From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V13 #265 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Monday, September 20 2004 Volume 13 : Number 265 Today's Subjects: ----------------- reap [Eb ] Re: Kicking Ol' Buddha's Gong [Michael R Godwin ] Re: Spooked vinyl ["Gene Hopstetter, Jr." ] Re: Warning: this is 100% political [] Re: Warning: this is 100% political [Christopher Gross ] All good clean fun [Michael R Godwin ] Heads, Mats and the Art of Selling Out and Having Horns on Your Records Before You're Even Signed ["Rex.Broome" ] Re: Heads, Mats and the Art of Selling Out and Having Horns on Your Records Before You're Even Signed ["Fortis] FW: Message from Robert Vickers on the Go-Betweens message board! ["Bachm] Re: Warning: this is 100% political [] RE: Kicking Ol' Buddha's Gong ["Bachman, Michael" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 00:24:32 -0700 From: Eb Subject: reap Opry Member Skeeter Davis Dies at 72 NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Skeeter Davis, who hit the top of the pop charts with "The End of the World" in 1963 and sang on the Grand Ole Opry radio show for more than 40 years, died Sunday of cancer. She was 72. Davis died at a Nashville hospice, said Grand Ole Opry publicist Jessie Schmidt. Davis had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988 and had a recurrence in 1996. Davis, nicknamed Skeeter by her grandfather who said she was so active she buzzed around like a mosquito, had toured with Elvis Presley and the Rolling Stones. She became a regular on the Opry, a live radio show, in 1959, and continued to perform as late as this year. In 1973, she was suspended from the Opry for more than a year for protesting the arrest of "Jesus freaks" in Nashville. "I felt like a child without a home," she said after her reinstatement. Besides "The End of the World," her hits included "I'm Saving My Love" and "I Can't Stay Mad at You." A native of Dry Ridge, Ky., Davis was born Mary Frances Penick. She took the name Skeeter Davis in the 1950s when she became half of the Davis Sisters duet. She began a solo career after her duet partner, Betty Jack Davis, was killed in a 1953 car wreck. Skeeter Davis was critically injured in the same accident. Her autobiography, "Bus Fare to Kentucky," was published in 1993. [irrelevant PS Three cheers for "Arrested Development"!!] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 12:43:23 +0100 (BST) From: Michael R Godwin Subject: Re: Kicking Ol' Buddha's Gong > Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 21:22:53 -0400 > From: Barbara Soutar > Subject: Early heroin song > Mike Godwin asked about heroin songs and it flashing into my mind about > Goodnight Irene by Huddie Leadbetter. Surprisingly, the original lyrics > go like this: "If ever Irene should leave me Lord/I'll take heroin and > die" or "take morphine and die". It was recorded first in 1936 and > became quite a nifty hit for the Weavers later, as you know. > From: Capuchin > Subject: Re: Early heroin song > How long has "junk" been a euphemism for heroin? > In Cab Calloway's "Kicking the Gong Around" (I'll have to double-check the > title), this verse appears: > Then a knock came at the door > And there stood old Smokey Joe > He was looking cold and pale > He was looking for his frail > He was drunk and all of his junk ran out > > Anyway, I consider it a clear reference to heroin. Fascinating stuff, and it reminds me strongly of Hoagy Carmichael's 'Hong Kong Blues': "It's the story of a very unfortunate coloured man Who got arrested down in old Hong Kong He got twenty years' privilege taken away from him When he kicked old Buddha's gong ... Won't somebody believe I've a yen to see that Bay again Everytime I try to leave Sweet opium won't let me fly away" - - Lyrics from George Harrison's reading - "believe" looks wrong to me: Any road up, "Kicking the gong" refers to opium in this instance. Heroin is a modern derivative of opium (1880, something like that?) so my instinct is that 30s songs are more likely to refer to opium. - - Mike Godwin n.p. Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera 'Mary Jane' ("Her name's a dream her dream's a name" etc) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 09:03:38 -0500 From: "Gene Hopstetter, Jr." Subject: Re: Spooked vinyl > From: "Marc Holden" > Subject: Spooked vinyl > > I saw someone had posted wondering when the vinyl version of Spooked > will go > on sale. That was me, so, Thanks! I am looking forward to it quite a bit. My home stereo is currently in pieces, so my list of things waiting to be listened to is growing quickly. "Spooked," Bjork's "Medulla" SACD, Talk Talk's "Spirit of Eden" SACD, Sony Rollins's "Way Out West," Brad Mehldau's latest, the Best of Badfinger, and so on. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 09:28:35 -0500 From: Subject: Re: Warning: this is 100% political [demime could not interpret encoding binary - treating as plain text] On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 17:10 , Christopher Gross sent: >What consitutes a "dirty trick"? In my humble opinion, mounting a legal >challenge against petitions to put Nader on the ballot would ONLY be a >dirty trick if there were no valid legal grounds for the challenge. >(Presumably this is what Ralph means by a "vacuous" lawsuit.) But if >there are real grounds for the suit -- eg, if it seems that that many >signatures were fake or not from eligible voters, or if the >signature-collectors themselves did not meet legal requirements -- then >how is the suit unfair? Is Ralph supposed to be allowed to count invalid >signatures on his petitions, just because he's Saint Ralph? Most if not all of the signature totals far exceeded the number required, even when "non legitimate" signatures were filtered out. The fact that any citizen of the US can't sign such a petition is an injustice. The number legitimate signatures gathered far exceeded the number required. > >> They are intimidating our signature gatherers, demanding that people >> who signed our petitions withdraw their names, using taxpayer monies >> to nitpick, prevaricate, and make false charges. > >Actually a lot of Democratic charges of invalid (or outright fake) >signatures and petition-gatherers who violated legal requirements have >proven to be 100% true, in Arizona, Maryland, Virginia and probably other >states. That is ludicrous and you know it. Rarely is anything 100% certain but when coming from an opinionated partisans it never is. So that's one item in the list. What about intimidating signature gatherers and giving false information regarding who is "eligible" to sign? These are all things I have witnessed first hand, they are facts not opinions. >> If the Democrats prevail in blocking us from several state ballots, it >> will encourage both Parties to do the same to other candidates in the >> future, stifling their constitutional right to free speech, assembly, >> and petition. > >Hah! If Nader got on the ballot in a state where he clearly failed to >meet the legal requirements for doing so, THAT would be an affront to >democracy You hit it right on the head by accident. The issue IS all those wildly varied and outlandishly strict legal requirements that were enacted and dutifully enforced by all the diehard idiots who fall over into one line or the other. Partisans want to keep it partisan. It makes it so simple doesn't it? That IS an affront to democracy. gSs (who rarely skips anything except taxes and rope) - ---- Msg sent via WebMail ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 11:46:29 -0400 (EDT) From: Christopher Gross Subject: Re: Warning: this is 100% political On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 gshell@americangroupisp.com wrote: > Most if not all of the signature totals far exceeded the number > required, even when "non legitimate" signatures were filtered out. Well, that's definitely NOT what I've heard (from multiple newspapers, websites, and playground gossip). Of course it's hard to be sure since you don't specify which states you're talking about. > The fact that any citizen of the US can't sign such a petition is an > injustice. *Any* citizen? Since the presidential election is run on a state basis, you logically have to be a resident of a given state to sign a petition to put someone that state's ballot. This makes perfect sense to me; why should you be able to put someone on the ballot in states where you can't vote? You also have to be 18, I imagine, since that's the minimum voting age. Again, a logical requirement. Some states might also require you to be already registered to vote before you sign the petition; I'm not sure about that. > The number legitimate signatures gathered far exceeded the > number required. Again, I've heard just the opposite, in certain states. We can look up the exact numbers if you really want; this should all be in the public record. > >Actually a lot of Democratic charges of invalid (or outright fake) > >signatures and petition-gatherers who violated legal requirements have > >proven to be 100% true, in Arizona, Maryland, Virginia and probably other > >states. > > That is ludicrous and you know it. No, I don't know it. I wouldn't have said it if I didn't think it was true, thanks very much. > Rarely is anything 100% certain but when coming from an opinionated > partisans it never is. Well, let me rephrase my statement for greater clarity. I may have given you the impression that I think 100% of all claims Dems have made about the Nader petitions are true. That's not what I meant. I can't make any claim that broad. What I did mean was that out of all the claims Dems have made, a lot of the *individual* claims have proven to be entirely true. > What about intimidating signature gatherers and giving false > information regarding who is "eligible" to sign? These are all