i'm going to add three more candidate albums for my fave albums list. all three are albums i first got into whilst a high school, and which have stood the test of time for me in that after some years 'away' from them i have come back to them and still enjoy them and find them to be very solid albums (over & above any possible sentimentality associated with them).

these are:
* the police - 'regatta du blanc'. in addition to the two great singles (especially 'walking on the moon' - is it about smoking pot as i suspect?), an album full of great songs with perhaps 1 or 2 possible exceptions. i particularly like 'bed's too big without you' & 'bring on the night', both of which support the proposal that white guys can make good reggae music (as the album title evidently suggests).
* u2 - 'the joshua tree'. sorry to those who may be groaning - gotta do it! bono may be rather over the top nowadays and these guys may well be richer than many third-world nations; but this isn't about that, and neither of these factors negate the fact that (in my humble opinion) this is a great album comprising some excellent songs. the first side/half is the 'punchline' but the second side/half supports it in rather more subtle, and varied, ways.
* midnight oil - '10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1'. a fantastic and solid album with barely a low point in my view. it ain't really about the typically political lyrics but the music - a host of kick-a$$ rock ditties plus a number of slower, more reflective tunes, and some great production to boot.

there u go.
soon i'll probably make a few more additions, then will begin to finalise / edit / shape this list.

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ok - i'm goin to list some more_possible_candidates for my fave albums list. again, the following is in no particular order:

* jimi hendrix - 'electric ladyland' ... what can i say? the left-handed virtuoso could channel some rare & deep phenomena ? i wish he didn't die when he did ...
* neil young - 'harvest' would be an obvious choice and hard to go past, although other candidates may include 'comes a time' or possibly even 'after the goldrush'
* kiss - 'dynasty' ... nah, not really - just kidding (but i like the song 'hard times') ... i may be tempted to include 'double platinum' for those times when i am in the mood, but this list is about studio albums, not compilations
* talvin singh - 'ok' or 'ha' would probably each come close to making my list ...
* david bowie - 'the rise & fall of ziggy stardust & the spiders from mars' is an almost certain starter

alright? i'll leave it there for now and give it a bit more thought, and possibly editing ... the list is beginning to take some shape anyhow

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the time has come, the walrus said ...
i am not the walrus; the walrus is not me,
yet the time has indeed come.
i've been loosely thinkin about this for a while,
but procrastinated ... anyhow, i want to start to think about compiling / collating a list of my favourite albums. maybe a top 13? or something of about that length.
it's going to take a while. there will be a few board meetings, in my mind - between my left versus right brain hemispheres perhaps. or between a frontal lobe(s) and a temporal lobe(s). decisons will be made, argued, and possibly reversed. but i'll give it a crack. just for the craic.
i could opt to go for rock albums only ... but won't. and indeed, where does one draw the line in the sand? in some circumstances at least ...
anyhow
whatever
i'm gonna start to throw around a few ideas, a few candidates. a bit of thinking out 'loud'.
in no particular order ...

