Music Reviews Website (Post 1.0)

Wow!

Just when I thought I'd lost the contents of my music reviews website with the demise of Geocities, I found, by accident, that it is alive and well under the guise of Reocities!

My reviews from days of html 1.0 to March 2003 are all there, at http://www.reocities.com/p_terg/ ... I had no idea!

So there you have it! My netizen presence continues

(see also https://peterg-gleeson.blogspot.com/2020/06/look-what-i-found-at_7.html)

My iTunes wish list

Just to show how eclectic my music taste is getting, here's what I want to get for my iTunes player.

1. Black Sabbath  [see also Dio]  Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

                Vol.4

               

               

2. The Beatles    With the Beatles

                Beatles for Sale

                Rubber Soul

                Help!

                Revolver

                Magical Mystery Tour

                The Beatles (aka White Album)

                Yellow Submarine

                Let it Be

               

               

3. Bloc Party       A Weekend in the City

               

               

4. Blue Öyster Cult           Blue Öyster Cult

                Tyranny and Mutation

                Secret Treaties

                Agents of Fortune

                Spectres

                Mirrors

                Cultösaurus Erectus

                Fire of Unknown Origin

                The Revölution by Night

                Club Ninja

                Imaginos

               

               

5. Captain Beefheart      Safe as Milk

                Strictly Personal

                Trout Mask Replica

                Lick My Decals Off, Baby

                Mirror Man

                The Spotlight Kid

                Clear Spot

                Unconditionally Guaranteed

                Bluejeans & Moonbeams

                Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)

                Doc at the Radar Station

                Ice Cream for Crow

               

               

6. Les Claypool  Blind Illusion - The Sane Asylum

                Sausage - Riddles Are Abound Tonight

                Phonopsycograph Disk - Live @ Slim's / Turbulence Chest

                Buckethead - Monsters and Robots

                Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade - Live Frogs Set 1

                Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade - Live Frogs Set 2

                The Les Claypool Frog Brigade - Purple Onion

                 Les Claypool

                Les Claypool - Of Whales and Woe

                Electric Apricot - Quest for Festeroo (soundtrack)

                Les Claypool - Of Fungi and Foe

                Primus - (Currently Untitled)

               

               

7. D.A.F (die Deutsch-Amerikanischen Freundschaft)      Ein Produkt der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Freundschaft

                Die Kleinen und die Bösen

                Alles ist gut

                Gold und Liebe

                1st Step to Heaven

                Fünfzehn neue D.A.F-Lieder

               

               

8. Deep Purple Shades of Deep Purple

                The Book of Taliesyn

                Deep Purple

                Deep Purple in Rock

                Fireball

                Who Do We Think We Are

                Burn

                Stormbringer

                Come Taste the Band

                The House of Blue Light

                Slaves and Masters

                Deep Purple

                The Battle Rages On

                Purpendicular

                Abandon

                Bananas

                Rapture of the Deep

               

               

9. Dio     Elf – Elf

                 Elf – Carolina County Ball

                 Elf – Trying to Burn the Sun

                Rainbow – Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow 

                Rainbow – Long Live Rock 'n' Roll 

                Rainbow – Finyl Vinyl 

                Black Sabbath – Heaven and Hell

                Black Sabbath – Black And Blue

                Black Sabbath – Mob Rules

                Black Sabbath – Dehumanizer

                Dio – Holy Diver 

                Dio – The Last in Line 

                Dio – Sacred Heart 

                Dio – Intermission 

                Dio – Dream Evil 

                Dio – Lock up the Wolves 

                Dio – Strange Highways 

                Dio – Angry Machines 

                Dio – Magica 

                Dio – Killing the Dragon 

                Dio – Master of the Moon 

               

               

10. Amanda Easton         Amanda Easton (2004 release)

                Chanteuse

               

               

11. Einstürzende Neubauten      Stahlmusik

                Kollaps

                Zeichnungen des Patienten O. T.

