From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V7 #350 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Tuesday, September 8 1998 Volume 07 : Number 350 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: When our weary world was young. . . . ["JH3" ] Morrissey correction and The Church [Ken Sabatini ] so what happened at the party? [lj lindhurst ] Our Weary World, Pt. II ["JH3" ] critics, dats and the flaming lips (no RH, 1% prog) [Tobyhello@aol.com] critics, dats and the flaming lips (no RH, 1% prog) [Tobyhello@aol.com] Re: ThIs WeEkEnD iN FeGgYvIlLe [The Great Quail ] 62!!!!! [Eb ] Re: 62!!!!! [MARKEEFE@aol.com] Re: 62!!!!! [Ross Overbury ] more later, first thoughts- fegparty [Mark_Gloster@3com.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 11:58:25 -0500 From: "JH3" Subject: Re: When our weary world was young. . . . TGQ writes: >Another pet peeve of mine is this fixation on criticizing "fantastic" >lyrics. This is a time honored tradition in music, and a brief glance at >Wagner's catalogue will reveal a whole mess of dwarves. > . . . King Crimson's "Moonchild" and "Prince Rupert Awakes;" >Rush's "The Trees," "Xanadu," and "Hemispheres;" Jethro Tull's >"Aqualung" and "Thick as a Brick;" Genesis "Lamia"... ...Robyn Hitchcock's "Happy the Golden Prince" and "Dwarfbeat"... JH3 ...who used to own a couple of prog-rock albums but would never ever admit it publicly OOPS PS: Black Sabbath's "Fairies Wear Boots"... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 14:44:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Ken Sabatini Subject: Morrissey correction and The Church I had said: >I think Morrissey is one of the great wasted talents of the current day. >When I hear "Vauxhall and I" or the "Sunny" EP, it really strikes me what >he still can do. Then I hear "Your Arsenal" and "Maladjusted" and I'm >hesitant to ever give another new Morrissey disc a single listen. I think >he needs to enlist a fresh songwriting team and drop the Boorer/Whyte team. Error! I liked "Your Arsenal"--it's "Southpaw Grammar" and "Maladjusted" that I see as examples of Morrissey needing a shakeup. said kjs: >Ken wrote: >>3. 80's rock: >>A few of my personal favorites from the 80's: >>* The Church "Seance" >ah HA. Good choice. >Is anyone else seeing The Church while they are on tour in the U.S? I'm >going to take a train from Chicago to Cincinatti, Ohio,and see them with a >a fellow feg (lurker extraordinare off this list).Should be nice and surreal. >~kjs I just got my tickets to their Atlanta show over the weekend. They're playing at The Roxy on October 12. One last Church show for old times sake. BTW, the Church have a new album soon to be out. I'll probably pick it up, although I was pretty neutral about the last Church release (Magicians Among The Spirits). Ken n.p.: John Coltrane "Giant Steps" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Sep 1998 12:00:47 PDT From: "Capitalism Blows" Subject: "aliens came and fucked the monkey, they fucked the monkey." -- dan bern you know how we're always wondering what album to suggest to people who've never heard robyn? or what to put on mix tapes, etc. well, i'm listening to GREATEST HITS right now, and i really think that could do the job. granted, it's only the a&m years (and maybe i'm partial here, 'cause i cut my robyn teeth on GLOBE OF FROGS. and remember, i'm one of the few, the proud, the lovers of all robyn a&m albums.) but it's a damned good selection on there. one thing i've noticed especially is the backing vocals are very effective on these songs. doesn't "gentleman's boxing" mean bare-knuckles? <"The Rain Song," "Over the Hills and Far Away," "The Ocean," "Nobody's Fault But Mine," "The Rover," "In My Time of Dying," "Kashmir," "In the Evening," "Wearing and Tearing," and "All of My Love"> let's don't forget Black Country Woman! the best thing about that song is the way the drums sneak in there so subversively. it's like, you're sitting there enjoying a nice, laid-back folk song, and next time you look up, it's a full-on rocker. The Immigrant Song is just plain bad-assed, as well. i've got quite a few shows from that tour on tape (but not enough! are you listening, woj?) i can't remember ever having heard anything like that. doesn't mean i'm not just forgetting it, though. reminds me of that Simpsons episode where ranier wolfcastle was hosting some variety show, and he said that his sidekick's outfit made him look like a homosexual. when the audience started booing, he indignantly pointed at them, "oh! so maybe all of YOU are homosexuals?" did the audience boo jerry? i don't think i've watched that telethon since the early '80's. frankly, i thought it had run out of steam long ago. and *this* reminds me of the dead milkmen line: "why isn't bob hope dead yet?" and they sang this ten years or so ago! i *believe* that i own every robyn flexi. that is, i own all that i know to be in existence. no, i'm not giving you any, marc! anyway, you should check another thing you might try is placing a want-list ad in Goldmine. i did that a while back, and got a better response than i'd expected (i mean, you wanna talk about weenies. forget the people who are trying to complete a given artist's discography. what about the weirdos that look through *other* people's want lists, seeing if there's something in one of them that they own and can sell off.) be careful, though. don't send any money until you get the goods in your hands. yow. i thought james' homer's toboggan/brenda's iron sledge crack was clever, but this is downright EXCITING! very funny, woj! look out glen, there's a contenda for your crown. <- "Lakeside Park" off Fly by Night, was about hanging out by the Beaches (the boardwalk off Lake Ontario) on "the 24th of May" which is Victoria Day up here - a nod to a dead queen and the first long weekend of the summer> have i just gone completely batty? i'm almost 100% positive Lakeside Park is on CARESS OF STEEL. my fun CARESS OF STEEL trivia: whenever we played castle risk, and i was the french empire, i'd always pull out this album and play Bastille Day over and over when making a big attack. Are there not instances when the refusal to serve is a sacred duty, when "treason" means courageous respect for the truth? --Manifesto of the 121 ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 15:34:10 -0400 From: lj lindhurst Subject: Re: random rant a la Eddie >For details, check out the May 1992 issue of Spy Magazine. >(BTW, there must be a few other ex-Spy subscribers around here. >Anyone else care to come clean?) Yeah, they pulled the plug on "Spy" and gave me godforfucksaken "P.O.V" for Men" to finish up my subscription! Boy, they sure know how to satisfy their demographic. By the way, I fucking LOVE Jerry Lewis!!! COme on! "Who's Minding the Store"? "The Disorderly Orderly"? "What's the Story [Morning Glory]?" "Cinderfella"???? These are all works of GENIUS, they are comparable with Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. lj ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 15:46:33 -0400 From: lj lindhurst Subject: so what happened at the party? did anyone getdrunk/laid/frightened/thinktheycouldfly/speakspanish? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 15:10:09 -0500 From: "JH3" Subject: Our Weary World, Pt. II Fegs: I guess I failed to complete my last thingie in response to TGQ's finely-reasoned, well-written-as-usual pro-prog-post. I just hope he isn't mad at me for sending in one of my usual wisecracks, which some -might- have interpreted as a bit, shall we say... "dismissive"... But anyway: >Just mentioning dwarves shouldn't be a ticket to seriousness, and >a lot of prog rockers had trouble with the line between allegory and >bombast. To be completely fair, you have to put the whole fantasy thing in its historical context. There was a huge population of Tolkien-obsessed males in the 14-25 age demographic back in the 70's, and catering to them (by mentioning stuff like dwarves, elves, etc.) was just as much of a commercial strategy as an artistic one. At the time it probably seemed really hip and "cutting-edge," and the more pompous the better. These people were really just trying to sell records, and for a lot of them it worked, didn't it? I know it's a strained analogy, but gangsta rap artists do the same thing today with lyrics about killing cops. It's fantasy violence for people who are, shall we say, tired of getting pushed around. Hopefully, in 25 years people will think that stuff is/was just as quaint ("Ooh, all that silliness about bustin' a cap in yo' ass was soooo stupidly self-indulgent, wasn't it?"). >Believe me, I have some stunning examples of pompous art rock, >stuff that makes "Tarkus" look like a Ramones song. This isn't really such a stretch. I haven't owned Tarkus for years, but I remember this super-catchy snippet: "Clear the battlefield, and let me see All the profits of our victory You talk of freedom, starving children fall Are you deaf when you hear the seasons call..." Now compare that to this, from "Ramones Leave Home": "Gonna take no chance on her One bullet in the cylinder And in a moment of passion Get the glory, like Charles Manson..." As you can see, thematically both songs refer to the inevitable pointlessness of violence committed in the name of self-glorification. (I wonder if Tommy or Marky have ever been stalked by whacked-out chicks on the Internet? Certainly "Halfway to Sanity" is open to all sorts of "Division Bell"-like interpretations...) And finally, from TGQ's .sig file: >"Countlessness of livestories have netherfallen by this plage, flick as >flowflakes, litters from aloft, like a waast wizzard all of whirlworlds. >Now are all tombed to the mound, isges to isges, erde from erde . . . >(Stoop) if you are abcedminded, to this claybook, what curious of signs >(please stoop) in this allaphbed! Can you rede (since We and Thou had it >out already) its world? . . . Speak to us of Emailia!" > --James Joyce, Finnegans Wake I must confess I've never read "Finnegan's Wake", so I'm probably just being gullible... This isn't for real, is it? I find this pretty damn hard to believe! JH3 PS. I remember 1974 as the year I discovered the New York Dolls, and being bewildered by the fact that so many of my Robert Plant/Jon Anderson-obsessed friends considered the Dolls "faggy" just because of the way they dressed... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 16:45:10 EDT From: Tobyhello@aol.com Subject: critics, dats and the flaming lips (no RH, 1% prog) >On the other hand, the scary thing is that a lot of my record collection is >based soley on the reviews that they get in NME/Melody Maker ie on the >opinions of two total strangers! I don't know if that's at all as scary as it might seem :). I think critics serve a viable function, informing the public of new and different performers they might not be aware of. It's always good when you find critics with whom you share a given taste/outlook, it's a good source of information- you can trust their recommendations to some degree, and they've done some of the "finder's" work for you. If you find that your tastes are really sympatico with said critics, that's very cool. On the other hand, if it's a case of "well, the guys in Meoldy Maker said it so it must be true", that WOULD be scary. The problem comes when a new release is reviewed by someone with whom you don't always agree - in that case it becomes something of a snap judgement... though, to be honest, if there were no reviews in the first place, you'd never hear about the records! There is a potential for abuse of the system - there have been a few instances in the last couple of years of NME/Melody Maker writers giving bad reviews to bands who they had "personal differences" with. What's the current state of play with dat/minidisc/cd-r? Is it worth getting any of these for tape-trading purposes, or are prices going to drop? Finally, does anyone know anything about the Flaming Lips? I heard Waterbug the other day and was quite intrigued... np: Mansun - Six (anyone else have an opinion on this? It's being called the prog-rock album of the 1990s...) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 16:45:02 EDT From: Tobyhello@aol.com Subject: critics, dats and the flaming lips (no RH, 1% prog) >On the other hand, the scary thing is that a lot of my record collection is >based soley on the reviews that they get in NME/Melody Maker ie on the >opinions of two total strangers! I don't know if that's at all as scary as it might seem :). I think critics serve a viable function, informing the public of new and different performers they might not be aware of. It's always good when you find critics with whom you share a given taste/outlook, it's a good source of information- you can trust their recommendations to some degree, and they've done some of the "finder's" work for you. If you find that your tastes are really sympatico with said critics, that's very cool. On the other hand, if it's a case of "well, the guys in Meoldy Maker said it so it must be true", that WOULD be scary. The problem comes when a new release is reviewed by someone with whom you don't always agree - in that case it becomes something of a snap judgement... though, to be honest, if there were no reviews in the first place, you'd never hear about the records! There is a potential for abuse of the system - there have been a few instances in the last couple of years of NME/Melody Maker writers giving bad reviews to bands who they had "personal differences" with. What's the current state of play with dat/minidisc/cd-r? Is it worth getting any of these for tape-trading purposes, or are prices going to drop? Finally, does anyone know anything about the Flaming Lips? I heard Waterbug the other day and was quite intrigued... np: Mansun - Six (anyone else have an opinion on this? It's being called the prog-rock album of the 1990s...) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Sep 98 18:24:09 -0500 From: The Great Quail Subject: Re: ThIs WeEkEnD iN FeGgYvIlLe Mark wrote, >I am looking forward to seeing y'all. I hope LJ and Quail accidentally >fell into the box they were sending us (and I hope it gets here before >the party.) Ah, I tried -- but every time I kept trying to cram LJ in the box, she started flailing at me wildly. Funny, that. As for me, I had planned to mail myself anyway, but I couldn't find a box that *perfect* size. Maybe "a medium-sized cardboard box just right for a person of his build" would have been in order. . . I hope the party was a success, and I look forward to the Jeme Report. Enjoy the Cheezy Poofs. - --Waldo the Quail ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Great Quail, Keeper of the Libyrinth: http://www.rpg.net/quail/libyrinth "Countlessness of livestories have netherfallen by this plage, flick as flowflakes, litters from aloft, like a waast wizzard all of whirlworlds. Now are all tombed to the mound, isges to isges, erde from erde . . . (Stoop) if you are abcedminded, to this claybook, what curious of signs (please stoop) in this allaphbed! Can you rede (since We and Thou had it out already) its world? . . . Speak to us of Emailia!" --James Joyce, Finnegans Wake ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 15:45:43 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Negativland press release I would post more about prog and Jerry Lameass, but I'm just too damn sick. :/ Hope I'm better tomorrow, because I intend to go see Grandaddy/Grant Lee Buffalo play tomorrow night (heavy emphasis on Grandaddy, rather than the ickypoo messiah-rock of GLB). Eb >RIAA RESPONDS POSITIVELY TO NEGATIVLAND > >September 3, 1998 >To: Everybody >From: Negativland > >In an amazing and very surprising development in the whole Negativland/RIAA >saga, the Recording Industry Association Of America has decided to issue >revised guidelines to CD pressing plants (see letter below). > >These new guidelines will, for the first time, actually acknowledge the >concept of Fair Use in copyright and acknowledge that a gray area does >indeed exist in copyright law. This is a very positive and extraordinary >concession on the part of the RIAA, though it remains to be seen as to how >this will play itself out in the real world and how much this will actually >help. These new guidelines are a very important step in the right >direction, but they do not go far enough. It is still very clear to us that >it should be the job of our courts, not CD pressing plants, to be acting as >Fair Use gatekeepers. > >On the plus side, this is the first time EVER that an organization who >represents the interests of the mainstream corporate music world (Sony, >Time-Warner, Universal/Polygram, BMG, EMI, etc.) has actually acknowledged >that a gray area exists in copyright law and that collage is a legitimate >and valid form in music. The music industry has always wanted us to believe >that these issues are black and white and that there are no exceptions in >copyright. They have always wanted us to believe that ALL samples must be >cleared and paid for. By acknowledging that this kind of work may indeed >have a right to exist free of charge and free of charges, the statement >from the RIAA opens up the huge can of worms that Negativland has been >trying to open for the last seven years. This is good news for found sound >musicians in all genres of music, for the good health of art and culture, >and is a much needed step in our long march towards a general broadening of >the Fair Use concept throughout our mass media culture. > >To all of you who wrote letters to the RIAA and wrote news stories about >this - thank you! This would never have happened without your help. And >thank you to Hilary Rosen, president of the RIAA, for deciding to be >responsive to our concerns. > >-NEGATIVLAND > > >September 1, 1998 > >To: Fans of Negativland > >From: Hilary Rosen > President and CEO, RIAA > >Re: Sampling and CD Plant Guidelines > > The RIAA has received your e-mails on sampling and our CD Plant >Guidelines -- some thoughtful and persuasive, others offensive and >uninformed. The most frustrating e-mails are the ones that purport to be >against piracy, but condemn the RIAA. Protecting artists and record >companies against piracy is our mandate and we're proud of our work. Years >of experience and talent inform the actions of our dedicated staff. > > Unfortunately, Negativland, and many of you, believe that our CD >Plant Good Business Practices -- formalized earlier this year into specific >guidelines for CD plants to recognize pirated product -- has had the >unintended effect of prejudicing the group's ability to get their album >pressed. As an organization that has worked tirelessly to protect freedom >of expression, we are gravely concerned about this perception. Our >objective in issuing the CD Plant Guidelines has been to stop piracy, not >artistic expression. > > Accordingly, the RIAA has amended its CD Plant Guidelines in >response to your concerns. (The full text is reprinted below.) > > In fairness, the issue is a great deal more complicated than first >appears. Negativland claims that its work is protected by the "fair use" >doctrine of copyright law, and asks us to draw a legal distinction between >collage and whole-work piracy. Obviously, there is a huge distinction. >But, clearly, not