From: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org (alloy-digest) To: alloy-digest@smoe.org Subject: alloy-digest V4 #87 Reply-To: alloy@smoe.org Sender: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "alloy-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. alloy-digest Friday, March 19 1999 Volume 04 : Number 087 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Alloy: Jeff Beck - Segovia of the Stratocaster ["Stephen M. Tilson" ] Alloy: Bluegrass Music (was: Jerry Garcia) ["Stephen M. Tilson" ] Alloy: Made it back more or less in one piece. [crackers@hwcn.org] Alloy: Van Halen connection? [Brian Clayton ] Alloy: Dolby's compositions [RThurF@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 06:48:44 -0500 From: "Stephen M. Tilson" Subject: Alloy: Jeff Beck - Segovia of the Stratocaster Jeff Beck released a new work last Tuesday (in the US) entitled "Who Else!". I hope I am not alone here in appreciation of Mr. Beck's absolute mastery of the electric guitar, specifically the Stratocaster. Those of you who appreciated "Guitar Shop" and earlier works will most certainly find something to sink your ears into here. I predict this recording will stand the test of time. And it may have to considering it's been ten years since his last signature release. And for the Dolby tie-in: I've often wondered, why Eddie Van Halen, or for that matter, Garcia and Weir? (I suspect these pairings were geographically driven in part.) Personally, while I recognize EVH's talent and appreciate some of the music he's recorded, he's all about crunch, bang, (and schwing!). Jeff Beck seems a much more intuitive match for Thomas with his penchant for deeply lyric and melodic styles, and unlike the Dead contingent, his keen appreciation for stellar production values. Maybe next time . . . I do dearly hope someone else out there will enjoy "Who Else!" as much as I am! For me it's an instant classic, and I don't say that frivolously, or often. First-hearing-initial-approximation-best-pick: "Angel (Footsteps)". /\/\iles P.S. Even rabid Jerry fans don't really respond to "Beauty of a Dream" in my experience. I appreciate the guest work, but to my ears it *is* just a little too Dead, thank you very much. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 06:52:40 EST From: RThurF@aol.com Subject: Re: Alloy: So Long, and thanks for all the fish... In a message dated 3/18/99 12:18:45 AM Eastern Standard Time, cekemp@netcom.com writes: << When I do make it home, I'll re-sub for while I'm around, but that will make it tough to keep up with all things Alloy. I can't just go cold turkey, because I don't want a life that is without the spirit of community of this list. >> You are so wonderful to say this :) !! Remember we'll miss you & that when you do come back from time to time, you have to be prepared to give us exciting travel stories. I don't think it will be too tough to keep up with things by visiting occasionally. It will be just like visiting home. Stay safe. You know how I worry about such things! All my very best wishes & greatest encouragement in what sounds like a fascinating & challenging position with this new company. I'll be looking forward to your re- subscription(s) !! xxxx Robin T ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 06:55:48 EST From: RThurF@aol.com Subject: Re: Alloy: So Long, and thanks for all the fish... In a message dated 3/18/99 12:34:19 AM Eastern Standard Time, Keith@Stansell.com writes: << Hey Robin - is it possible to be on the list in such a way that you can send to the list without receiving messages? Perhaps he could do that. >> In fact... it is. Would you like to do that, Mr C.E.Kemp? Robin T ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 07:54:44 EST From: RThurF@aol.com Subject: Re: Alloy: Jerry Garcia In a message dated 3/18/99 6:52:26 AM Eastern Standard Time, Stephen_Tilson@compuserve.com writes: :: P.S. Even rabid Jerry fans don't really respond to "Beauty of a Dream" in my experience. I appreciate the guest work, but to my ears it *is* just a little too Dead, thank you very much. :: I'm certainly not a 'rabid Jerry Garcia fan' & don't know the Dead's work very thoroughly, but I must say Mr Garcia was plainly an amazing musician & I can see why Dolby would have jumped at a chance to record with him. His work with the Dead tended to be sweet, subtle, jazz oriented & melodic all on its own. Very lovely in Beauty of a Dream. By the way, the work Garcia did with David Grisman (which maybe isn't as widely known) shows what a fantastically skillful bluegrass musician he was as well - very versatile and powerful. My father was a bluegrass musician himself & loved Garcia's work, often wishing he would quit the Dead & just do bluegrass full-time - and I think this style of music was Garcia's first love (?) It would give some