                Halber Mensch

                Fünf auf der nach oben offenen Richterskala

                Haus der Lüge

                Tabula Rasa

                Ende Neu

                Silence Is Sexy

                Perpetuum Mobile

                Alles wieder offen

               

               

12. Emerson Lake & Palmer         Emerson, Lake & Palmer

                Tarkus

                Pictures at an Exhibition

                Trilogy

                Brain Salad Surgery

                Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends... Ladies and Gentlemen

                Works, Vol. 1

                Works, Vol. 2

                Love Beach

                Black Moon

                In the Hot Seat

               

               

13. Fehlfarben   Monarchie und Alltag

                33 Tage in Ketten

                Glut und Asche

                Die Platte des Himmlischen Friedens

                Popmusik und Hundezucht

                Knietief im Dispo

                26½

                Handbuch für die Welt

                Glücksmaschinen

               

               

14. Foghat           Foghat

                Foghat (Rock and Roll)

                Energized

                Rock and Roll Outlaws

                Fool for the City

                Night Shift

                Stone Blue

                Boogie Motel

                Tight Shoes

                Girls to Chat and Boys to Bounce

                In the Mood for Something Rude

                Zig Zag Walk

                Return of the Boogie Men

                Family Joules

                Last Train Home

               

               

15. Howlin Wolf                 Moanin' in the Moonlight

                 Howlin' Wolf Sings the Blues

                 Howlin' Wolf

                 The Real Folk Blues

                 The Super Super Blues Band

                 More Real Folk Blues

                 The Howlin' Wolf Album

                 Message to the Young

                 The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions

                 Live and Cookin' (At Alice's Revisited)

                 The Back Door Wolf

                 London Revisited

               

               

16. Jag Panzer    Ample Destruction 

                Dissident Alliance 

                The Fourth Judgement 

                The Age of Mastery 

                Thane to the Throne 

                Mechanized Warfare 

                Chain of Command 

                Casting the Stones 

               

               

17. Kansas           Kansas

                Masque

                Leftoverture

                Point of Know Return

                Monolith

                Audio-Visions

                Vinyl Confessions

                Drastic Measures

                Power

                In the Spirit of Things

                Freaks of Nature

                Always Never the Same

                Somewhere to Elsewhere

               

               

18. Kings of Leon              Come Around Sundown

                Because of the Times

                Aha Shake Heartbreak

               

               

19. Kraftwerk     Kraftwerk

                Kraftwerk 2

                Ralf und Florian

                Radio-Activity

                The Man-Machine

                Computer World

                Electric Café / Techno Pop

                Tour de France Soundtracks

               

               

20. Led Zeppelin               Led Zeppelin 

                Led Zeppelin III 

                Houses of the Holy 

                Physical Graffiti 

                Presence 

                In Through the Out Door 

                Coda 

               

               

21. Yngwie Malmsteen Steeler - Steeler

                Alcatraz - No Parole from Rock N' Roll

                Rising Force

                Marching Out

                Trilogy

                Odyssey

                Eclipse

                Fire and Ice

                The Seventh Sign

                Magnum Opus

                Inspiration

                Facing the Animal

                Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in E flat minor, Opus 1

                Alchemy

                War to End All Wars

                Attack!!

                The Genesis

                G3: Rockin' in the Free World

                Unleash the Fury

                Perpetual Flame

                Angels of Love

                High Impact

               

               

22. The MC5       Kick Out the Jams 

                Back in the USA 

                High Time 

               

               

23. Megadeth    Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! 

                Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? 

                So Far, So Good... So What! 

                Rust in Peace 

                Countdown to Extinction 

                Youthanasia 

                Cryptic Writings 

                Risk 

                The World Needs a Hero 

                The System Has Failed 

                United Abominations 

                Endgame 

               

               

24. moe.              Fatboy 

                Headseed 

                Loaf 

                No Doy 

                Tin Cans and Car Tires 

                moe. Sells Out 

                L 

                L Version 3.1 

                Dither 

                Season's Greetings from moe. 

