The Progster

Back In Barcelona and home

2009-04-22T23:06:00.001+01:00

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

Day 12 - At Sea

2009-04-21T23:05:00.006+01:00

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

A large part of today was spent on the ships tour, covering the laundry, backstage theatre, food preparation, food storage, environmental systems and the bridge. In all the tour took about 4 hours, with a short break for sandwiches and sparkling wine.

Day 11 - Malta

2009-04-20T23:02:00.003+01:00

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

Rain, rain and more . . . rain . . . .

Another day of getting soaked in the Mediterranean.

Day 10 - At Sea

2009-04-19T23:02:00.001+01:00

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

Day 9 - Alexandria

2009-04-18T22:56:00.003+01:00

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

Alexandria is certainly a city of contrasts. They have trams which have been repaired so many times, they look like they are made of papier mache ! There is clearly a lot of poverty around, but on the other side, it is a holiday resort for Egyptians which beaches as good looking as the French Riviera and high class hotels.

Day 8 - Alexandria

2009-04-17T22:51:00.004+01:00

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

A long but rewarding day visit to Cairo. The Pyramids and Tombs tour takes about 13 hours, leaving the ship at 7:30am, and returning at about 8:30pm. Cairo is a 3 hour bus ride from Alexandria.

Day 7 - At Sea

2009-04-16T22:50:00.002+01:00

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

Day 6 - Izmir (Turkey)

2009-04-15T22:37:00.005+01:00

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

What a busy place Izmir iz ! The entire hillside was covered in houses as far as you could see.

Another day where the rain was never far away, but thankfully stayed dry, and even sunny at times for the 2 hours we spent in Ephesus, the remains of a Greek city from around 500 BC which housed 400,000 people ! The site was where the temple of Artemis was located which was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. There are still large intact structures, the most impressive being the library of Celsus, which at the time was the 3rd largest in the world

Day 5 - Pireus (Athens)

2009-04-14T22:20:00.003+01:00

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

Ah the Acropolis where the Parthenon is . . Stephen Fry eat your heart out.

After what seemed like endless discussions with a local taxi drivers wanting to offer tours (at 120 Euro for 4 hours) or equally expensive taxi rides into Athens, we walked the 3 Km to the train station and got an all day pass for 8 Euro each. If you want to do this, expect a price of closer to 80 euros with the expectation of 'tips' if you like the tour. at least that's how low I got him to before deciding that with the poor exchange rate, £80 was still too much and gave up. The walk took about 40 minutes, but we did get slightly lost towards the end. Basically continue around eth coast till you reach a pedestrian bridge that crosses teh road, take this and you are at teh station. The train journey from Pireus took about 20 minutes to a stop called Monastiraki on the same line. From there it was a short walk to reach the Acropolis, just in time for an almighty downpour. Entry is free for children and XX Euro for Adults, but this also gets you into many other Athens attractions.

Day 4 - At Sea

2009-04-13T22:19:00.002+01:00

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

Day 3 - Civitavecchia (Rome)

2009-04-12T22:19:00.002+01:00

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

Day 2 - At Sea

2009-04-11T22:18:00.002+01:00

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

Day 1 - And we're off . .

2009-04-10T22:04:00.003+01:00

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

Check-in at the cruise terminal in Barcelona was a breeze. No line in the suites check-in area at 11:15. As soon as we were checked in, they said embarkation was about to start and escorted us to the ship. Callum was first on board (couldn't hold him back), but what do you expect from the assistant to the assistant to the assistant concierge ;O). We were so early they hadn't started pouring the fizzy yet. We were in our couryard villa by 11:30, and talking with Juremar our butler and Josif the assistant courtyard butler.

A lovely lunch in Cagneys with a holiday starting bottle of wine, and off for a look around. One of the special offers this time around was to pre-order your wine from a short-list and get 20% discount as long as you order between 10 and 12 bottles, so we went for the 12. Prices were from about $28 upwards, averaging around the $35 - $40 mark. Callum got his soda card ($4 plus 15% per day) which for some reason they were offering the child rate for up to 13 (should have been under 13 for the child rate). We also bought him a teen passport (20 vouchers for virgin cocktails) for $30 plus 15%.

By this time the bubbly was flowing and the atrium was getting rather busy with lots of people joining the ship, so we retreated to the tranquillity of the courtyard again. Surprisingly it was still empty, so we had a good old time helping to empty some of the sparkling wine they had chilling. Ah holiday bliss. This was generally how the courtyard was for most of the cruise. At it's busiest it must have had about 8 people in it. You can have breakfast and lunch here, the same menu as Cagneys special lunch. It has a lap pool (where there is a water jet to swim against), a large hot tub, fitness room, saunas and a large sun deck on top. the roof of the courtyard area can be retracted when it is dry.

On the topic of wine, there was the usual bottle sparkling wine chilling in the cabin which comes with a suite, and an extra one for Platinum (basically for cruising too much). We had brought a couple of bottles of Cava with us also which nobody seemed to bother about in Barcelona. Our bar setup had also been sucessful, so we have our rum and gin already setup in the room (having brought the mixers on board from the local supermarket). Booze was not going to be an issue on this cruise ;)

Being a late sailing (7pm), there was lots of time to relax before the muster drill and sailing. Luggage arrived quickly at around 2pm and was quickly emptied into the wardrobes.

Dinner was at Paniolo's Mexican resturaunt. We made the mistake of having the Quesidillias to start which had tons of cheese it them, then soup, by teh time we had finished those we were quite full. Callum tried the lobster tacos which were very good, and the rest of us had the Ill Popo. I have to say I'm not so fond of this as I used to be. The beef used seems to be lower quality and much tougher than most other beef served on the ship. maybe it is just the way they cook it, but it is tasty. This is the first time we had eaten in the mexican since NCL introduced the cover charge for this and the Italian at $10 per person. they have changed the menu a little, mainly increasing the size of the starters, and they give you a small sampler size of Margertia, but that is all. Of the times we ate here, I would say it was slightly quieter than on previous ships before the cover charge, but never full. It also interestingly was never part of any half price early bird promotion for some reason.

A long day was rounded off with a nigthcap and sleep in the most comfortable bed ever . . . . .

The Adventure Begins . . .

2009-04-10T09:21:00.005+01:00

WOW almost 2 years since I've been in this blog. Could certainly do with some spring cleaning!

We are off on another NCL adventure, an eastern Med cruise on the Norwegian Jade (previously the Pride of Hawaii which used to sail around the islands there).

This cruise takes us from Barcelona to Rome, Athens, Ismir (Turkey), Alexandria, Malta and back to Barcelona with several sea days in between for relaxing. Basically 12 days of eating and drinking too much and having lots of fun.

I'll try to keep some more information coming, but at 40p per minute, don't expect too much real time updates ;O)

Memories

2007-07-13T17:30:00.000+01:00

I just found a picture on the net of the first place I worked after graduating. It was Racal Communications Systems in Bracknell. I only stayed there for a year from August 1981, but it is sad to see a place you worked in pulled down and flattened.

The Zimmers

2007-05-28T20:26:00.001+01:00

Well it just goes to prove you are NEVER too old for Rock and Roll. With a lead singer of a mere 90 and others in the 'band' at 100. a cover of The Who's My Generation is making an assault on the pop charts this week.

Eric Whitty

The band recorded the single in teh Abbey Road studios, even recreating eth famous Beatles zebra crossing picture above. They are looking to highlight the plight of pensioners, many of whom are copped up in homes, with only daytime TV to watch. Many are also confided to their home and many have not been out for several years. A BBC TV program The Great Granny Chart Invasion is screened tonight at 21:00 on BBC TWO.

Glastonbudget Festival

2007-05-27T17:08:00.000+01:00

It had to happen sooner or later. The rise of the number of tribute bands, only matched by the rise in festival ticket prices and the difficulty in getting hold of one.

With bands like Pink Fraud, Jamm, Oasish and Guns 2 Roses, it certainly seems the fans got a budget treat this weekend.

Jimbo 101 Owns Up

2007-05-15T18:46:00.000+01:00

We it seems while Jimbo101 is living it up in the big apple, he only wears his FROST* T-Shirt while his Marillion ones are in the wash, so I thought he should have his own design . . .

The end of an era

2007-03-26T22:01:00.000+01:00

Well, after 15 years, the Back To The Future ride in Universal Studios in Orlando will take it's last time travellers on 30th March. This was such a great ride, and was the first real large scale simulator in any of the major theme parks. The ride was of course based on the movie series and you could travel in an 8 seater Delorian fitted with hydraulic ramps to make it move inside a huge dome theatre with massive wrap around images of your journey on it.

I was on this ride the year it opened in Orlando and returned several times. Probably been on this ride about 20 times in all, but the biggest thrill was taking our son on it a couple of years ago and watching his face as he experienced it for the first time.

While nothing like the experience of the movement or sheer size of the ride, theere is a decent video of the ride with an insert of the car video screen with Biff spouting his usual nonsense at here on You Tube

Day 8 - Tubez

2006-12-10T23:18:00.000Z

We went to the new bridge viewing room that is behind the bridge on deck 11. You can see the whole bridge from there and watch what is happening (not much really). It is good, since you can’t get any tours of the ship due to security. It was the Captains picture tour of the ship today, much the same as the one he gave on the Dawn when we were there in April this year, but with updated pictures showing the Pearl. He did tell us when answering a question about the hurricane, that he was on the bridge for 3 days during the storm before being able to go back to his cabin! He also showed the white box at the front of the ship, which is to stow the forward radar antenna (the one that spins around), and said that if they hadn’t stowed it, it would definitely have been gone.

We ate in Le Bistro again last night with a few people from cruise critics. I had the prawn and scallop martini (alcohol free), the escargot, watercress and frogs legs soup, the duck a l’orange then the chocolate fondue. Mum had the prawn and scallop martini, the forest mushroom soup, stuffed chicken, and the chocolate fondue.

