From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V3 #186 Reply-To: shindell-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk shindell-list-digest Thursday, June 7 2001 Volume 03 : Number 186 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [RS] on kids games [jcolb ] Re: [RS] SOTW: the grocer's broom [Loracevoll@aol.com] [RS] merritt parkway [vcwills@Princeton.EDU (Vanessa Christina Wills)] Re: [RS] silent flautists [vcwills@Princeton.EDU (Vanessa Christina Wills] Re: [RS] SOTW: the grocers broom [vcwills@Princeton.EDU (Vanessa Christin] Re: [RS] Re: games [Janet Cinelli ] Re: [RS] SOTW: the grocer's broom [Rongrittz@aol.com] [RS] Silence can end with no sound... ["Norman A. Johnson" ] Re: [RS] Silence can end with no sound... [vcwills@Princeton.EDU (Vanessa] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2001 18:54:45 -0400 From: jcolb Subject: [RS] on kids games Okay, does peeing your name in the snow bank constitue a game, or is that just, like, a thing to do? I mean, you can't say the competition aspect was not sometimes there... In western PA years ago there used to be crab soccer, where the rules were essentially soccer but you were down on the floor or field in a crab like position. (Seriously...) jpc ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 19:16:14 EDT From: Loracevoll@aol.com Subject: Re: [RS] SOTW: the grocer's broom > From: Rongrittz@aol.com > I actually wonder why Richard doesn't trot out some of his more obscure > songs more often. I mean, I'm thrilled that he seems to have added "Courier" > to his regular set list now, after not having included it for so long, but > maybe it's time to give some of the workhorses ("Arrowhead," "Are You Happy > Now," "Fishing," etc., and even some of the SNP stuff like "Confession") a rest, and ...... I don't think he can give up "Arrowhead," "Are You Happy Now," "Fishing," and the like. It would be like Don McLean skipping "American Pie" or John Prine skipping "Sam Stone" or the Stones skipping "Satisfaction", Bowie skipping "Young Americans" etc. -- know what I mean??????? I saw Iris DeMent for the first time last year and she didn't do "My Town" -- her best known song and the song that introduced her to me. I was incredibly disappointed. ......Carol ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 19:46:34 -0400 (EDT) From: vcwills@Princeton.EDU (Vanessa Christina Wills) Subject: [RS] merritt parkway So, am I the only one who actually likes Merritt Parkway? Cuz I've never heard anyone say a nice word about it, and I was just wondering... Granted, it's more what I'd expect to hear John Diliberto spinning at 1am than on a Richard Shindell album, but all the same--I don't think it's so bad. The melody is actually pretty catchy, and there's a kind of lyricism in the way that distinct waves of sound sort of crash against each other and meld seamlessly into one another, and behind it all, this soft wash of sound. For those of you familiar with the Philly area, it reminds me of how if you keep walking down South St, towards the Delaware, there is a wide bridge over the expressway below. In the summertime, people are playing around and sitting on the benches and eating water ice and soft pretzels, and all you hear are waves crashing against the shore and a soft rush of water below. But actually, you're hearing wheels rushing over the road in this massive dull roar of sound. It's really bizarre, very beautiful, and very, very city. Merritt Parkway always reminds me of that. Peace, Love, and Mischief, Vanessa ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 19:46:23 -0400 (EDT) From: vcwills@Princeton.EDU (Vanessa Christina Wills) Subject: Re: [RS] silent flautists So, am I the only one who actually likes Merritt Parkway? Cuz I've never heard anyone say a nice word about it, and I was just wondering... Granted, it's more what I'd expect to hear John Diliberto spinning at 1am than on a Richard Shindell album, but all the same--I don't think it's so bad. The melody is actually pretty catchy, and there's a kind of lyricism in the way that distinct waves of sound sort of crash against each other and meld seamlessly into one another, and behind it all, this soft wash of sound. For those of you familiar with the Philly area, it reminds me of how if you keep walking down South St, towards the Delaware, there is a wide bridge over the expressway below. In the summertime, people are playing around and sitting on the benches and eating water ice and soft pretzels, and all you hear are waves crashing against the shore and a soft rush of water below. But actually, you're hearing wheels rushing over the road in this massive dull roar of sound. It's really bizarre, very beautiful, and very, very city. Merritt Parkway always reminds me of that. Peace, Love, and Mischief, Vanessa ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 20:05:18 -0400 (EDT) From: vcwills@Princeton.EDU (Vanessa Christina Wills) Subject: Re: [RS] SOTW: the grocers broom Loracevoll@aol.com wrote: >I don't think he can give up "Arrowhead," "Are You Happy Now," "Fishing," and the like. I saw