Welcome thread

[guitarfool2002]

I'm not entirely sure what to make of GF but I peed myself laughing when I saw his new signature.

Perhaps mine should be "Where is Swedish Frog's cat?"

I like your current quote as well. I remember that song was played all the time on Hot Hits 98 in Philly when the Let's Dance album was new. Modern Love, Let's Dance, and China Girl, all in very heavy rotation in the top 40 that year. I didn't really appreciate the song until - and this may sound odd - I heard and saw a bootleg of some solo acoustic gigs John Frusciante played in Europe in 2001, and he played Modern Love, just him and an acoustic guitar. He seemed to open up the song far beyond what I got from it when it was new and top 40, and it floored me. I became obsessed with it, and I even added the song to setlists and other musical activities of mine after hearing John's take on it, and then rediscovering and revisiting Bowie's original (with Nile Rodgers' expert production). It became one of my favorites, hands down. Check out John's performance(s) if you can.

Cheers for the Bowie reference! An underrated masterpiece from Bowie.

I've been using that quote for years. It followed me here from the old Capitol Board. I briefly used another signature but now this one's back for good.

John F certainly nails it. Wow! (I dug out the Amsterdam and Paris performances.) It adds a whole new dimension to the song. I didn't know JF had worked with so many different artists. Thanks for the heads up.

It is very rare that a cover version makes me go back to the original and find even more appreciation for it, but that's what happened with John's cover. When he adapted the sax solo for his guitar, I was sold 110%. And the way he sang the lyrics, it was like he heard something deeper in how Bowie wrote and sang it that I simply overlooked for 30 or so years, or maybe it wasn't as prominent in my ears underneath Nile's radio-friendly production, but John blew me away on that one. He did the same when I heard a few of his covers of "How Deep Is Your Love" that he started doing as a solo spot in RHCP concerts, I heard the song itself a bit differently after John sang and played it solo. Cool to get a different perspective like that.

[JK]

Btw, forgot to ask, john - you posted the wish list. But where've you been except the homeland?

I've never been out of Europe. Let's see: the UK (where I spent my youth), Republic of Ireland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Italy/Sicily, Spain, Cyprus... that's about it.   

[JK]

What did you like the best from these countries? Describe.

UK: Fish & chips and fine ales
Republic of Ireland: Guinness
France: Snails and wine from the château
Belgium: Beer brewed at the Abbey  
Luxembourg: Nothing. Awful place where I got horribly drunk
Austria: Apfelstrudel and the best schnitzels on the planet
Germany: Brilliant food and Kraftwerk
Denmark: The music of Carl Nielsen
Sweden: No idea. I was only there for five minutes
Norway: Prawns, beer and bungee jumping in Oslo harbour  
Italy/Sicily: Swordfish steaks
Spain: The music of Manuel de Falla
Cyprus: Archbishop Makarios

[thorgil]

I haven't been in all those countries, but, adding Scotland's due place:

UK: rhubarb pie
Scotland: the tea rooms
Republic of Ireland: the Chieftains
France: Brittany
Belgium: nothing. Terrorist factory. Baudelaire was right  
Luxembourg: nothing good can come from the place that inflicted that weasel Juncker on us
Austria: Salzburg and its theatre of marionettes
Germany: should say "nothing" until they throw away Merkel, but I'll make an exception for Neuschwanstein castle
Denmark: agreed, the music of Carl Nielsen
Sweden: STIEG LARSSON, of course, God bless him always
Norway: the trolls (not the Internet ones)
Italy: the Dolomites
Spain: paella valenciana
Cyprus: don't know either the place or the Archbishop, pass on this one

[NOLA BB Fan]

Haven't been to Europe since 1995 but had mostly great experiences in the following countries:

UK: loved walking throughout London, also Bath, Cambridge, Oxford, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Inverness. Easy to get around via train or coach. Historic homes, golfers playing in a gale storm with some snow on the ground in Scotland, eating lunch along the Avon, visiting Isle of Skye. Am hoping and praying to be able to go to the Lake District some day.
France: the cheeses (which I can no longer eat unfortunately), Normandy, Bayeux Tapestry, Le Mont St. Michel, lavender everywhere, hard apple cider.
Belgium: beautiful lace at Bruges, fountain in Brussels that a member of our group called "Monsieur Pee Pee", being given a free hotel room - on a street with women posing in the windows... Weird place.
Luxembourg: just passed through
Netherlands: history, Rijksmuseum
Austria: Salzburg, Mozart music, operas, Sacher torte, Vienna
Germany: more music, Augustiner Keller. Watching Carmina Burana at the Marienplatz, finding out at the very end that Carl Orff was sitting right behind me
Italy: Florence; Verona and most beautiful experience in evening watching Madame Butterfly outdoors, turned around and behind me was the magical Old Verona skyline
Czech Republic: Beautiful beads, wonderful beer, incredible Prague
Russia: super friendly people; arriving in Leningrad and the next day it became Saint Petersburg again; the Winter Palace; Novgorod

[JK]

Watching Carmina Burana at the Marienplatz, finding out at the very end that Carl Orff was sitting right behind me

You're kidding! That's fantastic!! His Carmina Burana is a great favourite of mine. I even accompanied a choir in selections from it back in the '90s...

[NOLA BB Fan]

Watching Carmina Burana at the Marienplatz, finding out at the very end that Carl Orff was sitting right behind me

You're kidding! That's fantastic!! His Carmina Burana is a great favourite of mine. I even accompanied a choir in selections from it back in the '90s...

Yeah that was wild, to actually see the composer, as I had just sung it in a university choir a few months previously. I also later sang it several times with the New Orleans Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, one time with a ballet company getting in on the fun. And it is indeed very fun to sing!

[Emily]

This is fun. May I?

France: Croque Madame; seeing a ballet from a box at the Opera; renting a country house with friends and bicycling around town for groceries. Also I went to ecole in Paris, so playing "elastique" on the gravel in the park in my little very French school uniform and taking the metro to school and back. And skateboarding in the Bois de Boulogne. Oh! And Nola BB Fan mentioned the hard apple cider - my Mom didn't know it was alcoholic and sent us to school with it. The nuns freaked out.
UK: Being attacked by crazed geese in the lake district; tromping around moors in dramatic weather and pretending I'm in a 19th century novel; the "full English" breakfast.
Italy: Venice - wading around in the flood in thigh-high boots; going to the fish market; visiting Murano and Burano. Rome - the cats and the stairs and the colosseum.
Switzerland: Falling on my face in the snow. Many times.
Czech Republic: The Sedlec Ossuary; the little villages in the Black Forest.
Spain: THE ALHAMBRA!!!!! and the horses (and the complete lack of concern for safety, so they let tourists take the horses wherever they want and at whatever speed they want. Fun!)
Greece: sitting around a taverna for hours with friends and family and many plates of varying foods that we slowly pick at.
Sweden: the Vasa; picking wild strawberries; sailing in the Stockholm archipelago.
Denmark: I haven't been since I was very young, so all I can say is Tivoli!
Austria: The palaces; the salt mines; and the horses.
Norway: Nord Cap and of course the fjords.
Portugal: Coimbra; and the horses.

[thorgil]

Ah, the Alhambra. One of the most beautiful things built by humankind. And, around it, the Generalife garden.... water running everywhere, and when I visited there many years ago it was all drinkable, and I did help myself a lot.

[JK]

UK: rhubarb pie
Scotland: the tea rooms
Austria: Salzburg and its theatre of marionettes
Spain: paella valenciana

Do you mean these tearooms specifically?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_Tearooms

Hope to visit those one of these years...
And yes, Spanish food is the business!

UK: loved walking throughout London, also Bath, Cambridge, Oxford, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Inverness. ... eating lunch along the Avon, visiting Isle of Skye. Am hoping and praying to be able to go to the Lake District some day.
France: the cheeses (which I can no longer eat unfortunately), Normandy, Bayeux Tapestry, Le Mont St. Michel.
Austria: Salzburg, Mozart music, operas, Sacher torte, Vienna
Czech Republic: Beautiful beads, wonderful beer, incredible Prague

Agreed on all the UK places (and your French highpoints). Hope to visit Skye one day. Vienna was amazing, not least the Sacher Torte.   Heard Mozart's Requiem as part of a church service! Prague is on our list too.

