Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 341
Date: Friday, 17 December 1999
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 341
Friday, 17 December 1999
Today's Topics:
My one, two, three cents worth
Doh! Further to above...
Brief XTC Mention In Out
Lyrical help
autographed XTC goodies
laughter and lemons
Millenium
Glue Overall
Happy Families
It's all just a Blur...
re: More off-topic crap: drugs
Scroll Past Me!
Scissor Men
XTC Content....well sort of :)
NEW XTC REMIXES BY DJ ARSE
Re: More off-topic crap: drugs
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: WESnLES@aol.com Message-ID: <0.54b334fb.2588041b@aol.com> Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 15:35:39 EST Subject: My one, two, three cents worth Fellow Chalkgeeks: I've been away for a while....sure you all missed me. Though my new verbiage appears amidst a flurry of Minster Hill hype I assure you I'm not here to dismantle that wobbly castle of accolades....good not great(damn, I did it again) Thanks to everyone that assisted me with advice on a new acoustic git-box.....you know who you are (if you don't just ask yourself). I STILL have not made the purchase!!! Each time I reach a new monetary plateau I take a hard look at a guitar that is priced just above it and opt to wait a bit longer........time to medicate. 1999 Quick Top 10: (in no specific order) XTC/Apple Venus 1 Fountains Of Wayne/Utopia Parkway Owsley/Owsley Ben Folds Five/Reinhold Messner Jason Falkner/Can You Still Feel The Negro Problem/Joys & Concerns Sunset Valley/Boyscout Superhero The Hang Ups/Second Story Guided By Voices/Do The Collapse Wilco/Summerteeth Iain.Murray wrote: I'm tired of trying to express myself on this forum, and having what I write misconstrued as either personal abuse or humourless churlishness. I'm tired of being subjected to public on-list reprisals when what I've written is taken the wrong way. I'm tired of being unable to project the fact that, more often than not, I'm joking (which I've found can be difficult when you're relying solely on the written word). I'm tired of feeling the need to defend myself after every other posting. Not sure what occurred to cause this reaction, shame on you heartless bastards!!!...but my immediate response is...I'M TIRED OF READING IT! If anyone wants to leave, then leave. Never much cared for someone that hits and runs. (oops, attacks like this are what caused ya to leave in the first place...right?)...hey, why am I asking you a question?....you're not even here anymore!!! (humOrless) If you're looking for rare XTC, of any and all sorts, look no further: http://members.tripod.com/~The_Last_Balloon/index.html wesLONG
------------------------------ Message-ID: <001501bf4679$433cabe0$f61017d4@smj> From: "Stephen Jackson" <smj@zen.co.uk> Subject: Doh! Further to above... Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 21:21:14 -0000 Further to my rant on drugs can I just make it clear that Tom's statement : >How do you feel about the possibility of your children >using drugs LEGALLY? should have been inserted before I wrote... <This wasn't addressed to me, but I'd say I would be far more concerned in my children using drugs (and, ultimately, it's their choice) *safely.* And that means education. If my child was taking drugs, I think my last concern would be the fact that my child was *breaking the law*> Sorry if people are bored of reading this, but I felt it important to make that point clear, and in context. Steve. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No room to move, no room for doubt.
------------------------------
Message-ID: <001701bf4680$d4e68aa0$e1f8163f@tim63>
From: "Tim Kendrick" <tim63@earthlink.net>
Subject: Brief XTC Mention In Out
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 17:16:10 -0500
The latest issue of OUT magazine (Dec '99) has
a brief XTC referance. It's in a review of the new
Foo Fighters CD "There is Nothing Left to Lose".
It says in part:
"...Alterna-pop songs like "Learn to Fly", the
obvious hit single, and "Aurora" will appeal instantly
to XTC fans..."
Overall they seem to like this release alot.
I thought the last Foo Fighters CD was okay, but
nothing special. I guess now I'll have to check out
the new one.
Later!
Tim K.
