From: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org (alloy-digest) To: alloy-digest@smoe.org Subject: alloy-digest V3 #43 Reply-To: alloy@smoe.org Sender: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "alloy-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. alloy-digest Sunday, February 15 1998 Volume 03 : Number 043 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Alloy: Star Trek fan who doesn't have the time. [dalexander@juno.com (Den] Re: Alloy: Saturday night? [dalexander@juno.com (Dennis S. Alexander)] Alloy: Dolby on the Radio [dalexander@juno.com (Dennis S. Alexander)] Re: Alloy: Valentine's tales... [dalexander@juno.com (Dennis S. Alexander] Re: Alloy: One thing [dalexander@juno.com (Dennis S. Alexander)] Alloy: Dolby on tour! JAMac on tour! [dalexander@juno.com (Dennis S. Ale] Alloy: Cupid's Arrow >>>------> ["Stephen M. Tilson" >>------> [RThurF@aol.com] Re: Alloy: Hackers... [Eclipse ] Re: Alloy: Cupid's Arrow >>>------> [Monya De ] Re: Alloy: Alloy Shirts!!! [Chris Cracknell ] Re: Alloy: Saturday night? [IT Admin - Govt Office North West >Beena and I laughed our ass off when Chief O'Brien used the same line on >Keiko on DS-9. > >Incidently, Chief O'Brien is also my favorite Star Trek character ever. I really wish I had more time! I've seen probably 10% of all Star Trek episodes. I don't watch much TV at all. But every time a Star Trek show comes on, I wonder what I've missed and I have to fill in the holes with educated guesses. Like "Where in the universe did Rumplestiltskin come from, for cryin out loud!" Fortunately, my sister saw the episode from the beginning and was able to explain. ___________ JAMac (Dennis S. Alexander) - www.dennisa.com "The beauty of a dream is you don't let it go, you don't ever let it go." - Thomas Dolby _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 00:43:38 -0700 From: dalexander@juno.com (Dennis S. Alexander) Subject: Re: Alloy: Saturday night? Slarv wrote, >a few that WERE on a par with Greg's Girl (e.g. 'About Last Night,' or >'Pretty In Pink.'............ MMMMMmmmmmmmm, Mary Stuart Masterson with that >boyish haircut ....WHAT AM I SAYING? Expunge that from the record, if you >please.) I just bought Pretty In Pink just the other day. Took me back to the days of Yore. The mid eighties and I was in high school then. >Mastrantonio to play Lyn ...... hang on a mo, didn't we have a conversation >like this in the old Tap Room when we were casting for the Bun Fu >movie? Yes we did. I believe they had some problems cooling you and Ms Sakamoto off there. Man was it hot in there! ___________ JAMac (Dennis S. Alexander) - www.dennisa.com "The beauty of a dream is you don't let it go, you don't ever let it go." - Thomas Dolby _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 00:44:20 -0700 From: dalexander@juno.com (Dennis S. Alexander) Subject: Alloy: Dolby on the Radio Keith wrote, (ooohhh it's so hard not to finish that line! But I'll save you the agony) >So... > >I'm just curious, how often to any of you hear Thomas on the radio? > >I listen to a very cool radio station here in Denver (KTCL 93.3 >http://www.ktcl.com) that can be heard playing "I Love You Goodbye" and >some other A&H songs now and then. I have also heard "Budapest by >Blimp" on there before. I don't think they play "Science" however. KTCL is too cool to play something so pop. Not that it's a bad song, it just doesn't fit their ultra-on-the-edge-without-being-pop format. It's KTCL, KBCO and The Peak for me. I've heard The Peak play Dolby songs on a regular basis, mostly "I Love You, Goodbye". And I'm not sure if Dolby would fit the KBCO format with the exception of A&H. But they all three play some cool stuff (just if The Peak wasn't so pop in it's format! "New and Improved!" Ugh!!!) ___________ JAMac (Dennis S. Alexander) - www.dennisa.com "The beauty of a dream is you don't let it go, you don't ever let it go." - Thomas Dolby _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 00:18:14 -0700 From: dalexander@juno.com (Dennis S. Alexander) Subject: Re: Alloy: Valentine's tales... CRACKERS wrote, >God damn the man who wrote the script for the movie Hackers. HEY! I love that movie! Practically obsessed actually. Well, maybe it's just the girl. (Wow!) Really though, I though the graphic representations (though filled with Hollywood fluff) were quite cool in that they graphically (there's that word again!) depicted what was really going on. I mean like, how do you explain to Joe average what a morphing worm is? "Whoa! is that like the Power Rangers, dude?" I thought the Mandelbrot (sp?) of it was quite cool. . . Well, except for the fact that it was composed of scientific formulas when the worm would and should have been written in some sort of code like C++ that shifted money (I don't think I saw a single dollar sign in the entire graphic). Or are you just complaining about the whole romanticising of the whole thing? Neon