From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V11 #311 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Monday, November 14 2005 Volume 11 : Number 311 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Casey [Ethan Straffin ] RE: Fwd: More great PR for Sony BMG ["Jack Sutton" ] Reality vs Reviews - Aerial [Birdie ] Re: Reality vs Reviews - Aerial [Michael Curry ] RE: Fwd: More great PR for Sony BMG ["Michael Quinn" ] Re: Reality vs Reviews - Aerial [Toriamosrising@aol.com] Re: More great PR for Sony BMG [Nadyne Mielke Subject: Re: Casey Thanks for the pointer, Anna Maria! I'll have to pick this one up, because I love _Standing at the Edge_ and everything I've heard since then, though... I was on the Casey fan list for a while, but I ended up in the middle of a long-running flap about his decision to sell single copies of various releases to the highest bidder on eBay, which I argued was both disrespectful of his fans and counterproductive from a marketing perspective -- only to learn that that argument had been made many times before by others who either went back to lurking or left the list after being shouted down and/or threatened by Casey's manager. It's all kinda nuts over there, but maybe fun if you like melodrama. Ethan anna maria stjdrnell wrote: >Hi again.. >Casey Stratton reappaers after parting company with >major record label..Hmm. his album divide is on >cdbaby. he claims he left the label voluntarily..Oh >yeah right. Sorry for the cynicism. I'm sure it's a >great album. >Anna Maria > > > > >__________________________________ >Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 >http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2005 14:46:36 -0800 From: "Jack Sutton" Subject: RE: Fwd: More great PR for Sony BMG On 11/12/05, Sue Trowbridge wrote: > I'm not a fan of the ubiquity of the Starbucks chain, and always make > an effort to seek out a locally owned shop if I need a coffee fix, but > Starbucks is generally recognized as paying good wages and benefits to > its employees. And if you have to choose between buying your groceries > at Safeway (unionized) vs. Wal-Mart (aggressively non-union), well, > there's no contest. Costco is another chain that pays relatively high > wages to its employees. > > Buying at chain stores is a fact of life for most people so if you > *have* to patronize one (and when it comes to things like groceries, > you probably do), you should do some research and not just assume that > they're all equally evil. I don't see Safeway as being a great alternative to the likes of Wal-Mart, as about a year ago, Safeway's and Albertsons employees union members lost ground on workers benefits after a lengthy strike. It's not that they didn't gain ground but actually lost some of the benefits value that they already had. This seems to be a trend across the board for many union members. I know boycotting all large chain stores is impossible, try buying gasoline from a ma and pop gas station. I don't think there is such as thing? Perhaps I live in a unique area as we have several excellent independent grocery stores as well as a Safeway and Albertsons. Although I have to drive a little further and don't have a fancy convenient parking lot, my food money goes to the independent groceries. A side benefit to this is I don't have to listen to the Safeway radio network playing bad loud music and advertisements, and I don't have to dig out a phony discount card at the checkout counter. I've heard very good things about Costco and go out of my way to shop there when I can. They have excellent employee benefits and as a customer I feel like I've gotten a bargain every time I shop there. Your right I don't do major research on companies, I just go by what I have learned, gut feel and personal experience. Safeway is not on my good list and as for Starbucks just look at http://www.lanebaldwin.com/hbc/news.htm. That corporation should be ashamed of its behavior regardless if it pays "good" wages. Jack sutton > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-ecto@smoe.org [mailto:owner-ecto@smoe.org] On Behalf Of Sue > Trowbridge > Sent: Saturday, November 12, 2005 10:09 PM > To: ecto@smoe.org > Subject: Re: Fwd: More great PR for Sony BMG > > On 11/12/05, Jack Sutton wrote: > > Sony is just a small player in the criminal corruption and greed driven > > exploitation of our planet that has been hijacked by world corporations. > > The only power we the people (that support and allow these criminals to > > survive) are to boycott their products. It can be done on a local level. > > Examine the products you buy and what price our environment and our > > culture pay to support sweat shops and unfair labor practices. You don't > > have to look far, try Safeway, Walgreens, Walmart, Starbucks, Tower, > > Sony, Aol, and