From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V12 #310 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Sunday, August 17 2003 Volume 12 : Number 310 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Belated reap [Eb ] Re: Eyeroll [Jeff Dwarf ] Re: Eggroll [grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan)] reap [Roberta Cowan ] Re: reap [Jeff Dwarf ] gnatmaniax: alt-country and elephants ["Natalie Jane" ] Re: gnatmaniax: alt-country and elephants [Miles Goosens ] Re: Look what you've started now [Capuchin ] Re: gnatmaniax: alt-country and elephants ["Maximilian Lang" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 01:29:14 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Belated reap (paste) Infomercial host and producer Mike Levey died on August 2 of cancer in Los Angeles; he was 55. Levey was best known as host of the immensely popular infomercial series "Amazing Discoveries" in the late '80s to early '90s as well as the spinoff "Ask Mike." And just like Larry King and his suspenders, he gained a huge following with fans who tuned in to see what kind of sweater he would wear. His celebrity status led to guest appearances on Friends and Sliders. He leaves behind his wife and children...and many memories of two annoying Englishmen who made frequent appearances on his shows; one who had on red suspenders and a bowtie; the other a Sherlock Holmes look-a-like. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 02:01:08 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: Eyeroll Eb wrote: > Jeff Dwarf: >> Rex: >>> But the real importance of the Doors is probably in >>> A) opening the door for all of the "challenging" acts >>> that followed them , many on the same label (Stooges, >>> MC5, etc... is there a Manzarek A&R connection there?) >> >> I think Danny Sugarman signed all three to Elektra, but >> am not totally sure > > You're confusing Sugerman with Jac Holzman. Actually, I was confusing him with and combining him with Danny _FIELDS_, who did sign both the MC5 and Stooges for sure; I can't remember if Fields had anything to do with The Doors though. Holzman, of course, founded Elektra, so he would have been involved on some level with everyone on the label at the time (just as Ahmet Ertegun would've been at Atlantic). > I believe Sugerman was a little more than a mailroom boy > during the Doors' heyday. Also, I'm pretty sure that > *Love* was the first "challenging" act signed to Elektra, > not the Doors. Love were the first rock act signed to Elektra. As for challenging, ask Josh White or Phil Ochs or Fred Neil or whoever... > > I experienced the top and bottom of show-bidness > starf*cking tonight, > compressed within just a half hour. > > Late tonight, I was browsing at Amoeba Records. While > flipping > through a used-CD bin, I saw none other than Danny DeVito > *and* Rhea > Perlman glumly meandering down the next aisle. They must > have been in > the store for a decent amount of time, because I saw them > a couple of > more times over the next 10 or 15 minutes. They > looked...confused. > They were slowly winding around...no music in > hand...didn't even see > them stop to browse anything.... Confused. Didn't see > them leave. > DeVito has gotta be one of the biggest stars I've ever > "run into" > somewhere. > > From there, I precipitously tumbled to the grimy bottom > of the > showbiz ladder. I'm lucky that I didn't break an ankle. I > left Amoeba > around 11pm, as the store was closing. I walked only > 70-80 feet down > the street, and my eye caught on a strange, gray-haired > figure > trudging past in the opposite direction...a little > cap...yellow-checked, long-sleeved shirt...our eyes > met...he looked > at me warily with miserable eyes...my brain said "Wait, > that's...uh...." He passed. "...WILD MAN FISCHER!!" > Garsh! > > I wish his face had clicked in my mind a few moments > earlier, because > it probably would have been the highlight of his night if > I had > recognized him and said hello. I feel a little guilty > now, somehow. > Poor guy. Now, I had been walking a bit out of my way, > just to check > out the new theater complex which replaced the old > Cinerama Dome. (I > know I rarely go to movies in the theater, but did prices > jump about > $4 while I wasn't looking? This place wants *$14* to see > a friggin' > movie!!) Once I gave the theater the once-over, I headed > back in the > other direction to my car. And Wild Man Larry was still > about a block > ahead of me, slowly ambling along.... I was thinking if > there was > some way I could work out another "chance meeting" on the > street. I > wondered if he was just aimlessly wandering up and down > the block, > and if he would turn around. But he didn't. Then I > stopped and asked > myself "Don't you have anything better to do than STALK > WILD MAN > FISCHER?" Heh. He continued on his lonely adventures > without me. > > And I didn't see the Lonesome Organist, after all. Bleh. > > Eb > > PS When the hell did Rockaway Records get split in half *again*? ===== "Pentagon officials says Americanizing Iraq is difficult because Iraqis have had little to no reliable information for the past 35 years, and have lived on a diet of innuendo, rumor, conspiracy theories, fear, and propaganda. Sounds like the problem is they're too Americanized." -- Bill Maher "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!