Errors-To: owner-ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu Reply-To: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu Sender: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu From: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu To: owner-ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu Bcc: ecto-digest@ns1.rutgers.edu Subject: ecto #1164 ecto, Number 1164 Friday, 1 July 1994 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Re: audio cassette expertise needed We're all in this together Re: audio cassette expertise needed Nan Vernon Re: Wrong Century (& SOS, for the heck of it) Shrubberies mystery (for John) Re: Wrong Century (& SOS, for the heck of it) Happy's Albums Re: Wrong Century (& SOS, for the heck of it) Score! _The World is a Wonderful Place_ Re: Happy's Albums Another suggestion Re: Happy's Albums Shell games and other stories Another suggestion Early warning Re: replies to pretty much every thread going on now "ringo"; re: aliens, beauty ======================================================================== From: brianb@netcom.com (Brian Bloom) Subject: Re: audio cassette expertise needed Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 08:55:29 -0700 (PDT) > Wondering if anyone can offer me any tips on how to fix an old tape. > > I've been looking for years for an old tape I had of my favorite local > band from the early 80's 2nd place performance at Boston's Rock and Roll > Rumble. I found it a couple of nights ago and was thrilled. Then I > tried to play it and was bummed. The tape moves VERY unevenly - dragging > and speeding up severely. I tried rewinding and fast-forwarding a few > times to see if that would help but it didn't appear to. > > Any ideas? Is it even possible to have a tape removed from its original > cartridge and put into a new one? The speeding up sounds unusual. That's not a typical effect from a tape that's binding in its shell. But to answer your question, yes, open-tape surgery is possible. Radio Shack used to carry empty tape shells, that screwed shut with tiny screws. If you want to try that method, i suggest rewinding or fastforwarding the tape so it's all on one spindle. Then unscrew the case (or crack it open if there aren't any screws) and extract the tape reels. Carefully thread them onto the new shell being careful not to have any twists, then clamp the top shell onto it and tighten it down. Hopefully this will work for you.. I've done this to both cassette and video tapes with pretty good success.. Still haven't figured out a magic cure for warped records. 8P br!an -- __ ____ __ ____ __ __ (__==__) /\ \ / \_\ / /\ / \ \ / |\ / /\ (oo) ( moo.) / \_\ / /\ |_| / / /| /\ \ \ / ||/ / / /-------\/ -' / /\ | |\ \/ /_/_ / / / \ \/ \ \ / |/ / / / | U.T.|| / \/ |_| \ __ \_\ /_/ / \ /\ \_\ / /| / / * ||----|| / /\ ./_/ \ \ \/_/_\_\/ \ \ \/_// / | / / ^^ ^^ \ \/ |_| \ \_\ /_/\ \ \_\ /_/ /|_/ / Br!an Bloom \__/_/ \/_/ \_\/ \/_/ \_\/ \_\/ brianb@netcom.com .. but music hides me so well, ..and reveals me.. oh well - HR ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 1 Jul 94 18:16:10 MET DST From: Albert Philipsen Subject: We're all in this together Vickie wretched: >When _Equipoise_ came out, there was an intense discussion about the song >"Save Our Souls" and in this case, I *know* Happy wants her interpretation >to be perfectly clear in eveyone's mind. > >The song has a streak of irony in it and sometimes it's not clear. Happy >does believe in alien races. Happy does believe that the world has some >major problems. Happy knows that *some* people want to find the aliens >specifically so they can save our world. That's what the song is about. > >Happy *herself* believes that we have to save ourselves, and that it's >folly to think that we can hope to be saved by an alien race. That's >also what the song is about. Let me first make clear that I completely agree that this is the right interpretation of SOS. That's not what this message is about. What I don't agree with is Happy's idea that it is undesirable to reach out for the aliens. We (I'm using this word in a rather broad sense) are all in this universe together. Happy's ideas sound a bit like planetism to me. I'm not saying that Happy had this in mind when she wrote the song, but I think she needs to rethink her ideas about aliens. Moreover, I think this idea of "saving" us is a bit vague. When would we be able to say that we've been "saved"? Is there anything to save? Wouldn't everything become incredibly boring after we would have been saved? Warpy ======================================================================== Subject: Re: audio cassette expertise needed Date: Fri, 01 Jul 94 12:26:44 -0400 From: jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu Brian sez: >Then unscrew the case (or crack it open if there aren't any screws) >and extract the tape reels. Carefully thread them onto the new shell >being careful not to have any twists, then clamp the top shell >onto it and tighten it down. On a related note, I've spliced together a number of tapes of mine that have broken. Most blank cassettes (all the ones I've used!) have cases that are screwed together, so it's easy to open. I just splice together the break using a bit of scotch tape on the back side of the streamer. Just make sure you don't have any twists when you tape it! One such tape, my copy of "The Celts" and "The Lion and the Cobra," was spliced, hmmm...must be about 4 years now, and it's held up through a ridiculous number of playings. Sure, you'll lose a second or two of music, but if it's a tape you can't replace easily (or at all!)