From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V12 #135 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Wednesday, April 9 2003 Volume 12 : Number 135 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Merging of left and right wing [Barbara Soutar ] greasy trucker's gear shifts ["ross taylor" ] More than you ever needed to know about songs about West Virginia ["Rex.B] Splendid modulation [Glen Uber ] Magic Magic Band [crowbar.joe@btopenworld.com] Re: Splendid middle bits ["Jason R. Thornton" ] re: reap [Eb ] Donovan VS Iggy [Barbara Soutar ] A party, a pizza, a gear change or two [grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dign] RE: A party, a pizza, a gear change or two ["Brian Huddell" ] Re: Hawaiian pizza [noam tchotchke ] downshifting? (semi-theoretical musical analysis) [Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeff] reap [noam tchotchke ] Re: A party, a pizza, a gear change or two [Miles Goosens Subject: Re: Merging of left and right wing "There may be a case, somewhere, for the kind of convergence you're talking about, but it sure ain't in this article. I'm not offended or anything, just a little baffled. People are always surprised to find out that Gingrich doesn't have horns. He's a smart guy, good speaker, just wrong about almost everything in my opinion. +brian in New Orleans" Go ahead, be offended. All I can see is that in this particular case, left wing and right are not letting the war distract them from positive political work in your country. Are getting together to fix the problems they see while a foreign war is going on and draining all your money away. So don't believe me, you are free to not see it. Why it would offend you baffles ME. I noticed in my province of British Columbia in the last week that a prominent left winger, David Suzuki and a former right-wing Premier of the province joined together in a bid to stop the province from selling off part of our hydro facilities to a huge American corporation called Accenture. A new trend to fend off the purely greedy actions of people in political power at the moment. In our province they called themselves "Liberals" when they were trying to get elected. They lied. I said: "Has anyone else heard that Bill Clinton is supposed to succeed Kofi > Annan as head of the U.N.?" Steve said: "I *wish* we could get this rumor started down here. I'm sure it would cause a good number of strokes amongst the wingnuts." Check it out Steve, it's not just a rumour. It seems to be in the works. I think it may be partly the motivation behind Bush wanting to opt out of the U.N. If you do a Google search you'll find lots of valid info on this topic. Barbara Soutar Victoria, British Columbia - - - Steve ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 10:37:30 -0500 From: "Brian Huddell" Subject: RE: Merging of left and right wing Barbara Soutar: > Why it would offend you baffles ME. It wouldn't, which is why I said it doesn't. Sometimes people mean exactly what they say. In this case I wanted to make sure you understood I wasn't responding out of anger or offense (that *does* happen around here, you know), but because I genuinely don't understand how your conclusion about a convergence of the left and right wing "on some issues" is supported or frankly even hinted at by the article you cite. But it's not important that I understand how you got to your conclusion. By which I mean it's not important that I understand how you got to your conclusion. +brian in New Orleans ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 09:28:27 -0700 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: Pizza in California Tom C: >>Sorry for the rant. I've lived out here for twelve years and I've only >>found two places that make good pizza. Casa Bianca Pizza Pie in my almost-home-town of Eagle Rock. Do not miss the "zesty olives". And their unique slicing technique, based on some 4-dimensional algorithm which eludes me to this day. - -Rex, actually a resident of Highland Park, or Garvanza, depending on who's talking ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2003 12:43:23 -0400 From: "ross taylor" Subject: greasy trucker's gear shifts Those are very hard to mentally search for somehow. I do think it's mostly a country phenom, to spice up songs w/ few chords & not much groove. [ducking] The last time I saw George Jones I think his band did it 6 or 8 times, & he always joked "I didn't even have to tell 'em where to go." The Eagles -- Already Gone, in the final chorus. I remember guys saying, yeah, it sounds like a motorcycle shifting into high gear. Who -- My Generation, right at the end when they start smashing. Pretenders -- Back on the Chain Gang, last verse. Some friends and I once did