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From:
rdtrn@torithoughts.org
Date:
Mon, 20 Sep 2004 13:19:54 -0700
Subject:
RDT Right Now #1917
To:
Recipient List Suppressed:;
Do not hit reply to unsubscribe. To unsub, send a message to:
<rdtrn-request@torithoughts.org>
with "unsubscribe" in the subject and body.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Really Deep Thoughts Right Now Volume 04 : Issue #1917
.
o - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - o
. o o .
o o
O "Thoughts right now... O
o What will become of me, o
o Become of her, become of we?" o
. o o .
O O
O - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - O
o .
o
o
o
Tori Amos, "Thoughts"
In this issue:
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Re: HDTV reception. For the last tim [ Mark Alexander <alexander750@earthl ]
To the point [ "Lavenda" <earth@comcen.com.au> ]
Little Blue World Summer Issue [ Angela Reid <angela.reid@gmail.com> ]
Columnist for school paper [ "Beth Coulter" <betheqt@voicenet.co ]
Since Violet's not going to pass thi [ Jim <jimphynn@comcast.net> ]
Terror season [ Brian Cooper <byteme@smartchat.net. ]
Re: RDT Right Now #1909 [ Simon Booth <simonbooth@mac.com> ]
Re: RDT Right Now #1910 [ Simon Booth <simonbooth@mac.com> ]
Re: RDT Right Now #1911 [ Simon Booth <simonbooth@mac.com> ]
Re: RDT Right Now #1912 [ Simon Booth <simonbooth@mac.com> ]
september 11 [ John Bragazzi <utown@worldnet.att.n ]
Re: September 11 [ "John Bragazzi" <wasserman@operamai ]
Greetings from a new member [ "Alex Zaitsev" <alexzaitsev85@mail. ]
bring tori to australia! [ fingerpuppets <woj@smoe.org> ]
Missed a digest? Pick up a copy at the RDTRN archives:
http://www.torithoughts.org/rdtrn/archives
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Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 02:26:57 -0500
From: Mark Alexander <alexander750@earthlink.net>
To: "that redhead with the piano" <rdtrn@torithoughts.org>
Subject: Re: HDTV reception. For the last time. I promise.
In RDTRN 1915, Simon Booth wrote:
> But isn't the digital signal easily affected by
> the slightest interference? I've heard that digital satelite users run
> into problems during a storm- heavy rain and moisture in the atmosphere
> actually scattering the signal. Does the same thing happen with the
> over the air HD signal?
No, because digital satellite uses a far higher carrier frequency (up
in the Ku band IIRC--something in the 35 GHz range), the wavelength of
which is subject to both scattering by precipitation, and to something
called the atmospheric blackbody temperature (typically about 150
kelvins). Police and weather radar (and, presumably, alien spacecraft)
use roughly the same frequencies, and are a further source of dish
users' reception woes.
U.S. and Canadian digital broadcast TV, called ATSC, uses the same TV
channels as the old NTSC analog system does in those countries. Most
other countries use a family of systems which covers broadcast,
satellite, and cable, called DVB-T, DVB-S, and DVB-C. (U.S. digital
cable often uses DVB-C as well, or a competing system called,
ironically, Open Cable, which is nothing GNU.) Thus, when your HDTV is
tuned to channel 9, it's the same old channel 9, at 187.25
MHz...except, of course, it's almost always simulcasting a different
analog channel, and will identify itself as that other channel. Thus,
in my case, PBS is broadcast on channel 9, but still calls itself 13;
CBS, complete with its weather radar, is broadcast on 18 but still
claims it's 5 (and not 62, which is where I got it before), and ABC is
broadcast on 15 but is still good ol' Go Hogs Go 29. As for NBC, it's
not yet available digitally here, but--I'm told--will be way up at
channel 50, calling itself 51. Fox and the local "Christian"
hatecasters have not announced plans to go digital, and I for one will
celebrate when their plugs get pulled in January 2006.
And PBS? What you get there are (1) the primary AETN simulcast; (2)
the Central network feed, useful for those who sent their pledges early
(hint hint) and really, really hate crummy pledge week reruns; (3) the
Pacific feed, which is the same as the Central feed but two hours late;
and (4) PBS Kids. Which, I suppose, is just the thing for those who
want to see Clifford the Big Red Dog at 2 a.m. The Stoner Channel!
