Er actually I am… no seriously I am, hence the reason for this blog, there are things about the Baron that you know not and I have decided to rectify much of this. This will be a fairly candid blog altho’ the questions are of course designed for me to reveal what I wish and not what I do not, I hope I will go some way to illustrating who I am and why. Feel free to answer these questions yourselves if you like either on my blog or yours and feel free to link to yours if you do.

What’s your name?

Call me the Baron!

No seriously what is it?

It’s Dom ok, are you happy now you’ve invaded my privacy, I feel naked without the anonimity of my nomenklatura!

Where are you from?

Tricky one this, I was born on the borders of Chelsea and Fulham but lived in 6 different places by the age of 18 and a further 22 places over the next 14 years so I don’t really feel I’m from anywhere. The only thing I feel comfortable with is the notion of being Irish due to my family and my upbringing but as my Mother told me “you’ll be a foreigner wherever you are because the Irish won’t accept you fully for the way you talk and the English won’t accept you for the way you think.” I thought this was inciteful, and as I get older I think home will be when I psychologically feel I want to put down roots in the place and that isn’t going to be here.

What is your oldest childhood memory?

Standing in my cot shouting “Mummy I want to get out” I must have been less than 21 months old because that’s when I broke my cot and moved up to a bed. (Yes I did talk early and no you haven’t been able to shut me up since!)

What is your educational background?

I went to school at St. Paul’s in London a school which installed all the qualities in me to make me a complete git. I spent around 10 years trying to expunge the school from my system and then eventually gave up and realised that I was probably destined to be a git anyway and the school just managed to fit into this area with consumate aplomb. I fell by accident into University a few years after school where I did a German degree for no professional reason. This led naturally to a career in IT!

Do you have any distinguishing features

Well, being an old git I have distinguished features, shut up Kate I told you I’m thinking about getting rid of it! In the immortal words of Michael Caine in Get Carter I’m “a big man but out of shape” I have long hair which is not going nowhere and I manage to pull off looking scruffy regardless of the slickness or effort of my attire!

Who do you most closely resemble?

That twat who’s always in the bathroom first thing in the morning when I’m doing my teeth, he’s a dead ringer! Other than that I dunno Meat Loaf, Andrew Strong, Comic Book geezer in The Simpsons, any corpulent tosser with a pony tail we all look the same really.

What is your idyll?

I guess we’re talking mid to long term now, or at least that’s how I will interpret the question, and it’s my bloody question so who are you to complain?! Anyway let’s say at 50 years old, I’d like to be in a nice cottage in Cornwall (very near if not on the sea) making a living as a writer, doesn’t have to be a big house just enough room for me and I would hope a large family and a plethora of mog. I’m not fussed about having a lot of money I just want to know that all the bills are paid and food is on the table and now and again with a bit of saving up I can run to a nice holiday or buy a gadget I’ve had my eye on.

If you were one of the Mr Men which one would you be?

Eh? Where did that come from? There are a couple, if you press me, between which it would be a tough choice I think Mr. Lazy and Mr. Chatterbox would be too close to call. I feel extremely sorry for Mr. Messy who is minding his own business in his squalor when these 2 cleanliness fascists come along and tidy him and his house up – now that really would be a good excuse for shooting intruders!

What 5 foods and 2 drinks could you not do without?

Food -sausage+bacon, chicken thai green curry, cannelloni, chateau briand and chicken tikka masala -ooh that’d be a week to savour! (there are many others but 5 was the brief.)

Drinks -Tea, no contest in first spot, the concept of not being able to have tea would drastically reduce my fear of death. Now I could cheat because I’d need milk for my tea and milk could well be my second choice, if that’s allowed I’ll say as the second drink either Theakston’s XB, Fuller’s Red Fox or St. Austell Tribute all fine beers and a world without a good pint would be an unpalatable place.

How old are you and do you worry about your age?

I’m 32 and the only reason I worry about my age is because of what I see as a very healthy fear of death!

Do you want children?

I have children, 2 of them, I told you I was the Daddy!

What’s your single biggest acheivement in life?

There are 2, and they call me Daddy.

What’s your biggest regret?

No longer being able to live with my children.

Do you see the cup as half empty or half full?

Depends what’s in the cup and whether it’s my round!

Choose 10 records for eternity and explain why you took them

With or Without You -U2 (first love)
Cold Tea – Dodgy (Contented Summer and a great song)
I Got a Woman – Led Zeppelin (‘cos I ain’t got a woman and it was a song that took me so long to find that I don’t want to lose it now)
My Old School – Steely Dan (Being in the first year at Uni and all the substance abuse that goes with it, or so I’ve heard.)
Uncertain Smile – The The (Reminds me of when I first started to wake up and grow up as a person)
Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand (Because it reminds me of now and things have been worse and my kids like it too)
Lola – The Kinks (Reminds me of childhood on the King’s Rd.)
Hit Me With Your Rhythym Stick – Ian Dury and the Blockheads (Need something to lift the spirits and doesn’t get better than this)
There She Goes – The La’s (Another good wallow in romantic slush!)
La Femme D’Argent – Air (Sitting on the way home Sunday evenings back to London, rain on the windows of the coach)

What 10 words would you use to describe yourself?

