For What It's Worth

_{FWiW – 94}

Welcome to the 8th edition of my very own ‘magazine.’ In it I put all the stuff that I loved back then. Which pretty much was:

Music. Cricket. Books. Manchester United. Films. Sport. Drinking beer. Girls.

August ’91 also found me wrapping up my first phase of living in Northern Ireland – with my visa extension application not being approved, I had to get the ‘Hell out of Dodge’ (and the United Kingdom) and find somewhere to continue my year living abroad.

All this and more in the latest edition of

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What’s

this issue

Mark on the Move

News: 🗞 On this day

Books 📚 of the Month

Film 🎬 of the Month

Singles 🎶

Official U.K. 🔝 Singles Chart

Official U.K. ↘ Albums Chart

The Record Collector 🤓

Album of the Month 💖

Live Music

Music is my Life: Tania Wilson

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on the move.

Donaghadee Cricket Club supposedly had a home office contact that could extend my visitor’s visa by a further three months. In the end, they only organised a three-week extension. I’m not sure if it was because I had not performed as well as they had hoped, but, for whatever reason, it was disappointing as it meant I’d miss the last few weeks of the Irish cricket season.

Strangely enough, it was in this extended period that I batted the best I had all season. Warmer weather had by now hardened the batting wickets more to my liking.

I was now seeing a Bangor lass called Lorraine, so I didn’t want to go anywhere. But I had to. I planned to go to Israel and live/work on a Kibbutz for a few months before returning to the United Kingdom later in the year. Morrison & McEvoy Roofing said they’d have me back in their employ anytime I wanted, so I even had a job waiting for me. My “company” car would be gone by then, but I’d cross that bridge when I got to it.

I chose Israel for two reasons:

One. South Africans could easily enter the country, as the National Party Government was pretty tight with the Israeli’s. We whiteys from the southern tip of Africa were met with open arms at Ben Gurion Airport passport control. The exact opposite of what greeted my green passport book at Heathrow in those days.

Two. I had no more money, so I needed the easy work options offered by communal farming in that troubled Middle Eastern country on the eastern tip of the Mediterranean Sea.

One Saturday, I played my last game of cricket for the ‘Dee – scoring 51 in the process. Then I bid Lorraine a sad goodbye, promising I would write and that I would be back before she knew it.

On the 15th of August, I clambered aboard a British Midlands airplane bound for London. I then spent a pleasant few days in the English capital – even managing to catch a First Division football match at the old Highbury Stadium in North London. Arsenal v QPR.

On the 18th of August I flew from Gatwick to Tel Aviv and into the great unknown. The Gulf War and Iraqi Scud missile attacks on Israel were both still fresh in my mind (and others) so I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

A few days followed in Tel Aviv, where I stayed at a youth hostel crammed with travellers from around the planet. It was called the Bnei Dan youth hostel, located near Yarkon Park, and was within walking distance of the seashore, as well as the cultural and entertainment centres of Tel Aviv.

The dormitory contained a revolving group of people, comprising both males and females, as well as young and old. The noise from the busy street outside was deafening, and I came to realise that part of Tel Aviv never slept. One night, as I lay there trying to sleep, a couple were shagging in a nearby bunk-bed.

It was that sort of place.

I spent my time walking the crowded streets and visiting the beach. I can’t remember much more than that.

At some point, I befriended two blokes from New Zealand, and we started hanging out. One might have been called Brian, and the other Pete, but I can’t be certain. I shall, from here on in, and for purposes of this tale, refer to them as Kiwi 1 and Kiwi 2. I would end up spending the bulk of my two months in Israel in the company of these two fine young men from those two islands in the South Pacific Ocean.

Eventually, it was time to vacate Tel Aviv and seek employment. The two Kiwis had a Kibbutz in Northern Israel in mind. Why don’t I join them? They suggested, and without hesitation, I agreed.

We gathered up our backpacks and climbed onto a rickety old bus heading north, and our next adventure.