What *can* affect digital broadcast reception are the same gremlins
that mess up analog TV: The tornado that eats the broadcast tower. The
computer upstairs with the broken foil shield on a monitor cable. The
rabbit ears that are just too small. The cheap hair dryer which spits
static. The squirrels who think your antenna makes a good jungle gym.
The idiot in Engineering who punches the wrong button on the
transmitter. And so on. Luckily, digital TV appears to be far more
robust in the face of most of this; in my experience so far, you either
get a perfect picture or none at all (though in borderline situations
you'll get a picture which disappears, reappears after a few seconds,
disappears again, and so on, which can be just as maddening as one of
Rush Limbaugh's flatulent outbursts).
Speaking of flatulence...I got one of those awful "Don't Buy the Eid
Stamp" hate spam messages yesterday, in among the usual Canadian drugs,
penis enlargers, fake "late payment" warnings, and debt consolidators,
and along with a genuine "419 scam" offer in bdayl msipestl ngElsih the
likes of which I haven't seen in a while. (Hint: real Nigerians don't
have names like "Preposterous K. Flyswatter.") I say, *do* buy the
stamps, and use them to mail Kwanzaa cards to those Stupids who sent
you the spam. And, of course, use them to mail actual Eid greetings to
your Muslim friends.
Don't buy the Richard Mellon Scaife stamp,
Estraven.
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Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2004 20:39:22 +1000
From: "Lavenda" <earth@comcen.com.au>
To: "RDT Right Now" <rdtrn@torithoughts.org>
Subject: To the point
Are you caught up yet Simon?
Been sick, numerous times. Frelling sinus headaches.
Been rubber-stamping/card making. Check the website.
Had my spatula licked by Craig Parker/Haldir. Check the website (if you
haven't already seen it elsewhere on the net. That pic has a life of it's
own).
Been cross-stitching. Not on website.
Gearing up for Tiarna's birthday (5th - time flies). Soon to be on website.
Loosing weight. Go me.
X
Lavs
http://www.homepage-host.uni.cc/p/lavenda/
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Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 11:38:48 -0400
From: Angela Reid <angela.reid@gmail.com>
To: rdtrn@torithoughts.org
Subject: Little Blue World Summer Issue
The Tori Amos fanzine Little Blue World has released our summer issue.
Here's some of what's included:
* Our review of the new concert DVD and a full Tori videography.
* News about the release of Tori's first book, the new album and tour
scheduled for next year, and Matt Chamberlain talks about recording
with Tori this spring.
* We interview Lisa Ray, who organizes annual benefit concerts for RAINN.
* Check out two independent films released this year which were
inspired by Tori and her music.
* The best bootleg recordings from 2001's Strange Little Tour.
* Plus regular features like Ask the Expert, Puzzle, Tori Story, and more.
For more information about this issue and how to subscribe, go to
<http://www.little-blue-world.org>. If you're interesting in sharing
your feedback about our fanzine, please feel free to check out our
newly created livejournal community, lbw, at
<http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=lbw>
Angela
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Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 15:03:18 -0400
From: "Beth Coulter" <betheqt@voicenet.com>
To: "RDT Right Now" <rdtrn@torithoughts.org>
Subject: Columnist for school paper
Hey All!
Those campus members of this list, go pick up the paper to read me. All
others, you can go here:
http://www2.cedarcrest.edu/crestiad/crestiad_frameset.htm
and click on current issue. I've got a column, a drawing, and an article.
Let me know what you think...and check out the rest of the paper also. Some
really good articles are there.
Until Later!
Peace,
Beth
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought
without accepting it. --Aristotle
www.bethcoulter.com
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Date: Sat, 11 Sep 2004 15:22:31 -0400
From: Jim <jimphynn@comcast.net>
To: RDT Right Now <rdtrn@torithoughts.org>
Subject: Since Violet's not going to pass this info on...
Please forgive me for not having sent this announcement sooner. I sent
it to Violet on the night that it happened, but I only included her in
a generic blind cc to her as well as about 40 other people, so I don't
know if she knew that I intended this to be forwarded to the entire
group...
We are pleased to announce that Harrison Sidney Goldman Phynn has made
his entrance into this world.
He arrived on Thursday, August 19, 2004, at 7:32 pm, weighing 9 lbs,
11 oz.
