From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V11 #106 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Friday, April 5 2002 Volume 11 : Number 106 Today's Subjects: ----------------- RE: Got HD space? (hot phallus content: 0%) ["Maximilian Lang" ] Re: reached the latency period yet? [gSs ] Re: reached the latency period yet? [Jeff Dwarf ] Re: The Reign of Skeleten Key ["Michael Wells" ] Re: Got HD space? (hot phallus content: 0%) [steve ] Phish on TV 4/7/02 [Mike Swedene ] RE: Got HD space? (hot phallus content: 0%) ["matt sewell" ] Re: other people's songs [Sebastian Hagedorn ] Re: The Reign of Skeleten Key [Michael R Godwin ] Re: other people's songs [Brian ] Re: Buck is innocent? [gSs ] reap [Miles Goosens ] Re: Buck is innocent? ["Mike Wells" ] Question on Robyn Sings [The Great Quail ] Uh...comments on Buffy and stuff [The Great Quail ] Monkeytime ["Spring Cherry" ] RE: Monkeytime ["Brian Huddell" ] Re: Monkeytime ["Mike Wells" ] The Word on Recording the Shows [Ry ] Re: Monkeytime [gSs ] Re: Monkeytime [Michael R Godwin ] Re: Buffy Tunes [Miles Goosens ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 04 Apr 2002 19:51:08 -0500 From: "Maximilian Lang" Subject: RE: Got HD space? (hot phallus content: 0%) >From: "Poole, R. Edward" >>What, do you think that YOU could keep down solid food if you were >>starring >in the live action Scooby Doo movie? > >Yeah, I thought not. Jinxies, your right! _________________________________________________________________ Join the worlds largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 04 Apr 2002 19:49:16 -0500 From: "Maximilian Lang" Subject: Re: who's going to Chicago - and who's taping NYC and others >From: bayard >who's taping the gigs - esp, ny, since i think my mics are broken. I >assume several others of you have it covered? I will be taping (mindiscing?) both NYC shows. Max _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 12:55:15 +1200 From: grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan) Subject: well, it worked in Florida... James Dignan, Dunedin, New Zealand. =-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-= .-=-.-=-.-=-.- .-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-. -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-= You talk to me as if from a distance =-.-=-. And I reply with impressions chosen from another time -=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=- (Brian Eno - "By this River") ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 13:13:40 +1200 From: grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan) Subject: Re: fegmaniax-digest V11 #105 >Dihydrogen Monoxide is everywhere, and it's killing people! I usually don't >use this forum for this purpose, but I feel strongly that we all need to >mobilize against this horrible substance that is infecting our ecosystem. >Please visit the following site for more information. they organised a local demonstration here about that, but very few people turned up because it was raining. James James Dignan, Dunedin, New Zealand. =-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-= .-=-.-=-.-=-.- .-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-. -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-= You talk to me as if from a distance =-.-=-. And I reply with impressions chosen from another time -=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=- (Brian Eno - "By this River") ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 01:19:12 +0000 From: "Spring Cherry" Subject: The Reign of Skeleten Key Came home tonight to "Robyn Sings." Realized that-- shameful confession--I like Robyns's voice better than Dylans's. Yes I know, very uncool. But for me, Robyn's voice has more range of expression and is more capable of nuance. This may just be one of the afterects of being raised by a pack of wild, rabid British nannies, I don't know. Whatever, I prove once again that, never having been a Dylan tranee, I am very uncool(and proud of it, bub.) However, even without having ever enrolled in Bob Dylan school I will argue that Dylan first affected me with an almost equiveilent womp and that I have also internalized these songs mightily. And as such feel sufficently poisened with self-confidience to punish you all with words. The essay is funny, and nails down the ubiquitisness of Dylaneditis among all vunerable creatures of a certian age. I fear I now know where Robyn falls in terms of the great Brian Wilson debate. Again I ask--in what private monastary was Robyn incarcerated? And why is it such a secret? What did they do, dress him with a tail before roasting him on the spit at Eton? Because the only excuse for hiding where you went to school is if its so prestigious its a bit embarressing. So obviously Robyn has another identity as a chinless twit. He probobly was also the only person to ever do undergraduate work at All Souls, thats before editing the TLS and dining at Whites. I mean come on, why all this cha-cha-ing around it? I don't need 2 versions of Visions of Johanna when I could have 1 version of it plus something else." Who