friday

Uwe Gembella! Well done that man! :D Just done a quick search on Google: http://www.gemballausa.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemballa http://www.lambocars.com/archive/diablo/gemballad.htm Interesting stuff...hadn't heard of him before! Reckon they'll look really nice on a 300zx (they looked great on the 2+2 I got them off :) )

I've currently got a set of rather good looking 17" alloys in need of a refurb but I've never heard of the make before and I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me with more info on them or the maker? Each of them has a centre cap that says "Designed by Clive Gem(?) Ballon(or Buller?)" (not entirely sure if this is correct as the signature is a bit hard to read!). This signature is also engraved into the face of each alloy (see photos below). If I didn't already have a set to go on I'd be keeping these as I've always been a sucker for a five spoke wheel with a nice dish but needs must when the Devil drives so they'll probably be up for sale shortly. :rolleyes:

That is genius. I wonder if there's a company in the Uk that do it and how much the cost is compared to a respray?

Having to rush this post as about to head out but here go's: The religious texts I mentioned, the scrolls found at Nag Hammadi, illustrate your very point, and one that I completely agree with! They are the scriptures that were omitted from the Bible. Most people have this idea that the scriptures in the Bible were the only ones and somehow almost chosen by some sort of "divine intervention". Wrong. They were chosen by a group of "Church Fathers", men who wanted to express their own version of Christian Dogma (the expulsion of the female aspect for a start...which carries on to this day...the recent Anglican split over Female Clergy for example). Those submissions that weren't in line with their thinking were expunged. Which is why I dislike the dogma surrounding Christianity. Does this mean I find the essence of the religion somehow at fault...no! The original teachings of love and peace hold true, it is the influence of the patriarchal Christian Elders and the reverberating effect through the ages that have skewed them. Which brings me to your points: no one (in their right mind! IMO ;)) would disagree that violence or abuse in the name of religion is ever right or justified however this doesn't make the essence of the religion itself wrong.

Er...kind of my point old chap! :) And while we're quoting folks here's another (somewhat b@stadized) one for takemetothepublichouseminesaginifyourebuying (Voltaire via Evelyn Beatrice Hall...my MA finally sees some use after all! Huzzah!): "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". I'm not out to convert anyone and, frankly, couldn't give a flying bag of badgers whether you "believe" (ahhh) that science will save our souless asses or that salvation in fact lies with a small otter called Wayne. In the end, it's whatever gets you through the night. ;)

Cogito ergo sum. If you'll permit the summary ;)

So you're now saying belief, as a whole, is "outmoded" and defunct in the face of scientific progress? (I take it from the pejorative reference to Catholocism you're including Christianity?). You seem to be trying to weigh everything from a solely "scientific" stand-point yet your original post seemed to be coloured by a fair whack of vitriol towards "spiritualism" (and other belief systems? Let's face it, from a purely scientific stand-point, why should one be subject to more apparent disdain than another as, by their very nature, religion requires an act of faith which, as AndyP mentioned, cannot be emperically quantified). May I ask you a question? What is your stand on religion/belief? Are you a Christian for example? Do you believe in a higher power? Or, as your last post seems to suggest, are you an aetheist? I also ask as the language used in your first post would have been equally at home coming from a fervent right-wing Evangelical Christian. Personally speaking, I see the schism between Science and Religion as positively ludicrous. I "believe" there is no reason why the two can't co-exist peacefully, if you will. Indeed I also "believe" that there may come a point where they become very much intertwined. Speak to a ceratin section of theoretical physicists and it won't be long before the conversation turns to decidedly "non-scientific" subject matter...

Lol Rob! :rofl:;) Oi! pipe daahn in the cheap seats we're avin' a serius filosofical diskusion like...er... :wack::D:rofl:

Then explain "Dark Matter". Or, if you want to take a more obtuse line, "love". You can't quantify either but still, they're accepted as being "there".

