From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V12 #257 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Wednesday, July 9 2003 Volume 12 : Number 257 Today's Subjects: ----------------- RE: placentii etc. (contains miconium, like any newborn) [Jeffrey with 2 ] Re: Blue Velvet America/Smalltown [grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan)] yeah yeah yeah [BLATZMAN@aol.com] Re: Songs about... [grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan)] ooh! icky baby stuff! ["Natalie Jane" ] Re: Yet more taboo stuff which comes out of the body [Groove Puppy ] Re: yeah yeah yeah [tanter@tarleton.edu] RE: los estsmagos postizos ["da9ve stovall" ] Re: The Incredible Hulk ["Stewart C. Russell" ] reap [Eb ] Re: that lovin' spoonful etc. [Michael R Godwin ] Re: that lovin' spoonful etc. ["Stewart C. Russell" ] Re: face the placenta ["Stewart C. Russell" ] myers-briggs [Thomas Rodebaugh ] Re: under the city [gshell@metronet.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 18:31:23 -0500 From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: RE: placentii etc. (contains miconium, like any newborn) Quoting "Rex.Broome" : > Miconium is the tarry poop stuff; the white stuff they're usually > covered > with is vernyx (sp. on that one iffy). So the Irish band called Paddy MacConiam and the White Cliffs o' Varnicks were having a little joke then? ..Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society www.uwm.edu/~jenor/ADS.html :: When the only tool you have is an interociter, you tend to treat :: everything as if it were a fourth-order nanodimensional sub-quantum :: temporo-spatial anomaly. :: --Crow T. Maslow ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 11:30:53 +1200 From: grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan) Subject: Re: Blue Velvet America/Smalltown >James: >>>"I've looked at all of the photographs, but Cindy, which one of them is >>>you?" (Billy Bragg) > >Man, do I love that song. Chills down the spine every time. It's my favourite BB song, and I agree with the feeling you get. It's also an oddly ironic comment - see below. >Oddly I was >totally familiar with Cindy Sherman's work the first time I heard it, but >for some reason I didn't realize it was about her for, umm, a few years. >Rather embarassing. In the interrim I'd dubbed my friend Cindy "Cindy of >the Thousand Lives" and was sad that I'd already used it when I met another >Cindy. (There are more Cindy's than you might think, at least in my life, >although not quite 1000 of them.) I didn't know of her at all at the time (I'm now quite a fan... my art education has been a steep learning curve, but an enjoyable one). When it came out I thought it was a homage to Twin Peaks and other David Lynch projects (the first line more or less clinched it for me). >James (or anyone else who knows it), do you detect an odd whiff of Jefferson >Airplane on that tune? I always have, although I couldn't tell you why. I >do think Billy was off on a psych-jag at that time (his cover of "7 & 7 Is" >was a b-side for one of the singles from that rekkid). well, as much as you can judge by what the man says in concert, he announced it here on tour with something like "Last time I was here I bought a whole batch of Kiwi music - the Chills, Straitjacket Fits, stuff like that. Listened to a whole bunch of it then sat down and wrote this." Of course he could easily have just been trying to win the audience over (not that it was needed). But a lot of the flying nun bands are heavily influenced by 60s US, so a second-hand influence is definitely possible, if he can be believed, and there is a slight feel of the likes of "Pink Frost" to the texture of the music. 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: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 19:43:36 EDT From: BLATZMAN@aol.com Subject: yeah yeah yeah In a message dated 7/8/03 4:28:03 PM Pacific Daylight Time, owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org writes: << When it's your own baby, you don't really care about anything other than having the baby out so you can hold her/him. Once it's over and you've got a lovely, sweet baby in your arms, you forget all the gross stuff. >> Sure... and this lasts for like 3hours til the kid starts screaming, then at about 4 in the morning, when you've been woken up for the eighth time, it all starts to sink in, then about a week later when you're impossibly exhausted, you wonder if you can cram the little bugger back in there, and then, after 4 months of no sleep, no time to yourself, and more-than-usual bickering with your spouse because you're so freaking exhausted that you're not yourself, you just can't imagine that life gets any harder... The first four months are just aweful. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise... Blatzy PS- I didn't eat the placenta... And I didn't want one of those stupid ink-blot souveniers of it either. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 11:53:47 +1200 From: grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan) Subject: Re: Songs about... >>Eb reminded me of Thin White Rope and posited Pearl Jam, although I thought >>that was... something else. New Zealand has The Dribbling Darts of Love. I know their name was (directly) from Shakespeare, but what *he* was referring to... Has anyone mentioned Anita Lane's song "The fullness of His coming" yet? Straitjacket Fits' "Quiet Come"? Cum is mentioned (in slang terms) in "The Seven deadly Finns" by Brian Eno, too. Or the classic double-entendres of "Wondring Aloud" by Jethro Tull? Reminds me of a conversation I was having recently on songs about wanking. "Pictures of Lily" and "Turning Japanese" were the obvious, but I'd forgotten ones like Billy Bragg's "St Swithin's Day". 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: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 17:03:04 -0700 From: "Natalie Jane" Subject: ooh! icky baby stuff! >We didn't keep the afterbirth and would never have considered it. My friends kept the placenta of their first child in the freezer until the electricity went out a few months later and they had to empty out the freezer. They buried the placenta in the backyard. The second child's placenta got shunted to my midwifery study group for examination and I'm not sure what happened to it after that. >And if anyone ever tries to tell you it's a "beautiful process", well, I >can't get behind that. It's pretty harsh stuff to watch. I guess it's "beautiful" in the abstract sense of life being brought into the world, but it's not pretty to watch (and, I suspect, even less pretty to be an active participant). >BUT... as for the moms being drugged out like in the good old days... there >are a lot of legit reasons to avoid almost every form of medical >intervention during childbirth if you can manage it. Sure, most of the >kids >turn out okay anyhow, but why risk it? Most childbirth-related medical interventions haven't been tested on pregnant women, and their long-term effect on children is unknown. This includes ultrasound, various painkillers, and Pitocin, which is used to speed up labor. A few years ago I read an article in Newsweek that pointed to a possible link between Pitocin use and the spiraling rate of childhood autism. Pitocin also leads to extremely painful labor, which can lead to an epidural, which can lead to a cesarean if the mom can't push properly. I've also seen films of babies born to drugged mothers - the babies were very weak and sluggish and unable to breastfeed properly. Now, that ain't good. I'm not saying that medical interventions are uniformly terrible and should never be used, but in my under-educated opinion, they should be used sparingly. >We got hells of good information, and, as intelligent >adults, were able to discard some of the rare anti-medical-establishment >brainwashing or paranoia-inducement which cropped up (I'm guessing/hoping >from her general tone that Nat won't be too bugged by my having said that). No, I've heard some anti-medical-establishment stuff that would curl your hair, if it's not curled already. A midwife in Ann Arbor (now retired) had a reputation for "patient-dumping" - she hated hospitals so much that if she had to take a client in, she'd just drop them off at the ER and leave them there. I find this really unprofessional. >Miconium is the tarry poop stuff; the white stuff they're usually covered >with is vernyx (sp. on that one iffy). Meconium, vernix. I have to go find out how I did on my 25-page antepartum exam now. n. wp: Jim O'Rourke, "Women of the World" _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 17:04:51 -0700 (PDT) From: Groove Puppy Subject: Re: Yet more taboo stuff which comes out of the body From: Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey Subject: Re: Rex sed > And that substance is (forgive the puns) a > wellspring of band names for reasons which escape > me... 10cc and The Wonder Stuff come immediately Actually, I believe the Wonderstuff got their name when a certain Mr J. Lennon said that Miles Hunt had "the wonder stuff" when he were but a lad. 