chickenfeet

From majea

1. What sort of visual art do you prefer?

Paintings/prints rather than photography and sculpture. Beyond that I'm pretty eclectic. If I look at our walls there is native American and native Australian art, collographs from Cornwall, 1940s vintage French artists' Christmas cards, a 19th century Japanese print, Soviet propaganda posters and so on.

Then of course, there are livres d'artiste. I've written enough on that topic I think!

2. Where have you most enjoyed living?

I like Toronto as much as anywhere I've ever lived. Durham was nice too but it's hard to know what it would be like to live there if one weren't a student.

3. Why does rugby appeal to you so much?

All the excitement of war and not five and twenty per cent of the danger as Jorrocks said of 'unting. One attraction is that it's the only team sport I'm any good at! I really like the physicality of it. It's a great way of burning off aggression in a controlled and permitted way. It's also complex in the way that cricket is. That appeals too. Also rugby people are typically really good people to be around.

4. What topics do you find the most intellectually stimulating?

Two areas I guess. In the historical arena I am intrigued by the way non-traditional sources (anything other than the written record I guess) can throw new light onto old controversies. A good example would be the whole question of to what extent cultural change in the British Isles reflects large numbers of migrants and/or invaders and to what extent it simply reflects the adoption of new cultural packages.

I am also deeply intrigued by the ongoing work into the most fundamental aspects of physics; the search for a quantum gravity theory, dark matter and so on.

5. Did they ever find the lost kitten?

No news. Sigh!

Usual deal. Comment for questions.