4-Nov-91 21:54:03-GMT,15193;000000000001 Received: from athos.rutgers.edu by aramis.rutgers.edu (5.59/SMI4.0/RU1.4/3.08) id AA02433; Mon, 4 Nov 91 16:44:09 EST Received: by athos.rutgers.edu (5.59/SMI4.0/RU1.4/3.08) id AA04272; Mon, 4 Nov 91 16:44:06 EST Date: Mon, 4 Nov 91 16:44:06 EST Message-Id: <9111042144.AA04272@athos.rutgers.edu> 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 Subject: ecto #22 ecto, Number 22 Monday, 4 November 1991 Today's Topics: *-----------------* A small lamb from a novice. Re: Happy and SF Re: mail from SiG listener thanks! Hi y'all new user intro and thanks Re: Happy and sf Stuff ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 3 Nov 1991 21:00 +8:00 From: SVODOPIER@cc.curtin.edu.au Subject: A small lamb from a novice. To Happy. 1/11/91 Your acid tears course across my brain of glass over and again etching channels of beauty as they run And as they work I sink softly falling through a warm dark space with sparkling stars and sunbeams dancing and refracting through your channels in my brain finding parts of me I never knew were there. Martin --------------------------------------------- "Now clarify, what did you say? You know you're not making any sense Are you describing a vision of beauty? Or a chain of events?" -H.R. --------------------------------------------- ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 3 Nov 1991 21:18 +8:00 From: SVODOPIER@cc.curtin.edu.au Subject: Re: Happy and SF Good one, Doug... I liked your essay ( can I call it that? ) Count me in as a long time SF-head, too. Ever since an uncle gave me a copy of "Out of the Silent Planet" by C.S. Lewis when I was about 9 - growing up as the only white child in a community of aboriginals - I've had an insatiable interest for Science Fiction (rather than much fantasy) and have to date collected about 500 books, about 75% of which are collections of short stories. Offhand, my favourite stories are things like "Ender's Game" - Orson Scott Card, and the short "Sandkings" by George R.R. Martin. I guess I'd already noticed a strong SF current throughout the songs, since most of the themes and stories seemed "familiar" to me too. However, I'd never really made the solid connection you have made, (surprising, considering what Happy said in the interview) and it should be interesting looking at them from this new angle. I think you might have gone just a little too far with the parallel, though... ...a couple of the themes you mentioned could certainly be used in SF, but I would hesitate to stick the SF label on them... But you're right... they definitely have the "feel" of good sf. Maybe someone ought to drop a Happy thread into rec.arts.sf-lovers ?? :-) Geez I like Ecto! Martin ,------------------------------------+----------------------------. _ . | At first there was nothing. | Martin Dougiamas. | _r' Ll\ | Then god said "Let there be light!"| sdougiama@cc.curtin.edu.au | | \ | Then there was still nothing. | Curtin University | \ ._ / | But you could see it. | Perth, Western Australia --+->x~ `-' `====================================+============================' V ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 3 Nov 1991 21:29 +8:00 From: SVODOPIER@cc.curtin.edu.au Subject: Re: mail from SiG listener > Back to Irish Gaelic for a moment, "Gafa" means captive or captivity. I don't think you need to tell him what Gaffa means, just where it's from. I think his explanation is the best I've heard. Martin ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 3 Nov 91 10:17:47 CST From: vishal@ra.csc.ti.com (Vishal Markandey) Subject: thanks! "Chip Lueck (Jeff)" writes: > I will put some other Happy GIFS on alt.binaries.pictures sometime > this weekend. The only ones I have are the ones FTP'd from > cs.rutgers.edu. I assume Jessica scanned them from the cassette > covers (if so, thanks Jessica.) I'm assuming that you don't have > FTP access and that is why you want them posted there. Thanks!! Yes, I don't have FTP access. And thanks Vickie, for posting Michael's letter. Most touching. - Vish ======================================================================== Subject: Hi y'all Date: Mon, 04 Nov 91 11:18:18 N From: Klaus Kluge ... But there's noone here ... Yes, it has happened, but there are good news as well. I've booked my flight to Boston, and it has been confirmed! It was hard work though. When I said I wanted a flight which would cover Christmas and New Year, the lady at the travelling agency just said 