From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V8 #184 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Wednesday, May 19 1999 Volume 08 : Number 184 Today's Subjects: ----------------- ??? [John Barrington Jones ] Re: ??? [Eleanore Adams ] Incidentally [Eb ] Re: ??? ["chad leahy" ] Re: ??? [Chris Gillis ] Re: ??? [Capuchin ] Re: ??? [Tom Clark ] Re: ??? [Terrence M Marks ] RE: Incidentally ["Thomas, Ferris" ] tomorrow???? ["Capitalism Blows" ] Pick a number between one and 100 [The Great Quail ] The Empire Grows... [Chris Gillis ] 3.1415926535...and counting [Chris Gillis ] Take Two! Pick a number between one and 100 [The Great Quail ] new tour dates, etc [Bayard ] Re: new tour dates, etc [Eb ] Re: new tour dates, etc [Tom Clark ] Re: Terror Twilight [Aaron Mandel ] Commercial Music ["Ariel Green" ] Re: ??? [Ethyl Ketone ] Re: Terror Twilight [Natalie Jacobs ] Re: ??? [Terrence M Marks ] Re: tomorrow???? [tanter@tarleton.edu] comedies and time lords [digja611@student.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan)] Re: Oz and Who [digja611@student.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan)] More from the sage one [Rich Plumb ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 11:54:35 -0700 (PDT) From: John Barrington Jones Subject: ??? is everything alright with the list? i've gotten less than 5 messages from the list in the past two days. really, that is not normal! =jbj= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 12:14:12 +0000 From: Eleanore Adams Subject: Re: ??? My guess is that all the fegs are in line for tix for Star Wars. My husband's boss gave everyone there the day off, and my husband is looking for tix scalpers. Of coarse I have to work and can't go tomorrow. eleanore John Barrington Jones wrote: > is everything alright with the list? i've gotten less than 5 messages from > the list in the past two days. really, that is not normal! > > =jbj= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 12:25:15 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Incidentally I did take the bite for a Tom Waits ticket yesterday morning. And whatta bite: a cool $72.25, including service charge. Gawwwwd. I don't think I'd pay that for ANYONE, except him. Well, maybe Brian Wilson or (fat chance) XTC. NOT Springsteen/E Street.... Thanks to the semi-obscure outlet I chose, the only other person waiting in line was a hardcore ticket-broker weasel who was on a cell phone the whole time -- I'm glad I was in front of him, because he took several minutes to work out his order. Still, even being first in line, I only got 23rd row. Ah well. Hopefully, I'll be in a position where I can see Waits' hands on the keyboard. That's important to me. Barry Manilow tickets went on sale the same morning, but none of his contingent showed up. Darn...I was hoping to eavesdrop on some porky-housewife Barry banter. Now, come on...somebody confess to camping out for Star Wars tickets, so I can ridicule you. Eb, now trying to figure why the Global Village software thinks he's using an "Unknown Modem" PS Whatever happened to Fluffy Sarah? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 14:24:47 -0500 From: "chad leahy" Subject: Re: ??? >> is everything alright with the list? i've gotten less than 5 messages from >> the list in the past two days. really, that is not normal! >My guess is that all the fegs are in line for tix for Star Wars. My husband's >boss gave everyone there the day off, and my husband is looking for tix >scalpers. Of coarse I have to work and can't go tomorrow. then there are those of us who got our tickets last wednesday and are still at work (but looking forward to tomorrow when we won't be). :) chad ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 15:33:54 -0400 (EDT) From: Chris Gillis Subject: Re: ??? > is everything alright with the list? i've gotten less than 5 messages from > the list in the past two days. really, that is not normal! Welcome to summer on-line. Apologies to the southern half, .chris ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 12:37:20 -0700 (PDT) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: ??? On Tue, 18 May 1999, Eleanore Adams wrote: > My guess is that all the fegs are in line for tix for Star Wars. My husband's > boss gave everyone there the day off, and my husband is looking for tix > scalpers. Of coarse I have to work and can't go tomorrow. My boss took last Wednesday off work to stand in line and get tickets for us. He's taking tomorrow off to stand in line to get seats. We'll meet him an hour or two before the show. That's one way to keep us at work that day. J. - -- ________________________________________________________ J A Brelin Capuchin ________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 12:45:12 -0700 From: Tom Clark Subject: Re: ??? Then there are those of us whose interest level in Star Wars is measured in microgiveashits. Besides, all May 19th means to me is it's my wedding anniversary and I haven't ordered flowers yet. - -tc ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 15:42:48 -0400 (EDT) From: Terrence