From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V9 #77 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Thursday, March 20 2003 Volume 09 : Number 077 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Mna Mnostalgia ["Mitchell A. Pravatiner" ] Re: Mna Mnostalgia [Nadyne Mielke ] Today's your birthday, friends... [Mike Matthews ] RE: Mna Mnostalgia [Phillip Hudson ] Re: Scarlet's Walk (was Re: Natalie Merchant goes independent) [Jason Gor] RE: Mna Mnostalgia [kitty kat ] RE: Mna Mnostalgia [Phillip Hudson ] Indie recommendations (was:Scarlet's Walk) [Andrew Fries ] House Concert Friday in Toledo, OH -Jessica Weiser [DLynngarrett@aol.com] Self Promotion and +/- OT: Iraq [James Mitchell ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 01:28:14 -0600 (CST) From: "Mitchell A. Pravatiner" Subject: Mna Mnostalgia The first time I heard the tune was on, of all places, _The Midnight Special_ on WFMT, around 1970 or 1971. I think it was listed as a piece of movie music--which, as we have seen from recent posts, it actually was. I don'[t recall what movie they said it was from--certainly not a major motion picture. This version was done on the Moog synthesizer--a trendy instrument at the time. Interspersed in the principal melody were snippets from "La Marseillaise" (on strings), "Deutschland Uber Alles" (on synthesizer), and I dunno what else--all consistent with a "travel in Europe" motif, which probably was indeed central to the movie the tune is from. I didn't heat the tune again until years later, when it was performed either on _Sesame Street_ or _The Muppet Show_. "Mna Mna," of course, can easily be seen to be abstracted from "Mais non, Mais non." Appropriate that the Muppets should glom onto it--it's a use of the language after the Swedish Chef's own heart. :-) The mp3 version mentioned in a recent ecto post, interestingly, seems to play, at least on my winamp, as an infinite loop. Mitch ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 23:34:38 -0800 From: Nadyne Mielke Subject: Re: Mna Mnostalgia I have to point out that You People (tm) have forced me to order a Muppets album from Amazon 'cause I've been singing 'mahna mahna nah nah nah nah' under my breath for the past two days. My officemate would probably track each and every one of y'all down if he knew it's your fault. ;) This song is harder to get out of my head than 'The Name Game'. It's quite entertaining, though, to see the look that passes over people's faces when they realise what song I've been humming or singing under my breath. /nm {Shirley! Shirley bo-birley banana fana foe firley ... } ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 03:00:02 -0500 (EST) From: Mike Matthews Subject: Today's your birthday, friends... i*i*i*i*i*i i*i*i*i*i*i *************** *****HAPPY********* **************BIRTHDAY********* *************************************************** *************************************************************************** ********************** Barry Wong (no Email address) ********************** ******************* Graham Dombkins (no Email address) ******************** ********************** Ian Young (no Email address) *********************** ********************** Jeff Wasilko (jeffw@smoe.org) ********************** *************************************************************************** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Barry Wong Thu March 19 1970 Merlin Graham Dombkins Fri March 19 1965 Pisces Ian Young Wed March 19 1969 Squiggol Jeff Wasilko Wed March 19 1969 Pisces Geoff Carre Sat March 20 1954 Pisces John Stewart Sat March 21 1970 Aries Bob Brown Thu March 22 1951 Ham Valerie Nozick Thu March 25 1971 Aries Tom Proven Sat March 27 1971 Eat at Joe's Jennifer Albert Wed March 30 1966 Aries (w/Cancer rising!:) Warpaint Mon April 01 1991 Brilliant! Michael Pearce Wed April 03 1946 Pegasus Michael E. Bravo Mon April 05 1971 Dandelion Wine Brion McIntosh Sun April 06 1958 Aries Marcel Kshensky Thu April 06 1950 Aries Bill Mazur Mon April 06 1953 Aries Sun/Cancer Rising David Dixon Tue April 07 1970 Aries Heidi Heller Mon April 08 1974 Aries Jill Hughes Sat April 09 1955 Aries Klaus Kluge Sun April 10 1960 Unicorn Steve VanDevender Sun April 10 1966 Racer Art Liestman Fri April 10 1953 Repeat