From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V13 #92 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Friday, March 26 2004 Volume 13 : Number 092 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Ginn Again [Capuchin ] Re: Slam Dance Cosmopolis! ["Maximilian Lang" ] (Belated) Top Ten Albums of 2003 ["Jason Brown \(Echo Services Inc\)" ] Re: In the Life of Chris Gaines ["Maximilian Lang" ] Re: Ginn Again [Aaron Mandel ] Re: Ginn Again [Eb ] Express devilry [grutness@surf4nix.com] Freak scene... ["Rex.Broome" ] robyn at sxsw report [fingerpuppets ] the Vicar [Jill Brand ] Re: Ginn Again [Capuchin ] Tinfoil Thoths! [Dolph Chaney ] Re: Tinfoil Thoths! ["Fortissimo" ] catching up slowly ["Marc Holden" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 14:52:51 -0800 (PST) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: Ginn Again On Thu, 25 Mar 2004, Jeff Dwarf wrote: > 2) It's a bit of a mess sonically in that the songs are all over the > place. That's one of the things I really love about it, but a lot of > people seem to think that albums should always sound somewhat uniform. So, right after writing that post about the R.E.M. arc yesterday, I was picking some music to play whilst housekeeping and I was trying to think of an artist I liked that had no arc whatsoever... that wasn't really ascending or declining and not really consistent, either. I pretty much abandoned that line of thought after a few minutes realizing that it'd require some pretty careful analysis that I wasn't really willing to do for something as silly as my record collection. But in that minute or two, I pondered something I ponder often when picking a record to play: Why is John Henry such a shitty album when pretty much all of the songs are good? I'll find myself singing several of those songs in my head or thinking "ooh, there's a great transition in this song" or "that other song has a really amazing lyric", but I almost can't listen to the album. It just turns me off. Do y'all know records like that? I'm wondering if a re-ordering alone could redeem it (but I don't think so). It just doesn't hang together at all. I can't think of what the opposite of this might be... maybe some Psychedelic Furs album or something. I guess there are a few albums that have lots of songs that aren't so great, but the album as a piece is sterling. Just wondering. J. - -- _______________________________________________ Capuchin capuchin@bitmine.net Jeme A Brelin ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 18:43:56 -0500 From: "Maximilian Lang" Subject: Re: Slam Dance Cosmopolis! >From: "Jason R. Thornton" >To: >Subject: Re: Slam Dance Cosmopolis! >Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 11:47:30 -0800 >At 11:08 AM 3/25/2004 -0800, Rex.Broome wrote: >>But "Straight to Hell" has always rankled in that, if it is about, as I >>would assume, a Vietnamese war child, Strummer really should have known >>better than to use the term "Papa-san". >papa san: pidgin used by U.S. servicemen for any older Vietnamese man >mama san: pidgin used by American servicemen for any older Vietnamese woman >http://www.ichiban1.org/html/history_glossary.htm (and other pages as well) I work with a Vietnam vet and he always mentions papa sans and mama sans. I like Combat Rock but really just okay. If you want to hear how bad it could have been, search out the Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg versions of the songs(aka Combat Rock Outtakes). It was going to be a double record with those super crappy b sides from the singles included on the album(Long Time Jerk etc), yuck. The songs had many different vocal tracks as well, Glyn Johns and Strummer edited and remixed many of the songs and added new vocals, including Jones adding a new line to Should I Stay("One day it's fine and next it's black" in place of "from the front or round your back" or something like that). Max _________________________________________________________________ FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar  get it now! http://toolbar.msn.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 16:03:36 -0800 From: "Jason Brown \(Echo Services Inc\)" Subject: (Belated) Top Ten Albums of 2003 I just found this half written email in a folder. For I never had time to finish my thoughts on each album but here it is anyway. My favorite albums I bought last year were older but I absolutely loved them more than anything that actually came out last year. Best Albums I bought in 2003: 1. Neutral Milk Hotel - The Aeroplane Over The Sea (1997). How did I live without this before? I think I listened to this everyday for like 6 months. 2. The Decemberists - Castaways and Cut-outs (2002). The best album of the decade so far. 3. The Masters of the Hemisphere - Protest a Dark Anniversary (2002) Now for the official top ten... Best 2003 Albums: 1. The Pernice Brothers - "Yours, Mine and Ours". This one took a while to grow on me but eventually it won me over completely. With the previous Pernice Brothers albums I really loved them from the start and they lost their charm after awhile. 