I'll kick myself for being drawn into this but I have to ask... "twised and un-natural"...pretty strong, confrontational and emotive words. You can't say something like that without explaining why. For example, are you basing it on personal experience, from views held by certain (in my opinion, dogmatic, deluded, patriarchal, out-dated and in some cases down right dangerous) Judaeo-Christian religious elements, or from "information" gleaned from popular culture? It may suprise you to find out that Olga and John, indeed the whole spiritualist church they attend, refer to themselves as "Christian" (though I'm sure most Evangelists would turn a funny colour and then explode if they heard that)...and by Christian I'm not referring to the Church and Dogma we see today. Which, funnily enough, can be pretty twisted and un-natural in itself. In my opinion. (It's certainly a far cry from the teachings in the early scriptures. I'd talk with you more about that but it's a bit pointless if you're not aware of the Nag Hammadi library)

Wow. Nice work Rob (mind you, I already knew you did great stuff after doing a crackin' job for me a while back ;)). I want a milling machine.... :cry:

Never heard of Simple Plan but the Biffy do indeed rock. Seen them a couple of times now, the first when we scored guest list tickets from their dad as my best mate John(Dixon)'s mom knew him and the boys from when they were young whipper-snappers in Kilmarnock. Classic. :D

Yes I do. Very much so in fact. Our family (by that I mean my grandma, then my mom and her, then me and my mom) have visited the same medium (bordering on a large....ahhhh....spiritualist humour...) for the past 40 years. She's a lovely lady called Olga who lives over Derby way with her partner John (she was previously married but he sadly died. Many years later, when both in their late 50's she met John and they became close, neither of them feeling inclined to muck about with the whole marriage malarkey again as they were just enjoying each others company...I mention this purely as a cursory example of how down to earth they are!). Although John believes in Spiritualism and occasionally participates in healing, it's Olga that is the stronger of the two. Mediumship runs in her family and can be traced down the female line. Her mother in particular apparently had a very strong gift. She doesn't advertise, doesn't accept money and only sees people who are introduced to her through existing friends/people (her phone line is ex-directory) There are no crystal balls. There's no incense. There are no ouija boards. There is no rolling of the eyes, wailing and general gnashing of teeth. There isa sofa so comfortable you could disappear into it. There is a very small, very well tended and well loved garden outside the back window where the sun shines in. There are pictures of family and loved ones in silver frames above the fireplace. There are no mystical brews bubbling away...although you might be offered a cup of tea or a glass of water if you're lucky ;). All in all, a distinctly non-mystical environment. In fact, all Olga does is grab a chair (these days John or I get it for her as her knee plays up like Merry Hell), puts it in front of you, closes her eyes and talks. Thats it. What does she say? Anything and everything. It's almost stream of conciousness at times as she slips from one subject to another, mainly relating to the person she's giving the reading for but sometimes but sometimes changing into talking about something that will affect everyone (ie the UK or the world) if she picks up on a bigger event that's going to take place (she gets what she's given as she says) "So what?" I hear you say. She sounds like a nice old lady that is slightly deluded and visited by folk who are even more so. So here's an example: When my Gran died it was a good many months before Mom could bring herself to go back to Olga. During readings Olga can sometimes be visited by people, some she knows (ie people that have stopped by before) or people that she doesn't. I preface the following by saying Olga hadn't been to the funeral and knew nothing of the arrangements. My Nan always said not to waste money on flowers at her funeral, she said we should save the money and spend it on a holiday, in fact, the week before she passed she specifically said she wanted us to fly to Brazil and visit Rio de Janeiro, the place she loved the best out of all the many she visited (old school traveller/explorer gal was my Gran, bless her ;)). However, despite this, we wanted to make a small floral gesture. So, at her funeral, each of us went and layed a single red rose on her casket. 3 in total. When we eventually did see Olga the first thing she said to my Mom just as she opened the door was "your mother's with us. She wants you to know that she loves you and wants to give the 3 roses back to you". We were stunned. Later, during the reading proper, the classic "you will be going on a long trip" came out, directed to us all. Except there was none of the airy fairy vagueness you get watching stage Mediums. Olga said, "you'll be going to South America. Your Mom wants you to go. It'll be very unexpected and it'll be very soon" (Olga makes a point of saying before a reading not to tell her anything as she doesn't want to be influenced). We were a bit strapped for cash at the time so we thought she might've got the timing wrong (particularly as Olga always says that getting time right is one of the most difficult things as it works differently on the other side). The next month we won a competition through the Hair Colour Company "Goldwell" (Mom owns a hair salon) and the prize went to the owner and her partner, the stylist and her partner, and the customer (who entered the competition completely seperate from us and the salon and without our knowledge) and her partner (and the company extended it to me as well after we met the Managing Directors). The prize: an all expenses paid holiday. The destination? Yep. Brazil. 5 nights in the 5 star hotel Prince Charles and Di stayed in, in Rio then 5 nights in Manaus and the rainforest. Do I believe? Your damn straight i do. ;)

The "canard" looks good Chris. If he photoshopped out the remaining hole on the left, underneath it, I'd like it a whole lot more ;)

Anyone? :)

Dave, when I relocated my battery to a cage I knocked up in the boot I also put in two terminals that surfaced in the boot itself and went through the floor so they could be accessed from underneath the car (keeping them hidden was important for me just in case...!) in the event that I needed to charge her (I'd de-locked and de-handled everything on my old silver Z). Seem to remember I picked the box+terminals up from maplins for a couple of quid. It's not what you're talking about but thought I'd mention it just in case!

