From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V7 #469 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Thursday, December 17 1998 Volume 07 : Number 469 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Spewelborg and movies [Joel Mullins ] Incorrigible [Joel Mullins ] Re: Is it the night or just the missles in the air???? (long winded) [Aar] How Celine Dion Saved my life [Mark_Gloster@3com.com] Re: Is it the night or just the missles in the air???? (long winded) [Chr] Hair, hair [Natalie Jacobs ] More "Dead Man" [griffith ] Re: How Celine Dion Saved my life [Joel Mullins ] Re: movies n stuf [Capuchin ] Oi cann stann it... [edoxtato@ssax.com] you could vote for labor...if you were a big fat communist [VIV LYON ] Growing up, heavy metal style ["Gene Hopstetter, Jr." ] Re: Top 10 Films [Gregory Stuart Shell ] what way? [Gregory Stuart Shell ] Two, two, two threads in one! ["JH3" ] Re: Oi cann stann it... [Capuchin ] Re: you could vote for labor...if you were a big fat communist [Capuchin ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 10:13:21 -0800 From: Joel Mullins Subject: Re: Spewelborg and movies > Saw a few minutes of Titanic in a vid store. All of my fears were > confirmed. I am convinced now that I would hate this movie. I thought the > dialogue was particularly apallingly, revoltingly, intoxicatingly pathetic. The dialogue is not half as bad as being forced to sit through that goddamn mother-fucking Celine Dion song! The song is basically playing throughout the entire movie. Thank god she wasn't singing with it the whole time. (In case anyone didn't catch it, I despise Celine Dion!) Anyway, in my opinion, Titantic was an okay movie that was blown way out of proportion. Everyone loved Titantic because they believed they were supposed to love it. But it was basically just a pathetic attempt to make me want to fall in love and start putting the desires of others ahead of my own. Well, it didn't work. - --Joel ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 10:20:49 -0800 From: Joel Mullins Subject: Incorrigible Hey Bayard, I just remembered that you called me "incorrigible" yesterday. What exaclty is that supposed to mean? Do you guys feel that I'm hard to manage or something? You're probably right. Have you been talking to my ex-girlfriends? - --Joel ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 11:32:11 -0500 (EST) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: Is it the night or just the missles in the air???? (long winded) On Thu, 17 Dec 1998, Christopher Gross wrote: > Spielberg movies are like video games: great fun as long as > you don't expect too much, but you'll rot your brain if they're the only > kind of fun you get. well now, why shouldn't we expect too much from video games? there are an awful lot of bad video games, but probably not any higher a proportion of them than of bad music. a ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 09:08:58 -0800 From: Mark_Gloster@3com.com Subject: How Celine Dion Saved my life Okay. I promised. This is, aside from the occasional hyperbole to which I am given, a true story. I hope it is both entertaining and informative. I get migraine headaches. Most of them last for a couple of days and are somewhat controllable with diet, excercise, and medications. Very occasionally, once a year or so, I get one that is about a zillion on a scale of ten. Some months back, I braved the first part of my migraine, thinking it might decellerate in its pursuit of massive pain on my part. My vision rapidly deteriorated from a having an aurora image that was in the shape of a small, backwards "c" to a giant amoeboid thing. The migraine never slowed down. This migraine was probably nearing the zillion mark when I tried to medicate. This was much too late. Most of my vision was completely obscurred by dancing, yet painful lights. Usually these disappear, but this one was hanging on. I felt quite nauseous, but couldn't do anything about it. I climbed into bed, put a pillow tightly over my head to reduce the blinding amount of natural light. I could detect even the tiny amout which was conducted through the covered waterbed. My head was pounding due to the increased blood flow to the head by lying down. This wasn't working for me. This could have been the worst headache in my life. I began to be truly concerned that something could really go horribly wrong with me (aneurism, brain damage [Mark Gloster, brain damage- how