was it who said he didn't change any of the words? Whoever it was didn't listen to "Tangled Up in Blue." I'm all for this by the way, especially since Dante finially ends up in the right century. "Not Dark Yet" is perfect. The wisphery voice is the perfect delivery for a perfect song. "4th time around" suffers from the fact that niether the stature of the song nor the intensity of the performarce is up to the songs that surrond it here. Its like a toad sans jewel in the middle of a pond of huge, looming, carniverous tadpoles. "Its All over now--Baby." Home-run. Perfect guitar. "Desolation Row" I bought the entire double CD for this cut. I am not disappointed. "Dignity" Have I used the word perfect yet? Havent listened to Dot yet so thats all for now. But I've already gotten my monkey's worth. Actually posting from home so I must really like it Kay _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 19:40:39 -0500 (CDT) From: gSs Subject: Re: reached the latency period yet? On Thu, 4 Apr 2002, Christopher Gross wrote: > And more to the point, Eb isn't here to hound you off the list! who determined the mousestalker was actually eb? gSs ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 17:55:45 -0800 (PST) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: reached the latency period yet? gSs wrote: > On Thu, 4 Apr 2002, Christopher Gross wrote: > > And more to the point, Eb isn't here to hound you off the list! > > who determined the mousestalker was actually eb? Carl Palmer ===== "This week, the White House says President Bush meant no disrespect when he referred to the Pakistani people as 'Pakis.' But just to be on the safe side, White House staffers have cancelled his trip to Nigeria" -- Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." -- Theodore Roosevelt . Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 20:28:26 -0600 From: "Michael Wells" Subject: Re: The Reign of Skeleten Key Kay reviewed: > I don't need 2 versions of Visions of Johanna when I could have 1 version of > it plus something else. Motion seconded. 'tis a smashing rendition, though. > Who was it who said he didn't change any of the words? Whoever it was didn't > listen to "Tangled Up in Blue." Must admit I got a grin from "...she was working in a topless joint, when I stopped in for a top." I can't really quibble with the changes in this one, it's just that this song is sacrosanct for me and I have a problem with pretty much anyone doing it other than Dylan. RH's voice does lend a 'Nutbeem-from-The-Shipping-News" wanderlust vibe to the tune, however, which is pleasantly different. > "Not Dark Yet" is perfect. The wisphery voice is the perfect delivery for a > perfect song. I'm pretty sure this is the Grant Lee Hitchock version from 10-15-00, which means THERE IS A SOUNDBOARD RECORDING OF THIS SHOW. No disrespect to the current version in circulation, but CHRIST we need to obtain that IMMEDIATELY. And yes, a great cover. > "4th time around" suffers from the fact that niether the stature of the song > nor the intensity of the performarce is up to the songs that surrond it > here. Its like a toad sans jewel in the middle of a pond of huge, looming, > carniverous tadpoles. It fits perfectly into the feel and order (right after 'Fleshhead') of the 11-2-99 show from whence it came, so I don't have an issue with that part. You're right, it seems a bit fluffy at first but I think it works here too. > "Its All over now--Baby." Home-run. Perfect guitar. So perfect, as in "Chinese Bones." > "Desolation Row" I bought the entire double CD for this cut. I am not > disappointed. Nor was I. Grand-freaking-slam. > "Dignity" Have I used the word perfect yet? This one suprised me, RH playing it pretty straight I thought and letting the power of lyric shine. Well done. > Havent listened to Dot yet so thats all for now. But I've already gotten my > monkey's worth. Me three. The disc is fantastic, but this monkey would have preferred a couple of studio cuts instead of the second VOJ..."Man in the Long Black Coat"..."Maggie's Farm"..."When the Ship Comes In"..."From a Buick 6"..."When I Paint My Masterpiece," anything. How about a third disc for a total $25, like what Rush did with "Different Stages"? Two live of the subject material, with the bonus of an older show thrown in. Michael "not complaining, not one bit" Wells ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 20:30:56 -0600 From: steve Subject: Re: Got HD space? (hot phallus content: 0%) >> Nit-pick: Buffy is on UPN now. On Thursday, April 4, 2002, at 05:46 PM, glen uber wrote: > Oops. Those two networks are one channel apart on our local cable, so > they kinda blend into one another anyway. There's hope, 'cause it was the WB that wasn't too keen on the lesbian smooching. - - Steve __________ "The logic of missile defense is to make the stakes of power projection compatible with the risks of power projection," says Keith B. Payne, a deterrence theory expert and an ardent supporter of missile defense. - Bill Keler, NYT ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 21:08:36 -0800 (PST) From: Mike