Toby was born in Tunbridge Wells in 1970 and moved to Australia with his family as economic refugees from 1970s England. He grew up in Perth and, after a number of years in the City (in London), he works in Sydney as a commercial litigator with a large firm. Toby blogs at Bilious Young Fogey.
Why do you blog? > I am opinionated.
What has been your best blogging experience? > Finding out that seriously clever people like Light Seeking Light, My Stupid Dog and you are interested in what I think about things.
Who are your intellectual heroes? > Hayek, Orwell, Burke.
What is the best novel you've ever read? > Remembrance of Things Past.
What is your favourite poem? > 'Ozymandias'.
What is your favourite movie? > Lord of the Rings.
Who is your favourite composer? > Bach, Mahler, Shostakovich.
Can you name a major moral, political or intellectual issue on which you've ever changed your mind? > (Currently wavering...) Abortion, after the birth of my amazing nephews.
What philosophical thesis do you think it most important to disseminate? > Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - and Samuel Johnson's stone.
What philosophical thesis do you think it most important to combat? > Multiculturalism in its pluralist phase (which poses as a philosophy), and antinomianism.
Can you name a work of non-fiction which has had a major and lasting influence on how you think about the world? > Bernard Lewis's The Muslim Discovery of Europe - beautiful writing by a polymath, showing Said that it is possible to describe a different gaze without being an intellectual fraud.
Who are your political heroes? > Reagan, Thatcher and the Sacred Band of Thebes.
What is your favourite piece of political wisdom? > 'Sunlight is the best disinfectant.'
If you could effect one major policy change in the governing of your country, what would it be? > Flat tax and a First Amendment.
What would you do with the UN? > Make the princelings and cronies pay their parking fees.
What do you consider to be the main threat to the future peace and security of the world? > Multiculturalism in its pluralist phase.
Do you think the world (human civilization) has already passed its best point, or is that yet to come? > Yet to come.
What would be your most important piece of advice about life? > Words are silver, silence is golden, and actions speak louder than words.
Do you think you could ever be married to, or in a long-term relationship with, someone with radically different political views from your own? > Unfortunately, no. Like black Republicans, gay conservatives face very nasty bigotry from their own. I was once dumped for my political views by a pretty little thing who worked for the BBC.
What, if anything, do you worry about? > Anti-semitism.
Where would you most like to live (other than where you do)? > Harry Seidler's Berman House at Joadja in New South Wales.
What do you like doing in your spare time? > Buying art.
What is your most treasured possession? > A Dorothy Napangardi painting, a Kathleen Petyarre painting and a Tang Dynasty camel.
What talent would you most like to have? > An ability to understand French and German philosophy.
What would be your ideal choice of alternative profession or job? > Alas, I like law too much.
Who is your favourite comedian or humorist? > Mark Steyn.
Who are your sporting heroes? > None, as the projected tribalism doesn't get me. There are a number of Rugby League players who are good to watch for other reasons, though.
If you could have any three guests, past or present, to dinner who would they be? > Andrew Sullivan, Christopher Hitchens and Condoleezza Rice.
[The normblog profile is a weekly Friday morning feature. A list of all the profiles to date, and the links to them, can be found here.]