From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V8 #25 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, January 31 2009 Volume 08 : Number 025 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [loud-fans] New Crappy Album covers ["Paul King" ] Re: [loud-fans] The Firemen [Tom Marcinko ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 06:54:48 -0500 From: "Paul King" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] New Crappy Album covers > You know, once you see these things, they can't be UN-seen... : ) > Heh heh ... :) I've now been clued-in enough to make Wordpress release these entries on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. I used to release these things on sporadic Fridays with no other discernible pattern. I am hoping to keep to the new schedule, and it paces me also. Now, it's possible to spend a couple of hours looking for enough images for that week, then slowly adding commentary over the course of the week. So the next release will be tomorrow, then every second day up to Wednesday. I've done a count, and since last February, I have had 62 articles and over 200 album covers. You know, it is true that they can't be un-seen, but if you see them on a regular basis over time, the wounds to your psyche will begin to heal nicely :-) Click below, if you dare ... BTW, I found The Firemen on Billboard: Electronic Arguments was released in November 2008 (not 2009 as claimed) and peaked at #67. The album is now at #91 in the Hot 100. "Sing The Changes", what I thought would be a hit single, is currently only a hit single in Japan, hanging in there also at #91. Maybe the publicity/promo machine hasn't kicked in yet. > On Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 7:20 PM, Paul King wrote: > > > Get your fix ... > > > > http://wordpress.com/tag/crappy-album-covers > > > > Paul > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature > database 3802 (20090126) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > > http://www.eset.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:11:05 -0700 From: Tom Marcinko Subject: Re: [loud-fans] The Firemen "And then a hockey game broke out..." On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 4:46 PM, Andrew Hamlin wrote: > On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 6:00 PM, Tom Marcinko wrote: > > I have a CD of an early incarnation of The Move called The Uglies. If > > anybody's interested? It's a psychedelic freak-out! > > Okay, but...does it beat out Klingon opera? > > yIDoghQo', > > Andy > > > A Night at the (Klingon) Opera > by Anthony Merlino > reprinted from "Interstellar Business Traveler" > August 2357 > > My wife, Ann, and I have always been fans of the theater so when my > editor handed me two tickets to the Imperial Opera Company's > performance at the Hero's Theatre of Krios during a recent business > trip we both looked forward to sampling this unique expression of > Klingon culture. Nothing could have prepared us for the experience and > the effect on our lives. > > Firstly, we arrived at the Theater in formal evening wear, as one > might expect at a prestigious performance of a national professional > company. Yet, the local Klingons in attendance seemed oblivious to > this, arriving with dirty boots and half-full bottles of liquor, > having starting their festivities early. Unlike other, more somber > occasions, the boisterousness of the crowd was more what one would > expect at a street brawl. > > And for a state opera house, the theater was completely lacking in > style or flair. The walls and floors were unadorned stone rising > sharply in a near-complete circle around a scarred wooden stage. The > bleachers, for they were of a quality of an ancient sport stadium, > were mere wood benches. Overall, the effect was one of a crater with a > flat bottom and steeply sloping sides, topped by a steeply angled > balcony. > > Our seats were in the front row of the balcony, giving us a bird's-eye > view of the stage and the mob in the crater below, literally > struggling for the best seats. Next to my wife sat an ancient and > scarred warrior who inexplicably struck up a one-sided conversation > with her. His accent was thick and I had trouble keeping up with the > klingoneese but he had apparently appointed himself the performance's > libretto; no printed copy had been passed out before the performance. > He didn't seem to care that Ann didn't understand a single word and > she sat meekly hoping to survive the embarrassment. > > The performance was atrocious. It began without an overture and the > musical accompaniment was all cymbals and percussion. The male lead > was an epic bass with an inhumanly low voice that caused my clenched > teeth to vibrate. The female lead was not the traditional soprano but > a jarringly low-toned contra-alto. The story was convoluted. The > language unintelligible. The action frantic and loud. As near as I can > tell, the plot was something of a cross between Shakespeare's "Taming > of the Shrew" and Kubrick's "Apocalypse Now," all done with > over-the-top Wagnerian style. > > At approximately midway through the performance, at just the time I > was hoping for an intermission and an opportunity to slip out of the > theater, I realized that the audience was on their feet. Had I not had > a front row balcony seat, I would have had to stand upon the "bench" > to see the stage. Ann's self-appointed friend was on his feet, singing > along with the chorus, brandishing a knife, yelling insults at the > villain on stage and was encouraging my wife to do the same. Ann had a > wild look in her eyes, and was making an effort to accede to his > wishes for fear of offending the aged warrior. > > The grand, climactic battle on stage was mirrored in the pit, where > warriors apparently had taken up sides and were engaged in battle, > tearing up the seats and using them as weapons. And Ann! She had one > foot on her seat and the other on the balcony railing, her fists > clenched and screaming the repetitive lyrics that had become an > underlying musical theme throughout the performance. She was like a > woman possessed. > > Then, suddenly and as if on cue, the entire audience fell to an eerie > silence as the two stars ended the performance with an unaccompanied, > lung-bustingly long duet. Then, with the last note still echoing > through the hall, the crowd exploded into a terrifying howl that > caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand full on end. The > crowd surged towards the exits and I was swept away from Ann. > > God only knows what happened to her in the interim when I was able to > fight my way back in to the theater after fifteen minutes and found > her sitting on the edge of the stage, her hair disheveled and > hyperventilating, obviously in shock. > > The counselor says Ann will be all right but I can't help thinking > that she is scarred for life by the trauma. I suppose it could have > been much worse. She does seem more assertive than before and the > leather garments she's been wearing are kind of sexy but it's > unnerving to hear her humming the music from that damnable opera while > she's preparing dinner with a very sharp knife. > > To my fellow business travelers, let this serve as a warning. The > Klingon opera is an infectious form of insanity. Should you ever hear > a terrifying sound, one that reminds you of a heard of cattle being > savagely murdered by madmen and banshees with clubs, cross the street. > You're standing too close to a Klingon opera house. > > (Editor's note: Tony Merlino will be taking an extended sabbatical > from IBT. The staff and I would like to extend to him our best wishes > and hopes for a speedy recovery.) > > --from http://www.tasigh.org/kordite/opera.html ------------------------------ End of loud-fans-digest V8 #25 ******************************