Oh well…
Saturday saw another attempt at the ole’ band rehearsal/recording session. One member couldn’t make it due to a family bereavement, and the other couldn’t make it because of no insurance on the family car. So what did John and I do? Work hard at writing material or arranging songs?
Uh, not really; we played a marathon “call all shots” pool session on the pub American-style table. Due to a client, John showed up a bit later, but I was on the table from 2pm until closing time. That is 9 hours of pool. It was actually bloody good fun and by the end, games were down to one ball and the 8 most of the time. The call all shots thing really makes for challenging play and does wonders for your game.
Anyway, today I may have secured the services of a well-respected and well-known guitarist for the demos. He himself is recording a CD with his band, but has agreed to try to fit in an afternoon to lay down a few licks. The lack of guitars is really holding us up so hopefully it will work out. Could this person be our Jon Bon Jovi?
I think I finally know why bands take so long to record albums…studios have too many distractions in them!
1 commentFor all you gloating lefties
Re: He helped bring democracy
Date: 7 June 2004
Sir – President Ronald Reagan was my childhood enemy. My grandmother told me how, when I was three years old, I would run around in my shorts, shouting “death to Reagan”.
I had no idea that he was going to be the person to help me grow up a free person in a free country.
My grandfather, who had a large part in raising me, was a great man, one of the decent communists in Bulgaria. He believed in universal wellbeing. He was sure that communism was the only way to achieve it.
He was also an incurable Stalinist. There was no way of convincing him that Comrade Stalin was not the person who defeated Hitler.
My grandfather suffered much at the hands of his comrades. In 1956 Todor Zhivkov came to power in Bulgaria in the wake of Stalin’s death. Stalin’s ways were denounced in Bulgaria.
My grandfather remained loyal to his beliefs. He was expelled from the Communist Party, the only party in the country, and lost his job. He was forcibly retired at the age of 41 and never allowed to work again.
Was my grandfather stupid to hold those beliefs? Definitely not. He had no information whatsoever about what Stalin had actually done during his time in the Kremlin.
The only legal channels of information in Bulgaria then were the official state-owned newspapers, radio and television channels, and my grandfather would have never done anything illegal, such as seeking other sources.
That is why he regarded Reagan as communism’s greatest enemy, his country’s enemy, and his own enemy. He passed that down to me.
When I was growing up, I wanted to be able to buy Swiss chocolate in my local store. Of course, that was impossible, because it came from the West.
We were required to keep away from the Western way of life. My mother worked in a communist African country as a doctor. The Bulgarian embassy there issued an order that restricted us from visiting the Hilton hotel and its swimming pool and coming into “undesirable” contact with Westerners.
We were not allowed to speak freely. When my father told me Ford was a better car than the Russian Lada, he made sure I did not tell anybody in school.
A teacher once asked me what newspapers my parents were reading at home. She was furious when I admitted they did not subscribe to the official publication of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (formerly the Bulgarian Communist Party).
Mr Reagan’s part in bringing down communism is indisputable. He achieved a great victory for his nation, but, more importantly, he made it possible for millions of people behind the Iron Curtain to experience again the greatest of all human achievements – democracy.
From:
Pavel Gonevski, London N22
Beebvision complete
Murray and Co’s brilliant series of alternate history posts has come to an end. If you missed this bit of blog brilliance, read the lot.
Update: Beebvision is now available as a PDF.
Comments are off for this postLocal election week links…
The first out of the polling station this week is the Bonfire.
The Symphony has headed back home for its 6 month anniversary.
The Carnival is nu/Archives/blog/carnival_of_the_vanities.php”>up as wel.l
1 commentA case of biting the hand that feeds?
Terrorists in Saudi killed a BBC journo and injured another one. It seems odd that al Queda would want to kill the Beeb since they are probably the most understanding of all networks of the al Queda cause. It is unfortunate for the families of those killed and injured; however, it will be interesting to see if the Beeb’s take on Islamic “militants” changes some what.
Update: Well so much for that, on Newsnight tonight its reporters were still refering to Al Queda as militants.
1 commentThreat, what threat?
Kids, if youve been scared by grumpy old George W scarin folks with talk of old Mr Bogey Man Islamic Terrorist blowing up your local Pizza Hut for a few dozen ever-ripe virgins, worry not. The Left has it all worked out.
Step forward French intellectual, and distinguished Parisian historian, who’s book on the decline and fall of imperial Washington is top of the charts in Germany and France. Un-coincidentally these two countries are currently enjoying another bumper year of recession, unemployment, corruption and demographic doom. Failure demands a scapegoat; while its still un-cool to blame Jews, Americans will do nicely. From the Guardian:
“America is trying to portray al-Qaida as an omnipresent terrorist threat, as evil as it is widespread – from Bosnia to the Philippines, from Chechnya to Pakistan, from Libya to Yemen – thus legitimising any punitive action it might take anywhere at any time. This elevation of terrorism into a universal force institutionalises a permanent state of war across the globe.”
There is turbulence in the change, to be sure. Bin Laden is turbulence. But it passes. And there’s a true (political and media) craziness in confecting an “image of the world organised by hatred and ravaged by violence”. ”
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