i think that something from the rolling stones will make the cut - most likely 'sticky fingers'.
a miles davis album, preferably when john coltrane was still playing in the davis band; it's hard to go past 'kind of blue' really, isn't it.
there will certainly be at least one album by the church on my list. i gotta work out which one(s). that's my own personal challenge. e.g. do i go for something like 'heyday' or the obvious [yet solid] choice that is 'starfish'? on the other hand, this year's 'uninvited, like the clouds' is a contender, and i also wouldn't rule out 'the blurred crusade'! i'll get back to u on that one.
pink floyd would likely get a guernsey somewhere ... probably 'dark side of the moon' or perhaps 'obscured by clouds'?
of course, i need not limit myself to one album per band/artist.
there are many, many other contenders - but my new daughter is crying now, so further discussion will transpire at another moment ...
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i have been away from 'here' for almost a week, and i have a good reason for this absence ...
i now have a daughter! she was born last saturday night. she came two weeks early, but without too much fuss (relatively speaking). she is lovely (what else would i say?!?) and is a younger sister for my son who is three and a half. my son is happy to now have his mum and sister back home from hospital ... and i hope he doesn't have any significant kind of 'meltdown' triggered by this new addition to the family ... i don't talk about my kids much in this forum but i do love them ... ;-D
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i love stout!
i think it must be the roasted barley ...
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the other day i made a tasty tofu & chicken satay marinade ... i followed a recipe of course! i was never into the following recipe books bit, but have adopted that practice this year with regard to thai cooking, and have not regretted it; indeed i have certainly learnt a few things as a result of doing so.
the satay marinade involved coriander root, garlic, asian shallots &ginger - all pound to a apste in a mortar & pestle.
this paste was then added to cumin, turmeric, ground corainder, curry powder, soy sauce, coconut milk, vegetable oil, palm sugar, & salt. all that mixed up of course, then chicken marinated for several hours.
it turned out well, although i can't claim much credit really - just follwed the instructions. the tofu was tasty, as was the chicken of course ...
there was also a peanut sauce i could have made to add to the finished prodcut, but i didn't get around to that ... next time!

more generally, after neing a soy sauce addict of sorts for a number of years, i am developing more of a taste for fish sauce - although it isn't in this dish, it is probably (as far as i can tell) the most prevalent sauce used in thai cooking. smells kinda gross out of the bottle - although not as potent as shrimp paste - but it goes well in the pan in my humble opinion.

more of fergal's adventures in thai cuisine - 'ahaan thai' - to follow at another time ...

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i've been workin my way thru more of those albums of which i acquired copies from a friend, including:
- george harrison: 'all things'
- audioslave: self-titled & 'out of exile'
- decoder ring: 'somersault'
- st germain: 'boulevard'
- air: '10,000hz legend'

i've heard the latter two before, but enjoyed hearing them again. i mentioned previously that i'd being listening to early-ish pink floyd again recently ('meddle', etc.) and today i was listening to the chorus of 'how does it make u feel' on the aforementioned air album, and had a fleeting reminiscence of that kind of stuff. so there u go, eh?!

'somersault' is a nice, rather mellow soundtrack to the australian film of the same name which is worth watching & has interesting cinematography (in my opinion).

audioslave - been curious to hear one of their full albums for some time, comprising as they do (if i am not mistaken) members of soundgarden, pearl jam & rage against the machine. well, i haven't been disappointed really. 'out of exile' kind of hooked me more (or at least as much) on first listen last week than any other album has for some time - as far as i can presently recall, anyhow. having said this, i've only listened to it once or twice since - but more to come i'm sure ...

'all things' - a double cd (originally a triple album i believe?) given a big wrap by the inimitable steve kilbey on his own blog earlier this year (see link to 'the time being' on the right - to lazy to do the html link thing right now!), and i think it is indeed something of a masterpiece ... 'isn't it a pity' being one particular stand-out for mine after a couple of listens.

that's it for now peeps

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i'm looking for a dvd featuring the silver surfer .. anyone know where i can get one?
i haven't been seriously into comics since i was a kid, but the silver surfer has somehow piqued my curiosity.
the following is copied from the marvel comics website:

"One of the noblest and most tormented cosmic entities in the universe, the Silver Surfer treasures freedom above all else, but has often sacrificed his liberty for the greater good. He was born Norrin Radd on the planet Zenn-La, part of an extremely long-lived and technologically advanced humanoid race which had created a worldwide utopia devoid of crime, disease, hunger, poverty, and want of any kind. Urged on by his atypically ambitious father Jartran, Norrin was raised as a grimly intellectual youth, encouraged to seek knowledge, advancement and achievement rather than the aimless hedonism which had come to dominate Zenn-Lavian society. Norrin grew into a restless soul who longed for challenge and struggle, immersing himself in histories of Zenn-La's adventurous ancient past.