... Jeff (who always hears, "Jack left on a mumaskdasdfkjadfark night, leaving me all alone") ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 01 Jul 94 17:46:49 BST From: GTP10@phx.cam.ac.uk Subject: Nan Vernon Wow two postings in one day! Term must be over. At lunchtime today I picked up "Manta Ray" by Nan Vernon, partly on the strength of an interesting review in Q, partly on the strength of liking her CD single "Motorcycle" which I picked up for #0.99 in a cut-out bin. The review in Q revealed that she is an American domiciled in the UK and made Tori comparisons. Having listened to it once I am *very* happy with my purchase. I hear some Tori similarities but they are not very strong. I'd say that a closer point of reference is Jane's WIWAB, but there also bits which reminded me of Kate and Happy though again not strongly. Having said that there are also some rather interesting diversions from standard Ecto fare such as a guitar-solo-free cover of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and a song "Johnny's Birthday" sung in German which I can imagine Marlene Diet- rich doing. Overall highly recommended. It turns out that the CD single has two non-album tracks on it too :-) Local Ectophiles (Tim, Guy, Tim) might be interested to know that she is playing here in Cambridge later this month at The Boatrace (which is lurching distance from my home). Geoff Parks ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 1 Jul 94 19:33:06 MET DST From: Albert Philipsen Subject: Re: Wrong Century (& SOS, for the heck of it) Bob cloudbusts: >BTW, I also thought of the main character's situation in "Wrong Century" in a >bit of a strange way. I thought of it as a sudden consciousness shift from >one being from another, which presupposed two distinctly unconnected >entities. Upon reflection, I warped that into more of a shift between >lifetimes. Kind of like applying the idea of reincarnation to >"Slaughterhouse Five" wherein Vonnegut's (sp?) character "skipped" back and >forth randomly thoughout his own linear life/time. In the case of "Wrong >Century" though, multiple life/times are involved. > >(Did that make any sense? I sometimes have difficulty explaining what I am >think, even to myself!) I'm not an expert on this subject, since I haven't seen "Slaughterhouse Five", but I strongly doubt that this popular view on time travel, as it is often portrayed in works of science fiction, is correct. If it were, we should have been visited by someone from the future by now, don't you think? Time does not exist in the way most people think. There's only the here-and-now, and what we call past and future must be somehow "represented" in the here-and-now. The past is stored in our memories, and the future exists in our imagination. Time is an illusion created by clocks and other moving things. It is possible to experience something from the future, because most of the future is already implied by the present. The fields and forces described by physics are reflections of the future into the present. They signify the pull of the future on the present. The future is probably fuzzy and branching, and isn't completely determined until things actually happen. It is interesting to think of what would happen if somewhere else in the universe a being similar to yourself would come into existence. How similar would it need to be before you would become aware of this other being's experiences? Is this perhaps what dreams are? Would it be possible for your consciousness to completely "jump over" to that other being, for example after your death here on Earth? >I have always enjoyed the observations of the pompous, conceited human psyche >portrayed in "Save Our Souls". I also believe alien races exist. This >universe is far too large for them not to, and that "psyche" is evident in >the idea that in all that expanse WE are the only sentient beings. I think >about the idea of alien races with space travel ability and wonder if they >would even bother with us, or would they consider us spoiled little whiny >children and ignore us until we grow up? I believe that any species that can >achieve viable intergalactic space travel must have surpassed some serious >intercultural hurdles to acquire the harmony necessary to devote