Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 323
Date: Tuesday, 30 November 1999
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 323
Tuesday, 30 November 1999
Today's Topics:
XTC Spottings
A couple o' props for Garth
Swindon memories and early best-ofs
E. Costello vs. J. Jackson
Gainesaying
the dukes of spinal garthdust?
re: free for all
Garth garth bo barth, banana fana fo Chris Gaines
Re: Chris Gaines
Grand Tour of Swindon Town
Thanks for Christmas
Should I stay or should I go?
Busy Banging Out a Headache
no XTC content, but much ponderous rambling
Sorry to disturb you but
Of Human Bonding
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <19991129164543.70101.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Ralph Simpson DeMarco" <sawpit@hotmail.com> Subject: XTC Spottings Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 08:45:43 PST Dear Affiliated Members: Because XTC spotting is so rare, I felt that I should share. 1) On NPR's All Things Considered they had a segment on a new men's underwear that has some sort of metallic lining for protecting men from electro-magnetic waves which can lower sperm count in the family jewels. Of course, after the story ended we are treated to about a minute of XTC's "I Need Protection." It was cute. 2) There is a new epic-documentary on the history of New York City and while watching the third part, they showed a home film someone made from the head car window of an old elevated train. Anyway, during this part, "Procession Towards Learning Land" was played for a good two minutes. An old friend of mine has finally listened several times to my gift of AV1. He loves it. He is nuts about the arrangements, especially Easter Theater. He is a huge Dukes fan, and likes O&L and Rag & Bone, but only bought Skylarking (for 50 cents at a tag sale!) because AV1 was so darn good (plus he likes TR). Now, It's time to set him up with Nonsuch, Big Express, etc, etc... Ralph
------------------------------ Message-ID: <000701bf3a9a$ac509500$1df1c4cc@doa.state.la.us> From: "John Voorhees" <griffon@earthling.net> Subject: A couple o' props for Garth Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 12:50:57 -0600 Quoth the Dunker: > In his defence: I saw Garth Brooks on a recent Saturday Night Live > episode, and (against all expectations, because I am not a fan at > all) I have to say that I found him remarkably funny. He seems to > have a great sense of humour and he was certainly a good sport, not > at all afraid to take the piss out of his own image. He also proved > to be quite a capable comic actor - much better than some the > regular cast members they've had over the years! The bit of evidence that convinced me that there was more to Garth Brooks than meets the public eye was his appearance on the short lived "Muppets Tonight" show. (They still show reruns on the Disney channel, I think.) The whole joke of the show was that Garth was determined to show his other musical talents, and the network bigwigs were determined to have him do a crowd-pleasing country song. Let's see, he did the mambo, Tevye from "Fiddler On The Roof", a scary Tom Jones impression, and finally did a life-threatening stunt with Gonzo the Great. Fun-ny stuff! Country music is a pretty narrow field for someone with diverse talent. That was the field that brought Garth success, and I don't think he's dissing his fans, but I can certainl understand the need to stretch one's creative legs.
------------------------------
Message-ID: <130CB597E04ED211B2A400104B93AAC4C210DA@ESCORP1>
From: "Wiencek, Dan" <dwiencek@crateandbarrel.com>
Subject: Swindon memories and early best-ofs
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 13:11:05 -0600
John Bodreau wrote:
> Andy , Colin , Gregsy and Ian G. have lived in Swindon for most of
> their lives ; who cares if it is not the center of the cultural
> universe ? For me it would be a thrill just to walk down the same
> streets they do ; have a few pints at pubs they frequent ; and meet
> with the locals .
While I've never been to Swindon (my extended London visit occurring
several years before the onset of XTC fandom), I did have a chance
encounter with some Swindonians, which was brought to mind by all the
travelers' accounts of late.
