Tuesday, 28 August 2007

I am No. 2

Of all the things I did not expect to happen to me in Britain, it was being unseated as the reigning Rush air guitarist.



For years I have embarrassed friends and family (but not myself, of course) by gesturing some approximation of Alex Lifeson's guitar heroism, with appropriate 'guitar face', in public and private places alike. On driving wheels, on broom handles, on people's arms. In grocery stores, restaurants, on public streets. No matter. Upon hearing Rush, one is required to raise your eyebrows, point at the source of the audio nectar, and say, "no, wait..." and then squeeze up your face, and fake your best guitar moves to one (if it is a key note), several (if it is a riff or solo), or the entirety (if you catch it at the beginning).



That being said, this past week, I was invited by a group of Brazilians to their cookout. One of the guys simply outdid my best efforts. It was just an intangible force of presence that could not be beat. That and he carried the broom handle around with him all night and would take any opportunity to play one, several, or all of the notes.



There are pictures. I will get one up as soon as possible.



Until then....

Sunday, 19 August 2007

Sut rydych chi?



Wales is full of sheep. In fact, there are more sheep than people.

Annie and I went to Wales for a long weekend and ended up in Bala (in Snowdonia) and Aberaeron (on the coast) for no better reason than we could pronounce them. Imagine either of us trying to tell you about our pleasant weekend in Blaen-cil-ileach or an afternoon hike around Llyn Trawsfynnd.

It is a remarkably beautiful part of England, with lush greenery, hearty abbeys and castles (thanks to a close - albeit unbalanced - relationship with both the Romans and the English), tasty food, and very narrow roads. We did not however partake in any Welsh rarebit as there are rumored nightmares associated with eating too much of it!

To and from, I was able to practice driving on the left side of the road, navigate several roundabouts (many in quick succession), and generally make myself less of a road hazard.

Did I mention the sheep?

PS - The headline is Welsh for "how are you?"