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 #958 ecto, Number 958 Monday, 10 January 1994 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Re: Space Doggie Dog. Woof. Ally Ally Oxenfree wordmasters? Jane Siberry and Infocom Free the oxen and other stories Whoops - lost mail :\ Eddi Reader ("Mirmama" on sale!) and a Bit of a Klaus Re: Max Headroom series on Bravo Atlanta..more info.. ======================================================================== Subject: Re: Space Doggie Dog. Woof. Date: Mon, 10 Jan 94 14:15:31 -0500 From: jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu >> - Ally Ally Oxenfree is just so great! :) >> Anyone volunteer to point out what it could mean, btw? > >I'm curious about this too - even more so since last night's "Beverly Hills >90210". (Not that I watch it. It was, err, on in the background. Really.) >Brandon's quite-obviously-soon-to-be-next-girlfriend appears on camera >beaming and VERY suntanned for a character who's supposed to have lived in >New York, wearing a beach outfit that screams "free spirit". She promptly >grins and says "Ally ally oxenfree!". Maybe the writers are Happy fans. Hmm. >:-) I must admit surprise at the questions about this, though I'll admit that there was a round of 'em a couple of years ago. "Ally ally oxenfree" is a sort of anti-war-cry used by children whilst playing the game 'hide and seek.' When the seeker has tagged a seekee and the game is thus ready to begin anew, the now-ex-seeker cries out "ally ally oxenfree" to alert the other players that it's safe to come out of hiding. If you'll look at the lyrics to the song, you'll see that Happy has written a wonderful extended metaphor. The narrator is describing a relationship within the context of the game--the relationship is in bad shape, and the narrator is begging the other character to put an end to the "game", open up, communicate, work through the problems. (hmmm, thinking about it again, I'd also be willing to interpret the song from the point of view of a person whose spouse is having an affair: "Touch home base for your sake love...") Jeff ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 10 Jan 94 11:22:01 PST From: erik@falcon.kla.com (Erik Johnson) Subject: Ally Ally Oxenfree Anthony confesses to watching 90210: |> Michael Bravo wades through *400K* of digests! |> > - Ally Ally Oxenfree is just so great! :) |> > Anyone volunteer to point out what it could mean, btw? |> |> I'm curious about this too - even more so since last night's "Beverly Hills |> 90210". (Not that I watch it. It was, err, on in the background. Really.) |> Brandon's quite-obviously-soon-to-be-next-girlfriend appears on camera |> beaming and VERY suntanned for a character who's supposed to have lived in |> New York, wearing a beach outfit that screams "free spirit". She promptly |> grins and says "Ally ally oxenfree!". Maybe the writers are Happy fans. Hmm. |> :-) I'd thought this was obvious, but maybe it's a regional kind of thing. "Ally ally oxenfree" is part of Hide-and-Seek. In the version I played growing up, the seeker counts while everyone hides, then tries to find people. When the seeker finds a hider, seeker has to tag hider before hider reaches home base. Once this happens, the person tagged is seeker for the next round, and the call goes out "Ally ally oxenfree" to let people know that the round is over. I think this was a corruption of "All-ee all-ee outs in free", ie. everyone still hiding out gets to come in free, no tags. I wonder which parts of the world are familiar with this? Is it US? Midwest US? Midwest & eastern US? I grew up in Chicago, for what that's worth. Erik will overanalyze childhood games for food ____________________________________________________________________________ Erik N. Johnson Don't believe the return address. KLA Instruments Corp. The one and only True Address is: San Jose, CA e_johnso@kla.com. G E/CS d-- -p+ c++(++++) l u+ e- m++(--)* s+/+ !n h f+ g(+) w+ t@ r+@ y+(*) Your name is being called by sacred things That are not addressed nor listened to -- KB ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 10 Jan 94 11:59:21 PST From: dixon@physics.berkeley.edu (David Dixon) Subject: Re: Space Doggie Dog. Woof. Anthony said: >As they used to say in a Monty Python film, "Death's too good for them". Just to pick nits, I believe this is from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The Vogon captain says it as Ford & Arthur are being dragged to the airlock. "Counterpoint the surrealism of the