From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V1 #75 Reply-To: loud-fans@smoe.org Sender: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk loud-fans-digest Saturday, May 12 2001 Volume 01 : Number 075 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [loud-fans] More Paul [Steve Holtebeck ] Re: [loud-fans] Things I don't get [Elizabeth Setler ] Re: [loud-fans] Magnetic Readings ["Andrew Hamlin" ] Re: [loud-fans] um, sharples... (ns) ["Andrew Hamlin" ] Re: [loud-fans] Magnetic Readings [Stewart Mason ] Re: [loud-fans] Magnetic Readings [Jon Tveite ] Re: [loud-fans] things I don't get (ns) [Chris Prew ] Re: [loud-fans] REM goes gold [Dan McCarthy ] Re: [loud-fans] things I don't get (ns) ["CJ" ] Re: [loud-fans] AutoTune [Dana L Paoli ] [loud-fans] CD Trading Tree ["Joseph M. Mallon" ] [loud-fans] Neil Young, perfectionist [steve ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 09:11:02 -0700 From: Steve Holtebeck Subject: Re: [loud-fans] More Paul "(The Arch-Villain) West" wrote: > Incidentally, I noticed that a 2CD Paul McCartney best-of is being released > this week, along with (following the Beatle blueprint) a 2-hour TV special. > Has anyone heard anything, good or bad, about this? I won't be home but I > could tape it if it's worth watching. My chief concern is that I heard the TV > show is kind of a Linda lovefest, and while I have no objections to Paul being > in love with Linda, I'm more interested in the music. And I'm sure we'd all > like to know more about the dope bust in Japan. The corporate skinny on the TV special is at: http://hollywoodandvine.com/paulmccartney It's on tonight (May 11th) at 9pm, and even though it sounds like a little more than a two hour commercial for the WINGSPAN album, and there won't be anything that deviates from the McCartney party line, since it was produced by Paul's son-in-law Alistair Donald, I'm still planning on checking it out. It can't be any worse than that "Beatles Revolution" special that ABC did last year, and I watched that. Two hours of Beatles related interviews with Tim Allen, J.K. Rowling, Kate Hudson, and Justin from N'Sync (all "fifth Beatles" in their own way) is an endurance fest in itself, but I think there really wasn't anything else on TV that night! Is there some corporate connection between the Beatles and ABC/Disney? ABC did the Beatles Anthology series in 1995, and every fab-four fueled hypefest since, so there must be something in these specials for them! McCartney's "Junk" was also featured in the movie JERRY MCGUIRE -- which I've never actually seen (Tom Cruise is evil), but it's on the soundtrack album, and so is "Momma Miss America", not to mention Aimee Mann's "Wise Up". Cameron Crowe is the king of movie soundtracks. Steve ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 09:40:06 +0800 From: Elizabeth Setler Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Things I don't get At 11:34 PM -0500 5/10/01, steve wrote: >On Thursday, May 10, 2001, at 07:03 AM, Elizabeth Setler wrote: > >>On the "Things I Don't Get" thread, a recent headline on the cover >>of Modern Bride Magazine - "Ten ways to put the sizzle back in your >>sex life! >>" On *Modern Bride.* Shouldn't this not be a problem at that point? > > >Depends on how long the couple has been living together, I would think. I suppose... although I think that if you're planning the sort of wedding that requires consulting bridal publications, there must be some starry-eyed romance still left (otherwise, you'd probably end up in a belltower with an Uzi). Also, I find it really depressing that there are people who think, "Well, the sex has gotten pretty dull - let's you and I make this thing permanent, babe!" But in retrospect, I wish I'd looked at the article; I'd sort of like to see their take on the subject. Based on my brief experience with the publication a few years back, I'm guessing it involves spending at *least* $10k with their advertisers. :-) - -- Elizabeth ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 13:47:17 -0400 (EDT) From: Michael Mitton Subject: [loud-fans] Magnetic Readings There's an article in Slate right now on how authors, wanting to avoid the dreaded book tour, have started doing readings before concerts. The article mainly talks about Rick Moody doing a reading before the Magnetic Fields show at the 9:30 Club in DC. Here's the link: http://slate.msn.com/culturebox/entries/01-05-10_105803.asp The only time I've ever seen a reading before a show was just recently at GBV in Portland. I still don't know who that guy was. My only recollection of his poetry is that he kept using a certain word to refer to a part of his body, apparently only to prove that he had said body part. - --Michael M "They have the Internet on computers now!" ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 16:52:21 -0400 From: Dana L Paoli Subject: [loud-fans] um, sharples... (ns) There's a Beatles auction on eBay right now. I don't think that any of us will be bidding (it's at $13,000+ right now) but what's kind of neat is that the seller has posted images of all the documents being sold: a bunch of papers relating to their Ed Sullivan appearance. Meaning that all of us have the opportunity to download the scans, which are somewhat interesting... Well, interesting is a relative word, but... http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1428097999 - --dana ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 14:25:14 -0700 From: "Andrew Hamlin" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Magnetic Readings >There's an article in Slate right now on how authors, wanting to avoid the >dreaded book tour, have started doing readings before concerts. The >article mainly talks about Rick Moody doing a reading before the Magnetic >Fields show at the 9:30 Club in DC. Sad how wearying many authors find the road. I go to a fair number of readings, and okay, sometimes an author isn't an accomplished reader (Ethan Canin, whose THE PALACE THIEF I'll declare one of the finest books of the past decade), and sometimes the crowd doesn't materialize (Joanna Rose, whose novel LITTLE MISS STRANGE looked interesting, read to a crowd of five, I think, though granted one of the couple-five was Sherman Alexie, and the U Book Store abandoned weekday-afternoon readings, except for kids, shortly thereafter)--but I recall most Seattle readings as vigorous, well-packed, often-humorous, and ever-vital, with, for the most part, intelligent questions and answers during that portion. Which reminds me, an author may always give the answer s/he thinks a question deserves. David Foster Wallace came through a few years back, and from what I heard from someone who went, his reply to one query went along the lines of: "If that's the sort of question I'm going to get this whole tour, I may as well quit right now." Come to think of it, the touring authors as described could practically be the Loud Family on tour. Cramped, rushed, pushed into performing from their nominal bosses who nevertheless refuse to underwrite any aspect of said perfoming, unappreciative audiences, and, if you're lucky, a few shifted units. Who has a better deal? On the one hand, a rock act is usually loud enough to drown out any snickers, and light-blasted enough to not see the faces of the people not there--though the musicians probably have a feel for the size, or non-size, of a house. On the other hand, it's hard for me to imagine a typical club audience ceasing conversation, chain-smoking, etc., long enough to listen to one person with one microphone, or facilitate the listening of others. Let's hear it for offhand use of the word "gonzo," Andy the ARTISTE was quoted as saying "i was in a building. the lights went out. it was cool, pretty much." he went on to explain that "the haircut was a strike against the very heart of darkness that these here so called 'rolling blackouts' represent. this stuff really makes me sick, you know? i want my head to be a symbol of hope and fruitfulness, you know?" he refused further explanation. [--Anton Barbeau on California's rolling blackouts, from his latest broadcast e-mail] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 14:30:03 -0700 From: "Andrew Hamlin" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] um, sharples... (ns) >Meaning that >all of us have the opportunity to download the scans, which are somewhat >interesting... Wallpaper anyone? How do we know A.J. Weberman didn't cook this up, Andy "Throughout the year, I keep some bees at the abbey so that I can sting myself. Each week I take one bee sting in the knee; a local allergy specialist suggested this. Years ago, when I was first assigned the apiary, I nearly choked to death when a bee got into my suit and stung me in the neck. I was far from help and not breathing well. Fortunately, I had an anaphylactic kit my mother had given me, and after three injections of epinephrine my throat began to relax. Later, after the allergist thoroughly tested me, he suggested regular exposure to venom. And nowadays, I have no reaction to bee stings at all. They hurt for 10 seconds and it's over. Not so hornet or wasp stings. Nasty creatures! Pain is worse the next day. The allergist told me that hornet venom is more closely related to that of rattlesnakes than to honeybees. Hornets and wasps have a very loud color: glossy black and yellow, almost as if they were made of plastic. But a honeybee is a muted amber and black, sometimes all black. And the honeybee is not inquisitive like the hornet; it is interested only in plant pollen and nectar. As soon as a honeybee discovers that the cologne you are wearing and your loud shirt do not equal a flower, it will move on." - --Rimy Rougeau, Benedictine monk and author of the novel ALL WE KNOW OF HEAVEN, from http://slate.msn.com/diary/01-05-07/diary.asp ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 16:06:21 -0500 (CDT) From: Jon Tveite Subject: Re: [loud-fans] things I don't get (ns) On Thursday, May 10, 2001, at 02:28 PM, triggercut