This occurred last year at Oktoberfest in Munich, in the great Hofbrau
tent. For those of you who've never had the chance to wallow chin-deep in
bacchanalia, Bavarian-style, the Hofbrau tent -- actually a large wooden
structure, like an empty airplane hangar, except with more waitresses --
has a reputation as the "international" tent: It is here that all the
non-German visitors tend to gather, cliqueing together by native language
and/or region and reaffirming the bonds of nationhood by swilling beer and
exposing themselves to each other. In the midst of a pleasantly swozzled
Sunday afternoon, I blearily noticed a gaggle of English-speakers at a
nearby table, dressed in bright matching uniforms that looked to have been
stolen off a racing crew. While I couldn't determine what sport had
spawned said uniforms, I did noticed the word "Swindon" emblazoned in
bright letters across their backs. Aha, thought I, a perfect opportunity
to converse with one who shares breathing space with my musical
heroes. Who knows--this fellow might even be a neighbor!
I approached the nearest fellow and had this conversation:
Me: So you guys are from Swindon?
Swindonian: Uh-huh.
Me: Cool. My favorite band is from Swindon.
Swindonian: Yeah? Who?
Me: XTC.
Swindonian: Never heard of 'em! [Turning to his mates] Lads, who the hell
is XTC?! I never heard of 'em! [Tremendous laughter ensues. I slink away.]
The rudeness of the fellow didn't bother me all that much--beer does that
to people, and he may have thought I was putting him on--but it does occur
to me that, well, people who live in Swindon must be aware of what the
rest of the country thinks of their city. They grow up knowing they are
the butt of a very old joke. So knowing all this, if some American kid
comes up to you at Oktoberfest and expresses interest in where you come
from, wouldn't you at least be pleasantly surprised? Might'nt you say
something like "I've not heard of them; what kind of music do they play?"
or "Who's in the band?" or "Where in Swindon do they live?"? It would've
made for a nice conversation. Alas, it was not to be.
And someone ("WTDK"? Don't recognize it) posted:
> Another victory of art over commerce. Amazon.com just put up a listing of
> the top 100 albums of 1999 (for all genres of music) and guess who filled
> in slot # 11. I personally would have put AV1 in the top ten (just above
> Richard Thompson's Mock Tudor which was I think was number 6. Beth Orton
> was #1 which seems deserved).
Wow, I get to start the very first "your favorite album sucked!" flame
volley! I'm sorry, but that Beth Orton album was lame. Admittedly my
expectations were high (Trailer Park was probably my favorite of 1997), but
that album did not grow on me; it fell to earth and stayed there. That
people are touting it as the album of the year fills me with dismay.
And to give you the chance to return the favor, here are my favorite '99
releases, in approximate order:
AV1
Latin Playboys - Dose
Los Lobos - This Time
Apples in Stereo - Her Wallpaper Reverie
Flaming Lips - Soft Bulletin
Paul McCartney - Run Devil Run
Merrymakers - Bubblegun
Push Stars - After the Party
Asylum St. Spankers - Hot Lunch
... with an optimistic spot left open for Beck.
Prost!,
Dan
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 11:47:37 -0800 (PST) From: Benjamin Lukoff <blukoff@alvord.com> Subject: E. Costello vs. J. Jackson Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.96.991129114605.20423B-100000@locutus.alvord.com> I think Elvis is both a better performer and a better singer/songwriter than Joe.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <3AE4C7B8CC1BD31194140008C7B14DE8012DE345@hfd-exch008.aetna.com> From: "Witter, Karl F" <WitterKF@aetna.com> Subject: Gainesaying Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 14:53:20 -0500 >So, what do all the fans of the Dukes of Stratosphear, Spinal >Tap, and Ziggy Stardust lurking out there think about Garth >Brooks's little identity-creation experiment aka Chris Gaines? Madonna's persona went from Boy Toy to Dominatrix without caring what we thought. Spinal Tap's charm was the story and characters they created, which frightfully sounded like contem- porary metal. If Gaines is about the music, then when Brooks, dressed as himself, performs Gaines' songs without trying to fool anyone, fails on both counts. Brooks is playing off his immense popularity to stretch out artistically, for this? His reach doth not exceed his grasp; I agree with the writer who said Brooks fulfilled his wildest fantasy: His alter ego is Dan Fogelberg or Kenny Loggins. Brooks' country music gold mine is based not on his voice, writing or playing, but his down-to-earth, just-regular-folksness. That's why people care about him and listen to the stories he tells; hey, all country music depends on it. It's the one quality the wig-wearing, soul-patched Gaines doesn't have. In contrast: XTC dabbles in '60s-ish songcraft; The Dukes are the dabble dunked. Gary Shandling is somewhat neurotic; Larry Sanders is a short-circuited synapse hardwired to a nerve ganglia. On the other hand, the VH1 "Behind the Music" for Chris Gaines is the mockumentary that even the makers think is really about music, making it twice as funny (and scary) as Spinal Tap. Yes, Brooks is a capable, humorous guy who isn't afraid to throw darts at the man in the mirror, but unless this upcoming Gaines movie is the cinematic love child of "What Price Hollywood" and "42nd Street", you can count me out. Allentown? You're going back to Allentown? Karl