underlying metaphor? Death's too good for them." D^2 will quote Douglas Adams for food ======================================================================== From: mbravo@tctube.spb.su (Michael E. Bravo) Subject: wordmasters? Date: Sun, 9 Jan 1994 21:39:58 +0300 (MSD) Hi! I'm going to address all of you with an unusual request :) Could someone try and make up a good 'descriptive portrait' of Happy? I'll explain what's that for - in a MUD I'm in (TinyTIM, I've mentioned it before) I want to create a HR poster and spread it around. For that, I need the visual description, at the very least. Someone good at describing people and good in English? Mitch? :) WRT telnetting somewhere - Bob, if you ever need some bit of Internet surfing done, just let me know - I'm doing it almost everyday and would be delighted to make something which will help spreading Happy's music. There are also other online CD stores except CDC on holonet.net -- Michael E. Bravo AKA /\/\ike 7 812 231 3951 (home) The Communication Tube and Tusovka, Inc. mbravo@tctube.spb.su ======================================================================== From: neilg@sfu.ca Subject: Jane Siberry and Infocom Date: Mon, 10 Jan 1994 12:13:18 -0800 (PST) Re: Anthony interviewing Jane Siberry: > 1. I'll be interviewing Jane Siberry AGAIN this or next week, so get those > questions you've always wanted to ask Jane in the mail to me now! :) Okay... how's this for a dumb question? Does she ever ride the Toronto streetcar? I was going to a friend's place one day, and I was on the Queen Street car near the mental health institution (she once wrote a song about some of the lonely souls who wander aimlessly about this area, btw) and I'm pretty sure she was getting off the car as I moved down to the back. This was, oh, around four years ago. I have this very sharp impression of this short woman wearing a black wool winter coat and hat, with a very Jane Siberrian face - angular; narrow nose - stepping into the door well. And I've sort of always wanted to know if it was really her or not, but of course there's no way ever of really finding out. Well, never mind. I think that's too dumb a question to ask! :) Anthony remarks to Michael's comment: > > Yes, I remember Infocom, I even still have their games and play them on my > > home UNIX machine. > > Yep, I play them too, on my Amiga. Speaking of Infocom-type text adventures, I've actually been spending an embarrassingly large chunk of free time the past two years writing my own text adventure. It's a huge sprawling program now, occupying almost a megabyte of disk space, and contains a few little ecto references. ;) I'll post here when (if?) it's ever ready for beta testing... it'll run on a number of unices, the Mac, DOS and possibly the Amiga. - Neil K. -- 49N 16' 123W 7' / Vancouver, BC, Canada / neil_k_guy@sfu.ca ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 10 Jan 94 14:31:34 CDT From: Chip Lueck Subject: Re: Ally Ally Oxenfree On Mon, 10 Jan 94 11:22:01 PST Erik Johnson writes: >I think this was a corruption of "All-ee all-ee outs in free", ie. everyone >still hiding out gets to come in free, no tags. I thought it was a corruption of "All-ee all-ee all come free"! >I wonder which parts of the world are familiar with this? Is it US? Midwest >US? Midwest & eastern US? I grew up in Chicago, for what that's worth. I grew up in southern Wisconsin about 1.5 hours from Chicago and we always played this game - it was especially fun in a big house! I remember family friends who lived on a mission. It was an old converted hotel or something with a big factory-type place inside where they produced their magazine (a religious one), but anyhow, this whole place was full of kids and *tons* of places to hide in. This place was huge. It was so much fun. I haven't thought of it in years until seening all-ee all-ee oxenfree in ecto! It'll be interesting to see where this game was played and what it was called. Instead of just hide-and-seek we called it hide-and-go-seek, but it always came out as one word = hidengoseek. See y'all. -chip ======================================================================== From: Ethan_Straffin@next.com (Ethan Straffin) Date: Mon, 10 Jan 94 13:34:34 -0800 Subject: Re: Ally ally oxenfree Erik Johnson sez: >>I think this was a corruption of "All-ee all-ee outs in free", ie. everyone >>still hiding out gets to come in free, no tags. >I thought it was a corruption of "All-ee all-ee all come free"! I vote for the latter, but I think I've heard the