------------------------------ From: OMBEAN1@aol.com Message-ID: <0.a13e4bc3.2588280a@aol.com> Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 18:08:58 EST Subject: Lyrical help Yo, Yo, Yo, Does anyone out there know what Andy says in "Living Through Another Cuba" right after " CuBA, BA, BA, BA, BA, BA, BA,BA!!" but right before Terrys drum solo? I cant even figure out one word. Thank you and good night, Roger
------------------------------ Message-Id: <l03130303b47c7a82d95c@[38.149.92.70]> Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 17:52:41 -0500 From: John Hammond <johnh@tvtrecords.com> Subject: autographed XTC goodies In the spirit of holiday giving, we've donated autographed copies of APPLE VENUS VOL. 1 and SONG STORIES to Artist Direct for their charity auction. Both items are autographed by Andy and Colin, and they will be auctioned off as a set. Proceeds will go to AmFar (American Foundation for Aids Research). These should be up on this site in the next few days: http://artistdirect.com/auctions.html John Hammond TVT Records johnh@tvtrecords.com TVT's Downloadable Christmas: http://www.tvtrecords.com
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 10:59:31 +1100 From: Sebastien Maury 02 9950 3315 <maury.sebastien@a2.abc.net.au> Subject: laughter and lemons Message-id: <E1759IFV2I6SH*/R=A1/R=ABCNET/U=MAURYS6G/@MHS> Someone made a lovely comment about the possibilities of Joe/Andy collaborations (was it Jasper? Sorry!) and talked about the interplay between Joe and Elvis in Australia. Very cute and seems they have a healthy regard for each other. It's interesting how, as many of these "post-punk" - for want of a better brain in order to think of a better collective title for 3 *vastly* different performers - artists age, their thoughts and creativity bends itself towards the "classical" genre. Not classical music per se, but perhaps orchestral. Elvis and the Brodskys. Joe and his last 3 albums. XTC and AV. Another one of my childhood favourites, the ex Mr Brinkley, has apparently eschewed "pop" for "classical". I find this fascinating because on the one hand, it's nothing if not reactionary-these performers are not going to be taken seriously as composers among the majority in the rarefied (and equally reactionary) world of classical music, yet, divorced from comparisons to current, say avant garde/"serious" composers, such as Adams, Ades, Birtwhistle, Glass and a host of others, what these cross-over artists are attempting is quite revolutionary for their own careers. Expanding their musical palates, experimenting with new sonorities, instruments, sound textures and recording techniques all show the hallmarks of artists who wish to expand the limiting musical horizons of album-3 hit singles-tour-nervous breakdown-oops rest-album blahhhhh. JJ's use of the term "symphony" must remain problematic I would have thought-I wonder if he was co-erced as part of his new deal with Sony Classical to call it that or whether he really feels strongly about the symphonic form. It needn't necessarily matter, although the historical and cultural semiotics of "symphony" are so intense that it's a brave man or woman who decides to tread that particular path. I personally prefer his 3-4 minute cynical vignettes on life and love which I think he does soooo well, although I must admit I found Heaven quite amazing (although not "classical" in any sense that I understand it. They were songs). On AV, there were moments where I thought a slightly beefier set of strings, or a real instrument rather than a synthesised one may have given it more opulence. Money I suppose is always tight, and perhaps the end product is exactly what Andy and Colin had in ear. Yet in a way, that combination of "lo-fi" (ILT recorded at home) vs Abbey Road sumpt gives the whole a balance that gives listening to it an irresistible advantage over anything else I've listened to all decade. The songwriting is spectacularly honed (after 7 years of exile, whose wouldn't be!) and I fervently hope that AV2 will prove to be a superlative companion piece. In fact I know it will! One brief quasi-related note: my CD copies of Prince's Lovesexy and JJ's Blaze of Glory are all "single song albums" in that there's no "tracks" although each album has individual songs. Has anyone else had this experience. It can be quite annoying! Cheers, Seb.
------------------------------
Message-Id: <199912150105.UAA15159@nantucket.net>
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 20:03:33 -0800
Subject: Millenium
From: "Diamond" <arnos@nantucket.net>
>First of all a remark about the recent flurry of "Albums of the 90's"
>and "Composers of the Century" lists... as this decade, century and
>indeed this millenium won't be over for another year don't you all
>feel just a bit premature? Who knows, perhaps you'll enjoy Apple
>Venus Vol. II even better than Volume I - just a thought.
Mark, give it up, man. I did the exact same thing whenever someone called
2000 the end of the millenium. For those who don't know, the millenium
doesn't end untill the end (january 31)of the year 2000, in over a year.
(The reason this is is because there was no year 0, it started with 1, so
the year 1001 is a millenium, as is 1001-2001. Therefore, 2001 is the first
year of the new millenium, coincidently, the year I graduate from
Highschool, which I think is pretty cool! But mark, don't try to bring this
up. I've tried, and I get the same reaction from everyone, they either don't
understand, or they don't care. It's really just another excuse to drink a
lot. (At any rate, the numbers we give the years are all fake anyway. there
really isn't any such thing as "Time", we just all agree to believe there
is. Just like we all agree that a small piece of paper and a few round coins
are worth something.)
Besides, as prince said, we've got to party like it's 1999!
Kevin Diamond, Gaduate of the next century!
