From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V7 #110 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 Wednesday, May 9 2007 Volume 07 : Number 110 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [loud-fans] In An Unimaginably Ugly Coincidence... [Scout82667@aol.co] Re: [loud-fans] In An Unimaginably Ugly Coincidence... [2fs ] Re: [loud-fans] In An Unimaginably Ugly Coincidence... [Gil Ray Subject: Re: [loud-fans] In An Unimaginably Ugly Coincidence... On 5/8/07, Scout82667@aol.com wrote: > > In a message dated 5/7/2007 10:26:06 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > jeffreyw2fs.j@gmail.com writes: > > Even a notoriously implausibility-drive-enhanced TV show like _24_ manages > to create powerful enough narrative flow and emotional identification to > allow people to forget, even minutes at a time, the rampant > implausibilities > of its narratives and situations. > > I've never seen that show. So, if they follow real time, does Kiefer > say, "I gotta go to the bathroom," and then come back at the end of an > episode? Or, do they follow him into the john? > > I am trying to be funny, but seriously, how do they handle bodily > functions and needing sleep? > They don't. I suppose you could assume that, during the minutes lapsing over commercial breaks, the characters take a bathroom break...but in fact, there are generally several narratives at once, we don't follow them all at all times, and the "real time" thing is (a) not strict; that is, it does not correspond to the exact time on your clock at home, and (b) increasingly in each season, something they more or less ignore. The "days" (each season) are not sequential - in fact, if you're a geek who's into setting up the chronology of the show overall, they're actually several years into the future at this point. Sleep? They'll sleep when they're dead. (Speaking of bathroom breaks, in last night's episode, why did Very Blonde Woman not recall the universal excuse whenever you need to leave a room (which she was supposed to do) - "sorry, I gotta pee like a racehorse"? Nitpicking the show is rather easy: I think, in fact, it's nits all the way down.) - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 May 2007 16:47:52 -0500 From: Holly Kruse Subject: [loud-fans] local music scenes + internet I'm emerging from deep, deep lurk mode to solicit your insights: I'm starting to work on a book chapter that updates my old research/book on indie music scenes by specifically focusing on the effect that the internet has had on notions of locality, local scenes, and local sounds. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, there was a fair amount of popular media attention to local music scenes -- e.g. Athens, GA; Manchester, UK; Seattle; etc. -- and assertions (in many cases spurious) that particular "sounds" were associated with these local scenes. And whatever the validity of these claims, there was little doubt that within localities there were complicated, incestuous genealogies of bands over the years. The persistence of many local players, even as they moved into different bands and collaborated with different people, may contribute to the existence of a local sound or sounds to varying degrees. The key question that I'm interested in is to what extent, if any, MySpace, file sharing, iTunes, lastfm, and the like have changed/diminished the perception that there are local music scenes, changed the way that participants identify with a local scene, and affected the places and spaces of local music. Clearly one consequence is the demise in many places of the local indie record store as a gathering place and source of local knowledge. Thoughts? (And TIA!) Holly - -- Holly Kruse Faculty of Communication The University of Tulsa 600 S. College Ave. Tulsa, OK 74104 918-631-3845 holly-kruse@utulsa.edu http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~holly-kruse ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 May 2007 19:09:02 -0400 From: Jenny Grover Subject: Re: [loud-fans] local music scenes + internet Holly, Local/regional scenes still exist, in large part due to a) it's your friend's band playing tonight and you need something to do anyway, and b) your friend's band may have a following on MySpace from all over who want to hear their songs and buy their record, but your friend's band can't afford to hit the road and play much out of their own region. Likewise, small club owners can't afford to book many bands from outside the region, at least who are known enough to have any power to draw people in, so local bands are mainstays. If you get in a particularly isolated region like I live in, the scene is still very incestuous, and a "sound" or two does seem to prevail or be more popular, despite some modicum of diversity. Also, small labels/collectives are often formed to serve, and most likely to be able to gain as clients, the small-time bands in their own region. And even though I have