a "bluegrass" version of the Stones' "The Last Time" at "Orange Blossom Special" tempo, w/ harmonies, flatpicking & the last verse put up a step. I think some techno did this too. There are a couple of tracks by Fluke and, appropriately, 18 Wheeler, where the thing grooves along in one key, note, whatever, then, as if to prevent bedsores, shifts up a step. - --- >> Perhaps I should explain that "Laurie" is pronounced "Lorry" in England. This all reminds me of the bit just before "Andy Warhol" on Hunky Dory, where you hear a snippet of Warhol apparently telling Bowie how to pronounce his name -- "'o' as in 'holes' not 'o' as in 'hope.'" - --- Ross Taylor "These are your properties and these are your things they can't go on without you when you have cleared up and all gone away they'll tell me all about you" Need a new email address that people can remember Check out the new EudoraMail at http://www.eudoramail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 10:13:02 -0700 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: More than you ever needed to know about songs about West Virginia James, then Miles: >>>>No, they're in west Virginia, not West Virginia. Majuscule, minuscule, >>>>inaudible. >>Except no one from there would say "west Virginia." It's always "western >>Virginia." At least in my experience. But if people gide past the "-ern," >>confusion could reign, sure. However the writers of *that* song definitely >>were captial W-ing, all the way down those country roads. Yes, that's all correct. Even when you say "West Virginia", a great deal of Americans hear it as "the West of Virginia" and try to relate to you by asking if you're from Richmond. And good friends who have known me for years still slip up and ask me if I'm going "home to Virginia this summer". The French family I lived with in Paris had never heard of the state, and the woman had even gone to school in Boston. I had to show it to them on a map of the States, where to my surprise it was labeled "Virginie Occidentale". Weird, and surprisingly classy-sounding. After I got home I sent them a mug with the state logo on it. Never heard back from them. The writers of the song explain its origins as such: "The inspiration had come while they'd been driving to a family reunion of Taffy's relatives in Maryland. To pass the time en route, Bill had made up a ballad about the little winding roads they were taking. Later, he changed the story to fit that of an artist friend, who used to write to Bill about the splendors of the West Virginia countryside." And they'd never been to the state, apparently, so there you go. I had been told that the word "West" was just wedged in next to "Virginia" to make the verse flow better, but apparently not. Again, too much of my childhood was tied up in the song and Dad not wanting to have to play it, etc. Ironically his band came up with a better W. Va. song by taking "I'm Going Home", a Kingston Trio song about California (same number of syllables), and changing the state name and all of the geographic references to stuff that is actually *in* West Virginia. That version became their signature song and they've opened and closed every set with it for almost forty years. They later heard stories from their fans about how they'd heard bands elsewhere doing the "California" version and taken them to task for changing the lyrics. But they never did "Muswell Hillbilly", no. Rex "and it's in D, played in C with capo on the second fret, and none of the words rhyme" Broome ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2003 10:51:32 -0700 From: Glen Uber Subject: Splendid modulation Once upon a time ross taylor say to me -- this is the dog talkin' now -- what is your conceptual continuity? > Those are very hard to mentally search for somehow. > > I do think it's mostly a country phenom, to spice up songs w/ few chords & not > much groove. > [ducking] The last time I saw George Jones I think his band did it 6 or 8 > times, & he always > joked "I didn't even have to tell 'em where to go." The one that always comes to mind is "I Walk the Line" by Sir Johnny. > The Eagles -- Already Gone, in the final chorus. I remember guys saying, > yeah, it sounds like > a motorcycle shifting into high gear. An even better Eagles' gear shift occurs in "New Kid in Town" which modulates from 'E' to 'G'. In fact, they do the very same shift on "Last Resort" on the same album. A really cool modulation occurs in the Beatles' "Here, There and Everywhere". Starts in G and stays there for the verses and then goes to Bb for the "I wander everywhere and if she's beside me I know I need never care" part (what is that, a bridge? A middle 8?) before returning to G in the subsequent verses. However, all of these