lights, ultra cool command centers with big-keyed keyboards that go "THUP" with every strike, and virtual reality games everywhere. Or is it the far fetched stuff like being able to tap into the system that tests the school's sprinkler system (as if they would put such a system, if it exists, online)? Anyway, I thought it was a cool movie. ___________ JAMac (Dennis S. Alexander) - www.dennisa.com "The beauty of a dream is you don't let it go, you don't ever let it go." - Thomas Dolby _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 23:30:08 -0700 From: dalexander@juno.com (Dennis S. Alexander) Subject: Re: Alloy: One thing >I thought it might be a good idea to remind folks that on the old Taproom >Anteroom or someplace, TMDR did specifically say in a Q&A that he makes it >a practice of not responding to people who wish to send him their demo >tapes or songs or whatever. It said something like, will I listen? yes >will I let you know what I think? no. I forget the exact reasons, but we >can assume that he was deluged at one time or another and just set a rule. >And/or, he might have a real problem with telling people he hates their >stuff, and/or, lying to them if he hates it but feels the need to be >diplomatic regardless. I know I wouldn't want to be put in that position. > >So... it's not like we weren't "warned" for lack of a better word? He >might feel that responding to the birthday tape would encourage a >situation that he just doesn't want to get into. I'm going to go out on a >limb and surmise that he's made these "rules" for himself as a result of >past experience. > >Since it was a gift.. well, you know what I'm thinking. Maybe a, "got it, >it's nifty, thanks!" could have been expected, but a song-by-song critique >just doesn't seem appropriate coming from him, anyway. What if it made >him blush, or got on his nerves, or he's shy? > >Just my 2 cents, don't get mad at me! > >-- >Elaine Linstruth Palmdale, CA I quite agree! ___________ JAMac (Dennis S. Alexander) - www.dennisa.com "The beauty of a dream is you don't let it go, you don't ever let it go." - Thomas Dolby _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 23:27:44 -0700 From: dalexander@juno.com (Dennis S. Alexander) Subject: Alloy: Dolby on tour! JAMac on tour! Sorry I havn't written of late and I'm actually responding to messages posted weeks ago. Forgive me. If Thomas ever decided to visit Denver (or wherever I happen to be) it would be wonderful if we could meet for a brewski or whatever! Well, I'm on tour this next weekend. I'm off to a Business Developers Seminar in San Jose February 20-22. If anyone is in the area, I doubt we would have a chance to meet unless you come to the hotel I'm staying at. Santa Clara Marriott 2700 Mission College Blvd. Santa Clara, CA 95054 I'm flying in to the San Jose airport Friday afternoon and leaving Sunday afternoon. If anyone wants to come see me, let me know. I'll try to check my email on Thursday as my plane leaves on Friday. Otherwise, call me at the hotel (408) 988-1500. It would be nice to visit with other Dolby fans. Of course, I'm already one of the fortunate few to have a neighbor as a fellow Alloyite! Keith, no longer the sole inhabitant! We got to talking there at the 'Wynkoopee' and it seems Keith has brushed with a lot of famous bands and artists! The most I ever got was a personal email from our Thomas (which was indeed exciting in it's own right!) But Keith, with minimal effort seems to have run into famous people everywhere he goes! Some people just seem to have it. In regards to the new Tap Room, I would like to offer one thought of constructive criticism. It would seem better if you could just see a list of threads and THEN pick the one you want to enter, just like the old one, and THEN you could see each comment made in that thread. I could see the download, or even a refresh on the current version building up to an unbearable size in a short order! Just a thought. I also think that THAT type of chat room is much better than a live one. It can be so difficult to have a real time chat, especially with the quantity of people we have here and their geographical displacements. You can read conversations from months ago and continue. Well, hopefully I havn't been too ignorant and repeated anything anyone else has said but I'm so far behind on these emails that I don't know if I'll ever catch up! That's another nice thing about the Tap Room, you can choose which conversations you WANT to read and scan through the entire conversation instead of filing through individual emails. ___________ JAMac (Dennis S. Alexander) - www.dennisa.com "The beauty of a dream is you don't let it go, you don't ever let it go." - Thomas Dolby _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 08:34:35 -0500 From: "Stephen M. Tilson" Subject: Alloy: Cupid's Arrow >>>------> It was almost love at first sight . . . It all began in 1982 when Thomas first