Please feel free to spread the good news, and bear with us while we're
introducing him to the world and the world to him.
For pictures, point your web browsers to:
http://homepage.mac.com/phynnjim/child1.html
More news soon!
Jim & Jenn
[Note from Violet: Congratulations! I'm sorry, Jim, I didn't receive
your Bcc message. I would definitely have done a birthday greeting
for your new little guy if I had. I'll do a special one now so that
folks who don't read through each digest will know there's one more
little Toriphile in the world! -- V.]
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Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2004 22:15:48 +1000
From: Brian Cooper <byteme@smartchat.net.au>
To: Really Deep Thrusts Right Now <rdtrn@torithoughts.org>
Subject: Terror season
We suspend your usual broadcast for this special announcement.
What is it about this time of year that brings terrorism to the fore? Of
course, not all terrorism happens at this time of year, but this time of
year has been pretty bad for a number of years.
How can we forget the sights, sounds and for some, smells of September 11
which has just passed its third anniversary? To date, it still sets the
benchmark for sheer magnitude and I hope that in my time it is never
surpassed. I am kind of relieved local television didn't smother us with
footage of the event and instead concentrated on how people are remembering
and dealing with it. While this seems to be a case of simple decency, I
wonder how long this seeming moratorium on use of the footage should exist?
What is a decent time frame? Is it 5, 10 or 20 years? While it's possible
to become desensitized to witnessing atrocities on a regular basis, it's
also possible for the world to lose its sense of outrage if we are not
reminded. I'd hate to see a whole generation of children growing up with
little or no idea of the effect of that day on the world.
Barbarism plumbed new depths less than two weeks ago in the Russian town of
Beslan. While ethnic cleansing by rebels or even governments in some parts
of the world are bigger crimes against humanity, the slaying of innocent
children in the name of a cause has changed the whole nature of terrorism.
It is hardly possible to comment on the event due to the heinousness of it.
The best descriptions from Beslan were given by reporters that ended up
with them being rendered speechless. I was talking to a hardened journalist
of some 20 odd years experience last week who said to me, "I've got four
stories to deal with that make me want to cry."
All I can make out of that whole sordid event was that the Russian
government made a monumental fuck-up in handling the situation. While the
result was unpredictable, the aftermath could have been managed far better.
It seemed that the Russians were trying to cover up the sheer scale of the
event, or they were just plain embarrassed about it.
The explosions were bound to happen when you have a combination of a
confined, hot space with fatigued terrorists standing on dead-man switches.
What was truly horrifying was when the surviving terrorists started
shooting at the fleeing children. It's obvious now nobody was intended to
get out alive.
Where the Russians went wrong was that they tried to downplay the number of
hostages and didn't put resources on the ground to deal with the worst case
scenario. Seeing live footage of special forces shooting it out with the
terrorists while firemen and parents were trying to put out the fire in the
gymnasium showed how badly it was handled. Russian troops should have had a
one mile cordon around the school, where nobody got in or out. They still
aren't sure if all the terrorists died or some got away in the mayhem.
Outside of that cordon should have been fire and ambulance services, the
latter in large numbers for a worst-case scenario. It's not like they
didn't have enough warning. They should have also prepared a field hospital
with Russia's best trauma doctors on hand, to be where they were needed.
If anything, Putin should have got on the phone to Bush to get advice or
resources from the U.S. military. Stubborn Russian pride got in the way for
the worst possible outcome. In the war on terror, allies need to share
information and resources freely, otherwise a lot of effort is wasted and
critical intelligence could be missed. I can fully understand why the
European Union asked for a "please explain", even though the timing was bad.
It came as no real surprise when the Australian embassy in Jakarta,
Indonesia was bombed last week. You've probably seen the camera footage
from across the road by now and you can't help but say, "Oh, shit!". It's
amazing so few lives were lost. We've been a target ever since our
involvement in the liberation of East Timor from the hands of the
Indonesian backed militias who were committing genocide against the
indigenous populace. Even with U.N support, Australia and New Zealand were
the only countries in the region who weren't afraid to stand up to
Indonesia, to the point where we almost went to war. The best support the
U.S. could give at the time was to send a couple of "advisors". What the
real reason for the bombing was is something we'll probably never know. The
second anniversary of the Bali bombing is now less than a month away and we
do know the reason for that one - our involvement in East Timor. To this
date, I'm yet to hear of an Indonesian general that's been tried for war
crimes.
