Sunday 7 September 2008

5 MINUTES WITH - JOSEPH MURPHY


Fifteen year old Joseph Murphy lives in Moville and has just started 4th year at Moville Community College. He is a keen Scouter and recently took part in the Phoenix Challenge where he was hill walking in County Wicklow. He also waded through the mud at this years Jamboree celebrating 100 years of Scouting at Punchestown. He has two sisters, Karen and Heather.

What music do you like?
I like classic rock. Meatloaf’s Bat out of Hell is a classic, well the 6 minute version anyway. I also enjoy Bluegrass and went to the Omagh Bluegrass Festival this year.

What would you never throw away?
Old computer parts. I have a hiking rucksack full of old, out of date parts, which I will probably never use, but you never know….

What is your favourite book?
The Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer are great. It’s a story about a twelve-year-old boy called Artemis Fowl, who is the most ingenious criminal mastermind in history.

What was your favourite childhood game?
Well, as I am still a child…. Judo. The fun part is to be also to throw people about with no hard feelings. I go to the Samurai class in the Community College in Moville. There is a quote from a book called the Pyjama Game, “Judo is a sport of balletic beauty and extraordinary violence” which just about sums it up.

What was the latest DVD you watched?
The Mighty Boosh series. It’s a great comedy series full of random stuff.

What section of the newspaper do you turn to first?

I used to go straight the Funday Times in the Sunday Times. They have stopped doing that now so I go to the In Gear section first, not because of the cars but to review all of the latest gadgets and read the articles about outdoor pursuits.

What is your idea of a good night out?
A good night in.

Most embarrassing moment of your life?
I haven’t had any yet…

Have you a favourite TV programme?
Again it has to be the Mighty Boosh. It’s on BBC three and unfortunately I can’t watch it through the iPlayer on the computer (you need a licence from the BBC). So I watch them on DVD. I do enjoy the naval criminal series NCIS as well.

How do you relax?
By working on the computer and meditating. I started meditating a year or two ago and all I need is about four minutes peace to charge me up again.

Have you been working over the summer holidays?
I have. I worked in the family building business. We have been building a house from scratch and also putting on a new roof on one of the coastguard houses in Greencastle. It’s interesting to see the irregular shaped slates and the hand forged nails (not forged as in counterfeit…) I spent a lot of time going up and down ladders.

What else did you do?
I went to Musicool in Derry. It was s singing and song writing course and we got to meet well-known people like Mickey Joe Hart and Francie Conway.

Where would you like to go for your holidays?
New York again and the Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland. It’s part of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM) and began in 1923 with Lord Robert Baden-Powell, who, after the first World Scout Jamboree, had a dream about a place where all Scouts from all over the world could meet.

Your idea of heaven?
To be happy and healthy.

Your idea of hell?
Going somewhere that has permanent internet access failure.

Favourite animal?
Pterodactyl. Unfortunately you don’t see them in pet shops…

What couldn’t you live without?
A computer…it contains my soul… Well not really, but it does give me access to friends all around the world who I can do online gaming with. I enjoy playing Runescape and I have just found another good one, called Pirates of the Caribbean

Where would you least like to live?
I wouldn’t like to live in a country where it was illegal to be a scout. There are still some.

Biggest thrills?
Opening up a box with a brand new computer in it. I also get a thrill from seeing a successful rocket launch.

The world’s most irritating invention?
The alarm clock.

What is your idea of a good night in?
A good night out….

Do you have a hobby?
Rocket building with Ash McFadden, down at the Maritime Museum in Greencastle.

Biggest disappointment?
I don’t have any, to quote from The Life of Brian..”Always look on the bright side of life”

Which period in history would you most like to have lived through?
All of it. I would need to be a Time Lord.

World’s most useful invention?
A hammer - to get rid of the Least Useful Inventions.

What do you have for breakfast?
A crunchy muesli with yoghurt. I might mix a few Co-Co Pops in with it too.

What is the best/worst piece of advice you have been given?

I was rock climbing at about 50 metres and the instructor told me to put my foot on a ledge that gave way. Thankfully there was a safety rope. It’s the only time I have fallen because I didn’t listen to myself. The best advice is from the back of Ash McFadden’s safety jacket on rocket days…”If you see me running, try to keep up!”

Personal philosophy?

When things are at their worst they could be at their best….

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