From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V13 #276 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Friday, October 1 2004 Volume 13 : Number 276 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: effin brilliant - and even more effin brilliant [James Dignan ] RE: wacky ideas and coops ["Bachman, Michael" ] Re: Spooked 'n' Sadies (official poorly written review) ["Brian" ] RE: The skinny on RH sales! [Eb ] Re: The skinny on RH sales! [Tom Clark ] Re: The skinny on RH sales! [Aaron Mandel ] Re: The skinny on RH sales! [bisontentacle ] Re: The skinny on RH sales! [bisontentacle ] RE: The skinny on RH sales! ["Bachman, Michael" ] Re: The skinny on RH sales! [Tom Clark ] RE: The skinny on RH sales! ["Brian" ] Re: The skinny on RH sales! ["Fortissimo" ] FS: 2 tickets to REM in Irvine ["SL Jarzabek" ] Re: The skinny on RH sales! ["Rex Broome" ] Re: The skinny on RH sales! ["Rex Broome" ] Re: FS: 2 tickets to REM in Irvine ["Nora B." ] Robyn in Chicago...SOLD OUT ["Michael Wells" ] Spook-a-binga-binga-bing-bong ["Michael Wells" ] Re: effin brilliant - and even more effin brilliant [Capuchin ] Re: The skinny on RH sales! [steve ] RE: The skinny on RH sales! [Eb ] RE: The skinny on RH sales! [Eb ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2004 01:11:42 +1200 From: James Dignan Subject: Re: effin brilliant - and even more effin brilliant >> http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/09/29/spaceshipone.attempt.cnn/index.html > >I'm not getting the buzz over this at all. All we're doing is creating >new ways for rich people to make air pollution here. None of us will get >to space because of it. well, look at it this way. It's being done commercially, so it's being done to eventually maximise profits (read minimise costs). Many of the ways to minimise costs while keeping safety levels high will be to increase reusability and decrease waste. Anything that does that may well provide ways to get into space more efficiently, with less pollution. Already several of the X-prize teams have come up with novel fuel types that look far less polluting than those currently used. What a weird week. Spent yesterday at my partner's sister's wedding. The day before, their father was in hospital for major surgery (which he got through with flying colours, I'm glad to say). Bad coincidental timing, and too much hassle to call either one off. Then I get called up for a day's emergency reporting work at the last minute. Add to that the fact I'm travelling to Christchurch next week, and Dunedin's in the middle of its arts festival, and you make for some odd times. Talking of the festival, I spent much of the day inside an effin brilliant luminarium. It's like bouncing around inside someone's lungs, but very relaxing and amazing on the eyes. I want one! (see and for details) James - -- James Dignan, Dunedin, New Zealand -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.- =-.-=-.-=-.- You talk to me as if from a distance .-=-.-=-.-=-. -=-. And I reply with impressions chosen from another time .-=- .-=-.-=-.-=-.-=- (Brian Eno - "By this River") -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-= ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2004 01:18:11 +1200 From: James Dignan Subject: wacky ideas and coops >Wacky? It's only the basis of Ark In Space, a T Baker classic! I prefer >Douglas Adams' idea that we build an ark and tell the hairdresses, admen, >lawyers, estate agents etc that the world's going to end and put them on >it... > >Bottom line is, one day the sun's going to explode or die out, and we >only have the next few billion years to work out what the hell we're >going to do! slinghot the earth using the Moon as a counterweight to get us out to Mars's orbit. Use Mars as a counterweight to get us out to be Jupiter's newest satellite. That'll give us another billion years to think about what to do next. Of course, there's the little matter of the asteroids to worry about. And given that a billion years is a fair length of time (we evolved from amoeba in less time than that - what are our descendants gonna look like that far in the future?), who's to say that it'll be worth worrrying about by then? Actually that whole idea is a non-starter, since the moon will no longer be in earth's orbit in much less than 1 billion years - it's drifting out quite rapidly (relatively speaking). >Can I also say that Steven Page is a member of a coop of which I'm a >director? you keep chickens? 