Nearly25Things

First I wish to include a note via my good friend Chip in America who sent me the following;

Muzzammil Hassan, of Orchard Park NY (SE of Buffalo), is the "founder and chief executive officer of Bridges TV, which he launched in 2004 amid hopes that it would help portray Muslims in a more positive light. Its slogan was 'connecting people through understanding'."

He was arrested on Thursday and charged with beheading his wife.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29189095/

Keep working on the image building Muzzammil.

I am almost totally caving in on two fronts today. Firstly I have cravenly submitted to the seemingly inescapable “Twitter” craze and signed up after being “Twitted” many times over the last weeks by those wishing me to join the trend. I really don’t see the point of being in a text based messaging system to send or receive chains of random thoughts to and from people I either don’t know well or at all. Perhaps I am missing something profound.

Last week it was the thoughts of actor, comedian and all round genius Stephen Fry when he was trapped in a lift (elevator) with a bunch of strangers. As ever he communicated his plight in tight little sentences; this time is he a Twittee for the transmittal of his plight or am I the Twittee for reading of it?

I don’t see why we should wish to communicate in this truncated form in either direction, particularly since instead of personalizing our relationships this will, by definition, other than by accident, do precisely the opposite. However, this is no doubt one of those giant crazes that sweep the world in minutes so one has to participate to witness its evolution and be annoyed by it.

I have also decided to join another craze, the one in which you list 25 things about yourself, although I have randomly decided that I shall construct a list that is slightly shorter or longer on the arbitrary basis that I must not totally conform. I’m not sure of the precise reason for this listing of one’s peculiarities and peccadilloes being a necessity but on the other hand, it does, momentarily, release your mind from thinking about the economy or Gordon Brown or the multi trillion deficits our countries are all running. I wouldn’t be so angry if at the same time our leaders didn’t keep telling us what we are doing wrong, when clearly they don’t have a clue how to do anything themselves!

So here we go, purely in the interests of not being too serious. Some things you didn’t know about Tony Klinger and perhaps don’t care to know.

1. His favorite color is red, which is the color of the strip for his favorite football team, Manchester United and, of course McDonalds.
2. He must never drive a red sports car since a psychic told his late mother he would be killed if he drove one, Avis and Hertz please note.
3. In the UK Tony drives an American car, a Cadillac, but in the States he usually drives a Japanese car, go figure.
4. The first thing Tony read was the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
5. His first school was St. Francis, in Acton, London, where he was the first non-Catholic to attend. Interesting but ridiculous.
6. The best book of stories he ever read was the Old Testament.
7. Klinger’s favorite book is Catch 22 by Joseph Heller but it’s run close by Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged that possibly signifies that he has a somewhat split personality.
8. Tony’s favorite film is Citizen Caine and he thinks it is also the best film ever made.
9. Klinger’s dad was also a filmmaker, producing films such as Get Carter with Michael Caine and executive producing, amongst others some wonderful stuff like Repulsion and Cul-de-Sac with the director Roman Polanski and the ultra successful Confessions series.
10. Before that Tony’s dad had many occupations, but he was most proud of having been a structural engineer, having designed, during the Second World War the first machine that tested bombs and other munitions on the production line.
11. TK has worked in every capacity on film and media production except for make up and hair.
12. TK once scored 6 goals in a single soccer match in Los Angeles and when a teen he won all his boxing matches bar one and once won all the races at a swim meet and the Twist dance competition at Hastings Happy Holiday Camp, beat that!
13. Klinger has filmed in 37 countries, and made over 600 productions for cinema, TV shows, music videos, documentaries, commercials and corporate films and in doing so he has won more than 50 awards.
14. Tony’s most proud professional achievement was to be part of the team winning The Queens Anniversary Award for Education when he was a Lecturer, Course Director at the Bournemouth Film School.
15. Tony, like the British BBC news guru, Jeremy Paxman is very disappointed by the fall in standard and quality of Marks and Spencer’s once great men’s underpants, and is still in search of a suitable replacement. Time is running short.
16. Klinger has been called a Socialist, a Liberal and a fiscal Conservative since he started writing articles on politics but is, like Charles De Gaulle, “above such things”.
17. Tony’s first book, Twilight of the Gods will be published this summer.