Nick from the UK, a pinball enthusiast, heads up the next interview here on PhilosYphia. See what he has to comment on my questions below:

Yourself

1. Introduce yourself — your name (or nom de plume), where you hail from, what you do during the day, and what you do at night.

Hi guys! I’m Nick from the UK.  People out there in the blogosphere may know me best from my pinball shenanigans – I’m a big enthusiast – more on that later! I live out in the Buckinghamshire countryside with my beautiful wife, 2 young children (one of each – a full set) and my trusty four legged friend. I used to work in banking but one day decided I’d had enough and didn’t show up for work. I thought I had enough money saved to survive forever (hey, I was young!) but sadly I didn’t (although finding that out was a whole lotta fun!). I now tickle about doing whatever I can to keep the wolf from the door, the wife tells me I should get a proper job – and maybe she’s right! In the evenings you might find me at the workshop I built for my hobby, Pinball Machines, or maybe playing Call of Duty (4 or 5) on Xbox Live!

2. Plug yourself — do you have a blog, a Facebook, a MySpace, a website, a software project…tell us where to find more information about you!

Plug myself? As if..! Oh, go on then…. As mentioned above my big passion is pinball, my wife simply doesn’t get it, but it’s a great hobby. I blog about it frequently through The Pinball Blog. The machines, the people, the events – I love it! I play XBoxes, Playstations, and all the modern toys but you simply can’t beat the real interaction with a pinball machine, and no one will ever completely master it.  I buy and sell machines as a hobby through Pinballers Anonymous and I also organise the only pinball show in the UK, cunningly called the UK Pinball Show. We’re not spoiled for choice like our American counterparts, but I’m doing my best to make the UK an active place for social and competitive pinball.

Politics

3. 2009 should be an interesting year for politics. A new president, a new Congress, and some huge problems to solve. Tell us what you think the (A) best thing that will be accomplished in the world of politics will be and (B) the worst thing that will happen in politics.

I’m from the UK, so George Bush has been great entertainment watching from afar! How can somebody who puts his foot in his mouth with such regularity become president? The land of the free I suppose. I often look at the news around the world and wonder where it all went wrong. Is it right for the US, the UK and it’s strong-arm cohorts to enforce what they believe to be correct ways of living on the rest of the world? Sure there’s some bad stuff going on but sometimes I think we’re no better than the countries we try and change. The UK is broken at the moment, house prices sky-rocketed, people spent borrowed money and now it’s payback time. Walking down the high-street shows empty shop after empty shop, some of our biggest brands have gone to the wall, and banks (who happily took their profits for so long) now rely on government money (my taxes!) to stay afloat. It’s going to get worse before it gets better! Did that even answer the question?

4. A good leader is often known for the company you keep. If you were president, you’d have to pick your own cabinet. Give us a rundown of 4 people in your life that you would make as your cabinet, how they are related to you, what position they would hold, and why?

I’ll base this as being prime minister of the UK. My main advisor would be the wife! I’m very diplomatic but find it tough to say no to people. Although kind and thoughtful, she’s much tougher than me and when there’s something that needs doing – she’ll get it done. Secretly, she’ll be making all the tough decisions and I’ll just take the pay-cheque! The chancellor of the exchequer (finances) would have to be my accountant. How anyone can juggle numbers in such a way is beyond me! Half of it must be barely legal – so I’ll consider that qualification enough! Foreign secretary. This would be my good friend Steven, his knowledge of all things international is incredible. He knows more about the goings on in the world than any sane person could ever need (or want) to know. He’d easily be my “phone a friend” choice for Who Wants to be a Millionaire! My armed-forces minister would have to be my step-father. He’s a keen historian and loves historic battles. Although from the UK, he’s passionate about the American Civil War and has a strange fascination of General Longstreet. He’s a great public speaker and has attended many civil war functions on your side of the pond! He’s also a fantastic tactician as I learned during several defeats on board games like Risk and Axis & Allies!

Religion

5. Sometimes the traditions, dogma, and rites of religion help us and sometimes they hurt us. Give an example of each kind — a religious tradition or ritual that helps people and one that hurts (or hinders). You may pick your own religion or a different one as you like.

