Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 285
Date: Friday, 15 October 1999
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 285
Friday, 15 October 1999
Today's Topics:
Re: Stereolab
Holy Beatles and Colin...it's Minster Hill again.....That's MINSTER
Is it weird to listen to xtc in the US?
LOVE...not the Band, but they're great also...
Homespun and other matters...
Minster Thrill
Peace, Love, Understanding...
Homespun/Little Express
XTC and Beatles (no, really)
Oops
Dem Eagles - continued
I'm going to talk about AV1
AV12345
Re: huzzah to XTC's next drummer
Re: Iron Chef
?Would Todd record w/ XTC again?
Re: Pop is an insult
Bonus Spin
read it and weep
Dominic Lawson Has Huge Tits
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <380672F3.94D78897@zoo.co.uk> Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999 01:19:14 +0100 From: John Peacock <johndrewp@zoo.co.uk> Organization: The Nice Organization Subject: Re: Stereolab Francis Heaney said: > > The new Stereolab also seems not quite up to snuff -- it has a few tracks > that seem to take a step forward (like the first track, "Fuses"), but a lot > of the rest sounds like I've heard it already. Oddly, I couldn't disagree more. I thought it was easily on a par with Dots and Loops, if not in some ways better. The only thing that worries me is losing the sense that it is *played* that may come with more slickness and hard-disk widdling. Even so, there's some glorious stuff there - love the marimba parts for example. Track 3 (I think) is so jolly that it went down well at a party last weekend (I wonder if Stereolab know that people can dance to some of their music. I wonder if they would be pleased), and the 11 minute minimalist piece (I left my copy at my girlfriend's house, so am hazy on the titles, particularly that of the album) I also love. At 75 minutes, though, it is a bit difficult getting the *shape* of the album. Still, no disappointment here. Also highly recommend the Scritti album if you like that sort of thing, and I do very much. Songs to Remember (one of the *great* lost pop albums, and the only really good record I can think of that subscribes to the principles of deconstruction) was a major touchstone of my early 80s, along with English Settlement. Anomie and Bonhomie can't touch that, but it is still a lovely album IMHO particularly the first and last tracks. Haven't bought Homespun yet, though. Sorry. John
------------------------------ From: phoebeh@impop.bellatlantic.net Message-ID: <38055A71.EE44226E@postoffice2.bellatlantic.net> Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 21:22:09 -0700 Subject: Holy Beatles and Colin...it's Minster Hill again.....That's MINSTER Howdy Wes and others........ OK Beatles were chiefs, XTC is still reinin' both have the cooky tunes (anybody remember Yellow Submarine,,,catchy in all it's blahness) and the brilliant stuff..... Wes, your comment...regarding the following line......" Still, the following rubbed me the wrong way....these are the first words on the first page of Minister Help...uh, I mean....ahhh screw it, here's the blurb: "If you were left cold by XTC's latest (MEANING AV1 FOR GOD'S SAKE), then this is probably what you were expecting! Great songs, quirky changes and a fine blend of acoustic and electric instrumentation. Man, if Colin Moulding released a solo album today, produced by Andy Partridge, then this is exactly what it would sound like. Although I don't think that it would touch the majesty that this album possesses." Was that what the band was saying about themselves (by the way it's MINSTER HILL not Minister) or was that a sparkling review from the highly regarded Mr.Schnee from the awesome (way more so then the poorly written and lousy critics at consumable review magazine)ALL-MUSIC GUIDE?!!!!!!!! I also received a press kit (I wrote to the band and they promptly sent one to me and with a bunch of other great goodies(t-shirt, tatoos, the coolest poster I've ever seen, etc...) and it contained more great reviews than I have seen for one cd this year or maybe the last 5 years..I can't remember XTC or even the highly regarded (and fab) new Flaming Lips has garned so much praise... I just can't figure out why a band with this much high praise (with Wes' being the only exception to that I have heard) is not all over the radio, this list, etc... By the way, I heard Andy even played and produced some of the disc...can anyone confirm this???? I'm not surprised if he did because the guys in the band are some of the nicest and level-headed guys in music today and I wouldn't be surprised if Andy did play on it and the band didn't want to use that as a sales tool for a debut.. They obviously want people to love them for who they and their music are/is.. Oh and by the way...I hear not a bit of Colin in the opening tune at all.... do you Luna???? Oh well, to each his/her own!! Chalkies rule...even Wes 8>). Maura
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19991014010741.95553.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "garret harkawik" <funktaisia@hotmail.com> Subject: Is it weird to listen to xtc in the US? Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 21:07:41 EDT My answer to this question is: yes, it is definitely weird to listen to xtc in the US, or at least where I live. But of course, it is considered weird to listen to anything that isn't on mtv or being played on the radio non-stop. Unfortunately, there really aren't any radio stations near me that would play xtc. Its all either Hip-Hop or oldies where I live. This is probably why I don't own a radio and avoid listening to it whenever I can. Garret Harkawik I don't regret never being famous, but I do regret never being in a bed, full of beautiful women. - Andy Partridge
------------------------------
Message-ID: <19991014011124.38383.qmail@hotmail.com>
From: "Seth Frisby" <vagueyear@hotmail.com>
Subject: LOVE...not the Band, but they're great also...
