Back to index of "this and that in my life" pages by Donald Sauter.
Dedicated to the proposition that every thought that's ever been thunk may be of use or interest to someone . . .
ME: newsletter
I was talking with John and suggested that the end-of-month
deadline might be unnecessarily burdensome. The following
meeting (pool party) is something like the 3rd or 4th week of
July.
Anyhow, you have my Sears Catalog article for the upcoming issue,
so I'm set, almost. There's a lot of paste-up work and a
paragraph or 2 intro for whatever piece I put with the article.
Hope your hand is back to normal or getting there.
ME: ... with honey on it.
Been out of town on a little vacation in Virginia near West
Virginia for a few days. Had a fine time even if the weather was
a bit gloomy some of the time. Made being indoors much nicer, is
the way I look at it.
Is junk mail a common problem for AOLers? I know someone else on
AOL who gets an oppressive amount. I only get a piece or 2 every
few weeks, and I've never made an effort to curtail it. I see
people who alter their email address in newsgroup postings to
avoid spammers. I've never even done that. I wonder what makes
the difference.
Been making lots of cinnamon toast lately. (Actually, microwaved
cinnamon bread.)
ME: Thanks for the welcome home call today. There were also a
few messages on my machine that kept me hopping before I could
finally relax a while. The drive was only 2.5 hours, but that's
enough to take it out of me.
One message was from my County Councilman, responding to my
polite comments about the trash charge here. Actually, it was a
rant he got in lieu of 20 bucks for a fundraising bullroast. It
was very nice to get a call, though.
Thanks for all the articles. They're coming through perfectly.
This is really living, having a personalized clipping service.
Maybe my doppelganger dream will come true one day, after all.
Best of the lot was the Service Program - fascinating. (Not
surprisingly, information in simple list form blows away prose
for the N-billionth time.)
THEE: I made a little trip to Philly to finally see the Morgans
and meet Jay Morgans on Monday. It was fun, and fortunately, the
weather was perfect!!! Was able to video tape him performing one
song before I left. He played 'Tonight' on the sidewalk on a
side street of South Street in Philly...just for me. What a
sweetheart.
I get a bunch of junk mail. I just delete it if I can tell it is
junk...like Porn... or 'Free Cruise'. I found whenever I went
into a chat room, the junk mail would really pile on. I see
people from a number of services using tricks to avoid 'spam'
when they post in the news groups. So, I guess AOL isn't the
only one affected. Maybe whenever you put your screen name out
there...posting on news groups, etc...you get junk.
Seeing Eddie on Sunday =) Hope the weather clears. I wanna look
my best ;-)
THEE:
>Hope your hand is back to normal or getting there.
It's getting there (again). I thought it was well, but it fired
up again on me. I've been going to physical therapy for the past
three weeks. I'm doing much better this time around and believe
we're getting to the root of the matter. Thanks for asking.
I'll start working on that Sears article and some other items for
the newletter, so that it's mostly together by the time we get
together.
I won't be at the members recital tonight, I have to many things
to get done.
THEE: What's up? Still crushing people on the Scrabble board? Any
new players? We'll try to make it this Wednesday.
I've been doing quite a bit of traveling lately. Went to Morocco
(husband's business trip); Natural Bridge, VA (homeschoolers'
trip); and just returned from Dayton, OH (parents' house).
I've decided to put together a home page to sell books for
Amazon.com as an associate. I figured that I may as well generate
an income on the Internet since my family claims that I'm ALWAYS
on the computer. Maybe the $$ will keep 'em quiet!
By the way, do you know of anyone who has a room for rent?
J~~ is ready to leave home so we're exploring various options.
Well, it's on to other sites. I don't mind fulfilling others'
prophecies about me as long as I enjoy what I'm doing:-)
ME: Subject: members' recital
I'm sure you'd realize it without me saying so, but the members'
recital is next Friday. Hope you didn't send too many students
out last night. Also gives another week to encourage students to
give it a go. By the way, I enjoyed the adult ensemble at the
last meeting immensely - a good example of "what it's all about",
in my book.
ME: Subject: 5 6 8 11 15 _ _?
Thanks for the note. In your absence I gave the "club" a rest.
But I'll be there Wednesday and work on the Kerrs. (Your job is
to work on Y~~, ha!)
I'm curious about the Amazon.com connection - will ask in person.
By the way, I have minimal response to a web page offering *free*
books. (Ya see why my motto in life is "What does it take, fer
cryin' out loud?")
Sorry, not connected to people with rooms or apartments. In
fact, I've been trying to help a friend who is in severe
financial straits, without success.
What are the next 2 numbers in this sequence?
3, 2, 2, 1, 5, 3, 7, _, _.
The IQ test had a different answer from mine, but I don't see how
they got it. I know I'll feel stupid when I finally get it. All
the other questions were trivially easy.
THEE: members' recital
>I'm sure you'd realize it without me saying so, but the
members' recital is next Friday.
I'm sure my students have it right, I have two playing that I
know of and they told me they wanted to play without my bringing
it up. :) I guess I thought it was this past Friday 'cause I
talked to F~~ and he asked if I would be at the recital on
Friday. I'm losing track of time these days...
THEE: Put your wig on straight
I'm looking forward to coming over tomorrow night. I have a
bundle of stuff to bring, some of it you might even like.
We had house guests staying with us this past weekend, a college
friend of T~~'s and her husband. The husband and I started
talking records. We wound up talking about how much we loved
"Venus and Mars." I dug it out and played bits, as well as some
stuff from "Band on the Run." It's really great to be reunited
with my LPs.
Ringo is on Monday's "Tonight Show." I'll try to tape it.
THEE: Unarchy in the news
In the June 15, 1998, "Post," we find an article on the recent
spate of laws named after (and inspired by) child crime victims.
Often, these laws are enacted quickly. This material caught my
eye:
>Liberal legal scholars express concern at the speed with which
the laws have been passed. "The modern political system is
careening toward legislation by plebiscite," said University of
Chicago law professor Stephen Schulhofer. "Policy issues are
reduced to poster children and you have an up-and-down emotional
vote as if you're choosing between the killer and a particular
child." But victims' advocates insist that politics often works
this way. [end quote]
Apparently, Prof. Schulhofer opposes "legislation by
plebiscite."
ME: golf ball wagon
I had a short vacation in Basye this week. I got a kick out of
your golf ball wagon. For fun, I hacked and slashed through the
woods on the east side of the course and found a bunch of golf
balls. I put a dozen or so of the best ones in your wagon, in
case you were wondering where they came from.
ME: glass shelves
I'm back down to 1 refrigerator now. Hope I can get used to its
weird layout. Why do they always have to keep changing things
for no apparent enhanced functionality?
Was the subject line "put your wig on straight" a famous quote or
original?
About Prof. Schulhofer calling everybody stupid: as John Lennon
once said, "It must be true, he's very clever."
THEE: golf ball wagon
I was wondering where those golf balls came from. A lot of my
balls had been stoled the day before, and I thought that the
culpret had a guilt trip, and gave my balls back. Thank you so
much, they really helped me. I was starting to run out of balls,
and thoes 12 gave me a little more time. Did you take a look at
my golf page? I know it is pretty sorry, I haven't had any time
to work on it. I create web pages for people, and I am very busy
right now. Did you take a look at my main page-
http://www.pplus.net
I am very proud of that page, I have put months of work into it.
Thanks again, hope to hear from you soon!
ME: the latest on Pedro...
Here are a few sample tablature files. There will be a page
explaining the rationale behind the format I chose. Still, if
there's a way to get a decent printout directly from a browser, I
should know about that.
The first one is the oldest surviving piece of music for guitar.
The second is the ever-popular "Look after the cows for me".
http://www.oocities.org/CapitolHill/Lobby/7049/am18.htm
http://www.oocities.org/CapitolHill/Lobby/7049/am14.htm
THEE: Subject: Service program
Here's the program from Linda McCartney's memorial service. I've
reviewed the segments with a system using asterisks.
* = neat, cool or nice.
** = really neat!
The order of service at the memorial service for Linda McCartney
at the church of St Martin-In-The-Field was:
** Mull Of Kintyre - played by lone piper John McGeachy, pipe
major of the Campbeltown Pipe Band who performed on the original
Wings single
* Welcome by the Rev Clare Herbert.
* Hymn: All Things Bright And Beautiful (choir and
congregation)
* Address by Ken Townsend (former head of Abbey Road studios)
** The Brodsky String Quartet perform songs written by Sir Paul
for Linda: The Lovely Linda (from the album McCartney), You Gave
Me The Answer (From Venus And Mars), Maybe I'm Amazed and Warm
And Beautiful (From Wings At The Speed Of Sound)
? Joanna Lumley reads Death Is Nothing At All by Henry Scott
Holland (1847 -1918), Canon of St Paul's Cathedral. [Lumley
stars on a show called Absolutely Fabulous which made fun of
Linda with such zings as "You can't play rock 'n' roll on a diet
of corn, veggie juice and Linda bloody McCartney tofu treats!"]
** Students of the Liverpool Institute Of Performing Arts
(LIPA) sing Blackbird (from the LP The Beatles - known as the
White Album) and the gospel song His Eye Is On The Sparrow
* Address by Brian Clarke (friend of Linda and the
architectural artist with whom she recently collaborated on a
revival of stained-glass photography)
** The Brodsky Quartet perform songs Sir Paul wrote for Linda:
Golden Earth Girl (from the album Off The Ground), Dear Boy (from
Ram), Calico Skies (from Flaming Pie) and My Love
** David Bailey reads Lyric by Spike Milligan
* Address by Carla Lane
* Hymn: Let It Be (choir and congregation)
? Address by Pete Townshend
** Students from the LIPA and the choir of St Martin-In-The-
Fields perform Celebration from Sir Paul McCartney's Standing
Stone
* Prayer
* An address by Sir Paul McCartney
** Linda, a song by Jack Lawrence written for Linda when she
was a child. Sir Paul made the song into a 45rpm single
recording, on which he sang, as a surprise gift for Linda's 45th
birthday
* Blessing
ME: Here's that poem you sent which caused me further
(unjustified) dismay regarding my modem. The last page on my
screen looked garbled!
THEE: A couple of years ago I bought The Biochemist's Songbook.
It's great! It's got all major biological pathways described and
set to the tune of popular (folk) songs.
Allright, I'll give an example....
*** Protein Synthesis *** (tune: My Bonnie Is Over The Ocean )
[Imagine John Lennon singing- Alex. Hey! "Imagine" ... "John
Lennon" ... get it?]
The primary sequence of proteins
Is coded within DNA
On the sense strand of the double helix
coiled antiparallel way
(chorus:)
Intron and exons
changes are posttranscriptional, and all
Glycosylations
Don't alter such basics at all
(... and so on for about 15 stanzas. The synthesis of proteins
from DNA is a complex pathway....)
ME: Here's the song translation sent by my buddy. Once again, I
thought my modem had gone haywire before I had a chance to read
the explanation.
THEE: Our friend Eric Sonstroem employed a web site that I
actually heard about on "All Things Considered." Here are the
results. (Eric is the chap whose brother was in a band that
recorded a song called "Paul McCartney and Wings.")
THEE: In between sessions of lying about Blake, I did this little
automatic poetry project, and I thought you might enjoy it.
Altavista's web page now has a (most imperfect) automatic
translation program on it. I thought this would be fun:
English:
Desmond has a barrow in the marketplace. Molly is the singer in a band.
Desmond says to Molly "Girl, I like your face," And Molly says this as
she takes him by the hand: "Ob La Di Ob Le Da Life goes on, bra,
La La how the life goes on."
English-Portugese-English:
Desmond has a stand of hand in marketplace. Molly is to singer in a band.
Desmond says the Molly " girl who I taste of its face "
and Molly says this as it makes examination of it for the hand: of "
the life Ob La Di Ob Le Of he goes in bra,
la of la as the life goes on "
English-Portugese-English-German-English:
The moon has a location of the hand in the market. Molly is to the
singer in a tape.
The moon says that the Molly " girl, who tastes I by its face " and
says by Molly this, while it forms check of it for the hand:
" from the life span whether La Di goes whether to Le of it into bra,
La of La, while the life span comes up ",
E-P-E-G-E-French-English:
The moon has a site of the hand on the market. Molly is to the singer
in a tape.
The moon indicates that Molly " girl, who tastes I by her face "
and called by Molly this, while it controls forms of him for the hand:
"of the duration if Di of disappears if with of him in will bra,
of, whereas the duration goes up ",
E-P-E-G-E-F-E-Spanish-English:
The moon has a site of the hand in the market. Molly is to the singer
in a tape.
The moon indicates to that Molly " girl, who proves I next to her face
" and called by Molly this, whereas she controls forms of him for the
hand " of te duraton if Igave ofit disapears i with o him
insde
,
of, wn g of tha, plus ItalianEnglish
tape.
Te moon Mol girl, hat demnstrate the
neihbs
and caled fromMoltro hand:
f youve of i, it d bra of he inne part o the wil,
o goes ",
THEE: Subject: La di da
Thank YOU for a swell Monday. I'm pressing on with side nine of
me Beethoven collection here at home.
I ordered a new cartridge yesterday. The man I bought it from
described my current one as pretty much bottom-of-the-barrel.
I'm hoping to unleash a new world of sound with the new cartridge
in a few days.
"Put your wig on straight"--my subject in my last message--is
from Mack's "Rock Show."
The subject of this message is from one of Ring's new songs,
which he did Monday night on "The Tonight Show." We watched it
last night (Wednesday) and I caught D~~ humming it this morning.
The "Tonight Show" appearance was fine. Ringo talked a bit about
his pre-Beatle jobs and even an abortive attempt to emigrate to
the USA when he was 18. His description of his jobs will have us
grabbing our reference books: Merchant marine? Railroad?
Factory? Ringo also talked very briefly about Linda's memorial
service. The show ended with him doing his new song.
At 2 this morning (Thursday), I taped Ringo's appearance on ABC's
"The Vibe." More details on that after I watch it, probably
tonight.
Meanwhile, tell your friends, David Letterman will embrace the
younger generation--Sean Lennon will be on his show (CBS, 11:35
p.m.) tomorrow (Friday).
I am, of course, working hard to provide audio transcriptions of
these programs for you on my current work in progress.
Oops, is that the time? It's shower, bus, and work for me!
Cheerio!
THEE: Subject: Re: 5 6 8 11 15 _ _?
I'm sorry for not showing up last night. We're in the midst of a
family crisis right now. So I've chosen to stay close to home for
as long as it takes for this thing to be resolved.
P.S. I'm unable to concentrate long enough to figure out the
answer to the problem. What is it?
THEE: Subject: Trivia contest
Regarding the trivia question:
The Suite en la mineur, attributed to S. L. Weiss, was composed
by Manuel Ponce in Paris in 1929. Segovia recorded the entire
suite.
But there is also another composer used by Ponce. His Suite
Antigua, written in Paris in 1931, was attributed to Allesandro
Scarlatti. Segovia recorded 2 of the 5 movements, Preambulo and
Gavota.
In addition to these 2 suites there were 2 more "joke" pieces,
Balletto and Preludio, both attributed to Weiss.
The best reference on this issue I know of is Ponce's Baroque
Pastiches for Guitar, by Peter Kun Frary (Soundboard XIV/3, Fall
1987, p159.) One interesting aspect is that, since the pieces
were attributed to composers whose work are in the public domain,
anybody could transcribe the works from Segovia's recordings and
publish them. That explains why there are several variant
editions for most of these works.
My biggest bafflement is how the Ponce/(A. Scarlatti) Gavotte
shows up in different keys (D and C), different tunings (regular
and 6=D), and along-side *real* A. Scarlatti pieces (in at least
one publication, Alexander Bellow's International Anthology For
Guitar.)
THEE: Subject: goof-up in handling my ads
I see that my ad has popped up again. As you know from my last 2
letters, I was hoping to cancel my remaining ads. The ad
campaign was supposed to be 4 consecutive issues with a different
ad in each one. What happened was, there was a 3-issue gap, and
now Ad Number Two has been printed again. This bungled
presentation is more than a little embarrassing to me.
ME: advanced math
Sorry about the crisis. Hope it all works out.
No problem about the scrabble meeting. I *was* wearing Lillian's
Christmas present, though...
I had been getting 200 website visits per week. The statistics I
just got today say I'm down to 150, waaahh.
About the sequence 3, 2, 2, 1, 5, 3, 7, _, _, I saw an obvious
pattern 4 12 7 19... - two intertwined Fibonacci sequences
(always popular with IQ testers!) However, the answer they gave
was 7, 4. I still don't see it.
P.S. The Christmas present was a Scooby-Doo tattoo from Cracker
Jacks. (Doubt if it will last till the next scrabble night.)
ME: Kleynjan's hot hit
Before I forget to mention it, Jay really like the Fugue. Just
goes to show how hard it is to nail down "good/bad" or
"better/worse" in music.
He also like the final quartet. That's the only feedback I
heard.
I had a grand time at the meeting. Just wish there was some way
to incorporate the playing into a more party-like atmosphere.
THEE: Re: goof-up in handling my ads
You have been a longtime supporter. Believe me, we have
absolutely no intention of embarrassing you or your business. We
absolutely no problem giving you a refund if you are unhappy. We
will discontinue running your ads and refund the $108.
THEE: Re: advanced math
What's a Fibonacci sequence?
THEE: Re: Trivia contest
Thanks for your submission; you'll be notified when the winning
name is drawn.
#+# Baltimore Classical Guitar Society
# http://www.bcgs.org
# webmaster@bcgs.org
_#_ 410-247-5320
( # )
/ O \
( === )
'---'
THEE: Kleynjan's hot hit
Forwarded message (as per:request below) follows. Only feedback
I heard was from W~~ who said the trio part was much too rushed &
lost musicality. She like the parts where Bob & Fred played in
duo. As for me--the perpetual dilemma of feeling bad 'cause I
flubbed (requesting a restart during the trio) reared its ugly
head. I've even thought of posting to rec.music.classical.guitar
on this: how to avoid these embarrassing moments. I think the
answer may include: play easier pieces, practice performing for
smaller groups, zen meditation ... I agree with Don, below, that
the meetings need not be so formal. Doing away with the 'stage,'
which I suggested, may help, but I was overruled.
ME: newsletter
Here's a couple of intro pieces for the newsletter.
Nobody documented the members' recital - but then I guess I'm the
only one who thinks that there is hardly anything more
appropriate for the newsletter.
The Guitar in an early Sears catalog - round 2. ...
THEE: newsletter
>Nobody documented the members' recital - but then I guess I'm
the only one who thinks that there is hardly anything more
appropriate for the newsletter.
I asked John if there were programs and he said no. I think
there should always be programs for the Members Recital, but whut
do I know.........
He said he may be able to piece together what people played, but
somehow I doubt that.
I'm supposed to be getting a bunch of stuff for the newsletter
from John's helpers, but haven't received anything yet.
THEE: Re: Kleynjan's hot hit
FWIW As I was leaving, Mike Bard briefly mentioned that we
sounded good.
As far as answers to performance anxiety, I would recommend a
combination of all three: (slightly easier pieces, performing
them more for small audiences, and maybe try to think of the
performance as just having a good time)
Personally, I like the idea of a stage, but I hate the one we
have.
ME: Fibonacci
A Fibonacci sequence is where you just add the last 2 numbers to
get the next one. For instance, in that IQ test, the first
"numerical reasoning" question was
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, ?, ?
Just pick any 2 starting numbers, and start adding. For
instance,
7, -2, 5, 3, 8, 11, 19...
The sequence that baffled me is
. . . . .
3, 2, 2, 1, 5, 3, 7, ?, ?
^ ^ ^ ^
It looked like two intertwined Fibonacci sequences, with the next
two numbers
.
4, 12
^
Like I say, IQ testers love to intertwine simple sequences like
that when they run out of straightforward patterns.
In this case, they gave the answer: 7, 4. (It just occurred to
me that maybe they slipped up and gave two numbers starting with
the 7 that was already at the end of the list. Or maybe after
they wrote the answer, somebody went back and added one more
number to the supplied sequence, figuring it wasn't long enough
to firmly establish the Fibanacci patterns.)
ME: performing
About performing live, 2 comments come to mind.
1. A big problem, for me at least, is hearing everybody else.
Not that I can't hear, but it takes so much more effort than in
parlour situations. I don't have a great solution. The problem
is not just the chapel; it's been a problem on every stage I've
ever played on. Still, it doesn't seem to hamper professional
ensembles, somehow.
2. Regarding glitches and breakdowns, I think all that's
necessary is a change of mindset - when playing for friends and
guitar buddies, it *just doesn't matter*. The attitude should
be, "Oops, we goofed up there. We can do better than that.
Let's have another go." Nobody on the stage or in the audience
need cringe. It's not the Kennedy Center, you know. Anyhow,
that's how I think our breakdown was viewed. Not only not a big
deal, not even a little deal or any kind of a deal at all.
THEE: Re: Fibonacci
I implore you to get a life. Now that I've shared, have a nice
day :-)
THEE: Aguado
I am looking for The Aguado Guitar Method. Do know if it is
published and where I may get it?
THEE: Subject: Back issue wanted.
Dear Observer,
I was very interested in the Newswire release of March 31, 1998
titled "First year MBA student wins national award for
leadership".
Is there any chance the same story was covered by the Observer,
and a back issue available? I will pay for it, plus shipping and
handling.
I know there is a lot of effort involved in responding to
requests like this, so I thank you very much for your help.
ME: pop music this, pop music that
I found this url and thought you might be interested. I don't
think I've sent it yet.
http://www.bigmagic.com/pages/blackj/column2.html
At first I thought somebody was writing a joke article but
eventually realized this was the hard facts. (Even at that, I
didn't finish it.)
Everyone's Gone To The Moon went to 17 in 1965 for Jonathan King.
Billboard doesn't show anyone else making the top 40 with it.
Like I say, Beatlefan documented a feud between King and
McCartney a few years ago. They insulted each other's
songwriting abilities. King fired the first salvo, as I
remember. Go to
http://www.beatlefan.com/beatlescentral/archive/
In the latest Beatlefan, I think, there was some mention of
background chat from Paul on AYNIL. Might this have something to
do with the "turn mike on now" you heard one time in your
headphones?
A few weeks ago a WMUC dj played a short "Taxman bass riff" set.
He included a song or 2 I had never heard. By the way, where did
John say the Beatles got that riff? It was some Motown song. I
wanted to call the dj, but I couldna put my fingers on it. (What
do we expect with no Beatles electronic database?)
Best pop music experience in the last few months was a cut from a
new Phoebe Snow album heard on WMUC. It was exquisite.
Got another WGS newsletter out this week. There were more
catastrophes, making 3 out of the last 4. Still shaking with
rage and wondering if I should call it quits.
P.S. Was the subject line "put your wig on straight" a famous
quote or original?
P.P.S. About Prof. Schulhofer calling everybody stupid: as John
Lennon once said, "It must be true, he's very clever."
THEE: Subject: Do wah diddy
Thanks for the e-, and thanks for the URLs. The second one came
up missing. Was that a joke on your part, sort of a comment on
what a perfect world would be like? I've forwarded your message
to work, so i can read the article at my leisure.
We're doing fine, as we enter Week Two of the Bogar Era. We took
him to a family reunion in Emmitsburg yesterday. He did mostly
fine with all the people but freaked out at the sight of another
dog, and he would not stop. I got frustrated but calmed down
quickly.
"Put your wig on straight" does sound familiar, don't it?
Hmm, my first thought is that it was inspired by "Hi Heel
Sneakers," but I can't remember the line in that song.
I failed in taping Sean Lennon on a show called "Concerts"
yesterday morning at 2 a.m. I don't think it was my fault.
We went to the American Film Institute Friday night (and saw a
1925 silent, "The Lost World," based on a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
novel). The AFI has fallen on hard budget times and it's showing
fewer movies than in the '80s. Still, the AFI's found the energy
to show "Don't Look Back" a bunch of times in July. Showtimes
are:
July 17: 8:30 p.m.
July 18: 4 and 9:30 p.m.
July 19: 3 and 8:30 p.m.
July 20-24: 8:30 p.m.
July 25: 4 and 9:30 p.m.
July 26: 3 and 8:30 p.m.
If you want to see it with us, we're only free July 24-26.
Cheerio. I hope your current projects go smoothly.
ME: "... up on housing project hill..." (aaarrgh!!!)
Yes www.beatlescentral.com was a joke, but as Damon Runyon will
say, "There is no laughter in the laugh." I'm not gunning for a
*perfect* world, mind you - just one that doesn't react with
kneejerk opposition to simple and sensible ideas that would
practically implement themselves if we stopped viewing negativity
as the highest form of human intelligence.
Because of the very poor copying of the WGS newsletter, I had no
choice but to get involved in the mailing session today. I went
through the pile and separated out the acceptable ones. The
paradox, of course, is that the mailing session was devised
solely for the purpose of taking that burden off my shoulders.
Moreover, being there made me the administrator/ coordinator.
Add to that the travel time, and it would have been much easier
and more pleasant to do it myself at home. (And never mind the
shoddy folding, stapling, labeling and stamping that everybody
did.)
I think I'd better take a break from the newsletter. Either that
or find a handy bell tower in the town square with an ak47. (E-
joke, all you e-mail buggers!)
You didn't say if you enjoyed The Lost World. I can't say I
enjoyed the Prince's Trust Concert overly much, but thanks for
getting it to me. I'm still enjoying the newfound stillness
around here courtesy of the new refrigerator and having a hard
time turning on the stereo. (The frig isn't real quiet, but the
sound is much less unpleasant and it runs a lot less than the old
one.)
ME: Subject: mailing session
I had to get involved in the mailing session today because of the
terrible job that Office Depot did this time. I had to pick out
the best ones, even though they're all flawed. The good news is
that they gave me about a 60% discount on the job. The charge
was $37.
I yanked out your copy, figuring you could wait one more day to
get a stack from V~~ Wednesday morning.
There were no comments on the contents, and a few typos jumped
on. John's name has been misspelled under Officers/Editors for a
long time, I guess, and he keeps checking it each new issue. I
explained that, no, nobody actually types that in every issue.
Anyhow, Rogers needs a "d" there.
THEE: Re: mailing session
Other than the "d" in Rodgers, how did the session go. Was it
pleasant or unpleasant?
That's the best price we've ever had on a print job. Too bad
they dont' give that to us every time.
THEE: Subject: monopoly
I am looking for a computer version of this game, do u know of a
site where I could down load it.
ME: electronic vitriol
Without a doubt, the session was pleasant for everyone else.
That I was completely drained is my problem. In a nutshell,
considering the drive and considering I was viewed as the leader
of the operation, I would have much rather done it myself at
home. There's more I'm bursting to say, but even this much is
for your eyes only.
Also, N~~ (who wasn't at the session) did another real number on
me again. While it's true that everything that went wrong for me
this time around is a direct result of the horrible job Office
Depot did, it still makes 3 major blow-ups in the last 4
newsletters. There is something profoundly wrong with this
picture.
I want to cool off before making a final decision, and it wasn't
my intention to say anything this soon, but I might have to take
a break from the next few newsletters. We'll see how I feel in a
month or so.
Believe me, the way it turned out, it would have been much better
to pay twice the going price for Office Depot's usual, top-notch
job.
THEE: Subject: Lost Worlds
It's a dog's life for me, but I don't have any
complaints.
"The Lost World" is 73 years old and it was fascinating to see,
and to hear the live organ accompaniment. But it is very old. I
thought it looked a little silly. G~~ disagreed and said it was
just like "Jurassic Park"--the special effects were fine but the
plot involving human beings was extremely lame.
A friend at work gave me his turntable. Now I have two--one for
unworn records and one for worn ones. I'm very pleased, even if
the top of my stereo cabinet looks cluttered. I listened to four
rewarding LPs over the past week--"Contact--Sounds of Mod," which
I told you about; "Gerry and the Pacemakers' Greatest Hits";
"Meet the Searchers"; and "The Manfred Mann Album." I liked all
three of the British groups. I bet the Searchers just didn't
have long-lasting fame because they didn't write their own songs.
Manfred Mann sounds a lot like early Rolling Stones. They did
"Doo Wah Diddy Diddy," which I used as my subject header in my
last e-.
Now I'm listening to a CD by Thee Shatners that's quite a
chuckle. They do "Miserlou" but call it "Mr. Sulu." "Stronger
Than Dirt" becomes "Stronger Than Kirk" ("No man is...").
Old college chum tells me a Ringo documentary is in circulation
on VH1. I'm looking for it.
Sorry the WGS newsletter has been such a hassle.
Anything on for next week?
THEE: Re: electronic vitriol
>I want to cool off before making a final decision, and it
wasn't my intention to say anything this soon, but I might have
to take a break from the next few newsletters. We'll see how I
feel in a month or so.
I wonder what would happen if we both dropped out?
ME: 'allo, matey.
Thanks for the birthday card. Birthdays should be traumatic for
me nowadays, but they're not *too* devastating (yet).
I also received 50 Years Adrift in fine nick (as they say in
merry england). Sorry if I had you worried about whether I got
it or not. I'd still like to have a million people borrow it,
but I guess that's not too practical. I have a web page giving
away some Beatle-related books, and I am astonished at how
irresponsible people are. (That's giving them the benefit of the
doubt.) All I ask for is reimbursement of the postage and that's
spelled out clearly in advance. Well, even with sending out
friendly reminders, less than half pay up. And some that do are
pretty unbelievable, like sending ratty, old, soaked-off stamps
from some bygone era, and using a batch of 1- and 3-centers to
make sure they don't go a penny over. I'm dismayed. I thought
it would be a nice way to meet people. (Like when I sent a John
Lennon photo to some girl in RI.)
I confess I haven't branched out into lentil soup yet, but your
vegeta has given a good kick to some of my standard recipes, like
a mexican rice concoction they call "sopa seca" (dry soup). Dry
is right - there's no sort of a broth at all.
I'm sure I've mentioned my other penfriend B~~. If by any chance
you caught Paul's Standing Stone show at the Royal Albert Hall,
you can see Paul walk past B~~ both at the beginning and the
end. You'll need to step through frame-by-frame, though, cuz it
happens in a flash. She has blond hair and a green dress. She
says she gave flowers and a kiss to Linda there.
I've started to get a little web traffic. I was up to about 200
people per week, but it's dropped off to about 150 now. There
are well-known, important pages in the guitar, Beatles and
scrabble world that link to me. Still, I'd rather make a little
mark in the areas of justice, democracy and science. A big mark,
actually.
I'm curious about your "Memory Books". I guess you'd have to see
one fully appreciate it, huh?
ME: 7/8 oz. parmesan cheese; 1/2 tsp basil...
Congratulations on the newest addition to your family - the
second turntable. That's living! Snag me one, too, if people
are just giving them away. I'm afraid mine is not long for this
world. Been afraid for a few years now, actually.
Glad to hear you enjoyed Gerry, the Searchers and Manfred. I
wouldn't have guessed it.
I made my noodles alfredo with salmon recipe today for about the
6th or so time since getting it off the web. It is good, simple,
reliable and cheap. Remember to mention this if I ever get on a
web-bashing kick.
ME: P.S. Thanks for the articles!
P.S. Thanks for the articles!
THEE: Subject: Spam
I have an uncomfortable feeling that I spammed you with your
own message last night. Sorry! Trouble is Sauter, Donald is
dangerously close to S~~, D~~ (work) on my alphabetical list of
addressees. Maybe I'll change Sauter to Don and S~~ to me.
Thinking that I may have sent you my message, I sent it to me
again.
Congrats on cooking from the web. The only recipe I've ever
taken from the web was a chili recipe by Polly Bergen. I've
never made it.
I liked the three bands in this order--Searchers, Manfred,
Gerry.
All else is calm and quiet. We're off to Bethany
tonight. I'll send you another spam concerning next week's
rendezvous possibilities.
ME: Subject: my 4th
Spent an evening at the folk life festival last week. The Baltic
band played all authentic stuff, except for When I'm 64 as their
second to last piece.
Also made it down to the monument for the fireworks. I guess
that was the first time since Ringo and the Beach Boys. The last
musical act was a woman blues singer from Louisiana. In spite of
the word "blues" almost everything rocked. She did Rip It Up.
THEE: RE: 'allo, matey.
I too took Linda's death very hard. I was thinking about it
constantly for almost a month. I cried everyday for weeks, not
only for Linda, but for Paul and his family. The whole breast
cancer thing really hits home with me. I don't have a history of
breast cancer in my family or anything but hey, to put it
bluntly...I have breasts, so something like this makes every
woman think about there on mortality, at least it did for me. The
day I heard she was gone I made one of the meals from her
cookbook. I just felt like I had to do something.
My friend thanks you again for the book. He really enjoyed it.
I'm glad it made it back in one piece.
Hey there is plenty more vegeta in my cupboard, you let me know
if you need more. Tati's Mom was here for 8 weeks and brought us
more, plus lots of German chocolate - yummy!!!
I'll be in touch real soon, so look for me in cyber space. I'll
send a copy of one of my memory books so you'll know what the
heck I'm talking about. Take care!
THEE: Ponder these Facts
>These are all true:
>
>1. Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
>2. Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.
>3. The national anthem of Greece has 158 verses. No one in
> Greece has memorized all 158 verses.
>4. There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
>5. The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
>6. A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
>7. There are more chickens than people in the world.
>8. Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New
> Jersey.
>9. The longest one-syllable word in the English language is
> "screeched."
>10. On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the
> Parliament Building is an American flag.
>11. All of the clocks in the movie "Pulp Fiction" are stuck
> on 4:20.
>12. No word in the English language rhymes with month,
> orange, silver or purple.
>13. "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the
> letters "mt."
>14. All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln
> Memorial on the back of the $5 bill.
>15. Almonds are a member of the peach family.
>16. Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a
> dance.
>17. Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.
>18. There are only four words in the English language which
> end in "-dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
>19. Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo DE Nuestra Senora
> la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula"-and can be abbreviated to
> 3.63% of its size: "L.A."
>20. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
>21. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
>22. Tigers have stripped skin, not just stripped fur.
>23. In most advertisements, including newspapers, the time
> displayed on a watch is 10:10.
>24. Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture
> dealer.
>25. The only real person to be a Pez head was Betsy Ross.
>26. When the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers play
> football at home, the stadium becomes the state's third largest city.
>27. The characters Bert and Ernie, on Sesame Street, were
> named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's
> "It's A Wonderful Life."
>28. A dragonfly has a lifespan of 24 hours.
>29. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.
>30. A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.
>31. On an American one dollar bill, there is an owl in the
> upper left hand corner of the "1" encased in the "shield" and a spider
> hidden in the front upper right-hand corner.
>32. It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. (DON'T
> try this at home!)
>33. The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.
>34. Who's that playing the piano on the "Mad About You"
> theme? Paul Reiser himself.
>35. In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to
> speak.
>36. The name for Oz in the "Wizard of Oz" was thought up
> when the creator, Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw AN,
> and OZ, hence "Oz"
>37. The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by
> a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
>38. Mr. Rogers is an ordained minister.
>39. John Lennon's first girlfriend was named Thelma Pickles.
>40. The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
>41. There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.
>42. "Stewardesses" is the longest word that is typed with
> only the left hand.
THEE: Subject: guitar and piano
OK, I got the bug. How do I get my hands on these pieces? My son
is an excellent pianist, and I am a mediocre guitarist. What
pieces would you recommend?
Have you hugged your guitar today?
ME: Subject: guitar pages
In May you sent a message asking if I would like to "post" some
of my writings on the guitar on the "Classical Guitar Aficionados
Page". I wasn't sure exactly what you meant, and, actually, I'm
still not. If you mean adding a link to the guitar section of my
website, I'd be very delighted. The guitar pages are all grouped
under
http://www.oocities.org/CapitolHill/Lobby/7049/index.html#guitar
Thanks for your complimentary words. I think I have some pretty
important and/or interesting and/or fun material there. I'm a
little disappointed John Dimick labels it all "light-hearted." A
bit strange considering my thoughts on the importance of
fingerings and the precise notation of fingerings has never
caused anything less than total frothing at the mouth. Same with
tablature. There are other important issues there, too, such as
getting string companies to tell us grams per meter instead of
that useless string diameter.
I just put up the complete works of Alonso Mudarra in modern
tablature, and I'll be doing the same for Guerau shortly.
Thanks again.
ME: dubious amazing facts
They always used to say strengths was the longest one-
syllable word. Let's see... screeched . Hmmm, looks
like a tie to me. (But maybe not on everybody's fancy-pantsy
proportional spacing computers.) Of course, this raises the
question, how many one-syllable words are really one syllable, if
any.
Plus, they left out:
43. John Lennon never called a girl on the phone in his life.
I've been forgetting to mention, I've been enjoying the Brenda
Lee album lately. It's still kind of hard to disturb the peace,
but one of the problems with blessed quietness is you have to put
up with all this brain chatter.
THEE: Thanks for the package. The article about van Gogh was
wonderful - it described a whole new vantage point.
THEE: Subject: NEW GRANDSON Poss on RINGO'S 58TH!
Dear Everybody!
We've just been told by our daughter Laurie's doctors that she
will likely give birth to our second grandson later this evening!
We are only too thrilled that this boy will likely be born on
Ringo Star's 58th birthday today. These things are always so
exciting for Beatle Fan Grandmothers and Grandfathers.
Well, just wanted to share this potentially exciting news! Too
hyped to type at the moment, so do hope everyone will forgive
this disjointed announcement.
THEE: I guess you got the newsletter. We could really use your
input on the Funny Caption Contest!
Just got back from the Beatles Museum. It was pretty cool; very
nicely laid out, though of course they need more stuff. Give
'em time... Hey, if you have any ideas whatsoever about a
Beatles presentation at a club event, we'd love to have you.
Your thing at Frank's party last year was a blast (regardless of
Maria's impatience!) and I love those kinds of interesting
insights. Maybe we could have a get-together at your place?!
(We'd bring the food and drink, of course.)
Whatever - think about it. We need to do some fun stuff other
than live music!
Hope your summer is going great!
P.S. I have been diligently distributing your Beatlesignifica
games and have honored your direction to give them away free of
charge. It is a great ice breaker and people seem to love
getting it! Thanks again.
THEE: Catching up on the messages
Sounds like you had a good Fourth. So Ringy and the Boys were
NOT present? The '80s just ain't what they used to be.