                Wormwood 

                The Conch 

                Sticks and Stones 

               

               

25. gillimoon       Girl In The Moon

                Temperamental Angel

                ExtraOrdinary Life

                The Stillness

               

               

26. Mr Bungle    Mr. Bungle

                Disco Volante

                California 

               

               

27. New York Dolls           New York Dolls

                Too Much Too Soon

                One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This

                Cause I Sez So

               

               

28. Ted Nugent                 Amboy Dukes – The Amboy Dukes

                Amboy Dukes – Journey to the Centre of the Mind

                Amboy Dukes – Migration

                Amboy Dukes – You Talk Sunshine, I Breathe Fire

                Amboy Dukes – Marriage on the Rocks / Rock Bottom

                Amboy Dukes – Call of the Wild

                Amboy Dukes – Tooth Fang & Claw

                Damn Yankees – Damn Yankees

                Damn Yankees – Don’t Tread

                Ted Nugent

                Free-for-All

                Cat Scratch Fever

                Weekend Warriors

                State of Shock

                Scream Dream

                Nugent

                Penetrator

                Little Miss Dangerous

                If You Can't Lick 'Em...Lick 'Em

                Spirit of the Wild

                Craveman

                Love Grenade

               

               

29. Der Plan        Der Plan

                Geri Reig

                Da Vorne Steht Ne Ampel

                Normalette Surprise

                Arbeit Liebe Brot Einfachheit Tod

                Die Letzte Rache

                Gummitwist

                Golden Cheapos

                Japlan

                Fette Jahre

                Es Ist Eine Fremde Und Seltsame Welt

                Perlen

                Die Peitsche Des Lebens

                Pocket

                Die Verschwörung

               

               

30. Phish              Phish

                The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday

                Lawn Boy

                A Picture of Nectar

                Rift

                Hoist

                Billy Breathes

                The Story of the Ghost

                Farmhouse

                The Siket Disc

                Round Room

                Undermind

                Joy

               

               

31. Praxis             Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis)

                Sacrifist

                Metatron

                Mold

                Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness)

               

               

32. Queensrÿche              Queensrÿche 

                The Warning 

                Rage for Order 

                Operation: Mindcrime 

                Empire 

                Promised Land 

                Hear in the Now Frontier 

                Q2K 

                Tribe 

                Operation: Mindcrime II 

                Take Cover 

                American Soldier 

               

               

33. Rainbow  [see also Dio]          Rising 

                On Stage 

                Down to Earth 

                Difficult to Cure 

                Straight Between the Eyes 

                Bent Out Of Shape 

                Stranger in Us All 

               

               

34. Todd Rundgren          Runt

                Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren

                Something/Anything?

                A Wizard, a True Star

                Todd

                Initiation

                Faithful

                Hermit of Mink Hollow

                Healing

                The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect

                A Cappella

                Nearly Human

                2nd Wind

                No World Order

                The Individualist

                Up Against It

                With a Twist

                One Long Year

                Liars

                Arena

                Todd Rundgren's Short Johnson (EP)

               

               

35. Rush               Rush 

                Fly by Night 

                Caress of Steel 

                A Farewell to Kings 

                Hemispheres 

                Permanent Waves 

                Signals 

                Grace Under Pressure 

                Power Windows 

                Hold Your Fire 

                Presto 

                Roll the Bones 

                Counterparts 

                Test for Echo 

                Vapor Trails 

                Feedback 

                Snakes & Arrows 

                Clockwork Angels 

               

               

36. Stratovarius                 Fright Night 

                Twilight Time 

                Dreamspace 

                Episode 

                Visions 

                Destiny 

                Infinite 

                Elements, Pt. 1 

                Elements, Pt. 2 

                Stratovarius 

               

37. The Sword   Warp Riders

               

               

38. Uriah Heep  Salisbury

                Look at Yourself

                Demons and Wizards

                The Magician's Birthday

                Sweet Freedom

                Wonderworld

                Return to Fantasy

                High and Mighty

                Firefly

                Innocent Victim

                Fallen Angel

                Conquest

                Abominog

                Head First

                Equator

                Raging Silence

                Different World

                Sea of Light

                Sonic Origami

                Wake the Sleeper

                Celebration

               

               

39. The Who       My Generation 

                A Quick One 

                The Who Sell Out 

                Tommy 

                Who's Next 

                Quadrophenia 

                The Who By Numbers 

                Who Are You 

                Face Dances 

                It's Hard 

                Endless Wire 

               

               