former as well. >>I wonder which parts of the world are familiar with this? Is it US? Midwest >>US? Midwest & eastern US? I grew up in Chicago, for what that's worth. >I grew up in southern Wisconsin about 1.5 hours from Chicago and we always >played this game - it was especially fun in a big house! Wow, where exactly? I'm from Beloit myself, a mile from the Illinois border. >It'll be interesting to see where this game was played and what it was >called. Instead of just hide-and-seek we called it hide-and-go-seek, but it >always came out as one word = hidengoseek. Yup. Well, I guess we've established a definite link to the Midwest. So, do y'all call drinking fountains "bubblers" and soft drinks "pop" as well? :) Ethan ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 10 Jan 94 15:40:53 CDT From: Chip Lueck Subject: Re: Ally ally oxenfree On Mon, 10 Jan 94 13:34:34 Ethan said: >Wow, where exactly? I'm from Beloit myself, a mile from the Illinois border. I grew up in Kenosha. I moved to Chicago about 6 years ago, but my family still live in Kenosha. Where do you live now, or are you still a cheesehead? ;-) I remember going to Beloit a few times as a kid for school stuff (spelling bees, etc.). It's also where I kissed my first girlfriend for the first time. :-) (at the shopping mall there. her dad made wooden toys and we went with him to some christmas craft fair where he had a booth). Ah, the things I'm remembering today because of Ecto... >Yup. Well, I guess we've established a definite link to the Midwest. So, do >y'all call drinking fountains "bubblers" and soft drinks "pop" as well? :) A bubbler, yes!!! People here look at me funny when I call it a bubbler. My family always called soft drinks "pop" too, yup, BUT my ex-wife (who is also from Kenosha) always called it "soda" in her family, so I dunno. -chip ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 10 Jan 1994 16:25:19 CST From: Subject: Free the oxen and other stories The thread on the etymology of "ally ally oxenfree" reminded me of the follow- ing, from the Ecto Product File, which I now retell for your delectation: =============================================================================== Date: 15 April 1992 15:21:09 CDT Subject: Another Ecto Edible There was a story in the paper last week that scientists have discovered the molecule that gives beef its flavor, and that this may make it possible to add genuine beef flavor to other types of foods. It seems to me that this creates an opening for the ecto industrial empire to gain a foothold with a number of markets (vegetarians, animal rightists, the cardiacally concerned, etc.) by coming out with the ALLY ALLY OXENFREE line of beefless beef prod- ucts, with the soybeans or whatever replete with the genuine taste of beef. (Think about it: Wouldn't an Ally Ally Oxenfree no-beef hot dog go down well at a ball game at which Orel Gratification himself was on the mound?) Mitch Pravatiner =============================================================================== Date: 16 April 1992 10:49:07 CDT Subject: Did I shoot myself in the footah again? :-) Greg commented to me about my latest ecto food idea: > Ouch! Not long after I sent out that posting, it occurred to me that I had originally intended to end it thusly: >(Think about it: Wouldn't an Ally Ally Oxenfree no-beef hot dog go down >well at a ball game at which Orel Gratification himself was on the mound? > > At the same time, I can just as easily envision the idea sending people >scurrying to the Fizzy Blue Ecto-Seltzer.) It would appear that I had the right idea as I originally conceived it, as contrasted with the final execution :-). [...] =============================================================================== Court's right. Ricola is indeed good stuff. But don't let's denigrate the value of menthol and eucalyptus just yet. I got my HGP in the mail Friday, and despite the fluffs Doug warned us about, it's good stuff. The things I found most intriguing were in the stuff contrib- uted by Jim and Neile, though admittedly not so much for their own sake as for the free associations a couple of things evoked in me. To wit: 1) This weekend, the city's oldest, most rickety elevated line was shut down for two years of repairs. If its regular riders continue to feel relative deprivation as they ride the stopgap bus service, will "I Often Dream of Trains " become a kind of marching song for the expression of their disaffection? 