background to his abilities as a supreme accompanist for other musicians he's worked with, instinctively sensing fluid harmonies & cadence, though his jazz work obviously contributed to his flexibility & taste for the subtle & atmoshpheric as well. Anyway, in short, Jerry is good - I like him. :) Robin T ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 17:00:56 -0500 (EST) From: Chris Cracknell Subject: Alloy: A Canadian Were-monkey In London Ah! Back in Canada safe and sound and suffering from horrible jetlag. Lem, Tim, thank you so much for your kind hospitality and companionship while I was in London. It was a pitty we couldn't have stayed out all night drinking, being rowdy and come home the next morning drunk as skunks, but alas, Lem's important interview, my flight back to Canada, and London's public transport system whose motto is "We'll ruin the fun for everyone." all conspired together to make sure we were all tucked in our beds at a reasonable hour. I'll post a more detailed post on the rest of my trip later as I am but a few short hours away from my St. Patty's Day gig and must be off to entertain the vast Canadian population of plastic Pattys who will be drinking green beer, and screaming out at me all night to play either A) When Irish Eyes Are Smiling (regardless of the fact that this is NOT a traditional Irish song but was written by a jewish song-smith from Boston in the 1940's for a Bing Crosby movie) and B) Danny Boy. And the orange and the green (who sometimes fight worse in Canada than they do in Ireland) will put aside their differences to have a friendly drink (and after 4 friendly drinks they'll start fighting again). Anyways back to my "Boy's Night Out" in London. We all met up at Victoria Station with relative ease thanks in part to having seen each other's pictures on the net, and my world-weary, tattered Canadian Armed-Forces jacket with the wee Canada flags on the shoulders. Lem and I met up first and walked the wife and kids back to the hotel so they could catch up on some sleep. Then we were off to a pub near the station to wait until it was time to go meet up with Tim. At this pub I was regailing tales of my irish relatives in Canada (both orange and green) and how they all duked it out in a wee northern Canadian village called Eganville when we were visciously attacked by a pint of Guiness. Lem and I managed to avoid the worst of it but alas Lem's Microsoft bag bore the brunt of the foamy assault that we might live to drink again. Back at our table we drank and chatted then were back off to Victoria Station to meet with Tim, then back to the pub. Tim's friend Jos was along for the fun too. Back at the pub we sat down for some more drinks when Tim and Jos exclaimed how hungry they were. We noticed the sign saying food was served from 11am to 11pm and were in the mood for some Fish and Chips. But what the sign didn't mention was that food was served from 11am to 11pm, but not in that pub. So we finished out drinks then went out in search of food. Luckily I had my videocamera at the ready and was able to record a documentary on how the British hunt for food, or how they would hunt for food if it wern't for the fact that the only thing open in the vacinity of Victoria Station was a McDonalds. So it was off to Lester Square were the prices and the neon lights will both dazzel you. It was at this point we bid our sad farewells to Lem who has a real job and must be at it in the morning. This left Tim, Jos and I to forage for food in Lester Square (and a washroom as the Guiness was now attacking me from within my bladder). We managed to slip into the last open place, a mexican food restraunt, because you can't think of the British without thinking of mexican food. Here I made the mistake of ordering a Scrumpy Jack. Now it's not a mistake in the sense that it is some form of horrid beverage as it is quite delightful. No, this is more a mistake in the sense that it is listed in the beer section of the menu despite the fact that it is apple cider. Let's just say it took all my self control to prevent me from soaking my companions with a "spit-take" after recieving a mouthful of apple cider when my pallet was expecting beer. My first thoughts were, "What could I possibly have done to offend the waitress to make her piss in my beer?". Perhaps it was ordering an appetizer as a main course (buffalo wings) which seemed to alarm the waitress when I did so. But of course this was mearly a cultural misunderstanding. You see in Canada, Buffalo Wings are listed under the "Appetizer" section of a menu too, but for 5 Pounds (About $11cnd) you would get enough wings to feed a small family, and you would also get Buffalo Wings. Appearently in London (or at least Lester Square as Tim pointed out to me they have their own system of economics there) 5 pounds