From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V8 #210 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Thursday, June 17 1999 Volume 08 : Number 210 Today's Subjects: ----------------- the the [Joel Mullins ] St. John's bicycles [Katherine Rossner ] Re: austin powers ["Russ Reynolds" ] Re: Cyclists Who Hate Cars And the Drivers Who Honk At Them (by Susan Forward and Joan Torres) [Stewart Russell 3295 Analyst_Programmer ] Tramp The Dirt Down! RIP DIVX! ["Jason R. Thornton" ] Potentially Interesting (maybe some RH content) [Griffith Davies ] soft boys video [Bayard ] Movies, was soft boys video [Mark_Gloster@3com.com] Re: Critical Mass [DDerosa5@aol.com] CM in SF [DDerosa5@aol.com] Re: CM in SF [Eb ] Critical Musing [Christopher Gross ] . [Eb ] Re: Movies, was soft boys video [Joel Mullins ] [Eb ] Re: Movies... ["JH3" ] what to sing while cycling madly through Honeltyn Clyst [Carole Reichstei] Re: ["Jason R. Thornton" ] Strange bedfellows [Capuchin ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 23:18:27 -0700 From: Joel Mullins Subject: the the The The's Matt Johnson Talks About His Nakedself June 16, 1999, 11:55 am PT Sixteen years and five albums after signing with Epic Records, The The's Matt Johnson has made a break, signing to Trent Reznor's imprint, Nothing Records (allstar, June 7), with the first album under the deal, Nakedself, coming out in January. Nakedself will be Johnson's first album of original material since 1993's Dusk. The alliance joins two like-minded individuals who possess a maverick flair for originality and uncompromising creative visions. "After delivering the record," says Johnson, "Epic asked me if I could make the record more commercial, maybe make some singles, but I liked it as it was. At the same time, a new label expressed interest, and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity." Recorded in New York City, Nakedself came to fruition at Harold Dessau Studios, a ramshackle room -- formerly a machine cutters workshop -- filled with old Chinese tube equipment from a dismantled Shanghai radio station. "We were surrounding ourselves with interesting equipment and just left an old tape machine running," Johnson says. Johnson recorded the material on Nakedself primarily with former Iggy Pop bandmate/guitarist Eric Schermerhorn and enlisted Dallas drummer Earl Harvin, most recently with MC 900 Ft. Jesus, and Nashville bass player Spencer Campbell (Kenny Rogers) to round out the lineup. "We really jammed these tracks out," Johnson admits, adding that "Saltwater," the last song on the album, started out as a 19-minute jam session. "I had been using keyboards and harmonica for years, and I was just tired of finding places for them. Besides, I always wanted a two-guitar band." Johnson prides himself in the organic force of Nakedself, both musically and lyrically. "I think this record is similar to my past work lyrically," he says. "There are a few personal tracks, then there are more political songs like 'SwineFever,' which is about how the average human is constantly assaulted to buy this and buy that, so much crap that no one ever wants or needs." An admitted perfectionist, Johnson works at an incredibly slow rate, with an album release averaging every three or four years. In retrospect, Johnson's career is characterized as much by his absences as by his recordings. This time out, Johnson accounts for his lengthy sabbatical this way: "We just had a son, so there have been a lot of sleepless nights. I don't know. I play some chess in the park. A lot of just living, really, working, too, trying to get a film project off the ground, a short film about the making of this album. Like I said, time just gets away from you." -- Bob Gulla ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 21:57:58 -0700 From: Katherine Rossner Subject: St. John's bicycles >From: The Great Quail >Subject: St. John's Wort > >Ebs, > >>And what the hell is St. John's Wort, anyway? > >As Susan said, yes, it helps with clinical depression. St. John's Wort >has a chemical in it which is essentially a mild, natural analog of >Prozac. Tangential notes: St. John's Wort is also known as carob. If you're depressed, maybe you should be eating carob-covered raisins or whatever instead of chocolate? No, I guess chocolate is still the stronger drug. And, according to a lecturer a few weeks ago, new research suggests that chocolate hits the same receptors in the brain as THC. >From: DDerosa5@aol.com >Subject: help for tape project > >I want to compile a tape of songs about >bikes--preferably with "bike", "bicycle" or "cyclist" in the title, but if >it's prominently in the song, good enough. ...Well, you're driving like mad with this