I don't like doing interviews. There is always the problem of being misquoted or, what's even worse, of being quoted exactly.
The biggest problem I have in journalism is being quoted or misquoted and then being asked to defend something I haven't said.
The only thing worse than being misquoted is being sentenced to two years' hard labour for buggery
I used to always be putting my hat on children being photographed and then getting home and discovering I was riddled with lice. That used to happen very, very regularly. I used to get headlice all the time.
The only thing that I react really violently to is being misquoted.
I tend to thrive on being misquoted. It's the only way I sound good.
Every interview is as much an impression of the journalist as it is the artist or subject. You look at interviews and you see a portrait of two people. The worst thing that can happen is if you're misquoted and then that quote is misquoted. That does drive one crazy. The most embarrassing thing is when your words are misrepresented or sometimes you say something stupid and you live to regret it.
Being a conservative also used to involve the concept of people being free to do whatever they want to do, as long as it doesn't hurt somebody else. Conservatives used to be very libertarian.
You have as much computing power in your iPhone as was available at the time of the Apollo missions. But what is it being used for? It’s being used to throw angry birds at pigs; it’s being used to send pictures of your cat to people halfway around the world; it’s being used to check in as the virtual mayor of a virtual nowhere while you’re riding a subway from the nineteenth century.
I'm a fairly unaffected human being. I'm easy to talk to, I hope. I'm not too bothered about the clothes I'm wearing. I've been misquoted in interviews as to appear earnest. Which I am not.
I wish I could take back every interview. Over and over again, I read them later, and either I'm misquoted or I said something stupid. I'm just not very good at it.
The very things I used to be told off for - daydreaming, exaggerating, making mistakes, wild guessing, contradicting, spying, being obsessive, being reckless - for these, suddenly, I am being praised.
I will not be misquoted!
I'm used to being the background. I'm used to having work that only lasts for a little while. I'm used to being - working in the real world, where real things are.