From: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2005 #235 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Archives: http://www.smoe.org/lists/onlyjoni Websites: http://www.jmdl.com http://www.jonimitchell.com Unsubscribe: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe onlyJMDL Digest Thursday, August 18 2005 Volume 2005 : Number 235 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: A lithograph and accompanying invitations (VLJC) [Loren Carter ] Joni and Younger Musicians [Nuriel Tobias ] Jonfest [Garret ] french Jonifest 05 ["Laurent Olszer" ] Court and Spark (Joni... as recommended by Dar... :-) [OzWoman321@aol.co] C&S, HOSL, Hejira and DJRD -- Let's play: where's the orphan? [littlebree] Welcome to jmdl! Nice post! [littlebreen@comcast.net] Joni as man [littlebreen@comcast.net] Joni Fest France 2005 [Jamie Zubairi ] French Jonifest [Catherine McKay ] Re: C&S, HOSL, Hejira and DJRD -- Let's play: where's the orphan? [Patti ] Re: Joni Fest France 2005 [FMYFL@aol.com] Re: Steve Snelling (sjc) [littlebreen@comcast.net] Re: A lithograph and accompanying invitations (VLJC) [Randy Remote Subject: Re: A lithograph and accompanying invitations (VLJC) All, Can I ask for some eBay advice? I'm a network geek at work, but a novice when it comes to eBay and buying things on the internet. The story now is that the original "winner" of the bidding for the Joni signed lithograph titled "Swimmers" or "Swimming" (I don't remember now), has been "disqualified" (for some reason) and I can have the lithograph if I want it. I originally bid the asking amount with an escalation of $50 for a total bid from me of $850. The winning bid was $860, but that bid was tossed aside. The seller has offered it to me for $850. If the original winning bidder was goofing around, I think I should pay the actual amount of my bid ($800), and now the artifically raised amount...... Sorry, got into the root cause of my quandry.....Can I ask the eBay knowledgeable folks for advice off-list? Thanks for letting me waffle (anyone got some syrup?) Loren NP...news from Iraq - --- Bob Muller wrote: > Yeah, I was watching it Loren...always a mixed > blessing though, when you win you have to bite the > bullet and pony up, and when you lose it's like "Oh, > OK, well I just saved myself a lot of money. > > I notice that the same person who sniped you also > bought this signed litho: > > http://cgi.ebay.com/JONI-MITCHELL-signed-Lithograph-14-50-Wild-Things-Run_W0QQitemZ7533194257QQcategoryZ104950QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem > > Maybe this seller will put up some more. > > Bob > > NP: Miles Davis, "Nature Boy" > > > > --------------------------------- > Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page > > ____________________________________________________ Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 08:18:48 -0500 From: Jerry Notaro Subject: Re: A lithograph and accompanying invitations (VLJC) > All, You should pay what you think is fair. If you think 850.00 is fair, then do it. If you don't, then offer him 800.00 and see what happens. All business is like that. But also be wary that he is lying and has more than one to sell. That may mean they are not authentic. Online markets, like Ebay and Amazon are used often to scam people. Jerry > > Can I ask for some eBay advice? I'm a network geek at > work, but a novice when it comes to eBay and buying > things on the internet. > > The story now is that the original "winner" of the > bidding for the Joni signed lithograph titled > "Swimmers" or "Swimming" (I don't remember now), has > been "disqualified" (for some reason) and I can have > the lithograph if I want it. > > I originally bid the asking amount with an escalation > of $50 for a total bid from me of $850. The winning > bid was $860, but that bid was tossed aside. The > seller has offered it to me for $850. If the original > winning bidder was goofing around, I think I should > pay the actual amount of my bid ($800), and now the > artifically raised amount...... > > Sorry, got into the root cause of my quandry.....Can I > ask the eBay knowledgeable folks for advice off-list? > > Thanks for letting me waffle (anyone got some syrup?) > > Loren > NP...news from Iraq > > --- Bob Muller wrote: > >> Yeah, I was watching it Loren...always a mixed >> blessing though, when you win you have to bite the >> bullet and pony up, and when you lose it's like "Oh, >> OK, well I just saved myself a lot of money. >> >> I notice that the same person who sniped you also >> bought this signed litho: >> >> > http://cgi.ebay.com/JONI-MITCHELL-signed-Lithograph-14-50-Wild-Things-Run_W0QQ > itemZ7533194257QQcategoryZ104950QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem >> >> Maybe this seller will put up some more. >> >> Bob >> >> NP: Miles Davis, "Nature Boy" >> >> >> >> --------------------------------- >> Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page >> >> > > > > > ____________________________________________________ > Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page > http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 09:22:53 -0400 From: "bluejr@adelphia.net" Subject: Re: A lithograph and accompanying invitations (VLJC) >But also be wary that he is lying and has more than one to >sell. That may mean they are not authentic. Online markets, like Ebay and >Amazon are used often to scam people. >Jerry DITTO THAT!! I was burned once and only once on an ebay poster purchase. That's why, after the first one is sold, numerous identical auctions surface for the same item. This place is RIFE with ripoffs. CAVEAT EMPTOR, indeed! JR in NH - -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 09:40:06 -0400 From: "Bree Mcdonough" Subject: thought I'd share... SJC Marianne received a postcard in the mail from an organization called: Common Good Planning Center...located in Rochester,NY. On the front of the postcard the following.... "Don't it always seem to go that you don't what you've got til it's gone. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. " Joni Mitchell Needless to say we got a thrill seeing this..(Even me!!)..I went to their website and in a nutshell they want to stop "sprawl" and promote revitalization of the cores. BUT........... I'm thinking a few more Targets or SUPER DUPER Wal-Marts in the area wouldn't be a bad idea either..;-) Bree ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 07:36:17 -0700 (PDT) From: Nuriel Tobias Subject: Joni and Younger Musicians Hi friends, My question is has Joni ever helped younger musicians to step out of the shadows? Why do i get the feeling she never had and only cared about her own career? Just think of all those musicians out there she might have helped to sit in the front row with her, or somewhere near it. It's a damn shame, don't you think? Yours, Nuri Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 15:30:50 +0100 From: Garret Subject: Jonfest Are jonifest reports JC?? Just got back to my house. I am jealous of those still enjoying the sunshine (the Lucy, Muller, Sryngs kind of people). I will write a full report in the next day or so. I only have internet until the weekend so will have my pictures scanned in as soon as possible (yup, i am that rare species that has not yet updated to digital camera. Sorry, what's an ipod?) GARRET - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 19:26:43 +0200 From: "Laurent Olszer" Subject: french Jonifest 05 Jamie wrote: I've just got back from the French Joni Fest in a lovely hillside retreat outside Davejean in the Massif Centrale in South East France. Just the most beautiful scenery you could ever wish for. Hi Jamie This is what sleep deprivation does to people: we were about 400 km from the Massif Central, and about the same distance from SE France. Everything else you wrote I agree with. While we wait for your review, I would just like to mention that out of all the great performances the ones I enjoyed most were Jamie's beautiful deep voice, one of the most touching I've heard. The song delivery was extremely soulful. Please release a CD soon will you? Catherine Mc Kay was awesome, she sounded like Joni's soul sister no doubt. Bob Muller's improvised 'I'm an American Blues" was worth it weight in gold. Special mention to Thierry Antoine's fabulous guitar, and a wonderful human being. DVD release in the fall. Laurent ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 16:09:00 EDT From: OzWoman321@aol.com Subject: Court and Spark (Joni... as recommended by Dar... :-) Hello, All - One more Dar reference... at least for now - I was browsing amazon.com and came across the following: Dar Williams' List of Music You Should Hear... Click on the link below and scroll about 1/4 of the way down - yessssssss, Dar's a Court and Spark fan! http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/guides/guide-display/-/263C7J6202G2U/ref=cm_bg_guides/102-8375596-6220906 Susan http://www.heartsdesireconcerts.com http://www.horseofadifferentcolorbooking.com "if you're lucky you find something that reflects you helps you feel your life protects you cradles you and connects you to everything" ~ Dar Williams ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 22:10:08 +0000 From: littlebreen@comcast.net Subject: C&S, HOSL, Hejira and DJRD -- Let's play: where's the orphan? Hi Patti and Em and all, To recap: Em wrote: > I see HOSL and Hejira as being "related" sonically...but C&S is kind of > a glorious "orphan". and Psatti said: >Em, what a great phrase: glorious orphan. Can I steal it?? I agree -- I love the term -- although I don't see C&S that way, I *do*, for example, see Mingus and WTRF that way, as they don't sound like anything she'd done before or since (to my ears, anyhoo). Blue, FTR, C&S, MoA and HOSL to my ears form an