The last Jean Ann Ryan show was Tubez and was a high action modern dance show with a BMX biker from Las Vegas and the acrobats. The BMX biker was a bit of a disappointment to be honest as he only really went up and down the ramps and did a few twists. The show ended with the NCL ‘family’ song and a stage full of officers and crew.

Day 7 - Nearly There

2006-12-09T12:18:00.000Z

Never thought I’d be reporting on the Pacific Spa, but today we tried out the Rasul. This is a treatment for two that takes place in a private timed sauna. It is based on a South American wedding ritual. It starts with an exfoliating lime and ginger salt scrub which you apply to each other in an aromatherapy sauna. Relaxing music plays in the sauna as the steam starts to fill the room. After about 15 minutes multiple shower heads start to provide the ‘tropical rainstorm’ effect to clean off the salt. Your skin already feels very soft after this stage. The second is the same cycle but using a detoxification mud, once again applied to each other, as well as a face mask. I’ve never been in anything other than a normal sauna and never had any type of spa treatment, but this was very relaxing, and I would thoroughly recommend it.

Day 6 - The sun shows it’s face (but only briefly)

2006-12-08T23:16:00.000Z

The sun showed its smiley face briefly today for the first time in a while. Even though the temperature is only in the low 70s it still feels very warm in the sun since we are much further south than at home. It is still cloudy, so it pops in and out now and again to say hello. I am sitting on the balcony typing this, after wiping all the salt off the chair. We walked around deck 13 this morning after breakfast for the first time since it re-opened. There is a large basketball court and tennis courts at the back, as well as the climbing wall behind the funnel. We saw one guy climb to the top of the ‘easy’ green side, then struggle about 1/3 the way up the second harder green route on the right. The next guy got stuck half way up the easy route and then wouldn’t let go for a while to let the rope man lower him down! Must be scarier than it looks.

A new Jean Ann Ryan show premiered tonight called The Garden of the Geisha. I take back all I said about the acrobat people. The show focused on them and told a love story of two young people in Japan that were forced to be apart, but of course at the end they get to be together. There was some very spectacular and beautiful flying stunts, and the small girl even held the guy by his hands as they flew over the stage about 30 feet up, no harness or safety net at all The set was very impressive too, and was designed by the person who created the American Idol set.

We ate our meal in Le Bistro tonight and it was very good as usual. We have eaten in the Bistro several times on the Dream and the Dawn before now, and always made the same selection each time, but now the menu has changed. We took the ‘Tasting Menu’ for two and had the Chateaubriand (a large piece of beef that is cut up at your table), the alternative main course being the rack of lamb. Pate de Foie Gras to start, then French onion soup is part of the set menu. For desert, we had crème brulee. It was bit over fussy with added cream and a raspberry on top as well as a scalloped biscuit. The topping could have been a bit crunchier. The tasting menu comes with a chocolate soufflé as desert, but this takes 15-20 minutes to prepare and we weren’t feeling all that hungry by this point. We waddled off to the Spinnaker lounge for the Quest game show.

Day 5 - Chocolate day

2006-12-07T23:15:00.000Z

The show tonight was very good. Jeri Sager performed a lot of songs from Chicago, Cats, Les Miserable and Cabaret. The band leader on the ship Alan Lees and most of the musicians on his band are the same as on the Dream this summer in the Baltics. They did a great job of accompanying her.

Dinner was at the Mexican again after looking at the Shabu Shabu (Mongolian Hot Pot) menu and the Lotus Garden menu and finding them a bit uninteresting to be honest.

The chocoholics buffet was on tonight a bit earlier than usual at 10:00-11:30. I didn’t think it was as spectacular as some we have seen on other NCL ships as there seemed less chocolate models around, and more chocolate cake and everything else chocolate to eat. It was also in the Garden Café buffet area where the lights were on full rather than dimmed to spotlight the ice and chocolate sculptures.

We went to a late night comedy show with Lenny Windsor in eth Spinnaker lounge, and it was standing room only, and not a lot of that. Lenny is from England and had a few TV shows on BBC and London Weekend Television in the 70s. He also was a script writer for Benny Hill. He was very funny, and even my wife liked him, and she hated Benny Hill.

Day 4 - Party Time (and Storm time again)

2006-12-06T23:14:00.000Z

Ah well it was too good to last. We hit another storm, and are back up to force 12 winds and high seas once again. This time although it is off the scale, it is way less fierce than the first one and more people are able to find ways to walk at 45 degrees and change angles with the ship. I am convinced we will fall over as soon as we step on land again.

We ate in Indigo (like Impressions on the Dawn) last night. We both had scallops to start, followed by cauliflower soup and a duck noodle salad, then we both had beef stroganoff with big wide pasta strips. One of the deserts was fabulous, a hazelnut soufflé which the waitress then cut open to pour Cointreau flavoured crème Anglaise into Mmmmm. We went to the show, it was OK, nothing special. A lot of very tall beautiful girls kicking their legs in the air. I guess it is harder than it looks because one of them at the end of the row fell over at one point. I don’t know why the Jean Ann Ryan company insist in having some east European gymnast hanging from the ceiling suspended by some bed sheets for whatever reason. The show was supposed to be the history of showgirl dancers, but any story was lost on me. Both the singers were good though.

Day 3 - The decks open

2006-12-05T23:13:00.000Z

Decks 7 and 13 are finally opened late this afternoon and a lot of people lake advantage of this to get out and get some fresh air. Deck 12 was still open through this, so there was at least somewhere to go. The sea is staring to lose it’s anger, and as we pass south of the large island in the Azores in the early evening, it almost feels like we have stopped it is so smooth.

Teppanyaki was a lot of fun as usual, and we had 36 people from cruise critics filling the place. The captain came in to say hello as well as other officers. The menu looks the same as has been on eth Dawn and Jewel for a while, with the usual selection of prawns, scallops, lobster, chicken and fillet steak on offer.

Day 2 - Back to some form of normality

2006-12-04T23:08:00.000Z

44o 23.24N 014o 10.47'W - somewhere off the coast of

Portugal

We have breakfast in the Summer Palace, the largest resturaunt at the back of the ship where the Venetian is on the Dawn. It is themed after the Russian palaces of St. Petersburg, and has the royal double headed eagle on the back of the chairs as well as lots of pictures of Russian aristocracy around the walls. The pillars are made to look like green Malachite, with large chandeliers and a very nice painting on the ceiling. All in all pretty impressive. Many will be please to hear that at least on his cruise, the breakfast menu was extensive, and the same each day which meant eggs benedict are available every day, as well as an alternative with replaces the ham with smoked salmon and spinach. Every conceivable cereal is on offer as well as porridge (oatmeal to the Americans), omelets, pancakes, French toast, a large selection of fried breakfast items, kippers, smoked salmon and even grits and Southern Biscuits with sausage and gravy. I can feel the pounds are pilling on as I type.

We tried out the bowling in the morning, which is a cruise line first for NCL. Contrary to some belief that there was going to be an amazing feat of engineering to level the alleys against the movement of the sea, I can confirm that there isn’t. Bowling in seas which are still around 20ft is an interesting business. We had balls head to one gutter, then the ship would move and the ball ended in the other gutter. Waiting for the right time to bowl the ball seemed to help, even to the extend that while waiting to stop rocking for a minute, a large wave hit the ship and all 20 pins in both lanes fell over, AND IT COUNTED! STRIKE! So as long as you don’t take it too seriously, or bowl in port it is a lot of fun. NCL did finally sort out the charge for this and it is $5 per person per game of 10 frames (I think that’s the right terms from this non bowler)

The Bliss Ultra lounge where the 4 bowling lanes are is very plush and very Moulin Rouge. All black cord curtains, red velvet and a distinct air of hedonistic decadence. Many of the seating areas are king size beds. With a well stocked bar and video screens with a VJ to play your selection, what more do you need to relax.

We ate dinner in Mambos Tex Mex resturaunt. This is similar to Salsas on the Dawn and in the same location. A good selection of flavoured Margaritas is on offer in both chilled and frozen options. The menu pretty standard, with Taquitos and chicken or shrimp/crab quesadillas all tasting good as starters (we ate here twice, it’s not that we ate half their menu on one sitting). They have added a new dish for two, call Il Poco, which comes as a wooden tray with all the kind of things you would get for fajitas as well as rice, with a spiked wrought iron ‘club’ hanging over the board with your meat and vegetables and fruit attached. It comes in Chicken, beef or a you can have a combo. The meat, inions, peppers and pineapple have been cooked with tequila and spices and are very tasty. You use tongs to pull off what you want to fill your soft tortillas with and eat it pretty much like fajitas. Shrimp fajitas are also good. The beef burrito was OK, but be warned, it comes with BBQ sause poured over it which I found a bit odd, but it tasted fine. In future I’d ask for the sauce to be omitted or left on the side.

Day 1 - Hurricane Olda

2006-12-03T23:00:00.000Z

Sunday was a fun day . . . We now know that when we left Southampton the Captain knew we were sailing into a Gale, but the gale escallated into a full blown Hurricane which has a name now, hurricane Olda. At one point, we had 4 hours of sustained 111kts wind (127MPH) and gusting to 148kts (170MPH). The beaufort wind scale stops at 12 after 60kts and is classed as a hurricane. So I think at double sustained hurricane wind speeds, and almost triple gusts, we have earned our sea legs now. The ship was down to around 4kts for much of the night due to the very strong headwinds and rough seas. We did very little all Sunday and the wind remained at force 12 all day with very violent bursts of wind and motion. We made up for lost sleep on Saturday night a little, but doing anything that involved concentration and working against the ship movement was quite exhausting to be honest. At least we weren’t ill at all unlike a large number of passengers and crew.

The open decks on 7 and 13 have been closed since lat Saturday night with no plans to re-open until we are out of the storm.