hit the airwaves here in the States. I was annoyed by him at first, but a girlfriend pointed out to me that She Blinded Me with Science deserved a closer listen. I did (Thanks, Paulette!). Then One of Our Submarines snuck up behind me and I was sunk! It was the golden age of 12-inch singles, EP's, and cassettes with "XBR" encoding. I fell for Thomas and all the accouterments; collecting as many alt.mix and alt.format stuff I could find. Then The Flat Earth arrived. This didn't help ease my infatuation any, and I attended the tour in San Francisco at the Warfield Theater on May 24, 1984. Somewhere in those first years "Thomas Dolby" became a permanent part of my vocabulary. It is now fourteen years later and nothing has changed. In the intervening years I have followed Thomas as best I could. He has rarely bored me, and that is the secret to his exalted status in my playlists. Quite the opposite, really: he always leaves me wanting more, and that is where our story begins . . . It is 1996. Astronauts & Heretics is still making its way into my CD player, but I am starting to languish, having not got much joy from The Gate. I know nothing of the K-space list, am the only real TMDR fan I know, and think the Flat Earth Society is just part of the persona: a quirky joke and not real at all. But I am jonesing for my man and decide to take the leap and write to the FES address in the UK. (Had The Gate, but didn't read the liner notes) This letter, couched in careful tones in case I was being read by some elderly wacko who truly believed the Earth was flat and had never heard of Thomas Dolby, politely requested information about the "Society." Two months later the letter is returned "undeliverable." I am very discouraged. About a month later I get the idea to look at the Gate booklet. Lo and behold! a new address for the FES, and this one's right here in California. On or very near "the 101" I might add. Vastly emboldened, I resend my letter and two weeks later the FES newsletter arrives. Joy. I scanned it eagerly looking for news of "The New Album" and such, but you know the story there. Nevertheless, there was a website mentioned, and it was that single piece of information which caused me to *finally* install a web browser and get on the Internet. Needless to say, after my ISP's home page, tdolby.com was the first place I went. Perhaps the most interesting piece of information I picked up on those first few passes was Lazlo Nibble's gorgeous discography. After printing and pouring over this fascinating document I got out ALL of my TMDR material, cataloging it, noting duplicates and omissions, determined to fill the holes in my collection. I became frustrated with local used record stores and the Goldmine publication, so I innocently posted a message in The Tap Room, "Looking for recordings..", to which I received two replies. The first one was rather huffy, unhelpful, poorly worded, and signed by "electric." No need to quote. The second reply appeared on March 24th as email and was signed "Mary aka Europa". Mary kindly informed me she didn't wish to trade, but would be happy to make me a tape of the things I had missed. A dialog ensued. And more dialog. And more. On April 27th I called her for the first time. Shortly thereafter we had exchanged over 300 e-letters, AT&T stock doubled in value, and I got a frequent flier account. On August 21st Europa came to stay, and thus our story ends for now. I love this woman more than any other person I have ever known. She is my light and my life; the kindest, most gentle, understanding, forgiving, beautiful, womanly, sexy, clever, entertaining, fun, and scintillatingly intelligent spirit to ever cross my path. I love you Mary. You are unique beyond words. I wouldn't trade you for anyone: Not Cindy, not Jodie, not Meryl, not Posh, not Jasmine, not Claudia, not anyone! I am yours forever. Will you be my Valentine? Always, /\/\iles ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 10:28:56 EST From: RThurF@aol.com Subject: Re: Alloy: call fabio! In a message dated 98-02-14 00:34:52 EST, Europa, my temptress, wrote: << I just wonder if Thomas enjoyed his loving bath...but then again, who wouldn't?! Maybe Robin is the inspiration for his backflips. >> I've been wondering... how many other companies, do you think, have a CEO who has expertly backflipped before audiences of thousands? I'm impressed! Backflipping vicariously through others, Robin ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 10:45:11 EST From: RThurF@aol.com Subject: Re: Alloy: call fabio! In a message dated 98-02-13 23:18:22 EST, E(lipse wrote: << So, anyone want to go try to pick up a pair of silk pyjamas with me? If ya know what I mean... ;) >> Thank you, sweet E(lipse, I knew someone would understand! :) !! Robin ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 10:43:46 EST From: RThurF@aol.com Subject: Re: Alloy: Cupid's Arrow >>>------> In a message