h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thank you for wishing me a glücklich Geburtstag.
Don't know Kitty-Chan.
Joyeux Noël.

You're welcome.

Kitty-chan? Hello Kitty in the west I think, but really you'd only know it if you know Japanese girls/women or you have small daughters (guilty of both)

Hope you had a good birthday, and if memory serves it was on 21st? You share it with the god-like Frank Zappa.

Yup! And apparently Berry Gordy as well... Being a musician myself, I can't help thinking it must be good omen...

Berry Gordy too? Good company then.

also you share it with my mate Ghandi (not that one...) and he's pretty cool too.

Can't complain really...
And it's the winter solstice as well!
Do you share your birthday with nice people too?

I share my birthday with Jim Morrison and... oh flip, forgotten her name... Married to Alex Baldwin.

and it's the anniversary of the death of one of my fav singers/songwriters (John Lennon)

8th December? 9th?

oh sorry, yes, 8th.

And the woman is Kim Bassinger

I was going to be 16 when Lennon got shot. I was really upset because I was a big Beatle fan too (still love the stuff but am too old to be anyone or anything's fan). That's why I remembered the date (hesitation was due to Europe/US time).
Working class hero! Wow!

Morrison's not a bad reference either!

Aren't we lucky?!

John Lennon was shot on my 17th birthday. Now I suppose I first heard on the morning of the 9th, my friends' birthday and spent most of the day crying and being a teenage fan type person.

Then when I hit 34 and realised that I'd had half my life with and half my life without Lennon, I decided that hanging on to the past isn't a good idea.

and yes, we're very lucky with our birthday "twins" (although, of course, Kim B is the less good looking of the two of us!)

You also share your birthday with a Brasilian girl called Larissa. She lives in France and, amongst other things, sings in the rock choir I happen to lead.
I wonder if it's going to change your life...

Another thing I wonder is what Lennon would have to say about the current international situation. I bet it would be interesting and find it's a shame we haven't got more people like him to open their mouth when the rest of the world seems to indulge in silent consent.

More lightheartedly, we also have 2 cats. They're called Harley & Yoda (1 siamese, 1 B&W, both female). Just love 'em!
("we" means my beloved, Terri (Terri and Yoda, on h2) and myself).

I am not vegetarian and far from that (not many people are in France!) but Terri (who's English) is. Needless to say that organisation is not always easy! Especially with a tiny little kitchen such as ours...
But, well, we manage.

A bientôt.

ah... I have to upgrade my user space, because we no longer have the cats. So Pesky were they (leaving little "messages" all over the house, and all over the neighbour's garden) that they have gone to live with a batty old lady and about 37 other cats.

And you lead a rock-choir? sounds cool. (belated birthday greetings to Larissa then) What sort of things do you sing? Or do you give established choral works the rock treatment.

Too bad about the cats. Thank goodness, ours are very clean and have a little garden to play in. So living with them is no problem (except for one having skin problems and the other having her own little attention-seeking/demanding personality). Altogether, they definitely are a plus to our household.

The choir covers famous (or less famous) rock songs. It existed years ago but stopped when I moved to England and we only started again last summer (one year after my coming back to France). So we don't have a huge repertoire yet but here's a list of songs (from the old choir-- that we're considering singing again, new stuff,and some that we're planning to do in the near future) all mixed up:

-California Dreaming (Mamas & Papas)
-I am the Walrus (Beatles)
-Smells like teen spirit (Nirvana)
-Satellite of Love (Lou Reed)
-Around and around (Chuck Berry)
-Gimme some lovin' (Spencer Davies Group/Blues Brothers/etc.)
-Dandelion (Stones)
-Suburbia (the Turtles)

and more...

We also sing a couple of non-rock songs, just because we like them (one in French, one in Spanish).

Our arrangement technique mainly consists of copying the original instruments (ie: some will sing the bass guitar line, some the rythm guitar's, etc...). As there's about 20 of us, the result doesn't have to be perfect to be impressive!

Voilà!

That sounds great, I'd love to hear Satellite of Love, it's one of my favourite songs.

And don't get me wrong, I love cats, the last one I had died at 13 and I cried for weeks. I never got the connection with the other two, which is a shame really.

I was at a friend's house last night with her (half-French) husband and 2 girls (we had 4 girls under 6... eek) and we had a great time watching the various German and French New Year TV shows. The French ones were great, looked like they were having fun and very sexy, the German ones were a bit forced. And now my girls are running round singing Frère Jaques and Alouette... having eaten ('scuse spelling) Coquille St. Jacques last night. They now think they're very cosmopolitan and sophisticated.

Happy New Year

Bonne année to you and all the family.

Gut(e) Jahre???????? Lost all my schoolboy German!
Well, there wasn't much of it to start with, I must say...

If we ever record "Satellite", I'll get in touch to send you a copy.

ALL THE BEST!

Chan-Mick