Chalkhills Digest Volume 2, Issue 37
Date: Tuesday, 21 November 1995
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 2, Number 37
Tuesday, 21 November 1995
Today's Topics:
Combustible Cockpit
My Intro to XTC
Smashkins Intro to Strange Worst God
What is MUZAK?
Strangest place
Ohmagaud -- a 1st time post
duplicate lyrics duplicate lyrics
Finding Hard2Find CD's
Collideascope; other projects
XTC Demos
Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-34
Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-34
Re: a message relayed over Chalkhills--
JFK's "Peter Pumpkinhead" role
Re: Mayo 4 XTC
Yet another newbie's first taste of XTC
Rutlemania
confusing musing
Down in the Cockpit
Some more religious controversy
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The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors.
Saturday night saw him retching over our fence.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Gene_Yoon@brown.edu Date: Mon, 20 Nov 1995 03:57:43 -0500 Subject: Combustible Cockpit >From: Laura Parent <laura@geosun1.sjsu.edu> > >So we've established that AP is an atheist. Has anyone else ever noticed >that he's also quite sexist as well? (i.e. Down in the Cockpit?) Ah well, >whoever said that musicians have to be perfect? The only remotely sexist line (that is if you think the song's sexist _against_ women): "Girl have the brain to act just like the weaker sex" seems to be Andy advocating behavior that is not belligerent or bully-like (perceived masculine qualities), a source of many conflicts "all the way the through history." Using your brain, or thinking before acting, can be thought of as cowardly or weak (presumably feminine). Throughout time (with a few exceptions) males have traditionally been "down in the cockpit", at the controls, making many important decisions. Sometimes in fitful shows of physical strength--irrational, immature, at the cost of many. "Man need the woman, to pull him right out of it"--to knock some sense of humanity back into him. Isn't that what Andy is saying? Squarely about the sexes, but hardly sexist. You could say that about Sgt Rock, though, a song that Andy never liked. >From: sljor@oro.net (Sylvia Jordan) > >As I listened to that tape -- English Settlement and Skylarking combined -- >over the seasons' cycle of winter, spring and summer, it became the >mindblowing soundtrack to a new, independent life. Touched by this inspired and unequaled initiation into XTCdom, quite a story. Skylarking and English Settlement back to back is a win-win situation, right on. Speaking of music turning your psyche around, last night I was in a terribly nasty mood until I dragged myself downtown to see a 5-piece called Combustible Edison (after the cocktail of the same name). I went head over heels for their music, impeccably performed live. I have a hunch some more musically-adventurous Chalkhillians might really dig them. (Despite no new XTC, always in the quest for good new music, right?) Combustible Edison look and act like a 50's lounge act from a parallel universe, complete with organ, vibraphone, glittery Fender electric guitar, upright bass, color-coordinated silk suits. They have an irresistable rhythm, peppered with 60's style beach rock, a pinch of swing, a twist of something more modern, and a huge dollup of percussion instruments, half of which I don't even know the names of. Their songs are upbeat or haunting instrumentals with some singing done in a beautiful svelte voice by the one female member of the band, who also drums, bongoes, and plays a pretty mean melodica. Apparently they're featured in the soundtrack for Quentin Terantino's upcoming flick, 'Four Doors'. If you're looking for some talented musicians playing some intriguing beats, their current relase 'I, Swinger' on SubPop Records is wonderful, with a followup due in February. >From: Ben Gott <BENG@hotchkiss.pvt.k12.ct.us> > >My 31-year old brother (who has no money) made me a bunch of mixes for my >>birthday, and one was "Nonsuch" and "Drums and Wires." God bless older brothers and XTC. Mine's 28 now, and relinquished all his XTC/Dukes to his little bro. But I wish they'd hurry up and make some money, don't you? Gene
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Nov 1995 13:08:37 -0600 From: weisrot@cscoe.ac.com (Todd Weisrock - CIS) Subject: My Intro to XTC Flying home from Denmark, as a returning exchange student in 1984, I heard 'Love on a Farm Boy's Wages' about 100 times, as this song was one of about 10 on the airline's piped in rock music channel. After that, I went out and bought White Music, and was shocked, as it was so different from LOAFBW, but liked it none the less. Eleven years later, I suppose it's ironic that Mummer is the only XTC album that I've never owned.
