Interviews on a Sunday, part 2

[nwhyte]

Mysteriously didn't show on my f-list first time I posted this, so here goes again: This is the second of two sets of interview questions. I know I owe questions to a number of you; if you wish me to owe interview questions to you as well, say so in the comments.

From grahamsleight:

1. Which would you most like back in the BBC archives in its entirety - Evil of

Comments

[bugshaw]

And a sixth, for extra credit... How did you first encounter the early Doctor Whos? I recall Tom Baker onwards from the television, but I read all the Hartnell and Troughton stories in the Target novelisations before I'd seen more than a snippet of them on telly.

Excellent iconic childhood anecdote, thanks!

[nwhyte]

Of course, the Target novelisations were the only way for me too, plus the occasional repeat (you'll remember, I'm sure, the Five Faces of Doctor Who month when they showed An Unearthly Child, The Krotons, and Carnival of monsters in successsive weeks).

Nowadays we have DVDs, videos, audio CDs and (cough) other methods...

[bugshaw]

I don't remember that Five Faces month... There were a few years when I got rather out of step with Doctor Who. It was shown, as I remember, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and on Tuesdays I went to Brownies. It was very odd reading the Tom Baker novelisations later - parts were quite familiar and others I had no recollection of!

Five Faces...

[tanngrisnir]

Didn't they also show The Three Doctors? Have I got that wrong?

stupid politicians and conspiracy theories

[moosefactoryite]

Nicholas -

In response to your point about the resistance to immigration from the east amongst west european politicians. I agree that conspiranoid types are off their trollies, but 'politicians are stupid' is not, in my opinion, an adequate answer to the conspiraloons.

Resistance to eastern immigration is (in my opinion) the result of structural changes in west European societies, changes such as the assault on the welfare state and the increased insecurity neo-liberalism inevitably brings. The political fall-out is a turn towards ethnic (and ethnoreligious) chauvinism by politicians who are not stupid but who are cynical (and it's not a conspiracy because they aren't agreeing to do it in secret, they're just responding to common pressures).

It's the present-day version of the 'socialism of fools' if you will (not that the older version of that particular foolishness has left us either).

Re: stupid politicians and conspiracy theories

[nwhyte]

I guess that the conspiracy theory remark was more directed to other issues, such as those who believe that the US government allowed 9/11 to happen for the sake of an oil pipeline across Afghanistan which hasn't been built yet.

I do think, however, that the anti-immigration policies are stupid as well as lazy; building a immigration wall around Europe will cause damage which cannot easily be put right - increased radicalism of the masses left outside, institutionalised corruption in the process of immigration, labour and skills shortages inside the EU - whereas the process of integrating future immigrants is one which would (if handled properly, or even if left to look after itself without being handled at all) actually boost both the welfare state and social stability in the medium term.

But very few politicians are willing to tell these truths to the voters. Laziness, cowardice, stupidity; take your pick, but I know which I favour.

Who are you, by the way?

Re: stupid politicians and conspiracy theories

[moosefactoryite]

You don't know me, but I had a pint or two with you and Ken Macleod at that MeCon gig. We also know a couple of the same people back at the QUB history of science/anthropology department

Re: stupid politicians and conspiracy theories

[nwhyte]

What you say about the pipeline might have made sense from the Afghan side - I'm not qualified to say. My problem is with those who think that the Americans were so desperate to have the pipeline built that they winked at the murder of 3,000 of their own citizens! (and then sat on their hands for five years not actually building it.)

what if the goal is not to strengthen the welfare state, or stabilise society, but to drive down wages for the benefit of the capitalist class?

Well, at least that wouldn't be stupid, in the way that the current policy is!

[tanngrisnir]

I missed the start of this interview meme (Life? Don't talk to me about life...), but I would be happy to be asked five questions...

I should say, others have pretty much asked the questions I would have asked you myself.

[rparvaaz]

I was wondering if you could do a locked post and name the international politician you most disapprove of.

[applez]

Yeah, after reading the description, my first thought was "what, only one?"

[rparvaaz]

I kept on scanning for the sentence 'Dear readers, kindly adjudge who fits the description the best...' :)

Other languages

[applez]

I wasn't intending on asking you the prescribed 5 questions, but here are some that have occurred to me:

1. For work and fiction, how many different languages do you most frequently read in?

2. Roughly what are the percentages? (e.g. is English still the reading you do in the main? Not edged out by French?)

3. Regarding memory: how often have you encountered a multi-lingual group where there isn't a shared third language between the group, and you find yourself doing simultaneous translation? Add-on: how often has it gone pear-shaped and you've given the correct narrative in the wrong language to the given group/individual?

4. Regarding memory: remembering past conversations, dreams, of the written word - do you remember it in the language it was first absorbed in, or does the language melt away to the remembered meaning, or is it all translated to your mother-tongue?

(I guess I can claim near-five questions in that lot)