1-Nov-91 19:18:20-GMT,39176;000000000001 Received: from athos.rutgers.edu by aramis.rutgers.edu (5.59/SMI4.0/RU1.4/3.08) id AA16269; Fri, 1 Nov 91 13:59:24 EST Received: by athos.rutgers.edu (5.59/SMI4.0/RU1.4/3.08) id AA06638; Fri, 1 Nov 91 13:59:16 EST Date: Fri, 1 Nov 91 13:59:16 EST Message-Id: <9111011859.AA06638@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 #20 ecto, Number 20 Friday, 1 November 1991 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Boooo EctoWare order He's alive!!!! Bug? in DG 2.5.3 The definitive Uebersetzung Birthday and Boston MORE ON MERCHANDISE :-(' (WUZ: FORGOT SOMETHING...) Huh? Happy my post disappeared Happy and sf [long] Snow and stuff DDD Happy and sf Happy's just great..... ======================================================================== Date: Thu, 31 Oct 91 09:13:38 -0600 From: foster@magnum.convex.com (Harry Foster) Subject: Boooo I'd like to wish everyone a very "Happy" Halloween. May all your tricks be a treat. :) -Harry ======================================================================== From: adb@research.att.com Date: Thu, 31 Oct 91 11:01 EST Subject: EctoWare order Greetings, Well, much to my shame and embarassment, I have come to realize that I never sent in a shareware fee for depthguage. Didn't notice, somehow, that we were supposed to. Now I know, and I see you recommend hearing Happy Rhodes. OK, I can do that. So I'll be ordering Warpaint this afternoon, and thanks for a pretty neat-o utility. Alan Berenbaum adb@research.att.com AT&T Bell Labs Murray Hill, NJ 07974 ======================================================================== From: kyrlidis@athena.mit.edu Subject: He's alive!!!! Date: Thu, 31 Oct 91 11:03:21 EST Hi, May Alice arise on your doorsteps tonight. (Even though I never quite got why you Americans celebrate Halloween...in Greece we dress up in costumes and party 6 weeks before Easter.) I'll be ecto, Angelos ======================================================================== Date: Thu, 31 Oct 91 14:33:53 EST From: zimmy@ee.eng.ohio-state.edu (Michael Zimmerman) Subject: Bug? in DG 2.5.3 Ok, I have found a bug which I can reproduce relating to Depth gauge 2.5.3. I say relating, b/c it could be someone else's bug, your's is just the last thing I installed. Ok here's the setup..... IIsi 5/40, Sys 7.0 After Dark, Escapade, Software FPU, MacLights, SuperClock, Easy Access, Remember, Disinfectant init, MS Wrod TT init, Just Click. The bug...... Actually I found 2.... #1 drop DG into the Control Panel, reboot. Open hard drive. Close hard drive. Pull down "About this Macintosh", note piddly amount of mem left. Close "About", Open hard drive....freeze with watch icon. #2 I haven't tried reproducing this one so much, but I moved DG to an "Extra" folder in my Sys folder and dbl-clicked on it. I ended up with 3-4 mouse icons and various points on the screen, though the center-most one did let scroll down to find a email addr. Let me know if you need any more info. Z ======================================================================== Date: 31-OCT-1991 13:35:49.71 From: MTARR@eagle.wesleyan.edu Subject: The definitive Uebersetzung Hi! Von Klaus: > "..."Warpaint" ist zweiffelos ein die Phantasie anregendes Album, das die > Zuhoerer zu ungeahnter Kreativitaet bei der Erstellung von Zitaten > fuehren kann..." My translation: "..."Warpaint" is doubtless an album stimulating to the imagination, which can bring the listeners to unexpected creativity in supplying quotes..." Ist das richtig, Klaus? :) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Meredith Tarr "We let the weirdness in..." mtarr@eagle.wesleyan.edu -Kate Bush +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ======================================================================== From: foster@magnum.convex.com (Harry Foster) Subject: Re: Bug? in DG 2.5.3 Date: Thu, 31 Oct 91 13:59:48 CST I think I've solved the mystery of Klaus's message. The obvious answer is Michael's message. Klaus saz: "..."Warpaint" is doubtless an album stimulating to the imagination, which can bring the listeners to unexpected creativity in supplying quotes..." Michael translates: Ok, I have found a bug which I can reproduce relating to Depth gauge 2.5.3. I say relating, b/c it could be someone else's bug, your's is just the last thing I installed. Ok here's the setup..... IIsi 5/40, Sys 7.0 After Dark, Escapade, Software FPU, MacLights, SuperClock, Easy Access, Remember, Disinfectant init, MS Wrod TT init, Just Click. The bug...... Actually I found 