redundant.]) There was a noise from the living room, as Donne, my wonderful sweetie, was watching an awards show. As I entered the room, I made out the barest form on TV of a slightly attractive woman singing horrible vomit-inducing swill. I asked her, "what's this?" "Celine Dione," she replied. With that, as though an electromechanical control button had been pushed to open the great sleuces of the vomitapocalypse, I ran to the bathroom and barfed everything I had ever eaten in my life. I felt much better thereafter. Hope Fegs understand, enjoy, or take some delight in the idea of barfing Mark. - -Markg ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 12:11:17 -0500 (EST) From: Christopher Gross Subject: Re: Is it the night or just the missles in the air???? (long winded) On Thu, 17 Dec 1998, Aaron Mandel wrote: > > Spielberg movies are like video games: great fun as long as > > you don't expect too much, but you'll rot your brain if they're the only > > kind of fun you get. > > well now, why shouldn't we expect too much from video games? What I meant was, you shouldn't expect great art, insight into the human spirit, and that kinda stuff from a video game. But by all means, you should have high expectations for video games *on their own terms*. When you drop your quarter or insert your Playstation disk, expect the most enjoyable video game human ingenuity can devise, and demand your money back if it isn't! > there are an awful lot of bad video games, but probably not any higher a > proportion of them than of bad music. And some would argue that you could get more pleasure out of playing a bad video game than out of listening to bad music. - --Chris ______________________________________________________________________ Christopher Gross On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog. chrisg@gwu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 12:14:33 -0400 From: Natalie Jacobs Subject: Hair, hair Continuing the hair thread, to annoy Eb: >What color should Robyn dye his hair? Err... should he dye his hair? I was looking at some of the pictures at the Museum of RH and was surprised at how grey he's gotten. It suits him, though. The salt and pepper look is very distinguished. I say "fie!" upon those who warn against hair dye. I'm tired, tired I tell you, of my dishwater natural color, and the piebald effect of growing it out doesn't bother me because my hair is curly and grows in such a fashion that the roots don't show for a long time. I never had the nerve to experiment with Manic Panic, though. (Besides which, I think bright purple or blue hair would make my co-workers faint. They're already freaked out by the big nose ring.) Some films I like, in no order (note the high Steve Buscemi content): Blade Runner Brazil Time Bandits The Seven Samurai A Clockwork Orange Trainspotting Reservoir Dogs Trees Lounge Fargo Star Wars Passion Fish (re. Prospero's Books) >And a film with another *great* score; Mike Nyman in his most raspy >minimalist mode. And -- and Ute! Ute Lemper! (Yaaaaaay Ute!) Strangely enough, though I love Nyman's soundtracks, and find the films visually beautiful, I still think Greenaway is a big ol' wanker - pretentious and dull. "Prospero's Books" is the best of a bad lot - at least Greenaway didn't write the script! And yeah, Ute Lemper rocks. I sometimes sing bits of Nyman's "Masque" in the shower: "How does my bounteous sister? Go with me to bless this twain..." - - Grover (maybe I *should* dye my hair blue...) was playing: Elf Power, "When the Red King Comes" (New Elf Power album in '99! Yeah!) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 09:28:51 -0800 (PST) From: griffith Subject: More "Dead Man" I haven't seen it yet, but I picked up the soundtrack quite a while ago. Basically, the soundtrack is Neil Young fighting with his guitar while bits of dialogue from the movie appear and disappear. In this manner, it closely resembles the soundtrack for Apocalypse Now. griffith np - The Olivia Tremor Control - "Hideaway" CD single (which is GREAT). = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Griffith Davies hbrtv219@csun.