M Marks Subject: Re: ??? On Tue, 18 May 1999, John Barrington Jones wrote: > is everything alright with the list? i've gotten less than 5 messages from > the list in the past two days. really, that is not normal! Some of us just haven't had much to say. My biggest complaint these last few days is that the new McDonalds videos use Rugrats-style animation and character models. I don't plan to watch them or anything, but it's wrong in principal to change the look of a character you've spent so long establishing. Oh, and my comic strip entered phase 2 yesterday, so it's a phase better than almost any other comic out there. Terrence Marks Unlike Minerva (a comic strip) http://grove.ufl.edu/~normal normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 16:20:28 -0400 From: "Thomas, Ferris" Subject: RE: Incidentally TicketMaster stabbed me in the the other day for tickets to good Ole Irving Plaza. Five bucks a ticket plus 3 on top of the whole thing. And they say that reselling a ticket for profit is illegal. Sprachen mein Eb: > I don't think I'd pay that for ANYONE, except him. Well, maybe Brian Wilson My sister is supposed to be going to see him pretty soon. Is it hype, or really worth it? Im gleichen Atem sagte Eb: > Now, come on...somebody confess to camping out for Star Wars tickets, so I can ridicule you. The wife went and got tickets on her day off, does that count? I'm not even sure it's going to sell out here in the Quiet Corner. - -f Ferris Scott Thomas programmer > (860) 409-2612 McGraw-Hill Technology Division Farmington, CT mailto:ferris_thomas@mcgraw-hill.com (work) mailto:ferris@snet.net (home) http://pages.cthome.net/hellhollow/ "We keep you alive to serve this ship, so row well... and live" - Ben Hur ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 13:42:50 PDT From: "Capitalism Blows" Subject: tomorrow???? what's all this about going to see Star Wars *tomorrow*? i thought y'all were hardcore? the films opens *tonight*, at 12:01 am. (yeah, yeah, technically that's tomorrow, but it sounds like everyone's all excited about going to see it tomorrow afternoon or what have you.) me, i'm going to go by the cinerama tonight just to see how long the line is. i'm always fascinated by this sort of thing. _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 99 16:54:14 -0400 From: The Great Quail Subject: Pick a number between one and 100 Regarding Pi: I really enjoyed the film, and I think that Cappy, Mikey, and Mr. Newspaper Dude all missed the main point, which is not "thinking is bad" at all. I saw Pi as a very "Foucault's Pendulum" story about MEANING, not about thinking. I believe it was about the desire to grasp meaning in this universe, to rationalize the chaos of life, to place Creation in a frame of logic that can be grasped -- and manipulated -- by humans. So far most of the discussion is about the scientific aspect of the film, but the Qabalistic one is just as important. Classical Qabalah is highly numerological, and believes that the Universe as we experience it can be explained by relationships which are primarily numerical. Study of these relationships can lead to understanding; to meaning. The Bad Stock Market Folks in the movie believed in something similar, so did the old Professor, Sol. But the question remains at the end of the film -- is there such a thing as Meaning? Or is the desire for meaning so strong that we project meaning onto the Universe where there is really nothing? What is the nature of reality? Is relaity objective or subjective, or maybe both? If we *believe* that there is meaning +---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ The Great Quail, K.S.C. (riverrun Discordian Society, Kibroth-hattaavah Branch) For fun with postmodern literature, New York vampires, and Fegmania, visit Sarnath: http://www.rpg.net/quail "The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents." -- H.P. Lovecraft ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 16:56:02 -0400 (EDT) From: Chris Gillis Subject: The Empire Grows... On Tue, 18 May 1999, Capitalism Blows wrote: > what's all this about going to see Star Wars *tomorrow*? You know for a movie about an evil empire, you would think that there would be more of a resistance to the mass marketing of it. Or at least a larger show of it is some circles. Me? I see none of it. Of course, I hasten to add that the track record for Star Wars films being "good" is not good. the previous two films were no greater than b-movie cowboy flick with one-liners and high technology. does one (who even that is) really thin that a fourth time around can shake the burden of the previous two?? .chris (who would rather have Goldman-Sachs stock than tickets for *any* movie showing with the prefix "pre" as part of the title.) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 17:00:58 -0400 (EDT) From: Chris Gillis Subject: 3.1415926535...and counting > -- is there such a thing > as Meaning? Yes. > Or is the desire for meaning so strong that we project > meaning onto the Universe where there is really nothing? Yes. > What is the > nature of reality? For complete answer, see above two answers. > Is relaity objective or subjective, or maybe both? Given above answer, one can only answer: subjective. .chris ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 99 17:12:53 -0400 From: The Great Quail Subject: Take Two! Pick a number between one and 100 !!! Sorry !!! I accidentally sent my letter before completing it! I swear, I was not kidnapped by the Illuminati. Regarding Pi: I really enjoyed the film, and I think that Cappy, Mikey, and Mr. Newspaper Dude all missed the main point, which is not "thinking is bad" at all. I saw Pi as a parable about Meaning, Belief, and Power -- not about Thinking per se. I believe it was about the desire to grasp meaning in this universe, to rationalize the chaos of life, to place Creation in a frame of logic that can be grasped -- and manipulated -- by humans. So far most of the discussion is about the scientific aspect of the film, but the Qabalistic one is just as important. Classical Qabalah is highly numerological, and believes that the Universe as we experience it can be explained by relationships which are primarily numerical. Study of these relationships can lead to understanding; to meaning. This is the first step to manipulation and consequently power. The Bad Stock Market Folks in the movie believed in something similar, so did the old Professor, Sol. But the question remains at the end of the film -- is there such a thing as Meaning? Or is the desire for meaning so strong that we project meaning onto the Universe where there is really only randomness? Which of course begs the old chestnut, What is the nature of reality? Is reality objective or subjective, or maybe both? If we *believe* that there is meaning, does that actually create it? I saw the film as a pretty original exploration of those themes. Even though I think there were a few flaws, I certainly didn't see it as an attack on intellectualism, nor as a defense of the "simple" life. The way the film ends is very open and ambiguous, which I liked . . . the question is not settled at all; indeed, we are deliberately frustrated from finding a clear resolution. Two other works of "quantum-physics inspired art" that I think it resembled are Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum" and Pynchon's "The Crying of Lot 49," both which question reality/meaning and leave the reader with two plausible solutions coexisting at the same time, but are mutually exclusive. - --Quail PS: I am still debating what the ants symbolized . . . Chaos? Bugs in the program of the universe? Or were they totally without meaning, just another thing to try and explain? Or did Aronofsky just leave too many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches around during the filming? +---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ The Great Quail, K.S.C. (riverrun Discordian Society, Kibroth-hattaavah Branch) For fun with postmodern literature, New York vampires, and Fegmania, visit Sarnath: http://www.rpg.net/quail "The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents." -- H.P. Lovecraft ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 17:56:39 -0400 (EDT) From: Natalie Jacobs Subject: Terror Twilight In a fit of masochism, I decided to review a new album by a band I loathe, Pavement, for the college radio station. Mr. Keefe mentioned this earlier so I thought I'd pass along my thoughts, such as they are. Surprise: the album doesn't suck. At least they've mostly given up their stupid faux-slacker shtick. But what remains is decidedly ordinary. It has its moments, though. Sometimes it almost reminded me of Beck's "Mutations," except not as good. And of course the production, by Nigel "OK Computer" Godrich, is fantastic. I'd give it 12/20 on the Eb-scale (tm). n., in a crummy mood ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 18:23:24 -0400 (EDT) From: Bayard Subject: new tour dates, etc from http://robynhitchcock.com/auditori.htm ROBYN HITCHCOCK TOUR DATES Australia June 8: Punter's Club, Melbourne June 10: The Basement, Sydney June 11 or 12: Robyn introduces Storefront Hitchcock screening at Dendy Cineman, Sydney United States June 18/19: Cafe Largo, Los Angeles, CA June 22/23: Tramp's, New York City (with the Flaming Lips Revue) France June 27/28: Hotel du Nord, Paris (with Peter Blegvad) NEW RELEASES Jewels For Sophia is set for release on Warner Brothers July 28th, in the US and elsewhere. An album of outtakes will be available in the autumn, available only through The Museum of Robyn Hitchcock gift shop and at live shows. Robyn's song "Judas Sings (Jesus and Me)" is featured in the movie The Judas Kiss, directed by Sebastian Gutierez and starring Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson and Carla Augine. The film is being released to theaters throughout France on June 2nd, and in Spain (under the title El Beso De Jesus) on July 9th. The song will be available on the outtakes album mentioned above. =b ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 15:37:36 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Re: new tour dates, etc >NEW RELEASES > >Jewels For Sophia is set for release on Warner Brothers July 28th, in the >US and elsewhere. I was told July 20th. And since July 28th is a *Wednesday* (we all know that new releases come out on Tuesday), I wonder if this is a question of bad handwriting...someone's zero read as an eight. >An album of outtakes will be available in the autumn, >available only through The Museum of Robyn Hitchcock gift shop and at live >shows. Oho. Eb, in a phenomenally angry mood today ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 16:27:18 -0700 From: Tom Clark Subject: Re: new tour dates, etc On 5/18/99 3:23 PM, Bayard wrote: >Robyn's song "Judas Sings (Jesus and Me)" is featured in the movie The >Judas Kiss, directed by Sebastian Gutierez and starring Alan Rickman, Emma >Thompson and Carla Augine. The film is being released to theaters >throughout France on June 2nd, and in Spain (under the title El Beso De >Jesus) on July 9th. The song will be available on the outtakes album >mentioned above. Aha!!! My brother told me the other day he heard a Robyn song in "some English movie on Cinemax", but he couldn't remember the title. Here, from the Cinemax website, are the upcoming listings. I think he said the song plays over the closing credits. Date Time Channel Title Rating Min Genres Thu, May 20 11:15pm MAX East JUDAS KISS R 97 Suspense, Crime Thu, May 20 2:15am MAX West JUDAS KISS R 97 Suspense, Crime Sat, May 29 11:35pm MAX East JUDAS KISS R 97 Suspense, Crime Sat, May 29 2:35am MAX West JUDAS KISS R 97 Suspense, Crime Wed, Jun 2 8:40pm MorMAX East JUDAS KISS R 97 Suspense, Crime - -tc ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 20:20:40 -0400 (EDT) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: Terror Twilight On Tue, 18 May 1999, Natalie Jacobs wrote: > In a fit of masochism, I decided to review a new album by a band I > loathe, Pavement, for the college radio station. Mr. Keefe mentioned > this earlier so I thought I'd pass along my thoughts, such as they > are. > > Surprise: the album doesn't suck. of all the things that someone who hates a band can say about a new album, this is the one that gives me the least hope of being able to learn more about whether *i'd* like the album from their review. after all, i already think the band doesn't suck, but it took me a while to get into them. so is the new album just an accessible starting point from which the reviewer would find that they actually like the older stuff more than they used to? and does it mean that the band have just lost their style, and thus no longer irritate the listener in the same way, or that they've incorporated new elements into the style which draw the ear of someone who wants this record to be different, good or bad? i do not know. > At least they've mostly given up their stupid faux-slacker shtick. i keep reading about how Pavement and Beck are "slacker" performers. i don't know if this is really how you're using the term, but the implication usually seems to be that they could play music 'right' if only they'd apply themselves, and that they are from California. it's certainly not that the music's laconic (it is sometimes, but so is most of what's on the radio) or that the lyrics praise ennui. > n., in a crummy mood funny how peevishness multiplies when you share it... i heard "Spit On A Stranger" and thought it was unpromising. i can't remember what couplet it was that got me, but they rhymed "fire" and "desire" or "change" and "strange" or some other godawful bryan adams hack. but i thought "Shady Lane" was pretty weak too. a ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 17:51:00 PDT From: "Ariel Green" Subject: Commercial Music Greetings! Just a couple of questions... Does anyone know the song used on that Volkswagen ad where everything in town synchronises with the music? Also, there's a *really* lame ad for Milky Way--they have some new caramel or something--but the music in it sounds like something Beck would do. Anyone know what that's from? Of course, it could be that they are both completely original advertising tunes... ...But I sortof doubt that. Ariel _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 18:16:36 -0700 From: Ethyl Ketone Subject: Re: ??? Tickets to what???? - - c "Questions are a burden for others. Answers are a prison for oneself." **************************************************************************** M.E.Ketone/C.Galbraith meketone@ix.netcom.com carrieg@blueplanetsoftware.