It’ll show how bad it was, they even cancelled the bingo !!!

Sunday was lobster and beef Wellington night and would have been the first optional formal night, but due to the weather wasn’t billed as such and I expect they had a lot of lobster left judging by how many people stayed in their cabins on Sunday.

Day 0 - Norwegian Pearl Transatlantic Begins

2006-12-02T23:00:00.000Z

These entries from the Transatlantic crossing of the Norwegian Pearl are the views of my wife and I. They are put here purely for entertainment and information. If you don’t agree with any of the contents, feel free to discuss it on the Cruise Critics boards at www.cruisecritic.com. I will add mroe pictures when I have cheaper internet access than you get on the ship ;o)

Well here we are finally boarding the Norwegian Pearl for the first ‘real’ cruise of more then 1 night bound for Miami. The ship is leaving from the Queen Elizabeth II dock in Southampton, where efficiency seems to be the order of the day. The taxi gets to drop us off in a covered hanger area where our bags are quickly taken away to be x-rayed and taken on board. We go through little formality to get our room keys and security pictures taken and a credit card swipe. It was actually faster than it was checking into the hotel last night. We chink through security with the Marks and Spencer 6 bottle wine carrier ready to pay the $15 per bottle corkage, but before we know it, we are through the x-ray security check and on board and in the atrium area.

First impressions of the ship are great, very fresh colours are tastefully used around the ship. The atrium while not very high still manages to host a massive video wall and has icicles hanging from the ceiling, the cool blues used in the seating fabrics and carpet mirroring this theme. NCL have already got into the Christmas spirit with large decorated trees in the atrium and 2007 illuminated signs at the reception desk.

We eat lunch at the Indigo restaurant again tastefully decorated with 3D glass pictures depicting US landmarks on the walls. This is a brighter restaurant that Impressions which takes the same space on the Dawn, mainly due to the fact that it spans the ship with windows on either side. The menu has a very good selection on offer, and it is noticeable that the portion sizes have been increased even since our Baltic’s cruise in July this year. One surprise was that tax was added to the wine price, presumably since we were still sitting in Southampton. Strange as it was never a problem sailing out of the US and buying while still in port, but that’s Gordon Brown for you, collecting every penny he can get.

We met up with several other folks from the CC boards.in the Star Bar on Saturday night. Names like Shore Guy, Snorklin’ Barb, Flying Pirate, Inside Cabin, Patchwitch, Tanti and Selle to name a few all now have faces rather than avatars to recognize them by. The Star Bar is a really nice dimly lit push bar on deck 13 looking forward over the pool area. The kind of bar I would expect to see in a classy hotel. A few of us try out Cagney’s steakhouse next door and find the quality hasn’t gone down by any means. Great Oysters Rockafeller, Jumbo Shrimp cocktails to start with, and the Prime Rib is a wonderful new addition to the menu in 14oz and 10oz options.

By the time we leave at around 11:30pm, the wind is getting pretty fierce as we see someone just about blown over trying to walk outside past the restaurant. A good indication of what is to come . . .

The Pearl makes her debut

2006-10-16T00:39:00.000+01:00

The NCL Pearl was floated out of the shipyard in Germany today ready to start it's sea trials. Glad to see it get ready, as we are on the Transatlantic voyage in December as it moves to it's base in Miami. Believe it or not, this is the first ship to have a 10-pin bowling alley fitted. The sea shouldn't make too much of a difference to my bowling scores anyway ;O)

Summers End

2006-10-15T00:45:00.000+01:00

Well, I'm getting quite behind here. The Summers End festival was brill! Two full days of prog, with 12 bands and a great sound. Personal favourites were Darwin's Radio, White Willow, Strangefish, Flamborough Head and The Flower Kings. I have a bunch of photos to sort out and will post some of them here. I decided against carting the SLR down and travelled light, so I only had the teeny weeny Casio with me. It was nice for a change to just listen to a band and watch them, rather than through a lens.

Summers End Festival

2006-09-18T23:58:00.000+01:00

Oh my, it's really been that long since my last post? Anyway, in preparation for the Summers End festival a mere 11 days away, some new prog arrived through my door last week.

Flambourough Head's latest offering Tales of Imperfection takes them somewhat away from the retro Marillion sound of One For The Crow to a more classically driven prog, reminiscent in places of Focus. Well they are Dutch after all. An even mix of instrumetals and song based tracks here.

White Willow was a fine surprise, with some darker songs and textures and some great vocals from the new signer. Kind of an Evanescence vibe on some of it, but with their own original twist.

Ezra - Songs from Philadelphia still needs a couple of more listens yet.

The whole weekend is filled with such an extraordinary selection of great prog, it will be hard to beat the lineup (well Frost* would have been the icing on the cake, or should that be Frosting?) You even get half of the new It Bites!

SATURDAY 30th September
1.00 – 2.00 Ezra
2.20 – 3.20 Credo
3.45 – 5.00 White Willow

6.30 – 7.15 John Mitchell and John Beck
7.30 – 8.30 Strangefish
9.00 – 11.00 Pendragon

SUNDAY 1st October
1.00 – 2.00 Darwin's Radio
2.20 – 3.20 Pure Reason Revolution
3.45 – 5.00 Flamborough Head

6.30 – 7.15 Guy Manning
7.30 – 8.30 Also Eden
9.00 – 11.00 The Flower Kings

Evil Juice

2006-08-26T23:25:00.000+01:00

A couple of weekends ago I was sitting at the bar in a mexican resturaunt minding my own business as a few folks gathered near me to celebrate a birthday. I later found that it was Malcolm (very non Singaporean name) and he was 39. Anyway Malcolm and his wife had a shot each of Tequila from an evil looking jar that was full of Chili peppers. This was followed by about 6 glasses of ice water, though Malcolm's wife turned distinctly white and dissapeared to the ladies for over half an hour. So Malcolm's fun filled friend decides the lone guy sitting next to them at the bar should join in this merriment. Now I'm rarely one to turn down a challenge, but I tell you, that jar looked decidedly evil. It had the look of something you would see in a hall of anatomy, some spare body parts preserved in formaldahyde. So I say, only if you join me, at which point it doesn't seem such a fun idea any longer. Five minutes of discussion later we both downed a class of this stuff. It wasn't too bad . . at first. I sat there smiling, while his face got redder and redder before he reached for the ice water and downed several glasses. I eventually succumbed and took some water, but it just seemed to make it hotter. After 5 minutes I felt a warm glow all down my insides. I think a glass of paint stripper would have had the same effect. Even the bartender who poured the glasses said his fingers were burning from this stuff. Apparently they make this themselves. Over 50 chilis in a jar, filled up with Tequila, ouch!

So if you ever find yourself alone in a Mexican resturaunt, avoid the birthday party crowd, or you might just end up taking the Chili Tequila challenge.

What I love about Singapore

2006-08-25T21:12:00.000+01:00

I was taken aback last week when someone who I think of as having a showbiz kind of lifestyle thought my work sounded 'glam'. This was partly due to the fact that I was in Singapore again for a couple of weeks. Third time this year (I know yawn, yawn) . A few things started telling me I'm there too much. For one I was being offered free beer from the managers of two pllaces I go to often when I'm there. This was at Brewerkz, which is a microbrewery owned by an Aussie, which goes down a treat with the ex-pats, tourist and a few of the locals. The other was Cafe Iguana, which is a mexican resturaunt. As if that's not enough, when one of the waiters knocks my remaining 1/4 pint over me, the manager comes over and apologises to me, using my surname and brings me a jug of beer. I can only imagine he got my name from my credit card on a previous visit, but that's customer service for you in a place where almost everyone is transient. The fact that the stains didn't come out in the washing is another matter !

Anyway - What I Love about Singapore

The temperature is almost always 32 degrees all year round
When you walk outside during the day for the first 5 minutes it's like being wrapped in a huge warm duvet
They have a micro brewery called Brewerkz
Everyone speaks English
You can take pictures like the one above and get it published in 3 calendars
The food is great and pretty inexpensive
The girls in Singapore still think boob tubes and mini ra-ra skirts are still fashionable
They drive on the proper (left hand) side of the road
Chart CDs (official ones) are only 5 quid each
The mains sockets are UK 3 pin ones
Taxis are cheap, and there are over 10,000 of them
It is one of the safest places on earth. A female can walk around alone at 3am without fear. It is a very rules and laws based society - fines for many minor offences like not flushing a public toilet, spitting in public, picking flowers etc. They also use the cane as punishment in conjunction with prison. This is one way they keep the crime figures down.

What I hate about Singapore

The humidity is almost always 96 degrees all year round
When you walk outside during the day, after the first 5 minutes it feels like you are starting to melt from the inside out
It is a 14 hour flight from London, that's after the 5 hours to get from Edinburgh and wait in Heathrow
The rules thing can be a bit oppressive at times. While walking in Orchard road one busy Saturday afternoon, my hand accidently brushhed against a womans leg as she passed me and in a panic, all I could think of was the previous day's paper article about a guy getting 6 lashes of the cane for touching a girls bum as he passed on his bicycle. Thankfully she just walked on.

Catching up

2006-08-24T20:27:00.000+01:00

I am just sooo behind with everything it seems. A couple of weeks on holiday, and a couple of weeks away with work just seems to fly past. I have a load of pictures to get formatted and uploaded to my PBase account sometime amoungst other things.

Well . . . the holiday cruise to the Baltic Capitals was excellent. Highlights were of course St. Petersburg. Tallinn in Estonia, Stockholm and going through the Keil canal.

The canal was kind of surreal. OK the ship was the largest vessel ever to pass thorugh the canal (had to tip the funnel and main mast to get under the bridges), but the number of people who lined the canal to wave was unbelievable. They even covered bridges, and just about every conceivable vantage point.

