Chalkhills Digest Volume 6, Issue 277
Date: Wednesday, 27 September 2000
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 6, Number 277
Wednesday, 27 September 2000
Topics:
Check out The Canonical List of Weird Band Names
I Scare Myself
Still catching up
Apple Star?
Joe Jackson flys for The Great Beast
Frost Circus heard on PBS series
I'm Here
hello from Brazil
Re: Best vocals
How To Clean A Bong,Cheap! (trust me) }---:)
English in pixels!
Live from the Sydney Olympics !
What I did on my summer vacation
Walking On Thin Ice
Dome
Green Man Promo
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Chalkhills is compiled with Digest 3.7b (John Relph <relph@tmbg.org>).
We're the dominant of the species.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 19:03:54 EDT
From: OMBEAN1@aol.com
Subject: Check out The Canonical List of Weird Band Names
Message-ID: <6d.9b6fdff.270133da@aol.com>
http://www.mcs.net/~shochber/bandname.html
The Canonical List of Weird Band Names
Sorry, Nothing really XTC, but this is so goddamn funny.....
Roger
p.s. I like WS better than AV1
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 19:56:42 -0400 From: Jeff Eason <eason@mountaintimes.com> Subject: I Scare Myself Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.20000925195642.0085ace0@mountaintimes.com> Howdy All, I'm going to the Mountain Oasis Festival next weekend in Deerfields, North Carolina. One of the reasons that I am going is to see Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks, a band that is touring for the first time in years. What has this to do with XTC, you may be thinking... Well, the Dan Hicks' song "I Scare Myself" was recorded by Thomas Dolby who has worked with Andy Partridge a number of times. Andy played harmonica on "Europa & The Pirate Twins", my all-time favorite Dolby song. This makes Dan Hicks a second degree of separation from our favorite band. Does anyone else have a way of connecting XTC to bands that one would not normally think of? For example, to connect XTC to Hall & Oates would be fairly straightforward: Todd Rundgren produced Skylarking and Hall & Oates sang backing vocals on Todd's live album, "Back to the Bars." Let's see who can come up with the strangest connection! Anyone connecting XTC to Frank Sinatra wins a special prize! Cheers, Jeff "No Troubles/Big Bubbles" Eason
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 00:05:46 -0700 (PDT) From: Ryan Anthony <hamsterranch@yahoo.com> Subject: Still catching up Message-ID: <20000926070546.3546.qmail@web106.yahoomail.com> Fellow Goddam Monkeys: I'm still getting caught up on old Digests (a member of my family got voted off the planet this past spring, and for a while there was no time or inclination for Chalkhillery), and I notice a couple of things in No. 6-119: Ed Kedzierski wrote: "In 6-118, Jeff Smelser mentions the Comsat Angels and says: 'Then they had to change their name to CS Angels in the states and it was a downhill slide to the cutout bins from there.' "Do you know why this was? I know that 'Comsat Angels' was also the name of an early J.G. Ballard short story, and although he never really struck me as the litigious type, I had vaguely assumed that this might have had something to do with it. But you said 'in the states' ... could it be that 'comsat,' which seems to me a rather generic shortening of 'communications satellite,' is actually trademarked? Bizarre." >From what little I can recall, Ed, didn't *CS* originally stand for, er, um, the act Monica Lewinsky became notorious for performing? I was given to understand the band was beset, not by trademark lawyers, but by people (pitchfork-wielding heartlanders, or record company suits?) who objected to its X-rated name. In that same Digest, I said Klaatu was the robot in the classic 1951 sci-fi film *The Day the Earth Stood Still*. Shame on me. Klaatu was the humanoid peace envoy, played by Michael Rennie. The robot's name was Gort or Gorp or something I could easily learn by punching up the Internet Movie Database. Ryan "the Hamster from the Ministry" Anthony An independent Internet content provider P.S.: *Notorious* and *famous* are not synonyms.