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 22:01:26 -0400 (EDT) From: Natalie Jacobs Subject: Re: Terror Twilight > > Surprise: the album doesn't suck. > > of all the things that someone who hates a band can say about a new album, > this is the one that gives me the least hope of being able to learn more > about whether *i'd* like the album from their review. Yeah, I guess that's not a very encouraging thing to say. If I were a fan, I would probably take it to mean that the band had altered to the point that I wouldn't like them anymore. I've heard that's the case here, but I don't know. Anyway, even though it doesn't suck, I still wouldn't bother picking up any of Pavement's earlier stuff. I'm also glad I didn't have to pay for this one. > > At least they've mostly given up their stupid faux-slacker shtick. > > i keep reading about how Pavement and Beck are "slacker" performers. i > don't know if this is really how you're using the term, but the > implication usually seems to be that they could play music 'right' if only > they'd apply themselves, It's more that they act as if they don't give a shit even though they do - their music lacks passion, and they refuse to rock out even though they're capable of it, as if it's beneath them. Must keep up that indie-rock "ironic" stance, y'know... Their music has a little more bite on the new album, but not much. > > n., in a crummy mood > > funny how peevishness multiplies when you share it... Glad to be of service. For what it's worth, my favorite track was the not-so-hidden one, "Carrot Rope" or something like that. n. np: "Highway 61 Revisited" - I've finally caved and bought a Dylan album... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 22:14:26 -0400 (EDT) From: Terrence M Marks Subject: Re: ??? On Tue, 18 May 1999, Ethyl Ketone wrote: > Tickets to what???? Ride. And no, we don't care. Terrence Marks Unlike Minerva (a comic strip) http://grove.ufl.edu/~normal normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 21:37:32 -0500 (CDT) From: tanter@tarleton.edu Subject: Re: tomorrow???? As of 5:00pm local time, our cinema had 119 tickets still left for the 12:01am showing of The Phantom Menace, should any of you need to see it right away...! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 16:08:58 +1200 From: digja611@student.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: comedies and time lords >And often, I would argue, in the box office taxonomy. > >"How do we sell this thing?". > >I can't recall who said this, but I'm sure that someone here can- something >to the effect that you can say things with comedy that would have some >number of people hating your guts if you said them with drama. Was it Mel >Brooks? I think a milder corollary applies also, that if people think >they're going to get to laugh, they'll be a lot more willing to go. But >most really satisfying comedies, the ones I laugh the most at, are usually >pretty serious endeavors. > >Good case in point- [...] three words: "Life is beautiful" >The story is that he got it from a London telephone directory which had a >DAL to LEK volume. I checked out the London directory at the time and no >such volume exists, _but_ the letters D A L E and K do all appear on 3 >volumes (A-D, E-K and L to something else), and it is possible to pile >them up in such a way that you can read 'Dalek'in a sort of U-shape: A L E > D K A-D, E-K, L-R, S-Z was the long-time standard for London. Do I have too much trivia or what? It's a very useful way of sorting CDs into piles for putting away, too. Stack three of them on top of each other and read anti-clockwise from the top right, and you get DALEKR. Then again, I've also heard it said that Nation invented this explanation to styop people asking silly questions (a bit like Harlan Ellison's "a warehouse in Baltimore", which he answers when asked where he gets his ideas from). James (A Jon Pertwee fan. Then again, those had the advantage of Roger Delgado as the Master. The Silurians rule OK!) PS - combining comedy and science fiction, has anyone else ever noticed that the only time Star Trek really hit top stride was when they decided not to take themselves seriously and do a comedy (movie 4, Tribbles, etc)? James Dignan___________________________________ You talk to me Deptmt of Psychology, Otago University As if from a distance ya zhivu v' 50 Norfolk Street And I reply. . . . . . . . . . Dunedin, New Zealand with impressions chosen from another time steam megaphone (03) 455-7807 (Brian Eno - "By this River") ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 16:10:55 +1200 From: digja611@student.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: Re: Oz and Who Damn, and with that subject line, I thought this was going to be about Roger Daltrey... James (who is obviously bored) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 12:48:56 -0400 (EDT) From: Rich Plumb Subject: More from the sage one Excerpts from an interview in which Chomsky replies to the riddles of the universe: BARSAMIAN: A few years ago, there was a humorous post going around the Internet in which various intellectuals, both past and present, were purported to have responded to the age-old riddle of why the chicken crossed the road. So, let me start by asking you, today, in your opinion, why DID the chicken cross the road? CHOMSKY: Well, I think we can say this much: the chicken had an innate biological endowment that was modified by its environment. Beyond that, we can only speculate. Intellectuals can rant and rave about it all they like, but the fact is, we know very little about why that particular chicken crossed that particular road. My feeling is that the problem of free will can never be solved, owing to innate