songs shift to the minor third (one and a half steps), so according to the web site, it's not really a trucker's gear shift, then, is it? One that's a true gear shift (and is done almost seemlessly, IMO) is "Lodi" by CCR. T first 2/3 of the song is in Bb and then modulates to C before the last verse with a really cool guitar lick. It's done in such a way that you don't even notice it until you try to play it. Sort of like the Lou Reed tune Sebastian mentioned. One of my songs -- "Thursday" -- is in F# minor during the verses, F# major during the chorus and E during the solo and coda. Wonder what the web site would have to say about that one? - -- Cheers! - -g- "The flowers of intolerance and hatred are blooming kind of early this year, someone's been watering them." --Robyn Hitchcock ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 19:09:47 +0100 (BST) From: crowbar.joe@btopenworld.com Subject: Magic Magic Band Godders writted >it would >have been great to see Alex St Clair, Jeff Cotton, Jerry >Handley, Jeff >Moris Tepper, and particularly Art Ed Marimba Tripp on marimba. ...and Ry Cooder ;-) I saw Gary Lucas last Friday at a benefit gig for Resonance FM (weird central London radio station, well worth checking out - www.resonancefm.com). He played a wonderful version of Sure Nuff 'N' Yes I Do on a National steel guitar. I thought the Magic Band were mind-blowingly good and Drumbo was a revelation as the Captain. V.charismatic. There's some talk that they'll be back in the autumn to play the Barbican. Crowbar Joe ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2003 11:23:51 -0700 From: "Jason R. Thornton" Subject: Re: Splendid middle bits At 10:51 AM 4/8/2003 -0700, Glen Uber wrote: >what is that, a bridge? A middle 8? These terms really don't seem to be used consistently in pop/rock. Most often, they refer the same thing, a new section of music that appears after a couple of repeats of the Verse-Chorus pattern - with "Middle 8" (not always 8 bars) being generally more popular among the Brits, and "bridge" used more often by American song-writers. In other words, the C-section in songs with a ABABCAB type structure, or some variation thereof. But sometimes you'll see people refer to a "b-section" before the chorus and after the verse as a "bridge." Which, admittedly, is better than a term like "pre-chorus," which I hate. I've also heard some folks refer to an instrumental verse, usually with a solo, as a "Middle 8," in songs without a true "bridge." Eek! Jason ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 13:46:17 -0700 From: Eb Subject: re: reap Thanks much to everyone who sent their good wishes...I think this amounts to almost all of the regulars, minus a couple from the Loud Family claque. Six or seven of you were receiving reports all along, but the gist of the matter is that my father started feeling poorly on the evening of *December 25th* (yes, that's right...merry fuckin' Christmas!) and went to the hospital. He had been having occasional problems with an irregular heart beat, and we presumed that was the problem again. Nope. The tentative diagnosis which came back was leukemia, and this was confirmed within a few days. The most lethal variety of acute leukemia. We all wondered if it could have anything to do with a nuclear test he witnessed from a close distance, while serving in the Navy. Anyway, I've been dealing with this all through 2003. He had a surprisingly good stretch of stable health where the family wrapped a lot of loose ends, but he took an unexpected steep dive within the last week. It's awkward to go into more detail than this on a public list, but if anyone wants the full three-hanky version, I could distribute a more intimate version to caring parties via email. The crazy, scary and ENRAGING denouement is that my mother discovered later that one or both of the "body baggers" actually *stole* my father's money clip off his bedroom dresser...and his *Social Security card* from his wallet. So, all hell is breaking loose today with police reports, fraud prevention and the like. Unbe-LEEV-able. Aren't Earthlings wonderful? She was dealing with things not-so-badly before this catastrophe broke, but now she's a total wreck. Not fair at all. She's even upset about losing the clip itself, because she had wanted to keep it for sentimental reasons. In other indulgent personal news... I ran in my first official 10K on Saturday morning (54:57...a couple of minutes slower than I expected, due to a course which had more incline and rough terrain than it should have), and saw my father later that day. Telling him about the race was our last substantial exchange. I believe that our final dialogue went something like this. Me, after saying that I only