Terrorists are insane and have been blinded by their cause, but they should
never be thought of as necessarily stupid. In most instances, they people
getting killed are completely innocent. At times, like the other day, the
only people that were killed were locals. Even the countries that
fundamentally hate the people being targeted in these attacks are becoming
increasingly disgusted by the acts of terrorists and that is about the only
good thing to come out of all of this.
What's the answer for all this? I'd like to have an answer, but just about
all terrorism has its genesis in an occupied territory or foreign powers
covertly, or even overtly interfering in local government, both of which
can only lead to blind contempt. It doesn't seem to matter which political
party holds power when both sides are guilty of this. If these interfering
governments would stop trying to undermine the United Nations and actively
supported it, the U.N. might actually work, instead of being virtually
powerless - case in point - Sudan. While U.N. support is no guarantee of
being free from the risk of terrorism, it would be far better to be on the
high moral ground when things go wrong.
Brian
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[top]
Date: Sun, 12 Sep 2004 00:23:46 -0500
From: Simon Booth <simonbooth@mac.com>
To: RDT Right Now <rdtrn@torithoughts.org>
Subject: Re: RDT Right Now #1909
happy birthday woj!
>
congrats tessaerae on getting published! Sounds like what you've
written something that will be a big help to people later on.
>
estraven wrote:
> First, of course, a big shout out to all those who sent birthday
> greetings, and who thus made "life, the universe, and everything" a bit
> easier to bear.
and the answer is "47"
>
> Who's your ISP? Wait...Australia...out in the outback...probably some
> sort of dish with Rupert Murdoch's name on it :-O
>
Brian lives in Sydney, where they have real phones. Out in outback
they still use tin cans and strings ;)
> I don't (and won't) have cable, but I do have a land line and live
I've heard rumors that the local system here will offer an "a la carte"
deal next year- if that's true, I can actually save some money and the
that handful of channels that are actually worth having. Ask around
if your local cable company is offering the same thing or will in the
future.
Not promoting cable, just thinking of my experience trying to ditch a
lot of the crap without giving up everything- impossible. I've
managed to save 20 bucks a month getting rid of that high block of
channels though. Would be nice though to not get stuck with 50 channels
extra just to get Sci Fi.
>
> (Gopher? Finger? Archie? What's that?)
Internet things of the last century! I remember those from a brief
foray on the 'net in the early 90s (student access at UTSA 92-93).
And did you notice hooking up high-speed internet is easier on a Mac
than on a PC? ;)
Yes, I know what happened the last time a Mac user here got too
enthusiastic about Apple. But I can't help it, I've had my iMac about
a year and I've had a blast.
>
> I gave a Coke machine the finger and it told me to go fizz myself,
>
That reminds me of a rumour I head years ago about a Coke machine at a
university somewhere that was actually on the net- supposedly one could
"access" it online to check its operating status.
>
roxanne wrote about school:
> 'm already registered,
> but I forget what I'm taking (doesn't that figure).
>
It does seem to blur together sometimes. What's your major?
Simon
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Date: Sun, 12 Sep 2004 00:24:02 -0500
From: Simon Booth <simonbooth@mac.com>
To: RDT Right Now <rdtrn@torithoughts.org>
Subject: Re: RDT Right Now #1910
happy birthday Julie! :)
Pardon the delays- yet another roadrunner problem. No, the high-speed
service itself has always been great. It's the cable company's billing
system, as is always the case when I'm offline for a period of time.
Doesn't happen a lot but every so often they're slow in processing a
recent payment and the disconnect order is already in process even when
someone's got the check on their desk. Never mind the numerous past
due notices after a payment has been sent at the right time.
pardon the rant. I get really sick of things like this happening on
the weekends when it's a bigger pain in the ass than usual to fix.
One of these days I'll be caught up.
Simon
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[top]
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2004 01:43:41 -0500
From: Simon Booth <simonbooth@mac.com>
To: RDT Right Now <rdtrn@torithoughts.org>
Subject: Re: RDT Right Now #1911
happy birthday Jacqueline! :)
>
mike- "Effortless Mastery" sounds like a great book. I wonder if the
concept translates to other creative areas. Biggest problem I've had
in drawing classes (one last spring and one I'm in now) is trying to
draw without thinking too much about it- not do a half-assed drawing,
but trying to find a way to really balance focus with being free to
draw what I see, without mentally trying to bog down the process into
drawing what the subject is "supposed" to look like.
brian wrote:
> Subject: Who are you?