Messy, lazy, chatty, leftie, Daddy, loyal, idealist, commited, compassionate, insolvent.

So there you have it, that is the Baron and where he comes from, a small insight I’ll grant you but at this stage all you’re going to get so be thankful. BTW Mailing list signee -Thank you, you made an older man very happy!

Song of the Day – The Killers ~ Who Let You Go?

Original Comments:


A visitor made this comment,
very insightful.
rayts

comment added :: 3rd June 2004, 03:06 GMT+01
ale2000 made this comment,
as always- love your writing. when you reach the goal of becoming a writer one day- i’ll buy your book.
as for the kids- that’s sweet. how often do you get to see them? do you have a good relationship with the mom? how long were you two together?
yep….i’m nosey!

[Redbaron responds -Questions questions, all these inquisitive little minds! I’m quite used to it. I see them every day, the relationship with their Mother is turbulent and we were together for 9 years which basically meant practically our entire 20s.
I agree, you are nosey!]

comment added :: 3rd June 2004, 06:52 GMT+01
A visitor made this comment,
Hey RB– I have 3 questions! First, have you ever broken any bones? Second, what was the scariest event of your life? Third, If you could go back to one point in your life and do it differently, what point would it be and what would you do?
bluepoppy

[Redbaron responds -Not satisfied with the grilling I already gave myself eh?!

Bones, well only minor stuff like a finger and a toe I drink about a gallon of milk a day so my bones are prety ok.
Scary point -probably getting beaten up properly and having a knife pulled on me, that’s got to rank up there, there was also a time in the car when someone jumped out at the car in front with a sawn-off shotgun that was a little freaksome.
The old change favourite eh, well when you have kids you realise that if you were to change things you may well not have them at all and I’m quite attached to them really. In terms of interest ie me thinking about how different my life could have been I guess it would be in 1993 waiting until January 94 to go to University in East Berlin rather than going to London U in the September that could have made a hell of a difference.]

comment added :: 3rd June 2004, 13:29 GMT+01

A visitor made this comment,
Sorry. Could only keep away from your site for a few days. Guess I’m just Intrigued (yes, I looked that word up) by your blog. Not really by your political views, because I doubt we would ever agree, but I guess because I got so upset by everything. I even hesitate to leave this comment for fear that everyone will trash me again. After reading your blog today, I realize I see you in somewhat of a different light. You are not how I pictured you at all. We are even the same age-though I fear i am a bit older than you as my b-day is coming up this month (gulp). I’m sure you know after having read my blog that getting older for me is really just only the amount of time I have been on this earth.
I keep hesitating how much to say because of how you or other’s might reply to my comment. then i have the fear of coming back to read any comment that you leave back-though i probably will, but may not read anyone elses depending on your reply, because your followers (lol) will most likely take on the same tone as you. I also did read your comment on the last comment i left-and only your’s. I was hurt too by the whole thing. Which I know you will understand why since you read my old blog. Hub say’s i can’t control my emotions…….guess most people would agree to that. I didn’t mean to hurt, sadden, or blame you for my not blogging anymore. While the situation with you is why I won’t blog again, it’s not your fault. when i was thanking you, I (mostly) really meant it in a sincere way. I’ve always wanted to journal, because it can be very theraputic, but was always afriad of someone finding it and seeing my raw feelings-though you could say I don’t need a journal for people to see that-lol. But the comment you left (and while you were justified at being somewhat nasty because i was to you), it just made me realize that it can still hurt when people you don’t and never will know can be as hurtful as if someone I know found and read a journal i hand wrote. What hurt me the most was the comment on my spelling. Petty, i know, but i felt like you were trying to make me look stupid, and i think men do that to women alot when they don’t know what else to say to hurt them. Sorry, this is a long nothing comment, but i will feel better leaving it. I must say that we do have at least ONE thing in common-I love the song Lola too ever since I was a kid, though I rarely hear it anymore.
Now that I know you have kids, i see better where your comment about smoking came from-and you are absolutely right-I do do it too much!! And i have been working hard since one of my friend’s really got on me about it-that I’m just chasing my tail by doing it-and she’s right. There are several reasons for doing it, but since anybody and everybody can read this, I feel I am already opening myself up to harsh critism again. (By the way, i stopped looking words up-I can’t spell for shit! It’s true. The fact that i don’t spell well does not mean i am stupid though-I’m far from it! I can’t even blame the public scholl system as I spent some time in a catholic school.
Well, i know i’ve talked enough about stuff you most likely don’t even care about. My whole comment is to let you know that it is not your fault personally that I won’t blog again. You just made me realize I don’t handle critism well-NOOOO?????-lol
I do have one “political” question to ask you, and I will not reply to it because i don’t want to get everything in an uproar again.
You want all the troops to leave Iraq-what do you think would happen if we all did? Another one-what would you like to see happen to our world? We all know that there will never be world peace, but how would you have things?
From-Jen
Jen

