Mark's humdingers:
1. if you change one thing, anything, what would it be?
Time is one of my favourite subjects. I surround myself with timepieces - watches, clocks, calendars, timetables. I can just sit there and watch the seconds tick by in fascination sometimes.
It's the whole linear thing - to see little measurements of time going by like that, knowing how many have gone before, how many are to follow. It's wonderful meditation material!
As a consequence, I've spent many an hour idly philosophising about that very question. What would I change? What are the consequences of that change?
If you go back and ensure the world wars don't happen, what then? There's millions of people - in an already overcrowded Europe - still alive who would otherwise have died. What would those millions do? What are the consequences of all those lives being altered so fundamentally. They go on to raise families, contribute to economies, to world events. The balance of power is fundamentally altered. Russia stands as a looming presence on the edge of Europe. With no German army to hold them back, and no Western Alliance to work with, they stand alone and unanswerable. What then?
How about ensuring Jesus is freed instead of crucified? The christian church ceases to exist. Judaism is suddenly the only world religion. Or is it? Does that benevolent action lead to a new respect for the Roman empire? Does Judaism slowly dissappear in favour of Roman pantheism? What of Islam? Would jesus ever be acknowledged as the Jewish messiah? If God sent Muhammad as the final messiah, charged with putting god's message to humanity right, then would Muhammad have been chosen, if Jesus's mission had been a success?
Stop the meteorite from hitting earth and killing the dinosaurs off? Would humanity exist? Would our prehistoric mammalian ancestors have been given the supreme opportunity towards dominance if the dinosaurs - who had got on with life and evolution very nicely thank you for hundreds of millions of years - hadn't been wiped off the face of the planet?
Stop Kennedy being killed? He'd already sown the seeds of the space race and seen off Cuban Communism. What else would he have been capable of? What if there'd been no "curse of the Kennedys" and he would have begun a dynasty of inbred seemingly benevolent but increasingly unhinged American leaders? Would Marilyn Munroe have died?
Stop the Israelis and Palestinians fighting? No, that was always going to happen (and was Britain's fault, just like the Iran/Iraq instability was Britains' fault).
No, despite all the attractions of having the power to change just one thing, I'd say I'd change precisely nothing. It takes far more strength to let things be and allow all the terrible bloodshed and atrocities than to risk the consequences of a rash action.
2. who will play you in the film of your life?
In my youth, no-one. Let's draw a welcome veil over that embarrassing part of my history.
Formative years? Oh I dunno, the bloke who played Frodo Baggins would be good.
Parenthood and later life? Mandy Patinkin. Watch "Dead Like Me". He's cool, he's in charge and he's got just the right amount of pathos.
3. what attracts you to your philosophy of life?
Choice and comfort. It's sprituality with no luggage. It's being aware of the divine in the world around us without all the proscriptive baggage of an organised religion. Religion definitely isn't a good word to describe my spirituality. Philosophy fits much better.
4. are you ever wrong?
Oh yes, but not for long.
5. Is "The Dark Side Of The Moon" over-rated?
I think it's genius, the way they synchronised it with "The Wizard of Oz".
