| DECEMBER 2007 | © brianmay.com | |
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As
always, the opinions expressed in these pages are purely
and personally those of myself, Brian; they are not the
official views of Queen, or of any other organisation or
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Welcome
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**Mon 31 Dec 07** [Asked what he played when he made a surprise appearance at matinee and evening shows at the Dominion Saturday...] Bo Rap !!! Yes, I did go on, unannounced at the Dominion - both shows on Saturday. It was in a way my Christmas gift to the cast, and band and crew, to support them in what is a fearsomely tough call, doing all those extra shows in the Christmas period - all packed, I'm happy to say. In the afternoon, I just strolled on and played the solo, like the chaps normally do, because there was no time to rehearse with the cast. But in the evening we risked me being on there in the headbanging section too, amongst everybody milling around ... sorry, amongst the choreography !!! ha ha! It was risky because we still hadn't managed to make the radio link work, so I had a physical lead on the guitar.... which did get stamped on a bit ... but it all seemed to go off well. There was a deafening roar from the audience, and some very surprised faces ! The great thing about the heavy section is that it gives me a kind of consummation ... I can make a big noise at the end, and somehow it releases the last bit of energy in me, and in the audience .. This was the first time I've done an appearance without coming up in smoke in the trap. I like a new challenge ! But the trap is the favourite. This current cast is phenomenal, and the nicest bunch of people you could meet. I love spending time with them. I'm very proud ! Cheers © brianmay.com |
**Sun 30 Dec 07** Brian was asked who plays "Forever" (solo piano) on A Kind of Magic? and if he still has that awesome coat that he wore at one point during the Wembley Concert in '86? The white one with the red satin inset trim and lining. See LETTERS. I played "Forever" on the piano .. I had already played it on an early synth for the song version, but enjoyed playing with the sequence on the piano ... it also had a kind of special significance for me ... a kind of therapy ... luckily the chaps had the tape rolling one time when I was playing around with it. Yes, I believe I still have that coat ... archived ! Bri © brianmay.com |
**Sat 29 Dec 07** In reply to question from Kamran in LETTERS... Extract: --- .... perhaps this is a good way to start the New Year! Well, thanks for an interesting question, Kamran, and very well expressed -- although I do suspect that the fact that you are asking indicates that we were not quite good enough in our explanations in BANG! You are right in saying that points A and B on your 'balloon' are both changing and evolving. If we could sit in a position where we could see both of them at the same time, say, half way between them, we would undoubtedly be able to confirm this .... because we would be seeing light which started its journey towards us at about the same time in each case. But suppose we now shift our vantage point ...we are now sitting at point A. We can make a good guess that Galaxy B is actually in a similar state of development as our own ... but we cannot confirm this by observation. We can only draw conclusions from what we can see. What we see, when we look towards B, is light that left B a long time ago. Light seems to travel instantaneously to us, so we never question 'simultaneity' in our every-day existence. The fact that we might be trying to check the time from a clock which is a mile away would not bother us ... we would not be thinking ... "This light left the clock some time ago, so we must make adjustments." But on a cosmic scale, this is exactly what we must do. The light we see coming from our Sun left it about four minutes ago, so in theory, at any moment, it MIGHT have blown up, and we would not discover the fact until eight *[corrected from 'four'] minutes later. But the light from Galaxy B left it millions of years ago. So, logically, what we are seeing is an image of that galaxy which is millions of years out of date. Yes, it may be highly evolved at the moment we choose to observe it, but we will see it as it was in a bygone age. There is no asymmetry here ... the same thing exactly happens the other way round. People on galaxy B will see US (assuming we are in Galaxy A!) as we were millions of years ago ... even though they will guess that our galaxy is highly evolved like theirs ... I wonder if this makes things any clearer ... It's strange. It seems to me, Science actually sometimes asks the same things of its adherents as religion ! Scientists really ask us to BELIEVE that certain things happen ... and they do not tell us why. I find a lot of the concepts in Einstein's relativity are really not as difficult to understand as people make out. A child could understand that, for instance, if we measure the length of a ruler as it moves faster and faster relative to us, the ruler might get shorter (which is what Einstein predicts). But the problem is believing this is true - because we don't experience it in every-day life. The reason we do not experience such things is that we don't rush around at speeds anything like the speed of light (186,000 miles per second). If we did, then I'm sure we would have no problem with Einstein's 'theories' - they would just be what we see every day. In the limited amount of teaching I have done, I have actually found confirmation of my 'theory'. Kids of school age actually DO find it easier to 'believe' Einstein's theories ... easier than grown-ups who have had more time to get into set ways of thinking. It's not that the kids are more intelligent than the grown-ups (thought this may be so!) - their minds are just more flexible .. more open. So, to get to grips with Cosmology, perhaps the best thing we can do is just forget all our preconceptions .... suspend our disbelief, like watching a Superman film, and ... enjoy the ride !! I hope this is helpful ! All the very best to all you cosmologists out there .... Dr. Bri * Correction: Apologies. A slip. (Well, nearer Eight and a Half, if we want to be picky!) See more Astronomy Q&A on www.banguniverse.com © brianmay.com |
**Tue 25 Dec 07** Yes, if it all becomes too much, and you need to get your head in a quiet place ... AND you fancy being an astronomer for a few minutes ...