Iris DeMent for the first time last year and she didn't do "My Town" -- her best known song and the song that introduced her to me. I was incredibly disappointed. Fair enough. It's just that . . . well . . . I am so incredibly sick of AYHN. But the thing is, the first time I ever heard Richard's music was when he was opening for Susan Werner. I didn't know who he was and I didn't know any of his music. And one line stuck in my head--"I still maintain that he's a bum, but it's your money, have some fun." There were people talking and being generally rude (cheap outdoor concert--lots of people there to chat up the neighbors rather than listen to good music). The only other thing I took away from the experience was a question as to whether he had any songs other than AYHN that were not written from a woman's perspective. So, I understand why AYHN and songs like it must be in the rep--but I still wish there were some way to edge them out and make way for other songs. What can I say? I want it all. That said, it's true that "Transit" hasn't exactly got the same crowd-pleasing potential, to say nothing of its distinct lack of a raucous, scream-at-the-top-of-your-voice-able chorus. - --V ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 17:14:25 -0700 (PDT) From: Janet Cinelli Subject: Re: [RS] Re: games We use to play this game in the Bronx(NYC) called "skullsy" I don't know why it was called that but we use to use the caps from bottled sodas, before those twist offs were around. Anyone else remember this game? Janet PS How about Giant steps? I think it was the same game as "mother may i"?? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 20:21:03 EDT From: Rongrittz@aol.com Subject: Re: [RS] SOTW: the grocer's broom << It would be like Don McLean skipping "American Pie" >> Not exactly the dumbest idea in the world, ya know. RG ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2001 20:16:03 -0400 From: "Norman A. Johnson" Subject: [RS] Silence can end with no sound... >>So, am I the only one who actually likes Merritt Parkway? << It's one I usually skip over as well. I think Richard skips over it too. Other than "Calling the Moon" (which isn't his), "Merritt Parkway" is the only song I haven't heard Richard play off SNP. Has anyone heard Richard play it? I think it was just filler (a sorbet) between "Grocer's Broom" and "Transit". Norman ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 20:50:04 EDT From: FJPQ@aol.com Subject: Re: [RS] merritt parkway vcwills@Princeton.EDU writes: << So, am I the only one who actually likes Merritt Parkway? Cuz I've never heard anyone say a nice word about it, and I was just wondering... >> you are not alone Vanessa...I happen to be very fond of Merrit Parkway. I often think I was predisposed to liking it because of my sincere love for the Merritt Parkway(the pokey little highway with the beautiful and unique bridges)...anyway,I have no eloquent arguement to offer in its favor, just plain and simple- I like it, I feel it...but I am also a sucker for Neil Young's Don't Let it Bring You down... Fran feeling a lack or sense and/or sensiblity, but after all...it is Thursday :) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2001 22:00:21 -0400 From: Lisa Davis & family Subject: Re: [RS] silent flautists Thanks, Lee. My thoughts exactly. In fact I think that's one of Richard's *worst* lines because it has a nice sound but doesn't really mean anything. Unless playing the flute has a secret meaning for richard (viz "Tune for Nowhere"). In which case it wouldn't be a worst line but would be maybe too itnernal a reference. Lee Wessman wrote: > > So what, exactly, IS Silence playing on her flute? I just never got > anything from that line and wondered if it was just me being a victim > of public education. > > For that matter, the overall song never moved me very much. It's a > very accomplished bit of songcraft, I'll grant you that. The visual > images are distinct and tender. The melody and rhythm of the song are > appropriate to its lyric; a bit old, a bit tired, a bit sad. But by > RS standards, the song seems somehow flacid. It feels like a song > written late at night in a rocking chair while recuperating from > something. Maybe I'll like it more when I'm older. But I'm already > pretty old. > > -lee ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 22:54:19 -0400 (EDT) From: vcwills@Princeton.EDU (Vanessa Christina Wills) Subject: Re: [RS] Silence can end with no sound... "Norman A. Johnson" wrote: >"Merritt Parkway" is the only song I haven't heard Richard play off SNP I think it was just filler (a sorbet) between "Grocer's Broom" and "Transit". I think it would be something of a feat to really pull it off live, though. At the very least, he would need to do it on one of his nights with a full band, and that, to me, would have to include someone on drums for all the neat little cymbal flourishes. So much of the heart of that song lies in the production--the way it gets fleshed out on SNP. - --V ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V3 #186 ***********************************