'course that sounds more polite. btw, dibs on The Jizz Moppers as a band name. (H) np - Doug Martsch "Now You Know" ===== CHUCKHOLE All that great punk rock taste with only half the calories. http://clix.to/chuckhole http://www.mp3.com/chuckhole __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 17:19:34 -0700 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: Small towns, birthin' no babies, Robyn reference gSs: >>i said 20k or so could support a walmart. what is incorrect? Conceded... I though you meant "only a town of 20K or more". My bad. But I say from experience that, dude, 7000 is small. But I guess it's relative (James rates 120k as "medium", for example, and alluded to Lou Reed referring to Pittsburgh as "small"). Someone just mentioned Grand Junction, CO... my friend from there used to refer to *that* as a small town. Then a mutual friend of ours ended up visiting both Grand Junction and Keyser, WV, and she doesn't let him get away with that claim anymore. Admittedly, by WV definitions Keyser isn't even a "town", it's a "city". But that says more about the state than the community. >>and though it would probably be far less painful to live >>within it's bounderies than within a town like yours, i still wouldn't. Trust me, there was plenty o' pain to go around there. But why do you insist on suffering needlessly? If something's "far less painful" and easily attainable, why not do it? ______ Marcy: >>Once it's over and you've got a lovely, sweet baby in your arms, you forget >>all the gross stuff. Is it fun? Not really, but I managed it 3 times both ways >>and I'd do it again if I were a little younger.... That "forgetting" is a biological imperative so that people will do it again. It's really fascinating. My wife was actually talking to me and suddenly she realized she was in the process of forgetting and gave me a play-by-play. Good stuff. There may be a song in there. ___ JeFFrey: >>she had a difficult and painful labor (23 hours), partway through which she >>decided, to hell with this no pain medication thing, dope me up (...) She >>quite sensibly took the approach that, hey, ideals are fine, but they >>shouldn't endanger the health of mother or infant. Exactly, and in case I wasn't clear, that's just how we took it. It so happened that both of our babies were so calm and stable through the process that we didn't have any trouble convincing the staff to just let it happen, and it did. What a difference a hospital makes, though... #1 Daughter (and mom) were allowed to totally do their thing, but two years later that wonderful hospital had closed (of course) and the new place was ready to drug wifey up as soon as she got there. We only avoided all that intervention because #2 Daughter took, like, less than an hour to arrive. ___ Glen: >>Yeah! I have their Best of album, "Loads of Hits". It features such >>timeless classics as "The Seaman's Shanty," "Dr. Spoogelove or: How I >>Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Cum," "Ball Butter Blues," >>"Swallow It All," "Protein Shake," "I See The Love In Your Eyes," and the >>rollicking gospel hymn, "Come Unto Jesus," They've reformed and have a covers album on the way. In addition to the obvious version of Liz Phair's "HWC", you get "Come On Eileen", "Cum On Feel the Noize", "All That Jizz", "Blow Wind Blow", "Stroke It Noel", "Theme from Shaft", the Bunnymen's "I Wanna Be There When You Come", "Swallow" by My Bloody Valentine, and of course "Egyptian Cream". Ah, you got to know that there's fun to be had. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 18:15:16 -0700 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: No one famous ever came from here, except John Kruk and the guy w ho wrote the music for Frosty the Snowman, or was it Rudolph? Glen: >>I thought Pearl Jam was named after one of the band member's >>grandmother's hallucinogenic jelly? I've heard that, and also that that explanation was just a dodge to avoid admitting that it was, erm, female secretions, and also the obvious Spoonful-like substance. But the boot-to-the-nads thing is new one on me... _____ James: >>Not sure what a 7-11 or a fred myers is, so I can't comment on them. There is >>a Starbucks some four miles from here, but I've never been in it. Well, 7-11 is the largest chain (and the original model, I'd figure) of franchised "covenience stores" in the US. Think the Quick-E-Mart on the Simpsons. There are other big chains (AM-PM, Circle-K etc.) but they seem to vary regionally, whereas 7-11's are universal. They are so called because those were their original hours, but I think all of them are pretty much open 24 hours now. And I have no idea what the hell Fred Myers is. Standing in line for beer is rare in LA, too... maybe at sporting events, or crap stadium concerts? And gas/fuel lines don't really happen, either, as gas stations are huge. Now if you wanna talk about jacked up gas *prices* in urban areas, you'll be onto something. >>congratulations, Miles, on being the first person to allude to Robyn in >>this list for... what? About two weeks? I think Eb described part of his medical procedure as "Robynesque"... yeah, the two Steves... and I know I mentioned the Glass Flesh comps exactly a week ago, so that kind of counts. But in some ways that's more of a literal nod to the music of James Dignan than Robyn. Nice work, by the way! Meanwhile... giant octopus remains on beaches, that's good. I think my