On the bus, we met an attractive English girl also heading in the same direction as us. Of course, her name has long vacated my memory banks – but I do remember we christened her ‘Pommy Girl’ relatively early on.

Wikipedia tells me that…

Rosh HaNikra (‘Head of the Grottoes’) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located on the Mediterranean coast near the Rosh HaNikra grottoes and the border with Lebanon, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Asher Regional Council.

The grottoes themselves are a natural wonder, formed by geological activity and erosion over thousands of years.

The kibbutz was established on 6 January 1949 by a garrison of demobilised Palmach soldiers who moved there from kibbutz Hanita, along with Zionist youth movement members and young Holocaust survivors.

It was built on the village lands of al-Bassa, which was depopulated in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.

Wikipedia says the kibbutz grows bananas and avocados, and raises turkeys. However I also remember picking oranges, or was it apples? 😅

From my scrap-book

Sacha Baron Cohen, the English actor and comedian, lived for a period of time on Kibbutz Rosh HaNikra as a volunteer. He spent time volunteering on the kibbutz, along with another kibbutz, Beit HaEmek, after finishing high school. Quite possible he was there around the time I was but I can’t say I met him or anything.

Kibbutz Rosh HaNikra is currently evacuated, according to Visit a Kibbutz in Israel.

The Kiwis and I decide after a few weeks of being Kibbutz-nicks to head down to a Moshav near the Dead Sea. The work is hard, but it pays better. We ditch Pommy Girl and clamber aboard another old bus, this time heading south.

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^{Meanwhile, what was happening back in the real world}

^{in August, 1991}

4️⃣

🚢

The 571 passengers aboard cruise liner MTS Oceanos are rescued by South African Air Force helicopters when it sinks off the coast of South Africa. The vessel had begun taking on sea water and staff on deck abandon ship neglecting to help passengers.

6️⃣

The first ever website, info.cern.ch, is created by Tim Berners-Lee

8️⃣

British journalist, John McCarthy, is freed after being held hostage in Lebanon for over five years.

9️⃣

The first ever appearance of Steve Coogan’s character Alan Partridge takes place during BBC Radio 4 show ON THE HOUR.

1️⃣2️⃣

Metallica releases their most successful album, the self-titled Metallica (also called “The Black Album”). Something of a departure from the thrash metal sound they helped pioneer, it becomes one of the best-selling albums of all time.

1️⃣4️⃣

Oasis play their first ever gig at the Boardwalk Club in Manchester. Noel Gallagher, who was at the time a roadie for Inspiral Carpets, went with them to watch his brother’s band play. Older brother Noel (lead guitar, vocals) went on to join as a fifth member a few months later to finalise their formation. Noel became the de facto leader of the group and took over the songwriting duties for the band’s first four albums.

1️⃣5️⃣

Paul Simon’s Concert in the Park takes place in Central Park. The free concert is broadcast live on HBO.

Ten years after playing a free concert in New York’s Central Park with Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon returned, backed by the New York session musicians and the native musicians from South Africa and Brazil who had enlivened his solo work.

The show was filmed and recorded, and the audio release was a 23-track double-disc set running nearly two hours. Half the selections came from his Graceland and The Rhythm of the Saints albums, but unlike the Graceland Tour of 1987, the Born at the Right Time Tour of 1991 made room for Simon’s earlier solo work as well as a few Simon & Garfunkel songs.

1️⃣8️⃣

Hurricane BOB hits the American East Coast and 17 people are killed. 💲1.5 billion in damage is caused in North Carolina and New England.

2️⃣3️⃣

SUPER NINTENDO is released in the United States with a price tag of 💲200

2️⃣7️⃣

Pearl Jam release their debut album, Ten. While initially slow to sell, it becomes No. 2 on the Billboard charts within a year and has since become certified thirteen times Platinum in the United States

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Described by Rolling Stone as “the best band you’ve never heard of,” Luna combine intricate guitar work, traditional rock rhythms, and poetic lyrics.

One of the most influential and beloved indie rock bands to emerge in the 1990s, Luna make lyrical, dreamy pop centered on New Zealand-born singer/guitarist Dean Wareham.