wrote: > Not only does Jesus not get to lord over Kenosha, he's also a friggin' > ballhog, at least according to this site: > > http://www.catholicsupply.com/christmas/sports.html I know I'm going to hell, but this is immensely entertaining to me. 2 quick comments: I swear, in the track tableau, it looks like Jesus is checking out the lead runner kid's ass. Maybe it's just the camera angle. Not that I'm casting the first stone, or anything. I would definitely buy the hockey one . . . if only they had put blades on Jesus' sandals instead of the traditional lace-up skates. Very disappointing. Jon ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 15:56:19 -0600 From: Stewart Mason Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Magnetic Readings At 02:25 PM 5/11/01 -0700, Andrew Hamlin wrote: >Sad how wearying many authors find the road. I go to a fair number of >readings, and okay, sometimes an author isn't an accomplished reader (Ethan >Canin, whose THE PALACE THIEF I'll declare one of the finest books of the >past decade), and sometimes the crowd doesn't materialize (Joanna Rose, >whose novel LITTLE MISS STRANGE looked interesting, read to a crowd of five, >I think, though granted one of the couple-five was Sherman Alexie, and the U >Book Store abandoned weekday-afternoon readings, except for kids, shortly >thereafter)--but I recall most Seattle readings as vigorous, well-packed, >often-humorous, and ever-vital, with, for the most part, intelligent >questions and answers during that portion. I've only been to a few readings myself, but my favorite local bookstore is also the primary venue for readings in town, and I've often been there while someone I didn't care about was droning on, and it seems like they usually have a pretty large and attentive crowd. Two of the readings I did actually make a point to attend, David Sedaris and Amy Tan, were *packed*--in Tan's case, to the point that the people who were only there to shop couldn't actually get to most of the shelves. I think the key factor in how large and how attentive a reader's crowd is remains "How good are they as a reader?" David Sedaris, as anyone who's ever heard him on This American Life knows, has the rhythms and stage presence of a stand-up comic, and naturally he was brilliant. (The fact that he took the time not only to pimp his own books, but books by two of his favorite writers--Francine Prose's THE BLUE ANGEL and TAKE THE CANNOLI by my beloved Sarah Vowell--led to several people buying copies of those as well, which I think was a nice touch.) Amy Tan was really smart; I like her novels, although I can't help but notice that they're all pretty much exactly alike, but it would be impossible to hold a crowd's interest with an excerpt from one of her books. So instead she delivered a 30-minute monologue about the last week of her mother's life that was alternately incredibly sad and hilariously funny. Given that humor is not a big part of her books, it was really interesting to see a different side of her. I will say, however, that rarely have I heard a question asked at a book reading (or a film festival screening, come to think of it) that wasn't either head-smackingly lame or unbearably pretentious. S ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 17:05:39 -0500 (CDT) From: Jon Tveite Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Magnetic Readings On Fri, 11 May 2001, Andrew Hamlin wrote: > Sad how wearying many authors find the road. I can understand it, though. To my mind, literature is not really among "the Performing Arts". A lot of authors are big personalities who put on a really good show in public, but then a lot of good writers are writers because they DON'T like to get up and try to entertain people face to face. The dog-and-pony aspect has only recently become the expected norm, and it's mainly for economic reasons -- to sell books. Jon ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 17:30:37 -0500 From: Chris Prew Subject: Re: [loud-fans] things I don't get (ns) Unless I'm mistaken, Jesus bats right but he's a lefty on the ice. Hmmmm...what would Jesus Christ yell out when he blows an 18 inch putt? Chris > On Thursday, May 10, 2001, at 02:28 PM, triggercut wrote: > >> Not only does Jesus not get to lord over Kenosha, he's also a friggin' >> ballhog, at least according to this site: >> >> http://www.catholicsupply.com/christmas/sports.html > http://www.sombertown.com Listen to live sombertown tracks at http://www.mp3.com/sombertown ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 17:01:09 -0400 From: Dan McCarthy Subject: Re: [loud-fans] AutoTune At 05:17 PM 5/7/01 -0500, Jon Tveite wrote: >Won't it be wonderful when the human element is completely removed from >music altogether? Someday.... > >Jon Someday has arrived... german electronic band Oval's most recent CD, "OvalProcess", consists entirely of computer-generated music. Marcus Popp, the man behind Oval, programmed a piece of software (OvalProcess) that randomly or not-so-randomly