Multiple Degrees Of Separation

I shared a room with Gavin at college. We originally shared because it meant we could choose which rooms we got, rather than run the gauntlet of the Single Room Lottery. There were two double rooms above the canteen which nobody wanted because they were out on a limb and not on a "corridor". We got four guys together to share the two rooms and had a ball for a term.Gavin and I shared for a second term, because we were both laid back enough to put up with each other, and fancied the idea of choosing a room again. I could put up with his damp canoeing gear airing by the window, and the sound of his goldfish blowing bubbles thru the night. He put up with my choice of band posters and antisocial waking hours.Music was a bit more of a challenge. Gav inadvertently deepened my understanding of spandex-oriented rock and ZZ-Top. Meanwhile I introduced him to Industrial Metal and Goth. I could never quite convince him of the merits of Acid House or Reggae, or why black t-shirts were cool as well as practical.A few years later, Gavin was in the States with his partner, on a contract that allowed him time to venture out on big lakes and scramble up mountains. Homesickness was kept at bay by the Internet. Streaming audio was new back then, and the BBC was testing demand by sharing access to their more estoric programs, including the late John Peel's obscure musical output.Gav sent an email asking if I'd heard of Herman Düne, a Swedish (or French? or Canadian?) band he'd heard on John Peel's show. The first I heard was a rough live cover of Eminem's Lose Yourself, from an MP3 I downloaded from their site. Later I heard "Darren's":http://www.blondinpark.co.uk/ copy of Show Me The Roof from Mas Cambios, and I was convinced.It's a long way from the spandex and ZZ-Top in County Durham. But then again, listening to John Peel on the internet in Maryland is a "long way" as well. And who knows where you are, reading this?