Reader Appreciation Award (a Bug fix)

 

Well, it's not often that we here at DFTP get given an award, but when we do we feel slightly humbled - and if its from someone who's blog we look forward to reading then we feel ever so slightly chuffed into the bargain

So I'm very pleased that The Bug has chosen to select me for a Reader Appreciation award, because her blog with its 365 project, Tax Time Pig, Thankful Thursdays, pictures of moons and squirrells (and if we're honest folks I always quite enjoy "state of the bug" as well) is a "must read" for me, preferably with a nice hot cup of coffee 

So this is how it goes - one accepts the award, answers the questions and then passes it on to several friends or co-bloggers.  I'm going to pick just three I'm afraid - my good friend and musical partner in crime Argent in a vain attempt to try and get her back into blogging, the rather wonderful Chubby Chatterbox and the lady without whom no Wednesday would be complete (with or without Old Postcards) Lydia - although i will understand if none of you pass it on. 

Bug, who is kind enough to enjoy my regular List-O-Fives also said I might want to reply with a list-o-fives, so here goes:

 ::Where do you do most of your writing/blogging?
1) On the sofa in my front room.
2) With the TV on in the background (technically still on the sofa)
3) With a cat on either side of me (or sat between me and the computer)
4) When i should be doing far more important things (IE paying attention to the cats or Herself)
5) At no particular times really because my attention on things is so fleeting

::What books were your childhood favorites?
1) I read some Roald Dahl stuff as a kid - Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and its rather poor sequel, plus James And The Giant Peach - but other than that i wasn't really a fan
2) We never seemed to read full books at school, only ever excepts but the ones that stick out are The Magic Faraway Tree (Enid Blyton), The Wierstone Of Brisigamen, The Lord Of The Flies
3) Around 120 TV novelizations of a popular Sci-Fi series, mostly novelized by a UK TV writer called Terrance Dicks, whose remit to deliver 10 episode stories to a strict maximum page count of 120 pages is largely responsible for my own no-nonsense, cut to the action style of writing.
4) Read The Hobbit largely because it came free with the ZX Spectrum game, but can't say I really enjoyed it as a kid (The Lord Of The Rings is far better)
5) Went through a phase of reading the James Bond books - some were very good, some not so

:: Who is your favorite fictional character?
1) I always thought the great thing about that mysterious Time Lord The Doctor (Doctor Who) was how intensely moral he was - if he thought the monsters were having the hard time of it he was likely to side with them.  Plus, with Tom Baker's Doctor particularly there was that immense sense of fun and anticipation - Tom had a way of walking into a room as if it were the most amazing place he'd ever been and always assumed the best of people until proven otherwise - its a shame that more people aren't like that and also a shame that they've now made The Doctor so young and "manic" that its hard to imagine anyone wanting to grow up like him because chances are they're already that old
2) There's a classic question amongst Star Trek fans as to who's the best: Kirk or Picard.  For me there's no contest - James T Kirk. Dynamic, a bit of a rogue, willing to take risks and with the hint of the devil in his eyes.  Picard was good, but ST:TNG was so stuck in 80s America that i fear it has not dated well (perhaps in another 10 years i will feel different)
3) Arthur Dent - another sci-fi character but the one I most associate with - from The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy he is basically an average human trying to cope in a world that he doesn't understand and to make the best of things
4) Tom Baker - nothing you can say about him being a living person and famous actor will ever convince me that a man so much larger than life can be anything other than fictional
5) Luke Skywalker.  OK yes, so Han Solo was waaaaay cooler, but wouldn't you just do almost anything for a lightsabre?

::What is your favorite time of day and why?
1) Seriously for a second - sunrise and sunset, when the world is quiet and full of possibility - and before any humans come along and start messing up the place
2) Douglas Adams wrote about "The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul" which he described as that time on a Sunday afternoon when the shops are closed and there's nothing on TV other than religious programmes and time seems to slow
3) Not a specific time really - but that moment when you're doing something creative and are transported out of time entirely
4) When I hear the click of the kettle and sip my coffee
5) Any time of day that the cats/Herself chose to spend with me

::Who would play you in a movie of your life?
1) Henri Bergman (there's a seldom repeated Monty Python sketch where a contestant randomly shouts out the name of the obscure philosopher - and it turns out to be the right answer, so i thought - why not?)
2) Nicholas Cage - purely because Herself says she thinks i look a bit like him (but only in a world where Nicholas Cage looks like my mum)
3) Drew Barrymore (well, Cate Blanchett played Bob Dylan - plus it would be a good excuse to meet her) - mind you I have to say there's always that part of me that looks at Drew Barrymore now and thinks "but she was Gertie in ET"
4) I actually don't have a favourite actor - definately NOT Johnny Depp (he's good, but way to overexposed and over-hyped) - i'm honestly more interested in the look, feel and story of a film. My favourite film is Brazil and if we could nip back in time to hire an actor then Johnathan Pryce at that age might work well - otherwise i'll have the shouty chap in the washing detergent ads
5) Alexander Orlof (below) - whoever invented the idea of a russian meerkat selling car insurance deserves a knighthood - NOW!!

5) If we're honest here - someone gangly and a bit self-conscious