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Jared 
Forum Senior Member 
Joined: May 06 2005 Location: Hereford, UK Status: Offline Points: 19215 |
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 Posted: August 11 2022 at 06:49 |
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Now, I'm not trying to rock the boat here, but...
After having been reminded of them on the Caerllysi site, I tried to find something about 'Stuckfish' on PA (loved a couple of Yt tracks off their new album).. and, considering they are now 3 albums in, I was really surprised to see they aren't here??
 Did they get rejected? Surely, they would be prime candidates for Xover?  So, naturally I went on down to Lazland and sure enough they were there, so I read your really enjoyable and colourful review of 'Days Of Innocence'... very fine stuff, if you ask me!  |
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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lazland
Prog Reviewer 
Joined: October 28 2008 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 13627 |
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Posted: August 11 2022 at 10:01 |
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Thanks Jared On train home from London, so not a secure connection. I will email Will in the morning
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Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org
Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
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lazland
Prog Reviewer
Joined: October 28 2008 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 13627 |
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Posted: August 11 2022 at 10:03 |
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Thanks Jared (again!). Yep, a mighty fine album, and if you want to reach the parts PA cannot reach, then head off down to lazland.org
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Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org
Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
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SteveG
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 11 2014 Location: Kyiv In Spirit Status: Offline Points: 20604 |
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Posted: August 11 2022 at 11:55 |
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Head on down to Lazland! Where prog is more than just a four letter word!
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This message was brought to you by a proud supporter of the Deep State.
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Jared
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 06 2005 Location: Hereford, UK Status: Offline Points: 19215 |
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Posted: August 11 2022 at 12:57 |
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it was a therapeutic, wholesome and enlightening experience, Steve...
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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lazland
Prog Reviewer
Joined: October 28 2008 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 13627 |
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Posted: August 11 2022 at 14:44 |
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You are both altogether too kind. Just got back in the house from London. Whilst away, I have been contacted by a couple of American artists, so exclusive interviews will be following in the next few weeks together with new album reviews. Happy days!
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Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org
Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
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Jared
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 06 2005 Location: Hereford, UK Status: Offline Points: 19215 |
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Posted: August 11 2022 at 14:49 |
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^^ Have you thought about seeing whether you could do a reciprocal deal with Caerllysi, where you have a visible link to each other's sites? Thinking about it, are you able to measure how much traffic your site attracts each month?
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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lazland
Prog Reviewer
Joined: October 28 2008 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 13627 |
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Posted: August 11 2022 at 16:03 |
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That’s an interesting idea re Caerllysi. My thoughts on that are that I like to remain strictly independent, answerable only to me, myself, I. I am not a fan of adverts on music sites. In fact, many of them get on my nerves, and I have to be slightly careful anyway with regard to accepting commercial arrangements owing to my job. Further, I am pretty honest when I review music and I make it extremely clear to those who submit stuff to me that the honesty bit is more important than the free music or endorsement bit. I see some reviews out there which wax lyrical about the biggest load of sh*te I have ever heard, although I do accept that this can be down to musical taste and that I can be a little bit of a contrarian sometimes. Only sometimes, though. You will take my point that sometimes you listen to a piece of work and you wonder how on Earth it is rated or reviewed so highly, and many times it is because it is a freebie or endorsed by a label such as Inside Out, and the commercial arrangement outweighs the integrity part, something Prog magazine, in particular, is very guilty of. In the advert or endorsement regard, I am extremely lucky that I do not need the money. We are not rich people, far from it, but we are comfortable. The running of my site is relatively cheap, only some £300 per year, and I do all the work myself as something I love doing, so there is absolutely no need for me to start having to attract income in order to pay for it. As regards website traffic, yes I am able to view how many people visit the site, their location based upon their IP, and what people are looking at. I might look at this once a week, because, at the end of the day, it is very much a personal piece of work which I am extremely fortunate that friends such as yourself support and enjoy. I am not particularly bothered about whether I had 200 visitors more yesterday than the equivalent day last week, as I made clear on my Porcupine Tree album review. I could, for example, do a lot more “marketing” of the site if I was either so inclined, or if I had the time as well, but, again, this is primarily a site in which I share my view of music, beer, books, whatever with the members of the planet who choose to view it, and it is also something of a posterity item. I made it clear years ago that my PA reviews I regarded as my intellectual property, not Max’s, and I wanted them on my site as something to remember in years to come, perhaps when I am no longer here and my son and his children want to see what the bloody hell their grandfather thought about years ago.
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Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org
Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
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Jared
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 06 2005 Location: Hereford, UK Status: Offline Points: 19215 |
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Posted: August 12 2022 at 01:45 |
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Thank you for the thorough explanation you have just given; far more than my one-line comment deserved. My problem is that I'm fundamentally quite lazy and rarely give full explanations for my reasoning.