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 11:33:22 -0800 From: Joel Mullins Subject: Re: How Celine Dion Saved my life That is a terrific story, Mark! I don't think Celine Dion has ever made me vomit, but if anyone ever did, it would be her. - --Joel Mark_Gloster@3com.com wrote: > > Okay. I promised. This is, aside from the occasional hyperbole > to which I am given, a true story. I hope it is both > entertaining and informative. > > I get migraine headaches. Most of them last for a couple of > days and are somewhat controllable with diet, excercise, and > medications. Very occasionally, once a year or so, I get one > that is about a zillion on a scale of ten. > > Some months back, I braved the first part of my migraine, > thinking it might decellerate in its pursuit of massive pain on > my part. My vision rapidly deteriorated from a having an aurora > image that was in the shape of a small, backwards "c" to a > giant amoeboid thing. The migraine never slowed down. This > migraine was probably nearing the zillion mark when I tried to > medicate. This was much too late. Most of my vision was > completely obscurred by dancing, yet painful lights. Usually > these disappear, but this one was hanging on. > > I felt quite nauseous, but couldn't do anything about it. I > climbed into bed, put a pillow tightly over my head to reduce > the blinding amount of natural light. I could detect even the > tiny amout which was conducted through the covered waterbed. My > head was pounding due to the increased blood flow to the head by > lying down. This wasn't working for me. This could have been the > worst headache in my life. I began to be truly concerned that > something could really go horribly wrong with me (aneurism, > brain damage [Mark Gloster, brain damage- how redundant.]) > > There was a noise from the living room, as Donne, my wonderful > sweetie, was watching an awards show. As I entered the room, I > made out the barest form on TV of a slightly attractive woman > singing horrible vomit-inducing swill. I asked her, "what's > this?" > > "Celine Dione," she replied. > > With that, as though an electromechanical control button had > been pushed to open the great sleuces of the vomitapocalypse, I > ran to the bathroom and barfed everything I had ever eaten in my > life. I felt much better thereafter. > > Hope Fegs understand, enjoy, or take some delight in the idea of > barfing Mark. > > -Markg ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 09:51:55 -0800 (PST) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: movies n stuf On Wed, 16 Dec 1998 Mark_Gloster@3com.com wrote: > I enjoyed "Bug's Life," but think Randy Newman shouldn't > be the guy writing all the Pixar soundtracks. Antz did A Bug's Life so much better. Blech. Disney pisses me off. > Something aGout Mary was pretty amusing, but I haven't > seen any movie this year that compares with Zero Effect > from last year. It's going to be a long while, I think, before I see anything that compares to Zero Effect from last year. That movie's fucking awesome and I rent it just about monthly. I haven't found a purchasable copy yet. But I saw American History X and really enjoyed it. It'd been quite a while since I saw something that I would so heartily recommend. I think even the sappy bits are fairly real and good. > If any "THE TICK" comic book fans want to know what > Jeme's hair looks like I have two words for you: > CHAINSAW VIGILANTE Band name! I spot a potential band name! How about Chainsaw Vigilante and The Atrocity? The best part is, it's a solo act. How can my life feel so blessed and glum at the same time? Je. ________________________________________________________ J A Brelin Capuchin ________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 12:31:09 -0600 From: edoxtato@ssax.com Subject: Oi cann stann it... Well, you guys finally did it. I don't like lists, but having read the "best of" lists being posted on the list over the past week or two, it got me thinking (a feat in and of itself)... so, my lists are: PB&J Sammich Combinations: In a tie for first place: Skippy Peanut Butter (smooth), Wheat Bread, Welch's Grape Sainsbury's American-Style Peanut Butter, multi-grain bread, blackberry jam (not technically a jelly, but I couldn't find ANY grape jelly in the UK, which still makes no sense to me... a culture that prides itself on its preserves...) Actually, there's no point in listing any other combinations, cos I won't eat any PB&J sammiches constructed from other materials. Your mileage may vary. Best movie? Didn't have one. Let me say that none were as painful as "Titanic", however. That movie was a stinker. Fave TV? Same as always: Simpsons, King Of The Hill, Pinky And The Brain '98 albums? Slim pickings for me, but I'd have to say (in no