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 06:24:11 -0700 (PDT) From: andrew sneddon <andrew_sneddon@yahoo.com> Subject: Apple Star? Message-ID: <20000926132411.9867.qmail@web614.mail.yahoo.com> Ok folks, I am going on a weeks holiday in the lake district soon with my girlfriend and I want to take some lovely XTC with me (the prog odessy compilation didnt go down too well last time). Thinking of a Apple Venus/Wasp Star 45 minute compilation blast along with other albums. Track listings please? Also, are there any XTC posters in existence? I'd love to have one taking pride of place in my bedroom. Could be a bit unnerving having Andy and co. staring at me if I was on the job but what the heck... On another note I saw the repeat of the "Glam Top Ten" on Channel 4 the other night which had a quick interview with Pete Phipps on his Glitterband days. Non-XTC note: A friend of mine (from Cambridge) said that he worked in the main Addenbrookes hospital a while ago. One day he was working on a ward and got talking to a certain Roger (Syd) Barrett who kept asking him for doughnuts but he wasnt allowed any due to his diabetes. Bye bye from a grey Elephant and Castle Andrew ps Is the Kinks Muswell Hillbillies album worth getting? I love Village Green Preservation Society.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 14:24:37 -0500
From: Jill Oleson <Jill_Oleson@kurion.com>
Subject: Joe Jackson flys for The Great Beast
Message-ID: <81CC73FC2FACD311A2D200508B8B88AA1C9299@KURION_EXCH>
Sorry, I can't contain the irony... Here's what Joe Jackson had to say
about performing in front of an audience in his new autobiography
"A Cure for Gravity":
"SHOWTIME! Time, once again, to disarm and charm that great beast
called The Audience. Time to focus all our energy into making a
connection, into making something *happen*. We can feel it, when
we're winning them over, and it feels good. Everyone, band and
audience, merging into one entity. And on a really good night --
and this rarely happens, but we get glimpses of it -- we're flying.
It's as though music has the power to neutralise the force of
gravity. We're like those lunatics you see on TV who jump out of
planes and link arms in free-fall. They never look as though
they're actually falling, but floating, as though time is standing
still. And maybe those glimpses are what keep us going, like a drug
fix taking us out of the clatter and grind of normal life."
Well said, Joe!
Jill Oleson
Austin, Texas
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 14:09:08 -0400 (EDT) From: BEAULAC MARIO <beaulac.mario@uqam.ca> Subject: Frost Circus heard on PBS series Message-ID: <Pine.HPP.3.95.1000926134001.13525B-100000@nobel.si.uqam.ca> Hi Chalkhillians, I'm joining what's growing to be a chorus of voices favorable to the "Frost Circus" and "Procession Towards Learning Land" instrumental tracks. Just thought I'd drop in and mention that "Frost Circus" could be heard in the PBS documentary series "New York" from last year. If memory serves me right, I think it was in one of the latter installments, maybe in the last hour. The poetry of the music was served well enough by the visuals, but I was a bit miffed that XTC's or Andy's name were nowhere to be found in the credits. I may have missed it, but the soundtrack to the series released on CD didn't include the track either. I hope this tidbit hadn't come up already. Another instance in which I heard a song from the "Homo Safari" series on TV, and probably the weirdest use of XTC's music I ever stumbled upon, was the use of "Egyptian Solution" as the soundtrack during a sports clips compilation on the news. That was sometimes in the mid- to late-eighties. Anyone else has similar stories related to the aforementioned series? Forget the "Simpsons" versus "Family Guy" squabble. How about "Futurama" as heir to the TV Toon Crown? Just a thought (isn't Bender the perfect tin can design robot, though? And what's more, his voice and demeanor remind me somewhat of my father-in-law, which helps in cracking me up, no doubt). Mario Beaulac
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 16:33:36 -0400 From: Molly Fanton <mollyfa0000@worldnet.att.net> Subject: I'm Here Message-ID: <39D1081E.18BABC43@worldnet.att.net> Organization: AT&T Worldnet Service I just wanted to let people that I haven't disappeared. I'm still around. I just am using Worldnet now. I still have CompuServe, but I'm going to get rid of it soon. Today I was listening to CKEY (The River 101.1, Niagara Falls, Ontario). I almost fell off my bed. I moved my stereo in my bedroom, and I was programming the radio stations when I came across this station. They're an adult alternative station that plays cool stuff like XTC. I can't remember their URL though. I was just pleasantly surprised to hear that song. :) Molly
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 19:33:29 -0300 (BRT)
From: Fernando Pablo Devecchi <devecchi@fisica.ufpr.br>
Subject: hello from Brazil
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.96.1000926192857.15426A-100000@hoggar.fisica.ufpr.br>
Hello everybody, This is my first message in
chalkhills, after a long time (5 years) just reading the archives.