never limited myself by any means to writing about local bands, these are the bands most likely to seek me out to send promos, invitations to shows, and MySpace friend requests. I still see much evidence of regional pride, not just here, but in other scenes and larger cities, as well. It still means something to be a Philly band, or a DC band, or a Cincy band, or a Portland, OR band. Independent internet radio, however, has opened up the world (in conjunction with things like MySpace and You Tube), allowing people to hear good quality underground and independent music from all over the country, and the world, that they would likely not have otherwise heard. This means a band can be part of a thriving local scene and bent, but not be marginalized so much by that. Jen ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 17:31:30 -0700 (PDT) From: zoom@muppetlabs.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] In An Unimaginably Ugly Coincidence... > I am trying to be funny, but seriously, how do they handle bodily functions > and needing sleep? I don't think an episode with Kiefer sleeping would go > over well. I think the Warhol film of that is boring as hell, and I love > almost anything Warholian. You've actually seen SLEEP, all the way through? That makes you one of only two people I've ever met... An intriguing film about that wave of Warhol, which I'm hoping gets national distribution: A WALK INTO THE SEA: DANNY WILLIAMS AND THE WARHOL FACTORY. Williams, light show designer for the Exploding Plastic Inevitable and a promising, if undersung, filmmaker within the Warhol camp, mysteriously disappeared during a family visit in 1966. Forty years later his niece, Esther Robinson (no, not Esther Williams), picks up a camera and goes looking for her lost uncle. You even get John Cale (though sadly, not Lou or Moe, except in Danny Williams' archival footage). > nr Augusten Burroughs POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS (only DRY remains, and I'll > have read his entire catalog--anyone else have any author suggestions for > me > besides Dennis?) Hm...are you looking for authors, or books? Here's some of what I'm reading lately: "Thunderstruck," by Erik Larson. Seattle author Larson on Guglielmo Marconi, the tireless and secretly-Irish perfecter of the wireless; and how his invention helped catch one of London's most nefarious killers, Dr. H.H. Crippen. Two great tastes that taste great together? "Blood & Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard," by Mark Finn. Born and bred in small-town Texas, disdainful of the oilmen he secretly idolized, summoner of limitless chasms of pre-historical worlds, and dead by his own hand, age 30. People might not know Robert E. Howard's name, but if you asked people about his most famous creation, Conan the Barbarian, I daresay some lights might go on. Mr. Finn, bare-chested and boxing-gloved on the back cover, nonetheless manages a passionate but scholarly biography, tying Howard to his place and time as never before. "What It Used to Be Like: A Portrait of My Marriage to Raymond Carver" by Maryann Burk Carver. The hugely influential poet and short story writer's first wife describes their teenage love in Eastern Washington, their teenage marriage, raising their children, her husband's fame, his drinking, and their eventual breakup. "Mockingbird: A Portrait Of Harper Lee," by Charles J. Shields. The only full-length biography of the woman who penned (allegedly) a masterpiece (or at least something taught ubiquitously), helped Truman Capote with "In Cold Blood," then hid under the tsunami of her own fame. "Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry: the Untold Story of an American Legend," by Scott Reynolds Nelson. Yes, John Henry was a real person. No, nobody knew for sure up until now. Nelson takes the radical step of printing the facts along with the legend. "The Hippie Narrative," by Scott MacFarlane. From Skagit Valley comes an assesment of the 60's through reading Brautigan, Pynchon, Hesse, Kotzwinkle, Vonnegut, and others. "Mishima's Sword," by Christopher Ross. A steeped-in-Japan Westerner goes looking for the sword that disemboweled the most controversial writer in the recent history, of the Land of the Rising Sun. "Terrorist," by John Updike. Updike tries his hand at a post-9/11 narrative, coughing up, so far, one scarcely-believable young black woman, but some fine etched portraits in stress and ennui. "Falling Boy," by Alison McGhee. A paraplegic boy turns himself into a superhero, with some help from a few friends and some enormous metaphysical strides. Happy reading, Andy "Did they have Pin the Macho on the Man?" - --overheard at work recently ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 17:47:08 -0700 (PDT) From: zoom@muppetlabs.