Holiday Wish List

That smoking graphic just makes me...

Nice one, Reed!

/edit: Where did it go?

/edit 2: Right! Caught it!!

Reed Lover wrote: I gave up 5 1/2 years ago! Ex-smokers are the least tolerant of others pollution!

Interesting how proud you seem of your intolerance.

Let's be clear about this- I am an occasional smoker who is extremely considerate of other people's space and comfort when indulging. It irritates me a little to see how willing people are to curtail personal freedoms in the name of inflated risk statistics. If you quit for your own health, then more power to you. If you want to start to talk about personal capacity for health risks from lethal pollution, giving up your car would make a much bigger difference and put you on more sturdy (but less safely popular) moral ground.

James Lee wrote: Reed Lover wrote: I gave up 5 1/2 years ago! Ex-smokers are the least tolerant of others pollution! Interesting how proud you seem of your intolerance. Let's be clear about this- I am an occasional smoker who is extremely considerate of other people's space and comfort when indulging. It irritates me a little to see how willing people are to curtail personal freedoms in the name of inflated risk statistics. If you quit for your own health, then more power to you. If you want to start to talk about personal capacity for health risks from lethal pollution, giving up your car would make a much bigger difference and put you on more sturdy (but less safely popular) moral ground.

Good points to be sure.  I can't speak for Reed Lover james but I gave it up because my Doctor told me I am delvolping a wheeze and of the two items you mentioned smoking is the one I can live without.  I do Live In So Cal and we all know how bad our air is but I don't have a solution to stop it. I am tolerant of smokers but the farther I get away from it the worse it smells.

I may do... you see, my wife-to-be is 17 years my junior, an Oxford graduate, and, well, puts ticks in the boxes on most of my wish lists... (see the photos thread - she's gorgeous too!).

Returning to the Holiday Wish list topic, I wrote these lyrics - in about 5 minutes, off the top of my head. I wouldn't normally share anything I hadn't edited throughly beforehand, but these seem to have something - I'd be interested in comments;

A Tale of two Christmasses . By Cert.

We wish you a merry Christmas
and we wish you a happy new year
But as you make your Christmas wishes
Remember those who live in fear

Now as you stumble through the crowds
Feeling stressed out at what to buy
Just think that some would like the choice
Whether they live or whether they die

And as you dream of Santa calling
all the sleighbells and snow a-falling
There are people dreaming of the lives
Of mothers, fathers, siblings, husbands and wives

Then you wonder if you can afford it
Every year it seems so much worse
But at least you have a home to go to
And some money jingling in your purse

So as you feast on Chrismas morning
Open your presents with a practised smile
It sometimes seems to be a little boring
But it's much better than the murder mile

And as you dream of Santa calling
all the sleighbells and snow a-falling
There are people dreaming of the lives
Of mothers, fathers, siblings, husbands and wives

As the children laugh and scream
Enjoying the magic of Christmas day
There are lots of other people screaming
But you wouldn't want to look that way

So let's all wish for a happy Christmas
For everybody around the world
For just one day let it be our business
To think of somebody else.

When I wrote it, I heard Greg Lake's "I Believe In Father Christmas" in my mind - it almost fits the tune...

However, I hear a kind of traditional sleighbell intro, with happy children's voices, and maybe a half-verse of "Silent Night", interrupted by the sound of a cruise missile or maybe machine-gun fire.

Another idea also involves the cheesey sleighbells, beginning the first verse with a nice major key catchy melody with acoustic guitars maybe a children's choir. At the end of the last line of the first verse, a huge guitar riff slams in, with some nice, dark keyboards.

I think this is a rock/metal song - definitely on the dark side, perhaps going proggy - I don't know really until I go into the studio and see what "drops out". I'm glad if find it hard-hitting, as that was definitely my intent!

I think that the Band Aid record ran its course, even though it's a great song. I'm glad to see it still making money for its great cause, but can't help feeling a little cynical, when I hear of Bone-Head Bono inisting on singing "his line", and the cast of talentless t**sers behind the majority of the vocals. It's great that they've dropped everything for this project - but I wish they'd come up with a new song, as I find the new version painful in the wrong sort of way.

So I dreamt this up - in an attempt to strike hard, ask some awkward questions - and hopefully touch even those who are as cynical as me, getting them to examine their own feelings about what Christmas means to them. It's kinda designed to make me do that too...

I doubt I'll get the track to CD this year, as the studio is effectively closed until January - but maybe next year - or maybe I'll try to get a completely unproduced mp3 together, if my little daughter allows me the time...

Garion81 wrote: James Lee wrote: Reed Lover wrote: I gave up 5 1/2 years ago! Ex-smokers are the least tolerant of others pollution! Interesting how proud you seem of your intolerance. Let's be clear about this- I am an occasional smoker who is extremely considerate of other people's space and comfort when indulging. It irritates me a little to see how willing people are to curtail personal freedoms in the name of inflated risk statistics. If you quit for your own health, then more power to you. If you want to start to talk about personal capacity for health risks from lethal pollution, giving up your car would make a much bigger difference and put you on more sturdy (but less safely popular) moral ground.   Good points to be sure.  I can't speak for Reed Lover james but I gave it up because my Doctor told me I am delvolping a wheeze and of the two items you mentioned smoking is the one I can live without.  I do Live In So Cal and we all know how bad our air is but I don't have a solution to stop it. I am tolerant of smokers but the farther I get away from it the worse it smells.

Seems anytime I'm around a smoker I just go into a coughing fit and need to walk away. I don't mean to be rude, I just can't hang with the inability to breathe. After a recent trip to Michigan where smoking in resturants is still allowed, I'm was happy to return to smoke free California resturants.

danbo wrote: Garion81 wrote: 8. That more bands will think of Fresno, Ca as a can't miss stop on their tours (For Danbo) Thank you for your kindness. Hope to meet you at Cal-Prog 2005.

Your quite welcome and I hope to meet you there also. Should be a good show.  Papa Jim is really trying to create a community of prog lovers in So Cal so I imagine this event is just going to keep getting bigger.