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

After much thought, I think I've got it boiled down to the following.

1. It's all good.

2. Relax. It's only sex.

3. The increasing tide of globalisation has undoubtedly brought very real economic and associated benefits to developing countries but carries in its wake disturbing issues such as environmental sustainability and the increasing influence of multinationals over political agendae.

I think that about covers it. I may still have some work to do on number three, though...

Ooooh, I just love the way you can spot someone who did latin at school .

Yeah, Latin was all about sex. It was all good

I just remember having to write a cartoon about a stomach that thought the throat had been cut. Interesting teaching methods, huh?

You guys had sex and violence in *Latin* class? They don't teach Latin that way in my neck of the woods. Latin is for geeks. I took six years of it.

Well, they had to tailor the teaching delivery for the students. As Slider and I were two of them, you'll have some idea what the teachers faced

Hmmmmm, I don't remeber sex being involved...maybe I skipped those lessons .

Not like you to skip sex lessons, my boy. But maybe you were working... uh... in the field, so to speak

Or maybe he didn't need lessons

Well, he WAS precociously gifted... some of us have had to work harder for what little achievement we can claim. But I've always believed that no knowledge is wasted, and so I have remained an assiduous student to this very day

Well, perhaps he is trying his hand with some harder aspects of the discipline. And yes, I also try to keep on top of developments and new learning in the field.

Last time I checked, they weren't teaching sex in my foreign language classes...but then, I studied Spanish and Russian.

Rafaela

To be quite honest, I don't think they were teaching sex in those lessons. But we were certainly thinking about it. A lot.

I like 'Moondance' too

Well, I can tell you that I didn't listen to Van Morrison in my foreign language classes....but these days I've switched to French, after having switched my major to history (on the advice of Dr. Brown, my advisor, quite possibly one of the oldest faculty members at the University of Memphis).

But Van Morrison is now one of my favorites....I was corrupted by a friend who introduced me to Van Morrison, Fairport Convention, Pentangle, and several other artists most people my age have never heard of.

I wouldn't say that listening to Fairport or Pentangle implies 'corruption' Let's say your mind has been broadened; those bands have made much music that's well worth listening to.

I've spent the last week at a folk festival; had a couple of beers with one Steve Tilston, who was on the Fairport Cropredy Festival bill and has also played with John Renbourn of Pentangle.

Thank you. Broadened is a good term for it. You're quite lucky, you know....folkies are a rare breed in and around Memphis. To be honest, good blues musicians are a dying breed these days. Even in Memphis. Beale Street is touristy and overpriced; there really aren't any good clubs (except maybe Newby's).

Not to be pessimistic. I just have this overwhelming sense that Americans simply don't appreciate good American music.

I think it's often the case that you don't appreciate what's on your doorstep, so to speak. On the folk scene here, you're often swamped by Irish and Scottish music, ignoring a rich vein of old English stuff that's also well worth exploring.

Hmmm....a pet peeve of mine, that is, people who refuse to appreciate good things that are, so to speak, right at their fingertips. On the other hand, it is very good to cultivate a rather broad world view. Provincialism is something I deal with on a daily basis; people who refuse to move out the American South, physically or mentally.

Oh, I recognise the mindset, Rafaela. Here's an example from this side of the pond.

Over here there's a part of the country called Yorkshire which is notoriously insular in its outlook. A few years ago I was staying in Otley, a little Yorkshire town, for a folk festival and a singing session developed in the pub I was staying in. One guy was doing a really excellent job of James Taylor's 'Sweet Baby James' and I overheard a couple of morose-looking locals who were obviously enduring it rather than enjoying it. The old girl said to the old boy, "Well, I suppose I've heard worse if you like that sort of thing." The old boy sniffed disparagingly. "Well... it's all very well for Americans, but it's not Otley, is it?"

Ah well. 'And some fell on stony ground...'

Once again, it is obvious that we as human beings have more in common than we think.