PC is the main tool of my job and at home it's one of my main forms of entertainment. I often go to see more than one movie a week at the cinema (if I can find a gap in my TV watching schedule) and then there's the obscenely large DVD collection. Finally there's the Pocket PC that I take everywhere, enabling me to read downloaded email, web pages and e-books whenever I'm out and about. It may seem a sad and unhealthy lifestyle to you, and it probably is, but trust me - I love it.

What Do I Watch?

I'm a science fiction addict, which is undoubtedly a legacy from my dad, so I'll give most new sci-fi movies and tv shows a look no matter how bad the reviews. I've also been hooked on emergency services dramas (police, ambulance, fire, etc) but that's an interested that has been gradually cooling since TV has become saturated with them. Likewise detective and court-room dramas, although I still can't resist any chance to catch Columbo or Dalziel & Pascoe in action. I love a good witty comedy, like Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister or Frasier, but I usually can't stand slapstick.

What Do I Read?

I don't read nearly as much as I used to, in fact hardly ever, but when I do science fiction, detective fiction and thrillers make up the bulk of my reading. I'd say Greg Bear and Robert Heinlein would have to my sci-fi favourites and among the detectives it would have to be the aformentioned Dalziel & Pascoe (or anything else by Reginald Hill), the gay insurance claims investigator Dave Brandstetter and hillarious fag/fag hag pairing of Dan Vallentine and Clarisse Lovelace in the 4 book series attributed to Nathan Aldyne. While we're on the subject of gay writing and characters I can't fail to mention the master himself Armistead Maupin and the excellent Joe Keenan who, in addition to being a writer on Frasier has a couple of books to his credit. I also plough through my share of the best sellers by the likes of Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton, John Grisham, etc.

What Do I Listen To?

Pop by the Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Savage Garden.
Movie Soundtracks by James Horner, Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, David Arnold, etc.
Electronic music from Jean Michele Jarre, Wendy Carlos, Isao Tomita.
Classical - the occaisonal smattering from right across the board.

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