friday five

Yes I know it's monday, I'm always late. I figured after the 100 things meme taking more than a year to complete I'd keep my lists a bit shorter.

1) What is your favorite noise to hear?
The noise I hear most often that I love is the sound of the coffee percolator in the morning. It's also the best smell. But the sound that I love that I hear almost never is the sound of a steam train whistle in the distance. There's something beautifully mournful and alluring about that sound.

2) If you could live in any era of time, what would you choose and why?
I'd love to have been around in Roman times, probably around the reign of Vespasian, but only if I was a member of the upper classes. And even then I'd have difficulties with sanitation and food storage. For hedonistic reasons I'd have loved to have been around in Paris in the 20s.

3) You just found $50 while cleaning your house. Where do you decide to spend it?
Bookshop or CD store. That's a no brainer.

4) What magazines to you subscribe to/read on a normal basis?
Sight & Sound - the British Film Institute magazine. I've been getting that monthly for nearly 10 years now.
New Scientist - on a more irregular basis, when something catches my eye.
Fortean Times - even more irregularly these days, but whenever I'm looking for something bizarre and intriguing that's where I go.

5) If you could witness any event in history, but not change anything about it, what would you choose and why?
I'd love to have seen the birth of the Mediterranean - to have been around when the Atlantic burst through what is now the Straits of Gibraltar. That would have been just incredible. But I guess that's pre-history really. Within recorded human history.. I'd like to have been in Manchester for the seminal Sex Pistols gig.. Or Joy Division. Yeah, Joy Division.