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Gloorrgghhhhrrrgghh! Air! We knew had to come up for air – if not for ourselves, then at the very least to let you know that we're still here! That's what makes us Drag City – not that we need to tell you, o ye of great faithful, the nature of our identity, we just like shouting it into the night sky – we're not just a company that puts out LPs, CDs, DVDs, books and magazines and yes, sometimes just a t-shirt, we're also committed to bringing you a trip behind the emerald curtain so that you can, via this monthly newsletter, see the wizard as it were – and in doing so, become even more attached to the highways and byways (and bi-curious ways) that lead to Drag City!!! Do you hear us, universe?!? Now you, o ole old faithful, you've noticed and you're not alone: electronic bags of letters and postcards are all echoing the reminder to us: Drag City, get a mother-freakin' newsletter out! We know, we know! Nobody knows better than us…and yet, it is still shocking to see that the last one was at the end of August. That's rough. But we've been busy – not just with the usual records and occasional t-shirt business, but with the business of moving the business. Oh, don't worry – it's not a response to the feeble economy, the shrinking record business and the scourge of the digital file. No, we're not squeezing ourselves back into the closet from whence we came – with the CD overstock we have on hand, it'd have to be one hell of a walk-in closet anyway. Nah, we've moved into bigger digs – a building that can truly house this City! And the shit's deluxe too. There's offices for everyone of course, but because we're concerned about keeping that communal feeling, the whole pad's outfitted with these vintage-style brass speaking tubes. You just slide up a panel in the wall and aim your voice down the bell and presto! Even those of us removed by as much as a flight (from justice (or her sister)) can hear as if we were all in the same room. Of course, that's just the slightest of the modifications we specified. Now, for example, when we have one of those dark "numbers" meetings:
"Sales down by another fifteen percent this quarter, sir!"
"Well, I never saw much future in that pajama jean business anyway – such a shameful idea to begin with…"
"No sir, I refer to digital music sales."
"What?!? You're fired, Jeeves!"
….we can at least hold it in our very own steam bath and take the bad with the good oxidizing vapor, to replenish our flagging, sagging spirit. (And don't worry about Jeeves -- he's both imaginary and on a generous Trust Fund, on his way to Brooklyn to compete with us, so he'll be fine. That's the most truthful fictitious sentence ever written!) Oh yeah, we have to be all about that. And green as fuck too, we are! Next to the building, we've got a whole lawn of wheat grass, and whenever the frenetic pace of sales drives us down, we just pluck a handful and chew it like the Indian cow-gods intended – have you ever seen an animal use a juicer in nature? – that brings us right back up again. And yeah, there's a pool. This is Chicago however, so we couldn't put it outside – the basement is our very own natatorium. Especially when it rains. Or burritos for lunch help the staff "strike oil" in our "charming vintage" plumbing system. If you're beginning to think that we've gone a bit overboard, maybe you don't understand Drag City after all. This is our building and we have to dig it! It ain't like the pool's guitar-shaped or anything – just standard Olympic size – perfect to do laps! Laps are just one of the things that help us think of fresh marketing tactics for, let's say, the intriguing new 200 Years record from two of our fantastic artists playing together again for the first time in a new band – more about THAT in a minute or two here.
But as you can see, with all the construction going on and the wheat grass grinding between jaws that never sleep and the drilling of holes into coconuts and getting used to these big, empty offices we've got now that echo so eerily when we shout aloud…well, it's about all we can do to not keep shouting all day long. Which leaves us behind, goddam it! Behind! And that's not entirely conducive to much of anything, you know?
…not that you'd know from our newsletter output! Ka-zing! Shit. But seriously kids – can't you feel your author's guilt at having abandoned you? Can't you almost taste the anguish? Can you feel the blame reversing itself and heading back in your direction? How could you vibe your author out with those destructive expectatory vibes? Why did you want to delay the newsletter any longer? Don't you have enough fabulously epic life-changing newsletters in your life already?
But seriously kids, as we already mentioned to you, the reason for the delay is that we moved office while also continuing putting out records and promoting them at a truly breakneck mountain-style pace, as we have all year long. Why, since the last newsletter, we've had fourteen releases, with another five going out the door as we speak! Plus, that doesn't even account for all the tours we've had to publicize in the last three months either! One of the records was even a Bonnie "Prince" Billy record, which is always extra work while we hire skywriters and black ops publicity agents to show up at Bon Iver press conferences with shit in their pants and provoke irritated, thoughtless replies and all that good stuff. Not to mention we have a really nice rec room in the new place with darts and a pool table and organic root beer on tap…
So wahhh, right? Poor me, I work in the record business! But seriously, seasons come and seasons go, we can't stop them, we can only hope to write about them – and if you're reading this l'il missive (not hardly – foreshadowing ed.; also, stop calling me that – hypersensitivity-trained ed.), that means that you are the kind who are willing to pay not just to play, but to work as well for these records and what they mean. Yep, what they mean – what they really mean. Motherfucker, this is serious shit! It's no secret that we're not kickin' easy listening discs here. We're aware that the DC taste-o-meter has a range that runs from the pleasantly thorny to the strictly straight OUT, which means that anyone who trains an actual ear to one of our several hundred-plus releases with an actual eye towards understanding what they're hearing… that takes real work, actual doing. Application, motherfucker (if that is in fact your name). As we proved when we hit you with the latest Bonny blokbuster, Wolfroy Goes To Town. More about which soon...
See? A lot to talk about. Did you think we didn't want to talk about all this? Hell, we've been dying to lay words on you about all the new stuff – which at this point includes AZITA, Meg Baird, CAVE, Social Climbers, Sic Alps, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, 200 Years, Dwarr, Royal Trux, Carlos Paredes, Alan Lomax's Scottish recordings (1951-57), Alasdair Roberts & Karine Polwart and Drew Wright, Ty Segall, The Howling Hex, Pete Shelley, Free Agents, Sally Smitt and Her Musicians and Strange Men In Sheds with Spanners! Hah! See? All those laps in the pool are definitely helping – we spun all that out in one breath! Yeah, we've been keeping in shape. Even though we haven't laid the dissertation on you in awhile, we've been putting out little bits of news two-three times a week. Some of it's been real news too – not your standard typical Internut-style non-reportage, like: "Look At This New Video By Band Ecch." Or, "Listen To This:" and it's just a song linked from some other site. Or, "Bon Iver Nominated for Four Grammies." This shit ain't news, it's just weak-ass Twitter fodder that has nothing to do with real music, much less news! So in addition to working on our lats and delts in the new Drag City underground penthouse gym, we've also been crafting bits of real news! You know what I'm talking about, you remember the stories we broke:"NEW CAVE VID! NEVERENDLESS TOUR CONTINUES!" And "BONNIE BRINGETH "QUAIL AND DUMPLINGS." – the kind of news that keeps you up at night wondering what's gonna happen next. That's why you give a shit about Drag City and all the bands named above (except the ones we were making fun of, mcnatch!).
Anyway, what we're really trying to say here is that we appreciate your sticking with us even though we haven't found the time to drop a few thousand words about how awesome it all is on you in a single throw. We're gonna do what we can to spill alla that shit right now. Take a deep breath – here's the DC Fourth Quarter report for 2011, complete with all the trimmings and the (vegan) gravy and the stuffing…the works, plus a bucket (you're gonna need it). Here's everything we've been through, and what we think we're gonna go through. Ready? Overture! Hit the lights! It all begins again right now -
We're here! Or as the pessimist-cum-optimist among you might put it, "We're still here." Yeah, that too. And in case you hadn't thought of it because we haven't reminded you in so long, we've got earthly pleasures on the menu here at Drag City. These socio-musical/cultural artifacts will edify your mind and soul, but you can't take 'em with you when you go. You fell for that iCloud/"what do we really own anyway" bullshit that people with more money are trying to sell you, I know. And maybe they have a point. That said, it's often opined that the work you do on your mind and soul while walking within this earthly coil will affect the energy that pours from your body when the final day arrives. And thus buoyed by your experiences, what was once part of "you" will travel through space and time to join with the power of All That Is. In other words, even though nothing is forever, the way in which you live affects, in some small way, eternity. And ultimately, our immediate financial future. [SMILE]
Or everything goes black and you die and that's the end. Either way, unless you're some kind of lazy piece of shit, you'd best challenge and incite your unique inner being and eventually All That Is with a canter through the wild world of Drag City. Let's go backwards, shall we?
This week, we wrap up our 2011 year with a couple little Christmas miracles: a new Howling Hex album and the reissue of an entire label called Groovy! Here's what's so miraculous about all that. One, Wilson Semiconductors by The Howling Hex. At this point in time, Royal Trux and Pussy Galore (and Weird War, even!) vocalist/ax-man/conceptual shell-game specialist Neil Michael Hagerty has withdrawn deeper into his mountain-time think-cave than he did back in the good old extroverted hey-days of yo-ho-yore. But you know what? His output hasn't qualitatively slacked a bit. He continues to explore, trash, repackage and deliver new musical pastures in search of the essence of appeal, a quality seldom defined – and in fact, a quantity in rock and roll that is almost beyond words. With every record, he approaches his prey in a manner unique to that prey. Case in point: Wilson Semiconductors. Yes, The Howling Hex have made minimalist records in the past, and Hagerty's solo debut was a one-man show with a country-ish redolence wafting around it. But the stripped qualities of Wilson Semiconductors are unique to its production. Which brings us to Fact/miracle #1: it's been three years since the last Howling Hex album, inviting a premonition of "the end" among Hex-heads scattered in their isolated cultural cells/munition dumps around the globe. Of course they'd think that, these people are classically paranoid! The simple and non-miraculous fact is, Neil and the Howling Hex spent the last couple years putting their all into the audiobook release of Victory Chimp, a Book, so despite this longest of gaps in a prolific career, there wasn't ever any doubt there'd be another Hex record. Still, three years – pretty impressive! Fact/miracle #2: despite the lack of doubt, the album almost didn't happen anyway, because the band designated as Howling Hex didn't make it, the session fell through and had to be rescheduled at least a thousand miles away from the original recording date and after such a long break, time was deemed to be of the essence. In the end, only Neil showed up at the studio – but he was ready to work, and Wilson Semiconductors is a clean, powerful extension of his ethos – bass, guitars and vocals are laid down in a logical manner that belies their unlikely formation. Acid leads over norteño beats against a black (velvet) backdrop – it doesn't seem like it should work, but as the rhythm sinks in and the counter-rhythms establish themselves on top, as guitars bite and voices wail, as the songs extend past the six- and seven-minute mark, the appeal is as hypnotic and danceable as it is worth studying. It's intuitive, polished and unpredictable rock and roll that exists unto itself - and you know what? The next one will be completely different but equally committed to whatever it is on whatever level the commitment is most required. The Hagerty/Hex phenomenon is pretty great, and also pretty great that this process, after so many years in action, is still lost on most people. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy – "if you build it exactly like you want it, elusive yet awesome – people still fear change." Like so many other things in history and sports movies, this will make sense later – but even then, not to everyone. This is something for the chosen few. Sooner or later, these freaks will have to show their faces in order to get inside this thing, plus one. It's those people, and their plus ones, for whom we are waiting. The Howling Hex's Wilson Semiconductors is among the prizes for those who get though.
