Getting to Know You : A Survey ......... (please contribute if you are as eager to talk about yourselves as I am to know about you all!)

Can't I just bore him with a list of the 500 reasons why I like the Smashing Pumpkins?

Did you really just say that? ;-)

Age: 24

Height: 6'4"

Fav Band: For fear of coming off as trying to seem so eclectic as I've been accused of before, I'm not even gonna begin.

Fav Movie: I dunno, Pootie Tang?

Fav TV Show: Either Simpsons or Futurama.

Fav Book: Right now prob'ly Pimp by Iceberg Slim.

Fav Actor: Possibly Chris Walken or Steve Buscemi.

Fav Actress: Today? Annette Benning and Kirsten Dunst.

Fav Food: I'm a vaginatarian. :D

Fav Sport: hackysack, rock climbing, swimming

Fav Athlete: um...

Drink of Choice: tonight it'll be Fuller's ESB (mmmmmmm)

Drug of Choice (if that's your thing): coffee, ganj, mushrooms

Smoker? : only tobacky what is wacky

Occupation : Mild-mannered data entry drone by day, but by night...

Do you work out? : Not enough.

On a scale from 1-10 how would you rate your looks? : Google. Squared.

On a scale from 1-10 how would you rate your personality? : F.

Add anything you want people to know: Soylent Green is made of people!

Happy happy...

Christine: go up to the next five guys you see and ask them if they want to shag. I'm betting only one wouldn't.

That, or he's on his way to get some better cootch

Name: Martin Skidmore
Age: 43
Height: 5'7"
Fav Band: Al Green, Pulp, James Brown, Louis Prima, Rolling Stones, Jimmy Cliff, Willie Nelson, T. Rex.
Fav Movie: Seven Samurai, Bringing Up Baby, Manhattan, Philadelphia Story.
Fav TV Show: Homicide, Simpsons, Twin Peaks, Bilko, Match of the Day.
Fav Book: 1001 Nights, Dhalgren (Sam Delany), Les Miserables (Hugo), Labyrinths (Borges), Seventh Heaven (Alice Hoffman).
Fav Actor: Jean Gabin, Cary Grant, Toshiro Mifune.
Fav Actress: Gloria Grahame, Barbara Stanwyck, Katherine Hepburn.
Fav Food: Italian. Had a great veal in a white wine and sage sauce once.
Fav Sport: Football, WWF wrestling (sports entertainment!), sumo wrestling.
Fav Athlete: Pele
Drink of Choice: Robinson's original orange squash, diluted 50:50 with water, ice cold.
Drug of Choice (if that's your thing): cannabis, cocaine.
Smoker? : gave up 15 months back. Bum the occasional one from Anna and other people.
Occupation : Systems analyst/programmer at a top London university.
Do you work out? : Good grief no.
On a scale from 1-10 how would you rate your looks? : Realistically, about 3
On a scale from 1-10 how would you rate your personality? : Maybe 6.
Add anything you want people to know: I think I've already talked about sex far too much on ILX.

Age: 18

Height: no idea, haha!

Fav Band: My favourite band that's still around is probably The Divine Comedy, but the band that I've been most obsessed with my whole life is, regrettably, The Beatles. They marked my entry into music- nothing before them, be it my dad's Ry Cooder and Caetano Veloso or my friend's Snap! and Michael Jackson, made the slightest impression on me.

Fav Movie: I still stand by my opinion that Gremlins 2:The New Batch is the greatest piece of art ever released, because it's basically just funny little green monsters running around doing everything everyone else secretly wants to do, but doesn't because we don't wanna be shunned by society and because, y'know, we know it'd hurt.

Fav TV Show: Buffy The Vampire Slayer reprezent, of course, and usual suspects like South Park, Red Dwarf, Monty Python's Flying Circus, too. And I'm a big fan of those old sci-fi shows- The Outer Limits is my fave.

Fav Book: Oooer, toughie. Random selection of favourites: The Hitch Hyker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams, The Longest Journey by E.M. Forster, Another Country by James Baldwin, The Heart Of Rock & Soul by Dave Marsh, The Hobbit by Tolkien and On The Road by Jack Kerouac.

Fav Actor: Cinema is my least favourite type of art, I really dunno what to answer here. I mean, of course Bogart rules, but that's quite a dull thing to say innit?

Fav Actress: Erhm, I like Janeane whatshername.

Fav Food: Enchiladas!

Fav Sport: I enjoy skiing and swimming (as relaxation, not competition); mostly I hate sports cos I've got a leg problem and also I'm a wimp.

Fav Athlete: Now you're just kidding me, aren't ya?

Drink of Choice: Used to be addicted to Coca-Cola; now I just stumble through the wilderness and drink whatever's there. If you mean alcoholic beverages, a Smirnoff Ice is always nice.

Drug of Choice (if that's your thing): I smoke the occasional joint, that's about it.

Smoker? : Apart from the stuff referred to above, no.

Occupation : Student.

Do you work out? : No, I work it.

On a scale from 1-10 how would you rate your looks? : Oh, I'd say 7 bordering on 8, according to my own taste. According to "conventional" tastes, I suppose I might be around 4ish.

On a scale from 1-10 how would you rate your personality? : I don't think I can answer that. I reckogn I'm Cool Enuff- I can be arrogant and insecure and show-offy, and I can also be excessively introverted and shun human company altogether (I'm a terrible introextrovert), but I'm occasionaly amusing, mostly compassionate and at any rate I'm alot cooler than any of you bitches will ever be.

Add anything you want people to know: That Kelly Osbourne album really is quite good!

So I can't put your theory to the test, dammit. Even though I reckon that one in five *being* interested would be a stupendous result. (Surreal, even.)

