THIS FRIDGE GOES UP TO ELEVEN

I was informed last week by Mr Jason Franks that Jim Marshall passed away.

Jim Marshall being the guy who invented the Marshall guitar amplifier.

So I just had to blog about that, didn’t I?

There are many guitar amps, of course, but even before Spinal Tap did the “this one goes to eleven” joke, Marshall amps were known for being by far the loudest, which made them perfect for 70s rock dinosaurs and 80s hair metal and, well, anyone who needs the kind of guitar sound that (to use a musical term) kicks ass and takes names.

And it’s always interested me that Marshall amps have become as iconic in the rock’n’rolls pop-culture scheme of things as the Fender Stratocaster, the Gibson Les Paul and double-kick-bass drum kits. Possibly just because they're stackable. Few things are quite as impressive as a band backed by a wall of amplifiers, both sonically and visually.

I think Harry Shearer sums it up pretty well: Marshall amps turned rock concerts from an auditory experience to a physical experience. Indeed.

Meanwhile, if you want an idea of just how iconic Marshall is, look no further than this: a mini-fridge dolled up to look like a Marshall amp.

Holds 4.4 cubic-feet of Budweiser. Yrs for $300.

I do so want one. Only without the Budweiser.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I owned a Marshall amp once. Got it second-hand in a pawn shop for my band Skinless Julia. It was so loud that the sound guys at the two clubs we played said there was no point in miking it because it was louder than their PA system.

Fuck yeah Marshall.

FUN FACT: Blue Oyster Cult once did a song called “The Marshall Plan”, which had nothing to do with America’s post-WW2 Europe rebuilding policy, but was in fact about a guy whose girlfriend runs off with his favorite rock band, inspiring him to start his own rock band to win her back.

See what they did there?

Play it loud,

This is dF

PAR CAR SUPERSTAR

A little background about Disco Bay, the village I live in:

It’s different from other villages in Hong Kong in that it was originally designed as a getaway resort. It eventually became a residential village instead, but the resort elements remained, such as a beach, a clubhouse and a golf course.

One other thing they borrowed from other large resorts: golf carts as private transportation. There are no proper cars allowed in the village, so if you need the convenience of a car to get around, yr only option is a golf cart.

Which brings us to this golf cart right here, which I spent last week driving:



It’s not mine. It belongs to some friends who went on holiday last week and needed someone to look after their two dogs while they were gone. They asked us and we said yes, and since their house is way over on the other side of the village, with no direct bus route from our flat, they kindly lent us the golf cart.

I’d never driven one before. Took about 30 seconds to master it. The only think that worried me was that HK uses the British road system, where the signs are somewhat different and everyone drives on the left side of the road. The signs are no problem (I am licensed to drive in Germany, where the signs are more or less similar apart from language). Driving on the left – never done it before.

It was easier than I thought.

And so the bride and I drove the hell out of that golf cart. Because hey, wouldn’t you?

Having lived in HK since the mid-90s, I’d forgotten how nice it is to just be able to get in a vehicle and GO without having to plan everything around public transport timetables.

But will I get one of my own? No. Why? For the same reason I didn’t have one in the first place: they’re too damn expensive. There are only 500 carts allowed in DB (a village of 15,000, incidentally), and due to import costs and license fees, they cost somewhere around HK$2 million (around $248,000 American).

And that’s second-hand. I could buy a 2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni Coupe for that and still have enough left over for a weekend of debauchery in Cancun [NSFW].

So I’ll take the bus, thanks.

No wheels,

This is dF

TITANIC DECADENCE FOR YOU AND ME

As you may have heard, yesterday (Tuesday) marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

I can’t think of a better way to mark the occasion than with this Falco song about the Titanic.

Deca-DANCE!

ADVISORY: Not historically accurate.

Unsinkable,

This is dF