Flash@TMB

The first car I ever rode in was a MkI Viva. That would have been late July or early August 1970.

You get valve distortion pedals. It's just a outboard preamp. One advantage of using these with a single channel clean amp is that little in the way of noise gets into the channel (as the components are separate, same reason as people buy HiFi separates). The other advantage is that you can buy different valve pedals for different sounds. Provided you only plug one valve distortion in to the chain at any time you should retain impressive tone. Also let's you change your basic sound whenever you want without buying a new amp. If I had any talent whatsoever and could play guitar then this is the direction that I'd go in.

The fewer the knobs the better the tone. Don't buy anything with more than one clean and one distortion channel. Point-to-point wiring is desirable. Anything with built in IC (integrated circuits) are best avoided. The essence is, the simpler it is, the better it will sound but the less versatile it will be. In order to make the best choice you need to test it out with your own guitar. If you're a good guitar player then you'll be able to get your sound without a zillion controls! In the bar we only went for multi channel amps with lots of controls as they needed to be versatile as lots of people with different requirements would be using them. If you're planning using a distortion pedal then go for a single channel clean amp like a HiWatt as this has amazing tone, and you won't need any built in distortion.

I think I saw your avatar parked at B&Q a few of lunchtimes ago. Is it a Dolomite Sprint? They were a force to be reckoned with 30 years ago.

You don't need a crystal all to see what will happen if you hold it on a Monday... Remember what happened last year when you took the advice of the vocal minority on this forum. Fuck everyone else - they aren't left with the bill.

Never thought I'd say this but I have to disagree with the majority of the opinions on this thread. Firstly lets be clear, I am not and never have been a GNR fan. The only tune of theirs I like is "Think About You". I did buy Appetite (like everyone else) back in 89 or 90 and enjoyed it at the time, but it's gotten jaded by being overplayed everywhere. I barely listen to any rock these days (well voluntarily), going through a doo wop, 70s disco, and funk phase at present. Also tend to prefer music with the minimum of production, am a big fan of live albums, and dislike excess. Been following the story of the making of this album in the press since the mid 90s and IMO Axl's been crawling up his own asshole and been funded $zillions to do so. So was expecting that this would be some over produced, bland, piece of self indulgent shit of epic proportions with every FX thrown in for good measure. But seeing as how it was less than 10 curiosity got the better of me and I listened to the first 5 1/2 tracks on the way home from the supermarket. Well fuck me sideways (so far) it's very, very good, but in a very, very strange sort of way. It's not in the slightest bit like Appetite. It's very hard to describe but here's my best shot. Take into account that I'm less than 1/2 way through it. I'll repost after I've had it on in the car for a week or so: First off all the tunes are epic. They're all of the sort of scale of November rain, but much deeper and more layered. Secondly my assumption was correct in that it is an over produced piece of self indulgent shit of epic proportions with every FX known to man thrown in... but not in the way that I expected it to be. It does actually sound like there were $zillions and eons of time spent on it. It's like they went out and polished every freakin beat and note and then applied FX to them individually for good measure. It's the most processed thing I've ever listened too but it didn't hurt my ears. It's very cleverly done. There's (obviously) a big wall of sound thing going on, think Good Vibrations produced by the Art of Noise. It's the sort of thing you could listen too for days and still discover more shit going on in there. Axl's voice is used as an instrument rather than a vocal in certain passages. Get over it LOL. So overall despite being the brainchild of a self indulgent and deranged little dick head this is in my honest opinion a very good and interesting album. It's completely different to anything else out there and that's probably due to the amount of time, effort, money, and clock cycles invested in it. This is a crap record in the way that the Bugatti Veryon is a crap car, if you see what I mean. I really want to hate it but have to admit to being blown away by it. Of course this is so far and I reserve the right to retract that opinion once I've listened to it a few more times...

The tops not on it.

He got signed to EMI for a $1,000,000 advance. He's in LA recording his first album as we speak.

I don't know the details but it is rumored that the Doctors had recently changed his medication. This may or may not be correct. Changes in psychiatric medication may occasionally precipitate a suicide. A depressed person is apathetic, the medicines act on the apathy very quickly, but take longer to treat the depression, the result being that you have a depressed person with lots of get up and go, not a good combination. Dave and I were flat mates for a spell in early 1992. I look back fondly on that time as it was the only time in my life that I experienced true freedom. We had very little income, no television, only 2 LPs, had to scrounge the shops for food that was hitting it's sell by, could only afford electricity 4 days a week, and amused ourselves by playing the game where you write someone's name on a skin and stick it to the other persons forehead. I learned a lot from Dave, he was 5 years older than me and taught me how to think deeply about things. He was a very interesting person and always had a weird story to keep you amused, he was also a great conversationalist. Dave had fantastic insight into the workings of other people. This also had a darker side, and he knew exactly what to say to badly upset someone, even if he had only known the person a short time. Whilst I was never fully on the receiving end I did bear witness to this a couple of times. Once I was about 0.5 seconds from using my fists on someone, when Dave reduced him to a blubbering wreck with one seemingly innocuous sentence. Fortunately he didn't resort to this very often though. RIP Dave, you were periodically mad, occasionally bad, and always dangerous to know. The world is a poorer place without you in it. If anyone has details of the funeral then please let me know. I'd really like the opportunity to deliver a eulogy, and Dave was always reminding me that I owed him, so this would be my last chance to pay him back. Whatever, I know that he'll be watching the proceedings with great interest, taking note of which ex-girlfriends show up etc!