The 'sad stuff'... hell, even I consider that annoying! I don't have much hope of anyone else digging it. :)

Fav Food: tough choice! Indian, Thai, Sushi?? Pizza??

Drink of Choice: vodka tonic

Smoker? : mild

Occupation : graphic designer

Do you work out? : yes

On a scale from 1-10 how would you rate your looks? : 5

On a scale from 1-10 how would you rate your personality? : 5

Add anything you want people to know: I don't have a lot of favorites, my tastes are varied and I often flip-flop on opinions because I tend to see things from many angles (just not all at the same time). I can argue a point (not to be argumentative) for something I don't believe in, just to get "all the ducks in a row" maybe to understand a situation better, but I don't spend a lot of time actually arguing "for" or "against" many things because I'm not really for or against much, therefore any arguing is usually in a purely philosophical sense. I'm not a passionate defender of causes or art and I'm not a compassionate conservative. The world is strange and I'm often confused.

(My favourite musical artists at the moment are Beethoven and Django Reinhardt though I'd probably still rate LZ as greatest band. Martial arts is by default my favourite sport but I missed today's class because I'm sick and Tuesday's to hang out with a girl I like. Wait, does non-competitive cycling count as a sport? That might win then. I guess Clone High is my favourite TV show. I'm a grad student now. Other than that my answers probably still stand.)

But, anyway... me say hello to a complete stranger? Well, that's sort of 50/50 if they say hello to me first. :)

Fav Band: Right now I'm really excited about MP3 only labels. Specifically, labels that specialize in minimal abstract electronics (I guess "microsound" is the term of choice?). I recommend http://fals.ch, a Mego sublabel that has an incredible mindfuck of a layout. It took me three visits to figure out where the music was. Wheee. Also, http://www.tu-m.com/tump3.htm has tons of great music from people like Greg Davis, Keith Whitman, Kim Cascone, Si-Cut.Db... And http://www.notype.com is one I've just started looking into. Also, I've been listening to the Kinks, the Other People Place / Drexciya, T. Rex...

Fav Movie: I really like Easter Parade. Also, I love Casino Royale for being style over substance, for pissing off James Bond fanboys (no offense, I was bred to be one), and for having a killer soundtrack. Monkey Business and Duck Soup are also great.

Fav TV Show: Futurama was really funny. Though it's cancelled now, right?

Fav Book: I mention Balzac whenever this question comes up, but I should also namedrop the book that turned me on to Balzac--S/Z. What a joyful, exciting book. I really liked Anna Karenina. It drags towards the middle, but the last chapter redeems the whole book. And, Life: A User's Manual, by Georges Perec. I hate authors who beat over the head with their post-modern play: If On A Winters Night A Traveller, and Julio Cortazar's Hopscotch bothered me for their heavy-handed cleverness. Perec, at least in this book, keeps it in check.

Fav Actor/Actress: No answer.

Fav Food: I like a good stir-fry with bok choy. Thai, Indian. And cheese sandwiches.

Fav Sport/Athlete: No answers.

Drink of Choice: Stout in winter, wheat beer in summer, Scotch anytime.

Drug of Choice (if that's your thing): Nope.

Smoker? :Nope.

Occupation : Nope.

Do you work out? :Nope.

On a scale from 1-10 how would you rate your looks? : I have a very narrow face with beady eyes, and a scrawny body. But my complexion is clear. Therefore, 10.

On a scale from 1-10 how would you rate your personality? : I have a persecution complex, and too much self-pity. And I'm a foul-tempered grouch. But I happen to find foul tempers charming. So 10.

Add anything you want people to know: Did you really read all that? God, that was sweet of you.

Oh well. You know, I can *really* annoying if I try hard enough. I've been restraining myself very stolidly.

Oxford? My ability to get anywhere is hugely depedant on how broke I am at the time, so the answer is... sometimes. I'm told it's a very nice place, but I've never been. (Nearest I've been: Bicester.)

I really have to get a job. That's another thread, tho'...

I should've known who Ving Rhames was, really, shouldn't I? I'm possibly the only person in the world who never saw Pulp Fiction (although I did see Mission: Impossible and Con Air).

Fav Band: REM X Ray Spex The Jam Replacements Pavement

Fav TV Show: Buffy TVS

Fav Book: Fountainhead (for not the obvious reasons)

Fav Actor: Ewan Mcgregor's penis

Fav Actress: Angelina Jolie (because we kept ending up in the same store while shopping in Camden and she's hot)

Fav Food: Cheese, sushi

Fav Sport: Tennis

Fav Athlete: ummmmm... Ewan Mcgregor's penis

Drink of Choice: ummmm... Ewan Mcgrego...um whiskey and ginger ale

Smoker? : Nah

Occupation : Uhhh, I do this thing where I stay at home a lot and play on the computer and sometimes I leave home to interview people and run record checks and then I type something up once a week and then these people can become border patrols or air marshalls or they can handle classified information or whatever it is they want to do and then I go back and watch some more TV and eat some ravioli and then the cycle repeats itself and I get paid regardless. But technically my title is Special Investigator. (Don't ask).

Do you work out? : Unfortunately, yes, 5 days a week.

On a scale from 1-10 how would you rate your looks? : Anywhere from a 1-10.

On a scale from 1-10 how would you rate your personality? : Anywhere from a 1-10 (i'm a gemini damnnit!)

Ah, so it is just acting...

I'm a crap hockey player, but I've got a good forehand wrist shot. Can't skate, can't defend, no slap shot. But a few years ago I led a (bad) league in North Carolina in scoring because we had a defenceman named Woody from Manitoba who kept the puck in while I just stood in the slot until the puck came near me... :)