I really hope to have a good time with you talking
about XTC...
Best wishes, Fernando from Brazil.
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 20:18:40 EDT From: IMSUNBAKE@aol.com Subject: Re: Best vocals Message-ID: <33.aa8913a.270296e0@aol.com> Paul wrote in #6-276- Oh yeah, and am I the only one who thinks that AV2 features some of Andy's best vocals, by far? Paul Brantley http://web.syr.edu/~pebrantl/ -- No, Dahling, you are not the only one! I am pleased to join your company. I listened to We're all Light and ITMWML and TWATM on the way home from work tonight, repeatedly, because I couldn't get enough of that voice. (That's about 4 "listens" to each, for those keeping score.) I just kept hitting the "repeat" button. And, after I walk the dogs, I going to put AV2 on again and sit back in the Lazy Boy with a glass of sherry. Well, hells bells, the music I listen to is the one thing I can control in my life right now! No, it doesn't take much to make me happy ... stupidly so, I might add (groan)! Smooches to all of you Chalksters... Annamarie
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 21:22:21 CDT
From: "vee tube" <veetube@hotmail.com>
Subject: How To Clean A Bong,Cheap! (trust me) }---:)
Message-ID: <F293ZTW5k1Ed28kIN4M00000529@hotmail.com>
(If you've never used my bongs before,
please see, Chalkhills Vol.1 #1.
RE: "Hi! My name is pfthphphfffttt,
cough,cough,welcome to Chalkhills)
1. Remove the stem and bowl.
2. Drop the stem/bowl combo
into the big round tube.
3. Duct tape all the holes.
4. Throw 1/2 a pack of denture
tabs in it.(6-8 hits should do)
5. Let it set over night.
6. Rinse,repeat.
XTC content:
1. Mr.Demon Brown (aka: corndoghole@fearts.com)
has fixed this site.
http://www.orangetwin.com/drunken/drunken.html
Return your empties,open new ones,join the band!
2. Idrive is totally wasted! Now they're removing
the 'send' option.
3. AHGAHAGAHAGAA!!A@A!@A!AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4. I'm thinking about using 'myspace'. If anyone
has a better idea, please le me know.
World Party content:
1. I like him/them/him.
2. The new CD 'Dumbing Up' is only available in the
U.S. as an import. A $28!!!!!!!!!!!!!IMPORT!!!!!!
The last time I fell for this was Squeeze's 'Domino'
It SUCKED big chuckies!
This one ain't quite that bad but,
it's extremely mediocre! Save your $$$
"A nova by any other bumble,
Would smell just as swell"?!OUT!
!---:)
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 23:03:08 -0400 From: "D.V. Caputo" <alphacomp@earthlink.net> Subject: English in pixels! Message-ID: <39D1636C.E22F9DC3@earthlink.net> Hello, Just finished Reinventing Comics, by Scott McCloud. It's REALLY GOOD. Now I have an urge to go to every single comic book shop in New York and get everything Zot! and to read Batman: Digital Justice three times over. Anyway, -"Church Of Women" and "Ship Trapped in the Ice" seem to belong in Nonsuch to me... I also think that "Your Dictionary"Really fits into skylarking, as I expect the "birds tweeting,crickets chirping,etc." noise @ the beginning of Skylarking to come at the very end of "Your Dictionary". What do YOU think? which AV1 and 2 songs fit into what albums of XTC's past? -would it be strange if I turned on a friend of mine to XTC via "Candymine"? oops...just did... Also, Ben Said: "Go, now, and see Cameron Crowe's new film "Almost Famous." Not only is it a wonderful story of a boy and a band, but I think it has a lot to say about those of us who are obsessed with a certain set of songsmiths from Swindon." I agree, it's a really good movie, it has great acting, and It was the first time I've ever seen the cover of Pet Sounds on the big screen before!=) thirdly, How is the new Bjork album? I haven't heard it yet, but I heard it got some pretty good reviews. Lastly, I think I was the only one who expected "The wheel and the Maypole" to sound like "Frost Circus" or "Heaven is Paved with Broken Glass",and "We're all Light"to sound like "Good Vibrations"..Oops again. Lastly again... What the hey: Names for New album of XTC: Pours out... All The Cars in The Town In My Head Heart Pumping Wine And, if you like combinations of quotes... How was I so Naive In My Head??? Ok, that's all. I have to go back to my biological mutation into a bookworm now. "We want...a Shrubbery to paint a pretty picture, for me to sit upon!"<---Try to seperate and name the origination of those two quotes!!!Clue 1:Someone from swindon played The Munsters for him. Clue 2: "What is the Airspeed velocity of a Coconut laden Swallow?" -D.V.