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2003 00:44:43 +1200 From: grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan) Subject: Re: Eggroll >I experienced the top and bottom of show-bidness starf*cking tonight, >compressed within just a half hour. uh-oh, Eb - you forgot to use our new pet phrase! Here's a clue: what number comes between 39 and 41? 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: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 07:13:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Roberta Cowan Subject: reap Idi Amin ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 09:39:31 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: reap Roberta Cowan wrote: > Idi Amin > > Him, the British Nazi a few days ago, ... Hussein must be rather nervous right now. Dick Cheney too. ===== "Pentagon officials says Americanizing Iraq is difficult because Iraqis have had little to no reliable information for the past 35 years, and have lived on a diet of innuendo, rumor, conspiracy theories, fear, and propaganda. Sounds like the problem is they're too Americanized." -- Bill Maher "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!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 10:11:44 -0700 From: "Natalie Jane" Subject: gnatmaniax: alt-country and elephants > >For the record, I kinda like Barenaked Ladies in small doses, but their > >"look how clever yet surprisingly accessible we are" schtick gets tired > >after about 3 songs. > >I'd like to see a gang of thugs tie down that entire band, raise >their shirts and give them "pink bellies" until they howl for mercy. That's the worst torture you can think of for them? Yeesh... I'd like to make them roll around in broken glass and then dip them in vinegar. At the very least. Living in Ann Arbor meant exposure to Canadian radio which meant Barenaked Ladies 24/7. Those guys are forces of evil. And now, a force of good - the charming Neko Case.... This has to be one of the weirder places I've seen a show, if not the weirdest - in a small outdoor amphitheater behind the elephant enclosure at the Oregon Zoo. The stage is very high and surrounded by trees on either side; there's a grassy area to sit on and a paved area up front where you can stand. My friend Melinda and I had to walk through half the zoo to get there, but no animals were in evidence - it was after hours, maybe the animals were asleep or something. It was nice to be outside and not crowded into a hot sweaty smoky venue. I wish the stage wasn't so high, though - looking up made my neck ache. Melinda was convinced that the opening act, the Buddy Miller Band, would suck. I suggested that maybe Buddy Miller was Rhett Miller's brother and was just as good looking. Such was not the case, as Buddy turned out to be a grizzled old dude fronting a very run-of-the-mill country band. The crowd really ate it up, though, and I was astonished - being a nice Jewish girl from a college town - to see people line-dancing. We went to look at the elephants, and saw one of the male elephants swaying more or less in time to the music and apparently digging it. All I can say is, elephants have bad taste. Then it was time for the main attraction. Neko tours with two guys, a stand-up bassist named Tom with a huge beard, and a chubby bespectacled guy named John who plays lap steel, pedal steel, banjo, and archtop. Neko herself was not the glamorous siren I was expecting from the photos I'd seen - - she was wearing olive-green pants and an old Penn State T-shirt with a green cowboy shirt over it, and her red hair was showing dark-brown roots. She wore no make-up, and looks a lot older than she does in photos - I probably would have passed her on the street without recognizing her. She's still a very pretty, striking woman with high cheekbones and a nice smile. I was pleased to see, when she adjusted her shirt, that she has belly flab just like the rest of us mortals. She played nothing but 4-stringed guitars - - tenor guitars, I assumed, three different ones, two electric ones (one of which appeared to be an SG knock-off) and an acoustic one. A guy from the zoo came out to tell us a story. A little girl, once upon a time, really loved Paki, the zoo's first elephant born in captivity, and wrote a poem about him which won a prize. The prize was a little statue of Paki, but unfortunately the statue broke. But now they were going to give her a new statue, which the guy then awarded to a very pleased Neko (who grew up in various areas in the Pacific Northwest, including Vancouver, WA, which is near Portland). She dedicated her first song to "her crackhead housemate" who broke the original statue. I'm not familiar with a lot of Neko's material, since I only have one of her records, her most recent, "Blacklisted." But familiarity wasn't really all that necessary - it was just great to hear her astonishing, soaring voice, which unfortunately was mic'd so loud that it hurt my ears at first. But then, there could be no more pleasant way to lose one's hearing. She did some of my favorite songs off "Blacklisted" like "Lady Pilot" and the gorgeous "Deep Red Bells," along with a Hank Williams cover, a gospel song, and the first song I ever heard by her, "Knock Loud," with the bassist providing "knocking" accompaniment by tapping on his bass. She also did "Tacoma," a wry ode to her home