Yes awful last few days with bushfires in many locations, some not that far from Melbourne itself - so far 26 people have died. 12 of those seem to be 2 groups of 6 who died in their cars they must have been trying to escape. Apparently the fireball came through Kinglake so fast nobody had time.

Slan, yep, this is the one with the cemetery in it. Feckin crazy carvings! Makes me wonder what the meaning of it all was at the time. Sorry to bring up bad feelings. I believe ya bro. I've had my share, but gladly nothing as terrifying as what you and yer sis - and obviously others had seen. Glad you found music too!

Those dudes are nuts! They go into places asking for trouble. On another show, the main dude had the other two lock him in a morgue bed. Literally! Slid open the feckin drawer, crawled up in it and laid down, and had the dudes LOCK the door and go to other parts of this haunted place. Mental hospital or prison? Not sure.? After a while the dude started feeling really bad and feeling like somebody was in there with him, so he started freaking out and banging on the door. The other two dudes didn't hear him, and his feckin radio shut down! He was stuck in there screaming and banging until they heard him, and then they couldn't find the room he was in!! Oh hell no!! This shit scares the hell outta me. Don't know why I watch it? Guess I prefer watching the real scary stuff as opposed to the made up movies, and there's usually nothing on so we're flippin channels when we find it. I hate scary stuff. LOL!

I dig the name Broonzy. Shuda went for that one for the lil' man. lol! Ah well, maybe the next one ;- )

For all you ladies learning guitar.

Hi all.... and thanks for the messages!

At the mo if I sneeze, cough, breathe sharply, move in a certain way, sleep on my right etc etc it hurts. It's not agony but pretty sore so guessing fractured ribs.... doh

Joe - Hi, am I dreaming it or have you covered a song written by (someone I've forgotten and) Mal Waldron? Hope you and the family are well, and you're gonna have a rest some time soon LOL... cool to see you posting again

Michelle - now that was funny (the grease post). So you want me to be rizzo and Al to be Sandy?? Great news about your Dad, that's so good! The struggle we have with snow is pretty funny I'd say

Igneous - thing is I don't find Bontrager to be naff components, so really surprised. Just one of those things I guess. Kinda like my 5 yr old Sony TV deciding to throw the toys this week BTW, isn't the Satchurator designed to help eliminate hum?... can't remember.... and I did try to warn you about Vista. Any reason why you can't switch to XP?

Roo - ok, that's cool. Hope you're enjoying your summer. BTW since you made some changes to the site it loads a lot quicker over here

alexandrecaetano - congratulations on the baby news!

Skippygirl - I'm more of a Fed fan myself (that's Roger Fed, not K Fed lol) but was still a great match to watch. Roll on some more great matches.. and wahoo, you got a Joe post. Oh, is it still easy to get centre/show tickets for the Tennis Open these days, at least in week 1?

Do The Stu - hey, hope it wasn't anything too serious that kept you from the board. Good to see you back

Castle49 - that's some serious stuff, how is your Dad now?

ZincMaster - cool news about Mr Big. They're such a good live band. I hope they take the tour worldwide

Surfing with the Alien

The Extremist

Pip, ya always gotta have "transition kitty". Transition kitty is the kitten you bring in when kitty #1 starts getting up in age. We always have 2 cats - simply because ya gotta give them a bud to pal around with. Like chips & chocolates, ya can't have just one! As for making that decision, it's one of the hardest things to do, but so much more humane than letting them suffer. And about Grease, ya know I wanna be Rizzo, and Al would make the perfect Sandy! He'd look just bitchin' in a poodle skirt! Broken ribs you say? I must have missed something. What happened?

Michellica - thanks for the Carly vid, altho I am still unsure what D-tuning is.........

Joe Satrini - I would agree with Mama M that a transition kitty is a good idea - altho yours may have been not very old when she fell ill? I just love the way you loved that cat - you are obviously affectionate yourself.

Re the Aust Open yes it is a great tournament to get tickets for - a $30 day pass gets you into every court except Rod Laver Arena and I have seen some sensational matches, lazed around at Garden Square and had a fab day. Actually the last 5 years my firm has been a corporate sponsor and I've had tickets to corporate seats with clients for every semi-final and final - YES the men' s and women's finals - but this year we didn't take the sponsorship so that's the end of that great free gig for me.

I got the electric today - it turns out it is a Telecaster not a Stratocaster and so SMALL - I can't believe how tiny electrics are compared to acoustic! but already I can see the difference in the fingerboard - dead flat, strings low etc and I can geet C and F really easily.

My niece also gave me a little old Peavey amp it is so cute. The power inlet plug is broken so I had to go buy 8 D batteries - hope they last. No headphone jack so I will have to keep the volume down.......

Lastly - awful, awful fires around Melbourne with 70 people dead and 600 homes lost. One of my staff is a volunteer firefighter and is on duty tonight to make firebreaks etc. terribly sad situation, so we are rounding up clothes, etc and making donations to help those who have lost their homes.

mama M:I find comfort talkin about it so no reason t feel yer diggin up bad memorys, i dealt with that demon a long time ago.Can say this tho, since that experience if someones head & heart is ok or not without so much as uttering a word i can pick up on it in a nanosecond, many a time i,ve left a room from what some would call "paranoia" hightened awareness i feel is more like it.Theres a good way t suss out the fakers from the others, people that have a scar on the soul after an experience dont talk about it in a fearful manner when the years pass, they come across angry cuz they are pissed at being laughed at & having t live with something that cant be explained yet by science

The grayfriars graveyard in Edinburgh is famous for a true story about a peoples dog called Bobby, who reportedly spent fourteen years guarding his owner's grave until his own death on 14 January 1872 it was said kids loved the dog so theres good reason t believe what the lads witnessed on yer link, at the same time they must have done research so jumping t conclusions is goin t happen, they seriously need t loose those studio reverb fxs in the program tho, makes it come across sooo fake

btw thats a good Nick for johnnyboy....Broonzy lol i like that

Pip - He's being treated and it's going to take a while to heal because of his diabetes.

Those fires in Austrailia are so widespread. Thinking of you all. Had a close call myself last year.

Golden Girl did you get some rain?

So so sorry to hear about the fires, it's terrible.

latest news on coldplay/joe..comment by Howard King

and this is what coldplay has to say

So John you take French? I am in the highest French class in my school, I have a B (second best grade) yet I don;t know how to speak it!!! I BS all my homework and still get ponts, but the tests kill me.

Ibanez_god--Dang! I hope you can get your medical situation and doctor sorted out. Sorry to hear you have had such trouble and complications!

Michelle--You're sense of humor is goin' wild, girl! LOL! You don't need a bong hit, you are already naturally high!!

Slans--What an experience you had as a kid! You and your sister--were you two ever able to sort out what you saw together? Your experience must have been surreal. Life is like that at times. I hope your family including your sister are doing well.

Maritime--Dr. Clogs chapter 2 is going to take me some time to locate because microsoft says I need to download software to see it! Sigh! I am still enjoying those pictures with you and Joe and Jeff! You look to me like a ruggedly handsome, teddybear Dutch brother! Did I say that? Wow! To say you are a citizen of the world just isn't enough and doesn't do you justice! ;-)

GG2:I can find classes for alcoholics anonymous but nothing for energy anonymous lol it didnt effect my sis as much but i took it real serious, instead of playing chords every now n then i nosedived into music total immersion.Music was never about being cool gettin chicks bein famous n touring for me, although all those fringe benifits came & went, its more like my empty church, its my place t go t forget about the madness of it all, sounds pretentious but i cant put it any better

I,d love t be at the grammys tonight