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 11:07:31 EST From: "Andrew Gowans" <ratwhacker@hotmail.com> Subject: Live from the Sydney Olympics ! Message-ID: <F254b0LxA56iYGoVEmK00005226@hotmail.com> Yes, I escaped alive from the Sydney Olympics. Seriously, what I saw (athletics semis) I really enjoyed - and I'm not a sports-minded person. We all got so caught up that we'd have cheered and clapped a piece of paper if it blew across the field. Exciting stuff. From Vol 6 No.276. I must disagree with The Worrier Queen about disposable XTC music. Generally I can find a track from within their canon to suit most moods, and when that mood strikes I crave the soundtrack it supplies. Mr Boudreau's reminiscences on The Kinks reminded me of something. A few weeks ago I made a recommendation off-list about The Kinks 'Low Budget'. This album has been on my vinyl replacement list for a goodly time now. Well, I was browsing through my local KMart on Monday - with Birthday Money buring a hole in my pocket - when I found this on CD. I's a fairly recent Shock Records release and has been re-engineered from the original Konk Studio masters and put out in HDCD. In short, it sounds great ! It has bonus extended tracks, sympathetically, at the end of the CD and impressive liner notes on the CD booklet. A definite 5 bananas out of 5 recommendation (it was only $19 Aus @ $10 US - whacko !). I enjoyed Mt Kingston's analysis of SIFJ, TMWYS and B. In passing, I remember reading in Peter Brown's book of Beatle reminiscences 'The Love You Make' about GH's troubles with 'My Sweet Lord'. Apparantly Billy Preston, the genius who plays the classic electric piano on 'Get Back', was given first refusal at MSL by GH. He put it out on his solo album before 'All Things Pass'. He purposely arranged it to reduce the similarity between MSL and 'He's So Fine'. GH wasn't so wise and the similarity was accentuated by his arrangement. Interestingly, when GH was contesting the plagiarism case in the 70's the publishing rights to HSF was owned by Allen Klein's family company. Seeing as he was GH's manager at the time of MSL, subsequently dumped as his wheeling and dealing fell from favour, he seems to have 'double dipped' at the table of 'My Sweet Lord'. Mind you, Mr Kingston, you have on your conscience the fact that 99.99% of the people on the list are now stuck with Julie Andrews singing in their subconscious. On the subject of album titles to be gleaned from the lyrics on Wasp Star, a perusal of the lyrics for Playground suggest the following: Never Stop Rehearsing Must Try Harder Brain Gets Bent There's No Escaping See ya's, Andrew Gowans
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 21:20:11 -0700 From: jbkxtc@ev1.net Subject: What I did on my summer vacation Message-ID: <017101c0284b$4756c120$8e525d3f@sony.com> Hi kids! Wow. I just got back from my whirlwind trip to London and packed in more than I could have imagined into four full days plus the two partial days that we flew in and out on. Let me give you some brief highlights that contain XTC content - and that you may actually be interested in. After flying in last Wednesday afternoon and dragging our luggage through multiple tube stops to arrive at my girlfriend's friend's place in Camden, we started off Thursday morning with a personal tour at Abbey Road, thanks to my girlfriend's contacts there. I have to tell you, it was fabulous. I didn't immediately start crying when I walked into Studio Two as I had predicted, but there is definitely a certain "weight" in the air that you can feel. Our guide, David, told us a great story of how a few years ago he was showing a man from Capitol Records around Studio Two and the guy said he wondered if John Lennon's ghost ever came around. Just a few seconds later, the doors that exit out into the garden opened up - and because it's an emergency exit , the doors can only be opened from the inside. The guy from Capitol didn't actually see it when it happened and he thought it was a gag, but David said he saw the bar press down and has no idea "who" opened it. Studio Three, where XTC recorded, has changed a lot since they were there (they've swapped the location of the studio and control room for one), but it was great just being in all the different studios and seeing where so much great music was recorded. Plus, I had to have my picture taken in the crosswalk, although I didn't have the benefit of stopping traffic like the Fab Four did. Then, the next day found us in Swindon. Due to massive problems with the tube either not running or not stopping at our station or being so crowded you couldn't even get on it, we missed our train, and had to catch the next one out thirty minutes later. That cost us a precious thirty minutes in