Word is that yesterday was Ring's birthday. I'm terrible at
keeping up on those dates!
THEE: Subject: Girl on the phone keeps ringing me back!--Weller, '79
True that Johnny never called a girl on the phone? Where does
one learn these things?
I had an awesome experience at the Libes du Congress on Monday
night. They brought me both Arthur Conan Doyle bibliographies I
requested and I spent two hours copying dates.
Previously, I'd asked Amazon.com to find one of the
bibliographies for me. They came back with a used copy for $28.
Reluctantly, I committed to buying it. Then they came back and
said it was already a sold. A few days later, they found another
copy for $52. I passed on that one. Imagine my surprise when I
discovered at the Library of Congress that this valuable book was
a 30-page paperback! I wound up not spending any money but I
still feel cheated!
THEE:
>Subject: Alonso Mudarra's TRES LIBROS DE MVSICA EN ASCII TAB
>I've worked up all of the solo works for vihuela and for 4-
string guitar by Mudarra in an easy-to-read, modern tablature.
It should be 100% faithful to the original. Visit
> http://www.oocities.org/CapitolHill/Lobby/7049/amtab.htm
This must have been a lot of work. Hopefully some guitar players
will play Mudarra's music now.
>If you have any suggestions for improvements or other comments,
let me know.
Have you ever tried to use a program like Fronimo ? It can print
guitar tablature and convert from "real" (lute) tablature to
guitar tab and vice versa.
I really would like to encourage guitar players to play vihuela
music on the guitar.
Rainer aus dem Spring
THEE: Subject: Sally wants - Sally gets
* REUNITED: Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly
Lion, for a Christmas theatrical release of the 1939 movie
classic "The Wizard of Oz" (in much the same manner "Gone With
the Wind" has just reopened). In preparation, the Turner Classic
Movies Music/Rhino Movie Music soundracks partnership will
release "The Story & Songs From 'The Wizard Of Oz,'" a new,
nearly-78-minute audio CD, in stereo, on Sept. 1.
THEE: Subject: Scrabble Tournament - MC Fair
I spoke to Tim Maneth who is the officiator of the Montgomery
County Agricultural Fair's sixth annual Scrabble Tournament.
Hopefully these pointers will answer some of your questions.
First, we will be using "The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary
-- 4th Edition" as our Scrabble dictionary.
Tim said that there are "no free challenges". If your opponent
comes up with a questionable word simply call "challenge" and Tim
(or his assistant) will check it with "The official Tournament
and Club Word List by Miriam Webster (in conjunction with the
National Scrabble Association). If the word in question is found
in the list play continues for that player. Please feel free to
direct any additional specific questions to Tim.
To order a copy of the "4th Edition Scrabble Players Dictionary"
you can call the National Scrabble Association at 516-477-0033.
If you have any more questions about how the Tournament will be
played/officiated, Tim said that you could call him at 410-529-
4053 between 11 a.m. and 12 midnight. Tim's Mailing address is
116 Bourbon Court Baltimore, Maryland 21324.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to call me.
Hope to see you in the tournament.
Sincerely, Matt Vilk Publicity Coordinator
50th Montgomery County Agricultural Fair
ME: Subject: boom
Got your note. I'm rushing, too, but I wanted to mention that I
saw the fireworks on the Mall for the first time in years this
year. Yeah, they came came fast and furious, but it was
*nothing* compared to Ashland 2 years ago.
ME: Subject: scrabble tournament
Thank you for your extensive answer to my questions about the
Scrabble tournament. I really appreciate that. Unfortunately,
whereas Scrabble is one of my most favorite things when there is
no bluff element, it is my least favorite thing when there is.
But, once again, this is in no way meant to sound like I want
people to do things my way (which is actually the way the rest of
the world does it, and the boxtop rules up to 1976.) Thanks
again for your effort beyond the call of duty.
THEE: Subject: Re: scrabble tournament
I just checked out your site and read how you feel about
challenges. To be honest, I am not a Scrabble tournament player
myself so it makes me feel good to know I answered your questions
thoroughly :O)
Anyway, I found your web site really informative and plan to read
more so I'm a little more knowledgeable in how tournaments are
played.
Thanks for your interest in the Montgomery County Agricultural
Fair's Tourney.
Sincerely,
Matt Vilk Publicity Coordinator MC Ag. Fair
ME: Subject: vihuela tablature
Thanks for the enthusiasm about my Mudarra vihuela tablature. I
plan to put up the complete Baroque guitar works of Francisco
Guerau in a week or two. No, I don't have Fromino. I wrote my
own program to generate tablature to my specifications. Then I
got the idea to modify it to generate ascii tablature so I could
put it on the Web. It turned out to be more of a rewrite than a
modification, but it's nice to be able to share one's work with
others. I hope that not too many people are put off by the
little extra care it takes to print it out just right, or having
to touch up the tablature a little by hand.
ME: Subject: vihuela tab
Thanks for the complimentary words and the feedback on my vihuela
tablature. I hope when you say you had to look all over to find
out what vihuela tuning is, you eventually found it in my main
page for Mudarra. I use the description "vihuela tuning" as
shorthand for "G C F A D G or similar pitch intervals depending
on the size of your instrument, such as tuning the 3rd string of
your guitar down to F# and using a capo at the 3rd fret, or any
comfortable fret, or not at all, at your discretion."
About "the first post didn't take", I just meant that a few days
after posting the article, I didn't see any trace of it in my
newsreader, and no trace of it in Deja News. That's when I
assume the article has exploded in a shower of electrons
somewhere and I'll repost it, but somewhat sheepishly in case
I've goofed up and everybody else has to see it twice.
ME: Subject: with meatballs
Ringo's birthday is one that I know, or at least can figure out,
because I know it's "real close to the 4th of July, but it's
*not* the same as my Mom's." That makes it July 6 or 7 - and 6
doesn't sound just right. I think we may have been talking on
the phone on the very day in question, but I forgot to mention
it. (Then again, maybe we spoke on the 6th.)
About John's phone habits, you could verify the claim easy enough
with a search of Beatles.lib (when beatlefans take a few moments
to generate it.) I forget in which interview he stated that
clearly and emphatically. It's only remarkable from an American
'90s point of view. Probably no other teenage boy in Britain in
the 50s ever called a girl either. They didn't eat spaghetti,
either.
What "Sally wants" is the movie release, I guess, not the album?
Are they going to colorize the goofed up beginning, I guess?
p.s. either either I guess I guess
THEE: Subject: I'm sorry...
Sorry for bouncing another of your messages back to you. What
an annoying habit!
In your message you say: "What 'Sally wants' is the movie
release, I guess, not the album? Are they going to colorize the
goofed up beginning, I guess?"
Could you remind me what I was talking about?
We're off in a few days for a six-day trip to Lake Superior.
I wonder if I can competently pack for such a long trip.
I shouldn't have been surprised that Johnny Rhythm never
called birds on the phone. Even when I was in the UK in the mid-
'70s, a couple of my friends did not have phones. (One, who
lived above a drug store managed by his father, gave out the
store number.)
Cheerio.
PS. Many Brits may not have eaten spaghetti but they do seem to
like ravioli on toast!
THEE: Re: PG dial-up
On Tue, 14 Jul 1998, Sailor Web wrote:
>>Donald Sauter (iz710@cleveland.freenet.edu) sent the following
Feedback from Sailor web:
>Don't know if the problem is on my end or yours, but I
frequently have problems connecting to Sailor by the Prince
George's number. Often, no connection is made, and often, after
a connection is made, everything freezes up shortly thereafter.
My failure rate seems to be about 3 out of 4 times, or so. When
it happens, I just dial the Montgomery Co. number. I never have
a problem with that one. Any other PG people report a similar
thing?
>P.S. I am still thrilled with Sailor.