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 12:31:50 -0800 Subject: the dukes of spinal garthdust? From: Daniel Duncan <dan@creditland.com> Message-ID: <B46822B6.7F%dan@creditland.com> >> So, what do all the fans of the Dukes of Stratospear, Spinal Tap, and >> Ziggy Stardust lurking out there think about Garth Brooks's little >> identity-creation experiment known as Chris Gaines? my guess is it'll be alot like his identity-creation as a country singer. shwing! are there any other country music enthusiasts on this list besides me? no xtc content to speak of today. i always enjoy the posts about pagan dieties and early christianity in europe. i've thumbed through the "women's encyclopedia..." and it is excellent. i also very much enjoy and recommend the writings of joseph campbell (i know alot of you already know this) for essays on comparative religion. dan
------------------------------
From: WillJ4comm@aol.com
Message-ID: <0.b1fd8050.25744227@aol.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 15:55:03 EST
Subject: re: free for all
<<The reason "Melt The Guns" sticks in my craw is not because I love guns,
but because I love freedom.>>
I don't think Andy is talking about outlawing guns, he loves freedom too
("This is your life and you'll be what you want to be, this is your life and
you'll try it all"). He's suggesting that if what you're after is a safer,
more peaceful world, then take a look at getting rid of your gun as a means
to that end, as guns don't have a useful role in such a society (at least,
not for using against people), but I look at it as an individual decision
he's encouraging, not legislation -- encouragement and persuasion, not
legislation. If he's talking about legislation I would disagree with him, but
I think he's just making a plea to people to look at a situation clearly, and
see that there's a clear, obvious and simple way to bring about greater peace
and harmony and less danger -- melt the guns!
Best, Will
------------------------------ From: fheaney@erols.com Message-ID: <001101bf3aaa$1920e220$18e47ad1@default> Subject: Garth garth bo barth, banana fana fo Chris Gaines Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 15:41:18 -0500 > >So, what do all the fans of the Dukes of Stratospear, Spinal Tap, and > >Ziggy Stardust lurking out there think about Garth Brooks's little > >identity-creation experiment known as Chris Gaines? > > <snip> > > >I have to say, it smacks of a fundamental dishonesty to me, but is it > >really any different from the Dukes? What say ye? Actually, what happened was that Garth Brooks got cast in a movie as a fictional rock star named Chris Gaines, and decided to create a huge backstory to help himself get into the character. And the "greatest hits" album was part of all that. Now the reason it was kinda dumb is because the movie hasn't come out yet (and it might be a TV movie, I don't recall), so nobody had any idea what he was up to and thought he'd, like, snapped or something. Not that this means it's a good album or anything. Meanwhile, I just picked up the new Beck -- oh my goodness, ladies and gentlemen, what a fab freaked-out funkfest it is. I've always been kind of a not-particularly-rabid Beck fan, but this looks like the album that's going to put me over the top. Best of the year, possibly. Oh yeah. [Soulful Barry White-like grunt.] You know it. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-hm, baby. -- Francis "I'll feed you fruit that don't exist; I'll leave graffiti where you've never been kissed." -- Beck
------------------------------ From: WillJ4comm@aol.com Message-ID: <0.477913d5.25744234@aol.com> Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 15:55:16 EST Subject: Re: Chris Gaines Duncan wrote: <<It's not about honesty - it's about pretending, and creating entertainment. Why DO people expect "honesty" anyway? This smacks of the same silly puritanism that the folkies used to hurl at Dylan when he 'went electric'. Why the hell can't Garth Brooks have a go at being funny if he wants to?>> I saw the SNL guest spot too, Duncan, and I agree parts of it were very funny, especially when one of the male black cast members (Tracy ???, can't remember his last name) was confidentially ragging on Chris Gaines to Garth as if he didn't know the two were one and the same, Garth played it very well, I was laughing pretty hard. In actuality though, I haven't seen any humor (or fun for that matter) in the whole Chris Gaines thing, and I get the impression that it's not meant as comedic, but that it's actually supposed to be super-intriguing, mysterious, dramatic and insightful (I myself have yet to experience these effects or feelings from it) -- after all, this is all a buildup for the Gaines dramatic film "The Lamb," which sounds like a feature entry at a fundamentalist Christian film festival, which is kind of what Garth in general reminds me of: Lots of illogical drama (not saying fundamentalist Christianity is wrong, just makes no logical sense to me with the sin/redemption, heaven/hell, eternal damnation/salvation stuff -- kinda been there, kinda done that, never really made sense to me, couldn't get into it). Whatever, it's all good! I hope Garth and his fans enjoy it and he gets what he wants from it, I'll happily buy it if he can do an album's worth of great material a la XTC or Blur (by the way, Blur's "13" is indeed a delicious album, up there near AV1 for me, great production too from William Orbit -- extremely creative sound and direction, my current pick for number 2 album of '99, right behind AV1.). Have at it Garth, you've got your assignment -- I'm waiting for a great single, ready to buy! Best, Will
------------------------------ Message-ID: <013301bf3aad$e587d1e0$5183bc3e@debraedm> From: "Debra Edmonds" <Debra.Edmonds@dial.pipex.com> Subject: Grand Tour of Swindon Town Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 21:07:42 -0000 Hi Chalk Folk Well, seeing as there has been some discussions going on recently about visiting Swindon (or not visiting Swindon as the case may be), I thought I would post this note to say that if ever any of you are planning a visit to this dear old town, and would like a guided XTC tour, just let me know. My dear friend Mark Strijbos has been over a couple of times now, and I am sure he can recommend my "Grand Tour of XTC sites, homes, pubs and curry houses" (not forgetting a trip across the Magic Roundabout of course!) I think I covered almost every place that gets a mention in Chalkhills and Children and Song Stories. Sadly, the mural is no-more, but I think every other XTC related feature of the town is still standing. Yes, you get to drive right past all the guys homes as well. I drive past Andy's house on my way home from work each day - in the evenings the lights are usually on, as well as the TV, as he doesn't draw his curtains across for some reason. I'll check-out his Christmas decorations for you all. (Yes, I know, I'll get arrested for being a peeping tom-ess!!) Well, let me know if you are interested - if I am about when you visit, I'll gladly show you around. With love from the "red brick dream". Debie debie@guitargonauts.com visit www.guitargonauts.com - the Dave Gregory website ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
------------------------------ Message-Id: <l03130301b468a47b82c1@[63.23.163.90]> Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 16:47:28 -0500 From: MinerWerks <dminer@gte.net> Subject: Thanks for Christmas Let the trainspotting begin... Heard "Thanks For Christmas" in Taco Bell last night. Also heard a song from Matthew Sweet's new album. Unfortunately a repetitive and obnoxious dance tune was sandwiched between the them. = Derek =
------------------------------ Message-ID: <382098443.943912475147.JavaMail.root@web03_mc.mail.com> Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 16:54:35 -0500 (EST) From: Satanas Diablo <thedevil@minister.com> Subject: Should I stay or should I go? Christopher Coolidge had positive comments to say, even though he disagreed with me. To me, that is an intelegent arguement. For the most part though, I still see nothing but self righteousness from most of you. People are still arguing with me, about people arguing with me! My last message was about how self righteous people are and how they continue to argue about spelling, grammar and my right to say comments about what I want to say. I read all your comments and I take it in and that is pretty much the extent of it. I never once attacked anyone about some general comment! So why attack me? Its self righteousness, and because I am outspoken. Look at what happened to Malcolm aka Charlie?! He was attacked, he sent the perpetrators to John, we even called them out on the board as everyone asked him too (that message was erased though by John to avoid further problems) and still he ended up not wanting to come back because a vast majority of you spent your time calling him racist