From: songbird@anthive.com   
      
   Ken wrote:   
   > It was pretty clear that the R40 Live tour was going to be Rush's last   
   tour.  The guys didn't rule out the possibility of an occasional show.  More   
   hopefully for fans, the guys didn't rule out the possibility of future albums,   
   either.  And it seemed    
   that Geddy and Alex believed that the band might well record again.  A year or   
   so after R40, when a music journalist asked Lifeson why the band wasn't   
   working on anything new, he said that they usually took a break after a tour.    
   In the footage of Alex    
   visiting the guitar shop in Japan post-R40, Alex made some comment along the   
   lines of: "We look to the future in this band" -- meaning they focus on their   
   next project rather than dwelling on the past.  In fact, even after Neil   
   referred to himself as a "   
   former drummer" in one of his updates, Geddy insisted that the "former"   
   referred to live performance.   
   >   
   > Something changed, however.  At some point, it dawned on G&A that Neil was   
   truly retired -- not just from live performance, but from Rush and drumming in   
   general.  I wonder what the nature of Neil's communication to the others was.    
   Was it a casual    
   email?  Did he speak w/ them in person?  Was he apologetic at all?  Whatever   
   the case, Geddy and Alex have reconciled themselves to the fact that Neil will   
   not be participating in any future collaborations with G&A.   
      
     when something hurts, stop doing it if you can.   
      
     i have utmost respect for Neil and the rest of the band.   
   they rocked and i like almost all of their music.  some songs   
   i had to listen to a few times to figure it out.  the songs   
   they say they didn't particularly like i actually did.   
      
      
     songbird   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)