Swedene Subject: Phish on TV 4/7/02 FYI -> GET YOUR HIATUS FIX OF PHISH VIA YOUR TV: We warned you months ago, but don't forget: this Sunday at 8:00pm Eastern, Phish will make their debut appearance on the Fox television series "The Simpsons". Titled "Weekend at Burnsie's", the episode supposedly features Phish performing "Run Like an Antelope" at a medical marijuana benefit. Check your local listings. (Don't forget that Daylight Savings Time begins Saturday night! Move your clocks *forward* one hour...) Herbie np - "Money" Pink Floyd ===== - --------------------------------------------- View my Websight & CDR Trade page at: http://midy.topcities.com/ _____________________________________________ Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 10:05:21 +0100 From: "matt sewell" Subject: RE: Got HD space? (hot phallus content: 0%) Ed: >>>What, do you think that YOU could keep down solid food if you were >>>starring >>in the live action Scooby Doo movie? >> >>Yeah, I thought not. > Max: >Jinxies, your right! > Zoinks! What about one of those foot-tall sandwiches? Matt - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Join the worlds largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. Click Here ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 04:09:14 -0800 (PST) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Jerry Falwell is a whiny bitch (so what else is new?) http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2002/04/04/national1856EST0779.DTL&type=printable ===== "This week, the White House says President Bush meant no disrespect when he referred to the Pakistani people as 'Pakis.' But just to be on the safe side, White House staffers have cancelled his trip to Nigeria" -- Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." -- Theodore Roosevelt . Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 07:14:35 -0500 From: Brandon Subject: other people's songs >I was thinking of making a a compilation disc (when my burner is >available again) of other peoples songs Robyn has been a guest on. >I need a little help. Here's what I can think of: If you run out of "real" songs and need some filler, I just got a bootleg of a Yo La Tengo show where Robyn plays with the band. Haven't figured out what songs he's on yet. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 14:29:51 +0200 From: Sebastian Hagedorn Subject: Re: other people's songs - --On Friday, April 05, 2002 07:14:35 -0500 Brandon wrote: > If you run out of "real" songs and need some filler, I just got a bootleg > of a Yo La Tengo show where Robyn plays with the band. Haven't figured > out what songs he's on yet. I would dearly love to get my hands, or rather my ears, on that! Are there MP3s of these recordings somewhere? - -- Sebastian Hagedorn Ehrenfeldg|rtel 156 50823 Kvln http://www.spinfo.uni-koeln.de/~hgd/ Being just contaminates the void - Robyn Hitchcock ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 13:32:57 +0100 (BST) From: Michael R Godwin Subject: Buck is innocent! http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1912000/1912288.stm - - MRG ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 14:12:47 +0100 (BST) From: Michael R Godwin Subject: Re: The Reign of Skeleten Key On Fri, 5 Apr 2002, Spring Cherry wrote: > Again I ask--in what private monastary was Robyn incarcerated? And why is it > such a secret? What did they do, dress him with a tail before roasting him > on the spit at Eton? Because the only excuse for hiding where you went to > school is if its so prestigious its a bit embarressing. So obviously Robyn > has another identity as a chinless twit. He probobly was also the only > person to ever do undergraduate work at All Souls, thats before editing the > TLS and dining at Whites. I mean come on, why all this cha-cha-ing around > it? My understanding is that he went to Winchester College, a public school so venerable and superior that old boys are called Wykehamists rather than Winchesterians (after Bishop William of Wykeham who founded it in 1382). RH has of course written a song entitled "Winchester", and I have always assumed that "Ted, Woody and Junior" refers to hanky panky in the Winchester dorms. See: - - Mike Godwin n.p. Hoboism, Don van Vliet and Denny Whalley ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 09:09:24 -0500 From: Brian Subject: Re: other people's songs At Friday, 05 April 2002, you wrote: >>I was thinking of making a a compilation disc (when my burner is >>available again) of other peoples songs Robyn has been a guest on. >>I need a little help. Here's what I can think of: > >If you run out of "real" songs and need some filler, I just got a bootleg >of a Yo La Tengo show where Robyn plays with the band. Haven't figured out >what songs he's on yet. Didn't someone post (Bayard/woj?) not so long ago that Robyn himself was looking for a copy of one of these Yo La Tengo shows? And yes, I think live guest appearances count too! Nuppy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 08:25:25 -0500 (CDT) From: gSs Subject: Re: Buck is innocent? On Fri, 5 Apr 2002, Michael R Godwin