[Redbaron responds -oh Jen why couldn’t you have left the last question out?!!! I am glad you’re still about, contrary to what people may think I do not wish to kill all people of a right-wing bent, a bit of frontal lobotomy will suffice! (Joke) I like a good debate and people having differing opinions make life interesting. Besides if you like the song Lola there’s hope for you yet. Put it on some more, we’ll make at least a liberal of you yet!
Publishing raw thoughts online is a dangerous thing, it is perhaps as well that you got burned a little rather than a lot because my site is not as widely read as some and on the whole my ‘comrades’ (I think they might be miffed by the word followers and besides being a leftie I don’t agree with hierarchy!) are a pretty laid-back bunch. If it’s any consolation my spelling is attrocious and my grammar worse but here’s a tip for you, when you have finished a blog or a comment copy and paste it into a WP package then run spellcheck correct the mistakes and copy and paste it back. Works (usually) for me.
As regards the troops well I think if they left there’d be chaos….. still, er rather like there is now, and then the Iraqis would have to sort things out but that’s fair it’s their country. As regards the world well at the moment there are many who would have us bombed to oblivion there are others who would like us to asphyxiate on our own pollution, I, also feeling that getting older is just time spent on this Earth (strange that you as a right-winger feel that tho’), would like to live for a bit longer and I don’t want to have to kill/exploit anyone else to do so. I would like a situation where the TNCs are removed from their malignant influence as they are the ones who drive war/exploitation and unsurprisingly -capitalism.
*Redbaron’s Final Thought* If you don’t take criticism well, and frankly who does, then think carefully what you say when criticising others as they may attack you back and use things that hurt so remember be good to yourselves and each other!]

comment added :: 3rd June 2004, 16:38 GMT+01

moog made this comment,
jerry! jerry! jerry!!
Visit me @ http://jealoustwin.blog-city.com/

comment added :: 3rd June 2004, 21:06 GMT+01
A visitor made this comment,
“Hey, Hey, What can I do?” Great song but there all great aren’t they, my personal favorite would have to be “What is, and what should never be.”
haywood

[Redbaron responds -it was a tough choice restricting myself to one Zep track but this one was the rarest and a top tune so I picked it I could easily have gone for ‘When the Levee Breaks, Tangerine, Gallows Pole, No Quarter, Since I’ve Been Loving You, All of my Love, Stairway, Kashmir, Ramble On etc etc etc. and those are just the ones that immeadiately spring to mind]

comment added :: 3rd June 2004, 22:02 GMT+01
The Skunx made this comment,
Fuck politics, let’s fuck!
Err…not you RB, just in general.

#

Visit me @ http://1mansview.blog-city.com

[Redbaron responds -I don’t see why the 2 have to be mutually exclusive -find a like-minded girl or guy depending on your preference and give them one up the Social Chapter! Sounds damn near a perfect combination to me, and if she can make a good cuppa I am there!]

comment added :: 3rd June 2004, 22:55 GMT+01
Tine made this comment,
Thanks for sharing these Dom. Is your name just Dom or Dominique?
Visit me @ http://tine.blog-city.com

[Redbaron responds -for all intents and purposes it’s just Dom, the only person who uses my full name is my Mother and that only if I’m in big trouble!]

comment added :: 5th June 2004, 08:14 GMT+01
Katie made this comment,
Baby I’m back. You know that I make a really good cup of tea, worried that might throw you over the edge now. Also I prefer calling you by your whole name, I just don’t because you don’t like it.
I will do another blog soon, its just I barely know where to begin on the last few days.
Visit me @ http://screamtoasigh.blog-city.com

comment added :: 5th June 2004, 13:43 GMT+01
Rachel made this comment,
so dom, you have just emptied your soul and your past on your blog, how do you feel? where did “redbaron” come from? and dude, there are all the old american classics, the beatles, billy joel, moody blues, not really any of the bullshit they’ve been playing now.
Visit me @ http://palmysinfullbloom.blog-city.com

[Redbaron responds -I feel naked to be honest, like the geezer in Terminator who turns up in the buff to hunt Arnie]

comment added :: 8th June 2004, 00:31 GMT+01