finished 13th out of 17 in my age bracket: "I know it would have made a great story for me to win a medal for my ailing father, but..." Him, with a similar rueful smile: "It would." Brrr. I talked to him at length yesterday, but he had lost the ability to respond by then. It's a horrible time. Heck, I'm still mourning the loss of my *dog* back in November. Eb, a raw nerve ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2003 14:49:01 -0700 From: Barbara Soutar Subject: Donovan VS Iggy Message in reply to Mike Godwin: My 13 year old self preferred Donovan but my 49 year old self would prefer Iggy. Maybe this is just a female thing, but Iggy seems to have a certain livelieness that Donovan no longer has! In addition I got a lame "Best of Donovan" CD a few years ago that turned me off totally. This one did not even have the original versions of the songs I wanted, it was a gift from my nostalgic brother who thought I'd like it! Barbara Soutar Victoria, British Columbia ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 12:09:03 +1200 From: grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan) Subject: A party, a pizza, a gear change or two >Okay, I have no problem with kids but sometimes the parents are nauseating. >Has anyone ever gotten a thank you card from a 1 year olds birthday party? >First off the kid is having a party? They don't even know what a birthday >party is at 1 year old. Why don't the parents have a party where people >don't get guilted into buying some toy, try Arbor Day or Flag Day or Frozen >Food Month(March I think). Better yet a party that isn't all adults. hey - on a Flag Day party, I'd want presents! :) - --- >> *ring sections of (ordinary, not giant!) squid meat. Tastes >> like a cross between chicken and lobster. very very nice. > >And not at all uncommon in the US. Except we call it "Calamari" which makes >it taste even better! yeah, but calamari is, IIRC, raw, no? Squid rings are deep fried in breadcrumbs. Re pizza. Pineapple, pepperoni salami, and anchovies, please, with extra cheese. But (and this is the trick bit, the bit that means I almost never have pizza) no tomato. Not even in the sauce or base. Otherwise, you pay for my hospital stay. Then again, I'd prefer a good satay any day. - --- >As with *all* rules I think it is too simple to say that this kind of >modulation is bad. It depends on how you employ it. There is certainly the >cliche modulation that deserves to be ridiculed, but that doesn't make all >"gear changes" bad. personally I prefer those gear changes where the chorus or bridge is in a completely different key to the rest of the song. Can be weird/jarring (the Chills' "Doledrums" doies that with the end section") or sweet and charming (like the half-tone change for the chorus of Split Enz's "Iris". Verse in D, chorus in C#, verse in D... stunning) James nf - East Timor 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: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 19:29:22 -0500 From: "Brian Huddell" Subject: RE: A party, a pizza, a gear change or two James: > yeah, but calamari is, IIRC, raw, no? Not that I've ever seen. Deep fried in batter or (usually) bread crumbs. Served in Italian restaurants with marinara or, as Kay said, aioli. > or sweet and charming > (like the half-tone change for the chorus of Split Enz's > "Iris". Verse in D, chorus in C#, verse in D... stunning) That *is* a nice one. Thanks for the memory! +brian in New Orleans ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2003 17:41:28 -0700 From: Glen Uber Subject: Re: A party, a pizza, a gear change or two Once upon a time James Dignan say to me -- this is the dog talkin' now -- what is your conceptual continuity? > personally I prefer those gear changes where the chorus or bridge is in a > completely different key to the rest of the song. Can be weird/jarring (the > Chills' "Doledrums" doies that with the end section") or sweet and charming > (like the half-tone change for the chorus of Split Enz's "Iris". Verse in > D, chorus in C#, verse in D... stunning) A couple obscure ones: "Ripplin' Waters" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The first half of each verse is in D while the second half is in G and the middle 8, solos and outro are in E. What a gorgeous song! The lyrical imagery of this song is just amazing -- close your eyes and you can almost imagine yourself sitting in a cabin in the Rockies as the snow is melting and winter is turning to spring. "Monday's Lunch" by our own Mark Gloster and Big Rubber Shark. The chords in the verses are G A C D; the middle 8 shifts to Db Eb Gb Ab and then shifts again to Eb F Ab Bb and before returning to G A C D. Then at the end, just to fuck with out brains a bit more, there's