40. Yes  Yes 

                Time and a Word 

                The Yes Album 

                Fragile 

                Close to the Edge 

                Tales from Topographic Oceans 

                Relayer 

                Going for the One 

                Tormato 

                Drama 

                90125 

                Big Generator 

                Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe 

                Union 

                Talk 

                Keys to Ascension 

                Keys to Ascension 2 

                Open Your Eyes 

                The Ladder 

                Magnification 

               

               

41. Dweezil Zappa            My Mother is a Space Cadet

                Havin' a Bad Day

                My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama

                Confessions

                Automatic

                Go with What You Know

                [with Ahmet Zappa] -  Shampoohorn

                [with Ahmet Zappa] -  Music for Pets

                [... with Zappa Plays Zappa] - Zappa Plays Zappa

                [... with Zappa Plays Zappa] - Return Of The Son Of...

               

           

42. Frank Zappa                Freak Out!

Now if only I could consolidate my three collections (2 lap tops and a 1TB HD) to eliminate the doubles, and include the iTunes downloads I already have on the other lappie!

Happy Holiday

Happy Channuka - מזל טשאַננוקאַ - חנוכה שמח
Merry Christmas (with apologies in a misappropriated language to those nationalities who don't observe the holiday) - Geseënde Kersfees, Gëzuar Krishtlindjet, عيد ميلاد مجيد, Շնորհավոր Սուրբ Ծնունդ:, З Калядамі, শুভ বড়দিন, Весела Коледа, Bon Nadal, 圣诞快乐, Sretan Božić, Veselé Vánoce, Glædelig jul, Häid jõule, Maligayang Pasko, Hyvää Joulua, Joyeux Noël, Bo Nadal, შობა, Frohe Weihnachten, Καλά Χριστούγεννα, મેરી ક્રિસમસ, jwaye nowèl, मेरी क्रिसमस, Gleðileg jól, Selamat Hari Natal, Nollaig Shona, Buon Natale, メリークリスマス, ಮೆರ್ರಿ ಕ್ರಿಸ್ಮಸ್, 메리 크리스마스, Lorem Nativitatis, Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus, Linksmų Kalėdų, Среќен Божиќ, God jul, کریسمس مبارک, Wesołych Świąt, Feliz Natal, Crăciun fericit, С Рождеством, Срећан Божић, veselé Vianoce, Vesel božič, ¡Feliz Navidad!, God Jul, மெர்ரி கிறிஸ்துமஸ், మెర్రి క్రిస్మస్, สุขสันต์วันคริสมาสต์, สุขสันต์วันคริสมาสต์, Mutlu Noeller, З Різдвом, میری کرسمس, and Nadolig Llawen  
Happy Kwanzaa - www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/ 
Happy Saturnalia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia
Happy Yuletide - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule
and Happy Birthday!

Downtime Discussions

During the downtime that usually happens at this time of year in a call-centre, many topics of discussion have been put forward, including the player to polarise footy the most (Judd, Cousins, Barrassi, Fevola), the biggest girlyman in footy (Nick Riewoldt), the hardest player ever (Jonathan Brown, Karl Ditterich, Bruce Doull, Leigh Matthews), the greediest / money-grubbingest player ever (jury's still out).

But the subject then turned to the biggest gronk that ever lived.

What is a gronk, I hear you ask? Well, you'd be best looking at http://www.urbandictionary.com/ and to choose your own definition. But for me, the definition is in a name. A person's name can be cringeworthy and generate all sorts of ill-feeling. Those names, for me, belong in the Court of King Gronk, and members of that court include (in no particular order):

