Errors-To: ecto-owner@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 #840 ecto, Number 840 Wednesday, 3 November 1993 Today's Topics: *-----------------* United States Live - Laurie Re: Bob's your uncle Re: Happy at last Messages for Mary Lou Rowe anti-SF Sarah Beats Kate :-).... More red shoes This is really funny... land of the free ======================================================================== From: boek Subject: United States Live - Laurie Date: Wed, 3 Nov 1993 17:05:20 +0100 (MET) I read a couple of messages that seem to conflict on the number of actual units of physical medium that USL consists of. My copy of it on CD has 4 (IV, four) discs, which would seem to correspond with brni's 4 tapes (although not necessarily of course). Are there other versions around than the one I have ? It's an American release BTW, as I don't believe it was ever released in Australia. I have seen it at Plato (CD shop) here in Leiden, but I suspect that that's imported too. It's the same shop where I was able to order Rhodesongs. Speaking of Laurie, I understand that she's working with PG (and Brian Eno) on the Real World Theme Park in Barcelona ... does anybody know anything more about this ?? Is it actuallly being built or is it still in the discussion stage ... ? Till the next one ... Chris. -- --_ /| \ ) Christopher Boek boek@hacktic.nl | \_| / PieterMolijnlaan 12, 2343 ES Oegstgeest +31 71 173984 | | /x ( <-- LEIDEN | \ == _ | "Hebban olla vogala nestas hugunnan hinase hic anda ===---/ |( thu" - Earliest surviving Germanic text (Gothic) -- ======================================================================== From: boek Subject: Re: Bob's your uncle Date: Wed, 3 Nov 1993 17:22:58 +0100 (MET) Maura writes ... > > "Bob's your uncle" is a British expression meaning, more or less, "absolutely", > usually in response to a question. The full expression is "As sure as Bob's > your uncle." > It can also be used in the sense of 'and then it's finished' or 'and then everything will be alright'. e.g. All you have to do is hold this thingy above this whatsit, wiggle them a bit and Bob's your uncle. Chris. -- --_ /| \ ) Christopher Boek boek@hacktic.nl | \_| / PieterMolijnlaan 12, 2343 ES Oegstgeest +31 71 173984 | | /x ( <-- LEIDEN | \ == _ | "Hebban olla vogala nestas hugunnan hinase hic anda ===---/ |( thu" - Earliest surviving Germanic text (Gothic) -- ======================================================================== From: neilg@sfu.ca Subject: Re: Bob's your uncle Date: Wed, 3 Nov 93 8:47:53 PST > "Bob's your uncle" is a British expression meaning, more or less, > "absolutely", usually in response to a question. The full > expression is "As sure as Bob's your uncle." I thought it also meant "there you go." As in, for example, "all you have to do is tie this bit round here, attach that part over to the other side, and Bob's your uncle!" It's also the name of a pretty energetic local independent band. - Neil K. -- 49N 16' 123W 7' / Vancouver, BC, Canada / neil_k_guy@sfu.ca ======================================================================== Subject: Re: Happy at last Date: Wed, 03 Nov 93 12:39:05 -0500 From: jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu Greg O'Rears: >Wouldn't it be a bit of a drawback to Happy's success? I mean, people have >compared Tori to Kate, but that's mostly superficial (she's a woman who plays >piano and sings; the most Kate-like I have heard Tori sing is "Here, In My >Head"). But this! This isn't similar, this is "I'd be prepared to swear in >a court of law that it's Kate Bush" kind of stuff. A lot of people first get into Happy because they think she sounds like KaTe. What you learn after a number of listens is that she actually sounds *nothing* like KaTe and has a *very* distinctive voice. I now listen to songs that 3 years ago I would say "Isn't this just like Kate Bush?" about, but now I can't figure out what portion I could *possibly* have been thinking of! >Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but >what would you say about *duplication*? Happy learned to sing by imitating Kate. It's to be expected that there would be at least vague similarities. But I believe you will fairly quickly learn to distinguish their voices quite easily; I don't think I could ever mistake one for the other at this point (hmmm; if Happy purposefully covered a Kate Bush