every recording that claims to be a collage is >automatically protected as a "fair use." The dance and exercise music >market, for instance, is filled with mixes that are nothing more than clips >of popular recordings strung together with a heavy beat. Are these >collages legitimate? The artists who created the original recordings don't >think so. If our CD Plant Guidelines made a categorical exception for >collages, it would potentially open the floodgate to all types of piratical >mixes. > > The point is that the "fair use" doctrine is not clear cut, but is >a set of principles subject more to nuance than fixed rules. The courts, >and not the RIAA, have always been the judge in determining whether any >particular sample is a "fair use." Attempting to carve out a "fair use" >exemption from the CD Plant Guidelines is simply not workable and risks >condoning blatant infringements of artists' rights. > > Moreover, under well-established copyright law, should a recording >ultimately be determined by a court not to be protected as "fair use," the >plant that pressed the discs may be held liable for pressing them. It's >not surprising that CD plants would want to know what their exposure might >be for copyright infringement. You can't blame a plant for taking such a >sensible and reasonable business approach. In similar circumstances, some >parties have agreed to apportion their risk by means of an indemnification >provision, and such an approach may be appropriate where there is >good-faith uncertainty about copyright exposure. > > The fact that CD plants are now more careful about what they press >because of our enforcement efforts is good for music fans everywhere. >Piracy hurts artists and fans alike. It feeds off the creative works of >others and limits the investment dollars available for new music. >Hopefully, this step will give bands like Negativland the fair shake they >deserve with CD pressing plants. > >________________________ > > The RIAA has amended it's Anti-Piracy Good Business Practices for >CD Mastering and Manufacturing Plants by adding the following language: > >"These guidelines are intended to address piracy. Some recordings >presented for manufacture may contain -- as part of an artist's work >--identifiable "samples" or small pieces of other artists' well-known >songs. In some instances this sampling may qualify as "fair use" under >copyright law, and in other instances it may constitute copyright >infringement. There are no hard and fast rules in this area and judgments >on both "fair use" and indemnification must be made on a case-by-case >basis. RIAA, therefore, recommends that you decide how to handle such >situations in consultation with your own attorneys." > ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 18:22:15 -0700 From: Eb Subject: 62!!!!! :) Eb ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 21:33:17 EDT From: MARKEEFE@aol.com Subject: Re: 62!!!!! Totally amazing. Let's all take a second to enjoy this amazing feat. Okay, now that we've soaked it all in and have accepted this as part of history, I think we've all got to admit that, for several weeks now, we've pretty much known he was gonna do it and that what we're all *really* wondering is: Will he hit *70*?!? - ------Michael K. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Sep 98 21:44:44 EDT From: Ross Overbury Subject: Re: 62!!!!! Oh, that McGwire thing! I got excited for a minute and thought we'd put Robyn on the top recordings of the '80s. There's no manifestation of weenieism more pathetic that the memorisation of sports statistics. - -- Ross Overbury Montreal, Quebec, Canada email: rosso@cn.ca ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 19:21:22 -0700 From: Mark_Gloster@3com.com Subject: more later, first thoughts- fegparty I really hope that the get-together was as good for the guests as it was for the host. These are my quick thoughts. Oh yea, it's me, so they're not quick at all. Much of the party paraphenalia came to us at the last moment from LJ and what's-his-name, who were quite specifically instructed to be IN the box when it left the wrong coast. We all probed and prodded in wonder. I had to snag the naziesque dancing finger skeleton for much future amusement. How come mine has such fat legs? LJ, Quail, and all the contributors to the box of goodies should be happy that their toils brought joy to us. That joy will live on at Bayard's party. I was quite exhausted at the end of last week. I hadn't had time to make proper party preparations. There was a feeling that I was on some random mechanical bull that was trying to throw me in every direction at the same time. Work was being hellish, and much and often. I was rather concerned that in avoiding human contact things and setting things up, that not many people would show up to