• David Beckham - English football star, married to Posh Spice / Victoria Adams-Beckham
• Silvio Berlusconi - playboy Italian prime-minister; key player in the ruination of Italy and Europe in general during the 00s/10s GFC / Euro-crisis
• Warwick Capper - 1980s AFL footballer and now well-known Gold Coast resident / wanker / reality television participant
• Brendan Fevola - 1990s Carlton spearhead and now out-of-favour with the AFL in general
• Pauline Hanson - one-time Member of Parliament and founder of racist political party One Nation; once-convicted but now overturned felon; failed Member of Parliament since the collapse of One Nation and the prison sentence
• Paris Hilton - heiress, famous for being famous, participant in sex-tape
• Kim Il Jung - late "beloved" leader of North Korea and basis of the Team America satire
• Mark "Jacko" Jackson" - 1980s AFL "footballer of great potential" who, starting in the WAFL, moved east to star for no less than four VFL clubs. Now more famous for his off-field exploits which included a "singing" career, and speaking engagements with one other contender
• Bob Kater - Federal Independent Member of Parliament in the Queensland seat of Leichhardt
• The Kardashian Family - enough said, really
• David Kosh - self-opinionated ambulance-chasing co-presenter of the "Sunrise" breakfast television programme on ATN7 in Sydney with an economics major in journalism who doesn't like you to know about it
• Lindsay Lohan - actress, indebted Playboy pin up
• Eddie Maguire - president of the Collingwood Australian Football club, "journalist," radio and television presenter, loud-mouthed hater of felafel and anything to do with any city in Australia except Melbourne 
• Imelda Marcos - one-time Phillipines first-lady, hoarder of shoes
• Mohamar Qadafi - one-time leader of Libya, alleged war-time victim
• Mark "Chopper" Reid - convicted criminal turned writer and talk-circuit speaker, source of comedy sketches and spoofs
• Charlie Sheen - actor, alcoholic, drug-addict, discgraced son of Martin.Shane Warne - once-great cricketer, half of The Shiz or Shurley (Liz Hurley love-interest)
• Karl Stepanovic - slightly less opinionated than another television presenting contender, this contender co-hosts the "Today" breakfast television programme on TCN9 in Sydney. His infamy is in the inappropriate, as well as a "Logie" award that he should not have been given
• Tiger Woods - so-called "world's greatest golfer" whose brain-pants took over and cost him a beautiful wife and family, as well as his golfing talent. A contentious entry here, although he is allegedly friendly with another contender

I am happy to add or subtract names from this list for legal or other reasons, by request through comment to this post below!


pgg
23Dec11
1555 (amended 25/12/11)

Pondering The End of an Era

End of an era

On Tuesday, my days of attending an educational facility as an undergraduate are over. My journey started in March 2002 as a student of computing, and finishes this week as a student of history.

Such a wide swing from one to the other. The reason for the change are simple

Computing to German after second semester 2002: Had to do pre-MATH101 to get to the first level of Maths but only got a conceded pass. I needed a full-pass which was going to take another semester. But I passed the Stats component of the course, and did only the one Stats subject in the second semester, gaining a credit. I came to the conclusion that

• One subject a semester is better than trying to cram it all in and just scraping through
• Maths isn’t my thing
• Maybe I should look into something else

German to History after second semester 2006: On finding out that I could do German simply as a walk-in student, whereas to do Chinese (the other language I wanted to learn) needed the approval of the Dean, I went down that path. And enjoyed it immensely, and still find myself translating songs into German, tweeting in German, and trying as often as my health allows to eat and drink German, still keeping in contact with a couple of the exchange-students from my 200-level courses (but where the Australian students have gone is beyond me – I found one on Facebook but haven’t heard back since.)

But after the first semester of the first 300-level course, I was really struggling, and sought the help of a tutor. We spoke generally, and formally, and tried writing, and the like, and I still wasn’t getting the hang of it. But the crunch came with my last essay for the subject. And I hadn’t learned much from my first semester because I tried cramming two subjects into a semester (the second, a 200-level reading course). I gave my essay to my tutor, who corrected it, and I submitted it. But I didn’t ask the tutor to look at the 200-level submission, because the detail required for that wasn’t as in-depth (short-answer as opposed to an essay). The lecturer for the 200-level course picked this up, and referred it to the department head: apparently there was a genitive construction in the opening sentence that, apparently I would not have known about at my level.

What had happened was that the tutor written what I wanted to say instead of, perhaps, talking to me about saying something simpler / more suited to my level. Anyway I had to front the department head on the same day as my exam in the subject (timing much?) and explain myself. I just happened to have a copy of the work that I had given to the tutor, which they accepted. But getting someone to check one’s work before submission was apparently not acceptable: they want to know about my work, not how it should look. Which makes sense, but I still feel that I was being accused of cheating - all I was doing was having someone look over and edit my work. I absolutely knew without doubt that several people were getting their work vetted – one even had her work done by another student (both being native-speakers), but the cheater was obviously struggling with the grammar (which is fair enough: how many people would be fluent in the technical aspects of their native tongue? I only know those of mine because they were taught to me). But I couldn’t say anything: one doesn’t rat out a mate (or two). I got a conceded pass (and a credit in the other subject) and, because I didn’t know if I had to do the course again or continue to the next level, I went back to stats.

