Stereo Comics   +  TIME

"Tagged?! Oh shit!"

Well, there's been a meme going around a lot of blogs I read: name eight random things about yourself. First I saw it at Redhead Fangirl, then at Walls & Bridges, (edit: and Rab, of course) but then Ig went and bloody tagged me. Doesn't he know I hate writing about myself, and regularly delete in a cold sweat anything I write that might be considered personal? Y'know, I'm deep in denial about way too much shit in my life. It's not for nuthin' that my sidebar profile used to feature the words "This isn't one of those touchy-feely blogs either - as far as you're concerned, I'm a robot with no squishy human emotions, right? If you want to hear about some stranger's rich inner life - move along! ".

Goddammit, Ig! If I give anything meaningful away, this could set me back years!

1. I'm not a qualified librarian. Both my degrees are for literature. That said, nearly every book I read in my second year at college has been wiped from my memory thanks to alcoholism. Fortunately, I'm a happy drunk. But I can drink a lot. I'll go so far as to issue a blanket challenge: I bet I could drink any other comics blogger under the table. Hollow legs, Irish genes. Boo ya!

2. I've hinted in the past that I've sold comics on Ebay to the great and the good, but never exactly named names. So here's the big one. I once sold a complete set of IDENTITY CRISIS first editions to Paul McCartney.

3. I'm the only person in my family who doesn't like beetroot. For me, it's still all about the Marmite, baby.

4. The greatest influences on my listening habits during my developing years were my sister Les, my cousin Geoff and my mate Ali. God bless 'em for all the great music they've turned me on to over the years. Bonus fact! After a few drinks, my favourite Stax singer is William Bell.

5. I have a fundamental belief that all the best bass players are either female or fat men. This is because they respond differently from skinny dudes to low resonant frequencies, for separate physiological reasons. Women, due to their dish shaped pelvic bones, and lardys due to their extraneous wobbly matter.

6. Twice people have tried to insult me by physically comparing me to Tony Soprano, which is pointless, 'cus I'll always take that as a compliment. Dude's a god. That said, I have significantly more hair than James Gandolfini. I always joke that the guy who should play me in the movie of my life is Mark Benton - doughy, pasty, proved he can do the Ulster accent.

7. When you see me walking down the street, chances are I'm humming John Williams' Imperial March. And yes, I'd like it played at my funeral. With the pallbearers in stormtrooper costumes.

8. I hate internet memes that don't involve drawing Batgirl.

Phew! I think I made it. And that took a helluva lot longer than I'd have liked. It aint easy being superficial!