Charles, thanks for posting this photo. I've never been to Nova Scotia, but I've explored some old forts in Ontario and Quebec and loved their history and atmosphere.

Genesis -- And Then There Were Three

Best wishes to Mrs. Walter!

Great post. You've reminded us of this thread's true purpose, and who we should all be remembering and honoring for their sacrifice. It's not my intention to derail this thread, but I wanted to mention a few things: a) The Polish intelligence services made initial progress in breaking German secret codes, including ULTRA, during the 1930's. Following the fall of Poland in 1939, Polish intelligence shared their code-breaking information with British intelligence, who then launched an ultimately successfully effort to crack ULTRA. Today, Americans tend to forget the huge and critical role played by Russia in defeating Germany during WW2. Russia suffered 40-50 times more fatalities than America did during the war. The Russians lost more lives in single battles (Stalingrad, the Kiev cauldron, etc.) than the Americans lost during the entire war. On D-Day, the Germans had roughly 75-80 percent of their armed might deployed against the Russians in the East, roughly 5 percent of their armed might deployed against the Western Allies in Italy; and roughly 15-20 percent of their armed might deployed against the Western Allies in France. c) Finally -- and I realize this may be controversial -- it's important to remember the tens of thousands of Boer women and children who died in British-run internment camps during the Boer War. (in South Africa)

Crab Oysters or Shrimp?

Beethoven is a great place to start. :-) Coke Sprite or Mountain Dew?

How true. So beautiful and majestic. WOW is the right word.

Yes, this should have been a choice. I've known (at least) two people who were transformed into Zep fans by watching SIBLY and the Rain Song in TSRTS -- "Jimmy Page....electric guitar...."

Hi lipslikecherries, Everything is interesting to me, too. Your approach sounds perfect -- just read whatever you find most interesting or know the least about. I'm currently interested in early American history and the Jefferson-Hamilton debate. As a Virginian, I tend to be more partial and sympathetic to Jefferson, (I was born in Charlottesville, lol) and to his ideas and ideals. But at the same time, I highly respect Hamilton. He was extraordinarily brilliant and capable. More than a few European observers regarded Hamilton to be the greatest man of his age -- even greater than Napolean.

Archery? Tall ships? The market? Sounds like a great day.

Hi Layla. Welcome to the forum.

Lipslikecherries, which historical periods are you most interested in? The most deeply moving ending to any book that I've ever read was Dickens, Tale of Two Cities ....Sydney Carton holding the French girl's hand on the way to the guillotine, etc

I barely have time to read anymore, but the last book I read was H.P Lovecraft's "At The Mountains of Madness" which I enjoyed. I'm going to have some more free time soon, and I'm planning to read Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina."

Achilles Last Stand...but Tea For One is close.

Here's a good one. As a young child I would sometimes accompany my parents on trips to my grandfather's farm, where huge piles of dried-out horse and cow manure would be piled up high to be used as fertilizer in the fields. I liked the smell of the manure, although I didn't realize what it was I was smelling until I got a bit older. Even today the smell of dried manure brings back happy memories from childhood. Other smells I like include the ocean breeze, freshly cut grass, rain/rain storms, gasoline, and cigarette smoke. (even though I don't smoke cigarettes.)

John Paul Jones piano solo Mozart's piano concertos or Chopin's (or Liszt's) piano concertos?

Hi John. Welcome to the forum.

I'm a casual Bond fan -- I've seen most of the Bond films. My favorite Bond is Roger Moore. Daniel Craig is a close second. My favorite soundtracks are from Octopussy and Live and Let Die.

I'm a casual Bond fan -- I've seen almost every movie. My favorite Bond is Roger Moore, but Daniel Craig is a close second. (In the past I've known some huge Connery fans, so I've taken some heat for preferring Moore.) I don't have a favorite movie, but my favorite soundtrack might be Octopussy's.

I think many Zep fans have a wide variety of musical tastes and interests, and hail from a wide variety of musical genres/backgrounds. Many Zep fans are big into classic rock -- others are into arena rock, prog-rock, or acoustic/folk -- and some are into heavy metal. Many heavy metal fans view Zep's music as being too non-aggressive, mellow and soft. As you know, Zep was never a heavy metal band. (The term "heavy art" would be a more apt description for Zep's "heavy" music.) Jimjam, have you listened to Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, or Jimi Hendrix?

Oasis did have some good tunes. Funny story: I remember back in '96 or '97 I was in a London pub when I got into a friendly debate with three local girls who were absolutely convinced that Oasis would become bigger than the Beatles. They were all saying "You just watch! Oasis will be more popular than the Beatles ever were, and more respected too!" Lol.

The Spirit of Radio Tom Sawyer or Limelight?

Hello Jimjam, welcome to the forum.

I know a lot of people who don't like rock music -- particularly "heavy" rock music -- and many people view Zep as being too heavy. (or too loud, vulgar, raunchy, "dark", etc) Also, the plagiarism allegations seem to have recently gained much wider acceptance. In just the past 4 or 5 years, I've noticed that whenever I'm together with a group of people in a social or professional setting, and the subject of Zep is casually mentioned, someone in the group will always invariably say something like, "Didn't Led Zeppelin steal a lot of their music?" Then, a few other people in the group will invariably murmur, "Yes, I've heard that too." etc, etc.