Favourite . . .
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Movies - Always a tricky question to answer, so instead I'll list movies that either make me cry with laughter, cry because I'm a sucker for romantic smooshy stuff, or ones that are just plain old damn good! |
Laughter: Zoolander, Airplane, Naked Gun, Mystery Science Theatre 2000, Bridget Jones' Diary, Austin Powers, A Hard Day's Night, Shrek, All three Monty Python movies, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Ferris Bueller's Day Out, 200 Cigarettes, Lilo and Stitch, Rocky Horror Picture Show. High Fidelity
Smooshy stuff: The English Patient, Moulin Rouge, Romeo and Juliet, Sliding Doors, Dirty Dancing, Pretty Woman
Damn Good: Gladiator, Trainspotting, Forrest Gump, A Beautiful Mind, The Italian Job, Bullit, Memento, Fight Club, The End of the Affair, Almost Famous, American Beauty, Pulp Fiction, Gosford Park, Run Lola Run, The Bourne Identity, Lord of the Rings
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Music - How to categorize this I don't know! Genre? Let's try . . . |
Pop/Rock: Oasis, The Beautiful South, Jack Johnson, The Corrs, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Elvis Presley, Weezer, Hanson, Coldplay, Sublime
Soundtracks: Almost Famous, 200 Cigarettes, Tomb Raider, Moulin Rouge, Trainspotting, Pulp Fiction, Gosford park, Rocky Horror Picture Show
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Books - I'm a bookworm, thanks to my mum! Here are a few that I will always have on my bookshelf. |
Philip Pullman's 'Dark Materials' Trilogy, Terry Pratchett's Discworld Novels, Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh, The English Patient, Skallagrigg, The BFG, Behhind the Scenes at the Museum. Macarthy's Bar, Shogun, Ellen Macarthur's 'Taking on the World'
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Comedians - Those lucky bastards who get to make a living from making people laugh, here are a few I can't live with out: |
Eddie Izzard - The Executive Transvestite! Fantastic ramblings from a man with a different look at the world. http://www.eddieizzard.com
Billy Connolly - The Big Yin. A fantastic storyteller from Glasgow, likes to say fuck a lot too! http://www.billyconnolly.com
Victoria Wood - She was big during the 80's, I was brought up on her. Does hilarious characters and sketches.
Interests:
Musical Instruments - The drums are my passion. I started out on a catalogue bought kit when I was 14, and fell completely in love with it! When I listen to music I've always got one ear on the drums. Most of the time I play along to my favourite artists. I'm trying to branch out a bit, since I've never had a formal lesson, I've tended to only play Rock, but I'm trying Jazz, and some harder stuff to, a great way to relive stress, or to just make some noise! I'm now a proud owner of a Yamaha Stage Custom, with Zildjian cymbals, a nice change from my first set! I recommend drums to anyone, go on, just try an hour private lesson, or ask a friend who's got a kit if you can have a go! Fantastic for coordination, and learning timing too, blah blah blah, alright I think you get the point!
I recently bought a Bodhran, an Irish drum. I've always been fascinated by how people play them, and I love the sound they create. I figured that it would be a good instrument to take with me on the boat, so I can still have a drum to pound! They certainly aren't the easiest of instruments to play. The basics are simple, but to master it seems impossible! Right now I'm tackling how to do triplets.
I've also decided to make it a goal in my life to learn how to play5 instruments! On my list so far are the harmonica, guitar, banjo and bass. Got any other suggestions?!
Sailing - I may not be the most avid sailor in my family, but over the past couple of months whilst living on our boat Gallant I've come to like it more and more. It's the satisfaction of gliding along at 7 knots after you have just hoisted the the main sail that does it. To know that just under wind power and a bit of fiddling you can be speeding along in no time! Like any new skill, you're always proud of the first time you do it right, and it works!
Medicine - I don't know when I got interested in the ways of the human body, maybe it because my mum's a physical therapist, maybe because I was born with mild Cerebral Palsy. Either way I've always been eager to learn about what goes on inside us. I guess that's why I've decided to do premed in college! It was a tough choice between music and medicine, but my passion for medicine has always been there, where as music is relatively new, and it seems like I suck up information on human biology like a sponge!
Martial Arts - I started training in Choy Li Fut Kung Fu when I was 15, and have carried on doing it for 3 years. I've been lucky enough to have Sifu Jason Wong as my instructor, a direct descendent of the founder of Choy Li Fut, and the son of grandmaster Doc Fai Wong. Choy Li Fut is a mixture Northern and Southern kung Fu, focusing on both hand, grappling and kicking techniques. We also train in meditation, and some Tai Chi, as Both Grandmaster and Sifu are qualified black belt Tai Chi instructors. They have Doc Fai Wong Martial Arts centres all over the world that teach both Tai Chi and Kung Fu. You can visit their website at:
I was also lucky to have Linda and Rick Shubb as instructors. They helped me when I was struggling, and have offered infinite support and wisdom. Rick has invented and patented his own capo, the Shubb capo, and has been making banjo and guitar accessories for over 20 years. You can visit his website at www.shubb.com, where you can look at a variety of products he makes.