Although we haven't met, I never doubted the fact that for you, personal integrity comes first and foremost, while commercial concerns are of little consequence, which I applaud. It is this freedom from commercial arrangements, which as an individual reviewer gives you one of your greatest advantages (and you should keep it this way) as it enables you to be refreshingly objective, yet still demonstrate the natural generosity of spirit, which you have become known for. Your arguments concerning Prog Mag and InsideOut are valid and well known to all; both are very worthy institutions in their own sphere, but will always be forced into compromises as they are judged on performance by their masters. I remember a conversation I had with Malcolm Parker from Cyclops (God bless him) back in the early days of Classic Rock magazine, when he told me how much he had to pay to get a track from one of his stable onto the lower reaches of the cover CD, agonising over what would most likely bring him the best returns for the benefits of the label as a whole... I know this is not a world you wish to be part of. I would nevertheless respectfully suggest you examine your motivations for creating your wonderful site and the extent to which you wish to take it? Your passion for Prog together with your ability to articulate this passion, seeps through every line, but to what end beyond family posterity? My feeling is that you've also written it to support the Prog community and the artists who underpin it? If so, your ideal would be for the review reader to support the artist by purchasing the product? If it's a hard copy, I'm guessing you'd prefer them to buy from a non-profit making source which ploughs the money back into an 'industry' which supports fledgling artists? I don't see any compromises here, as nothing requires you to write anything which questions your reviewing integrity; you can always decline to review, however you are very good at being positive and constructive about an underwhelming release. I had a look at Will's front page, where he already supports a small review site: 'ProgPlanet'. It wouldn't be uncharitable to say that neither the graphics, site navigation or content are up to the standard you've already created after only a few months. In some ways, because you present yours as a Blog, there is sufficient product differentiation for there no to be too much conflict of interest? Just a thought. I certainly wouldn't want you to 'market' your site in a commercial way, but it could be argued your significant light is being hidden under a bushel....
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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SteveG
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 11 2014 Location: Kyiv In Spirit Status: Offline Points: 20604 |
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Posted: August 12 2022 at 05:38 |
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This message was brought to you by a proud supporter of the Deep State.
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lazland
Prog Reviewer
Joined: October 28 2008 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 13627 |
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Posted: August 12 2022 at 10:56 |
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Thanks for this, Jared. My apologies for the time taken to respond, but I have been clearing the decks at work before two weeks off, done the weekly shop, and loaded the wife’s wagon for her work this weekend. I really do greatly appreciate the kind words. I recognise the point you make about Cyclops, because I saw similar comments from another small label (I forget who) who were extremely unhappy at the fact they had to pay what was, to them, a large amount of money to get a track on that Classic Rock and latterly Prog free cd. As for the motivation, I suppose it was multi faceted when I set the website up. There was a distinct element of being utterly fed up with PA and it’s arcane addition rules and narrow minded vision or opinion of what constitutes prog. So, when an admin informed me that I should sod off elsewhere to write a review of Troika, I thought, well, why not? So, certainly a degree of being fed up here. There is the personal posterity thing, but I agree with you that I take a huge amount of pleasure in doing this thing, getting sometimes very obscure artists to the attention of a wider audience, and sharing my thoughts with the world and enjoying some fantastic feedback. Funnily enough, there was a chap who was one of my students this week who was a bit of a prog and rock fan, and I pointed him to the website and he liked it and said he would explore the stuff he had never heard of, so that was nice. I do not buy the physical copy of every artist I review, because I would end up in the divorce courts, but I do buy many of them, but also, naturally, welcome artists who send me stuff for free. Thanks for the comments about underwhelming releases. This is something I do always try to do. I can imagine just how painful it must be to sweat blood and tears over a piece of music only to have some hack rubbish it. I remember when NME had a go at Rush back in the day, even accusing them of being fascists re Ayn Rand. I never brought the rag again, and they never did an interview with them again. There is never any excuse for being an arse. In terms of the links and publicising the site more, thank you. I am having two weeks off work, much needed, so that will give me a bit of time to not only do some music work (I need to prepare for a couple of interviews) but also to have a serious think about your suggestion. I really admire Will and his site, and I still purchase from him, so that is something to have a serious think about as well. As is changing the FB profile I have to Lazland, as opposed to me as an individual. In other news, I am going to win the Euromillions lottery this evening, and will be able to retire and devote my time to this full time!
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Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org
Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
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Jared
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 06 2005 Location: Hereford, UK Status: Offline Points: 19215 |
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Posted: August 12 2022 at 14:59 |
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This is an element I was going to ask you about, when you referenced your recent review of the new Porcupine Tree. I remember you saying you paid quite a bit of attention to it, gave it quite a few listens and felt it was important to get the review right in your own mind before posting. Why was this? Because you felt your review would be judged by many who had already heard the album and would likely be posting their own reviews, or at least would have strong opinions on it, one way or another? I'm in no way being critical when I say this; merely asking why you feel the need to review such high profile albums which won't in any way need your promotional support? Do you feel it important in order to drive traffic to your site, or because you felt a deep seated emotional need to have your own say on the album everyone is discussing? It always amuses me when I see yet another review of DT's Images & Words published on PA as I think to myself that I haven't read the other 1400 yet...  As you rightly say, your interest in and loyalty to the slightly more obscure artists who would otherwise have very few reviews of their work, is in my opinion, what your site is ideal for. This approach will yield rewards in terms of personal contacts, interviews and who knows, they might remember you very fondly when they are as big as PT! ** Anyway, I really hope this doesn't come across like I'm interfering with your fab Blog; I just like sticking my nose in where it doesn't belong
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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Jared
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 06 2005 Location: Hereford, UK Status: Offline Points: 19215 |
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Posted: August 12 2022 at 15:04 |
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I have always believed this type of empathy is so important when considering the work of others and if I had to pick one single aspect of why your reviews are enjoyable to read, this would be it.