reorders and generates samples based on user-set parameters. I don't know all the details but a google search on "ovalprocess" would probably pull up pertinent data. And first runner-up is the Autechre show I just saw on Monday night... two guys with laptops standing on stage doing, as far as I can tell, virtually nothing. I think they twiddled a knob every once in a while. Though they're one of my favourite bands, I left about twenty minutes early because what I was hearing was identical to the music on their new CD. Sorry for the late response, I've been neglecting email lately. (the other) Dan ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 20:09:32 -0400 From: Dan McCarthy Subject: Re: [loud-fans] REM goes gold At 09:32 PM 5/8/01 -0700, dc wrote: >since we're about to be discussing new REM, let's talk about some more >vintage fare... > >skimming for bootlegs on Ebay, i'm reminded of the existence of several >"24 karat gold" CD's pressed by the (apparently now defunct) Mobile >Fidelity Sound Lab label, specifically "Murmur" and "Reckoning." has >anybody heard and/or purchased these? were they remastered? is there any >noticeable improvement over the regular pressings? what exactly is the >advantage of a gold disc supposed to be? MFSL discs are almost all of extremely high quality. As far as the 'advantage of a gold disc', the official MFSL (and, later, Sony) stance is that aluminum submits more easily to a condition called 'disc rot' which supposedly can eventually affect sound quality and playability. Gold sputtering allows a finer distribution of reflective surface and 'dramatically' eliminates oxidation. I'm sure it's probably supported by research, but I wouldn't get paranoid about it if I were you as I've never come across a cd that HAS submitted to the insidious 'disc rot'. As for Murmur in particular- it's almost the definitive example of MFSL's UltraDisc II remastering process/GAIN system. The percussion is brought much higher into the mix and much crisper sounding (the previous incarnation of the recording had all-but-inaudible kick drums). It's a much warmer and smoother recording, and the guitars are much brighter than the original, muddy master. MFSL also used the original masters so the recording isn't mastered from one of the numerous blanks that studios would produce in order to preserve the integrity of the master. It's a shame the company is now-defunct. All this info and more can be found in an excellent article at this URL: http://members.aol.com/boardwalk7/mofi/mofi.html (the other) Dan ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 20:33:27 -0500 From: "CJ" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] things I don't get (ns) Chris Prew: > Hmmmm...what would Jesus Christ yell out when he blows an 18 inch putt? A: ME! (OK, yeah, totally swiped from 'What did Geronimo yell when he jumped off a cliff?'... I'll just get back to lurking...) CJ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 22:26:27 -0400 From: Dana L Paoli Subject: Re: [loud-fans] AutoTune And first runner-up is the Autechre show I just saw on Monday night... two guys with laptops standing on stage doing, as far as I can tell, virtually nothing. I think they twiddled a knob every once in a while. Though they're one of my favourite bands, I left about twenty minutes early because what I was hearing was identical to the music on their new CD. >>>>>>>>> What's sort of interesting is that I was reading today about U.S. Maple (who's new album "Acre Thrills" is thrilling me) and one of the things that seems to make their fans very happy is the fact that what you hear in concert is identical to what's on the CD (which comes as a major surprise if you've heard the CD). I'm sure that there's an interesting lesson to be learned there, somewhere. - --dana ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 20:07:32 -0700 (PDT) From: "Joseph M. Mallon" Subject: [loud-fans] CD Trading Tree I am running a CD Trading tree for another list for Yes - LIVE IN HAMPSTEAD Plus! The show is from 1971, and there are plenty of extra goodies as well! The tree is ready for sign-up, and I thought some of the folks on this list might be interested. Sign-up is available from May 11, 2001 to May 21, 2001. The tree will be ready by May 24, 2001. Go here for all the information and to sign up: http://www.joescafe.com/tree/hampsteadtree.htm Ten true summers, J. Mallon ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 22:37:54 -0500 From: steve Subject: [loud-fans] Neil Young, perfectionist More money to spend - http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/2001-05-11-buffalo-springfield.htm - - Steve __________ No previous administration has tried to sell its economic plans on such false pretenses. And this from a man who ran for president on a promise to restore honor and integrity to our nation's public life. - Paul Krugman, on Bush, from his book Fuzzy Math. ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V1 #75 ******************************