town, by request, and finished with "Look For Me (I'll Be Around)," a creepy cover song from "Blacklisted" written "back when it was OK to follow people around if you were in love with them." Meanwhile, John the guitar guy contributed amazing solos - he's the best pedal steel player I've heard in my short history of listening to alt-country, and he rocked out on the banjo as well. Several of his solos were applauded, and deservedly so. Neko was extremely chatty, cheerful and down-to-earth throughout the show, frequently exchanging funny banter with John the guitar guy, who, she claimed, had a soft, squishy personality like strawberry Jello (he claimed lime). The bassist got dubbed "Lothar" for some reason. She talked about the cute little otters at the zoo, twitching in their sleep and "dreaming about chasing a big tuna." She also talked a lot about growing up in the Northwest and how it rained a lot, but it beat Chicago where she lives now, where it gets really hot and you get "ass-rot." (I have to say, I grew up in the Midwest and I never suffered from this ailment.) She seemed like a really cool, nice, outgoing person - someone you'd want to have a drink with, maybe. I found that refreshing, especially after seeing the dour Jay Farrar. After the show, Melinda, my friends Tiah and Kirk, and I waited around for a while, along with some other people, for autographs and tinfoil presentation. Finally Neko came out, sat on the edge of the stage with her legs dangling down, and cheerfully signed autographs and chatted with everyone. I asked her about her 4-stringed guitars and she said yes, indeed, they were tenor guitars, the SG-lookalike really was a custom-made SG, and she also had a tenor Gretsch. She said she had small hands and was too impatient to learn to play a six-string, and she liked the tenor guitars' "dulcimer-like" sound. She liked Bast very much and I had a picture taken with me, her, and Bast, and had her sign the tour-only CD I had bought. (I really don't like asking people to sign autographs, but I figure since she had the pen with her. . .) My friends also had their picture taken - I noticed she puts on a very camera-ready smile, possibly out of habit - and then we got lost finding out way out of the zoo, saw some sea lions, and eventually went home. And then I ate some burritos and went to sleep. Tra-la. n. _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 12:49:05 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: Eggroll > >I experienced the top and bottom of show-bidness starf*cking tonight, >>compressed within just a half hour. > >uh-oh, Eb - you forgot to use our new pet phrase! Here's a clue: what >number comes between 39 and 41? That phrase doesn't speak to me. ;) Am I the only one who thought Idi Amin was already dead?? Eb ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 14:56:26 -0500 (GMT-05:00) From: Miles Goosens Subject: Re: gnatmaniax: alt-country and elephants Barenaked Ladies would be among the first musicians I'd feed to the anacondas, but not before James Taylor. Anyway, here's Gnat: >Melinda was convinced that the opening act, the Buddy Miller Band, would >suck. I suggested that maybe Buddy Miller was Rhett Miller's brother and >was just as good looking. Such was not the case, as Buddy turned out to be >a grizzled old dude fronting a very run-of-the-mill country band. The crowd >really ate it up, though, and I was astonished - being a nice Jewish girl >from a college town - to see people line-dancing. We went to look at the >elephants, and saw one of the male elephants swaying more or less in time to >the music and apparently digging it. All I can say is, elephants have bad >taste. Natalie, I'm not sure what surprises me more -- that you had such a negative reaction to Buddy Miller, or that you didn't know who he was. Melissa would partially agree with you, insofar as she thinks Buddy and wife Julie's music is too predictable and a bit Nashvega$ slick in its chord structures and lyrics, but even she concurs with me that Buddy is a mofo of a guitarist, and that the Millers (looks like it was just Buddy's band and stuff for your show) put on a great live show. Buddy & Julie's self-titled album from two years ago got tons of good press, and Buddy's had high-profile gigs like accompanying Emmylou Harris. I mean, they're near-legends by now. I can't even discuss Neko Case, because it's just too painful -- Melissa and I decided we were too tired to go to her Opry Plaza Party show (free, outdoors, outside the current Grand Ole Opry) two years ago, and it turns out that, disgusted with how she was being treated by the event's organizers and handlers, Neko showed her displeasure by *removing her top* and then stalking offstage. Man, if they ever do invent the Wayback Machine, screw seeing Hendrix, I'm headed straight for this show... later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 13:08:10 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: gnatmaniax: alt-country and elephants >Neko showed her displeasure by *removing her top* and then stalking >offstage. Man, if they ever do invent the Wayback Machine, screw >seeing Hendrix, I'm headed straight for this show... Jeez, dude...she was presumably wearing a bra underneath, right? I'd opt for Hendrix (actually, Hendrix would not rank high on my list, but in this case...). >This has to be one of the weirder