worth of Buffalo Wings will get you exactly 5 wings that are, infact, Honey Garlic and not Buffalo styled. But I really wasn't hungry as I had eaten with the family just before meeting Lem. Besides, I was much more keen on enjoying the companionship of my hosts as well as, once my pallet had adjusted to it, the Scrumpy Jack. It can be rather a nervous thing meeting Net-Friends for the first time as you never really know from e-mail if the people are anything like what they are online, offline. Glad I am to say that Lem and Tim are every bit as charming, witty, and delightful offline as they are on. Although we had only met face to face that evening I felt as if I was out drinking with buddies I had known since college. I really had a great time. Now, we finished up at the mexican restraunt and the night was young. So of course, in London, when the night is young this means you have to run like hell to catch the last subway home. Tim instructed me as best he could on how to make my way back to Victoria Station and we parted ways and I was left to face the wilds of "The Tube" on my own. Of course it wasn't too scary since I knew my way on foot back to the hotel so if worse comes to worse it was just a matter of escaping back to the surface (a feat in and of itself) and walking back to my hotel (which likely would have been faster in the first place). but the gods were smiling upon me and I made it back to Victoria Station intact and unruffled. Leaving the station I began my trek on foot to the end of Belgrave Road and my hotel room. Shortly after leaving the station I was hailed by a fellow in a blue suit with an earpiece dangling from his right ear. " 'Scuse me Guvnor, kin I 'ave a word wi' you." "Cool," I though, "This is the first time in my life anyone has ever called me 'guvnor' with a straight face." Upon approaching me I discovered that security guard as I had though but a drunk with one wee walkman earpiece plugged into his ear. "Do you have a fag?" he asked me. Now in Canada approaching someone in the middle of the night and asking them that question could result in any number of consequences, pleasent or unpleasent depending upon your point of view and lifestyle, but I knew from my encounters with other people of the British species that he was asking me for a cigarette. "No sorry, I don't smoke." I answered. "Oh, right, good for you, good for you. Do you know why I'm without? I'll tell you why I'm without. I went to buy a pack of 20 and do you know what he told me it would be? 4 pound! 4 bloody pound! 4 bloody pound for a pack of 20? Is that rediculous or what?" he asked me. "Umm... I don't know, since I don't smoke and I'm Canadian I have no point of reference from which to judge the validity of the price." I replied. "....." he looked at me for a moment with the look of a deer seeing god in the headlights of a truck. "4 bloody pound for a pack of 20. Well I told him, 'You're nuts, I'm not going to pay you 4 bloody pounds for a pack of cigarettes. That's crazy.' and then I left. And do you know why I'm without? Do you know why I'm without? Because I've only got 3 pounds." he said showing me three of the small thick golden coins. "you couldn't help me out here could you?" he enquired. "Sorry, but I have no British coin. I have a pocket full of rupees and coins from dubai but I doubt I have more than 20 pence in British coin. I could give you a loonie but that would be of no good to you." I answered. "What's a 'loonie'?" he asked me. "It's the nickname for the Canadian dollar coin. It has a picture of a Loon on it." "Really! Could I have one?" he asked excitedly. "Sure, if you want." and I fished through the film cans I keep my change in for a Loonie. "Here you go, this is one Canadian dollar, also known as a 'Loonie'." He took the coin with a wide-eyed expression of glee that a small child has when receiving a small gift from a well liked Uncle. "Thank you! Thank you very much! I'll keep this forever. Forever. This means a lot to me it does." said the Drunk, choked with emotion. "I'm Irish you know." he said for no reason I could deduce. "Oh really, my ancestry is Irish, well except for my maternal grandfather who is Scottish, otherwise my roots are Irish." giving that little turn and wave and nod which is meant to say "Well I gotta run now" but I had foolishly sucked myself into another conversation. "Really, what part of Ireland do they come from?" he asked. "County Kerry." I answered while trying the turn/wave/nod technique once more. "That's where I'm from!" he shouted with delight. And then regailed me with a lengthy tale of how his father died 2 years ago this day, and his mother died 1 year ago this day, and that is why he's out drunk this day looking for some smokes. I just stood there smiling and nodding and looking for a point in the conversation