EDITORIAL - HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Be Prog-Active!

2008 is right here, right now!

And what a year it promises to be, with over 365 days packed into twelve months! We’re gonna have rain, we’re gonna have sun, and we’re gonna have wind. But more importantly we are going to have some prog rock.

After the gluttony and excess of Christmas it is time to clear away the progwebs and breathe in the prog-fresh-air in readiness of what is ahead.

In 2004 Steve Hackett told Stu from Galahad that “You get the year that you deserve” – this couldn’t be more truer in 2008. Stu took the advice and revved up his prog-engine. Silhobbit.com urge everyone reading this to get involved and buy the music we love.

Remember:“Without a Sale the music will Fail”

If you sit on your arse waiting for prog to come to you, then you will miss out. I’ve always been prog-active – this means I start my painting with a blank canvas and let the brushes do the talking. I’d never paint over someone else’s art like the dirty-Dutch rivals at www.dprp.net.

This year could make or break the music we love as filesharing prepares to destroy it.

If you really like an album then don’t share it and urge your friends to buy it. It is not progrocket science to see that the bands need money. Steve Thorne told Silhobbit.com "Praise alone will not put bread on the table"

Remember: “If you Share – It won’t be There”

So my new year’s prog message couldn’t be simpler – Grasp the prog-nettle with both hands and don’t let go!

What else?

Come on Belgium Sort it Out!

Today, Belgium is bitterly divided and almost ungovernable. Political crisis is the norm, and it is only because of the high autonomy in both linguistic groups that the country functions at all. Actually there is even a section that speaks German! They’ve got three languages so it no surprise the country is in turmoil without a leader!

To those of us on the outside, this is very sad. Belgium has been an artistic powerhouse since before it was a formal country. It has a wealth of qualities that make it an agreeable place to live. And it has attracted international organizations nearly as effectively as has Geneva, Switzerland. Brussels is the headquarters of the European Union, NATO is headquartered outside the city, and is the capital city of the Sprout world too!

The language divide that has led to Belgium's political deadlock has also spread to its Miss Belgium contest.

French-speaking Miss Belgium winner Alizee Poulicek, 20, (left) was booed by parts of a 3,400-strong Antwerp audience when she revealed she could not speak no Dutch.

This shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone, as Alizee is a common French name, and there is already a very popular singer in that country who goes by that name (see pic on right)

My solution to Belgium’s problems is to divide the country up. The French speaking part can be absorbed into France, the Dutch can adopt the Flemmish region and the German section can go to either Germany or Japan.

Alizee's boyfriend accepted that she didn't speak Flemish.

Charlie O'Mara
(Telling it as it is)