Blews, Anthony John (Real)

Shameless Self-Plug For A Moron

Author: Tony Blews
Date: 1997/11/13
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Anthony John Blews was born on either the 18th or 19th of May 1971 [1], the son of a mechanical engineer and a housewife/hairdresser [2]. He lived in Preston, Lancashire for 18 years, in that time amassing 9 'O' Levels[3] and 3 'A' levels[3], before moving to Stafford, Staffordshire to attend University.

Blews lasted for four years as a student, being thrown off a variety of courses until 1993 when he was finally told not to be a student anymore, and was employed as a technician. This lasted until February 1997, when he was tempted away by a promised 50% pay rise. Currently he works as a database programmer in the transport industry, and thinks that buses are a lot less interesting than people assume [4].

Blews has been playing with computers since 1982, when he got his hands on a Vic 20, and has been playing with computer networks since 1988, when he found out about the Joint Academic Network, AKA JANet [5] (precursor to the Internet in the UK). In the past he has owned (and in many cases still owns): a Vic 20, a Commodore 64, three Sinclair Spectrums, a ZX81, roughly eight IBM PCs, four Psions, a Bull XPS-100 minicomputer, three Concurrent CP/M machines, a Macintosh LCII, two Amstrad PCW8512's and an Amstrad CPC6128. When he has nothing better to do, he writes software for some of them.

Live Roleplaying is also one of his hobbies, and he currently runs the UK's largest Live Roleplaying website (http://www.netlrp.uk.com/), whilst playing an NPC role at the largest LRP event in the UK.

He also spends a lot of time reading books and watching films. His favourite films are The Usual Suspects, Clerks, Mallrats, The Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger, UHF, and Highlander. His favourite books are those written by Robert Rankin, Terry Pratchett, and Tom Clancy. His favourite TV shows are The Tick, The X-Men, and anything by Vic Reeves.

Anthony John Blews is 6'5" in height, weighing in at a blubbery 14.5 stones [6].

[1]	There is some confusion over this. All official records point to the 19th, but the little wrist-tag that they put on new-born babies clearly states the 18th.
[2]	Which goes a long way towards explaining why his hair looks like a dandelion clock constantly on the brink of telling 3 o'clock and why even now he can't change a spark plug without the manual.
[3]	In the United Kingdom, there are various grades of education. An 'O' Level was the the basic qualification that proved your knowledge of a subject (until 1988, when the nebulous GCSE was introduced, which required less knowledge). An 'A' Level is a higher qualification, gained at college [7], the main benefit of which was/is to get you into a good university.
[4]	For some reason, some people like to collect the numbers inscribed upon the sides on many road based public transport vehicles. The main center of this activity is Preston, Lancashire, which, if you have read this carefully, you should realise is my home town (much to my chagrin).
[5]	The Joint Academic Network is still in operation, although these days it uses the TCP/IP protocol and is called SuperJANet. It is often confused with the Internet in many academic establishments.
[6]	A 'stone' is an archaic British measurment term meaning 14 pounds.
[7]	The differences between a British college and an American college cannot be summed up here, save for that when Brits say college, Yanks should read university.

See also

• Article Writing Guide For Field Researchers And Guide Editors
• Field Researchers, How To Recognize