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] local music scenes + internet >The key question that I'm interested in is to what > extent, > if any, MySpace, file sharing, iTunes, lastfm, and the like have changed/diminished the perception that there are local music scenes, changed > the way that participants identify with a local scene, and affected the places and spaces of local music. Clearly one consequence is the demise in > many places of the local indie record store as a gathering place and source >of local knowledge. Thoughts? (And TIA!) In one case, the ability of folks to look up pertinent information (or more precisely lack of same) on the web, could have prevented A&R men from swarming cluelessly over the southern landscape...from a Pop Conference 2007 presentation, at the Experience Music Project: "The New Market Affair: Scouting the Hills of the Shenandoah Valley for the Next Big Thing" In 1993, at the height of the post-Nirvana alternative rock explosion, SPIN magazine published an April Fools article about how New Market, Virginia, was going to be Americas next big music town. I was living in nearby Harrisonburg, and I watched as record companies descended on this remote rural area, looking for new bands to sign. This small-scale major label feeding frenzy was a sign of the timesan illustration of the 1990s boom-bust cycleand it also provided plenty of opportunities for mischief, not to mention a few good life lessons. I treasured this memory for years, occasionally telling a friend or two about it, but I didnt follow up on this half- remembered story until recently. This led me down a path into a synapse-frying labyrinth that includes hoaxed publications like The New York Times and The Baffler, the phrase swingin on the flippety flop, a well known group from Charlottesville, Virginia named The Dave Matthews Band, a lesser known group from the same town called The Karl Rove, an abrasive record mogul nicknamed the poison dwarf, and an ever-shifting line between truth and deception. I realize that the corporate-rush-to-co-opt-underground-music story has been told before, but there are some unexpected turns in this tale, particularly at the end, and there are other surprising bits of weirdness sprinkled throughout. Kembrew McLeod is an independent documentary filmmaker and a media studies scholar at the University of Iowa. He has published two books on copyright and music, produced a 2001 documentary about the music industry, and is currently finishing two other documentaries. (The details included a nonexistent bar called "Stinky's"...) Andy "It's actually Chuck Norris. He's the frontman for every rock band." - --two guys at work, finding similarities where I, at least, found none, between a photo of Explosions In The Sky and a photo of the new old lineup of Dinosaur Jr. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 21:17:27 EDT From: Scout82667@aol.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] In An Unimaginably Ugly Coincidence... In a message dated 5/8/2007 8:31:53 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, zoom@muppetlabs.com writes: You've actually seen SLEEP, all the way through? That makes you one of only two people I've ever met... No, I haven't seen it all the way through. That would be torturous. Who knew that an artist would predate the "sleep study" by about two decades? Speaking of those, I'm supposed to have one in June. Just please don't grainy Super 8 film it and call it art. - --Mark, whose ENT doctor is going to town on me--tonsils and adenoids out at 39 next month (it's supposed to be hard on adults), along with allergy injections and sleep study? No fun. Well, maybe I'll lose some weight sipping my meals through a straw for two weeks.... p.s. Singulair is from heaven--insurance rocks ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 18:26:13 -0700 (PDT) From: "Tim Walters" Subject: [loud-fans] Winterpills plus good lit This just came over the transom, and I thought some of our Northeastern folk migt be interested. I can testify that all three headlining authors are excellent, and while I haven't heard Philip Price solo, I really like his old band the Maggies. - ------ A Speculatively Spectacular Evening with: Elizabeth Hand (Generation Loss) John Crowley (Endless Things) Paul Park (The White Tyger) Flora Reed & Philip Price (of the Winterpills) & a selection of interstitial material (i.e. in the breaks) from Michael DeLuca, Jedediah Berry, Diana Gordon, &c. Celebrate spring with Small Beer Presss Speculatively Spectacular evening of art, readings, music, and perhaps a little more. Beginning at 7 p.m. on May 17, the event will be held at Artifacts, a new gallery at 28 North Maple Street in Florence, MA. Artifacts is housed in a converted warehouse, where guests will be able to meet the authors, listen, dance if they are so inclined, and mingle as three bestselling authors showcase their latest offerings. John Crowley (Endless Things), Elizabeth Hand (Generation Loss), and Paul Park (The White Tyger) will headline the event. Crowley, who lives in Conway and teaches