Stephen Golden Sat April 10 1971 Jokey Michael Bowman Wed April 11 1962 Aries Wolfgang Ullwer Fri April 11 1969 Widder Janet Kirsch Thu April 11 1974 Aries Jerry Tue April 13 1971 Aries Stuart Myerburg Mon April 14 1969 Aries T-Bone Wed April 15 1992 happy cat Jeff Hanson Sat April 16 1966 Aries Michael Klouda Mon April 17 1967 Aries - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 12:37:15 -0800 From: Phillip Hudson Subject: RE: Mna Mnostalgia I feel most fortunate in having never heard the song in question. Please, nobody send it to me. I feel totally fine about a Muppet-free childhood That is not to say that there are never any stupid songs racing around my brain at any given point in time. There are entire days when an entire military marching band is practicing in my head, interspersed with idiot novelty songs from the pre-rock days, such as " I'm a pink toothbrush, you're a blue toothbrush" by Max Bygraves. This was a big hit in the UK prior to the coming of the Beatles, and incredibly, not as a children's song. the whole adult nation ate it up, and Bygraves performed the damn thing on every TV show they would let him into. I was not pop-musically aware at that time, but it must have been, as Billy Connolly said of those musical times: " Like living in an insane asylum" These days, inspired by Mitch Pravatiner's Dectopia contribution, I amuse myself with an internal jukebox of songs done by extremely unlikely others. Currently in rotation: Sting's "Fortress around your heart" as performed by Mel Torme. Peter Gabriel's "Come talk to me" performed by Tiny Tim. Happy: Closer/Cohabitants medley performed by Pink Floyd with Billy Idol on vocals. I hear the Cohabitants riff coming through like something off of Floyd's Atom Heart Mother. Billy always sounds like he's already got quite a roster of participating entities in his mental living room, so the part should not be a stretch. Bryan Ferry singing "Wretches", a la "Avalon", huge strings and Tony Levin popping bass notes in back. ...And when things get really twisted, "Tivoli" played really fast by the Ramones. Umm, why are you all looking at me like that? p ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 15:30:19 -0500 From: Jason Gordon Subject: Re: Scarlet's Walk (was Re: Natalie Merchant goes independent) - -corporate bashing truincated- > the best compromise i can think of is to try > and buy one or more completely independent albums every time i buy a, > erm, corporate product. so, anyone have some truly indie > recommendations? (in additional to ms. Merchant?) You should hurry up and go buy Sophie Moleta's album(s). She had one album released in Europe called Dive and has a bunch of others that are just as wonderful that you would need to contact her directly. She has a similar approach to music like Veda - everyhting is unique and magical that she records...if she wasn't located in Perth Australia, she would be better known on this list (and should be dammit!!!) http://www.sophiemoleta.com/ - -Jason N.P. Noe Venable - no curses here (I cannot stop listening to five on the dime) - another fantastic indie album you need to pick up :) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 13:11:06 -0800 (PST) From: kitty kat Subject: RE: Mna Mnostalgia On Wed, 19 Mar 2003, Phillip Hudson wrote: > I feel most fortunate in having never heard the song in question. > Please, nobody send it to me. I feel totally fine about a Muppet-free > childhood > be a stretch. ... > > Bryan Ferry singing "Wretches", a la "Avalon", huge strings and Tony Levin > popping bass notes in back. > > ...And when things get really twisted, "Tivoli" played really fast by the > Ramones. > > Umm, why are you all looking at me like that? > Look closely, friends. This is what happens as a result of a Muppet-free childhood... ;) - -Kat ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 14:57:15 -0800 From: Phillip Hudson Subject: RE: Mna Mnostalgia Look closely, friends. This is what happens as a result of a Muppet-free childhood... ;) - -Kat Thanks Kat, I'll try that approach at my next court appearance :) I'm not really sure pre-pubescent Muppet-exposure is really a factor here, although I freely admit that British puppet characters of the period were mostly either demented or