Tagged

This is the blog form of a chain letter. The rules are fairly basic - you provide 5 facts about yourself and nominate five more people. I nominate Matthew (my chaplaincy side-kick), Andrew (used to work at smc before defecting back to Lancaster University), Emma (former SMC student) , Stephen (ditto) and Mark (he's a chaplain with a blog).

I have been tagged by Steve Tilley and you can refer back to his entry for more info on tagging. It should encourage a few new visitors, which makes the whole blog thing more satisfying.

So, here's an attempt at five facts.

1) I am an only child. Fortunately people don't seem to spot it up front, so it presumably didn't cause too much lasting damage. People say "didn't you get lonely?" I probably did, but thought it was normal.

2) One of my letters was read out on Home Truths by John Peel. Possibly my finest achievement.

3) I once sang through Helen Shapiro's tights. Perhaps I should explain.

I was helping a friend of mine, John Peters, to record some songs we used to perform at University. The studio engineer was adamant that the best way to avoid 'popping' on vocals when sings words with 'p' or 'b' in them was to use a metal ring with a pair of tights stretched over it in front of the studio microphone. The current pair belonged to Helen Shapiro. I still have the recordings, but seldom think about the tights.

Helen Shapiro had two number ones in 1961, and the Beatles first national tour was as her support act. Later on she converted to Christianity and has since recorded Christian music.

4) I can't stand the taste of beetroot.

5) I didn't drink coffee until I was twenty. The a friend of mine insisted I tried a black filter coffee and I was an immediate convert. I can just about drink a white coffee and keep it down on a funeral visit nowadays. (despite saying no milk, people often forget).

Ok, I will inform my friends that they are tagged, and I hope that's been worth wasting a couple of minutes reading.