particular order): Man Or Astro-Man, "1000X" Catherine Wheel, "Adam And Eve" (a 1997 release) Warm Jets, "Future Signs" Frank Black And The Catholics, "Frank Black And The Catholics" Neutral Milk Hotel, "Aeroplane" Swervedriver, "99th Dream" (well, this was released in 1997, but I didn't buy it until 1998) The Refo:mation, "Distance-Crunching Honchos With Echo-Units" Cornershop, "When I Was Born For The 7th Time" Cornershop, "Girl's Gotta Have It" (not released in 1998, but purchased in 1998) Barney Kessel, "Easy Like (Volume I)" (re-issued in 1998) The Fareed Hauk Quintet, Live At Martyr's Sumosonic, "This Is Sumo" Best Gigs (again in no order): - -Von Freeman & Ed Petersen, The Green Mill. About six hours of duling hard-bop tenor saxophones. Vonski and Ed will be playing at the Mill the 1st and 2nd of January, I think. If you're in Chicago, go see them. Incredible night out and it'll probably cost you all of six bucks to get in the door. - -The Fareed Hauk Quintet, The Green Mill. Fareed Hauk is a Chicago-based jazz guitarist. He's a fabulous player and great fun on stage. His band incorporates western and Indian instruments, and uses Indian music styles (including vocal styles). Again, if you get the chance to see him at The Note or The Green Mill, GO. - -John Wesley Harding, Schubas'. I saw him twice. He's like our man Robyn, but without the surrealisim. He also sticks a bit more closely to traditional folk song forms-- which I normally loathe, but he's so engaging, and so energetic, he could sing the fucking phone book and I could get into it. - -The Tragically Hip, Martyrs'. Jesus, what an incredibly great show. Big fun on a little stage. Geek Section: Biggest disappointment in computing: Java. A lovely idea. A dreadful implementation. The performance is awful. I don't see why Sun and Mickeysoft are fighting over it. Obviously, no-one involved in the suit has acutally USED the language. Biggest pleasant surprise in computing: Perl. What a great language. Runs everywhere. Does what I want. Whee! (Apologies to Eb for pinching his tag line.) Anyway, I really ought to do some work. (I'm curious to know what it's like.) Look after yerselves... - -Ed, Doc, only three more working days left for me this year... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 11:06:20 -0800 (PST) From: VIV LYON Subject: you could vote for labor...if you were a big fat communist Capuchin, I think, wrote: > > Dave and I debated last night (loudly and in public, what an embarrassment): 1. Are people on this list political? That is, are they actively interested in politics, and if so, is the predominant leaning left? 2. Could Robyn be considered a political songwriter? I argued that with the sole exception of Mr. Tews, no one on this list seems to be particularly political- at least, not so's you'd notice. Dave seemed to think we had a lot of lefties here. I'd be hard put to say more than that most of us seem 'left-leaning,' but again, it's not a distinguishing feature. On point two, we raised our voices and I raised my fist once, but put it back down hastily. Dave seems to think Robyn is an (occasionally) political songwriter, pointing to "1974"- 'You could vote for labor but you can't anymore.' For my part, apart from notables like "The President" and the lines from "Dancing on God's Thumb" - 'We've got a bunch of crippled loonies in power,' etc., the man does not use his music as a lectern from which to preach at us. God knows, I'm more than left-leaning, and love a rousing labor song or two, but I do not seek reinforcement of my politcal ideals from RH. What do y'all think? > and the new Baffler is out (#11, "Middletown Delenda Est.") this > magazine just keeps getting better and better. it'd be right up there > with the might anderson valley advertiser if it came out more > frequently. I know (peripherally) several of the people involved with this great magazine and highly highly recommend it. I wouldn't bother subscribing, though- they are notoriously tardy in production. Vivien _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 14:01:40 EST From: MARKEEFE@aol.com Subject: Re: Is it the night or just the return of Pac Man fever? In a message dated 98-12-17 11:40:03 EST, you write: << > Spielberg movies are like video games: great fun as long as > you don't expect too much, but you'll rot your brain if they're the only > kind of fun you get. well now, why shouldn't we expect too much from video games? there