>
working for the shadows now?
>
> Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the show and I have been saying for a few
> years now she should release a DVD of one of her performances, but I
> feel
> it could have been done more intelligently. I also have to admit I
> haven't
> even listened to the CD yet.
>
I'd always thought that Tori's shows might not translate well to video
if the production value is too slick. Good camera angles, of course,
but trying to make it look "faster" with jump cuts or fast edits is a
bit much for what a tori show is visually.
(as I type this I just heard on the radio about a nuclear detonation in
North Korea. Nuke test or a horrible accident? So far
unconfirmed....just now hearing it's not a nuke blast)
re: Who concert:
> It just felt soooo good to finally
> hear "Won't Get Fooled Again" through a real sound system.
You mean the theme to "CSI"? ;-)
any recent offers for your car?
Speaking of cars- and I ask because it's about Australian cars- just
what make/model was the black "Interceptor" in the first two "Mad Max"
films. For years I always assumed it was an early 70s Chrysler but
imdb.com lists it as a mid-70s Ford. Only it's no Ford I've ever heard
of, unless Ford exclusively sold that make in Australia only.
megan- where was that archeological dig? Sounds fascinating.
contacts do take a little getting used to, but pester your eye doctor
to see if the prescription is right. The big thing I noticed with
contacts vs. glasses is that with contacts my vision seems to lose a
little sharpness over distance, whereas with glass vision seems sharp
out to infinity- I think the loss of sharpness over distance (small
loss I mean) is more in line with the way the eye works naturally.
I need new glasses- mine are over 10 years old and the round frames
seemed cool in '94 but nowadays seem a bit too big. and in some photos
and video shots over the years, I swear they appear larger than they
are in real life!
what do you call a frog that kills his brother?
A Cain toad.
We live for The One, We die for The One.
Simon
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[top]
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2004 01:43:51 -0500
From: Simon Booth <simonbooth@mac.com>
To: RDT Right Now <rdtrn@torithoughts.org>
Subject: Re: RDT Right Now #1912
happy birthday Rosewynd, Deadra, Hannah, and Claire! :)
>
roxanne wrote:
> I took a brief jaunt through some of the achieves (1997), don't ask me
> why cause I have no idea...
>
Knowing my own experiences here, I am very reluctanct to really take a
look at the archives. What was expressed was real, but sometimes I
wish I could have said it better- so much of what was said was very
real but at the time I thought my time was limited, and making up for
years of *not* being able to say anything.
That was a time where the only thing keeping me going was Tori's music
and the only people I could trust were the ones in this community.
> Anyway, Was I that retarded back then? Some of the things I
> wrote..makes
> me hand my head in shame. Well, in at least embarressement.
>
If you've seen anything I posted in '98 and '99, that ought to negate
your embarrassment.
>
welcome back cyndi! total agreement with you and brian about the whole
censorship issue.
how's school?
by the way- any of you who have a crappy cafeteria where you work or go
to school, show your disgust this way:
one day at lunch, run through the place yelling "It's people!"
>
tori songs and profanity: I wonder if the problem the censors have with
her using such language isn't that's about cuss words in songs, but
that a *girl* is saying such things. I've seen guys get more
"offended" by women talking like that than when other guys are saying
the same things.
>
brian wrote:
> I guess by now you're all thoroughly immersed in the Olympics or doing
> your
> best to avoid it.
I'm not a sports fan (understatement!) so I wasn't making an effort to
watch or avoid the coverage but I noticed that this time NBC (Nothing
But Crap) network's coverage here in the US was similar to the way they
covered the Sydney games four years ago: seemed to be top-heavy with
coverage of certain events and the "momentum" from the first few days
seemed to wane very quickly going into the second week. I had the TV
on in the background because I get interested in the technical aspects
of the coverage- watching to see how the network tried to compensate
for the time difference between Greece and the US, and how they tried
to manage to get *everything*- IMHO, disorganized in places. The main
network carried a lot of it, but 3 cable networks owned by NBC also
carried the rest of the events at really odd times.