2. Belle and Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress. This one took me by completely surprise. Fold Your Hands... was underwhelming, the Storytelling Soundtrack completely sucked, and last couple EPs were just so-so. But this album is a revelation. They finally stopped trying to re-make If You're Feeling Sinister and actually did something new. The Trevor Horn production really makes the songs sparkle and each song has its own style. 3. The Decemberists - Her Majesty, The Decemberists. First a big thank you to Natalie for her posts about this band on the list. Without them I may still be ignorant of this great band. This album is excellent but just not as good as Castaways and Cutouts. I can't quiet put my finger on why though. Maybe it's the lack of a truly sparkling pop number like "July, July" and no songs mentioning the Multnomah County Library. 4. Blur - Think Tank. On paper this sounded like a recipe for disaster. Recorded in Morocco. Graham Coxon kicked out of the band at the beginning of the sessions. 5. The Lucksmiths - Naturaliste 6. Frank Black and the Catholics - Show Me Your Tears 7. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow 8. The Postal Service - Give Up 9. The Go-Betweens - Bright Yellow Bright Orange 10. The Minus 5 - Down with Wilco ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 19:09:19 -0500 From: FSThomas Subject: Oh, no A low-cal diet can apparently make some people pretty cranky. Diminutive workout guru Richard Simmons is accused of Slappin' to the Oldies after allegedly smacking a strapping 255-pound man who made fun of Simmons' exercise videos. Simmons, widely recognized for his frizzy 'fro, skimpy gym shorts and manic energy level, was arrested and cited for misdemeanor assault without being detained. Up until the confrontation, the flamboyant fitness fanatic, first name Milton, was playing the dutiful celeb, posing for photos and signing autographs while walking through the concourse at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Wednesday evening... Full story : http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=796&ncid=799&e=3&u=/eo/20040325/en_celeb_eo/13779 - -ferris. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 19:13:14 -0500 From: "Maximilian Lang" Subject: Re: In the Life of Chris Gaines >From: Miles Goosens >To: "it's only us" >Subject: Re: In the Life of Chris Gaines >Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 14:39:46 -0600 >At 12:12 PM 3/25/2004 -0800, Rex.Broome wrote: > >>>Who the hell is Alan Jackson, or Vince Gill and Mannheim Steamroller >for > >that > >>>matter? >And while Gill's big-selling solo material is pretty dire, he's got great >bluegrass/instrumental chops that he rarely shows on his own ballad-laden >albums, good enough to have backed Emmylou Harris and to have gotten a job >offer from Dire Straits. > >He's also now Mr. Amy Grant, for those keeping score. He sand Surfs Up on A Tribute to Brian Wilson a few years back; wow, what a voice. Max _________________________________________________________________ All the action. All the drama. Get NCAA hoops coverage at MSN Sports by ESPN. http://msn.espn.go.com/index.html?partnersite=espn ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 16:55:12 -0800 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: Begin the Begin (to Suck) Quail: >>Somewhere out there, there's a doctoral dissertation waiting on "Beliefs as >>to When and Why R.E.M. Began to Suck." Said document is, perhaps appropriately, fragmentarily imbedded in the internet on innumerable message boards and mailing list archives, and even as I type another thread is added to this rich and impermeable tapestry. >> I skipped my senior prom to go to an Iron Maiden concert. Does that count >> for anything? I wish I had done that. I don't even come close to liking Iron Maiden, but there's very little below "my senior prom" on my list of things I avowedly don't like... Jason T: >>papa san: pidgin used by U.S. servicemen for any older Vietnamese man 'Kay, that makes me feel better. I always felt the lines, from the POV of the child, were supposed to have misplaced local flavor, but if it's something that such a child would've heard from the father or Americans in general, I can deal. Miles: >>I also feel the need to further qualify/clarify Rex's brief statement: Thanks for doing so... I was afraid of getting too far into it as I was basically answering James and maybe any other non-US fegs who might've been similarly puzzled, but I can see I might've been so vague as to be misleading on a point or two. >>Alan Jackson is the closest thing among the Big Huge Often Three-Named Country Stars >>of the '90s to a honky-tonk traditionalist, well before his "9-11 themed single" he was >>about as famous as a non-Garth country star could be, and his "9-11 themed single" wasn't >>a jingoistic, misogynist piece of trash like, well, anything proffered by Toby Keith. That's probably the most