Go to GALAXY ZOO !! www.galaxyzoo.org After a fun tutorial which takes about 5 minutes, you can settle down to classifying some of the One Million distant galaxies in the Galaxy Zoo Project. It's actually amazing ... you get quite good at deciding what is a spiral and what is an elliptical after a while ... and then ... suddenly, you're just about to dismiss what you are looking at as a boring old elliptical, when suddenly you realise you are making a judgement about a system of Billions of stars, any one of which could be just like our Sun, and have planets around it just like ours ... and suddenly the enormity of what you are seeing breaks in ... This is stupendous ... and ....warning .... quite addictive .... as soon as you have made your decision on a galaxy, another one appears ... and you NEVER know what will come up next .... GO !! Cheers - and - MERRY CHRISTMAS !!
Dr. Bri © brianmay.com |
**Sun 23 Dec 07** Well, I've been pretty much submerged in Christmas preparations and a vain attempt to keep working as well. How about you guys ? Christmas ? Stressful ? Just a bit. Well, to all of you out there, who, like me, are sad enough to be communing with your computer screens at this festive time ...... (!) MERRY CHRISTMAS !! Just for once, I am going to indulge in what will appear to be shameless advertising (but I'm preaching to the converted, aren't I ?!!! ) Here's my jolly Christmas Card ... destined for imminent appearances in Tube Stations and buses and stuff -- in a town near you (well, if you live in London that is ... ! )
Well, our new Scaramouche is totally lovely, isn't she ... ? ! She's called Sabrina, and she is currently bringing new life and laughs, and a beautiful singing voice, to the Dominion. Hurrah ! And, while we thought it would be nice to ring the changes in our poster image, by reminding people that WWRY is not just Boys on Stage (far from it!) ... I have to add that our new Galileo man is utterly sensational. If you have enjoyed the show in the past .... do get in there to see this incredible guy ... he is from Portugal ... and I have to say that every time I see him climb that mountain at the end of the show, to become the Rock God ... my jaw drops ... I swear you have never heard a voice like this !!! Ricardo Rocks !!! It's such a great pleasure to have him in the role ... he came up within the company, having understudied the leading role last year ... and just as we had given him the job to take over, he was involved in a serious motorbike accident .... I'm happy to say he's made a complete recovery ... and is ON! Like I say ... something you have to see ! See you there ! Love xxxx © brianmay.com |
**Tue 18 Dec 07** [Commenting on article and film in the Guardian on 12 Dec HERE] I hate these scientists. This 'research' is HIDEOUS. For pity's sake, stop playing God. Leave the animals alone. This is not clever. What have you achieved? Nothing of value to us. Where did your humanity go? This makes me ashamed to be a scientist. Bri VH1 CLASSIC RADIO REPORT FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18TH, 2007 MOUSE HAS A CHANCE IN CAT AND MOUSE GAMES. Scientists in Japan have genetically engineered a mouse that is not afraid of cats. The work was done at Tokyo University. Ananova.com reports that lead researcher Ko Kobayakawa claims the change came about when they were able to turn off the receptor in the mouse’s brain that sensed fear from the scent of cats. Kobayakawa says the project proves we are born with certain fears and we don’t develop them based on our environment. © brianmay.com |
**Mon 17 Dec 07** [On receiving news that Queen have topped an internet poll, as Best Rock Band Of All Time, by a major Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat - 14th December - see ARTICLE] Thanks ... this is great news. Today we were in the studio ... we boys have worked pretty hard on this new album - three month-long sessions so far ... and today was our last day before the Christmas Break. I think we have some hot stuff. I really do. Some hard rockin' pieces, some tasty ballads, some anthems, and lots of "real people playing together in the studio" ... it's quite a rarity these days ... ! So ... onwards ! Lotsa love and ... Thank you Finland ! Hats off to the Finns !!!! THANKS Guys !!! Cheers ! © brianmay.com |
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