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Nov 95 14:29:37 EST From: "John Christensen" <christej@vrinet.com> Subject: Smashkins Intro to Strange Worst God There may not be many Smashing Pumpkin fans on this list, but did anyone else notice that a few songs on Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness sound very XTC? Replace Billy's vocal with Andy on "Beautiful", and that song would fit nicely on Nonsuch. Also, in the lyric booklet, each song has an medieval-looking icon in the Nonsuch style. To sew up a couple past threads . . . My introduction to XTC: During my senior year in high school (1982), a Detroit radio station broadcast a program called "Dangerous Exposure" on Sunday evenings. During this program, the normally-conservative rock'n'roll station played new wave, punk and eclectic music that was "dangerous" to them if they wanted to keep their sponsors. Anyway, I taped this faithfully every week . . . and one night they played "Runaways" from English Settlement. I wasn't too impressed and wondered where the danger was in exposing this song. A couple months later, a friend forced me to borrow the album, and an XTC fanatic was born. I bumped into the friend recently and described the monster I had become; I don't think he knew whether to say "you're welcome" or "I'm sorry"! Strangest place I ever heard XTC? Summer 1986, in the Gobi desert near Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. I heard the entire English Settlement (or English Sediment as AP calls it) album as I lay in my yurt. Thank god I was wearing my headphones so I didn't frighten the camels . . . Less-liked XTC songs: I still am not a big fan of "Runaways" . . . I usually skip over it when I play the CD. Other songs I skip: "Rook", "Bungalow", "My Weapon", "You're A Good Man Albert Brown" and "The Somnambulist" (why did they put it in the middle of the Black Sea CD? Uggh!). But as others have said: The worst XTC songs are better than the best of most . . . On God: Thank god natural selection made us passionate about our beliefs. Jasper
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 1995 15:13:36 -0500 (EST)
From: James Poulakos <engjcp@gsusgi2.gsu.edu>
Subject: What is MUZAK?
MUZAK, first of all, is a trademark, so we all might want to be careful
lest we impugn the hallowed name of it. I doubt if it's still standing,
but there used to be a crumbling, blackened office building, ca. 1930 or
so, in midtown Atlanta that still bore the painted letter "Muzak" across
its grungy bricks. Lights were also occasionally on in the place,
although I seem to recall the windows in the top floor being broken out.
Could be my imagination, since I remember concocting this fantasy as I
first noticed the building and realized at once that "Muzak" was actually
a company name and also that this building looked creepy and abandoned,
like a condemned [hAuNtEd?] house: I pictured an old caretaker, maybe one
of the original Muzakians who emigrated from Armenia in the 20s and
founded the company. He smoked 50 cent cigars and kept the belts and
hoses tightened on the thrumming, shaking machines in the basement that
had been churning out Musak all these years under the cover of a few
floors of offices where people pretended to be cheerfully busy... Today,
the company fortunes in decline, the caretaker sits and guards the
machines in the basement, ready to shut them down if any federal
investigators arrive. Who knew that Musak was really a diabolical
mind-control scheme from another planet? Why, if the Muzak ever stopped,
we humans would realize that our planet was in fact managed completely by
remote control, that alien beings walked among us, that our daily lives
were imaginary, that in fact we skidplok toobuknitsch, amermi
hobbenfeger? Hobbenfeger? Amermi toodge? TOODGE!
But seriously: the name has come to denote a style of music that is
carefully crafted to be as broadly appealing, or inoffensive, as
possible. Pop music that has already stood the test of public markets is
the usual fodder for Musak and its imitators. Lyrics are usually
converted to melodies on strings and winds. Tempos fall within a certain
narrow range, and the choice of instrumentation avoids either very high
or very low pitches, as a rule. I have read that people who make such
music do so with the benefit of psychological research that shows what
musical characteristics lent themselves best to productivity and calm.
Musak is meant to be a soothing, almost invisible feature of the sonic
background. For those of us who actually know enough about music to say
more about a song than "gosh, that's nice," Muzak is insipid. It's a
favorite whipping boy among musicians.
Tim, surely you have Muzak or something very similar [remember, MUZAK is
a trademark name] in the UK? Don't you guys have so-called elevator music
(another interchangeable term for Muzak-like stuff)?
