I don’t even know what a bloody meme is, but I’ve just been tagged by Dan Taylor who’s a very nice man who works in the Vision Department of the BBC doing visionary things and thinking up a good vision for how Vision might work, etc. Apparently this is something called a meme. I don’t understand it.

Here are the rules:
1: Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2: People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
3: At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4: Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Right. Well. Here are my eight things.

1: Until I was 35, the only time I’d ever been into a night club was when I’d been paid to be there. Sadly, I ended up in a particularly unpleasant night club last year in Dover Street, destroying a particularly good random fact just in time for this meme.
2: When I was a radio presenter, I once read a sponsor credit, started a record, and said “What a load of old bollocks that was”, before realising that I’d yet to close the microphone. Inexplicably, I kept my job.
3: My 14-year-old cat is called the BBC, and was christened that by a producer at BBC Radio Sheffield. It’s a bloody nuisance.
4: After many years of wearing odd socks and wasting time trying to match them, in 2003 I decided to copy a friend of mine, throw all my socks out, and just buy a job lot of black ones from M&S. It works excellently. I recommend it.
5: I am quite slim, and I used to be a match-day announcer, on occasion, at Bradford City football club - having to go onto the pitch during half time. Rotherham United fans started chanting “You fat bastard. You fat bastard.” as soon as they saw me during one game. Sigh.
6: I once worked out that I am one/32nd Spanish.
7: I once authorised a hitherto slightly unknown easter-egg on the Virgin Radio website - turn your speakers on, and add ?sohot after any page URL. If you’re wondering why, add ?why for another one. There are more, but I’ve forgotten them. They were announced at the time on the techblog in a bit of an obtuse way, so I’m not breaking any confidences.
8: On Halifax Town’s last day in the Football League, as a ‘celebrity guest’, I took a penalty kick during half time. At an open goal. And missed.

Right. And now, I nominate…

Adam Bowie, clever man at Virgin Radio
Nick Piggott, digital chap at GCap Media cop-out
Matt Deegan, Folder Media’s brightest employee done
Frankie Roberto, web developer extraordinaire done
Tom Scott, clever colleague
Ian Forrester, one of the men behind BBC Backstage
Nik Goodman, clever radio consultant
Tristan Fearne, bright clever R&DIO chap

Sorry, chaps, but I had to.

Photo: Lenore M. Edman, www.evilmadscientist.com. Used under licence