From: les@jmdl.com (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V2000 #36 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: les@jmdl.com Errors-To: les@jmdl.com Precedence: bulk JMDL Digest Friday, January 21 2000 Volume 2000 : Number 036 The Official Joni Mitchell Homepage is maintained by Wally Breese at http://www.jonimitchell.com and contains the latest news, a detailed bio, original interviews and essays, lyrics, and much more. ------- The JMDL website can be found at http://www.jmdl.com and contains interviews, articles, the member gallery, archives, and much more. ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: BSN on Dawson's Creek NJC ["Mark or Travis" ] NJC:Internet Worm thought ["Chuck EIsenhardt" ] !!Re: Autograph Hounds NJC ["Mark or Travis" ] Re: URGENT VIRUS ALERT -- PRETTY PARK (NJC) ["Eric Taylor" ] Re: Autograph Hounds (Minus Zero) NJC [CaTGirl627@aol.com] Re: Autograph Hounds (Minus Zero) NJC [CaTGirl627@aol.com] Re: Autograph Hounds (Minus Zero) NJC [CaTGirl627@aol.com] Re: (Minus Zero) NJC ["Eric Taylor" ] Re: most depressing song (NJC) [Scott and Jody ] LACE Transcription, Part 1 [Lindsay Moon ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 17:45:08 -0800 From: "Mark or Travis" Subject: Re: BSN on Dawson's Creek NJC Jimmy wrote: > Everyone else has already said it, but Joni singing BSN again is WONDERFUL!!! > I recorded Dawson's Creek and I was fortunate enough to have a friend call > me and tell me that Joni's song was at the very end of the show, so I didn't > have to waste anytime watching the entire show!!! > > So now that I've heard a little of BSN, I am so psyched up for the release. > Hurry February Hurry!!! Have to put in my 2 cents on this one. Thanks to our wonderful JMDL Joni Alert Squad (and living in the Pacific Time zone), I read that BSN didn't happen until the end of Dawson's Creek. So I did not have to waste any time watching a program that didn't interest me. I tuned in at the end and heard every glorious note they played. Joni is really going to blow everyone away with this record. I can just feel it. This version of BSN is a wonderful reinterpretation and reinvention of the song &, once again, of the artist herself. Her phrasing, the experience & wisdom in her voice, the wonderful melody & words of this song all come together to make something so haunting and beautiful that tears were the only possible reaction from yours truly. Joni wrote this as a highly perceptive young woman. She has now gained the insight & experience to completely plumb all the myriad feelings & depths of the song. And her voice is incredibly nuanced, wise & sensual. Something is indeed, gained, in living every day. For myself, I am almost positive that that was Wayne Shorter on sax. I am *so* excited and anxious to hear the rest! Mark in Seattle ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 20:59:41 -0500 From: "Chuck EIsenhardt" Subject: NJC:Internet Worm thought So many of these Internet mail worms now replicate based on your Outlook contact and address lists...crap can get to spread REALLY fast when you keep LISTS, like JMDL, in an address list. While you're thinking of it, please remove Joni@smoe .org from your contact list today! It's only going to get worse... ChuckE ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 18:03:31 -0800 From: "Mark or Travis" Subject: !!Re: Autograph Hounds NJC Rick confesses: Anyway, I > no longer have any of them due to an unfortunate episode of spring-cleaning > that my mother engaged in several years after I moved out. This sounds pretty much like what happened to a note I had from Carole King. In typing class in high school we had to type some letters & then send them to people. I found an address for the musician's union in LA and wrote a letter to Carole King. Some time later I had a handwritten note on very pretty stationary thanking me for my letter and saying she didn't get many as nice or as well written. It was signed by Carole in the same handwriting so I assume she wrote it herself. This would have been 1971 or 72. Well it sat in a box at my parents house for several years after I left home. At some point my mother told me she'd gotten sick of nagging me to go throught that stuff & take what I wanted and that she finally threw some of it out. I haven't been able to find that note since. I assume it's long gone. I was raised in Iowa. Lived there for 24 years. You can keep 60 below zero wind chill factors and/or 101 degrees with 95% humidity as far as I'm concerned. Here in the Pacific Northwest we have just enough of a change of seasons to give some variety but without the nasty extremes. It *does* rain a lot in the winter but that's when you hop down to LA to visit Kakki! Mark in Seattle ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 21:57:27 -0800 From: "Eric Taylor" Subject: Re: URGENT VIRUS ALERT -- PRETTY PARK (NJC) Harper Lou shared: << Recently, Michael Paz sent an e-mail with a file attachment named PrettyPark.exe... Our