Here we go off the beaten track again…. I was brought up as a Christian and (hypocritically) was married in a Christian church, but I wouldn’t consider myself religious these days. I probably live a more Christian ‘lifestyle’ than 90% of Christians, but I just don’t share the beliefs. Why should I or anyone else for that matter be brought up a Christian, a Muslim, a Sikh or whatever based largely on where I was born? If my kids want to follow that stuff, they can make educated decisions when they’re old enough, I’m not leading them down a particular path before they know what’s going on! Is there a bigger scheme of things? I don’t know. But it wasn’t very long ago that everyone believed God made the world in 7 days, now science has put pay to that – and I don’t think science is finished with you believers yet! There are tribes in far-flung places that we know little about that have beliefs and rituals that would be considered barbaric in our culture, but that doesn’t make them wrong! Maybe we’ve got it wrong. There’s a man who comes knocking on my door every once in a while with his little handout of Jehovah’s Witness paraphernalia! He’s a really nice guy and he knows I’m not on his list of likely converts, but bizarrely I look forward to our brief meetings (no, I’m not lonely), I’d like to think this was reciprocated! The wife tells me “your little man was round today” if I’ve missed him.

6. Some people think that God (if he/she/it exists) must have a sense of humor. Given this, what sitcom would God most likely sit down in the cosmic easy chair and giggle at and why? You can pick current or past shows.

Fawlty Towers. You *must* have seen that over there! I’m not a great TV watcher (although as a guy, have to have a BIG TV), but growing up my father was a big fan and Fawlty Towers made for some amusing television. John Cleese (I’m not especially a fan) was very funny as a miserly misanthrope who wasn’t happy with his status in society. Politically incorrect and probably wouldn’t be allowed these days with the PC brigade on duty.

Philosophy

7. Some people think that if we can make a robot sophisticated enough, it will behave exactly like a human would in all situations and therefore be essentially indistinguishable from a flesh-and-blood human. If this becomes possible, do you think we should treat these robots with the same rights afforded humans? If not, why not?

Let’s let the criminals off their crimes because we breached some tiny element of their human rights, or a court case against some of the worst of society can be thrown out because a smidgen of red-tape was missed in the process – even though the evidence is stacked against them! If a robot can be designed with only the good behaviour of humans then lets give them more rights than some of the animals we seem to have created!

8. Is beauty truly in the eye of the beholder, subject only to what a particular viewer thinks, or are some things universally beautiful because of certain properties? If so, what properties distinguish “universal” beauty?

I think the world is a beautiful place. Go and take 5 minutes and look around you. Not at the stuff we’ve managed to ruin, but the place as a whole. Look into space and you can’t help but think we’re part of something spectacular and beautiful – just maybe we’re a few million years away from knowing exactly what it is! What makes it beautiful? Maybe it’s the unknown. To me a picture of a pretty girl is easier on the eye than the same girl without her clothes. Reality often disappoints, so enjoy the beauty of the unknown.

General

9. Name a Disney cartoon character that you would like to get intimate with and where…and what would you wear when you met?

Tough one…. maybe Maid Marian from Disney’s animated Robin Hood. She’s sweet, well-spoken, vulnerable, needy, loving and you can’t get any more foxy than a fox! Of course I’d be dressed as Robin Hood!

10. Pick a feature of your particular gender (physical, emotional, psychological, etc) and tell us why that’s the best feature of all. Pick the worst feature and say why you think that’s the worst.

As a guy I love our strength to protect. I don’t simply mean physical strength but I feel like I can protect my children through thick and thin. I appreciate there maybe things beyond my control, but I’ll happily play the role of protector in our family! The worst feature? Surely we’re all perfect? OK, I might be a little stubborn every now and then.

11. Finish off your interview with a funny quip, quote, or saying.

Life’s a shit-sandwich and it’s always lunchtime! I don’t really believe that, but it makes me chuckle!

The End

Thanks, Nick, for that interesting interview!    Everyone, give Nick some love and commentary if you feel so inspired!

This is the last of the interviews I have built up for now — but hey, don’t let that stop you!   If you would like one, just let me know and I’ll hook you up.    New questions for the next ones, as I think we’ve seen enough out of these.   Thanks everyone who has participated so far!