I know we've done this before, but yesterday reminded me of the issue and thought I would raise it again.

I find it almost impossible not to try to imagine what OTFers look like. For a few, the facebook group has taken away the mystery, but for many others, appaeance is a mystery. The mind fills in the blanks. Almost always wrongly.

Wyatt, for reasons I cannot adequately explain, always appeared in the mind's eye as something close to Jarvis Crocker but with those severe round specs that Neils Bohr used to wear.

My mental image of TonTon (before seeing his campaign snaps) was very close to what goldstone actually looks like.

My mental picture of Reed was very specific: 5'4", dark-haired and slight, wearing a green shirt and narrow-legged black trousers.

I've not met Ursus, but the picture on his law firm's website makes him seem much less the bearded and hairy fellow I imagined based on his name.

So, which OTFer's appearance surprised you the most? Do you have any persistent mental images of otfers you haven't met?

So now I want to know what goldstone looks like.

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Nothing like you, TT.

So does this mean that I look exactly like you expected, or just that you'd never given it a second's thought?

Or both?

True, nothing like me.

Oddly, I almost didn't recognise evilC at a Ladytron gig, despite having met him once before. I spent a while debating with myself whether it was him, and whether I should say hi.

I wouldn't put it that harshly, PG, but I hadn't formed a specific image, no.

For ages and ages, I couldn't keep you, Stumpy Pepys and Tubby Isaacs straight on the board (similar length and cadence of names). Nor could I keep the wildlife-based GO and SR straight until I saw SR's picture on facebook, at which point he became rather distinct in my mind.

You don't have a bubble perm or granny glasses, either.

I can't believe that anyone would think that TonTon looks like Goldstone, but that is probably because I was aware of TonTon from media coverage before I knew OTF existed.

Whereas I had no idea about TT's illustrious career until quite recently...he just seemed a somewhat happy-go-lucky chap with serious views on politics. Had I known he was chairman of a football club, I would have assumed he looked like this:



I picked up David Conn's book The Beautiful Game? at St. Pancras yesterday, only to discover that chapter 11 is almost entirely about TT. Which was pretty cool.

That is what TT looks like, isn't it? No wonder I didn't bump into him at Twerton Park

Bored, I'm assuming that you weren't at Twerton on Saturday, 'cos I didn't bother looking for you.

I look absolutely nothing like I imagined.

QUOTE:
I've not met Ursus, but the picture on his law firm's website makes him seem much less the bearded and hairy fellow I imagined based on his name.

I've heard that two members of the collective actually do have beards. And one has a moustache.

The last otfer I met for the first time, Ursus did not surprise me at all, in fact I was waiting outside the restaurant and I saw that chap coming from some way and I told myself "it must be him". The fact he was on time and the street was empty might be the real reason but hey...

The only OTFer who looked nothing like I imagined him was Dalliance, I really this idea of a tall, daper Scot with a hint of threat about him and a liking for long dark coats and that's not Dalliance at all...