arc, increasingly jazzy; then, rather to my (only initial) disappointment, Heijira had a completely different, almost mesmerizing sound to it. The melodies of some of the songs were minimalistic, three-note themes with occasional arpeggios. The poetry, on the other hand! Possibly the best she's ever done. But I sort of missed the jazziness of the previous albums. On the other hand, she'd created a sound for herself that is so uniquely hers! The next album, DJRD still remains my favorite because (again, to my ear) she mixed this unique sound of hers with more of her jazz sensibility. This continued with her two self-penned songs on Mingus and with a few of the songs on WTRF (Chinese Cafe, Moon at the Window, Love). I think it's significant, btw, that she chose *four* songs from WTRF to redo on travelogue; two of them, Love and Chinese Cafe, aren't all that different from the originals, but the two others, Be Cool and You Dream Flat Tires, benefit, I think from the Frank-Sinatra-in Vegas-type arrangements, especially the latter, which, like much of WTRF, sounds rushed in the original. And I know this been said plenty of times, particularly at this venue, but I do think much of what has been found lacking on DED and CMIARS could probably be cleaned up with some remastering and reduction. Like a lot of artists in the '80's and '90's, Joni kinda went apeshit with new (shiny?) toys in the studio on these two albums -- oh, and again more recently with TtT, whose songs I loved but whose sound I can barely stand. Just because you can make one piano sound like six or seven 20-feet-long pianos doesn't mean you should, or have to; ditto with guitars. I've said this before, but not recently, so what the hay: Joni's Geffen work represents to me sort of a slow progression, a learning arc, where she worked on three things: (1) Lyrical Economy (Compare Coyote with Wild Things Run Fast) increasingly combined with Vertical Complexity. With this latter, I'm referring to her tendency to have several voices overlapping, not in harmony but in counterpoint, with distinct lyrics. (A *very* early pre-Geffen example is the excellent Pirates of Penance, from the first album.) This is used to pretty good effect in, say, Beat of Black Wings and Snakes and Ladders, both of which *I* like, anyway. Closely related to this is (2) Call-and-Response, which is self-explanatory. Joni had a lot of friends singing with her on all four Geffens, but perhaps peaking out on CMIARS, which contains one song that has *two* guest voices but which shall remain nameless here because we all already know what I'm talking about, and I like a certain South Carolinian (who I believe is currently in Yurp, so I shouldn't feel bad for him -- hope you and the gang drank Barcelona under the table, Bob!) too much to want to upset him here. Anyway, Joni certainly had a lot of guest voices, but I'm not sure whether this is because she just was in a mood to write songs with a lot of overlapping lines, or whether she was accomodating someone else's desire for her to sell more albums by having other famous names on them. For what it's worth, in addition to Beat and S&L mentioned above I also like You Dream Flat Tires, Secret Place, Nothing Can Be Done and several others with overlapping lines and call-and-response. (3) The aforementioned studio stuff (learning what she could do in the studio, which isn't all bad, but you shouldn't let it *detract* from the song itself). Would anyone else love to hear DED completely remixed with all the garbage taken out? I know there are people who absolutely *love* this album as is, ditto TtT, but I think they both sound muddy and overdone/overdubbed. I'd love to hear both of them cleaned up, but I guess that's a pipe dream. To my ears, she was pulling out of all of these tendencies by NRH, the most relaxed and listenable of her late albums, imho. She's still doing some vertical piling of voices (Windfall, Come In, Ray's Dad's Caddy), but the other voices are *hers*, with the exception of the David Baerwald's wonderful contribution on Nothing Can Be Done. TI was great, too, with just the one wonderful guest vocal by Seal. And then the two orchestral albums have their own sound, which is wonderful. To my ears, anyway, the only "orphans" are Mingus, which is fairly glorious, WTRF, which I mostly like, and then, assuming one agrees with my Geffen-learning-arc theory, Taming, which would have been glorious with some different mixing or engineering. I've been working on Paprika Plains (I got the sheet music to all of DJRD a few weeks ago), on Diana Krall's arrangement of Black Crow, which is difficult but worth it, and also Krall's own I'm Coming Through and [swoon] Departure Bay. When I'm feeling bold, I work on a variety of Fagen/Becker, including an obscurity by Fagen alone that probably only I and Bob Muller know, called True Companion, mostly an instrumental, with