Hard to explain it, because all the various Olympic sports have their
respective groups of fans, but it seemed like it was decided ahead of
time what events were going to be covered the most.
Make paintball an Olympic sport, and I'd definitely watch!
>
> A few weeks back I got a call from one of my best friends from high
> school.
> He moved to The Netherlands to get married about 12 years ago and I
> hadn't
> heard from him since. The call was about the forthcoming 20th school
> reunion.
Looks like I'll be getting similar reminders around late '07 or so.
Just isn't my thing to wax nostalgic about what was IMHO the biggest
waste of 4 years.
> I knew it was coming, but it's not until you get the call that it
> hits home. To make it worse, he told me about one of our mutual
> friends who
> is making extreme skiing documentaries in France, which made my life
> sound
> very boring in comparison.
Sometimes I wonder when someone tells you a story like that, are they
just telling you something interesting or are they trying to make you
bad about what you've done over the years.
> But
> since I've gone on record before about not wanting a mobile phone, the
> straight Pocket PC will do me fine.
>
Mobile phones are great if you need to be able to contact people on the
go- like the way I use mine to check on transportation arrangements
when I'm out (making sure my ride is on time, for example) without
having to hunt down a pay phone. But I can honestly say that I never
got one just because someone told me I "had to" have one, and I've
never had mine making noise just to say "hey look I have a mobile
phone", nor have I had mine ring in class or in other inappropriate
places. And I'm not spending every free moment when I'm out yaking
away on the phone.
> There was a news story the other day about an
> infestation of Argentine ants in Melbourne,
Then wouldn't they be called "Aussie Ants"? ;)
The list is Mother, the list is Father.
Simon
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[top]
Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 05:06:46 -0400
From: John Bragazzi <utown@worldnet.att.net>
To: RDT Right Now <rdtrn@torithoughts.org>
Subject: september 11
The day started out badly. I start almost every day with a cup of Earl
Grey tea (in a wonderful mug that Bethany made for me, with a little
honey) and 1010 WINS (a local all-news radio station).
The tea was as good as it usually is, but I quickly turned 1010 WINS off
again. Ceremony from Ground Zero (I hate it when people call it Ground
Zero), the reading of the names (I really don't need or want to hear the
reading of the names), and I'm sure some ridiculous and meretricious
connection between the events of 9/11/01 and the events of 2004.
I ended up listening to WFAN (the local all-sports station) and found out
that Chris "Mad Dog" Russo is about the same as ever. I had been thinking
about him since he and his partner (Mike Francesa) had just been profiled
in The New Yorker magazine. They have been talking sports together on the
radio in New York for 15 years, but they hated each other when they
started (I heard their first broadcast and the tension was very obvious),
and they're not exactly friends even now.
In the afternoon, I went to a bookstore (two, really) in search of plays
set in a bar. I found a copy of "The Iceman Cometh," but couldn't find a
copy of "The Time of Your Life." I guess maybe Saroyan isn't so hip these
days. I'll try again tomorrow.
(If anybody can suggest any other plays set in a bar, let me know. As long
as 1) they're good, and 2) they're set entirely in a bar.)
(This is because the chapter I'm writing now is set entirely in a bar, by
the way. If you want to read it, it will be posted eventually at
http://text.u-town.com/utown, but be warned that everything there is first
draft. If you want the finished stuff, go to http://text.u-town.com/sane.)
When I was at the bookstore, I looked at Art Spiegelman's "In the Shadow
of No Towers." It looks wonderful, and I'm sure I'll break down and buy it
soon.
I was looking for something enjoyable to do in the evening. I decided to
go see a movie. First I thought of "The Brown Bunny."
I know, it got incredibly bad notices from Cannes, but 1) now that 27
minutes were cut from the Cannes version, even Roger Ebert says it's good
(or maybe he was just scared because Vincent Gallo said Ebert should get
cancer and then Ebert did get cancer), 2) Vincent Gallo directed "Buffalo
66." And I loved "Buffalo 66."
But, much as I want to see "The Brown Bunny," it sounds a little
depressing. And that's not really what I need on September 11, of any year.
Then the obvious answer came to me. "End of the Century." What movie could
be more positive about New York City? (It's a documentary about the
Ramones, the band that created punk rock.) I went and saw it, and it was
great.