In 1991, after the end of Galaxie 500’s US tour supporting the Cocteau Twins, Dean Wareham told his bandmates Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang that he was quitting the band. Wareham then signed a demo deal with Elektra Records and recorded a number of tracks with Mercury Rev drummer Jimmy Chambers.

Some of these recordings were later released on the “Anesthesia” single on No.6 Records in the US and Mint Tea in the UK under the name “Dean Wareham.”

Elektra’s VP of A&R, Terry Tolkin, was impressed and Wareham signed a deal with Elektra, and started pulling together a band. He first contacted Justin Harwood, whom he had met while Harwood was playing with The Chills, and they recruited drummer Byron Guthrie, formerly from Ultra Vivid Scene. The trio recorded demos (produced by Dave Fridmann) and played a series of live dates with Mercury Rev guitarist Grasshopper.

Guthrie was replaced by former Feelies drummer Stanley Demeski, and this line-up recorded the first album, Lunapark, produced by Fred Maher and released by Elektra under the name Luna² to avoid confusion with a new-age musician known as “Luna”. (Later an accord was reached which allowed the band to use the name Luna.)

Shortly after the release of Lunapark, the band placed an advertisement in the Village Voice for a guitarist, and Canadian former drama student Sean Eden was recruited

The primary musical influences on the new group were the Velvet Underground and Television, whose sounds of detached mood, repetitive guitar progressions, and intricate guitar leads deeply shaped the band’s sound. Other key influences included the ethereal indie rock Galaxie 500, as well as artists like Jonathan Richman, Joy Division, and Yoko Ono.

Tom Verlaine of Television made a guest appearance on Luna’s album Penthouse.

Luna also supported the reformed Velvet Underground on a European tour.

Discography

Studio albums

• Lunapark (1992)
• Bewitched (1994)
• Penthouse (1995)
• Pup Tent (1997)
• The Days of Our Nights (1999)
• Romantica (2002)
• Rendezvous (2004)
• Lunafied (2006) – available as download and Best of Luna bonus disc
• A Sentimental Education (2017)

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_{There is no friend as loyal as a book – Ernest Hemingway}

of the Month

King’s brilliant DARK TOWER series continues.

The Dark Tower is a series of eight novels, one novella, and a children’s book written by American author Stephen King. Incorporating themes from multiple genres, including dark fantasy, science fantasy, horror, and Western, it describes a “gunslinger” and his quest toward a tower, the nature of which is both physical and metaphorical. The series, and its use of the Dark Tower, expands upon Stephen King’s multiverse and in doing so, links together many of his other novels.

Several months have passed, and Roland’s two new tet-mates have become proficient gunslingers. Eddie Dean has given up heroin, and Odetta’s two selves have joined, becoming the stronger and more balanced personality of Susannah Dean. But while battling The Pusher in 1977 New York, Roland altered ka by saving the life of Jake Chambers, a boy who—in Roland’s where and when—has already died…

“This is one of my favorite series. Book 3 really delves into some of the history of Mid World, which I found fascinating. Highly recommended, but definitely read 1 and 2 first. I’ve been a huge King fan for decades now. I’m planning on some point on running a Dungeons and Dragons campaign set in the Dark Tower series. Thank you Mr King for some of the best world building and story telling!”

Joshua Aiken

Parliament of Whores by P.J. O’Rourke

This is a scathing critique of the American system of governance from a libertarian perspective. The hard cover version was a #1 New York Times bestseller, sold over 150,000 copies in its first two months of release, and earned over $1 million in revenue in the same time period. Parliament reached the top 5 on Canadian best seller lists. The paperback release in 1992 was a similar commercial success.

The book received an overwhelmingly positive critical reception. Time Magazine called it “a riotously funny and perceptive indictment of America’s political system.” The New York Times called it “a funnily savage attack on the political authorities of the United States.” In a piece about its 1992 paperback release, USA Today described it as “the anthem of this political year.”