2) As per Neile's apparently Canadian pronunciation, in her intro, of the collective noun for the likes of we, could adolescents making out to the strains of Happy's music be said to be "copping an ectofeel?" :-) Mitch ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 11 Jan 94 11:47 NZDT From: dreaming@mu (Philip Sainty) Subject: Whoops - lost mail :\ Hullo all. Yesterday I set up my ecto-recieving account to forward all mail to this account... however due to my disc space quota on said other account being exceeded (due to them reducing it!) I think the mail it tried to forward was simply thrown away... So if anyone has sent me or ecto anything important over the last 24 hours, could you possibly resend it to me? thanks... Fortunately I have just thought of something else to say so that I haven't completely wasted your time :) All those that responded to my offer of emailing some examples of Maori mythology: I have gotten as far as making a trip to the library to obtain some books of legends, and I *will* get around to sending you some!!! Wow... I've just taken a look at the notes I've accumulated during my catch-up... there seem to be a lot of them :) (mostly album titles to look out for though...) hmm... someone, sometime, mentioned the phrase "Tabula Rasa" which I can remember is something rose. In case anyone is vaguely interested in the slightest, this name was used in Clive Barker's "Imagica" as the name of an organisation formed to stamp out all traces of magic on Earth... Emily said to remind us to ask about her new cat, but I think Vickie asked, and I think it turned out that the cat foolishly decided not to take advantage of Emily's hospitality after all... Tim enquired about frente!... was he told about "Marvin, the album" ? Y'know, most of these notes are completely meaningless :-) Oh well... Purple flying hippos, and warm furry cozy kittens to all, Philip ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 10 Jan 94 23:38:35 MET From: brage@sphere.home.id.dth.dk (Jens P. Brage) Subject: Eddi Reader ("Mirmama" on sale!) and a Bit of a Klaus Hi! Back again, and getting over Christmas... ;-) Well, the main reason for this posting was Kim's reaction to my .sig: > **MY GOD someone who likes eddi reader!** Its "what you do with what youve > got", am i right? RIGHT! And I count it among my achievements to have paid back Vickie a little for all the great music she's introduced us to... "Vickie Mapes' hero is something to be"... :-) > Ive seen her live twice now and the incredible thing is, her voice is > better live than on record. If you hear her, you will understand that this > is nearly a miracle! Twice? You lucky... I've only seen her live once (with Fairground Attraction) and, yes, her live voice is even better... And Jeremy's rejoinder can stand repetition as well: > OMIGOD!!! Fairground Attraction!!! > I remember very clearly when they first became popular in Britain, I absolutely > adored Eddie Reader. Her voice is chthonian, extramundane, deific, cool, > dandy, dreamy, groovy, keen, neat, nifty, sensational, swell even. And they > were so campy, it was fab. Well, you might get a chance to hear her again, apparently she's recording her new album in the US... Anyway, I found a copy of "Mirmama" on sale today for 80DKR (~12USD), I think. Anybody want me to pick it up? They are getting rare... I also noted Crash Test Dummies' "The Ghosts That Haunt Me" for 60DKR (~9USD), quite cheap for such a nice album. Anybody interested? At the same time I almost blew my New Year's promise: "To try not to buy any CDs in January" (a reaction to the number of CD acquisitions in December...). I didn't actually blow it because I'd only promised to try! ;-) So I got Marie Frederiksson's "Den staendiga resan", Cranes' "Wings of Joy", Maire Brennan's "Maire" and Patti Smith's "Dream of Life"... The Cranes disk was quite a surprise: Much softer than I had expected... -+- And now just a bit of klausing, to keep in shape: Anthony wrote: > This is Anthony logging in from Anthony's account watching Jens' message > fly around the world and land back here in the newsgroup. I love > technology. :-) I'm now force-feeding him assorted Margot Smith video > material (none necessary, says Jens! :-) and enjoying the beautiful > weather. Lovely weather. Sunny, hot, light breeze, just right for a day in > Melbourne. And don't let Jens tell you otherwise. Ok, don't even start to believe Anthony, whatever he tells you! ;-) Not only did I watch those videos quite by my own free will, but I actually went all the way to Australia just to buy a couple