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 21:11:23 EDT
Well first off I need to get something off my chest. I LOVE XTC. We all
LOVE XTC here, therefore I LOVE You all... Now on to serious business. I'm
a delurker (no this isn't a confessional) and I have only met one XTC fan
in the flesh so this fun to read. Unfortunatly I have used black magic to
coerce others to like them (that's love right?). I have a few questions,
i've had Peter Gabriels Third amazing album for a while now and I was
wondering If anyone knew which songs feature Gregsy (I can find Fripp and
Bush pretty easily, who couldn't?)Another quest-ion is about where I can
get XTC t-shirts, I like to advertise on my chest.
Seeing as though this is my first time in these parts(as participant)
I think i'd like to start a THREAD... There has been a small trickle of
covers albums coming out lately, specifically one person covering a range
of artists' songs. Some recent ones are from Tom Jones, Paul Mccartney, and
Bryan Ferry in a week or two. Now if XTC were to do one what songs would
you like to hear them cover?? My only thought at this moment is Eno's the
Fat Lady of Limbourg with a Greenman like full orchestra. (don't ask)I
wouldn't really want them to do a covers album because their original
albums take so damn long to come out (though no arguing with the results)
but it is fun to think about though. But Hey Give me your thoughts!
Oh and that LOVE bit...I mean it.. If you can't love people who love
your favorite band who can you love?
Sincerely........Seth
P.S. Listen to the new Robyn Hitchcock album Jewels for Sophia, the song No
I don't Remember Guildford is so Beautiful I feel like i'm having a past
life experience... (not that I can describe what that's like) also Get Mock
Tudor, Richard Thompson's new one (just do IT!...i'll argue why later or
use my black magic..either or)
------------------------------ Message-ID: <002301bf15ec$fc4f8c00$bfb622cf@MyComputer.intergate.bc.ca> From: "Raymond Aoki" <raoki@intergate.bc.ca> Subject: Homespun and other matters... Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 19:36:53 -0700 Greetings from Vancouver, Canada. After finding out from TVT Canada that only 1500 copies of "Homespun" would be released in Canada (gasp!), I decided to shell out way too much money (about 38 bucks US) to purchase the Pony Canyon version of Homespun from Japan. After now giving it 3 listens, 2 words stand out for me...ESSENTIAL PURCHASE!!! Having not heard any of the unreleased demos before, it really is great to hear these versions at last!!! Sure, you can argue that some of the versions are better on AV1 (for me, ROO, I Can't Own Her & Easter Theatre), some are better on Homespun (Mr. Moulding's 2 contributions, I'd Like That & Harvest Festival with the brief, very raw acoustic bits, Your Dictionary without everyone's disliked "...corn I'll reap..." lyric) and some you really could go either way (KISK, Greenman, The Last Balloon). As many have mentioned, the packaging is exceptional. The Japanese version's 2nd disc containing the 3 "How the...Came To Be" interviews is tres cool. It's nice to hear Mr. Moulding's voice for a change and noting Mr. Gregory's contributions to "Frivolous Tonight." The extra booklet in the Pony Canyon CD includes the lyrics to all songs (English & Japanese), Japanese translations of the liner notes, commentary (which I am dying to get an English translation) that mentions "Somesuch" and "Fuzzy Warbles," and transcripts of all 3 interviews of the 2nd disc. Non-Homespun related - while I was down in California last month, I was driving to my sis's home from The Church concert in San Juan Capistrano (great show!). My sis and I were listening to Y107, a station of which a friend of my brother-in-law works. Low and behold, at about 2 AM, "Greenman" comes on the airwaves!!! I was stunned...first time that I heard XTC on the radio since "Dear Madam Barnum" seven years ago. Non-Homespun related (2) - did any of the Canadian (and possibly American) Chalkhillers watch the '80's on the Flipside weekend special on MuchMusic? On Saturday, they had an in-studio performance by (gulp) Platinum Blonde '99! Have all the Canadians stopped cringing yet? After a surprisingly effective stripped-down performance, Mark Holmes (vocalist, bassist, only original member of the band) got to be programmer and chose a video. His choice: "Senses Working Overtime." Seguing into the video, he said, "For all the mods out there..." OK(?)... Non-XTC related...I see Owsley mentioned a fair bit here. Great album, I must say. Has anyone seen the commercial of the clothing company, "Nautica," with "I'm Alright" played throughout the entire commercial? Great ad...I sure hope Mr. Owsley is getting paid handsomely!!! Back to lurking... Ray
