Errors-To: owner-ecto@athos.rutgers.edu Reply-To: ecto@athos.rutgers.edu Sender: ecto@athos.rutgers.edu From: ecto@athos.rutgers.edu To: ecto-request@athos.rutgers.edu Bcc: ecto-digest-outbound@athos.rutgers.edu Subject: ecto #137 ecto, Number 137 Wednesday, 29 January 1992 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Get Bob Off Compuserve Campaign Hello! Shawn Colvin Ecto as a Newsgroup ======================================================================== From: vickie@chinet.chi.il.us (Vickie Ann Mapes) Subject: Get Bob Off Compuserve Campaign Date: Wed, 29 Jan 92 2:16:51 CST Bob Brown and I seem to having trouble communicating. I'm getting his messages but he's not getting mine. Bob, really, I'm not ignoring you! I do often get way behind on my mail, but not in this case. Here is a letter I sent that Bob never received (but it didn't bounce back to me) I hate the thought that new Ectophiles might feel ignored, so Bob, please know that it's not intentional. It's all about Usenet access, so if anyone can help Bob with other details I'm missing, please jump in. We have to make an effort to get Bob off of Compuserve :-) Bob, I hope you don't mind that I keep in the quotes from your letter. I don't make a habit of posting e-mail, but this is something that a lot of better informed people can help you with. And we all appriciate your offers to help Ectophiles new to Philly. I for one think it's a wonderful thing to now have 2 Philly-ites on Ecto! To others: Bob has made some wonderful suggestions for where to go before the Philly concert and I don't think anyone responded. Bob, I guess we'll leave it up to you. That the place is close to the venue and has lots of room for all the Happy-ness that will descend on it, seems to be the only criteria. Bob, please give us an update on the WXPN party. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: katefans (Chris n Vickie) Subject: Re: Bits & Kibbles To: 74756.1557@CompuServe.COM (Bob Brown) Date: Thu, 23 Jan 92 14:03:58 CST Hi Bob, thanks for writing... > Just a quick request for you. How do I get mail from rec.music.misc? Is > there a "request" address to get on the mailing list? Also, if there are > any others that I should get on (you and I have *very* common interests) > please tell me the "request" address. I think you're out of luck on Compuserve. Rec.music.misc is a Usenet newsgroup, part of the Internet. Someone else on Ecto could explain the wide world of Usenet better than I could (you should ask, really) But to be part of it you would have to be on a Public Access system that runs a Unix operating system. I'm no expert, there are lots of other people who could answer questions about Unix better than I. Have you contacted Steve Golden? He's on Usenet (through the University I imagine) and since he's local, might be able to help you out. I just now looked in a list called "Nixpub" which is a listing of all Public Access Unix sites in America. There is one entry for the Philly area and if you have a computer & modem at home, you might want to check it out. Well, you could call from work too :-) Here's what the entry says: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11/89 215-348-9727 lgnp1 Doylestown PA 3/12/24/96 24 SCO-XENIX -- Telebit access. UUCP access only; Fee; Services include feeds/routing for UUCP E-mail and USENET News; Home of the Nixpub lists Contact: phil@ls.com. anon-uucp: nuucp NO PWD (download /usr/spool/uucppublic/nixpub or /usr/spool/uucppublic/nixpub.short) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- I know nothing about this system, and this list is quite old, but it's worth a try, we need to get you off Compuserve, it's a horrible thing. If it works for you great, but if there's a better, easier, cheaper and more services offered way to go, it's with Pub Access sites. Chinet is a PAS, like the one above, and without it, Chris and I never would have gotten on the net. You see, the Internet (which includes Usenet) usually is available to Universities and large corporations and it's only been fairly recently that Public Access sites have been around. They're ussually run in a not-for-profit manner (unlike Compuserve) and though they charge a fee (Chinet is $75.00 a year) it's just to help cover costs such as phone lines and equipment. It's a very altruistic system, and we love it. Now, I don't know what a lot of the above means, but I can tell you that the 215 number is the # your modem would dial. For me, this entry has the magic words "UUCP E-mail and USENET News" which is *exactly* what you want. There are lots of PASs that don't carry Usenet, so those words are important. You