This is a few random jottings on my hobbies and interests outside computing.
I am 42 years old, married with two young children. My wife, Priscilla Makovski (she
uses her maiden name, probably to avoid being associated with me) is a
Chartered Patent Agent and European Patent Attorney
and a partner in the firm
Barker Brettell based in Birmingham. If you need any Intellectual Property advice
(Patents, Copyright, Trade Marks, Registered designs) I recommend them. What else can I say?
I have recently taken up Karate, mainly because my younger son Theo (5) is very keen. My older
son Rafe (8) also comes along. Every week we get a good workout plus a few bruises but it's
usually good fun and eventually one or two of us might get good at it.
My main hobby is music. At school and university I played the cello and the piano as well as
dabbling with a few other instruments (organ, harpsichord, recorder, drums). The one
instrument that I really wanted to play was the trumpet; I never managed to get round to that.
I still play the piano and I have been the accompanist for the
University of Warwick chorus for
the last 24 years. I have played for a few other groups as well during that time and have
managed to travel a little with various groups to do concerts in Europe and (once) in America.
I am fond of reading and a member of the Folio Society. I rather like the Folio Society.
They work on the premise that members will actually pay substantially more for a book if it's
published by them in what is effectively a limited edition. This is, in fact, true. The books
are well made and very well presented, and you don't really mind paying extra for them. Strange
but true.
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