From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V12 #189 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Saturday, May 24 2003 Volume 12 : Number 189 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Jeff vs. Jay, battle of wills ["Natalie Jane" ] Re: Jeff vs. Jay, battle of wills [Miles Goosens ] Robyn Stings! That's so cool! ["Rex.Broome" ] The real alt-rock folk country blues ["Michael Wells" ] Boobs for Eno - donations accepted [grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan)] biographies [Barbara Soutar ] Re: In yellow socks, I box my gox. I box in yellow gox box socks. [Jeff] Re: Nanaimo, folkies, Iraq [Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey ] Re: Robyn Stings! That's so cool! [Jeff Dwarf ] gnatmaniax: confetti-throwin' Okies ["Natalie Jane" Subject: Jeff vs. Jay, battle of wills >You may have seen Jay before, or you may have gleaned this from your brief >stay on Postcard2 (fwiw, Natalie, I looked at that list for about a week a >few years ago and came to all the same conclusions about it that you did), >but I'm gonna warn you anyway: Jay has *zero* charisma live. I'm definitely aware of this - I've heard many reports and seen some live footage as well. Jay's a weird guy - interviewers hate him because he communicates in grunts and monosyllables, he's very stand-offish towards fans, and apparently doesn't like to put any effort into live shows, either. Maybe he's just one of those people who should just stay in their rooms and make music. I'm glad you got the same impression of Postcard that I did, I thought maybe I was just being over-sensitive... :) >However, if you close your eyes, the music itself sounds *magnificent.* I >just don't want you to think you're going to get something live that's a >comparable experience to Wilco, which boasts live wires Kotchke and Stirrat >and Tweedy's sly, smart stage presence. Ahh, I'm looking forward to those 10th row seats... I'll be able to see right up Jeff's nose (and since he apparently recently had a deviated septum corrected, it should be an amazing sight!). n. _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 13:11:14 -0500 From: Miles Goosens Subject: Re: Jeff vs. Jay, battle of wills Quickly, before I have to hurry off to a meeting... At 10:54 AM 5/23/2003 -0700, Natalie Jane wrote: >fans, and apparently doesn't like to put any effort into live shows, either. > Maybe he's just one of those people who should just stay in their rooms >and make music. Lest someone be mistaken about what I meant, I think Jay Farrar plays very well live, and that he is putting lots of effort into it. But his way of performing is totally music-focused, with no jumping, little talking, no singalongs, and keeping himself a motionless expressionless blank. It is sort of like just being in a room with Jay playing, rather than being at a rock concert as we usually think of a rock concert. It's weird, but that's just how he is. later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 11:25:44 -0700 From: Barbara Soutar Subject: Nanaimo, folkies, Iraq Barbara Soutar wrote: >> >> Nah-NIE- moe. > > everyone I've heard here pronounces it nan-EYE-moe. Weird. Stewart You're right Stewart. Your way of saying it is MY way of saying it. But you're a professional dictionary guy, right? I haven't figured out how to describe pronounciation by e-mail. I want to see A Might Wind again. Must catch all the words Mickey/Sylvia sings at the medical convention at the end... I did catch one part which was "penis clamp". Still makes me laugh. The contrast between the idealistic time in the late 60's and early 70's to the present day is painfully obvious. Re: Iraq. I'm listening to Siouxsie and the Banshees: Cities in Dust. Barbara Soutar Victoria, British Columbia ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 11:34:17 -0700 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: Robyn Stings! That's so cool! Jeff D: >>I would mention that Family Guy just took over the Home >>Movies timeslot during Adult Swim, but I'm afraid of what >>Gene and Rex would do. Aaiiieeeee! Well, they'll do a DVD box of Home Movies, right? I mean, guys from Fox have me combing the vaults for bonus material for a Cop Rock DVD, so it's all gonna come out eventually... >>Mostly, I just liked the dog and the psychotic baby. Problem #1 (okay, #2 after the testicle chins): The baby and the dog were symptomatic of a complete lack of internal logic in that show. You may say that doesn't matter if it's funny. I'd agree to a point, although since Family Guy wasn't funny, at least it coulda made some damned sense. >>And I found Home Movies boring. Nice idea, but the execution was just too >>understated. And that I liked. There's plenty of "shrill" out there. The actual home movies (which were really more like trailers), though, were often gut-busting to me. But then, that's what I did when I was a kid: make phony movie trailers in my basement. _______ Natalie: >>My knowledge of REM stops at "Life's Rich Paegant" (with a smidgen of >>"Document," which I inexplicably