slurs. So, what is someone supposed to do? I guess its best for me to leave the list as I never will be able to have a serious conversation about XTC again on this list and I don't think people will stop arguing no matter how many times I ask (I know, its a run-on, how clever I am). Plus there is some blanket over many of the regular posters who have little more to do than to dream about Andy & Colin and put down anyone with anything that strays away with what they consider the "norm." I need to get therapy because I don't agree with what the rest of everyone says here? I have a Bachelors in Psychology, I could brag and boast how smart I am. The fact throughout college I had a 3.5 and better. Sure, I have not attended graduate school yet, but I am educated. However, I was poor as a child, matter of fact, anyone who knows me in southern California knows that I have been on my own since I was 13. That story about education was partly true. I barely made it through High School, let alone to college! Do I want sympathy? Hell no, I am much better than that. I want respect for my values as I respect those of you for yours. Your not atheist? So, I am not Christian, it does not mean we need to argue. I would not care if your screen name was Jesus Christ. It would be interesting at the turn of the Millennium to See Jesus and Satan argue anyway wouldn't it? I think so... Point is, I type more than 60 words a minute. I run a studio where I have to deal with pompous No-name and sometimes "too big for their own britches" artists. I do it because I like working with audio and I like music. Though I make good money, I work about 15 hours a day. That is why studio engineers always look like they are on crack or something! (though I never would touch the stuff and look a little more normal that the rest of us!) MY POINT? I don't have time to sit her and think about grammar, spelling and all that other nonsense. If I am sitting around friends, I may use slang, I may just ramble, or whatever. When a debate comes in, I go into educated mode, but overall, if the internet is going to continue to thrive and be fun, we need to be able to feel at home and not have to put on a phasade just to post on a message board or list! (Now talk about run ons...) Get me? I mean, I never treat my non-college going friends like they are ignorant just because I spent a few more years in school then them! That is totally pompous and uncalled for. Everyone deserves better. That's all I have to say. I wont post anymore if just one of you says in your message: "you don't have the right to post here anymore." No explanation will be needed. I will unsubscribe right away! That's all... Oh, as for the XTC content. Are there ANY Accapellas (Vocal Only without music) from XTC songs or what?
------------------------------ From: Hbsherwood@aol.com Message-ID: <0.ef910b4d.257457a7@aol.com> Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 17:26:47 EST Subject: Busy Banging Out a Headache Folks: In my last post, which I just reread, a sentence appeared that may have raised some eyebrows: >In #314 our Stephanie Takeshita (long may she wave!) posted religions of >Europe. Hmmm. No, doesn't *quite* make sense, does it. The incandescent Stephanie is philosophically uninclined to post religions of Europe, and I doubt John R. would take kindly to a binary file upload of a size sufficient to contain entire belief systems. In the composition process, some text got dropped. (I'm blaming the typesetters at the Chalkhills Production Shop--damned ink-stained wretches, wouldn't know a Linotype machine from ETAOIN SHRDLU.) The sentence should have read, "Stephanie posted a link to a Straight Dope article on modern Wicca and its relationship to the pre-Christian religions of Europe." *Much* better, isn't it? Errata sheets will be sent out to all subscribers. ----- I've been listening to "English Settlement" lately, and a few things jumped out that I hadn't noticed before. First, a while back there was a long discussion of "No Thugs in Our House." While it was going on I thought all the obsessing over the cast of characters was rather widely missing the point of the song. Now on my latest listen, a line has made itself clear that adds to *my* appreciation of the song's plot, anyway. The line is, "Oh, officer, we can't believe our little angel is the one you've picked." The parents' denial of the evidence of Graham's sociopathy is so complete that they actually believe the police have *picked* him at random to prosecute. In their frantic rationalization, Graham is the *victim* of the crime, not the perpetrator. Their "little angel" to their minds is incapable of such a horrible act, and the police are being arbitrary and unfair. The tangible evidence of Graham's wallet on the scene of the crime is immaterial to them--because, you see, there