important distinction I should've made because it reflects on Americans in general as much as country music: Jackson's "big 9/11 hit", the one that the country glommed onto and crossed over to the pop charts, was at least contemplative and reflective of grief. That hateful Toby Keith thing, while it got traction amongst its target audience, also pissed a lot of people off. Which is not me saying that all Americans processed the whole thing all that well, but for the benefit of our foreign friends who heard way too much about the Dixie Chicks being banned or Toby Keith or worse yet Charlie Daniels, just sayin'... not all Americans and in fact not even all country music fans were out for blood, is all. I like New Adventures in Hi-Fi; this simply takes less time to write than it would to find URL's for all the pages in the archives where I done said that. REM and I never officially broke up but it is kinda weird when we run into each other at parties, and depending on how much either of us has had to drink we might occasionally end up doing it in the car for old time's sake, or, like as not, I'll just have to drive them home and have to stop on the side of the freeway while they puke. But we had some good times, and honestly, I was an asshole most of the time, too, so I can't judge them too harshly. But I still have all their old letters... and that little stuffed koala bear they won me at the fair... and... I'm sorry, this is hard for me... - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 20:11:40 -0500 (EST) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: Ginn Again On Thu, 25 Mar 2004, Capuchin wrote: > Do y'all know records like that? I'm wondering if a re-ordering alone > could redeem it (but I don't think so). Nah, I think it could -- I came to the same conclusion as you about it being less than the sum of its parts only after putting it on shuffle play once and enjoying it straight through. Artists without arcs: The Fall. They've been around so long that you'd expect more ups and downs than most bands, but even so I find myself hard pressed to name even three consecutive albums where I really feel a strong upward or downward trend. New Order too. a ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 17:23:32 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Re: Ginn Again > Artists without arcs: The Fall. They've been around so long that you'd > expect more ups and downs than most bands, but even so I find myself > hard > pressed to name even three consecutive albums where I really feel a > strong > upward or downward trend. > Throwing Muses? Their catalog is awfully up-and-down-and-up-and-down.... First name which came to mind. Dylan has *some* obvious arcs, but he's fairly unplottable between, say, Desire and Time Out of Mind.... Of course, no one can touch Jandek in this category. ;) Eb ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2004 13:44:09 +1200 From: grutness@surf4nix.com Subject: Express devilry ...and when I checked today's mail, there were two parcels in it from L.A. Haven't had a chance to listen to them yet, and - sadly - it may be a couple of days before things slow down enough to give them a detailed listen. The covers feature (1) purple ripples (or isobars) against a sea of red crayon, and (2) a line of blue crescents, like the moon trapped in a room of mirrors - bold diagonals in purple and lateral shafts of green break the eerie three-dimensionality of the scene. I can see the influence of Willem de Kooning, Lucio Fontana, and Sesame Street. A little disappointed that my notes didn't go onto the snazzy gold pages in the perversely-sized booklet. What do I owe you for the second disc, Rex? 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: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 17:50:18 -0800 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: Freak scene... Chris Gross: >>I saw Dinosaur Jr. at Penn State in December 1987. The punks I was >>hanging out with hated them, essentially for not being hardcore. (I >>remember one mocking Mascis with sarcasm too thick to drip: "Oh, yeah, >>let me just play with my effects pedals now.") Jeez, how is it possible he never actually wrote a song with exactly that title? The Dinosaur chapter in "Our Band Could Be Your Life" is among the most entertaining, concerning as it does the Barlow years. The story of the "Cookie Monster Incident" alone was worth the cover price to me. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 20:46:07 -0500 From: fingerpuppets Subject: robyn at sxsw report got this from someone (thanks will!) who went to the rock star gig at sxsw: >Thought you might like to know the setlist: > >Main setlist: >Cynthia Mask >Only the Stones Remain >My Wife and My Dead Wife >Victorian Squid >Balloon Man >Solpadeine >One L >Full Moon in My Soul > >Then in the back of the club, amongst the pool tables and packed-in fans, >Robyn continued the show with Ken Stringfellow and someone else I didn't >recognize: >Stayin' alive >A public service announcement with the lines "Everyone knows that W sucks, >but Rumsfeld is the antichrist" >Ted, Woody, and Junior >Baby you're a rich man > >A fun show, albeit far too short, I can give some more details later if >interested and if my memory stays intact. and the more details: >The SXSW format doesn't allow much leeway for an artist. Sound checks are >basically done on the fly and the artists are given 40-45 minutes tops and >then rushed off the stage to make way for the next act. Robyn appeared, >resplendent in a black and white diamond shirt, duck-taped a pick-up into >the sound hole of his acoustic and started off with a long instrumental >intro to Cynthia Mask. He stumbled over some of the lyrics as he warmed up >but just kept going on, ad-libing his way through. At one point, after >transposing two lines and trying to start the verse over he said in a >slow, low voice "We're sorry for the technical difficulty, the mechanism >does not seem to be operating correctly." >Some other quotes (as I recall): >"If you want to stop hearing bad news, turn off your tv. If you want the >bad news to continue, don't vote." >"You in the US have a great responsibility, you have the fate of the >worlds [pause] yeah, okay then, worlds with an 's', in your hands." >"There are two things that everyone needs: more time and more sleep. Most >people don't even need love because they don't know how to respond to it. >So if you want to give your friend a gift, give them more time or more sleep." >Robyn's time was over far too soon but the crowd kept clapping and >cheering for one more. Robyn asked the stage manager if he could do >another but she told him there was no time so to the delight of us all, he >asked the club to not turn on the loud background music and announced that >he would be going to the back of the club with his guitar and sing some >more songs until the next band was ready. The stage manager looked >confused but the crowd dutifully turned around and marched to the back >with Mr. Hitchcock and Ken Stringfellow, who together led a rousing >rendition of Staying Alive. Then he sang an anti-Bush song to many cheers >and laughs. Following this was Ted, Woody, and Junior and to finish it >off, everyone sang along to Baby You're a Rich Man. A fun and lively show. > >Robyn was also on Austin's public radio station KUT on March 18. Right now >there is a link to his interview and performance at: >http://www.kut.org/site/PageServer?pagename=mus_eklektikos >Not sure how long the link will be up. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 20:55:41 -0500 (EST) From: Jill Brand Subject: the Vicar James wrote: >no-no-no-no-no-no-yes. Seems at first like a fairly standard British sitcom, but it's actually a cut above most of them. He is one of my favorite characters, but Hugo and Alice usually have me in tears (the wedding dress was wonderful). My favorite episode is the one in which they try to raise money to replace the stained glass window, especially the part when they are trying to remember what biblical scene was depicted on the window that got smashed. Jill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 18:29:31 -0800 (PST) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: Ginn Again On Thu, 25 Mar 2004, Eb wrote: > Of course, no one can touch Jandek in this category. ;) That is oddly synchronous. I read the chapter on Jandek in "Songs in the Key of Z" just this morning. Weird. J. - -- _______________________________________________ Capuchin capuchin@bitmine.net Jeme A Brelin ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 23:09:05 -0600 From: Dolph Chaney Subject: Tinfoil Thoths! Dolph Chaney - "Status Unknown" Not his best work, but damn if that Cool Edit Pro bell stuff doesn't work like gangbusters. Lazerlove5 - "Jennifer" The word "cortex" should be in more choruses. Fun fun! James Dignan - "She Doesn't Need To Say What's On Her Mind" I was already a Dignan fan based on "Partial Rapture Theory." I find myself doubly jealous of this song -- both to write something this pure and to feel such love as is behind this. Rainland - "Fort Ashby" Oh, I get it now. Rex wanted to put together a mix CD in order to show us all up. Goddamn, this is good. Among its less obvious high points is the great bass line -- simple sounding but full of unexpected note choices that give the arrangement a lot of subtle surprise. The New Moon - "Dark Matter" Why isn't 'space rock' this smart usually? Tremendous lyrics and (again) great bass playing. Michael Wells - "Lullaby for Two" Yes, I like this very much -- Chicago, represent! I get the feel as if one's great-friend-who-plays-guitar has a dozen friends around and has FINALLY been convinced to bust out some guitarage after the seventh or eighth beer. Nice nice nice. Monkey Typing Pool - "Lawns & Industry" My favorite moment of this is the start of the 1st chorus, which suddenly gets all tremolo. Overall, the piece makes me think of what would happen if Jack Bruce had all his fingers broken but still had to fulfill a date guesting with GBV or