Amsterdam Russ

Can just about make something out if I tilt my head over to the left! Having been to that part of the world, I can testify in full accord that the wildlife is something else - especially the lobster on the beach

Save yourself a few thousand and get the cover version by Gwen's daughter for under a tenner. You get a cracking B side into the bargain as well! :yes:"‹

Yes, 'part 2' was and is an option. Perhaps a new one for each season is an idea. Kingfishers - known as Ijsvogels here (literally - ice birds) are marvellous things to see. They seem to generally announce their impending travels with that high-pitched, single note whistle. Hear the whistle and you're almost guaranteed to see a flash of blue lightning streak low across the water. In the summer we were having a waterside picnic in the Amsterdamse Bos (Amsterdam woods). A kingfisher was darting back and forth on the other bank quite frequently and, much to my surprise, seemed to have a preferred spot high in the trees. Certainly that's where it kept returning. By high, I mean perhaps 10m or more off the ground. I'd always associated them with having burrows in the sandy banks of rivers and waterways. Having said that, reeds cover most banks, so perhaps a more woodpecker-like approach was the only practical option for this particular bird.

Pretty unequivocal then. The thread continues and perhaps I'll start up a more general photography thread as well. Thanks, guys.

Morning all. Your thoughts, please... I'm thinking about wrapping up this thread as with nearly 1150 posts, it's starting to get unwieldy. I also think that being so long, it's unlikely that anyone who hasn't already joined the party is going to bother to sift through 23 pages. In it's place, I was thinking about starting a more general photography thread, so that it might appeal to more members here and give scope for a greater variety of contributions. At the end of the day though, this thread has only gone on so long, and become so lengthy (and had so many great photos), because of the contributions from you guys, so it's only fair to ask for your thoughts. Keep this one going or start a new, broader 'photography' thread where members can post decent pics they've taken and want to share? What do you think?

A rascal, good-for-nothing, reprobate, unprincipled person, cheat, swindler, fraudster, trickster, charlatan, villain, bastard, beast, son of a bitch, s.o.b., rat, louse, swine, dog, hound, skunk, heel, snake, snake in the grass, wretch, scumbag, bad egg or stinker...

Two to open today.

Of course, you're right, Ian. If the OST is doing so well presently then the impact of disc 2 being on YouTube is negligible, maybe even beneficial. Here's wishing the film and the supporting soundtrack the best of success!

Ha! Found the opening credits to Tarzan, and at about 1:43 in is the Great Egret. It doesn't quite compare, but your photo was enough to trigger a deeply forgotten TV memory!

I'm slowly coming to the realisation that Autumn and it warm, golden hues are my favourite - although until recently if someone asked I'd always have said Spring with it's sharp greens and fresh vibrancy. Maybe it's an age thing - I don't know. And I've just realised something about your heron pic. Do you remember the TV series Tarzan - the one with Ron Ely? I'm positive that in the opening credits there's a white heron or egret in almost the same pose and situation - disturbed and caught mid-flight by a bank of reeds. Might have to check and see if it's on YouTube!

Lovely selection of pics, Steve. I particularly like the light in some of them - very autumnal with deep greens, heavy blacks and strong hints of yellow.

Nice to know he feels confident... And over 300 Elvis makes it all worthwhile!

The thing with YouTube is, of course, that it's dead easy to download anything posted on it. So in many respects it encourages 'illegal' downloading. And of the +3,000 who have listened to the cd on YouTube so far, you can be sure a good many downloaded it while doing so. Perhaps having it blocked would be in order (and I never thought I'd hear myself say that in respect of YouTube!).

Very surprised to see that someone uploaded the entire 2nd disc of the soundtrack to YouTube a month ago. That said, is it taken from the actual disc or have they put together their own comp of the tracks on the soundtrack?

Does no one appreciate the great irony in that? If it were a case of only seven events on in a month, that'd be killing the scene, but nearly 80 in a week??? Really sounds like the scene is dying, doesn't it?

There's an ongoing thread about foreign releases, currently standing at a wonderful 13 pages of scans. You can find it here...

For comparison of label info and layout of Motown test pressings, here's one from 1962.

Plenty of others on here will have Motown-stable rare and not-so-rare test pressings, so why don't y'all post up a few and allow everyone to compare?

Sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Seen at the Aalsmeer boat race today! Somewhat off topic, but, um, you know…

That's the key - a greater insect population than last year. We were sat on the balcony late this evening and the volume of small biting flying things was quite surprising. At the same time though, cobwebs and rather sizeable spiders are appearing at an alarming rate everywhere we look. One begets the other, of course...

Very well, Steve, thanks. It's a busy weekend locally and tomorrow is a large scale event that I can only describe as a "crazy boat race". About 150 praams - small boats (translates in English as 'barge', but that's not correct) — will be gaudily decorated in whatever colourful and crazy style each team chooses, and at about midday they'll all set off on a race of sorts that'll see them sail through the main canals, around various islands, and then on to the finish line in town. It's party time all round. Very interesting to know that you've still got some of the summer migrants. I always think of them disappearing early September, and not having seen any recently had presumed they'd gone a little earlier than usual. However, we haven't lived in this place for a full year yet, so haven't experienced everything that the seasons bring - and take away. As were so close to a good sized lake, I guess that the remaining summer birds are over the water, which would explain why we're seeing none from home. Just had a quick search on YouTube and found a vid of last year's pramenrace. A quick skip through it'll give you an idea of what's in store tomorrow...

It's been a gorgeous summer day here in Noord-Holland, so much so that we had lunch on the terras of a lake-side eatery just a few minutes walk from us. While sipping on a glass of rosé and looking out across the marina, I was pleasantly surprised to see a good half a dozen swallows or more. Not having seen any of the summer migrants for a little while now, I'd presumed them all gone. Anyone else still seeing them?

Was it not a popular spin in Scotland a couple of years ago? Sure I saw comment to that effect on here a good while back.

Hmm, that's what I vaguely thought. Thanks for confirming. I added four unreleased/acetate tracks recently and none have had any sort of interest as the likes of classics such as Bobby Freeman's "Swim". Can't believe that no one's interested in unreleased track by Nat Hall, Major Lance or whoever! My YouTube channel stats also show that while the forum list indicates multiple views, the reality is that people click on the refosoul page but don't click through and listen to the actual sound file. I'd like to add all my YouTube "unreleased/acetate" clips to refosoul for the sake of making them more available (especially in light of Ady's "no one wants newies" thread), but at the moment it hardly seems worth the effort. Any suggestions as to how to make them more accessible or interesting to Soul Source members?