Christmas Miracle #2 – the return of Pete Shelley's Groovy Records! Within this miracle lies the minor miracle of "how something can return that you didn't even know was gone or ever existed." Of course, that doesn't go for all of you. Like our very own yin Jim O'Rourke, who dealt away his prized original Groovys when stockpiling cash for his emigration to Japan. He's excited to get these for a mere sawbuck (yes, we sell our records to our artists! We know they're set with cash and if they want more cash, the records gotta be bought! If you can't understand that, then get in line with everyone else who doesn't think music needs to be paid for, but simply appreciated instead. Record sales: the catch-22 of the 21st century) and for another mere sawbuck; you can add your name to his and the other weirdos who've drunk from the Groovy oasis while wandering though the desert of typical, boring record releases and music in general. There's nothing like Groovy water for the parched open ear.
The story (yes Virginia, there is a story) is this: back in the formative days of punk rock everywhere, the people considering this new iteration of rock and roll were people with the aforementioned open ears. And some of them were even German! Bands like Can and Faust and Neu, and then there were people who heard those records and realized that there was something new happening under the sun and that they had to be involved too. How this led to the buzzsaw qualities of punk rock is a chapter of the story for another time – but for our purposes, one of these free thinkers caught between prog and a hard place was Manchester UK's own Pete Shelley, an esthete and admirer of unusual music albums – the type of records we might file under 'experimental' or 'electronic' these days. Pete even formed his own electronic music society back in college, the better to play those Walter Carlos records (or, God help us – Tomita?) along with Kraftwerk and the Fripp/Eno album and the other things that were out there. He made his own electronic music with an oscillator he'd acquired, but as time passed, the beating drum of the coming punk rock drew him into a band called Buzzcocks, and it was here that he made his name with all those great singles that charged up the British charts and made him a cult hero in America. You know those songs – "What Do I Get?," "Ever Fallen In Love," "Just Lust," "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" - you singing along yet? You should be - the man was a pioneering songwriter in the (eventual) highly lucrative field of pop punk music! Anyway, even while enjoying his success, he and his associates outside the band were still admiring all the great weird records out there, and then going and making recordings that could stand up next to those records. This was Groovy! There was a sudden outpouring of sounds; in 1980 alone, three albums were released on the label. But when Buzzcocks broke up in early '81, everything dissolved and reformed in new ways again, leaving Groovy a sudden relic of its all-too-brief time. Now, for hopefully a less-brief time, these records are back on black – vinyl first, with CDs right around the corner.
The records themselves? Yeah! Back in '78 and '79 and '80, Pete had been involved in a band called The Tiller Boys. Their bent was by far more of an art-damaged thing than Buzzcocks and they played a bunch of shows and eventually put out a single. A live Tiller Boys recording was used as the basis for the first Groovy release by an aggregate called Free Agents. With flyers pasted onto white sleeved-jackets and the title derived from the retail price of the album - £3.33, the Free Agents LP was a DIY curio in its day, and manages to still be one today. The already freaky live Tiller Boys stuff is juxtaposed with private freakouts and synthesizer trips, a full-spectrum of pleasantly avant activity. To follow this up, Pete reached into his private archive for a pair of the recordings he made in 1974 – two twenty-minute pieces exploring his imagination via the possibilities of an oscillator synth. This was Sky Yen – and any Buzzcocks fans who came across this document must have been almost electrically shocked by what came out of the grooves: ripping, pulsing waves of tones and distortion screaming up to peaks and whooshing down to a whisper, at times random and elsewhere staid in a raw-synthesizer kind of fashion, Sky Yen is a distractingly great listen, one that begs to be turned up to destructive levels and then bleats alarmingly to be turned back down again. Back in Free Agents territory, Hangahar is a free demonstration of a made-up language (as opposed to what? – WWII-o-phile ed.) sung in a sweetly ostentatious manner by young Sally Timms (soon to sign on for a lifetime-and-then-some stint in The Mekons) and one Lindsey Lee (also known as Lindsey Wilson of Factory Records; to date she has written several memoirs of this period under her given name, Lindsey Reade). Behind the warbling, the Groovy gang get down and help keep the madness going for an album's length. In true Groovy fashion, Hangahar claims to be a film soundtrack, but that's likely just something that sounded funny and weird and perfect at the time that the sleeve was being put together. This was the final original Groovy release, but once this project began rolling, it provided an opportunity to revisit a compilation of recordings that Groovy high-councilman (and Tiller Boy and Free Agent) Francis Cookson had put together some time back. These date from the same time and a couple years afterward, all recorded at Pete's place on his home recording set-up but unheard outside of the inner circle until now. Credited to no band name, the Strange Men In Sheds with Spanners LP uses synths to set up rhythm in a much more organized fashion than previous Groovy releases, creating ad hoc small-scale dance music of a type that fellow-travelers Cabaret Voltaire would become known for. It's an exciting conclusion to the Groovy journey. And as we have already discussed, now you can have all four of these way-out records on vinyl once again! We worked with Pete and co. to re-realize the jackets in a true-to-form manner, getting as DIY with it as we could manage. And just in time for Christmas! The fun only continues in January when we do a CD box version of the four albums, collecting each one in a little mini-jacket and including an interview with Mr. Pete Shelley hisself about the Groovy era. Called The Total Groovy, it completes the full-circle groove of the label – analog recordings of digital instruments, finally arriving in the promised land of digital! That's just Groovy, baby!
Now, while we were out (on our feet, but still dancin' to the music), early November was filled with light and darkness thanks to the low-key glow of 200 Years. What, you never heard of 200 Years? Jesus, it's been out a month now! Shouldn't everything that's a month old be completely played out in today's super-saturated internet marketplace? Ahh, but that's the beauty of 200 Years – they have a short-attention-span-proof music that's bound to make sense in another…hundred ninety-nine years. What, we're gonna go for the obvious slam-dunk there? Nope. 200 Years don't play that. And while we're at it, enough with this veil over the collective face of the group! Ben Chasny and Elisa Ambrogio are the he- and she-wiccae behind 200 Years – and in case you've forgotten, the veils they normally rock behind are those of Six Organs of Admittance and Magik Markers.
But enough about us! 200 Years is a record that glows the more we spin it (no, it is not a glow-in-the-dark disc, the shit is black, blacker than black, okay?) – and best of all, it accesses the glow through left-handed means. Case in pint: It's a pretty guitar record with vocals that don't quite match up to the guitar arrangement in terms of what the straight world expects from pretty acoustic guitar recordings with vocals, and that is a straight-fucking plus. Plus, behind the guitar-vox relationship, there's overdubs peering through fogged glass and around corners instead of hitting you over the head like a dope from straight-world Gillian Welch-ass central casting. Yeah, the straight world can shove it! 200 Years aren't trafficking in tired old tropes of musical expression, and in (not) doing so, they manage to get nearer the bone, so to speak, with Elisa's elliptical lyrics and her distracted, claustrophonic vocals over the top of the rich earthy mix they've got going here. Time passes and new definitions of beauty emerge, and then before you know what happened, you're in love again. It's like the frog in the boiling water. Wouldn't you rather be in love with something new instead of some old fucking shitheel in your life? No matter what your mind thinks or expects, you're not actually gonna be twenty forever. It's not possible. Ask Jerry Sandusky how it worked out for him! It's just…whether or not 200 Years actually agrees with us on the fine details of this, we hope that you can see and that they can see that they've made a record that is moving us, marionette-like, to think and feel again? You know, at this point, we're just about made out of stone – but by God, we're almost in touch with our feminine side again – and that's just listening to the guitar parts! That Benjamin's a delicate flower…and Elisa's another, really. Don't tell 'em we said so – they make such a show about of being hard cases. 200 Years will show you why, and show you otherwise.
As much fun as we've been having making records, something's been missing. Something we call Royal Trux. Since there's about as much of a chance of them coming back as there is of KISS staying away, we've been bringing back their records one at a time in order to reintroduce their music to a world that needs to know. That's been a truly great experience – and last month came the best part of the task so far. The Trux record that re-hit in November was the triple-album compilation box set called Singles, Live, Unreleased. This was originally put out back in 1997 when Royal Trux were scaring the shit out of record execs in high places at Virgin. Virgin, you see, was what was called a "major" label and – well, we don't have time to get into that now. Dig out your history books if you must kids, but in the case of Singles, Live, Unreleased, all the history you need to know is what happened and didn't happen between 1988 and 1994. That's the period covered in the Trux box and once you've listened to this record, I think you'll agree that it was the wildest time in their history, ranging from an outsider/savant approach all the way through to full-on rock and roll boogie, which was a questionable stance in 1994 (if it isn't today) with all the stops in between being handled in an equally questionable and tripped-out fashion. The thing was, Royal Trux never let tripping out stop them from the task at hand – and when the task was putting out singles, they stepped up and made songs worthy of sitting one per side – songs that were part of the classic tradition of pop music and singles and jukeboxes and airplay and all the people pleasing and body moving that this implies. But of course, they were still Royal Trux, so you got hit singles from a truly mutant perspective. It doesn't mean they don't hit you, it means they hit you where you least expect it. Now that's a fuggin hit! And then you dance – to songs that changed the expectations of many of "songs'" biggest fans and most violent critics too. That's at least part of how we got where we are today. Not just us at Drag City, but "us." All of "us" – even a few of "them." So if you don't have this vital sonic bridge to Now (or is it a thick and colorful tombstone to Then?) in your library of necessary sounds, you'd better buy in! In the decimated society of the future, spurs to time-travel such as this will be invaluable in raising the new culture. Get in on the ground floor and get into it.
