Its a while since we did lookey-likeys. I will start with some self-mockery…. while applying for US J-visa, I dug out my 1974 passport. The photo is scary :
Charles Manson I think. As opposed to 1984, when I looked kinda punky :
I have also been packing away vinyl, and came across the first Pretenders album. While lusting over Chrissie Hynde, suddenly, lo ! there was the young Ken Pounds staring out at me :
Now don’t that make you come over all nostalgic. Anybody got a lookey-likey for Ian Halliday ?
The e-Astronomer 
Oh my…
Perhaps not the most flattering choice in the World, but for some reason Ian always puts me in mind of Steptoe Senior — compare http://ec.europa.eu/research/eurab/images/ian_hallidaysml.gif and http://www.currychips.com/steptoe.jpg . I dare you to greet him with “You dirty old man” the next time you meet…
How about Michael Merrifield and Trevor Horn? compare http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~ppzmrm/ME.JPG with http://bp1.blogger.com/_EfAejaDy-Nc/RXfWD_y518I/AAAAAAAAATo/-VYpwXdi1cs/s1600-h/buggles+3.jpg and praise the Lord neither are current video stars 🙂
You clearly haven’t been watching MTV recently: I have seen the writing on the wall, and am diversifying into alternative revenue streams. Album out next month.
J visa? Surely you mean an ‘O’ visa. I.e. for those of ‘exceptional talent’, i.e. Nobel prize winners and… supermodels (see Economist: http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11586064)
As he’s probably the best bloke I’ve ever worked for, I’ll be a bit (not a lot) kinder to Ian than Michael… try comparing Ian Halliday and Duncan Ballantyne (Dragon’s Den fame) – they’ve even got the same accent!
Perhaps STFC should apply to go on DD and ask Ian/Duncan to invest a couple of quid…?!?
Quite remarkably, this single picture of Richard O’Brien manages to capture the full evolution of Andy’s own appearance: 1974’s hair, 1984’s eyes, plus today’s revised hairline, and favourite beige shirt and black jacket.
Bob, I think I am going to cry now.
No medallion though. That ruins it for me.
Olivia – never mind “oh why” – where’s my thesis copy ?
So to attempt to one-up looking like Charles Manson in the 1970s, when I checked my 1978 International Driver’s Permit it said ‘Height: 5ft 8-1/2 in’. So did my first US license. But now my doctor measures me at a solid 5ft 10in, a clear gain of 1.5in, and probably almost 2in, ‘cos saying ‘8-1/2in’ is like a little kid saying ‘I’m 3-3/4’ in order to be as good as 4, really.
This is a minor medical miracle – in fact my doctor thinks I’m a bit nutty to keep mentioning it. I know it’s true though, because lots of astronomers who used to peer over me and intimidate me are now the same height or shorter. E.g. the Regius professor at Edinbugh is definitely shorter than me now. [Maybe he always was. Andy?]
The now defunct Google Answers has some similarly puzzled questioners who grew during pregnancy
I can conclusively rule that one out. Anyone else experienced adult growth? Should we form a support group?
PS Andy – see, I’m trying a proper html link!
Count me in, Martin, though I was freakishly tall even before I started growing again. I spent several decades at 6′ 4″ but then added an eighth of an inch every year after the turn of the millenium, all documented by biennial BUPA checks. patently unfair since plenty of short-arses need those millimetres more than I do. it’s rare. it freaks them out. they’ve done all kinds of checks but found nothing they didn’t already know…
Martin E: don’t worry, I’ll always look down on you
Re Martin E and ‘O’ visas.
The criteria for an ‘O’ visa do start off with “nobel Prize’, but if you read down the list, lesser mortals can get in.
I know. In 2004, having been turned down for research funding by PPARC, I went to the US under an ‘O’ visa. And no, I’m not an anonymous Nobellist.
8fCQii http://gdjI3b7VaWpU1m0dGpvjRrcu9Fk.com