all_his_engines

Indeed it is. Well, it was about an hour's drive into the Trossachs from Stirling, but in that general area. Rob has done a quality job with the mixing, in my opinion. He's even managed to cover up the rougher edges of the performances!

Greetings, all! Been a while since I've posted anything on here, but I now have an announcement worthy of note. The EP which NO PASARAN recorded way back in February is finally finished and ready to go! Although the band is currently on indefinite hiatus, I know there are a few people who've expressed an interest in owning a copy of this recording. As such, anybody who wants one is welcome to drop me a PM with their name & address and I'll get a copy sent out to you ASAP - free of charge! Don't expect any fancy packaging or owt, but I may throw in a sneaky bonus track to sweeten the deal. Call it an early Christmas present. Laters, Jim

There are a couple of good jazz bars just off the main square, although their names escape me. Also, on Grodzka St just off the square you'll find a lovely church that puts on concerts featuring primarily the music of Chopin. If that's your thing. Otherwise, just check out the myriad side streets around the centre of town. There are lots of very cool bars and restaurants that aren't featured in the tourist guides.

For me, it's quite a complex issue. I guess that as I've developed my skills as a musician, I've begun to be able to appreciate music on an additional level. Maybe "appreciate" is the wrong word. "Assess" might be more appropriate. Since I first seriously got into music when I was 16, I've appreciated music in the way that every music-lover does. After I took up an instrument and developed my musical knowledge, I was also able to appreciate things like song structure, technicality and various other esoteric elements of muso wankery. However, this side of my listening has always been secondary to music-lover in me. For example, some of my friends assume that I only like jazz and "prog" because I'm a musician, and can appreciate the technicality involved in playing such styles of music. Nonsense! It doesn't matter about the potential for chin-stroking muso appreciation, if a piece of music doesn't sound good, it doesn't sound good. In other words, if something is technical for the sake of being technical, it does not make for good music. So I can choose to pick apart a piece of music, assessing the various techniques and tricks utilised by the composer and the performer. But whether I'll enjoy listening to that piece of music is entirely dependent on the listener in me, rather than the musician. I've always had a taste for innovative and interesting music, so I think I'd be listening to the same stuff I listen to now even if I hadn't taken up an instrument. Also, although I'm a bass player, it's not always bass that I listen out for. Drums and piano in particular are other instruments that I can really appreciate when listening to music.

With regard to Mark Millar, I think he's got some very good ideas and I generally enjoy his writing - but he can never finish anything! Everything I've read of his (with the exception of Wanted) has ended with a whimper rather than a bang. The Ultimates - botched what was a very promising build-up to a climatic confrontation. Civil War - completely fizzled out, thereby souring the only storyline that has ever made me like Captain America as a character. Red Son - ended with a totally unnecessary twist. Having said that, I've yet to read Kick-Ass, so he may manage to bring that to a satisfying conclusion.

Next installment of Alan Moore's superb League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen series is out in ten days, I believe. Despite my initial apprehension, the last one (Black Dossier) was amazing once I got into it, being a somewhat different format from the first two. It was originally unavailable in the UK due to copyright issues, but I managed to lay my hands on a US edition. Recently, I've also been reading All-Star Superman and it is indeed extremely good. Grant Morrison seems to be one of the few people who have figured out how to write Superman well, but then he is one of the best writers out there. His magnum opus, The Invisibles, is IMO one of the finest works of fiction ever created....in any medium. Although it did take me a few readings before I began to fully appreciate its depth. Got Scarlet Traces to read next, which is Edginton & D'israeli's sequel to War Of The Worlds. Based on their previous work, like Kingdom Of The Wicked and Stickleback, it should be a corker!

Tool are indeed mind-blowingly awesome, but are often overlooked by snobby people who think they're a glorified nu-metal band. Few things could be further from the truth. I've always considered them able to transcend genre. They simply make amazing music. Saw them live last year (or maybe it was the year before), and when they played Wings For Marie and Lateralus back-to-back I thought i might actually weep.

Man, you should go to Romania. Much of my time there was spent gawking. Film is very good. Not sure if it's better than Casino Royale, but it's well worth seeing if you've not already. I too am happy with this latest direction for the Bond franchise.

Jan, I think you're in dire need of an intervention.

At the moment.... TOOL - The Pot RATM - Bullet In The Head MILES DAVIS - Bitches Brew (simple, yet so effective) GONG - Flying Teapot And pretty much anything ever played by Chris Squire or Jonas Reingold.

What on earth do you mean, "logic wins with me hands down"? All your statement says is that science is open to being proved wrong, while religion is about absolute belief, irrespective of empirical evidence. It's two different approaches to deciding whether there is a God or not. If what you're actually saying is that agnosticism is more logical than religious belief, then that's another debate entirely. The problem with atheists attempting to understand religious belief is that they think people who believe in God do so because of some kind of mental calculation about hedging their bets. What most of them don't seem to realise is that truly religious people feel something at a level that can't be scientifically described. They believe fervently that God exists through what they have felt and experienced themselves, and surely responding to such a feeling could be considered logical. To say that people turn to religion purely out of fear is narrow-minded, indeed.

It isn't just the Moorings. I've been on the door a few times at Drummonds and Cellar 35, and the number of people who kick up a stink over a few quid to get in is unbelievable. And I'm talking about times when the fact there's a gig on has been clearly advertised at the entrance to the venue, so it's not like they've been deceived in some way. Yet some people are still willing to even threaten physical violence just for being asked to pay their way.

Thanks for the kind words, folks. 'Twas a brilliant night, indeed. Phil was great as always, and I was mightily impressed by Greater The Shadow. Immanu El for me were a little derivative musically, but they were a joy to see and hear. And I too was pleasantly surprised by such a large turnout on a Sunday night.

That's such a Cavalera attitude to have. Ho ho!

Was he inspired by that Irn Bru advert from a couple of years ago? The one that featured a granny in a wheelchair ram-raiding a corner shop. They'll be a crazy media backlash against Barr's, just you wait!