gorgeous, difficult chords. And I'm always playing Bacharach, including some obscurities I've been able to scrape up of late -- anybody else ever heard of Window Wishing, or Rocking Horse to Rocking Chair? (I know I owe several of you some sheet music -- it's on the way, next time I can get to Kinko's.) One last word -- Hey, Patti Witten, any new album on the way? Best to all, Walt Let the walls go tumbling down Falling on the ground And all the dogs go running free The wild and gentle dogs Kenneled in me ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 22:19:49 +0000 From: littlebreen@comcast.net Subject: Welcome to jmdl! Nice post! Hey, Brian, just wanted to say that I enjoyed your post at the jmdl site -- welcome to the site -- nicest bunch of people you could possibly meet virtually -- I almost envy you getting the full force of Joni's work all at once like this! I like your choice of songs, too, nicely spread over her career. My own favorite of Joni's is Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (1977), which is a mix of her unique guitar style with a lot of jazz and world influences. Enjoy -- and again, welcome! Walt "Little" Breen -- Let the walls go tumbling down Falling on the ground And all the dogs go running free The wild and gentle dogs Kenneled in me (These are the last five lines to my favorite song, "Jericho", which is on two albums, Miles of Aisles, and Don Juan's reckless Daughter) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 22:51:34 +0000 From: littlebreen@comcast.net Subject: Joni as man Smurf suggested:<> Smurf, what a hoot -- I always wondered what he looked like as a man (I saw him as Joni in 90 or 91 here in SF)! Actually rather handsome. And great intentional mondegreen -- "I wish I had a liver..." -- he's holding his stomach all the way through. LOL Heal well, Smurfila! Walt- Let the walls go tumbling down Falling on the ground And all the dogs go running free The wild and gentle dogs Kenneled in me ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2005 00:06:13 +0100 (BST) From: Jamie Zubairi Subject: Joni Fest France 2005 Well, here's my LOOOOOOOOOONG review of the weekend's festivities. Where to start? February when it was announced? July when I bought my tickets? 1pm when I landed? Intro: For me the whole thing was a little bit of an adventure. Having not learnt a word of French (being schooled in Malaysia where they teach English as a second language) I bought French For Dummies 2 weeks previously and thought I could get by with that. I think I did! Not knowing where I was going, or where I was staying or how to ask anyone if I was lost, I stepped off the plane with some trepidation. Driving: I got to Carcassonne and got to the car hire place and sorted all that out pretty smoothly. The reservation doll was a sweetie and let me burble away in bad French before she said, it's ok, I speak English. Yes, driving in a foreign country on the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road. More adventure. Getting lost trying to get out of Carcassonne. Anyone get the feeling that I've lead a rather unadventurous 33 years? Monze, Le Felines De Thermenes, Villerouge De Thermenes, Servies En Val, Pradelle En Val, La Grasse, the names slip by meaning nothing. All very pretty villages made of baked creme caramel coloured stone. Old men in the street, sitting on benches outside shops, leaning their chins on walking sticks, bonjouring strangers, driving on tree-lined roads with the sun flashing though leaves. I wasn't sure if I'd stepped into a film set of France, it couldn't get more French. Davejean: The tiny little village of Davejean ( Dave Jean? Lovely couple) was so sweet. I stopped to ask two old ladies on a stone bench that i was looking for Madame Tavart. It was the only name I was given as to where I was staying in the village. A flutter of French hands and a cascade of French words and they shouted out to Anne-Marie who was out walking her dog in a field behind the shops. Yet more hand fluttering and cascades of French and i was shown to her B&B which was lovely. I was pointed in the direction of a parked car with 2 women in the back. Not recognising them I followed Anne-Marie back to the B&B when someone called out 'Bonjour? Vous cherchez la hawheehaw Joni Mitchell?' It was Claudie and Lieve in the back of the car! They had mistaken me for a local (sadly mistaken!). It was a good thing I had decided to wear my Taming The Tiger tee-shirt. Introductions and greetings. I then went into the B&B where Les Ross was getting changed with Randall (I don't know his surname, but he only came in shorts so was borrowing Les's corduroy's for the cooler evenings). More greetings and introductions all round. The Gang: We had dropped Claudie and Randall off to where she was staying while Les, Lieve and I went to Lagrass to take a few pictures and buy some smokes (for Les and myself as Lieve