song and tried her damndest to sound like Kate, then *maybe* I'd get confused. A little. ;-) >a Dead >Can Dance on Ryko (didn't like it; all the titles were just a little too self- >consciously precious and "more literate than thou" I don't understand how something can be self-consciously pretentious. That said, I think that Dead Can Dance is not pretentious in that their abilities, lyrical and musical, live up to the literary aspirations of their titles. It should also be noted that much of the singing is in foreign languages or phonetic and the titles serve as interesting reference points from which to discuss the pieces. Jeff ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 03 Nov 1993 12:42:15 -0500 (EST) From: HOLLY@umbc2.umbc.edu Subject: Re: Happy at last SIGNED EDWARD GOREY STUFF?! I *love* Edward Gorey. I'd also like to know if anybody knows where to get nifty Edward Gorey stuff besides the Wireless or the Signals catalogues. I have _Amphigorey I_ and _Amphigory II_ and _Amphigorey Also_, and I have a tee-shirt with the "Mystery!" logo on it. I don't know whence cometh my Edward Gorey goodies as they were happily received birthday presents. I've heard that Edward Gorey designed the set and costumes for a production of "Dracula" somewhere. The set and the costumes and makeup were all done in black and white, and the only things that had any color to them were red wine and blood. If I had a grandfather, I would have sold him for a chance to see that production. I want Edward Gorey to do my interior decorating. Holly ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 3 Nov 1993 10:15:28 -0800 (PST) From: Neile Graham Subject: Messages for Mary Lou Rowe As some of you may have noticed, in an earlier message I mentioned that Mary Lou has been ill enough to be at home and off work and hence off net access (which she gets through work) for several months. I don't know much about it, other than I asked an Ottawa friend of mine who is an acquaintance of hers to get in touch with her for me as I hadn't heard from her in quite a while. He spoke with her about ten days ago, and reported that she is still not back to work, but is on the road to recovery. Our palindrome man, mjm, noticed my brief mention of Mary Lou, and emailed me to suggest that we collect some messages to send on to Mary Lou, so I would like to do that. Anyone who would like to send a message to Mary Lou, please email me (neile@u.washington.edu) and I will collect, print, and mail any messages I receive for her by Wednesday. Nov. 10. I don't know any details about her illness, simply that it has been a long haul and that she is getting better. --Neile neile@u.washington.edu ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 3 Nov 93 10:31:36 PST From: Neal R. Copperman Subject: Re: Happy at last Holly, I picked up a whole bunch of Gorey hardbacks (about 8) from Olsson's in Georgetown. Some of them are in the Amphigorey volumes (maybe all, since I haven't seen Also), but it's a lot mor fun to have them in this little hardback versions, and while they are little compared to those large compilations, the pictures are often larger. Gorey did the cartoon at the beginning of Mystery too, which was the only place I knew of him for the longest time. I have to agree with Jeffy about learning to distinguish Happy and Kate. I've only had my Happy discs for a few months, and when I first got them I was floored at the similarities in places. I took them with me to Denver and played them for her, and she thought there were some small sections like that, but she basically recoginized the uniqueness in her voice immediately. Me, I was surprised that the songs I picked out for her didn't really sound that remarkably like Kate any more. I think something must have happened to my disc in the months since I bought it. I'd get a new one, but I think I like the one I have now better than when I bought it:) Dead Can Dance - Jeff Hanson and I are going to the DCD show at UCLA on Monday. We are going to the show, but we may not actually be getting into the show, as it is sold out and we have no tickets. DOes anyone out there have any suggestions as to what to do on Monday night near UCLA if (perish the thought) we don't actually get in? Neal ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 3 Nov 93 10:41:17 PST From: Neal R. Copperman Subject: anti-SF