Swindon, so we had quite the whirlwind tour. Our heartfelt thanks and gratitude go out to one Ms. Kay Stracey for picking us up and being our official XTC tour guide. Kay had all the relevant and historic XTC locations picked out for us and it was so great to see the town that spawned the music we all know and love. My film is due back tomorrow and as soon as possible I'll have my shots posted on Chalkhills or elsewhere. We saw Andy & Colin's childhood homes in Penhill, Kempster's Music Store (I bought a set of guitar strings there which has a price tag on it saying "Kempster & Son - Swindon" on it), The Brunel Rooms, Swindon Town Hall and more (I don't have my list in front of me). Plus, we did drive by Andy's current residence, but I just didn't have the nerve to knock on the door. I did consider it for a moment, but all the curtains were closed and I just didn't want to chance having an encounter with Andy go badly so that I had to carry the memory of pissing off the man whose music still means so much to me after 20+ years. Can you blame me? We also stopped by the Football Stadium and I bought a coffee mug and some pins and key chains with the logo of the Swindon football team. The old town part of Swindon is really lovely and I encourage anyone who has the chance to visit (Kay, maybe you should start charging for your XTC tour). Before we hopped back on the train, we looked at some great old photographs Kay had of XTC playing live back in 1980, and then it was off to Bristol and a top secret tour of Aardman Animation - home of the fabulous Wallace & Gromit and the more recent "Chicken Run". We had to sign confidentiality agreements just to get in and so I can't tell you anything or else I would have to kill all of you. But it was way cool and we got to see them in production on their current show "Rex the Runt" which is only seen in the UK. A bit later, during a tour of beautiful Bristol, I found "Fossil Fuel" in a used CD store for a little less than I would have paid for it here in the States, so I finally got it. Of course, I found it for a even a few pounds cheaper two days later back in London, but, what the hell. Lastly, I visited Minus Zero Records in Notting Hill on Saturday and it was great. They specialize in Power Pop and had a lot of old XTC 45's for sale. Plus, they recommended a new band called Blinker the Star who's new CD was apparently inspired by XTC. Bill from Minus Zero told me that the lead singer heard XTC and went crazy for them and then turned on the rest of the band to them and they wrote a whole album with XTC in mind. It turned out it's on Dreamworks Music and my girlfriend, who works for Dreamworks conveniently enough, said she had already brought it home once, but I didn't know to listen to it at the time so she has to get another copy. All in all, a fabulous trip to my favorite city in the world (not that I've been to all of them). Plus, to top it all off, we got to actually speak with the Worrier Queen herself, Jayne Myrone, which was a pure delight. How great that through this little forum here, we can make friends all across the Globe, all in the name of XTC. A few other non-UK related notes. Cathryn Meyers and Fenboy7282 both mentioned XTC's influence on Sugarplastic's sound. I may have said this before here, but I just don't think Sugarplastic - who I love - sound like XTC. Now, the title track on their very first record, "Radio Jejune" does sound quite like XTC, but since then I hear a lot more of early 10cc in their sound, although to be fair, they certainly have their own very unique style. No matter what, you should check them out. Whoever it was who mentioned "The Tick" in the funniest cartoon thread - did you know they're doing a live action show? I forget the actor's name who is playing The Tick, but he was on a funny "Seinfeld" episode - I think it was the one where Elaine had to decide if he was "spongeworthy". I forget what network it's going to be on, but check your local listings. It will be interesting to see how it holds up. Lastly, Paul Brantley asked for help moving to New York City NOW. Anyone who can help me move to London NOW - please let me know. Screw all this California sunshine. Thanks very much indeed for listening. Cheers, John