Four guys from Queens, three chords, two minute songs and one quarter of a
century (more, really). Interviews with all the band members (including
the later replacements), family and business associates, and just people
who were on the scene. Plus many people from other bands who owe a lot to
the Ramones (including Joe Strummer of the Clash, now dead).
And, most importantly, interviews with Joey and DeeDee Ramone (both also
now dead). And a few moments where I was the only person in the theater
laughing.
And, similar to Mike and the Mad Dog (mentioned above) Johnny and Joey
Ramone (the only two members of the band to last all the way through)
disliked each other and seldom spoke, especially after Johnny married
Joey's girlfriend. But they could do something together that they couldn't
do alone.
The movie was a good choice for September 11. And I came home and changed
the filter in my Brita water pitcher. Because, on 9/11/01, when I got
home, I thought to change the filter in my Brita pither. I've always had
trouble remembering when to change it, and I figured that I'd always
remember September 11. And I was right.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
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Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2004 17:50:39 +0800
From: "John Bragazzi" <wasserman@operamail.com>
To: rdtrn@torithoughts.org
Subject: Re: September 11
A couple of follow-ups on my 9/11 post:
Johnny Ramone just died, of cancer. Only one member of the original band
is still alive. It's a strange coincidence, since I just saw the movie and
Johnny comes across as such a specific personality in the movie (one review
called him the most vivid character in the film). Saying that he didn't go
see Joey when he was dying because that's how *he* would want to be treated
(since they didn't get along), saying "God Bless President Bush" at the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony (but not mentioning Joey), analyzing
himself for "weakness" because he was depressed for a week when Joey died,
saying that only once (the Clash) did he hear a band that he thought was as
good as his.
On another front, even within the standards of television (none) and even
with all the other exploitation of 9/11/01 which goes on, I still find it
offensive that HBO is putting on some movie about how the Yankees' victory
in the 2001 World Series helped the city heal. To tell you the truth, I
didn't even know the Yankees had won in 2001 until I heard an ad for the
movie a couple of days ago. Nobody I knew was talking about baseball in
the fall of 2001, and I don't think anybody would be consoled for losing a
loved on by a baseball victory. Plus, this is a two-team town, and
approximately 1/2 the baseball fans around here hate the Yankees. It's a
fairly minor misuse of those events, I know, compared to countries being
invaded and people being killed, but it still annoys me. But, of course,
HBO doesn't care what I think, I don't even own a television.
As B/4,
John
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
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Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 21:29:34 +0600
From: "Alex Zaitsev" <alexzaitsev85@mail.ru>
To: <rdtrn@torithoughts.org>
Subject: Greetings from a new member
Uhm....scary. So many people are going to read this! Nevertheless....I have
no idea if such "letters of introduction" from new members are common
practice here, but hey, I've got to knock on the door of the list somehow,
don't I? So please don't be too harsh if I do anything wrong, OK? Let me
introduce myself....
My name's Alex (Alexander, that is), I'm 19 years old and I'm from Perm,
Russia (it was really interesting to read all the stuff about the
possibility of a Soviet Union - US nuclear war, propaganda, etc posted here
in #1916, btw. Gotta check the archives to see if there's more....), I'm
currently studying Translation from English & German at the University.
Anyway, the Tori - related stuff... I'm absolutely new to Tori's music,
still missing the first 4 albums of hers, in fact, but I already know that
this woman holds a special place in my heart. My musical tastes range from
The Beatles to John Coltrane to DJ Shadow, I own more than 1800 albums and I
guess I've heard most of the stuff that the music stores here have to
offer. I've always named Jethro Tull as my most favourite music, but I'm
afraid that an almost accidental acquisition of Scarlet's Walk has put
Jethro in danger of sliding down to the second position of the list of my
favourites. I can't help it, I like Tori's music that much! It always goes
like this with singers - songwriters: either you love them, or you rip them
to shreds...