doesn't smoke). When we came back Claudie was in the garden with Randall playing the most beautiful duets, their voices weaving in and out with their guitars (she was in open-tuning, he was in standard) doing the same, sometimes harmonising, sometimes in unison. Just amazing. It was late so we had dinner with some of the jmdl and their family. I'd finally met Catherine McKee and her two children; the Legendary Ashara and her partner; Guy Olinger; John Van Tiel; Anita Gabrielle and her partner; Laurent Olszer (our host) and his family. We got back late to the B&B and as I walked in there was a family there having a meal of lamb and lentils it looked like, it smelled delicious. I thought they owned the place when the wife said 'Ahhh Joni Mitchell' when I turned around. It was Adriano from Italy and his family. We had chat briefly and went to bed. The Site The next morning after a breakfast of cheeses and apricot jam on baguette with hot chocolate, Les, Adriano and his family went to the site. I went early and took a wrong turn up a hill to the forest where a large grasshopper landed on my windshield and was staring at me the whole journey up there. It was a real 'I pulled off into a forest, crickets clicking in the ferns' moment. I eventually got there. It was on this hillside outside Davejean, down a path that didn't look like it was going anywhere until you got there where it opens out to a level area with bungalows, a kitchen, some large tents, an ancient mill (which was lovely inside, it looked like something out of Elle Decoration!). There are several rockpools further down the hill, a sit-down toilet with a picture window of the whole valley. Far away across the gorge was a plateau which had a wind-farm on top of it. Just beautiful. It's run or owned by a chap called Jean-Yves who was in charge of a load of people who were looking after the site. Chickens, dogs, a basketful of kittens, greengage, mulberry and plum trees that kept on showering us with their fruit, a shower which was 'solar-heated' , several bat-caves. In the afternoon Lucy Hone (Queen Lulu to you!) turned up with her clan, the Band - Stryngs, Chris Marshall, Martin Giles - - turned up. Thierry Antoine and Bob Muller, Garret, Emilliano and Mike from Wales turned up from Spain. I'm sure I'm missing people off - I'm sorry if I have. I haven't got my photos in front of me... The Music The music got started in the afternoon when Anita had a practise of Black Crow with Laurent and I was told I was doing Magdalen Laundries with Laurent too. bit of a shock as I know it but I didn't *know* it and I felt funny about singing 'I was an unmarried girl' so I was trying to reach back into my biography for a similar story so we could change the words. It just so happened that that saturday was my parents 39th wedding anniversary and my mum had me when she was 27. I shifted the personal pronouns around from 'I' to 'you' and I was thinking about my mum and how she was ostracised by her family for falling in love with someone of a different race, colour and religion. It was a stretch but I think I made it work - even with the book to refer to. I can't remember a lot of what happened. Here are things that stick out: Stryngs and her amazing ears. Randall and his amazing playing. The Band! Thierry Antoine's rendition of Jericho, Blue Motel Room, Refuge of the Roads, Anita's CD to listen to on the way to Carcassonne airport (thank GOD for her vocals, such a lovely disc to listen to - thank you Anita!), Les Ross' tender vocals and playing. The BAT CAVES. Hmmmm yeah, covered in bat turd isn't my idea of fun but it was. Queeen Lulu's 80's vocal stylings... I wish we coulda done a duet in that pub singer stylee... Catherine McKay's playing Coyote and Shadows & Light. Never heard it like that before, I wish I could hear it again... Anita's Black Crow and her own songs, Frank sung by Stryngs... Ashara in bits... Claudie and Randall's duets. Randall's set (my god I was blown away, even though he did play A Case of You all wrong ha ha ha). I wonder if there is going to be a cd of the events... I'd love to have a copy. I'm sure there are many more performances that I'm missing that'll come back to me in the next few days (months) so forgive me. I might have been smoking (I've quit since then). Leaving I hated leaving everyone early. I hadn't booked the entire weekend off work so I left early Monday morning. I don't want to lose contact with anyone. Everyone is so nice and beautiful and it's just so nice to be in a place where like-minded people are gathered. Hopefully there will be another one soon (Ashara... I'm saving my pennies for 2007!) The scenery was beautiful at 6 o'clock in the morning the next day. So sad and so beautiful... If anyone has any doubts about going to a Jonifest then let me assure you as a Jonifest Virgin, this was amazing. much Joni Jamie Zoob ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 