Splotlight on Jimmowatt

[Cloud Mountain]

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Jimmowatt,
who joined us 13 Jan 2006 and has clocked 541 helpful posts,
and still counting. Let's start at the beginning...




Any final words?

Oh I like this.
Very subversive starting off the interview with ‘any final words.’
Terminate is a final word isn't it and end and stop.
Hmmm
I think if I were dying and had to come up with some final words I think I'd like to leave the world with a mystery. "It's very important that you tell..."



You're on a roll... Very good. Can you tell us about your family ? spouse, girl or boy friend, children, grandchildren....

One 18 year old son who lives with his mother.

Partner, Carrie working several billion hours a day at the moment trying desperately to finish her thesis and two cats, Bertie (named after Bertie Wooster for his docileamiability) and Tabitha a vicious (but affectionate) hellcat.



What part of the world do you come from? Live now?

I live in Cambridge in England. A glorious place to live. Beautiful, historical and teeming with delightfully learned people. I previously lived in Leeds, a market town that grew to enormous size during the industrial revolution and is now the third largest city in Britain after London and Birmingham.



How did you find out about Librivox?

I was out one day on a quiet browser stroll when the notion to search for audio books came upon me. I cycle in to work every day and on particularly dull, wet unpleasant days it makes the trip a little easier if I can distract myself with a book to listen to. I found a well organized thriving community of people I enjoyed spending time with.



What do you do here at LV, i.e., read, proof listen, coordinate? and why?

Yes, all them.
Why, for the warm glow of satisfaction and the pleasure of the thing itself such as listening to stories and producing or helping to produce an artifact of quality.



Have you had any previous experience in this area? i.e. theatre, radio, podcast?

No - that was an easy question.



Do you have any close family members who are hearing impaired?

I wonder if this question should have said sight impaired.
Hmmm
No to both.



Have you ever considered a career in ichthyology?

Well, I'm glad you drew my attention to that word.
What a wonderfully bizarre field of study.



Did you know that you could sing any poem by Emily Dickinson to the tune “The Yellow Rose of Texas”?

Actually, I've got the text of Meinkampf in front of me (my studies this year are entitled 'Total War and Social Change - I'm not a raving Nazi) and you can sing that to Yellow Rose of Texas. I have a sneaking suspicion that you can fit anything to it.



Anything funny audio experience you remember from childhood? - First tape recorder? Playing DJ with your friends? <Heh... Heh..>

You're looking for something dreadfully embarrassing here aren't you.
They do this sort of thing on game shows I've noticed. People admit the most appalling things in a desperate bid to look interesting on television.
I've never really delved into audio production before, not even in an embarrassing childlike way.



Are you wanted by a foreign government for audio espionage?

I wonder what audio espionage would consist of?
Ah I know, those subliminal messages that are supposed to by-pass the conscious brain. "Eat more beans, eat more beans." People just wouldn't be able to stop themselves and would keep going till we got exploding people everywhere. All my own work I would pronounce as I viewed the carnage from my luxury yacht orbiting the earth.



Have you every played a Beatle’s record backwards to uncover secret messages?

No - I doubt 4 dozy gits from Liverpool would have much of interest to say secret or otherwise. They make some decent musical noises though.



Is there a particular LibriVox book which you like the best because of the quality, the overall effort involved, its popularity, or for some other reason?

My current favorite is the Innocence of Father Brown, read by Brian Roberg, because of the quality but mostly because of the joy of discovery and the wonderfully bizarre nature of crimes that the priest solves.



Of the projects you have worked on, which did you like most?

The History of England by Thomas Macaulay.
It's a fine work, beautiful writing and I'm proud of what we've produced so far. Only a few short sections to go and we've recorded the entirety of the
huge chunk that is Volume 1. Many more to go.