'no chance'. Luckily I was flexible about the date, so I managed to move it to a time when not everyone wanted to go. So, I'll arrive in Boston on Dec. 14th, and depart on Dec. 31th (fly into the new year). --- I just had a quick look at what happened in Ecto for the last 4 days. Boy, what a surprise to find all those translations. I should have taken something simpler though. Didn't consider I have to translate it as well. But Greg, or was it Meredith, was very close. :) But I need some time to read it all, and am quite busy at work today, so I'll write about it this evening and post it tomorrow. Cheers, Klaus. _________________________________________________________ . * | "Tell me all the plans you have for the great beyond. | _ . * .* . | Will you be physical again, or be a cosmic vagabond." | (_) . . | --- Happy Rhodes --- | . . o | Klaus "cosmic vagabond" Kluge kkluge@Materna.DE | <== ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 04 Nov 1991 13:50:18 EST From: gcarre@kean.ucs.mun.ca Subject: new user intro and thanks New user Geoff Carre here.. I joined ecto after recently buying the Warpaint CD. great stuff! Anyways, I live in St. John's Newfoundland (going to school here) and have subscribed to the 4AD list and monitored rec.music.gaffa for years. These two sources have been very good to me, supplying me with great album suggestions (vickie and woj being the most prolific -thanks) When Vickie said on gaffa that there was a thread on ethereal music on ecto I had to join. Immediately I get a response from jessica: |jessica says: "hiya! welcome to ecto!" and later on "well anyway, welcome, and |enjoy, and i'm sure the people on the list will give you a good welcome, |it's a great bunch!" |and later on ecto "A welcome to geoff carre! There's a birthday-thing going on, |let us know when your birthday is and what sign you are (or would like ot be |tohught of as, be anything you like, even none at all).." |then Vickie posts "Welcome Geoff, good to have you." |and later "Welcome again Geoff!" How nice to be personally welcomed to a list. I rarely post to lists since a) living in St. John's I never hear of groups before you guys, and b) I'm shy. Well, maybe ecto will bring me out of my shell. What I enjoy most about lists is to hear about new bands and especially from those people who enjoy Happy's music (and 4AD material). Just to give you an idea of my musical tastes, purchases that have thrilled me the most the past two years have been: bel canto (the first one-whose name has escaped me) blackgirls "procedure" (whats the new one like?) the cure "disintegration" dead can dance "the serpent's egg" gabriel, peter "passion" the glove "blue sunshine" innocence mission kitchens of distinction "love is hell" legacy "a collection of new folk music" mouth music part, arvo "passio" ride "nowhere" this mortal coil and of course rhodes, happy "warpaint" I haven't got her tapes yet but plan to give a friend of mine the complete collection for Christmas. Do you think Happy would autograph it if I asked? it's nice to find a group with similar tastes, yet I am suprised at the fact that it can extend so easily to other mediums. I remember when the usual desert island question came up in gaffa vickie included films, among which she included The Stunt Man, an all time favorite of mine that many people have never heard of. and this week steve (stevev) wrote |I'm glad you mentioned Gene Wolfe, Doug--he is one of my most |favorite authors, and his "Book of the New Sun" (the collective |title for the series _The Shadow of the Torturer_, _The Claw of |the Conciliator_, _The Sword of the Lictor_, _The Citadel of the |Autarch_, and _The Urth of the New Sun_) is my all-time favorite |SF work (3 complete reads and counting). I couldn't agree more steve. My all-time fav as well. Anyways..thanks for the welcome. I hope I will have something to contribute in the future. Looking forward to any suggestions you might have for further purchases. ..geoff ps -birthday is march 20th, a Pisces which is appropriate given my current geographical position ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 4 Nov 91 12:26:30 MST From: dbx@olympic.atmos.colostate.edu (Doug Burks) Subject: Re: Happy and sf Greetings, Thank you for all the thank you's. I had a lot of fun putting that 'essay' (Martin, I personally call my posts something like "definitive proof of a defective mind") together, though it took a while. Most of the replies included something