limitations on human knowledge. BARSAMIAN: All right, then the next question is: why did the fireman wear red suspenders? CHOMSKY: You know, I get into debates with radical historians about this all the time. If you look at the histories of the Fire Department, they spend an awful lot of time on trivia and personalities: who said what to whom, what mood was the Chief in, what color were his suspenders, etc. Well, that's of hundredth-order significance. What's important is the institutional structure of the Fire Department... BARSAMIAN: Who is buried in Grant's Tomb? CHOMSKY: Well, if we're interested in learning about how the world works, we'll turn away from groundless speculation about where one or another President is interred and turn instead to the serious evidence in the vast historical and planning record which is, frankly, where the real "bodies are buried", if I may use the vulgar rhetoric of the planners.... BARSAMIAN: Okay, here's one nobody ever asks: Round as an apple, Deep as a cup, All the king's horses Can't pull it up. What is it? CHOMSKY: Orwell's memory hole.... Of course, it's not that the king's horses _can't_ bring it up -- it's that they _won't_. Unless it serves some ideologically useful purpose. BARSAMIAN: Let's take some phone calls from listeners. CALLER: Hey, man! What do you think of Elvis? He's the goddam King of Rock 'n' Roll, isn't he? CHOMSKY: I can't say I agree with the factual assumption of the question. CALLER: The what? CHOMSKY: You're assuming that "Rock 'n' Roll" is a monarchy. And, of course, it's really a corporate oligopoly, staffed largely by the deeply indoctrinated. Not 100%, of course. There's Bad Religion, for example. And Casey Kasem. But rock 'n' roll is just a marketing term, cooked up by fringe elements of the music industry in order to sell marginal pop music to an affluent adolescent post-war audience. Later, it was appropriated by dominant sectors of the industry (the major labels) once they found they could profit from it. As for Presley, as far as I can see, he had little real power. "Colonel" Tom Parker and the management of RCA, Hill and Range, and so on, were really pulling all the strings. There's a vast literature on this... You can see how powerful these pop singers are by asking what would have happened if, say, Elvis had insisted on regularly singing the music he cared about, music deeply rooted in his community, namely gospel. Well, he'd be back in Memphis driving a truck. CALLER: Yes, what is your opinion on the use of vinegar as an air freshener? BARSAMIAN: Uh, ma'am, I think you've got the wrong -- CALLER: ... I mean, either in the kitchen or in the rest of the house. CHOMSKY: Well, you can eliminate cooking odors by boiling a tablespoon of white vinegar mixed with a cup of water in a pan on the stove. As far as the rest of the house is concerned -- experts differ -- but you might try heating a little vinegar, a few cloves and some cinnamon in a dish in the microwave and then placing the dish in a well-ventilated spot, say, near the stairs. CALLER: Thanks! BARSAMIAN: Where do you get all this information? CHOMSKY: Heloise. You can learn a lot if you read the mainstream press carefully. BARSAMIAN: Ah, one last phone call. CALLER: Professor Chomsky, my name is Virginia and I am eight years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says `If you see it in The Sun it's so.' But I thought I would check with you. Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? CHOMSKY: No, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus. There WAS a legendary figure, St. Nicholas, who was apparently born in the city of Patara, travelled to Palestine and Egypt when young, was imprisoned during persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian but released later by Emperor Constantine, and so on. No documentary evidence exists for any of this, so we have to be cautious. But the legends are clear: he supposedly gave anonymous donations of gold coins to persons in need, promoted values of altruism, concern for others, and so on. Well, plainly, that's of no use to the current owners and managers of the economy (whose motto is "Gain wealth, forgetting all but self"), so the figure was appropriated by elite elements and an Orwellian variant of the original has been consciously designed by the PR industry to aid in their ruthless and manipulative campaign of want creation. Unlike your father, whose trust in the press is that of a religious fanatic, your "little friends" manage to maintain a healthy skepticism and have yet to succumb to the effective indoctrination that inundates us all, a matter to which we should give no little thought. BARSAMIAN: Finally, I wonder if you have a riddle or a joke that you'd like to share with us? CHOMSKY: If I told you my tastes in humor, it would shock you. BARSAMIAN: No, go right ahead and shock me. CHOMSKY: Knock knock. BARSAMIAN: Who's there? CHOMSKY: Howard Zinn. BARSAMIAN: Howard Zinn who? CHOMSKY (singing): Howard Zinn's in Glocca Morra? ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V8 #184 *******************************