These things I like
Dec 23rd, 2009 by Old Midhurstian
This is the bit where I tell you the things I like, I guess it all goes to build a better picture of me.
Music
Since joining the church choir at the age of eight, music has been one of the most important things in my life. Singing was joined by violin, viola and the church organ and I studied music theory to A level. Music was my sanctuary in the difficult years between the ages of ten and eighteen. One of my most exciting musical experiences came in 1967 when I was part of a combined schools choir performing Messiah in London’s Royal Festival Hall. I still compose and my current project is a suite of tone poems inspired by the Darkover novels of the Late Marion Bradley. I’ve lost none of my youthful pretension you’ll notice. Apart from the creative aspect I also love listening to music and have fairly catholic tastes. My favourite bands, not all of whom are still around, are Hawkwind, Yes, Pink Floyd, Leonard Cohen, Mountain, The Grateful Dead to name but a few of a great many. From the 60s Tom Paxton has a special place in my heart as he wrote the hauntingly beautiful “All Night Long” which meant so much to me during long sleepless nights when I was searching for answers that never came. I also love many of the great classical composers chiefly J.S. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Verdi, Purcell, Richard Strauss and R Vaughan Williams. I also have a weakness for Gilbert & Sullivan having performed in or stage lit most of their operettas over the years.
Reading
Another great passion of mine. Since discovering Childhoods End by Arthur C. Clarke in the school library during my first week at grammar school I have been an avid reader of Science Fiction and Fantasy. To list my favourite authors would take a lifetime but among my very favourites are Michael Moorcock, Julian May, Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert and Arthur C. Clarke. That really is just a tiny example of the authors I love to read. I also have somewhat eclectic tastes in general literature with William S. Burroughs being a particular favourite, my collection of his works is, I think, complete.
Writing
I probably don’t need to dwell on the book I’m currently writing so I’ll just say that it’s a vitally important project to me and consumes a great deal of my time. One of the results I’m hoping to achieve with this painful journey through my young life is to break the creative block that has forced me to shelve my own contribution to the world of SF.
Film & TV
Surprise, surprise more SF and the TV programmes that have most grabbed my interest recently are Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG1/Atlantis/Universe, Babylon 5 and the whole of the Star Trek Franchise. I also very much enjoyed Earth Final Conflict, Andromeda and the short-lived but utterly brilliant Firefly. Movies follow pretty much the same pattern and for me to actively dislike a SF movie it has to be fairly dire, hence my intense dislike of the movie version of Dune.
Games
I love our XBox360 and often use games as therapy for emotional overload, a regular feature of my life at the moment. My favourite games at the moment are Fallout 3, Mass Effect and Oblivion. We’re eagerly awaiting Mass Effect 2 due in January and may try Assassins Creed 2.
We appear to have the same taste in TV and movies. I love computer games and my music taste is diverse. I am not in favor or classical or opera, and have no time for rap. Most stuff I will give a try and I find I can get a long with even more than I did many years ago.
Best wishes,
Scottie
I feel the same with music, these days I’m much more likely to give someone new a chance to impress me than just dismissing them the way I did in my teens. That’s probably a good thing
Mac