Tallinn still has the medieval town look with cobbled winding streets, and large squares. They also sold an innordinate amount of flavoured vodkas and liquers.

Stockholm was was a very nice riverside city, with a parliament and palace (a bit like London but with a much nicer waterfront). The Vasa museum was very interesting. The Vasa was the largest wooden warship built for the Swedish Navy, but the designers got carried away with size, and it toppled over and sank in the harbour right after it was launched in 1628. They now have it recovered and in a museum of it's own. Trouble is, it seems to have a mould problem which if not sorted will rot the ship. Amazing, it has sat in the water for almost 400 hundred years, and now it is out of the water it could rot in just a few.St. Petersburg was just so over the top in decorated palaces and churches. Hardly surprising Russia had 3 revolutions when you see how much money the Tzars were spending on their palaces and art collections while the poulation were starving. Incredible also to hear the stories of the seige of St. Petersburg during WW2, where almost 3 million civillians lived under terrible conditions for 900 days. Almost 800 thousand died, mostly during the extremely cold winters.

Not so Baltic

2006-07-22T00:55:00.000+01:00

Everyone talks about cold weather being 'Baltic', well we are heading there on Saturday, and it seems to have had temperatures up at 37 degrees C! Looking forward to relaxing on a ship again and taking in the delights of St Petersburg, Tallin in Estonia, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki and Warnemunde Germany. With the horrendous cost of WiFi on the ship, I doubt there will be updates ;O) I'll keep them for when I get back.

Oh, and for ship-heads we go through the Keil Canal, and the funnel tips over to get a few extra inches to be able to get under some of the bridges, it's that tight. You just can't take the engineer out of someone can you :OP

Bouncing Back!

2006-07-19T00:48:00.000+01:00

Life is nothing if not a roller coaster . . .

After T In The Park (where the old codgers like The Who, and the Young Codgers like The Cooks, and The Feeling Excelled) when life lightened up. The world got a bit shinnier than the previous week.

After that a recently found great friend sent a copy of a CD so astounding it puts everything else into perspective. This is the by far the best progressive rock music I've heard since I listened to Close To The Edge 35 years ago !!! It is that significant. If you are currently following Progressive Rock as I do you will know who I am refering to, otherwise, I'll stay quiet until the release date!

One neglected Blog

2006-07-08T01:33:00.000+01:00

Oh dear, I have forsaken my blog recently. Well, I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say the last few weeks have been amoungst the worst in my working life. Never, never, ever get yourself in a position at work where you need to lay people off. It is by far the most emotionaly depressive thing I have ever had to do in my life. . .

The only thing that might just put a smile back on the old progsters lips, might be the sounds at T in the park, a mere 10 miles from home. I shall be there with my mate Sam rockin to the sounds of The Who, Strokes, Arctic Monkeys and a ton of other bands on Sunday.

Simply scary

2006-06-19T23:17:00.000+01:00

If you scroll down the blog a couple of entries, you will see the scary kid with the marines helmet and INCOMING! message.

Well if that wasn't scary enough, have alook at what this application can do to it here.

Diet Coke and Mentos

2006-06-15T20:36:00.000+01:00

Well, what a combination apparently. I saw a Metro laying on someones desk today, it could have been from any day over the past week, but it had an article in it about 'experiments' with a 2 Litre bottle of Diet Coke and a pack of Mentos (Mints or Fruits). The pictures showed a 16 foot jet of Coke spray coming out of the open bottle. Now things get even more interesting. They added an address of a website where they experimented with over 200 litres of Coke and over 500 Mentos, to create their version of the fountains outside the Belagio casino in Las Vegas, and it is amazing. You can try for yourself at www.eepybird.com. I would have linked it here, but the site is pretty slow at the moment on account of all the people looking at it, so give it 5 minutes or more to load the video.

On the site it also linked to "Pepsi Girl" (reminds me of Pepsi and Shirley, remember them? but I digress as usual), who tries the experiment on herself. Try not to watch this with anything in your mouth please. You have been warned and Progster inc. can take no responsibility for damage or cleaning bills suffered as a result of view said video.

New prog incoming . . . . .

2006-06-12T21:18:00.001+01:00

Those nice people at Sonicbond music are just soooo efficient. I ordered a few CDs and a weekend ticket for the Summers End festival on Friday night (late) and they arrived today (Monday).

I now get to listen to Darwin's Radio - Eyes of the world (sounding fab right now), Credo - Rhetoric and Flamborough Head (from Holland) - One For The Crow. All 3 are playing the Summer End festival.

Reviews coming soon(ish).

What a wonderful day

2006-06-10T21:00:00.000+01:00

Isn't it incredible, that on probably the best day of the year so far, half the country choose to sit inside and watch TV? Amazing the pull of Dr, Who isn't it? You just have to see what happens to the Dr, Rose, the Ood and old Mr 666 himself don't you. Gotta admit, I'm hooked.

On that other TV phenomenon though, the World Cup, it's nice to see the BBC offer an 'out' with the choice of setting a cookie to opt in or out if the whole thing. Pity it only applies to the BBC home page, and not in general. I've been looking around for the best deal on a Roland Fantom XR, and can't believe how many big stores are having a World Cup Special. Now colour me stupid, but since when was there ever a link between World Cup and music stores? OK, forgive the few digressions of the popular single buying public when they buy copies of "Were on the march with Ally's army", "Three Lions" or "Vindaloo", but the whole country seems to have gone stark raving mad. Can you believe there are actually 35, yes THIRY FIVE singles released to support the England world cup campaign? Don't believe me? Look Here.

Look at Turnkey . .

Digital Village . .Even Sound Control that started in Dunfermline are in on the footie act . . .

Sorry to not be hanging on every report of this injury or that, and the 3 day build up to the next game, and it's nothing to do with the country of birth either I might add. I went to a school where football was compulsory, and almost no other sport was offered at any time, and you were called a Poof if you couldn't play or didn't like it. Now give me a rugby World Cup, and I'm there watching every match, it's just football isn't my game. Label me all the wierd sexual inuendoes you like, you won't be the first, and it won't change anything. Anyway I know I'm not alone in this non-compulsion for football, and that is a pleasing thought ;O). Now in my defence, I have to say, I was in Japan 4 years ago on a short business trip when the world cup was on, and had a great time in a beer bar in Tokyo with some locals watching the semi-final between Korea and Germany. The atmosphere was great, and the beer was pretty good too. I think I got back to my hotel room at 6am with a 7:30am bus to catch to the airport. I found that day that given a choice, I much prefer ending a long flight tired and the worse for drink than starting one.

Anyway, let the beatings begin . . .

Free Fall - Thrown

2006-06-06T21:42:00.000+01:00

I've mentioned previously the fantastic debut album Milliontown from Frost, featuring Jem Godfrey due out in July. Well, being the inquisitive, nosey, need to know everything kind of guy I am, I managed to track down a CD released by Jem's previous band Free Fall on Lazy Gun Records. At 5 quid plus a pound postage, I wasn't exactly mortgaging the house to hear what it was like. Recorded in 1991 by the second lineup of Free Fall, it features Jem on Keyboards, and Johnny Boyes on guitar, who also appears on Milliontown. Jem's brother Simon provides the drums, with Paul Worwood on bass, and Jean Paul Orr on vocals. Now the lineup is kind of guesswork here, since this was the 1990-1991 lineup, but the band credits on the CD are all pseudonyms like Steeller Jewel and Lowden Clear. It could be the Wurzels playing on here for all I know.

The CD has a cottage industry feel, with the printed insert and printed CD label, but at least you know it comes with a personal touch. A couple of emails from Robert Ramsey apologising for the delays maintained that personal touch.

Anyway, the music's the main thing of interest here. Overall it is worth a listen, if even just for the 2 or 3 standout sections. By far the best piece on the album is the keyboard based instrumental on It's Just a Game, which I think it's called Hellstate, just before Summerhouse. This moves from a nice slow pad section into a rousing passage with a blistering solo by Jem, and is the piece most like some of the Milliontown sections released so far. I say think it's called Hellstate, because it's track 3 on the CD, but there are only 4 sections of this track named on the CD cover, and it goes over 5 tracks on the CD. Go figure.

Vocal wise the performance is mixed, at times working well, and being reminiscent of Kansas on Goodbye Legion, which I feel ties for the best song with Summerhouse. Sometimes it gets in the way of an otherwise good instrumental performance. The style of vocals and keyboards at times reminded me of Curiosity Killed the Cat, but I mean that in a good way ;O). Johnny Boyes (if it is him) is kind of understated in the mix, and even the guitar solo in Goodbye Legion is extremely quiet, with the drums dominating in many areas.

Overall, a good effort, given most of the band were still teenagers when this was recorded. Certainly worth a listen if you want to hear a few good examples of where the Frost sound started 15 years ago.

There is a bit of a fun outrun on the CD, referring to kangaroos and bacon, which I'll leave to your imagination or listening pleasure should you buy the CD. All I'll say to end with is "Is your name Derek?"

Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp

2006-06-03T17:16:00.000+01:00

Well, I've seen everything now. The land that brought you Summer Camps for the kids, with chainsaw wielding maniacs, and dodgy councillors, now brings you a camp for adult rock fans!

Imagine 5 days in the company of the likes of Jon Anderson, Joe Satriani, Dr. John or Roger Daltry. Jam within various bands including the pros. Get councilling from a list of well established rock artists. Perform in a battle of the bands on the last night in a venue like BB King's in New York.

I'd never heard of it before, but apparently it's been featured in episodes of Ellen and The Simpsons. So forget about the hair loss, the expanding waistline, the sagging butt and the one or two additional chins aquired along the way, you'll fit right in with some of these old geezers. It's time to revisit your youth and take air guitar to a whole new level.

This can all be yours for a mere $8,499 PLUS your hotel and flights for 5 nights. Register here to go to rock and roll Disneyland with Mr Olias of Sunhillow himself Jon Anderson, and Joe Satriani in August in New York.