are no thugs in our house! So everything follows logically from that point: Of course they're justified in their own minds in resorting to judicial corruption; since the prosecution of Graham is capricious, any means necessary is justified in rescuing him from the law. Quite a psychologically insightful line, that. The other thing that jumped out at me was a moment at the end of the long instrumental jam in "Jason and the Argonauts," the rather anxiety-inducing obsessively repeated eight-note figure that corresponds to the lyric "there may be no golden fleece but human riches I'll release" (in G Lydian, says the Chalkhills tablature, and I'll take it at its word.) As that passage climaxes, the whole mix is fed through a flanger, which produces a noise rather like a jet plane landing slowly and then taking off rather more quickly. Then the song resurges gloriously into C major with "I have watched the manimals go buy..." So I listened with interest to the jet-plane sound created by the flanger. It occurred to me that it sounded *tuned*, as if it was designed to fit with the G Lydian tonality that surrounds it. So I clapped on the headphones, plugged the Korean Cheeseball into the board, and tried to note where the jet-sound began and ended. And yes, I was right! The jet-sound is first audible coming out of a sung "human riches" line, and it's a very high D. It descends over 4 octaves through 15 bars, and at its lowest point is a G. The 16th bar changes direction; the swooshing noise goes very quickly from the lowest G to the highest D in four beats. The figure being played by the bass and guitars at that point is eighth-note G-A-B-C#-D, and back down again. Note the high and low notes in that sequence. All this is by way of saying that the beginning and ending "notes" of the flanger "swoosh" fit in perfectly with the song's tonality. Which is, you have to admit, pretty cool for 1982 technology. You could probably do it with three mouse clicks now, of course. Wonder whose idea it was--Hugh Padgham? Or Partridge? This all reminds me of an interview I once read with Spike Jones's son, who said (I paraphrase from memory), "Dad was a stickler for detail. If he wanted to put a gunshot into a song in place of a C sharp, it had to be a C sharp gunshot--or it sounded awful." Harrison "There may be BANG! Gol-BANG! fleece" Sherwood
------------------------------
Message-ID: <19991129230051.71129.qmail@hotmail.com>
From: "Megan Heller" <hellerm@hotmail.com>
Subject: no XTC content, but much ponderous rambling
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 17:00:51 CST
a holiday weekend and refraining from responding to a few digests... I'm
feeling much better.
Mark Newberg wonders about Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson--
>My question (and I know it is an unfai one): Who is the better performer?
>Who is the better singer/songwriter?
hm, an interesting question, to me, at least. I've never been a big
Costello fan-- I don't dislike his work by any means, I love a couple
songs ("Accidents will Happen" and "Beyond Belief"), and I quite respect
him, but I was never hooked enough to even consider buying an album. I'm
a moderate Joe Jackson fan-- I own three albums, "Night and Day", "Look
Sharp!", and "I'm the Man". I definitely like him more than Costello, but
I don't know why, because I always considered them similar and didn't
consider Jackson to have more talent. wow. That was inconclusive.
Harrison was interesting as usual--
>I don't think I'm going to be upsetting anyone's reality too much if I
>assert that the contemporary neo-pagan myth projects on the past a modern,
>ahistorical interpretation that is fundamentally at odds with what we know
>of history as it was actually lived. We seem to NEED the past to be
>populated with a Tragically Lost Magical Time; entire empires are built on
>the premise that a long-ago Golden Era was usurped by a foreign invader
>with an unnatural ideology, and the way back to the lost time is through
>adoption of the "natural" folkways of the past. Think Hitler. Hell, think
>Reagan! Thatcher! Or, for a real challenge to your comfort, think Pete
>Seeger, "Country Living" magazine, the Arts and Crafts movement
>(http://www.arts-crafts.com/)--all, in their own way, expressions of the
>same mythmaking impulse. "Queen wants the castle/Back from the rascal!"
very true, this is a cultual trait that goes back to the Greeks-- the
longing for a Golden Age which exists only in the past (Marx was unusual
in believing it lay in the future). I really can't add much, though,
except to agree emphatically-- I've been quite involved with wicca in the
past, and drew away into my own beliefs because of the tendency to
recreate history with one hand and accuse the Christian church of
recreating history with the other. Everyone's a bit guilty.