where I could quickly slip away. Finally he paused to gather his bearings and I said goodnight. As I began away he asked if I had a place for the night. I answered that I had a nice hotel room waiting for me. "Oh right, right, well would you like to come back to my place for some whiskey? I just live around the corner." "Sorry, but I have to get back to my wife, I'm flying back to Canada early in the morning." "Oh! Yes, yes, best to get back to the missus. Thanks again for the coin, what's it called?" "A loonie." "Right, right, a Loonie. I'll keep this forever. This means a lot to me." And with that the drunk and I finally parted ways. On my way back to the hotel I decided to pick up on last souvenier from my trip to London. It would seem that the British, being ever so resourceful, have come up with a means to satisfy the need for softcore porn while using a public pay phone. It's accomplished by taping every square inch of the inside of a phonebooth with pictures of naked women with phone numbers and short descriptions of services offered. So boystered with courage from a few pints of Guiness and a bottle of Scrumpy Jack I stopped long enough to strip one booth clean of it's adverts to show my friends back in Canada who would otherwise likely not believe me. From what I have been told by Lem and Tim is that this is a recent phenominon and is localized in London. I was completely taken aback by it when I first went to use a phonebooth (to call Tim and Lem to set up a meeting). Nothing like this exists in Canada. At last I made it back to the hotel and retired to my room for a good night's sleep on this my last night in beautiful London. Thank you once again Lem and Tim for your generous hospitality and companionship you treated me to a night I shall never forget. I only hope that someday I can return the favour should you lads find yourself in my part of Canada. Lem, I'm wearing the Guiness shirt to the gig, Tim thanks for the book of your brother's poetry. CRACKERS (Jetlag from hell!!!!!!!!) -- Collector of Atari 2600 carts - Accordionist - Bira Bira Devotee - Anime fan * http://www.hwcn.org/~ad329/crab.html | Crackers' Arts Base * * http://www.angelfire.com/ma/hozervideo/index.html | Hozer Video Games * Nihongo ga dekimasu - 2600 programmer - Father of 2 great kids - Canadian eh ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 15:42:32 -0500 From: "Stephen M. Tilson" Subject: Alloy: Bluegrass Music (was: Jerry Garcia) Robin writes about Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, and bluegrass . . . You are referring to "Old and in the Way" (1975), I believe. That is a gorgeous recording. I'm not aware of other bluegrass work done by Mr. Garcia, but if you are please share. I've rather avoided most things associated with the Grateful Dead like the plague. Early in my life I picked up the 5-string banjo, likely in response to the sudden popularity of Flatt and Scruggs after their music was used for the movie "Bonnie and Clyde". I kept at it for awhile, studying the styles of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and the Foggy Mountain Boys, and eventually played for a group of musicians known as the California Old Time Fiddlers Association. It wasn't long, however, before I found myself in rapt contemplation of the guitarists in that group. "There is a whole orchestra in *that* instrument", I thought. Soon I was tuning my banjo like a guitar, and shortly thereafter received my first real guitar, a Guild Mark I Classical, which I still have to this day. I've continued playing banjo on occasion, but never with quite the same passion I have for the fuller-voiced and highly versatile guitar. /\/\usic is my Life ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 18:24:34 EST From: RThurF@aol.com Subject: Alloy: more Headspace news! Here's another news item concerning Headspace, Robin T :: Headspace Inc. Appoints Denise Daniels as Vice President of E-Commerce New Hire Strengthens the Company's Move Into E-Commerce SAN MATEO, Calif., March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Headspace, Inc., creator of Beatnik technology for interactive music and sound on the Internet, today announced the appointment of Denise Daniels as vice president of e-commerce. The addition of Daniels is a direct response to intense customer demand for Headspace's interactive music solution in the wake of its distribution and content deals with Intel, Netscape, Macromedia and Zomba Music Publishing. "As part of our new focus, we were looking for someone that could provide us with a strong direction in e-commerce," said Lorraine Hariton, president and CEO of Headspace. "Denise's intimate knowledge of both e-commerce and multimedia will play an integral role in helping Headspace meet customer demand for our interactive music solution and help us maximize