the party, and that Donne and I would have to become junkfoodaholics and alcoholics to get rid of the party fixin's. We had bought one of those aluminum garden sheds "guaranteed to attract tornados!" and thought Bayard and Jeme were going to build it for us, but were sadly mistaken. I was actually afraid of the liability factors that may be involved with actually allowing them to touch power tools. The party. It started slowly. In fact, I would have been the center of our basketball team, if we'd been one, until Chris showed up. We held off playing music as long as we could stand it. Five musicians in a room with a guitar just plain can't handle it after a while. We heard from Terry Marks, who squandered his September cafeteria money on a call to chat with all the fegs. In his honor, we bounced around the Monkees, Donovan and Brian Wilson. Perhaps we bruised Brian. sorry. We even sang a couple of Monkees ditties with Patrick. Kind of like Mitch Miller if he'd used a medicine ball on the audiences heads instead of a ping-pong ball on a bunch of lyrics. Oh. Sorry. If you've been around since the turn of the century, you sometimes make what seem to be oblique references. When you're a hundred, you can talk to thesekidsnowadays and they won't understand the Tick and King of the Hill references. Nick played along with others on his bass. It was great getting to know fegs. With Jeme and Patrick and me there, it was probably difficult to get words in edgewise, but I'm sure that every moment that our gums and lips flappe'd held our respective audiences spielburgbound. Some of the clever people retreated to enjoy spirited conversations. Everybody there was much smarter than I am, but they were quite benevalent with their brains. Eb and others names came up on occasion, but not as much as Eb was the subject onlist during the weekend. So as to disspell any violent fears or curiosity: people think Eb is funny. We tried to find his phone number to call him up, but were unsuccessful. I feel sad for our numbers that tried to be there for the party and just couldn't do it. On my guest party evaluation sheets, the comments read like: "Mark Gloster is a big dork." (anon) "Mark Gloster has nice hair." (anon) "This was better than burning my face on a car radiator." (anon) "I wished Eb could've been here." (anon) "Gosh, veggie burgers taste just like Mark plays guitar." (anon) "Mrak, kam we youse spledge hambers ta maik yos steeraj sheb?" (anon) "Does everybody but Mark have CD's or tapes I can buy?" (anon) "How come you guys didn't have Brown Derby?" (anon) We listened to some GF2 submittals after the party was over. I think that the one that completely got us (me, especially) was Ross Overbury's "Tradgedy of the Balloon Man." Dead serious: this one will make you cry- first, because it is so sad; second, because you didn't do it. We stayed up until three or four or five or something, those that remained. For the most part, LJ, I was oblivious to any wylde sex that may have or may not have been going on during the party. I don't think it was happening to me, but I forget things so easily.... The people (all were fun, witty, clever, silly...): Me: I'm sure Jeme has some thoughts on this. I don't think I'm much of a host. I have little practice. I don't know how to do the flesh pressing, unless it's Glass Flesh, and then I need the help of others anyway. Y'know, I'm kinda stuck on myself. I'm a ham. I'm shy at the same time. I play a really loud guitar and I do it violently, so people who drink beer, or are heavily medicated in the next country over think I can play it. I sing pretty well, but mostly about strange things. I am terribly scatterbrained, if brained at all- but I remember completely useless things well if there is a chance that I can use them to confuse others later. I can make happy people laugh if they are smart and/or drunk and am not above doing so. Donne: I'm kind of partial here. She is the coolest, sweetest chickybaby I've ever met. We've been together since, like, 1920 or so. She doesn't like crowds or noise, but she likes nice people. She thinks fegs can be a bit nerdy. It was great that some non-fegs were there, so she could hang with them and tease the rest of us. Livinston: hid just about the whole time. She's a black cat. I guess she didn't want to give anybody bad luck. Dusty: crazy about Bayard. Thot Jeme was crabby. Couldn't resist his nose magnet, though. She's a cat, but so much more. Bayard: I was disconcerted early in the week that Bayard, the nicest guy I've ever met, would be unable to attend the fegParty. There were a few other fears in my mind including that he may have over time become less nice, due to the influence of me and other obnoxious feggy people. He sent me a note informing me that he would be able to make it, and this made me an even happier