We see no problems from this end connecting to PG Co, nor have we
had any complaints from anyone else. The only thing we can
suggest is to continue using Mont Co's number if PG Co continues
to give you problems.
**********************************************************************
SAILOR HELP DESK
The Sailor Help Desk is located in Baltimore, Maryland, at Enoch
Pratt Free Library / State Library Resource Center. Staff are
available to take your phone calls from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm,
Monday through Saturday.
voice: (410) 396 - 4636 e-mail: askus@sailor.lib.md.us
**********************************************************************
ME: Subject: where in the wolrld
I forgot when your trip is, so I don't know if you'll get this
before or after.
The "what Sally wants" thread was about The Wizard of Oz and a
soundtrack album. It was a joke about colorizing the goofed up
beginning; not one of my all-time bests.
Thanks as always for the news articles. I presume your radar is
set on "unarchy", too, right?
One of my early web search successes was as follows. On a web
page I saw a very common word misspelled in an unnatural way, not
just transposed letters, for instance. When I did a search on
that misspelling, the search engine came up with exactly one hit
- on the page where I saw the word. Very satisfying, that.
The other day I saw "world" spelled "wolrld" and I got the bug to
repeat the experiment. There were 135 hits on wolrld.
I checked out a book on Netscape. It told me a few things, but
not my number one question: how come the up and down arrow keys
work for scrolling some web pages, but not others?
P.S. Had good success tracking down the origins of "piling Pelion
on Ossa". Seems to get used more than its share in legal writings
and opinions. I claim it is misused.
THEE: Monopoly Memories
Enjoyed reading your Monopoly Memories and wanted to share one of
my own. My parents have the original game they bought just after
being married 32 years ago. In the bottom of the box my parents
began recording the date, players, winner and grand total of each
game played. Early entries reflect the 3 days my mother was in
labor with me as my parents played over and over. Later my name
shows up and eventually my brother. Yesterday a new listing was
added to our family "history", my son was written into the box.
He thought this was quite an honor despite the fact that Grandma
beat him terribly. Growing up Monopoly was saved for sick
children, snowy days and summer vacation-this chronolog of games
helps to spark memories of some great times. I will say though
that it is not always fun. As newlyweds my husband and I invited
another couple over to play one evening and were shocked to learn
that he had never played! Unfortunately, we also found him to be
a sore loser even though he eventually came out the winner!--we
never played board games with this couple again. Maybe the
missing element was the "fun people" you mentioned. Oh well,
keeping playing and enjoy.
THEE: Subject: What the Pelion?
I'm glad you're still getting the Beatles updates. It's
kind of fun to keep up-to-date, isn't it?
I watched CHarlie Chaplin's wonderful 1930 film, "City
Lights," last night. He made it silent but wrote a score for it.
The version we saw had a score re-recorded in 1988 under the
direction of Carl Davis. That's the biggest Beatle news I have.
Well, I did tape an hour-long Ringo special on VH1 this morning.
I'll look forward to mining it for you when I get back.
I am completely unfamiliar with the expression piling
Pelion on Ossa.
ME: Subject: genealogical records
I really liked your story about the Monopoly box-bottom. And to
think, some people used to use family Bibles! Actually, I do
similar things. For example, there's a Scrabble box in my family
somewhere that has a few years worth of records - high games,
high plays, my first 7-letter word, etc. Same with a Boggle box.
Thanks for the nice letter.
THEE: Subject: Another vacation
It has been hectic in the office, with one girl out for surgery
and others on vacation. But my turn is coming next week. I am
off all week and coming down to Virginia with M~~. Once again,
I don't know exactly where I'll be ... It's a motorcycle
convention, but this time we are riding in the car and trailing
the bike, and stopping in PA half-way. I will try to call when I
get there. Hopefully, the phone system in DC won't be messed up
this time. Hope things are well with you.
ME: Subject: the bells of st. mary
I bought a record at the library the other day. It was $.25, but
it was 7, not 12, inches. At least it's an EP. Turned out to be
worth it - a carillon recording from Luray Caverns, VA. It looks
nice and old. I would guess early 60s at the very latest.
There was an illustration of this web page in a book on how to
use Netscape I read:
http://www.netcreations.com/MagicUrl
Had a great live music experience tonight. Went with a friend to
the Hirshhorn for an Artnight concert on the spur of the moment
and without a clue as to what it was. Walking up I heard a steel
orchestra, which is something I've always had a thing for. My
wish came true when it turned out to be the Positive Vibrations
Youth Steel Orchestra, who I saw once last year. Those kids are
great, both to listen to and watch. A special treat was when the
orchestra leader called up 12 or so younger kids from the
audience who had only been playing for one week. They just
finished a steel orchestra camp. The leader played "name that
tune" with the audience. I've heard Beatle stuff from steel
orchestras, so I put in a little mental request. 2 or 3 notes
confirmed it - we got a head-banging Let It Be. The leader
thought it was by John Lennon, which is good enough by me. He
had told us it was the only song the new kids knew, but then
hazarded an encore with them. Go on, 'ave a guess. That one was
OO (Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da.) It was a bit rougher, but still a lot
of fun. My only disappointment is that the soundman, with 100s
of thousands of dollars worth of equipment, did not have a tape
recorder going.
Had A A E E O R L in my scrabble rack last weekend. At first I
took a shot at AEREOLA. That turned out to be wrong, so on my
next play I tried AREOLAE. That was good for the 50 pt. bonus.
I think it's some medical or anatomy term - all very clinical,
I'm sure.
THEE: Re: pop concert
Sorry I haven't written either. I've developed a new e-mail
relationship with a woman in Pittsburg who is a PJ fan...and we
write epistles!!!
Don't know if I've heard a steel orchestra! How are they
different than a 'normal' orchestra? So...you sent out mental
vibes too!!! It must be genetic!
I had a dream months ago...about PJ showing a video at their
concert... with Eddie holding a Lamb Chop puppet...Weird, huh.
BUT...they ARE showing a video now!!! An animated video with an
indian...from what I hear. Lamb Chop isn't animated...but, I
think this is pretty close.
I've read about Rodman in Dallas on stage. Seems some people
loved it...and some hated it. Stone (the rhythm guitarist) asked
the audience... 'Who wants Rodman to stay?' And many cheered.
Then he asked, 'Who wants Rodman to get off the stage?" And many
cheered. Eddie decided it was a tie. Sounds like the guys
'pretended' to be irritated with Rodman... but, who knows.
Eddie climbed on Rodman's shoulders while he was singing... and
did a back flip off the giant. I would LOVE it if Rodman came on
stage during one of the shows I'll be at.
I feel so stupid...but what is a carillon?
THEE: : Guerau - Complete works from Poema Harmonico in
modern tablature
Hi. I think it is great that you have posted these works. I am
wondering where I can find a CD recording of all of them.
THEE: Subject: Gotten back
Good morning...men,
Donald, we're back from a vacation that I would rate as just
about perfect, and not just because I brought back a shopping bag
full of classical records that our host's mom gave me.
We had a lot of fun. Bayfield, Wisc., is a beautiful town on
Lake Superior. We did some sea kayaking, some bike riding, and
lots of other fun stuff. I even managed to turn two
conversations around to the Beatles. I love doing that.
THEE: Subject: Monopoly Question?
What is the most money one can lose in one trip around the
Monopoly Board with only one time in jail, starting at Go?
THEE: Subject: Beatles book
I just wanted to let you know that the 'How I Won The War' book
arrived safely. I will send you the reimbursemet later this week.
You should receive it in about a week.
Thank you very much,
Ari-Pekka Sihvonen
THEE: Subject: between Scylla and Charybdis...
Let me quote from the back of the record sleeve: The Luray
Singing Tower Carillon consists of 47 bells. The largest of these
weighs 7640 pounds and has a diameter of 6 feet...
Don't feel bad! The notes go on to say: To so many people the
word "carillon" is identified with one of 3 thoughts: the bells
they hear on Christmas day, one of those "obscure" stops on a
pipe organ, or - because they hear the word so seldom - even a
merry-go-'round...