are an awful lot of bad video games, but probably not any higher a proportion of them than of bad music. >> This is probably true, but I'd reckon that the possibilities for being emotionally moved is greatly reduced within the video game realm (and, please, don't confuse "emotionally moved" with the intoxicating chemical swirl of 44 oz of Pepsi, retinal strain, and maybe a few endorphins kicking off when you finally get to that elusive next level of Doom). - ------Michael ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 14:11:41 EST From: MARKEEFE@aol.com Subject: Re: Various Kvetches, Buddhist and otherwise. . . . In a message dated 98-12-17 11:21:55 EST, Quail writes: << And furthermore, a lot of "Star Wars" was pretty derivative of Gustav Holst's "The Planets." >> Not to mention Dvorak's "New World Symphony" (9th). But, hey, Williams borrowed well . . . at least up thru "Raiders," as you said. - ------Michael K. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 14:45:06 -0500 (EST) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: Elliot Smith On Tue, 15 Dec 1998, Joel Mullins wrote: > Anyway, how does XO compare to Either/Or? > And what about the band he was in? Heatmiser? What are they like? Heatmiser were a 'rock' band, but i'd like to think that people who like Smith's songwriting would not get hung up on the loud guitars. to me the music fits in very well with the spectacle of Smith raising his voice. Cop And Speeder was their best, i think. a ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Dec 1998 14:12:07 -0600 From: "Gene Hopstetter, Jr." Subject: Growing up, heavy metal style The Great Quail shreiked: >Rob Halford is WHAT? But -- what about the black leather! A-and the >motorcycle! And all those chains! And the Joan Baez fixation. . . . How >can he possibly be gay? My friends and I, all veterans of the Great American Suburban Heavy Metal Adolescence, long ago realized that admitting that your heavy metal heroes are really gay is an important step towards maturity. True story: New wave bar that a pal of mine and I pretty much lived in called Andy Capp's, in New Orleans, 1985. One night, who should walk in but Judas Priest's drummer. The band wasn't even on tour, so my pal corners him, and asks What are you doing in New Orleans? His reply? Rob's here to see his boyfriend, who lives in the French Quarter. Did a whole lotta growing up that week, lemmetellyou. Then, in 1988, Judas Priest played the arena on my university campus (Louisiana State University). I was a director at the university's station, KLSU, and I had arranged a phone interview with Mr. Halford. I was going to ask him about that trip to New Orleans. But he never called. Drat. +++++++++ Gene Hopstetter, Jr. http://home.swbell.net/efhop/ + efhop@swbell.net ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 14:28:24 -0500 (CDT) From: Gregory Stuart Shell Subject: Re: Top 10 Films This is tough one, but here are ten of my favorites: The Hobbit The Exorcist The Jerk What's Eating Gilbert Grape Logan's Run Dune Watership Downs The Shining Das Boot Lord Of The Flies ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 14:38:49 -0500 (CDT) From: Gregory Stuart Shell Subject: what way? On Thu, 17 Dec 1998, VIV LYON wrote: > I argued that with the sole exception of Mr. Tews, no one on this list > seems to be particularly political- at least, not so's you'd notice. You walked in between rounds, just stick around. > Dave seemed to think we had a lot of lefties here. I'd be hard put to > say more than that most of us seem 'left-leaning,' but again, it's not > a distinguishing feature. If you lean far enough one way, you fall over. Regards, Gregory S. Shell Subversive Specialist Capitalist ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 14:45:58 -0600 From: "JH3" Subject: Two, two, two threads in one! JH3'S TOP TEN FILMS OF ALL TIME: 1. Hair (1979) 2. Hairspray (1988) 3. Shampoo (1975) 4. The Hairy Ape (1944) 5. The Trouble With Harry (1955) 6. Deconstructing Harry (1997) 7. Give 'Em Hell, Harry! (1975) 8. US Army Training Film #4573: "Hair Care for Personnel in Combat" (1942) 9. Johnny Get Your Hair Cut (1927) 10. Aliens Cut My Hair (1992) - --John H. Hedges http://www.alternatech.net/jh3/robyn PS: JH3's LATEST MILLION-DOLLAR E-COMMERCE IDEA: Wouldn't it be great if there were a place on the Internet that you could just point your browser to for a perm, dye-job, hot-oil treatment, or a shampoo-and-set? Just go to www.hairsalonline.com! (Apparently this domain name is still available...) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 12:42:22 -0800 (PST) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: Oi cann stann it... On Thu, 17 Dec 1998 edoxtato@ssax.com wrote: > PB&J Sammich Combinations: > In a tie for first place: > Skippy Peanut Butter (smooth), Wheat Bread, Welch's Grape > Sainsbury's American-Style Peanut Butter, multi-grain bread, blackberry jam > (not technically a jelly, but I couldn't find ANY grape jelly in the UK, > which still makes no sense to me... a culture that prides itself on its > preserves...) > Actually, there's no point in listing any other combinations, cos I won't > eat any PB&J sammiches constructed from other materials. Your mileage may > vary. Skippy? Dear lord you're going to make ME throw up and I don't even have a migraine. PB&J is very dear to me. PB&H is right up there. (This is all when I don't have the time to make a proper sandwich, mind you, with vegetables and good sourdough.) Requirements for good PB&J: Adam's No-Stir All Natural Peanut Butter. I always have a jar of each (creamy and crunchy) in the cupboard. While it's not a J really at all, I use Danish Orchards preserves. I usually have at least two varieties in the fridge. At the moment, it's seedless blackberry and seedless raspberry (does anyone make cranberry jelly? Does anyone who makes jelly at home have some tips for a cranberry attempt?). Bread is open to taste. I personally think cheap bread is best for PB&J. I use either a cracked wheat or a butter-top white. > Best movie? > Didn't have one. Let me say that none were as painful as "Titanic", > however. That movie was a stinker. Titanic was certainly not the WORST movie of the year. The worst was "Where The Air Is Cool And Dark". Oh FUCK that movie sucked. I mean BAD. ALMOST worth seeking as a bad movie, but not quite. > Fave TV? > Same as always: Simpsons, King Of The Hill, Pinky And The Brain Ever since I got digital cable, I've stopped watching TV... and when I DO turn it on, I only check the movie channels. OK, not entirely true. I watch HBO's Mr. Show with Bob and David regularly. > '98 albums? I really don't think I bought many 1998 releases. Storefront (and yeah, the LP is way better) Neutral Milk Hotel -- In the Aeroplane Over the Sea Cake -- Prolonging the Magic Garbage -- Version 2.0 And that may well be it. Those are probably arranged in order of preference as well. I don't think I've listened to the Garbage disc more than a dozen times. The Cake disc gets most of its play in my 3-disc changer with the other two Cake albums on random. > Best Gigs (again in no order): Robyn at The Aladdin was Great. NMH at Satyricon was Great (despite opening acts but enhanced by mousey backing up girl). TMBG twice... their shows are Good, but going downhill. Yo La Tengo was Excellent. Cake was Superlative. Violent Femmes are always Superlative. Soul Coughing was Good. Slow Gherkin was Kick-Ass So Fucking Good See Them NOW. I didn't go to very many shows this year. Terrible live acts: Squirrel Nut Zippers (all three times... nothing special), Big Bad VooDoo Daddy (ok, so I went to the show on a friend's begging), and whoever opened for everyone I saw this year (Except Slow Gherkin who WAS the opening band, but I left before the headliner took the stage). > Geek Section: > Biggest disappointment in computing: > Java. A lovely idea. A dreadful implementation. We all hope this is improved someday. But I've seen some Very Good Java. Let's hope that once Microsoft is out of the picture (or playing by the rules... yeah right) it'll clean up a little. > Biggest pleasant surprise in computing: > Perl. What a great language. Runs everywhere. Does what I want. Whee! Perl kicks SO much ass. Write Perl. And Perl/tk is a nifty combo. Rambling on mostly unrelated topics as per... J. ________________________________________________________ J A Brelin Capuchin ________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 13:13:56 -0800 (PST) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: you could vote for labor...if you were a big fat communist On Thu, 17 Dec 1998, VIV LYON wrote: > Capuchin, I think, wrote: > > > Dave and I debated last night (loudly and in public, what an > embarrassment): Fuck people. > 1. Are people on this list political? That is, are they actively > interested in politics, and if so, is the predominant leaning left? Gregory is