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 #262 ecto, Number 262 Tuesday, 16 June 1992 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Greetings Introduction What happened to me Blue Polyester Cowboys Re: A more normal post Today's Your Bloomsday Friend/Yesterday's Your Birthday Guv greetings yes yes yes yes yes oops! Susanne A Lurker ======================================================================== Subject: Greetings Date: Tue, 16 Jun 1992 07:45:52 +0100 From: itssa!breit@ns1.rutgers.edu (Tim Breitkreutz) Well, here is my very belated self-introduction to Ecto. Hello everyone and it's been interesting reading all your messages! Bio: Tim Breitkreutz, born 7 October 1964 in Edmonton, Canada Shoe Size 10.5 or 43 depending how you count email: breit@lisd.UUCP -or- tim@cs.ualberta.ca Somehow Canada Post, the Customs offices and the US mail system all managed to deliver my 2 of 1st4 CD's in FIVE DAYS! It seems almost impossible. Yesterday I had my first listen to Rhodes I and Ecto. I was kind of surprised by the covers despite having been warned. I think it shows a lot of integrity on Happy's part to leave those covers on, although I agree with the recent discussion that they would probably be detrimental to sales to the uninitiated. I hope they other 2 aren't sold out before I come up with the cash to order them! ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 16 Jun 92 10:10:20 EDT From: kosky@saul.cis.upenn.edu (Anthony Kosky) Subject: Introduction Hello All! I thought I'd better introduce myself to the list as Jessica suggested. Well let's see: I'm a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania; I've been here almost three year now, though I originate from London; I'm 6'4" tall and take size 12 shoes. I'm not quite sure why all this is relevant, so I suppose I'll have to look at the archives to find out. I first heard of Happy when she was mentioned a few times on Really-Deep-Thoughts (the Tori Amos mailing list, of which I'm the owner, and which I believe has already received sufficient plugs on this list). I sent someone mail asking who she was, and he sent me the faq file for this list. List seemed sufficiently interesting that I decided to send of for some tapes/CDs. However, before I got round to doing so, I came across Warpaint in the local Tower Records, so I bought it. This is a great album, and I'm hoping that the others will be comparable. I gather from messages on this list over the weekend that Happy was in Philly on Saturday, as was Jessica and other members of the list. Not that I would have been able to meet her or listen to the interview even if I'd known, since I was busy bicycling all over Lancaster County raising money for MS. Ugh! Why couldn't she have picked next weekend? I also gather that the first four albums are now also out on CD, and are available at the local Tower. Is this right? I thought they were only on cassette and available mail order. I'd better go down there today to check it out. Bye for now! -Anthony ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 16 Jun 92 19:08:10 MET DST From: Albert Philipsen Subject: What happened to me hi ! I just want to tell you all what has happened to me. I suffered from some serious mental disorder that caused me to lose touch with reality. I was living in a kind of dream-world in which anything was possible. This resulted in the series of small messages which probably did only make sense to me. Ultimately, I did some very dangerous things which could have hurt me and had to be treated for it. I'm over it now and I'm back home, but I'm still recovering and I currently have no direct access to the system at the university that I use for reading and writing mail (I'd have to do everything via my modem at home), so I can't join ecto right now. I think I will when I've fully recovered, which may take a month or so. Albert ======================================================================== From: shark@cs.ucla.edu (Jeanne B. Schreiter) Subject: Blue Polyester Cowboys (fwd) Date: Tue, 16 Jun 92 10:08:29 PDT -I wrote this when TJ and I went to Mexico back in January. This is a re- count of something I saw, wrote down and TJ found in the car yesterday. Blue Polyester Cowboys January ??, 1992 On the way back to the U.S.A., just a few miles more in the red trolleys of San Diego my eyes full to the blue polyester cowboys ahead of me wrapped up like white haired, two ton, well maybe, Gallon, cowboy hats, reeking of cheap cologne and chaw, spitting slurring the almighty Texas drawl. I can't help but laugh at them. Amid the poor Mexicans, they stand out like plucked chickens in an egg laying hen house, gossamer wings can't befall them. The women look at them and then glance away, already knowing what the cowboys want and unwilling to ease their pains until they really have to. -JB Schreiter - -- ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 16 Jun 92 13:29:00 -0400 From: gb10@gte.com (Gregory Bossert) Subject: Re: A more normal post Dirk comments: >Then I started making music by myself (first guitar, then keyboards), >which had a much better effect on me. I had the possibility to express >my feelings through my music. "first guitars, then keyboards" is the route Happy took :) and (*not* to make a comparison) the route i took as well :) music is very very very important to me -- both playing and listening keeps me sane and in my center :) i get a bit edgy if i am away from my guitars or harp for more than a few days -- i end up playing chairs, bottles, rocks, anything that will make a noise :) and likewise if i am without my CDs or tapes... if all else fails, i even sing (eep ;), or just listen