revenues from online sales." Daniels comes to Headspace with extensive experience in managing large-scale e-commerce sites. Most recently, she was an executive producer at Viacom/Computer Curriculum Corp. in Sunnyvale, CA where she developed, launched and implemented Simon and Schuster's Education Network, its award winning, subscription-based education Web site. Prior to joining Viacom, Daniels served as director of quality for the Applications division at Oracle. She has been recognized for numerous education and multimedia successes, including projects with Gavin Report and cccnet.com. Daniels received her B.A. from University of California, Berkeley, holds an M.A. and Ph.D from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a post-doctorate from Stanford University. Daniels' responsibilities at Headspace will include defining, branding and development of e-commerce opportunities for the company. She will also oversee the design and development of the front-end Web site, e-commerce applications and back-end infrastructure. Daniels is charged with bringing high quality sound and music titles to users in new, easy and efficient ways. Daniels' arrival comes on the heels of a joint venture announcement with Headspace and the world's largest independent music publisher, Zomba Enterprises, to provide Zomba's vast music and audio library over the Internet. About Headspace From its headquarters in Silicon Valley, Headspace delivers interactive audio software technology, its flagship product Beatnik and musical content for the Web. Headspace's audio engine has been licensed to an expanding family of strategic partners, including Sun Microsystems, Oracle/NCI, NetObjects, Macromedia, Adobe, Be, Inc. Additionally, Beatnik Pro will be included with Intel's Pentium III(R) processor to enable an interactive audio component for Intel users. Its Rich Music Format (RMF) is a platform-independent standard for music and audio on the Internet. Headspace musical content has been licensed to many customers, including Netscape Communications Corporation, WebTV and SegaSoft. By coupling expert engineering skills with an expanded catalogue of musical content, Headspace is dedicated to realizing new possibilities for interactive music and audio within multimedia on the Internet. Headspace was formed in 1993 with a team of musical innovators and world-renowned visionary, musician and composer Thomas Dolby Robertson. :: ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 18:32:14 EST From: RThurF@aol.com Subject: Re: Alloy: the Jello man! In a message dated 3/18/99 1:20:32 PM Eastern Standard Time, Keith@Stansell.com writes: :: He had a full size sculpture of a man made out of gelatin on a table. He spoke on about something as a manic preacher. I'm embarrassed to say I forgot what his speech was about - I think it had to do with Mexican people and US / Mexican relations. At the end of the speech he carved up and served the man to the people watching. :: I'm trying to get a picture of it in my head... for some reason I'm picturing a life-size green Jello "Thinker" sculpture, sans fruit. What did it really look like? and did you have any? Robin T ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:06:50 EST From: RThurF@aol.com Subject: Re: Alloy: Bluegrass Music (was: Jerry Garcia) In a message dated 3/18/99 3:45:33 PM Eastern Standard Time, Stephen_Tilson@compuserve.com writes: :: You are referring to "Old and in the Way" (1975), I believe. That is a gorgeous recording. I'm not aware of other bluegrass work done by Mr. Garcia, but if you are please share. :: I have another great one called "Not Just for Kids" with lots of playful little bluegrass tunes, some real beauties I remember my dad doing with his band, particularly one about a train (which I can't look up because everything is packed, and can't remember because I've lost my mind) There were always tons of instruments around our house. My dad played mandolin, guitar, banjo & fiddle. He grew up back in the day when people created their own entertainment by playing music with their families ones all the work was done, so became very adept at whatever instrument was handy at a given time. I've learned some of each, but cello & bass have the tone I really feel an affinity for so I've stuck with them. which reminds me... can anyone here recommend a good, small preamp/amplifier for me? I need to set up my Craptacular plywood cello which I bought for $200 because it was too horrible even for our donation program - we didn't want to inflict it upon anyone! I've redone the whole thing to an acceptable level for me to keep practicing on (I have to return my cello teacher's beautiful instrument which had belonged to her father, which she has been graciously lending me!), and now need to electrify it so I can control the sound. I will