hey russ, not bad my man, a lefty singing drummer...gorra be a winner, cant wait to hear more, some originals would be nice.

phill

hi dino, all the football games had their roots in a street game that was played by all the men from one village against all the men from the next, the object was to get (i think) a pigs bladder to the other side of the village. there were many injuries and sometimes deaths and a lot of fighting. from this i believe soccer came into being. then during a game in the high school named RUGBY someone picked up the ball and the game came into being. i think it's the same guy who then took the game to ireland, australia then america, giving each their own rules. there is also two similar yet different rugby disciplines, union and league. in the UK league is played mainly in the north of england, whereas union is played mainly down south, and of-course in wales scotland and ireland, where each also has a league side. league is also a big game in new zealand and australia.

the main differences between rugby and american football, is that you are only allowed to tackle the man holding the ball, when you have a touch down in rugby, you actually have to touch the ball to the ground. if a substitution occurs that player stays on, in football i believe that players are put on for certain plays then taken off till the next play. and of-course you play the 40 minutes of each half without stopping for commercial breaks or time-outs. you dont just need to be super fit but also have stamina.

hi jeff, full monty came to fame as the title of the male strippers film which started the male stripper stuff in the UK. full hog, well i don't know where that saying originated but it's been around as long as i have, maybe it's a UK thing?

as for the recording, i'm having trouble getting songs onto my PC, then onto sound click or myspace, and the quality is pretty awful too, but i'll keep trying, and when i get some results i'll let you all know.

thanks ark and floranicolas, i suppose these days it's all about people slapping themselves on the back for doing something they get well paid for. like those bankers, they lost billions yet they award themselves huge bonuses! what's that about?

though having said that, i watched a re-run of the UK rock awards yesterday and enjoyed that. jeff beck was amazing, but it does go to show that long guitar solo's are quickly becoming a thing of the past....even for virtuosos that can carry them off.

Having seen some of the footage of the Oscars over the last week-end, I awoke this morning with the first verse banging around my head. I've tried to reflect what I perceive as the false, shallow egotism involved in the movie industry

hi john, just because  blueridge has a good name doesn't mean that yours is the best representative of the make. i had a strat and played it for 30 + years cos i thought it was a good guitar. it sounded crap to me, and now it sits in my attic gathering dust. it put me off fenders for a long time. when the replacement got me down (a real cheapy) i tried lots of guitars, avoiding fenders at all costs. when nothing got the juices flowing, i told the shop guy to pass me the telecaster off the stand. i didn't need to play it, i knew i'd found my soul-mate. i bought it there and then and never looked back.

moral is; if your not happy with what you've got look for something you will be happy with.

phill

PS. as an afterthought, you could take your guitar to your local music shop and ask for it to be set up proffessionaly if they have a guitar doctor. if they dont, check-out yellow pages.

I've got lots of bits of paper on my desk with a couple of lines, and others with chord progressions on, it's all a case of matching them up. Worry not, you'll get there.

Phill

hi richie, welcome to chordie. i agree it's easiest to learn songs you know well rather than someone else's choice. only tip i can offer at this moment is; watch how other people play, and listen to the tones different fingerings can form. and of course...keep at it

condolences on the loss of your friend, it's such a shame that as we get to a certain age more and more of the ones we've known and loved seem to hang up the guitar and take up the harp. he's obviously left you with some great memories, cherish them.

phill

i used to play in a band with a guy who was challenged in a keeping the beat kinda way. and tone deaf to boot. but he could feel the vibrations through the stage so his timing was almost close!!!! the down side was that if he started a song off in the wrong key he wouldn't know about it till he got kicked! he got kicked quite a lot before he finally got kicked out of the band!

the moral is; if you get enjoyment from music, playing or listening, do it. not everybody is simon cowell so we wont judge you.