It might surprise you when we say it's impossible to out-funny a Scotsman. You know? Part of it is the stone-faced reserve with which you are presented initially. Once you get in with 'em however, the jokes start coming! As do the rounds, and…hm, are we getting into a little light racism here? Yes, but it's okay – look at the dude on the cover of the record we're talking about! That's a happy guy, and he don't care what you have to say, geddit?
Nathan Salzburg is getting a bit of press for his finger-picking these days, but here at Drag City, we know him as a track-picker, a project picker and a cherry-picker, as he offers up the best archival stuff he can put his ears on to release through Twos and Fews/Drag City. That's the way we all came to know about Nimrod Workman, remember? And Hamper McBee and Portraits of Gnawa, all those great old recordings from around the world, making it new for us again. This time, Nathan was presented with a vast set of Alan Lomax recordings collected throughout the 1950s, when Lomax rambled far and wide through the Scottish lands both high and low, convinced that this was the birthing ground for so much of the folk music he'd dedicated his life to. Who better for Nathan to collaborate with than our very own Alasdair Roberts, whose dedication to and understanding of this music rivals and probably surpasses Lomax on a song-by-song basis? It was Alasdair's great pleasure to spend time with the material, diminished only slightly by the knowledge that the goal was a mere single album. After all, there's a heroic amount of material there, and the compilation presented here is but a skimming. Who knows, perhaps this will end up being a series though! If they all have names like Whar the Pig Gaed On the Spree, then we're in, no further questions asked! For this record, Ali's picks obviously lean towards the ballad singing that has so inspired his own singing, and given the incredible way his own records turn out, who could fault him for that? There's a bit of variety spread throughout the album, but ultimately, the deep soul of the Scottish people is what unites these recordings and makes this album flow. It's good holiday listening, sure – but that's just the beginning of your life with this compilation. Get it today and let the years start working on the two of you together.
In case you haven't noticed, in 2011, Reissues Wuz Us. Of the fifty-freakin'-five releases we made this year (oh, my achin' back! This day bed/negligee combo is waaaaay too comfortable!), twenty-four of them were of archival material of some kind. While that is a new Drag City record, it should be understood that all we've ever wanted was for records to be a mind-blowing experience (which led to the nickname "Drug City" somewhere in the 90s, and naturally we can't remember when that was…). While finding rare and unheard things is all fine and well, that's not the end in itself. We're only in it for the records that personally fuck us up but good. If it's old, okay. If it's new, awesome. It's just got to be great too! And being all over the place doesn't hurt: of all the old-school shit we put back out there for the very first time this year, you could call some of it proto-punk along with outsider-folk, progressive country-pop, hippie folk, new wave, 90s underground rock, Scottish field recordings, post-punk avant-garde and Carlos Paredes. Yeah, that last one's a category all of its own, Carlos Paredes. The two Paredes records reissued on vinyl in November represent the first records of that kind that we've ever done. Sure, we've done Six Organs of Admittance records, and Ben Chasny loves Carlos and dedicated School of the Flower to him, and yeah, we've done guitar records like Sir Richard Bishop's Polytheistic Fragments and Will Oldham's "Ode Music" and "Seafarers Music" and Mark Fosson's The Lost Takoma Sessions, but Carlos Paredes' music is a world apart from all that. A lot of it has to be ascribed to his choice of instrument, the Portuguese guitar – a legendarily hard instrument to play, much less master. Yet Paredes is known as a master of this instrument, as well as a writer of original songs that incorporate classical Portuguese folk music - and today, his recordings are a national treasure in Portugal. (And the Portuguese have a lot to treasure. Have you ever eaten fish there? Makes all other fish taste like it was created for a robot's crude palette! That's definitely something they need an upgrade or a plug-in for.) The Paredes effect is ultimately not just down to man's instrument or his skill at playing it, but the singular intensity with which the songs were played. I mean, you can hear the dude taking great drafts of breath in between guitar phrases! And those phrases! The ring of the twelve-stringed Portuguese guitar is formidable, and when the player gets around as Carlos did (and as no one might ever again) with percussive power, it's a very penetrating experience, for which no condom is necessary. Finally! So we can take this old hat that we've been wearing since the late 80s off now? It be chafing.
Just in time for Christmas in Lisbon – or anywhere really (but things go better with Lisbon), the classic Carlos Paredes LPs, Guitarra Portuguesa and Movimento Perpétuo, are back on the shelves.
On a release date, singles are generally offered as a garnish to the big plates that are long-playing records – but you know and I know that singles can be a full meal unto themselves. It's been fucking cool to make more of them again over the past couple years, and the latest one, the November single release from Ty Segall is a dense set of songs that demonstrate the caloric richness of the format. It's a 3-song 7" EP called "Spiders," and if you thought that Ty was softening up after Goodbye Bread (you idiot), "Spiders" tells us otherwise with three songs of just around three minutes each that sport a heavy mass, low down and shufflingly heavy. THICK! Super-thick is what both "Spiders" and "Hang Glams" are, and Ty throws a chunk of thick classic our way at the end with a piercing cover of The Groundhogs' "Cherry Red." Too much! Playing it at 45 almost sounds right, but it's actually a 33rpm spin, far slower than you can even imagine with your brain. You might be able to imagine it through muscle memory, but that's asking your body to do a whole new style of imagination, and you might not be ready for that. But if you're worried that the 7" will cause your platter to plunge through the turntable and rip out it's guts, now you're thinking right – but that doesn't mean you shouldn't buy this record. Our only question is, why haven't you already? It's been out for weeks now! Were you waiting for the newsletter to tell you to do so? If that is the case, we're impressed.
Last year, all of us here and there at Drag City/Yoga Records stunned the world (okay, "stunned" the "world") by reissuing Dwarr's 1986 proto-metal private press opus, Animals. There are several aspects that made this such a freaky reissue: a) the sheer raw, untutored quality of the music; b) the depth of torture, suffering and spirituality evident in Dwayne Warr's songs and vision, and c) why the hell didn't we reissue the first Dwarr record first? That's the good one! Well, as ever, dear shit-for-brains, we beg to differ – hell balls, we demand to differ – so to begin with: you know, the whole concept of "the good one" is kind of a McCarthyist bit of bullshit, now isn't it? When you like the artist, they're all the good one in the end. And there are no guilty pleasures. So with that in mind, for our second Dwarr release, we're going back to get the first album, Starting Over. Hah! See, that's what this was all about. Rather than make the choice that Dwarr did and begin with an album called Starting Over, we flipped the script! Times are different today, and going backwards is more of an option than ever. Even Dwayne came to think differently about it – he remixed the record a few years ago for the new ears in the world that's coming – and of course for his own new ears. Starting Over actually has a different, less rocked-out vibe than Animals – certainly not mellow by any means – but in it's quieter form, it manifests an air of greater dread and menace somehow. Now it's back to sit next to Animals – Starting Over is just beginning to re-introduce you into the worlds of Dwarr.
Marching backwards through time, somewhere back in the mists of early October, we find another oddly timeless piece of Bonnyphenalia in the form of full-length album Wolfroy Goes to Town. The kid's been on phire this year, with an incredible avalanche of singles in both 7" and 10" form (several of which have served charitable causes, check it out, a foray into the world of audio books (Rudolph Wurtlizer's incredible Slow Fade, out in audio and book form here on the mothership, y'all!), an original soundtrack with He Whose Name Must Not Be Uttered (ah what the hell – David Byrne. – Fuck! My tit-tips are on fire! Shit! I knew shouldna uttered it!), loads of other collaborations, free shows in records stores and tour dates all over the place. Plus, there's been videos and promotions of the oddest kinds. It might be kind of late in the year for critics to be able to come around to Wolfroy Goes to Town for their best-of-2011 lists, but that's not why it was made, of course. Which is good, because based on our listening of this album, it might not make any best-of lists until about 2015 or so! This is a very deep trip from a dude who has trafficked in some of the deepest over the years – like, it almost doesn't seem to have songs on it! It's like, a night of meditation, philosophy and singing in slow, deeply felt choruses, but it doesn't ever jump out at you, preferring you to come in to it. Heavy! Having made such a hermetic album, Bonny's naturally out there, touring, making videos and basically bringing himself and his art to us. That's nice of him, but we can't forget that for everything that the "Prince" does, it requires a thing of the person being done for as well. Listening is easy – but understanding? That only comes in time. And so Wolfroy Goes to Town may end up being the greatest gift of all. Check back with us in 2015 – at least!
It was "way back" in September that we released a sweet brace of new titles, the sweetest of which was Meg Baird's Seasons on Earth LP/CD. Well, let us be clear – the tone of the record is sweet and we know Meg to be absolutely sweet, but there's a real darkness underneath a lot of her stellar vocalizing and guitar picking. Before we get to that, it's also sweet to have another Meg Baird record after four years of wanting another one to go with Dear Companion, her awesome solo debut. Both records seem like they want another to go with them in some sort of higher way, and both records achieve their wholeness in different ways – Dear Companion through interpretations of mostly other people's compositions and Seasons on Earth with an uncanny inversion of that approach. As ominously alluded above, Meg gets into what I'm sure she would call "heavy shit" if she were in on our little chatty-poo here, but since she ain't, let me tell you, ol' girl gets DEEP, I tell you what. Metaphysical almost – but still very sexy, don't worry. Like, Bonny "Prince" Billy sexy, you know? So now boys and girls (and boys) can all get involved in this description in the best way their gender knows how. Whew! Anyway…when Meg's record hit all the way back on September 20th (who were we back then? I can't remember anything at all), the world reacted like a world that had four years to not remember why it should be psyched to catch up with Meg's chanteusery. We were all Cheshire-cat-like about it, knowing that the word would spread because how couldn't it? If the world gives you a rough reception, make sure you throw diamonds in that rough, and since we were way ahead of that, we're seeing as much attention today, all the way two months later (I'm going grey here!) and we expect to continue to, for many more seasons here, supply interested parties with Meg Baird's Seasons on Earth.