be getting a Fishman transducer/pickup but I don't know anything about good amps. Can anyone give a bit of advice? Nothing too expensive, and it doesn't have to fill a stadium or anything, just enough so that I can hear myself & hopefully play around with effects pedals eventually... Thanks! Robin T ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 01:24:29 +0000 From: "I T Admin @ Govt Office North West" Subject: Re: Alloy: Talk Talk??! At 09:23 09/03/99 +0000, the_copse wrote: > >And while you're at it, Mark Hollis' recent solo album is outstanding - >just as good as the later fragmented TT stuff > >the_copse > Now then, young man, I went out and acquired this yesterday lunch time on the strength of your recommendation ( I had a record token left over from my birthday and had been wondering what to get with it). Got it back to the office and bunged it in my portable. Interesting. The first track plays for something like fifteen seconds before the first note is heard. Listening in the office was not the best place for this CD, and I thought I'd made a dreadful mistake. But, I got home, and put it on while I checked my mail and it was a different story. This IS something you need to give your attention to, as it IS very subtle. Not really background music. It's efinitely growing on me. Thanks Slarv PS I MUST get around to filling in the gaps in my meagre Talk Talk collection. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 01:24:28 +0000 From: "I T Admin @ Govt Office North West" Subject: Re: Alloy: TMDR CD 1999.... At 16:22 15/03/99 EST, Trevor wrote: > >No, your eyes are not deceiving you! > >CD No2; (Also entitled Hyperactive) > >This one has a delightful image of Thomas wearing his traditional rounded >glasses, clad in a top hat and black woollen jacket, sitting on a cliff top in >what is a very trendy setting for a photograph. >14. Get Out Of My Mix / Dolby's Cube 8,00. > I have to say that this really pisses me off. A new CD with ONE track not previously released on an album. Typical record company trick. I'd prefer to see them repackage and relaunch 'Retrospectacle' than do this. I suppose, for anyone who hadn't bought any TMDR previously, £5.99 would be a good investment and introduction to his work, but I'm reluctant to spend THAT much to hear one track I've never heard before. Apologies if anyone strongly disagrees with this. Slarv ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:57:23 -0700 From: "Keith Stansell" Subject: Re: Alloy: the Jello man! Actually, the man was flesh colored. He was lying flat, face up on a board on top of dry ice. He had a towel over the mid section if memory serves me correctly. He had a peach flavor. - -Keith - ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Thursday, March 18, 1999 4:32 PM Subject: Re: Alloy: the Jello man! > >In a message dated 3/18/99 1:20:32 PM Eastern Standard Time, >Keith@Stansell.com writes: > > :: He had a full size sculpture of a man made out of gelatin on a table. He > spoke on about something as a manic preacher. I'm embarrassed to say I > forgot what his speech was about - I think it had to do with Mexican people > and US / Mexican relations. > > At the end of the speech he carved up and served the man to the people > watching. :: > >I'm trying to get a picture of it in my head... for some reason I'm picturing >a life-size green Jello "Thinker" sculpture, sans fruit. What did it really >look like? and did you have any? > >Robin T ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:00:57 -0500 (EST) From: crackers@hwcn.org Subject: Alloy: Made it back more or less in one piece. Well folks the Cracknells have arrived safe and sound back in Canada after nearly a month of adventure around the world. As some of you know our departure from Canada was delayed by 2 days as a nasty bug put me in the hospital on the day we were originally supposed to leave. I was still pretty sick on the day we left but managed to survive 20 hours of flying to get to India and all the plane changes in between. The flight over was very rough. Our perils didn't end with our final touchdown in Travandrum. Now we faced a 6 hour drive to Beena's sister's village. My sister-in-law's new driver, as near as I can tell, is a suicidal maniac who escaped from a mental house. Traffic laws are lax in India to say the least, passing at high speeds on corners and up hills is perfectly acceptable. There were many narrow escapes along the way and even though I was thoroughly exhausted from the long flight (I was unable to sleep on it) the drive caused such an adrenaline rush I was unable to sleep in the car. To drive a car in India all you have to do is show the instructor you can drive around the block without hitting anything, or bribe him if you do hit something. So the roads are packed with all manner of people who