First non C*in related post...

[Sylvester 15]

*So anyone out there interested in stamps or banknotes?*

Sorry Chris couldn't resist it!

So where's everyone from? Country/City/whatever you like to say about yourself...

Sylvester...

[Chris Perkins 223]

Ok, i'll skip the paper talk!

I was born in Sidcup, which although officially part of the county of Kent in SE England is also right on the edge of the London Borough of Bexley. So when London is cool, i'm a Londoner through and through, and when it's very bad, i'm from Kent!

I grew up both in London and Kent.

I used to work for a London IT company providing extremely hi tech and specialised stuff to schools and colleges: www.bromcom.com. It was super there because I really got to travel around the UK and Ireland and get paid for it! From Dublin to Dover, where there are schools, I went.

Then I met a charming young German Fraulein. She wouldn't live in England, and the traffic was bad, so I moved to a village on the outskirts of Chemnitz in Saxony, Germany. The traffic is much better now and I really have time to concentrate on my numismatic empire!

It's quite different here, but with budget flights and the common market Blighty is never too far away. I do miss the sea though. Seems strange always being 800 miles from a sea, stuck with a bunch of land lovers.

I still keep strong links with England and pop over from time to time to buy coins, see family, mates etc.

I'm also into Classic cars and Rock music and I have very long hair

Chris

[Guest Eliza]

Following suit ...

I was born in the state of Michigan (USA), where you can't go more than 50 miles away from water at any point in the state. I grew up in Flint which was, at the time I was born, a major automobile manufacturing centre in the Midwest. I have since moved south to Ann Arbor where I work for the University of Michigan and have unlimited access to its network of libraries and scholarly resources. I'm long out of grad school but grad school is still very much alive in me.

I read mostly 19th century British novels (A. Trollope being my favorite), attend two cats, bicycle, watch birds and old movies. (Sometimes even NEW movies! -- but rarely.)

Think Dame Judi Dench rather than Gwyneth Paltrow ...

Eliza

[Chris Perkins 223]

Dame Judi Dench is a fox!

[Guest Eliza]

I was just watching her in the Merchant-Ivory production of "Room With A View" the other night ... but she really won her spurs in "Shakespeare In Love." I think she & Glenda Jackson should have an arm-wrestling contest over who gave the better performance as QE.I. ...

Speaking of movies ...

Was it Sylvester who mentioned Terry P. novels? I'm wondering if the same folks who gave us the "Lord Of The Rings" movies would like to try "Good Omens" next.

Eliza

[Sylvester 15]

Was it Sylvester who mentioned Terry P. novels?  I'm wondering if the same folks who gave us the "Lord Of The Rings" movies would like to try "Good Omens" next. 

Eliza

Actually Eliza it was me that mentioned that, but here's the bad news they did plan to film Good Omens (read the rest here)...

http://www.ie.lspace.org/fandom/events/mov...good-omens.html

Which is a pity because i'd definately go out and see it if they made it!

Sylvester.

[Guest Eliza]

Sigh. SIGH! ... I was casting Sam Neill as "Aziraphel."

So Sylvester, are you going to hold out as a man of mystery or tell us a bit about yourself?

Eliza

[Sylvester 15]

Sigh. SIGH! ... I was casting Sam Neill as "Aziraphel."

So Sylvester, are you going to hold out as a man of mystery or tell us a bit about yourself?

Eliza

Oh i dunno i enjoy being a man of mystery...

but since you insist...

I currently live in the UK, Sheffield (South Yorkshire) to be precise, i don't know why i always put Manchester or Nottingham, and on one occasion York... I don't really like Sheffield that much and one day i hope to get out of the place...hence why i put every name under the sun! I'm hoping for a day when one of those other names proves to be true.

I am currently an History student at a University, Huddersfield (West Yorkshire) to be precise.

One interesting thing that i have recently found out is that, the actor Patrick Stewart (Jean Luc Picard of Star Trek fame, and many many other better roles, including Scrooge i believe on one occasion) is apparently now the Archchancellor of my University (He was born in Huddersfield...so it seemed a perfectly natural choice). Needless to say us poor students don't see anything of people so high up in the institution.

Upto the age of about 5 or 6 i lived in Retford (Nottinghamshire), and i spent alot of time travelling on trains backwards and forwards to Lincoln during those years and so i've got a natural fondness for Lincoln, (not so much for trains though) and i at one point even thought about basing my c*in hobby on those minted in Lincoln! (Sorry Chris but i though that was a good place to drop that in). It won't happen again...

I do have other interests, noticably antiques, especially pocket watches and old books, i even managed to pick up a first edition Charles Dickens book in York, Martin Chuzzelwit, and it looks very good on the shelf! (along with a new 'unread' paperback version of War and Peace...i know this is the kind of thing Terry Pratchett would come out with, but is there any other kind of War and Peace book?)

I am as you can tell a big fan of Terry Pratchett, the abstract humour is hilarious, there are some very complex philosophical ideas contained within his books, many of them seem to make more sense than they perhaps ought to!

And i tend to like lots of different types of music, except rap music (including hiphop... ), rock and roll and Elvis Presley...of which i've never been that keen.

Sadly i've listened to most other things...and in some cases enjoyed them...

And since we mention classic cars, i've always had this weird obsession with Ford Anglias? (and occasionally Cortinas) I still don't know why. I've got the odd model lying around, along with all those Leyland Nationals, but i must admit i was never that keen on buses, and i hate travelling on them, unless it's a National of course, sadly i don't get those anymore on my route, and i have to travel on buses and trains every day to Uni...grrr (i hate driving even more), problem is when has a train ever been on time?

Sylvester.