A Touch of Frost

2006-06-01T23:25:00.000+01:00

On account of the new Frost forums starting up! In advance of the full website going live on 6th June, Jem has opened up the forums to a rather rousing response so far. With 3 of the band members contributing already it's quite a party over there.

Grab a beer and join in here.

Summers End Rock Festival Announced

2006-05-31T22:55:00.000+01:00

The second Summers End festival has been annoucend today. Last year it was in Gloucester, where Magenta headlined a one day event which also featured Also Eden, Tr3nity, Galahad, Steve Thorne and the Pineapple Thief.

This year it moves to The Robin 2 in Bilston, Wolvehampton, and will be a two day even across the weekend of Saturday September 30th and Sunday October 1st. It will feature a total of 12 prog bands:

Saturday Afternoon Session
White Willow (Norway) Headlining
Credo (UK)
Ezra (UK)

Saturday Evening Session
Pendragon (UK) Headlining
Strangefish (UK)
TBC

Sunday Afternoon Session
Flamborough Head (Netherlands) Headlining
Pure Reason Revolution (UK)
Darwins Radio (UK)

Sunday Evening Session
The Flower Kings (Sweden) Headlining
Also Eden (UK)
Guy Manning (UK)

Tickets are priced at £40 for the weekend, or £25 per day in advance.
Available on-line through the Robin 2 box office www.therobin.co.uk and the Sonicbond website www.sonicbond.com and by post, by phone or in person from the Robin box office. Numbers are limited to 500.

The festival website www.summersend.co.uk will be launched around the 3rd of June.

Dream Theater Release Classic DVD/CD

2006-05-28T23:30:00.000+01:00

Dream Theater have released a CD and DVD of their live 'classic cover' from their second night at the Hammersmith Apollo in London in October last year. The video clip on the YTSEJAM Site looks tremendous. Only problem now is the 3 weeks wait for the DVD to be dispatched, for whatever reason. I want it NOW!

What's in a name?

2006-05-26T22:46:00.000+01:00

OK, after a few months using a pseudonym (if that's how you spell it), I've reverted to my real name. After adding my PBase photo page links and such, and adding the blog to my forums signatures, it was pretty pointless anyway trying to maintain anonymity. So from now on, it is plain old Stuart on the postings. The same person, and the same old nonsense I might add, but just a different poster name.

Russian Decadence

2006-05-24T21:45:00.000+01:00

Looking around the web in preparation for our up and coming cruise to the Baltic states, I found this picture. At first glance it looks like any nice Russian glass pillared, chandelier decked palace. That is, until you realise that the blue things at either side of the picture are in fact underground trains! This is the Avtovo Metro station in St. Petersburg. Not the tiniest piece of paper or cigarette butt in sight. They might have a history peppered with scandle, famine, bread lines and the cold war, but boy do they have designer stations or what?

And the Winner is . . .

2006-05-20T23:24:00.000+01:00

Absolutely fabulous, Lordi won EuroVision. And the best of all . . . the UK public vote gave them 12 points, and our votes counted !! Things will never be the same again.

Rock on Lordi !!

New York Suite arrives

2006-05-20T11:10:00.000+01:00

The special edition second CD companion to Magenta's Home just dropped thorugh the letter box. As hinted, it is more progressive than most of Home, and stands well as a 40+ minute piece. It follows the main character from Home, and her time in Manhattan, before she heads off again to Chicago and beyond.

On listening to this, the decision to move this material out of the main CD was absolutely the right thing to do. It stands well on it's own, but I don't feel it would have sat well within the rest of home. The style of home flows so well from start to finish without this extra material. The only exception would have been the reprise of This Life, which makes the point of having to move on yet again from New York, but without some subtly different lyrics, it wouldn't have added much to the original work.

How could anyone ever have doubted you Rob :O)

My Sweet Lordi

2006-05-19T17:19:00.000+01:00

I still have a passing interest in Eurovision, more from a long lost missconception that I could write something better than the JingleVision music on offer. Now I can finally sit back in the knowledge that someone has taken Eurovision well and truly to the kind of place Jeremy Beadle would if he were to make an episode called You've Been EuroFramed. I'm sure one half of Finland is chuckling as I type, and the other half are looking for their crucifixes, bringing the kids inside and putting garlic on their front doors. Lordi went through in the semi-final last night literally with a Monsters of Rock performance of "Hard Rock Hallelujah", including more makeup than an episode of Dr Who, a 9 foot set of folding winds, and the obligitory fireworks kitted guitars. This is the first time Finland have reached the final.

Well, you can't have enough prosthetics in rock I say. It makes Kiss look like a girl band, and probably has Peter Jackson wishing he was more involved in the music scene. If ever there was a reason to watch EuroVision, this must be it. Anyway, they get my vote, Rock On Lordi!!

See: Lordi Home Page and Finnish Entry Page for more info

Milliontown gets closer to reality . .

2006-05-16T22:33:00.001+01:00

Now here's one album I can't wait to review. Milliontown by Frost is expected to be released in July, and has now even got a real CD number from Inside Out records! With the cream of British prog rock in the band, and some awesome music from what has already been released on preview, this promises to be one of the highlights of 2006. The band were having their piccies taken at an old Butlins camp last week for the sleeve. Very nice it is looking (and sounding) too. (Did I just type like Yoda there?)

Tracklist:
1. Hyperventilate 07:31
2. No Me No You 06:06
3. Snowman 03:55
4. The Other Me 04:51
5. Black Light Machine 10:06
6. Milliontown 26:35

Musicians:
Jem Godfrey - Keyboards, Vocals
John Mitchell - Guitar, Vocals
John Jowitt - Bass
Andy Edwards - Drums
Guest: John Boyes - Guitar

See Inside Out records for the news, Jem's blog for more details, or the Frost MySpace site for samples.

Magenta Launch Home at the CRS

2006-05-15T21:10:00.000+01:00

Well, after a long wait, several delays, it changed from a double CD, then to a single CD, now it's a special edition with a second CD. The track titles were changing and even some tracks were being re-written just before the final mixing, but finally Magenta's album Home will officially be released on 1st June. The album was launched on Saturday night at the Classic Rock Society in Rotherham, where the CD was on sale.

Saturday night was a great celebration of finally releasing home, even if the special edition wasn't quite ready. . (upgrade kit being mailed today to add the second CD)

This isn't a review as such (need a bit more time for that, just some thoughts on the night, but I WILL complete a fuller review)

Some highlights for me were the Towers of Hope, where that big chord for the first chorus sent waves of shivers down my back. Now THAT"S how I like my music !! So much more powerful live than on the CD I might add. The band all were giving it their all on the night. Chris must have been watching some old rock DVD's, cos he's clearly outgrown that little stage at the CRS, playing around the stack, and even in the audience, and clearly having great fun. The 20 minute starter Children of the Sun, and equally long White Witch were great performances. Every time I looked at Alan, his face was had serious determination written all across it. The interplay between Chris and Christina really is becoming a big part of any Magenta performance, and even more so on Saturday, it really summed up the fun the whole band seemed to be having. Even Martin was coaxed out of his hiding place behind Rob at one point :P. We even had Dan playing some acoustic on Morning Sunlight. And Christina's voice? Superb

So Chris's guitar was a bit low in the mix, a few intro's were fluffed due to very little time between the songs, and some of Rob's keyboard sounds (particularly piano) could be fuller sounds more like the album, and the stage at the HLC is so low you can't see much from past the first few rows, but it was a GREAT night!

I took about 175 pictures, lots of duplicates, lots if heads etc but a few decent ones. I'll get them posted to my PBase account and link any particularly good ones.

The setlist was:

Children of the Sun
Lust
King of the Skies

From Home:
Hurt
Moving On
The Journey
Towers of Hope
Demons
Morning Sunlight
The Dream
The Visionary

Gluttony

The White Witch
Pride (end section)

Home - What a cracking album

2006-05-15T21:00:00.000+01:00

Still working on a full review of the new Magenta album Home, for publication this week, but already it's a cracking, beautiful album. So much emotion and dynamics in the overall work, it is sure to surpass the praise even Seven received.

Production is superb. A very clean and natural sound, with great dynamics, not over compressed, and no obvious clipping from what I can hear so far. This is WAY better than many mainstream releases I've listened to lately. Great work Rob !!

This album does several key things for Magenta. Not only does it take a huge gamble in moving from lengthy very proggy numbers to many shorter pieces, linked by a storyline, and even several ballads, it simply showcases the writting and performing talents of Rob Reed, and the vocals of Christina, which unbelievably continue to get better.

This is an album that will have wider appeal than previous releases, and is likely to even cross-over somewhat to non-prog audiences. It is more accessible for those who don't like their music more than 4 minutes in length (even if a few tracks are longer than this), but retains enough of the melodic prog influences to keep the die hards happy. There are sections which clearly hit at influences such as Mike Oldfield, Yes and Genesis in here, even Elton John when he did some semi-prog kind of stuff in the 70s.

So stay tuned any readers out there for a full review coming soon. (How do you tune to a web site? Maybe I should say stay surfed)

Hot Stuff

2006-05-11T03:51:00.000+01:00

With 90+ degrees, and 90+ humidity, sitting in the shade with a cold beer is a very necessary activity in Singapore. Thankfully some nice Australian decided it would be a good idea to open up a microbrewery called Brewerkz by the river at Clarke Quay.

Apart from the beer, food is another great pastime here . .

Breakfast - Parathas with curry gravy

Lunch - BBQ pork with rice and hot chilli sauce

Dinner - Frogs Legs with dried chilli, Golden Chicken and baby Kai Lan

Another favourite is Chilli crab (above). With all that chilli, I've still never worked out why someone invented it, or even how to use a squat toilet!

