"Andre Jute" wrote in message
...
On Jan 10, 7:54 am, "Iain Churches" wrote:
"Andre Jute" wrote in message


PS I have a photograph here that one of my spies sent me. In the row
of shaven-headed, saffron-robed um-chanters between the gilded spires
of Prathai Doi Suthep, which one are you, Iain? I used to recognize
you by your hair, and that tan looks awfully like it came out of TV
talent makeup kit that your mate Plowie obtained for you...

OK. Fair cop, guv. It's me!
My hair is my own, but one has to make small sacrifices, and it
will grow back. And who knows, maybe I will get into the cast
of the remake of The King And I.

Look at the pic (amazing what one can see from a satelite!)
I am on the left, carrying a Burmese Army trekking stick
(the one designed by the legendary Sir Jeffrey Hillpig-Smythe)
I find the stick useful for persuading to generosity
tight-fisted tourists otherwise unwilling to put a coin or two into
the monks' bowl. The new design of teak bowl will have a slot
in the bottom to accomodate Visa/MasterCard/American Express.
You cannot see it in the picture, but I have a cord around my
right wrist put there by the Buddhist abbott at Chiang Rai, to
bring me everlasting fullfilment. It cost me 20 Euros.


Thanks for that! Years I start with laughter always go better.

I am not, generally speaking superstitious - although I do carefully
pick the first piece of music to be played through a newly built
valve amp. If it going to someone who does not listen to much
classical music, I baptise the amp with a Jethro Tull Song
"Slow Marching Band" which includes the line "...just hum along
and keep on going" !

But I do agree that starting a New Year with laughter does seem
to set one on the right track. I chuckled a couple of days ago when
a colleague sent me an e-mail as follows:

During a recent concert tour of a Scandinavian student
orchestra, an American lady came backstage to the
production office after a concert in Vienna at which
Charles Ives' 1st Symphony had been performed, to
express her pleasure at finding a work by an American
composer being played at a concert in a city at the heart
of European classical music.

The orchestral manager thanked her for her kind praise,
and offered her two complimentary tickets for the concert
on the Friday evening which included another fine work
by an American composer, Samuel Barber's
"Adagio for Strings Op.11"

The lady was delighted, but said with a wicked smile that
one ticket would suffice, as this kind of music was not really
to her husband's taste. He liked only two types of music:
"country", and "western".

Iain