From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V16 #513 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Thursday, February 21 2008 Volume 16 : Number 513 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: a sports rant turned to a Whedon rant, turned to a BSG rant - surprise surprise surprise [lep ] Re: a sports rant turned to a Whedon rant, turned to a BSG rant - surprise surprise surprise [2fs ] football finale (I promise I'll shut up after this) and Firefly intro [Ji] BSG season 4 promo pictures ["Sumiko Keay" ] Re: football finale (I promise I'll shut up after this) and Firefly intro ["Sumiko Keay" ] RE: Bronco Billy (zero RH) ["Bachman, Michael" ] Re: unREAP: Nick Drake Lives On [2fs ] RE: Bronco Billy (zero RH) [Michael Sweeney ] Re: a sports rant turned to a Whedon rant, turned to a BSG rant - surprise surprise surprise [Benjamin Lukoff] RE: Bronco Billy (zero RH) [Michael Sweeney ] REAP [2fs ] Re: a sports rant turned to a Whedon rant, turned to a BSG rant - surprise surprise surprise [The Great Quail ] Re: a sports rant turned to a Whedon rant, turned to a BSG rant - surprise surprise surprise [2fs ] Re: Bronco Billy (zero RH) [Rex ] Re: REAP [Rex ] Smashing Pumpkins [The Great Quail ] Re: a sports rant turned to a Whedon rant, turned to a BSG rant - surprise surprise surprise [Rex Subject: Re: a sports rant turned to a Whedon rant, turned to a BSG rant - surprise surprise surprise 2fs says: > > On Wed, Feb 20, 2008 at 11:44 PM, lep wrote: > > IMO, BSG far surpasses whedon's work on the feminist front. whedon > > challenges a lot of conventions, but he gives fairly conventional sort > > of challenge. i think of whedon's work rather in the "look what girls > > can do" vein. the quickest way i can point to this in his work is > > that this guy clear gets a charge from seeing a chick with a rocket > > launcher (not that there's anything wrong that, but taking his > > portrayal of woman as the work of a true feminist fails when one > > realizes there's a sort of juvenile male fantasy element there, even > > if it is probably somewhat in jest, or meant to point out these very > > sorts of contradiction in certain "modern" portrayals of females. > > "firefly", IMO, is more developed on this front, but i would say that > > firefly is still very much a world of boys and girls. > > > I'd pretty much agree except with the "juvenile." I don't think there's > anything inherently sexist with male fantasies, and I think the fact that > the Whedonverse is (even Firefly) more similar to our own means that there's > only so far you can stretch difference w/o making it hard to render > characters emotionally viable. yes, agreed about my use of "juvenile" - it was sloppy. my point (which i think was taken) was more that i think "feminists" could find more to criticize in whedon's work than in BSG. on the feminist front, i find whedon's work to be a bit mixed, but in a pretty interesting way. > > BSG doesn't > > even bother to stop there. in the BSG world, gender is as much of a > > non-issue as i've seen it portrayed in movies or television. > > > True - but I think at least part of that is the very limited world: it's > directly post-apocalyptic, the crisis puts everything else in the > background, and the military's rigid rank system facilitates making other > issues irrelevant. (Incidentally, if the show weren't also very clear on the > intense emotional costs of military action, it would also read rather like a > love letter to military virtues. Or at least, to the heroism of the everyday > soldier.) Historically, it's why militaries have integrated class (not so > much: can be mapped onto rank) and race sooner than many other sectors of > society; the irrelevance of gender in professional life on BSG probably > follows from that. agreed, but BSG does *portray* this world very well. also, the fact that the series begins on a crisis, for me, seems to emphasize that the issue had been put to rest before the attacks. there's nothing like a crisis to make people act like idiots, and, for the most part, male/female divisions aren't an issue. this is most shown in people's treatment of laura roslin - her position is pretty universally accepted by not only the military, but by the civilian population. people do have issues with her being unqualified, but it's not because she's a female - it's because she's so far down the government food chain (and is, in fact, pretty unqualified.) > 'Course, even though within the show it's clear that Number Six is a > reflection of Baltar's own bizarre world, for viewers she certainly provides > the eye candy - following the tradition that for some reason (gee...could it > be the largely male audience?) ends up having SF females, human or not, > dress rather provocatively... but, i think it's relevant that baltar is portrayed as being a complete ass...(i adore baltar's character, or his character's existence - he's a riot.) and no. 6, despite her visual appeal, is a hell of a smart cookie(s). > > oh, and jeff 2fs: pleeeeeease: you think i would be distracted from my > > one true fictional-television-character love by mal and his > > oh-so-obvious trousers? my heart is true; i am a one-delusion woman. > > But how do you that belief isn't your one delusion? your jedi mind tricks will do no good here. xo - -- - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "People with opinions just go around bothering one another." - The Buddha ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:59:53 -0800 From: Rex Subject: Re: Bronco Billy (zero RH) On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 9:53 AM, Jeff Dwarf wrote: > > > "Siamese Dream", that was the one with "Siva", eh? > > No, that's the one after it, with "Today" and "Disarm." Gish is the > one with "Siva." Sorry. "Today" is the Pixies rip that I can mostly tolerate. "Disarm" is just dreadful, though (once again I can remember exactly when I first heard that song and how its very awfulness distracted me from what I was doing; I didn't know who the artist was in that case). The church bells just put it over the edge-- church bells + bad pretentious lyrics = contender for worst song evar, right up there with "Don't Stop Believin'" > > > Well, they were more than that -- and Billy's a better lyricist and > singer than Perry Farrell. Arguable... what was clear from the get-go was that he was desperately trying to bring that same shamanist, spiritual claptrap into an arena (indie (or whatever) rock) where I just didn't think it belonged. Also, I know for a fact that quite a few of the folks reading this are better vocalists than either Farrell or Corgan. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:26:53 -0600 From: 2fs Subject: Re: a sports rant turned to a Whedon rant, turned to a BSG rant - surprise surprise surprise On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 12:09 PM, lep wrote: > 2fs says: > > > > BSG doesn't > > > even bother to stop there. in the BSG world, gender is as much of a > > > non-issue as i've seen it portrayed in movies or television. > > > > > > True - but I think at least part of that is the very limited world: it's > > directly post-apocalyptic, the crisis puts everything else in the > > background, and the military's rigid rank system facilitates making > other > > issues irrelevant. > agreed, but BSG does *portray* this world very well. also, the fact > that the series begins on a crisis, for me, seems to emphasize that > the issue had been put to rest before the attacks. Both true, yes. > there's nothing > like a crisis to make people act like idiots, and, for the most part, > male/female divisions aren't an issue. this is most shown in people's > treatment of laura roslin - her position is pretty universally > accepted by not only the military, but by the civilian population. > people do have issues with her being unqualified, but it's not because > she's a female - it's because she's so far down the government food > chain (and is, in fact, pretty unqualified.) Right. "Qualified" is such a subjective thing, though: it's clear that she *does* have significant leadership qualities an can surprise people with her determination, for example. > > > > 'Course, even though within the show it's clear that Number Six is a > > reflection of Baltar's own bizarre world, for viewers she certainly > provides > > the eye candy - following the tradition that for some reason > (gee...could it > > be the largely male audience?) ends up having SF females, human or not, > > dress rather provocatively... > > but, i think it's relevant that baltar is portrayed as being a > complete ass...(i adore baltar's character, or his character's > existence - he's a riot.) Absolutely! It's like you can sort of count on his scenes as being a species of comic relief - even if it's sometimes a cringeworthy kind of comedy. > and no. 6, despite her visual appeal, is a > hell of a smart cookie(s). Of course - but I think SF may have pioneered the both/and approach to "I have enormous boobs and an enormous brain!"... - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:52:03 +0000 From: Michael Sweeney Subject: RE: Bronco Billy (zero RH) Rex wrote: >On Wed, Feb 20, 2008 at 11:01 PM, Michael Sweeney wrote: ...I was always quite enamored of "Adore" myself...told Billy that, too, onceat the old Demon Dogs (before they tore that -- AND (apparently) Corgan'stalent -- down)... >Oh, I've been nice so far, but I can never forget the first time I heard "Eva Adore", already having a pretty low opinion of Corgan's lyrical skillz. As soon as I heard the first line, "Eva Adore..." I immediately knew in the core of being, this lamebo's gonna rhyme that with "whore". I only wish someone had been there so I could substantiate this claim.< >"Siamese Dream", that was the one with "Siva", eh? That was listenable, I guess... I thought of the Pumpkins as a sort of cut-rate Jane's Addiction at the time, decent-sounding but already pretty insufferably pretentious. I could also listen to some of their Pixies knockoffs, but Idon't, because I have perfectly good Pixies records lying around.< ...Oh, I certainly know MMV when it comes to the Punkins...but, hey, I just happen to like "Adore" (a minority opinion, I realize, even among Billy Pumpkin defenders)... ...But Jane's? Good for a few radio hits, but seemed a completely different type of band to me (I suppose the raging egos involved were at least similar; I wouldn't disagree with the statement that no one thought quite as much about Perry and Billy as they did about themselves)...and teh Pixies just never seemed to do anything fer me...(and Black Frank Black, even less)... Michael "Already on record as never having got into Sonic Youth, either, so...tasts apparently DO diverge and vary wildly" Sweeney _________________________________________________________________ Helping your favorite cause is as easy as instant messaging. You IM, we give. http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Home/?source=text_hotmail_join ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:10:21 -0500 (EST) From: Jill Brand Subject: football finale (I promise I'll shut up after this) and Firefly intro In response to a number of things: Yeah, Belichick might be easy to dislike, but the Krafts, especially Myra, are pretty good people even though they are stinking rich. There is a really interesting Boston Globe Magazine article about Myra from last year (http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2007/03/18/giving_large/). Myra told Bob that he couldn't shirk any of his responsibilities towards his charities when he bought the Patriots. She works tirelessly for all kinds of causes. She doesn't just show up at things to have her picture taken; her job is philanthropy. Even though I'm not usually a big defender of the wealthy, I'd rather have her kind of wealthy than Mitt Romney kind of wealthy. Michael W., no one has proposed to me in 29 years, so you really brightened up my morning. Actually, I don't think Thomas proposed to me, either. We just sort of got married and have been doing our best at it since 1979. The funny thing about your amazement at a woman's liking football is that neither my husband nor my son cares for football at all. Thomas is German and is, by birthright, a soccer fan. Curt doesn't really watch sports at all, though he likes to play soccer. He was doing math sets with some other masochist friends when a commotion errupted outside the building he was in at around midnight of October 28th, and that is when he realized that the Red Sox must have won the World Series. He then went out to enjoy the commotion in Harvard Square. The two drooling maniacs in our house (just conjure up an image of crazy Raiders fans) are my 105-pound 16-year-old daughter, who proudly wears a Richard Seymour jersey on her tiny frame, and yours truly. Opposites attract and all that. But Thomas has discovered baseball big time. And now for Firefly. What I'm learning from you all is that this is not a show that you can drop in on. That's all that I've done. I've used my kids for color commentary, and since there are no commercial breaks on DVDs, their explanations have been very short and annoyed. I don't tend to watch sci-fi (SF, whatever) very much, but I'll try to give it a shot when my semester ends. I don't really have a sense of their outlaw society and the roles that people play in it, and clearly that is necessary. The companion person (Inara?) is also in Stargate, and she's really creepy in Stargate (her eyes are like the ones of the kids in Village of the Damned), so I have trouble separating her from that other character. We now have Netflix. What an astoundingly brilliant idea. If you have never seen the HBO production of Angels in America, put it in your queue. The performances are truly amazing - Jeffrey Wright, Al Pacino, Mary Louise Parker, everyone! I will now shut up about sports. Unless you say something really evil to me. And then I might cry. Jill ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:15:45 -0600 From: "Sumiko Keay" Subject: BSG season 4 promo pictures Posted over at LJ: http://dryope.livejournal.com/381742.html One casting spoiler - so click at your own discretion. Sumi ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:17:26 -0600 From: "Sumiko Keay" Subject: Re: football finale (I promise I'll shut up after this) and Firefly intro I love Netflix - it makes dvd renting so easy - plus, it's always exciting to get decent mail. Sumi ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:18:49 -0800 (PST) From: Benjamin Lukoff Subject: Re: a sports rant turned to a Whedon rant, turned to a BSG rant - surprise surprise surprise On Wed, 20 Feb 2008, Rex wrote: > On Wed, Feb 20, 2008 at 5:23 PM, 2fs wrote: > > > On 2/20/08, Jill Brand wrote: > > > > > > You are right. I should never apologize to non-Kinks fans. > > > > > > About Firefly, no, I haven't watched all of them in order. I've just > > seen > > > an episode here or there. I find the language (this use of "ain't" and > > SV > > > non-agreement) grating because it doesn't seem to fit the characters. > > > > That didn't bug me, nor did most of the Firefly slang, but I just have to > say once for the record that I hate hate hate all phony SF swear words evar. > Frak, smeg, gorram and barrel (and also whatever the hell it was they said > on Farscape). And there are two reasons why it bugs. Smeg off!!!! Actually I agree with you re the others, but I do rather like "smeg." ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:30:58 -0800 From: Rex Subject: Re: Bronco Billy (zero RH) On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 11:52 AM, Michael Sweeney wrote: > > ...Oh, I certainly know MMV when it comes to the Punkins...but, hey, I > just happen to like "Adore" (a minority opinion, I realize, even among Billy > Pumpkin defenders)... > > ...But Jane's? Good for a few radio hits, but seemed a completely > different type of band to me (I suppose the raging egos involved were at > least similar; I wouldn't disagree with the statement that no one thought > quite as much about Perry and Billy as they did about themselves)...and teh > Pixies just never seemed to do anything fer me...(and Black Frank Black, > even less)... > I don't mean to imply that the comparison extends much beyond the early SP sound, since they went on to rip off The Pixies and New Order and everyone else... that and the irritatingly shamanistic frontperson thing. The Pixies themselves are of course awesome beyond reckoning, but admittedly I have little use for Mr. Black and/or Frances's solo records. And Sonic Youth, well, I can't help ya there... I can see why one would dislike them, but I myself cannot. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:31:06 -0500 From: "Bachman, Michael" Subject: RE: Bronco Billy (zero RH) MS wrote: >and the Pixies just never seemed to do anything fer me...(and Black Frank Black, even less)... >Michael "Already on record as never having got into Sonic Youth, either, so...tastes apparently DO diverge and vary wildly" Sweeney I thought Gish and Siamese Dream were both very good, but that was it for me Pumpkin wise as I never bought Mellon or any of the subsequent ones after it. And I'll agree with Michael Sweeney about Jane's Adication having a few good singles, but that's about it. The Pixies and Sonic Youth were two of my favorite US bands from 1988-1992 along with the little band from little Rhode Island that could, Throwing Muses. So tastes DO diverge. Michael B. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:37:19 -0800 (PST) From: Benjamin Lukoff Subject: Re: unREAP: Nick Drake Lives On On Thu, 21 Feb 2008, Rex wrote: > On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 7:05 AM, Jeff Dwarf wrote: > > > 2fs wrote: > > > craigie* wrote: > > > > > > > > I love the way his sister became 'an actor'... what's wrong with > > > > the word 'actress'? > > > Threadmerge! > > > > > > I hear "actor" used generically - and if you think about it, most > > > words in the English language aren't particularly gendered, and > > > the words referring specifically to female exponents of whatever > > > (poetess and the like) are outmoded. So actress is probably one > > > for the history dumps. > > > > I think actress could end up being an exception, just because a > > majority of the time when hiring an actor, gender is a relevant > > factor in hiring, unlike hiring a poet or board chairperson or > > whatever. > > How then do we feel about "comedienne"? http://www.comics.com//comics/peanuts/archive/images/peanuts20012224380220.gif ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:40:48 -0600 From: 2fs Subject: Re: unREAP: Nick Drake Lives On On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 2:31 PM, Benjamin Lukoff wrote: > Reminds me of this dippy article in Forbes a few years back: > http://www.forbes.com/business/forbes/2004/0607/066b.html > > "We wonder if the folks running these sites know "ster" used to be a > sexist suffix (as in "spinster," an old maid useful for textile work)." > > I hate it when the media makes linguistic claims with no basis in > fact...and told them so: > http://members.forbes.com/forbes/2004/0705/026.html > > I was glad to see my letter in print, but "My Hamster Thanks You"? > Forbes's copy editors were having a bad day, I think. "Hamster"? Damn - that's a bad pun. I'd really be in Dutch if I made so lame a pun as that. - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:40:35 +0000 From: Michael Sweeney Subject: RE: Bronco Billy (zero RH) Rex wrote: >And Sonic Youth, well, I can't help ya there... I can see why one would dislike them, but I myself cannot. ...Nah, never disliked them -- just had no real opinion at all (and very little frame of reference). I'm a shade older, and was bridging from original punks to modernity with the Huskers and Minutemen and such (while, I suppose, still keeping one foot in the classic rock, Led-Zeppelin-and-the-Who-were-still-putting-out-rekkids-when-I-was-in-high-sc hool world). The SY and Pixies just didn't figure into my view back then, and, having missed that particular train at the time, I never doubled back to re-track... Michael "Looking back, the potential alternate paths one COULD'VE taken are legion..." Sweeney _________________________________________________________________ Helping your favorite cause is as easy as instant messaging. You IM, we give. http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Home/?source=text_hotmail_join ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:43:03 -0800 (PST) From: Benjamin Lukoff Subject: Re: a sports rant turned to a Whedon rant, turned to a BSG rant - surprise surprise surprise On Thu, 21 Feb 2008, Rex wrote: > We've mentioned this before, but there's the Trek counterexample-- Trek > posites a future where all of those lines of discrimination are supposedly > erased, but since the early days of Kirk and his space hotties up through > that Borg chick with the enormous enhancements, it's kind of tipped its Thought those were real. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:48:39 +0000 From: Michael Sweeney Subject: RE: Bronco Billy (zero RH) Michael Bachman wrote:> The Pixies and Sonic Youth were two of my favorite US bands from> 1988-1992 along with the little band from little Rhode Island that> could, Throwing Muses. So tastes DO diverge. ...Yeah, I'm thinking it must have been an age thing (not taste-wise, but more to exposure and community and all) -- I was verging on 30 in that period, and, hell, felt lucky to have even have heard of Nirvana before they broke, so...yeah, I knew that SY and the Pixies existed (and the Muses, as well, who I at least had a CD by), but...like I said, they just never landed on my radar / reached a tipping point with me to fully follow... Michael "As Tweedy once said, 'When you wake up, feeling old...' -- and gawd, do I ever" Sweeney _________________________________________________________________ Helping your favorite cause is as easy as instant messaging. You IM, we give. http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Home/?source=text_hotmail_join ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:54:18 -0600 From: 2fs Subject: REAP Richard Thompson (no, not that one): http://www.jsonline.com/watch/?watch=1&date=2/21/2008&id=36035 - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:03:49 -0500 From: The Great Quail Subject: Re: a sports rant turned to a Whedon rant, turned to a BSG rant - surprise surprise surprise > i just *really* love it when kara thrace says "frak." I also think that one of the reasons "frak" gets a pass is that the characters often slur it, so it sounds a *lot* like "fuck." This is more evident with Starbuck than, say, Tighe, but there are a few times where I did a double-take.... Anyway, if I can give my two-quatloos worth and bend your ear for a centon, I am also not overly fond of those TANSTAAFL made-up words...and if I had a zuleck every time I cringed at bad SF dialogue, I'd be frakkin' rich.... - --Quail ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:17:35 -0600 From: 2fs Subject: Re: a sports rant turned to a Whedon rant, turned to a BSG rant - surprise surprise surprise On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 3:03 PM, The Great Quail wrote: > > i just *really* love it when kara thrace says "frak." > > I also think that one of the reasons "frak" gets a pass is that the > characters often slur it, so it sounds a *lot* like "fuck." This is more > evident with Starbuck than, say, Tighe, but there are a few times where I > did a double-take.... > > Anyway, if I can give my two-quatloos worth and bend your ear for a > centon, > I am also not overly fond of those TANSTAAFL made-up words...and if I had > a > zuleck every time I cringed at bad SF dialogue, I'd be frakkin' rich.... I blame Anthony Burgess and his droogs... - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:31:59 -0800 (PST) From: Benjamin Lukoff Subject: Re: unREAP: Nick Drake Lives On On Thu, 21 Feb 2008, 2fs wrote: > On 2/21/08, craigie* wrote: > > > > I love the way his sister became 'an actor'... what's wrong with the word > > 'actress'? > > I hear "actor" used generically - and if you think about it, most words > in the English language aren't particularly gendered, and the words > referring specifically to female exponents of whatever (poetess and the > like) are outmoded. So actress is probably one for the history dumps. But only recently. I think it's only been about 10 years since female actors started getting referred to as actors instead of actresses. Reminds me of this dippy article in Forbes a few years back: http://www.forbes.com/business/forbes/2004/0607/066b.html "We wonder if the folks running these sites know "ster" used to be a sexist suffix (as in "spinster," an old maid useful for textile work)." I hate it when the media makes linguistic claims with no basis in fact...and told them so: http://members.forbes.com/forbes/2004/0705/026.html I was glad to see my letter in print, but "My Hamster Thanks You"? Forbes's copy editors were having a bad day, I think. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:29:23 -0800 From: Rex Subject: Re: Bronco Billy (zero RH) On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 12:48 PM, Michael Sweeney wrote: > > > ...Yeah, I'm thinking it must have been an age thing (not taste-wise, but > more to exposure and community and all) -- I was verging on 30 in that > period, and, hell, felt lucky to have even have heard of Nirvana before they > broke, so...yeah, I knew that SY and the Pixies existed (and the Muses, as > well, who I at least had a CD by), but...like I said, they just never landed > on my radar / reached a tipping point with me to fully follow... > But I think Smashing Pumpkins antedate all three of those bands (and the two SST bands you mentioned) by any measure. However, I guess they were more mainstream, but in terms of their approach and how they were received. (Nirvana's almost a rule-proving exception, and I still don't rate them any higher than, say, Dinosaur Jr. or similar (which is no knock on Nirvana).) There's still no explaining why the Replacements never really broke through, other than by noting that they were, in fact, the Replacements. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:31:57 -0800 From: Rex Subject: Re: REAP On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 12:54 PM, 2fs wrote: > Richard Thompson (no, not that one): > http://www.jsonline.com/watch/?watch=1&date=2/21/2008&id=36035 Phew. That was close to a heart attack. Jon Stewart is still alive enough to host the Oscars, but now I know how all those people felt when they heard verbally that John Stewart died last month... - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:25:18 -0500 From: The Great Quail Subject: Smashing Pumpkins Damn, I love the Pumpkins. I fucking *love* the Smashing Pumpkin's first few albums. And I especially reserve buckets of angsty love for "Mellon Collie." I don't care who they ripped off -- they crammed the seventies, eighties, and nineties into one big grinder and then churned out a gigantic wall of beautiful sound, a wave of liquid chrome filled with rusty barbs and little bubbles of mercury, with that freakishly tall & freakishly bald arrested-adolescent vampire wannabe Billy Corgan surfing on top of it, narrating his ride through a megaphone of self-pity set permanently to "Whine." What's not to like? Oh yeah -- "Adore." Such a shame, really, that Corgan's ego grew bigger than the band itself, the recording studio, overflowing out of stadiums the world over, taking on a life of its own, mutating, forcing out the personalities of his band mates and *possessing* them like hollow shells, turning them into mere echoes of his narcissism, slavishly bent to silent submission like the ringwraiths to His Master's Voice.... Sigh. But I suppose it's better that way, much better than Perry's strange fadeaway or tranforming slowly into some horrifically bloated cover band of themselves.... - --Quail ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:38:23 -0800 From: Rex Subject: Re: a sports rant turned to a Whedon rant, turned to a BSG rant - surprise surprise surprise On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 1:17 PM, 2fs wrote: > On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 3:03 PM, The Great Quail > wrote: > > Anyway, if I can give my two-quatloos worth and bend your ear for a > > centon, > > I am also not overly fond of those TANSTAAFL made-up words...and if I > had > > a > > zuleck every time I cringed at bad SF dialogue, I'd be frakkin' rich.... > Nice. I can grok that. It's true, the second-most SF'ed-up quantity after swear words is probably terms for money. > I blame Anthony Burgess and his droogs... > I think I just added Heinlein to the pile. I wonder what the first authenticatable use of one of these is... '50's pulp or before? '30's comics? Not quite sure how to google this issue. - -Rex PS: does the new BSG have daggits? Because... come on, *daggits*. Srsly. ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V16 #513 ********************************