____________________________________________________________________________
"To emphasize the afterlife is to deny life. To concentrate on heaven is to
create hell."
-Tom Robbins
------------------------------
From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl>
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 02:29:11 +0100
Subject: Glue Overall
Message-Id: <19991215012721.80E2CA6CE2@mail.knoware.nl>
Dear Chalkers,
Our friend Megan presented us with a sticky problem:
how to remove price tags and/or glue from XTC treasures
The esteemed Johan Ekdahl, our man in Sweden, answered
> removing glue: my advice would be ordinary kitchen fat.
Otherwise known as... lard! My God, there's just no end to the things
you can do with lard, now is there? There's one that would actually
be illegal in several US states but i digress...
It's a very interesting suggestion, but at best only works for (plastic)
cd's. Here's another technique that speedily removes 90% of all
stickers and glue remnants from almost any surface (like sleeves!),
and with surprising ease.
1. Get a tank of lighter gas.
2. Squirt some liquid gas onto the offending sticker.
3. Wait a few seconds for the moisture to evaporate.
The glue will now be frozen, losing all elasticity and "stickiness".
4. Carefully peel off the sticker with a fingernail
make sure to test the waters a bit before you peel - if you meet any
resistance, squirt & freeze some more before you proceed.
If this doesn't help, give up. Some stickers simple cannot be
removed without causing serious damage.
WARNING: Some glues actually degrade the ink and / or paper
beneath it. Removing a sticker will reveal such damage if it occured
WARNING 2: liquid gas is cold. VERY COLD. Extreme cold can
cause burns and damage your skin. Do not soak your fingers or
poodle.
yours in a sticky situation,
Mark "You see my SuperGlue? thought I left it on the sofa" Strijbos
yours in xtc,
Mark Strijbos at The Little Lighthouse
http://www.knoware.nl/users/mmello/
or http://come.to/xtc
------------------------------ From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl> Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 02:29:11 +0100 Subject: Happy Families Message-Id: <19991215012722.8E2D3A6CDF@mail.knoware.nl> Dear Chalkers, In this festive season our minds almost automatically wander to those who are near to us; our family and kinfolk... > > whatever happened to our ever-famous "little miss opinionated" > > and dave-crazy amanda? > > Hmm, good question. Anyone seen Dave around lately? I wonder... Perish the thought ! My spies tell me he hasn't left the country and is still kicking about in Swindon c.a. - thank goodness ;))) Mark Strijbos webmaster@guitargonauts.com
------------------------------
Message-Id: <199912150231.VAA24101@nantucket.net>
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 21:28:53 -0800
Subject: It's all just a Blur...
From: "Diamond" <arnos@nantucket.net>
First, have you ever tried to re-string a bass AND read a Chalkhills at the
same time? It's T-U-F-F tough. Don't try it.
I just purchased my first Blur album, The Great Escape. I had heard that
Blur were good, but I forgot which albums people had said were good, so I
just bought the one that I thought had the best album design, and that one
turned out to be The Great Escape.
I think the Album Design definetly does the album justice. I love the album,
it's great. So, which one should I buy next? I heard Parklife is good.
Kevin "Inquisitive" Diamond
____________________________________________________________________________
"To emphasize the afterlife is to deny life. To concentrate on heaven is to
create hell."