singular lad (by the bye, the ship's now a four-wheeler), And you're playing round games, and he calls you bad names when you tell him that ties pay the dealer. But this you can't stand, so you throw up your hand, and you find you're as cold as an icicle, In your shirt and your socks (the black silk with gold clocks), crossing Salisbury Plain on a bicycle, And he and the crew are on bicycles too (which they've somehow or other invested in) And he's telling the tars all the particulars of a company he's interested in: It's a scheme of devices to get at low prices all goods from cough mixtures to cables (Which tickled the sailors) by treating retailers as though they were all vegetables. You get a good spadesman to plant a small tradesman --first take off his boots with a boot-tree-- And his legs will take root, and his fingers will shoot and they'll blossom and bud like a fruit-tree... (From "The Nightmare Song", IOLANTHE, Gilbert & Sullivan) OK, probably not enough of the song is about bicycles. But it's fun. :> >If any of the terms are really >about motorcycles, it don't count--unless you can make a good case for it, >that is. I suppose Richard Farina's "Hard Loving Loser" is way too tangential, then? Seems to describe a few of the Critical Mass folks anyway. Livingston Taylor has a song which I think is just called "Bicycle", completely on-topic. >From: Michael R Godwin >And doesn't Melanie's 'Brand New Key' begin with the line 'I rode my >bicycle by your window today'? I thought it was "last night" rather than "today". But otherwise the song is more about roller-skates...or whatever. Katherine - -- Ye knowe ek, that in forme of speche is chaunge Withinne a thousand yere, and wordes tho That hadden pris, now wonder nyce and straunge Us thinketh hem, and yit they spake hem so. - Chaucer, "Troilus and Criseyde" ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 22:34:35 -0700 From: "Russ Reynolds" Subject: Re: austin powers >They were making the quote sign and saying "laser". They were saying "You >complete me" right after Doctor Evil said it and doing the hand gesture. >These things seemed to catch in people's heads like a catchy riff. They >couldn't help it. I've seen quotable movies by the hundreds, I've seen >people imitate stuff from movies of course, but I've never seen anything >like this before. It was a whole nother level. Thanks for the warning. I'll wait till it comes out on video. - -rUss ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 08:29:56 +0100 (BST) From: Stewart Russell 3295 Analyst_Programmer Subject: Re: Cyclists Who Hate Cars And the Drivers Who Honk At Them (by Susan Forward and Joan Torres) >>>>> "Eddie" == Capitalism Blows writes: Eddie> i think it varies quite a bit from city to city; and Eddie> indeed, from month to month. Glasgow (population 1000000-ish) has a CM. It gets between 3-10 riders every month. I don't know why they bother. Would hate to be stuck in a car on the way to work. The poppies are out in the margins of the barley. - -- Stewart C. Russell Analyst Programmer, Dictionary Division stewart@ref.collins.co.uk HarperCollins Publishers use Disclaimer; my $opinion; Glasgow, Scotland ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 12:04:28 +0100 (BST) From: Stewart Russell 3295 Analyst_Programmer Subject: Reap: oh, man! Screaming Lord Sutch (http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/uk_politics/newsid_371000/371216.stm) - -- Stewart C. Russell Analyst Programmer, Dictionary Division stewart@ref.collins.co.uk HarperCollins Publishers use Disclaimer; my $opinion; Glasgow, Scotland ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 14:45:52 +0100 (BST) From: Michael R Godwin Subject: Re: Reap: oh, man! On Thu, 17 Jun 1999, Stewart Russell 3295 Analyst_Programmer wrote: > Screaming Lord Sutch > (http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/uk_politics/newsid_371000/371216.stm) This really is bad news, Stewart. According to the older kids, he went to my school (Preston Manor in Wembley) but had left by the time I got there (or been kicked out - stories differed). He was 6 years older than me and he died nearby in South Harrow where I used to buy stacks of secondhand records. I can hear that bloke with the scythe grinding it sharp for me next! I only saw Sutch's act a couple of times: once at a big 1973 rock spectacular at Wembley Stadium (featuring Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Billy Fury, Bill Haley, the MC5(!), Gary Glitter and Sutch) and once at Bath Pav on a comeback tour where he had a band featuring Carlo Little (ex-Stones) and Nick Simper (ex-Deep Purple). Terrible, deeply naff show, but rooted deep in things much older than rock'n'roll: pantomime, music hall, grand guignol, that kind of stuff. In the above http ref it states that "The maverick politician became Britain's longest serving party leader after launching the Monster Raving Loonies in 1963". Of course this is wrong - he founded the National Teenage Party in 1963; it only became the Monster Raving Loony Party many years later under the influence of Monty Python. My favourite moment in the history of the MRLP was when it temporarily merged with the Green Chicken Party to become the Monster Raving Loony-Green Chicken Alliance... - - Mike "Devastated" Godwin n.p. "Till the following night" by Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages: "When the shades of night are falling And the moon is shining bright At the centre of the graveyard In the middle of the night I get out of my long black coffin Till the following night" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 08:35:28 -0700 From: "Jason R. Thornton" Subject: Tramp The Dirt Down! RIP DIVX! Yes, the dumbest format ever conceived is dead dead dead. Maybe this'll make up for Lucas eating the Presidio. http://headlines.yahoo.com/FC/Entertainment/DVD_vs__Divx/ - --Jason (who still has no urge to see Austin Powers I or II) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 11:29:18 -0700 (PDT) From: Griffith Davies Subject: Potentially Interesting (maybe some RH content) Fegs, Check out www.rhinohandmade.com in august. Here is what the page currently states: We are very pleased to announce Rhino Handmade. A fiendishly clever fundamental application of applied science. Very limited, and individually numbered, compact disc editions of otherwise unavailable audio delights from the far corners of the Rhino Archives which will be made available only on The Internet. Yes, you heard right. Only on the The Internet. No messy downloads. No need for rewiring. No assembly at all required. We make them. You order them while they last. We send them to you. It's as simple as that. The many trained professionals at The Rhino Handmade Institute Of Petromusicology are creating an astonishing variety of aural wonders which will be manufactured in pressings of as little as one thousand copies per title. And each individually numbered limited edition title will be deleted once its announced pressing limit has been sold out. On Monday 2 August 1999 the World Premiere Rhino Handmade title will be made available. There will be a new Rhino Handmade title released every two weeks thereafter. On the day of each title's release we will post all of the details you'll need to know, offer all of the streaming audio files you'll need to sample each track on each title and we will announce the individually numbered limited edition pressing. Then, it's First Come First Serve until the pressing limit has been reached. Rock. Folk. Jazz. Spoken Word. Rediscovered Classics. Forgotten Oddities. We love all kinds of music. And Rhino Handmade releases will embrace it all. You will, if we say so ourselves, simply be amazed at what we have up our collective internet sleeves. So if you love music as much as we do, you should absolutely stay tuned to this channel. Bookmark this page and surf on back here Monday 2 August 1999 for our Grand Opening. But, fair warning, there are only going to be just so many of each of these to go around, and once each of these individually numbered limited edition pressings sell out, they will be gone with a capital 'G'. - ------- Perhaps they might flush out some unreleased Hitchcock stuff from their archives.... griffith PS - two things I would have liked to seen on the tracklisting for "Jewels For Sophia": "I Saw Nick Drake" & "We Are The Underneath". but I can't properly comment since I haven't heard the darn thing....... _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 13:36:39 -0600 From: amadain Subject: Re: austin powers >Thanks for the warning. I'll wait till it comes out on video. Aw, don't be a grinch :). Also, I think you'd be cheating yourself a bit, because unlike many Hollywood films these days, this one is definitely made for big-screen punch, and I don't know that it'd be as much fun on video. Your call of course. Able to fit in a small overhead compartment, Susan ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 14:51:04 -0400 (EDT) From: Bayard Subject: soft boys video hiall, i just got a nice soft boys video clip and i wanted to put it online. i could do a nice MPEG movie, but Quicktime 4 is streaming now, is it not? I have access to a Media 100 workstation thru a friend, what file format should I use and how do i encode for quicktime? It seems much nicer than realvideo. pls email me some thoughts. I'd also like to put up some of RH's