things > I have witnessed first hand, they are facts not opinions. Not having been there, I can't judge what what you witnessed. Assuming it's true (and that the false info wasn't an honest mistake), that would indeed be a dirty trick. However, the legal challenges to Nader's petitions still stand as non-dirty-tricks. > You hit it right on the head by accident. The issue IS all those wildly varied > and outlandishly strict legal requirements that were enacted and dutifully > enforced by all the diehard idiots who fall over into one line or the other. > Partisans want to keep it partisan. It makes it so simple doesn't it? That IS > an affront to democracy. I totally agree with you that all the widely varied state requirements are a bad thing, and *some* states' requirements might be too strict. Ideally, every state should have the same requirements for putting someone on the presidential ballot. Voter-registration requirements should be standard too, though that's a different question. And we should get rid of the Electoral College and elect the president by strict popular vote, but don't get me started on THAT.... - --Chris ______________________________________________________________________ Christopher Gross On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog. chrisg@gwu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 16:47:06 +0100 (BST) From: Michael R Godwin Subject: All good clean fun This Liberty/UA UK 1967-75 compilation looks absolutely essential to me, if to no-one else: A mate of mine was recently raving about High Tide (gives you some idea of the sort of people I know) - he claimed that Bowie tried to hire the whole group for a tour, but finished up only with Simon House. And I utterly diskard any reviews which slag off B B Blunder - after all, they're a Blossom Toes offshoot! The RH link is that the compiler, Andrew Lauder, was involved with Radar Records after leaving Liberty. I tend to agree with Natalie that Robyn's recent albums lack coherence - maybe he should hire the Jesus of Cool to produce one? - - Mike Godwin n.p. Heart of the City - Rockpile ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 09:55:52 -0700 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: Heads, Mats and the Art of Selling Out and Having Horns on Your Records Before You're Even Signed Miles: >>It may be "Miles defends the lesser half of an artist's catalog" week, Again?!?!?!? >>but David Byrne has never made an album I didn't like. But regardless of >>how people feel about his post-Heads recorded work, he seems to get no >>press at all for his kick-butt live shows. Another for the return-to-form-false-alarm files, and as usual, I got the first two solo releases and then stopped (not counting the side projects while Talking Heads still existed, which are awesome). I saw him live on his first solo tour (probably the third proper gig I ever saw) and, of course, doing a power point presentation last fall. Very pleasant guy... my wife helped set up the sound and projection system and got to chat with him a little bit. Jeffrey: >>NB: PTMM has the song with a horn arrangement - to me, cheesy horn >>arrangements are way more egregious sell-out points than strings, if we >>were looking for sellout material, which usually is kind of a lame point >>to make - if only because, how many so-called "sellouts" actually get >>bought into? Plus, indie fans' ideas of what is actually commercial are >>usually so far off-base it's not even funny. God, I love the song with the horns (and strings, too, you forgot strings! It has strings! As does the last measure of the song before it, but I digress)... that said, the unornamented version of that song that showed up on the B-Sides comp (with way different lyrics) is mighty good, too. >>_Naked_ is really a pretty fine record, better than I remember - I really like that one. Totally don't get its lackluster rep. >>One thing I think is cool about early TH is that Byrne seems to have had >>no idea of being cool, and his gawky awkwardness and intensity was actually >>quite charming. Having been listening to the live reissue a good deal lately, I'd say they're something to that, but it's not "naivete" on Byrne's part to my ears. In fact he sounds damn confident and if anything defiant of coolness: "We're gonna play rock music the way it might have turned out, and we're going to play it as if that's the totally normal way that everyone else plays it, but we play it best." That material is weird, but tight, and performed with such commitment. It's never been imitated well. There seem to be few concrete lessons to be learned from that band, other than if you're gonna be weird, be really goddamned good as well. >>am I hearing things, or are there three guitar parts (plus >>a bass and drums) in the solo in "Love-->Building on Fire"? The band is >>listed as being only the 4-piece - it doesn't sound like an overdub, but >>I'm almost imagining (there's a credit for Eno there) Eno sitting behind >>the soundboard and strapping on a guitar to play a third part or >>something. Probably I'm just hearing some artful effects >>manipulation...what do you think? I've spent a lot of time with that recording, because it kicks such ass over the demo version on the (old) Best-Of (which, by the way, featured HORNS!). I think that halfway through the solo Byrne kicks on two stomp boxes (fuzz and delay) and Harrison moves the arpeggio up the neck, and the rhythm section lays into it (bass gets busier etc.)