------------------------------
From: luna1@mindspring.com
Message-Id: <199910140423.AAA19050@smtp10.atl.mindspring.net>
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 00:41:36 -0500
Subject: Minster Thrill
Regarding Wes's last posting, on the subject of Minster Hill, I too found
that review to be over the top and perhaps would not have been so open
minded about Minster Hail if I had read that before. Anyway, not having
read that, the CD was thoroughly enjoyable. One more note: on your
suggestion that Herrick is trying to sound like Colin, I believe the singer
on that track is actually Christian Cassan who was formerly a member of a NY
band called The Churchills. I actually thought he sounded like John Lennon,
but I guess I can hear the Collin thing.
On another subject, Giovanni wrote
What would be the best CD-R compilation to woo into XTC-dom a
20-year-old young lady who currently listens to:
* Velvet Underground
* Tom Waits
* Hole
* Nine Inch Nails
Sounds like she's into dark and dramatic and intense.
What about including
* River of Orchids -- it has a Tom Waits-like theatrical mood and is
beautiful!
* Rook (Nonsuch) -- it's got that deeply melancholic angsty feeling
Failing that try woo-ing her with having her listen to a grown man singing
"Hold me my Daddy" ... gyrls are softies for that kind of thing. Or copy
the lyrics to one of your favorite poetic pieces as a subtle romantic
gesture ("I'd like that" and, oddly enough, "I can't own her" are both
tearfully romantic, but you may want to choose a less direct one,
depending). then wait for her to ask you to hear the song, so she'll be
fully prepared. Gawd, it sounds like I'm giving you advice for more than
woo-ing her into XTCdom! Well, good luck, let us know.
Luna
------------------------------ Message-ID: <00d301bf160f$02672d60$ba4778c7@JH3.alternatech.net> From: "JH3" <jh3@netins.net> Subject: Peace, Love, Understanding... Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 01:40:29 -0500 William Loring writes: >The last few days of list messages would be very depressing reading, >if presented to XTC. What do you think the writer of "Knuckle Down" >might think if he read these messages? <snip> >"What's so funny 'bout peace, love and understanding?" - Elvis Costello Andy would probably be less depressed than Nick Lowe would be if he read that you were attributing one of his best songs to some other guy! But as long as we're at it, Andy would probably be depressed no matter what we wrote in this digest. I suspect that he doesn't like to be talked about at all, especially by total strangers. Like many recording artists, he'd prefer it if we just bought his records and then left him alone. Meanwhile, Wes Long sent this in: >Still, the following rubbed me the wrong way....these are the first >words on the first page of Minister Help...uh, I mean....ahhh screw >it, here's the blurb: >"If you were left cold by XTC's latest (MEANING AV1 FOR GOD'S SAKE), >then this is probably what you were expecting! <snip> >Man, if Colin Moulding released a solo album today, produced by Andy >Partridge, then this is exactly what it would sound like. Although I don't >think that it would touch the majesty that this album possesses." "Rubbed me the wrong way" would certainly be putting it mildly, in my case! Try "shoved a belt sander in my face and flipped the 'on' switch." Talk about hubris! To think I was vaguely interested in hearing this band, before I read THAT. -John H. Hedges XTCware: http://www.alternatech.net/jh3/xtc
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19991014091326.10558.rocketmail@web601.yahoomail.com> Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 02:13:26 -0700 (PDT) From: travis schulz <xtcisadarngoodband@yahoo.com> Subject: Homespun/Little Express Homespun finally arrived today, and although I may be overly enthusiastic in it being my new XTC item, I find it essential to my XTC collection. It did take a long enough time to get here, thanks to CDNOW, but well worth the wait. Even though I already have most of the AV1 demos (but none of Colin's), my copy must be a muddy great-great grandson of the original source. So the cleaner sound of Homespun is welcome for me, and yet the cruder charm of demos is still there. Plus I'm not left feeling I have AV1 all over again as there is something different in this. I agree with some of the others here that the liner notes and the primitive lyrical sketchings are really great. And with it's low price tag- ya just gotta have it! It kicks ass. And isn't it great to be an XTC fan these days with AV2 and the AV2 demo album, along with Fuzzy Warbles (which I hope includes Wonder Annual, Dame Fortune and Bumper Cars) all on the way next year. On a side note here- does anyone here miss the Little Express as much as I do? No band could ever have a better fanzine than LE- the internet is only ok compared to it. Travis.