anti-virus software detected a serious virus in the file. It is classified as a system-level virus and could be dangerous to your operating systems... Sorry Michael, don't mean to offend you. I'm sure you didn't know about the virus. >> Many of the new PC viruses infect the users address book & automatically email the virus to everyone listed. This is why I won't open attachments (except .jpg, .gif, .bmp, .avi & .mpg files which can't contain viruses) even from friends. The second I see an .exe file I delete it, reboot & run antivirus software (InnoculateIT is the best I've tried & it's free at www.zdnet.com ). Thanx for the warning, Louis! E.T. __________________________________________ NetZero - Defenders of the Free World Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 20:38:24 -0700 From: Les Irvin Subject: Re: NJC:Internet Worm thought At 1/20/2000 06:59 PM , Chuck EIsenhardt wrote: >While you're thinking of it, please remove Joni@smoe .org >from your contact list today! Actually, it's already tried to pass through the list twice. Fortunately, majordomo comes to the rescue and rejects all attachments. So the list is safe. Les ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 22:46:16 EST From: CaTGirl627@aol.com Subject: Re: Autograph Hounds (Minus Zero) NJC In a message dated 1/20/2000 3:58:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, ewwt@netzero.net writes: << Well I lived in sunny California & heavenly Hawaii for many years & what I missed most was a drastic change of seasons like we see in my homestate of Pennsylvania. There is something about the color of Autumn & the gray of Winter that comforts me deeply. A warm fire on a cold night is the most romantic thing I know. This reminds me of my fav Fleetwood Mac album Bare Trees.... Before I die I only hope to make love on a polar bearskin rug in an igloo! E.T. >> This young man has come down with FEVER!!! You gotta be kidding me Eric! So how many others are out there that actually ENJOY winter? Especailly in PA? PA has some of the worst kind of winters. Nothing but ice and sleet and it can be very scarey driving in it! It is snowing right now. YUCK!! I went tio teach a Yoga class and almost wipped out my Ford Explorer. YIKES!! So tell me sweet lad what is it about this crappy weather you like so much again? Catgirl ;o) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 23:10:04 EST From: CaTGirl627@aol.com Subject: Re: Autograph Hounds (Minus Zero) NJC In a message dated 1/20/2000 10:12:15 AM Eastern Standard Time, Louis.Lynch@wonderware.com writes: << Most of all, though, I missed the COLD! The shivering, numbing, teeth-chattering cold that penetrates your whole brain. Even though there's a slight discomfort in it and, like most things, too much can be dangerous, it's refreshing and invigorating. >> Well Louis! Your brain IS numb!! I am with Kakki and as son as I get there WE are going to the beach!!! I don';t care if it is in the 50's. It is a far cry from this frozen icy sleety crap coming down right now....and YES I shoveled my sidewalks today only to have some guy in a truck with a plough, plough me in agian!! OH NOOOOOoooooo! Catgirl ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 23:22:29 EST From: CaTGirl627@aol.com Subject: Re: Autograph Hounds (Minus Zero) NJC In a message dated 1/20/2000 1:10:07 PM Eastern Standard Time, kakkib@att.net writes: << It's a Pennsylvana thing, but Catgirl is the one who *wants* to move to California and Eric is the one who wants to stay. ;-) >> not this time! Eric wants to move probably tommorow but I want to wait. We are both making relativley good money and I guess I am a little scared going out there with nothing. But hey, if you have to live in a box outside somewhere what better palce then sunny CA? then Kakki wrote::: I also think the change of seasons is wonderful and beautiful, but being a native here, I'm a born lightweight with weather extremes. I envy your heartiness! Not this girl. I was born in the wrong area. Why am I still here? Why am I still here....opps sorry echo!! Once i get it together I WILL BE MOVING TO A WARMER CLIMATE! Surely one can find a reasonable job in a different location? right? Catgirl ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 23:41:23 -0800 From: "Eric Taylor" Subject: Re: (Minus Zero) NJC CaTGirl expresses my feelings when driving in a blizzard: << This young man has come down with FEVER!!! You gotta be kidding me Eric! So how many others are out there that actually ENJOY winter? Especailly in PA? PA has some of the worst kind of winters. Nothing but ice and sleet and it can be very scarey driving in it! It is snowing right now. YUCK!! I went to teach a Yoga class and almost wipped out my Ford Explorer. YIKES!! So tell me sweet lad what is it about this crappy weather you like so much again? >> LOLROTF! Yes, driving is the one thing I REALLY hate about winter. What I love about snow is that it slows down the fast pace of life. Hibernation stimulates my creative juices. Curling up by a fire watching ice glisten under the moonlight has got to be the coziest feeling there is! Cuddling up under flannel sheets & a down comforter knowing I don't have to go to work in the morning is, well, there's NOTHING like it! I hope to go ice fishing on Lake Erie (near Buffalo) sometime soon. Caves called hummocks form from the freezing surf & we build fires in them. It's SO MUCH FUN! Of course a bottle of Crown Royal helps.... I won't be taking my friend John to Hawaii after all - his doctor forbids it (something about the tropical climate). So we'll be ice-fishing instead. I'll try doing a full lotus in the hummock & let you know if it's possible. ;~D E.T. __________________________________________ NetZero - Defenders of the Free World Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 22:53:32 -0600 From: Scott and Jody Subject: Re: most depressing song (NJC) I agree with "Hello in There" by John Prine as being one of the most depressing songs. "Sam Stone" by John Prine is not far behind. Les, I'm not familiar with Jacque Brel. Thanks for the tip: When I want may day ruined, I'll have to give it a listen :~) The most depressing song to me is "John Brown" by Bob Dylan. This is sooo depressing to me. John Brown went off to war to fight on a foreign shore. His mama sure was proud of him! He stood straight and tall in his uniform and all. His mama's face broke out all in a grin. "Oh son, you look so fine, I'm glad you're a son of mine, You make me proud to know you hold a gun. Do what the captain says, lots of medals you will get, And we'll put them on the wall when you come home." As that old train pulled out, John's ma began to shout, Tellin' ev'ryone in the neighborhood: "That's my son that's about to go, he's a soldier now, you know." She made well sure her neighbors understood. She got a letter once in a while and her face broke into a smile As she showed them to the people from next door. And she bragged about her son with his uniform and gun, And these things you called a good old-fashioned war. Oh! Good old-fashioned war! Then the letters ceased to come, for a long time they did not come. They ceased to come for about ten months or more. Then a letter finally came saying, "Go down and meet the train. Your son's a-coming home from the war." She smiled and went right down, she looked everywhere around But she could not see her soldier son in sight. But as all the people passed, she saw her son at last, When she did she could hardly believe her eyes. Oh his face was all shot up and his hand was all blown off And he wore a metal brace around his waist. He whispered kind of slow, in a voice she did not know, While she couldn't even recognize his face! Oh! Lord! Not even recognize his face. "Oh tell me, my darling son, pray tell me what they done. How is it you come to be this way?" He tried his best to talk but his mouth could hardly move And the mother had to turn her face away. "Don't you remember, Ma, when I went off to war You thought it was the best thing I could do? I was on the battleground, you were home . . . acting proud. You wasn't there standing in my shoes." "Oh, and I thought when I was there, God, what am I doing here? I'm a-tryin' to kill somebody or die tryin'. But the thing that scared me most was when my enemy came close And I saw that his face looked just like mine." Oh! Lord! Just like mine! "And I couldn't help but think, through the thunder rolling and stink, That I was just a puppet in a play. And through the roar and smoke, this string is finally broke, And a cannon ball blew my eyes away." As he turned away to walk, his Ma was still in shock At seein' the metal brace that helped him stand. But as he turned to go, he called his mother close And he dropped his medals down into her hand. jody ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 21:27:10 -0800 From: Lindsay Moon Subject: LACE Transcription, Part 1 This is a test to see if this will work. My apologies for the awkward format. I'm a court reporter by trade and this is the best I can do with my specialized software in this format. If this works, my special thanks to Kakki who has been a tremendous help throughout. I'm sorry this took me so long to send out; unfortunately, some work got in the way (like it's half as important! ha!) If this works, the rest will follow in similar form. Lindsay 1 INTERVIEW OF JONI MITCHELL 2 DECEMBER 21, 1999 3 at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions 4 INTERVIEWER: NEIL INGLES 5 6 (Neil Ingles): In our conversation with Joni 7 Mitchell, she said, "I paint my joy and I sing my sorrows." 8 At the dawn of the 21st century, her 21st album is being 9 released for Valentine's Day. 10 On today's "Let's Do Lunch," we'll listen to songs 11 from the new album "Both Sides, Now." You'll be surprised 12 and delighted by what you hear. And walk through 13 Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions to look at Joni 14 Mitchell's paintings with the artist. 15 Q. Of course, everyone knows you as a songwriter 16 and singer and performer and may not be as familiar with the 17 fact that you have been a visual artist really all your 18 life, and you've always lent your visual art to the design 19 of your recordings. The albums have always been, in each 20 case, included some artwork of yours, and even more 21 assertively, it seems in recent years. 22 A. Well, all but "Blue" album which was -- which 23 I didn't do. And I don't recall why now, but I think I ran away 24 from home that year (laughs). I think I went to Europe or 25 something, but, yeah, because I was -- I've always been 26 a painter, and when I became a musician and was faced with 27 the release of an album and this package, this space to be 28 decorated, I just applied what I always, you know, intended 1 to do. 2 Q. Uh-huh. Where did you -- did you study 3 actually? 4 A. I did briefly. I went to Alberta Institute of 5 Art in Calgary. I didn't think much of the education at 6 that time. It wasn't what I wanted. But because I wanted 7 to be a figurative painter and the professors there were all 8 pouring blue and green paint down incline planes. It was 9 a pocket where traditional painting, classical education, 10 had been kind of abandoned and actually there was a 11 prejudice against anyone with hand-eye coordination and a 12 rendering ability. They wanted you green and, you know, 13 mainly with the impulse to be an artist rather than any 14 chops, and although in the first year you were given marks 15 and that aspect of your ability was evaluated and I did very 16 well, I was in conflict with my profs all of the time mainly 17 because they were Barnet Newman fanatics and I felt that he 18 had failed both, you know, his political thrust was to make 19 something too big for the Bourgeois to slip into their 20 houses but instead they were ending up in General Motors 21 lobbies and everything so, you know, as a "pinko" he'd kind of 22 philosophically failed. 23 Q. I don't know Newman's work. Will you tell us 24 a little more about it? 25 A. Oh, he was kind of the king of the 26 Minimalists, the big blue canvas with the white stripe. I 27 mean after the -- you know, first the stroke was 28 liberated, you know, probably starting with Rembrandt and 1 Van Gogh and the Expressionists, and color was liberated, 2 and then finally abstraction began, and the image, you know, 3 was ruined and it was just a fresh look and then brush 4 stroke was kind of eliminated by the Minimalists. And they 5 earned their place in our history, but I didn't -- and 6 they're great decorative pieces for large, modern 7 structures. You know, they look good in museums and they 8 look good in the lobby of General Motors, you know, but 9 there isn't that much -- and in the art mausoleums that 10 people build these days for that kind of a modern 11 collection. But, so -- but philosophically they were 12 breaking down the window to another world, and there were a 13 lot of the things that were the concepts of older painting 14 which I still admired, and in a way it was kind of sad to 15 find that your impulses belonged to another era and that you 16 weren't going to be given the knowledge that you sought. So 17 I was in conflict with them most of the time. 18 Q. Something -- if I can -- if I can say this, 19 that there seems something very rooted and traditional 20 in your artwork. 21 A. Well, this is my 90s work. And in the 90s I 22 decided, you know, just to do -- to follow my instinct, my 23 initial impulses. I entered art school and teach myself 24 what I wanted to learn. In the 80s I painted large and 25 abstractly just to get rid of that prejudice, you know. And 26 I learned a lot about brush style and texture and I enjoyed 27 the journey. I still don't think that much -- I'm not 28 a "Moderne," you know. I like Post-Modern because of its, you 1 know, return to a certain amount of classicism, but, yeah, I 2 live in an old house, for one thing, and I paint for myself 3 for another. I'm not part of the art world or the game. 4 It's not like it's a hobby, you know. It's truly an 5 obsession that I've never lost. 6 But -- but this type of art -- I can't afford 7 (laughs), you know, I painted paintings that I wanted, like 8 about subjects that I wanted to see on my wall so they're 9 very personal subjects. You know, there's my cat. Well, 10 that painting -- we could start with that. 11 That was painted out of necessity. My cat, 12 Nietzsche, peed all over a couple of chairs, and you can't 13 snuggle him because he's part ocelot, so I said to him -- 14 and I love this cat. Look at his eyes. I mean he's such a 15 romantic animal. 16 Q. Let's walk over to the painting. 17 A. I said to him, if you're going to act like an 18 animal, you're going to live like an animal, and I grabbed 19 him by the stump of the tail and the nape of the neck, and I 20 put him outside which I never do because we have coyotes 21 that live at the end of the block. Well, he had the most 22 hurt expression in his eyes and he disappeared for 18 days. 23 Well, this cat and I have a ritual on the stairs 24 between the bedroom and the downstairs of the house. We 25 stop at the top, he stands on his hind legs, I swoop down, 26 he takes my fingers in his mouth and he chews on them. Then 27 we skip the next three steps, and he stands on his hind legs 28 on the third. Then we skip the next two and he stands up 1 again and sometimes he stands up twice on each stair if he 2 really loves me a lot that day. You know, like sometimes he just 3 stands there if I did something, you know, and looks at the 4 ground and doesn't look at me and doesn't stand up at all. 5 But everytime I go down the stairs, this cat goes with me. 6 So with him absent the stairs became a painful place. I 7 mean everytime I went down them, there was hole in me. 8 So the night he disappeared I went looking for 9 pictures of him and found one when he was a kitten that was 10 taken without outdoor film indoors. And his color is kind 11 of lilac-y. He's like a puce color. So it was a kitten and 12 his tail wasn't straight up; it didn't look like him. I 13 thought, I'll never get him back from this. So I painted 14 that the first night of his absence and I had to make the - -- 15 grow him into adult from the picture, the source material I 16 had, put his head straight up and remember the color that he 17 was so that people could identify him. Then a friend of 18 mine had them made up into laminates. And I distributed 19 them with a phone number all through the neighborhood, you know, and 20 this is how I got him back. Eighteen days later a gardener 21 called up and said, he's in our yard. 22 So I went down and he yelled at me. He was so 23 skinny and had such a hurt look. And he yelled and he 24 yelled and he yelled. And I yelled back and I noticed that he 25 wanted to duck and belly up but then he changed his mind. 26 No, he still had more madness to get out. So he yelled at 27 me some more, but I softened my tone, you know, into 28 a pleading tone, and finally he bellied up and I took him 1 home with me. 2 So that painting actually saved him from the wild 3 because he was too proud to come home. I hurt his feelings 4 so bad. 5 Q. And you actually finished this painting in one 6 night? 7 A. In one and a half, yes. 8 Q. In one and a half? 9 A. All one night and the next afternoon we got it 10 photographed on the second day, printed and back on the 11 fourth or fifth, and distributed on the sixth and I got him 12 back on the -- 18 days later. 13 Q. Joni, you say that you paint for yourself. 14 A. Mm-hmm. 15 Q. And there doesn't seem to be an intent of, 16 like, point of origination that you don't paint for a 17 particular exhibit. 18 A. No, I don't paint for galleries, I don't paint 19 for museums. 20 Q. Did Amy Adler actually call you -- 21 A. I paint to go with my couch (laughs). 22 Q. Now, that's the question, if you actually got 23 some artwork from somebody else whether you're allowed to, 24 like, paint over it if it doesn't match your couch. You 25 wouldn't do that? 26 A. Oh, I've done that. 27 Q. Oh, no Joni. 28 A. Well, not necessarily to match my old 1 paintings and work on them, you know, like change the color 2 for one reason or another but that's as good as any. I 3 mean, after all, they're domestic decorations. You 4 know, that's really what they are, they're domestic 5 decorations. 6 Q. Did Amy Adler actually contact you -- 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. -- about curating the show? 9 A. Yes, through Wayne Shorter. She -- 10 Q. Through the composer? 11 A. Yes. They were gathering up there, she and a 12 couple of other girls, you know, spending time with Wayne, 13 and she mentioned that she would like to curate this show. 14 Q. And did she ask you -- did she say I want - -- 15 I'd like to present X number of paintings or anything like 16 that? 17 A. She said that there was a limited space and 18 that it would probably require a certain amount -- she'd 19 seen the work on album covers and, you know, even some 20 curators won't take a print on an album cover. They want a 21 certain kind of slide and so on, but I think because Amy 22 already had translated her work into print, she's not so 23 worried about the printed form. But, anyway, it sounded 24 like a fun idea and most of my shows have been 25 fly-by-nights. They've been, like, up one night and down 26 the next, you know. So the idea that the public would be 27 able to see them sounded intriguing. ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V2000 #36 **************************** Don't forget about these ongoing projects: Glossary project: Send a blank message to for all the details. FAQ Project: Help compile the JMDL FAQ. Do you have mailing list-related questions? -send them to Today in History Project: Know of a date-specific Joni fact? - -send it to ------- Post messages to the list at Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe joni-digest" to ------- Siquomb, isn't she?