It seems there is a general issue in Asia NOT to squat on what the West would call a 'normal' toilet seat. This is a real poster hanging on some Asian loos believe it or not.

Isn't Technology Wonderful

2006-05-02T21:11:00.000+01:00

Well, as an engineer by profession, it's great to see the wonders of modern science roll out before you and present opportunities never before dreamed of. Boeing now offer airlines teh ability to provide Wireless Internet access while in the air. This has been available from Singapore Airlines for about 6 months already, but this is the first time I've used it to post to the blog. A great way to pass some the 12.5 hours there and 14.5 hours back from London, with a few forum posts, a browse here and there and the odd few credit card purchases :O)

Anyway, this time I hope to keep the blog going while I'm in the warmer climes, not that any sado really reads this to be honest anyway :OP

Signing off from 38,000 feet

Captain Sparky . . .

Magenta Home Release Annnounced

2006-04-30T12:21:00.000+01:00

The announcement was made today regarding the forthcoming release from Magenta 'Home'. The great news is that after making the decision to cut what was originally to be a double concept album down to a single (albeit a long 79 minute) CD, there will now be a special edition with a second 40 minute CD titled 'New York Suite' following the story of the main characters time in Manhattan.

Almost 30 minutes of samples from the two CDs have been made availbale, including 2 full tracks. This will surely raise the anticipation level even more for this long awaited release.

The samples and pre-ordering information is available at the F2 Music Site

Pizza (not so) Express

2006-04-28T00:06:00.000+01:00

Well, after a night out at Pizza (not so) Express, I learned a new lesson in ordering. I know 40+ people waiting for Pizza is asking for trouble, but with only 2 girls making pizza and 40+ engineers sitting around with no lightbulbs between us, we started working out how long it was going to take and we were pretty close... a LONG time. It was almost an hour between the first and last pizza being served.

So next time I go to something like this and they ask me what I'd like to order, I'll say "Whatever you are cooking first"

Ooh Luverly

2006-04-25T20:43:00.001+01:00

The credit cards getting nervous again, especially after the bar bill on that last cruise, ouch. I am wondering if my musical productivity would be increased any by replacing much of my ageing sound modules with a decent workstation. The newest things in my rack are the Novation A-Station which hardly ever gets switched on, and the Yamaha EX5-R which still has some great sounds. The D50 just seems to gather dust too and I spend more time playing piano than anything else. Anyway I heard the demo of the latest Yamaha Motif series, and the sounds are superb. Now don't get me wrong, I've been round the block enough times to know that you can write a classic on a beaten up old acoustic that is missing two string if you have the talent and dedication, but those sounds just sound so inspiring . . . . (I just know I'm kidding myself here)

Check them out here especially MR ES. The acoustic guitar even has string squeaks! Or the strings and general orchestra sounds on Folk Theme.

Anyway time to head back to Singapore again for a couple of weeks and a cooling off period. Watch this space . .

G8 World Leaders Cost Me 75 quid!

2006-04-24T23:23:00.000+01:00

The culprits (I think Putin was taking the photo)

Damn the G8! After untold chaos around the area we live in last year, we only just found that this year it is to be held in Putin's home town of St. Petersburg. No problem there I hear you cry, but for the fact that we had booked a cruise to the Baltic capitals about 6 months ago that spends 2 days in St. Petersburg right bang in the weekend of the summit!

Talk of possible port closures, which could mean missing out St. Petersburg altogether, or at best several of the buildings of interest have already been closed for meetings and private viewings by the wives of the leaders would mean missing Peterhof and the Hermitage at least.

After missing out on Stika (the old Russian capital of Alaska) on our cruise last year, we decided rather than take any chances, we moved to the later cruise, leaving later in July. The cruise line still had no idea at all about how they would deal with it. 75 quid change fee for peace of mind. Maybe I should ask them for a tenner each and keep the change.

Toot Tone, the answer to Trumpet Trousers

2006-04-22T17:49:00.000+01:00

Someone passed me this yesterday, and we all know someone who could use one of these.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/98090/toot_tone/

I Think My PC Hates Me

2006-04-22T16:24:00.000+01:00

I am convinced that my PC has a mind of it's own, and that it has decided it hates me. I have built 4 or 5 PCs so far, and this is the first one that seems to bear a grudge for some reason.
First it started to refuse to shutdown, instead choosing to start-up again each time, much like a dog who one returning for a nice long walk, brings the lead to your feet as soon as you sit down.
Then it started to show random memory problems causing it to shut down, maybe to make up for the fact that it refuses to shutdown when asked.
Then it seemed to forget what speed settings the processor should be set to, and either started up with a 1GHz speed (about a third of the actual speed), or say it couldn't detect a processor which is kind of spooky since what was then displaying the message?
Now it has taken to randomly stop during boot looking for a hard drive.

Time to get the credit card out again and preform some open box surgery.
OK now I've typed this, lets see if the stupid thing starts to behave itself!

Has it been that long?

2006-04-22T15:35:00.000+01:00

Wow I must have been having fun, it's been over 2 weeks since my last post as we headed off on our Easter cruise of the Caribbean. I won't bore/sicken you with all the details, just a few hi/lo lights.

Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the NCL Norwegian Dawn out of New York 6th-16th April
Best Bits
Sailing past the statue of Liberty was always something we wanted to do, and it's kind of humbling in a way to see Ellis island where so many Europeans stepped foot on US soil for the first time in search of a new life after their less than luxurious Atlantic crossings.
10 days of relaxation, great food and drink and generally sunshine. The 'freestyle' cruising concept of NCL suits us very well as a family. None of this fixed meal times, and fixed dinning companions. I coudn't imagine finding on your first day at sea that you are about to spend the rest of your cruise eating with some obnoxious, boring, opinionated, prog loving guy from Scotland :OP

Honestly, the flexibility of 10 resturaunts and 11 bars allows you a huge amount of choice and flexibility. Our 10 year old son loved the Teppanyaki room where two chefs entertained you with flashing knives and juggling tricks as they prepared your food. He loves seafood, so the prawns, scallops and monkfish went down a treat with him.

St Martin, half Dutch, half French was the best port we stopped at. How confused is that, the laid back attitude of the Dutch Vs the rules and stubborness of the French, and the differences in the two parts of the Island highlighted just those traits. No speed limits, no tax and gambling on one side Vs speed limits, taxes and lots of rules on the other. The planes come in to land right over the beach too! They make an excellent rum and flavour it with fruits. One is with Guavaberries, the only place you can get them, and it makes a wonderful pink frozen Guavaberry Collada. Well worth carrying the 3 bottles all the back home to Dunfermline. the bottle of Passion Fruit rum smuggled back to our stateroom didn't last too long either, especially when we found that it went great with the Waitroses fiery Ginger Beer we found in a small shop in Tortola in the BVI run by a woman from England. They also had haggis in the fridge and Irn Bru, can you believe that? The Jimmy Buffet shop "Last Mango in Paradise" on the island was a family favourite too. Lots of parrots and margarittas on them, with the wonderful slogans like "A bad day on Vacation always beats a good day in the office" and "My body may be at work, but my mind is on vacation". I hadn't seen these since I was in Key West a long time ago.

Virgin Gorda, with the water rounded rocks, while roasting the flesh off of us was really nice.

Swiming in the Bahamas off of NCLs private island, though there were way too many people there to enjoy the beach, evey inch was covered in oil soaked bodies.
Watching the lightning storm off the coast of the Carolinas.
The wonderful Fillet Minion with Foie Gras and truffled veal jus in the Le Bistro resturaunt on board with originals from Monet, Renoir, and Matiste on the walls. $1.5 million the waitress said one was worth! No wonder it had 8 padlocks on the cover. Oh and not forgetting the fruit and chocolate fondue afterwards.
Our son having a 'virgin' frozen lime margarita in a glass just like Mum and Dad.
And of course all three of us getting upgraded to business class both ways between London and New York. Some payback for all those business miles each year and the the United Airlines gold card.

The could have been better bits
The slightly in need or repair boat that tool us from from Torolla to Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands where I had about 6 mozzie bites on my feet within a few minutes of boarding.
The overcrowding on the private island in the Bahamas, and the hammock hoggers, you know who you are! I've never seen so many towels relax on hammocks in my life.
The cruise could have been a bit longer, by about 15 years!
The so called New York comedian on board, whose jokes only seemed to make the cellphone lady behind us laugh (which was in-between calls, some of them wrong numbers - I guess she didn't know she was on a special ship only network that would cross charge $4.99 per minute to her bill, even for incomming calls - LOL)
The bottle of 'champagne' in our room for sailaway as part of the anniversary package that turned out to be 7% sweet Asti, yeuch. But it was drank anyway.
The all you can eat sushi lunch on sea days was nice, but we learned a few lessons. Never arrive late and sit at the end of the conveyor belt furthest from the chefs, especially when there are a few very large guys 'up stream'. All the good stuff was being stuffed whole into some large gobs, sometimes two handed! The nice waitress did bring some salmon and tuna sushi directly to our end after a while though, when the various 'rolls' that made it to our end were starting to get a bit boring. It became a bit of a game for the ones at our end, to guess if the salmon or tuna will make it to this end. Oh, it's past one big guy, oh and the next, but ahh the third guy nabbed it. Maybe if this was the kind of games in the casino I would have spent more time there.
The bar prices which seemed to have gone up by about 50% since last year when we went to Alaska. Wine coming in around $36-$46 a bottle, but we were on vacation, so we dully drank about a bottle per meal. Interspersed with other bar drinks and cocktails. I think we need a small lottery win to pay the bar bill :O(

Sailing Away . . .

2006-04-06T14:55:00.000+01:00

Well, after braving the snow, then the high winds at the top of the Empire State building in New York City yesterday, we are now ready to join our cruise on the Norwegian Dawn to the Eastern Caribbean. Too much food, drink, Margaritta clincs, Martini clinics, sun, sea, blah blah (sick yet?). Party on !