I went to ecole in Paris ... And Nola BB Fan mentioned the hard apple cider - my Mom didn't know it was alcoholic and sent us to school with it. The nuns freaked out.
UK: the "full English" breakfast.
Switzerland: Falling on my face in the snow. Many times.
Spain: THE ALHAMBRA!!!!!

Love the French anecdote, E. As for the UK breakfast, say no more! Your Swiss mishap sounds familiar! And yes, the Alhambra was magnificent! And the Manuel de Falla House-Museum just up the road...

Just think----all this is because RangeRover asked me to "Describe". ;=) 

[NOLA BB Fan]

Yes, JohnK I remember the special masses in Munich. Some in our group went 'church hopping', hearing some music at one church, then leaving to get to another church for more music.

This thread is so wonderful and therapeutic, bringing back great memories. Funny the things I'm remembering: the best peach I ever ate was in Paris in June 1978, the best melons in Russia in September 1991. The most beautiful music I ever experienced was in a church in Southwest France in July 1995. There was a music festival there and we were gathered at the church for a service. Towards the end, a male quartet from the Republic of Georgia sang. Assume that it was a religious song of some sort. It was so otherworldly beautiful - the beauty of the human voice, the exquisite harmonies!

BTW, in case people think I've never experienced great things in the US, the most beautiful place I ever saw was in the early 70s at Grand Tetons Park in Wyoming. Snow capped mountains, the valley completely covered in wildflowers of every color - awestruck!

[JK]

This thread is so wonderful and therapeutic, bringing back great memories.

Thank you! That makes it all worthwhile. :=)

[JK]

France: Snails

Do you hate frogs?

I like frogs, the hopping, full-of-life kind that say "ribbit".

I once had this pile of sad little legs on my plate. Just once. I couldn't eat them.

[Emily]

Hi all,

Republic of Ireland: the Chieftains

Great band.

UK: Being attacked by crazed geese in the lake district

Cool. Did you see squirrels?

I don't remember if we saw squirrels in the Lake District. I assume we did. But squirrels are ubiquitous in most of the US, so I don't really mark it when I see them.
The town I grew up in has a large population of black squirrels, which are fairly rare, so I do mark when I see them.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

The vast majority of squirrels in my area of Canada are black. I didn't realize it was rare until I started hearing from tourists who were amazed by them. Also, I have never known a Canadian squirrel to climb on anyone but it could just be where I live. Canada is a huge stretch of land so there are lots of differences throughout the country.

[Emily]

Squirrels, like most animals I think, are more or less comfortable with humans depending on the behavior of the humans they live among. In places where they are accustomed to being fed, they will be very friendly. At the Grand Canyon, for instance, they'll pop right up on your lap. In most places I've lived the humans kind of ignore the squirrels and vice versa. I mean, we look at them because they're cute, but generally leave them to their business. My brother's kind of obsessed with birds so used to wage war with the squirrels around the feeders, but they don't get scared easily, so he gave in and put up a separate squirrel feeder and now they are very tame and fat.

[thorgil]

Some scattered thoughts...

I never visited those specific tearooms (which are spectacular) in Glasgow, but had my tea with milk & a cone of assorted sweets in many other smaller places in Scotland. Uniformly excellent!
I love frogs, and find them extremely cute. Would never dream of killing or eating them. One of the many things I am at odds with the French (I am part Breton, so it's a given).
Ditto squirrels. Like most rodents and many other small animals, they will come to eat in your hand if you are friendly enough to them. Only, beware not to have too much of a tan: they may believe the top of your finger is a nut. (TRUTH!)

Russia: I went a couple of times to watch the Red Army shows. Fabulous. I also think the Russian circus artists are the best in the world.

[RangeRoverA1]

[NOLA BB Fan]

2john k - "Sad little legs" - you couldn't phrase it cuter. Frogs are super-ugly but their legs are very cute, I wouldn't eat them too. But...that's national French food. I'd seen many docs about France & there was not mention of "snail". oysters - yes, ditto crab. & the popular frogs. Hence my question.