might try calling the number and see what it says. On Chinet, when you first log in, there's a prompt that says "newusers log in as newuser" so this should be similar. If you have problems you might e-mail the address given and get tips from this person. Usenet is like a bulletin board, only much bigger, better and it's international. btw, don't ever call Usenet a "bboard" or you'd likely get flamed. It consists of hundreds upon hundreds of "conferences" called "newsgroups" and any subject you could possibly imagine has its own newsgroup. When I refer to "gaffa" on Ecto I'm talking about rec.music.gaffa, which is a newsgroup dedicated to Kate Bush. "rec" is short for "recreation" and there are *tons* of rec groups, from rec.kites to rec.arts.movies to rec.sprots.hockey to rec.music.misc and on an on. There are lots of different hierarchies (sp?) including "soc" (society..e.g. soc.women, soc.couples, soc.men) "talk" (talk.abortion, talk.politics) "comp" (computers..e.g comp.graphics, comp.sys.amiga.graphics, comp.unix) "alt" (alternative...e.g. alt.tv.twin-peaks, alt.sex, alt.exotic-music) and more. Within each heirarchy there are dozens or hundreds of different subjects. It's a great big wonderful world that opens up to you once you're on Usenet. Besides newsgroups, there are tons of mailing lists, such as Ecto. Those you can get now, but they originated (most of them) from Usenet. Other mailing lists you might be interested in are (I don't have addresses for these at the moment, I'm just telling you they exist): Siberry-the Jane Siberry mailing list (very quiet, there hasn't been anything in this list for weeks. There's a lot to talk about re Jane, but people tend to forget it exists, so never mail to it. It's still active though) TIM-The Innocence Mission mailing list (this too has been very quiet) There's a Sinead O'Connor mailing list that I've never belonged to, so I have no idea what it's like. Oh yeah, even if you don't get on the PubAccess system, the Kate Bush newsgroup (rec.music.gaffa) is echoed into a mailing list called "Love-Hounds" and it's one of the rare Usenet newsgroups that is also a mailing list. Everything that gets posted to rec.music.gaffa goes to the mailing list. Out of all the hundreds of Usenet newsgroups, there are only a handful that do that. Because it's moderated, all postings go via mail and I can give you the address. To join, write to Bill at: love-hounds-request@wiretap.spies.com To contribute, mail to: love-hounds@wiretap.spies.com Love-Hounds only comes in Digest form, never in loose mail, it's too busy, though Ecto is sometimes even busier. If you got onto the PAS, you could also read gaffa. We get both, because it's nice to read the articles as they come in to gaffa one by one, and then we archive the Digests when they arrive. It can be confusing, but when you hear anyone on Ecto refer to either gaffa or Love-Hounds, it's the same thing, just in 2 different forms. There's a lot more to be said, but I will stop now. Those are the basics, and hopefully will be enough to get you started. Good luck on trying the PAS, if you get busy signals, keep trying. Sometimes on Chinet I will get lots of busy signals before I get through. We have 2 different accounts on Chinet (I think I told you) and sometimes I can get through to one and not the other, sometimes neither. Don't give up. The whole system will take getting used to. We had access for 2 months before we finally figured out how to even post an article! You have lots of friends here on Ecto that can help you and give you tips so don't worry. You're very smart and will pick it up quickly. If I've totally confused you now though, ooops! I can *do* it, I just can't explain it very well. > I feel a little odd being a "new guy and not knowing anybody here" but I am > greatly enjoying all the mail and messages back and forth. I hope that I > can > be part of the Philly Welcoming committee. Because I live here I really > would like to help coordinate things on this end. Also, *please*... pass my > name and number-- (215)822-1046 home or (215)822-2929 ext 2298 work---to > Happy and Kevin if they need *any* legwork done here in Philly to help make > this event as successful as possible. I realize that they have contracted > with people to make it work, but I will be willing to donate time to > help....whatever...unload trucks, post notices, you name it. I pride myself > in being able to jump in and coordinate (it's a long story...I've done a > lot > of it) and this is one cause I feel strongly about being involved in. And > since I live right here I can run interference for a lot of things. I hope > that