In Memoriam: David Walley

A reminder to one and all that it was one year ago today that we at KUR said a final goodbye to one of our regular contributors, a man who gave us some rare insights into the early years of the Mothers. I am, of course, referring to the late lamented David Walley.

He was a good friend to all of those fortunate enough to get to know him. I always remember, a few years back when he was invited to become a member of those reprobates over at The Big Note, he kept saying how honoured he was to be invited, and that he wondered whether he would be able to contribute anything useful to the discussions! I had to reassure him that the honour was entirely ours and that I was quite sure that his posts would find an interested audience, but it took a while to convince him.

He was a thinker; he had his opinions, and enjoyed expressing them , but in my experience he was always willing to listen to others’ viewpoints, always willing to offer encouragement and support. He was that kind of guy, and he is sorely missed.

Back. Sort Of.

So why the hiatus, you ask. Well it wasn’t a trip to Hawaï, nor was it a relaxing ten days of soaking up the sun in my back yard. It was in fact something entirely different. It’s been a rough ride — but we’ll be back in the loop soon. It’ll take some time, as I’m sure you’ll understand.

In the mean time: how ’bout that Gail, huh? Oh and hey, Bálint, my dear friend: thanks for keeping this place alive while we were off.

Everything Is Healing Nicely

My anecdote 002 for today: been to the hospital for a few days because of a minor problem, and just to spend the time I’ve brought Slaven’s FZ biography with me. While reading the book, a middle-aged doctor (a lady) comes in to check the patients, and looking at me she says:
“What is that book you’re reading? ZAPPA?!? Geee! I SIMPLY ADORE HIM!”
Hm, it seems you’ll never know where you will meet another FZ fan. :-) Since then Everything Is Healing Nicely.

Ooooh Shiny

Last.fm now allows for the making and off-site inclusion of playlist “widgets”. Let’s see how that works out! Here are my Recently Played Tracks (my iTunes is currently on Party Shuffle mode by the way):

Now then: I’ve shown you mine — care to show me your widget? :D

In Other News…

  • Dr Sharleena is taking driving lessons as we speak. May the force be with her (and with those crossing her path on the road).
  • Tomorrow I get to have my obligatory work-related bi-annual medical check-up. If you don’t find me posting here within two days (at the most), it means something went terribly wrong when the Doc asked me to “look up and cough”.
  • I’m writing this while listening to Carla Bruni‘s “Quelqu’un M’a Dit”. Check her out; she’s got some brilliant songs, as well as a voice to die for.
  • You are still more than welcome to contribute to The Voice Of Cheese. Just drop a note, and I’ll get back to you when your contribution is up next.
  • The switch from winter to summer hour has been a pain in the butt. The people who enforced this should be shot forced to watch As The World Turns episodes until they choke.
  • The Trap, which had its final chapter aired last night, is one of the finest (BBC) documentaries I’ve seen in recent years [wikipedia]. It describes the path from Game Theory through to the concept of positive versus negative liberty. Food, as they say, for thought.

Computer Says Noooo…

Well hi there! I’ve been out of the loop a couple of days as you may have noticed. Finally brought the iMac to an Apple reseller for repair and got it back with a shiny, new, empty hard disk. No data recovered. At all. As we speak, Dr Sharleena is mumbling all sorts of intricate Spanish expletives at the thing which would truly make for a wonderful Friday Boot. So while I try to convince her of the fact that with the new hard disk, the iMac has been given a new soul and can therefor be trusted again, here’s some tidbits from the inbox:

Off to buy my second external backup hard disk in two weeks now! :)

Update: In a moving group-hug session, Dr Sharleena has forgiven the iMac for its wrongdoings.

Best. Birthday. Ever.

Remember my sneaking suspicion? Well I was right! Except, the party lasted the entire weekend and the company surpassed my wildest guesses. In order of appearance:

The food was quite simply delicious, and more Chimay’s, Leffe’s and Grimbergens were guzzled down than I’ve ever seen. But the best part: all you guys ‘n girls who were ready willing and able to (re)arrange your schedules for a weekend at Barry Towers. You’re the best!

Lastly: a huuuuuuge thank you to Dr Sharleena who had been secretly planning this as early as way back in August! Absolute genius!!!

Pictures? Yes! Now then… aspirin…