Some Favourites

Welcome to a cloudy but warm South Manchester, seven days after our incompetent and moronic government lifted almost all restrictions, despite rising infection rates. The argument is that the majority of adults have now been jabbed so you might well get the virus but will be spared the worst symptoms of the disease. 

So now we can all go to crowded pubs, crowded sports events, gigs etc, without masks and social distancing. 

The world is watching with interest.

As for me, well I am annoyed because I am self-isolating for the second time. 

We have this app on our phones for track and trace and if we have been within a certain distance of anybody who later tests positive for COVID-19 we are pinged and told to self-isolate for a number of days – a mini lockdown if you like, with the app telling us how long we have left. 

In June I was pinged to isolate for four days and this time it is six and I have four days left. I have no symptoms but I am stuck in the house and, being a sensible chap, I will remain stuck in the house until Wednesday morning when I am liberated. 

A lot of people are being pinged at the moment and the media are referring to it as the “pingdemic” – it is crazy because in many ways it is because of the freedom that has been bestowed upon us by our clown leader that so many people are having to lock themselves down again.

Still – never mind. Let’s answer some questions from Sunday Stealing shall we? This one’s about favourites and I have had to go through and correct the American spelling “favorites” to the British spelling “favourites”. 

I am pedantic that way – a little OCD I guess. 

1. Your favourite songs

There are far too many to mention in a short post like this – I could write a book about them all. Instead, I will list three of my current favourites for you.

2. Your favourite bands

My all-time favourite band is Rush, the world’s greatest progressive rock band, now sadly no more. My current favourite band is Riverside, a progressive rock band from Poland but there are loads of other bands from all over the world in many genres that I love. I could write a book about that too.

3. Your favourite actors or actresses

I wouldn’t say that I have a favourite actor or actress but a few keep cropping up in favourite films. Despite being a weirdo, I actually think that Tom Cruise is a good actor as is Brad Pitt, Robert de Niro and Al Pacino. I also have to say that I love Clint Eastwood too – and Samuel L. Jackson.

As far as actresses are concerned, I like Scarlett Johansson, Cate Blanchett, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron and Natalie Portman – there are many more to be honest.

4. Your favourite books

I love spy thrillers and espionage, for example those written by Robert Ludlum. I am also a big fan of classic and contemporary science fiction, for example H.G.Wells, Peter F Wilson, Stephen Baxter, Dan Simmons and Blake Crouch. You can't beat a good horror novel either, for example Stephen King, James Herbert, Graham Masterson, Brian Lumley, Dean Koontz. Finally, I like a good comedy novel though I haven’t read one for ages. “The Throwback” by Tom Sharpe is my all-time favourite in this genre and I made a complete idiot of myself on a long haul flight once, laughing raucously and uncontrollably while people were trying to sleep around me. It is hilarious – very British – but whether it will appeal to Americans I don’t know. I think Australians would get it.

5. Your favourite movies

I am such a geek when it comes to movies. I love superhero films and science fiction – the Marvel and DC films have been amazing recently (well some of them have). Give me a StarTrek movie and I am happy – though I can easily tolerate Star Wars too. I love action thrillers too, like James Bond, Jason Bourne and similar. I’m not a huge fan of horror films, bizarrely – I prefer books. I find a lot of comedy films a bit hit-and-miss to be honest. Some are brilliant (like Shaun of the Dead and Planes, Trains and Automobiles) but others I just don’t get – particularly some American comedy movies.

6. Your favourite TV shows

There are too many to mention but they are similar to films. I like a good comedy show (Blackadder, Curb Your Enthusiasm) and a good science fiction series (Dr Who, Star Trek, Babylon 5, The Expanse). Other favourite shows include (off the top of my head) Dexter, Game of Thrones, Lucifer, Vikings, Stranger Things and many many others too numerous to mention.

7. Your favourite foods/drinks

I love Italian, Chinese, Indian and Mexican food – anything really apart from Thai which has a taste that doesn’t really float my boat. To drink, I love tea and fruit juice, though I drink water and coffee too. Alcoholic delights include beers (ales, lager and continental beer such as Belgian, German and Czech beers) and wine, both red and white (though I prefer red and I don’t like dessert wines).

8. Your favourite kitchen appliance

What a strange question. I don’t think I have ever been asked what my favourite kitchen appliance is. I would have to say a Microwave Oven because I am fascinated with the effect it has on food.

9. Your favourite animal

I love both dogs and cats. Unfortunately Mrs PM prefers cats so that’s what we have. In my life I have lived with two dogs and ten cats. The current two are black one year olds called Ziggy and Star(dust).

10. Your favourite scents

I like most perfume that women wear but I don’t like having it sprayed into my face by over-zealous shopkeepers in department stores. 

I love the smell of freshly mown grass (as long as it isn’t in June because that’s when my hay fever kicks in). 

I love the smell of food cooking, particularly bacon. 

The smell of the British countryside in summer is also amazing. 

11. Your favourite things you do in your free time

I like to do something constructive most of the time. Currently I am still trying to teach myself Spanish, I am reading a lot of books about creative writing, as well as writing daily (mostly utter garbage but at least something is pouring from my brain onto paper in cyberspace). I maintain this blog, of course and when I am feeling lazy I watch TV, read and play the odd computer game. I am a huge fan of music as regular readers will know so there is always music in my vicinity when I am at home (for example I am currently listening to a Queen song). I love to go to concerts too and I would have been at an open-air tribute band festival today had I not been self-isolating (my first gig since the pandemic). 

I love sport, particularly football and am looking forward to the new football season in two weeks. I also like cricket – which is where I was when I was in the vicinity of a positive COVID-19 victim, even though I was outside and socially distanced (the nearest person apart from my mate was about five yards away).

Finally of course, I love to travel and I am missing that more than anything.

12. Your pet peeves

I’m not going to rant about politics and the mess that our country has been in for 11 years because of the Conservative government we are currently suffering under – but that is one of them.

People who are late, people who are unreliable, nasty people, arrogant people, those who have reached their level of competence and managed to claw their way into incompetence making a mess of things and the people around them, psychopaths who have no empathy (and I know a couple of people like this), liars and people who think that the only way to resolve and issue is with violence. 

13. Things you collect

I collect CDs and music generally. I collect books too (in that I don’t throw them away which is much easier on a Kindle). I used to collect football programmes and I have quite a few upstairs in the loft that I won’t let Mrs PM throw away (though she has tried).

14. Things you like to swap

I don't think I would swap anything apart from contact details.

15. Places you've been

I’ve travelled all over the UK of course apart from Northern Ireland. I’ve been to the Republic of Ireland though. I’ve travelled on all continents apart from Antarctica and been to some memorable places like Russia, China, USA, Canada, Brazil, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia, South Africa, Oman, the UAE, the Caribbean, Iceland, Japan and most of Europe. 

16. Places you'd like to visit

I’d like to go back to Japan and Australia. I would also like to go to New Zealand, Egypt, Morocco, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Hawaii and other places too numerous to mention.

17. Classes you liked in school

I loved chemistry, physics and maths. I was less keen on English, French and German but if I could go back I would concentrate on those subjects more.

18. Crafts you would like to learn

I would like to be able to paint and also build things from wood. I am absolutely hopeless at both.