Band Member Journal : 

Good Morning.

It's been a fantastic new year so far, only one new Potterton boiler (that's a furnace to any Americans, and a thing that's supposed to keep your house warm in the winter to anyone else). Of course, there are a couple teething troubles, but I'm sure it will be sorted by June.

Santa delivered me some fantastic gifts... A 600 CD changer (Mark Kelly's is only a 400), a plasma screen TV, two years free servicing for my Lamborghini Diablo, £2000 of Harrod's gift tokens, and a British Airways "Around the World" 1st class ticket... no, wait. That was all somebody else...

My sister gave me a jar of home made chutney that is very nice. My eyes stopped watering after only a few hours, and once the throwing-up thing had calmed down, I began to appreciate that secret recipe that has been handed down through many generations of Mosleys' (dental records are the only proof).

A major highlight of last year for me was the Marillion Weekend. We all arrived on the Thursday at Barry Island (Pontins). It was cold and very depressing. The pub had about 6 people in it, and the cabaret singer was... how can I put this in a kind and caring way... ummm, well, I would down a couple more jars of my sister's chutney rather than listen to whatever it was she was trying to sing... so I went to bed a bit fed up. I really needn't have worried - the next day Pontins was transformed. You lot really are the best. The whole weekend was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my career... Thank you.

As you no doubt know, we are currently working on album number 13, and although it seems to be taking a long time, there are some great tracks in the making.

Have a happy and healthy New Year...

Ian (still not president, but open to offers)

PS - You may think I'm an easy going kind of a guy, but actually I am not. Most of the time I'm wound up tight as a spring inside, and can snap at any moment and become terribly violent... But if you would ever like to come up and say "Hi", please do.