Valentines Day
Discussion
Made it. It was tough, real tough but despite the onslaught, I survived.....
What am I talking about? I got through the whole of yesterday without so much as mentioning the word Valentine. I bought nothing "romantic", did nothing "romantic" and not once did I wish my fairer half "Happy Valentines Day".
I thought it would be a breeze as we both swore "no cards, no presents, no flowers, no 'special meal'....". Then as I was leaving for work (I leave last), there was a card on the bottom step. Arrrrgh, no! She cracked. Cue instant guilt trip. Must be strong.
Fortunately, its my son's birthday in a few weeks and he'd asked me for a new guitar and some external FX so we'd set aside yesterday to go play down at the local music shop (heaven) so at least the day had some other focus.
But the problem is, EVERYWHERE you go there is all of this tat on sale - nasty cards, cheesy bears holding hearts, "romantic" chocolates, outrageously overpriced flowers, even spotted some steak in M&S that was labelled "Love Me"....huh?
And what angered me was I was tempted, several times, to buy her a "romantic" gift. Actually, more than that, I felt this intense guilt every time. I think if i'd been in town on my own, I'd have probably cracked but luckily having my son there kept me in check.
All this guilt and temptation, and for what? The whole Valentine Day marketing campaign actually means nothing to nobody. Its just a makey-uppy day but its so engrained into modern culture that you almost feel worse for not "doing something" than you do for missing someone's birthday....
So, previously unaware of the origins, I decided to find out where it all started. To cut a long story short, there used to be a pagan festival celebrated by Romans where the young men got to choose a willing virgin by lottery. (I know, I'm tempted to start a campaign to restore it too). Anyway, the catholic church abhorred this and tried to counter it with their own celebration. But, what they believed is that marriage of young men should be banned as it stopped them from being good soldiers (?). Anyway, chopping out a bit of the story, Valentine was a priest and he didn't believe it was right so continued marrying people in secret. Until he was found out. And killed. On February 14th.
So, perhaps Valentine's Day should change its name; Freedom To Live How We Like Without Persecution From An Oppressive And Out Of Date Institution Day? After all, that's what started it. We should probably remember that....
Anyway, we ended the day celebrating in the way the pagan Roman's probably did. So they got me in the end. I'm stubborn, but not stupid....
What am I talking about? I got through the whole of yesterday without so much as mentioning the word Valentine. I bought nothing "romantic", did nothing "romantic" and not once did I wish my fairer half "Happy Valentines Day".
I thought it would be a breeze as we both swore "no cards, no presents, no flowers, no 'special meal'....". Then as I was leaving for work (I leave last), there was a card on the bottom step. Arrrrgh, no! She cracked. Cue instant guilt trip. Must be strong.
Fortunately, its my son's birthday in a few weeks and he'd asked me for a new guitar and some external FX so we'd set aside yesterday to go play down at the local music shop (heaven) so at least the day had some other focus.
But the problem is, EVERYWHERE you go there is all of this tat on sale - nasty cards, cheesy bears holding hearts, "romantic" chocolates, outrageously overpriced flowers, even spotted some steak in M&S that was labelled "Love Me"....huh?
And what angered me was I was tempted, several times, to buy her a "romantic" gift. Actually, more than that, I felt this intense guilt every time. I think if i'd been in town on my own, I'd have probably cracked but luckily having my son there kept me in check.
All this guilt and temptation, and for what? The whole Valentine Day marketing campaign actually means nothing to nobody. Its just a makey-uppy day but its so engrained into modern culture that you almost feel worse for not "doing something" than you do for missing someone's birthday....
So, previously unaware of the origins, I decided to find out where it all started. To cut a long story short, there used to be a pagan festival celebrated by Romans where the young men got to choose a willing virgin by lottery. (I know, I'm tempted to start a campaign to restore it too). Anyway, the catholic church abhorred this and tried to counter it with their own celebration. But, what they believed is that marriage of young men should be banned as it stopped them from being good soldiers (?). Anyway, chopping out a bit of the story, Valentine was a priest and he didn't believe it was right so continued marrying people in secret. Until he was found out. And killed. On February 14th.
So, perhaps Valentine's Day should change its name; Freedom To Live How We Like Without Persecution From An Oppressive And Out Of Date Institution Day? After all, that's what started it. We should probably remember that....