completely terrifying, at least judging by the humans they appeared to be hanging out with. This could have had some effect. We were plagued with such TV creations as the Flower Pot Men, who spoke fluent gibberish and had a vaguely disturbing relationship with a large weed in a pot. Or the Wombles of Wimbledon Common, large furry rat-like beings who recycled obsessively and ended up with a hit single, a road tour and a huge book deal. However, this form of mental quirk, the thinking up of bizarre arrangements and/or unlikely performers, of great songs appears to transcend most cultural boundaries. Wasn't Mitch Pravatiner recently on this thread as a Muppet survivor? (remember his "Wrong Century" done by Elvis, "Ecto" done by Barry White; Sinatra doing 'Waking up' on the Dectopia Album)? It calms me to learn that at least one other human hears such transposed voices and sounds in his or her head. In fact, I believe we should name them Mitchellisms in his honor :) Any time you hear "Out like a Lamb", and Happy goes " ..By 6:00am he'd broken his lease" and all of a sudden in comes Led Zepellin with the signature guitar melody from "Bring It All Home"; Da-da-da-da DOM - do-do-do-do-da-da-da, well that's a Mitchellism. Like William Shatner singing "Proud Mary". p ------------------------------ Date: 20 Mar 2003 10:03:14 +1100 From: Andrew Fries Subject: Indie recommendations (was:Scarlet's Walk) On Wed, 2003-03-19 at 13:43, Greg Bossert wrote: > so, anyone have some truly indie > recommendations? (in additional to ms. Merchant?) How about Emilie Autumn (emilieautumn.com), or Julia Darling (juliadarling.com). Then there is the incomparable Hannah Fury (mellowtraumatic.com), and of course The Waifs (thewaifs.com.au) who might well be the most successful indie act next to Ani DiFranco. Wendy Rule (wendyrule.com) is not signed up with anyone either, I believe. - --------------------------------------------------------------------- "I have always tried to live in an ivory tower, but a tide of shit is beating at its walls, threatening to undermine it." -- Gustave Flaubert - -- 09:55:32 up 2 days, 19:03, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00-- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 17:33:18 -0600 From: "Matthew Bittner" Subject: Re: Indie recommendations (was:Scarlet's Walk) On 20 Mar 2003 10:03:14 +1100, Andrew Fries wrote: >How about Emilie Autumn (emilieautumn.com), or Julia Darling >(juliadarling.com). Then there is the incomparable Hannah Fury >(mellowtraumatic.com), and of course The Waifs (thewaifs.com.au) who >might well be the most successful indie act next to Ani DiFranco. >Wendy Rule (wendyrule.com) is not signed up with anyone either, I >believe. I'm waiting on CDs from Nicky Mehta and The Wailin' Jennys. From what I've heard on the 'net, these both sound wonderful (Nicky Mehta is part of The Wailin' Jennys). Matt Bittner ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 15:38:38 -0800 (PST) From: kitty kat Subject: Re: Indie recommendations (was:Scarlet's Walk) > On 20 Mar 2003 10:03:14 +1100, Andrew Fries wrote: > > >How about Emilie Autumn (emilieautumn.com), or Julia Darling > >(juliadarling.com). Then there is the incomparable Hannah Fury > >(mellowtraumatic.com), and of course The Waifs (thewaifs.com.au) who > >might well be the most successful indie act next to Ani DiFranco. > >Wendy Rule (wendyrule.com) is not signed up with anyone either, I > >believe. Why do all these people (Ani excepted) have nouns for last names? Is that weird to anyone else? - -Kat, who maybe just got up too early this morning... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 20:13:37 EST From: DLynngarrett@aol.com Subject: House Concert Friday in Toledo, OH -Jessica Weiser Anyone in the Detroit, Ann Arbor, Toledo, Cleveland Area?? If so, come on out and celebrate the first day of Spring with us! Live In My Living Room..... Friday, March 21st at 8 pm JESSICA WEISER with Lyle Koehnlein opening local performer - Jeremy Crites Toledo, Ohio Suggested donation: $10 Beverages and Snacks Provided email me to reserve a spot. RSVP dlynngarrett@aol.com Coming in April! Tuesday, April 29th at 7 pm TERAMI HIRSCH ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 22:54:18 -0600 From: James Mitchell Subject: Self