*-------------------------------------------------------------------
My home page is now at http://www.gsu.edu/~engjcp/zero.html
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
James Poulakos
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Nov 1995 15:27:19 -0500 From: mp2@waterw.com (Jim Kee) Subject: Strangest place You know, after reading the last chalkhills I realized where the strangest place I heard xtc playing. It was last christmas & I heard "Thanks For Christmas" & "Countdown To Christmas Party Time" in a sporting goods store (Gold Medal, I think). Whether or not that has anything to do with that store's closing remains to be seen. Also, a few months ago, I was at Dock Street Pub in Philadelphia (18th & JFK/Arch Streets) and I heard "Garden Of Earthly Delights" as I sat down. I thought it was great. My friends and I started singing along. Then it was over. And they played "Mayor...". Needless to say they played the whole cd. It was awesome. The other customers, however, probably thought I was a nut, singing along with every track. But it was such a cool night. Oh, yeah. Now that I'm thinking about it. A Bennigan's in Philly used to have a cd player jukebox-type thing which had Nonsvch as a selection. One night we played the whole thing beginning to end. Then Crocodile, Then She Appeared, The Ugly underneath, Crocodile, Crocodile, Ugly Underneath, Crocodile, Dear Madam Barnum, Crocodile & Books Are Burning. (By the time the cd was finished we all had quite a few Black & Tans in us. Hence the repetition of a song or two.) It's funny, but they removed the jukebox not too long after that. But we also played "Stripped" by Jesus Jones a few dozen times to make these people leave that were bothering us & playing crappy songs like Milli Vanilli or something equally as shitty. I think that played a bigger role in the dismantling of the jukebox. Anywho... Later, Jim
------------------------------
From: robert.cowart@cbn.org
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 95 15:28:26 EST
Subject: Ohmagaud -- a 1st time post
I find the "Dear God" brouhaha humorous. I like "Dear God" even though I
think Andy's theology is messed up. We all agree he is an excellent
songsmith. In this case: Hate the message, Love the messenger?
I was turned on the XTC two years ago by the head songwriter, musician &
producer of one of the major Christian record companies in So Calif.
(Records? what are they? <g>) If God/Jesus exists and is what and who He
says he is (I go that way), then the roarings of a great musician with bad
theology must make Him sit back an laugh (as we go on and on across TAH?).
God is not easily offended by mere humans, I be thinkin'.
I find great comfort that Andy is brave enough to mention "the topic"
rather than ignore it. He must feel that Jesus is the right to one to
complain to -- it seems to be a continuing theme of his. He doesn't whine
to Buddha or Krishna nearly as much. At least he has God's "handle"
correct.
When Andy (insert name) gets to the ol' el judgmento seato and says "Hey,
wait a minute...," what will God say? Maybe "You used me in your songs
enough, I was kinda expecting you to get to the right answer eventually..."
and then set the ol' judgment switch to the appropriate setting...
We are not responsible for Andy's religious choices. I work in a Christian
ministry and understand that many people, including Andy, are still on the
road of discovery to the Truth (huh oh, I see the flame mail now <g>).
In teaching my kids, I play them selected XTC tunes and we discuss them or
just plain enjoy them. Hey at least I can let them listen to XTC at all.
Can't say that much for some of the music around. ("Thanks for Christmas"
is a favorite; they aren't ready for "DG" yet.)
Now for what I *really* want to talk about is the mathematical interval
analysis of XTC tunes! The hooks and basic musical structures they use are
what brings us all here (hear?) & is their forte. I want to see notated in
interval form (i.e.. position in the scale) to better understand the inner
workings of XTC tunes. Has anyone else done this? I have searched the
archives but only find chords. The intervals really tell the story.
No back to our regularly scheduled programming kids...
Rob
"Now watch me pull a rabbit out of this hat..." - Bullwinkle.