Anyway, we ended the day celebrating in the way the pagan Roman's probably did. So they got me in the end. I'm stubborn, but not stupid....
neil.b said:
(I know, I'm tempted to start a campaign to restore it too).
You may have to ask yourself why nobody wants to have sex with them though!
I can't stand Valentine's Day - if you can't tell someone you care about them on any day of the year (apart from when they're in a grump or if they're looking particularly rough), then you shouldn't be with them.
Am I going to spend a fortune on cards & presents just because some card shop wants me to? Am I f
k! Still, it might help if I had a girlfriend first
Incorrigible said:
Neil
I know what you mean, and just to keep it nicely off VD
What FX did you go for ?? I'm considering getting rid of some outboard. Drop me a line if you're interested
Went for a Pod XT - nice simple interface with knobs he can fiddle with and understand. And such a glorious sound from it too. Well impressed for £250.
Also got him a Weeping Demon wah pedal (Ibanez). I'd never heard of them and, if I'm honest, I think he was sold on the name and the looks of it. But once we got it home and had a play, its a really well thought out pedal. Has adjustable Q and also adjustable low-end boost. Prefer my Cry Baby for that proper sound, but its an excellent bit of kit.
What are you selling? Might be best via email, unless you want to advertise it on this thread....
jimothy said:
Went for a Pod XT
A superb choice. I've got the Pod2 and its the Mutts nuts.
Indeed. Thinking of getting one myself.
After the initial searching out of all the hi-gain patches and much nodding and uttering "Awesome!" a lot, got down to exploring the subtler sounds and it delicious. Astonishingly responsive to every nuance of your playing. Impressive stuff.....
I'm considering getting rid of a load of gigging stuff that I haven't used for ages.
I've got a Quadraverb that has the most fantastic sound but I just don't need the versatility anymore, and a half decent rack reverb unit (behringer, so not top notch) also a Joe Meek optical compressor hardly used (guessing about £100,£40,£60 but these could all be miles out, I haven't researched)
I'm thinking of getting shot and just getting a cheap digital 8 track for mucking about. A guy at work has just got one of the zoom ones and it looks like loads of fun
I daren't try selling on e-bay, I'll end up buying instead
I've got a Quadraverb that has the most fantastic sound but I just don't need the versatility anymore, and a half decent rack reverb unit (behringer, so not top notch) also a Joe Meek optical compressor hardly used (guessing about £100,£40,£60 but these could all be miles out, I haven't researched)
I'm thinking of getting shot and just getting a cheap digital 8 track for mucking about. A guy at work has just got one of the zoom ones and it looks like loads of fun
I daren't try selling on e-bay, I'll end up buying instead
Incorrigible said:
I'm considering getting rid of a load of gigging stuff that I haven't used for ages.
I've got a Quadraverb that has the most fantastic sound but I just don't need the versatility anymore, and a half decent rack reverb unit (behringer, so not top notch) also a Joe Meek optical compressor hardly used (guessing about £100,£40,£60 but these could all be miles out, I haven't researched)
I'm thinking of getting shot and just getting a cheap digital 8 track for mucking about. A guy at work has just got one of the zoom ones and it looks like loads of fun
I daren't try selling on e-bay, I'll end up buying instead
I bought a Boss 1800CD a while back (didn't really need the CD burning bit but I got it off Ebay cheaper than the one without one).
Cracking piece of kit, bought for the same reason - its a great scratch pad for ideas, plus it has the level of sophistication to take the idea further. Plus it uses proper drum samples (which you can replace with your own) for the drum backing. And you can record from all 8 inputs simultaneously (reliable drummer not supplied!). Very flexible.
All I need now is the extra bit of electronic wizardry that will allow me the time to play with it....
neil.b said:
neil.b said:
Went for a Pod XT
A superb choice. I've got the Pod2 and its the Mutts nuts.
Indeed. Thinking of getting one myself.
After the initial searching out of all the hi-gain patches and much nodding and uttering "Awesome!" a lot, got down to exploring the subtler sounds and it delicious. Astonishingly responsive to every nuance of your playing. Impressive stuff.....
Get one. It can do a lot more than it looks like. You can link it up to a PC/mac and do some fine tweaking. You can also doenload new patches from the line6 website. Playing Smoke on the water with a patch designed to make your guitar sound just right is awesome.
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