My name is Chris. I'm a guy, I like rock music and going to the cinema. I'm a huge videogame fan. I read a lot of books, most of which are either 'good' fantasy or sci-fi. None or your typical 'swords and sorcery' fantasy or 'Captain Kirk bangs the hot alien princess' type sci-fi.

My sense of humour tends to be so dry that people often mistake my 'sarcastic voice' for my 'normal voice.' As a result, they take what I'm saying seriously and think I'm a horrible person. I'm really not. Honest. (Believe it or not, this is actually true - [AW].)

What else? Well, I appreciate randomness, if that's a word. My mind works in a fairly random way, which is why I think I think Bill Bailey, Ross Noble and, to a lesser extent, Dylan Moran are some of the best comedians out there. To be perfectly honest, though, I think it's Dylan Moran's wonderfully cynical sense of humour that I appreciate more than his randomness.

About the only sport I enjoy is Formula One/F1. It just seems the perfect mix of skill on behalf of the driver and engineering on behalf of the team. And don't start in on it not being a real sport. The drivers have to be as fit as an Olympic athlete. Heard one person say an F1 driver has the strength of a boxer, the stamina of a marathon runner and the reflexes of a fighter pilot. Impressive combination.

I don't buy into the whole 'make them wait' philosophy on pursuing the desired sex. If I say I'll call, I will. If I receive a message, I'll reply when I get it. Making people wait, to me, just seems rude. The polite thing to do is respond in short order.

I like to think of myself an honest person, a person who will tell the truth without sugar coating it. That doesn't mean I'm brutally honest, though. I'd probably describe myself as diplomatic, I guess. I'll tell you the truth regardless, but in a way intended to not insult.

I say what I mean, do what I say and somewhat naively expect the same of others.

Editors

• warmidea

I've just had my 'end of year one' evaluation for my PhD. It went quite smoothly. I'm working on the laser cooling of calcium, a reasonably unique field. Laser cooling is fairly widespread, but only about 4 research groups in the word cool calcium, so I'm part of a very select club :P.

Editors

• warmidea

I'm a pretty good rhythm guitar player. I can also outquote just about anyone I know when it comes to movies and certain TV shows. In fact, entire conversations can be managed without ever straying from quotes. I also like to think I'm quite good at videogames.

As I said above, I think I'm good at being honest when asked my opinion. Hopefully at least *some* people will appreciate such a quality.

Also, for reasons quite unknown to me, I seem to offer good relationship advice. Quite why me, the relationship trainwreck that I am, should be able to do so is beyond me.

Killing conversations. Seriously. If you want to see a conversation end in uncomfortable silence, I'm your man. A recent trip to Canada provided a multitude of examples.

My long hair. Also the fact I'm usually wearing what I at least think of as an interesting t-shirt.

(A) The Gap series by Stephen Donaldson, The Scar by China Miéville, The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke.

(B) Ghostbusters, Jaws, The Good The Bad and The Ugly, Unforgiven, Aliens, Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor), Batman Begins, The Big Lebowski, Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb, Saved! and Zulu. I really think the recent Spider-Man movies are extraordinarily overrated. They're OK, sure, but nowhere near as good as everyone thinks they are, nor anywhere near as good as they should be. It saddens me that this is the case, as Spider-Man has always been my favourite superhero.

(C) Favourite bands include, but aren't limited to Iron Maiden, Annihilator, Michael Jackson, Iron & Wine, Metallica, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, Bon Iver, Megadeth and, more recently, In Flames. Throw in some weird stuff, like The Mars Volta, too and you're almost there. Also, if I'm 100% honest, I think that Nobuo Uematsu, the composer of the Final Fantasy soundtracks is a musical genius. I regularly listen to said soundtracks. The best ones are 6, 7 and 8.

Given the choice, I will listen to music on vinyl over CD or MP3. It might sound a little wankery, but I do think a lot of the stuff I listen to sounds a bit better that way: played through the means it was engineered for. I also like that it takes that little bit more effort to listen to a record than it does to a CD or MP3.

I've also recently discovered Tom Waits and am enjoying his stuff greatly. You should check it out. Another new discovery on my part is Strapping Young Lad which I guess you'd define as 'extreme metal' or 'industrial metal'. Regardless, it's lots of fun to listen to and this is only helped by the fact that they don't take themselves seriously at all :).

Also, Akira Yamaoka, the composer of the Silent Hill series of videogames is very talented. His mix of out and out creepiness with fairly 'normal' sounding rock music is, quite simply, superb. Take special not of 'Alex Theme' from the disappointing Silent Hill: Homecoming. Despite the vocals, it still manages to be as creepy and all but the creepiest of his 'creepy' pieces. Yes, I used the word 'creepy' a great many times.

(D) Not really a 'food' person, but I like roast chicken, or a nice, rare steak. Sausages are also nice, when done right.

Like most people, I'm now going to add TV shows.

(E) Red Dwarf, Spaced, Black Books, Coupling, 24, Scrubs, Men Behaving Badly, Doctor Who, Family Guy, Firefly and Frasier.

(F - Webcomics) xkcd, Questionable Content and 8-bit Theater.

Editors

• warmidea

I'll avoid the obvious, clichéd answers, like 'water' and 'air' and give you decent answers, in no particular order.

My MP3 player, my computer, my guitar, my friends, my earplugs and a means to watch films.

Editors

• warmidea

Zombies. Really. I'm always thinking of good places to run to and fortify in the event of an outbreak of zombies. And, let me tell you, when living in the UK, the 'mall' isn't really an option. The best place I've come up with is actually the Strathclyde Union building. So, in the unlikely event of Zombies eating your neighbours, meet me there! :P

Edit 11/6/07: Having noticed an exterior stairwell starting at the third floor, more thought must be put into this. If they make it to the third floor, they can bypass the central stairwell by way of the exterior one. It, too, will need to be blocked off or destroyed.

(Dude, I implore you - visit Kelvingrove Museum sometime. Far too many possible entrances, but worth it simply to pick up armour and hand-to-hand/long-range physical weaponry -[AW])

Editors

• warmidea

At the pub, followed by the cinema. I'm a movie nut, so I try to go every week. I'm also very much a creature of habit. So much so that when a band I like has a gig, I really hope it's not on a Wednesday, Friday or Saturday night.

Women scare me. A lot. I have a pathological inability to make eye contact. Also, I've never been in love and am starting to wonder if I ever will be. Very emo, I know...

I used to be terrified of mushrooms...

I find heterochromia ridiculously attractive...

I've only know two people with whom I can have a genuinly comfortable one on one conversation. With everyone else, comfort requires a third party.

I suffer from hyperacusis. That's not really that private, though - if you ever see me in person, the earplugs are fairly obvious.

If you're at all interested in a geeky guy who will always be honest. It might also help if you like long haired guys with dry senses of humour who dress in a manner others have described as 'scruffy'.

Also, if you listen to my band and like what you hear: www.theyallstoodonzanzibar.com

We sound kinda like Mogwai or Labradford, I suppose. Or The Rock of Travolta.