would never be able to get a learner's permit much less a drivers license here in Canada. But we made it there safely. Kerala is even more crowded than it was last time I was there but it is still quite green and beautiful. The weather was nice the whole while we were there and we only had a few misadventures in India. The first and most serious was when Logan was bitten by a wild monkey at a hindu temple. You can feed the monkeys there (infact they'll steal from you if you don't and won't return what they take until you do) so Logan was feeding a monkey. He got a little scared and pulled his hand away. Unfortunately he still had food in his hand so the monkey bit him to make him drop the food. It broke the skin so the poor guy has to have rabis shots just incase although it is extremely rare for monkeys to carry rabis. Luckily the monkeys in this area of india don't really carry any nasty diseases (in some places the monkeys carry Hep-B) but we brought along some anti-biotics from Canada just incase so the doctor told us the dosage to give Logan. His hand has healed up just fine and he only has one more shot to go. Luckily these are the 5-in-the-arm rabis shots and not the old 20-in-the-gut ones, and they're not very painful. Logan's outlook on this incident changed when I told him that he is probably the first Cracknell in our family tree to ever have been bitten by a wild monkey. He is now quite proud of his place in our family history. He can't wait to get back to school to tell all his friends that he was bitten by a monkey. The next misadventure was mine. When in India you MUST drink boiled water or bottled, steralized water. We kept the boiled water in the fridge but at Beena's sister's place they also keep their drinking water from the tap in the fridge too. In the middle of the night I went downstairs and poured myself a glass of water. Unfortunately I grabbed the wrong bottle and woke up the next morning suffering from "Gandhi's Revenge". I spent that day laying in bed praying for the sweet release of death. My stomach is still not fully right but is much better. From then on just to be safe I drank only beer whenever possible. Better safe than sorry. :) The third misadventure also befell me but was the least serious of the lot. We went to an elephant camp near Beena's village where they capture wild elephants and domesticate them. I brought the cameras with me so I didn't want to wear my glasses while filming as it makes it harder to work the cameras. So I left them sitting on the dashboard of the car thinking the driver would be staying at the car watching things and who would want to steal some prescription eye-glasses? Well I was wrong on both counts and when I returned my glasses were gone. There went $200. I was pretty annoyed at the prospect of buying a new pair as well as spending the rest of my vacation with blurry vision. But we decided to visit my mother-in-law's eye doctor and see about getting some new glasses. I ended up buying two pairs. Including the eye exam, the first pair (which are really nice) cost me about $23 and since they were so cheap I bought a second pair (not as nice as the first but still nice) for about $10. Needless to say I'll make sure I book my next trip to India at a time when I need new eye-glasses. After about 2 weeks in India we went to Beena's other sister in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Wow! Is Dubai ever nice. A very interesting blend of middle eastern and western culture, very cosmopolitan and very liberal for an Islamic state. It was great to experience creature comforts again and the weather was beautiful. We enjoyed the beach there and would have enjoyed it even more if it wern't for the huge fat russian women wearing the tiniest possible bikinis. I take it that when communism fell in Russia the mirrors fell with it. Misadventure followed us to Dubai. Logan's young cousin Ray was struck down by appendicitis the day after our arrival and spent most of our visit in the hospital missing out on all the fun. Poor guy. But they are comming to Canada this summer so we'll take him to Wonderland to make up for it. After a week enjoying the comfort of Dubai (and shopping like maniacs) we were off to London England. Our visit here was saddly all too short but we made the most of it by taking some of the excellent bus tours that really show you the city. Our hotel was right near Buckingham Palace too (we were on Belgrave Road near Victoria Station). The tour buses stop at different locations and you can get on and off as you please and catch the next bus as your tour ticket is good for any bus for 24 hours. We got off at Madam Tossaud's and the Tower Of London. I would have loved to have seen more but I didn't have the time. My last night in London I met up with some friends of mine from the internet