right in (oh, in so many ways) saying that you just walked in between threads. The list is somewhat political. And yeah, folks are predominantly left-leaning, but there are notable exceptions. But no more left-leaning than the average person these days. As I was just telling Quail off-list, leftism is, to me, a new kind of catholicism. You believe it and you practice it because you feel you should and that you're an evil person if you don't, but it only causes you guilt and frustration and really does nothing to enrich your life. Me, I'm for freedom across the board. As much as I hate to see people trampled and injustice run rampant, I can't bring myself to saying that it's more important to help than to offer the choice to not help. Be good and let other people be dicks. > 2. Could Robyn be considered a political songwriter? I think he considers himself political. I think some people here consider him political. But I think of him in the way that he pretends to think of himself (and yes, I have my own idea of what Robyn IS like versus who Robyn THINKS he is -- I did explain how I think I like Robyn's music more than he does, didn't I?); a guy who plays guitar for a living shouldn't be sought for political insight. Some folks are of the opinion that all art is political and with that I would largely agree. However, I would take that just a step further and say that art spreads ideas and shares feelings and inspires thought and insight and those things plant seeds that are interpreted by people completely independent of artists' intention. Hence, I believe art is political, but pointless as a political weapon. More on this if anyone cares at another time. > I argued that with the sole exception of Mr. Tews, no one on this list > seems to be particularly political- at least, not so's you'd notice. > Dave seemed to think we had a lot of lefties here. I'd be hard put to > say more than that most of us seem 'left-leaning,' but again, it's not > a distinguishing feature. Yip. Time will tell. I'm not going to start trying to nail down the distinguishing features of this list because... well, it's dumb. I will write, however, that there are a few things fegs have always had in common (from my point of view [of course] and over the course all the rotating feg combinations I've seen in past years). Fegs are the nicest people (even me and Eb and the others that rant more often than rave). Fegs are fetishistic (fuck you guys, it's true... you're not all as obsessive-compulsive as I am, but you all have addictive personalities and obsessive tendencies). And, as a result of the other two, fegs hold fegmaniax very dear. This list MATTERS to people and that simultaneously creeps me out and makes me all warm and fuzzy. And most of us like Robyn Hitchcock. > On point two, we raised our voices and I raised my fist once, but put > it back down hastily. Dave seems to think Robyn is an (occasionally) > political songwriter, pointing to "1974"- 'You could vote for labor > but you can't anymore.' This is Robyn showing the fact that he really THINKS he's all subversive and political and has something unique to say on the subject of politics. > For my part, apart from notables like "The President" and the lines > from "Dancing on God's Thumb" - 'We've got a bunch of crippled loonies > in power,' etc., the man does not use his music as a lectern from > which to preach at us. And that's you picking up on the fact that Robyn knows deep down that he's just a bloke with a guitar who writes songs for a bunch of people that already like him. > God knows, I'm more than left-leaning, and love > a rousing labor song or two, but I do not seek reinforcement of my > politcal ideals from RH. What do y'all think? I think I'm in love. No no no (calm down, Dave)... I think that you're right... and he's right. But I think you view him on different levels. I will make no judgment calls on those levels (in this forum... or at least in this message). > I know (peripherally) several of the people involved with this great > magazine and highly highly recommend it. I wouldn't bother > subscribing, though- they are notoriously tardy in production. This is the socialist equivalent of starfucking. Writing an awful lot lately. I wonder if that means I'm about to lose my job. J. ________________________________________________________ J A Brelin Capuchin ________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V7 #469 *******************************