-Tom Robbins
------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.2.32.19991215000310.00699d10@mail.interlog.com> Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 00:03:10 -0500 From: David Oh <davidoh@interlog.com> Subject: re: More off-topic crap: drugs i'm sorry about this off-topic post, too, but i had to respond because one of my previous statements has been taken out of context or, at the very least, completely misunderstood. >From: "Johnson, Tom" <tom.johnson@boeing.com> >Subject: More off-topic crap: drugs >From: David Oh <davidoh@interlog.com> >drugs: i believe in the decriminalization of all forms cannabis for two reasons. overall, your response to my post was nothing more than a difference of opinion. i can accept that and, indeed, knew that there would be some disagreement to my point of view on this subject. however, i do take exception to the following comment of yours: >Why should I have to worry about my future children becoming drug users just because YOU want to be one right now? i resent your implication in the above quote. who said anything about me being, or wanting to be, a drug user, right now or even any time in the future? did i say i condoned the use of drugs? no, i did not. did i even say whether i did, or did not, use drugs? or even if i have, or have not, used drugs in the past? no, that is not what i said. nor is it what i meant. i did not say cannabis should be legalized, i said it should be decriminalized. there is a big difference. nor did i say that all drugs should be legalized or even decriminalized. i did not say this for my benefit, nor do i believe in this for my benefit, either. i think you should re-read my post, then look up the definitions for legalize and decriminalize, perhaps then you will understand better what i said. ---------- also this; >How do you feel about the possibility of your children using drugs LEGALLY? disregarding the fact that i cannot father a child, but if i _were_ a father, though, i certainly would sit down and talk to my child(ren) about many things openly and frankly, including sex, drugs and the law (and maybe rock 'n' roll, too!). that is because i believe in education, not legislation. besides that, as everyone knows, whenever someone says that another can't do something, as a parent would say to their child, that person is more than likely to do it, either out of spite curiosity or a little of both. back to your question, though, how would i feel about them doing drugs legally? as opposed to illegally? again, it comes down to education and choice. some people will do drugs anyway, regardless of whether it's legal, illegal or even decriminalized. also, regardless of the fact that alcohol and tobacco are legal products, many people choose _not_ to drink and/or smoke, for whatever reasons they may have. if marijuana were to be decriminalized, not everyone is going to, nor should, run out and smoke a joint. that was not my point. here's my point; decriminalizing cannabis does not make it legal, it removes the criminal implications of it. many people have received criminal records and gone to jail for simple possession. this, to me, is wrong. a person should not go to jail or even have a criminal record for such a thing and decriminalizing cannabis would prevent this. the courts and prisons are clogged enough as it is without them being bunged any further. does someone go to jail for driving fast? for failing to come to a full and complete stop? no, they don't. they get fined. if they kill or injure someone else as a result of these actions, then they go to jail. >Again, it's another case of "do as I say not as I do." no, it's not. >And once they legalize marijuana, what's to stop other drugs from being legalized? by making well thought out and well worded laws, that's what will stop other drugs from being legalized. again, though, decriminalization is different from legalization. >I live in Arizona, and the voters of this state were tricked into voting for a "medical marijuana" legalization act that turned out to be a VERY bad deal. Why is that a problem? Because a LARGE number of dealers had plea-bargained in order to get their charges down to simple possesion. Luckily, the state legislature was smart enough to overturn this very badly thought out law. they were tricked? that's debatable. nobody really gets tricked into voting for anything, do they? they vote for what they believe in. obviously, they believed it was a good law. however, you answered you own question there. it wasn't the law that was bad, it was the wording and interpretation that was bad. ---------- i was going to respond to more of the points you made, but i won't. that's not why i responded in the first place. we both have the right to our respective opinions, but please do not twist my words to use them against me. it's not the difference of opinion that i object to, it's the fact that you implied that i am a drug user, condone drug use and want it legalized. i'm not and i don't, but i do think that cannabis should be decriminalized - not legalized, decriminalized. i'm not going to respond any further on this topic, regardless of what anyone says. i've made my stance clear on this and if you still do not understand, that's your problem, not mine. in the words of forrest gump, "and that's all i have to say about that". ---------- tonight (99-12-14), sir paul mccartney played the cavern in liverpool. i wish that i was there, but alas, i'm here in cold toronto. i did see a brief clip from the show on the evening news and i noticed that my favourite guitar player, david gilmour, was supporting macca. the concert will be shown on muchmucus later this week (i think) and i'll be sure to watch it. my only question is this: why was macca knighted while george and ringo were not? what places him above the other two? i don't get it! ---------- xtc content: av2 can't come soon enough for me. i don't have the demos, so i haven't heard any of it yet, but i'm going a little crazy waiting for it. c'mon lads, we're all getting antsy for the album. can you just hurry it up a little bit? please? that's it, i'm outta here... peace & xtc, davidoh
------------------------------ From: unna@worldmailer.com Date: 15 Dec 1999 10:36:58 -0800 Message-ID: <19991215183658.25155.cpmta@c008.sfo.cp.net> Subject: Scroll Past Me! Lately here in Chalkhills there's been much discussion about the decay of society and moral fabric and such. Some people have even said that drugs and drug use are a contributor to this decay. Doesn't every generation claim that things are getting worse? Are things getting worse? I think these are still the best of times and the worst of times. It just strikes me as an adolescent position to place blame on other people for the decay of a society. And what has blame ever fixed anyway? Ghandi says we should "Be the change we want to see". If this is true then I guess some people would like to see a society full of blame-placers perched atop moral pedestals. Anyhoo, good ol' RUSH put the truth into song. Free will, man. It's not just a concept. Its the most powerful force existing. And if you really think things need improving, then improve yourself and watch how that improvement affects those around you. Everything has a charge - make yours positive! Hooray for Peter PumpkinHead!