Drewcifer decides that if you can't ignore them and hope they'll go away, attack them and see what you can get. (Joke, though now that I've written it down, it seems a tad obnoxious, but it really isn't meant that way. An anti-SF thread would provide some interesting variety to some of the more recent posts.) I read a lot of Heinlein when I was younger, thought never Stranger in a Strange Land. I still have some that I haven't read laying around, but one day, I think while reading Glory Road, it suddenly dawned on me that his books are very racist and sexist. Looking back into what fragments was in my mind, I found that to be true of a lot of his work, and have since found that to be a pretty widely recognized fact about them, though one we were pretty ignorant of when we read them in high school. The same sort of thing happened to me with Piers Anthony too, though to a lesser extent. I seem to remember him basically judging everyones worth by something akin to IQ points. In case anyone is about to rush in and disagree with me, I'll say in advance that I can't remember any of the details that led me to those conclusions, only the conclusions themselves, though I'd be interested to hear any comments, agreeing or disagreeing. Neal of the lapsed memory ======================================================================== Date: 03 Nov 93 13:38:58 EST From: Mike Mendelson Subject: Sarah Beats Kate :-).... ....but it's the kind of competition I wish happened more often. :-) I hate to say this, but Fumbling Towards Ecstasy beats the blinking bananas out of The Red Shoes. (Sorry.) Well, I like The Red Shoes, but listening to FTE, is like, well... let's just say that the title is quite apt. Sarah also uses 'bullshit' in a song. So I guess she's still pining for Kate. (yeah, uh huh, right) This is easily the best year as far as new releases I've ever lived. The Red Shoes When I Was a Boy Fumbling Towards Ecstasy Angel in the House Titanic Days Whatever Debut Equipoise Shut Up and Sing Sleeper ... The list goes on and on (I'm sure I've forgotten some). Who says no one's putting out any good music anymore? -mjmfeelingveryhappytobealivetodayandhopingyouallaretooYAY ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 3 Nov 93 10:50:02 PST From: kyrlidis@templeton.cchem.berkeley.edu (Angelos Kyrlidis) Subject: More red shoes Hi, I have one thing to say. I have a new favourite Kate Bush album. The power of this one is unbelievable. Songs like 'Lily', 'The Constellation of the heart' and 'Why should I love you?' along with 'Big Stripey Lie' are gems. I think Sony executives need to be shot for not releasing 'Lily' or 'The Red Shoes' as the first single. The possibilities of Dance remixes of these songs are endless. More when I am down to earth. Angelos ======================================================================== Date: 03 Nov 93 13:57:40 EST From: Mike Mendelson Subject: This is really funny... In the liner notes from FTE (which, I might add, are B-U-T-Full) she says (and I quote): Special Thanks to Pierre who once again nutured and inspired me....[deleted] Quite a misprint, ay?! NUTURED!!!!! hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha Way to go Pierre! -mjm [The album version of Fear is *so* different, it almost sounds like the CD5 version should be the album version because the album version sounds like an alternative mix. I still love it, though! It's easily the weirdest thing on the album.] ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 03 Nov 1993 14:22:57 -0500 (EST) From: HOLLY@umbc2.umbc.edu Subject: Re: Happy at last Hello, Neal and other lovely ectophiles! > Holly, I picked up a whole bunch of Gorey hardbacks (about 8) from Olsson's > in Georgetown. I haven't haunted Georgetown since Poseur's closed. I do miss Olsson's, though. > Some of them are in the Amphigorey volumes (maybe all, since > I haven't seen Also), but it's a lot mor fun to have them in this little > hardback versions, No doubt! I'd love to take a peek at them! _Amphigorey Also_ has some nifty things in it, such as "The Epiplectic Bicycle," "The Utter Zoo," "The Loathsome Couple," and "Les Passementeries Horribles" among other things. I don't know what the dates on these are. > Gorey did the cartoon at the > beginning of Mystery too, which was the only place I knew of him for the > longest time. Have you noticed there's