From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V16 #201 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Sunday, May 13 2007 Volume 16 : Number 201 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: other people's books [Rex ] Re: more bad ideas... [Rex ] Re: other people's books [2fs ] reap ["Lauren Elizabeth" ] Re: other people's books [Rex ] Re: more bad ideas... ["Lauren Elizabeth" ] Re: more bad ideas... [Rex ] Re: fegmaniax-digest V16 #200 [grutness@slingshot.co.nz] Barbara's address [Barbara Soutar ] The Flanagan Who Invented Raymond Chandler [Tom Clark ] Re: more bad ideas... [Benjamin Lukoff ] more robyn in HARP [HwyCDRrev@aol.com] HARP MAG [HwyCDRrev@aol.com] review of syd trib from madcaps [HwyCDRrev@aol.com] Oh No! [Barbara Soutar ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 09:22:26 -0700 From: Rex Subject: Re: other people's books On 5/12/07, Lauren Elizabeth wrote: > > > at any rate, i liked 'white noise' - any death fixation is okay in my > book. i think my father liked 'underworld' and perhaps some more > recent delillo, I thought of "Underworld" during the beloved "testosterone movie" thread of recent times. I'd said I didn't really care for films meditating on the waning, and associated identity crisis, of modern masculinity, but then mentioned as an aside that I was fairly okay with literature on the topic. Actually, I think that I like a *lot* of lit associated with, if not based on, that topic, and I think it's just largely a matter of what "good" writers can do, or what can be done in a novel, that's different from what films do, and "Underworld" is a perfect example. The whole thing is constructed around a baseball game, a thing about which I could not be paid to give a shit and almost made me put the book down and forget it. But then Delillo goes on to examine, replay, dissect, and invert the game and its consequences in so many ways that it totally worked for me as the lynchpin of the story. And I just can't think of how that much time could be spent on the game in a hypothetical film adaptation of the book that wouldn't have me saying, oh great, it's "The Natural" again... wake me up later. There's such a specific history of imagery associated with sports films (or any genre, really-- the loaded idea of a gun has a very different history and connotation in film than lit) that each image evokes a whole history of similar stuff, and brings with it that baggage, good and the bad. Lit writers have more time and leeway to fill in the spaces and differentiate their iteration from previous ones... Of course there's a ton of things film can do that lit can't.... I'm just saying that some topics, from my point of view, are so much better served by one medium that I don't like to see them treated at all in the other (unless addressed in an experimental or decidedly non-Hollywood fashion). Weird. I like a lot of authors who deal with that masculinity topic; Roth works with it a lot. Anyway. Yeah. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 09:30:40 -0700 From: Rex Subject: Re: more bad ideas... On 5/11/07, Eleanore Adams wrote: > > > Well I just started meds for depression. Good, bad or indifferent. > The point being, when you are depressed you will try anything to > change the situation. Meditation, food, exercise. If they all fail, > you try meds or you end up dead, like our friend Elliot Smith. If > meds keep you alive, then they are worth the sacrifice. Yeah, they > ain't perfect, but wtf.... Eleanore, in addition to wishing you the best, I wanted to commend you, and Benjamin and Barbara, for talking about your own experiences... I think every time someone's honest about this kind of thing it helps destigmatize it, and that's a boon to everyone who has to deal with this kinda stuff. Incidentally, I'd recommend for anyone interested in or affected by depression Andrew Solomon's "The Noonday Demon". Tough to take in places, and containing some slightly irrelevant digressions, it's nonetheless quite exhaustive and compelling and sure to provide some perspectives you haven't considered previously. And I say this being one of those people who wretches at the thought of a "self-help" book... this is a lot more writerly and palatable than that sort of thing. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 11:37:39 -0500 From: 2fs Subject: Re: other people's books On 5/12/07, Rex wrote: > > > constructed around a baseball game, a thing about which I could not be > paid > to give a shit You probably don't want to know a person who'd offer to pay you to give a shit. - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 12:45:58 -0400 From: "Lauren Elizabeth" Subject: reap sorry, the posting's a bit delayed. http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL1071991520070511 xo - -- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "People with opinions just go around bothering one another." - The Buddha ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 11:14:42 -0700 From: Rex Subject: Re: other people's books On 5/12/07, 2fs wrote: > > On 5/12/07, Rex wrote: > > > > > > constructed around a baseball game, a thing about which I could not be > > paid > > to give a shit > > > You probably don't want to know a person who'd offer to pay you to give a > shit. Hey, easy money... - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 14:20:41 -0400 From: "Lauren Elizabeth" Subject: Re: more bad ideas... Rex says: > Incidentally, I'd recommend for anyone interested in or affected by > depression Andrew Solomon's "The Noonday Demon". Tough to take in places, > and containing some slightly irrelevant digressions, it's nonetheless quite > exhaustive and compelling and sure to provide some perspectives you haven't > considered previously. And I say this being one of those people who > wretches at the thought of a "self-help" book... this is a lot more writerly > and palatable than that sort of thing. I found "The Noonday Demon" to be a bit too...bulky for my tastes, but what I read of it was very good. For those with more limited attention spans, I'll recommend my two favourite books on the subject of depression: "An Unquiet Mind" by Kay Redfield Jamison - an expert in the field of bipolar illness who is afflicted herself. She's a fascinating person, and this is one of those rare (well, rare to me at least) memoirs that is difficult to put down. "Darkness Visible" by William Styron - a very short book that manages to pretty much say it all. BTW, after reading "Lie Die in Darkness", I wondered what took him so long (i.e. to become depressed.) His illness may have been masked by his years of alcohol dependence. xo - -- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "People with opinions just go around bothering one another." - The Buddha ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 11:50:18 -0700 From: Rex Subject: Re: more bad ideas... On 5/12/07, Lauren Elizabeth wrote: > > > For those with more limited attention spans, I'll recommend my two > favourite books on the subject of depression: > > "An Unquiet Mind" by Kay Redfield Jamison - an expert in the field of > bipolar illness who is afflicted herself. She's a fascinating person, > and this is one of those rare (well, rare to me at least) memoirs that > is difficult to put down. I've been meaning to read that one. It should be said, though, that bipolar disorder and depression are really quite different. There's some crossover and commonality, but things can go badly awry when one is mistaken for the other, especially in terms of treatment, but also in the way the sufferers are dealt with by others or told to deal with themselves. Or, hell, perceived by their friends and acquaintances. There's a Hollywood stereoptype about people comparing their meds socially, and it holds some water, but I don't know that it's necessarily a bad thing... I mean, if anyone needs to be open about being a little "off", I'd think it'd be entertainers and artists. And I also should say that, despite all my high horsishness about all this stuff, I do agree that the trend of casually overmedicating is a bad thing. Like anything else, treatments of these things ideally requires study and self-knowledge, which is apparently a lot to expect of most people. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 May 2007 07:37:56 +1200 From: grutness@slingshot.co.nz Subject: Re: fegmaniax-digest V16 #200 > > (to Benjamin's reply) I can't speak for Lauren - and I haven't been - but > > several close friends have, and while in some cases medication helped, in > > others it did not - and even in those it helped, it was a long hard road > > figuring out which medications did the trick, without severe side effects. > >Of course. I just don't like the implication (and perhaps it was >inadvertent) that psychopharmaceuticals are bunk. I *have* been and while >they're no panacea, they've certainly helped--in my personal case. I'd second that from my personal case. >i should have been specific in what i was saying because i am >sensitive to the issue of treating depression with medication and i do >know many people who have been helped with such medication. but >again, i was commenting on the issue of addiction, not depression. fair enough. That makes more sense. 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, 12 May 2007 22:14:20 -0400 From: Barbara Soutar Subject: Barbara's address HI Madeleine, Here's my street address: 1226 Lyall St, Victoria, BC, V9A 5G9 also here's my email address just in case: bsoutar@horizon.bc.ca Too bad you had a headache when we had lunch the other day, that and the loud crowd added an annoyance factor for you. A couple of points I would like to clarify from our conversation. You thought that I might have expected my mother's death, but we were not at all expecting it as she'd had X-rays done in March and was given a clean bill of health. Obviously her doctor missed something! After she had part of her lung removed two years ago, we were fairly confident that she had quite a few years left. Because she felt so low in energy around Easter weekend, she went to the hospital emergency dept. and they gave her a CAT scan: it was then that they found more cancer. On the positive side due to the misdiagnosis my parents took a trip to Atlantic City in March with another couple and had a wonderful time. So, they were living it up as recently as a month ago. It came as a shock to my Dad to see her go downhill so quickly. The other point was when I was talking about reading to blind people. I said that people want to get through a book quickly. You disagreed. When I thought about it, I realized that I was mainly referring to reading best-sellers. Since they are all story and no style, best to whip through those as fast as possible. Some books require slower reading. In the past I read to a blind fellow who was studying Camus and Borges and we went through those at a slow pace. So I wanted to make it clear that "speed reading" is mainly for zipping through popular fiction. Thanks for encouraging me in the graphic novel project. It's a bit daunting, but I am determined to get it down on paper. Today I printed out about 50 pages of layouts for doing the "comic", a lot easier than drawing the squares from scratch every time. Have a great trip up north, and we'll communicate further. love from Barbara ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 22:04:48 -0700 From: Tom Clark Subject: The Flanagan Who Invented Raymond Chandler My brother worked this up in his studio the other day. Pretty cool how it all fits together, no? http://www.ultravividsteve.com/MP3/flanagan.mp3 Is there gonna be another Glass Flesh? - -tc ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 22:48:00 -0700 (PDT) From: Benjamin Lukoff Subject: Re: more bad ideas... On Sat, 12 May 2007, Rex wrote: > On 5/11/07, Eleanore Adams wrote: > > > > Well I just started meds for depression. Good, bad or indifferent. > > The point being, when you are depressed you will try anything to > > change the situation. Meditation, food, exercise. If they all fail, > > you try meds or you end up dead, like our friend Elliot Smith. If > > meds keep you alive, then they are worth the sacrifice. Yeah, they > > ain't perfect, but wtf.... > > > Eleanore, in addition to wishing you the best, I wanted to commend you, and > Benjamin and Barbara, for talking about your own experiences... I think > every time someone's honest about this kind of thing it helps destigmatize > it, and that's a boon to everyone who has to deal with this kinda stuff. Thanks man. Now if only there were some insurance-industry folks on Fegmaniax...wonder if there'll ever be a time when you don't see "mental health coverage: none" on policy forms.. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 May 2007 04:48:36 EDT From: HwyCDRrev@aol.com Subject: more robyn in HARP _http://harpmagazine.com/guides/artists/detail.cfm?id=78_ (http://harpmagazine.com/guides/artists/detail.cfm?id=78) ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 May 2007 04:47:53 EDT From: HwyCDRrev@aol.com Subject: HARP MAG Robyn Hitchcock: Sex, Food, Death and Insects By _Randy Harward_ (http://harpmagazine.com/guides/contributors/detail.cfm?id=3) bI do remember how fantastic Saturdays were,b says Robyn Hitchcock, who also vividly recalls Sunday eveningbs portent. bThere was a feeling of dread moving upbgoing back to school, going back to work.b He speaks three weeks before the start of a tourbhis rock bnb roll working week. This English Tuesday evening is his Saturday morning, but for Hitchcock there is no beanbag chair, no Fruity Pebbles, no Fat Albert and no Cosby Kids. Hebs an adult with a career and things are more complicated. For instance, hebs off work but promoting a documentarybSex, Food, Death and Insectsbwhile sitting among the tools of his trade, guitars laying about like hammers and nails. Inevitably, hebs reminded of the coming shows. bTours are more fun,b he says, bbut theybre also work disguised as fun.b A performer must bear in mind that hebs doing a job bwhilst being part of the party.b Therebs an art to that, Hitchcock supposes. bThe rumor that Slash drinks tea in his bottle of Jack Danielsbthatbs only a rumor, but to me it symbolizes what being a professional is all about [laughs].b The mere thought of the salty, mop-topped Guns Nb Roses/Velvet Revolver guitarist swilling iced tea and passing it off as Jasper Newtonbs legendary black-label hooch makes a guy feel gypped. But isnbt it strange that webd take comfort in knowing his liver is soaking in Lynchburg marinade? This is a real guy, after all, with a family to provide for. Hitchcock is real; he has debts and obligationsband hebs no Slash, but he does play somebodybs favorite songs. So we romanticize his existence. Hitchcock rocks for a living: a rare, and quite glam, opportunity. He writes songs: Few among us can assemble a sentence, much less lyrics and melodies. Surely an artistbnay, a god!bof his caliber must spend those figurative Saturdays in the highest tower of a stoic castle on the pastoral English countryside adjacent to Stonehenge. And when hebs not leaning out the turretbs glassless pane waiting for enchanted chord progressions to flutter into his butterfly net, hebs got Merlin mixing drinks for him. bPeople want to think that,b says Hitchcock, band I canbt really blame them. You donbt wanna know how ordinary a musicianbs life is, really. You want to feel that therebs some mystique to it.b Those of us tethered to reality like to think we know Hitchcockbs life isnbt all halcyon hyperbole. Privately, though, we hope itbs trueb& if only because it would restore some of our childlike wonder, the belief that there is something better and bigger than our reality. Filmmaker John Edgingtonbs documentarybrecently spotted airing on the Sundance Channelbremoves us from reverie. And this is good. We see Hitchcock at work with his band the Venus 3bPeter Buck (R.E.M.), Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows, R.E.M.) and Bill Rieflin (R.E.M., Ministry). Theybre intermittently joined by Nick Lowe, Led Zeppelinbs John Paul Jones, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, and Hitchcockbs former Soft Boys bandmate Morris Windsor. In rehearsal for Hitchcockbs latest album OlC)! Tarantula (Yep Roc) at his West London home or on tour in London or Seattle, this league of extraordinary gentlepeople looks positively workmanlike (they lack only blue collars and plumberbs cracks). Although individually and collectively responsible for pallets upon pallets of favorite platters, they ooze domesticity; theybre living ordinary average lives. While Sex, Food, Death and Insects treads no new ground, its refrain warrants repetition. No matter how often we see musicians portrayed as everymen, it never gets old. Seeing someone approach his craft with passion and dread (like when Buck laments big R.E.M. tours and cheers riding in a cramped van with Hitchcock et al.) only enhances the music for the fans and the musicians. bI think itbs nice if some people do have some sort of picture of [our reality],b says Hitchcock. He doesnbt believe the film will demystify the musicianbs life as much as it establishes its existence on a more common plane. b It just sort of shows us convening and getting together and playing, which is an old tradition, like the Band and Dylan [in The Basement Tapes] and people like Fairport Convention playing in their [shared] house.b Itbs more than work, more than a communal experience. This was Robyn Hitchcockbs Saturday morning, full of promise and fantasy sufficient to make the ache of obligation tolerable. bIt was fun,b he says with boyish enthusiasm. bIt was terrific, really. To get up, carry on playing, and eventually pass out again.b _http://harpmagazine.com/articles/detail.cfm?article_id=5526_ (http://harpmagazine.com/articles/detail.cfm?article_id=5526) ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 May 2007 11:24:42 EDT From: HwyCDRrev@aol.com Subject: review of syd trib from madcaps _http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/madcapslaughing/message/21191_ (http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/madcapslaughing/message/21191) robyn excerpt : Robyn Hitchcock enters in his dark blue spotted shirt. Raucous applause, everyone knows who he is, bTerrapinb is next. He is a very accomplished guitarist, he has a presence on stage and is totally at one with Sydbs song. Next up joined by John Paul Jones and Ruby Wright (on saw b psyched up saw that is). Hitchcock says Syd knew the value a good A chordb&. ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 May 2007 21:34:46 -0400 From: Barbara Soutar Subject: Oh No! I just noticed that I sent a personal to the Feglist by mistake. Whoops. That's embarrassing. Barbara Soutar Victoria, BC ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V16 #201 ********************************