------------------------------ Date: 27 Sep 00 14:38:13 EST From: Paul.Culnane@dcita.gov.au Subject: Walking On Thin Ice Message-ID: <0008txfxpttr.0008oqqcwiog@dcita.gov.au> Chalk-talkers Sorta off-topic, but I thought I'd share an opinion with you, and see what it elicits. Remember, the night after John got shot, XtC were playing in Liverpool of all places. Here's what Andy said to me about that night (see how it affected people at the time?): PC: um, run with this, Andy, but let me comment: I heard or read somewhere that the day after John Lennon died, you were doing a concert... and, er... AP: We were actually playing in Liverpool! PC: In Liverpool? You remember the night? AP: Yup! PC: And didn't you segue into Rain? AP: Yeah, we did it from Towers Of London PC: Oh, you did it that way? AP: Yeah, the end of Towers Of London is kind of around the same sorta tempo as Rain, or it used to be when we played it live... and we agreed, kinda uselessly, but we wanted to... we were all really shook up, you know... and we wanted to do something in a pathetic way that kind of said, yeah, we're shaken up about it; and my favourite Beatles song, I think, is Rain! And so we agreed to kinda busk the end of Towers Of London into Rain... that night, and, er, that was very tricky to do because, er, it was very difficult to sing... PC: Had you rehearsed? AP: Well, no, we basically spent about two minutes in the sound-check saying: okay, we'll do this, this and this and kinda just wing it, just busk it... and it was really very, very difficult to do... it was very difficult to sing when you're crying... tears are squirting outta my eyes and I was trying to sing Rain and I just couldn't do it, it was very difficult! Yeah, so here below is an exchange with a work-mate of mine who sent me a news story (also below) about Mark Chapman's campaign to be paroled. Any opinions to the contrary, or will it be a universal "ditto"? [PS: On a brighter note, to mark what would have been John's 60th birthday, there will be remastered CD reissues of '69's "Plastic Ono Band" and '80's "Double Fantasy" with bonus tracks. If these are done with the loving care of the recent remixed "Imagine" CD, they will be absolutely stunning!] ~~p@ul ********************************* Thanks for that Stevo Yeah, I've been tracking this story lately, and have *very* strong opinions about it. Suffice it to say (selfishly enough), I had to take a week off work in 1980 when John got shot and it's very hard to get over such a tragic loss. People thought I was really strange going into grief over a mere "pop star" but christ! He was John fuckin' Lennon! And some nipple blew him away. Thank you very much. This Chapman maniac can sing to the Lord as much as he likes but the bottom line is that he took away someone special, just because he (Chapman) was deranged. Cunts like this are roaming the streets as we speak... look what happened to George Harrison! This makes me cry. What is wrong with putting on a record and grooving along, or bopping around the room yelling "yeah yeah yeah"???? That's what it should be all about, not Charles Manson and all this bullshit. He murdered a flawed but decent soul. Remorse - reschmorse. Throw away the fuckin' key I say. Sorry, that's just how I feel. ~~p@ul ---------- From: Steven Coulton@LPC@CMCA, on 27/09/2000 1:15: Lennon's Killer Seeks Release ROCHESTER, N.Y. (ABCNEWS.com) - The man who killed John Lennon wants out of prison - and intends to argue his case in his first parole hearing, set for Oct. 3. In a rambling series of interviews with reporter Jack Jones of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Mark David Chapman says in the same breath that he deserves to die for what he did but should be set free. He claims to accept responsibility for his crime but also blames his father. He says he craves anonymity but hopes to tour the country as a Christian revivalist. "I could have an impact, a positive impact. I could travel to different places and tell people what happened and how their answer, as well as mine, is in Jesus," he says. "I don't know how easy that would be, but I'd try just to lead an ordinary life again," says Chapman. "Stay out of the papers. There's not many places to go once you've killed someone like John Lennon." He also believes Lennon would want him free. "I think he would be liberal; I think he would care. I think he would probably want to see me released," says Chapman, described as a model prisoner. "That's my opinion." But Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, apparently feels otherwise. The New York Post reported that Ono sent a "heartfelt" letter to the parole board asking that her husband's killer be kept in jail. In a statement liable to further alarm Ono, who has said she fears for the couple's son, Sean, and Lennon's other son from a previous marriage, Julian, Chapman says that he's dreamt of visiting her Manhattan residence. "I've had that dream several times," he says. "In it, Yoko Ono is friendly to me and I am, you know, accepted in the home and feel loved. To me, that's guilt, but that was a while ago. I haven't had those dreams in a long time." Chapman shot Lennon outside his Central Park West apartment building on the night of Dec. 8, 1980. The ex-Beatle would have turned 