There is a Q and A with Jim that it’s appeared on The Guardian website today. A good set of questions that takes him away from having to give all the usual stock answers. I love these kinds of things as they actually do provide a different perspective, and as an ardent and dedicated fan (*cough* stalker *cough*), watching and reading a ton of interviews can get….a little wearing – even if he himself has declared that it doesn’t get tedious to answer the same questions over and over and over and over again. (Yeah, I believe you, Jim. Lol)
Instead of just linking to the piece, I’ll type out the Q and A here as follows (I’ll number the questions to make my own comments on them at the end easier to follow):
1. WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST FEAR?
I have a mild fear of not being appreciative enough for the luck that has come my way. That’s about it.
2. WHICH LIVING PERSON DO YOU MOST ADMIRE, AND WHY?
A friend named Paul Hill [one of the Guildford Four] spent 15 years in prison doing time for crimes he did not commit. We communicate most days. I admire the hell out of him.
3. WHAT IS THE TRAIT YOU MOST DEPLORE IN YOURSELF?
I’ve learned to give myself a break. Everyone should.
4. WHAT WAS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT?
I once took a tumble off a high stage in Holland. Chipping my collarbone and my front teeth was painful. Not as much as the embarrassment, however.
5. WHAT MAKES YOU UNHAPPY?
I hate feeling as if we haven’t fully delivered during a live performance.
6. WHAT DO YOU MOST DISLIKE ABOUT YOUR APPEARANCE?
Don’t get me started.
7. WHAT IS THE WORST THING ANYONE HAS SAID TO YOU?
“Oh, it’s you! I love you! Er….What’s your name again? You’re the singer in Simply Read, right?”
8. WHO IS YOUR CELEBRITY CRUSH?
Michael Sheen.
9. IF YOU COULD BRING SOMETHING EXTINCT BACK TO LIFE, WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
Jim Morrison.
10. WHAT IS YOUR MOST UNAPPEALING HABIT?
I tend to drift off – no matter the company I’m in.
11. WHAT SCARES YOU ABOUT GETTING OLDER?
I’d like to think I’ve made peace with all that’s inevitable.
12. WHICH BOOK ARE YOU ASHAMED NOT TO HAVE READ?
Ulysses. Boy oh boy, how I’ve tried!
13. WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP?
In The Beatles.
14. WHAT DOES LOVE FEEL LIKE?
Like Celtic hitting the back of the net in the 90th minute of a Champions League football match.
15. WHAT WAS THE BEST KISS OF YOUR LIFE?
Bruce Springsteen gave me both a bear hug and a peck on the cheek backstage during his Broadway show.
16. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT?
I travelled all the way to the Arctic Circle to see the aurora borealis, then fell asleep and missed it.
17. WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT?
That’s easy. I’ve consistently punched above my weight.
18. WHAT WAS YOUR CLOSEST BRUSH WITH THE LAW?
The evening before we began recording our Sons and Fascination album, I spent a night in the cells after being caught climbing the walls of the Russian embassy in London. To make matters worse, I was tripping on LSD. I could not determine if what was happening was really happening. Unfortunately, it was! Fortunately, no charges were made.
19. WHAT KEEPS YOU AWAKE AT NIGHT?
Not much. Given that I’m up and active most mornings around 5am, I’ve had enough of everything by 9pm.
20. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE?
We make space for others.
MY RESPONSES:
I would love to be in the position of No. 2 (in terms of contact with him) but know I already probably DRASTICALLY fall victim of No. 10 – I’ve seen that face many a time in interviews and the like and I would sssoooooo fall victim to that look. I had my little precious few months in the very early days when I somehow, truly unfathomably for me was his “flavour of the month.” I have long since been of complete disinterest to him. And yet…I never, ever, EVER get bored of him. Ever! No. 6! Aaawww! Come on! Geez…look at the women you’re still batting off you left, right and centre. Jesus Christ! Get over yourself, Kerr! (Lol. I love you. Don’t hate me!) No. 8 Celebrity crush is Michael Sheen? Not… Monica Bellucci or some other stunning babe? Yeah, I believe you! 15. You haven’t kissed me yet, Jim! (I know! As if! Can barely look at the man, talk to him…let alone bloody KISS him! Couldn’t even touch him last Saturday.) 14. Really? *rolls eyes* 16. Still cracks me up! 17. Hmmm – I think the odd time others have definitely punched above theirs with you! Haven’t read No. 18 for a while. But I am sssoooo ridiculously attracted to these kind of antics. I was hoping for similar anecdotes about Oz when I got to ask the question in Paris – but all I got was the explanation about the cancelling of the Oz tour and a “I’m bored now, ‘what was the question’…anyway, here Charlie, deal with her now” response. Lol. 12. I’ve tried other Joyce as well. It and Finnegans Wake – no chance! But I love Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – I haven’t read either of them for quite some time though. The last question – that was nicely answered.
Oh, I wish so much. Just ssooo much. That’s all.