at Yale, and Hand, who lives on the Maine coast, will be reading from their recently published novels (see next page for reviews). Park, who teaches at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, will read from his latest novel, The White Tyger. A variety of other local authors will read their work, including a number of contributors to Small Beer Presss tiny lit zine, LCRW. The evening will be topped off by Flora Reed and Philip Price (of the critically-acclaimed Winterpills), who will provide musical entertainment. Guests will be expected to peruse the art, be polite to the authors, provide good conversation, and, on leaving, remember where they parked their jetpacks. Founded by Gavin J. Grant and Kelly Link and located in Northampton, MA, Small Beer Press is devoted to publishing the best in independent fabulist and speculative fiction. ### Praise for Elizabeth Hands Generation Loss: Hands terse but transporting prose keeps the reader turning pages until Nearys gritty charm does, finally, shine through. Entertainment Weekly Hand combines elements of the traditional amateur-sleuth mystery with a visceral story of personal redemption, and her pulsating prose smacks us in the face with frank, fascinating discussions of sex and drugs. . . . The utterly compelling protagonist, whose self-loathing competes with her hatred of life to see which can beat her into submission first, wins us over almost in spite of herself. Brilliantly written and completely original, Hands novel is an achievement with a capital A. Booklist (Starred Review) Praise for John Crowleys Endless Things: With Endless Things and the completion of the Fgypt cycle, Crowley has constructed one of the finest, most welcoming tales contemporary fiction has to offer us.Book Forum The perfect ending to a true master work which offers a densely detailed exploration of the connections between story and history, the fictions which inspire our imagination and the desires which inspire our visions of the future. At its heart, however, Endless Things is a love story about books and readers, and as such is a treasure trove for any reader who wishes to delve into the timeless mysteries of books and stories. Green Man Review When: Thursday, May 17, 7 PM Where: Artifacts 28 North Maple Street Florence, MA 01062 413-320-9480 Art: Appropriately for Maine author Elizabeth Hands post-punk lit thriller Generation Loss, Artifacts will hold over the photographs from Susie J. Horgans Punk Love. Music: Flora Reed & Philip Price (of the critically-acclaimed Winterpills), Refreshments: Will be provided. As will seats, walls, windows, and doors. Tickets: This is not a ticketed event and entrance is free. Books: The authors books will be available on the night at a table manned by stalwart booksellers from Amherst Books. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 20:41:42 -0500 From: 2fs Subject: Re: [loud-fans] In An Unimaginably Ugly Coincidence... On 5/8/07, zoom@muppetlabs.com wrote: > > > "Mockingbird: A Portrait Of Harper Lee," by Charles J. Shields. The > only full-length biography of the woman who penned (allegedly) a > masterpiece (or at least something taught ubiquitously), helped Truman > Capote with "In Cold Blood," then hid under the tsunami of her own fame. I would think that "allegedly" belongs in front of "masterpiece," if that's what you're doubting. Curiously, Capote also "hid under the tsunami of [his] own fame" (as did, speaking of writers with one and only one novel but hugely successful and/or influential) Ralph Ellison. (Yes, I know the rumors that Capote ghost-wrote TKAM...but my suspicion is that's a gender-based variation on the idea that someone not from the best families like Shakespeare couldn't possibly have written his plays...) - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 20:42:40 -0500 From: 2fs Subject: Re: [loud-fans] Winterpills plus good lit On 5/8/07, Tim Walters wrote: > > This just came over the transom, and I thought some of our Northeastern > folk migt be interested. I can testify that all three headlining authors > are excellent, and while I haven't heard Philip Price solo, I really like > his old band the Maggies. I've heard a handful of Winterpills songs (Price's current band), and they're excellent. On my list... - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 18:48:28 -0700 (PDT) From: Gil Ray Subject: Re: [loud-fans] In An Unimaginably Ugly Coincidence... - --- Scout82667@aol.com wrote: > --Mark, whose ENT doctor is going to town on > me--tonsils and adenoids out at > 39 next month (it's supposed to be hard on adults), That's crazy, Stacey and I have a friend, the same age, that just had this done. Yep, get ready for a liquid diet, for a while. He did ok, and Stacey, being the best angel in the world, drove down to L.A. to hang with him for the first couple of days after the surgery. Good luck with that Mark. You'll do fine. Gil ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 