to the vast >research and development of such an ability. Of course, this is a subjective >view. I'm almost certain that alien beings exist. I've had contact with one, in the way I've described above. The feeling that this other being was looking through me eyes into our world, and talking to me in my mind was very strong. I've shown her a few maps of the world, and told her where I lived. Does anyone remember the subject of alien sex being mentioned here on Ecto some time ago? It's actually quite nice. Warpy ======================================================================== From: "Ralph A. Pincus" Subject: Shrubberies mystery (for John) Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 13:36:38 -0400 (EDT) This is mostly just a note to John, so sorry for taking up Ectospace... It's a little strange that you couldn't find "Shrubberies" at Lakeshore. I was in there yesterday and they had a copy. Hmph. If you want, I could pick it up for you. They also had the This Womans Work (correct title? unsure) outake discs you mentioned (Parts I and II) for $26 apiece (a piece? ah, peace!). Again, lemmee know if you want 'em. Cheers. --Josh (who's thinking of starting a CD location service :)) ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 1 Jul 94 13:55:24 -0400 From: Mike Matthews Subject: Re: Wrong Century (& SOS, for the heck of it) Albert Philipsen : >I'm not an expert on this subject, since I haven't seen "Slaughterhouse >Five", but I strongly doubt that this popular view on time travel, >as it is often portrayed in works of science fiction, is correct. >If it were, we should have been visited by someone from the future >by now, don't you think? Who's to say we haven't? There's that theory that folks like Da Vinci and Jules Verne were really people from the future, because their ideas were so ahead of their time... >Time does not exist in the way most people think. There's only >the here-and-now, and what we call past and future must be somehow >"represented" in the here-and-now. The past is stored in our >memories, and the future exists in our imagination. Time is an >illusion created by clocks and other moving things. Time is not an illusion, it's just represented in a way our perception can understand it by clocks and other moving things. >It is possible to experience something from the future, because >most of the future is already implied by the present. The fields >and forces described by physics are reflections of the future into >the present. They signify the pull of the future on the present. >The future is probably fuzzy and branching, and isn't completely >determined until things actually happen. I think it is possible to predict the future if you could simulate *every* *single* *subsubsubsubsubatomic* *particle*. Just because we can't understand it doesn't mean it can't be understood. I also think it's not worth the effort... :-) >It is interesting to think of what would happen if somewhere else >in the universe a being similar to yourself would come into existence. >How similar would it need to be before you would become aware of >this other being's experiences? Is this perhaps what dreams are? >Would it be possible for your consciousness to completely "jump >over" to that other being, for example after your death here on >Earth? Interesting idea. I think dreams are the results of random noise inside yer brain, personally. >I'm almost certain that alien beings exist. I've had contact with >one, in the way I've described above. The feeling that this other >being was looking through me eyes into our world, and talking to >me in my mind was very strong. I've shown her a few maps of the >world, and told her where I lived. Does anyone remember the subject >of alien sex being mentioned here on Ecto some time ago? It's >actually quite nice. Alien beings have to exist. The universe is too big to say otherwise, especially when there's even more out there. >Warpy Mike ======================================================================== From: "Vanvoorhis, Paul" Subject: Happy's Albums Date: Fri, 01 Jul 94 11:06:00 PDT My boyfriend and I have finally found all (we think) of Happy's albums. The majority of them were at outlets of the Wherehouse, with the remaining two being at Tower Records in Mission Viejo (if there are any south beach ecto readers out there, Mission Viejo Tower has all her albums) We have: Rhodes Songs Ecto Equipoise Rearmament Rhodes I Rhodes II Warpaint Is this everything? :) We LOVE Happy. When is her next album coming out? How does one write to her, etc. etc. Paul V. ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 13:19:01 -0700 (PDT) From: David Dixon Subject: Re: Wrong Century (& SOS, for the heck of it) On Fri, 1 Jul 1994, Mike Matthews wrote: > > I think it is possible to predict the future if you could simulate *every* > *single* *subsubsubsubsubatomic* *particle*. Unfortunately, particles are waves as well, which means they're not completely localizable. Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle and all that. D^2 "Back off, man, I'm a scientist." - Bill Murray in "Ghostbusters" ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 13:26:04 -0700 (PDT) From: David Dixon Subject: Score! I have in my grubby little hands two tickets for the opening night of Laurie Anderson's "Speak My Language" tour at UC-Berkeley (October 13). Fourth row, center. Pardon me while I dance a little jig. :) :) :) D^2 ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 14:06:10 -0700 (PDT) From: Neile Graham Subject: _The World is a Wonderful Place_ Angelos asks: > PS. While on the topic of covers, nobody has mentioned the Richard Thompson > tribute CD 'The world is a beautiful place' which features Victoria > Williams, > and Tom Robinson, and others. Has anybody bought it? Is it any good? We have it, and I guess I'd have to say that I'm glad we found it used and didn't pay full price for it. Like a lot of tribute albums, it's a mixed bag. The best of it is that there's a previously unreleased Richard & Linda track on it. Most of the versions of the songs are not all that great compared to the originals, though there are a couple of really good ones. So we're finally back from Scotland where we got to meet Ilka & Pete and Steve Fagg and Jens Brage and Davedoes & Gillian and Scott Telford from lovehounds. It was great, though Ilka was right that it would have been more of an ecto-gathering if we could have held it somewhere where we could have played our own music. I loved meeting everyone, though. Jens travelled around with Jim and I and later also my parents for a week and has said that he's going to tell ecto the truth about us, so look out. The world *is* a wonderful place. Hi, y'all. I have digests and digests and digests to wade through. Scotland was magnificent, esp. the Orkneys and the ectophiles. --Neile ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 1 Jul 94 17:55:38 EDT From: WretchAwry Subject: Re: Happy's Albums Ok, this one isn't the long one :) ?? writes: > We have: > Rhodes Songs > Ecto > Equipoise > Rearmament > Rhodes I > Rhodes II > Warpaint > > Is this everything? :) We LOVE Happy. When is her next album coming out? > How does one write to her, etc. etc. Hi, welcome to Ecto! You do indeed have everything, and I'm so glad you love her. I do too :). The next album is due (barring unforseen circum- stances) in mid or late August. I'll send along the FAQ to you in a separate message. Pleased to meet you! I see Paul in the header...what's your name? Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 1 Jul 94 17:47:03 EDT From: WretchAwry Subject: Another suggestion Ok, there's lots'o'talk going on about the upcoming vote on rec.music.tori-amos in news.groups and elsewhere, but that's *not* what this post is about. If it's going to be discussed, it should be discussed in one of the relevant newsgroups or the rdt mailing list, though I probably will let people here know when it's actually up for voting. What this post is about is a suggestion that popped up during the course of the discussions. It could help alt.music.ecto yet not hurt the mailing list. Someone suggested posting the Tori mailing list (rdt) to a newsgroup such as alt.music.alternative.female or rec.music.gaffa (which I screamed "NONONO" to, since it's gatewayed to a mailing list) and that gave me an idea. Why not post Ecto digests to alt.music.ecto? There is a concern that we'll have occasional answers back from someone on the newsgroup, but I think it's worth the risk. alt.music.ecto exists, yet there's *no* traffic. One post a week, if even that. That looks bad :-(. However, there are a couple of things that happened recently that makes it possible for ame to get busier. 1) An alt.config guy (Bob MacDowell) has been championing ame in various newsgroups (more about that in another post. 2) I finally got ame at Rutgers :). Now, that should mean that I will be able to post there more often, though right now something's wrong with Rutgers outgoing News. The newsgroup has appeared in my .newsrc, but I've already posted 2 test messages which haven't appeared. Hopefully it's only a temporary problem. To refer back to my "Gentle Suggestions" post, anything we can do to help Happy is Good, so trying to make alt.music.ecto busier and more interesting to readers and sysadmins is also Good. Why not post the digests? It will let people know what we're about, yet, since it's not gatewayed, we have a bubble of "protection" against the occasional clueless posts. I know some will get through every now and then, but it would take the poster a bit of trouble to make sure he/she *mails* directly to the ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu address in order to get back to us. Most mindless flamers won't go to that trouble, and will instead just hit "f" (or yes, "r") to answer. In the case of "r", I could edit the