60 next month. Chapman spoke to Jones - author of a book on the killer and the only member of the media Chapman will speak to. The interviews will be broadcast in a Court TV special, Death of a Beatle, which airs Oct. 2. Excepts were posted on the Internet sites of the Democrat and Chronicle and London Express. "I should have been executed, you know," says Chapman, who remains apart from the prison population. "I'm lucky to be alive. You know, I deserve to die." In the interviews, Chapman talks of a life of depression, suicide attempts, drinking, and drug use - all building up to that fatal encounter with the rock icon. He also spoke of his imaginary world of "little people." "I would talk with them. They were appalled when they were informed that I wanted to murder John Lennon," he says. "They didn't want me to kill anybody, and I appealed to Satan and I said, 'Give me the opportunity to kill John Lennon and I will do it.'" He also appealed to Satan seconds before he shot and killed the musician. "Help me devil, give me the power and the strength to do this," he pleaded. "A voice in my head said, 'Do it, do it, do it, do it.' I aimed at his back and pulled the trigger five times, and all hell broke loose in my mind." But now, Chapman says, Christ has changed him. "I could never dream of hurting another person that way now. It's not going to happen. It's just not going to happen." He was able to kill Lennon because he didn't think the icon was real, he says - just an album cover. "It all became real three years ago, where this isn't an image I blew away. This was a beating heart. ... He became real for me; he stepped from the album cover," says Chapman. "I often sit, particularly lately, [and] I think, 'Gee, I'm here, 45 years old, and I'm a living human being. I'm in jail for murder; who knows when I'll get out,'" he says. "But I'm alive, you know. Where's this other fellow at? He's not here any more; he's gone. That bothers me a great deal." Reporter Jones says that Chapman's wife - who he married shortly before the murder - still visits him several times a year. "She genuinely loves Mark. Maybe love isn't even strong enough a word. She worships him," he tells the Express. "Her life has consisted of working and saving her money and coming from Hawaii two or three times a year to visit Mark in prison, when they can spend up to 42 hours together as part of the family visit program." Chapman speaks hopefully of a psychiatric interview held in wake of his upcoming parole board hearing. "I just had my psychological evaluation from a doctor in the presence of his boss. It lasted a half an hour. We did it in the law library. He had his notebook and took notes, and I'm fine," he insists. "I think the depression is over. The mental illness is over." But experts quoted in New York and London papers believe Chapman will never leave prison.
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 13:58:33 GMT From: "Bert Jones" <sillysalami@hotmail.com> Subject: Dome Message-ID: <F88jbudzxxfYXFrwiZ900006267@hotmail.com> David Smith wrote: >>>Maybe my mistake, but if you listen to our beloved Tony (I'm listening) Blair, he uses every opportunity available to tell us that we can't have what we want because "we'd have to take the money from the NHS" - ie, the two, according to the politicians, ARE mutually exclusive.<<< That was certainly Blair's reason for not caving in to the fuel protesters, but there's a hell of a difference between fifty billion quid every year (the cost of a permanent 30p cut in petrol duty) and a one-off payment of five hundred million (or whatever it was). Here's three more doses of fiscal reality for you:- 1) The cost of the dome is small change in government finance terms. We could build around three dozen domes just with last year's budget surplus. 2) The money spent on the dome didn't just disappear into thin air. That money was injected into the economy, keeping a lot of people in work (and hence paying taxes) and a lot of companies in business. If you look at it in a Keynesian way then it's quite conceivable that the country will make a net profit out of the dome! Even if we make a loss, it'll be a fraction of that infamous |500m. 3) The dome is funded with Lottery money, the NHS by direct taxation. If you start funding the NHS with Lottery funds then you're basically turning it into a charity. In case you're wondering, this would be a bad thing.
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 19:45:04 +0900 From: "John Boudreau" <aso1@mocha.ocn.ne.jp> Subject: Green Man Promo Message-ID: <000101c0288e$662bfdc0$785791d2@johnboud> Konnichiwa , Have Green Man Promo Will Sell ... Email for price inc. postage . Cheers , Sushiman
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