From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V11 #426 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Thursday, December 19 2002 Volume 11 : Number 426 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Didn't see this one coming.... ["Jason S. Miller" ] more flaggy stuff (5% Whistling Jack Smith content) [grutness@surf4nix.co] shooby ["Stewart C. Russell" ] RE: Union Jack Shit [hamish_simpson@agilent.com] Back for Hack ["Maurer Rose, Inverse Nome" ] Star Trek [brian@lazerlove5.com] Ichthyopunnery ["Rex.Broome" ] Musical Robots of the Late '70's ["Rex.Broome" ] Something to fill the void between TTT & ROTK [steve ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 10:41:55 +0000 (GMT) From: "Jason S. Miller" Subject: Didn't see this one coming.... National Film Registry to preserve 'Spinal Tap' http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/18/classic.films.ap/index.html Apparently the Rutles will be lost to history. - -.- Jason ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 00:51:46 +1300 From: grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan) Subject: more flaggy stuff (5% Whistling Jack Smith content) >Be that as it may, here is a pic of the late great Ox wearing a Union >Jacket: I want a jacket like the one Bowie wore on the cover of "Earthling"! >- - Lord Kitchener's valet I was Kaiser Bill's batman! >Continuing the fight-back against this absurd nitpicking: > >"I live in an apartment on the ninety ninth foor of my block > And I sit at home lookin' out the window imaginin' the world has stopped > Then in flies a guy that's all dressed up like a Union Jack > He says I've won five pounds if I have this kind of detergent pack" > > Jagger-Richard [not Richards in this instance, I think] > >Now no-one is seriously suggesting that the guy flies in hung on the back >end of a ship, are they? (London-inflected rising tone at the end of the >sentence) Ah, of course. I defer to the famed vexillologists Jagger and Richard! 1) The flag is known as the Union Jack. The argument isn't 'what is this flag normally known as', it was 'what, technically, is this flag'. Calling it the Union Jack doesn't make it a jack any more than being known as a buffalo makes the North American bison into a buffalo. 2) It doesn't say he flies in on a jack, just that he looks like one. What's to stop the guy flying in looking like he's dressed like a jack on a ship? >PS Don't forget the blue ensign. Can't remember what it's used for now, >but it used to be the flag of a particular squadron of the RN. Government-owned vessels not belonging to the Royal Navy. It's still used, but only rarely, since Police, Customs, and Lighthouse Service vessels have their own ensigns. 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: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 10:23:50 -0500 From: "Stewart C. Russell" Subject: shooby I know that outsider music was so two years ago, but if you haven't heard the effervescent scat singing of Shooby Taylor, you should: Stewart ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 09:35:00 -0700 From: hamish_simpson@agilent.com Subject: RE: Union Jack Shit Mikey Mike G sed > I suspect that a gang of > politically correct barmy Brussels bureaucrats are behind this > brainwashing attack on everyday English usage. On a slightly similar note, my Dad always told me that the correct descriptor of someone from Scotland is "Scotch" and not "Scots", which he claims is an Anglicisation. Also, all those family tartans are made up too. What can you say about a nation who has taken to presenting it's world identity with a stupid effin' tartan hat with red hair sticking out; an image invented by an Englishman!!! (H) Moving on before his expatriate nationalism takes over and he runs up and down the corridors at work screaming "freedom". np - American Hi-Fi (for some reason!!!) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 17:15:24 +0000 From: "Maurer Rose, Inverse Nome" Subject: Back for Hack Back from paradise revitalized. Aeons ago, these were Feg topics-- Gilmore Girls: My daughters favorite show. She especially likes seeing the emotional mom fight with the snotty grandparents to the granddaughters amusement. When Buffy's on reruns I sometimes watch it too. Didnt realize Grant Lee Phillips was on it. Nice. What show(past or present, besides Dr Who, Monty Python, etc) should Robyn play wandering troubador on? - -------------- For Miles poll-- count me as "the Cars had another singer?" - ---------------- JeFFrey: >see Riley over on _Buffy_ for another example 'course, the guy couldn't >*act* either, which