2.... #1 drop DG into the Control Panel, reboot. Open hard drive. Close hard drive. Pull down "About this Macintosh", note piddly amount of mem left. Close "About", Open hard drive....freeze with watch icon. #2 I haven't tried reproducing this one so much, but I moved DG to an "Extra" folder in my Sys folder and dbl-clicked on it. I ended up with 3-4 mouse icons and various points on the screen, though the center-most one did let scroll down to find a email addr. Let me know if you need any more info. -- Harry Foster foster@convex.com "A man should be greater than some of his parts." -Peter DeVries ======================================================================== From: lubkin@apollo.com (David Lubkin) Date: Thu, 31 Oct 91 14:02:59 EST Subject: Birthday and Boston Nag, nag. Okay, I'll play, too. June 20, in the Year of Our Lady. I would have been born in the Month of Our Lady, but I was so excited at the prospect of witnessing The Birth of KT that I popped out early. But I won't tell you my sign. And just as kIrI is glad not to be the youngest, I'm glad not to be the oldest. I was feeling a little ancient at Katemas. (Imagine, being older than god.) MY favorite Boston radio station/programme is WERS Coffeehouse. Nanci Griffith, Christine Lavin, The Roches, Stan Rogers, Suzanne Vega, etc. I listen to many other stations, but I like a higher percentage of what they play than of other stations. -- David. ------- ======================================================================== Date: 31 Oct 91 14:24:13 U From: "Tom Johnson" Subject: Re: Bug? in DG 2.5.3 Reply to: RE>Bug? in DG 2.5.3 Dan and I apologize to you all for the DepthGauge bug report that was sent to the mailing list. We had mentioned Ecto in the help text, and I guess this guy had his addresses messed up. Hopefully it won't happen again. Sorry- Tom -------------------------------------- Date: 10/31/91 12:43 PM To: Tom Johnson From: Michael Zimmerman Ok, I have found a bug which I can reproduce relating to Depth gauge 2.5.3. I say relating, b/c it could be someone else's bug, your's is just the last thing I installed. Ok here's the setup..... IIsi 5/40, Sys 7.0 After Dark, Escapade, Software FPU, MacLights, SuperClock, Easy Access, Remember, Disinfectant init, MS Wrod TT init, Just Click. The bug...... Actually I found 2.... #1 drop DG into the Control Panel, reboot. Open hard drive. Close hard drive. Pull down "About this Macintosh", note piddly amount of mem left. Close "About", Open hard drive....freeze with watch icon. #2 I haven't tried reproducing this one so much, but I moved DG to an "Extra" folder in my Sys folder and dbl-clicked on it. I ended up with 3-4 mouse icons and various points on the screen, though the center-most one did let scroll down to find a email addr. Let me know if you need any more info. Z ------------------ RFC822 Header Follows ------------------ Received: by cs.ucla.edu (2.00/Mail*Link(r) SMTP); 31 Oct 91 12:43:26 U Received: from Lanai.CS.UCLA.EDU by kona.cs.ucla.edu (Sendmail 5.61a+YP/3.15) id AA06882; Thu, 31 Oct 91 11:36:55 -0800 Received: from aramis.rutgers.edu by lanai.cs.ucla.edu (Sendmail 5.61a+YP/3.13) id AA03837; Thu, 31 Oct 91 11:36:52 -0800 Received: from everest-o.eng.ohio-state.edu by aramis.rutgers.edu (5.59/SMI4.0/RU1.4/3.08) id AA05946; Thu, 31 Oct 91 14:33:46 EST Received: from kaa.eng.ohio-state.edu by everest.eng.ohio-state.edu (4.1/3.910501) id AA02183; Thu, 31 Oct 91 14:33:53 EST Date: Thu, 31 Oct 91 14:33:53 EST From: zimmy@ee.eng.ohio-state.edu (Michael Zimmerman) Message-Id: <9110311933.AA02183@everest.eng.ohio-state.edu> To: ecto@athos.rutgers.edu Subject: Bug? in DG 2.5.3 ======================================================================== Date: Thu, 31 Oct 91 14:41 EDT From: Subject: Vicki-- thanks for the information concerning your show. i'm sure Leyla will be listening at some point. i talked to her at length last night and she seemed to know what the station was...she recognized the call letters. i shall pass the information on to her the next time i talk to her. (which will likely be tonight, if all goes well.) i think i'm going to try to make her a happy convert...she seemed to Konvert easliy to KaTe. of course, she tells me every time i speak to her that she feels so guilty about having a poster of Kate (my huge aspects poster) on the same wall as madonna... =) Woj-- welcome back from Spain!!!! 