From: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org (alloy-digest) To: alloy-digest@smoe.org Subject: alloy-digest V6 #88 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 Sunday, April 8 2001 Volume 06 : Number 088 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Alloy: Robyn Hitchcock [Jon Drukman ] Re: Alloy: COMDEX conference video & CNET interview ["Robin" Subject: Re: Alloy: Robyn Hitchcock At 11:00 PM 4/6/01 -0400, Robin wrote: >There's an unconfirmed rumor (only a rumor!) that Thomas might put in an >appearance onstage at Robyn Hitchcock's show tomorrow night at the Fillmore in >SF. > >Is anyone here attending? yep, i'll be there. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2001 15:17:35 -0400 From: "Robin" Subject: Re: Alloy: COMDEX conference video & CNET interview There is streaming video of Thomas' appearance at the COMDEX conference in Chicago @ http://charlotte.powerstream.net/comdexchicago/keynote3high.asx Thomas appears about 24:30 minutes into the piece. Mary, thanks for your recap of the radio interview on CNET yesterday! I loved hearing Thomas' thoughts on further tech/business development being the next logical step in the town's evolution, after the "Victorian gin palaces" fell into the sea... (LOL!! :) As far as Thomas making an appearance at the Robyn Hitchcock show, I must tell you that the rumor is still completely unconfirmed. I was told of it by a good friend who follows the Bay Area music scene and knows of my admiration for Thomas. It may just be speculation on his part, but on the other hand, I suppose there's a chance it could really come about, given the location of the show etc! Anyway for those who are going to the show, keep your fingers crossed & please tell us about it afterward if it's true. xxxxx Robin ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2001 07:44:29 -0700 From: "Butcher, Danny J" Subject: Alloy: Lyrical interpretations, "One Of Our Submarines" Regarding the lines "Drinking heavy water from a stone..." I spent 12 years in the submarine force, and much of modern submarine technology and methodology is based on lessons learned in WWII. I agree the song seems to be set in that time period, however the problem is that 'heavy water,' or deuterium, wasn't available on submarines so far as I know. Even today, the reactors are cooled not with deuterium, but with plain old, everyday pure water. So it seems to me that either the song is technically inaccurate concerning submarine power systems (which, considering they were penned by Mr. Dolby, would be quite shocking), or the interpretation posed earlier, that the submarine is 'drinking' water with the weight of the entire ocean above it. A third possibility is that there is a blending of time; that it doesn't take place in WWII, nor in modern times, but in some combination of the two. The anachronism may be intentional, in order to make the song more accessible to modern listeners while still hearkening to the WWII era. Or perhaps it is also tied into the line "And I can trace my history down one generation to my home..." wherein a modern Submariner, trapped in a submarine, is remembering his own family history, and his own father, in a similar situation. Based on the atmosphere of the album, and lyrics from other songs in it ("Then war took her away" from Europa and the Pirate Twins, "...all my tubes and wires and careful notes..." from She Blinded Me With Science, considering the advent of solid state has all but eliminated tubes), I'm of the opinion that this blending may be the answer. I still have no idea what the stone means, and that may hold the final clue to the mystery. Peace and joy. Bosco ------------------------------ End of alloy-digest V6 #88 **************************