other great video moments. Heck, it'll be better than "america's funniest home injuries"! =b ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 12:33:05 -0700 From: Mark_Gloster@3com.com Subject: Movies, was soft boys video Catron Darthed: >Heck, it'll be better than "america's >funniest home injuries"! It is better than "When Animals Attack- Magicians"? So, let me say right here that the motion picture industry is making a high-water mark for me for the last ten years. Here's what I mean. Despite the fact that I will probably learn very little by watching them, I can't remember the last time that there were so many spring/summer releases that I _actually_ wanted to see. This means that I will go see them in a theater _and_ probably not be miserable or hate myself for going in the first place. Some examples: 1. Epi(c)sode 1: saw it, enjoyed it. (Yea, it could have been better.) 2. Mummy: saw it, thoroughly enjoyed it. 3. Austin Powers II 4. Wild Wild West 5. South Park 6. Trekkies Hell, I might even see Inspector Gag it and Super Dave. I know I'm leaving some stuff off, but I need to question my jaded attitude regularly. Of course, South Park appears to be about the deepest intellectually, spiritually, and socially from my list, but I stand by it. I'm hoping for a few good art flicks too. An aside: some of these movies don't work well on a small tv. I nearly hurt my neck watching Star Wars on network TV and even the ILM show the other night. I don't think Episode 1, AP2, or WWW will work well for a first viewing on a teevee. 'Course I have a dinko tv. Happies, - -Markg ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 15:44:27 EDT From: DDerosa5@aol.com Subject: Re: Critical Mass it was written: >it doesn't sound like "taking over the >streets," as the original poster said. Anyway, I was under the (vague) >impression that Critical Mass doesn't just parade, they deliberately slow >or obstruct automotive traffic. I may well be wrong, but IF this is what >they do, then I think it would definitely be counterproductive. well, as Eddie said, it varies. we go slow so anyone can ide with us (so people know it's not a race), ad so it's safer. Now, we do often obstruct cars, who (for however short a time we discommode them) have to wait for us, much as we often have to wait for them, stay away from them, and sometimes not even use te streets when we know there will be too many of them. I like the way you said "automotive traffic"--you probably guessed that bicyclists have a claim to be traffic, too. When riding alone, I seldom take up a full lane, unless the "shoulder" is a mess--but as a vehicle I have a right to a full lane. Cars whiz by me, just missing me, cutting me off, occasionally hitting me (with bumpers, doors, etc) all the time. For critical mass, we have hundreds of people, bikers feel very safe on the road, and we do break some traffic laws for the greater good (for instance, if we ride to a red light, we stop; if it tuurns red while we're going through, we keep going to keep the mass together, like a parade or a funeral procession). >I actually saw a group of people doing this a few years ago, though I >don't know if they considered themselves part of Critical Mass. It was in >DC, on Pennsylvania Ave. NW heading from Georgetown toward Washington >Circle -- a very busy road on any day of the week. A group of 15 or 20 (this is too small to be a crit mass--they may have wanted to do one, but didn't know how--that number would easily fit into one lane...) >cycled slooowly along, letting traffic pile up behind them. A few of them >called out slogans to the effect of "get out of your cars!". I seem to >recall more honks than smiles from the trailing motorists; and while some >waved, their waves generally featured one finger held erect. The local >popularity of bicyclists suffered a slight but definite setback that day. well, as eleanor said, they may have to get used to it. Crit Mass doesn't work once--it works by happening every month, all year long (here in Chicago it gets pretty small in winter, as you might guess...) Some regular drivers even may decide to take mass transit that one Friday, or stay late in the city for dinner instead of hitting a horrible rush our--great! Every once in a while one of them actually does join us, has fun, and sees the drivers from the other side of the windshield, out here where we breathe their exhaust while they carry around air conditioners. If nothing else, it may affect their future driving style. But, as Viv said, it is supposed to be fun. We were getting hassled by cops, so we try to avoid that police district, even though they have no legal right to bust us on false charges. Part of the point is to