Errors-To: owner-ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu Reply-To: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu Sender: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu From: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu To: ecto-request@ns1.rutgers.edu Bcc: ecto-digest-outbound@ns1.rutgers.edu Subject: ecto #467 ecto, Number 467 Monday, 1 March 1993 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Judie Tzuke's "Left Hand Talking" for Sale Three Merry Widows Re: Ashley Maher, Joan Baez, etc. socks, a poem VIDEO ALERT --- 10KM on J zoolook/Philip Glass/etc Happy segue RBN (tm) Re: ecto appreciation Let it Snow k.d. lang ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 28 Feb 93 23:44:00 GMT From: brage@sphere.home.id.dth.dk (Jens P. Brage) Subject: Judie Tzuke's "Left Hand Talking" for Sale Hi! Last week I mentioned that I had found "Left Hand Talking" on sale in a local store. Kjetil asked me to check if there were more copies left, and there were: I picked up the last two copies... One CD is going off to Kjetil tomorrow, but the other one isn't presently spoken for. If any Ectophiles are interested, the price is 29.50DKr plus postage (8.75DKr in Scandianavia, 24.00DKr in Europe and 36.00DKr in the rest of the world) plus whatever it costs you to get hold of Danish currency... A Danish "krone" is approximately $0.16, for a total price of approximately $6.12, $8.56 or $10.48 depending on your location... First come, served... If nobody's interested, that's ok with me, too: I'm sure I can find somebody who'd like the CD as a gift... :-) This offer is brought to you by the Danish subsidiary of EctoCorp... PS: One of my colleagues just showed me RFC1296, which contains a study on the size of the InterNet. Apart from estimating the number of InterNet hosts to at least 727,000 (Jan 92) (and growing exponentially), the study found 140 hosts named "happy" (Happy was beaten by Mozart (172) and Bach (150), though)... :-) Perhaps, if the study had included the entire UseNet (and not just the InterNet) Happy would have fared better... :-) Jens P. Brage | Dance the circle dance of dreaming, brage@sphere.home.id.dth.dk | lonely by the crystal sea. /\ | Spin the web of mist and moonlight, \SphereSoft | come, beloved, and follow me. ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 28 Feb 93 14:28:37 EST From: Tamar Subject: Three Merry Widows Hi, all! Has anyone around here heard of the group Three Merry Widows? They had an album in 1991 (I think) called Which Dreamed It? and my roommate and I both LOVE this album. I was wondering if they still exist, or if they have any other albums or will or anything like that. Meredith, my friends keep telling me it's really not that cold in this town, and I believe them, but I am from the SF Bay Area where it has snowed once that I can remember. What can I say--I'm the Weather Wimp :-) !! I'm really trying to get used to it.... Waiting patiently for springtime, Tamar (boutame@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu) ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 1 Mar 93 0:25:33 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Re: Ashley Maher, Joan Baez, etc. Another message I kept and I'm glad I did... Anthony Kosky wrote: > There are a couple of ecto-ish albums that I've been listening to > lately and meaning to write something about for a while. The first > (and most significant), by Ashley Maher, I mentioned briefly on rdt a > while ago, but it required more writing up and she definitely seems > like an ecto sort of artist, so I thought I should post something > here. I know very little about her, other than she has two albums out > called "Hi" and "Pomegranate", and would be grateful in anyone out > there could tell me some more about her. A friend made me a tape of > the first album a while ago. I've since failed to find any trace of > either album in the US, and asked my brother to try and get copies of > both of them for me in the UK. It may be a while before I get them or > know how the second album compares, so in the mean time I'm making do > with my tape of "Hi". > > The music on this album reminds me of a mixture of Rikki Lee Jones, > Joni Mitchell and The Story mixed with a strong Afro-Carribean/Jazz > flavour. (Actually that doesn't really fit, but is as close as I can > think of in terms other artists, and should be sufficient to tell you > if you'd be interested). It has some very catchy tunes rhythms > together with some very interesting lyrics. The lyrics are mostly of > the story-telling variety, in many cases giving small portraits of > particular people and their lives. However the thing that really > stands out about this album are the vocal arrangements. These are > really wonderful: It's as though Manhatten Transfer were rolled > into once person and then decided to go and make a folk album. This > album may not have the emotive clout that I often seem to look for in > music, but is one of the most interesting and certainly the most > addictive album I've come across in a long time. Very highly > recommended. Anthony just sent me a tape of the two albums he mentions and I agree with him, she is interesting enough to recommend. I've only listened to the tape once through, but I liked what I heard. She goes into the "Whatcha-ma Folk?" genre as Robin Holcomb, Ana Chrisiansen and others. I need to listen to it more, and I will. ***THANK YOU*** Anthony!! Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 28 Feb 93 22:13:21 EST From: woj@remus.rutgers.edu (l.l. cool bean) Subject: socks, a poem i referred to this in my klaus of this morning. spent a few minutes trans- scribing it this evening instead of working on my tax return. woj ----- Socks By Garrison Keillor First of all, I may not go. I said to them two months ago, I may stay here, I just don't know. Oh, it's an honor to be First Cat, I'm sure, And live in a mansion and have a chauffeur, But I'm a Little Rock cat from Arkansas, So was my ma and so was my pa And all my friends and loved ones dear, I'd be just as happy to stay right here. If that sounds bitter, I have a right to be. For the past two years, I'd look and see Them grinning and waving on TV (They never grinned or waved at me), As they hunted down every vote And they never called they never wrote, And I lost eight ounces and my hair turned grey, And I felt forlorn, and then one day Suddenly they come home and say: "In January, we're going away! We got elected, Socks. Hurray!" Next morning, I head out to meet some friends When a mob of photographers descends And corners me on the sidewalk And one of them snatches me up like a hawk And holds me high - how vulgar and vile! Like I' an exhibit at a trial! - The cameras snapping - you expect me to be Thrilled about moving to Washington, D.C.? Oh, I'll go. No sweat. Open the gate, I'll be First Pet, a cat of state, And behave with decorum (which, just between us, Ain't that hard for the feline genus). But first, let's talk - I understand That even though the place is grand, The White House and the White House grounds Has long been used as a home for hounds, Big hairy dogs, great filthy louts With muddy feet and drippy snouts. Before this cat strolls though the door, Every room and every floor Must be cleaned and steamed and swept and sanded, And all the backyard be replanted. Dogs are brutes, they just squat and do it. I hope you don't expect me to walk right through it! I may be criticized, I may be vilified, But that White House must be deMilliefied. I'm going on one condition: that I be given absolute privacy. No one will have access to me. I won't sit on his lap as a prop For a warm and fuzzy photo-op When his approval ratings drop, Or run alongside as he jogs on the beach Or smile adoringly during a speech. Let me say plainly, as life is my teacher, A cat is not a political creature. I don't press the flesh or get with the plan I won't catch mice Or be an ornament. I'll give advice, Sometimes consent, Always concise And always intelligent. Mostly I will lie in the sun Nobly ignoring man, As cats have done Since time began. ======================================================================== Date: 01 Mar 93 10:13:39 EST From: Mike Mendelson Subject: VIDEO ALERT --- 10KM on J For all you 10KM fans out there, 10,000 Maniacs will be on Leno Tonight (Monday, Mar. 1). They were on recently too so I don't know if this is a repeat. -mjm ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 28 Feb 93 17:06:23 EST From: kosky@saul.cis.upenn.edu (Anthony Kosky) Subject: zoolook/Philip Glass/etc I just got back from a week's holiday in Maine, and am a long way behind with ecto digests once again. Still I thought I'd write some brief notes on the bits I've picked out so far. I'm surprised by the enthusiasm Zoolook has generated here. I remember when it came out: at the time I was in a Jean Michael Jarre phase and bought it almost immediately. At the time I remember thinking it was very dissapointing. It struck me as hi-fi and clever production for the sake of hi-fi and clever production, with virtually no depth or emotional content. Sure, it's very impressive to take lots of snippets from different languages and voices and assemble them into an album, but it didn't seem like he had anything to say with the album other than "look what we can do!". I remember liking Laurie Anderson's vocal on one of the tracks, but that was about it. I think Zoolook pretty much marked the end of my JMJ phase. I haven't been impressed by anything I've heard of his since then, and nowaday's tend to regard him as a writer of pretty tunes and organizer of spectacular concerts, but lacking any real depth. I'm still rather fond of Oxygene and Equinoxe (which were the first two albums with which he achieved any success, Oxygene making him spectacularly famous in Europe). Not that these albums couldn't also be criticised for being "pretty tunes with no depth", but at least they had a freshness and innovativeness about them at the time, rather than merely being clever. Trivia (for those interested in such things): Jean Michael Jarre is the son of the French composer Maurice Jarre, who, among other things, did the soundtrack to the film Witness. On the subject of Equipoise, I'm confused by some of the posts along the lines of "initially dissapointing, but then it grew on me". On my initial listen I concluded that it was easily her best and musically most convincing album yet. (Actually I was rather worried by Runners, which sounded rather too much like a Kate Bush immitation for comfort, but once that was over it was much better). I still haven't come to terms with all of the lyrics or musical details, but those I have followed seem at least as good as any on her previous albums. Also it doesn't seem to contain any of the embarresingly bad lyrics that would occasionally crop up on her other albums. (hmm. I wonder