From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V2 #273 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 Tuesday, September 26 2000 Volume 02 : Number 273 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [RS] Raving For Rachel [RockinRonD@aol.com] [RS] Our Cross To Bear [RockinRonD@aol.com] RE: [RS] Our Cross To Bear ["Dupas, Edward (E.M.)" ] Re: [RS] Our Cross To Bear [Vanessa Wills ] [RS] Troubled by "Transit" [Thom Bassett ] Re: [RS] Troubled by "Transit" [SMOKEY596@aol.com] RE: [RS] Troubled by "Transit" ["Dupas, Edward (E.M.)" ] Re: RE: [RS] Troubled by "Transit" [Elwestrand ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 08:12:29 EDT From: RockinRonD@aol.com Subject: [RS] Raving For Rachel In a message dated 9/25/2000 9:47:11 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Timothy writes about Rachel Bissex: << Oh, if I could only magically teleport to Long Island for this one! She certainly charmed ME at FRFF, taking me under her wing in the weee weee hours on Friday night walking aimlessly on the ridge, sharing her bottle of tequilla with me, and performing at several song circles, (some as small as a half dozen)... >> Indeed. Rachel Bissex is, quite simply, amazing. Which is why I've decided to have her at my house. Sadly, the RSVP list has been slow in coming and at this point I'm expecting a very small group. I wish Timothy could telport here as well--it would be one more face in the audience. Rachel deserves such a wider audience and I'm doing my part...but I just can't seem to get too many people excited about her show. If you live within driving distance to eastern Long Island, or are in CT-- we are just over the L I Sound by ferry from Bridgeport--make an effort to come, you won't be sorry. I guarantee. Once again, it's Rachel Bissex at The Red Cedar Soundstage on Saturday, September 30, 7:30 PM. $10. I supply the wine. Maybe Tequila. Hee Hee. If you can make it, we'd love to have you. Ron ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 08:39:44 EDT From: RockinRonD@aol.com Subject: [RS] Our Cross To Bear I just have to say this cross posting by Renee IS GETTING VERY, VERY ANNOYING! So please, please stop it. And YES, I cross posted this complaint. Irritatedron ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 09:02:14 -0400 From: "Dupas, Edward (E.M.)" Subject: RE: [RS] Our Cross To Bear << I just have to say this cross posting by Renee IS GETTING VERY, VERY ANNOYING!>> Just remember that we all have our cross to bear. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 09:24:09 -0400 From: Vanessa Wills Subject: Re: [RS] Our Cross To Bear Geez. RockinRonD@aol.com wrote: > I just have to say this cross posting by Renee IS GETTING VERY, VERY > ANNOYING! So please, please stop it. And YES, I cross posted this complaint. > > Irritatedron ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 07:50:28 -0700 (PDT) From: Thom Bassett Subject: [RS] Troubled by "Transit" I just can't shake a disturbed feeling that comes from listening to "Transit." On the one hand, RS beautifully, movingly reveals the humanity of the prisoners waiting for Sister Maria to arrive: She entered the common room - there was her choir Altos and baritones, basses and tenors Car-thieves and crack-dealers, mobsters and murderers Husbands and sons, fathers and brothers The juxtaposition in the last two lines, for me at least, suggests that people capable of horrible violence and predation remain part of the larger web of human relations. Murderers can love like a parent and be loved like a child, and all that. A compassionate and all too rare perspective of "the least of these," as someone might have put it once. So then why do earlier verses in the song sketch such a different perspective of the travelers? They seem to be almost caricatures of rush hour commuters (as a cyclist who's been almost hit a good dozen times by morning commuters, I have little personal sympathy for such types, by the way ). Why are these folks good for nothing more than to be led to a slaughter like sheep? Don't Reagan Republicans et al. still merit just as much (or as little) the compassion and tender mercies bestowed on the crack thieves and company? I just feel troubled by the suggestion of the song that, in the end of it all, someone or some groups are gonna get ambushed, while others will be forgiven and welcome . . . even if the descriptions of who is forgiven and who is ambushed are switched around. Or have I misread the song? Thom, who is also troubled by all the grading he needs to do today. "Bears are made of the same dust as we, breathe the same winds and drink the same water. A bear's days are warmed by the same sun, his dwelling overdomed by the same blue sky, and his life turns and ebbs with the same heart-pulsings as ours." - John Muir _______________________________________________________ Say Bye to Slow Internet! http://www.home.com/xinbox/signup.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 11:29:27 EDT From: SMOKEY596@aol.com Subject: Re: [RS] Troubled by "Transit" >>>I just feel troubled by the suggestion of the song that, in the end of it all, someone or some groups are gonna get ambushed, while others will be forgiven and welcome . . . even if the descriptions of who is forgiven and who is ambushed are switched around.