From: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org (basia-digest) To: basia-digest@smoe.org Subject: basia-digest V3 #167 Reply-To: basia@smoe.org Sender: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "basia-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. basia-digest Wednesday, August 12 1998 Volume 03 : Number 167 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Cleveland? ["Ashoke S. Talukdar" ] Re: Cleveland? [Meg Evans ] THE COPERNICAN CHRONICLES: Soul Food ["Ashoke S. Talukdar" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 10:09:46 -0400 From: "Ashoke S. Talukdar" Subject: Re: Cleveland? >At 07:18 PM 8/10/98 EDT, you wrote: > >LOL > >With your mouth full of what Ashoke? > > Now wait a minute! What is this? A conspiracy to get Ashoke to make self-incriminatory remarks? Umm, I fear not! :-D (JB, you'd better not be in on this too!!) And besides, one should know better than to ask - an epicurean's mouth could be full of anything. Sometimes, even words are delicious. ;-) Ashoke ("Observe the Blood and the Rose tattoo") ________________________________________________________________ Ashoke S. Talukdar | My hair it blows long as I talukdar@morph.ebme.cwru.edu | sing into the wind. I tell of Home : 216-381-5872 | nights when I could taste the Imaging Lab : 216-368-8812 | salt on his skin. Salt of the MetroHealth : 216-778-8987 | waves and of tears, and though Pager : 216-670-5872 | he pulled away, I kept him Cellular : 216-317-7079 | here for years. I let him go. Fax : 216-368-4969 | Suzanne Vega ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 09:32:21 -0600 From: Meg Evans Subject: Re: Cleveland? Ashoke, I'll make sure your mouth and everyone else's is filled with my cool and delicious Mango-lime ice, topping off the buffet of Polish delights and your yummy flank steak. One wonders, with the problems we have staying on-topic, when we will ever have time to make music! Meg, who is getting very hungry - -------------------------------- Those who are at war with others, are not at peace with themselves. -William Hazlitt ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 13:38:49 -0400 From: "Ashoke S. Talukdar" Subject: THE COPERNICAN CHRONICLES: Soul Food Someone mentioned on the VH1 Lilith Fair 97 special several weeks ago that only at an all women artist gathering will you hear someone shouting "Anyone got a #3 peach puff eye shadow?" from behind half-open dressing room doors or down corridors. THEY have obviously not experienced Haloween night on Halstead Street! All this talk about food, reminded me that somewhere in one of the Basia links I have followed in the last several months, she is quoted as having said that she loves profiteroles. I find that interesting because 2 years ago I spent a week in NYC looking for a decent rendition of this delectable french pastry. I came away unhappy. But there were other aspects of my quest that help to relate Basia, Yukio Mishima, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Food. Hence, I thought I would say something about it. Hailing from a part of India, where there is no such thing as eating in moderation, I used to find the concept of French cuisine amusing. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE french food, or at least most of it anyway. But after eating a "traditional" french meal, one would get the impression that this is a nation of anorexics! Surely, such wonderful food should also be served in proportions that should leave you satisfied. But perhaps not. Let's digress for a bit. Japanese author, Yukio Mishima, once devoted a very lengthy passage in a novel to the protagonist's personal observation and description a woman's breast. In itself it was one of the most evocative pieces of prosaic work I had ever read. However, in the context of the story, at first glance it seemed a little excessive, until the purpose of the passage dawned on me somewhere toward the end of the novel - without expressly stating anything, the passage had established a singular persona for the character from whose point of view the observations had been conceived. Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto's heart stopping compositions for movies such as "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" and "The Last Emperor" help to demonstrate the other extreme. The compilations have the same effect in the soundtrack, whether I listen to the CD or watch the movie - they are short, exceptionally brilliant and leave me wanting for more, wondering why they had not been drawn out a few bars longer. But therein lies the art - the context was not musical production, but film. Hence, Sakamoto was writing a soundtrack, not a symphony. Necessarily, therefore, the soundtrack was designed to reflect the context of the scenes, which it aptly does by enhancing the sense of urgency, impatience and the desire to move to the next scene, hoping for a continuation or perhaps a closure. In a way, this almost makes one grip the edges of seats even though the genre here is clearly drama. Oddly enough, in our daily experiences, we often try to avoid such literary extremes, most often unaware that we are doing so. So that when I listen to LWNY, in a way the short disconnected stories achieve the same sense of urgency, which I find somewhat disconcerting. Could this be one more reason why this work took such a while to settle? Maybe, but it always makes me go back to TSI. TSI is almost a balm that soothes it all out, so that LWNY is like playing a sport and TSI is like sinking into a hot tub afterwards. In spite of the marked exaggeration in the last statement, I couldn't fail to make an observation. Songwriters are placed in an odd position with respect to the temporal arts. They have to strike, in the listener's ear, the balance between satisfaction and urgency. A very difficult task indeed, no less challenging than combining the succinctness of french cuisine with the opulence of a Japanese meal. They both contain glamorous elements of the sea, but the conceptual subtext for the presentation is very different. Since, I am yet to encounter a place that even dares to attempt such a combination, I would have to say that the singers and songwriters are somewhat more advanced in their mastery of this art than us chefs. Peace, Ashoke. ________________________________________________________________ Ashoke S. Talukdar | When the darkness takes you talukdar@morph.ebme.cwru.edu | with her hand across your face Home : 216-381-5872 | Don't give in too quickly Imaging Lab : 216-368-8812 | Find the things she's erased MetroHealth : 216-778-8987 | Find the line, find the face Pager : 216-670-5872 | Through the grain... Cellular : 216-317-7079 | Fax : 216-368-4969 | Suzanne Vega ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 20:02:23 -0600 From: tom kelly & jordan Subject: 12th Nov 1988 This is a letter Basia wrote me. A long time ago. Dear Tom, You wrote your letter to me in Aug. of 87, you sent it in March '88 - I am replying in Nov. '88. This is a long-term relationship we're having here! I'm sorry I was so slow in writing back - it was a particulary busy year, but this is not an excuse! I've been touring alot, and we've just finished our US tour that's why this letter will come to you from NYC. You made me very happy with yours; it made me laugh - you are very, very funny. I need to laugh today - Thank you. I'm going back to England in a few days.(first I have to make a video for "New day for you") to finish working on our new album which should be out in May maybe. You seem to have many interests; music, food, cartography, remote sensing - what is remote sensing? it sounds great! I think I have it too! Anyway - such a pity we did'nt play Nebraska but next year we will tour again (after the new album is out) and I will make sure we play Lincoln. Thank you for your lovely letter and your patience - lots of my love Basia x ------------------------------ End of basia-digest V3 #167 ***************************