dated 98-02-14 08:53:50 EST, Miles wrote: << Astronauts & Heretics is still making its way into my CD player, but I am starting to languish, having not got much joy from The Gate. >> Boy, I sure got a lot of joy from The Gate (as I think I graphically stated in another post some time ago) Funny how different people's taste can vary so widely. In fact I play all of Thomas' CDs so much that their cases are literally falling apart & I have to be extra careful when handling them. I go through my different 'passions'; now it's revolved back round to The Flat Earth, which I LOVE so much! I feel at home when I listen to it. There is a sound in 'The Flat Earth' which is the exact sound my Rice finch makes when he's really happy. There's another sound in 'Mulu' which is exactly like the sound of a male Luna moth flying through one's apartment (it's a long story, but trust me when I say they look like tarantulas with wings) There are musical elements to that same song which have such a strong emotional effect on me that I feel almost ill. Yet still I yearn to listen. Go figure! Robin ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 12:20:03 -0800 From: Eclipse Subject: Re: Alloy: Hackers... Dennis S. Alexander wrote: > Or are you just complaining about the whole romanticising of the whole > thing? Neon lights, ultra cool command centers with big-keyed keyboards > that go "THUP" with every strike, and virtual reality games everywhere. > Or is it the far fetched stuff like being able to tap into the system > that tests the school's sprinkler system (as if they would put such a > system, if it exists, online)? > > Anyway, I thought it was a cool movie. Uhhhnnngg, that's not romanticising, that's debasing pop-culture-izing.... Romantic are the stories about the Tech Model Railroad hackers in the old MIT days (split-p soup, anyone?)... Romantic is making an Altair play music... and Wozniak starting a company out of his garage. Romantic is the days when computer game designers actually got their names on the boxes (besides Roberta Williams, I mean.. uhhg..). "All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace" and technology contributing to peace and social consciousness (before Timmy Leary and the so-called "Reality hacker" pranksters started messing with things... admittedly that culture has its good points, but it's a pain having them associated with the group that really loves the computers for themselves).. The Connections Machines people are romantic. AI programmers whistling classical music is romantic. And yes, the mandelbrot set and the early chaos mathematicians are romantic too (especially if you actually understand the math behind it... ("You mean complex numbers can do more than confuse highschool students?")), but that's bordering computer counterculture proper... My 2cents... -- E(lipse ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 13:24:46 -0800 (PST) From: Monya De Subject: Re: Alloy: Cupid's Arrow >>>------> > > Boy, I sure got a lot of joy from The Gate (as I think I graphically stated in > another post some time ago) Funny how different people's taste can vary so > widely. > The Gate, I've discovered, is the best study music of all his CDs. It probably has a lot to do with the instrumental stuff in between the singles. I can leave it on repeat for a long, long time...:) as a side note...with regard to the contention that TMDR doesn't interact enough electronically, I disagree. I think he's just selective about what he replies to, and rightfully so. I still remember his very heartfelt email explaining about the friend who inspired Silk Pyjamas. He didn't have to take time out of his day to explain where the song came from and why it is so important to him, but he did, and I enjoy it even more now. monya > **************************** Monya De 557 Mayfield Rm 211 Stanford University Mailing: P.O. Box 13503 Stanford, CA 94309 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 15:45:04 -0800 From: Turquoise Dolphin Subject: Re: Alloy: Hackers... Eclipse wrote: > > Dennis S. Alexander wrote: > > > Or are you just complaining about the whole romanticising of the whole > > thing? Neon lights, ultra cool command centers with big-keyed keyboards > > that go "THUP" with every strike, and virtual reality games everywhere. > > Or is it the far fetched stuff like being able to tap into the system > > that tests the school's sprinkler system (as if they would put such a > > system, if it exists, online)? > > > > Anyway, I thought it was a cool movie. > > Uhhhnnngg, that's not romanticising, that's debasing > pop-culture-izing.... Romantic are the stories about the Tech Model > Railroad hackers in the old MIT days (split-p soup, anyone?)