Absolutely Wicked !

2006-04-05T23:43:00.000+01:00

After over 5 months since paying for the tickets, we went to see Wicked last night at the Gershwin theatre, and it was even better than expected. The stage set is amazing, the music tremendous and the singing excellent. This will open in London in September, and I expect it to every bit as popular as it has been on Broadway, breaking lots of records for ticket sales.

A Comic Genius Passes away . .

2006-03-20T22:44:00.000Z

Ivor Cutler 1923-2006

Only by chance did I find out today that Ivor Cutler died on 3rd March age 83. Unless I missed it, nothing in the news, no BBC Scotland special to celebrate the man who brought us albums such as "Life in a Scotch sitting room Vol 2", "Ludo" and "Dandruff" .

Born into a Middle-class Jewish family in Glasgow, it wasn't until his mid 30s he started writting music, and claims he only performed his songs because nobody else would. A deadpan dour demeanour, delivering songs of incredible silliness, but all with that distinct hint of something more profound. All this, accompanied by the harmonium. Throughout it all Ivor maintained that same deadpan look that he was famous for. A kind of Chick Murray, but with better material.

Spotted by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, they gave him a spot in the Magical Mystery Tour movie.

I remember seeing Ivor play once in the Glasgow Film Theatre in the late 70's, and so many of the audience had tears in their eyes from laughter. When the show was over, and as everyone was leaving he popped back to the stage saying "If anyone is heading back to Edinburgh and has space for me and a harmonium, I'd appreciate a lift".

His work lives on in the many poetry books and childrens books published, as well as his recorded work. For more info - go to : http://www.ivorcutler.org/ Listen to the sound clip "If your breasts . . ." for a very short, but representitive example of his humour. It simply isn't the same to type the words here, you have to hear the delivery.

``Ivor Cutler is a Glaswegian whose humour is surreal, to say the least. He is a master of anecdotes, monologues, comic songs and poems, commentaries on the more neglected aspects of everyday life, and just sheer nonsense. But very often, if one looks beyond the nonsense facade, there seems to be a glint of a message in it all - whether or not he intended it to be, we will never know.'' -- DA Eger

Strangefish - Fortune Telling

2006-03-14T22:48:00.000Z

Well, I finally got a copy of Fortune Telling last weekend from the CRS shop at the Oakwood center, having been unable to travel the previous weekend down to see the launch gig.

This hasn't been out of a CD player all week. Three listens on the way home on Sunday, then in and out of the car and home players all week.

I have to say this is incredibly impressive stuff, and I really have to hand it to the guys on producing an excellent piece of work.

It is inventive, well structured, very well played and simply magical. The use of the violin in some passages, like 360 is inspired. This is an album many of us have waited 20 years for.

I won't go into a track by track crit here, there is so much to comment on. Apart from clear stand out tracks like Keep The Exits Clear and Ignorance of Bliss, one of my favourites is It could Be Me. This is just over 7 minutes, but is a mini epic in its won right with over a dozen interwoven passages through it.

The whole album is crammed full of musical nuggets that take many listenings to take in. From slow linking instrumentals, to the powerful and grand themes, this has it all. If you enjoyed mid 70's Genesis, or early Marillion, I can't recommend this album highly enough. Don't just take my word for it, I played this today to a friend who is a long long term prog rock fan, and she was blown away, and is off to the website to order the CD this weekend.

I'm sure there are many bands, not just prog ones that would kill for a vocal performance like this one. Not to dimminish in any way of course the great musical performance by the rest of the band here, coupled with some excellent solos throughout. I'm sure there will be many comparisons to past bands and singers, but I hear on this CD a fresh new approach while remaining within the traditional bounds of symphonic prog rock, with the emphasis on the rock.

The CD package is also very professional, good layout, good story and high quality graphics and priniting.

If this is what Strangefish can do part time, heavens only knows what more time and money can bring.

The CD is available directly from the band at: www.strangefish.co.uk

Wetton & Downes Gig

2006-03-12T21:54:00.000Z

Getting a bit behind here. Last weeked we went down to Rotherham once again to the Classic Rock Society for a gig by John Wetton and Geoffrey Downes of Asia, King Crimson, UK and Yes fame. Assisted by John Mitchell on guitar, and Steve Christey on drums, it was a great night of new Wetton/Downes songs from the latest album ICON, as well as older material like Emma, and even some Asia songs like the US number 1 Heat of The Moment. Add to this a short solo spot by Downes playing Video Killed the Radio Star and Bolero, and an acoustic slot by Wetton, and it was nice mix.

The support act weren't half bad either, 10ACRE who seemed to have half the countries guitarists on stage at the same time!

John Wetton
(ex. King Crimson, UK, Roxy Music, Asia)

Geoffrey Downes

(ex. Buggles, Yes, Asia)

John Mitchell
(Currently appearing in: Arena, The Urbane, Kino and soon to be Frost)

Steve Christey
(Currently with Jadis - Not a great pic, and my only one. Why do drummers hide?)

I am in the process of posting these to my PBase account at: http://www.pbase.com/smcfar

A great weekend for Selkirk and Scotland fans

2006-02-26T21:35:00.000Z

A very enjoyable double on Saturday. First we watched Selkirk beat the league leaders Dundee High School FP 32-25 at a very wet Philliphaugh park in Selkirk, then watched a gritty and nail biting 18-12 win for Scotland over England at Murrayfield in the clubhouse. Beers and cheers aplenty. And just to prove it, here is Jason White lifting the Calcutta Cup.

Spot The Difference ?

2006-02-21T22:20:00.000Z

Now it shouldn't be too hard should it? A black slip-on shoe Vs a brown lace up one. I guess it depends on who and when. At 5am after several refreshements it seems to get more difficult. A certain Mr Robinson, after believing at 5am, that another beer is a good idea, and my mini-bar is the place to find one decides also that removing his shoes is also another of his bright ideas. All of these ideas are followed within about 10 nano-seconds by the sound of snoring from the very same Mr Robinson, who is eventually woken and dispatched off to his room.

Next morning, I find a pair of Brown lace-up shoes on the floor. Smiling widely, I call to find out how many pairs of shoes he has. Two he says, but can't find his Brown ones. Five minutes later, I get a call to ask me if I own a pair of black slip on shoes which have appeared in his bedroom as if by magic!

It all goes to show, never trust your eyesight at 5am, especially where so many beers are involved.

Barcelona

2006-02-21T21:44:00.000Z

Back after a week in Barcelona, 4 at the 3GSMWC exhibition (mobile phones and network show) followed by a weekend with a friend and our wives.

After all the hype over pick pockets and general theft in the city, I've never been somewhere before where I viewed every passer buy as a potential thieving b. The general state of alert must have worked, given as far as I can tell I didn't lose anything while there.

We did see some potential pickpockets, but more of the non-subtle kind give one of our group the once over. Stopping to tie a loose shoelace at about 2am, two girls jumped out of the alleyway, breasts thrust forward, and while their 'victim' was in a state of shock, went through any pockets they could find. If you wish to experience this type of criminal activity, try the area of La Ramblas nearest the port. Unfortunately the two of us who were with this guy couldn't help him at all for laughing :O). Oh, and they didn't get anything on account of our 'put everything in your front trouser pockets' trick.

Maybe they just mistook our buddy for Prince Charles, like this girl in New Zealand last year.

Anyway lots of Cava, pulpo and general tapas later, interspersed with visits to La Sagrada Famillia (the oldest construction site in the world), Park Guell and Barcelona Cathedral (the largest scafold site in the world) it was time to get back to reality on Sunday.

More to come . . .

AIDA the reality - Molto Noioso

2006-02-21T21:18:00.000Z

OK, I heard about how impressive AIDA was supposed to be, and with 500 performers involved in the production in Barcelona, it should have been doubly so, but, well, no . .

Well, if I'm really really honest, it was dire. I'm no opera buff, so that might have had something to do with it, but of 4 of us there, 3 had nodded off at leat once by the second aria. I was hopping it was a lullaby, to at least excuse some of the snoring. A combination of 1 or 2 people looking tiny in the middle of a massive stage about 1/4 mile away singing some rather dreary songs in an language I don't speak is hardly entertaining. Even the sight of several hundred people marching down the temple steps rather gingerly, and singing some more dreary songs en-masse did little to lift the occasion. A small group in the cheap seats stood, cheered and shouted "BRAVO!" at the top of their voices at one point. I think they must have seen this kind of reaction on TV somewhere. They only did it once . . . pity . . .

After 90 minutes, and the 'big finish' was reached with lots of static people on stage, and we grabbed our coats and headed for the exit (not the first I might add), only to quickly realise that it was only the interval. About another 100 or so people had the same idea of make-believe it was all over as we all headed for the metro back to town.
Well as they say, been there done that (at least for the first half anyway), didn't buy the T-Shirt, but unlikely to try it again.

BTW - Did I say it was very DULL ?

Anyway I've now learned a new phrase in Italian - Molto Noioso - which means Very Boring, so it wasn't a total waste.

Thanks to Jem Godfrey for finding the 'dull' pictures - see his excellent blog at: http://www.milliontown.blogspot.com

Testing the email link

2006-02-11T23:39:00.000Z

Emailed from a mobile - Let's see if this works . . .

Well it did !!

Doesn't support pictures though :O(

Have I bored anyone recently with my picture of Singapore?

2006-02-11T19:05:00.000Z

There must be a few who haven't heard the story of my early morning photo from Singapore. Taken in Boat Quay before the bum-boats (no really) started working about 7am one morning in August. It has now appeared in two 2006 calendars for Agilent Technologies customers. Maybe I should consider a career change.