sold a few years ago), and what I've heard >>of their recent stuff does nothing for me. Your knowledge stops there? Well, that's understandable; they were practically invisible in the media after that period. (Actually I know a few people who make that same statement but you don't sound like you have the same kind of chip on your shoulder about the "big sellout" as most of them.) Miles: >>My own idiosycratic, oversimplified reading of the WB material: GREEN is >>hit or miss, OUT OF TIME is excellent, AUTOMATIC a snoozer, MONSTER a >>much-needed fierce corrective, NEW ADVENTURES an underrated near- >>great album, and... well, the less I say about UP and REVEAL, the better. To me, it's like this: GREEN is hit or miss and perhaps their most dated record of all; OUT OF TIME good but perhaps overrated; AUTOMATIC is great, the "mature" record that doesn't make me puke; MONSTER ill-advised, uneven, and 33% execrable; NEW ADVENTURES an underrated near-great album (sic); UP vastly underrated, exciting and visceral; REVEAL a real "what the hell happened" retread of UP which adds nothing but tedium. >>I'm going to trek out of town to cross another big "never seen" band off my >>list, Neil Young & Crazy Horse. Hey Miles, do you get Lucinda Williams on that bill? 'Cause we do out here. I am so psyched for that show... BTW, Reprise is FINALLY FOR THE FIRST TIME releasing four of the six lost Neil albums on CD. We get the Super Ultimate Classic "On the Beach", the "everything good on it is on Decade although it does have that fucked-up salmon song" stopgap album "American Stars & Bars", the "one that pissed of the labor movement" Hawks & Doves and the "one that pissed off Reprise" Crazy Horse record "re-ac-tor". The latter three are uneven but will get a few classic tunes on CD for the first time. Dunno about bonus track, but it's Neil, so I doubt it.s Why the HELL they aren't doing "Journey Through the Past" and "Time Fades Away" is a mystery.. "Journey" is no great loss, a wank-fest even by Neil standards, but "Time", although loathed by some, is a motherfucker of a record-- scary first takes of new songs performed live and drunk with a cranky band, almost Stooges-like. Nearly as good as "On the Beach", which, did I mention, is a classic of the highest order? Speaking of Neil and Wank-Fests, I don't know whether to be terrified or excited that his new Crazy Horse record is a "song cycle" about some imagined family. On the one hand, it's good to see some ambition in his work again. On the other, the "big themes" are not his forte. __________ Hollie: >>Woolworths UK is carrying the new double CD "Robyn Stings": If it was only actually called "Robyn Stings Dylan" it would be even better... - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 13:33:04 -0700 From: Eb Subject: dedicated to the Virgin Kansan analyses last night's Klum appearance on the Letterman show: I have just finished watching Our Lady's appearance on Dave's show tonight. What fun! First of all, Heidi drew the most applause when Dave announced the guests' names. The first guest was Spanish actor Antonio Banderas. Why? There are many reasons, but the main one is his birthday: August 10, 1960. The gorgeous Greek-American actress Angie Harmon, a Heidi look-alike, was born on August 10, 1972. According to David Ovason's book "The Secret Architecture of our Nation's Capital: The Masons and the Building of Washington, D.C.", Pennsylvania Avenue is designed to point to the setting Sun on August 10 every year. That is because at that time the Zodiac sign of Virgo hovers above the horizon. Virgo represents the Great Goddess, Isis, or the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Washington, D.C., is secretly dedicated to the Virgin. Both Banderas and Harmon were born in leap years, 1960 and 1972, respectively. The Summer Olympic Games take place during leap years, in August usually, the month when Banderas and Harmon were born. Banderas mentioned that he had bought a sail boat from King Juan Carlos of Spain. The King's wife, Queen Sophia, is the sister of Constantine the 13th, the former King of Greece, my native country. King Constantine is not Greek, but his family comes from Germany, he is Heidi's Landsmann. Constantine won a Gold Medal in sailing in the Rome Olympics of 1960, the year Banderas was born. The next Olympics will take place in Athens, Greece, and the "AIDA Aura", the German cruise ship Heidi christened on April 12, 2003, on Dave Letterman's birthday, will be in the port of Athens during the Olympics, serving as the sea-borne hotel for the German Olympic Committee. Empress Heidi may visit Athens during the Olympics, too, and stay aboard the "AIDA Aura". Angel Heidi was wearing a beautiful diamond cross tonight, designed by her for Mouawad, the jewelry company that fabricates the multimillion-dollar bras for Victoria's Secret every Christmas season. Heidi and Dave discussed dating each other. She likes older guys: Dave is 56 now. Dating him would prepare her for dating me, much younger at 50. In the end Dave kissed Heidi's hand again, as he had during her most recent appearance on his show, on November 19, 2002. Sweetest Heidi, sleep tight! Dream of pleasant things. I'll be dreaming of you. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 16:17:35 -0500 From: "Michael Wells" Subject: The real alt-rock folk country blues Had the pleasure to see a really interesting and rewarding show last night: Performance artist Andy Friedman and singer-songwriters Paul Curreri http://www.citysalvagerecords.com/ and Jeffrey Foucault played in the attached room to Uncommon Ground coffee house on West Grace (North side of Chicago, near Wrigley Field). There was an earnest young lady, likely local, who got an hour to open for the main show, which was unfortunately about forty minutes too long...nothing really bad, but she played in an kind-of-Joni-Mitchell-confessional-way-but-with-more-third-party-point-o f-view without changing things up at all. Every song had the same strumming pattern (accent the bass note of the chord / a couple strums / non-specific arpeggios on the top strings / repeat), most were in the same key and all played at the same tempo with the same little vocal trills. Interesting for about four songs. I had heard about Andy but had no real idea what to expect, and ended up being quite pleasantly surprised. Setting up a portable screen, he put on a slideshow of his artwork - photographs, oil paintings and pencil drawings - and used the images as starting (or often as not, finishing) points for a wide-ranging assortment of stories, poems, and general observations. The topics of these ramblings often seemed mundane but gradually outlined larger issues...in a very oblique way, however, and you could sense he was leading you close to a topic and then leaving to let you to fill in the rest (i.e. one of the themes last night was how the physical activity of art had affected his perceptions and behaviors growing up, and subsequent development). It was quite offhand-feeling as it was happening, but there was a lot more to it there which I 'got' later in the night...and am indeed still thinking about. Seeing Paul Curreri was completely new for me...and I'm sold. Way sold, as in bought-a-cd-on-the-spot-sold. Strong fingerstyle in the country blues tradition...think Mississippi John Hurt in the body of a skinny little white guy with funky hair. Easygoing, offbeat stage presence, but a strong vocal and exquisite control of tempo and volume...gentle Appalachian-style folk songs, ripping Delta blues, Peter Case-style offbeat songs...it was all right on and he had the noisy little room pretty much in his pocket. The fact that about half the material had a nasty humorous undertone helped buoy the mood considerably. Overall a very short hour of his own songs and one cover. However, I had really gone to see Wisconsin-based Jeffrey Foucault www.jeffreyfoucault.com , who for my money is one of the best things going right now. Deep, forceful voice and very mature, expressive songwriting...it's hard to believe music with such perspective and emotional depth comes from someone so young. Occasionally very direct writing, sometimes less so...I feel the comparisons to Townes van Zandt are quite justified in that regard. His excellent debut album "Miles from the Lightning" missed me when it came out, but I now think it to be one the best albums of 2001 that I own...and I am pretty close to saying it's one of the best debut albums I have *ever* heard. Jeffrey sat down without introduction a few minutes after Paul finished and started right in, playing a set that neglected some of my favorite songs for new, unreleased material. This turned out just fine - the new stuff is as good, if not better, than the older...and despite the occasional background interruption the set was intimate and very downbeat. After the three opening sets I was expecting a longer session, but he only played about fifty minutes. My sis-in-law talked with him before the show, and he had mentioned that he was kind of out of it which likely accounted for the song selection and set length. That aside, it was a completely absorbing performance. I also gathered that in addition to the new Foucault album coming out in a couple months, there will be a new Peter Mulvey disc this summer and one in August where they both team with Kris Delmhorst http://www.krisdelmhorst.com - that one should be stunning. And Jeffrey mentioned that Chris Smither had sent him a copy of his yet-unreleased new disc which was (gesturing down and outwards with his hands) "incredible." So it will should be an *unreal* summer for fingerstyle singer-songwriters. In short if the either the "Andy and Paul show" or Jeffrey make a visit your way, my recommendation would be unhesitating. Especially for Jeffrey. Michael "there must be some mistake...I ordered the large hot chocolate" Wells ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 16:54:26 -0500 From: steve Subject: eBay question for Mac Fegs OK, former Apple insiders and other Mac Fegs, I was watching this thing and it jumped from $12 to $305. Any ideas? That's more than mint in the box Pippins are going for. You'd think it would be a red 970 motherboard! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2730164458 - - Steve ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 May 2003 12:12:04 +1200 From: grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan) Subject: Boobs for Eno - donations accepted >"So sorry, he's from Barcelona." > >"I know ... no-sing." had a bit of luck on the gee-gees, eh? >I really liked Chris Morris in "The day today" with those pointless >interviews with Brian O'HanraHanraHan. "Drop the dead donkey" was funny >till Haydn Gwynn left, but then it went soap opera, though Stepehn >Tompkinson still had some comic moments. not sure quite why it reminded me (possibly the "pointless interviews" comment) but do any of you Britfegs know what Chris Langham's doing these days? He's done some seriously funny 'pointless interview'-type stuff. >I was never a big Python fan, though I enjoyed the 'Holy Grail' and >'Brian' films (their other films were appalling). I always felt that many >of the sketches were re-hashes of material from "At last the 1948 Show", >"I'm sorry I'll read that again" and "Do not adjust your set" > - groovy photos at I'm hoping and praying that some of "Do not adjust your set" got saved in the great BBC tape-culls of the 60s. Possibly the first TV show I can remember any of. >>I thought Catherine was very purposely being very Canadian. Tell me if I'm >>wrong here. > >I didn't know there was a way of acting Canadian. Shows what I know, eh? which reminds me - has anyone mentioned Due South yet, or was that too drama to qualify? Good show, anyway. oh, and re-"medicore" >As funny as the made-up bands are, it strikes me that there >IS one "hip" band that the genrefication actually fits -- >Clinic. I suppose you could add NZ ambient outfit "Dr Kevorkian and the Suicide Machine" their album "The loneliest of creatures", dedicated to and about Pioneer 10, is really rather good. 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, 23 May 2003 20:17:47 -0700 From: Barbara Soutar Subject: biographies Today I spotted a cheap book on the sale table of a bookstore - a Nick Drake biography. I don't know if there is more than one, but this is by Patrick Humphries. Looks good and I'm amazed to have found it by chance. Other than this, I'm reading The Best of Hugh Kingsmill, an obscure but fascinating critic from the early 20th century. Ordered it from abe.com which I find to be a great source of second-hand books. Got into this Kingsmill guy because the book is edited by Michael Holroyd - ever since I read the biography of George Bernard Shaw he wrote, I've been a big fan and read anything associated with his name. This leads me into territory I normally wouldn't explore. It's like I trust his taste implicitly. I suppose it's like this with various movie directors you people have been mentioning... once you find one that attracts you, then you are confident that their next film will probably be worthwhile. Raises the odds anyway. Barbara Soutar Victoria, British Columbia ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 23:00:53 -0500 From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: Re: In yellow socks, I box my gox. I box in yellow gox box socks. Quoting Miles Goosens : but first La Gnatta: > >loved in high school but don't love so much anymore (REM). My knowledge > of > >REM stops at "Life's Rich Paegant" (with a smidgen of "Document," which > I > >inexplicably sold a few years ago), and what I've heard of their recent > > >stuff does nothing for me. > > DOCUMENT is actually my favorite, but there's very little on the first > five that I don't love. My own idiosycratic, oversimplified reading of > the WB material: GREEN is hit or miss, OUT OF TIME is excellent, > AUTOMATIC a snoozer, MONSTER a much-needed fierce corrective, NEW > ADVENTURES an underrated near-great album, and... well, the less I say > about UP and REVEAL, the better. I'll e-mail you my REVEAL review that > used to be at toastmag.com before it went under. Once a year or so (as Miles, somewhere in the back of his mind, probably guessed), we have this difference of opinion regarding the merits of the last three R.E.M. albums (actually, re NAIHF and _Up_ - we both don't much like _Reveal_). So, for example, my last attempt to appreciate NAIHF is available at http://www.escribe.com/music/loudfans/m30653.html - and my review of _Reveal_ is at http://www.uwm.edu/~jenor/remreveal.html (I think this one also appeared in the late, lamented _Toast_). Our differences on _Up_ amount to his claim that it's a drag, and mine that it's an interesting attempt to change the band's sound that, with a few exceptions, works pretty well. NOt that I'm apt to change anyone's mind at this point, but I still feel that way about all three albums. (And fwiw...it's *Miles* who's changed his mind quite publicly about a handful of bands that I can think of...most notably the Fall. So I'm hoping he'll come around...) > >But I've been assured that REM are touring to > >support a greatest hits album, so they'll be playing a lot of older > stuff. For some reason, this depresses me. ..Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society www.uwm.edu/~jenor/ADS.html :: it's not your meat :: --Mr. Toad lp: _24_ season 1 DVD - 4:00 am ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 23:10:10 -0500 From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: Re: Nanaimo, folkies, Iraq Quoting Barbara Soutar : > Barbara Soutar wrote: > > >> > >> Nah-NIE- moe. > > > > > > everyone I've heard here pronounces it nan-EYE-moe. Weird. > > Stewart > > You're right Stewart. Your way of saying it is MY way of saying it. The only difference I could discern between the two suggestions is where the syllable breaks (the accented syllable's vowel sound seems to be the same, just rendered differently). I'd bet Barbara's version is closer - simply because English tends to be the consonant at the beginning of the accented syllable, rather than separating it at the end of an unaccented one. You *could* say "nan-EYE-mo," consciously...but repeat it ten times, and unless you're trying hard, you'll probably end up saying "nah-NIE-moe." Or you could do something actually worth doing, I suppose! ..Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society www.uwm.edu/~jenor/ADS.html :: Some days, you just can't get rid of a bomb :: --Batman ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 23:33:53 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: Robyn Stings! That's so cool! "Rex.Broome" wrote: > Jeff D: > >>And I found Home Movies boring. Nice idea, but the > >>execution was just too understated. > And that I liked. There's plenty of "shrill" out there. Absolutely. It just felt like they went so far the other direction that it never held together that much. Maybe I just caught the wrong episodes. I thought that "Dr. Katz" did the subtle and understated much better. > The actual home movies (which were really more like > trailers), though, were often gut-busting to me. But > then, that's what I did when I was a kid: make > phony movie trailers in my basement. ===== "Being accused of hating America by people like Ann Coulter or Laura Ingraham is like being accused of hating children by Michael Jackson or (Cardinal) Bernard Law." -- anonymous . __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. http://search.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 May 2003 11:28:27 -0700 From: "Natalie Jane" Subject: gnatmaniax: confetti-throwin' Okies So the long-awaited Flaming Lips show was kinda... not the wondrous blissed-out festival of amazement that I was hoping for, but still not too shabby. I arrived at the glorious Crystal Ballroom, the venue with the bouncy floor, just as the Starlight Mints were playing my favorite song of theirs, "Sugar Blaster," which somehow ended up on three or four different sampler tapes that I made last year. I only own their first album, which is good but I don't pull it out all that often. The new stuff they played blew it away - they've gotten a whole hell of a lot better, and I think I know what's next on my list of album purchases. As Miles and I were saying, they sound like a cross between the Pixies and Bowie, with some good old fashioned psych-pop thrown in for good measure. As with many E6 bands, the multi-instrumentalist - in this case, a rather smirky woman with shaggy blonde hair - is really what makes the band sound unique. She played keyboards, flute, and sang back-up, sometimes through a megaphone. (The last time I saw them, she also provided percussion via tap-dancing.) The singer played cello during one song (does anyone else do that besides Rasputina?), and there were groovy background films. I'm not sure why I was keen on seeing Liz Phair since I've never been a huge fan of hers. I think I was curious to discover whether her new material was as bad as I've heard it is. Anyway, although this was billed as "solo acoustic," she played an electric, accompanied by a guy on acoustic and a guy on bass. She was wearing what appeared to be sparkly silver leg-warmers on her arms. She was bemused by the little camera above the microphone which had been set up for the Lips set, which projected its images on the screen behind her. She turned it towards the audience, and started to put it down her shirt. (I'm sure evey het-boy in the audience was disappointed when she didn't go through with it.) Anyway, she played a few of her old songs, which were greeted rapturously by the audience and were as smart and cynical as I remembered, then played her new single, "Why Can't I." Chorus: "Why can't I breathe when I think of you." The next new song had the chorus, "I am extraordinary once you get to know me." This was all delivered very straight, without her usual dour touch, and the audience chatter grew steadily louder. I decided to save my strength and went downstairs to a little foyer area to sit down. Did I mention it was tremendously hot in the Crystal Ballroom? It was tremendously hot, and the show was sold