gain mass, to get more people on bikes, which are much better suited to crowded cities than cars, and to show how social biking is. We talk with other bikers, pedestrians, skaters/skateboarders, people sitting in outdoor cafes, and some friendly drivers. If we can't convert the rest--fuck em. Let em sit in their cars and stew for once. And that, by the way, is why I want to put together this soundtrack. I have gotten a bunch of great suggestions--now I just have to track down all these records. If you have more suggestions, I would love more help. I am still trying to work out how to tape HAL 9000 singing "Bicycle Built for Two"--I had never fully thought about how funny it is that there are only two of them onboard at that time. dave by the way, how many onlist have Critical Mass in their towns? and how many have ever ridden with them? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 15:54:06 EDT From: DDerosa5@aol.com Subject: CM in SF by the way,, I forgot to say to Eleanor re: Crit Mass calming down: Yeah, their numbers went way down when the city started doing mass arrests last year. But from what I hear on the critmass listservs, there is an event called "Bike Summer" where cyclists from around the country are converging on SF in July to do a week of Crit masses. don't know much more about it (I can't afford to go), but as someone who dislikes confrontation, you might wanna get some more details. dave (i.e. "the original poster") ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 13:14:35 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Re: CM in SF I must confess that I don't have the foggiest clue what Critical Mass is. Some movement from an old Yes album? Critical Eb now ehhing: Manic Street Preachers ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 16:56:12 -0400 (EDT) From: Christopher Gross Subject: Critical Musing Dave (I knew he had a real name!) wrote: > well, as Eddie said, it varies. we go slow so anyone can ide with us (so > people know it's not a race), ad so it's safer. Now, we do often obstruct > cars, who (for however short a time we discommode them) have to wait for us, > much as we often have to wait for them, stay away from them, and sometimes > not even use te streets when we know there will be too many of them. I like > the way you said "automotive traffic"--you probably guessed that bicyclists > have a claim to be traffic, too. Hell yeah! I'm all for having more people bike and fewer drive -- which is why I'd bother to criticize a pro-bike tactic that I thought was counterproductive. Whereas when the Christian Coalition shoots itself in the foot, I just sit back and smile quietly to myself. (I don't care much for bicycle messengers though -- reckless, arrogant little bastards! But that's another story.) Anyway, I still think confrontational tactics would hurt more than they help. (Confrontation may be useful sometimes, but usually on a specific, urgent political issue -- eg, trying to end a war -- not when trying to get people to change a major part of their lifestyle.) If the cyclists are just riding along normally, like good citizens, and only obstruct cars through sheer numbers, that's fine. If they deliberately block cars, though, the car drivers are naturally going to get mad at them. (For example, the group I saw could easily have fit in one lane, but they spread across both to keep anyone from passing them.) If you want people to change their lifestyles, it's much better to set an example for them than to attack them. But it sounds like you already realize that, so there's no need for me to lecture you! (Except my need to compensate for not thinking of a bike song. And my need to make another parenthetical statement.)) Speaking of bikes and music, have any DC Fegs ever seen the Rasta Cyclist? I don't know what his real name is, but there's this guy who cycles around the Mall and other popular spots with two massive speakers strapped to his bike frame, blasting reggae tunes. It's either amusing or annoying, depending on whether you're in the mood for reggae or peace and quiet. - --Chris ______________________________________________________________________ Christopher Gross On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog. chrisg@gwu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 14:02:29 -0800 From: Eb Subject: . SAN DIEGO, Calif., (Reuters) - Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life. Give Nicholas Vitalich a fish and he will hit his girlfriend with it, police here said Tuesday. Vitalich, 24, was arrested Tuesday on charges of assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly beat his 21-year-old girlfriend with a large tuna after an argument in a supermarket, San