...So said Blackadder to Dr Samuel Johnson in one of the superb episodes of Blackadder the Third. Like Blackadder, I have chosen to adopt the same pseudonym. And as the Scottish Jewish comedian Arnold Brown used to say, why not!
I have been meaning to start a blog for some time, and as I am already subscribed to Google, Blogger seemed as good a place as any other.
I would like to use this blog to discuss my hobbies and interests, as well as Autism.
In my mid-30s, a few years ago, I was given a psychiatric diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome, after another bout of severe anxiety and depression. Asperger Syndrome was coined after the scientist Dr Hans Asperger, who observed Autistic traits in children in the 1940s and wrote a paper or two on the topic. The condition was not widely known until the 1990s, when Dr Hans Asperger’s medical papers were published in English.
Asperger Syndrome was coined to describe people with a high-functioning form of Autism. Despite media portrayals of Autism in films like “Rain Man” and “Mercury Rising”, Autism is a spectrum condition, meaning it can vary from mild to severe. Some people with Autism cannot communicate through speech, have associated learning disabilities and will need 24/7 care for the rest of their lives. Whereas other people with Autism are seemingly normal in speech and appearance, as their own Autism is far less severe; low-functioning and high-functioning Autism are terms commonly used to describe the differences in severity.
A more commonly used term is Autistic Spectrum Disorder and is the term I prefer. The National Autistic Society’s website has detailed factsheets on Autistic Spectrum Disorder and I thoroughly recommend visiting the site to learn more about the medical condition. http://www.autism.org.uk/
Whereas Autism can vary in its severity, there are some characteristic traits that many people with Autism share. One of these is a preference for a routine and disliking change. Changes in my job, my workplace, and moving home caused me severe anxiety and depression. It was this trait, amongst others, that helped my diagnosis.
Since my diagnosis, I have learnt just how much prejudice and hate expressed by some towards people with Autism, as well as misconceptions and stereotyping. I do not live up to many of the stereotypes and prejudices that many people have of Autistic people, although I do have many of the diagnostic traits of Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
One of my Autistic traits (for want of a better expression) is reflected in my narrowly focussed hobbies and interests. People with Autism tend to become intensely and obsessively interested in a particular subject matter or hobby, which often last throughout their lives.
For instance, in my case, my own intense interests are:
Music – Fields of the Nephilim (and associated bands), Pink Floyd (and the musicians solo work), AC/DC, and Midnight Oil. Whereas I do listen to other music, these are my obsessions since my teenage years. With the exception of Midnight Oil and the 1984 to 1991 Fields line up, I have been fortunate to see the others in concert. I saw Pink Floyd in 1994. I saw Fields of the Nephilim (aka Carl McCoy) in 2007, twice in 2008, and also in 2011, 2012 and 2013. And I saw AC/DC in 2009, featuring the classic Back in Black era line up! In 2013, I saw Roger Waters (formerly of Pink Floyd) performing the epic Pink Floyd album, The Wall.
Television – Doctor Who, Firefly, QI, Have I Got News For You, and documentaries. I watch very little else, and in the case of Firefly, only on DVD video.
My earliest recollection of Doctor Who was watching the fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) merge with The Watcher, and regenerate into the fifth Doctor (Peter Davison), which was the final scene of Logopolis episode four in 1981. I was about four or five at the time. But I did not become an obsessed Whovian until 1988, after watching Day of the Daleks on BBC Video and season 25 on television. I remain a huge fan to this very day, and supported Doctor Who during its wilderness years of 1990 to 2004.
I did grow up on a televisual diet of science fiction, fantasy and alternative comedy; Doctor Who, Star Trek, Space 1999, Lost in Space, Battlestar Galactica (the original starring Dirk Benedict), Buck Rogers, The Incredible Hulk, Joe 90, Terrorhawks, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlett, Stingray, Knightmare, Red Dwarf, Robin of Sherwood, Batman, Danger Mouse, Trap Door, Banana Man, The Young Ones, The Comic Strip presents…, Spitting Image, Friday/Saturday Night Live, The New Statesman, Blackadder, Fawlty Towers, Girls on Top, Alexie Sayle’s Stuff, Ben Elton’s Man from Auntie, Bottom, etc, etc, etc.
At the cinema, I saw ET in 1982, Return of the Jedi in 1983, and Ghostbusters in 1984. I saw approximately three James Bond films (Never Say Never Again, A View to a Kill, and The Living Daylights) at the cinema, as well as films such as Jewel in the Nile, Terminator 2, and possibly Willow, Never-ending Story, Labyrinth, The Goonies, amongst others.
Reading – I do not read much fiction, but I do like to read Doctor Who short story books, novels, and novelisations (of which I have an awful lot), Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) and H P Lovecraft stories. I tend to read more non-fiction than fiction. I have a particular interest in UK home defence during the Cold War (especially nuclear bunkers), Victorian England (the 1800s), the UK home front during World War 2, the Special Operations Executive and other Special Forces, Nuclear Biological Chemical warfare, non-fiction Doctor Who books, non-fiction books on tabletop roleplaying games, geek culture, and the Goth and Steampunk subculture.
Writing and drawing - When the mood takes me, I like to write and draw.
Voluntary work – In addition to full-time employment, I have been volunteering for a local registered charity for over seventeen years.
Tabletop roleplaying games – Doctor Who – Time Lord, Doctor Who – Adventures in Time and Space: the RPG, Victoriana 2nd/3rd edition, Serenity / Firefly, etc.
Collecting – I collect replica historical coins, fossils, rocks and minerals, Doctor Who short story books, books on topics that interest me (see above), and Doctor Who replica pocket props.
It is the latter of these hobbies, collecting Doctor Who replica pocket props, which will be the primary subject matter of this blog.
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