like, "I wouldn't consider all of that sf". Well, the question of "What is sf?" is asked by everyone. In the latest _F&SF_, both book reviewers (actually, one of them can be genuinely called a book critic) explicitly raised that question about a book they reviewed, trying to explain why they were reviewing it. On top of that, the movie reviewer covered the recent Robin Hood movies. I'm no expert, but I don't think the Robin Hood legend has any sf or fantasy elements in it, yet few people would argue the point. I certainly won't debate the fine point of whether a certain Happy song or a certain lyric is sf, but I do hope that I succeeded in my point that sf (however, you define it) is an influence, if not a major one, in Happy's music. Jeff B commented on "Rocket Man": I agree about "Rocket Man" echoing Ray Bradbury. A couple of other songs (imho) fall near that category, including "Space Oddity" by David Bowie (usually and erroneously called "Major Tom") and "Spaceman" by Harry Nilsson. "Rocket Man" hits it the best, though. Jeff B also proposed "Keep It Dark" by Genesis as the genesis for Happy's "One Alien": Well, I know too well to try to unravel influences in people's art. They just come from too many strange (or disappointly prosaic) places. Yet I'm skeptical about your suggestion, simply because the theme of aliens being the good guys of the galaxy, and humans being bad is a tiresomely common theme in stories, having been introduced (not surprisingly) in the Sixties. More likely, these older stories influenced both of these songs. Steve of the Grey Lady and Geoff (Welcome!) lauded Gene Wolfe's _Book of the New Sun_: Fully seconded here. Did you know this series was actually planned as a trilogy? However, Gene Wolfe's subtle-to-the-point-of-inscrutable plotting forced a fourth book to tie up the loose ends for people who missed the very subtle clues in the first three. His tendency for such subtle plotting is the toughest thing about his writing. His books do not make for casual reading, demanding close attention to fully understand the story. Too often, his plots are not worth that effort. However, I often just read his stories to get carried away by the lyricism of his writing, much like Happy's music. After reading his work, I occasionally find the rhythm of his writing echoing in my mind. Gene has a unique writing voice. Doug Burks _O_ dbx@olympic.atmos.colostate.edu |< She really is!! This world falls on me with dreams of immortality Everywhere I turn all the beauty just keeps shaking me ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 4 Nov 91 12:26:52 MST From: dbx@olympic.atmos.colostate.edu (Doug Burks) Subject: Stuff Greetings, * I still can't believe it. How do these albums keep getting better with each listen? Amazing!! By the way, has anyone else noticed that Kate Bush's high voice sounds just like Happy's? :-) * I once posted in public (on .gaffa) that Happy's synthesizer arrangements were simple and old-hat. Can anyone dig through the .gaffa archives and edit that statement out. The author should be publicly flogged! (Insert sounds of self-flagellation). How could I have ever said they were 'simple'? The more I listen, the more layers I hear in her music. In "I'm Not Awake, I'm Not Asleep" (Has anyone suggested this for a coffee commercial yet? ("When I get out of bed, I'm not awake, I'm not asleep. Then I get my first cup of Ecto: the Coffee!")), I just consciously noticed the skipping rhythm line which drives the song so well, building tension, fading in the middle to ease the tension, then returning to build it up again. It makes the song. I also just noticed the buried background vocals. Of course, this was just my fourth or fifth listen! * In "Oh, the Drears", the line: And such a strain to fight and always win had mildly perplexed me. However, the light finally dawned. The fight is something that you _have_ to win, and it is tough to have to win all the time. 'Tis much easier just to give up and sink down into the darkness. Ho-hum, just another typical, run-of-the-mill, brilliant Happy song of sadness tinged with hope. Doug Burks _O_ dbx@olympic.atmos.colostate.edu |< She really is!! "Ladies and gentlemen, ... Elvis has just left the building." ======================================================================== 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 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! Your "humble pseudo-moderator" -- jessica (jessica@athos.rutgers.edu)