wrote: > http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1912000/1912288.stm I wonder if a sleeping pill and six glasses of wine would be a good enough excuse for the rest of us? gSs ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 08:41:21 -0600 From: Miles Goosens Subject: reap Frank Tovey, of Fad Gadget fame. later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 08:38:04 -0600 From: "Mike Wells" Subject: Re: Buck is innocent? Subject: Re: Buck is innocent? > http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1912000/1912288.stm I don't recall exactly, but didn't he board the plane directly after playing and partying with the SB's in Seattle April 4th 2001? I'm sure not a drop was consumed that night at the gig. Nope, nothing. Wonder if that picture of Peter standing on one leg with Morris was admissable? Michael "toasters can read email, yet hostess trolleys can't play CD's?" Wells ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 09:55:25 -0500 From: The Great Quail Subject: Question on Robyn Sings Will it be available from him directly on tour? - --Quail ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 09:52:57 -0500 From: The Great Quail Subject: Uh...comments on Buffy and stuff I still live! Anyway, I agree with the general notion that this season of Buffy is lame, and I'm a big Buffy fan. But I think the biggest reason for this is simple to ascertain -- less Joss Whedon in the writing and directing credits! (Note, too, that the excellent musical episode was *all* Joss Whedon.) I fear that like Twin Peaks and the X-Files, Buffy is a show that loses a lot of luster when the founding father goes deadbeat dad.... (I can't believe I just wrote that.) Oh, and yeah, Glen, I am praying for some hot Tara/Willow action. Like, who isn't? And by the way, as a "former" chemist, I feel indebted to warn you all against this totally ludicrous anti- dihydrogen monoxide propaganda. In its pure, unhydrolized form, this combination of acid and base is good for you, and has absolutely no ill health effects save the occasional unfortunate who goes and immerses his respiratory system in highly concentrated amounts. Trust me, I'm a chemist. Have we ever lead you wrong before? - --Quail ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 14:59:42 +0000 From: "Spring Cherry" Subject: Monkeytime Tom, That DHMO linke says it is used" "by the Church of Scientology on their members and their members' families, by both the KKK and the NAACP during rallies and marches, by pedophiles and pornographers (for uses we'd rather not say here), by the clientele at a number of homosexual bath houses in New York City and San Francisco, historically, in Hitler's death camps in Nazi Germany, and in prisons in Turkey, Serbia, Croatia, Libya, Iraq and Iran" Plus its tied to violence in the schools, a scientist named--Von Bueltzingsloewen, the Navy, athletes, Nasa, decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes, biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions. Also often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere. Doth myeth shit detector runneth over on this one? Un-huh, especially the bit about both the KKK and the NAACP. Is it caffeen? Celebrities? Nicotine? The air that we breathe? Love? Hate? Hypocrasy? Or am I not being suvviciently naive and it really is a baddie cheminical? I just know Im not enough of a scientiest to properly evaluate the unusual data. - -------------------------------- Is it time to plan NY show activities yet? - --------------------------------- I havent watched Buffy this season, not sure why. When is it on? Dark is fine by me, but lack of care in the writing isnt. I never saw the musical episode, thou I would probobly love it. Chris, can you copy your video? And how's Dawn doing? - --------------------------------- Mike Wells: >but this monkey would have preferred a >couple of studio cuts instead of the second VOJ..."Man in the Long Black >Coat"..."Maggie's Farm"..."When the Ship Comes In"..."From a Buick >6"..."When I Paint My Masterpiece," anything. Agreed. "Twist of Fate" , "Sad-eyed Lady," "Sweet Marie," "I Shall be Released," "Lay Down your Weary Tune," "Buckets of Rain, any of the early talking blues(with Robyn amendments), something from the last albumn and the Boys on "Too Much of Nothing". Still, alittle reality beats a heap of fantasy. I'm happy with what I've got here. - ----------------------------------- Godwin: >My understanding is that he went to Winchester College, a public school so >venerable and superior that old boys are called Wykehamists rather than >Winchesterians (after Bishop William of Wykeham who founded it in 1382). >RH has of course written a song entitled "Winchester", and I have always >assumed that "Ted, Woody and Junior" refers to hanky panky in the Winchester dorms But is Winchester in West London? His parents lived outside of Winchester, I think at some point, which -could- easily explain the song. Yes, Winchester outranks Eton in that you -have- to be smart to go there. A brother of a girl below me in high school went there and we were