May 2007 22:01:58 -0400 From: Jenny Grover Subject: Re: [loud-fans] In An Unimaginably Ugly Coincidence... zoom@muppetlabs.com wrote: > "Mockingbird: A Portrait Of Harper Lee," by Charles J. Shields. The > only full-length biography of the woman who penned (allegedly) a > masterpiece (or at least something taught ubiquitously), helped Truman > Capote with "In Cold Blood," then hid under the tsunami of her own fame. > How is this? I've been very curious. > "Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry: the Untold Story of an American Legend," > by Scott Reynolds Nelson. Yes, John Henry was a real person. No, > nobody knew for sure up until now. Nelson takes the radical step of > printing the facts along with the legend. > It has long been known in WV that he was a real person. Jen ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 19:04:02 -0700 (PDT) From: Gil Ray Subject: Re: [loud-fans] local music scenes + internet This is a very intriguing question! Personally, I've been so out of the loop on any type of music scene, (only about 18 years removed!), I really have no idea what's going on, but being the cranky old fart that I am, I'm gonna guess that the dang internet has screwed everything up - at least as far as a true, localized music scene goes. It seems so...global (YUK!), now... Hate to say it, but I also have very little faith in today's youth, regarding this topic. It all seems so disposable to me. Of course, I'm probably wrong, but there you go. I'd love to hear Bradley Skaught's thoughts on this. He's in a band, and probably has way better insight on this, even though I think the Bay Area has been "music scene" challenged for about 25 years. Gil --- Holly Kruse wrote: > I'm emerging from deep, deep lurk mode to solicit > your insights: > > I'm starting to work on a book chapter that updates > my old research/book on > indie music scenes by specifically focusing on the > effect that the internet > has had on notions of locality, local scenes, and > local sounds. Back in the > 1980s and 1990s, there was a fair amount of popular > media attention to local > music scenes -- e.g. Athens, GA; Manchester, UK; > Seattle; etc. -- and > assertions (in many cases spurious) that particular > "sounds" were associated > with these local scenes. And whatever the validity > of these claims, there > was little doubt that within localities there were > complicated, incestuous > genealogies of bands over the years. The persistence > of many local players, > even as they moved into different bands and > collaborated with different > people, may contribute to the existence of a local > sound or sounds to > varying degrees. The key question that I'm > interested in is to what extent, > if any, MySpace, file sharing, iTunes, lastfm, and > the like have > changed/diminished the perception that there are > local music scenes, changed > the way that participants identify with a local > scene, and affected the > places and spaces of local music. Clearly one > consequence is the demise in > many places of the local indie record store as a > gathering place and source > of local knowledge. Thoughts? (And TIA!) > > Holly > > -- > Holly Kruse > Faculty of Communication > The University of Tulsa > 600 S. College Ave. > Tulsa, OK 74104 > 918-631-3845 > holly-kruse@utulsa.edu > http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~holly-kruse ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 20:16:32 -0700 (PDT) From: zoom@muppetlabs.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] In An Unimaginably Ugly Coincidence... > No, I haven't seen it all the way through. That would be torturous. Ah. So I've only met one person who's seen it all the way through. > --Mark, whose ENT doctor is going to town on me--tonsils and adenoids out > at > 39 next month (it's supposed to be hard on adults), along with allergy injections and sleep study? No fun. Well, maybe I'll lose some weight sipping my > meals through a straw for two weeks.... I have one friend who had it all done at roughly age 34--tonsils, adenoids, and a portion of the palate. Tough, but he got through. You don't describe your own condition, and you don't have to if you don't want to, but, the friend in question had a very serious problem with sleep apnea, and the doctor told him he needed surgery for any hope of sleeping normally. Frankly, his weighing dangerously close to 400 pounds didn't help, Andy "Pop stars can't say negative things. Not on TV." - --overheard at work recently ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 20:41:32 -0700 (PDT) From: zoom@muppetlabs.