The easiest to record tho has been Our Island Story as a duet with Kara. Kara would do one chapter and then I would do another. Anna would pounce immediately upon any completed chapters proof reading them as we went along. Very short chapters and all three of us helped to motivate the others and get the project finished. It was a great team and I reckon we did a fine job.



Which drove you crazy?

Beowulf. It's unlike anything else I've read. I was expecting some kind of rhythm but nothing seemed to fit. In the end I just read it as prose.




What type of literature do you prefer to read/help with?

History - I adore historical works.



Who is/are your Favorite author(s)?

Isaac Asimov, Orson Scott Card, Terry Pratchett, Stephen Fry, Bernard Cornwell, Simon Scarrow and Conn Iggulden etc etc etc.



What do you do for fun, i.e., hobbies, reading, knitting?

No knitting no.
I used to enjoy archery 'til my bow broke (longbow). I'm trying to teach myself book-binding at the moment. I also go to dance classes for something called Lindy Hop.



Favorite website/ personal site?

Personal site http://www.umor.co.uk/index.html



In an average week, how many hours do you spend in LibriVox recording / forums / etc. (what does LibriVox "etc" mean to you?)

2345 million hours a week but I am trying to hold back a little. I don't wish to become fanatical.



In an average week, how many hours do you spend outside? You know, outside in the fresh (or otherwise) air.

A reasonable amount. I'm a rabid environmentalist so I walk or cycle everywhere I go which puts me outside for quite a while.



What is your recording and editing set up and do you routinely do anything to "sweeten" your audio?

Samson Q1u mic, Audacity software. I try not to do any post processing if I can help it. My aim when I record is that I should not have to do any editing whatsoever. That aim has never yet been achieved but one day ...
I'm pleased with the Samson mic. It's the newer cheaper cousin of the C01u but has fairly rich tones.



If you had three clones of independent means, where would they be and what would they be doing?

They'd be out earning money to support me so I could hang around here playing with Librivox.



What was your first recording for LibriVox?

3 men in a boat, which I think still isn't finished.
It's one of those projects that was rescued by a new co-ordinator so has started moving again. Terrible quality and hopefully my reading has improved since then.



Have you tried adding background sound to any recordings?

Yes, I've been experimenting with sounds for the Librivox Community Podcast notion.
It's quite fun.



Did you have any singular events with literature while growing up?

I don't think so.
I'm not quite sure what singular events would be in this case.
Books that I remember reading when young are Saint George for England by G.A. Henty; Of Time and Stars by Arthur C Clarke and then the robot stories by Isaac Asimov.



What music do you like?
A mixed bag, opera, blues, jazz, ballads, swing, country and what used to be referred to as progressive rock.



What makes you tick? Or, in a nutshell, what is your philosophy?

To be a good person, to do good things and to have a good time.



What helped you personally to get through "what-if-I-suck" stage?

Self awareness. I know I'm not a brilliant 'voice' but I am understandable and was happy to listen to my own recordings. I figured if I could listen to my own stuff (and I'm a fairly harsh self critic) then other people would be able to listen to it.



Any rituals you do before recording?
Goodness me no. I figure, no mucking about. I get the text on screen, minimize to half screen. I do the same with Audacity so I can watch the wave form and then I just go for it. I like to do recordings in a single sitting. It's easier to keep the sound quality constant that way.



Have you seen Eugene? Where have you met him? Can you describe him? Some rumors go he looks like sasquatch. (This one from Stephan!)

I don't know what a Eugene is.
I remember a Pink Floyd song called 'Careful with that axe Eugene'.



What's one single instance of your vision of utopia? (More are welcome!!)

Utopia is a difficult thing as so many forces are at play when you bring large numbers of people together. I hate selfishness but our society (through capitalism) is built upon it and it seems to work. As for personal utopia it would be locking myself away in a castle in Scotland, writing, reading, recording, walking, and doing something which I felt good about. I'm somewhat fanatical about wind power so I'd like to build windfarms.



Any final words?