They're on a roll, they're on the run, they're just a band doing the things that they think are fun. It's CAVE, y'all – and they were another one of September's dark horses, along with Meg Baird and AZITA. Were we worried putting out three records of such intense quality all at once. NAH! Unless by worried you mean, staying up all night thinking about it – but that was just out of pure excitement. We weren't like, diarrhea worried. I mean, with three records of such diverse quality…sooner or later, these records will be known. But with CAVE, we've managed to sell through every format insanely fast – and this record is on three formats (aside from download, which counts at accounting time, but otherwise doesn't count): LP, CD and wait for it…yeah – cassette. Yep, our first cassette in over fifteen years and it sells right the fuck out. Of course it does! We expect that the 8-track we do on the new Black Bananas record will also disappear like magical vanishing hotcakes. That's what these old formats do, is never go away. Good – cause we just found a wax cylinder maker that Alasdair Roberts might be interested in…now there was a format!
Anyway, CAVE, right? NEVERENDLESS is awesome, people enjoy it very much and they say so when they go see CAVE on the NEVERENDLESS Tour that despite the title, will be ending soon (but starting again in the new year in some form or another). CAVE's multicolored electro-juice rock is fun enough for everyone, but you have to want to like it to go out and see it before you have the fun too. That's a little twist. Once you do that, then you're down with these guys no matter how long they play the same chord – and believe me, more of less is better and the longer they go, the better they get! So…CAVE, man. I think I've put all my cards on the table here. It's your call.
Here's another reason we weren't worried about September – the new album from AZITA called Disturbing the Air. Okay, so it meant we had two female singers singing their new songs in austere surroundings (to say tha freakin' least!). Well, if you direct your ear to the heart of either record, or both of 'em, you will get two distinctly different beats. These are radically different musics, and not two of a kind that are in cutthroat competition with each other! There's enough listeners for all the singers out there, provided the singers and listeners get introduced to each other. Now, even though AZITA has been making music for years and years, first with Scissor Girls and then with Bride of No No, and even though AZITA's now on her fourth solo LP (with an EP tilting her towards five proper releases), people are still getting around to her solo style, which generates from her relationship with the piano. This is vocal music with piano accompaniment and sometimes a band. Us being us, we like the way AZITA is entirely herself and no one else and we love how her records are unique statements of hers that of course at any time could become representative of some more "universal" understanding in the public eye - because we perceive that AZITA's music has only gotten better and better with each album, from songs to singing to production and the whole bit. This is all encapsulated in her new album, Disturbing the Air (remember? "way" back up at the top of the paragraph). It's an unspeakably beautiful record that needs to be heard to be truly encountered. So we hope that you will encounter this record, which we truly believe is one of the best records of 2011. Now what other record in this newsletter have we made that claim for? Think about it. Do something about it.
In the meantime, AZITA's doing what she can, playing shows around America and doing some over in Europe, for excellent groups of people whose only lack is that there aren't enough of them. If you dig challenging-yet-sweet melodies, deep emotional conviction, pure performance values and the resonance of classic chamber pop, you need AZITA.
OK, that brings us back to your present – and our future! If you take a look at the website, you'll note that we're already hawking the first 2012 models – and January's lineup indicates that the insane windfall of 2011 isn't done windfalling just yet! It all starts with the debut of Black Bananas, the new groove machine from Royal Trux and RTX's Jennifer Herrema. She and her gang have conjured a new twist on her out-of-focus rocksound, and it's a double-doozy, slamming all sounds home with slinky beats, glistening details, the most out-of-it mix anyone will hear this (next) year and of course, a bag of hot-stupid tunes for you to scream along with. It is in-sane. That's all. But not all for the date, which also includes a reissue of the Damon & Naomi with Ghost LP/CD with bonus tracks, plus a psychedelic guitar god of the 60s unearthed with the Doug Jerebine Is Jesse Harper LP. And remember Groovy Records? About a mile or so back in this neverendless newsletter? Well, January brings the CD boxset The Total Groovy, which'll give you the four LPs we just issued in stellar digital form, plus an interview with Pete Shelley about the whole thing, all in a very Groovy box. Or wait, is that just groovy? You'll have to wait and see. And speaking of insane, the cherry on the cowgirl is, yeah, a Sic Alps single. We're still reeling from the pure pop-out of the "Battery Townsley"/"Cambridge Vagina" single which is rockin' the office jukebox as we speak. But "Vedley" is a different beast – a blast of multiple Sic Alps songs rendered collage-style – a new format for singles for the first time since the "Strawberry Fields"/"Penny Lane" double-A of so long ago. No, before the newsletter began – but just a little bit..
Alright! That's enough! Everything mentioned here is available on the website - find it! I know you can. We've got bands on tour too – didn't I say we were busy? And we're gonna stay that way. So stick around. If we get past 2012, it'll be a good one.
Rian Murphy
Drag City Inc
December 2011


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THE NEW CHANEL REISSUE 2.55 NUDE BAG IN SOFT LEATHERCategories:Other Brands
It looks like the House of Chanel is going to re-live the glorious days of the famous Chanel Reissue 2.55, a bag personally designed by Coco Chanel herself. It's the classic flap bag that never goes out of style, talk about creating lasting impression in the fashion world.
History has it that sometime in the 1920's, Coco was fed up of carrying her handbags in her arms so she decided to design her own handbag that freed up her hands. Finding inspiration on soldiers' bags, she found an ingenious way to add thin straps and introduced this timeless bag to the public in 1929. The said bag made its triumphant comeback in 1954 and Chanel further updated the said handbag. The finished product is now known as the 2.55 Bag named after the date of its creation, February 1955.
Karl Lagerfeld, the brains behind Chanel reintroduced the 2.55 Flap Bag and later became known as the 'Reissue'. Apparently, Chanel is going to introduce a new line of bags that require appreciable technical expertise in treating the leather which gradually acquires a patina that gives each bag its unique appeal. Voila! And now you have the Reissue 2.55 bag in soft leather.
Now let's take a good look at the new Chanel Reissue 2.55 Bag in Soft Leather. At first glance, it looks quite the same with the original bag but looking closer, there's actually more to see. The new 2.55 bag's bottom is crafted in red/burgundy color and if you really pay close attention to details, you'll definitely appreciate the added elegant chain which more looks like a necklace's chain to us. These are new changes that Chanel lovers would undoubtedly be smitten with.
Tags: leather bag Chanel 2.55 Soft reissue the New Nude in
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CHANEL REISSUE 2.55 SMALL WALLETCategories:Other Brands
Style code: A80832
Size: 4.5′ x 4.1′ x 1.2′ inches
Price: $800 USD, €730 euro
Chanel ladies and fans will absolutely fall head over heels with its Reissue 2.55 Small Wallet. These leather gems are sure to make the waves in the fashion industry as the beloved and famous Chanel 2.55 now comes in the handy dandy form of wallets. Well, all bags have their own stories to tell and with each creation is a rich history that gives them their own unique personality.
The Chanel 2.55 bears its name due to the simple reason that it was originally launched in public in February of 1955. The front lock also features the Mademoiselle Lock (because the legendary Coco Chanel was never married) which is strikingly different from the classic double CC logo we're all familiar with. Karl Lagerfeld, who is now the creative director behind the famous fashion house reissued the 2.55 in February 2005 in commemoration to the 50th anniversary of the original 2.55 personally designed by Coco herself.
A pure luxury on its own, the Chanel 2.55 is a luxury leather handbag/purse that changed the game and the course of the fashion industry. Fast forward to 2016, we know have the Reissue 2.55 but now in small wallets. It features aged calfskin and light gold metal materials with black and burgundy lining. So what do you think.
Style code: A80831
Size: 3′ x 4.5′ x 1.2′ inches
Price: $450 USD, €335 euro
Tags: Chanel wallet 2.55 reissue Small
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CHANEL REISSUE 2.55 CHARMS SHOULDER BAGCategories:Other Brands
Do you believe in love at first sight, being head over heels someone/something and finally getting serious? Well, the Chanel Reissue 2.55 Charms Shoulder Bag is definitely and without a fail a match made in heaven for the rebel chic in you. The mere fact that this is a Chanel quilted bag is already a win win situation not to mention that it has added embellishments such as card symbols, domino, spade, diamond and club designs make it even more adorable in our eyes.
All things combined, this is a perfect love affair for those who are looking for an added flair and oomph. This one-of-a-kind bag is made up of pure black calf leather with quilted effect, has an internal slip pocket, a back slip pocket, a sliver-tone chain shoulder strap for added functionality, an internal flap closure with an internal snap button fastening, it sure is the perfect gift for yourself.
Spoil yourself with nothing but the good things in life for you deserve only the best so never play safe when it comes to your handbags! Be the vintage rock chic you always are with this fashion statement and trust us, you will never ever go wrong.
Tags: bag Chanel 2.55 reissue Shoulder CHARMS
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CHANEL REISSUE 2.55 QUILTED FLAP WALLETCategories:Other Brands
If you own the Chanel Reissue 2.55 Flap Bag, then to complete the collection, you need to have the Chanel Reissue 2.55 Flap Wallet. It just makes everything perfect.
Everything about this wallet is stunning; all the elements from the original Reissue 2.55 Bag have been copied. For example, it's made from aged calfskin to make it look like it's been used. It's refined with the same beautiful golden hardware and the mademoiselle lock is just to-die-for.