350 messages AFTER you unsubbed from everything? wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! kIrI-- glad to see you are still among us, sis... =) Court-- i'll mention to kevin and happy that you are having success over the great pond, if i ever get the time to write to them... michy ======================================================================== Date: 31 October 1991 10:56:42 CST From: Subject: MORE ON MERCHANDISE :-(' (WUZ: FORGOT SOMETHING...) I had been meaning but ultimately forgot, in my last jeremiad on these things, to posit that the ideal retail outlets for the hypothetical H. A. P. Box would be the likes of Sharper Image, Hammacher Schlemmer, etc. (Fly with the finest, I always say.) I have pondered the matter, but so far have been unable to think of any Happy products for which the most appropriate distribution channel would be through the mails, in exchange for a specified number of cereal box tops. While pondering the above, however, I did manage to think of some other potential over-the-counter goods: 1) the "Come Here (I Want To Feel You In The Dark)" line of phosphorescent sex toys. (Available at finer erotic boutiques everywhere.) 2) "Crystal Orbs" brand energy efficient, multiyear light bulbs. (Just the thing for bringing the Gospel According to Happy to the hardware store set.) 3) And, of course, the one and only "H A P P Y C A M P E R" line of recreational vehicles and motor homes. An early Happy Guy Fawkes Day to all. :-) Mitch Pravatiner _____________________________________________ "Dowadiddydiddy dumdiddydoo" --Manfred Mann, 1965 "Boomdidiwanadidiwanahigh-high-high-high-high sagaminitoo" --Happy Rhodes, 1991 How far have we come in a quarter century? Think about it. :-) ======================================================================== Date: Thu, 31 Oct 91 15:53 GMT From: Mistress of Cancerian Cats Vickie... the reason i asked if you ahd the Complet Songbook was so i could know wether or not to pick one up for you also!!!! I have also found Hounds of Love over here.. BIG record sale coming up in the YMCA in town..i spent 40 pounds on KAte last time....shamefull huh??Naw!!!!! K:have a GREAT time in Boston...!!! jessica: how can i get a copy of that 'zine you keep hinting about??? merow all!!! Court! ======================================================================== Date: Thu, 31 Oct 91 16:38 CST From: vickie@chinet.chi.il.us (Vickie Ann Mapes) Subject: Huh? Bugs? Taint no bugs in Happy's music! Lots 'o wretches & monsters though. Here's my playlist for last night's Chicago HalloweenyShow Meredith Monk Madwoman's Vision Happy Rhodes Oh the Drears Happy Rhodes Possessed Concrete Blonde Your Haunted Head Kate Bush Get Out of my House Danielle Dax Pariah Happy Rhodes I'm Going Back Happy Rhodes Ecto Happy Rhodes Off From Out From Under Me Kate Bush Leave it Open Siouxsie & the Banshees Candyman Siouxsie & the Banshees Rawhead & Bloodybones Happy Rhodes Asylum Master I really could have just played all Happy, I didn't get to a lot of things that I has cued up, like Wretches, & He's Alive & such. btw, Barry, you haven't missed the Ecto SIG, I haven't started sending them out yet. Still waiting for a few more people to send tapes. Meredith, got yours today, thanks! WOJ! How about sending us the Bitnet Happy stuff? I'm keeping _archives_ of Happytalk. You casually mentioning that there's been positive talk is driving me *insane*!! Please send anything along, please find out if there are archives you can cull for the stuff that's already appeared. Doug, thanks for the account of your snowstorm, it was wonderful! Except that I think your storm is heading this way. I'm a happy lady now that we don't have a car (haven't owned or needed one since we moved to Chicago) and I don't have to drive in the wretched stuff anymore. Now I can just look at it, which I love doing, it is pretty. No car and a warm down coat? Bring on the storm, I say! Martin, thanks for the timings. Say Hi to Katie! WELCOME BACK WOJ & KIRI!!! Happy Booday everyone... Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Thu, 31 Oct 91 09:16:25 EST From: The Cat's Sister - Merow Subject: Happy Happy Halloween!!!!! Im trying to piece together a Halloween show for tonight - anybody have any ideas on SppppooKKKy alternative music I could play - i really wanted to play Haunted House sounds and my Frankenstein/Dracula album but they are at home :( Im Waking up - Yes It's true! kIrI ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jesus was way cool, everybody liked Jesus, everybody wanted to hang out with him. Anything he wanted to do he did, he turned water into wine and if he wanted to he could have turned wheat into marijuana, or sugar into cocaine, or vitamin pills into amphetamines. He walked on the water and swam on the land. --- King Missle "Jesus was way cool" HARGIEKA@CLUTX.CLARKSON.EDU______________________________________________ ======================================================================== Date: Thu, 31 Oct 91 17:53:49 EST From: kIrI kAt Subject: my post disappeared how sad... oh well Happy Halloween all! kiri ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 1 Nov 91 07:53:56 MST From: dbx@olympic.atmos.colostate.edu (Doug Burks) Subject: Happy and sf [long] Greetings, Before I get rolling, I will ask for your indulgence. It will take a while to get to the subject of Happy. This isn't rec.art.sf-lovers (or one of its dozen-plus successors), so I feel some background is necessary in order to better understand one of Happy's major influences and appreciate an unemphasized unique aspect of her talent. I also hope that you'll excuse a little excess from a long, long time sf reader. I discovered sf before music, but, admittedly, while music became part of my soul and a key part of my sanity, sf remained just recreation. If the term 'sf' is unfamiliar to you, it used to be called 'science fiction'. However, the field is no longer full of galactic empires, bug-eyed monsters, space operas, and hack writing. It is no longer the domain of repressed adolescents, single-handedly saving the world with clever technological solutions. It is not the eye-blowing special effects and simple moralism of today's sf movies and television shows (with a few, way too few, exceptions). It isn't even the extrapolation of current society into the future. While sf still has these subjects solidly in its fold, its net is now cast much much wider. sf followed the path of many fields during the Sixties. A set of brash young writers broke the old bonds of science fiction. The actual movement they founded (sf is obsessed with defining movements) hit a dead end fairly fast. Yet the creativity they unleashed echoes through today, expanding (almost exploding) the field. Classic science fiction, fantasy, and even horror began to overlap. The subjects expanded from the hard sciences to softer sciences (sociology, economics, psychology, etc.) to purely imaginary ones. Oddly many of the phrases coined to replace the now inadequate 'science fiction' included two words beginning with an 's' (science, speculative) and an 'f' (fiction, fantasy), and the term 'sf' came into vogue. Trying to draw lines between the old fields is impossible. If you want to spark a flame war, naively ask something like "What's the difference between science fiction and fantasy?" on rec.arts.sf-lovers! Today, sf is flourishing. Popular authors, such as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Anne McCaffrey even make national best seller lists. The quality of writing has sky-rocketed, led by the inimitable subtle lyricism of Gene Wolfe. Its subjects range all over. 'Hard sf' (the classic stuff) is still around, even picking up younger writers. On the other end, writers, notably Harlan Ellison, prefer to describe the demons within themselves or others in an sf environment. (See where I'm going with this yet? Hint, hint!) Yet writers today more than ever focus on characters within the societies they develop, allowing them to fully expand any idea they want to present. Sometimes they want to sound a warning about a dangerous trend in today's society. Sometimes they want to explore relationships between societies and/or individuals. Sometimes they want to present their answer to all the worlds' problems. Sometimes they want to focus on individuals' struggle with themselves. (Sometimes they even just want to tell a good story.) sf is the ultimate thought experiment. Authors are bound only by the loosest rules of plausibility, allowing them to set up a situation that clearly presents their points. Oddly, while sf readers have long been overwhelmingly male, women authors have always been in sf. In fact, Mary Shelley is generally credited with the first sf novel, _Frankenstein_ (though I don't think that's its exact title). However, most women authors in the space opera/pulp heydey wrote under ambiguous names, initials, or male pseudonyms, becoming quite popular and/or influential. For just one example, Andre Norton probably hooked more sf readers than anyone except J R R Tolkien's hobbits. Finally, Ursula Le Guin (most notably) smashed the taboo against definitely women authors, proving quite successful, commercially