of Margot's disks in her home town... ;-) And I won't even mention the weather... Or the brewpubs... ;-) -+- Drewcifer drools: > 3.) RhodeSongs is simply divine...which songs are represented in the > tribute version of "Feed The Fire"? Does she really say "Hey, Pat?...Never > mind. Just wanted to bug you" at the end of FTF? And why does "Summer" > remind me of "Night Scented Stock"? Hmm, strange! I'm reminded of "Under Ice", which makes a nice contrast to "Summer"... I'm not actually sure what causes my association to UI, but perhaps it's the slightly(?) chilling undercurrent contrasted to the serenely beautiful surface... And then I think there's quite a bit of winter-mood about "Summer"... -+- And, oh, as to the poll about inlays in "The Red Shoes" I suggested: Well, to quote Monty Pyton: "You polled no votes at all. Not a sausage. Bugger off!"... :-) -+- brni turns to serious stuff: > well, having run out of cuervo some time back, i'd been sipping > from this bottle of crown royal which i got when my step uncle > died (he'd gotten it back in 1975, so its aged a bit). today i > decided to save the crown royal and broke out the canadian mist > thats been sitting untouched for many a long month (perhaps a > year). truly an inferior whiskey, at least when compared to > crown royal. just thought y'all should know. Have you tried the Lagavulin? The bottle I've got is only a 16 year, but it's still the best single malt I've tasted... -+- At the risk (? ;-)) of reviving the SF discussion, I'll third Steve's recommendation of "The Book of the New Sun": > I will also repeat my (and Doug Burks's) recommendation for Gene > Wolfe's _The Book of The New Sun_ in four volumes: _The Shadow > of the Torturer_, _The Claw of the Conciliator_, _The Sword of > the Lictor_, and _The Citadel of the Autarch_. I could go on and > on and on about how great these books are -- filled with wonder > and strangeness and memorable characters and words you can only > find in really good dictionaries. And if you don't like them, > I'll think you have a brain defect or something. "strangeness" is an understatement... -+- Btw., while I was in Australia I picked up a new book by `the oft-discussed': "Faery in Shadow". This one is set in Scotland (I'd think) and is based on similar magic to the Ealdwood series. I think a short preface to the story was given in "Visible Light". -+- Finally Neil observes: > 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. True - I'd consider Le Guin's "The Dispossed" a major influence on my political views... But not in a negative way! -+- Our uncle tried for a new thread: > Well, I love Sci Fi, but I hope starting a Hi Fi thread will be > some solace to those ectophiles who do not relish the genre. On to those > "bass notes of Doom!" (or was it bank notes of Doom?)... Hmm, ok! Anybody into loudspeaker or preamplifier design? Jens P. Brage | And I looked up and there they were: Millions brage@sphere.home.id.dth.dk | of tiny teardrops just sort of hanging there. /\ | And I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. \SphereSoft | And I said to myself: What next big sky? ======================================================================== Subject: Re: Max Headroom series on Bravo Date: Mon, 10 Jan 94 18:29:10 -0500 From: Dan Riley "Alex Gibbs" writes: >Bravo cable network is re-runing the Max Headroom TV >series of 1987 at: > >Fridays 8pm EST (and 1am Saturday judging from TV Guide for this weekend) >Sundays 10pm EST (and 4:30am Monday "). Ah, so that is what they are moving into that time slot. They were showing _Twin Peaks_--in an impressively twisted bit of scheduling, they showed the final two episodes on Christmas eve. Good to see Bravo is running these, as it seems unlikely anyone else would... -- Dan Riley Internet: dsr@lns598.lns.cornell.edu Wilson Lab, Cornell University HEPNET/SPAN: lns598::dsr (44630::dsr) "Maybe, leastways is the best way of all" -Caterwaul ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 10 Jan 94 17:33:20 CST From: Courtney Subject: Atlanta..more info.. Well...Yeah!!.... Dad the hotel king has set me and Kiri up for two rooms in the NorthEast Holiday Inn Express (slightly outside the perimeter). Any Atlantians or nearby ecto-friends, please respond so we can set up a gathering of sorts for this current weekend!! Plan on Friday or Saturday night!!! Maybe we can go clubbing later??? Courtney! ======================================================================== 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)