is why no matter how head-scratching Buffy's writers >get regarding Spike, it still works, usually, since Marsters is a fine >actor). I was -so- glad when they boomed Riley. He was cute as all get-out but cute as all get-out just isnt enough. Having Spike play mad has been a touch of genius, its like having Hamlet or Edgar(a contemporary, well-written, well-acted Hamlet or Edgar) trapped in your high school basement. And in some ways-- isnt that what being a teenager is all about:-) Back to GG JeFF: >Jess- he's the kind of teen boy who would intentionally try to portray himself in >that sort of tough-kid way. Right. He's playing up his cliche cause he dosnt realize whats best about him is whats underneath. A nice realistic touch. Plus it gives room for development. - ---------- Pointy Mike: >Unlike, say, in New York, where people signify their >understanding by >interrupting you to tell you what >you're saying. (At >least according to >my Lonely >Planet "USA Phrasebook".) Love that. And here in Philly, your job rating depends on it! It gets dressed up here at the Library by being called the "Reference Interview." Hell--you get extra points for repeating back before the poor sod even opens their mouth;-) And in NY--interuption is a competative sport. I never understand when people dont understand this. No ones going to wait for you to clear your fucking throat, so just jump in, slash and burn. Why or how people might find this annoying I will never understand;-P - ---------------- Zal:-( - -------------- Rex's query on TV watching Hardly any TV-- but Mike and I do tend to agree, except for sports where I eschew the football/baseball/golf/compulsive channel flipping nexus. Series are "Buffy" and "Hack," and occasionally "Gilmore Girls" because of Katie's(whose watching too many reruns of "Will and Grace." I realized this when she started giving me a hard time, talking back sudenly like a queen's queen, and I finially flashed on the fact that she was doing a spot-on imitation of Jack:-) promptings. "Buffy" is self -explanitory but let me put in a plug for "Hack." This of course has nothing to do with the fact that the main actor, David Morse, forsook Mordorish Hollywood so as to raise his kids in Hobbittown, nor that he was nice to my daughter and helped the coach out alot before anyone realized he was an actor and his kid was on the same soccar team, nor that this really is a Philly show with a feel for the city, bith gritty and grand, some great inside jokes and wonderful photography all around. Oh, and the acting is first rate, not just Morse but all the regular actors. No, I am not in the least swayed by the fact that they filmed at our cleaners, nope -- because that wouldnt translate into a Fegable plug. The reason Fegs would like this Friday night show is because its got a really good noir feel to it. Most stuff, feeling-wise, is in shades of darker gray. The main character is baisically a fucked-up sorta good guy who needs alot more therapy than he could ever contemplate or afford. Plus--his ethnic, lower-middle class, Catholic culture just dosnt work that way, and he's caught out in that blind spot. One of the many things I admire is how uncomprimisingly the show picks up on Phillys working class feel. You dont see that on TV much, not without alot of jokes to make some of its fantasy-unfriendly realities palatable. And somehow tied in with this, the actors really have faces. Worn-in faces with crevices and expression lines and features that tilt in less than photogenic ways. They dont look like blank slates you think are attractive only because theres nothing there to object to. So they actually look like people whove paid and pay the high cost of living. And as I said, the acting's first class. My husband thinks the guy who plays Marcellus, Morse's old partner, is one of the interesting characters(and best acted)that he's ever seen on TV. I love Morse's ex-wife. Some episodes are better than others. When its good, I think its about as good as TV gets with drama shows. They did one recently bout a guy who dies in Morse's cab that was wonderful(and Im sure Ive seen the actor who played the dead guy pre-corpse before, just cant pull up the name but will feel embarrased by its obviousness when I finially locate the tip of my tongue.) Really good writing. So its not just that I like watching a local, tall, blue-eyed Polish guy named Mike lumber around ;-)-- It really is a good show and I hope it gets renewed. Its developing and theres a lot farther it can go if its given the chance. So watch it youse guys! And ultimnate enticing review for Fegs -- alot of people thinks it's too depressing;-). - ---------------- Still not caught up but I dont want to ramble into my own personal digest. Makes it too easy to delete;-) Kay _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 14:07:53 +0000 (GMT) From: brian@lazerlove5.com Subject: Star Trek Any comments on the new Star Trek Movie? Spoilers Below: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - They really didn't explain how the enemy (can't remember the names) came across B-4. Oh yeah, there's no way to explain the evil Jean Luc's accent! Nuppy ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 10:06:33 -0800 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: Ichthyopunnery Eb: >>Speaking of comedy, I recently saw the film Fierce Creatures and >>thought it was far funnier than its box-office success would >>indicate. I recently saw part of it again and still found it very flat... however, I can see it being more enjoyable if one goes in with severely lowered expectations. I saw it opening day and tried to forget it as quickly as possible. ______ Drew: >>I had prayed never to be one of >>those smug motherfuckers who brag about not watching >>TV but I can feel myself becoming one To elaborate on my kinda glib comment to Stewart (sorry), I kinda went in the opposite direction... about eight or nine years ago (about the time I moved in with my now-wife) I picked up on some of her shows and eased out of my anti-TV snobbery. Far from all of it... Rexie don't channel-surf, and perhaps the greatest pet peeve of my life is coming into an empty room that has a TV on in it. Something about all that narrative, information, acting, just plain *work* etc. just spilling out into the air, unattended, seems vaguely profane to me. And before it's pointed out, if the spillage is of utter garbage, commercials or something equally inane, that's even worse... for god's sake put the lid back on the bottle when you leave the room if that's what's seeping out! Basically, after a few years of being a pure high-art snob, I got back in touch with my inner-geek, and the two have happily coexisted ever since. James's comments about transcendant "low art" describes my mindset on this issue quite nicely (thanks)... So my viewing habits are pretty regimented and similar to everyone else's here. Main exception is that I don't do Buffy, and I still do Frasier mainly because of David Hyde Pierce (although I enjoy the acting across the boards). Otherwise, yeah, 24, Simpsons, Scrubs, King of the Hill (which I still find quite entertaining), South Park when I remember it, West Wing (us lefties need our political wet dreams), Alias (for my homestate-girl JG), the late Firefly... oh, and ER, just because I loves me some Maura Tierney. I also love the Daily Show but haven't seen it for quite some time. Oh, and sorry for the near-spoilers on Two Towers. I totally forget where those films are concerned that not everybody knows the story. I'll be better. ______ Jeff: >>Geek Hall of Fame Credentials: The Prisoner, The Lone Gunmen, >>Millennium...but oddly, never a Star Trek fanatic despite liking many >>episodes of the first two series. I'll see you most of those (and I own the Prisoner on DVD) and raise you Doctor Who, of which I was a fanatic as a pre-teenager. Not an easy trick in hicksville West Virginia. I don't think I could watch now without dying of embarassment... a large part of my attraction to it as a kid was its odd Britishness and the fact that it was obscure as hell in the US and I was looking for "cult" stuff as if my life depended on it... which it may have. _________ Eleanore: >>The one CD was Underwater Moonlight by the Soft Boys, as a >>gift for her grandson! I told her that was one of my favorite albums. >>She said it was on her grandson's wish list. Hoo-ray, there's a heartwarming holiday tale for the 21st Century. Seventy year old Grandma... grandson must be in early 20's or younger. Cool. ______________ James: >>Rule of thumb is that flags are flown on land, ensigns and jacks from ships That must be a bitch for the ensigns... are they at least allowed to scream, or does that squash their chances for promotion? __________ Stewart: >>It's a little known fact that Mr Rew was going to be playing a hake on the first >>recording of "I Wanna Destroy You", but it evolved a few bars in. It's the tuning that's the real problem. You can tune a guitar, but you can't tuna... ummm... ah hell, somebody had to do it. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 11:46:22 -0800 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: Musical Robots of the Late '70's So when I was a kid I had this kind of enlarged version of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots called "Clash of the Cosmic Robots". Musta got it for Christmas around '77. Same deal as R'ES'ER except the robots were bigger and they had differently sculpted heads from each other. Anyways, the box for the Cosmic Robots turned into my mom's storage pit for Christmas ribbons and stuff, until a few years back when she used it to mail a bunch of stuff to me. And then I turned it into *our* storage receptacle for Christmas ribbons. I brought it with me to work this morning so I could wrap my wife's gifts away from her prying eyes. And I noticed the names of this on the copy: BATTLE OF THE UNIVERSE PROG-2 VS. V-STYX YOU CONTROL THE ACTION (nb. this was several years before Styx axed the musical question "Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto) V-STYX is white and has one big eye in the middle of his head (which resembles an elongated TV screen with a mullet); PROG-2 is orange and has a round head with a Boba-Fett-like face. Both have kinda girly-looking, vaguely samurai-like skirts. Wonder what it would be today-- "BLNK-182 VS. EMO-9"??? "ELFNT-6 VS. SUM-41"? Anyhoo... excuse the blather. It's just that we are SO about to have a baby. - -Rex Daddy ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 16:09:29 -0500 From: NelsonSydpink@aol.com (by way of dances with virgos ) Subject: Fwd: [VegFriends] Nextdoorland review In a message dated 12/18/2002 7:26:54 AM Pacific Standard Time, hipgnomis@yahoo.com writes: > Blue Coupe: http://www.bluecoupe.com/rock/nextdoorland.html > > It's hard to take the latter half of the Soft Boys' name seriously > when their leader, Robyn Hitchcock, appears on the back of their new > album with a full head of gray hair. But the chutzpah it took to > acknowledge that contradiction is nothing compared to what the Soft > Boys are showing with Nextdoorland. They haven't had a record out > since 1980's Underwater Moonlight, and it doesn't help to ease > expectations any that that platter was eventually recognized as a > masterpiece. Their legend was cinched when they broke up soon > afterwards, burning out while letting Hitchcock do the fading away in > an erratic solo career. (I'm not sure what verb to apply to lead > guitarist Kimberly Rew, who penned "Walking on Sunshine" with Katrina > and the Waves.) Still, it must be tempting to bask in the stature > that they've gained over the years, especially when they had so > criminally little of it when they were together the first time. > > To answer the question that is surely on the minds of many fans, no, > Nextdoorland is not on par with Underwater Moonlight, but no one > should really expect it to be. Anyone who doesn't realize how much > easier it is to be a genius in your 20s than it is in your late 40s > has obviously never tried. Still comeback albums, even though they > almost invariably miss the marks set by the artists in their greener > years, can be successes or failures based primarily on how well or > poorly they steer clear of a fairly standard set of comeback > pitfalls. To begin with, comebacks tend to fail when the people > involved do a meager impression of their vintage selves. For every > Iggy Pop who's still crazy after all these years, there are countless > invalid Jimmy Pages, doddering around on stage and lapping up > whatever sympathy applause they get for their sickly rock moves. > > Second, comebacks fail when the band doesn't work as a unit, ignoring > the differences between collaborating and telling session men what to > do on a solo outing. Third, comebacks fail when bands settle for > being polished and plain, offering up albums that make no more > profound an artistic statement than instrumental competence. Fourth, > and perhaps most important, comebacks fail when bands spread their > ideas out over too many songs. Sometimes, it doesn't take very many > tunes to exhaust the supply, but however long the track list is, you > can spot these duds whenever the songs present all their material in > the first minute but run on for another five. > > On "I Love Lucy," the first track from Nextdoorland, the Soft Boys > sound as if they stand fiercely resistant to being sanitized the way > so many of their peers have been. It's immediately apparent that > their fire has not yet gone out and that the signature guitars of > Hitchcock and Rew have collected little dust in the intervening > decades. They even choose to stretch out in the Television-like > second half of "Mr. Kennedy," and the fact that it ends up as the > strongest