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

Way back in the pre-Gruesome Twosome mists of time, a young and I were stationed in Bielefeld. We both worked shifts so we often found ourselves with a day off, or a morning off, in the middle of the week.

In the winter months we'd head off down to the open air ice rink - a very basic affair - for which upon production of our ID cards we could have half-price entry. DM 1.50 (which is about... oh i don't know, 75 of your US cents?) for the morning session which was: 2 hours, then half an hour break while they swept the ice and smoothed it again then 2 more hours.

Being a weekday it was always pretty empty. A few pensioners* and a middle aged man who was training a youngish woman (they used their own music via a double hedphone jack into a walkman he was wearing). There was a jukebox and it was weird seeing the -skaters choosing modern pop tunes.

But anyway. To the point.

One of the things we used to skate to, it's a lovely gentle tune, was Wonderful Life by Black. Every time I hear it I'm back there with my skates on, cold cheeks and having the most fun it's possible to have going round in circles.

RIP Colin

*The pensioners used to go into the locker shed when the ice was being swept and get out thermos flasks of coffee and tupperware boxes of cake. After we'd been going for about 2 weeks, they started to invite us over and practiced their English on us while we practiced our German. We took cake and tea too, so it ended up as a jolly party.

It only lasted one winter season, we were posted away in the summer and we never had a chance to say goodbye to our new friends.

What a lovely story

I have fond memories of that song too. I was... well, going out wasn't exactly the right word. I was very good friends with a woman. We were as close as you can be without actually being boyfriend and girlfriends. There was no rumpy pumpy, and it was one of the best relationships of my life. It was also a very exciting time to be in London, and she was a very exciting person to know, for several reasons.

This was when I had my man-and-a-van business. She, like Colin, is a singer-songwriter, and I'd ferry her around London to various venues - offices, studios, all kinds of places, as well as going to see friends, and sometimes just going off for a jaunt. I had a cassette of that album and it got a lot of play when we were driving around. She went back to the US at the end of the 80s But I came here and visited her several time

I sent her a text message yesterday when I found out that he'd popped his clogs, and she called me back within ten minutes. We relived some of those times

Situations like these - where you are "being forced to having a good time" with people you would probably never talk to under usual circumstances - are rare and should be treasured.
Only yesterday I was brought to remember 31 December 1978 late in the afternoon: My fiancé and I were on our way to a new year's party but got trapped in a train that got stuck in a snowdrift. After a while one of the other passengers said " I have a lot of fireworks so we can have a party after all". To which I replied "oh well, we have several bottles of and ".
"Good", said an elderly lady, "I have this big pot of kale and sausages [traditional new years dish]"
Big smiles all around - and then the train started moving again and we all went our separate ways

how was your phone call, Gosho? was it as though there hadn't been a long time between this and your last one?

great story - I love things like that.

That album is lovely, there are some fab tunes on it, but Wonderful Life is just so... gentle I think. And perfect to skate to if you're rubbish at skating, as and I are

As a matter of fact there hadn't - we speak to each other frequently She was busy yesterday and we didn't get as much time to talk as we wanted, so we arranged to have another conflab either last night or tonight. I reckon that'll be tonight then.

Oh, and the album. It's one of those rare things - an album that doesn't have a bad song - or at least a song you don't like - on it. And I was listening to it when she called me back yesterday after the initial text

I always thought that it would be fun to do an a capella version of that song with the xylophone or whatever it is as vocal backing with female voices.

Yelbakk was very kind and wrote an arrangement for me, which I still have (somewhere).

It is a quite perfect song in all respects. I shall be listening to the album, too, for the next few days.

It's been covered a good few times. My friend had something to do with this one, which I'd never heard until she mentioned it to me yesterday http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XlOzP8PO84

I don't know for sure if there's an edit around 20 seconds or if she intentionally left out part of the first verse, but it might be the latter cos the other versions are the same. Either way, it's beautifully done.

TC, I think I am up to writing better versions now. So if you are interested, I guess I'd be happy to do a new choral rendition for you

Oh, and yes, RIP, Colin. Because, it's a wonderful, wonderful life, and you are missing.