and we went out for a "boy's night on the town". I had a really great time with them and despite the fact that we only knew each other through email before that night we got along as though we were old college buddies. London is very beautiful, very much like Vienna in Austria except that there are modern buildings scattered amoungst the older ones since many of the old buildings of London were destroyed during the second world war, and Vienna was not as damaged. I really want to go back and spend more time there sometime, and a longer vacation in Dubai would be really nice too. We suffered no serious misadventures in London unless you count how expensive everything in London is. The only thing cheap there is the beer. Back to Canada. Watched a very funny movie on the plane "Waking Ned Devine". On the plane I sat next to a fellow from Denmark. When the bar cart came along we both ordered a beer and were given a Blue. From the way he sniffed his beer and was examining the colour I could tell he was an expert on beer. So he wouldn't get the wrong impression of Canadian beer from his can of Blue I told him "Don't be put off Canadian beer by what you're being given now. Anything that comes from Labatt, or Molson for that matter, is pretty much a generic swill for the masses. Everything Labatt brews tastes like it comes from the same vat and it's a pretty weak, timid brew. But when you're in Canada try some beers from our micro-breweries, in particular Upper Canada, and you'll see what a good Canadian beer is really like." So we got to talking and I asked him if this was his first time going to Canada and he said it was. I asked him how long his vacation was and he told me he was moving to Canada for 3 years on business. "Oh really, what sort of work are you in?" I asked. "I work in the beer brewing industry." (A-ha! I knew he was a beer expert), "I'll be working for Labatts in Toronto on a three year contract." "Ohhh... I see..." I wonder how red my face was? So I changed the subject. Later when I was watching the movie I peeked over to see what he was working on just to see if maybe he was having me on about comming to work for Labatts. Nope, he was busy with all sorts of documents clearly from the Labatts brewery. I wonder if he'll be mentioning our conversation at his first meeting at Labatts? Our final misadventure of the trip occured in Toronto after we touched down to discover that they had lost our baby car-seat. Luckily the air-transway service had a spare they could loan us to get back home and they found our baby car-seat the next day. Now we're just all lounging around at home. The kids have colds and Beena and I have terrible jet-lag. Mine is compounded by the fact that I was up until the wee hours last night playing at a St. Patty's day gig here in Hamilton. Oh well, the money was good and the beer was on the house (I drank Guinness... not anything from Labatts). Chris, Beena, Logan (the Monkey Boy) and Kerala. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 19:55:47 -0800 (Pacific Standard Time) From: Brian Clayton Subject: Alloy: Van Halen connection? On Thu, 18 Mar 1999, Stephen M. Tilson wrote: > And for the Dolby tie-in: I've often wondered, why Eddie Van Halen Supposedly, Eddie lived down the street from Thomas at the time, though I can't recall if "down the street" meant they were literally neighbors or not The implication was that Eddie was a friend or acquaintance at the time Thomas started recording A&H, rather than someone he sought out solely on the basis of his/her talent... The usual parties are invited to correct me, of course... :) BC - --- Brian Clayton "The main motive for going beyond the Rim... stemish@lns.com there's a heck of a big Taco Bell out there..." -- jms ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 00:40:40 EST From: RThurF@aol.com Subject: Alloy: Dolby's compositions It's interesting that in the interview Mr Clayton directed us to earlier this week, Dolby mentions Stravinsky as one of his major influences. Thomas' illustrative film work has always reminded me of Stravinsky! I get a sense that writing film scores must present the most fulfilling kind of challenge for him. There's a sense of freedom & breadth that probably isn't really feasable in album-related work. Best of both worlds for me is when he mingles his own vocal samples with his more abstract compositions, the effect is very sensual and hypnotic. When I listen, I literally hang on every note. For Thomas, it must be very inspiring to match minds with a filmmaker, and create a complete world for viewers/listeners to experience. I hope there's a chance he'll get involved with more film-related projects, amongst his other projects in the future. (fingers crossed! :) Robin T ------------------------------ End of alloy-digest V4 #87 **************************