Hey there

Yes I'm back - from New Zealand that is :)

Was interested to tune in to see how SAB 2.0 was faring in my absence. I can't honestly say that I'm completely blown away with the changes made, but some of the signs are promising. No, not to the physical design or user interactivity, but there does seem to be some indication that HQ are finally taking note of some of the things the community has banged on about for a long time. Perhaps there was little option BUT to begin to take notice.

I suppose the new concepts and ideas need some time to come to full fruition, and I will be interested to see how it all pans out.

For my part, there is an obvious interest to see how the bands and artists I've loved listening to are progressing, as well as listening to the new 50k albums as they are released. Less importantly, there is the fact that I will be keeping an eye on any return on the $ that I put into the artists' projects, if any. Need to start saving for more adventures :)

However, please note that I will not be buying any new parts in artists for the foreseeable future, nor taking an active role as a believer in the community forums/events. I think I have explained the reasoning behind this comprehensively in the past, and won't go over old ground again. Sufficed to say that the casual browser of the forum is not privy to PM messages, or interactions between one user and another, or indeed between believer and HQ. Sometimes, all is not how it immediately appears.

I once had a very good friend (a brash Yorkshire lass) whose answerphone message went something like "ay up, I'm not in right now, but leave a message anyway, and if I like you, I'll call you back". If this message could talk, that is what it would say :)

My skype account is back online after sorting out some server conflicts, so if friends want to keep in touch, it would be great to hear from you (iscaskype is my user name). Old friends may need to add again, as it doesn't seem to remember the old contacts that were removed when I uninstalled it.

Well, that's about it. Be well, and good luck.

Might see some of you at Sheet Metal's Sell-O-Ween gig in October....