READ: Chanel Reissue 2.55 Washed Denim Flap Wallet
The interior features credit card slots for all your cards, a zip-pocket and a few more compartments for cash or receipts. This is a not a tiny wallet, all your essentials can be stored inside.
Style code: A80829, sized at 4.1' x 7.7' x 1.5' inches, priced at $935 USD or €1000 euro via Chanel boutique.
What do you think?
Tags: Chanel wallet Flap 2.55 reissue Quilted
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CHANEL REISSUE 2.55 FLAP WALLETCategories:Other Brands
Oeps, another surprise! Now tell us what you really want to slip inside your handbag? How about the Chanel Reissue 2.55 Flap Wallet?
This is a new thing – the iconic 2.55 reissue reinvented into a flap accessory (2.55 reissue is one of the signature collection of Chanel). Now we do know that the Quilted Flap Wallet exists, but the Reissue 2.55 Flap Wallet? One please!
So how to tell the difference between the original Chanel Quilted Flap Wallet and the Reissue 2.55 Quilted Flap Wallet?
It's all about the clasp – you see the Chanel Quilted Flap Wallet (the classic edition) is crafted with the CC logo on the front while the Chanel Reissue 2.55 is adorned with the Mademoiselle lock.
And if you want deeper information, the Mademoiselle lock actually represents Coco Chanel for never marrying.
Though we are certain you will find more colors, we do need you to know that for the Spring Summer 2016 Collection act 1, they're made in washed denim. Measuring 4.1' x 7.7' x 1.4' inches, style code A80829, priced at $900 USD or €795 euro at Chanel boutique.
Tags: Chanel wallet Flap 2.55 reissue
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Chanel: Euro Prices For Classic Flap, 2.55 & Boy (2015)Categories:Other Brands
It's long overdue, but better late than never, right? As covered previously on this blog, Chanel has harmonised their retail prices worldwide, which in short just means that it now shouldn't make that much of a difference wherever in the world you are.
Still, because every cent counts (and everyone still wants to know what the current prices are like in Europe), I've put together a post that should answer pretty much all of your questions with regard to the Classic Flap, the 2.55 and of course, the Boy.
First up, the Classic Flap and the 2.55, which have similar price points where their sizes are concerned. Now priced at EUR4100, EUR4260, EUR4750 and EUR5160 for sizes Small, Medium (the 11.12), Jumbo and Maxi for the Classic Flap; the prices correspond with the 2.55 in its 4 sizes as well.
Now for the Boy. In its basic 'entry-level' calfskin renditions, they are now priced atEUR3420, EUR3720 and EUR4150 respectively for sizes Small, Medium and Large. Which also makes the largest Boy just a tad more than the Classic Flap or 2.55 inSmall, something to note for those still on the fence regarding which of the 3 to choose.
And just for those who need to see the prices side by side, in Singapore, for both theClassic Flap and the 2.55, they are SGD6410, SGD6660, SGD7430 and SGD8070respectively for the 4 sizes. Taking into consideration XE's conversion rate today,EUR5160 converts to around SGD7780, which means the difference is less thanSGD300 for the Classic Flap and 2.55 in the largest size.
In other words, you'll only really save if you go for the big-ticket items, but as you go down the list, the difference will really become smaller and smaller so it really makes more sense to buy in Singapore and build a beneficial relationship with your preferred SA.
Tags: Chanel Flap classic 2.55 Boy

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Tabula Rasa
Krzysztof Gawronkiewicz is a graphic designer, comic artist and storyboard artist from Warsaw, Poland. He is a graduate from the School of Plastic Arts, and has also studied both Interior Art and Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He made his debut as an artist in 1988, illustrating stories and an occasional comic strip in the science fiction magazine Fantastyka. While with this magazine, he met scriptwriter Maciej Parowski, with whom he made the comic 'Burza' ('The Tempest').
Klatwa Wodnika
He began an association with scriptwriter Dennis Wojda in 1992, with whom he created the comic series 'Mikropolis', which appeared regularly in Kelvin & Celsjusz magazine in 1994. The series -inspired by David Lynch, German Expressionism and low-budget horrors - has been hailed as one of Poland's most important comics ever. 'Achtung Zelig!', Gawronkiewicz's graphic novel in collaboration with Krystian Rosenberg was published in 2004, although the first installments had been published in the comics magazine Jabber back in 1993.
Lena, ep. 6 (Contribution to the online collective project Webtrip)
He worked with writer Grzegorz Janusz on the comical series starring the detectives Otto and Watson. The script for the first story, 'Esencja', won the first prize in an international contest held by the French publishing house Glénat in 2003. This publishing house released two books starring this mix of the humor, horror and detective genres as 'Les extravagantes enquêtes d'Otto et Watson' in 2005 and 2007. It was also published in Polish as 'Przebiegłe dochodzenie Ottona i Watsona' by Mandragora.
Work by Krzysztof Gawronkiewicz has additionally appeared in the pages of BRUM (1995), Nowa Fantastyka, Gazeta Wyborcza, Ślizg (1998), Komiks Forum, Plastik (1999), AQQ, Arena Komiks, Klatka vs. Lekarstwo, Wprost, Click!, Aktivist, DosDedos, Fluid, Meble, and The Cut By Levi's (2008).


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I love taking outdoor scenery,landscape,nature,wildlife photographs. I enjoy traveling to tropical warm places. I have been taking photographs since i was 12 years old. I was the family photographer for family reunions. I love all types of photography outdoor senic is my passion. I enjoy shooting weddings and portraits as well. Painting with light is the art and science of the craft. Indoor lighting is way different than outdoor lighting. Lighting your subjects in the studio is much more challenging than outdoor lighting. If i could shoot around the world i would feel complete to show this mother Earth as i see it. Please enjoy my journey through my eyes as i see what i capture. Thank you, for looking at my art site on Fine Art...
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Hiking in NZ & Wet Boots
Hiking in the NZ backcountry, particularly the South Island means you really need to cope with getting wet feet! Here's some great tips from the experts.
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Hiking in NZ - get ready for wet boots!!
If you've done any hiking on the trails of NZ Great Walks you'll know that unless it's raining really heavily you can pretty much keep your feet dry. These tracks are beautifully prepared and drained and any significant water courses have bridges.
However.....if you want to venture beyond the well known & busy NZ hiking trails and trek through the NZ backcountry wilderness - get ready for wet boots! In these wilderness areas of our National Parks you will enter a world of rough tracks and minimally marked routes with few bridged rivers and streams. Whether you wish to see this part of NZ independently or with a trekking guide on a hiking trip with our Wild Walks team is up to you. But whatever your choice - to enjoy this wilderness, understanding how to safetly cross rivers is essential. Part of this river crossing safety is to become accustomed to hiking in wet boots! Also see further our advice section on River Crossings.
Wet Feet Phobia - a dangerous condition!!
Our Aspiring Guides & Wild Walks guiding team have been working in the NZ Backcountry for over 25 years and during this time we regularly see inexperienced hikers take totally disproportionate risks to avoid getting wet boots. For those hikers who are used to trekking in dry environments or who have never hiked in wet boots before we have observed an extreme reluctance by these hikers to "get their feet wet".
Making bad river crossing choices
We often see people choosing fast flowing steep sections of rivers where they believe they can jump from boulder to boulder to avoid getting their boots wet. One slippery or wobbly rock or a misjudgement will result in injury and/or being swept into a fast flowing & dangerous section of the river. This seems non-sensical when hikers can cross in perhaps a slightly deeper slow moving section on the river with only a risk of wet boots! Injury & drowning vs. Wet boots - we think the choice should be obvious!!
Don't go barefoot
Other than for the shallowest, sandiest bottom river crossing, taking your boots off is a really bad idea. Firstly the water in NZ South Island is often snow-melt and rarely above 5 - 8C causing pain after even a few minutes of immersion. As the pain increases people to rush to complete the crossing, stumbling and slipping on rocks, increasing the risk of cutting or bruising their feet or even worse losing balance and falling fully into the water and being swept away.
Your hiking boots will protect your feet from damage, give you good grip and for the time taken for most crossings the retained heat in the boot will reduce the pain from the intense cold.
Changing shoes
While this is certainly an option, the shoes must still be fully enclosed, with good grip to protect your feet from cold & rocks. But you will never see experienced independent NZ trampers with a pair of "river crossing shoes"! Firstly - they don't want to add additional weight to their packs & secondly they don't want to waste time changing shoes at every river crossing. For example on our NZ guided trek - the 8 day Gillespie Rabbit Pass hiking trip there are 3 major river crossings and over 30 minor river/stream & slip crossings. In our experience stopping to take change shoes takes approximatley 15 minutes. This would add another 8 hours to the trip!!
Advice to minimise the impact of wet boots
Wear Gaiters
Gaiters that snugly cover the upper instep of your boot and come up to your knee are surprisingly effective at reducing the amount of water that enters your boots when crossing shallow water courses. They also signficanlty reduce your boots from getting wet when walking through long grass during heavy dew as well as protecting your lower leg against scratches and scrapes.
Use composite hiking boots
While traditional full leather boots are extremely robust, they are also usually heavier and much slower to dry than leather/synthetic composite boots.
Squeeze your boots & wring your socks
This is just a personal tip. If I know for sure that after a major river crossing that there are no other deep crossings coming up soon, I will often take off my boots, fully wring out my socks, and squeeze my boots as dry as I can. However, if I know that in 10 minutes I have more river crossings to deal with - or it's raining heavily I won't bother but rely on the walking motion to remove most of the water from my boots.
Start each day with dry socks
This is a bit of a luxury and will depend on the length of your trip and how heavy your pack is. Certainly on short trips, this can ease the pain of slipping your feet back into wet boots first thing on a chilly autumn morning. But a better tip is to always have a dry pair to change into at the end of the day. And in the morning put on your damp rung out socks to warm them up before you put on your boots.
If you're susceptible to blisters
In some cases, wet feet can be more susceptible to blistering than usual. Make sure you have blister tape with you.