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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lazland
Prog Reviewer
Joined: October 28 2008 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 13627 |
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Posted: August 12 2022 at 15:26 |
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You do not come across as interfering. I love these conversations, and I am really looking forward to continuing them over a few drinks and a meal at Magenta. Re PT. That album was one that had been purchased by a large number of people. When it plonked through my door, I was always going to review it, because it is an important album, and I wanted my thoughts put down on “paper”. They do not need my publicity, and, indeed, I do not contact larger bands on FB/Messenger when I publish a review, but I do with the lesser known ones, and I really enjoy the interactions with them. I get what you say about multiple reviews of popular albums here on PA. The review for PT was for two purposes. Self gratification that I had published my thoughts on an important album, and also sharing my thoughts with the people kind enough to visit my site. As I said before, I am not particularly bothered about how many people visit the site, I am simply very grateful for those who do and take some pleasure from my meanderings on life, beer, prog, the universe, and everything. I love those artists who toil away, and I know you do. When you, Thomas, Nick, Steve and a growing number of others contact me either here or via my website to let me know about a particular artist or album, it gives me a huge amount of pleasure, and likewise when somebody tells me that they enjoy an album they might otherwise not have heard were it not for a review. Makes it all worthwhile!
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Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org
Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
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Jared
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 06 2005 Location: Hereford, UK Status: Offline Points: 19215 |
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Posted: August 13 2022 at 12:10 |
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Mine arrived today. I have just listened to it. I've got to tell you that it's absolutely wonderful.. so very touching. Will is also selling the first Luna Rossa and the most recent Odin Dragonfly for around £5 each... which for me would make for rather a tasty bundle, for pennies which won't see any of you in the divorce courts..
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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nick_h_nz
Collaborator
Prog Metal / Heavy Prog Team Joined: March 01 2013 Location: Suffolk, UK Status: Offline Points: 6737 |
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Posted: August 13 2022 at 13:08 |
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I love Will’s £5 bargain section, and have bought many CDs from there over the years. (It’s hard to ignore a bargain.) There are a lot ( a LOT! ) of very good albums in the £5 selection at the moment.
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lazland
Prog Reviewer
Joined: October 28 2008 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 13627 |
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Posted: August 13 2022 at 15:14 |
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And ordered. So hopefully here by the middle of the week. That Luna Rossa album is class and so is the Odin Dragonfly. Both purchased from Will I think. There is a historic interview with Jonathan and Anne-Marie on my site in the context of Panic Room.
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Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org
Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
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lazland
Prog Reviewer
Joined: October 28 2008 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 13627 |
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Posted: August 15 2022 at 13:16 |
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Review of The Myth of the Mostrophus by Ryo Okumoto added to
Album Reviews 2022 Page. It is a fine album. Ale of the Week added to Beer & News Page with a report
on life in East London in August 2022. Darkher – Sirens Nocturne – is the Video of the Week. This week, I have been grooving to the exceptional The
Confidence Trick by Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate, and I hope to upload a
review very shortly. Other new stuff in the queue RanestRane and Spiritraiser
which will hopefully get a review treatment as well. Historical 2005 album reviews added to Album Reviews by Year
Page. Reviews of Anthony Phillips, Arena, Pendragon, and Van Der Graaf
Generator. The historical reviews are now pretty hit and miss. Some
years had a lot of albums, and some few. Some had a lot of detail in the
review, and others not a great deal at all. I have not changed any of them, for
the reasons I have set out previously. I am looking forward to completing this element
of the website so that I can add new reviews of albums and, perhaps, updating
some of the existing ones. So, on that basis, the 2004 element of the project is
uploaded, with far more detail than 2005. Reviews of albums by Marillion, Magenta,
The Flower Kings, a shockingly bad Asia live album, and a not so shockingly
brilliant IQ studio album. Last, but by no means least, a rather lovely little story in
the Ukraine Section of Beer & News Page from Kidwelly in Wales. A busy night! Enjoy. |
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Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org
Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
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Jared
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 06 2005 Location: Hereford, UK Status: Offline Points: 19215 |
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Posted: August 19 2022 at 02:05 |
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Have you had a chance to listen to the Magenta yet?
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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lazland
Prog Reviewer
Joined: October 28 2008 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 13627 |
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Posted: August 19 2022 at 04:15 |
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You know, you must be psychic, because I am literally opening the package from Will right now. It arrived on Wednesday, but I went up to see my father and didn’t get back until relatively late yesterday evening. In addition, last night was taken up with quite a bit of work for interviews - there will hopefully be three of them coming up in September and October. We are taking mother in law out for podiatry and lunch shortly, so I will post my thoughts later this evening!
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Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org
Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time! |
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Jared wrote: