18-Nov-91 0:15:22-GMT,40502;000000000401 Received: from athos.rutgers.edu by aramis.rutgers.edu (5.59/SMI4.0/RU1.4/3.08) id AA05064; Sun, 17 Nov 91 19:06:57 EST Received: by athos.rutgers.edu (5.59/SMI4.0/RU1.4/3.08) id AA11991; Sun, 17 Nov 91 19:06:55 EST Date: Sun, 17 Nov 91 19:06:55 EST Message-Id: <9111180006.AA11991@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 #50 ecto, Number 50 Sunday, 17 November 1991 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Re: Things in general ooo Jon Drukman's Happy Review A Look Back...KateKon90 (Very long) The stevev U.S. tour Stuffarotti. ======================================================================== From: Yli-Krekola Perttu Subject: Re: Things in general Date: Sat, 16 Nov 91 22:06:08 EET Vickie says: > there are people who have been on Ecto from the beginning who have never > posted, and we like them just fine! Well, I'm one of them. So it's time to introduce myself. I was born in 1966, June 2nd in a small town called Keuruu in mid-Finland. My mark is Gemini (Kaksoset in finnish). My first name is Perttu and many english speaking people find that easier to pronounce than my last name Yli-Krekola. I've been a Gaffa lurker since 1988 and that's where I first heard of Happy Rhodes. Last winter Vickie posted several articles about Happy, soon other people were joining her and I decided to give Happy a try. I changed some U.S. currency in bank and sent it over the big sea for Vol I, Ecto and Warpaint, which had just been released. For three weeks I felt like an idiot. I had never bought three albums from a new artist without hearing a note of it before. When the packet finally arrived and Vol I started to play in my tape deck I knew this was something exceptional. The next day I ordered two remaining tapes. I posted an article to Gaffa about Happy like other Happy converts did at that time and then started the Happy/unHappy flame war which in turn ignited this mailing group. At that time I was writing my M.Sc. thesis and spent long evenings at my computer Happy Rhodes on a continuous play in tape deck. My record collection of Kate Bush, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Morrisey, Rainbirds, Suzanne Vega, Cowboy Junkies and Bob Dylan remained nearly untouched at that period. After graduation I made a three week holiday trip to USA, across the continent on wheels and such. After returning home I was hopelesly behind in Ecto. I've been cacthing up since then. Jessica: I'd like to subscribe Ectozine. How much is it to Finland? Finally a weather report. Greenhouse effect has hit Scandinavia badly - 500 km south of polar circle and still no snow. - Perttu ======================================================================== Date: 16-NOV-1991 21:12:05.23 From: MTARR@eagle.wesleyan.edu Subject: ooo Hi! I hate subject lines. Anyway, kIri mentioned Gael Baudino: I've heard a lot about her stuff, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I have, however, heard some of her harp music- I have a tape called "For Martha" of original compositions for Celtic and Gothic harp, written at the request of her best friend, who died of cancer (the tape was playing as she died). One of them is based on Tolkien, "Tall ships for tall men" and they're all hauntingly beautiful. And Jessica, I don't know the exact psychological reason why I or any of my family members can't deal with King or his writing- if I did, I could sell the results, people would know what appealed to whom, and there would be a heluva lot more successful writers out there! I do see where the "dink- factor" would appeal to a lot of people. While I had a horrible time in junior-high, looking back I guess I was just lucky. And feel free to say whatever you want about Catholic school around me. I went to one from K-8th grade (I was a year younger than everybody else too), and while I got a top-notch education, the brainwashing I also got in Religion class, as I reflect on it, was truly frightening. But it's getting harder and harder to avoid some major organized-religion-bashing on my part, so I'll stop now and spare us all. :) Y'know, if the "cool" kids who rank on the "nerds" could see what they're all going to be in ten or twenty years, life would be a lot easier. Most of my friends were nerds. Most of the really cool people I know, particularly my sister's age, i.e. in their 30s, were nerds. Something has to be said for late bloomers, I guess! :) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Meredith Tarr "We let the weirdness in..." mtarr@eagle.wesleyan.edu -Kate Bush +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ======================================================================== Date: Sat, 16 Nov 91 18:12 CST From: vickie@chinet.chi.il.us (Vickie Ann Mapes) Subject: Jon Drukman's Happy Review Vickie here. Well, you asked for it, so here it is. Re: Jon Drukman He'd never belong to Ecto, it would drive him insane, but I actually like the guy. He drives *me* insane sometimes, but we understand each other much better now. You see, we had a major league e-mail exchange that would have blown everybody on gaffa away had it been public, but the thing was, by the end of the flame war, we came out of it all understanding each other, and I think, actually liking and respecting each other more. He's very young and inexperienced, yet intelligent and witty. A few more years of seasoning and he might actually be Ecto material :-) (maybe not). I still want to box his ears for his lousy Happy review, but it's more in a big sister/annoying little brother kind of way. Weird, but true. Anyway, here it is (used without permission :-) **************************************************************************** From: Jon Drukman Subject: Jon Does Happy (LONG and TWISTED) Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1991 14:09:06 -0800 Organization: Beeblebrox Salvage And Really Wild Stuff Corporation [A heavily edited version of this article will appear in XMag #8] PREFACE: My mommy told me that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. My editor (when I had my review column in the paper) told me that if you don't have anything nice to say, make sure you say it in print. INTRODUCTION: OK, I know you've all been sitting around, fiddling with your hair, nervously chain smoking clove cigarettes (they're worse for you than tobacco, but they smell nicer), and generally getting yourself worked into a lather wondering when I was going to get around to commenting on Happy Rhodes. Fret no more, gentle love-hound. Just grab a drink, this may take a while. -CHAPTER ONE- Well, Vickie was nice enough to send me 120 minutes worth of Happy stuff (although you really didn't need to priority mail it, since I went up north for the weekend and it just wound up sitting on my kitchen table for three days). Eventually I got around to listening to the damn thing, but not until after my girlfriend left me and I contracted a cold to boot. The jury is out on which was more annoying, but I think the early polls favor the cold. (I just mixed metaphors there, but I'm not going to change it. It scans OK.) So, in a highly amused state, I played the tape. I'm currently giving it it's third spin while I write this. What's all the fuss about? It's about as interesting as a test pattern. I should probably footnote that with the observation that I quite enjoy staring at test patterns when sufficiently intoxicated. OK, so I'm being a little glib here, but if I were to just say what I think about this tape, then it'd be over in ten seconds and we'd all be bored and looking for new angles on the Richard/Chris argument again. Happy's got a nice voice, I guess. It's kind of boring, actually, but at least her pitch is accurate. Her low register sounds vaguely Tanita Tikaram-ish, and her high register does bear a passing resemblance to Kate, but it's missing all those wonderful nicotine-scarred quirks. If Kate is chocolate pudding, then Happy is the Jell-O (TM) brand instant kind. Or, to put it another way, Kate is a quarter pounder with cheese, and Happy is McLean. Well, that's not a really good analogy, because comparing Kate to red meat is a horrible insult. That stuff is EVIL! Maybe Kate could be a Fishwich or a McChicken instead. Damn, I'd better go have lunch and then finish this review... -CHAPTER TWO- OK, I thought of a much better analogy over lunch but I've forgotten what it was now (they had cheesecake in the cafeteria today!), but it was really good and incisive and got right to the point, unlike this review which is already much too long and going nowhere fast. The only song that has stuck in my head is "The Wretches Gone Awry" only now that I go to actually think about it, I can't remember what it sounds like, so obviously it didn't stick that well. I dunno guys, what's all the hoopla about? The synthy songs remind me A LOT of The Legendary Pink Dots, only The LPDs inspire fanatical devotion in me. It's that descending arpeggiated chord pattern thing, you know. Old trick. Listen to "Black Zone" on the LPDs album "The Tower" and tell me that you can't hear it as a Happy song. Of course, the LPDs also have winning lyrics, with is something that Happy definitely doesn't. Bad college angst-ridden pretentiousness, actually. I've heard people writing out their demons before, and this stuff doesn't scare me in the slightest. KaTe may never have experienced anything like the subject matter in Get Out Of My House but that song never fails to break me out in a cold sweat. Maybe Happy should take _Nausea_ by Jean-Paul Sartre and sing some of it; that might scare me a little. Maybe I just have problems associating someone named Happy with evil music. OK, "Step Inside" has just come on the tape and the badly programmed Roland Juno-106 is making me want to take my stapler and stick it into my head. This would be cotton candy to Edward Ka-Spel (lead dude of The LPDs), I can't help thinking. Strangely, Happy seems to fall victim to the same problem that The LPDs do, namely, songs that sound the same. She also uses drum machines the same way they do. It's uncanny. I bet she's never even *heard* an LPD album! Vickie, ask her this for me. OK, we're listening to The Wretches Gone Awry now, and it reminds me a lot of Uncle Bonsai only it's not funny, which is a definite mark against it. In fact, the pre-choral refrain (!) sounds EXACTLY like Uncle Bonsai. Again, uncanny. Actually, it is kind of funny, cos she sounds like Andrew of Uncle Bonsai, rather than like one of the women! And, Happy, I *can* change what is, and I *can* make it die. It withers in my scornful gaze. God, she sounds like a fragile little art-school bunny. "Come Here" is like the LPDs in their Carnival Of Insanity mode, but not as extreme, of course. Happy is merely household strength, whereas I like my tunes to be Industrial Strength. God, I feel so guilty writing this, cos I just know that Vickie is going to show it to Happy and they're both going to be so upset, but take heart, ladies, I'm not your target audience, and I speak for maybe three love-hounds. Just ignore me, I'm a cranky old grouch (at age 22 no less) whose day has come and gone. I'm sure the art-school types will eat this stuff up if you ever get signed. It's too bad Rough Trade just died, because they were distributing C'est La Mort, and you would have been a dead cert for CLM. Send them your CD, maybe they'll strike a new distribution deal while you're waiting! I mean, some of the crap on Dr. Death's Volume IV is far worse than this tape. Under And Over The Brink - it sounds EXACTLY like Uncle Bonsai again! But it's still not funny. Very disconcerting. "Because music's the way, the only way I know..." That bit is completely Uncle Bonsai. And you should try getting out more, Happy. Music is most of my life, too, but I occasionally manage to play pool, or pinball, or go to a party, or do something else starting with "p." "Not For Me" reminds me of something on one of the first two Eurythmics albums, but I can't remember which one now. "To The Funny Farm" sounds like an outtake from Pink Floyd's The Wall with female vox. "The Perfect Irony" - very Legendary Pink Dots-ish, not bad, but the lyrics are wick-wick-wack. Just pretend it's Cocteau Twinsy gibbering instead. If I still hung on Morrisey's every word and was in high school, I'd probably be scribbling the lyrics in the margin of my notebook during class, or quoting it in the yearbook. So, where does this leave us? It's not beautiful enough to make me weep, it's not different enough to make me take notice, it's not scary enough to make me sweat, it's not catchy enough to make me hum it, and worst of all, it doesn't even have a good dance beat, so you can't dance to it. CONCLUSION: You gotta be nuts to spend $12 on a cassette tape, no matter what's on it. Happy Recommendations: The Legendary Pink Dots - The Crushed Velvet Apocalypse The Legendary Pink Dots - The Maria Dimension The Legendary Pink Dots - Island Of Jewels The Legendary Pink Dots - Asylum The Legendary Pink Dots - The Tower (a bit primitive sounding in comparison to the previous ones, but devastating nonetheless) Uncle Bonsai - Boys Want Sex In The Morning Beautiful Pea Green Boat - Still Life (same gothic atmosphere, but better songs/vocals/production) Jonn&Jenn - Kate Rape (blatant plug, but it's good stuff kiddoes) Meat Beat Manifesto - 99% (has nothing to do with anything mentioned in this entire article, but it's a great album, full of mutant hip hop, and it's being distributed by Elektra so you can even buy it at your local mall store) -- Jon Drukman (down by law) uunet!sco!jondr jondr@sco.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Always note the sequencer - this will never let us down. ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 17 Nov 91 13:30 GMT From: The Cat O'Nine Tails for THIS Cat thanx to everyone who re sent me the interview!! it is safe and snug in my files in my TN account.. Vickie: yes..i DO usually go to UTK..this year i am in Wales though.. i will be back in Tennessee in AUgust though and spreading the Happy word!!! MERedith or Jessica or whoever said they would like a Celtic Knotwork.. give me your addres...i will take a pix of my tattoo and see what you think!! actually..yesterday i was in BAth and i picked up this GREAT book that shows you how to make Celtic designs..step by step..it shows the grids and everything@ i am planning on making some stationary and neat stuff like that!! if you would like..i will xerox some sheets for you and send them on..who knows..the person who gives you your tattoo might not be artistic enough to come up with a proper Celtic design!!! Sig Ecto?? whats that??? please keep me informed!!!! i want to buy everything that comes out about Happy..who can i contact/send money to for a copy of the WXPN interview?? and Drunkmans(sp?) Happy interview i hear about a long time ago thru Kiri.. but i wouldnt mind seeing it for myself...i know his reputation so it should be worth a laugh!!!! how much time do we have before we can send you tapes Vickie??? it takes two w weeks for mail to get to you from here..and i cant send the tape til Wed at the EARLIEST!!!!!! i am also including the lyrics in welsh and translated!!! if this tape jsut wont make it in time..then i will select a song and email my choice to you..but i REALLY hope that there is enough time for me to get this tape to you with my message and song!!!! anything else?? well...i am still working my way thru all of my ECTO messages! Ciao merow til later! Court! ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 17 Nov 91 13:47 GMT From: The Cat O'Nine Tails for THIS Cat welcome to Jim!!!! Footah: send me the printouts..i REALLY dont know what else to ask for since otehr than VAC?VMS i havent a clue about computers!! i know how to telnet into toehr peoples and my acounts...but thats about it! i have a home computer thatys IBM compatible..if the sigs there would fit and work fine then send me the software...all costs will be returned!! Kiri sis..great Re dissection...you chose for your sig one of my fav lines from the otehr side!! good news!! i have been in a state of Happy deprivation since i left my tapes..all but my Warpaint cd at home in TN..however...mom is sending me a care package soon(yippee) and will include my HAppy stuff!! so imagine me bopping around Europe singing to Happy!!! cant wait!!!! i am quite a bit confused about what all is offered with Happy stuff.. interview live and all...just know that Kiri is my personal American banker while i am over here and that any and all bills should go to her...that means for the interview tape..for the newsletter...etc..i KNOW i am missing some things!! anyway..thats all again.. Ciao. Court! ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 17 Nov 91 14:20 GMT From: The Cat O'Nine Tails for THIS Cat ok..i THINK i have things firgured out now... Jessica: Kiri *should* be sending you a tape soon for the interview.. right???if that IS right..would you mind terribly putting some of the songs that you resung on ther also?!?!? along with the tape should come a subscription to the newsletter...just send it to my TN address... i would LOVE for it to come over here..but i am to worried about it getting messed up or lost in transit..ya know? Have i covered it all??god this is SOO confusing when you only get mail in dribs and drabs and then all at once so much that you get lost and behind and frustrated and want to scream and moan and pull your ahir out cuz you are sure that you are lsing stuff and missing others and you want to keep up woth what is going on and not miss out on getting any of the neat stuff or sound retarded cuz you asre answering questions and putting forth points two WEEKS behind everyone else!! anyone else ever get this feeling??(DEEP breath..whew that was a mouthful but it HAD to come out!!!) merow later! Court! ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 17 Nov 91 07:21 CST From: vickie@chinet.chi.il.us (Vickie Ann Mapes) Subject: A Look Back...KateKon90 (Very long) Vickie here. This really has more to do with Kate than with Happy (though Happy is mentioned once within) and it's a repost. This is what I wrote last year after we had returned from London for the Kate Bush Fan Conven- tion. Since there are a few people here on Ecto we met while in London, it does sort of qualify as an Ectothing. The entire trip was a very magical experience, and I wanted to share it again with all of you. This is a major league "Vickie" but actually, you should have seen it before I edited it for posting in gaffa! It was easily twice as long. To those who were there, I'm so glad to have met you. To those who weren't, well, I'll meet you someday, hopefully. Take a deep breath..... ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| November 24, 1990 Vickie here. Chris & I got home very late last night (Thursday) and have spent the day resting and recurperating! What a long strange week it's been! We haven't completely caught up with reading Love-Hounds but I'm sure that the highlights have been gone over multiple times. I'll just start typing and see what happens. Our trip to England was wonderful. We flew to Miami and our connecting flight was on time. A particularly wonderful thing about the second part of the flight was that the plane flew up the entire length of the eastern seaboard, just off the coast. I sat on the left side of the plane in a window seat so I was able to see and recognize most of the major cities we flew over. Washington, Baltimore, New York, Providence and Boston-at night too! Boston is especially beautiful from the air at night. I slept a little but not much. Chris didn't get any sleep at all. It was light when we were getting close to London and the clouds parted to let us see the beautiful countryside. We were overwhelmed at how GREEN it is. Seriously, we honestly didn't expect it to be so colorful this late in the year. We held hands as the plane began descent and kept sqeezing harder and harder the closer to the ground we got. When we touched down I started crying. England! (OHMYGODI'MINENGLAND!!) The first thing I bought when we got off the plane was a Kit-Kat (Kate's favorite snack) and I was suprised at the red packaging. If I'd known that they look different over there I'd have brought some American Kit-Kats with me to give to Kate. They taste the same though-yum! We met up with Ed & Larry and rode the train into Victoria Station. On the way there we were joking about how EVERYTHING looked wonderful ("what a beautiful embankment" "what interesting brick" "what a fantastic ditch") even though we could see why Prince Charles is so pissed off about the ugly Bahaus architecture. :-) At Victoria station Larry spotted a couple of Katefans who were on their way to the convention. The guy was from Manchester and the woman was from London. They both had tons of Kate buttons on. We took the tube to Earl's Court and went to our place of abode for the next week, the Ann Elizabeth House. There we met Jorn, Phil, & Footah (aka Gregory Bossert). It's so GREAT to finally meet people whose names I'd been seeing for months now. We cleaned up and hopped on the tube to Hammersmith. It was raining lightly and the line was already long. We hadn't gone very far when we spotted other Hounds. ANDY!! (IED) Yay! We hadn't seen each other for years! It was a very emotional moment for me to see Andy again but I didn't have time to let it get to me because then we were being introduced to lots of other Hounds. Meredith! Pablo! Graham! Justin! Mark! We met more inside (Jem! SO glad you were there! Neil! Stephen C.! Colin! Sakari! Thanks for the tape! Christer! Ryan! Chris Ridd! Stephen T.! Kimon!) and some of you I didn't meet until after the convention was over. Evan! I'm deeply, sincerly sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you or even say good bye. Andy Semple-I agree with you about how great Kate gatherings are! I'm sure I missed meeting some of you altogether. Declan-were you there?? Michael Butler-were you there?? Walter Roberson- were you there?? I'm going to post my list again to update those people who did make it. When we finally got inside and bought our tickets they were giving away free Kate posters (a shot from RUTH) and buttons. I spotted Peter Morris and had another very emotional moment. We've been friends for about 10 years and we finally got to meet in person! He was the first Katefan I was ever in contact with and has always been very special to me. I'm the first American Katefan he was ever in contact with so he says that makes me special to him too. He was very busy handing out programs so I let him get back to work. I wandered over to the merchandise booth and stood in line for nearly an hour. The people working the booth were swamped but it was fantastic that no one was impatient, no one was upset or anything of the sort. Everyone was as nice as could be. The merchandise there was amazing! Stuff that I'd thought was rare and priceless was being sold for extremely reasonable prices. The original tour booklet sold for 3 pounds!!!! It wasn't complete (I have an original and it came with folded posters) but a collector could have sold it for a hundred times more. Posters, T-shirts, buttons, old KBC newsletters, all kinds of things were available and all very cheap. The most expensive thing was the T-shirts at 8 pounds. Well worth it! They definitely did a wonderful service to the fans. Krys later told us that most of the people working the merchandise booth were not Katefans because they wouldn't be as likely to get into time- consuming conversations with the fans. Plus they wouldn't feel like they were