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19991014101325.15293.rocketmail@web2103.mail.yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 03:13:25 -0700 (PDT) From: Giovanni Giusti <giovanni_giusti@yahoo.com> Subject: XTC and Beatles (no, really) Just a short note: when I had just got to know XTC I taped "Black Sea" (which was then new), then proceeded to evangelise my best friend. His first reaction: "Eughh. They sound like the Beatles played by the Sex Pistols." He converted since. (I already wrote this story twice in the list. Those with good memory please excuse me.) Giovanni
------------------------------ Message-ID: <3805CBF1.C38216A7@ci.conover.nc.us> Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 08:26:25 -0400 From: erik schlichting <eriks@ci.conover.nc.us> Subject: Oops One Chalker (so far) has pointed out a grammatical error I made in the same post in which I complained about poor grammar. My face is red, the wind has left my sails, and yes, I do have trouble talking with my foot in my mouth. Erik
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19991014125501.1299.rocketmail@web2905.mail.yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 05:55:01 -0700 (PDT) From: nross <PhoenixYellowRose@rocketmail.com> Subject: Dem Eagles - continued Sorry for not posting bout XTC here: BUT... I'd like to say thanks to the Eagles and their fans for moving the Redskins in to a tie for first place. -gratefully yours, Nicole ===== Nicole's internet music station: http://www.imagineradio.com/mymusiclisten.asp?name=phoenixyellowrose
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19991014115318.59811.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "damian marley" <damian5a@hotmail.com> Subject: I'm going to talk about AV1 Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 04:53:17 PDT Dear Chalkhill Children, I'm going to gush about XTC, in particular, Apple Venus Vol. 1. Well, you know what? When I bought the CD and first listened to it, it struck me as being a new step in the band's evolution. It seemed big and juicy and quite a mouthful. It slowly began to grow on me - my expectation of guitars and rock drum beats faded away once I began to realise what kind of album it was. Then, one day, I printed off the lyric sheet from the website. Once I read those lyrics, the album EXPLODED for me! Rare for me to find a band whose lyrics play such a key part in the overall impression. With this album, the lyrics and the music just couldn't exist without each other. Being more inclined towards music as opposed to finding "deep meaning" in lyrics, I wasn't listening properly to the words during my early days with this album. (Let's face it: a good lyrics writer in rock is a rare and precious thing . . . you know, I love Genesis quite shamelessly, yet I am aware that their lyrics have never been utterly brilliant - much like the mystical verbal porridge from another great band called Yes). But seeing the printed words in front of me made it all click. It was "River of Orchids" which began it all. And I'm still discovering this album, seven months after first hearing it. Maybe I'm a little slow off the mark, but "Harvest Festival" just blew up in my face a few weeks ago: And what a year when the exams and crops all failed Of course you passed and you were never seen again (Crikey). This is what all good albums, all good books, all good movies, symphonies, poems do. They take time to reveal themselves in all their glory. This is not the kind of stuff for impatient minds. Your input equals your output. It's kind of good that XTC didn't include the lyrics with the CD. Because the slow revelation is much better than being spoonfed. For me, AV1 is an album which grows high really high like a really high thing - I'm still listening to it, going back to it. I taped it for my friends; their tape broke in the car from overuse; I'm making them another copy. My friend's friend demanded a copy; I made it for her. Of course they're going to buy their own copies of the CD. So much of pop culture is tedium, beige-blandishness (to quote Mr. Zappa). Flashy vacant fluff. TV, radio, music, you name it. XTC is about time, pace, growth, thought, dreams. A good lyricist is hard to come by, but here are some of the best:- Andy Partridge Colin Moulding Elvis Costello Frank Zappa Mike Muir OK, I've said enough. Keep listening, folks. Damian from Melbourne