Little things driving me nuts

2006-02-11T18:58:00.000Z

Who would have though such a small device could drive someone crazy! I've been trying to set things up so that I can post to the blog while away from home. Sounds simple enough, but it seems the MMS link to go@blogger.com doesn't work from the UK, or at least I can't get it to work.
So next thing is to see if email can be setup on my Samsung Z500. A quick sign up for Vodafone email, and enter all the settings, and bingo . . it doesn't work. Time for a chat with my mate Bob the phone geek. More to follow . . .

A tiny object of desire

2006-02-06T23:21:00.000Z

For those serious photo shoots or holiday travel, I use a Canon 350D digital SLR (superb camera), but when travelling for work, or simply looking for something that is pocketable, my old Nikon 3100 is getting a bit old and by modern standards 'bulky', so it was time for a new addition to the Progster's camera collection. Enter the newly launched Casio Exlim S600. A 6MP camera with 3x optical zoom, anti shake technology, all in a package that is 13.7mm thin and the size of a playing card. Off to test drive it in Barcelona next week then and I'll report back on the results.

Was I Dreaming?

2006-02-05T22:08:00.000Z

I can see it now, the Monday headlines will be proclaiming the revival of Scottish Rugby after a glorious victory over France this afternoon. I think it is a little early for that (give it another game or 2), but today, it was quite incredible that pretty much the same team who only won 1 match out of the last 2 years of 6 nations rugby could look so impressive against a French side already tipped to win the grand slam this year. With the score 13-3 at half time, and with a try in both halves from Sean Lamont, Scotland kept the defensive pressure on France to win 20-16.

Given the injury and suspension worries of Wales, and the good start by Italy against Ireland yesterday, it should make for a more interesting than normal 6 nations this year.

Ah Friday Night

2006-02-03T23:33:00.000Z

Oh how I love Friday nights. The next work day seems so far away, and two whole days of carefree living ahead. Hardly seems like only a week since Dream Theater in Singapore, it seems like an age away. Probably something to do with the 19 hours journey back home crammed into a space you would get arrested for keeping the family pet in.

I very much enjoy the odd Bitter & Twisted from Harviestoun Brewery. A crowd of us visited the brewery when it was a a step up from a serious home brew outfit in the back of a barn in Dollar. Now, several years on, not only does it export a lot of beer, but the sad news of last week, it that it has been bought up by Caledonian brewery. At least it is a traditional brewery, based in Scotland, and not a major 'buy up every beer and only keep making the crap bland stuff' outift.

Harviestoun was started by Ken Brooker, who worked for Ford in Daggenham, and decided at the age of 40 he has half dead and needed to do something else with his life. Well 19 years, and some very nice beer later, the company just fetched £1M, and he is retiring. Not a bad career change.

Aida In Barcelona

2006-02-02T21:07:00.000Z

Just found out that a massive production of Aida is on in Barcelona from the 16-19 February, when we happen to be there. When I say massive, I mean MASSIVE. Talking about 500 singers and dancers, with a 80 piece orchestra, 110 person choir on a 600 square meter stage, 10 meters high.

Now that's what I call MASSIVE.

A Pinch and a Punch

2006-02-01T17:58:00.000Z

An odd tradition, the origins of which I have no claim to know at all, but which involved pinching then punching the arm of an innocent passer by, saying the phrase . .

a pinch and a punch for the first of the month !

This is supposed to be done before midday on the first of any month, then after which the 'victim' cannot do the same back to you, and must find someone else to inflict this ancient ceremony upon.

My only advice, is choose carefully who you try this on for the first time . .

A Review of Dream Theater in Singapore

2006-02-01T16:54:00.000Z

OK, I thought I'd start with a longish review of the last gig I went to.

Dream Theater - Singapore Indoor Arena
27th January 2006

What good fortune I had, when I found that a business trip of couple of weeks to Singapore co-incided with Dream Theater playing there as part of their 20th Anniversary tour, especially having missed the London gigs in October last year. Yeah, the one where they covered Dark Side of The Moon on the second night, I know. Most musical mates at work simply called me a "Lucky Ba$tard!"

Having convinced my work colleague Bob that at the age of 36, it was about time he went to his first ever gig, this was surely going to put an interesting angle on the gig.

With only one show being played in most countries on the Asian tour, most couldn't enjoy the second night classic album cover, where in Japan audiences were treated to all 4 sides of Deep Purple's Made In Japan!

The arena was setup for a 4,000 audience, which looked to be missing about 500-1,000 of those. The 8pm start already looked in doubt when the sound engineer in his Spock's Beard tour t-shirt kept running back and forth between the stage and the mixing area, making unnassuring shakes of his head. After a while some lights started to show behind the huge black curtain hiding the stage, as he typed away frantically on the lighting controller, while shouting down a walkie talkie. By 8:30, things were taking too long, and the crew pulled down the black curtain to let him see what was going on, the drum kit and keyboards having been hurriedly covered to try to keep some level of surprise.

We then watched every light get tested out one by one, in every possible position, until finally he gave a thumbs up at 8:55. Through all of this the crowd sat quietly, some whistling or clapping when each CD track ended in anticipation of getting things underway. If this were Europe of the US, I'm sure the slow handclaps and jeers would have been a lot more intimidating for the poor lighting guy.

As usual, the standard announcement about no photography, video etc during the show was made as the lights finally go down and the PA rises to the intro taken from the end of In The Name of God. This was followed by a display of more mobile phone screens than I've ever seen, all taking shots of the bands first ever appearance in Singapore. This is Asia, NOBODY goes anywhere without a mobile! Instantly every area headed forward as far as they could get, the top price ticket area (about £60) moved up to the stage, leaving about 80% of the seating area empty behind them. The dozen or so armed police and the general security let them go, concentrating on the barriers to the cheaper seats which were by now also crowded, making sure none of them got a free upgrade. But this is Singapore, the land of rules and fines, no spitting, no jaywalking, no leaving a public toilet unflushed, the fines for smuggling chewing gum having only recently been lifted, surely nobody there would even think about such a thing.

Eventually the band are set, and kick off into the heavy opener from Octavarium, The Root Of All Evil, and to coin an overused phrase, the crowd go wild. No really, they did. Through the first few songs it was clear that the lighting wasn't the only technical difficulty, as it took some time to tame the sound which was kind of muddy for want of a better description. It improved markedly, but the vocals and Bass never seemed to be quite as clear as they could have been throughout the night. Mike Portnoy's massive drum kit sounded crystal clear of course. Both John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess chose to tour Asia with smaller rigs than normal. John using only 2 4x12 speaker cabinets (also likely using the 2 Mesa Boogie Roadking amps used on the G3 tour in Japan), and no sign of the usual major effects rack either.

Jordan also leaving at home the new modular synth seen on the European tour (see above). With the new Korg Oasys replacing his usual Kurzweil master keyboard (not on a turnable this time), Jordan was also making good use of his new Continuum keyless controller, a kind of Moog ribbon controller on steroids, as used on the intro to Octavarium. You can view demos from Jordan and others at the Haken Audio site. Under the Continuum was the Fender pedal steel, again used on the intro to Octavarium.

The 90 minute or so first set went through a strong selection from most of the 8 studio releases, including Under A Glass Moon, Peruvian Skies, Strange DeJa Vu and About To Crash. Preuvian Skies bringing with it a a short acoustic guitar break of Wish You Were Here. This was no reserved Asian crowd, heads bopping in unison, especially to the more instantly accessible rockers of I Walk Beside You and Solitary Shell. At this point Bob's foot was tapping too, this was a good sign! The whole band were in great form, Petrucci and Myung both racing up and down their fretboards, even at one point indulging is a spot of double fretboard action where they fingered each others instruments while plucking their own (if you pardon my expression). The Classic Rock Society Best Of The Year Best Drummer award winner Mr Portnoy doing what only he can do, directing the audience while drumming standing up at times, tossing an endless number of sticks to the crowd, and playing catch with the one of the stage crew. At the break, the asessment of Mr. Bob . . "Quite Spectacular!". The delays to get the lighting fully setup before the start, paying off with an impressive display of synchronised lights.

After the break, the second set concentrated on the remainder of Octavarium, including my personal highlight, the title track, which I think is the best single track the band have recorded recorded to date, and much more traditional prog than a lot of their recent work, all 24 glorious minutes of it. We were treated to an extended opening with Jordan Rudess playing a seering opening guitar-like part on the Continuum, much more dramatic than the understated version on the album, followed up by the pedal steel guitar, with James LaBrie coming in to help out on the 'Wish You Were Here Pt 1' style chord pads. At this point as I'm basking in the sheer indlugance of the opening, Bob tells me it is going right through his head and likely to give him a headache! Maybe the effect of all those years of gigs have affected my hearing, or maybe they have just tuned then to appreciate it more. The entire piece was played flawlessly with some of the best solo work of the evening, rising to the wonderful anthemic end piece.

For the encore we got The Spirit Carries On, with some nice choral keyboard work from Mr Rudess, followed by Pull Me Under. Now call me old fashioned, but ballads call for matches, and the odd yell when they are left to burn too far down. Not here. The odd lighter, and the glow of several thousand mobile phone screens waving in the air, this time pointed toward the stage rather than photographing it. I guess you can't halt the progress of technology.

There is just something about DT, in terms of their sheer musical capabilities and prefectionism that is simply stunning. Just a pity that the sound let them down a little on this occasion.

Midnight strikes, it's all over and everyone turns back to normal, doning their usual cloak of reservedness, but most likely a little changed inside from witnessing a trully awesome display of musical power, finesse and mastery.

To whom it may concern . . .

2006-02-01T16:45:00.000Z

Well here we go with a Blog type thingy. Feels like a diary that likely nobody will read, or therapy for the less than social, but if I can add something to another soul here then it is worthwhile.

I intend to use this to collect anecdotes from may various travels, snippets of music reviews, my favourite bands (generally progressive rock) and whatever takes my fancy. It's MY Blog after all . . .