all very, very impressed. - --------------------------- - ---------------------------- _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 09:20:06 -0600 From: "Brian Huddell" Subject: RE: Monkeytime Kay: > Doth myeth shit detector runneth over on this one? Are you suggesting that the DHMO alarmists are all wet? +brian ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 09:23:23 -0600 From: "Mike Wells" Subject: Re: Monkeytime > Are you suggesting that the DHMO alarmists are all wet? > > +brian Admittedly, "Underdihydrogenmonoxide Moonlight" just doesn't have the same ring... Michael ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 10:24:54 -0500 From: Ry Subject: The Word on Recording the Shows Fegs (and the Armada), The official/unofficial word has arrived: If the venue allows it, we will passively allow you to audience record the shows. (However, if the venue has certain rules which prohibit it, there is little we can do) Also, we kindly request that you DO NOT video the shows, as it's really distracting for Robyn. (If you are an anarchist and going to attempt tp sneak in a camera and try to do it anyway, please do it towards the back of the room where Robyn won't see you). We would appreciate it if you could send us a copy of whatever you record either to myself or to David Greenberger: Robyn Hitchcock c/o Ryan Carey The Side Effect 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW #104 Washington, DC 20006 or Museum of Robyn Hitchcock PO Box 133 Greenwich, NY 12834 See you at the shows! Ry ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 09:52:10 -0500 (CDT) From: gSs Subject: Re: Monkeytime On Fri, 5 Apr 2002, Mike Wells wrote: > Admittedly, "Underdihydrogenmonoxide Moonlight" just doesn't have the same > ring... But if you put the accents in just the right places, it's not all that bad. gSs ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 17:04:48 +0100 (BST) From: Michael R Godwin Subject: Re: Monkeytime On Fri, 5 Apr 2002, Spring Cherry wrote: > But is Winchester in West London? His parents lived outside of Winchester, I > think at some point, which -could- easily explain the song. Yes, Winchester > outranks Eton in that you -have- to be smart to go there. A brother of a > girl below me in high school went there and we were all very, very > impressed. It's the Anglo-Saxon capital of Wessex, and later of all England. North of the Isle of Wight, south-west of Guildford, SSW of Basingstoke and Reading. This may give you some idea: http://multimap.lycos.co.uk/map/browse.cgi?coordsys=gb&X=500000&Y=150000&width=500&height=300 &client=lycos3&coordsys=gb&scale=1000000&left.x=12&left.y=14 [all one line as usual] - - Mike Godwin ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 10:13:23 -0600 From: Miles Goosens Subject: Re: Buffy Tunes At 12:10 PM 4/4/2002 -0500, Christopher Gross wrote: >Finally, I want to offer an opposing viewpoint to the negative opinions >we've heard about this season of Buffy. I too have found it a bit >disappointing, but it hasn't been THAT bad. In fact, I think the first >third of the season, up through "Tabula Rasa" (the one after the musical), >were comparable to any previous season. A decline set in with the next >ep, "Smashed," but IMHO opinion it still been at least tolerable. >(However, I don't agree that "Gone," the invisibility episode, was one of >the better recent eps. Instead, I'd pick "Doublemeat Palace" and "Normal >Again," the last new episode.) >On the other hand, I >personally don't mind the increased gloominess, and I did find the >Buffy-Spike and Xander-Anya plot lines interesting. And of course the >musical episode was brilliant -- probably among the top 5 episodes ever, >not that I'm one to make such lists.... So there, now you have the >opposing viewpoint. I agree with Chris -- and am still mildly surprised to see my frequent all-things-BUFFY off-list correspondent Jeffrey Norman render a doom-mongering judgment, even with the "each episode contains ten great minutes" caveat. Though Chris and I might differ over which recent eps were better than others, I concur the season so far has been only mildly disappointing, and disappointing only in comparison to its own high standards -- IMO it's still the best show on television by far. (If it's any concession to Jeff, I'm hoping that the last few episodes are only an extended case of middle-chapter-itis, and not the harbinger of a more permanent and precipitous decline.) RE: skinny Buffy and sexy Willow... I've always thought Allyson Hannigan was cute, even when I wasn't a regular viewer, and I also remember thinking, "dang, that Cordelia is really droolworthy!" I wasn't thinking that Sarah Michelle Geller was ugly or anything, but y'know, pale and dark-haired or pale and red-headed is what I like. I started watching every episode near the end of season three, and when F/X started with the reruns in late summer 2001, all other activities in my life ceased so I could consume the first three seasons with a minimum of distraction. Imagine my surprise to find out that my winners of my "most beautiful BUFFY babe" pageant