if it's concidered heretical to make comments like that here. well, hopefully since I'm in the process of saying how great Happy's new album is I should get away with it). Equipoise is definitely a great album, and deserves to be the one that makes Happy really big. On the subject of Philip Glass (I'm not actually sure what's been said about him yet, but noticed that his name has come up in the contents tables a couple of times): I'm going to see Powasqqatsi with soundtrack performed live by The Philip Glass Ensemble this evening, and I'm looking forward to it immensely. I saw Koyanaasquatsi being given a similar treatment a year or two ago, and it was an incredible experience. I also saw the Ensemble doing a more regular concert at the Albert Hall a while before that, and that was excellent too. If anyone out there gets a chance to see the Philip Glass Ensemble, especially doing one of the films, I'd recommend them very highly. Also I saw Ahknatten performed by the ENO a long while back, and it was extremely impressive. I remember that, thoughtout the opera there was a man baking bricks in the front left hand corner of the stage, a woman sifting grain in the front right hand corner, and group of six or eight wrestlers wrestling in slow motion in the back left hand corner. The wrestlers were clearly real: huge men with muscles bulging out and straining everywhere, and they kept this up for the entire length of the opera (over three hours I think). The opera itself was very good. I'm told that the other two in the trilogy were equally impressive though I haven't seen them. Overall it seem's to me that Philip Glasses music is something that comes across particularly well in live performances, ane especially when put together with some visual aspect. Anyway that'll probably be it from me until I'm caught up again. -Anthony ======================================================================== Subject: Happy segue Date: Sun, 28 Feb 93 15:19:53 EST From: Angelos Kyrlidis Hi, I tried posting this in the past but I accidentally hit ctrl-c at the wrong time, so it got lost in e-space. The following story takes place in Phobos at the wrong Century. Our heroes are Gabrielle and Vern, two Cohabitants. Gabrielle is a Runner, and Vern is a Rainkeeper. They are Waking up. Gabrielle: Where Do I Go, Asylum Master? Vern: To The FunnyFarm For We Believe He's Alive. Gabrielle: Oh The Drears... Don't Want To Hear It. Not For Me... Vern: I'll Let You Go 'Til the Dawn Breaks, Because I Learn All Things. Gabrielle: I Cannot Go On To Live In Your World In Hiding. Vern: If So, Step Inside. Come here, Closer. Gabrielle: Words Weren't Made For Cowards...The Issue Is Would That I Could, To Be E. Mortal. Vern: I Have A Heart. Friend You'll Be Off From Out From Under Me. Gabrielle: I'm Not Awake, I'm Not Asleep. I Won't Break Down. I'm Going Back. Vern: Ally Ally Oxenfree! :) Angelos ======================================================================== Subject: RBN (tm) Date: Sun, 28 Feb 93 18:30:24 EST From: Angelos Kyrlidis A big thanks! to vickie for revealing the intricate details of RBN former and present. I am very happy for Happy that she doesn't have to spend 14 months singing ooohs and aaahs as background vocals for AV. It would have been IMHO very bad for her to roam around for 14 months, and probably career suicide. Then again touring has inspired several rockers in the past to write so we might have missed the chance to listen to 'life on the road' as viewed by Happy Rhodes. :) RADIO SHOWS!!! Yippee! :) Sounds awesome! Looking forward to a list of dates and cities, which will hopefully include Boston! Acoustic versions of EQP songs! That must be a heavenly experience! Vickie, PLEASE let us know more details, like which songs she plans to do!!! Back to talk-reparation work, Angelos ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 28 Feb 93 11:30:29 PST From: stevev@miser.uoregon.edu (Steve VanDevender) Subject: Re: ecto appreciation WretchAwry writes: > ps, I can't believe he still likes me. I'm terrible at answering his > e-mail, I always forget to say thank you for things he does for me, > and then he goes and writes things like this. I feel like Victoria, > I don't know why y'all are so nice to me. <*HUG*> I'll tell you just what I would have told Victoria Williams if I had been at that restaurant. Even if you don't believe in yourself right now, you're a wonderful person and it's too late to try to convince us otherwise. ======================================================================== Date: 01 Mar 93 10:40:58 EST From: Mike Mendelson Subject: Let it Snow Vickie marvels: > It's snowing the strangest snow. "Misty snow" is what I'd call it. It's > obviously snow, you can see it on the parked cars, but it's coming down > like a fine mist. What's it called Doug? Last night when I went to the Could be Lake Effect Snow. Mitch? -mjm ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 1 Mar 1993 13:17 EST From: Sam Warren Subject: k.d. lang For the k.d. lang fans on this list, I thought I'd mention that she's got a one-hour special on VH1 tomorrow night (Tuesday, March 2) at 8:00. That's the time in New York, I don't really know if it will be run at the same time around the country, but then VH1 is a national channel, n'est-ce pas? I'm looking forward to it! ======================================================================== 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)