Don't bother bringing your mate to The Moorings.

It's a fact that 100% of serial killers breathe air. I say we ban air.

Was at my works Christmas party but heard that Charlie's mum sang "I want to be in America" from West-side Story with Certain Death backing her. Is this true?

We found a cuboid of ice, 2ft x 1ft x 1ft lying in the road. We took it into the bar and had a contest to see who could sit on it the longest. It either fell off a plane or a fish lorry. The water smelled of fish when it melted so that's my guess. The people sitting on it were bare assed. You'd think that this would be enough excitement for most people, but no, certain factions of the crowd were calling for them to be fed chili sauce at the same time. We decided that would be a step too far... well truthfully we were all out of chili sauce.

Just finished season 4 and season 5 came through the letterbox today. The Wire the best thing I've ever watched. So far I'd rate the seasons thus: 1 = Season 3 2 = Season 4 (but it was close to being equal first) 3 = Season 2 4 = Season 1 If you liked this then I can also strongly recommend Hill Street Blues although as yet only the first 2 seasons out of 7 have been released on DVD. The Wire makes a few nods to HSB, especially the opening pre credits sequence which is usually humorous (and the vending machine scene was a blatant nod to HSB). Although HSB focused primarily on the cops, it was ground breaking in that it also incorporated the legal system, the gangs, the local residents, the politicians, and some crooked cops. It was also featured multiple plot threads that spanned episodes and even entire series, and it also had a large ensemble cast. It's not as hard hitting as The Wire, but at the time was considered to be pretty close to the bone. It still holds up well nearly 30 years on. I'm going to try Homicide Life on the Street next.

We installed some soundproofing, and in doing so demolished an old fireplace that was behind the wall which saved a bit of space. Therefore we give you:

Some bands I have enjoyed: Son Henry Oxbow Lake Orchestra Coholic Cobra Kai There are more but I have a terrible memory.

I've pretty much stopped drinking, this was due to health reasons more than anything else. For 10 years my intake was around 150 units per week. It took me 2 years to wean myself off of it. Now my weekly intake is around 0-7 units but occasionally, around once every 3-4 months, I have a blowout. I'm trying to increase the time between blow outs as they always go pear shaped. If I could repeat the last 20 years then I'd make would learn to drink sensibly, and not to drink every day. I like drinking, just did it too often, and always using more than I needed to feel good, which resulted in feeling bad, acting like a tit, and losing a huge chunk of my life to hangovers. While getting drinking relatively under control was a good thing, it's only really worked for me as part of a much bigger picture where I've stopped smoking altogether, taken regular exercise, changed my diet and eating habits. Drinking in itself is not a bad thing, the problem is really down to: a) what the person drinks b) why they are drinking c) when they are drinking d) how much/frequently they are drinking I only stopped because I lost control of b, c, and d!

From my much earlier post on this thread: This won't be optional for the pubs and clubs, they are compelled to do whatever the police want them too. The police will just come in and set up shop. Their powers are draconian. They can force any pub or club to take part in this and there's nothing they can do about it if they want to hang on to our license. If (like me) you are of an anarchistic mindset they you may wish to consider the following programme of civil disobedience: 1) Identify every common or garden substance than is known to cause a false positive for this device. This information will be readily available on the internet. 2) Coat hands in all these things. Or if you are so inclined coat hands in real drugs (it doesn't really matter). 3) Fill pockets with joke objects and/or seemingly unpleasant substances. Use your imagination with this part. Back in 1992 I got searched and they found 500 packets of assorted condoms and a tube of spermicide. That looked good in the paper when it went to court If you are really brave, and can spare 4 days of your life, then try carrying some fake drugs, that will cost them a lot of time, effort, and money... although there is always the danger they will substitute them for real ones back at the station. 4) Find out where the machine is in use. 5) Show up with 100 or so like minded people. 6) Make sure your mates have camera phones discretely rolling throughout. 7) Be sure and shake hands with the police before the test. 8) BONUS POINT: Pretend that though you are willing to be tested you are nervous of the machine (is the swab going to make you ill), and ask the police officer you shook hands with to demo it. 9) Post the video on YouTube then send the link to the newspapers. 10) Repeat this trick until the whole programme is scrapped.

That depends what you mean by pedantic.

I've been frequenting the place for 20 years and they'd never worked in all that time. That's progress eh - The Moorings leaps into the 19th Century!

Yes there is now both water pressure and heat. Laura solved the problem by having a mains pressure tank installed which blasted all the gunk out of the hot water pipes in the toilets. Today I adjusted the mixers to provide hot water.

Ironically it's likely that more people would be present (attend is too strong a word) if it was at the Moorings because there's lots of people show up regardless of what's on... but let's face it, most of them wouldn't be able to discern the Fudge Awards from a chili eating contest. Nudity would be virtually guaranteed though *COUGH* which doesn't really fit the black tie template of the Fudge Awards. Half of the Fudge gigs are at Snafu so that might be a reasonable compromise in terms of space/attendance, but only if it were available for a Saturday night. As an complete aside, although it's hard to fathom (even my own eyes are deceived), in terms of space we rank 3rd on that list.

That was the backup plan. EDIT: she is capable of resorting to that if need be.

Hah - I freakin hope not!

No I'm not drunk.