... it certainly gets bigger, but I think you can follow all four intrumental parts through it, and nothing gets added. Could be wrong. But it's one of Dave Davies' finer compositions, that's for sure. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 10:11:04 -0700 From: "Rex.Broome" Subject: The Famously Resonant Harmonicas: Live at Kenny's Plumbing, 2004 Nat: >>Of the three Mats albums that my friend sent me, "Don't Tell a Soul" is the >>only one I felt inclined to listen to more than once... mostly because it >>has some good tunes and the songs don't all sound the same. Gahhhhhhh! The heresy!!! The iconoclasm!!!! Oh, Nat. Nat, Nat, Nat, Nat, Nat... >>The punky energy of the other two albums is enjoyable, but there are plenty >>of other bands from that period which share that energy and are much more >>interesting musically. Please list them! Did I need to pay more attention to the Lime Spiders than I did? Most of the 'Mats-like bands of that time were taking so many cues from the Replacements that they certainly seemed second-tier at the time... but perhaps time has been kinder to their material itself. I think I still like Being There pretty well, but I remember that when I first heard it, my thought was, wow, a real rock record that I can get excited about-- it's like the Replacements are back!-- so NMWCVLAMF*. Anyway, yeah, Being There is a messy sprawl, but so are all the Wilco records since then, with the exception of (the underrated) Summerteeth, wouldn't you say? BTW, Nat, I now possess an Official Wilco Tour Guitar Pick, so will you marry me now? (If not you can have first crack at my bassist, who is single and who gave it to me.) - -Rex *Nat's Mileage Would Clearly Vary Like A Mother Fucker ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 18:04:26 +0100 From: Dr John Halewood Subject: RE: All good clean fun The erstwhile Mr Godwin wrote: > A mate of mine was recently raving about High Tide (gives you some idea > of the sort of people I know) - he claimed that Bowie tried to hire the > whole group for a tour, but finished up only with Simon House. Possibly, but Bowie must have waited for a long time - after High Tide, Simon House joined Hawkwind and stayed there for 3 or 4 years until they self-destructed in 1977 at the end of a US tour (and, of course, being Hawkwind, to reassemble themselves the next year with a completely different lineup). cheers john ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 12:40:57 -0500 From: "Fortissimo" Subject: Re: Heads, Mats and the Art of Selling Out and Having Horns on Your Records Before You're Even Signed On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 09:55:52 -0700, "Rex.Broome" > Jeffrey: > >>NB: PTMM has the song with a horn arrangement - to me, cheesy horn > >>arrangements are way more egregious sell-out points than strings, if we > >>were looking for sellout material, which usually is kind of a lame point > >>to make - if only because, how many so-called "sellouts" actually get > >>bought into? Plus, indie fans' ideas of what is actually commercial are > >>usually so far off-base it's not even funny. > > God, I love the song with the horns (and strings, too, you forgot > strings! It has strings! As does the last measure of the song before > it, but I digress)... that said, the unornamented version of that song > that showed up on the B-Sides comp (with way different lyrics) is mighty > good, too. Oh, I like it okay - but i like it better hornless. It's not like I'm a universal horn-hater...just that sometimes the way they're used and arranged, and what they tend to signify, seem hokey to me. See also harmonica solos, often (though not in Dylan). > >>One thing I think is cool about early TH is that Byrne seems to have had > >>no idea of being cool, and his gawky awkwardness and intensity was actually > >>quite charming. > > Having been listening to the live reissue a good deal lately, I'd say > they're something to that, but it's not "naivete" on Byrne's part to my > ears. In fact he sounds damn confident and if anything defiant of > coolness: "We're gonna play rock music the way it might have turned out, > and we're going to play it as if that's the totally normal way that > everyone else plays it, but we play it best." That material is weird, > but tight, and performed with such commitment. It's never been imitated > well. There seem to be few concrete