a descending chromatic bit that goes Ab G Gb F E! That Mark: always the clever one! My day is done. See ya! - -- Cheers! - -g- "Half the world's starving and have the world bloats; half the world sits on the other and gloats." --Robyn Hitchcock ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 21:39:58 -0400 From: Scott Hunter McCleary Subject: Hawaiian pizza No no no -- BROCCOLI and pineapple is the true pizza of the gods. We've never been able to put our fingers on it, but there is something about this combination that is SOOOOO indescribably delicious. - -- ========= Emoticon in the shape of a big, lolling canine tongue. SH McCleary Prodigal Dog Communications PO Box 6163 Arlington, VA 22206 shmac@prodigaldog.com www.prodigaldog.com www.1480kHz.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2003 22:59:03 -0400 From: noam tchotchke Subject: Re: Hawaiian pizza pizza with pineapple is the plague that forced pharaoh to free the hebrews. 'nuff said. +w ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 23:20:49 -0500 From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: downshifting? (semi-theoretical musical analysis) I mentioned Thin White Rope's "On the Floe" the other day as a song with a very cool modulation pattern (at least in its coda). I said something about more details later...here they are: Okay, the verses of the song are fairly static (probably to contrast w/the serious harmonic motion that occurs later): 2 bars each going between F#m and E, in kind of a rolling rhythm vaguely reminiscent of the Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down." The chorus introduces a version of the sequence that will structure the coda, which runs approx. as follows, with the chords changing every bar, increasing agitation: F#m7, C#m, B, G#m. Over that is a repeating melodic figure in a three-note pattern on beats 1, 2+, 4: e, d#, c#; e, d#, c#; d#, c#, b; d#, c#, b. After this repeats for the chorus proper, an instrumental variation (which will form the coda) continues over the following chord sequence (still one chord per bar): A, C#m, G#m, E7, Bm7, A, F#m, and back to E (for the verse). The melodic figure is similar to its pattern in the vocal chorus, only the reharmonization makes some interesting moments, such as the raised fourth degree on A (d#) and the change to d *natural* over the Em7 chord. (The melodic pattern continues down the scale to c#, b, a over the A and F#m chords.) Okay, here's where it gets cool: the sequence from A through to F#m above makes up a seven-bar phrase, at the end of which the whole thing modulates *downward* one whole step to begin on G (instead of A). The entire sequence repeats, shifting downward a whole step each time, six times, until the whole thing ends up again resolving on E major. On top of that, fading in somewhere in the middle of the "F" modulation, and continuing audibly until it fades during the "Db" modulation, is a high G pedal point on organ that adds yet another harmonic contour to the whole thing. Very cool indeed - a bit out of the realm of your usual truck-drivin' changes. - --Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society http://www.uwm.edu/~jenor/ADS.html :: Empire is incompatible with democracy. Democracy is founded on the :: rule of law, empire on the rule of force. Democracy is a system of :: self-determination, empire a system of military conquest. :: --Jonathan Schell ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Apr 2003 10:01:52 -0400 From: noam tchotchke Subject: reap babatunde olatunji http://www.olatunjimusic.com/pages/1/index.htm +w ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Apr 2003 09:38:27 -0500 From: Miles Goosens Subject: Re: A party, a pizza, a gear change or two At 12:09 PM 4/9/2003 +1200, James Dignan wrote: >>> *ring sections of (ordinary, not giant!) squid meat. Tastes >>> like a cross between chicken and lobster. very very nice. >> >>And not at all uncommon in the US. Except we call it "Calamari" which makes >>it taste even better! > >yeah, but calamari is, IIRC, raw, no? Squid rings are deep fried in >breadcrumbs. When I've had calamari, it's been cooked but not breaded. You have to eat it while it's hot, else it goes rubbery. later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 09:46:52 -0500 (CDT) From: gshell@metronet.com Subject: Re: the big guns On Mon, 7 Apr 2003, Barbara Soutar wrote: > My daughter asked me if the States would attack Canada if it got mad at > us. I replied that it was unlikely. jeez, don't depress the girl. i dream of the day when I can drive to Canada, never having to leave Texas. ooh, sorry that's the second phase. gSs ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V12 #135 ********************************