<< They're Dacias..... Well you DID ask!...... >>
exactly the kind of self-delusional reasoning that has resulted in romanians
putting up with a dodgy french motor for the thick end of thirty years. they
may ∗say∗ dacia on them, and they may even have been revisited by the stylist
once or twice (which itself beggars belief- why stop at the tail-lights?
redesign the whole thing! like, yesterday!) but they are still plainly
renault 12s. I saw pickups, minivans, estates (station wagons), saloons....
we saw two car dealerships in the whole of bucharest, though I'm sure there
were more somewhere. one was for Dacia (yep, they still ∗make∗ the damn
things. I know. new renault 12's. you couldn't make it up, could you?) and
one with big cobwebs in the window was for chrysler jeeps.
BUT in a twisted sort of way, I was kind of pleased that the locals have got
better things to worry about than the state of their roads and what they put
on them. tribute also to this shitty-looking little car that they
(apparently) thrive on being driven through craters that would (and probably
did) stop tanks. fair play to 'em. I've started liking the dacia a bit. did
you say there's a 4x4?
there's probably an owners' e-mail group... then again, the electronic
infrastructure there isn't up to a group that big just yet..... fascinating.
ahem. back to business.
>>>So Duncan did you order M300A Violins/McD Flute/Russian Choir?<<<
not necessarily in that order. um.... it doesn't say on tape 1 or the spool
what order they're in. and I can't remember (martin tends to do business with
me on the 'phone, before I'm properly awake) what strings there'll be. but
the choir and flute are the "new" ones. there's a cryptic note on the first
tape, where the client's name usually goes, or the list of sounds, that will
baffle the 'tron archeologists in a few dozen years.
so... shit.... it's past 1am here now, so I can't fire up the 'tron and get
cracking. it's past neighbourly-awareness curfew; the sound of the motor
carries too much even though it's thoroughly well maintained. so y's'll all
have to wait until I get 'em laced up. I'll try to make a little video of
this process while I'm about it, in case anyone's interested in how I go
about replacing an existing set. my record is 65 minutes. (525 vhs no
problemo, though I think martin's embarking on a similar video-tutorial
anyway).
I'm also hoping to contribute a track to the collection, which won't be an
r.m.i. effort but rather a brisk musical trawl through the r.m.i. 'tron
library. I mention this now because I want to lay claim to the title in
advance; it'll be called "mello hum". well, someone had to use it.
now, where's that herb trumpet I was working on....?
d/400nr1098 (ah c'mon, there's no-one in downstairs!)
p.s.
as some of you may know, my 400 is quite heavily be-stickered; by way of
compensating for an indifferent cosmetic state when it was acquired, I
started covering it with anything readable and sticky. it has a collection of
stickers naming defunct indie bands, tv shows, magazines, websites.... and,
most recently, an itv-digital sticker. the one organisation that has escaped
(so far) the duncan's-'tron-curse is the science centre at jodrell bank.
oops.....