daughter knows something because she kept saying "octopus" all day yesterday with no provocation that we could identify. I'm gonna try to get her to tell me what the deal is tonight. - -Rex "man, have my spelling and punctuation been OFF today" Broome ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 18:39:44 -0700 From: Glen Uber Subject: No one famous ever came from Santa Rosa, except Julie London and Rebecca DeMornay... ...Charles Schulz doesn't count because he's originally from Minnesota. On Tuesday, July 8, 2003, at 06:15 PM, Rex.Broome wrote: > They are so called > because those were their original hours, but I think all of them are > pretty > much open 24 hours now. "I went to the 7-11 and there was a guy locking the door. I said, 'I thought you were open 24 hours.' And he said, 'Not in a row!'" --Steven Wright > And I have no idea what the hell Fred Myers is. Fred Meyers is a chain of superstores along the lines of K-Mart or Target in the U.S. Northwest (Oregon, Washington). In terms of quality of inventory, it's a bit better than, say, Mall-Wart, but not on the level of a Sears. I think most of them have clothing, camping equipment, books, and food. I ended up at one a couple times when I lived in Seattle, but found it to be rather boring and not anything I'd go out of my way for. I kinda wondered what all the hubbub was about. > Standing in line for beer is rare in LA, too... maybe at sporting > events, or > crap stadium concerts? That's because there's no good beer in LA. ;) Pasadena has Crown City Brewing and the San Diego area seems to be blessed with a few good ones (Stone Brewing, Oggi's, Karl Strauss) but LA is a wasteland when it comes to high quality fermented hopped beverages. I generally stick to the Newcastle when I'm in town. Speaking of beer, I'm off to a blind stout tasting...Yum! "When I'm king, all beer will be free and plentiful!" - -g- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 18:48:03 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: John Kruk and the guy who wrote it > >>congratulations, Miles, on being the first person to allude to Robyn in >>>this list for... what? About two weeks? > >I think Eb described part of his medical procedure as "Robynesque"... yeah, >the two Steves... and I know I mentioned the Glass Flesh comps exactly a >week ago, so that kind of counts. Actually, it seems like there have been several comments about Luxor, in recent days. No? Eb ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 20:53:27 -0500 (CDT) From: tanter@tarleton.edu Subject: Re: yeah yeah yeah I'm sorry your first four months were awful--2 of my babies were terrible sleepers, but I had the help of my husband so it wasn't so tough. I didn't mind any of it--the lack of sleep is just par for the course. It's not the baby's fault that she can only communicate through crying. Once they start talking, they never stop! Incidentally, I think that the 4th year is the worst--4 yr olds are articulate, smart, funny and all that, but they are caught between being babies and getting ready for kindergarten. It's a tough stage and much, much worse for mom and dad. (ex. 4 m old babies can't scream "I hate you!") Marcy On Tue, 8 Jul 2003 BLATZMAN@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 7/8/03 4:28:03 PM Pacific Daylight Time, > owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org writes: > > << When it's your own baby, you don't really care about anything > other than having the baby out so you can hold her/him. Once it's over > and you've got a lovely, sweet baby in your arms, you forget all the gross > stuff. >> > > Sure... and this lasts for like 3hours til the kid starts screaming, then at > about 4 in the morning, when you've been woken up for the eighth time, it all > starts to sink in, then about a week later when you're impossibly exhausted, > you wonder if you can cram the little bugger back in there, and then, after 4 > months of no sleep, no time to yourself, and more-than-usual bickering with > your spouse because you're so freaking exhausted that you're not yourself, you > just can't imagine that life gets any harder... > > The first four months are just aweful. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise... > > Blatzy > PS- I didn't eat the placenta... And I didn't want one of those stupid > ink-blot souveniers of it either. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 18:51:58 -0700 From: "da9ve stovall" Subject: RE: los estsmagos postizos >From: "Rex.Broome" >At my doctor's office they have actual beanie babies of various internal >organs with happy faces (to indicate health, one assumes). I picked up a >spleenie babie (or whatever) one time and found out they were swag from a >pharmaceutical company, on of those gray-market bribes to get you to use >their drugs. Can you still get these? I have a little stuffed stomach that's a promo item for Prevacid - acquired at a chili festival a couple years ago. I work for a different big pharma co., and would be tickled to get my hands on as full a set of these organs as exists for malevolent designs all my own. da9ve ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 22:19:30 -0400 From: "Stewart C. Russell" Subject: Re: The Incredible Hulk Jeffrey with 2 Fs Jeffrey wrote: > > you sure this isn't a British version of _The Onion_? No, The Sun is the UK's biggest selling rag. Stewart ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 20:58:05 -0700 From: Eb Subject: reap Skip Battin, of Byrds and Flying Burritos fame. Eb ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 11:37:00 +0100 (BST) From: Michael R Godwin Subject: Re: that lovin' spoonful etc. > Re. Mike G. & Sebastian loosing credibility-- On Tue, 8 Jul 2003, ross taylor wrote: > Wasn't there some big flap around the time "Everything Playing" came > out, (1966?) regarding Sebastian or someone in the band having narked > [sp? narc'd?] on some hippie druggies, & the hippie community turning > against them for that? I seem to remember some later review saying aw, > forgive them, they were just under heavy pressure from the Feds. I don't know the full story, but a reliable friend told me that Zalman Yanovsky was the culprit, and that was the reason he was expelled from the Spoonful and replaced by a Yester brother. (Jim? or Jerry?) - - Mike Godwin ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2003 07:11:09 -0400 From: "Stewart C. Russell" Subject: Re: that lovin' spoonful etc. Michael R Godwin wrote: > > I don't know the full story, but a reliable friend told me that Zalman > Yanovsky was the culprit yes, he was busted in San Francisco, and threatened with deportation (he was Canadian) unless he could name others. Didn't stop him having a great restaurant later on, tho'. Stewart ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2003 07:13:09 -0400 From: "Stewart C. Russell" Subject: Re: face the placenta Caroline Smith wrote: > > when is the t.o. luxor listening party? > did i miss it? no, you didn't miss it; Randi has just been incommunicado for the last few weeks. Stewart ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 08:50:42 -0400 (EDT) From: Thomas Rodebaugh Subject: myers-briggs i'm a little late on the draw with this, but i just got my ph.d., so i really want to say something. . . the myers-briggs is based on jungian theories of personality. while very interesting in themselves, the jungian theories are *not* bourne out by the m-b--either the test doesn't capture what jung was talking about, or what jung was talking about was wrong. jung was also against the whole typing thing, only describing types as a shorthand for purposes of illustration. from a clinical/personality psychology viewpoint, the m-b is a miserably constructed, inadequately scored instrument. the use of types is always a dodgy practice, and needlessly throws out useful information. (the m-b could actually produce a scale, on which one is, for example, "moderately high" on introversion, but it instead just chops the scale in half. this is kind of like splitting vocal ranges into "high" and "low" and calling a bass the same as a baritone and soprano the same as an alto.) the true false scale is pretty silly, too. it has been argued that what the m-b does is inadequately sample the five-factor personality model (see http://www.uwm.edu/People/hynan/193/NEO.html for a brief description), in which the I/E distinction is the extraversion factor, the N/S distinction is the openness to experience factor, the T/F distinction is the agreeableness factor, the J/P distinction is the conscientiousness factor, and the neuroticism factor isn't fully addressed. i'd guess that business people (and perhaps people in general) tend to like the m-b because: (a) it's simple, even though personality isn't quite that simple, (b) the m-b tells many of them that they're practical and concrete (because they're S's) whereas the five-factor would strongly imply that they're less intelligent (because openness correlates moderately with intelligence), and (c) the m-b leaves off that unflattering neuroticism factor. any serious attempt at using the m-b to predict behavior is kind of like putting on mittens to try to play the guitar. it's the wrong way to do it unless you want fuzzy and indistinct results. if anyone is interested in taking the five-factor, unofficial versions are available here: http://cac.psu.edu/~j5j/test/ipipneo1.htm and a shorter one here: http://users.wmin.ac.uk/~buchant/wwwffi/ for the record, the m-b says i'm an infj, but then i've taken it so many times that it's completely invalid for me. the five factor tests put me at moderate introversion, high openness, high agreeableness, high conscientiousness, and