... Romantic > is making an Altair play music... and Wozniak starting a company out of > his garage. Romantic is the days when computer game designers actually > got their names on the boxes (besides Roberta Williams, I mean.. > uhhg..). "All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace" and technology > contributing to peace and social consciousness (before Timmy Leary and > the so-called "Reality hacker" pranksters started messing with things... > admittedly that culture has its good points, but it's a pain having them > associated with the group that really loves the computers for > themselves).. The Connections Machines people are romantic. AI > programmers whistling classical music is romantic. And yes, the > mandelbrot set and the early chaos mathematicians are romantic too > (especially if you actually understand the math behind it... ("You mean > complex numbers can do more than confuse highschool students?")), but > that's bordering computer counterculture proper... > > My 2cents... > > -- E(lipse She as usual, took the words right out of my mouth. Let me add my final point.. romantic is when you find a computer from 1978 in someone's basement, take it home, and it still works. ;) As for 'The Gate...', Quantum Mechanic has become my unoffficial themesong, and I listen to it whenever I'm hacking hardware. :) - - Turq. - - "No, I spiked 'zem..." ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 18:38:30 -0500 (EST) From: Chris Cracknell Subject: Re: Alloy: Alloy Shirts!!! In article <199802140123.UAA06198@jane.smoe.org>, you wrote: >If I wasn't married already I'd be stealing you away from your wife right >now . > >In all honesty that is one of the nicest things I've heard for a long >time. Nice one! ~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~ The T-shirt has been hidden in an old accordion case, and I've been staying up late tonight until after the baby's second feeding (around 4-4:30). When Beena falls asleep after that, I've printed out and cut out all these wee hearts that have "Follow Me" printed on them. I'm then going to scatter a bunch all over the bed, then have a trail leading through the house into the basement up to the old accordion case. She's just doing the second feeding now.... soon... very soon... CRACKERS (I live for this kind of stuff from hell!!!) - -- Accordionist - Wethifl Musician - Atari 2600 Collector | /\/\ *NEW CrAB URL* http://www.hwcn.org/~ad329/crab.html ***| \^^/ Bira Bira Devotee - FES Member - Samurai Pizza Cats Fan| =\/= ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 00:14:12 GMT From: IT Admin - Govt Office North West Subject: Re: Alloy: Saturday night? At 00:43 14/02/98 -0700, JAMac wrote: > >>Mastrantonio to play Lyn ...... hang on a mo, didn't we have a >conversation >>like this in the old Tap Room when we were casting for the Bun Fu >>movie? > >Yes we did. I believe they had some problems cooling you and Ms Sakamoto >off there. Man was it hot in there! > What we had was a deeply beautiful meeting of minds (and Slurpies). Any suggestion of anything less cerebral is unworthy. If it also tended to steam up the camara lens rather a lot (not unlike the effect of a big blob of vaseline) and rattle its tripod, it was entirely coincidental. Slarvibarglhee *This space not for rent* ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 00:14:19 GMT From: IT Admin - Govt Office North West Subject: Re: Alloy: Hackers... At 12:20 14/02/98 -0800, E(lipse wrote: > > And yes, the mandelbrot set and the early chaos mathematicians are romantic too >(especially if you actually understand the math behind it... ("You mean >complex numbers can do more than confuse highschool students?")), but >that's bordering computer counterculture proper... > >My 2cents... > > -- E(lipse > > Aw geeee. And I thought the Mandelbrot Set was an obscure rock band. Maybe they ARE, or will be. What a great name for a band. They could merge with The Early Chaos Mathematicians to form a new supergroup. Er, I hope you're not going to tell me that The Early Chaos Mathematicians isn't a rock band either. Slarv *This space is the final front ear.* ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 00:14:15 GMT From: IT Admin - Govt Office North West Subject: Alloy: Dolby on anything at all While we're talking about Thomas on the radio, what about snippets in any medium. I was watching the Winter Olympics the other day on the BBC, and when they were previewing the luge (I think that's how it's spelled) they played the opening bars of 'The Key To Her Ferrari.' Only about five seconds worth, and it cut off before the vocals began, but this kind of thing makes me wonder WHO selects these things and why they choose them. I mean, you and I know that it's 'TKTHF' and therefore significant as it's associated with very fast vehicles, but Shirley that'd be lost on a majority of viewers. And as idle curiosity, I wonder how much is paid in royalties when only 5 seconds of a song is played on the air. Slarv *Despite what you might think, this space is not here at all.* ------------------------------ End of alloy-digest V3 #43 **************************