places I've seen a show, if not >the weirdest - >in a small outdoor amphitheater behind the elephant enclosure at the >Oregon Zoo. Not so weird...Spinal Tap did four nights there in 1981. Eb np: the Mummydogs (bought for *49 cents* at Rockaway last night) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 14:18:14 -0700 (PDT) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: Look what you've started now On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 AidMerr@aol.com wrote: > NB - in the Syd Barrett biography you always see in bargain buckets in > indie stores, "Man Who Invented Himself" is listed in the "Songs about > Syd" section. For what that's worth. No idea where they got this from > (and since Robyn was living about 10 minutes walk from Syd at the time > he wrote it, the line "nobody knows where he's gone, but he's not here" > seems particularly inappropriate). Um, I really don't think that's a comment on his physical locality, sir. Nobody knows where Syd went... not even his mum. J. - -- _______________________________________________ Capuchin capuchin@bitmine.net Jeme A Brelin ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 17:20:07 -0400 From: "Maximilian Lang" Subject: Re: gnatmaniax: alt-country and elephants >From: Miles Goosens >To: fegmaniax@smoe.org >Subject: Re: gnatmaniax: alt-country and elephants >Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 14:56:26 -0500 (GMT-05:00) >I can't even discuss Neko Case, because it's just too painful -- Melissa >and I decided we were too tired to go to her Opry Plaza Party show (free, >outdoors, outside the current Grand Ole Opry) two years ago, and it turns >out that, disgusted with how she was being treated by the event's >organizers and handlers, Neko showed her displeasure by *removing her top* >and then stalking offstage. Man, if they ever do invent the Wayback >Machine, screw seeing Hendrix, I'm headed straight for this show... I should use this instance of Peabody reference to share my pleasure over the Rocky and Bullwinkle Season 1 DVD set, sheer brilliance. The Bullwinkle puppet responding to mail is reason enough for purchase. Max _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2003 10:37:20 +1200 From: grutness@surf4nix.com (James Dignan) Subject: It stinks! (slight return) Just came back from my Sunday morning radio show. At the station, in amongst the new releases that had recently arrived at the place, was Benzino's album "Redemption". Couldn't resist testing it out (not on air, though). Guess what? It stinks. Not bad enough to be in the 50 worst of all time after just one album, but if he's been churrning this stuff out over the course of a career it could be. The style is - mind-bogglingly - Christian gangsta rap, and the basic theme seems to be that if you f*ck with him, he'll pray for your soul before shooting you with his trusty piece. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition. 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: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 17:45:26 -0700 (PDT) From: Carole Reichstein Subject: Elliott and David--separated at birth? Someone on this list (Ross??) mentioned David Sylvian's new album "Blemish." Sounds intriguing! I checked out his website and came up with this image: www.davidsylvian.com Ha! I admit it's a nice painting, but David Sylvian looks like a cross between Elliott Smith and your average male hipster Portlander in winter. xxx Carole ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 22:57:40 -0700 (PDT) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: gnatmaniax: alt-country and elephants On Sat, 16 Aug 2003, Eb wrote: > >This has to be one of the weirder places I've seen a show, if not the > >weirdest - in a small outdoor amphitheater behind the elephant > >enclosure at the Oregon Zoo. > > Not so weird...Spinal Tap did four nights there in 1981. Of course then, the place was called (more properly) the Washington Park Zoo. I'm convinced they changed the name (at great expense, of course) because they thought people couldn't get their heads around a place with Washington in its name that isn't in Washington state. That's like changing the name of Washington Square to New York Square or something. Oh, and the elephant's name is Packy, not "Paki" (which is a racial epithet whence I come). I believe, for some reason, that in addition to being the zoo's first-born elephant, Packy is the first captivity-born elephant anywhere. I have no idea how Portland got to be the captive-elephant breeding capital of the world. J. - -- _______________________________________________ Capuchin capuchin@bitmine.net Jeme A Brelin ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2003 11:20:05 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: FYI/SCTV According to an article in the Friday Timeout Section of the CocoTimes about Eugene Levy, SCTV is scheduled to be released on DVD in January 2004. ===== "Pentagon officials says Americanizing Iraq is difficult because Iraqis have had little to no reliable information for the past 35 years, and have lived on a diet of innuendo, rumor, conspiracy theories, fear, and propaganda. Sounds like the problem is they're too Americanized." -- Bill Maher "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!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V12 #310 ********************************