were, season by season: Season one: Buffy Season two: Buffy Season three: (tie) Cordelia (1st half - very influenced by the green homecoming dance dress) Willow (2nd half - very influenced by Vampire Willow) Season four: Buffy Season five: Buffy There's just something about Sarah that I didn't get from her commercials, still pictures, or fleeting glimpses of the show. There's a charm and winningness about her personality that transcends my natural predisposition against tan blondes. Of course, those last two wins come with Charisma Carpenter out of the picture, and geez, she's playing in a whole 'nother league. I haven't seen a woman that wildly beautiful since Sherilyn Fenn. As for the "SMG getting too skinny" thing, Sarah doesn't look like she's about to pull a Flockheart to me -- she's always been naturally thin, and she looks ultra-fit rather than like Brad Pitt ate all her food (see "Paltrow, Gwyneth" and "Aniston, Jennifer"). Mr. Poole intones: >Yes, I agree -- this was my "save one, perhaps" excepted from the general >suckage. I might be willing to add the invisibility one, for a similar >reason -- for much of the episode, Buffy (and thus the audience) was free of >the iron-clad chains of depression and malaise that has plagued this season. >I mean, it's one thing to recognize that life isn't all fun and games, and >that the characters have to grow up sometime, but why jettison the formula >(or ambiance or style or whathaveyou) that attracted your audience in the >first place? Why abandon the escapist fun that was your forte and subject >your core audience to an everlasting bummer (when we have enough real-life >anxieties to keep us occupied, thank you very much). But was it escapist fun in the first place? Seems to me that Seasons 1-3 had a lot of dark things happening, lots of anxieties come to life to torment our dauntless heroes, and even the goofy fun was suffused with darkness. The key difference, I think, was that seasons 1-3 were full of *high school* anxieties and *adolescent* fears. As I said in a couple of off-list BUFFY conversations last year (and both quotes and double-quotes are me talking): >>Seems to me that they simply moved the characters away from the well-defined >>tropes of adolescence and misfit angst (tropes they plied quite well, of >>course), into the more murky waters of young adulthood, with its own less >>rigidly constructed but no less daunting challenges (living on your own, >>whether you can/should/will/will be able to go to college and coping with >>that decision, old friendships fading and/or transforming while you try to >>get a handle on all the new people you meet, figuring out who the hell you >>are without the insulating layer of Mommy and Daddy, the stresses of meeting >>all this new responsibility -- or the stresses of not meeting it). >> >>IMO BUFFY has done this just as superbly, but things in adulthood don't >>resolve as easily, the challenges are bigger but harder to define (along >>with what "success" might be under these new terms), and the process is >ongoing rather than a series of coping maneuvers to get you past designated >>milestones (first kiss, first sexual experience, tests, proms, graduation -- >>not necessarily in that order of course). I think BUFFY has dealt with this >>as well as any TV show ever has, and any fanbase dissatisfaction might be a >>result of the shifting context rather than a dropoff in quality. > >I should have added something about the universality of teen angst -- after >all, most of us are forced into the same sort of institutions from ages 5 >through 18, and even those who were, Cordy-like, the "rulers" of the elite >cliques have a shared context -- vs. the experiences of adulthood, which are >divergent and much more unique to the individual. But I'd already gabbed on >too long. I'll give Ed props -- his complaint isn't the sort of inchoate "BUFFY sucks now!" rant that's more common, but one that is fully aware of what I'm saying above. Saying it's not the show you want to watch anymore is a different sort of claim than the "everything sucks" one, and even though I clearly line up 180 degrees from Ed, full credit to him for making the more self-aware and fair argument. Finally, here's the Quail: >I fear that like Twin Peaks and the X-Files, >Buffy is a show that loses a lot of luster when the founding father >goes deadbeat dad.... No question that TWIN PEAKS went into a slump at the beginning of season two, though midway through when Lynch/Frost took more firm hold of the reins, it returned to prime form. But as for Chris Carter's involvement with THE X-FILES being crucial to its quality? IMO, he's become more of a detriment than anything, especially because the endless meaningless dumb-ass "mythology" storylines are mostly his, and it's usually his name that appears on the writing credits of the episodes that perpetuate this crime against his own show. The people who made THE X-FILES special back in its heyday are all named Morgan and Wong. later, Miles ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V11 #106 ********************************