I've decided to join this list because Tori has a rather low profile of a
"female pop star" over here, for some reason unknown to me. (her albums are
put on the same shelf with Britney Spears' ones in stores, actually! :) ),
so it's pretty hard to get a Tori discussion going. Playing her music to my
friends resulted in remarks like "You like this? Strange....you're a man."
or "Call me up when Dido is your next obsession". Pretty childish, if you
ask me, and I had to paraphrase a bit to make them less offensive. What's
there not to like about virtuoso piano playing (if you ask me, I prefer
Tori's restrained elegant piano runs to the finger - flashing of Emerson or
Wakeman, and, now that I think of it, even Chick Corea doesn't appeal to me
that much), angelic voice (I'm not the one to cry over every song, but Hey,
Jupiter always drives me to tears! Can't help it, I really can't...) & smart
lyrics (yes, some of the accusations of them being too female - oriented are
probably true, but, hey, she's a woman! I sure wouldn't like to see her
singing something like "Given the Dog A Bone", hehe... :) ) Anyway, this
list seems to be a nice enough place for me to stay. I'm not that much of a
poster, but I'll read all the digests, that's for sure. Sorry for being so
longwinded & for the obscene amount of parentheses in the post. To make this
post a tiny bit more interesting, I'll add the review of Tales of a
Librarian from a Russian music magazine Fuzz, August 2004, translated into
English by yours truly. Maybe it has already been posted by somebody, if so,
I apologize:
The Master Librarian
Tori Amos
Tales Of The Librarian
Reviewed by: Alexey Ustinov
Rating: fffff (5/5)
If you have ever been to a library, and, I guess, all our readers must have
been to a library, or else they wouldn't read our magazine, or anything
else, for that matter.....
Well, as you might remember, in libraries, books are arranged, out of
reasons of convinient storage & search, according to a special system, based
on assigning a special number to every branch of science. This system was
invented in the USA in the end of the 19th century by Melville Dewey. His
decimal system divided all books into 10 basic classes, each of those having
its own subdivisions. My answer to the reasonable question of "Why do you
describe all this so thoroughly here?" : if Tori Amos considers organising
the compilation of heer best songs according to Melville Dewey's system to
be necessary and important, it is my responsibility to tell my readers about
that. Then it becomes clear why the singer has chosen this title for the
CD.
Every song on the CD is placed according to the logic of a library
catalogue. Thus, "Crucify" is filed under Christianity and Christian
Theology: salvation & mercy. Or "Spark, for instance, that goes under
Natural Sciences: Philosophy & Theory.The CD collects 20 songs, besides the
best songs from the singer's various albums, there are some new songs
("Angels", "Snow Cherries From France", "Mary", "Sweet Dreams"), a couple of
b - sides, rearranged in a new way and Armand Van Helden's remix of
"Professional Widow".
Older songs have been remastered, for instance, in the case with the famous
"Crucify", drums have been added.
So, you can enjoy these excellent songs, so easily scattered all over the
field of human wisdom.
Best Songs: "Precious Things", "Cornflake Girl", "Spark", Professional
Widow", "Crucify"
There, this is as close to the text as my knowledge of English allows me.
I've probably made some factual mistakes when translating the part dealing
with the way the song order system & stuff . This is because I've never seen
the disc myself, so any errors in this are my fault, the reviewer is not to
blame. And all the grammar mistakes are mine too. :)
Oh, and to Simon Booth: As a disabled person, I can certainly relate to all
the job - related things you've mentioned.
Alright, alright, not taking any more of your time. I hope this post was of
some use to the list. Off to watching Welcome To Sunny Florida once more.
Somebody, stop me! I have 200 albums I haven't yet listened to! Thank god I
did persuade myself to listen to The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths, besides
Tori's stuff these days. :)
Alex
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
[top]
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 12:11:50 -0400
From: fingerpuppets <woj@smoe.org>
To: fiercest clams <precious-things@smoe.org>, torinews@smoe.org,
rdtrn@torithoughts.org, toriphery@groups.msn.com,
othertour@torithoughts.org
Subject: bring tori to australia!
saw this posted on livejournal....
<url: http://www.livejournal.com/community/toriamos/2070361.html >
Currently, negotiations are going on between several high profile
promoters to investigate the possibility of bringing Tori Amos to
Australia on her next tour. If they get 5000 signatures on this
petition, they will start looking at doing market research. Right now,
they think she could do at least 3 shows in Melbourne and Sydney, and
2 in Brisbane and Perth.
I'm begging you, please sign it. I have tears in my eyes writing this.
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/ToriTourOz
i dunno how real these negotiations or signature counts are, but it
certainly can't hurt if it helps tori's management to focus on the
issue.
woj
o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o
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