and artistically, in spite of probing touchy subjects such as the meaning of gender within a society. Today the field is blessed with a plethora of women. (In fact, today, as many male authors with ambiguous names are mistaken as female, as vice versa). Some continue to plow the classic fields of hard sf, such as C J Cherryh who is usually credited with the most realistic aliens. On the other end, Connie Willis writes some of the most human, touching, whimsical stories you will read anywhere. Others have used sf to explore the relationships between men and women, especially from a women's point of view. (Some of them even avoid becoming feminist rants. Preaching from an ideological soapbox is an sf author's occupational hazard). I'm reluctant to give a list of other important female authors for the real fear of leaving someone out. Women are even moving into very influential magazine editor-ships. Most notably, Kristine Kathryn Kirsch was named editor of _The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction_ (the best, in my opinion) and is off to a great start. Yet sf has rarely been expressed outside of writing. Oh, many, many sf movies have been filmed, but very, very few would be considered quality sf, and even those are usually adaptations of written works. Yet even rarer is sf in music. Someone has put together a 25 page long "SF-references-in-music List". While it sounds like a lot, most of the artist entries have only one or two songs. For a completely random example :-), Elton John's entry just has "Rocket Man". Many are completely obscure, such as Hawkwind, easily the most sf-oriented band in history. Of the rest (i.e., popular bands which use sf consisently), most are hardcore heavy metal bands, such as Blue Oyster Cult and Iron Maiden. Otherwise, only Paul Kantner (Jefferson Airplane/Starship et al), David Bowie, and Pink Floyd have returned to sf again and again. The music enjoyed by most Ectophiles isn't represented much. Genesis has a good number of songs listed. KaTe earns an entry for "Breathing", "Experiment IV", "Cloudbusting", "Hammer Horror", and "Wuthering Heights", (which gives you an idea how large sf country is, (especially since my list for KaTe would be different!)). Finally, I get to the matter at hand, Happy. For me, the most unique aspect of Happy's music is the dominance of sf in her lyrics. Yet unlike every other musician I'm aware of (and I keep an ear open for sf-oriented music), she uses sf as a motif more than as a subject. In other words, when Happy looks for a way to express a point, she turns to her handy toolkit of sf themes. Before I get deep into the subject, let's put a disclaimer right here. I'm not claiming that the sf is the best part, the meaning, or the be-all and end-all of her songs, just that Happy uses sf to make her points. (I will return to this point at end). I just want to show where and how she uses sf. In her song lyrics, Happy tends towards the fantasy end of the spectrum. That shouldn't be too surprising, as she is trying to describe things that only exist inside of her head. Looking through her songs I see four recurring sf themes. First, Happy continually separates the physical and spiritual parts of a person, (usually herself). She often talks about her body or parts of her body as if it were just another possession, like her cats. How many times does she invite the listener to visit her brain, as if it were a museum? The point of view of her narrators often floats above the real (or physical) action. This theme shows up in "Given In", "Number One", "Step Inside", "No One Here", "I Have a Heart", "Rhodes Waltz", and "Ecto". Second, Happy's painted monsters are a more obvious sf manifestation. In her songs, she creates monsters and other beings to represent her fears, or to comfort, guide, or inspire her, or to do her bidding. The wide range of her beings is impressive, running from moon-men through monsters through angels. They show up in many songs, but especially in "He's Alive", "Moonbeam Friends", "Asylum Master" (arguable), "Crystal Orbs", "Baby Don't Go", and "Feed the Fire". Third, her humans take on some non-human features or capabilities. Even her definition of 'human' becomes non-human (which I'll expand on later). The addition of wings, immortality, etc. are straightforward. Happy is not as unique in doing so as many writers use this metaphoric device, but it is sf, and Happy does use it. This shows up in "The Wretches Gone Awry", "One Alien", "Friend You'll Be", "Rhodes Waltz", "If Love