a different cartoon for "Mystery!" now? (I just noticed that the correct title of the second volume is _Amphigory, Too_, not _Amphigory II_. Here's me, correcting myself.) I also have an Edward Gorey book called _The Tunnel Calamity_. Its only text reads, "Unexpected appearance of the ULUUS (thought to have been extinct for over a century) in the tunnel connecting East Shoetree and West Radish.) St. Frumble's day, 1892." The book is basically a paper accordian-looking thing, and you look at it by holding the book's top and letting the rest hang down so it's stretched out, and you look through a small window on the cover. What a spooky Uluus! Holly ======================================================================== From: neilg@sfu.ca Subject: Re: anti-SF Date: Wed, 3 Nov 93 12:10:53 PST (Neil *finally* gets drawn into the SF thread... :) Neal with an "A" writes: > [...] I read a lot of Heinlein when I was younger, thought never > Stranger in a Strange Land. I still have some that I haven't read laying > around, but one day, I think while reading Glory Road, it suddenly dawned > on me that his books are very racist and sexist. [...] (rant & rave mode on. Hit 'n' now to avoid long opionated message.) Yeah. This sort of nonsense put me right off Heinlein completely, I must admit. I read Stranger in a Strange Land a long time ago, and thought it was okay in parts. I then read a couple of his later books and was thoroughly disgusted by the pretty blatant mysogynism, racism and generally snotty attitude towards bleeding-heart faggy ideas like respecting other human beings and such. The worst for me was whichever book had endless right-wing diatribes formulated as pithy aphorisms, attributed to Jubal Harshaw. I just stopped reading that one after a while. There are thousands of other books that are worth my time and that one wasn't one of 'em. I'd rather read a book that isn't, say, peppered with massively breasted adolescent fantasy women. That gets real tedious for me real quick. > [...] Looking back into what > fragments was in my mind, I found that to be true of a lot of his > work, and have since found that to be a pretty widely recognized > fact about them, though one we were pretty ignorant of when we read > them in high school. [...] I find this sort of thing kind of disturbing, actually. Many sci-fi books have a strong political and ideological polemic quality to them. People (especially kids) read them as entertainment - which on one level they are - and absorb some of these (in my not particularly humble opinion) contentious views through osmosis. Many of these views then become part of their own mental furniture - accepted uncritically as basic truths even though they're merely social constructs. But hell, that's normal! It all comes down to a question of whether or not you happen to believe in the implicit ideology in the writing. And often I don't and it bores me. Heinlein's style is also rather pompous and lecturing. I prefer, say, William Gibson. He presents his particular fantasy dystopia without any finger-wagging. There's a lot of critical stuff in his books buried in the comic-book flash, but it's more ironic and less preachy. Anyway, rave off. :) - Neil K. -- 49N 16' 123W 7' / Vancouver, BC, Canada / neil_k_guy@sfu.ca ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 3 Nov 93 18:58:32 GMT From: Jeff Dalton Subject: land of the free > From: scasterg@cd.columbus.oh.us (Stuart Castergine) > Subject: Communists listening to Happy? > > > So if being a member is illegal in the US, how come Gus Hall > > gets to run for President again and again and Angela Davis for > > VP? > > Good grief! Who ever said it was illegal to be a member of the Communist > Party in the U.S.? >From ecto #824: From: neilg@sfu.ca Subject: Re: PC/digital meltdown Date: Fri, 22 Oct 93 14:17:14 PDT [...] This talk of communism makes me smile - I think of the members of the Communist Party of Canada who stand every weekend a couple of blocks from my house with their rather pathetic propaganda. I think it's funny that they're there, though. In the US it's still illegal to be a member of the Communist Party, I believe. In the Land of the Free one cannot choose to be a member of any party you want. -- jd ======================================================================== 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)