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Nov 1995 14:28:49 -0600 From: rob@automedia.com (Rob Warmowski) Subject: duplicate lyrics duplicate lyrics Saints3Den@aol.com wrote: > > 2) IN Grass Colin uses the line" Laying on the grass" ... > In Ladybird, Andy uses the line" Laying on the grass" as well. Can >anyone think of any phrases that appear in songs by both of them? More than >a two word phrase, at least! Anyone? bye , eddie English Settlement's "Fly On The Wall" and Big Express's "Wake Up" both feature the sentiment "You didn't notice that your number had been called," which is slightly less incidental than the "grass" line, methinks... This semiannual contribution to Chalkhills will sign off with the reminder that Terry Chambers was the smartest and best out of the lot of them. Anybody know if he's still playing in Australia at all? I'm always interested in what great rock musicians are up to (and therefore not terribly interested in XTC these days.) -r
------------------------------ Date: 20 Nov 95 17:49:22 EST From: David Rhoten <71450.2654@compuserve.com> Subject: Finding Hard2Find CD's Hey, y'all: There was a recent posting in the CompuServe Consumer Electronics Audio forum that I thought might be of interest to Chalkhillers, so I got permission from Melissa to pass the offer on to you all: .****** .Subject: Hard to find Cds-ask.. .From: Melissa A. Martin 102671.3217@compuserve.com Just wanting to be of assistance to people trying to find out of print or import cd's. I am a music buyer for a cd and tape store and would like to share info with fanclub members in general. Feel free to e-mail me anytime. Please e- mail direct for a more prompt reply. Glad to help. .****** I have no affiliation w/ Ms. Martin or whatever store she works for. I mentioned the Japanese Yazbek CD as being one that many were interested in, and she did find a listing for it. I was also going to send her the info on that French CD (the name of which escapes me at the moment), so if you're looking for something, you might want to give her a holler. Dave 71450.2654@compuserve.com
------------------------------ From: Martin_Monkman@fincc04.fin.gov.bc.ca Date: Mon, 20 Nov 1995 14:58:27 -0800 (PST) Subject: Collideascope; other projects >Subject: Collideascope Danny writes: > >Surely Collideascope is Andy imitating John Lennon. Check out the nasal >Liverpudlian accent. No, it's Andy imitating Roy Wood of The Move, a band that built a career slavishly imitating The Beatl*s. Compare The Move song "Blackberry Way" (from 1968) with "Collideascope" ... My Sweet Lord, they are remarkably similar! One reference book describes "Blackberry Way" as being "Wood's response to The Beatles' 'Penny Lane' and 'Strawberry Fields'". Note that The Move evolved into Electric Light Orchestra, where they took The Beat*es imitation thing even further. (Thanks Tim!) and under the >Subject: MUZAK Peter asks >How psyched are you to hear what Andy Partridge sounds like fronting >Talking Heads? Or imagine for a moment David Byrne with Moulding and Gregory. Okay, time's up -- I've had enough. Both are really bad ideas. I'll content myself with looking forward to hearing Partridge fronting XTC once again. Martin
------------------------------ From: vertigo@well.com (Giancarlo Cairella) Subject: XTC Demos Date: Mon, 20 Nov 1995 23:28:49 GMT >From: "David G. Shaw" <dshaw@tiac.net> > >I just received a catalogue from Alibi Records, which lists XTC Demos >#1-7. How do I find out what the contents of each disc are, which ones >are recommended, and which I should avoid? Hi. The contents of the demo CDs are listed in Jonh Relph's amazingly complete XTC discography, available on the Web at the Chalkhills page <http://reality.sgi.com/employees/relph/chalkhills/>. I've finally managed to get them all and I'd recommend them only to die-hard XTC fans because the sound quality ranges from poor to abysmal (most of the songs sound as if they were recorded on a walkman tape player). They are however priceless to XTC fetishists (like me) and include many rarities (like the Andy Partridge songs recorded for a canadian fan club cassette, early Helium Kidz tracks and demo/alternative versions of known songs. Ciao, G.C. -- URL: <http://www.well.com/user/vertigo>
------------------------------
From: ccoolidg@moose.uvm.edu
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 1995 15:47:43 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-34
I can't keep from responding to Laura Parent's observation of Andy
being sexist. He may be that, for all I know, but I always considered
"Down In The Cockpit" to be blatantly feminist.("My Weapon," on the o-
ther hand, is sexist as far as I'm concerned regardless of Barry's in-
tent. It's either blatantly sexist or an inept attempt at making some
point that's completely lost on me)I think Andy's point at the time was
that men are prisoners of their own chauvinism and reluctance to change
and they need women's help to grow and change.("Down in the cockpit/Man
needs the woman to pull him right out of it")Then the later couplet "Queen
wants the castle/Back from the rascal" interests me even more; seems like
Andy suggests that back in the time when we worshipped the old pagan gods
women ruled the "castle" and at some point the men usurped the "castle"
and the power to rule it. To me, implying that the woman wants back what
was rightfully hers to begin with(and which should be no threat to any man
who is willing to share the power and gain the freedom to redefine his own
role)is not sexist, unless you want to accuse feminism of reverse sexism,
which the likes of Rush Limbaugh are notorious for doing on a daily basis.
Personally, I find Andy's take on the subject interesting, but I'm not
sure whether I agree or disagree with it; admittedly I'm no expert on wo-
men's studies and clearly neither is Andy. "Down In The Cockpit" is guilty
of well-intentioned idealism and lack of clarity, but if by sexism you
mean anti-women, I beg to differ, unless somebody can show me something I
haven't noticed.
