First Job
Mucking out my Dad’s pigs on a Saturday morning for 10p an hour
First Real Job
Researcher to Patrick Thompson MP 1985-7
First Role in Politics
Chairman of UEA Conservatives in 1981
First Car
An orange Ford Cortina Mk III, lovingly nicknamed the Big Jaffa. I wrote it off on my 20th birthday.
First Record
Long haired Lover from Liverpool by Jimmy Osmond. The shame lives with me still.
First Football Match
Cambridge Utd v Westham in a 1972 testimonial at the Abbey Stadium
First Concert
Darts at a free concert in Harlow in 1977
First Country Visited
France, on a day trip to Boulogne at the age of 7
First TV Appearance
Multi Coloured Swap Shop in 1978
First Political Speech
April 1982 during a debate on the Falklands at my university. It all started there...
First Girlfriend/Boyfriend
Rachel Elliott at Ashdon County Primary School. She had a runny nose.
First Encounter with a Famous Person
Cyril Fletcher from That's Life at a pantomime in the Arts Theatre Cambridge ca 1973
First Brush With Death
Hitting a Transit Van head on at 50 mph in the days before seatbelts. The long bonnet of my Cortina Mk III saved me - and my two sisters.
First House/Flat Owned
70 Howard Road, Walthamstow, in July 1988 - probably the worst time ever to buy a flat.
First Film Seen at a Cinema
Sound of Music at Saffron Walden Cinema, which is sadly no longer there.
First Time on the Radio
On the Radio One Breakfast Show with Mike Read in 1981 on Beat the Jock. I didn't.
First Politician I Met
Shirley Williams who spoke at my school in 1977
First Book I Remember Reading
The Secret of Spiggy Holes by Enid Blyton
First Visit to the London Palladium
1978, to see the reunion of Cliff & the Shadows!
First Election
1985 Norfolk County Council election, Catton Grove Ward. My finals were the next day. Had to be postponed after I suffered from shock having knocked a motorcyclist off his bike on polling day and breaking his leg. He was a Labour voter...
I now tag the following bloggers to do this meme... Dizzy, Tom Harris, Norfolk Blogger, Liberal England, Danny Finkelstein, Shane Greer, Hopi Sen, Paul Linford, Kerron Cross, Tory Bear. They should all then tag five bloggers.
Oh dear so sad. Is there nothing better any of us can do?
ReplyDeleteHave you ever met Miss Piggy (Moi prentious)?
ReplyDeleteFirst Real Job
ReplyDeleteResearcher to Patrick Thompson MP 1985-7I guess your definition of a real job is different from mine. Mucking out pigs seems much more real to me!
First Job
ReplyDeleteMucking out my Dad’s pigs on a Saturday morning for 10p an hour.
Westminister is better paid!
I thought Norfolk Blogger had given up for a bit?
ReplyDeletewv lucksube *eewewww*
Your favourite songs, your Downfall, your list of firsts. You've been spending too long on Twitter - which is where we'd be if we wanted to read a blog all about you.
ReplyDeleteSnap out of it, or call in Hello!
One or the other.
How many vs did you get in Catton Grove then Iain?
ReplyDeleteI presume you didn't win as I didn't think you had ever been a Cllr.
Can u beat my first and only attempt at public office - 557 votes. (Albeit as a Lib Dem in a rock solid Tory ward where the Tory who topped the poll got 2986!)
What is the shame with Jimmy Osmond if you still like Abba? Incidentally, if you were worried about peoples looks on the train, you should have taken off the Sombrero.
ReplyDeleteOh Iain you make me feel so old. Cliff's reunion? I even remember his first concert in Scotland and my first job was with a Scottish supermarket chain called Wm Low's where I worked on Saturdays. Happy days though.
ReplyDelete10p an hour?
ReplyDeleteIf you speak to Harriet Harman, she might get you a reimbursement under the guise of age-equality pay-scales.
Worth a shot, would stop her banging on about the cr*p she's been spouting for the last 24hrs!
I reckon meeting Shirly W must have had a big effect on you! Now stop this nonsense and get back to what you do better.
ReplyDeleteBNP candidate for Europe elections arrested on suspicion of selling illegal firearmsBy DAILY MAIL REPORTER
ReplyDelete26th April 2009
A BNP candidate for the European elections has been arrested on suspicion of selling illegal firearms.
David Lucas, 48, who supports capital punishment and makes gallows for sale abroad, was arrested at his mother’s home in Suffolk on Thursday.
He has been released on bail. BNP officials said Lucas would still stand in the election on June 4.
Article here
Nothing worthwhile writing about? Except you?
ReplyDeleteYou will like this, Iain.
ReplyDeleteMy first ever single, chosen by me and bought for me by my dad was...
Nine Times Out of Ten by Squiff Pilchard.
I used to practise it in front of the mirror with a flight bag and a broom handle for a guitar, and I can still do the curly lip thing.
When I finally met and interviewed Cliff, my knees went wobbly.
Oh, and my first job was washing dishes in a Chinese restaurant. My ability to mimic Cantonese/Mandarin is so good, I recently fooled a Singaporean who said, "Is that a dialect?" At which we dissolved into fits of laughter, since it was utter gibberish.
ReplyDeleteLaughing so hard, Browns just got snubbed on his way to a press conference with the pakistani president and Zandari cancels it.
ReplyDeleteRofl, nobody wants to be seen dead with Brown.
even Better, Brown had actually arrived in Pakistan and was waiting to meet the President and then told to clear off.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politics.co.uk/news/foreign-policy/pakistani-president-snubs-brown-$1291123.htm
but what was your first list ?
ReplyDeleteI did mine at http://englisheclectic.blogspot.com/2009/04/twenty-firsts-meme.html
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile I will be really pissed, if after spending most of my adult life worrying about AIDS, if I died of the sodding 'flu.
@Wrinkled Weasel
ReplyDeleteDo you think you are the first to go down on his knees to pay homage to Sir Cliff?
Your car insurance premiums must be sky-high. Give me advance warning if you're ever likely to be in charge of a vehicle up here.
ReplyDeleteOh some people have no sense of humour.
ReplyDeleteJimmy Osmond - YUKKKKKK. I sometimes see him on Tube posters and feel all creeped out.
Hmm, so this is Iain's blog, about Iain's opinions and preferences and it's not about him already?
Have I missed something?
Paul Halsall said... Do you think you are the first to go down on his knees to pay homage to Sir Cliff?Oi. When I said something similar about AN Other (non-out) Labour politician, it was immediately censored.
ReplyDeleteDo you remember what you thought of Shirley Williams Iain? I always admired her, but also felt she was a bit too political to live up to her sincerity reputation - was curious on your first reactions.
ReplyDeleteResearcher for an MP is not a real job.
ReplyDeleteAn orange Ford Cortina Mk III, lovingly nicknamed the Big Jaffa. I wrote it off on my 20th birthday.
ReplyDeleteI had a white one of those things once.
It handled like an space shuttle launcher.
Was as thirsty as a herd of diabetic wilder beasts.
Had the looks, stile and comfort of an iron sprung prison bed on casters.
The pussy pulling power of 5 day old BO. ( ok maybe this one did not bother you that much )
Some one lent it to me while my car was off the road, what in the hell was your excuse?
So, you drove a "Concertina"?
ReplyDeleteI recall they were the vehicle of choice for Ramraiders.