Goodbye



Name one pious pleasure of yours. (e.g., I floss daily)

I wouldn't tag my pleasures as pious. Some are carnal, some are creative, some satisfy my curiosity but I'd prefer just to call them things I like to do.



Name one "guilty" pleasure of yours. (e.g., afterward I chew caramel)

I'm not guilty about my pleasures.



If you were interviewing yourself for an exclusive magazine called The Full Scoop or The Economist, what question would you ask?

If the world elected you leader with absolute power what would you do?
As for the answer - too long - I'd need a month and about four thousand words to even begin to answer that one so maybe not the greatest question for 'the full scoop'.



Do you have anything to say to the masochistic folks who read their way down here, to the last question?

Welcome to the end of the interview.
You have remarkable endurance.



Do you ever feel you're the target of nefarious persons, including terrorists, embezzlers, predators and infomercial enthusiasts?

No, I'm delightfully anonymous most of the time.



Have you ever quarreled with a nine-legged beast?

Nope.
Such beasties would almost certainly win the quarrel while I was still counting their legs.



Any final words?

More final words?
Goodbye, definitely this time.

For previous interviews "Spotlight On..." please see this page: http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/SpotlightOn

[Starlite]

Wow, what a great way to spend time while waiting for the validator to upload all the files (61 chapters of Innocents Abroad).

Great interview!

[Gesine]

Ah, that was fun. Thanks a lot, you two! I'm adding the link to the wiki page to the first post.

If anyone would like to volunteer for interviewing/being interviewed, please sign up on the wiki page!

[kayray]

ROFL. Wonderful interview :)
Stephen Fry is an author? As in, Stephan Fry and Hugh Laurie? Must investigate.

[Gesine]

Stephen Fry is an author? As in, Stephan Fry and Hugh Laurie?

Yes, that Stephen Fry. He's written about 5 books, I think. I recommend the autobiography of the first 20 years of his life - called 'Moab Is My Washpot.'

[anna]

Very good.
It was a pleasure to read it

[Cloud Mountain]

Here're Amazon's Stephen Fry selections: GO FOR IT.

[earthcalling]

That's a great interview, boys! It has the feel of a relaxed and amusing chat over a beer in Jim's local. There's a fire, and some bloke's wet dog keeps swishing my foot with its tail.

[kri]

That's a great interview, boys! It has the feel of a relaxed and amusing chat over a beer in Jim's local. There's a fire, and some bloke's wet dog keeps swishing my foot with its tail.

Bahhh, I told him to get that dog outside!!

Oh crap what was I going to say...aha!! Fanatical....Sure you've avoided that so far?

[LibraryLady]

Great interview, good getting to know you more Jim!

[jimmowatt]

ROFL. Wonderful interview
Stephen Fry is an author? As in, Stephan Fry and Hugh Laurie? Must investigate.

Absolutely he's an author.
My personal favourite is 'Making History'.
It's a trying to kill Hitler via time travel type story and creating an alternate universe which is even worse.
Running alongside this tho' is a rather beautiful and tender love story.

Highly recommended.

[Caeristhiona]

Woohoo! My first coordinated book goes down as "The Worst To Read Ever". I feel evil.

[Cloud Mountain]

Woohoo! My first coordinated book goes down as "The Worst To Read Ever". I feel evil.

Goes down where?

[hugh]

great stuff. here's a suggestion (just a thought) ... what if the interviewee becomes interviewer, and is responsible for finding an interviewee. this might widen the net on this segmet beyond the rabid fanatics, not that there's anything wrong with them.

also: with interviewee approval, we could occasionally publish these on the blog/site ... I think they would be interesting to people stumbling on the site, what think you guys?

[thistlechick]

what if the interviewee becomes interviewer, and is responsible for finding an interviewee.

Yes, this makes good sense... and would simplify this process... it would be cool if there were some new questions sometimes too... some of the questions were funny the first couple of times, but the gag is wearing out.