track of the album is a testament to their considerable > grace and power as musicians. > > The entire band is in fine form throughout Nextdoorland, locking in > tight and staying that way, and the age of Hitchcock's voice is given > away only by the occasional pleasant creak. This takes care of the > first three pitfalls, and Hitchcock avoids the fourth by knocking > most of his song structures around quite a bit before he's done with > them. This would be a good thing for anyone, but it is especially so > for The Soft Boys, a band that, at their peak, were daredevils of the > musical twist and turn. Without the ambition on display here, > Nextdoorland would have been stillborn, but thankfully, the Boys are > as much in love with adventure as ever. > > Nextdoorland may signal a welcome return for a fantastic band, but > that doesn't mean that it's flawless. Its major shortcoming is that > it lacks the inimitable hooks that made so much of the Soft Boys' > work such a joy. Many other bands of advancing years show you a riff > without including the surrounding idiosyncrasies that make good songs > great. The Soft Boys, on the other hand, change the scenery often > enough and fill in the details the way they should but fail to > deliver a truly infectious chorus or a bit of inspired wackiness > like "(I Want To Be An) Anglepoise Lamp." These comparisons, though, > are perhaps unfair. If Nextdoorland sometimes coasts by on the charm > of sounding like the Soft Boys, well, they're the ones who've earned > it. Nextdoorland shouldn't be the first purchase in a Soft Boys > collection, and with only two other albums on the roster, it's > probably the last, but it has succeeded in making any good collection > of the group incomplete at just A Can of Bees and Underwater > Moonlight. | November 2002 > > > > Brian James is a freelance writer and musician based in Chicago. His > writings pop up here and there on assorted music sites. "I don't know if pop is an art form? I should think it is as much as sitting down is." Syd Barrett, 1970 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 13:49:23 -0800 From: Eb Subject: speaking of TV.... Passing on a TV Barn blurb which I read online today.... Today's daytime films on the Turner Classic Movies channel are: 6:00 am The Shiralee 8:00 am Sister Kenny 10:00 am Calling Philo Vance 11:30 am Three Guys Named Mike 1:00 pm Nancy Goes To Rio 3:00 pm The Strange Love Of Molly Louvain 4:30 pm A Christmas Carol 6:00 pm Edward, My Son All based on the names of "Ed" characters! Yet no mention of this is made, officially. Is that a great in-joke, or what? :) Eb ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 22:52:51 -0600 From: steve Subject: Something to fill the void between TTT & ROTK You never know what you'll see on the DVDTalk upcoming release list. Not for children, btw. - - Steve __________ There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus.  What you've got is everythingand I mean everythingbeing run by the political arm. It's the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis. - John DiIulio, 2002 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 09:08:52 -0500 From: mary Subject: cast your own vote (1%RH?) Instead of just looking at other folk's best of lists, you can now have some say. Here are two online polls to participate in: http://www.virginradio.co.uk/thestation/top100/vote.html Robyn/Soft Boys aren't listed but there is an input field so you can write them in. For the proggies on the list: http://www.proggods.com/ In case anyone is interested, here's my top 10 from this year: 1. Interpol Turn on the Bright Lights 2. Guided by Voices Universal Truths and Cycles 3. Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots 4. Tori Amos Scarlet's Walk 5. The Soft Boys Nextdoorland 6. The Doves The Last Broadcast 7. Porcupine Tree In Absentia 8. Sigur Ros ( ) 9. Thunderball Scorpio Rising 10. Peter Gabriel Up Releases I still need to get/hear which would probably affect my list - Sleater Kinney, Beck, Tom Waits, Badly Drawn Boy, and many more. TV shows I watch: The Simpsons, Futurama, 24, and lots of BBCAmerica - Coupling is my fav, Father Ted and So Graham Norton are fun, and I like the Monday night mysteries. I try to watch Adult Swim when I can and reruns of The Adventures of Pete and Pete on the "N" channel. s.Mary I saw The Two Towers last night with some Feggy friends. For me, the three best things in the movie - terrific battle scenes, wonderful Golum scenes, and Legolas (he still so hot!) ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V11 #426 ********************************