So what do I do in my spare time?
Science Fiction
Yes, I am a Sci-Fi looney. My favourite TV programs are (in alphabetical order) Babylon 5, Blake's 7, Dr. Who, Farscape, Stargate SG-1, Star Trek (the original, not all this modern stuff) and the like. I firmly believe that Star Wars: A New Hope is the greatest movie ever made, although Aliens and Blade Runner come close. If I'm not reading New Scientist, a textbook on spaceflight, astrophysics or seige engines I'm probably reading the latest release from Lois McMaster Bujold or David Weber.More personal opinions: the Romulans are misunderstood, Klingons are a waste of atoms, PsiCorps are nice people with good ideas, Deckard is a replicant, Tom Baker was the best Doctor and the Force is with me.
Science Fact
My first degree was in Astronomy and Astrophysics, which pretty much says it all. I'm keen on keeping up with what's happening in science and technology and read New Scientist on a weekly basis. Scientific American also ends up on my monthly reading list most of the time. I'm involved with the Mars Society (going to Mars should be a priority!) and am very interested in terraforming. Other scientific areas that have grabbed my attention are the SETI programme and the Long Now project. Good news sources for all of these are Space.com and (of course) NASA and ESA.Roleplaying and Wargaming
These are two of my favourite pastimes which both involve being someone else. I've been a roleplayer and wargamer for longer than I care to admit. My favourite games are Traveller and Star Fleet Battles, but I've played huge numbers of things including (again in alphabetical order rather than preference) Ars Magica, Call of Chthulu, D&D. Flintloque, GURPS and Warhammer.Nowadays I tend to decide on the subject for a game then manufacture a set of rules that seem to work (normally based on MegaTraveller or GURPS). The current campaigns I'm running are Babylon 5 (using MegaTraveller with a complete re-write of the psionics rules), Ancient Heroes (using the Xena and Hercules roleplaying game), D&D (3rd Edition) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (using many, many GURPS supplements). I've also played and/or run a number of play-by-email RPGs over the years.
Liverpool Football Club
Liverpool football club are the best team in Europe (IMO), and have been so for many years. If you grow up in Liverpool you get football, religion or both. I'm happy to have got football. I used to hate Leeds United because Billy Bremner kicked Kevin Keegan, but I don't mind them too much now and was sorry to see them go down. Everton are OK, but naturally I loathe Manchester United. Here in Iceland I support Thor Akureyri, partly as they play in red and partly as I can see their ground from my bedroom window.Embroidery
The information above might suggest that I'm a warlike maniac with no appetite for the finer things in life. That is completely incorrect. I'm a warlike maniac who does a lot of embroidery and other needlework, normally whilst watching TV or playing RPGs. I design a lot of my own embroideries as well as doing kits by other designers. Lately I've found an interesting outlet for this within the SCA (see below), where I'm hand embroidering a lot of banners.Some of my designs, plus downloadable graph paper for creating your own designs, are available here.