2Emily - I read about famous Canadian & British squirrels willing to hang out with people. Not once the U.S. - ubiquitous, you say,  but do they actually run & climb people?

During my first music tour in Normandy in 1989, the hostess where I stayed was a gourmet cook. At one of the meals frogs legs was the first course. They tasted okay. (The main course was tripe). Haven't had them since and don't intend to. Don't like the idea of killing the frog just for its legs. If an animal needs to be killed, use all of it that's possible.
Frogs legs are popular down here. And in the better restaurants, snails are usually on the menu as well, as they also are in France. They're not called "snails" but "escargots." Can't get me to try them - sorry!

In our city gray squirrels are all over the place. I'm constantly swerving around trying not to hit them with my automobile. For some reason, the squirrel runs midway across the street, but instead of continuing, invariably hesitates, then usually turns back from where it came. Have learned to slow to a stop while the squirrel makes up its mind. However a lot of drivers aren't so patient therefore there are plenty of dead squirrels on the side of the streets.

[JK]

During my first music tour in Normandy in 1989, the hostess where I stayed was a gourmet cook. At one of the meals frogs legs was the first course. They tasted okay. (The main course was tripe). Haven't had them since and don't intend to. Don't like the idea of killing the frog just for its legs. If an animal needs to be killed, use all of it that's possible.
Frogs legs are popular down here. And in the better restaurants, snails are usually on the menu as well, as they also are in France. They're not called "snails" but "escargots." Can't get me to try them - sorry!

Yes, I should have said escargots (for which my apologies) but actually I went through my list very quickly in a sort of a free association, seeing where it would lead. As to eating them, it's all a matter of, ahem, taste.

Ah, the Alhambra. One of the most beautiful things built by humankind. And, around it, the Generalife garden.... water running everywhere, and when I visited there many years ago it was all drinkable, and I did help myself a lot.

Not sure if the water was still drinkable ten years ago. Curiously, the little cafe in the grounds where we had coffee was playing tracks from Steely Dan's last album. Perhaps they're national icons since "The Caves Of Altamira", lol.

[JK]

If anyone thinks I'm posting too much please let me know. When posters are thin on the ground (let's blame the summer) it might become tiresome to see the same old name cropping up everywhere.

[Please delete my account]

I tried a snail once from a friend's dish at a French restaurant. It just tasted of the garlic it had been cooked in to me. I'll just have garlic next time.

[JK]

I tried a snail once from a friend's dish at a French restaurant. It just tasted of the garlic it had been cooked in to me. I'll just have garlic next time.

True, escargots have no flavour. Still, without them the dish would have no "body". They're the things the garlic butter hangs off of.

[NOLA BB Fan]

John K you do not post too much!   

As for escargots, that's a fancy name so people will try the food out without knowing what it is.

There was a restaurant down here 40 years or so ago that specialized in exotic foods, such as tigers, hippos, etc.
Read that one of their specialties was Rocky Mountain oysters, also known as prairie oysters (another name is Montana tendergroins LOL). Well, ahem, they are not oysters, but rather what is removed from young male calves to make them better for beef production.
Yummy.

Reminds me of eating lunch in a Russian restaurant with my performing group back in 1991. The soup had these round balls in them. I tasted one, nothing to write home about but not bad. But one of the women members remarked about how they looked like well, you know. Is that what they were?

[JK]

John K you do not post too much!   

I can get a bit carried away at times, so that's good to know. Thank you!

There was a restaurant down here 40 years or so ago that specialized in exotic foods, such as tigers, hippos, etc.
Read that one of their specialties was Rocky Mountain oysters, also known as prairie oysters (another name is Montana tendergroins LOL). Well, ahem, they are not oysters, but rather what is removed from young male calves to make them better for beef production.
Yummy.

Montana tendergroins. That's made my day!

Reminds me of eating lunch in a Russian restaurant with my performing group back in 1991. The soup had these round balls in them. I tasted one, nothing to write home about but not bad. But one of the women members remarked about how they looked like well, you know. Is that what they were?

Did they look like this?

http://www.olgasflavorfactory.com/soups/russian-meatball-soup/

Looks innocent enough to me. But I'm sure RangeRover can tell you more about them...