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Last modified: 17 September 1997.
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  Simon E. Phipp(Geo Cities)
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# Who Am I?

Hiya, my name is Simon Phipp and this is my Web Site. If you have made it to this section you must be either incredibly sad or incredibly bored but never mind. Turn Back Now or face the consequences.

You must be interested in who I am otherwise you would be looking at interesting sites with pretty pictures. So you can’t complain when I bore you with details about myself.

## Personal Details

Name: Simon E. Phipp
DoB: 11 January 1964 (so I am fast approaching Middle Age)
Height: 5’ 8" (none of this metric rubbish here)
Weight: 10 stone (always been skinny with a huge appetite)
Appearance: Ugly as Sin

## Life Story

I was born in Northamptonshire, England and lived in a village called Finedon until I was 22. When I was 8 I heard about these things called "degrees" which were "better than O Levels" and resolved to get one, since I liked Maths I decided to get a degree in Maths. After a few years I graduated from Warwick University with an Honours Degree in Pure Mathematics. How many people can say that they achieved their lifetime’s ambition at 21?

While at University I started playing a Fantasy Roleplaying Game called RuneQuest, run by a chappy called Dave Rewhorn. Dave is to blame for what has become my longest lasting and most enjoyable hobby. After I graduated, I began a PGCE (Teaching) course at Warwick and fell into a bad crowd of RuneQuestors. I dropped out of the PGCE after a term but still kept travelling up to Coventry to play RuneQuest each week which, since I was unemployed at the time, was a major undertaking. I got a job with an Archaeological Dig in the Raunds Project and after a year and a half I went to live with a couple of gaming friends in Coventry.

I spent the next 7 years living in Coventry, first with Andy Edgell and Ian Wilson, then with Stuart Hunt and Andrew Harding who I shared a couple of houses with for 6 years (well, Andrew got so pissed off at living with me that he bought a house and moved out - can’t think why!). During this time, I took over GMing the RuneQuest campaign and took Stuart, Andrew and Andrew Taylor (Tom) through new depths into Dorastor and beyond.

Around 6 years ago I became a Mormon - still the best thing I have ever done - and became quite active in the Church. After a couple of years I managed to get a job in the Church Offices in Solihull (my first permanent job) and never looked back. A friend in the Church put my name forward for another job with a company called Track 29 which I joined in 1994 and which promptly went bust. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I transferred to their parent company (Walsh Western) and never looked back. I jumped from Computer Operator (Dogsbody) to Senior Computer Operator (Dogsbody with a junior Dogsbody) to Software Engineer to Senior Software Engineer (at least that is what I was described as to Denview). In 1994 I moved to Crewe (people laughed when I went to Coventry [being sent to Coventry is an English expression] but even Coventry people laughed when I went to Crewe [where the trains go to die]) in Cheshire and in 1996 I moved to Naas in Ireland where I now live. Well, technically that is not true as I am currently living in Moscow (June - December 1997) as I am working with a company called Denview.

Who would have thought that I would be living and working in Ireland and then Moscow? Certainly not me. I consider myself to be very lucky at times.

Enough mawkish sentimentality.

What else is there to say about me?

I have a very developed sense of sarcasm which I have learned not to use to tear people apart (although it took me a long, long time). Some people say that I am weird or have a sick sense of humour. Not at all. I just find most things funny. After all, if you can’t laugh at other people who can you laugh at? I enjoy all kinds of humour, particularly the sarcasm of Dilbert and occasionally the Far Side, although that tended to parody itself. I am never happier than watching a good black comedy.

## Tastes

I don’t have any taste, as anyone who knows me will testify.

Well, I suppose I have tastes of a kind.

I enjoy reading anything and everything. I have a passion for Fantasy/Sci Fi fiction (particularly Terry Pratchett and similar comedy fantasy books) and also for Mythology and History. In fact give me a book on mythology, anthropology or ancient history and I am happy as Larry. I am currently re-reading Joseph Campbell’s Primitive Mythology (by far the best of his works - better than Hero With a Thousand Faces). I have most of Michael Moorcock’s works and have read and reread them all. I am looking out for a couple I don’t have (even though I won’t buy the collections out of principle).

At University I went to the Cinema four or five times a week and watched virtually anything. I have not been able to keep that up over the last ten years and now only go once or twice a year. I even watch only a little TV and hardly ever watch videos. However, I love Fantasy, Science Fiction, Adventure, Ancient Historical, Westerns and Chinese Martial Arts films and series. I think that films like Robocop and The Terminator will never be matched for entertainment value. Blade Runner is also a classic. I might even draw up a list of my favourite things (films, books etc) for people to look at and laugh at me. (I must have too much time on my hands).

Musically, I have very broad tastes. I cannot sing or play a musical instrument but enjoy listening to all kinds of good music. I particularly like Jazz, Classical Music of all kinds, Blues and Rock, but my continuing favourite is Folk Music, not the Bob Dylan rubbish but proper traditional folk stretching back for hundreds of years. Yes, I am a "finger in the ear" fan and proud of it. One of my favourite bands is Steeleye Span (an English folk band which Steve Perrin based a whole RuneQuest campaign around) who should have got more recognition than they did. Living in Ireland I hear more folk music than I would in England and it is great. Trouble is, there’s a lot of "Pub Folk" which I am not keen on - weepy songs about how great Ireland is and how people wish they were back there.

What else to say - I like to watch sport but never play anything. I could watch Test Cricket all day and every day. County Cricket isn’t too bad. Rugby Union is another favourite with Rugby League close behind. I’ve never liked Soccer much but I’ll watch it, especially when Spurs are playing. Athletics is fascinating but Tennis and Golf bore to tears.

Well, that’s about all there is to know about me. You now know my entire life story and know more than almost anyone else does. Lucky you.

If I were you I’d go back to the RuneQuest/Glorantha Page.