(Oh, and in this whole Robbins/birth of Christ-thing, I'd heard Passover
as the estimated historical birth-- that would be end of March / beginning
of April).
>Robbins and his ilk would have us believe this was a benign time of
>matriarchal harmony and peace, when what we actually know of these peoples
>indicates they'd as soon disembowel you and wear your entrails for
>personal jewelry as converse with you. Plus, they were about as
>matriarchal as your average motorcycle gang.
quite true-- there's been a growing misconception on the fringes of
academia that communities which were matrilineal (inheritance determined
along the mother's line) and matrilocal (live in the home of the
wife's/mother's family) were somehow matriarchal. It's ignored that some
of these communities also had menstrual huts (damn, what fun those must
have been). What's really being discovered is that there were no
matriarchies. Determining inheritance via the mother merely meant you
were sure that the child belonged to that bloodline (since there was no
proof of who the father was). There have been pros and cons for women in
every community (even Catholic and Protestant, despite doubters), although
for most of history it was mostly cons. Oh bloody well.
(This is how we boil down a semester in US Women's History, 1600-1850, into
two sentences. I sound such the jaded, snotty academic.)
I have to fix that.
Dom said--
>Good idea. Maybe if we rename the site Porkhills and pretend that
>"Deer God" is actually about lovely, juicy venison
>steaks.......mmmmmm..........slurp.
sigh... and then I spit-take all over the computer screen.
home! I get to go home!
m.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <38430C7C.6109@ksbe.edu> Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 13:31:08 -1000 From: "Jim Smart" <jismart@ksbe.edu> Organization: ksbe Subject: Sorry to disturb you but Dear Satan, hope you got the letter, and... I pray you can make it better up here. I don't mean a big reduction in the price of beer but all the people that are reading this digest, see their brains becoming toast 'cause they're reading all these posts by Satan I can't keep reading you Dear Satan, Sorry to disturb you but your name is on a lot of quotes on this list some crazy human wrote it and he's getting pissed and all the chalkers that are subscribed to this list, see them fighting on the screen 'cause they can't dare disagree with Satan, I can't keep reading you Did you make these posts, full of doggy doo? Did we make you mad when we challenged you? you're the devil too! (cut to the chase) and if you're down there you'll perceive that my heart's here upon my sleeve. If there's a post I won't be reading it's yours... Dear Satan. PS: Posting Style and Etiquette: http://chalkhills.org/list/style.html....check it out! OK, that wasn't meant to be mean spirited and evil. Just trying to have a little fun at the expense of someone who really asks for it. My point is that people should be able to disagree with Mr. Devil without having him jump all over them. Of course, now hel'll be jumping all over me. Oh joy. CDs I bought in 1999 XTC: Apple Venus One Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels on a Gravel Road Dave Davies: Fortis Green (unknown) 300 Spectacular Sound Effects and 101 Digital Sound Effects XTC: Black Sea XTC: Homespun Paul McCartney: Run Devil Run (Hey, that could relate to this list!) The Pretenders: (can't remember the title) Tom Petty: Echo ( I agree with Dave Gregory that Wildflowers is one of the best albums ever. Echo is pretty good, but not up to that standard) Mitch Friedman: The Importance of Sauce Plus a bunch of CDs by emerging bands on MP3...which are a lot of fun to get into.... Jim "shields up" Smart
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From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl>
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:25:48 +0100
Subject: Of Human Bonding
Message-Id: <19991129232405.4F0A0A6CDF@mail.knoware.nl>
Dear Chalkers,
The honourable Bob Estus, being the friendly person that he is,
wants to embrace our new found friend
> Come over here Satanas, I have something for you. Let's face it
> you just can't hide. Yeah.... It's a *big* warm bear-hug. Ahhhh...There
> there...
now ruffle his hair a bit and give him a little friendly punch in the
ribs or stomach. But be careful not to take this male bonding stuff
too far! If you tickle his belly too much, chances are that he'll roll
over and start to drool...
yours in xtc,
Mark Strijbos at The Little Lighthouse
http://www.knoware.nl/users/mmello/
or http://come.to/xtc
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #5-323 *******************************
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