Quirks

Welcome to a warm and sunny South Manchester where the temperature is a very pleasant 26 degrees Celsius (79 Fahrenheit). We’re going to Chester tomorrow to meet some friends for a barbecue and I think it will be just as pleasant (fingers crossed).

I’ve been a little busy recently with a trip to Nice for Mrs PM’s birthday and also a gig or two so I haven’t had much time for bloggery. 

I’ll put that right now with some silly questions from Sunday Stealing.

1. What shows are you into?

Right now we have a couple of TV shows on the go. 

I have just finished watching "Snowpiercer", which is about a train with over 1000 carriages hurtling across a frozen post-apocalyptic landscape full of the last survivors of humanity. I really enjoyed it.

I am also watching "Stargate SG-1", a show that I have never seen. I tried to watch it back when it came out but TV scheduling at the time meant it was all over the place. It’s a little dated now but enjoyable all the same. 

Mrs PM and I are watching the new version of "Quantum Leap". It’s been cancelled, I know, and I can see why, but we are sticking with it.

We are also watching "Vikings Valhalla", which is the follow up to the brilliant "Vikings". I love a bit of Viking history. 

We’ve also tried out the new series of "Frasier", which bizarrely stars Nicholas Lyndhurst, a well established British comedy actor. The show is just as entertaining as the original series and I like the fact that Nicholas Lyndhurst is playing an eccentric British Harvard professor. I imagine many in America have not heard of him but he was in one of the most famous British sitcoms of all time, called Only Fools and Horses, where he played the younger brother of a dodgy old cockney market dealer who is always walking the line between legality and illegality. 

Here is a clip.

2. What’s your claim to fame?

We have a National Lottery in the UK where you can win several million pounds. We also used to have a football prediction competition called the Football Pools where you could also win a couple of million pounds.

My claim to fame is that I won both of them in the same week.

Sadly, I only won £10 on the lottery and £8 on the Football pools.

3. How often do you play sports?

I used to play sports a lot but as I have got older I have gradually whittled it down to nothing. As a kid, I played rugby, cricket, hockey, badminton, squash, softball, basketball and lots of athletics disciplines. At university I played football, badminton and squash but when I started work, I only continued with football. I finally gave that up when I was about 38 years old and started going to the gym instead. I got bored with the gym at about 42 and gave that up too. I had three years of doing no exercise before I decided to start walking to keep fit and I have been doing that ever since. Now, I walk about 4 miles almost every day.

4. Are you early or late?

I am definitely early. I hate being late and it has caused some friction in the past between Mrs PM and I because she doesn’t mind being late. Now we have compromised and we usually arrive early still, after I persuaded her that it is always better to be early. She moans occasionally though. 

5. What quirks do you have?

I have lots of odd quirks and I am not sure I should tell you what they are to be honest. I am a geek, a nerd and an all-round weirdo so that is quirky in its own way,

Okay – here are a few that you might find odd.

I call out things I don’t understand with the phrase “What’s the point?”. For example, when I see somebody on an electric bike I say “What’s the point of that? Surely you have a bike to keep fit but he is just coasting along and doing nothing.”

I correct Americanisms in American TV programmes. When somebody says “Do the math!”, I say out loudly “It’s MATHS!” even if I am alone. Similarly I will say “It’s ALUMINIUM not ALUMINUM!”. I Particularly I get riled when the actor is British and playing the part of a British person.

I correct the American spellings in Sunday Stealing. For example “favorite” becomes “favourite” and “color” becomes “colour”.

I won’t divulge the weirder ones (even though you may think the above are weird). Well, maybe in future if you ask me nicely. 

6. How often do you people watch?

Not often enough. I love people-watching and have seen and heard some great things just sitting there drinking a decaf coffee in a coffee shop or just walking around. I may have more time for this when I retire (which is very soon). 

7. What’s your favourite drink?

My favourite beverage is decaffeinated tea. I have been known to drink caffeinated tea occasionally (or “full fat tea”) but it is rare.

My favourite soft drink is Sprite. I don’t drink it very often but if I do I will choose Sprite.

My favourite ale is Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. A lovely pint of bitter.

8. What do you hope never changes?

The world is a totally mad place at the moment, including my own country. I need some sanity to counteract the lunacy that is prevailing and that sanity comes with simple things that keep me going during the chaos. 

So I hope that the things that keep me sane don’t ever change.

9. What’s your dream car?

I’m not really a car person at all. I know loads of people (almost all men) who are forever discussing their favourite cars. All I want is a reliable car that gets me from A to B when I need it to.

10.  Where would you rather be from?

I’m quite happy being an Englishman, thank you, although Brexit has challenged that recently, making me think that it would be nice to be from the European Union somewhere; perhaps the Republic of Ireland.

11. What songs have you completely memorised?

I’ve memorised thousands of them over the years. Here’s a song that was a challenge, but I have impressed Mrs PM by singing along to it on a balcony in Spain when on holiday (the full version that is):

12. What would you rate 10/10

I have lots of albums that I rate 10/10. One of them is “Hand. Cannot. Erase.” By Steven Wilson.

Here is my favourite song on the album. Strap in – it’s 13 minutes long.

13. What job would you be terrible at?

Anything that requires manual dexterity. I can do some DIY but there are certain things that I am totally useless at. For example, carpentry, anything to do with cars, building work, plastering or indeed anything that involves constructing or reconstructing things. 

14. What skill would you like to master?

At the moment I would love to master the skill of speaking Spanish and French and playing the piano. 

15. What movie title best describes your life?

Probably “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly” but I think that sounds too negative because really “The Good” is far superior to “The Bad” and “The Ugly” combined.

At this precise moment in time (and ignoring the past) it would be “Life is Beautiful”.