Hamilton Saint

You don't think country and western, folk and bluegrass are distinct genres? BTW, this suddenly reminds me of a heated discussion I once had with the manager of a music store who put all the folk, classical and pop singers like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby into one amorphous section called "Easy Listening". Can you imagine? Bartok and Shostakovich as Easy Listening! And "Urban Contemporary"? Give me a break!

No. Classical Folk Country & Western Bluegrass Pop

Two pedantic points: 1) Always proofread your thread title before posting. 2) Ginormous is a combination of gigantic and enormous; therefore, spell it as ginormous. That is all.

Here's what Roger Waters said about a possible reunion-tour in an interview last April to promote his current tour performing The Wall: "David (Gilmour) is completely disinterested in anything like that. After Live 8, I could have probably gone for doing some more stuff, but he's not interested, so it is what it is."

Have you done the War Cabinet Rooms / Churchill Museum in Whitehall? The Monument? EMI Studios / Abbey Road?

If you look into it, you'll discover that a huge amount of the best 60s music was of "afro american descent".

British-born author Christopher Hitchens, a fervent atheist, will meet Tony Blair in Toronto on November 26th to debate publicly the question of whether religion is a force for good in the world. Should be very interesting! Hitchens has written a scathing critique of religion in his book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, which I read about a year ago. It's a compelling read and quite persuasive, although I'd have to concede that there are arguments to be made in favour of the positive things religion can bring to social life. Should be tantalising if the "just war" issue is raised. Blair's fallback position in his support for the Iraq war seems to be a moral argument - a religious position. And Hitchens was a keen supporter of that war. But clearly from a very different perspective. http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010/10/12/blair-hitchens.html

Not quite sure what you mean there. Each major time zone (usually a difference of an hour) comprises 15 degrees of longitude - that's 15 lines of longitude. A difference of one degree, therefore, is 4 minutes. Bristol is roughly 2.5 degrees west of the prime meridian - making it 10 minutes behind Greenwich if measured by the sun's movement.

Some kids learn in school; some kids don't - they don't pay attention, apparently.

No ifs, no buts, you mean. You're not paying much attention, are you? That's why it's "no discussion"; you're just not paying attention.

And plurals are not formed with an apostrophe. But let's not be too fascinating, eh?!

She wasn't "litterally" (sic) an iron lady. The expression "Iron Lady" is a metaphor.

The air is too thin.

Two major distinctions, though: 1) the major religious traditions of today evolved out of beliefs and events thousands of years ago; scientology was invented by a science fiction writer, and its major dogmas (from what little I've read) read like science fiction; 2) Scientology is clearly a cult that abuses and persecutes those who turn against it - you don't get that behaviour aimed at apostates of most other religions.

Yes, I read that one, too. It gives a good, alternative view of those events. Also worth a read is Beck Weathers' Left for Dead who almost died on that horrendous day.

Agreed. That is a great read.

Very good. Nearer to Rust Never Sleeps - i.e., it's more rock than folk. But it's not a band album. Just Neil on Les Paul guitar mostly (a couple of tunes feature acoustic guitar) with lots of interesting post-production effects applied to the guitar and vocal parts by producer Lanois. Neil doesn't do guitar solos here, as you would expect, but plays rhythm guitar decorated, as I said, with Lanois' electronic effects. No outstanding songs, I think, but it's a solid effort - interesting because of the soundscapes created by Lanois.

1) tickets for concerts I've been to (going back to the early 70s) 2) vinyl LPs - I have about 900 (started in 1969) 3) CDs - I have about 700 4) DVDs 5) hardcover books My wife hates me collecting things. If she had her way, she would throw all of it away. Wouldn't even try selling them, or giving them away to interested people. No, just toss the lot into a bin (well, several bins!).

I like the reference to citizens. It annoys me when right-wingers refer to citizens constantly as "taxpayers", "consumers", or - God help us! - "customers".

Yes, lots of id issues, plenty of ego issues, but precious little superego, I'm afreud.

Le Noise by Neil Young - the new album, produced by Daniel Lanois.

Sorry to see you go. Best wishes!

The turning point. Great to have Lallana on from the start. A fine team-performance.

Indeed!!

Alex Chamberlain.