lessons to be learned from that > band, other than if you're gonna be weird, be really goddamned good as > well. Did I say "naive" (I might have - don't remember. God this keyboard sucks - I'm through correcitng typos. Any more of them will stand.) I shouldn't have...except in an intentional, highly aware mode. No, it's just that Byrne, in the early days, doesn't come across as someone who thinks he thinks other people do or ought to think he's cool. Later Byrne does. He may well always have been completely and justifiably confident in his own sense of cool. Oh, but what you say ab0out the performacnes: damn straight. And may I put in a word or two about Tina Weymouth's bass playing: she tends to not get the credit she deserves, for th e usual reasons. But just because she doesn't pretend to be Chris Squire, her parts are not only just right rhythmically, they often provide melodic counterpoint which, since Byrne and Harrison are clicking away on rhythm (particulary when Harrison's on guitar), doesn't often come from the guitars. "Found a Job," folks. "Found a Job." > > >>am I hearing things, or are there three guitar parts (plus > >>a bass and drums) in the solo in "Love-->Building on Fire"? The band is > >>listed as being only the 4-piece - it doesn't sound like an overdub, but > >>I'm almost imagining (there's a credit for Eno there) Eno sitting behind > >>the soundboard and strapping on a guitar to play a third part or > >>something. Probably I'm just hearing some artful effects > >>manipulation...what do you think? > > I've spent a lot of time with that recording, because it kicks such ass > over the demo version on the (old) Best-Of (which, by the way, featured > HORNS!). I think that halfway through the solo Byrne kicks on two stomp > boxes (fuzz and delay) and Harrison moves the arpeggio up the neck, and > the rhythm section lays into it (bass gets busier etc.)... Yeah, that could be. At any rate, if that's it, it's really well done and gives the impression that there are still two rhythm parts plus the solo line. I think part of my problem w/later Heads and Byrne's solo material is that the four-piece *were* such good players together, I miss hearing that. Final note: it's completely a crime that until last year's box set, "A Clean Break" wasn't available (except on the original TNOTBITH, which was out of print). One of my favorite Heads songs. - ------------------------------- ...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: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 15:06:14 -0400 From: "Bachman, Michael" Subject: FW: Message from Robert Vickers on the Go-Betweens message board! For any of those interested, the last 3 original Go-Betweens albums from the 1980's are currently being released in the UK, Australia and now finally on Jetset on Nov 5th in the US. These are dual disc versions with videos included on the them. Bellow is a message from Robert Vickers, who was the G-B's bass player on Spring Hill Fair, Liberty Belle and Tallulah. Yeah! Michael B. NP Thelonious Monk - It's Monk's Time > -----Original Message----- > From: Bachman, Michael > Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 12:19 PM > To: Beforespringbelltallulahloversworthbright (E-mail) > Subject: Message from Robert Vickers on the Go-Betweens message board! > > Robert Vickers > Unregistered guest > Posted on Monday, September 13, 2004 - 09:57 pm: > > Just so everybody knows, the expanded Liberty Belle, Tallulah and 16LL will be released on Jetset in the US Nov 5th ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 14:32:11 -0500 From: Subject: Re: Warning: this is 100% political [demime could not interpret encoding binary - treating as plain text] On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 11:46 , Christopher Gross sent: >> The fact that any citizen of the US can't sign such a petition is an >> injustice. > >*Any* citizen? Since the presidential election is run on a state basis, >you logically have to be a resident of a given state to sign a petition to >put someone that state's ballot. We are talking about state petitions so I assumed that would be understood. 'Adult' goes without saying unless of course they lower the age of consent. at first that sounded interesting and a little fun but the more I thought about it the more I realized it might not be so good. though, I heard someone say the age of consent in Canada is 14. Is this true? Seems a bit odd, but then so do the violent crime rates. Is there a relationship between the two? "Come to Canada where we don't kill each other, we just shoot each other's daughters." Anywho, back to the topic: requirements- 1. Adult 2. Citizen (of whichever state they are signing the petition for) since these are things that get you drafted, taxed and generally pissed upon for instance, they should be enough to allow a person to sign a petition. i guess you could throw in 'of sound mind', 'not institutionalized' and 