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, 30 Sep 2004 10:07:22 -0400 From: "Bachman, Michael" Subject: RE: wacky ideas and coops >>Wacky? It's only the basis of Ark In Space, a T Baker classic! I prefer >>Douglas Adams' idea that we build an ark and tell the hairdresses, admen, >>lawyers, estate agents etc that the world's going to end and put them on >>it... > >>Bottom line is, one day the sun's going to explode or die out, and we >>only have the next few billion years to work out what the hell we're >>going to do! James came back with: >slinghot the earth using the Moon as a counterweight to get us out to >Mars's orbit. Use Mars as a counterweight to get us out to be >Jupiter's newest satellite. That'll give us another billion years to >think about what to do next. Of course, there's the little matter of >the asteroids to worry about. And given that a billion years is a >fair length of time (we evolved from amoeba in less time than that - >what are our descendants gonna look like that far in the future?), >who's to say that it'll be worth worrrying about by then? How about Oberon, Miranda or Tatiana? Syd would approve. >Actually that whole idea is a non-starter, since the moon will no >longer be in earth's orbit in much less than 1 billion years - it's >drifting out quite rapidly (relatively speaking). So much for the ocean tides. Michael B. NP Throwing Muses - In A Doghouse ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 09:55:08 -0500 From: Subject: Re: effin brilliant [demime could not interpret encoding binary - treating as plain text] On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 15:34 , Capuchin sent: >On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 gshell@americangroupisp.com wrote: >> the idea of something with non-politcal agendas runnning a space program >> is quite exciting to me. > >Um, profiteering is most definitely a political agenda. Anybody that >tells you different is operating under the political agenda of >profiteering. profiteering for who? your classification system is far to simple. in this case, so there is no misunderstanding, non-political means not being of or for the benefit of the government directly and especially not built on partisan views and ideals. when I use the word partisan here, I mean it to reflect only the blind devotion associated with a governmental political party and nothing else. so in your opinion though, it's all about profit? you think everyone involved so far has been motivated purely by personal gain through monetary profit. you are wrong. >And what do you hope to see come from this that will benefit mankind? i hope to see improvements in lifestyle. what else matters? there is a good chance we may never see a direct benefit within our lifetimes, but then there are lots of achievements that were the result of great sacrifice, willing and not, whose benefits were never seen by those "sacrificed". would you like a list of advancements that have been a direct result of the inefficient, politically motivated, poorly managed space programs so far? for anything to happen, someting has to be sacrificed. so that we understand your comfort threshold, at what level does one thing being sacrificed for another become a problem for you? >I mean, as wacky as it seems, I tend to agree that one major purpose of >human scientific advancement will be to create the Great Ark so that in 50 >million years (or whatever order of magnitude it is) we can go someplace >more habitable, but I don't think there's any real reason to sacrifice >this planet in that pursuit. if the ark was designed to hold only politicians, lawyers, layout artists, clergy, libertarians, democrats, republicans and non-seculars, i would make the sacrifice without much hesitation, possibly. gSs - ---- Msg sent via WebMail ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 12:45:23 -0400 From: "Brian" Subject: Re: Spooked 'n' Sadies (official poorly written review) Rex: >And female backing vocals (which I > wouldn't've pegged as Gillian if I didn't know already)... that works > nicely. Has Robyn ever had female backing vocals before? It's a > surprisingly natural fit. Daisy Bomb! - -Nuppy - -- Brian nightshadecat@mailbolt.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 11:03:40 -0700 From: Eb Subject: The skinny on RH sales! Got someone to send me Robyn's SoundScan numbers. Note: I guess these figures aren't entirely useful, because they only count sales registered under the SoundScan system. Clearly, the numbers get less and less reliable with older albums. In particular, the numbers for Globe of Frogs and Queen Elvis seem very screwy. Doing the math of adding up multiple-label issues (I did it in my head, so pardon if I goof), the major tallies look like... Black Snake Diamond Role: 4799 Eye: 10577 Groovy Decoy/Gravy Deco: 3842 I Often Dream of Trains: 12121 Invisible Hitchcock: 3866 Jewels for Sophia: 11154 Luxor: 2581 Moss Elixir: 14808 Robyn Sings: 1856 Spooked: 9 (ROCK ON, ROBYN!!!) Star for Bram: 1328 Storefront Hitchcock: 7840 You & Oblivion: 7272 Element of Light: 6751 Fegmania: 6813 Globe of Frogs: 8274 Gotta Let This Hen: 3912 Perspex Island: 52562 Queen Elvis: 5419 Respect: 24776 Can of Bees: 2496 Invisible Hits: 2257 Nextdoorland: 9240 Underwater Moonlight: 22513 Eb (wtf is "Standback Dennis Live"?) BLACK SNAKE DIAMOND ROLL HITCHCOCK*ROBYN REL A 07/07/87 234 BLACK SNAKE DIAMOND HITCHCOCK*ROBYN RHI A 01/24/95 4565 EYE HITCHCOCK*ROBYN REST A 03/01/90 6795 EYE HITCHCOCK*ROBYN RHI A 03/28/95 3782 GROOVY DECOY HITCHCOCK*ROBYN REL A 07/07/87 201 GREATEST HITS HITCHCOCK*ROBYN AAM A 09/10/96 8328 GRAVY DECO-COMPLETE GROOVY HITCHCOCK*ROBYN RHI A 01/24/95 3641 I OFTEN DREAM OF TRAINS HITCHCOCK*ROBYN REL A 07/07/87 158 I OFTEN DREAM OF TRAINS HITCHCOCK*ROBYN RHI A 01/24/95 11963 INVISIBLE HITCHCOCK HITCHCOCK*ROBYN REL A 07/07/87 239 INVISIBLE HITCHCOCK HITCHCOCK*ROBYN RHI A 03/28/95 3627 INVISIBLE HISTORY HITCHCOCK*ROBYN PID A 04/27/04 7 JEWELS FOR SOPHIA HITCHCOCK*ROBYN WAR A 07/20/99 11154 KERSHAW SESSIONS HITCHCOCK*ROBYN FEED A 08/19/94 1135 LUXOR HITCHCOCK*ROBYN PID A 06/17/03 6 LUXOR HITCHCOCK*ROBYN EPAF A 08/12/03 2575 MOSS ELIXIR HITCHCOCK*ROBYN WAR A 08/13/96 14808 MOSSY LIQUOR: OUTTAKES & PR HITCHCOCK*ROBYN WAR A 07/23/96 2854 ROBYN SINGS HITCHCOCK*ROBYN EPAF A 10/01/02 1856 SPOOKED HITCHCOCK*ROBYN YROC A 10/05/04 9 STANDBACK DENNIS! LIVE HITCHCOCK*ROBYN PID A 03/05/02 226 STAR FOR BRAM HITCHCOCK*ROBYN EPAF A 02/11/03 1328 STOREFRONT HITCHCOCK-MUSIC HITCHCOCK*ROBYN WAR A 10/27/98 7840 UNCORRECTED PERSONALITY TRA HITCHCOCK*ROBYN RHI A 08/05/97 6566 YOU & OBLIVION HITCHCOCK*ROBYN RHI A 03/28/95 7272 ELEMENT OF LIGHT HITCHCOCK*ROBYN & EGYPTI REL A 07/07/87 269 ELEMENT OF LIGHT HITCHCOCK*ROBYN & EGYPTI ATLG A 02/28/95 1 ELEMENT OF LIGHT HITCHCOCK*ROBYN & EGYPTI RHI A 02/28/95 6481 FEGMANIA! HITCHCOCK*ROBYN & EGYPTI RHI A 02/28/95 6813 GLOBE OF FROGS HITCHCOCK*ROBYN & EGYPTI AAM A 01/25/88 8274 GOTTA LET THIS HEN OUT HITCHCOCK*ROBYN & EGYPTI STMV A 06/26/01 729 GOTTA LET THIS HEN OUT HITCHCOCK*ROBYN & EGYPTI REL A 04/21/92 138 GOTTA LET THIS HEN OUT! HITCHCOCK*ROBYN & EGYPTI RHI A 02/28/95 3045 LIVE AT THE CAMBRIDGE FOLK HITCHCOCK*ROBYN & EGYPTI MSI A 03/30/99 154 PERSPEX ISLAND HITCHCOCK*ROBYN & EGYPTI AAM A 08/06/91 52562 QUEEN ELVIS HITCHCOCK*ROBYN & EGYPTI AAM A 02/21/89 5419 RESPECT HITCHCOCK*ROBYN & EGYPTI AAM A 02/23/93 24776 KERSHAW SESSIONS HITCHCOCK*ROBYN & THE EG PEEL A 06/28/99 52 KERSHAW SESSIONS HITCHCOCK*ROBYN & THE EG PID A 01/06/04 2 LIVE AT THE CAMBRIDGE FOLK HITCHCOCK*ROBYN & THE EG VRS A 08/01/00 1839 1976-81 SOFT BOYS RYKO A 08/05/93 5007 CAN OF BEES SOFT BOYS CLAW A 04/17/90 45 CAN OF BEES SOFT BOYS RYKO A 08/18/92 2451 INVISIBLE HITS SOFT BOYS MOIS A 04/30/92 21 INVISIBLE HITS SOFT BOYS RYK A 08/18/92 2236 NEXTDOORLAND SOFT BOYS PID A 12/17/02 4 NEXTDOORLAND SOFT BOYS OLE A 09/24/02 9236 ROUT OF THE CLONES SOFT BOYS PID A 05/30/00 139 UNDERWATER MOONLIGHT SOFT BOYS MOIS A 04/17/90 71 UNDERWATER MOONLIGHT SOFT BOYS RYKO A 08/18/92 5685 UNDERWATER MOONLIGHT SOFT BOYS MAT A 03/13/01 16757 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 12:05:46 -0700 From: Eb Subject: RE: The skinny on RH sales! You have to know somebody. It's my understanding that Bern has never actually sold a record on the retail level. His music only propagates via hunchbacked, muttering little men at his live shows, who pass around grease-smudged concert tapes to fans who give the proper signal. It's my birthday, incidentally. I keep hoping my sister's age will catch up with mine someday, but it never quite happens. Eb - -----Original Message----- > Got someone to send me Robyn's SoundScan numbers. Very cool. Thanks for passing these along. Are these numbers public? Or do you need to know somebody? I'm curious about Dan Bern's SoundScan numbers -- how his career compares to Robyn's in terms of sales. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 12:19:11 -0700 From: Tom Clark Subject: Re: The skinny on RH sales! On Sep 30, 2004, at 12:05 PM, Eb wrote: > It's my birthday, incidentally. I keep hoping my sister's age will > catch > up with mine someday, but it never quite happens. > Hey - Fuck You Eb!!!! - -tc ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 15:24:48 -0400 (EDT) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: The skinny on RH sales! On Thu, 30 Sep 2004, Eb wrote: > I Often Dream of Trains: 12121 Huh! That seems really high-- is this purely a boost from being a critic's favorite when the albums were reissued? > Eb (wtf is "Standback Dennis Live"?) I first saw it as a bootleg in the mid-90s, around when "Invisible History" appeared. I think it's a Globe Of Frogs-era Egyptians show, but I'd have to go check. No idea if it was re-released officially or what. a ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 15:25:36 -0400 From: bisontentacle Subject: Re: The skinny on RH sales! one time at band camp, Tom Clark (tclark@mac.com) said: >On Sep 30, 2004, at 12:05 PM, Eb wrote: >>It's my birthday, incidentally. I keep hoping my sister's age will >>catch >>up with mine someday, but it never quite happens. >> >Hey - Fuck You Eb!!!! no spankies? awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww... +w ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 15:26:52 -0400 From: bisontentacle Subject: Re: The skinny on RH sales! one time at band camp, Aaron Mandel (aaron@eecs.harvard.edu) said: >On Thu, 30 Sep 2004, Eb wrote: >> Eb (wtf is "Standback Dennis Live"?) >I first saw it as a bootleg in the mid-90s, around when "Invisible >History" appeared. I think it's a Globe Of Frogs-era Egyptians show, but >I'd have to go check. No idea if it was re-released officially or what. correct, it's a 1988 show from athens, ga with some bonus tracks from a couple radio appearances. it has never been legitimately released. +w ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 16:56:28 -0400 From: "Bachman, Michael" Subject: RE: The skinny on RH sales! Eb wrote: >Got someone to send me Robyn's SoundScan numbers. Note: I guess these >figures aren't entirely useful, because they only count sales registered >under the SoundScan system. Clearly, the numbers get less and less >reliable with older albums. In particular, the numbers for Globe of >Frogs and Queen Elvis seem very screwy. Fegmania and Element of Light also look too low. I have Fegmania on the earlier non-Rhino edition, which didn't even make the list. The Twin Tone edition of Eye also didn't make it. I guess they were not part of the SoundScan system. Michael B. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 13:21:53 -0800 From: "Rex Broome" Subject: Re: The skinny on RH sales! Tom C: > Hey - Fuck You Eb!!!! Hey! I know it's the traditional feg birthday greeting, but Eb just provided us with some decent, borderline-secret intel, and that's just no way to treat our resident Soundscan Mole. So Fuck You, Tom Clark! - -Rex Broome (guitar and vocal, The Fuck You Tom Clark) - -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 14:29:15 -0700 From: Tom Clark Subject: Re: The skinny on RH sales! On Sep 30, 2004, at 2:21 PM, Rex Broome wrote: > > -Rex Broome (guitar and vocal, The Fuck You Tom Clark) > You're signed! I've set up a meeting with the iTunes Music Store folks next Wednesday. Wear a tie. - -tc np Stranglers "Skin Deep" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 17:31:58 -0400 From: "Brian" Subject: RE: The skinny on RH sales! Thanks for the info Eb, and Happy Birthday! So Perspex Island is by far the leader... good songs bad production. - -Nuppy On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 12:05:46 -0700, "Eb" said: > You have to know somebody. > > It's my understanding that Bern has never actually sold a record on the > retail level. His music only propagates via hunchbacked, muttering > little men at his live shows, who pass around grease-smudged concert > tapes to fans who give the proper signal. > > It's my birthday, incidentally. I keep hoping my sister's age will catch > up with mine someday, but it never quite happens. > > Eb > > -----Original Message----- > > Got someone to send me Robyn's SoundScan numbers. > > Very cool. Thanks for passing these along. > > Are these numbers public? Or do you need to know somebody? I'm curious > about Dan Bern's SoundScan numbers -- how his career compares to Robyn's > in terms of sales. - -- Brian nightshadecat@mailbolt.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 16:51:50 -0500 From: "Fortissimo" Subject: Re: The skinny on RH sales! On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 13:21:53 -0800, "Rex Broome" said: > -Rex Broome (guitar and vocal, The Fuck You Tom Clark) I dunno - I kinda like the more retro-sounding "The Fuck You Tom Clark Five"... - ------------------------------- ...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: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 14:55:32 -0700 From: "SL Jarzabek" Subject: FS: 2 tickets to REM in Irvine Hi All, I have 2 extra tickets for REM in Irvine Sat 10/16. Orch 3 Row A... please e-mail if interested. Thanks Simone ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 14:51:28 -0800 From: "Rex Broome" Subject: Re: The skinny on RH sales! - -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: MIME-tools 5.41 (Entity 5.404) Received: from [69.3.112.7] by ws7-5.us4.outblaze.com with http for rexbroome90042@lycos.com; Thu, 30 Sep 2004 14:31:28 -0800 From: "Rex Broome" To: "Aaron Mandel" Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 14:31:28 -0800 Subject: Re: The skinny on RH sales! X-Originating-Ip: 69.3.112.7 X-Originating-Server: ws7-5.us4.outblaze.com Aaron: > > I Often Dream of Trains: 12121 > > Huh! That seems really high-- is this purely a boost from being a critic's > favorite when the albums were reissued? That's definitely my guess. From whence it goes on to be one of the ones friends recommend to feg-curious friends, and so on, to a perhaps exponential effect? Also... don't I seem to remember that for some reason IODOT stayed in print from Rhino for a good while longer than the rest? Precipitous drop from PI to Respect... damn, I wish the figures for the other two A&M records were more accurate, since my money is still on QE as the sales peak. Thank you very much for getting this info, Eb! It's an interesting case study and I'd love to see how it stacks up against other artists of similar stature. Oh, and Happy Birthday. - -Rex - -Rex - -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 15:08:37 -0800 From: "Rex Broome" Subject: Re: The skinny on RH sales! Jeffrey: > I dunno - I kinda like the more retro-sounding "The Fuck You Tom Clark > Five"... I was, of course, just *this* close to writing just that, but I thought that "THE Fuck You Tom Clark" embodied something bigger than just a mere beat combo. If there are to be five of us, I imagine this would have to be the long-dreaded, much-anticipated Feg Supergroup... oh, wait, that already happened! And yet the world keeps turning. Somehow. - -Rex - -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 16:16:58 -0700 From: "Nora B." Subject: Re: FS: 2 tickets to REM in Irvine > I have 2 extra tickets for REM in Irvine Sat 10/16. > Orch 3 Row A... please e-mail if interested. Looks like someone has already heard the new REM album. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 20:12:48 -0500 From: "Michael Wells" Subject: Robyn in Chicago...SOLD OUT Schuba's is listing the 11/6 gig as a sellout, which isn't at all surprising given the size of the room. I wonder if that 11/7 date was being kept open for a second date in Chicago? Still no word on the opener for 11/6, but it's not Jonathan Richman...he's on to Cleveland. Michael "kegger at my place before the show" Wells ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 19:27:46 -0500 From: "Michael Wells" Subject: Spook-a-binga-binga-bing-bong All these birthdays, I had no idea. Happy co-Libra natals, everyone...mine was Tuesday. I've celebrated by spending an uscheduled week home from work with lots of little pills and a heating pad, trying to sort out the lower back. Bah. SPOOKED is utterly brilliant, disturbingly perceptive and lovingly-produced. Sounds very good played very loud or on headphones. About half the lyric strikes me as more-fully developed LUXOR material...seeing very clearly time lost to love, paranoia, foolishness, and the shrinking of available time ahead. It's not always quite so explicitly stated, but there nonetheless. Robyn must be onto something here. "Television" is an incredibly evocative, two points-of-view ringer. Could have been on LUXOR, which I loved. I agree with Rex re: "If You Know Time" sure does sound like a demo. Funny, I preferred the live solo reading of "Unprotected Love" to the SB's studio take, but the reverse is true here. I miss the propulsive energy Kim brought on their version. Of the next three songs, I like "English Girl" but it seems a bit out of place...a set piece from a different album, mabye. "Creeped Out" is dark and wonderful, and "Sometimes a Blond" could have come right off ELEMENT OF LIGHT. Might be the most 'older-sounding Robyn' of the several tunes that qualify on this disc. Interesting choice on the Dylan cover, not my fave but thematically fits in with the rest of material. IMO "Flanagan's Song" is one of the best quiet songs Robyn has ever written...right up there with "IODOT," "Guildford" and "Linctus House." Just can't get enough plaintive songs about the awareness of time slipping past. The first cut from the bonus CDR, "No Way Out of Time," isn't too far behind, either. I'm quite happy with the whole thing, really. Michael "and that's not the Darvocet talking, I swear" Wells n.r. "Quicksilver" - Neal Stephenson ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 19:31:54 -0700 (PDT) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: effin brilliant - and even more effin brilliant On Fri, 1 Oct 2004, James Dignan wrote: > well, look at it this way. It's being done commercially, so it's being > done to eventually maximise profits (read minimise costs). Many of the > ways to minimise costs while keeping safety levels high will be to > increase reusability and decrease waste. See, that's kind of the problem. I don't see a whole lot of that happening. It's much more efficient to minimize costs by externalizing (e.g., getting the public to pick up the tab) than it is to research efficiencies. An architect friend of mine was telling me about a "green building" practice of hiring a logistics coordinator to work with all of the subcontractors and micromanage the arrival and departure times of all trucks, cranes, mixers, etc. at a construction site to minimize (eliminate, actually) engine idle times in order to decrease pollution and conserve energy resources. The numbers on this practice appear to be pretty astounding. Turns out that you save more than the cost of hiring the coordinator in fuel alone. But this savings is seen for the subcontractors, not for the general contractor and so the practice remains rare. It seems to be much cheaper to find a way to get someone else to pay than to find a way to do a thing using fewer resources. I guess we could have predicted this: In trying to minimize cost, they've minimized the cost of minimizing cost. J. - -- _______________________________________________ Capuchin capuchin@bitmine.net Jeme A Brelin ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 22:14:54 -0500 From: steve Subject: Re: wacky ideas and coops On Sep 30, 2004, at 9:07 AM, Bachman, Michael wrote: >> Actually that whole idea is a non-starter, since the moon will no >> longer be in earth's orbit in much less than 1 billion years - it's >> drifting out quite rapidly (relatively speaking). > > So much for the ocean tides. I heard, on "Earth and Sky," I think, that much of the Earth's ecology will be disrupted by the exit of the moon. - - Steve __________ "I am not sorry," he said, in kindlier tone, "for it is not much pleasure waiting century after century for some one to command my services. I have often thought my existence uncalled for, since you Earth people are so stupid and ignorant that you seem unlikely ever to master the secret of electrical power." "Oh, we have some great masters among us!," cried Rob, rather nettled at this statement. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 22:16:39 -0500 From: steve Subject: Re: The skinny on RH sales! On Sep 30, 2004, at 1:03 PM, Eb wrote: > Perspex Island: 52562 Powerpop rules! - - Steve __________ At Harvard Business School, thirty years ago, George Bush was a student of mine. I still vividly remember him. In my class, he declared that "people are poor because they are lazy." He was opposed to labor unions, social security, environmental protection, Medicare, and public schools. To him, the antitrust watch dog, the FTC, and the SEC were unnecessary hindrances to "free market competition." To him, Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal was "socialism." - Yoshi Tsurumi, CUNY ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 14:49:42 -0700 From: Eb Subject: RE: The skinny on RH sales! Like I said, don't take that list as law. I doubt it incorporates all pre-SoundScan sales into the numbers. I once had someone fetch me SoundScan numbers for Claudine Longet. The tallies for her early albums were between six and 10 copies!! And I know her first album was certified Gold. So, obviously, there's sort of a backward-compatibility problem here. Eb - -----Original Message----- Thanks for the info Eb, and Happy Birthday! So Perspex Island is by far the leader... good songs bad production. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 16:07:54 -0700 From: Eb Subject: RE: The skinny on RH sales! I note that IODOT is the second best selling RH album on Amazon, after Spooked. Here's hoping Spooked lands that tenth sale soon! ;) At the time, it seemed to me like Respect wasn't promoted at ALL -- I'm not surprised it took a sales drop from Perspex Island. It was one of those albums where you KNOW the artist is going to be dropped afterwards. A&M had already given up on him. Eb - -----Original Message----- > > I Often Dream of Trains: 12121 > > Huh! That seems really high-- is this purely a boost from being a critic's > favorite when the albums were reissued? That's definitely my guess. From whence it goes on to be one of the ones friends recommend to feg-curious friends, and so on, to a perhaps exponential effect? Precipitous drop from PI to Respect... damn, I wish the figures for the other two A&M records were more accurate, since my money is still on QE as the sales peak. ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V13 #276 ********************************