I could run out of bandwidth forever to list the rest. > > I'm not a fan of the ubiquity of the Starbucks chain, and always make > an effort to seek out a locally owned shop if I need a coffee fix, but > Starbucks is generally recognized as paying good wages and benefits to > its employees. And if you have to choose between buying your groceries > at Safeway (unionized) vs. Wal-Mart (aggressively non-union), well, > there's no contest. Costco is another chain that pays relatively high > wages to its employees. > > Buying at chain stores is a fact of life for most people so if you > *have* to patronize one (and when it comes to things like groceries, > you probably do), you should do some research and not just assume that > they're all equally evil. > > --Sue ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2005 15:38:00 -0800 From: Birdie Subject: Reality vs Reviews - Aerial I realise there can be a line where the two blur.....reality vs reviews But....I'd love to hear other peoples actual *experiences* with Aerial. Today, I was driving down Sunset blvd to the Farmers Market and was playing Aerial - over my incredible stereo system (JL audio amp&subwoofers, crossover, tweeters, mid's handmade speakers - all custom) in the cab of my little toyota. hee hee.....and let me tell you....forget the headphones and/or home stereo (unless you have 5.1 etc)......the bass end needs all the separation my truck offers.....the mix is AWESOME on the percussion/bass in that enviroment.....oh.my.god. What an improvement! And, I am overjoyed as my favorite way to listen to Kate...is driving around at the beach - out in the country.....she is dead perfect out in rolling coastal isolated places.....or, the cotswolds or mendocino county...scottish highlands....and with a brill sound system. I suspect she may take drives when mixing & mastering.... Anyway, I've always had MY BEST experiences listening to Kate when I am out driving.... So, today....in the big city.....I had "Prologue" playing.....out the windows, rolled down as it was gorgeous out...lovely warm with clear blue sky..and the piano part was wafting out and the elderly gentleman in the Volvo Station wagon - on my right gave me a big smile & thumbs up....LOVED IT! and, the tourists in the crosswalk were all looking around trying to find out where that PIANO was playing!! Created a little scene...... not your usual boom-box hip-hop rap scene.......it was really refreshing and interesting to see the reactions! The other thing is...my parrots....Zoe today has started to verbally acknowledge all the birds....when they chime in, she says - with approval, "Birds!" and, course, whistles, does her high hat sound & other percussive sounds..and laughs along with Kate.... I guess, given what everyone's responses are today - either out on Sunset Blvd or sitting up on top of their cage....we would have to say they are more accurate than an intellectualized - attitude-ized- review created probably inside an apartment somewhere....shaed by whatever mood the reviewer is in....while doing their *job*. For me, her music PLAYS out in nature.....and......birds ADORE her...for one...they LOVE the high voices....and if they know you are on to them...well.....they answer right back. Zoe's other fave (english/canadian) singer is Beatrice Lilly...the mezzanine soprano....Hilarious!!!! They have such a sense of humour...wicked wicked wicked. As I spend time at and in the ocean, again -- I might just get it better than the fella writing a review, landlocked somewhere.... The seagulls, as the sun sets, all stand on the sand, facing - at attention & meditating - at The Sun. They say goodnight to it this way, everynight. Everynight, all around the world. Goodnight sun. The doves and other birds, all greet it in the morning with such CHEER!!! Why not? It's a brand new day. Hurrah, hurray! What little lives they live... As a surfer.....the sky of honey and sea of honey is all so.....vivid and real ....every year we have fire season here in Los Angeles in the autumn....and the smoke in the atmosphere creates these AMAZING INTENSE sunsets....if you are out surfing...the water can turn pure liquid gold....with blue...it's like being in a living Maxfield Parish painting...mind blowing to be floating around in that....and the reds and the purples in the sky and on the water get soooooo deep and intense...it's completely surreal. There is a whole group of us that get happy and head for the water when there are fires around! We realise sometimes houses get lost...but......it's one of the best kept secrets in LA.... Anyway....I guess Kate may seem very far out to some people or....too fantastical...but...the world really IS completely brilliant - beautiful - - interesting - heavy and all kinds of other things which she "gets it" from.... At the end