Promotion and +/- OT: Iraq I and a friend are doing a performance piece titled 'Paradise' on Tuesday, April 1st at the Hungy Brain in Chicago (2318 West Belmont). Having written the text and listened to the music composed for it thus far, I can promise that everyone who attends will have strong opinions about the show. As a preview, and moreover because I have to say I think it's nifty, something I wrote this evening: "Strange memories on this nervous night..." The first cruise missles have kissed Bagdad. Here in Chicago, as I watched the live video, the first thunder storm of the year rolled into town. A mild storm, but the rumble of thunder and flashes of electric blue seem to communicate some sympathy with the explosions I hold vigil for, 9 hours east. There is a police station and a fire house a block north of me, and I have yet to become accustomed to the urgency of the sirens as they race beneath my bedroom window. I remember hearing that Iraq had invaded Kuwait. Someone (was it me) spotted the headline as we waited to board a ferry. My family had just returned to Seattle and didn't have a house yet. I'm sure we were just killing time. Even then the situation seemed unreal; almost impossible. I remember some months later, being disturbed by the prospect of war, recapitulating the now rather tired seeming arguments of loss-of-life, of unnecessary cost, and goodness knows what else. There are posters that I drew that probably still sit in a forgotten folder somewhere. I remember that the possibilites of cataclysm loomed far larger then. Empires were colapsing, students had occupied Tienamen square not too long before. After class, one morning a few years later, a teacher would explain to us few, apreciative listeners, how we might end up mired in some balkan morass, that conscription loomed on the horizon. I don't remember when the afternoon cartoons were interrupted to announce that the first bombing of Bagdad had begun, but I know that I was watching, home from school for the day. What sticks in my mind is walking outside a few minutes later, a neighbor shooting hoops across the cul-de-sac, and looking around, feeling that somehow the universe had shifted percipitously, that things would not be the same again. Still, they were; have been. The protracted wait for Iraqi capitulation begat a protracted wait for Iraqi capitulation. The balkans receeded into the background. Markets rose, markets fell. I remember Jackie, the sunday after the fourth of July. Jackie was a thin woman of english extraction. Looking at her arms, at her crooked, barely patched together glasses, she seemed frail. This particular afternoon though, she was leading a VFW band in patriotic anthems... all cornball, with a particularly eager sestegenarian acting as emcee and adding bits of narration. Nothing quite fit right with anything else, but out on the lawn in front of the bandstand, feeling rather out of place, it all gelled for me. That was the afternoon that I realized that I really belonged to America, and she belonged to me as I was, 23 awkward, and not really belonging anywhere. Afterwards we went into Grant Park and saw a Mahler symphony. Returning to her car at evening's end, I asked her to be my girlfriend. Telling the story, I want to say that I made love to Jackie that night and that I have made peace with my life and with my fatherland. And cliched as that would be, it would be satisfying. But sitting here tonight, waiting for a room mate to pick me up, mostly braced for the next siren, wondering how I can befriend Laura, the reality is less precise. It seems that the world to come is already here, has always been here. Meanced our parents, and their grandparents cutting wide swaths across the praries. The claustrophobia of wide, open spaces; the menace of the crowds and of whatever went on here before we could see it. The world has not changed at all since that portentious January day, but I have. It's raining here, and cliched as it would be, I'd like to say that it was beautiful. And, out on the back porch for a last smoke, the storm making way for a clear, full, round moon, I have to grant that it is. - -James Mitchell Chicago - March 19, 2003 ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V9 #77 *************************