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19991014135022.65672.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Tom ..." <tomyates@hotmail.com> Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 20:49:48 ICT Subject: AV12345 Howdy all Chalkahillians! Well, a note that I am an old - new user to this majordomo extravaganza. I applied myself to it post-Nonsuch and loved the list and loved the list and loved the list waiting for the next XTC album to arrive so we could all have some new recordings to base our sometimes non-sequitir rantings oneventually I left because I had lost faith that we would have future XTCpity me! And then the fabled album came out but it wasn't here in Bangkok and I fretted and gnashed teeth and tried to figure out how to get it (because the mail systems are not conducive to delivering the mail order products) and finally was in Singapore at a Borders bookstore on one of my visits and in the record section GLORY BE they had it there and then I nearly wore it out listening to it and felt compelled to rejoin this list so I could contribute my enthusiasm for this wonderlust of sound to the masses of other XTC worshipers around the world. As a leftover note the Hard Rock Caf? in Singapore was blasting XTC's "King For a Day" from their loudspeakers every 20 minutes or so onto those stringent streets. quite a spectacle! Then I didn't get the acronym "AV1" for a momentthought it was some new Music Video Station on cable you had in the Statesfinally it dawned on me what everyone was abbreviating Guess I'm too late for the boat of love for this albumbut anyhow a great symphony of XTC and I am in love with all of the cutseven the Colin Moulding cuts which I feel provide a generous balance to the conceptual feel that Andy provides to the rest of the album. organic and free, rooted and stricta feast for the ears and a hearty pull to the soulall the songs! All in all, I am more than happy for the wait of this album. I will also seek out "homespun", but when will AV2 hit our ears? I wanna hear! I wanna hear! As XTC gets smaller and smaller, when will it only be Andy's machine? And would that make such a difference to the sound that AV1 had? Just curious. Thanks for my indulgence, Tom Yates tomyates@hotmail.com "The law immutable, indestructible, eternal; not like those of today and yesterday, but made ere time began." Sophocles
------------------------------ Message-ID: <380604BD.101294B3@pobox.com> Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 12:28:45 -0400 From: Jefferson Ogata <ogata@pobox.com> Organization: The Antibozo Subject: Re: huzzah to XTC's next drummer Back in #5-274, Duncan Watt wrote: > ...but if you REALLY want your mind blown, listen to Peter Gabriel's > "Shaking The Tree"(from "Shaking The Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats", Geffen > M2G-24326). But if you really, really, REALLY want your mind blown, listen to Youssou N'Dour's recording of this song with Peter Gabriel backing him up (instead of the other way round). You can find it on the release entitled "The Lion". For some reason Peter has taken some rather bizarre liberties with the melody on his own recording that really take the song down a peg, IMHO. -- Jefferson Ogata. smtp: <ogata@pobox.com> http://www.pobox.com/~ogata/ finger: ogata@pobox.com ICQ: 19569681 whois: jo317@whois.internic.net
------------------------------
Message-Id: <v04210102b42bcd1ac450@[129.105.37.210]>
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 13:24:26 -0500
From: Olof Hellman <hellman@ksan.ms.nwu.edu>
Subject: Re: Iron Chef
Iron Chef, or Ryori no Tetsujin ("The iron man of Cuisine") has been
around for a few years in Japan. I watched it a few times in Japan,
and loved it, as the Japanese was pretty intelligible, ranking only
below sumo and baseball on the comprehension scale. My wife (who is
Japanese) and I watch it now on the Food Network when we can, and get
a kick out of the hokey dubbed translation. Next time you watch it,
try thinking of Ugly Underneath as the theme song.
Slapped Drums and Wires on yesterday for the first time in awhile,
and was caught anew by the unique XTC sound of the era -- I'm again
impressed at how tunes like Complicated Game and Scissor Man can
continue to sound fresh 20 years later.