you are coming and like I said, if you need a ride or anything when > you > get here, please let me know. Great, thank you! As far as being the "new guy" you have come in at the right time (well, on Ecto, anytime is the right time) and you have found that the people here are very friendly and open. (minor Love-Hounds warning...though there are truly terriffic people on LH, there are lots of not-so-friendly people there too. Ecto was born from rec.music.gaffa/Love-Hounds and it got born mainly because people there flamed us for talking about Happy too much. There are always flame wars going on in gaffa. There hasn't been a flame war yet in Ecto. It's a wonderful thing!) Have you contacted H&K about the "legwork" offer? I can pass it on, but they should hear from you directly too. It's so wonderful that you're willing to do all this. I appreciate it and I know they would too. Addition: I gave Kevin your phone numbers and he was very appreciative. To help us, when the time gets nearer if you could scope out a cheap, but clean and easy to reach hotel for us to stay in. There might be 4 of us, and a double would be fine. But we're all fairly poor :-) and couldn't stay at the Hilton. Any suggestions would be welcome when the time comes. Thanks for that. Anything else, I'll let you know. > Oh...one more thing. I'm going to an special party next Wednesday (the > 29th) being hosted by WXPN staff for folks who pledged big bucks to the > station (I'm involved from this with my friend Charlie who is doing the > Happy gig with me...he doesn't have computer access otherwise he'd be here > too). Anyway, as I'm rubbing elbows with the WXPN folks and Philly celebs > I'll be sure to talk Happy "promotion and devotion" Hmmm, I kinda like > that..."promotion and devotion". I'd still like to see your show get a > slot > here on WXPN...I wonder what that would take to make happen? Great! This sounds really good! I too like the "promotion and devotion" phrase. It's perfect! Well, be sure to let me (and post to Ecto about it) know how things look. I'd be interested in knowing what kind of reaction you get from people (DJs, or whoever) when you mention Happy. Let it be known that people are coming long distances for this concert, see what they say. About my show on WXPN. Oh yes, it would be great, but I don't know how it would happen. Still, I'll keep an open mind about it. Maybe, maybe.... Thanks again for writing and the offers of help. I've been fighting line noise since the beginning of this letter so if anything looks truly weird, blame it on the phone lines. Seeya later... Vickie ======================================================================== From: vickie@chinet.chi.il.us (Vickie Ann Mapes) Subject: Hello! Date: Wed, 29 Jan 92 2:33:58 CST Fuzzy blue welcomes to bear! I'll be posting the updated Projects list tomorrow, and probably the FAQ along with it. The next few days will see the Happy interview. The newbies should not be worried that *all* my posts are humongous. Many are, but this week brought some especially large ones. Still in dubbing mode. I wrote my "Novel" while dubbing, but now I'm working on all the packaging, so I am keeping busy. The tapes should go out within the next couple of days. Vickie ======================================================================== Subject: Shawn Colvin Date: Wed, 29 Jan 92 08:08:53 EST From: jeffy@lewhoosh.umd.edu Jeez, Jessica, haven't you been paying attention in r.m.g? Shawn's been referred to quite a few times over the last couple of years! ;-) Isn't she wonderful? Le'see. She's from, um, I think S. Dakota (somewhere in that region of the US, in any event), she's lived in New York for years 'n years, and she's a good bit older than you would expect from someone who just released their first album just over 2 years ago. As I recall, she was around 30 when _Steady On_ was released (I remember being surprised at how old she looked when I saw her in 11/89; she just kinda looked tired). Certainly no KaTe or Happy in terms of early album releases! Apparently she'd been playing folk for years 'n years in New York City and not getting much recognition. She's friends with Suzanne Vega, and I'm not sure how long they've known each other and how much SV played in SC's record contract. They've been appearing on each other's albums for a while now--Sean sang BVs on SV's "Luka" and around half the songs on _Days of Open Hand_ and SV sang BVs (and you think the acronyms are nasty on r.m.g! ;-) on a lot of the songs on _Steady On_. Sean does a great SV impersonation, and it can be hard to figure out which of the two is singing the various lines. Before