early Sebadoh. The Popsicle Thieves - "Touch You Natalie Jane" Oh my God, this is my new favorite song. As someone who has actually HUGGED Natalie Jane on multiple occasions (though not multiple enough for my taste), this makes me smile in ways I haven't in years. Chord changes pull the rug out at many turns, every instrument's playing a melody, just an outstanding pop achievement in every conceivable way. tlr3 - "Second Chance" See, this is why I like REALLY independent music. You get combinations of textures way beyond what people driven by bottom-line economics would come up with. This is a WICKED chord sequence, matched by a vocal performance that makes me think of Peter Lorre in "M". The word 'lurker' takes on new meaning. Mike Runion - "Rope of Days" Our revered cone-host has a winner. What is it that Mike's voice is calling to remembrance? I think it's Chris Knox more than anyone else -- wryness rules. (Both Mike and Mr. Knox remind me of Lindsey Buckingham around TUSK, but I know not everyone would consider that a compliment the way I intend it.) Ki Society - "Om Mani Padme Hung" This was TREMENDOUS help during work today. I just hope that the chant used as the bed for this hasn't just programmed me to go on a killing spree. Whatever the intent, it is now imprinted. Blatzman & Friends - "Five Was The Time" I'm a Blatzman / There Goes Bill fan from way back, and this is top-notch Blatzage. Dave's voice takes me to very happy places, and the lyric is wistful wit a fistful. It's no "Ergie Bergie," but it might be my favorite Blatz tune. Dude, you oughta be SO FAMOUS. Greg Shell - "Roger The Robot" I'm working on choreography for this. Michael Godwin - "Carrier Pigeon" I know so many Chicago indie-rock bands who'd give their eye-teeth to have come up with this. My ass is shakin', uh huh, uh huh. Brian Nupp - "Gliding" Nuppy-boo: between "Jennifer" and this one, you are one SERIOUSLY messed-up dude. Keep it up. I want a whole CD of shifts this big. Blind Mathew Brady - "Badger Skull Tableau" Mr. McCleary is the 3rd Feg here whose non-Robyn-cover music I'd had the pleasure of enjoying before now, but this has a grander scope than anything else I've heard by him. Very well done. Rectifier - "The Perfume Makers" I will make sure the fabled Ed Doxtator hears this; it fills the "one thousand foot tall guitars" criterion which he values particularly. I kept looking for a Zippo to hold aloft, but alas... Great stuff. Rex Broome & His Living Room Demons - "Bagfoot Run" CHRIST, Rex, first "Fort Ashby" and now this? No fair. I had to clean my toenails twice. A tremendous amount of insight into the history of illicit pharmaceuticals here as well -- tell me about your drugs, indeed. James Dignan - "I Know The Felt Of Judas" This is what sets a great songwriter like James apart. He often uses ingenious writing-project devices to get him going, and yet the end product sounds spontaneous and natural. Knowing the situation that inspired this caused me to crack up mightily, but on its own it's just a terrific, bewildering song. food For friends - "Learned My Lesson Well" Sebastian, if this is you singing in an uncomfortably low register, I have got to hear you singing something in your range! Very Athens GA in feel (I'm thinking of Pylon in particular). Again, it's the bass playing that's doing it to me the most. The Shit Together Band - "What I Like About Puke" Awwwwwwww, this is adorable. Ki Society - "Gong" I'd like to see Gong do a song called "Ki Society" and have Daevid Allen come up with lyrics any better. - -- Dolph ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2004 00:09:20 -0600 From: "Fortissimo" Subject: Re: Tinfoil Thoths! On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 23:09:05 -0600, "Dolph Chaney" said: > > Rainland - "Fort Ashby" > Oh, I get it now. Rex wanted to put together a mix CD in order to show us > all up. Goddamn, this is good. Among its less obvious high points is > the > great bass line -- simple sounding but full of unexpected note choices > that > give the arrangement a lot of subtle surprise. I like that shift into the instrumental bridge, too - very early R.E.M. (you know, before everyone else thinks they sucked). > Monkey Typing Pool - "Lawns & Industry" > My favorite moment of this is the start of the 1st chorus, which suddenly > gets all tremolo. Overall, the piece makes me think of what would happen > if Jack Bruce had all his fingers broken but still had to fulfill a date > guesting with GBV or early Sebadoh. I think it's more likely he'd have had his fingers broken *after* performing this - but that's just me. Nothing like lathering on effects to make up for highly dodgy sound quality! > The Popsicle Thieves - "Touch You Natalie Jane" > Oh my God, this is my new favorite song. As someone who has actually > HUGGED Natalie Jane on multiple occasions (though not multiple enough for > my taste), this makes me smile in ways I haven't in years. Chord changes > pull the rug out at many turns, every instrument's playing a melody, just > an