is a Game, I Win", "Off From Out From Under Me", and "I Won't Break Down". The fourth theme is harder to describe, since it is more the atmosphere, the background of her songs. Reality is not what it seems! Happy loves to smear the boundaries between reality and dreams, life and death. Dreams and reality mix quite naturally and easily. Death becomes not the end of life, but just another fact about it. At times, Happy seems to imply that it is as easy to go from death to life as from life to death, since there's not that much difference between them to start with. This lends a surrealistic atmosphere to all of her songs, especially "Possessed", "I'm Not Awake", "I'm Not Asleep", "The Revelation", "Many Nights", "Asylum Master", "The Issue Is", "Dreams Are", and "Would That I Could". Yet these are just her recurring themes. Other songs use one shot sf devices. Let's take a quick tour through some of them. "One Alien" first alerted me to the sf element in Happy's music. During my first listen, when I didn't (actually, couldn't!) concentrate on the lyrics, the phrase "unalien to one" caught my ear. When I finally read and listened to the lyrics, I was pleasantly surprised that she actually used 'alien' in its sf meaning of non-human, usually extra-terrestrial. Yet she gives the term a very odd twist. 'Alien' actually describes characteristics that we usually call 'human' (pure love, sure motives, truly genuine). The more the person has these qualities, the more alien (and better) she considers him. This twist doubly underscores her message, making this song fascinating (and damning), a very odd love song. "He's Alive" echoes a classic theme from sf, the creation of an invincible creature which gets (or is set) loose to "roam the streets; invade their dreams". To my mind, the song is infused with the aura of mad scientists and conjured spirits from thousands of stories. The theme was even used in the first sf novel (_Frankenstein_) and what many consider the best sf movie (_Forbidden Planet_, (though I lean towards _Brazil_)). Go get 'em, Alice! I don't have a good handle on the "The Chase", but the idea of an unspecified frightening pursuer literally breathing down her neck and gradually closing in, shows up in sf stories in many forms. "The Issue Is" doesn't overtly use an sf theme, but one is definitely woven in. The inclusion of more and more steel into more and more important parts of the bodies screams 'cyborgs' and 'robots', a long-running sf theme. (In fact, the word 'robot' was invented by a Czech sf writer). Many authors have addressed the question of what happens when humans become more like machines, and have even asked Happy's specific question "Does conscience survive?", coming up with many different answers. Many even use the subject as a metaphor for the de- humanization of the modern world, which I assume Happy is doing. "To Be E. Mortal" Need I say anything? Immortality is another classic sf theme. (Of course, everyone knows about the famous sf author, Ethan G. Mortal, whom Happy is honoring. :-) :-) ). By the time Happy reached _Warpaint_, the themes I mentioned earlier have faded, but the sf elements become even more obvious. Do I need to point them out in "Phobos", "Wrong Century", "Lay Me Down", "Terra Incognita", and "All Things"? Of course, I do!! Actually, I'm not quite sure what Happy is doing in "Phobos", though it seems to touch on her common themes of stretching reality and friendly cosmic agents. By the way, many people may have missed a subtle point that Phobos is the name of one of Mars' moons. "Wrong Century" clearly uses time travel (and some would add transfer to other physical bodies), and "Terra Incognita" uses travel to other planets and transfer to another body. "Lay Me Down" has strong surreal elements. "All Things" could almost be a sf short story. I'd like to show an example from the lyrics, but I'd end up just writing the whole song! I love those lyrics! The songs above are just those where the given themes dominate the lyrics. (Admittedly, other songs may have sf themes, but I just haven't figured them out yet.) Yet sf also shows up as secondary or incidental items in many of her other songs. Happy writes on a big background, something very characteristic of sf, where world/society creation is a minimum requirement. Her backgrounds often include nighttime or darkness, the time when fear, fantasy, and imagination run wild. The trend even goes all the way down to her choice of words and phrases. Just skim through the lyrics, and note how