19:22:26 -0400 (EDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: French Jonifest Just a few impressions of fest 05. First off, all thanks to Laurent for pulling this one off. It takes a great deal of organization and patience to do this sort of thing and I would never volunteer, because I'm very aware of my limits and somewhat aware of just what-the-hell goes into creating such a thing, so I appreciate all the more those who do. The location was absolutely magical. Very rustic and yet, it had ingenious running water and electricity and all that is needed to feed a bunch of people from various parts of the globe. You drive up and around and around a mountain (or two) to get there and would never be able to find the place unless someone else had got there before you and you could guess by the fact that a car or two were parked by the side of the road that this just might be the place. There is cliff on one side and sheer drop on the other and which side which is on keeps changing as you go up or down. Not the sort of thing you want to do when drunk as a skunk! Then you walk down a winding gravel road to the site itself, which is a property owned by a friend of Laurent's by the name of Jean-Yves. Jean-Yves is, I guess, a true hippy with a very laid-back attitude and twinkling smiling eyes and a whacked-out sense of humour. He is a most gracious and generous host who allowed a bunch of strangers to share his space for three days (more in some cases.) The property has an old mill on it, which is in the process of being renovated. Were you to look at it from the outside, you would assume it was just a ruin but, when you step inside, there's another room and that has already been renovated. The property also has fruit trees, rosemary and lavender growing wild all around, a natural pool of water with water falling down from the mossy rocks above (ideal for skinny dipping), and a whole bunch more. It also has a resident horny dog, a pair of chickens (well, one chicken and one rooster) and a whole bunch of cats and kittens that are all related to one another. It was so great to meet old friends and new. Now I can finally say that I've met in person Jamie Zubairi (who is gorgeous and sweet), Mike Pritchard, Emiliano (who is in person exactly the way he is in his posts - funny and just a bit daft), Garret (cute as can be), Adriano Lucatello and his lovely wife and daughter (from Italy), Thierry Antoine (who may not be on the list but some of whose Joni covers are in Muller's collection - a wonderful guitarist with a lovely voice), new guy, Guy, who probably isn't on either of the lists but is probably the first Luxumbourgeois I've ever met. And a guy by the name of Randall (first name? last name) a singer-songwriter originally from the US who is travelling around and performing in Europe. I believe he had met Claudia who told him to come to fest. He is a brilliant performer of both other people's songs and his own original songs, one of which brought tears to many an eye. I wish I could tell you more about him, but I don't know much more, so maybe Claud can fill us in. And of course, Laurent, whom I had never met, along with his very charming wife and two lovely daughters, plus a number of other friends of Laurent's whose names I have forgotten. Old friends included Ashara (and Eric, who is new to me), Strings, Chris Marshall, Martin Giles, Les Ross, Anita and Steph, John Van Tiel & Claudia, Lieve Reckers and Bob Muller. The food - ah yes, the food. All, or most, of it locally grown or raised and cooked on site. Leisurely lunches that started around 2 and ended around 4; even more leisurely dinners that went from 9 or so to up to 11 if not later, so concerts started late. The kids and I didn't get back to our hotel until after 1 each night, so we, in fact, missed a lot of the performances - in fact, the last night, we left a bit after 11 and nothing had even started yet. The hotel the kids and I (and John and Claudia, plus Guy from Luxembourg) stayed in is just lovely. It used to be a forge and is therefore named La Fargo. The Corbieres region is sort-of-French/sort-of-Spanish. I believe the inhabitants are Catalan or something like it. All the town names are shown in both French and (probably) Catalan (or some sort-of-French-sort-of-Spanish dialect). Driving back and forth between the hotel and the site are a number of small towns with bilingual signs, but the one I most remember is Felines Termenes, or Felinas Termenes (there are accents that I can't produce). A few of us decided this meant "Cat's ass" but, in fact, the Termenes part is probably related to "thermal" and probably has to do with hot springs (or cats in heat?) France itself is a great big garden. Although there are big cities and quite a number of smaller towns, the rest of it seems to be either dairy farms, or produce farms of some kind. As you