- Olof
Olof Hellman
Northwestern University, Dept. Materials Science & Engineering
------------------------------ Message-Id: <s805e30e.024@OAG.STATE.TX.US> Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 14:04:45 -0600 From: "Steve Oleson" <Steve.Oleson@OAG.STATE.TX.US> Subject: ?Would Todd record w/ XTC again? In Song Stories, (and everywhere else, apparently) Andy complained about Todd Rundgren, and the experience of recording in Woodstock, NY. I've never heard what Todd thought about the experience. Does anyone know what Todd thought of working with XTC, and would he, if asked, do it again? Steve Oleson Austin, TX
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199910141359.NAA230.79@GATEWAY.TIRERACK.COM> Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 14:02:06 -0500 From: "William Loring" <bloring@tirerack.com> Subject: Re: Pop is an insult Giovanni asked: > What would be the best CD-R compilation to woo into XTC-dom a > 20-year-old young lady who currently listens to: > > * Velvet Underground > * Tom Waits > * Hole > * Nine Inch Nails > > In other words: what XTC songs you believe I can use to slowly bring > her into the fold, considering that for her "pop" is an insult? Francis had some very good suggestions. I would include a few others: Blue Overall, Reign of Blows, All Along the Watchtower, Set Myself On Fire, Towers of London, Melt the Guns, Funk Pop a Roll, Across This Antheap, Crocodile, This is Pop. I'm sure I could think of more... I would also slip in a few of the more melodic tunes, just to see if you can hook them on some of the more "pop" stuff. I would avoid the singles they might have already heard. Good luck! ...bill
------------------------------
From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl>
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 21:56:23 +0200
Subject: Bonus Spin
Message-Id: <19991014195533.3EF5CA6CE0@mail.knoware.nl>
Dear Chalkers,
Patrick asked:
> While I'm thinking about it, does the Japanese "bonus disc" have an
> interview of Andy talking about Greenman
tracklisting of the Japanese spoken word cd:
1. How Easter Theatre...
2. How Frivolous Tonight...
3. How I'd Like That
Alas, not the Greenman track... As far as i know it has been recorded
so they could (and should!) have included it
yours in xtc,
Mark Strijbos at The Little Lighthouse
http://www.knoware.nl/users/mmello/
or http://come.to/xtc
------------------------------
Message-ID: <3805E756.4E9F@realtime.com>
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 15:23:17 +0100
From: chris vreeland <vreecave@realtime.com>
Organization: Vreeland Graphics
Subject: read it and weep
Howdy,
In resonse to davidoh,s list of instruments suggestion from a few
digests back; I know this is probably out of date, but I've never
actally listed them all thought it sounded kind of fun... Plus I
love to gloat. Here it is:
1. 1964 Gibson Thunderbird bass- tobacco sunburst
2. 1966 Fender Jazz bass ('89 neck, frets removed)- Cream w/red tortoise
shell
3. 1979 Fender Precision bass (fretless)- Sea foam green w/white mother
of pearl
4. 1991 Fender Jazz bass- Tobacco sunburst
5. Gibson EBO series bass- serial #000331 (1959?)
6. 1969 Gibson Les Paul bass- Mahogany, stained
7. 1988 Guild acoustic bass guitar
8. 1984 Yamaha BX1
9. mid-sixties(?) Hagstrom bass (solid body) white/black
10. 1979 Mesa Boogie D-180 tube amplifier
11. 15" JBL k-140
12. 15" EV
13. 30' cord
Oh, yeah, I DO own a tuner.
The only bass I ever sold was a Rick 4001, serial #2626, white with
black binding. If you see it, I want it back.
