Hamilton Saint

A Feather on the Breath of God - music by Hildegard of Bingen performed by Gothic Voices (featuring Emma Kirkby).

So sad to hear this. I was a big fan of his. Have about eight of his LPs. R.I.P.

On the road again ...

You talk about respect for the opposition but say this about Blackburn fans: "they don't really understand what football is". Not a very consistent attitude, is it? But I do agree with your point about playing music after goals. It's a bad idea. Let the fans respond. They don't need pumping up and prompting by the PA system.

coys!

Fasciitis? Or would that be fascistitis?

Oh, dear ...

Ry Cooder's new album - Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down. Fantastic!

Thanks for posting the link.

Midnight at the Oasis

A sport which involves throwing something: "Tennis.." [tantrums?] Something you would play with in the bath: "A bazooka.." [a woman could - she's got two of 'em] A medieval weapon: "Hand-grenade.." [the Holy Hand-Grenade of Antioch] Something you might do in a power cut: "Read a book.." [the power cut happens during the day?]

Stick with the normal spelling. If you choose your Michael to have his name spelled Miykal (for example), for the rest of his life he will have to spell his name every single time he is asked to provide his name aloud for a form or application.

1. England win the World Cup 2. men walk on the moon 3. Chernobyl 4. fall of the Soviet Union 5. 9/11 And the death of John lennon hit me pretty hard.

Thanks for that!

Um ... good dogs and bad owner?

Now, Jefferson Airplane is a different story!

Woops, let's try that again.

I don't think I'll turn on the radio or TV on Sep. 11th. Too much crap all round to deal with. Better to deal with it in dignified silence.

Walk west along 42nd Street from the UN - see the Chrysler Building, Grand Central Station, New York Public Library, Times Square. Take the subway under the east river (Train A or C) to the High Street Station in Brooklyn and then walk back to Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge. Awesome view of lower Manhattan. Walk down Wall Street - past the Federal Building. Go to Greenwich Village - wish it was 1962! Take the Roosevelt Island Tramway (newly renovated!) - it's a cable car - across the East River (it's right next to the 59th. Street Bridge - feel groovy!) Walk through Central Park - you could start at Columbus Circle: walk along the southern edge, walk up the east side through the zoo, and then walk west across the Park to the Dakota Building (where John & Yoko lived) and visit Strawberry Fields (the memorial to John just inside the Park near the Dakota). Take the Staten Island Ferry (it's free!) from lower Manhattan to Staten Island. Then come back. It passes quite close to the Statue of Liberty. Most of all, just walk, walk, walk!

Van Morrison at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1975! I don't think I ever fully recovered from that disappointment. Never been to see him since.

Yes, there's a huge amount of it in the attitude of so many football supporters - and ressentiment, too!

You'll be happier when Redknapp takes over, right?

The thread title would be less disconcerting if it was properly punctuated: Come on, our Gareth.

Have recently read David Lodge's new book, A Man of Parts. It's about the life of H.G. Wells. Excellent. Also read last week Freedom, the latest novel of Jonathan Franzen. Also very good. Have just started John Fowles's Daniel Martin, the only major novel of his I've yet to read; and so far, so good.

You haven't heard of the great American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne? He wrote the brilliant novel The Scarlet Letter.