'secular' for fun but that's going a bit far. having to register specifically to vote is a laugh and has done more to discourage than encourage. i think your social security card should be used as your voter card. It goes without saying that the state petitions are signed by citizens of that state. My point was that the only requirement should be citizenship and little or nothing else. gSs - ---- Msg sent via WebMail ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 16:35:13 -0400 From: "Bachman, Michael" Subject: RE: Kicking Ol' Buddha's Gong > Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 21:22:53 -0400 > From: Barbara Soutar > Subject: Early heroin song >>> Mike Godwin asked about heroin songs and it flashing into my mind about >>> Goodnight Irene by Huddie Leadbetter. Surprisingly, the original lyrics >>> go like this: "If ever Irene should leave me Lord/I'll take heroin and >>> die" or "take morphine and die". It was recorded first in 1936 and >>> became quite a nifty hit for the Weavers later, as you know. > From: Capuchin > Subject: Re: Early heroin song >> How long has "junk" been a euphemism for heroin? >>> In Cab Calloway's "Kicking the Gong Around" (I'll have to double-check the >> title), this verse appears: >> Then a knock came at the door >> And there stood old Smokey Joe >> He was looking cold and pale >> He was looking for his frail >> He was drunk and all of his junk ran out > >> Anyway, I consider it a clear reference to heroin. Mike Godwin came back with: >Fascinating stuff, and it reminds me strongly of Hoagy Carmichael's 'Hong >Kong Blues': >"It's the story of a very unfortunate coloured man >Who got arrested down in old Hong Kong >He got twenty years' privilege taken away from him >When he kicked old Buddha's gong >... >Won't somebody believe >I've a yen to see that Bay again >Everytime I try to leave >Sweet opium won't let me fly away" Dang, it's not on my Hoagy Carmichael and Friends: Stardust Melody CD! Michael B. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 16:31:29 -0400 From: The Great Quail Subject: Wee update.... Fgz,* I know it's been awhile since I posted anything... But a lot has happened this summer. For one, I was laid off from my job at Columbia University. I am still looking for a full time job, but in the mean time, I pay the bills through a 40-60 hour/week gig at Kaplan. It's more corporate than anything I've ever known, but it's less hazardous than pimping, and more stable than that job I was offered as Ralph Nader's campaign manager. Can I talk about Rush for a second? So, as some of you may know, there was just this 30th anniversary Rush tour, right? Of course, I bought tickets at the beginning of the summer. In fact, I bought a ticket for Jeep, my brother, as a birthday present. (Jeep is also a die hard Rush fan.) Then the big day comes; jeep travels up to New York from Allentown, and we depart Brooklyn at 5:30 for what's normally an hour-long drive to Jones Beach. The show is at 8:00. To make a long story short? Biggest traffic jam in my life. Jeep and I sat in our cars as the road flooded. Rain and more rain. Crawled along at 2 miles per hour for almost six hours. Went from, "We won't be late, will we?" to "Fuck, the show's starting" to "Turn off the Rush, I can't bear to hear any more" to "We missed it, didn't we?" In fact, we compressed all five of Kubler-Ross' stages of grief into a few hours. We got back before midnight, and immediately ordered tickets for the show at Radio City Music Hall. Got the tickets right before the show sold out; had to get the most expensive seats. Happy news -- we made it, saw them, from very close up, and it was easily the best Rush show I've ever been to, and I've been to every one since "Signals." In fact, it was just an amazing show, really, three hours of sweet Geddy Lee. Definite highlight of my summer. (Of course, with getting laid off and missing Rush in a traffic jam, the competition wasn't all that fierce.) Favorite albums this year so far? Let's see... Bjork, "Medulla" Morrissey, "You Are The Quarry" Wilco, "A Ghost Is Born" The Cure, "The Cure" Sonic Youth, "Sonic Nurse" Decemberists, "The Tain" Loretta Lynn, Van Lear Rose" Looking forward to: Elvis Costello, U2, Nick Cave; and against all better judgment, REM. I ordered "Spooked" from Yep, they said it's on its way. Recently been listening to a lot of: Rush, Bjork, Public Enemy, Ice Cube, David Allen Coe, Wilco. LJ and I are going to the Robyn show at Southpaw, Brooklyn. Woj? Will you be there? Currently reading? Edwin Williamson's new Borges biography, Patrick O'Brian's "Winedark Sea," and Michael Cisco's darkly twisted pomo fantasy, "The Tyrant." Currently playing? "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic." Waiting anxiously for "San Andreas." My cat's breath smells like catfood. - --Quail *Fgz is [TM] Eb ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V13 #265 ********************************