Chris " transcending spiritualism in favor of stuff" Vreeland
------------------------------ Message-ID: <38065272.822F8912@averstar.com> Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 18:00:27 -0400 From: Harrison Sherwood <sherwood@averstar.com> Subject: Dominic Lawson Has Huge Tits Jesus. My brain hurts. The one in my head. Mouth feels like the fuckin' Red Army just Great Marched through it in their stocking feet. Wanna puke.... Christ, what did I do to deserve *this*? What time is it? Why are the kids downstairs shrieking? Is Kathy killing them? Oh, God! It's ten AM! She's gonna kill *me!* Oh yeah. Chalkhills Gathering last night. Played music until 2 in the morning. Ogata's place. Basement. LOUD. Fridge full of beer, kept replenishing itself, as if by magic. I said.... And then he said.... And I answered.... WHAT!?!? Oh Jesus, he must think I'm the world's biggest idiot.... Cringe.... The faces swim upward into my queasy consciousness: Cosentino... Bernhardt... Ogata... Lawson... LAWSON?!?! ----- Less than 18 hours earlier, I had eased nervously into the Bernhardts' living room, wary, edgy, my hand in my pocket convulsively fingering the nine-inch switchblade my overcautious wife always insists on pressing on me when I attend these net.gatherings. "You don't know *who's* behind those anonymous aliases and screen names people give themselves! Could be psychos, or Satanists, o-or other undesirables!" You said a mouthful, sister, I thought, as I approached a couple huddled on the couch. They stopped chewing each others' necks long enough for the male half to disentangle himself, gather his spectacular ponytail out of his mouth, hold out a friendly hand, and announce cheerfully, "I'm Dom!" "I-I'm the Empress Dowager of China," I stammered, but Bernhardt smacked me on the back of the head, hard. "None of your crap, Sherwood," he said in a steely tone. "You know what happened...last time." Indeed I did remember, and impulsively touched the burn scars on my lower back. Dominic introduced his companion Debs, a totally charming young woman, and Todd pressed beers and hors d'ouevres on us. (On me he pressed a lovely pattern reminiscent of some of Liberty of London's more flamboyant paisleys, and on Debs he recreated the Battle of Borodino with olive-loaf and hummous. He's _so_ autistic.) As our conversation became less inhibited (touching on topics as varied as child psychology, principles of urban planning, and North American entomology) I began to take stock of our English visitors, particularly this hitherto unknown entity, this mystery wrapped in a riddle packed in a taco-shell named Dom. How often his belligerence had caused the collective Chalkhills blood to boil! How many donnybrooks started just for the hell of it! How many dogmatic and argumentative blanket assertions thrown down like so many gauntlets! And yet, here he sat before me, shoveling crabcakes into his maw and guzzling Hefeweizen like any normal person, agreeable, deferential, polite--belching quietly with appreciation at Jenn Bernhardt's sallies, usually remembering to blow his cigarette smoke away from the babies. In a word...A Really Nice Guy. Falling into a reverie, I began to ruminate on that strange thing, human nature, and how it affects our communication... How the faceless quality of the Internet allows us to adopt personae that we play like marionettes upon a stage, saying things to each other that we would never in a million years say in meatspace... I wondered if perhaps some conclusion might not suggest itself, about how we all might get along together better if we always remembered that there's a real person, not a puppet, on the receiving end of our Chalkie words--a person with feelings, with dreams and aspirations, who bleeds and weeps in pain just like us.... Somebody, please, just...kill me now. After a lovely interlude at the Bernhardts' we made our way across town to Jefferson Ogata's place. Jeff had kindly (and, I must say, courageously) availed his basement for the Gathering, and we kicked aside treasured Lladro knick-knacks and other valued personal possessions to set up drums, guitars, PA gear, amps, in a monument to the creative spirit. When I strapped on the Strat, set the effects box on Maximum Crunch and flogged a barred A chord, a glorious sound filled the room, the sound of human creativity, the sound of international amity and understanding, the sound of...some asshole in a suburban basement with delusions so big he can't put his pants on. But you know what was great about that? What was great was that I was surrounded by four *other* assholes with delusions just as big! And you know when you get that kind of synergy, that kind of Grand Collective Delusion... That's Rock-n-Roll, baby! And so that's what we did. All night. And partied ev-er-y day. Pretty much covered the Catalog, we did, from "Science Friction" to "I'd Like That," with stops along the way at Towers of London, Senses Working Overtime, Earn Enough for Us, and Books Are Burning (Oh, the solo I played on that one! Oh my! Forty, no FIFTY minutes long, really *exploring* it, *working* it, *featuring* my pain, dive-bombing and controlled-feedbacking until there wasn't a dry eye in the basement!) Damn yeah, that was a good time. Jeff Ogata & Pia, Dom & Debs, Bob Cosentino and friend-whose-name-I-didn't-catch, Todd, neighbor-who-came-in-late-for-the-beer, thank you all very much for a wonderful time. Let's do it again real soon. Harrison "This time without the M-80s in the toilet" Sherwood P.S.: From "Satanas Diablo" (yes, we picked up on the Spanish, there, bub, thanks): > I just like the name and since I am > atheist, I tend to be called evil by people who debate with ignorance. I > am very outspoken, and in all my years, whether in Philosophy classes or > in public, I have never lost a LOGICAL argument. Heh, heh, heh, heh..... Look what followed me home, Mom! Can I keep him? Huh? Can I? Can I? Oh, pleeeeeeease?
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #5-285 *******************************
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