<<< I don't think who is forgiven is a matter of chance or whim. I think those who ASK are forgiven and welcomed, so I've always assumed that this prison group had, perhaps through their interaction with Sister Maria, asked for forgiveness. On the contrary, the maniacs on the highway have not asked for forgiveness, most likely because they do not even realize that they NEED to ask forgiveness for something like being a #%&* on the highway at night. It's more likely that a thief or murderer would realize he (or she!) needs to ask forgiveness for what they've done. Personally, if I had a say in it, I would hope that at the end of it all those who were just plain ol' mean and nasty people in life are given their due. I hope that a person who is cruel to a child or an animal is eventually held accountable in a higher court, just the same as a thief or murderer. Of course, by my hoping that, I may be dooming myself to a big surprise later too. :-) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 12:44:46 -0400 From: "Dupas, Edward (E.M.)" Subject: RE: [RS] Troubled by "Transit" <> Yes and I think the song asks us to look deeper at the true sin and illegalities of life and society. As humans we tend towards to painting a picture that is black and white, good or bad. It is easier for us to say, "We are out here and those prisoners are in there, so we are better, or at least adhere to a higher standard." We may obey the letter of the law, and so remain outside the reach of the penal system, but as travelers who bypass a nun on the side of the road without lending a hand we have failed to obey the spirit of the law, or perhaps the letter of a higher law than the law of the land. And so it began, in glorious harmony "Softly and Tenderly" - calling for you and me With the interstate whining way off in the distance I have always felt that RS subtlely juxtaposes the interstate and the prison very purposefully to illustrate that the standards we set to measure right and wrong are only human and therefore flawed in nature. Also, that judging a person as good or evil by simply observing their place in life is totally inadequate. Although these men are incarcerated, a part of them is more free than those on the interstate (especially when you consider that they've just been sucked into a vortex ;- ) ), and although the drivers are free men and women there is a part of them that deserves to receive punishment. The scene of a nun out on the road changing a tire illustrates beautifully a fundamental problem in this society, which is people ignoring the needs of others and believing that it has nothing to do with them - that it isn't their responsibility. It is easy to do this while tucked safely away in a speeding car with Richard's music flowing from the CD player, however, this disconnection and isolation within our society is a tragic thing and might be a big part of the reason the prisoners ended up as they did in the first place. It is ironic that the man who wrote this song seems to limit his connection with those he meets sometimes, I wonder if he'd stop and help me change a tire if I was wearing a habit? ...but I digress. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 15:10:45 -0400 From: Elwestrand Subject: Re: RE: [RS] Troubled by "Transit" Also, that judging > a person as good or evil by simply observing their place in life is > totally > inadequate. Although these men are incarcerated, a part of them is more > free than those on the interstate (especially when you consider that > they've > just been sucked into a vortex ;- ) ), and although the drivers are > free > men and women there is a part of them that deserves to receive > punishment. > This sort of brings to mind a theme that irritates me. Why does the average person deserve to be punished? And why don't criminals deserved to be judged? I'm sorry, but not stopping to help you change a tire, may not be nice, but I am sure the average person would prefer you not stop, then pull over and murder them. There is a difference between these acts. Yes, many criminals are the result of societies failures, but some make some really bad decisions because they enjoy the lifestyle. I think Richard is very sympathetic to criminals (see Transit, Ascend, Sing me Back Home, Sonora Death Row). I think that what is behind this is the implication that people who live "outside the law" are somehow more passionate, more alive, more authentic than the rest of us. It is the same spirit which drives people to make and see movies about gangsters. Why do we care about these people? They happily strip us of our rights, property, and life without a backward glance. I just don't get it. Are we that desperate for excitement? Why does one enjoy The Sopranos? I understand that Richard likes to tell stories about different kinds of people, but adding to the "criminals are cool" canon of songs seems beneath him. I agree with being Troubled by "Transit." ________________________________________________ Get your own "800" number - Free Free voicemail, fax, email, and a lot more http://www.ureach.com/reg/tag ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V2 #273 ***********************************