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] In An Unimaginably Ugly Coincidence... >> "Mockingbird: A Portrait Of Harper Lee," by Charles J. Shields. The >> only full-length biography of the woman who penned (allegedly) a >> masterpiece (or at least something taught ubiquitously), helped Truman >> Capote with "In Cold Blood," then hid under the tsunami of her own fame. > > I would think that "allegedly" belongs in front of "masterpiece," if > that's > what you're doubting. "penned a (allegedly) masterpiece"? I'm afraid I don't quite follow. > Curiously, Capote also "hid under the tsunami of > [his] > own fame" (as did, speaking of writers with one and only one novel but > hugely successful and/or influential) Ralph Ellison. Not sure I follow, again. Capote adored the limelight, and may well have furnished Lee with a negative example to reverse-follow. > (Yes, I know the rumors that Capote ghost-wrote TKAM...but my suspicion is > that's a gender-based variation on the idea that someone not from the best > families like Shakespeare couldn't possibly have written his plays...) Two big problems with that theory, according to Shields. First, no papers from either writer's private collections support it. Second, probably even more conclusive--Capote wasn't shy about playing up his achievements, to the point of dropping whoppers when he thought people would believe him. Yet he never went "on record" as saying he wrote the book, though he didn't correct anyone who did believe it. According to the Shields book, Ms. Lee, however, made an enormous, and hardly acknowledged, contribution to IN COLD BLOOD, starting, but not finishing, with her ability to charm and open doors when the flamboyantly bizarre Capote went over like a lead balloon out in Kansas. The movie INFAMOUS depicts a fair portion of this. "Apart from the stylistic problems involved, I'm sure Marlowe could have done a better job," Andy SAN FRANCISCO - An auction of Grateful Dead memorabilia Tuesday brought in more than $1.1 million for items collected by the band's longtime road manager. The collection of Lawrence "Ram Rod" Shurtliff included a 1975 cream-colored Travis Bean electric guitar played by vocalist and lead guitarist Jerry Garcia, which fetched $312,000, according to Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers. Deadheads bidding by phone and in the crowded auction room bid up prices for band photos, original album artwork, guitars and other musical gear collected by Shurtliff over decades. A leather guitar strap worn by Garcia on stage around 1973 sold for $20,400  four times the estimated selling price. A flight case containing Garcias picks, unopened guitar strings and other accessories sold for $16,800. Garcia, who struggled with drug addiction throughout his life, died of a heart attack in 1995. Shurtliff passed away in 2006. He started as a truck driver for the band in 1967 and went on to become president of the group's board of directors when the Dead incorporated in the 1970s. [--from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070509/ap_en_ot/music_grateful_dead_auction;_ylt=ArCQk8vZPh.Mg1mIYbEl5MHqChkF ] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 20:53:37 -0700 (PDT) From: zoom@muppetlabs.com Subject: Re: [loud-fans] In An Unimaginably Ugly Coincidence... > zoom@muppetlabs.com wrote: >> "Mockingbird: A Portrait Of Harper Lee," by Charles J. Shields. The >> only full-length biography of the woman who penned (allegedly) a >> masterpiece (or at least something taught ubiquitously), helped Truman >> Capote with "In Cold Blood," then hid under the tsunami of her own fame. >> > > How is this? I've been very curious. A sturdy and probably definitive read. Shields got just about everyone who's still alive and willing to talk, which doesn't include Lee, or the 95-year-old sister/manager with whom she lives. See my comments in the earlier post. >> "Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry: the Untold Story of an American Legend," >> by Scott Reynolds Nelson. Yes, John Henry was a real person. No, >> nobody knew for sure up until now. Nelson takes the radical step of >> printing the facts along with the legend. >> > > It has long been known in WV that he was a real person. You're up on me, I haven't read the book past the first few pages. At least, he isn't listed at findagrave.com , Andy Aging punk rocker still swears - but not near kids By Belinda Goldsmith 2 hours, 46 minutes ago NEW YORK (Reuters) - As the singer in a punk rock band, Jim Lindberg faces the dilemma of many of his graying contemporaries -- how to curse and lead a life of rebellion while raising children and paying the mortgage. Lindberg, lead singer of California band Pennywise, still dyes his hair and plays songs at full volume, but he also drives his three daughters to school, lets them listen to Britney Spears, and pays his taxes. Lindberg, 41, is one of the aging breed of punk rockers from the 1970s and 1980s who are finding a way to reconcile a life of rebellion with parental responsibilities such as disciplining children and worrying about media violence. "This is the graying of punk rock where a lot of people who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s are now at an age where they are having kids and getting