often she uses phrases with sf elements, giving her songs part of their distinctive feel. How many other lyricists use words like "brain", "millions", etc, so often? Has anyone else noticed the background motif in "I Am a Legend"? Some of the lines echo the milieu of the Robin Hood and King Arthur and legends in general. Later "I have a brain that's taken me to the core of the world" definitely echoes an old sf novel. Finally, I want to make an important point about Happy's music. (Given the relatively factual nature of the previous part of this post, I should instruct the reader to put a huge IMHO right here covering the rest). sf is just a motif, a way, a very unique one, to frame the point she wants to make. From what I've heard, Happy is an avid sf reader (I would love to get a list of her favorite sf books and authors, which would tell me as much about her as her list of favorite albums. Can do in the next Happy Q&A list?), and is familiar with and uses very well the plot devices handy in sf's tool kit. Don't stop your digging into the song when you've found those devices, which to me, a long, long time sf reader, are blatantly obvious. Look behind those devices to see what Happy is saying or even hiding. Happy is a very personal lyricist, putting pieces of herself in every song, something as unavoidable as her putting sf touches into them. Dig deeper! As an example, I'll use "Wrong Century", since we're all so familiar with it by now, though this point can be made for many of her songs. Some people say that the song is about a Native American (wo)man travelling in time to the present day, and doesn't like what s/he finds. So what! No headline news there. While I'll still argue details about gender, etc, this was obvious. This theme in particular and time travel in general are old, old, to-the-point-of-being- worn-out old sf plot devices. I've read too many stories plowing this old ground. I'd bet that Happy has, too. Yet authors still return to that old proven ground, and some of them even find a fresh story. Happy does it by injecting her emotions, her self. This song (and many of her other songs) go deeper than you think. I remind you of the last three lines of "In Hiding", Happy's closing thoughts from _Warpaint_: But music hides me so well, and reveals me, oh well. You can find me in hiding. One of the things she hides behind is the sf. Strip it away and it reveals her even more. Happy has more than the touch of the magician, holding your attention over here, while the real action is over there. Look for it. Even if you see through a trick every once in a while, you still marvel at her skill. Doug Burks _O_ dbx@olympic.atmos.colostate.edu |< She really is!! ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 1 Nov 91 08:07:38 MST From: dbx@olympic.atmos.colostate.edu (Doug Burks) Subject: Snow and stuff Greetings, October has ended, putting another month of Ecto: the Mailing List into my files. I save each month of posts in a single file, and October's takes up 770KB, compared with 287KB in September. Who was it who claimed that this list would die out quickly? Give them the prediction of the year award! Vickie wrote: Doug, thanks for the account of your snowstorm, it was wonderful! Except that I think your storm is heading this way. I'm a happy lady now that we don't have a car (haven't owned or needed one since we moved to Chicago) and I don't have to drive in the wretched stuff anymore. Now I can just look at it, which I love doing, it is pretty. No car and a warm down coat? Bring on the storm, I say! Great! That storm dumped eight inches here, and we've got another one coming just for you! Right now (8am), we have moderate snow with a temperature of 19degF (-7degC) and _falling_! Soon you'll have another storm to share with your kitties. Also I envy your ability to walk around. Two bad injuries in the last two months prevent my usual walking to work, which _is_ tons of fun in the snow. Given that winter lasts into April (and occasionally May) here I'll get plenty of chances to do so! Doug Burks _O_ dbx@olympic.atmos.colostate.edu |< She really is!! ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 1 Nov 91 10:25:02 -0500 From: gb10@gte.com (Gregory Bossert) Subject: DDD apart from this sentence, there isn't any Happy content to this post. just wanted to let y'all know that weeping willow studios (that's my basement) is now all digital -- i *finally* bought the digidesign ProTool package, which lets me record 4+ tracks of digital audio onto my Mac hard disk, and then mix and CD master it entirely in the digital domain... for those of you who are unfamiliar with digital audio, trust me, we're talking a *heap* of cool beans :) hmmm, anyone got an extra 1.2 GigaB. disk they wanna lend me? ;) heh, those Happy remixes are gonna be a cinch... whoops, i lied! :) footah!!! -greg -- gb10@gte.com -- "100111011000110101000111010011" -- Happy Rhodes ======================================================================== Subject: Happy and sf Date: Fri, 01 Nov 91 10:43:46 EST From: jeffy@lewhoosh.umd.edu Wow! Kudos to Doug Burks for his long, informative, and interesting post on Happy. I'd like to make several comments: a) The subtitle to _Frankenstein_ is "A Modern Day Prometheus" (hmmm...I didn't screw that up, did I? b) You mention Elton John as a one-shot sf musician. I would like to take this opportunity to say that IMO it's the greatest sf song ever written. One of my favorite sf authors is Ray Bradbury, and the sentiments in that song closely echo those of Bradbury in some of his older short stories (none of the titles of which I can remember) -- the idea of the rocketman, a person who knows so little of the science involved and is largely your classic "working-Joe." Alone for so long, and occasionally returning to earth, to his family who don't really understand what his life is. c) I'm not sure I understand why you listed "Baby Don't Go" in your section on beings. I interpret this song as two sides--active and passive, courageous and terrified--of the same mind. I don't see another being, but more of a prayer to oneself to remain strong through the coming exposure/ordeal. But now that I think about it, I guess I agree with you more than I initially thought. d) You mention "One Alien" as an interesting song in that it refers to the _aliens_ as the ones with the traits we'd like to have. I don't remember if you quoted the specific lyric, but it's largely summed up in the line, "Our society can not stand/a truly genuine man" I can't help but notice a similarity between this and Genesis' "Keep It Dark" (From _Abacab_). That song is about a man who is kidnapped by aliens and taken to their world of peace and beauty and truth. He is then returned to earth where he finds he must lie about what's happened to him--he says that he was kidnapped by some highwaymen and released when they found he had no money. He goes on to say that it seems so strange to have to lie about such a wonderful place. We know Happy is a PG/early Genesis fan. I don't find it at all hard to believe that she might also have _Abacab_. Thanks again for a wonderful post... Jeff |Jeffrey C. Burka | "Show what you are / Be strong, be true | | | Time for you to / Be who you are." | |jeffy@lewhoosh.umd.edu | --Happy Rhodes | ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 1 Nov 91 10:15:52 PST From: stevev@greylady.uoregon.edu (Steve VanDevender) Subject: Happy and sf Damn, Dave, because of you I'm going to have to listen to all my Happy albums all day long at work :-). You make a strong case for SF influences in Happy's music, although your definition is much broader than mine and includes a lot of literary devices that I would call conventional. I agree that there are songs with SF techniques and influences, but not nearly as many. For example, "Lay Me Down" is a song about peaceful death with elements of depression thrown in (how inadequate that short description seems, though), and has no links to themes that belong solely to SF. I could go on, but I am short on time. I shall try to discuss your ideas at length after I do some basic research, as described in my first paragraph. My officemate is a Warpaint junkie, now, and is definitely ordering the CD. Another friend of mine who has listened to some of Happy's first four albums and who now has _Warpaint_ likes _Rearmament_. _Rearmament_ fans unite! ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 1 Nov 91 13:15:53 EST From: Laura Clifford Subject: Happy's just great..... About a week ago (no more than that) I sent Happy an order for a Warpaint cassette for my cousin. It came last night, beautifully signed in gold pen 'To the mysterious Egyptian Lady - Happy Rhodes' just as I had requested. This looks so great I wish I could keep it myself. With their schedule I can't believe she still makes the time and got that tape out so fast (although I did mention Ecto in my letter :-).... Laura ======================================================================== 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)