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_{I like watching films, I go to the cinema, but a lot of the time it’s to go see a kids film – Cillian Murphy}

Out now:

Body Parts is a sci-fi body horror directed by🎬Eric Reed and starring 🎭Jeff Fahey, Kim Delaney, Brad Dourif, Zakes Mokae, and Lindsay Duncan.

Doc Hollywood is a romantic comedy directed 🎬 by Michael Caton-Jones and starring 🎭 Michael J. Fox, Julie Warner, Barnard Hughes, Woody Harrelson, David Ogden Stiers, Frances Sternhagen, and Bridget Fonda.

😎👍👇

Barton Fink is a black comedy written, produced, edited and directed by the Coen brothers. Set in 1941, it stars John Turturro in the title role as a young New York City playwright who is hired to write scripts for a film studio in Hollywood, and John Goodman as Charlie Meadows, the insurance salesman who lives next door at the run-down Hotel Earle.

Critics 🖋 Consensus:
Twisty and unsettling, the Coen brothers’ satirical tale of a 1940s playwright struggling with writer’s block is packed with their trademark sense of humor and terrific performances from its cast.

🎞🎞🎞

Mystery Date is a dark comedy directed 🎬 by Jonathan Wacks and starring 🎭 Ethan Hawke, Teri Polo, and Brian McNamara. Shock-rockers Gwar have a brief cameo in the film.

📽📽📽

Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is sent to live with his father, Furious Styles (Larry Fishburne), in tough South Central Los Angeles. Although his hard-nosed father instils proper values and respect in him, and his devout girlfriend Brandi (Nia Long) teaches him about faith, Tre’s friends Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Ricky (Morris Chestnut) don’t have the same kind of support and are drawn into the neighborhoods’ booming drug and gang culture, with increasingly tragic results.

_{The critics had this to say:}

Well-acted and thematically rich, Boyz N the Hood observes Black America with far more depth and compassion than many of the like-minded films its success inspired.

In essence, this is a postapocalyptic world. Except what was destroying their landscape wasn’t an alien invasion or a virus. It was ravaged by white supremacy. (Lawrence Ware, New York Times)

The dialogue is hilarious, loaded, and questioning. (Tara Brady, Irish Times)

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_{“I can hear music, the sounds of the city baby, just feel so good, I can hear music” – The Ronettes}

“Monsters and Angels” – Voice of the Beehive

I was immediately drawn to this group once I knew someone from Madness was in it. Plus, the combination of British and American musicians performing pop music together has also always been of interest to me.

In Voice of the Beehive we had Daniel “Woody” Woodgate of Madness on drums. The group featured Californian lead vocalist sisters Tracey Bryn and Melissa Brooke Belland (daughters of The Four Preps singer Bruce Belland). They teamed with British musicians Mike Jones, Martin Brett, and of course good old Woody! The band took their name from the Greek meaning of the name Melissa, meaning honey bee.

The band had five Top 40 singles from two albums in the UK. Their biggest commercial success came with the singles “I Say Nothing,” “Don’t Call Me Baby,” “Monsters and Angels” and “I Think I Love You,” taken from albums Let It Bee (1988) and Honey Lingers (1991). Interestingly (to me) they released an album in each of the years I lived in the United Kingdom (’88 and ’91). However, the Beehive had to do without me, for their 1996 release (Sex and Misery), as I was firmly planted back home, in the good old RS of A.