missing everything by having to stay in the lobby while the program was going on. I missed the first part of the program because I was still in the merchan- dise line but I heard David Cross say that there were fans here from all over the world, including America (lots of cheers at that!). The three-part video presentation (put together totally by David Cross) was wonderful. The live performances I could have done without, except for a group of dancers who did a routine to This Woman's Work that was great. There were two breaks during the day that allowed people to talk and wander around without fear of missing anything. That was an especially nice touch. During the first break an announcement was made that all the Love-Hounds were in one place and we all cheered! That helped some people find us anyway. I was worried about the giveaways when I found out that the "winners" had to answer a question before they got a prize. I was terrified that my number would be drawn and I'd get a question that my mind would go blank on. I shouldn't have worried because everyone was shouting out the answers anyway. I was SO happy that Jorn and Neil won prizes!! Good for them!! Kate was (of course) the highlight and when she walked on stage I got goosebumps and tingles went up my spine. I was fairly close to the stage and I took as many photos as I could. I haven't had them developed yet. I have to make a confession. I had a recording walkman with me and it was all ready to go, but when she came out I was so excited and flustered that I completely forgot I had it! About halfway through the q&a session Chris reminded me and I turned it on. I feel so stupid! I just can't BELIEVE that I forgot all about it! I hope someone else was recording. When Kate was asked about touring I could feel a collective groan because she's had to answer that question so often and you'd think Katefans would know enough to not even bring it up. Silly me. When she said they were hoping to do some dates at the end of next year the NOISE in that place probably shook the foundation! It truly was a magic day and it was an indescribable feeling being with over a thousand other people who all felt the magic too. When it was all over I found out that Jorn hadn't gotten the video he'd won signed. I told him to take it back to get signed and he started to walk away. Thinking that he'd actually get to meet Kate I gave him one of my Suspended In Gaffa flyers to give to her, not expecting to get it back. He didn't get to meet Kate but someone took the video and flyer backstage to Her. When Jorn got back his video it was signed and with it was my flyer--signed! She'd obviously read it because it says "Programmed by Vickie" and it was signed "To Vickie-Lots of Love-Kate Bush"! I'd just wanted her to have it. I'd never had the nerve to write her about my show. I'd always been afraid to tell her because I thought she'd disapprove of me using the name. Well, now she knows about it and if she disapproved, I doubt that she would have signed the flyer and given it back. I'm so HAPPY!! We were also able to get Neil's prize signed. I guess none of the prize winners actually got to go back and meet Kate. Not even the quiz winners, because they were standing where Jorn, Neil, Justin & I were, waiting to get their signed Box Sets. After the convention was over 21 of us went to eat at an Italian restaurant. Neil had to go back to Oxford but what happened to the rest of YOU??? Pablo? Steve Fagg? Chris Ridd? Stephen Thomas? I'm sorry you couldn't stick with the rest of us. After eating there was a mix up, and half the group went to a pub while half of us were left standing outside the restaurant talking. Andy, Chris and Meredith were going to go to Peter & Krys' house but it didn't quite work out. It was too late and the trains were about to stop running. It's too bad because Andy and Meredith had to go leave the next day. I was going to stay with the Love-Hounds, but as it turned out most left to go home before we could meet up again. I didn't get to say goodbye to a lot of you. I feel so bad about that. We then went to the hostel that Graham and Meredith were staying at and talked until the place closed. Those who had to make the last trains out left and the rest of us found a wonderful little restaurant where we were allowed to sit by ourselves downstairs and talk and eat and play Kate's music on my boom box. I don't even know what time we finally went to bed. It had been one of the very best days of my life and I'll never forget it. The next day we got up and went to Peter & Krys' house. I'm glad we went but I'm sorry we missed seeing and saying goodbye to the Love-Hounds that left Sunday and Monday. Ed has already written about the visit but I