"Norrin's life changed forever when a menacing alien spacecraft pierced Zenn-La's long-neglected defense systems. Convincing a Council of Scientists member to provide him with a spaceship, Radd soon confronted the invader, Galactus, who intended to consume Zenn-La. Radd offered to become his herald and seek out new worlds for him in exchange for Galactus sparing Zenn-La. Galactus agreed, transforming Radd into a silver-skinned, cosmic-powered super-being patterned after an adolescent fantasy plucked from Norrin's memories. Known thereafter as the Silver Surfer because of the silvery flying board he rode, Radd departed Zenn-La with Galactus.

"The Surfer served Galactus well for many years, enjoying exploring the wonders of the universe; however, it became increasingly difficult for Radd to find energy-rich worlds devoid of sentient life. Over time, Galactus subtly altered the Surfer's mind, submerging Radd's emotions and repressing past memories. As a result, the Surfer became much more willing to lead Galactus to inhabited worlds, such as Earth. Locating Earth, the Surfer caused widespread panic and fought the Fantastic Four. During this conflict, the Surfer met blind sculptress Alicia Masters, who sensed his inner nobility and pleaded with him to spare humanity. His long-dormant emotions stirred by what Alicia taught him of beauty and spirit, the Surfer turned on Galactus and helped fight him off long enough for Uatu and the Fantastic Four to force Galactus to withdraw; however, Galactus punished the Surfer by trapping him on Earth, erecting an energy barrier around the planet that was uniquely attuned to the Surfer.

"The Surfer became a melancholy global wanderer, trying to adjust to his new home and understand its people. He had a pointless skirmish with Alicia's jealous boyfriend the Thing. Increasingly pessimistic about humanity, the Surfer tried to befriend fellow outcast the Hulk, but the man-monster's violent temper drove him away. Convinced by now that humanity was a savage race that could only survive and evolve if the planet were united against a common foe, the Surfer decided to become that foe. He terrorized the world with his cosmic powers until the U.S. military struck him down with an experimental power-draining "Sonic Shark" missile. Humbled by the incident and shown the error of his ways by the Fantastic Four, the Surfer resumed his peaceful wanderings. His powers were diminished, though they gradually returned to their original levels."

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4 corks
2 bottle caps
yes
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i'm still learning, still showing myself the ropes, here in the blogspot universe; and not really putting too much effort into it, to be honset (and it probably shows).
so, a couple of posts back i said how i'd enabled comments to be posted by anyone ... well in the process, i evidently selected the 'new post don't allow comments' (or similar) option. hence there was no facility to add comments to my past two posts. thanx to lee for pointing this out. come on now everyone, i know u were all dying to add comments, but coulkdn't - and that must have been frustrating for you all! so now's your chanbce: comment away!
axctually, going back to my earlier hypothesis re. lack of recent comments: after i allowed comments to be posted by anyone (not just registered users), sure enough i did get some comments (thanx). but in fact, when u look at it, only 3 people (apart from myself) posted comments; furthermore, all of these people were in fact registered users. so this outcome kind of contradicts my hypothesis that there was a legion, an army, of non-registered readers out there waiting to post comments. unless they're just really slow to do so?
ahh, f$#@ it! i'm a failed blogger. 'soy un perdido'! i should just throw in throw towel right now.
well who needs to be a good blogger anyway? huh? at least i'm good at some things like ... ... home-brewing beer, and ... other stuff too ...
actually it may help if i told more friends of the existence of this questionable online entity; and/or reminded some, whom i had previously told - perhaps they have forgotten about it's existence - which would be kind of telling in itself, wouldn't it?

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'desire is unquenchable,
all you can do is free yourself from it'

that is a quote from the japanese tv series 'monkey' (a.k.a. 'monkey magic'). specifically, it is stated by the narrator during the 3rd episode, 'the great journey begins', at the point when the pigsy character joins monkey & tripitaka (& the dragon horse) on their quest to india to retrieve some sacred bddhist scriptures. i know this because i have just watched this episode on dvd.

anyhow, that quote above essentially captures a - if not the - fundamental premise of buddhism, at least from the perspective of the author of this blog

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