------------------------------ Message-ID: <38581863.11E24DE1@zfn.uni-bremen.de> Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 23:38:27 +0100 From: Erich Sellheim <sellheim@zfn.uni-bremen.de> Subject: Scissor Men Hello everyone, just a short comment: the people who complained about the "Senses Working Overtime" edit should probably never listen to the one of "Generals And Majors" on a sampler called "Radioactive" (or something similar), because that's what I call a really bad edit. It sounds exactly like either an insane or a four-year old person did the job, chopped up at the most unlikely places! But probably that's what you get when you buy an LP with 20 tracks on it... Unless you choose Elvis Costello's excellent "Get Happy", that is (whom I saw five times during the nineties, each concert better than the last). Best wishes to all of you, Erich
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19991216012405.49855.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Andrew Gowans" <ratwhacker@hotmail.com> Subject: XTC Content....well sort of :) Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 12:24:05 EST Greetings, Minor XTC connection here. I have in my possession an instruction manual for a Garrard Auto Turntable Type AT6 (Laboratory Series). What is it I hear you say ? It is a turntable (record player to plebs like me) from my Aunt's old Hi-Fi, circa mid 1960's. The turntable is but a memory, being cactus, although the unit is still in existence (I have intentions to remove the valve amp and speakers at some point for my personal use). However, to cut to the point of my waffle, the manual is available FREE, GRATIS, to whoever mails me first with "grovel grovel-I Love XTC-grovel grovel" in the subject field of their message. I shall describe this tome to you all, gentle chalkers, approx 12 pages in length, glossy black and white printed manual, textured dark-blue cover with silver embossed cover type face. Condition, say 9 out of 10. XTC connection ? >From the final page of the manual... The Garrard Engineering And Manufacturing Co. Ltd Swindon - Wilshire - England Printed in England by the Borough Press (Swindon) Ltd., Eastcott Hill, Swindon. Please be patient with my reply as I will be unavailable until mid next week. Hang by your thumbs, Andrew Gowans
------------------------------ Message-ID: <38584AF7.66CE7950@autoreverse.net> Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 21:14:15 -0500 From: Ian C Stewart <ian@autoreverse.net> Organization: http://www.AUTOreverse.net/ Subject: NEW XTC REMIXES BY DJ ARSE I do realize that I'm probably going to some form of hell for this, but: DJ ARSE has done 2 totally gratuitous and largely inflammatory remixes of songs by the popular singing group XTC. The songs are: The Somnabulist and Another Satellite. You can hear the remixes in streaming Real Audio, or hey! You can even download MP3s! Who would think that *I* would be offering MP3s at this point in my life!?!?!?!? But check 'em out and let me know what a rat-bastid that DJ ARSE is. Or, you know, how much you enjoy the remixes. If you enjoy that sort of thing!!!!!!! I don't want to spoil the ending but it's definitely one of those chocolate-and-peanut-butter mixes that goes oh-so-well with ice cream. Maybe it shouldn't have happened. But it's too late now. http://www.netwalk.com/~stewart/djarse.htm with sincerest apologies from DJ ARSE and all of me here at Bizarre Depiction, Ian C Stewart Bizarre Depiction http://come.to/bizarredepiction
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v04003a01b47e249472ed@[209.194.200.33]> Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 22:33:05 -0700 From: Michael De Bernardi <debernardi@cybermesa.com> Subject: Re: More off-topic crap: drugs I hate to keep this thing going, but... Tom Johnson <tom.johnson@boeing.com> wrote: >And you may be right. However, studies have shown that the "medicinal" >properties can be gained from extracting the substance from the plant and >giving it in a pill form. Do the "medical marijuana" proponents want you to >know this? No, they don't. Both research and user testimonials support quite the opposite, that the smoked variety is more effective at controlling pain, nausea, and appetite. This may be due to one or more of the dozens of active cannabinoids that are found in marijuana, but not in synthetic THC. Marinol is better than nothing, but the smoke is best. >LSD is not for any of these purposes. Again, this is yet another example of >someone who wants to make it "okay" for them, but not *everyone*, to use >drugs. "Mind expansion," a common "excuse" for drug use. If you need drugs >to "expand" your mind, then you've got other, more serious, problems going >on that need to be addressed. Tom, I sympathized with your position up to this point, but your lack of experience with any drug at all, particularly LSD, disqualifies you from commenting on the mind-expanding effects of some drugs. There are drugs, primarily of the hallucinogen class, that can profoundly affect the psychological, existential, and spiritual foundations of those who take them. Hallucinogens have been used as part of religious rituals for thousands of years and have had a deep impact on our culture. There are certainly many "excuses" offered by drug abusers, but this does not negate the fact that many people have made deeper connections to themselves and the universe with the help of external substances. Michael
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #5-341 *******************************
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