head further south (because we landed at Paris and then made our way slowly south, weaving back and forth), there are fields of yellow sunflowers everywhere. In the Corbieres region itself, because it is in the south, you will find fruit trees everywhere, as well as herbs (lavender, thyme, rosemary and you know there may be more) growing everywhere, both as parts of people's gardens or farms, but also growing wild. You can smell these lovely smells on the wind. The nights are absolutely gorgeous. There are no large cities nearby, so it gets absolutely DARK at night and, because the weather was clear the whole time, you can see billions and billions of stars, and constellations I've only ever seen before in books. It is absolutely breath-taking. In fact, there is so much to take your breath away, that you might need an oxygen mask! La Fargo hotel is just wonderful. The people that run it, Dominique and Christophe, are lovely people and the food is amazing. When the kids and I arrived, around 7:30 or 8:00 on Friday evening, a bunch of jmdlers were already there to have dinner, so we joined them. My only regret is not having more than one meal there, since the rest of the meals were taken at the Jonifest site itself. The car I rented was a Mercedes Benz (I didn't ask for it - just got it - maybe when you ask for automatic transmission and diesel, there aren't a lot of choices, so I got something much better than I was expecting). It drove like a dream. Now, back in Toronto, I've got the Chevy Cavalier and it feels so weird. I am so glad I'm not going back to work until next week, because that would be too much of a let-down. Our plane was a bit late leaving yesterday morning from Toulouse, due to a minor mechanical problem that was fixed by rebooting a computer, so we got back to Toronto around 7:00, where we should have been back at 5:45 or so. That's not so bad, though, because it meant we could go to bed at a normal local time and should alleviate any jet lag. I'll talk about the music later, if I can think of anything. And there was a lot of silliness, as there usually is. I didn't catch everyone's performance, so it's hard for me to comment on it in any kind of fairness. Plus - I don't remember anything right now. Maybe it will come back to me later as my brain gets back into gear. Catherine Toronto - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 19:55:31 -0400 From: Patti Witten Subject: Re: C&S, HOSL, Hejira and DJRD -- Let's play: where's the orphan? littlebreen@comcast.net wrote: > One last word -- Hey, Patti Witten, any new album on the way? Hmm. I'm going to begin recording hopefully this fall but as for release -- ? not soon I'm afraid. Horse and dilapidated bathroom took my checkbook hostage this summer. But I plan on using "glorious orphan" someday :) in another context no doubt. Patti - -- Patti Witten on I-Town Records www.itownrecords.com MySpace http://myspace.com/pattiwitten http://pattiwitten.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 19:59:32 EDT From: FMYFL@aol.com Subject: Re: Joni Fest France 2005 Oh Jamie & Catherine, Thanks so much for the recap of the Jonifest in France! You both described it so vividly, and I wish I could have made it this year. Sounds much more adventurous than the "Full Moon", and I'm sure the food was better :) I'm looking forward to reading more fest reports, and I can't wait to see some photos. Jimmy, delurking....but I just love Jonifests. P.S. Did Muller behave himself???? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2005 01:00:05 +0000 From: littlebreen@comcast.net Subject: Re: Steve Snelling (sjc) Hi, all, A couple of days ago I posted: <> I sent Steve a note via his website to tell him that I'd mentioned him here at jmdl, and he responded immediately and charmingly -- and I'll be seeing him perform tomorrow night (Thursday) at Martooni's, which is but a few blocks from my humble abode. By the way, in "Perfect Strangers" he quotes more Joni lines, especially from the DED period -- there are lyrics that strongly remind one of Three Great Stimulants and Tax Free. Check him out at best to all, Walt Let the walls go tumbling down Falling on the ground And all the dogs go running free The wild and gentle dogs Kenneled in me ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 19:25:10 -0700 From: Randy Remote Subject: Re: A lithograph and accompanying invitations (VLJC) If the seller contacted you directly, he is almost surely scamming you. There is an official procedure called "second chance offer", and that's how the seller should proceed. I had the experience of bidding on a Martin guitar, and not winning the auction. The "seller" contacted me, and offered to sell it to me, saying the winner flaked out. Luckily, before I could decide what to do, the 3rd in line bidder contacted me and asked if I had been offered (as he had). The guy was promising it to both of