mortgages. It is a new experience for us," Lindberg told Reuters in a telephone interview. "The strangest part for a lot of my peer group is that we grew up championing the rights of expression but then you see some slasher movie and won't let the kids watch it." Lindberg has just written a book about raising a family while staying true to his punk core which is called "Punk Rock Dad" -- but he admits he probably won't let his daughters, aged 3, 8 and 10, read it due to the bad language and party talk. Lindberg said he is one of millions of dads who grew up in the 1970s following Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols and Joey Ramone of the Ramones, adopting punk rock's rebellious attitude toward the establishment and distinctive clothing. Pennywise, named after the monster from the Stephen King horror novel "It," formed in Hermona Beach, California, in 1988 and is still going, with plans for a new album this year. In 1996 the band's former bassist Jason Thirsk shot himself at the age of 28 after battling alcoholism. Lindberg said Thirsk's death was a real wake up call and then he became a father which really made him grow up although some of his peers have changed little from the early days. "Generation Xers are suffering from prolonged adolescence. You have a lot of people aged 40 and up trying desperately to hold on to their youth, shirking responsibility," said Lindberg. "It is almost certainly defined by those who do have kids and those who don't. Those with kids have cut down on the party circuit and try to limit time away from their family but those without kids still act like they are 18." But Lindberg believes becoming a father, who promotes the benefits of vegetables and early bed, does not necessitate abandoning punk rock. He argues punk music is more about freedom of expression than anti-social behavior -- and punk rockers can be conservative and make good, role-model fathers . "I probably began with the idea that punk rock dads are different from others but I came out the other side realizing that we are really all the same," he said. "But I think as long as you stick to the ideals of punk music, you can be a grey punk rocker." Reuters/Nielsen [--from http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070509/en_nm/books_punkdad_dc;_ylt=An98IgowFf1DdbuZDEK7ORZxFb8C ] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 21:17:25 -0700 From: "bradley skaught" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] local music scenes + internet The demise of record stores is probably a factor, but I think the demise of indie instrument shops is even more of a factor. Sites like Craigslist make it fairly easy to find like-minded folks, but the odds of finding someone who doesn't meet your exact criteria, but ends up being a perfect compliment to your style, is probably rarer. I suppose that anytime you take away face-to-face interaction you're going to have a situation where an artist's individual interests and needs develop in isolation. It's probably hard to generate a scene with distinct personality if that's the situation. The Bay Area's always been a lousy place for that kind of stuff, though--there really isn't a "sound" and the few scenes that have thrived at all have been more lifestyle oriented than musical. A big part of that is geography and traffic, though, and i'm not sure the internet has much effect. It seems to me that the "death of a local scene/sound" started before the internet became a force in music, though, and so my gut feeling is that the effect of the internet is more about how it encouraged something that was already underway. There are a lot of other factors, too, including musical trends and I think we would find some very different results if we were looking at hip-hop or electronic music. B ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 23:26:44 -0500 From: 2fs Subject: Re: [loud-fans] In An Unimaginably Ugly Coincidence... On 5/8/07, zoom@muppetlabs.com wrote: > > >> "Mockingbird: A Portrait Of Harper Lee," by Charles J. Shields. The > >> only full-length biography of the woman who penned (allegedly) a > >> masterpiece (or at least something taught ubiquitously), helped Truman > >> Capote with "In Cold Blood," then hid under the tsunami of her own > fame. > > > > > I would think that "allegedly" belongs in front of "masterpiece," if > > that's > > what you're doubting. > > "penned a (allegedly) masterpiece"? I'm afraid I don't quite follow. Well, you'd have to change it from an adverb to an adjective..."alleged." > Curiously, Capote also "hid under the tsunami of > > [his] > > own fame" (as did, speaking of writers with one and only one novel but > > hugely successful and/or influential) Ralph Ellison. > > Not sure I follow, again. Capote adored the limelight, and may well have > furnished Lee with a negative example to reverse-follow. Yes, I just meant that for all these writers' fame (even though they dealt with it differently - Lee by disappearing, pretty much) none of them managed to finish another full-length novel. > (Yes, I know the rumors that Capote ghost-wrote TKAM...but my suspicion is > > that's a gender-based variation on the idea that someone not from the > best > > families like Shakespeare couldn't possibly have written his plays...) > > Two big problems with that theory, according to Shields. First, no papers > from either writer's private collections support it. Second, probably > even more conclusive--Capote wasn't shy about playing up his achievements, > to the point of dropping whoppers when he thought people would believe > him. Yet he never went "on record" as saying he wrote the book, though he > didn't correct anyone who did believe it. I'm agreeing with you. That is, I think we can assume that Lee wrote the book, as she says she did, unless conclusive evidence is presented to the contrary. It was only Lee and Capote's closeness, I think, that made people suspect otherwise (that, and sexism, as I said). According to the Shields book, Ms. Lee, however, made an enormous, and > hardly acknowledged, contribution to IN COLD BLOOD, starting, but not > finishing, with her ability to charm and open doors when the flamboyantly > bizarre Capote went over like a lead balloon out in Kansas. The movie > INFAMOUS depicts a fair portion of this. Haven't seen that one yet - but _Capote_ certainly makes this clear as well (perhaps not as strongly...though, again, haven't seen _Infamous_ yet). - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 23:28:34 -0500 From: 2fs Subject: Fwd: [loud-fans] local music scenes + internet Accidentally sent this only to Holly: - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: 2fs Date: May 8, 2007 6:02 PM Subject: Re: [loud-fans] local music scenes + internet To: Holly Kruse n 5/8/07, Holly Kruse wrote: > > I'm emerging from deep, deep lurk mode to solicit your insights: > > I'm starting to work on a book chapter that updates my old research/book > on > indie music scenes by specifically focusing on the effect that the > internet > has had on notions of locality, local scenes, and local sounds. Back in > the > 1980s and 1990s, there was a fair amount of popular media attention to > local > music scenes -- e.g. Athens, GA; Manchester, UK; Seattle; etc. -- and > assertions (in many cases spurious) that particular "sounds" were > associated > with these local scenes. And whatever the validity of these claims, there > was little doubt that within localities there were complicated, incestuous > > genealogies of bands over the years. The persistence of many local > players, > even as they moved into different bands and collaborated with different > people, may contribute to the existence of a local sound or sounds to > varying degrees. The key question that I'm interested in is to what > extent, > if any, MySpace, file sharing, iTunes, lastfm, and the like have > changed/diminished the perception that there are local music scenes, > changed > the way that participants identify with a local scene, and affected the > places and spaces of local music. Clearly one consequence is the demise in > many places of the local indie record store as a gathering place and > source > of local knowledge. Thoughts? (And TIA!) My initial thoughts are: if we're talking rock bands (as opposed to pop acts or electronic acts), musicians still need to play together. And that's what creates local scenes. It's possible, especially given computer-based music software, for artists in distant locales to collaborate...but if the band becomes at all successful, people are interested, there'd be some pressure to make it more than just a postal-service -based band (pun intended). I think the truly interesting thing isn't so much bands and scenes as it is gatekeeping. In the past, gatekeepers controlled access to recording equipment, to recordings themselves, and to distribution and promotion. The internet, in some ways, obviates all of that (certainly the first two). It's theoretically possible now (and I think we'll see it happen sooner than later) for a band to form entirely online (whether locally or not), record its songs entirely on computer-based software, and (this is probably the key step) through buzz built by big mp3 blogs (such as Fluxblog, etc.), end up with a recording contract and a fair amount of fans. This was, I'd say, quite literally impossible before the internet: the only comparable situation would be a home recordist (and way more investment in gear needed then) who somehow gets his or her demo into the hands of a label that becomes interested. But of course labels haven't been run by musicians (except indie labels) for years, and most don't accept unsolicited demos (there are simply too many of them). - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com - -- ...Jeff Norman The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V7 #110 *******************************