Stats to History: It appears that the break I’d taken between STAT176 and the next 200-level stats course was too long, because the whole thing was lost on me. I had no idea what the people were talking about, so I pulled it, taking the semester off. But my initial reason for doing Uni was to write essays (in English at least) which hadn’t happened yet. My interest in History was beckoning, so I thought I’d go over and do a 100-level course to learn how to play the game there. I got a D for my first-ever essay, and had to ask the tutor what that meant. “It’s a distinction”, he said. As 23/30 generally is. I had found my niche!

Then came the Diagnosis, on the eve of my 46th birthday. I had already started my last subject and was at the same place I am at the moment. But the illness spelled a respite in my academic career, which had to wait until full recovery for me to return. Dang!

So here I am, some 5 years and several essays later, looking at the end of a long career. There’s still some coursework to complete, two and a half readings (for tomorrow) and a self-assessment form to complete, but by the end of November I should be a Bachelor of Arts with History and German. What I do with that next year is anyone’s guess- for now I am contemplating a Grad.Dip in either Education or Information Management, or any combination thereof, but not at Club Mac: their funding cuts have spelled a lot of changes which don’t auger well for a good learning environment, so I will be looking at doing so by correspondence (which is how most of my History course was done).

Gaudeamus igitur.

Iuvenes dum sumus.

Gaudeamus igitur.

Iuvenes dum sumus.

Post iucundam iuventutem.

Post molestam senectutem.

Nos habebit humus —

Nos habebit humus.

[which would make sense to your old-school academic – I’ll leave you with that to ponder over!]

A Sad Day Made A Little Less Sad

Jr and fido got tangled up, jr landing on top of fido. Fido retaliated, getting jr above and below the eye. Another time, it was on the middle finger. It’s time for us to make a choice.

Fido was born on 17Dec94 (he was 7½ weeks old when we got him in early Feb95). We watched him grow from a little puppy through all the stages a dog’s life has. We moved house four times, and we had two cats and five birds in that time, but fido was always our first-born fur-baby.

Our IVF journey started about 1999, and bore fruit on 21Jul10 when jr came to us as our first-born. Fido and puss were not impressed, and made the usual signs to show this. But as jr grew, that lack of being impressed grew too. Then jr started walking, and fido and puss hated it. Puss can at least escape, but when escape is not possible, he withstands the pats, both gentle and otherwise, for just so long. There was one time when he was considering lashing out, but didn’t.

Fido isn’t as tolerant. He has arthritis, is deaf, and going blind. He doesn’t always know what’s going on, so when a 10kg toddler fell on him, he retaliated the only way he knew how. So yesterday we went to the vets to discuss our options, knowing that we didn’t have too many. We decided to take the lethal option, but to come back today to get the deed done.

The vet was very understanding, and took him out the back to put a catheter in his arm for the injection. But she seemed to be taking such a long time. When she emerged with fido she said that most of the delay was in trying to contact her partner, who was not answering. She offered to take fido from us on a trial basis – they had lost their second dog a couple of months ago and, while fido would not be a replacement, he would certainly fill the void.

I leapt at the opportunity, although mrs_g was not as willing to take it up. She thought we were both crazy. Fido has a number of ailments which do not contribute to his quality of life, but my idea was that this is a vet with access to fido’s medical records, so she knew what she was signing up for. We left the vets without a dog today, but not the way we imagined we would be doing so!

Fido is very well loved both at our place and at the vets’ – he’d been going there all his life and the staff there would have been devastated if we had taken the lethal option. Let’s all hope that he gets on well with this other dog, that the vet’s partner doesn’t mind adopting an older dog (this vet has been with the practice for 6yr and had never done anything like this), and that the trial goes well. Fido is a beautiful little dog who doesn’t deserve to go out the way we’d planned.

* I have spelled fido, puss, and jr with lower-case initials because they’re not their real names, making them regular (not proper) nouns.