of the day, I do think she is really normal...she just really pays attention. I'm not so sure many people do anymore - being indoors surrounded by technology.....always in a hurry....finger stuck on the fast forward button.... anyway...I'm rather keen on hearing peoples experiences with it and the responses it gets. Reviews may be best for people who don't have a life. Hmmm...think i'll go catch some waves. Birdie ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2005 19:28:07 -0500 From: Michael Curry Subject: Re: Reality vs Reviews - Aerial Birdie wrote: > anyway...I'm rather keen on hearing peoples experiences with it and the > responses it gets. > > Reviews may be best for people who don't have a life. I'm guessing you didn't actually mean for that to come off sounding so condescending, so it's unfortunate that it did, since I think your general topic is indeed an interesting one. Michael ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2005 22:09:49 -0500 From: "Michael Quinn" Subject: RE: Fwd: More great PR for Sony BMG - -----Original Message----- From: owner-ecto@smoe.org [mailto:owner-ecto@smoe.org] On Behalf Of Jack Sutton >Safeway is not on my good list and as for Starbucks just look at >http://www.lanebaldwin.com/hbc/news.htm. That corporation should be >ashamed of its behavior regardless if it pays "good" wages. Reading this article I have absolutely *no* sympathy for the small coffee shop in this case and think Starbucks was totally right. This is just blatant exploitation of publicity by a small failing operation and it makes me sick. The whole key to it is (cleverly) buried in the bottom of one of the articles on that page, is that it's about precedent and if they allow one person to infringe on their trademark a little bit than other people will do it and be allowed to do it, it's not about this one little shop at all which is obviously no threat to Starbucks. It's very low of the people who own the shop to use their "culture" as an argument for what they are doing. It's pretty obvious to me that the definition of the word "buck" in their culture has nothing to do with something you would name a cafi. (When is the last time you saw for example, the "Irish Young Men Cafi"), the only logical explanation for them to use that name is to cash in on the notoriety of Starbucks and when Starbucks rightfully challenged them they went crying to the media who seized on a good story. The only exploitation going on here is the exploitation a small unknown shop getting a lot of free publicity by exploiting the legal system. I hate most corporations, I hate the big record companies because they only give the people who actually make the music a tiny portion of the profits. I hate Wal-Mart and its ilk for similar reasons but a company has a right to protect its brand name. Just because a big corporation is going against a small business doesn't mean the small business is *always* right. Mike ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2005 22:35:54 EST From: Toriamosrising@aol.com Subject: Re: Reality vs Reviews - Aerial Birdie, that was beautiful ! :-) Bright Blessings Kris the boy ***and threads that are golden don't break easily*** ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2005 22:20:12 -0800 From: Nadyne Mielke Subject: Re: More great PR for Sony BMG On 13 Nov 2005, at 19:09, Michael Quinn wrote: [snip] > The whole key to it is (cleverly) buried in the bottom of one of > the articles on that page, is that it's about precedent and if they > allow > one person to infringe on their trademark a little bit than other > people > will do it and be allowed to do it, it's not about this one little > shop at > all which is obviously no threat to Starbucks. That's why the folks at Johnson and Johnson changed their Band-Aid jingle. It used to be "I'm stuck on Band-Aid 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me". To try to avoid having their trademark fall into generic usage, they changed the jingle to "I am stuck on BAND-AID brand, 'cause BAND-AID's stuck on me". They have to protect their trademark. Letting anyone chip away at it (in any way) means that the law slowly begins to stop protecting them. If it can be shown that a company hasn't been doing enough to protect its trademark, the courts can allow others to use the trademark similarly. Did you know that "touch-tone" (as in a telephone) is a former trademark of AT&T? It became generic, and they lost it. "Bikini" was a trademark, too. "Aspirin" was also a trademark, but the loss of its status was a result of WW1 and not because the owner (Bayer, a German company) didn't try to protect it. ObDisclaimer #1: Any "you" above is general, not specific. ObDisclaimer #2: IANAL. :) /nm ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V11 #311 ***************************