If you have any questions at all about hiking in and around the Mt Aspiring National Park - please feel free to contact us for local conditions or advice - whether or not you book a trip with us. We're happy to help you with your plans if we can.
Andy Oxley
Wild Walks by Aspiring Guides


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Saturday, September 13, 2008
27 Years!
Our latest trip was an annual event for us. It was our 27th wedding anniversary and we went on our favourite kind of trip... a DA trip.
Now if you've read my other blog you already know what DA stands for - it means drive aimlessly.
That is a bit of an overstatement... we do have a plan of sorts. But normally we set a particular destination in mind and then we just head in that general direction. Often (and I mean often) the road will have other little roads attached to it... those roads just beg to be explored. There may be a geocache (or two or three) along the way. OK who am I kidding? I plan the entire trip around finding geocaches alright?
Where we sleep the first night is usually a mystery and we love our trusty 4Runner and SUV tent. Best invention!
This trip took us to the area around Barriere and Maclure. After the devastating forest fires there a few years ago we wanted to see what it looked like now. It was pretty amazing to see... I had no idea the fire was so big and that it jumped the river!
We found some pretty cool caches... one called Black Pines Vista that had the most breathtaking view of the North Thompson Valley. As we were travelling up the gravel road to get to this cache Tony kept saying... who is crazy enough to put a geocache here? And I said... "well we're crazy enough to go find it!" If you're ever doing some caching in this area make sure you get this one. The view is worth the bumpy drive.
We travelled all the way up the west side of the North Thompson, crossed over the bridge at Barriere and made our way down the East side of the river. We treated ourselves to a lovely night at the Howard Johnson & dinner out but the best part of our day was the spectacular sunset that we shared from our hotel room patio. Absolutely breathtaking.
The next day we decided to travel west to the #1 and go home through the Fraser Canyon instead of taking the Coq. I love the Coquihalla highway when I'm in a hurry but for spectacular scenery the Canyon is my favourite route.
Of course, before we even hit Cache Creek, we had to take some side trips. Tony haD always wanted to explore the area around Deadman Creek so we took a little detour. Except for spotting a young eagle on the hoodoos it was pretty uneventful. Then as we turned a corner we saw something 'slithering' into the bushes in front of us! It was a very big rattlesnake!! I have only seen one rattlesnake in the wild before this so this close encounter jaggled my nerves just a
bit...especially when Tony decided to try and 'coax' it back out with a stick! crazy man....
After a wonderful lunch at Herbie's in Cache Creek we meandered down the Canyon, finding new caches all along the way. Before we knew it we were crossing the bridge at Agassiz. "Hey!" I said, "That's the beach where we camped the first night of our honeymoon!"
The man I married 27 years ago looked at me and said, "I know... I thought you'd want to see it today so I drove this way just for you."
1 comment:
- Dustanne said...
What a wonderful adventure. Congrats on your 27 years!
- October 2, 2008 at 10:22 PM
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Global community fan mod for "Fifa Manager 11" with gigantic databases season 10/11 and real transfers for season 11/12, thousands pictures of stadiums and cities, tens of thousands players photos, etc.
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.


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|Is Java Dead?
Writer Isaac Asimov once said that "the only constant is change". That isn't just a phrase in the software industry, it is an absolute fact. Once, there was a day when Corba was king but it was usurped by Web Services. Even within the world of Web Services, that used to be all about SOAP but now it's REST style services which are much more popular today. Now somethings will obviously hang around a bit longer than others. Relational databases have been around 40 years and aren't going to be kicked out by NoSql just yet. The HTTP protocol has been at version 1.1 since 1999 and has helped us use a thing called the Internet. As for Java well that has been a pretty popular computer programming language for the last decade and a half.
According to Dutch research firm Tiobe in terms of overall popularity, Java ranked 5th in 1997, 1st in 2007 and 2nd in Sept 2012. At the time of writing there are over 2,000 Java progamming books on Amazon in English and there are almost 300,000 threads on Stackoverflow related to Java. However, as George Orwell once said: "Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible". But is Java invincible or beginning to die? That's the question being asked more and more now.
In my humble opinion, the challenges to Java can be split into three categories:
- The rise of alternative languages
- Scalability / Multi-Core processors
- The return of the fat client.
The rise of alternative languages
and those that don't (Python, Ruby). One interesting thing is that the first group is pretty large. The languages that run on the JVM aren't mutual exclusive to Java and in a sense strengthen it reminding us what a remarkable piese of software engineering the JVM is. Development teams can get that
extra bit of expressiveness in a niche language like Groovy, but can still call out to Java when they need some cool Java library or just need that extra bit of performance. Remember the advantages in Groovy 2.0 speed it up but it is still not as fast as Java.
As for the features some of these languages provide that are not in Java, well that is the case but it won't always be the case. Take a look at the roadmap for Java 8 and the features it will include. Just like Java EE 5 and 6 took ideas from Spring / Seam, the Java lanuage in its 8th major release will be taking ideas from other languages. For example literal functions will be facilitated by Lambdas. Java 8 Lamdas will have support for type inference and because they are just literals it will be possible to pass them around (and return them) just like a String literal or any anonymous Object.
That means instead of having to write an implementation of Comparator to pass to the Collections sort utility to sort a list of Strings, in Java 8 we will just do:
Collections.sort(list, (s1, s2) -> s1.length() - s2.length());
So, the alternative JVM languages don't exactly kick Java out of the party. It is still there, but in a party that has a better selection of music played and in a party where the guests encourages their host to be a better host.
Scaling on the multi-core platforms
So what's the deal here? Firstly, even though concurrency and threads were a feature of Java from the very beginning the language support was limited meaning development teams were writing a lot of their own thread management code - which could get ugly very quickly. This was alleviated greatly in JDK 1.5 with the arrival of a range of thread management features in the java.util.concurrent package. Secondly, to get better parallelism something else was needed. This came in Java 7 with Doug Lea's Fork / Join framework which uses clever techniques such as work stealing and double sided queues to increase parallelism. However, even with this Framework decomposing (and re-arranging) data is still a task that is needed to be done by the programmer.
Functional progamming gives us another option to perform computations on data sets in parallel.
In Scala, for example, you just pass the function you wish to operate on the data and tell scala you want the computation to be parallelised.
outputAnswer((1 to 5).par.foreach(i => longComputation))
And guess what? The same will be available in Java 8.
Array.asList(1,2,3,4,5).parallel().foreach(int i ->heavyComputation())Since scalability and performance are architectural cousins, it is worth stating that in many experiements Java still out performns other languages. The excellent Computer Language Benchmark Game shows Java outperformaning many languages. It hammers the likes Perl, PHP, Python3, Erlang in many tests, beats Clojure, C# in nearly all tests and is only just behind C++ in terms in the performance results. Now, performance tests can't cover everything and a context will always have some bias which favours one language over another but going by these tests it is not as if Java is a slow coach.
|The fat client is back!
The return of the fat client
There is a probably some room here for a hybrid approach which uses both a web framework and JavaScript and of course some JavaScript libraries. This gives developers a structure to build an application and then the opportunity to use JavaScript, JQuery or whatever cool library takes there fancy for important parts of the Application that need to be jazzed up. In a true fat web client approach, there should be no HTML served from the server (that means no JSPs), the only thing coming back from the server is data (in the form of JSON). However, using a hybrid approach you can make a transition from thin to fat easier and you can still put your JavaScript libraries on a CDN, you just won't get all the advantages of a full fat web client approach.
- Yammer and their migration to scala
- James Gosling taking about the state and future of Java at Google tech talk
- Article from Oracle describingFork and Join in Java 7
- Eric Bruno:Building Java Multi-Core applications
- Edgardo Hernandez:Parallel processing in Java
- IEEE top ten programming languages
- JDK 8 downloads
- Java Code Geeks article on Fork Join
- Good Fork Join article by Edward Harned
- Fork / Join paper from Doug Lea
- Fork / Join Java updates information from Doug Lea
- Scala Java Myths - great article by Urs Peter and Sander van der Berg


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Two-Lobed Planetary Nebula Hubble 5
Hubble 5 is a striking example of a "butterfly" or bipolar (two-lobed) nebula. The heat generated by fast winds causes each of the lobes to expand, much like a pair of balloons with internal heaters. This observation was taken Sept. 9, 1997 by the Hubble telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. Hubble 5 is 2,200 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius.
Credits: Bruce Balick (University of Washington), Vincent Icke (Leiden University, The Netherlands), Garrelt Mellema (Stockholm University), and NASA


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If you were wondering how you were going to read PDFs on Microsoft Windows Phone 8 now that Adobe Reader appears to have disappeared from the Windows Phone 8 Store, worry no more - Microsoft has released a dedicated PDF reader.
Imaginatively called PDF Reader, the new app, available in the Windows Phone 8 Store, will let you view any PDF you download to your phone, be it via SkyDrive email or the web.
The options are basic, as you might expect, but still allow you to bookmark pages, jump to a specific page, and zoom in when needed. Sadly we couldn't get it to select text to copy though.
Other features include being able to rotate your PDF left or right, or opt for single page or continuous mode, and don't worry those big red menu bars eventually disappear.
The app is free and available to download now.


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Merseyside Unidentified Flying Objects Research Group
MUFORG Bulletin, October 1967
Edited by John Harney
From Outer Space, or From Inner Space?
In the study of UFOs we are presented with spontaneous phenomena of unknown cause. We have accounts of sightings of UFOs, of encounters with occupants of UFOs and of messages received from the powers behind the UFOs.
Some enthusiasts confine their attentions to the contactees and seek to interpret the messages which these people say they have received. At the other extreme, physical scientists make statistical studies of UFO reports in the hope of finding a physical explanation. In other words, most people approach the subject with preconceived theories and tend to consider only those aspects which appear to fit in with them, whilst dismissing other aspects of the subject as being untrue or irrelevant.
Most of the controversies which rage among ufologists centre about the question of where to draw the line when considering wht is or is not admissible evidence. For example, many who are impressed by the Socorro and Exeter incidents treat the accounts of Bender's "men in dark suits" and Arnold's experiences at Tacoma with derision. Such an attitude presupposes that UFOs are either interplanetary spacecraft or misinterpretations of natural phenomena and man-made aircraft.