wanted to add that Monday morning we did NOT get to go to the Farm, just in case some people are wondering. It was very nice of Peter & Krys to put us up for the night and we didn't want to put them in an awkward position of having to say no if we asked them to take us there. We came back by train and later that evening met Krys, Peter and David in Leicester Square to see a movie. We saw Ghost, of all things, but it was interesting seeing it in such a HUGE theater (the Empire) and seeing the big differences between English and American movie theaters. For one thing, seats are reserved which is the strangest thing I've ever seen. Odd! Later that evening we went record shopping with KP&D. We spent nearly the last of our money buying a PAL version of The Whole Story in anticipation of the day when we'll get a PAL VCR. Chris and I found a wonderful fish & chips shop in Leicester Square. I've become addicted to fish & chips-now I have to find a place in Chicago that makes them English style. Tuesday Larry, Chris & I just went walking and walking and walking. A high- light was strolling alongside the Thames listening to Happy Rhodes. Later that evening we went back to the hostel and had the enormous pleasure of watching Episode 1.5 of Twin Peaks. Watching TP in England was definitely one of the major highlights of the trip! I'm certain that Kate watches it. It's exactly the kind of thing she would LOVE!!!! Wednesday Larry, Jorn, Chris & I went walking. We went to Oxford Street and visited the most wonderful store in the Universe (almost)-the Virgin Megastore! I could have spent two days and very large amounts of money in there-if I'd had either. Jorn was very kind to us and lent us the money to buy three things we lusted after (One From the Heart soundtrack on CD and two Mary Coughlin CDs that I'd never seen before-Neil, I don't need those tapes now, thank you anyway). We hit a few more record stores and a bookstore that was very large. In one of the record stores we found cassettes of the Castaway soundtrack and Larry and Jorn bought the ones they had. Luckily, Chris and I had bought the album when it first came out. I'm very happy for Larry and Jorn. According to the guy at the shop the soundtrack is very rare now. Jorn wanted to try to catch a very strange circus so we parted company. Since Jorn, Chris & I had to leave early Thursday morning the three of us decided to stay up all night so we'd be sure not to miss our flights. Larry was tired so he stayed at the hostel while Chris and I went to eat. We met up with Jorn on Waterloo Bridge at 11:30 and walked for hours. We walked from Waterloo to the City of London and across the Tower Bridge. We had to take a cab from there to Trafalgar Square and then a bus back to Earl's Court. We washed up, packed up and left. Larry went with us to Victoria Station. Our flight back was uneventful. It was nice to get back home but we'd go back in a second. Chris and I both fell in love with London and it's a shame we had to leave just as we were starting to figure it all out. I'm sorry this is so long. I've edited it down quite a bit already so it could have been worse! I just had to get the major things down. We had a great time! Attending the convention and meeting the other Love-Hounds was a dream come true! I'm sorry I couldn't spend more time with all of you who were there. You're all very wonderful indeed. To those who couldn't make it, I know most of you would have gone if you could have afforded it &/or had been able to get the time off work or school. You were in our hearts. She Really Is! Vickie (one of Vickie'n'Chris) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Real time again...there's much here that will mystify non-Kate Bush fans, or maybe even fans who weren't on the net at this time. I skipped over most of the actual convention itself, since by the time we got back from London, many other people had already given details about it. I don't even know where to start, so I won't even try to explain anything. If anyone does have any questions, feel free to ask. I had taken a boombox and all my Happy tapes with me. Greg Bossert and Mark Semich are the only two people I managed to pin down long enough to give a Happy sample to, and that was standing outside a restaurant at something like 4:00am! When Larry Hernandez, Chris and I went walking around London Tuesday night, as I said, I played Happy on the boombox. It was so magical, I think Larry (who was already a Happy fan before going to London) would agree, listening to _Ecto_ as we walked alongside the Thames. I have such wonderful memories of hearing "Would That I Could" as this beautiful boat sailed by, the lights twinkling on the water. It was a Kate trip, but Tuesday night was