out, and the crush of bodies, as I tried to jockey for a place in the crowd where I could see the Flaming Lips, made it even hotter. A woman bitched me out because I had the temerity to step in front of her friend. With "Fight Test" in mind, I bitched her back, but backed off for the sake of keeping the peace. It kind of put a damper on my mood, though. Being short really sucks - there was no way I could fight my way up to the front, so my view of most of the show consisted of people's heads with the occasional glimpse of Wayne Coyne or Steeeeeeven Drozd. Oh, and the background films, oh my god. And the people in animal costumes. And... holy shit, what IS that?? The show started with Wayne saying that the Lips' usual complement of giant balloons to be tossed around in the crowd, could not be used because they might cause damage to the Crystal Ballroom's beautiful old chandeliers. So, very dramatically, someone threw them up into the air one at a time and, accompanied by musical stings from Steeeven, Wayne popped them with the headstock of his guitar. I believe the cotierie of people dressed up as elephants, unicorns, giraffes, and Santa Claus, holding hand-held spotlights, had gathered by the sides of the stage at this point. Throughout the show, I kept thinking how hot they must be, but many of them stubbornly kept their animal heads on even past the halfway point. I myself was sweating through my clothes, with sweat dripping down my back, and actually felt sufficiently nauseated at one point that I considered leaving. I'm glad I didn't, though. An introductory film promised us the experience of a lifetime in big pink letters, with footage of dancing topless chicks (look, guys, boob content!), then the band slammed into "Race for the Prize." Confetti flew everywhere and Wayne whirled a light on a string over his head. Then there was "Fight Test" with a fight scene from "Cool Hand Luke" (I think - it was Paul Newman, anyway). And on and on - almost entirely stuff from the last two albums (no "Unconsciously Screaming," alas - I fear I will never see that song performed live again). Steeven played guitar and keyboards, there was a live drummer this time (though I could hardly see his sweat-drenched head), and Michael Ivins, solemn as ever in a zebra suit and sunglasses, presumably played bass. Wayne, in a smart light-colored suit, played guitar, which he didn't do the last time I saw them. He encouraged people to wave their arms in the air by donning gigantic gloves in the shape of clenched fists, brought out his nun puppet to sing along on one song, and told us that if we were too embarrassed to do silly stuff, we were really missing out. At one point he donned a harness of flashing lights, like a peacock's tail, and during "Waiting for a Superman" he brought out a flapping toy dove and made it fly around. He asked the audience if it was anyone's birthday and got four names from the crowd. Before getting us all to sing "Happy Birthday," he poured fake blood all over his face, and afterwards told us what wonderful people we were for doing that and making the birthday people's night a special one. Towards the end of the show, Michael - still completely po-faced - walked through the crowd throwing confetti on eveyone. It was festive. As for the background films, the most distracting was during "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1," which was accompanied by a really bizarre film of Japanese schoolgirls vomiting blood and shooting each other, intercut with scenes of a woman apparently selling bottled water. Warning to the sensitive: they do still show that eye surgery footage from their last tour, and a film where a guy takes his brain out and snorts it like cocaine elicited shouts of disgust from the crowd. I recognized some other footage, like the jumping work-out girls during "The Gash." "Unit 3000-21" (or whatever it's called) featured animated footage of the robot and Yoshimi from the cover of the album. During "Do You Realize??", a fairly serious song about mortality, they busted out the dancing topless girl footage again - - to deliberately undercut the seriousness of the song, or just gratuitous boobage? For "Waiting for a Superman" and the inevitable "She Don't Use Jelly" (the only old song they played), they simply played the videos for those songs, which I haven't seen for a while. It was funny - only about half the audience danced and cheered during "She Don't Use Jelly," the rest didn't recognize it. It made me feel old. The encore was one of my all-time favorite Lips songs, "What is the Light?", the climax of which tends to send me into an uncontrollable fit of ecstasy, and this time was no exception. Even though I couldn't see a damn thing of what was happening on stage at this point, I didn't even care. It was a good end to the evening. n. p.s. Though it was expensive, I couldn't resist a girly T-shirt depicting Yoshimi battling a pink robot... it's pretty damn cool. :) _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V12 #189 ********************************