[Guest Eliza]

Sylvester, I myself am not too keen on driving, but since we have nearly NO regional public transportation in this country, driving is just what you have to do. I have always enjoyed Saabs and drive a 10-year-old 900s at this point, and I keep the oil changed on a ruthlessly exact schedule. I'm hoping I'll wind up in the 250,000-mile club at some point; but given how seldom I drive long distances, that may be another 10 years.

I was a history major in college, too. I started out in medieval and Renaissance, flipped out over Reformation history and theology, and currently am happily stuck between the 17th and 19th centuries in research and entertainment. I was on my way to becoming a professor somewhere but figured out (DUH!) that a person who loves to read OUGHT to be working in a library. And so here I am.

My musical tastes are generally of extremity: on the one hand, I adore the techno-pyschotrance house beat that's current. On the other hand, I'm equally appreciative of Dowland, Gibbons, Purcell, Tallis, and others of the English Baroque string tradition.

Once Pink Floyd disbanded, modern rock lost me as a fan. I like U2, but that's about it for 'current artists.'

Patrick Stewart! An eminent Shakespearean actor. He had some notable moments on Star Trek: Next Generation. I remember he did part of a scene from Henry V once, on the holodeck.

Eliza

[Chris Perkins 223]

Pink Floyd is my most favourite band in the world, and as far as I knew they have not disbanded yet?

I saw Dave Gilmour CBE live in '96.

I have all except one of their albums on original Vinyl, and a load of CD's to boot.

Chris

[Guest Eliza]

There was some conflict between Mason and Gilmour, or Gilmour and Waters ... I lost track after the last US tour, and now I can't even remember when that was! But by the time I'd chanced onto the band in the first place -- about 1981 when I fell in with someone who had a near-complete discography on reel-to-reel (to save the vinyl), even "The Wall" was relatively old. "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" was the last Floyd album I rushed out and bought. About 13 years ago I was under a doctor's care for what could have been a very serious illness, and I listened to "Lapse" over and over again for comfort.

On Halloween, a Detroit public radio station played "Careful with that Ax, Eugene!" I nearly fell out of my chair here at work. I've driven cats insane with "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" through the speakers.

I feel old suddenly. I am SO behind the times!

Eliza

[Chris Perkins 223]

It was Gilmour and Waters, and Waters went his own way (producing one or two excellent solo albums). The 3 remaining members got a new bassist and made another 2 (or 4 if you include the live Pulse and greatest hits last year) albums.

In 1994 one of the greatest ever Pink Floyd albums was released 'The Division Bell'. You must go and buy it now Eliza!!!!!

Then they did the Pulse tour in 1995-96 which didn't include anything new but was live Pink Floyd at its best. I was at college during that tour and although others were into the Floyd it wasn't until later that I was captivated.

Since then they have done European tours I'm sure of it. As far as I know they are still going, and Dave Gilmour got a CBE from the Queen the other week (Next step OBE and then Knighthood).

The most amazing thought provoking music ever made, and without a doubt the best band ever. I have an interesting 1970 Video of them live in Pompeii to an audience of no people and just the erie Roman remains in the background. It features amazing live stuff, especially Echoes which is my current favourite 'song'. I go through phases.

Chris.

www.predecimal.com

[Guest Eliza]

'The Division Bell'! Ay yi yi, I missed one! Okay ... I am hazily recalling hearing Stephen Hawking talking on something playing on the radio many years ago, and the backbeat was pure Floyd. Is that ... ???

Pardon my ignorance, but, what exactly *is* a "division bell"?

I've seen the Pompeii video, several years ago. I used to chase after "More" and "Zabriskie Point," to no avail. However, now that the dvd age has arrived, I should take up the hunt again. The Internet rules!!!

I know what you mean about cycling through favourites. I need cds of "Wish You Were Here" and "Animals." I have (of COURSE!!!) DSM and Lapse. I had many more on cassette tape, but over the years I loaned them out and few came back.

"Division Bell." Right. Next time I'm out at the book/music store, I'll have a look ...

Eliza

[Chris Perkins 223]

Yes that's the one. With Stephen Hawking on the 'Keep talking' track.

I don't know what a division bell is, perhaps it's the sound that is heard when people are parted, or some such metaphor.

Go get that album!

Chris

[Guest Eliza]

Let's see ...

order books from Chris ... buy a cd

order books from Chris ... buy a cd

hmmm ...

can I sleep on it?

Okay! Okay! I've got dinner plans tonight -- I'll have to go on Saturday ...

Eliza

[Chris Perkins 223]

Hey, I could find a supplier and start compiling a list of 'CD's for coin collectors'!

New sales line!

Chris

[Guest DAS]

Cd compliation for coin collectors... thats too good to miss...

Featuring no doubt , Brass in pocket , Penny Lane, Money (of couse) Selling England by the Pound....

[Guest DAS]

BTW The division bell (apart from that Pink Floyd album) is what they ring in the Houses of Parliment to call the members to vote.

[Chris Perkins 223]

And of course ABBA's Money Money Money.

Division Bell, is it really, well there you go. Isn't this a great place to learn about all subjects!

It is truly greater than the sum of its parts!

Chris

[Guest Eliza]

Thanks, DAS! An obscure reference -- the division bell -- that I would never, ever have figured out. So it brings the two Houses together? Fits with the theme.

Thanks, CHRIS! The cd is fabulous. I'm here at work and there's the bell tolling the last track's end.

While you're compiling cds for c**n collectors, don't forget "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits (I believe).

Eliza

[Chris Perkins 223]

Yes!

Don't you just love Dire Straits. Another one of my top 5 bands from my top 10 favourite bands in the world of which coincidently all are British.

Chris