It was a phantastic weekend, full of music, talking, drinking, eating. Only that Susanne and I missed the music when we had to spend the night at Stanstad Airport (Fucking British Railway system).

Thanks to the local organising committee and especially to Greg.

Two very moving moments on the evenings for me: The song for Julie B. on Friday and the only time we ever had prerecorded music on that weekend, when on Saturday night, Rick's voice filled the hall singing 'all I can leave you is a handful of songs'. I was glad nobody could see my eyes from close then.

But let's not end without a critical note: Many hours we walked through Hull (thank you, Les), we saw lots of different fish and lots of different pubs (with fine beers), but we didn't see the bears and we didn't see John. My pet theory that the Mudcat character 'John' is an invention of the Hull Mudcatters still stands, though usually trustworthy persons like Joe O. and Susanne(skw) claim to have seen him in person. And you must admit that to show us a closed Take Away boasting 'International Food' as 'John's' curry sh-p only could fool the easily misled. On the other hand, a pub named Durty Nellie's made me think whether a part of the legend has a factual base....

Wolfgang