outstanding pop achievement in every conceivable way. Me too - it's going on my next mix CD for sure (one I send out to other people, not just for my own use). Special points for the slide guitar. > Michael Godwin - "Carrier Pigeon" > I know so many Chicago indie-rock bands who'd give their eye-teeth to have > come up with this. My ass is shakin', uh huh, uh huh. THis is another grower for me - almost an R. Stevie Moore kinda thing here. > James Dignan - "I Know The Felt Of Judas" > This is what sets a great songwriter like James apart. He often uses > ingenious writing-project devices to get him going, and yet the end > product > sounds spontaneous and natural. Knowing the situation that inspired this > caused me to crack up mightily, but on its own it's just a terrific, > bewildering song. Hey, double-babelfishing is good - but next time, let's write lyrics wholly from spam alt-text. Still liking it over here... - ------------------------------- ...Jeff J e f f r e y N o r m a n The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com/ :: crumple zones:: :: harmful or fatal if swallowed :: :: small-craft warning :: ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2004 02:37:22 -0700 From: "Marc Holden" Subject: catching up slowly - - a squeaky crab, CDs, t-shirt, flag, >>scarf... to all of you: Roberta, woj, Brian, Mike, Rex, Marc (of >>course).... hm... hope I haven't forgotten anyone... thank you all >>very very much. And Jim Davies (hope I haven't left any one off either). I can't blame James for missing the one person there. I hit him with a lot of information all at once. >and of course I forgot the prized signed copy of BSDR... I was bound to forget something. If you haven't seen this one yet, post me, and I'll send a photo--it's a beauty. If James had been a "no show", I might have considered keeping it for myself ;^) Tom asked, James replied: >>Um, DVD? Helloooooo? >so many discs... I'd thought they were all audio... DVD...?! So much >stuff... thank you all! Sshhh. He hasn't seen that one yet. That's my fault. I thought I had a copy ready and with everything else, but it's here on my desk. He'll have it within a very short time (so if you meant to get anything to me for the original package, but spaced it of, post me quick--there's still time for sloppy seconds). I left the DVD and the only non-casual clothing I planned to take at home. Man, I'm a crappy packer. Made it home without serious problems--we were on the news when we were evacuated from Port Douglas, Australia. Cyclone Grace had dumped massive amounts of rain on the Queensland coast. The highway, which we had taken up from Cairns a few hours earlier, was blocked by a rock which the news stated was the size of a house. The estimate was that it would take about 5 days to break the stone up with dynamite (or maybe it was Vegemite), clear the debris, and fix the road to a usable condition. We left town a day early by the boat that was previously supposed to have taken us out to see the Great Barrier Reef. That had been the high-light of my plans for the Australian part of the trip, so to say the least, I was extremely disappointed. When our boat docked at Cairns, the news crews were there waiting. The winds had started to pick up a bit, so it was a real relief to fly back down to Sydney. Unfortunately, the rain followed us, so it was wet intermittently. I used an umbrella for the first time in my life (other than the giant type they use with patio furniture), and actually wound up buying one to make it through the end of the trip. We took a tour of the Sydney Opera House and saw a play there, in one of the smaller theatres. I'm not meaning to make Australia sound too bad, but I had a much better time in New Zealand. The best things I remember about Australia were the animals--feeding kangaroos and wallabies; visiting with koalas and a crocodile; seeing wild Sulfur Crested cockatoos, fruit bats, and ibises in downtown Sydney; finding a spider with a leg span of at least 8 inches near our hotel room, and watching the platypus, sea turtles, sharks, and rays at the Sydney Aquarium. The record shopping was okay. I got Australian 45 pressings of Balloon Man (which I hadn't seen before), Madonna of the Wasps, and Anglepoise Lamp, and the LP Fegmania! on Big Beat records. I also found the Hendrix--Band of Gypsies LP with the alternate cover I've been trying to get for over 20 years now. Score! I had already planned to make it back to New Zealand someday to see more of the country, and now plan to go back to Australia to see what we had been scheduled to see. I won't miss the Vegemite too much (I might have an extra package or two tucked away in my luggage, if you dare to try it). Time to wade through more e-mail before I crash. I need to work for a while tomorrow before heading down to Tucson to see Robyn and Howe Gelb. Marc If I ever get real rich, I hope I'm not real mean to poor people, like I am now. Jack Handy ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V13 #92 *******************************