person. I picked him up on Thursday evening, and we zoomed to my humble abode. Bayard smiles all the time. He is infectiously happy. He helped us prepare for the party on Friday, and accompanied me on JemeSearch '98(tm) on Friday night. Bayard is a great audience for those seeking approval through laughter. He laughs at everything. He's like a big Tickle me EBmo doll that you can't turn off. No, that's Elmo, dammit. Bayard should rent himself out to insecure people who think they're funny. He could make millions. He seemed like he enjoyed himself, playing with Dusty (the world famous TigerMonkey cat), partying, listening and laughing while people were teasing each other ("Crabby ol' Jeme," "Gloster's a big dork.") At one point, which would've been about 3 AM eastern time, after a number of beers, we coerced BAYARD into being mean, but the effects wore off immediately and probably will never happen again. Bayard played us some next generation Glass Flesh submittals. There was some Ebbishness at times (some tracks received only B+ ratings by the intoxicated critics (No, I'm not suggesting that Eb needs to be intoxicated to give out B+ ratings.) Jeme A. Brelin: I picked him up as he was wandering the streets of Santa Cruz after his alien abduction. He seemed happy to see me and even to be alive. It is still difficult to reconcile his happy/friendly self with his sometimes crabby posts. By teasing him enough, we were able to see the two Jemes merge into Mega Mega Jeme. He's a little like a more slender, kinder, gentler Eric Cartman. He's seen billions of movies. He's fun to tease. He seems to want to someday eat school marms for some kind of breakfast, but he's slowly working up to it. Just pacing himself. Patrick Cooper: One of my best pals. I call him Hank sometimes, even though he's more like Bumhauer. He seems like he knows every song ever written between 1960 and 1980, and can follow along on almost everything. Patrick loves life and can make anyone laugh. Even if they're crabby. Like Bayard, he is a really fun and kind person. He carries many great stories with him. Chris Franz: Is not the drummer of the Talking Heads. He's smarter than he is tall and he's like, sixty feet tall. He's kind, quiet, a bit shy. I'm not sure I know him yet. He still seeks the company of feggy people, so he might be a little nutty. Chris has many talents, including juggling and vi. Nick Winkworth: probably had enough schoolmarms from his youth and lacks any current dietary interest in them. He is a really great guy. He's terribly funny and smart. Plays bass mellifluously and non-malodorously. He knows more about Weetabix than I know about brain surgery. He's been a friend of mine ever since I can remember. Was that last week? Tom Clark: Not yer most PC guy, in any way. Tom is more fun than Rex Reid (reed?) if his hair was on fire. Well, almost. Tom lent his zymurgian brilliance to the party, going for taste in the ales and ambers that the partyicipants enjoyed. Tom has a searing, blazing, itching, burning, peeling kind of wit, or do I have some sort of skin disorder? He's another really good friend, but probably doesn't want you to know that because of that whole guilt by association thing. Colleen (Clark? Smith? Jones?): She and Donne had fun laughing about feggygeekiness and feggygeeks. Of course, Colleen had to use the computer for something, and some fegs got her back. She likes to laugh, and Donne was very glad to have someone there who wasn't "ONE OF US. ONE OF US..." Karen Stern: "The quintessential hypersensitive comedy jazz genius." She's very shy and introverted, but a sensational guitarist and singer. She entertained the gang, and made people shoot chips out their noses with her ditty, "the Pantyhose Song." She's one of my favorite people. She's absolutely brilliant. David Anderson: "Thinkabilly Folk sensation." He is a really great guy. He started the music softly, which few ears heard. Later, he played "Bird's Head" and rocked the house. He played some of his new stuff, along with "Mad at the Moon," from his debut CD. I did his website the last time I had a few free moments. http://www.the-moon.com . He is probably the most respected local Santa Cruz folk songwriter, and with good reason. More stuff when I get time to write. I wish you all could have been here, but it would have been really crowded, and I don't know if Eb could've fought off Ben and Dave with his word gun. I hope to meet more of you soon. Happies, - -just a big dork ;) Party Quotes: "Gloster is a big dork." -J.A. Brelin "I use vi like most people use oxygen." -Chris Franz (please don't hold it against him.) "I AM NOT CRABBY!" -J.A. Brelin "Chris, you should play drums on this." -J.A.B. (during Markg's Talking Heads cover) ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V7 #350 *******************************