I found out about Sean Colvin, I didn't realize there *was* anybody besides Suzanne Vega singing BVs on "Luka". I've heard that she's working on a new album, but I don't recall seeing a release date in the new album release list that gets posted every now and then to the net. (On the other hand, March will be exciting month with new releases from Concrete Blonde, Tracy Chapman, and Melissa Etheridge!) Off to work... Jeff |Jeffrey C. Burka | "Show what you are / Be strong, be true | | | Time for you to / Be who you are." | |jeffy@lewhoosh.umd.edu | --Happy Rhodes | ======================================================================== From: Steve Fagg Subject: Ecto as a Newsgroup Date: Wed, 29 Jan 92 13:18:23 BST Put me down as yet another Ectophile who doesn't want this list turned into a newsgroup. I don't believe the warm fuzzy blue atmosphere could be retained if the list were replaced by, or gatewayed to, a newsgroup. Personally, I value the fluff 'n' stuff more than any other aspect of the list. Most of my favourite ecto contributions would have been quite inappropriate in a public forum. As has been noted, the informational content of ecto is very low, and most of it is available in .gaffa anyway. From the recent upswing in interest in .misc maybe general interest stuff should be posted there too. Given the Phish-initiated flamefest going on in news.groups right now there's no way a proposal for rec.music.happy-rhodes would pass these days, and a good thing too I reckon. That's not to say the personality of the list shouldn't evolve, after all it's come a long way since it started up. I remember when I first joined most of the messages were about the Ecto Band Project, now whatever happened to that? I suppose it led indirectly to Jessica & Greg's "Moving" which has been running through my head all morning. Looking further to the future, when Happy becomes a much bigger name and the majority of people interested in her music become general music fans who happen to include Happy among the artists they like rather than mostly being people whose involvement is much more intense and passionate (I think fervent is the word I was groping for there), then the case for a newsgroup might make more sense. But a single- artist newsgroup is in danger of becoming a ghetto, without any chance of attracting new people to the fold. No problem for the likes of the Beatles or the 'Dead, but .gaffa's a bit borderline. I suppose a list is even worse from that point of view. Anyway, by then I'd definitely support Jessica's suggestion of having a two-tier structure so that there was an information-rich alternative to the noisy atmosphere of our Fuzzy Blue Wonderland, for those who prefer that. This may not be a very accurate comparison, but the little-known English band The Enid used to run their affairs rather like that. After some bad experiences at the start of the band's existance, thet didn't have a record or distribution deal and released all their albums on their own label. They ran a sizeable (non-electronic) mailing list which sent out to everybody details of tours, merchandising, recordings, &c. But there was also a much smaller organisation for the more committed fans which had far more of a family atmosphere and supported the members of the band above and beyond the normal "buying their records & going o their gigs" level. Seemed to work Ok from what I saw of it (a couple of years after I got involved the band finally gave up what had become a very unequal struggle for survival). -- Regards Steve Fagg ( S.L.Fagg@bnr.co.uk +44-279-429531 Ext 2437 ESN-742-2437) BNR Europe Ltd., London Road, Harlow, Essex, CM17 9NA, UK *** "Better drowned than duffers. If not duffers, won't drown". *** ======================================================================== To join ecto, please send electronic mail to the following address: ecto-request@athos.rutgers.edu To have your thoughts included in the next issue, send mail to: ecto@athos.rutgers.edu The ecto archives are on hardees.rutgers.edu in ~ftp/pub/hr. There is a README file explaining what is where. Feel free to send me (or leave in the incoming directory, just let me know) things you'd like to have added. To subscribe to "Ecto", the printed fanzine, send $8 to: Ecto PO Box 11291 New Brunswick, NJ 08906 Ecto is issued 8 times/year, and will include photos and as much material from non-net members as we can get! Donations above the subscription cost are welcomed - all money goes to bringing you better issues! I've been told I'm too far from humble to even have it in quotes, so, just "your moderator" -- jessica (jessica@athos.rutgers.edu)