headers out completely, and a direct "r" would just come back to me. For anyone to reply directly to the poster in question, they would have to go to the additional trouble of editing the digest down to an individual post. Again, not many flamers will take the time or trouble. Unless there are strenuous objections, I'm going to start doing it as soon as it looks like I have my direct posting ability back. Another option: if anyone writes an article to Ecto that they *don't* want posted to the newsgroup, they could tell me and it would be a simple matter to edit it out of the digest before I post it to ame. My next post is *long* so beware. Vickie ======================================================================== From: vickie@pilot.njin.net (WretchAwry) Subject: Re: Happy's Albums Date: 1 Jul 1994 18:08:57 -0400 Ok, this one isn't the long one :) ?? writes: > We have: > Rhodes Songs > Ecto > Equipoise > Rearmament > Rhodes I > Rhodes II > Warpaint > > Is this everything? :) We LOVE Happy. When is her next album coming out? > How does one write to her, etc. etc. Hi, welcome to Ecto! You do indeed have everything, and I'm so glad you love her. I do too :). The next album is due (barring unforseen circum- stances) in mid or late August. I'll send along the FAQ to you in a separate message. Pleased to meet you! I see Paul in the header...what's your name? Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 17:00:22 CDT From: Subject: Shell games and other stories There are places who will put cassettes into new shells, for a price, but there is a less drastic alternative one can try first. Simply hit the flat side of the cassette against a hard, flat surface a few times. This can get the tape re-centered within the shell, in the best case, without having to resort to more radical surgery. It's given me fairly good results on one problem cassette. Today I came across a blurb for a Scottish band called Wild Colonials, which said, "They sing songs about human behavior...." Now there's a band after my own heart, not to mention my discipline and profession :-). Reminds me of the time a TV station here had a blurb describing a John Wayne western, I think it was, something to the effect of "A fast-paced, hard hitting story of people and their interactions." Ah, the sociological imagination :-). Happy Canada Day; Happy 4th; hold a good thought for Martina. Mitch ======================================================================== From: vickie@pilot.njin.net (WretchAwry) Subject: Another suggestion Date: 1 Jul 1994 18:19:24 -0400 Ok, there's lots'o'talk going on about the upcoming vote on rec.music.tori-amos in news.groups and elsewhere, but that's *not* what this post is about. If it's going to be discussed, it should be discussed in one of the relevant newsgroups or the rdt mailing list, though I probably will let people here know when it's actually up for voting. What this post is about is a suggestion that popped up during the course of the discussions. It could help alt.music.ecto yet not hurt the mailing list. Someone suggested posting the Tori mailing list (rdt) to a newsgroup such as alt.music.alternative.female or rec.music.gaffa (which I screamed "NONONO" to, since it's gatewayed to a mailing list) and that gave me an idea. Why not post Ecto digests to alt.music.ecto? There is a concern that we'll have occasional answers back from someone on the newsgroup, but I think it's worth the risk. alt.music.ecto exists, yet there's *no* traffic. One post a week, if even that. That looks bad :-(. However, there are a couple of things that happened recently that makes it possible for ame to get busier. 1) An alt.config guy (Bob MacDowell) has been championing ame in various newsgroups (more about that in another post. 2) I finally got ame at Rutgers :). Now, that should mean that I will be able to post there more often, though right now something's wrong with Rutgers outgoing News. The newsgroup has appeared in my .newsrc, but I've already posted 2 test messages which haven't appeared. Hopefully it's only a temporary problem. To refer back to my "Gentle Suggestions" post, anything we can do to help Happy is Good, so trying to make alt.music.ecto busier and more interesting to readers and sysadmins is also Good. Why not post the digests? It will let people know what we're about, yet, since it's not gatewayed, we have a bubble of "protection" against the occasional clueless posts. I know some will get through every now and then, but it would take the poster a bit of trouble to make sure he/she *mails* directly to the ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu address in order to get back to us. Most mindless flamers won't go to that trouble, and will instead just hit "f" (or yes, "r") to answer. In the case of "r", I could edit the headers out completely, and a direct "r" would just come back to me. For anyone to reply directly to the poster in question, they would have to go to the additional trouble of editing the digest down to an individual post. Again, not many flamers will take the time or trouble. Unless there are strenuous objections, I'm going to start doing it as soon as it looks like I have my direct posting ability back. Another option: if anyone writes an article to Ecto that they *don't* want posted to the newsgroup, they could tell me and it would be a simple matter to edit it out of the digest before I post it to ame. My next post is *long* so beware. Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 17:20:21 CDT From: Subject: Early warning Folk_music says Christine Lavin will be appearing at Fermilab, outside Chicago, on July 16. Seems to me that local ectophiles with a yen to Happyvangelize to her would find this a convenient time to do so. NPR is this minute excerpting from a recording of the _Monkees_ theme and similar stuff done in Gregorian Chant style. Go figure :-). Get those HBP selections coming, folks. Mitch ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 1 Jul 94 18:28:01 EDT From: WretchAwry Subject: Re: replies to pretty much every thread going on now Ok, this isn't the really long one either, but if I put this off one more day, I'll hate myself :) First attempt to clear some of my "to be answered" file (huge, and growing huger by the day): Meth wrote: > The only Happy song I can unequivocally say I absolutely *cannot* stand is > "He's Alive". I automatically program it out whenever I put in the CD, and > didn't even put it on my tape dub of Rhodes I, to save trouble. IMO it never > should have been recorded, in-studio recording lesson or no. But I'm already > well aware that that's just me. :) It didn't used to be just you. I used to hate it to. For me, it's a case of finding out a bit of information about a song, something that makes me *hear* it differently. In this case, it was hearing Happy's story about what the song is about. For NewBob and others interested, it's a song about a young girl who has painted a monster who she feels is her protector. The song is a fantasy about the girl being able to call the monster to life so the monster will go after the people who are making the girl's life miserable. "roam the streets, invade their dreams" Now, we found out that Happy drew a monster named "Alice" (the he-monster in the song) and that she was tormented as a child. She wrote the song because she wished that she could bring Alice to life. Where can you make your imagination come to life? Movies, books, art (paintings) and music. She *wanted* to be that girl...in her imagination and her song, she *is* that girl (though obviously, it's not autobiographical) :-). Wow, when I heard that, I listened to the song with an entirely different mindset, and now I love the song. Btw, for those who have ftp, you can see "Alice" in the gifs archive at hardees.rutgers.edu via anonymous ftp in pub/hr/gifs. > From: Marcel Rijs <100276.2176@compuserve.com> > Subject: Happy Birthay project > > A question from a newbie ectophile: I want to contribute some music for the > Birthday project. Can anyone fill me in on previous projects, the kinda > music she'd appreciate, so I can find out if what I want to send is > 'acceptable'? > I will send it anyway, but... 8-) Have you been answered in e-mail? If not, let me know. Since the deadline is so close, perhaps one more posting of the FAQ is in order. Doug? I think the point is to not worry about what Happy would appreciate. If you like something and want to share it, go for it! :) Btw, thanks for your other post about Milla. I don't know about anyone else, but I've now dubbed Milla one of the "Apostles" and even, oh my, NGOTB (New Goddess On The Block) :-). > Let's kick in another open door: I just bought the CDsingle "Gentlemen who > fell" by Milla for a buck, and *love* it. She's got a strange accent, but > the music has a nice warmth, and it all sounds rather pleasantly organic. Yes, yes yes yes! Btw, what does the CD single have on it? Does anyone have the CD single and the album to do a track/time comparison? > Maybe I better shut up now... :-| Marcel, you keep forgetting you're in Ecto :-) > From: Brad_Baker@novell.com (Brad Baker) > Subject: New York Happynings > > I will be going to New York for the first time in August. > Any Happy'nings there in the last two weeks of August? Welcome to Ecto Bako! Besides the Woodstock concerts (August 11th & 12) we don't have any confirmed dates. Happy said something about performing a short set in NYC at a Yes Convention, but no one knows if it's been confirmed, and if so, when and where it is. Happy and Kevin are near impossible to reach nowadays, since the album is in intense recording mode. Bob Lovejoy, ask Susanne next time you talk to her, if you remember. > From: erik@falcon.kla.com (Erik Johnson) > Subject: Just another Happyvangelization > > You asked a few days ago to get copies of all our Happyvangelizing, so > here's