It will be obvious to many enthusiasts that the attitude to contactees displayed by most of the physical scietists who are interested in the subject is inconsistent and prejudiced. Their total rejection of the accounts given by people such as Adamski and Angelucci appears to be based on the hypothesis that some of the UFO landing reports are genuine encounters with alien beings. In this case hoaxes are inevitable and the people who claim to receive messages from benevolent Venusians are the hoaxers. However, it is evident that virtually all of the alleged reports of meetings with extraterrestrials are, by all normal standards of evaluation, ridiculous.
Indeed, when it comes to the question of landing reports, no investigator has yet told us exactly where to draw the line between the "contactee story" and the "UFO with operators". What about the cases of Antonio Villas Boas and Betty and Barney Hill? Into which category do they fall? It is certainly true that contact stories generally have features which distinguish them from "normal" landing reports. Could it not be argued, though, at least in some cases, that the differences are mainly due to the differing reactions of people of different temperaments to similar stimuli?
The contactee problem is not the simple, psychological problem that most ufologists would have us believe – a mere side-effect of persistent UFO reports on suggestible or unscrupulous people. Sometimes, instead of a problematical spaceman we get an apparently non-existent earthman. Take for instance an extraordinary sequel to persistent UFO reports in the area of Wanaque Reservoir, New Jersey, USA. It seems that members of the local police force were under the impression that they had been interviewed concerning their sightings by an Air Force officer who told them that they were just "seeing things" and generally ridiculed their stories. Extensive enquiries by journalists, Air Force personnel and Dr Condon's team seem to point inescapably to the conclusion that this incident never actually took place.
What actually happened, then? It seems incredible that the police officers should have made it up. It is, of course, conceivable that the true explanation may lie outside the confines of modern scientific theory. However, before we embrace the esoteric or occult evaluations of the situation we should first explore the possibilities offered by present scientific knowledge.
When it comes to contact stories, mysterious telephone calls, the alleged silencing of UFO witnesses and similar phenomena, it is evident that psychology is the subject one must turn to. Unfortunately, few qualified psychologists have seen fir to devote any attention to our subject. Most of those who have looked at the subject have done so in such a superficial and perfunctory manner that their findings are easily refuted.
It is true that there is plenty of physical evidence concerning UFOs, but all of this is capable of alternative explanations. It is right to look for evidence to support the interplanetary spaceships theory, but in view of the ambiguous and disappointing results of twenty years of research on these lines, is it not time to change our general approach?
Ever since 1947 believers and sceptics have taken the proposition that UFOs are spaceships from other planets and have attempted to prove or to disprove it. This has led to much unnecessary misunderstanding and ridicule. We are no nearer to a solution than we were in 1947. It is time to look at the problem in another way. WE know that UFOs exist, but are they physical, or psychological? Do they come from outer space, or from "inner space"?
Borough Road, Birkenhead, Cheshire September 19th, 1967 1315 BST
Report by T.C. Dixon (MUFORG)
Reported to me about 5 minutes after sighting by several, seriously excited, ten-years-old schoolboys:
- Glowing white oval. Estimated size – sixpence at 3 yards. Elevation between 45 and 60 degrees. Moved "not too quickly" westwards into cloud.
- Glowing white oval. Estimated size – larger (nearer?) than No. 1. Elevation approximately 45 degrees. Moved "faster than before" southwards.
- Glowing white and round. Estimated size – small saucer at 3 yards, which "looked like it was spinning!" Moved northwards from cloud to cloud until it disappeared.
- Glowing white oval. Estimated size – sixpence at arm's length. Elevation approximately 45 degrees. Moved north-eastwards into small cloud which then "began to break up rather quickly until nothing was left in that spot – just blue sky!"
Preston, Lancashire October 1967 (date and time not given)
Two architects claimed to have sighted a UFO over Preston. They made a sketch of it which they planned to send to the Ministry of Defence. The witnesses measured the object as it moved above church spires, mill chimneys, and a block of flats – whose exact distances apart they have established. They said that the object was 400 feet long.
(Source: Daily Mail, 18/10/67)
Hoylake, Wirral, Cheshire October 19th, 1967 1800 BST
Mrs A.N. Crossman, of Meols, reported to Hoylake Police that she and her son Jeremy, aged 6, saw an unidentified flying object from their home at about 6 p.m. It was torpedo-shaped, greyish-white and travelled at a fast speed.
(Source: Liverpool Echo, 20/10/67)
Further details of sightings reported in previous issues of the Bulletin
We have now received the completed sighting form for the report referred to in the August issue of the Bulletin as occurring at Dingle, Liverpool, on July 11th. However, the report form gives the place as Sefton Park, Liverpool and the date as July 21st, so please disregard this report until further checks have been made.
A further trip was made to Hindley, Lancashire, to investigate the UFO sightings there, briefly reported in our last issue. [The figure] is a copy of a drawing of the UFO made by the principal witness, Bernard Cox, aged 17, of Hindley.
Cox said that the two sightings of this strange object had taken place on August 19th and August 29th, at about 2140 BST on each occasion. He also had a list of 15 people living nearby who had seen the UFOs and 11 people who had heard strange noises. He said that when the UFO appeared all the dogs began barking. The strange hummin noises sometimes began at about 11 p.m. and continued until about 2 a.m. Bernard Cox said that they even woke his grandmother, who is somewhat deaf. The noises were said to cause distressing symptoms in those who heard them, such as headaches. There had apparently been numerous other sightings in the area, but most of them seemed to originate from young children and were of the vague, "lights in the sky" variety.
On a second visit to Hindley, Bernard Cox was not at home, so another witness, Mrs Judson, was interviewed. Her description of the cone-shaped UFO was similar to that given by Cox, except that she was not very clear about the details. However, she confirmed that it was a very large object. She estimated that she had viewed it for about 20 minutes on one occasion and that children playing in the street had been watching it for about ten minutes before her attention was drawn to it. She was a little vague about the exact dates.
A peculiar detail given by Bernard Cox was that while the object was actually moving across the sky, it was spinning, so that purple lights appeared as purple bands around it, but when it hovered it stopped spinning and came to rest in a position such that the lights appeared on the edges, as seen from his viewpoint. Mrs Judson spoke of coloured lights and beams streaming from the object and Bernard Cox spoke of a sort of glow surrounding the object. Mrs Judson also said that she had seen mysterious glows in the sky when no actual UFO was visible.
There can be little doubt that something very strange was seen in the vicinity of Eckersley Avenue, Hindley, on at least two occasions in August. Some of the details tie in quite well with some of the reports received before and since these incients.
The following reports were sent to us by Walter Blythe, of the Mansfield UFO Group.
The Clifteon Landing Report
A report in a Nottingham newspaper, dated July 5th, 1967, reads:-
Did a flying saucer really land in Clfton or, as the police believe, was it just an optical illusion caused as a result of the sun shining on a barn roof or on greenhouses?
Last night frightened housewives and dozens of people rushed out of their homes when it was reported that a flying saucer "about 30 feet long" had landed somewhere in Clifton.
According to at least a dozen people who said they saw the object, it was disc-shaped and silvery in colour and was seen travelling across the sky at about 4.45 p.m.
The object was described by independent witnesses who gave an identical account of its size, colour, direction and movements. They said they saw it clearly from the High Bank area of the estate. It had travelled about two miles from Wilford Hill to a point on the Bradmore to Plumtree road wher it became confused with a barn roof.
Police in patrol cars who were called out to investigate the report later told over a hundred people gathered on high ground near Fareham Comprehensive School that it was an optical illusion caused by sunlight.
But Mrs Marjorie Cowdell, of High Bank said she was amazed by the incident and teenager Denise Stanley said she saw the object clearly. "I was scared", she added.
Several schoolboys, too, claimed it was not the first time they had seen strange objects which had scared them. A few days ago they had seen one hovering above the trees in the vicinity of a wood on the estate.
Earlier on Monday, several reports of strange objects in the skies were received at the Guardian Journal offices. At one point three objects were claimed to have been sighted by three boys on their way home from school.
Last night's descriptions tally with these earlier reports.
Most of the people who say they saw the object say it seemed to have a cloud of dust or smoke around it.
The "Clifton Disc" had the Air Ministry [sic] and Meteorological Office baffled. They could not account for the sighting.
And at Watnall Meteorological Office a spokesman said he could not rule out the possibility of the disc being a weather balloon although at that time of the day it would be unlikely.
"Whatever the cause people have no need to worry. These things have been with us a long time now and they have never done anyone any harm", he said.
Wellow, near Ollerton, Notts July 8th, 1967 2110 to 2150 BST
A newspaper cutting, dated July 10th, reads:-
Newark schoolmaster Bernard Doy has always been sceptical about tales of flying saucers. But he says he saw one while driving through Wellow, near Ollerton, on Saturday night.
It was shaped like a child's humming top, with an elliptical top and pointed base, and spun in the air for over 40 minutes before disappearing in the clouds.
"I realise that there are cranks who believe that flying saucers carry other beings who are trying to communicate with the earth", said Mr Doy.
"This experience has made me wonder whether they may be partly correct about the flying saucers."
Mr Doy, who teaches art at the Sconce Hill Secondary School and lives in Parklands, said the object was sighted "several thousand feet away".
"It was stationary while we watched the object, though it did spin on its axis from one side to an upright position. It was surrounded by a very bright light", he said.
He went on: "The very fact that it was surrounded with light – not merely on one side – convinces me that it could not be a weather balloon."
Mr Doy's strange experience occurred while driving with his wife and two friends through Wellow at about 9.10 p.m. on Saturday evening.
Using binoculars, Mr Doy's party viewed the strange object and fetched the police constable at Wellow Park to confirm their sighting. He in turn notified his superior officer, Insp. R. Street.
The policeman, P.c. E. Holmes, commented last night: "I had a look at the thing and I wouldn't like to even guess at its identity."
