The PA Happy Birthday Thread

Because, over the weeks we have been doing this thread, we have had many personages to discuss. Many have registered and buggered off without sharing nary a thought with us. Some have been blatantly advertising their wares, many are of the musical persuasion, with a good few even within the Temple of Prog we call Prog Archives as artists. Yesterday, we even had a porn merchant, although as our extremely brave roving reporter, JD, stated, it amounted to a pair of legs hanging over what looked like a bog, so not too much excitement there, although we continue to live in hope.

But today, we have a MOP. Yep, a MOP. Given that everything in today’s corporate jungle has to be provided with an acronym, MOP stands for Man Of Principle, because this is what today’s Prog God is, a chap who didn’t leave because he was fed up, didn’t leave because he discovered the joys of ogling and listening to Taylor Swift far outweighed those of getting to grips with Can, didn’t even leave because he had been subjected to a font-mad rant by Ivana. Nope, Dragon Phoenix, who celebrates his 64th birthday today, left the forum on a POP (Point Of Principle) in November 2007, more than three years after he had joined and contributed wisely and regularly to the fanged throng.

So! Just what was the POP that turned the MOP? Have a look see at this thread; Black Sabbath inclusion - Progressive Rock Music Forum - Page 1 Yep, our beloved founder, Mad Max, had ordered the inclusion of those legendary Brummie ‘eadbangers, Black Sabbath, into the pantheon of prog. On 12 October 2007, Hennie Schape, our MOP, posted this POP; “Seriously, as much as I like listening to BS, this is the last straw. This site is making a complete mockery of itself. I am out of here.”

Before we examine what our Hennie has been up to these last 13 plus years, let us talk about this cataclysmic event in the history of PA, an event so seismic that it does offer hope for those still yearning for the inclusion of Sir Cliff Richard  into Prog Related. Here is the link that Hugues placed in order to provide an explanation to the hairy hordes. Simply scroll down to see the (very extended) reasons why Sabbath should be on the site; BLACK SABBATH discography and reviews

Let us, in true PABT fashion, cut out the BS (the smelly stuff, not the band). No matter what arguments there are for Ozzy and Co being on the site, it boiled down to one reason and one reason alone, which I shall refer to as the Big Tits reason. What this? Well, I shall explain. Imagine, if you can, an ever so clever academic whose specialism is, say, the examination of the behaviour of sub-atomic particles, a subject so desiccated it would make the Gobi Desert appear flooded, and so narrow that only a very select few clever clogs would ever bother to visit his ramblings on how quarks wobble when subjected to electromagnetic pressure. However, imagine that said latter-day Einstein decided to post a picture of a luscious blond with extremely large and desirable mammary glands alongside the Google ad, you might think that the site visit count would be considerably higher, and you would be right. Tits always attract more clicks than quarks, and that, my dear friends, is why Sabbath were plonked into our beloved site. Click bait. Simple as, although, of course, one could make an argument that as we are still here to debate such issues, it was a damned good and clever little wheeze on the part of MAX.

Anyhoo, what about our very learned friend Hennie since he had his strop? First, let us take a look at his blog site; Art for art's sake This is just about as impressive as it gets, and I am rather full of admiration for this. Take some time to have a good tour, including his discussion of pop/rock faves, which is really interesting for its eclectic range.

Talking about eclectic, when Hennie registered he listed his interests as “Bambi Phoenix, cocker spaniels, music, art, mafia, chess”. Now, my friends. I know what a cocker spaniel is, I know what music is, I like a nice painting, I enjoy watching mobsters whack each other in the movies, and I can even do a Queen’s Gambit when pressed. But, for the life of me, and I have tried, I have no idea whatsoever what a Bambi Phoenix is. No f**king clue! Therefore, an honorary PABT “special researcher” appointment to any of you who can educate the masses and I. Ta!

So, what else of our MOP? Well, here is a link to his photography/art site, also worth a tour of; Galerie LuS: Fine art and photography: Hennie Schaper For those of you visiting Holland, and Kampen in particular, why don’t you visit Hennie at the gallery, and inform him that you are only there owing to the PABT? You never know, somebody who would have added a huge amount to the site might come back.

So! We wish a Van Harte Gefeliciteerd to our very good friend, Hennie! Don’t be Paranoid, and Sabotage PA! Be Iron Man, and come back!

Elsewhere, no present collab news to report today. 

So, rather then an exploration of the world of clebs, why don’t we explore a chap who has moved from the backwaters of The Land of the Free to one of the busiest urban centres on the planet, and see just why he has taken such a journey?

Our hero today actually registered with the site twice. His first incarnation was as maxmontgomery08, so named because his name is Max Montgomery and he joined the brethren in, well, 2008. Clever, eh? He celebrates his 31st birthday today, and when he registered he gave his location as Kansas City, and listed his interests as music, photography, writing, and “screwing with people’s head”. Now, as long-standing members here will know, donking with some personages heads hereabouts is not a particularly difficult thing to do, but, sadly, Max didn’t  bother to insert said dong into anybody’s cranium on his first visit.

It was a wee bit better second time around, although his contributions as maxiepad2000 were irritatingly sensible when he joined in March 2009, impressing our Lord Damo himself with some Japanese prog, and discovering Trili (no, me neither) from the New Bands Suggestions thread. Trili were an ‘eavy  prog outfit from Puerto Rico of all places TRILI discography and reviews As you can see, they impressed our Raff with their Riffs, and here is their StaySpace site for those of you who can figure out how to play something on the blasted thing https://myspace.com/trili 

Anyhoo, Max gave his precise location as Prairie Village, which is by Kansas City. It has a grand total of 21.5 thousand souls living there, and, as you can see, it is “The Star of Kansas City” City of Prairie Village | Home I am very glad to report that this is yet another location whose trash services are provided by our old friends at Republic Services.

And what of our friend now? Well, he has moved up in the world. He is now a Client Service Associate, the glue which holds an advisory service business together, what with making coffee and shining the shoes of all those executives. Max Montgomery - Client Service Associate - UBS | LinkedIn  Max undertakes these vital duties at UBS, that noble banking institution which is in no way connected with anything as nasty or deceitful such as money laundering or tax evasion for the wealthy. And, he moved to Chicago, that wonderfully crime free metropolis of 2.71 million souls.

Our Max started off his working life as a Lifeguard at The Carriage Club back home in Dorothytown. Here it is; Home - Carriage Club Frankly, if I had the job of licking backsides of the wealthy, I would much rather be doing it at the country club as opposed to the bank, but, as we know, it really does take all sorts to make our crazy world go around.

So! We wish a very happy birthday to Max! He lives in our kind of town!

Elsewhere, no present collab news to report.

I can, however, leave you tonight with images of our not quite nailed on candidates mentioned at the top.

Here is one for the chaps, or for those ladies of the same-sex persuasion;  Lara Cardoso | Atriz, Apresentadora e Comediante

And here is one for the ladies, or, naturally, those chaps of the same-chap persuasion; https://www.facebook.com/dante.dio2016/ 

Eye candy for the masses! The mission statement of PABT!