us. Never had a guitar to sell. Beware. If there is an official second chance offer, it should show up when you revisit the original auction (even though the auction has closed). Also note that an official looking ebay email in your inbox means nothing. They are easily and frequently faked. RR Loren Carter wrote: > All, > > Can I ask for some eBay advice? I'm a network geek at > work, but a novice when it comes to eBay and buying > things on the internet. > > The story now is that the original "winner" of the > bidding for the Joni signed lithograph titled > "Swimmers" or "Swimming" (I don't remember now), has > been "disqualified" (for some reason) and I can have > the lithograph if I want it. > > I originally bid the asking amount with an escalation > of $50 for a total bid from me of $850. The winning > bid was $860, but that bid was tossed aside. The > seller has offered it to me for $850. If the original > winning bidder was goofing around, I think I should > pay the actual amount of my bid ($800), and now the > artifically raised amount...... > > Sorry, got into the root cause of my quandry.....Can I > ask the eBay knowledgeable folks for advice off-list? > > Thanks for letting me waffle (anyone got some syrup?) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 23:59:28 -0400 From: "Jim L'Hommedieu, Lama" Subject: Re: A lithograph and accompanying invitations (VLJC) Sure. I'll send Ebay advice to anyone on the JMDL. It's on its way, off-list as requested. Jim Covington, KY - ---------------------------------- "The only things we own are the moments. Everything else is like a book borrowed from the library: it will all be returned." Karin Berquist of 'Over The Rhine' - ---------------------------------- Loren asked, >Can I ask for some eBay advice? I'm a network geek at work, but a novice when it comes to eBay and buying things on the internet. ... Can I ask the eBay knowledgeable folks for advice off-list?> ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2005 06:13:32 +0200 From: "Laurent Olszer" Subject: A lithograph and accompanying invitations (VLJC) Hi Loren I think it's one of two things: * Either as someone pointed out the seller has more lithos to sell and IMO this decreases its value because it's not as rare as expected * Or it's a "second chance offfer" from ebay which from personal experiences are scams 99% of the time. Make sure the address of the person making that offer is exacty the same as the one in the original ad, down to the last letter of the suffix. Laurent ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2005 06:00:58 +0000 From: littlebreen@comcast.net Subject: Helping new artists... and keeping candles lit (sjc) Hi, all, Nuriel asked: <> Yes, it is a shame, and it ties in with my perennial question as to why she doesn't form her own label and promote artists the way she says the music industry doesn't. (Whoa, excuse the syntax.) I'd very much like her to light a candle rather than merely curse the darkness. Speaking of candles, did anyone else participate in a candlelight vigil this (Wed) evening? There were several in San Francisco, and I went to the one in the Castro. (The vigils, hundreds around the country, were in support of the woman who has camped out near Dubbya's ranch, waiting to have a direct chat with him, something it would appear his advisers have advised him not to do.) Yes, the majority were aging hippies, but I helped out a woman getting around with a walker who was in her 80's, and I chatted with people ranging from 16 on up. This particular gathering was at Harvey Mild Plaza, right outside the subway entrance at Castro and market. Most coming home from work and having to make their way through the crowd were fine with it -- quite a few stopped to ask what was going on, and most oif them hung around for a while, some even lighting candles; one notable man, however, cracked me up by actually quoting Spiro Agnew, loudly calling the crowd "nattering nabobs of negativism". I laughed out loud, but I don't know if anyone else got the reference -- and I don't even know exactly how ironic the man was trying to be, if at all. Interestingly, when it was over, I went to a gay bar across the street (Twin Peaks) which caters to a more mature clientele, and I was somewhat disconcerted to hear some dismissive and even contemptuous comments about the protesters. Oh, well; at least I helped some people light their candles. Candles are wonderful -- they represent warmth, light, hope; they take some work keeping lit, but they're worth it , no? Best to all, Walt Let the walls go tumbling down Falling on the ground And all the dogs go running free The wild and gentle dogs Kenneled in me ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2005 #235 ********************************* ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe ------- Siquomb, isn't she? (http://www.siquomb.com/siquomb.cfm)