Inquiries made by Insp. Street have so far proved negative and the identity of the "flying saucer" remains a mystery.
A spokesman at Watnall Meteorological Office said last night: "We have no idea what the object could have been. It was probably not a meteorological balloon."
Mr Blythe got in touch with Mr Doy, who sent him a picture of the object (right).
Stapleford Woods, near Newark, Notts August 7th, 1967, 2225 BST (approx.)
On August 9th, Mr Blythe received the following letter from a Mr Robinson of Newark, Notts:-
Dear Sir,
On Monday evening, 7th August, at approx. 1025, my girl friend and me had the experience of seeing what we believe to be a space craft. The occurrence happened at a place called Stapleford Woods, about 3 miles from Newark, near a village called Coddington. We drove into the woods earlier in the evening and pulled just off the road into a small clearing facing a track which ran at the side of part of the Forest and adjacent to a small dyke. On the other side of the dyke is a field which had just been cleared of trees. At about 10.15 my girl said what are those lights in front of us? and about 1/2 mile away we could see 2, round or slightly oval shaped lights, not beams of light, but just like 2 pieces of white or yellow coloured paper, at this distance they seemed to be about 6 in. dia., and close together. (Obviously they were actually bigger because of the distance away.) We watched the lights and after about a minute they disappeared and were replaced by a flashing red light which moved away to our right, climbing until it was above the trees. I thought and suggested it was a helicopter, but thought it strange as I couldn't hear any sound, and there was no wind anyway. The red light faded away. About 5 mins. later my girl friend said look the 2 lights again, they were on our right coming towards us above a line of trees about 1/4 mile away, they stopped and hovered for about 2 mins. Curious because of the absence of sound I started the car and drove slowly towards the lights. The road had a bend where I lost sight of the lights but on coming to the sport I thought they were I flashed my headlights. And 20 yds away a craft came over the trees towards us. Astonished I stopped the car engine, still no sound, and watched the craft until it was about 20 ft. away, it was about 20 ft. high from the road. We saw the curved top and bottom, 3 square-ish windows showing orange light, and on each side a brilliant beam of light shone downwards. Suddenly I got frightened as it came right up to us so I started the engine and shot away. I contacted Mr Doy of Newark (TEACHER SAW SPINNING TOP) as I didn't know who to tell, as I thought the police would think we were nuts and he gave me your address,
Hoping this may be of interest to you.
Yours, David Robinson
Mr Blythe adds: "I have a paper cutting reporting an object with 2 beams of light shining downwards, near some woods at Grantham, about 20 miles from above sighting, young couple in a car, no noise. July 1st."
The Canadian Air Force has stepped up a probe into flying saucers following fresh reports that mysterious objects with flashing lights are terrorising the Calgary district.
In the latest incident recorded in official files, a woman claimed a dazzling light stabbed out of the night sky as she drove home on Wednesday.
Then her car's engine and electrical system cut out completely while a dark oval shape silently circled over her at a height of about 1,000 feet.
"It circled the car four or five times", said terrified Mrs Nora Tibbs, of High River, Alberta. When the object finally disappeared the car's power mysteriously returned.
Helicopters may be sent out to hunt an unidentified object three gold prospectors claim they saw fall from a flying saucer in July, an Air Force spokesman said.
Squadron Leader E.B. Chase, of Calgary, said the latest reports have the ring of authenticity and that a photograph taken by one of the gold prospectors in July was the best of an unidentified flying object in the Air Force files.
He said an enlargement of the photograph taken by prospector Warren Smith, aged 27, of Calgary, showed a domed, saucer-shaped object about 40 feet in diameter with a red light on top and leaving a trail of what appeared to be blue exhaust smoke.
Forestry look-out Russ Hill said he heard a throbbing pulsating sound on October 7 and saw a bowl-shaped object 75 feet in diameter sweep down a valley below his forest tower.
The lights in his tower flickered as the object passed. It had two exhaust flames, a green neon-like ring around it and a dome with a pulsating yellow-green light. – Reuter.
(Liverpool Echo, 14/10/67)
The Daily Mirror, of October 27th, reported that the British Section of the International Sky Scouts had changed their name, at the behest of the Boy Scouts Association. The Boy Scouts complained that people were continually confusing the Sky Scouts with their Air Scouts. Accordingly they have now changed their name to CONTACT (UK). Their chairman, Mr Quanjer, states that this new name "implies a variety of activities of a psycho-spiritual nature as well as the more obvious practical ones".
It seems, though, that the Boy Scouts Association will have to put up with the Sky Scouts for a while longer. A recent circular from NICAP/GB states that Yusuke Matsumura (who founded the Sky Scouts as a junior branch of the Japanese-based Cosmic Brotherhood Association) "has decided to issue a statement proclaiming that they have severed relations and have no connections with the INTERNATIONAL SKY SCOUTS ASSOCIATION (UK), whose National Chairman is one Joham Quanjer."
The reason for this action is given in the NICAP/GB circular as follows: "The International Sky Scouts Association (UK), under Mr Joham Quanjer, have recently turned their attention to raise the ancient emblem of the winged sun-disc as their motif. We believe that it is wrong and dangerous to revive the winged sun-disc which was the emblem of great ancient civilisations such as CHINE-MU-LEMURIA-ATLANTIS-EGYPT. These were all stained with blood sacrifices, and they all perished. It is our contention that it is a grave error to submit the minds of youth to ancient pagan worship."
Because of these esoteric errors the SKY SCOUTS have been renamed INTERNATIONAL SKY-SCOUTS GB and their parent body in Britain is NICAP/GB. (Secretary of NICAP/GB is Mr Derek Samson, Solihull, Warwickshire.) In view of all this it is strange that CONTACT (UK) have not announced any severance nof relations with the International Sky Scouts or Cosmic Brotherhood.
Rightly or wrongly, the Sky Scouts in this country have acquired a reputation for eccentricity and many ufologists may consider that their internal politics are amusing rather than important. However, new branches of the Sky Scouts are being formed. A Mr Frank Shaw, of Croxteth, Liverpool, has informed me that he is forming a local branch, under the guidance of NICAP/GB. I was recently shown a cutting from a Cambridge paper, reporting on the impending formation of a branch there, where they apparently hope to bask in the reflected glory of the Cambridge University UFO Group.
So it looks as if several local UFO groups may have to deal with the "Sky Scouts" or "Contact" in the near future. It would thus be nice to know which is which and who is who. If anyone can sort out for us the complexities of Sky Scout politics, aims and ideologies, we would be pleased to publish such information in the December issue of this Bulletin. - J.H.
Flying Saucer Occupants by Coral and Jim Lorenzen, Signet Books, New York. 75 cents
Those who assiduously study UFO reports and literature will find in this book few reports which they have not already read in greater detail elsewhere. It is only fair to point out, though, that the authors' UFO organisation APRO (Aerial Phenomena Research Organisation) was the means by which many of the more interesting reports have been brought to light. APRO has always made a point of investigating all reports received, including reports of UFO "occupants", unlike certain other American UFO organisations, as the Lorenzens are not slow to point out.
For me, the most interesting chapter in the book is the one entitled: "Psychological Implications of the Investigation of UFO Reports", by R. Leo Sprinkle, PhD. Dr Sprinkle discusses the problem of bias on the part of investigators of UFO reports and suggests procedures and techniques for eliminating this. He also suggests methods of obtaining all possible details from witnesses.
The authors are plainly of the opinion that the UFOs and their occupants are physically real and at the end of the book they sum up their position thus:
"1. The objects and their 'operators' are physically real. The remaining speculation concerns their identity and origin and, eventually, motivation. Another book could be written about this aspect and, admittedly, we are simplifying for the sake of space.
"2. The population of this world is falling victim to a particularly insidious and apparently contagious mental disease which generates hallucinations involving specific types of airships and humanoids. This diease seems to be spreading.
"Who will be next to contract the malady? You?" J.H.
The Flying Saucer Vision by John Michell, Sidgwick and Jackson, Ltd. 25/-
This work will doubtless be welcomed by the "New Age" ufologists. The author seeks to re-interpret the ancient myths, legends and popular beliefs as garbled accounts of meetings with superior beings from other planets, or from other dimensions.
Some enthusiasts may regard the whole idea as being quite ridiculous, but such notions are at present entertained by some eminent scientists, and a number of well-known ufologists have devoted much time and effort to research into this aspect of the subject.
The general theme of this book is a hypothesis to the effect that superior alien beings brought civilisation to mankind thousands of years ago, by establishing direct contact with them. Eventually they withdrew and memories of their activities were preserved in the form of various cults, ceremonies and superstitions. The increase in UFO activity during the past 20 years indicates that mankind has reached a crisis in its development and another full-scale contact with extraterrestrials is imminent.
This idea has, of course, been expressed by other writers and there is a considerable body of evidence which may be adduced in its support. Only time will tell whether Mr Michell's speculations are correct. — J.H.
Thank You to MUFORG Members
"On behalf of my husband and I, we would like to thank all MUFORG Members for their most acceptable Present which has been received with great pleasure on the occasion of our recent Marriage."
- Marlene Waddington, Treasurer
BUFORA NORTHERN CONFERENCE – Last Minute Reminder
The Conference will be held on Saturday, November 4th, 1967, at the Central Hall, Renshaw Street, Liverpool, 1. Admission 8/- including refreshments. Doors open 9.30 a.m. Lectures begin at 2 p.m.
Chairman: Captain Ivar Mackay (Chairman of BUFORA).
Main speakers: CHARLES BOWEN (Editor of Flying Saucer Review), ANTHONY DURHAM ("Ball Lightning"), W. SKELLAN ("Mechanical Implications of UFOs").
If, after attending the Conference, you have any comments, favourable or otherwise, which you wish to make on it, please send them to the Editor to be considered for publication in the December issue of this Bulletin.
GREAT UFO FLAP: As this is being typed (October 30th), a wave of UFO sightings, surely unprecedented in this country, is sweeping Britain. Depending on how the situation develops, this Flap will be dealt with either in a special edition of this Bulletin in a few weeks' time, or in the December issue.