Chris Coolidge
11th Hour Cauldron Publications
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Nov 1995 16:05:45 -0800 (PST) From: Chris Coolidge <ccoolidg@moose.uvm.edu> Subject: Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-34 XTC= Jethro Tull next generation? I don't know about that; I found Jethro Tull intermittently interesting during their british folk-influ- enced Songs From The Wood period, but otherwise I find Ian Anderson ex- tremely overrated. Not in Andy's league at all. As a songwriter, he's had his moments, but as far as his flute playing's concerned, his one trick (standing on one leg while playing)was stolen from Rahsan Roland Kirk, who was ten times the player Ian Anderson is, and did everything he did back in the fifties and sixties, and he was blind to boot. Not only that, the guy had the damn gall to observe in an interview that John Coltrane never played a single original note in his life. Them's fighting words, especi- ally coming from a thief. I got a bone to pick with the guy if I ever meet him.(Actually, I did meet him once when I was working as a cab driver and I picked him up in my cab, but it was a short trip and I didn't know it was him- the subject never came up) Chris Coolidge 11th Hour Cauldron Publications
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Nov 1995 19:29:26 -0500 (EST) From: heller megan j <mjhell@mail.wm.edu> Subject: Re: a message relayed over Chalkhills-- not to put a terrible break in things, but I couldn't help but notice the message relayed through Bug Room to Patrick Partridge. I'd like to add another, if I may--Patrick! E-mail me! You _do_ know who I am! megan h.
------------------------------
From: DougMash@aol.com
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 1995 20:42:55 -0500
Subject: JFK's "Peter Pumpkinhead" role
About the questions linking JFK to "Peter Pumpkinhead," I remember reading
in an interview that Andy jokingly recalled past lyrics in saying that
"Peter Pumpkinhead" was written about "JFK, Ghandi, Jesus, Buddha & the
Wizard of Oz." If you haven't seen the video, it pretty much boils it down
to just JFK & Jesus. ("Three Nails" are shown as three bullets, etc.) I
guess the major points linking JFK are:
"spreading cash around" - US foreign policy during the cold war
"fed the starving & housed the poor" - liberal social policy
"those who would keep us on their knees" - not well liked by communist
rulers or the mob.
"sex scandals" - longtime affairs never revealed by press, even ties to
Marilyn Monroe whent overlooked during his Presidency.
"Died bleeding on live TV" - First "televised" asssination of a US
President.
Have I missed any links to other leaders (other than the obvious ones to
Him)?
For further "Jesus on earth in the 20th Century" listening, I highly
recommend John Wesley Harding's "Bridegroom Blues" (Jesus' birth in the
90's as told by Joseph) and "Get Back Down" (the second coming as told by
Jesus' agent). Fun stuff from a Methodist minister's son (who sadly is
also out of a record deal...sounds familliar!).
Cheers!
Doug
------------------------------
From: "Louis Barfe's IbMePdErRoIoAmL" <L.Barfe@lancaster.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Mayo 4 XTC
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 1995 01:45:40 +0000 (GMT)
Wouldn't surprise me. Mayo loves Costello, and has him on as a guest
whenever the man makes a record. So it's not too big a taste gap to
imagine him loving XTC. Kevin Greening is apparently a huge fan too.
Mayo or someone similar, was doing a handover to Greening once, and said
'Kevin, this first record's for you, seeing as you're the hugest XTC fan
at Radio One', and Kev was very humbled. He's very humble anyway. That
last one is according to my ex-girlfriend.
Louis.
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here comes Mr. Misery,
He's crying over her again.
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Louis Barfe-employed, miraculously.