a Happy night, and I don't think we listened to anything else while we were walking around London. Thanks for letting me share this trip down memory lane with you all. Since it truly was Kate who brought us all together in Ecto, I wanted to post this here. Vickie (who wants to go back to London _real_ bad) vickie@chinet.chi.il.us ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 17 Nov 91 13:52:32 PST From: stevev@greylady.uoregon.edu (Steve VanDevender) Subject: The stevev U.S. tour I noticed that after I posted my personal stats there was a short run of people posting apparently bogus personal stats of their own. Just so no one thinks I was the start of that run, I really am 1.4 m (4' 7") tall and 45 kg (100 lbs.) in weight. I would also like to announce the next date in my very gradual U.S. tour. I will be visiting Sacramento, CA from December 6 to December 9 to race in the wheelchair division of the California International Marathon. If there are any Ectophiles within range of Sacramento who would like to meet this fellow Ectophile in person, please let me know. If I succeed in getting the time I want at Sacramento, I will be able to add Boston and the Boston Marathon to next year's tour, about mid-April, and I know there are several Ectophiles and Love-Hounds there. Other potential tour dates include: Tampa, FL; mid-February (not confirmed) Los Angeles, CA; mid-March (quite likely) Spokane, WA; early May (if I'm not there I'm incapacitated or dead) Atlanta, GA; July 4 (a little unsure on this one) Seattle, WA; late summer (depends on when they have Wheels of Fire) And Vickie has encouraged me to come to Chicago, IL at some point, although I have to figure out a good race to do there first. Happy news? I'm currently on a major Kate Bush kick prompted by my acquisition of the Box Set, but I just popped in _Rhodes Vol. II_ for a while. My officemate still hasn't ordered _Warpaint_ yet but he keeps saying he will. He got a _CD Review_ magazine and he found the Happy ad and showed it to me. ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 18 Nov 1991 07:42 +8:00 From: SVODOPIER@cc.curtin.edu.au Subject: Stuffarotti. Hiya. This is me at 7:15am after a full night of being irradiated by my Mac. Stevev writes: > I really am 1.4 m (4' 7") tall and 45 kg (100 lbs.) in weight. I believed you. I just couldn't think of any worthwhile comments to make. (much like this occasion, really :-) Re: Jessica's botty. It just occurred to me that the second reference (ie Why on the bum?) might be because Madonna (the topic of earlier conversation) has a tiger tattooed on her tush. I think. Court the confused cat. It's OK, take it easy... there's no hurry for anything. The current Ecto thingz are (for blue fuzzy newbies) : 1) The Ecto-zine. $8/year for 8 issues. Lovingly provided by Jessica. 8 pages and an ever-expanding number of colours. 2) The Ecto SiG. A tape made by Vickie of the more popular Happy songs (with interview) in the format of Vickie's regular "Suspended in Gaffa" women's music radio show. Get a tape or equivalent to Vickie pretty soon. 3) The Happy Interview tape. I believe Doug and Jessica can make copies of this if you send them a tape or equivalent. 4) The Happy Gift Project Again, get a tape to Vickie, but this time put a song and a personal massage (or message) to Happy on it. Vickie will compile them into a present for Happy from all of us. Klaus' idea, this one. 5) The Ecto-band Project Not sure where this is but it IS somewhere. :-) Several ecto people are doing joint but remote collaborations on covers of some Happy songs. 6) The Personal database Project Mail to ecto with all your particulars. Which particulars? We're not particular. Birthdays and physical characteristics are a good start. 7) The Personal database extension project (which I hereby propose :-) Everyone emails in a GIF picture of themselves. Or their tattoo. Phew. Quite a lot really. Nearly time for an Ecto FAQ posting, I think. And I didn't even mention the profusion of Happy merchandise soon hitting the stores. Well, nearly didn't mention it, anyway. Well, I can hear the rest of the house are just getting into breakfast, so I think it's time I hit the sack. G'night. Martin ,-------------------------------------------+----------------------------. | I'm just an animal, looking for a home. | Martin Dougiamas. | | Share the same space for a minute or two. | sdougiama@cc.curtin.edu.au | | And she'll love me 'til my heart stops, | Curtin University | | Love me til I'm dead. | Perth, Western Australia | `== This Must Be The Place - Talking Heads =+============================' ======================================================================== 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)