Hun it was fantastic seeing you again! You're one of the people I always have time for on here as not only are you into the music thang but you're straight talking, suffer no bullsh1t and also happen to be a genuinely good and caring person to boot!....Dave's alright too I guess....lol :tongue::rofl: (only kidding mate if you're reading this! BTW I have the on-going saga of this DABS order to tell you about sometime....you'll laugh! :D ;)). REALLY enjoyed playing that gig. Ok, the numbers were down a bit but the atmosphere generated by the peeps that came to support us made up for it in spades...I can't thank you and them enough tbh :) Oh...and the last bands Eddie Cochran and The Undertones covers will haunt me to my grave...:headvswal :wack: :rofl:

I'm after some hangers or "turn-buckles" (as seen here on Stillen's site where they're included with the splitter itself: http://www.stillen.com/product.asp?id=STISPLIT01&c=EX&year=&make=&model=) for the front splitter I'm making and wondered if anyone might know of a good place to get them in the UK? Failing that I'll ask my friend to source a couple and bung them on my next order from Japan but if I can get them in the UK all the better to keep postage costs down! My first thought was maybe shipping suppliers as a few of them turned up in Google when I last did a search.

Cheers Tony! Was great that you (and your other half!) and a few other members took the time out to come over and support us (John, Diane and Dave...that goes out to you guys...it was fantastic to see you there! :D). Without the 30 odd people in the TBA "Legion" I think it might've been a wee bit on the quiet side as the other bands on the bill seemed to have bVgger all support. And due to everyone coming along to cheer us on it's looking likely that next time we'll be headlining and hopefully moving up to Academy 2 next door as the management had a quiet word and said how much they liked us...fingers crossed! :D John managed to get a lot of the gig down on video so I'm currently sorting through it all and will be uploading to my YouTube channel shortly...: http://www.youtube.com/user/fridayUK However I feel I have to apologise...that last band needed shooting. Jesus...I never thought hearing "Teenage Kicks" one of my favorite songs, would make me want to remove my own ears with rusty razor blades...:wack::headvswal:rofl:

Alright matey, I know you've had a lot on recently but if you get chance could you pop the Log Book and the clear sidey's in the post as it would be great to get, particularly the former, all tied up and legal-like! :) Cheers chap! :) Leigh.

Mark! Focus man! To hell with taste....cut straight to the T&A! lol! :D :D ;)

From what I can gather it's kind of a horror-parody of films like The Grudge and The Ring series...er...I think. Haven't seen it myself but it was advertised on the back cover of this months Bizarre magazine which I bought the other day so decided to have a hunt on Google for it! And it's got "Gogo" from Kill Bill in it which is weird in itself ;)

Nice one Tony! I now have an overwhelming sense of deja vu...:D;)

You probably don't want to see this then...(WARNING! NOT WORKSAFE!)... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtuKpUSJ2GA Aaaah, those crazy Japanese film makers... :rofl::wack::D

The mixing is done and dusted, all that remains is the final Mastering which is going to be done at a dedicated Mastering studio, when I finally decide on one! Exchange Mastering: http://www.exchangemastering.co.uk/ is currently looking like a great option. They've worked on albums by bands I like such as The Kills, Crystal Castles and Hot Chip. Would be good if I can afford them...I'm guessing I probably won't be able to! :rolleyes: :( (Saying that, the standard rate for a 10 track album seems to range from about £300-400 so, you never know...) Once that's done, it'll be going for a limited run of either 500 or 1000 copies then distributed (as digital media as well) with the help of Ditto Music: http://www.dittomusic.com/ through my own Record Label which I'm in the process of setting up for this purpose (also using my website which I'm just finishing putting together with the help of Apache's good mate...it feels like I'm busier than a one legged man at an ass-kicking contest at the moment! :wack: ) All in all, that's a long-arsed way of saying I'm hoping for a release around the end of September/start of October if all goes to plan!