18 August 1991 – 24 August 1991

1. (Everything I Do) I Do it For You – Bryan Adams [Last Week 1 Peak 1 Weeks in the Charts 9!!!]
2. I’m Too Sexy – Right Said Fred [Last Week 2 Peak 2 Weeks 5]
3. Set Adrift on Memory Bliss – PM Dawn [Last week 5 ⬆ Peak 3 Weeks 2]
4. More Than Words – Extreme [Last Week 3 ⬇ Peak 2 Weeks 5]
5. All For Love – Colour Me Badd [Last Week 6 ⬆ Peak 5 Weeks 4]
6. Move Any Mountain – The Shamen [Last Week 4 ⬇ Peak 4 Weeks 5]
7. Winter in July – Bomb the Bass [Last Week 7 Peak 7 Weeks 5]
8. Summertime – DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince [Last Week 10 ⬆ Peak 8 Weeks 4]
9. Charly – The Prodigy (NEW ENTRY Peak 9 Weeks 1]
10. Now That We’ve Found Love – Heavy D and the Boys [Last Week 8 ⬇ Peak 8 Weeks 2]
11. Twist and Shout – Deacon Blue [Last Week 11 Peak 10 Weeks 5]
12. Happy Together – Jason Donovan [NEW ENTRY Peak 12 Weeks 1]
13. Love … Thy Will be Done – Martika [Last Week 35 ⬆ Peak 13 Weeks 2]
14. Sunshine on a Rainy Day (1991) – Zoe [NEW ENTRY Peak 14 Weeks 1]
15. Apparently Nothin’ – Young Disciples [Last Week 13 Peak 13 Weeks 8]
16. Things That Make You Go Hmmm – C & C Music Factory Featuring Freedom Williams [Last Week 12 ⬇ Peak 4 Weeks 8]
17. Monsters and Angels – Voice of the Beehive [Last Week 18 ⬆ Peak 17 Weeks 7]
18. You Could Be Mine – Guns n Roses [Last Week 16 ⬇ Peak 3 Weeks 7]
19. Cold, Cold Heart – Midge Ure [Last Week 31 ⬆ Peak 19 Weeks 2]
20. Guaranteed – Level 42 [Last Week 17 ⬇ Peak 17 Weeks 2]

Listen to a preview of the TOP 20 right here, right now 👇

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_{“A little ditty about Jack and Diane, two American kids growin’ up in the heartland, playin’ some records and headin’ for the coast” – John Mellencamp}

Albums

18 August 1991 – 24 August 1991

1. Metallica – Metallica (NEW ENTRY)
2. Essential Pavarotti ll – Luciano Pavarotti (6 weeks on the chart)
3. Love Hurts – Cher (9 weeks)
4. Beverley Craven – Beverley Craven (15 weeks)
5. Sugar Tax – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (15 weeks)
6. Out of Time – R.E.M. (23 weeks)
7. Seal – Seal (13 weeks)
8. C M B – Colour Me Badd (NEW ENTRY)
9. Fellow Hoodlums – Deacon Blue (11 weeks)
10. The Immaculate Collection – Madonna (40 weeks)
11. Greatest Hits – Eurythmics (22 weeks)
12. Move to This – Cathy Dennis (3 weeks)
13. Time, Love and Tenderness – Michael Bolton (15 weeks)
14. Extreme ll Pornograffiti – Extreme (13 weeks)
15. Gonna Make You Sweat – C & C Music Factory (7 weeks)
16. Greatest Hits 1977 – 90 – The Stranglers (36 weeks)
17. Honey Lingers – Voice of the Beehive (NEW ENTRY)
18. Greatest Hits Jam – The Jam (7 weeks)
19. Unforgettable With Love – Natalie Cole (16 weeks)
20. Bat out of Hell – Meatloaf (399, yes three hundred and ninety nine weeks in the charts!!! That’s almost 8 years! WTF?)

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Yes, I am the

🤓

All these August 1991 LP’s have found their way into my collection

_{Leisure by Blur}

Blur have a distinctly English sound beneath the thinly signposted psychedelia of close-cropped harmony and electric guitars, fed through a mincing machine of effects pedals. Lurking beneath this is a selection of pin-sharp melodies, all shaped by a roughneck post-punk edge that prevents any aberrant backsliding into a blissed-out, soporific daze.

Leisure achieves a neat, knowing balance between glossy pop sheen and raggedy-arsed guitar wig-out, and nowhere is this more pronounced than on the three singles: She’s So High is a gorgeous mélange of The Byrds-style harmony and lazily crunching power chord, whilst Bang and There’s No Other Way combine fanciful skittering drumbeats with a massively memorable chorus to a dizzying effect which radio-intensified familiarity does not diminish.

