making all his nowhere plans for nobody...

Holy shit. I think I've been categorised.

Have you heard of "£50 man"?? Here's an article about him.

Let's examine the evidence:

"This is the guy we've all seen in Borders or HMV on a Friday afternoon, possibly after a drink or two, tie slightly undone, buying two CDs, a DVD and maybe a book - fifty quid's worth - and frantically computing how he's going to convince his partner that this is a really, really worthwhile investment."

Check. In my defence, I am unlikely to get into town before Saturday, and when I do, I am likely to go to Selectadisc or FOPP, and only go into HMV if it's an emergency. As for convincing C. it's a worthwhile investment... well, I try.

The 50-quid bloke is a big user of the web

pah.

He shops at Amazon as well as the high street

Well... yes. But not just at Amazon.

He loathes Pop Idol, telling the kids it devalues everything rock music stands for

Hm. I loathe the manufactured tripe that this kind of show produces. Does that count? And kids? [shudders]

He likes the White Stripes, Coldplay and Blur and has persevered with Radiohead through the difficult last three albums

Well, yes.... But Radiohead would be better not holding their breath waiting for me to buy their next album on the day of realease. Oh no. I may keep them waiting a whole day.

His latest buys are the debut albums from the Stands, who remind him of the Byrds, and Franz Ferdinand, who remind him of the Glasgow art-school bands of 1982

Ha! No!. I own nothing by The Stands and I bought the FF album because I thought they were ace. I couldn't name a Glasgow art-school band of 1982 if I tried, although weirdly it annoys me that I can't.

He has given up on Radio 1 and listens to Radio 4 more than any music station, though he likes the less cosy bits of Radio 2, such as Jonathan Ross on Saturday morning. If he had a digital radio, he would love BBC6 Music, with its slogan "the great, the new and no fill" and its habit of playing Franz Ferdinand alongside the Clash.

Nope. All the radios in the house are tuned into Five Live, not just for their excellent sports coverage, but also because I really like a lot of their other programming. I find Radio 4 far too stuffy. Worryingly though, my dad has given up on Radio 4 as well, and now listens to Five Live too. I had a very strange conversation with him the other night on the phone because of this:
"Oh, sorry, are you watching something on the telly?"
"Yes, it's England v Holland"
"Ah yes, that's the friendly match being played at Villa Park. Sven has picked both Beckham and Sean Wright-Phillips and it looks like Andy Johnson from Crystal Palace will get a game...."

Why weird? Because my father has absolutely no interest in football at all, and has no idea who any of these players are (possibly, but not definitely, excepting David Beckham)

I do like Jonathan Ross' show on Radio 2, but I only ever listen to it when I am travelling somewhere in the car on a Saturday morning. I also like 6 Music, and tend to have it on in the background when I am working from home (it seems to have about 2 listeners though, as whenever I am moved to send them a text message, they always seem to read it out... or am I really, really funny in 160 characters or less?)

He adores DVD

Yes. But I liked video too. It's about having things. I have videos that I bought when I worked for HMV in 1995 (great discount) that I still haven't watched, nevermind any of the DVDs.

The 50-quid bloke probably has an iPod but uses it as a radio rather than a substitute for his CDs

It's not a substitute for my CDs and I still use them in the car and occasionally in the house, but this description doesn't work for me. I use my Ipod as a gloriously portable way of accessing the depths of my music collection (witness my recent Scott Walker obsession)

His favourite recent film is Lost in Translation, in which Bill Murray shows his own 50-quid tendencies by crooning a karaoke version of the Roxy Music song More Than This.

No. I enjoyed Lost In Translation, but left with the impression that it wasn't quite as good as the reviews were making out. I have to say that my favourite film from the same sort of time as that is probably Spider-Man 2 (which probably says a lot more about my qualifications for the "geek" category than it does for the "50 quid man" category)

He has been in love with music all his life - "He's got the High Fidelity chip embedded in his brain," says Jerry Perkins, publisher of Word magazine - but his interests have broadened along the way

Definte yes to the High Fidelity thing, but although I used to make tapes of the chart show off the radio when I was quite young, I wouldn't say that I really started to love music until my early teens (and Iron Maiden, or is that a contradiction in terms?)

He is not a great telly-watcher but loves The Simpsons and The Office and will miss Friends

I'll watch the Simpsons if it's on. I liked the Office. I watched Friends but didn't bother with the last series at all, don't know what happened at the end and don't own any of the DVDs

he may be a she

Dammit. Is nothing sacred?

I refuse to be pigeonholed! (and yeah, I have also started buying and reading Word magazine).