About me

Join the Blue Ribbon Anti-Censorship Campaign!

My full name is David Matthew Griffin - my dad is called David which is why I am called by my middle name, Matthew or Matt for short. I'm a Capricorn, an old goat [see my PICTURE see the resemblance!] in other words, born on the 28^th of December at 11:58PM (almost, but not quite the bewitching hour!) at Frimley Park Hospital, Surrey, England in 1974. My sister, Elizabeth Eleanor was born there in 1980 on the 9th of August making her a Leo. She now studies English, Music and Psychogy for A - Level and holds Grade 8s in Piano and French Horn, and a scholarship with the RCM, London. My mom owns a Playgroup (kindergarten) and teaches piano while my dad is the southern regional sales manager for Rank Xerox the copyists dealing with LEA, government, media, health and recriational organisations.

I've lived in Windlesham, a small village 40 minutes west of Central London (four hours if you take the worlds largest car park, the M25!) comprising of about 5,000 people all my life where the entertainment stretches to watching the bread rise at the local bakery and nothing much else. It has its own fair of internal wrangling and conflict as developers and private property owners alike all try to make moves on the land surrounding the village for their own profits, but fortunately most of the land is protected under the laws of the London Green belt, a wide tract of green space around London which can't be built on. The main reason for the activity is because of the real estate prices in the area - half a mile from where I live we is Woodlands Lane or 'Billionaire's Row' where you can find an exact replica of the White House, and the summer estates of five Arab Sheiks, one of whom, every summer lends out his collection of thirty classic Ferraris to the local Windlesham Fare so they can be climbed on by everyone. Ten minutes west of Windlesham is the world famous Sunningdale Golf Course and home of Nick Faldo. Brian Blessed the victorian/ shakespereian actor lives two hundred meters up the road from us next to the local church. The rich adore quiet places the rest of us have mixed sentiments... Five minutes out of the village is Chobam Common, a large expanse of ancient Heathland and one of Europes most important nature reserves.

I've had mostly a private school education which had both its pros and its cons. I studied English, Latin, Spanish, French, History, Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Maths for GCSE at Bradfield College, Berkshire and then Biology, Chemistry and Geography for A - Level at Strodes College, Egham, Surrey. I am now in my third year at Bangor University (University College of North Wales) studying Marine Biology my special areas of interest being Corals and other tropical ecosystems, Mangroves and Elasmobranchs (sharks and rays). While at Bradfield College I was in the CCF (Combined Cadet Force) RAF and CCF Marines and attained my Weapons Training Certificate for M-16, Sten machine guns and other calibre weapons ranging from pistols and including .22 rifles which I used during my time in the College Rifle Team. I got into the team by virtue of my scoring a 98 out of 100 score on my first ever shoot, using a circular target at a distance of fifty feet. Other teams I was in at Bradfield included the XVI Athletics, XVI Badmington, XVI Basketball, Cricket, Football, Rugby, Skiing, Squash, Swimming and Cross Country teams among others such as canoeing and free abseiling although on a much more 'novice' scale. I left Bradfield having easily passed all my exams and went on to Strodes Sixth Form College where I took an interest in conservation, particularly that assosiated with Chobham Common. The site is heathland scrub (I.E.: Heather, bracken, silver birch, pines and so on), and the work that we do there involves digging pathways, filling gullies, putting up fences, transplanting heather, coppicing, wood clearing and fire fighting among others. In winter the work keeps you warm, in summer the common can feel like the Devils' furnace. All the people that I know at the Common fantastic people dedicated to their work, and it's a full time job for everyone involved, especially when you have the Government trying to triple the width of a Motorway that passes straight through the site but that's another story... one of Government scheming and the rejection of political decency.

During my vacation time I work full time at Cosmic Radio, Addlestone selling high end Hi - Fi and Audio Visual equipment whose ranges include Quad, Music Fidelity, Arcam, Marantz, Kenwood, Mission, Kef, Jamo, B&W, Yamaha, Toshiba, Philips, Electra, JVC, Sharp, Sony, Denon, Aiwa, Pioneer and alot more with products ranging from THX Surround Sound Systems to SVH videos and camcorders. My work is full time and often involves alot of over time. I've worked there for two years now during vacations except for this Easter when I took my earnings and trekked across America for the month. I know what I like and I listen to what I like which means almost everything from fusion, heavy metal, techno, rap, dance, pop, classical, jazz, blues right through to synth. I like fast tracks and this comes in especially useful when demoing systems - the only way to differentiate between many of the high end systems on tracks is to play them LOUD and this is a habit I tend to carry home with me hence a Kenwood Hi- Fi which someone cranked to maximum volume hence blowing a pair of eight hundred pound 300W speakers - gee thanks. I belive the term they used was 'Let's see how loud this thing goes' and before I could turn around all I heard was a loud burst as the speaker drive units fried and then nothing. In summer I aim to get a pair of Mission floor standers which coupled with seven other pairs of speakers should be able to cope with my systems full volume - that aswell as giving me one hell of a surround system for a 21" TV which HAS to get changed for a Philips 29" - or a 37" wide screen. Until last year all I had was a small ghetto blater that even my new walkman can out do. Expandability is the name of the game and I intend to do just that!When I leave university I'm going to get my scuba diving up to Instructorship level and go job hunting in the Caribbean. I have many passions - most sports, conservation, movies, music, cooking (yes cooking), photography, SFX, reading, novel writing (I want to try my hand at a bibliography some time and have already rolled out a 600 page adventure thriller), graphology, sociointeractions (why people do what they do), travel, philosophy, rallying and alot more all of which I aim to train up to some form or another of qualified level. My favourite country to drive in is Germany - no speed limits. I've seen all of Europe, all of the USA, all of Canada but most of all want to go back packing in either China and/ or South America. I believe in being frank to people who are front on with me, I don't like swearing - a teacher of mine once said that if you have to swear then you lack the vocabulary to express yourself properly. I've been a member of the RSPB, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, The WWF and one thing I have yet to realise is front line activism - only a lack of funds prevented me from assisting Greenpeace (in whatever role they would have designated to a 18 year old) three years ago in their anti - whaling campaign in the Pacific. I like pushing myself and am aware of the phrase "The person that does all only has a shallow understanding of their fields" and it's with this in mind that I want to take time and give my hobbies more depth. It'll probably take years, but so be it. I'm independant and always have been because I've had to be. It has its pros and its cons depending where you're coming from for me they were mostly cons but I've seen them as character building. I have a head for business and aim to run one or more later on whe I gather the initial finances and I like bluntness in people - I'd rather know the truth about something than the person let me think something else was the case. I put others first because of many reasons. I hate nobody but hate some of the things that people do for the sake of self advancement and I never pre judge people without knowing the facts. I'm eternally patient, always willing to help and the last time I got angry was a few years ago!

May the best of your past be the worst of your future.

When you realise you're out of time it's too late to change things.

If you want to know still more about me then visit the link below:

A Photo of me! No Don't click! ARGHHHHH too late!

My Daily Diary (UK)

FAQ

Matts' Family Photo Archives

My Hobbies and my passions

My Personality... well something like that

Resume and Contact Information

Back to the Main Page