L.Barfe@lancaster.ac.uk
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Nov 1995 21:21:11 -0500 (EST) From: thomas brislin <tbrislin@frontier.wilpaterson.edu> Subject: Yet another newbie's first taste of XTC Hello to all. I've really enjoyed the recent posts of first XTC experiences. Here's mine: In late 1986 I was 12 or 13 and had just begun playing keyboards in my first rock band. My sister's then boyfriend was driving me to the music store when I heard WNEW-FM (NY-USA) fussing about some new controversial song by XTC(guess which one:) ). The driver was a Christian Fundie and I was about to complete 8 years of Catholic School (and begin 4 more). When DG played, the vibe in the car was rather interesting, to say the least. The one element that really grabbed my attention, in addition to the lyrics, was the string section arrangement. At the time, the melodies seemed so bizarre. It definitely had an impact on the path my musical development would take. I'm happy to say that XTC's influence is still present(my current band, You Were Spiraling, covers "Rook"). And if "The Good Things" from TD is any indication of where their sound is headed, it makes the wait even more unbearable. My votes for songs XTC should cover: For Pete's Sake - The Monkees The Night Watch - King Crimson Aspirations - Gentle Giant (with Colin on vocals) Saturday Night Fish Fry - Louis Jordan My votes for more artists who should cover XTC: Milton Nascimento American Music Club Brian Dewan Kitchens of Distinction I second A.J. Virgin's vote for Mitchell Froom as producer, as well. Peace to all! Stay Positive! Tom Brislin
------------------------------ From: Richard Aaron Manfredi <manfredi@scf.usc.edu> Subject: Rutlemania Date: Mon, 20 Nov 1995 19:39:39 -0800 (PST) Crazy- I was watching Comedy Central Sunday, and they showed The Rutles, a personal favorite of mine (love Neil Innes, if he isn't John, I don't know who is). While listening to Doubleback Alley as the credits rolled, I noticed, to my chagrin, John Relph as some sort of a production assistant. I started screaming at the top of my lungs, but I don't think my girlfriend understood. Later, I had a thought. What if someone made a Rutles-type album based on XTC. Oh, the possiblities. Richard Manfredi manfredi@usc.edu
------------------------------ From: Algae99@aol.com Date: Tue, 21 Nov 1995 01:26:00 -0500 Subject: confusing musing It is Tuesday morning, and I am listening to the new album by the Beatles, yes the Beatles. B-E-A-T-L-E-S. I am not afraid to say the "B" word, unless it is Belgium, but that is another story. I have always made the assumption that even though Andy wrote most of the Dukes' songs, that Colin sang many of them to keep up a disguise. Andy's voice is pretty distinctive, whereas Colin seems to have a more sixtiesish thing going on, and has a more malleable voice. Another example- every other song on Psonic Psunspot sounds dead on Andy, when it is Andy singing. Why would he change his singing style so drastically for Colleideascope? Strangest place to hear XTC- Chi-Chi's, during the holiday season, had "Thanks for Christmas" over the Muzak system. Did the 3 Wise Men do a track on "Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father"? I have only seen it once about 800 years ago, but at the time I was not memorizing artists. Someone told me that they did have a track on it.
------------------------------ From: m.mccormick2@genie.com Date: Tue, 21 Nov 95 06:42:00 UTC 0000 Subject: Down in the Cockpit Uh oh, my Internet connection seems to be flaky suddenly. Noise interference on the line or something. It seemed as if two people here actually stated that Down in the Cockpit is an anti-woman song. I guess I better take my modem into the shop for a check-up. I feel sure no one who actually listened to the lyrics of this most feminist of songs could make such statements! At least the modem is still under warranty. ;-) Mike McCormick "Queen wants the castle, back from the rascal."
------------------------------ From: "RUSSELL" <T.R.Russell@newcastle.ac.uk> Date: Tue, 21 Nov 1995 11:01:25 GMT0BST Subject: Some more religious controversy <There are some superb arguments against the idea that 'He' (ie:Jesus) exists/existed> I'm afraid that the existence of Jesus of Nazareth is a historical fact. 1. If you remember, King Herod got very annoyed about Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, and the fact that he tried to have a baby that was sais to be the next king of Israel murdered is recorded in various chronicles of the time. 2. The fact that a man called Jesus caused a great deal of excitement and controversy in the land around Galilee and in Jerusalem is also recorded. The fact that He had a band of followers and many people claimed that He healed them of diseases and performed miracles is also historical fact. 3. The fact that various Jewish leaders (the Sanhedrin) of the time got a bit frustrated with Him is also fact and recorded. 4. The fact that He was crucified during the Feast of the Passover is also recorded. 5. The fact that many people (mainly His disciples) claimed that He had risen from the dead is also historical fact. Similarly, the fact that people claimed that those same disciples were going around preaching in foreign languages and performing miracles is also recorded. Basically, any intelligent historian would say that the existence of Jesus was, by no means, a fairy tale. The Bible is used by many historians as an important source of information and is regarded by many of them to be an indispensable window on the social, economic, political and religious aspects of the time. So it's not just a book of flimsy religious propaganda which is only ever read by ignorant, unintelligent, weak and desperate people. Anyway. I love XTC. Sorry for taking up so much room with all this religious debate (again). But I do enjoy it.
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #2-37 ******************************
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