a copy of a message I sent to the Melissa Etheridge list. He only > asked about Sarah, but the opportunity seemed good. I won't know about the > reaction unthi the next digest, though... Enjoy! > > Erik Thanks to everyone for being, and hello to all the new Ectophiles! Vickie ======================================================================== Subject: "ringo"; re: aliens, beauty Date: Fri, 01 Jul 1994 15:47:01 PDT From: ian barland (out of sight) Hi all, I recently heard about some mit people doing something what (in retrospect) is obvious: setting up a music database; you rate how much you like a certain bunch of bands, and (based on others' preferences and yours) it says "Well, if you like Y, you may want to check out Z". It's just starting, and their "benchmark" list of bands is currently rather mainstream, but after joining the database, it seems you can add lesser-known artists to it. (I myself haven't taken the time to really check this thing out thoroughly, but it sounds like a good idea.) It's called "ringo", here's the starting info: | Q: How does it work? | | A: Well, how do you do select albums ordinarily? You listen to songs that | some D.J. plays, or you hear about stuff from your friends who have | tastes similar to your own. | | That's how it's done here. People all over the internet, from all over the | globe, tell me about their listening tastes. Ringo then finds people who | are similar in their tastes to you. If they really like some artists | that you haven't heard yet, Ringo will recommend those artists to you. | | Which is why the more users in the system, the better the recommendations. | So spread the word! | | Q: How does Ringo know who I am? | | A: People are identified according to their usernames. So be | consistent as to where you send email from. | | Q: My friend wants to get on the ringo bandwagon. What should I say? | | A: Tell your friend to send an email to ringo@media.mit.edu with only the | word 'join' in the body of the email, and s/he will be sent the latest | greatest survey, and all the relevant info. [Also, 'help' in the body will give you just the instructions.] On other topics... sandoval says: | In fact, I'd say that most astronomers | nowadays pretty much assume it's a given that there are certainly planets | out there, and some of them must have life on them. | [begin monologue, where I use "intelligent" with a fairly stretchy meaning] At least in popularized accounts, I was under the impression that a significant number of respected astronomers are confident that there must be "nearby" many planets with the same capabilities of evolving intelligence as ours. (Anybody know any "widely accepted" estimates?) If so, we're hardly likely to be the first. Looking how technology has grown in the last 100yrs, what if another society has 1000, or 10,000, additional years? So a (serious) outstanding question is, why haven't we found any "intelligent" radio signals from out there? One answer is that the estimates are off, intelligent life is much more difficult to arise than we guess. Another possibility is that...intelligent life tends to be unstable, destroying itself almost certainly. Look at our nuclearWar/ecological problems in the last 100yrs, now try to keep everything in check for another 1000 or 10,000... The more I think about it, the less encouraging I think the future is. [end carl sagan emulation] In a more optimistic thread, meth thays: | >seanympf floundered: | >I'm a little confused though. I don't know any ugly people. | >Perception? | >mine? | | Probably your perception. If you know someone is beautiful on the inside, | you don't give a shit what they look like. If this were only the norm of | how people were perceived... | Also, your perceptions of the surface change with the knowledge of the depths. I have friends who in my (totally objective :-) opinion, are gorgeous. (Not only in a "because-i-know-them-well" way, but in a "they could easily meet hollywood's criteria for good-looking" manner.) But then I realize that I don't recall particularly noting "beauty" as an outstanding characteristic when I first met them. I think beauty -- even outer/appearance beauty -- takes time to be appreciated. [A more cynical explanation is that I tend not to become friends with those who I don't find at least a little attractive right off...] Conversely, there are some I initially thought very good-looking, and after getting to know them a little, I couldn't see why I'd ever think that, even were I given only a photograph. Yikes, I sound much more pontifical in this post than I hope I really am. Oh well, apologies in advance for any I irritate, Cheers, ian ======================================================================== The ecto archives are on hardees.rutgers.edu in ~ftp/pub/hr. There is an INDEX file explaining what is where. Feel free to send me things you'd like to have added. -- jessica (jessica@ns1.rutgers.edu)