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_{Ten by Pearl Jam}

Pearl Jam’s debut was conceived out of tragedy, infused with a mystic spirit, and offered a Valhalla feast of hot fret action. Songs like Alive and Even Flow have endured for a reason.

The band tackles weighty topics – abortion, homelessness, childhood traumas, gun violence, rigorous introspection – with an earnest zeal unmatched since mid-’80s U2, whose anthemic sound they frequently strive for.

Similarly, Eddie Vedder’s impressionistic lyrics often make their considerable impact through the passionate commitment of his delivery rather than concrete meaning. His voice had a highly distinctive timbre that perfectly fits the album’s warm, rich sound. Herein lies the key – no matter how cathartic Ten’s tersely titled songs got, they were never abrasive enough to affect the album’s accessibility.

Mark’s

👇

Fear by Toad the Wet Sprocket

I have always been enamoured by this musical treat. From the opening bars of Walk on the Ocean to the conclusion of I Will Not Take These Things For Granted. .

A far cry from their jangle pop, garage band sound of old, this album is full of smart and catchy pop/rock songs brought to life by four great musicians.

This has early 90s written all over it. But what drives it as unique is the lyrical and musical range within this album

Be it a tale of boyhood mischief (Is It for Me) or a question of faith (Pray Your Gods), Glen Phillips shows himself to be one of the most literate and complex singer/songwriters around, layers of hidden subtext pouring from both his pen and voice. In fact, one of the finest lines ever found in a fare-thee-well song appears in In My Ear: “Never meant half of the things that I said to you. So you know, there’s a half that might be true.” Enough said.

With not a single weak song, wonderfully engaging performances, and amazing sonic precision, Fear is a wonderful welcome into the house of Toad.

These four August ’91 releases have also found their way into my record collection:

Mothers Heaven is the second album from the Scottish rock band Texas. The album was released in August 1991 by Mercury Records. The album peaked at no. 32 in the UK and spent 4 weeks on the charts.

Abracadabra is the sixth studio album by English band ABC. It was originally released in August 1991, on the label EMI. It was the final ABC album to feature founding member Mark White, who departed the band in 1992.

On Every Street is the sixth and final studio album by British rock band Dire Straits, released in August 1991 by Vertigo Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The follow-up to the band’s massively successful album Brothers in Arms, On Every Street reached the top of the UK Albums Chart and was also certified platinum by the RIAA.

Honey Lingers … Responding to a difficult promotional experience for Let It Bee, Voice of the Beehive ignored the ground they’d made in Britain and refocused their energies toward America. The result was 1991’s Honey Lingers, a tighter, glossier sophomore LP periodically highlighted by absurd label interference. Where Tracey Bryn and Melissa Brooke Belland’s sugared harmonies were too insistent in the past, here the camp had been toned down and the band’s approach to B-52’s modern rock more accessible and likable. One had to wonder what “I’m Shooting Cupid” would sound like with its reportedly excised sped-up verses intact or how singles “Monsters and Angels” and “Perfect Place” would work without the warmth of the over-production. As it turned out, if much of the album was manipulated after the fact by an insecure label, it was one of the few times in indie pop history when the illusion of a band in full confidence suggested a greater importance than the reality. [Dean Carlson, All Music Guide]

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😎

🎤

💃

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♥

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_{This month we feature the records that shaped Tania Wilson}

Influenced by her mom’s record collection the young Tania grew up absorbing popular artists like Chris De Burgh, Cat Stevens, Neil Diamond, The Beatles, Jennifer Rush, Creedence, and many more.

Nina Simone, Fleetwood Mac, Chris Rea, and Tracy Chapman would follow … all in all shaping my girl into the music fiend she is today. 😍

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^{Advertisement}

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Next month: The Negev Desert, Dead Sea and more.

Mark Wilson

_{With thanks to the following publications, streaming services, and websites for their help with this issue. I couldn’t have done this without them:}