Youve been a big part of making Dan Browns books successful. Should people be grateful or angry? Well, I tell you what people do blame me for: Tom Hankss hair. His haircut in The Da Vinci Code was widely criticised and a couple of people pointed out: Well, John Langdon has long hair like that maybe its his fault. It must be odd to be played by Tom Hanks. Thats really quite astonishing. I went up to LA when they were filming and met Tom and hes kind of a regular guy, although I must say hes high-energy. How much a part of the books were you? I had nothing to do with the The Da Vinci Code. Dan named the character after me for the Angels & Demons book, and then wanted to further that character in the next one, so he kept it. On the other hand, he came to me wanting ambigrams very early on in the writing of Angels & Demons, maybe even before hed started writing. My earth, air, artist and took me an enormous amount of time. Have you worked on the new Dan Brown book? Not at all. I tried to get Dan or his agent to send an advance copy and they wouldnt even do that. He doesnt reveal anything. Even when he was writing Angels & Demons and he was using my ambigrams and my name, he still told me nothing about the book. It wasnt until I read it, at the same time everyone else did, that I saw what he was up to. Hes very private about his writing. Are you a member of any secret societies? Im not, no. But there is a community of ambigram artists. We regularly communicate. But no robes and rituals? No. Nothing exciting. I think Groucho Marx said it best when he said: I wouldnt want to join any club that would have me as a member. Are you a big believer in conspiracy theories? I do tend to fire, water ambigrams probably provided the structure he built his story around. What exactly is an ambigram? Its a word designed in such a way that it can be read from more than one point of view. Most ambigrams are what we call rotational they can be read from a straight-on view and also turned by 180 degrees. There are variations, such as ones that can be read in a mirror. Whats the longest youve spent pulling your hair out on creating an ambigram? Quite a lot. The one that took me the longest might have been the Angels & Demons ambigram that was on the cover of the first edition. Theres also a painting of mine with the word me in the middle vertically; the word you is the negative space in the word me. That ambigram was done in response to a challenge from another ambigram believe in them, yes. There are so many things in life that need explaining that are unexplained. I think the Kennedy assassination in 1963 was a cooperative venture among the intelligence community, the mafia and Cuban nationals. Ive read enough books on that topic to be absolutely certain of it. Do you think there continue to be shadowy forces at work behind our everyday lives? There is no doubt. As much as most people are very happy to see Barack Obama in the White House after George Bush, even he is a regular Democratic politician and there are things that he has to keep secret, despite all our good feelings about how open his administration will be. I think Bush was an evil man, or at least dumb enough to let Dick Cheney manipulate him. I think the opposite of Obama, but hes still in a position where secrets have to be kept. As much as most people are very happy to see Barack Obama in the White House, even he is a regular Democratic politician Television What To Watch TX Body No Indent. TX Body No Indent. TX Body No Indent. RT1 RT2 TV3 12.15 Doctors (T) 12.45 Telly Bingo 1.00 News And Weather 1.25 Home And Away (T) 1.55 Neighbours (T) The Parkers are taken to hospital. 2.20 EastEnders (T) Archie offers to pay Sams bail money on one condition. 3.00 How Clean Is Your House? 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Members of South Oxhey Choir perform, BBC2, 9pm Todays highlights With Sharon Lougher Pick Of The Day The Choir: Unsung Town BBC2, 9pm Well-to-do yet approachable choirmaster Gareth Malone is totally inspiring. Hes got some amazing sounds and tears out of the ragbag crowd of South Oxhey residents but now he needs more from them... ideas and energy to create a local festival with music, dancing and all sorts. So what better way to galvanise them than a spine-tingling recording sesh at the famed Abbey Road studios? No wonder theyre so desperate for him to stay for good. Lost Land Of The Volcano BBC1, 9pm The BBCs Natural History Department gets to spend more money panning their cameras round the forests, craters and volcanoes of New Guinea. The selling point here is its unearthing of weird and/or never-before-seen creatures (rhinoceros beetles, stinging plants, kangaroos that climb trees). Interesting, obviously but it could do with David Attenboroughs altogether classier touch. Living Lightly RT1, 7pm In Howth, the McGregor children, Sean and Fionn introduce us to their new pets Lilly and Larry the chickens who have just laid their first eggs. When Dave and Laura in Stepaside have their first review with Conor, theres some good news. A month of clever and relatively painless cutting back has saved them over 1,000! Meanwhile in Longford, Des has taken over the weekly shop, with decidedly mixed results. 6pm 7pm 8pm 9pm 10pm 11pm :60second interview Interview by Graeme Greene John Langdon John Langdon, 53, is a graphic designer and artist. He provided the word-art used as clues by Dan Brown in the novel and film The Da Vinci Code and its sequel Angels & Demons, whose key character is named after him. Angels & Demons is out now on DVD and Blu-ray 14 metrolife Tuesday, September 22, 2009 index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html