average neuroticism. but, arguably, i know too much about that test, too. and robyn would be. . . well, either an infp or intp, i think. high on introversion, openness, in the middle on agreeableness, low on conscientiousness . . . and somewhere toward moderately high on neuroticism, i'd guess. well, i feel all doctory now. cheers, tom **************************** *Tom Rodebaugh, Ph.D. * *Postdoctoral Student * *Temple University * *tlr3@email.unc.edu * **************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 07:46:24 -0500 (CDT) From: gshell@metronet.com Subject: Re: under the city On Wed, 9 Jul 2003, James Dignan wrote: > > > > only for people who can't live without a starbucks, 7-11, fred myers > > > > or super wal-mart within 1.26147 miles. > > I lived for six years in a small town (pop 2k). Perhaps existed is a better > word. No-one "lived" in that town. It was the traditional one-horse town > where the horse had died. Access to any form of masss entertainment work > its snuff required the use of a vehicle to get you there, and at my age > that was unavailable. these are all advantages. > Entertainment for young teens seemed to revolve largely around street > racing at 2am on a weekend morning. that's probably a direct result of incompetant schooling, brain-dead parenting and a lack of leadership throughtout the municipality. > The unemployment rate was well into double figures percent. Intelligent > conversation was nonexistent. this was scotland, right? > Heated debate among local adults seemed to be either on sport > or stock-to-pasture ratios. Anyone 'different' in any way was squashed into > a conforming shape. still scotland, right? > For someone like me (above average IQ, interest in music other than > Meatloaf, non-mainstream views of religion and social mores, belief that > men should be able to wear colours other than grey and be able to show some > form of emotion occasionally) that was six years too long. to me it sounds like an oppurtunity that you decided was better to run away from. maybe an abandonement of family and country in search of temporary comfort. i don't remember your story so that may not be correct. > To quote Lou and John: "There's only one good thing about a small town - > you know that you want to get out". lou is an ass an they are both wrong. > Now I live in a medium sized city (120k) without 7-11, fred myers, or super > wal-mart. Not much in the way of local equivalents either, although I > suspect that The Warehouse is a bit like an ordinary Wal-Mart. Not sure > what a 7-11 or a fred myers is, so I can't comment on them. There is a > Starbucks some four miles from here, but I've never been in it. i find it hard to believe that in a town of 120k you don't have grocery stores/convenience stores, coffee shops, hair salons and at least a tire and battery garage, along with aroma therapists and foot massagers. > And I am very happy thank you. and that is what it is all about. but remember, you are easier to monitor and therefore much easier to control. > >cities look more and more like ant farms whether big or small where you > >are herded together like livestock in lines for fuel and beer. > > I don't think I've ever queued for beer, and the longest fuel line I'd have > been in would be about three cars. the herd mentality helps soothe the waiting period along with simple repetative jingles, advertising panaoramas and pretty girls. > >they tell you when you can mow you lawn, when you can > >water your lawn and even when you can visit public parks and receation > >areas. > > nope. Well, maybe when to water your lawn in the height of summer, if > there's a drought. Not otherwise. you don't have cerfews at your city parks? that's hard to believe. and it's ok to mow your lawn at 2:00am? that's also hard to believe, but if you insist. > And if you lived in a small town you'd probably have run out of water > completely by that time. what makes you think that? it is the large cities that run out of water and electricity. ever watched that happen? why are you still pushing the small town vs. large town. all towns are essentially the same, some are just more convenient. i would much rather live in a small town than a large town, but no town is best of all. > what the hell are ceramic water gardens? usually small, self-contained units that pump water about a foot up a simulated rock formation and then cascades it down the face to form a small pool above some polished stones. they are quite popular in the city. > And why would you want plastic flowers - what's wrong with real ones? why would you think that i'd want plastic flowers. > Are smaller cities really that bad in the US, or is Greg having his usual > wind-up? all cities are bad and you don't read well. gSs ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V12 #257 ********************************