Interests and Hobbies

Being a bit of a geek (for those who like to label people), my interests generally revolve around certain movies, TV shows, gaming and printed reading material of varying sorts. I'll highlight some of my favourites from these a bit further down this page, and will doubtless create some information sites about these later. Please also check this site's links page for some information sites about my interests.

Outside of those topics, I have an interest in mythology and legends, particularly British, Norse and Greek. My interest in British History spans from the Dark Ages through to the fifteenth century. Thanks to Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe novels, I have a little interest in the Napoleonic wars and I am also fascinated by secret services and special forces - particularly the best in the world: Those of the United Kingdom.

Despite being underweight, I have an appreciation for good food - particularly fish and meat dishes. Particularly I enjoy to chow down on game meat of all kinds. I also read about and watch a lot of programmes about bushcraft and survival. When not being generally lazy, I do enjoy getting out doors and at some point I will book myself on a survival course just because. Combined with the fact that I enjoy Archery (though to be honest I've not been down to the range for a longer time than I would like) it has been pointed out that I would have been happy living in the middle ages. This is true, though I would miss my electric fan heater.

"Geek Stuff", TV, Movies, Games and Printed

I read quite a lot of fiction - primarily Science-Fiction (Star Wars and Doctor Who in particular) and Fantasy / Historical novels. R.A. Salvatore is my favourite fantasy author and I always enjoy the novels of Bernard Cornwell. I am a big fan of James Bond novels, from Ian Flemming through John Gardner, Raymond Benson and now Sebastian Faulks and have recently got into the action-thriller novels of Chris Ryan.

I read comics (though I have to confess I only buy trade collections) and love comic art. In fact I like comic art so much that I attempt to draw myself somewhat mediocrely. Check my sample art page here if you will. Mainly I'm a DC Comics reader - Green Arrow, Birds of Prey and Batman being particular favourites. I do read the Marvel Comics Ultimate universe titles though which have been great on the whole. Outside of traditional super-hero stuff I really enjoy the output of Aspen Comics (the unfortunate death of Michael Turner last year was hard felt) and some independant works. The output of Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars line has also been superb in recent years.

I do not watch a vast amount of television - preferring to catch up on series' in DVD releases. Being a child of the 1980s, I have a particular fondness for The A-Team and Robin of Sherwood. Doctor Who has always been my favourite TV show, however. I tend to like good action-drama and comedy - Spooks, Battlestar Galactica and Heroes are always on my must see list. I enjoy animated shows too - from He-Man and Thundercats through Batman the Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited to Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Movie-wise, I tend to lean towards action and comedy again. I tend to view Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughan as being indicators of good mindless comedy and am happy to watch Jim Carey do his thing. Serenity (and the series Firefly) are superb pieces of work and I would whole-heartedly recommend these to anyone. Stick on a Bond movie and I'm a happy man and I tend to enjoy "Comic Book Movies" - except for the attrocious Catwoman.

Gaming wise, I use the good old PC, X-Box 360 and the Wii. I like first person shooters, strategy games and Roleplay games. X-Wing is probably my all-time favourite game, followed closely by Deus Ex, The Legend Of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time and Mercenaries 2 which is just plain fun in a box.