Diego police spokesman Bill Robinson said. Robinson told Reuters Vitalich was also charged with resisting arrest because he fought with officers when they tried to apprehend him. "The woman had left the store after the argument and was out in the parking lot when the male approached her and struck her with a large tuna," Robinson said. "When officers got there she had a cut above her eye, bruising on her right arm and cuts on both legs, from where she was knocked to the ground," Robinson added. Robinson said witnesses told the officers that the Vitalich "repeatedly hit her with this large fish." He said the fish was fresh, not frozen, but considered a deadly weapon in the same way shoes or teeth can be weapons. Robinson said Vitalich was arrested by officers a short distance from the supermarket. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 16:18:20 -0700 From: Joel Mullins Subject: Re: Movies, was soft boys video Mark_Gloster@3com.com wrote: > 2. Mummy: saw it, thoroughly enjoyed it. Eh! I hated it! > 4. Wild Wild West Not at all interested. > 5. South Park I'll wait for video. > Hell, I might even see Inspector Gag it and Super Dave. I would like to see Inspector Gadget. But the movie I'm *really* looking forward to is Eyes Wide Shut. I also want to see Mystery Men. Joel ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 14:29:59 -0800 From: Eb Subject: The digital display on my CD player (an old Sony, about 12 years old) has gone totally black. Is this a major problem? Do I need a whole new circuit board, or is it just a chip, a bad wire...? I opened the box up, and this didn't reveal anything to me (not that I'm knowledgeable about such things, anyway). Eb, feeling like his machines are all screaming at him in unison, "Get out of here, Finchley" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 16:47:03 -0500 From: "JH3" Subject: Re: Movies... Joel writes: >I also want to see Mystery Men. Some of us have been waiting *years* for "Mysterymen", ever since Bob Burden mentioned somewhere that the Hollywood types were interested. I saw a preview the other day when I went to see The Spy Who Shagged Me (which I thought was, well, just OK, but what do I know). I didn't see Flaming Carrot anywhere, though... Does anybody know if they're going to even try to pull that off? I have to admit that, if done well, that would impress me a LOT more than any of the digital effects in "Dennis the Phantom Menace." Maybe even all of them combined. I just wish they'd made it 10 years ago, when I was still somewhat easily amused. And Nicholas Vitalich? He and I go waaaay back. Yeah, he and Jon Stewart and I used to sit in the Phi Kappa Tau basement at William & Mary all night long, watching tape loops of Michael Palin and John Cleese doing the "Fish Slapping Dance" while trying to work out the chords to "Bass," which hadn't even been released yet, IIRC. (Or written, even...) Still, I should've guessed that something like this would happen. Just think of all the times he's probably hit girlfriends with big fresh tunas and *didn't* get caught by the local police. Dozens, maybe hundreds of incidents. [Shudder] Interesting, when you think about it... "The Fish Police" is always the comic book you see first when you've been leafing through the racks looking for Flaming Carrot, and the store doesn't have any. I guess that means there's synchronicity in everything, if you're mentally unstable enough to know where to find it. John "Slap-Happy" Hedges ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 15:37:33 -0700 (PDT) From: Carole Reichstein Subject: what to sing while cycling madly through Honeltyn Clyst (yes, I know I mispelled that) ..I always get that Syd Barret song stuck in my head while riding my bike. I don't remember the title, but the lyrics go.. "I've got a bike you can ride it if you like it's got a bell and lots of things to make it look good!" And then, "You're the kind of girl who fits into my world.." Someone must know the title. Carole (Eddie..your fegs-washing-dishes pictures were great! Can I wash up next time I visit???) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 16:28:20 -0700 From: "Jason R. Thornton" Subject: Re: At 02:02 PM 6/17/99 -0800, Eb wrote: > Vitalich, 24, was arrested Tuesday on charges of assault with a deadly >weapon after he allegedly beat his 21-year-old girlfriend > with a large tuna after an argument in a supermarket, San Diego police >spokesman Bill Robinson said. Later that evening, also in San Diego, I caught Cibo Matto at Brick-by-Brick. Brick-by-Brick is an awful venue, with a huge bar in the middle blocking a lot of people's view and making for some crappy sound if you're not right in front of the stage. But, on a serious starfucking note, I did get to rub shoulders with none other than Cibo Matto's bass player - that son of a Beatle, Sean Lennon. Surprisingly, Sean looks a *lot* like my college roommate Don, who now works for Bob Shapiro's law firm in LA. - --Jason (45 idiot Democrats in the House voted FOR Theocracy today - yet another reason to vote third party next time around) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 16:57:56 -0700 (PDT) From: Capuchin Subject: Strange bedfellows On Thu, 17 Jun 1999, Jason R. Thornton wrote: > (45 idiot Democrats in the House voted FOR Theocracy today - yet > another reason to vote third party next time around) We have a fascinating debate going on in our state senate right now. I just thought I'd throw it out. While most employers offer benefits such as health care to spouses of employees, many also offer benefits to unmarried homosexual domestic partners. (As we probably all know, it's not legal in any state to marry a homosexual couple. Hawaii had a fascinating little idea about saying their marriage law MUST allow homosexual marriage because their state constitution says no law shall discriminate based on sex. Therefore the references in the marriage law to Man and Woman must both just mean any old person. This was defeated in Hawaii courts. But it was a brilliant concept, anyway. I'd love to see the judge's grounds for dismissal. I hope it hits the Supreme Court.) Anyway, we had a little case here in Oregon where a woman sued her company for not allowing her female domestic partner benefits based on their homosexual relationship. (Honestly, although I'm all for equal rights all around, I think this case should have been thrown out. Their rule says "married couples" and two women cannot be married. This particular couple claimed to married under "common law", but that also specifically provisions a heterosexual relationship. So while the employers rules were biased, they were legally biased.) So the courts sided in this woman's favor. Employers in Oregon now MUST offer benefits to domestic partners with the only requirements being that they are a same-sex pair with the same address and a joint bank account. So... we now have a situation where homosexual couples are in a much better position to get benefits than heterosexual couples. This was fucking brilliant. The judge has forced the legislature's hand. The judge essentially said "I'm not going to decide this. I'm going to throw this thing back at you wildly in favor of the opposition to the status quo. You will be forced to rewrite the law and fix the problems with marriage." So one group kicked out this huge Oregon Defense of Marriage Act and tried to define marriage as the joining of a man and a woman and specifically outlaw heterosexual couples getting legal recognition... in fact, almost any unmarried couple would be treated as individuals and never be given the benefits of two joined citizens. And while our state is predominantly progressive population-wise, the senate is evenly distributed geographically and strongly favors the more reactionary, rural parts of the state. Anyway, to everyone's surprise, the measure was defeated soundly. And now we still have a fucked up state of affairs and are poised to be the first state to allow homosexual marriage. I do believe the U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that such a decision is already up to the states to decide. Quite frankly, I think it'd be much better if they just ANY couple with a joint bank account and a common residence can be considered "domestic partners" and subject to all the benefits of married couples. In Oregon, anyway, marriage is a legal and financial liability. The neat thing about our current rules (based on the judge's decision) is that same-sex roommates, be they homosexual or heterosexual, coupled or not, can get a checking account together and the one with better health care can get it for the other through work. And this is where heterosexual couples (and roommates) are getting screwed out of a good deal. I remember in college, I tried to fight against the rule that males must have male roommates (if any) and females must have female roommates (if any) in the dorms on the grounds that only homosexual couples could cohabitate. I argued that the rule encouraged homosexuality for those that wanted to live with their lover. Unfortunately, I had this brilliant idea very near the end of my college career and not much came of it. Just sharing for discussion, J. - -- ________________________________________________________ J A Brelin Capuchin ________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V8 #210 *******************************