They must be thinking of carousal. I thought carillon was dead
rotten meat. I used to go to a few carillon concerts at
McDonough school back in the '70s. The keyboard has big wooden
levers.
A steel orchestra differs from a regular one in that it is way
cool, and all the instruments are steel drums, plus a regular
drum set. A steel drum is one of those Jamaican things cut off
the bottom of a steel drum (container for oil, etc.) and tuned so
different areas give different notes when struck.
I recently had good luck figuring out what something means by
going to the web. The phrase was "piling Pelion on Ossa". I
went to an on-line Webster's dictionary that didn't help. Then a
few days later I figured, why not just do a search on the web? I
found several other instances of it being used, and found pages
explaining where the saying came from. (They are mountains in
Greece, and some giants wanted to get up to the heavens back in
mythology days, so they set Ossa on Olympus, and then Pelion on
top of that. Nowadays, it always seems to mean "piling something
on way beyond what is necessary", but the giants *needed* both
mountains.)
ME: Subject: what friends are for
A whole bag of classical records, eh? And you brought the
turntable back for me, right? You're such a pal!
Bummer news: my 14400 modem is kaput, so I'm back to 2400. My
replacement 14400 modem worked even worse than the busted one.
I visited my buddy Norm Tuesday. Had another fine time. I was
playing a Ferdinand Carulli piece along with a recording of it.
At one point I got off track because the guy on the record played
an extra 6 beats not in my music. In the course of trying to
figure out exactly what he added, Norm and I almost got into a
punch-up. This is very normal behavior for us.
THEE: Re: between Scylla and Charybdis...
I thought Carrion was dead meat too. Think I have heard
something about those bells though. My harpist friend Wally (as
in Ford...you may know him) exposes me to all of those classical
things...but I forget.
The steel orchestra sounds clanky. Do they really sound ok?
Good idea searching the web. If I spell something right, I can
usually find something. Seems that the deja vu newsgroup stuff
is very helpful too.
I'm on real audio now. My 'hacker' in Ohio had a contest, and I
did a karoke Yellow Ledbetter tune...and he put me on real audio.
I figure since you don't have graphics...you probably don't have
sound either (I don't have sound anymore...K~~ deleted the sound
card). But, if you have a friend who will let you listen, tell
me, and I'll forward the links.
ME: Well, I hate to make recommendations, cuz it just inspires
people to even greater heights of chopping you down, but, yeh,
I'd say steel orchestras sound pretty cool. They can have a
surprisingly smooth sound. I know I'm not the only one who
coulda sworn I was hearing a Hammond organ or something in there,
when there wasn't any such thing.
You keep in touch with Wally? I always brag about him - wish I
had known him better to justify all my bragging.
"Hate" family gatherings? Sounds a tad strong to me. My problem
is just that I was born to be uncomfortable in social situations.
But I still feel like I should join in. Better than being a
complete hermit, I guess. All I wish is that people would *do*
something when they get together - kickball, scrabble, etc. All
in all, I suspect our clan "does" a lot more stuff than most.
ME: Subject: ledbellow
In case you're interested, the Baltimore Sun is giving free
access to its archive for a few more days. They call it Sunspot.
You can get to it from Sailor's home page, which I think you have
bookmarked. It only goes back to 1990, but who knows how much
Raquel poop is in there.
By the way, you have audio capabilities on your home computer?
My cousin recorded what she calls a "Yellow Ledbetter song" I
wouldn't mind hearing.
THEE: If I happen upon a Steel Orchestra on TV...I promise I
won't hit the channel button until I count to ten ;-) Course,
since I rarely have remote control power...being unwilling to
fight for it except in certain circumstances, I doubt if this
will happen.
Yeah, I keep in touch with Wally. His screen name is Proharp18.
He's in Maine right now, without a computer...won't be back til
8/10. Funny, but we communicate LESS since I've been online.
Funny about your misspelling experiments!! Maybe 'wolrld' is a
way to sing 'world' lyrically...and we are not in the know.
I'll forward the real audio in case your friend has sound.
THEE: Subject: All this is that
Thanks for the word on Sunspots, or whatever they call it. I
thought the trend was for newspapers to move away from charging
for their content on the web, so I'm distressed to hear that
someone is planning to charge soon.
I do have sound capabilities on N~~'s computer! Yes, indeed.
Send me what you will and we'll give it a spin next Monday.
There hasn't been much news on the fabs on-line lately. I
just tell you in case you think I've been slacking off. I had to
dig fairly deeply for the Lennon art exhibit yesterday.
Can you provide me with a correct spelling (from "Beatlefan")
of "La Di Da?"
ME: Thanks for the kind words about the Guerau tablature. I had
written a tablature program which used my printer in its graphics
mode - perfect little arrowheads and all. When I realized I
could make an almost-as-nice-looking ascii tablature, I worked up
another program to generate that, using the same data files. I
have another goodie almost ready to go, so stay tuned.
Thanks for the great Soundboard articles. I'm still enjoying
them immensely, and playing everything, of course. Flipping
through a stack of the most recent Soundboards, I see large
patches of highlighting in most all of the "Transcriber's Art"s.
(I also saw a batch of question marks in the margin next to Peter
Danner's discussion of Bill Scheel's "ghost note".)
ME: Subject: ... and pepsodent for $.97
Looks like it's "La De Da".
Do you mean to say there are major newspapers who have put up
their archives for free? Makes sense to me, since I can't
imagine anybody paying for it (at least out of their own pocket),
but I haven't heard of such a thing. The Sun's only goes back to
1990, but I grabbed enough stuff for a halfway interesting guitar
article. By the way, following up on my joky message, I did a
search on "Raquel Welsh" in Sunspot and it turned up nothing. Is
that possible? I do have the spelling right, right?
Shopper's has turkey breast for 99 cents a pound.
THEE: Subject: Welch!
After all we've been through you must be joking about the
spelling of "Welch," right? Oh, it's OK. I'm still not clear on
whether that guitar chap's name is Turbio or Turibio.
Thanks a lot for the spelling of "La De Da." That ensure
accuracy (or helps ensure a little accuracy) in my liner notes to
you.
Next request: Could you bring your "Beatlefan" (the one I
never received) on Monday? I want to get issue number and
mailing address so I can dash off an apoplectic letter about my
address change.
THEE: Re: Rummikub
I recently found my old game of Rummikub in my parents' closet,
but the instructions were missing. Can you send me the
instructions so that I don't go crazy trying to remember them
from ten years ago.
THEE: Just a quick note to let you know I made it back to NH.
But not without one slight mishap. I am OK -- I will write again
from home with details.
ME: Subject: C. LaPierre
Thanks again for hosting a fine get-together. Glad to meet Bogar
- an almost perfect gentleman. (Perfect, as far as I'm
concerned, but I guess you'd rather he be a little less vocal.)
Dinner was memorable, even without the sesame paste. I've
already recounted it to a friend. You still doing the cookbook
page by page? Liked seeing that TZ episode again. I always
remembered it. Maybe I'm a little disappointed Poole had to
blackmail Bagby to get a well-deserved promotion. Yikes, Dark
Lady was *No. 1* for a week in Feb74. Who can figure? I hope
you haven't thrown out your trash yet.
THEE: Subject: Dark Lady
No, thank you for coming over. I'm glad we watched the end of
"Anthology." It was time. your comment about the passing of
Derek and Linda struck a chord. Seeing them both in the video
was very sad. As I said, now it's time to start watching from the
beginning again.
Thanks for the research into "Dark Lady." The 45 won't go out
until tomorrow morning. Call if you want me to pull it out for
you.
Dinner was not entirely a success but give me a chance to try
again soon.
I got a prompt and believable response to my Arthur Conan
Doyle query. That was a thrill.
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