to the music that always plays in the back of my mind... there are times when i am playing when time and consequence disappear and i am in a blissfully thoughtless state... and times watching someone perform that seem like magic (i mean, *real* magic) -- hit that state with Peter Gabriel (at a "security" era concert), Tori Amos, Tribe, the Dixie Dregs (!?!? you had to be there ;), and certainly with Happy at both shows... and times watching/hearing a certain friend sing that go well beyond magic :) footah! -greg -- gb10@gte.com -- "a woman drew her long black hair out tight and fiddled whisper music on those strings and bats with baby faces in the violet light whistled, and beat their wings" -- T.S. Eliot ======================================================================== Date: 16 June 1992 13:01:36 CDT From: Subject: Today's Your Bloomsday Friend/Yesterday's Your Birthday Guv I read in the newspaper yesterday evening that yesterday was Mario Cuomo's birthday. Never too early to get into the spirit of wishing happy returns to notable Albanites (about which more in the days to come). I heard on WBEZ today that today is Bloomsday (sp.?), the anniversary of the date on which Leopold Bloom is depicted wandering through Dublin in James Joyce's _Ulysses_. BEZ featured readings from the book, which will be per- formed again tonight at the University of Chicago's Smart Art Museum. Mitch ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 16 Jun 92 14:26:11 -0400 From: gb10@gte.com (Gregory Bossert) Subject: Re: Today's Your Bloomsday Friend/Yesterday's Your Birthday Guv Mitch reminds us: >I heard on WBEZ today that today is Bloomsday luckily, one of the few of my CDs not in NJ is KaTe's "The Sensual World" -- i'll give a listen to the title track tonight in celebration :) (for those less ardent KaTe fans, TSW is based on Molly Bloom's monologue at the end of _Ulysses_, though i confess *i* think KaTe's version is superior :) >Never too early to get into the spirit of wishing happy returns to >notable Albanites (about which more in the days to come). never to late to get into the spirit of wishing Happy returns. :) butnotmebabyi'mtooprecioussoffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffootah! -greg -- gb10@gte.com -- "i have never been afraid to change the circumstances of the world" -- Happy Rhodes ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 16 Jun 92 12:49:29 CDT From: wiltel!dlocke@uunet.uu.net Subject: greetings Hey, I just joined the ecto list, and I already feel right at home after having been a semi-active gaffa subscriber for several years and seeing so many familiar faces, as it were. Joining this list does tend to present some problems -- in the past I'd contribute to gaffa and talk about Happy, KaTe, Sarah, Tori, etc. in the same post. Now what? Narrow the scope of my postings? Nah! I guess multiple postings of the same message may be OK in some cases. We'll see! I choose to get the Warpaint CD after reading all the gaffa chatter about Happy, especially from Vickie. As many have said, good to have you back. Anyway, I like Warpaint quite a bit, but didn't buy any of Happy's cassette tapes because they are too easy to destroy and generally suck sonically (compared with lp's or cd's) anyway. I was very pleased when the back catalog was to be made available on CD and ordered all 4 in advance. So far I've just listened to I and II, as I want to try to get a good feel of Happy's progression as an artist. Being a big Kate fan - especially of Kate's vocal ability - I love happy because she sounds so much like Kate (especially on I and II). There's more of course, because she writes good songs & music, too (OK, maybe great but I haven't really decided yet). One aspect I really like of the two early cd's is that the production is spare; there wasn't some big record company backing her & paying someone to trash the sound with standard pop noises and production and all that. Compare this with Tori's "Little Eq.", and perhaps compare the song Crucify on the album versus performed live with just voice and piano. I'll take the voice and piano version any day. The big drum and overdubbed vocals, while perhaps relatively conservative by modern pop standards, serve to do nothing but get in the way of the song in my opinion. A lot of Happy's early stuff is just voice and guitar or voice and synth, which enhances the beauty of the songs and singing rather than hiding it (as with Tori). I don't know what I would have thought of Tori if I'd heard LE first. Instead, I caught the tail end of her MTV special thing and was amazed at what a unique performer she is (her "quirks" were well described by Vickie). Shortly thereafter I obtained a tape of her live at the bottom line in nyc. After repeated listenings I still get goosebumps when I hear it. Later, I bought the CD (I buy CDs in batch mode from Noteworthy to save money, so I don't run out any buy things at the local record stores even when I want 'em), and while it is good it just isn't as special as the her talk show/live stuff. If anyone does form a Tori fan club I think we should scream for a "live" album from the tour. It would be extremely radical, I know, but what harm in dreaming? And another thing, while I don't really can't judge what kind of dynamic range Tori's voice has it seems that it's seriously limited on her album; another modern production technique that drives me to bootlegs ;-) Comments from those lucky enough to see Tori live? Finally, someone please tell me if the shoe size thing was inspired from the Monty Python sketch? Talk to you later, -Dick ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 16 Jun 92 14:55:12 -0400 From: gb10@gte.com (Gregory Bossert) Subject: yes yes yes yes yes yes yes... yes. uh huh. yes. yes yes yes. 9 1/2. yes. Dick (welcome, Dick!) wonders: >Finally, someone please tell me if the shoe size thing was inspired >from the Monty Python sketch? nope! was inspired by Meredith coveting Happy's awesome boots at the Albany show... :) it's a funny series of stories -- check out the archives, if you can! :) footah! -greg -- gb10@gte.com -- "if love is a game, i win" -- HR ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 16 Jun 92 15:58:21 -0400 From: gb10@gte.com (Gregory Bossert) Subject: oops! okay, i admit it, the zip-code i gave out before, for my new apartment, was a complete fabrication... the correct zip-code (and address) is: greg bossert 66 suydam st. #1 new brunswick, NJ 08901-2727 USA phone: 908-745-7486 apologies to Martin -- i promise this is the last change for a while! fFoOoOtTaAhH.! -greg -- gb10@gte.com -- "if love is a game, i win" -- HR ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 16 Jun 92 16:07:10 -0400 From: gb10@gte.com (Gregory Bossert) Subject: Susanne jessica reminded me that, while Happy and Kevin want to hear about every radio station playing Happy's Music, and every store stocking her CDs, they should not be interrupted from the work on the new album (!!!) the person to contact with station and store tips is the lovely and endlessly energetic Susanne White of SMW Productions: (US) 718-330-9644 Susanne will call stations and send them disks and press kits, track down likely retailers, and generally handle all the details that H&K should be ignoring :) we will get a snail-mail address for her (and someday hopefully an email address...) stay tuned for updates :) footahgraphic! -greg -- gb10@gte.com -- "come here" -- HR ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 16 Jun 92 16:31:26 -0400 From: lizzylou@world.std.com (elizabeth w warwick) Subject: A Lurker Yes, a lurker I've been for well over a month. With the batch of new intros, I figured I'd go ahead and make myself known. Who? Liz Warwick. Code name--lizzylou. Comes from one of my heroines, Mary Lou Who. In THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS, she asks, "Why are you taking our Christmas tree? Why? Why?" and I've always loved her. Smart girl! She asks questions. Where? Currently living in Cambridge, MA. Actually, I live in (and I mean IN) Harvard Square. The location satisfies my needs for good cafes, good record and book stores, and at least one good movie house. When? Born Nov. 15, 1964. What? I'm not working right now. Notice that I didn't say unemployed. Due to some complicated circumstances, I've been able to take some time away from a job. Prior to this time, I've worked in the theater as a stage manager, an outreach director, a general manager, and other assorted jobs. I've also done more than my fair share of temping (Hey, for anyone who's temped or even throught about temping, check out PROCESSED WORLD, a magazine published out of San Francisco.) With all this time, I'm trying to develop into a writer. My best work seems to be essays and reviews. I don't actually ENJOY writing; in fact, writing is the most punishing thing I do. But, expressing the things in my head satisfies some great need and keeps me (somewhat) sane. I send a great THANK YOU to Shark and other people who've posted their work (Jeanne, I owe you a letter. 'Twill be forthcoming). I'm rather shy about my work, and seeing other people who have the courage to post their writing gives me courage to let friends read my stuff. Why? I'm here on ecto as a direct result of Greg Bossert's generousity and friendship. Last fall, when I was living in San Francisco, Greg sent me all of Happy's tapes. I was having a difficult time, and the music made a difference. (This seems to be a theme--that Happy's music becomes a thread pulling people through unhappy or difficult or trying times. Of course, now that life is better, I still love her!!) When I moved back here, Greg gave me Warpaint, convinced me to drive to Philly, and then got me onto ecto. THANKS FOOTAH. (Greg and I both attended Carleton College in Minnesota. He was a very special, dearly loved member of 4th Watson, my freshman year dorm floor, and contiunes to be an extraordinary friend :->). What else? Hair color is brown, eye color is blue. Best description of me? "Long legs, long arms, long nose, short hair". Shoe size is 8 1/2 (7 1/2 for my running shoes, since I always buy men's shoes.) Music interests include Tori, Sarah, Kate (kind of a holy trinity), U2, The Pretenders, REM, Sinead, kd lang, Tribe, and too many others to list. Love female vocalists, will listen to rap occasionally, love jazz late at night, and depend heavily on friends to introduce me to new people. Before I sign off, another THANK YOU to Vickie and Albert who wrote so honestly about depression and mental illness. While the "experts" debate the chemical imbalances that can produce such illness, lots of research points out that depression is often a result of silence--the silencing of the self, the denial of an authentic voice. So speaking, whether through music or poetry or a letter on the net, is a powerful step. On Bloomsday, I can only hope that, like Molly Bloom, more and more people find ways to look at life and say "yes I said yes I will Yes." lizzylou who! ======================================================================== The ecto archives are on hardees.rutgers.edu in ~ftp/pub/hr. There is a README file explaining what is where. Feel free to send me (or leave in the incoming directory, just let me know) things you'd like to have added. -- jessica (jessica@ns1.rutgers.edu)