Friends of Procol Harum online

'Beyond the Pale' formerly exhibited a long, long list of some 500 Procol fans, who had sent in their dwelling-places, and their e-mail addresses; but we took it down to save fans from getting spam.

In its place, we have set up the excellent Procol Fans' Atlas, which is immune to spam, and which allows you to put your mark on the world map and to leave a picture and/or a message if you wish.

It's free, easy to join, and you can remove or change your entry if you want to at any time.

Read on for some hints as to what you can do using this 'Frappr' system (it's a portmanteau word: 'Friends Mapper'). Of course the icons etc will not work interactively on these screenshots.

You can add your picture; you don't need to quote your full name if you don't choose to.

Note the map controls: top left is the zoom-and-scroll function, by which you can go anywhere in the world, and view an amazing amount of detail.

Top right is the mode selector: do you want to see human geography (state boundaries, highways, town names) or physical geography (detailed satellite photos of landforms etc) ... or a hybrid of these?

Here we've zoomed in a bit on the human geography view; and you can see a fan who has chosen to illustrate his entry with a photograph and (presumably!) a favourite Procol Harum quotation.

This is the same region as the previous picture, but selecting the satellite view instead.

How about the icons below Bert's name? The first means that he has created a Frappr home-page to which he could add some additional information; the second one shows you can contact him via Frappr (but spammers will be frustrated: they won't find his e-mail address).  The third icon ... you'll have to try that one!

Using the slider on the zoom function, top left, you can go in really close and see streets, trees, gardens and houses from space.

The presence of the icons below the Paler's name indicates that he has opened a Frappr account, but you don't need to do this in order to add yourself to the map ... it's your own choice.

When you add yourself to the map the 'pin' goes in approximately the right place (see above).

If you create a Frappr account (unlike Ricky, above) you can nudge your map-pin until it is at exactly the right place on the map.

Some parts of the world give you full zoomable street-maps, even including detail of one-way systems, as shown above.

All parts of the world are included.

And you don't have to use a Procol quotation: you can give fellow-Procol-enthusiasts a message (thanks, Dave)!

And if you create Frappr account you can add yourself to any other map that interests you as well: there are thousands ... but there are not many fans on The Beatles fans' map nor The Rolling Stones fans' map nor the Squeeze fan's page.

Add yourself to the Procol Fans' Atlas and enhance the online evidence of the band's worldwide following!