From: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org (alloy-digest) To: alloy-digest@smoe.org Subject: alloy-digest V6 #89 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 Monday, April 9 2001 Volume 06 : Number 089 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Alloy: little CNET ad ["Robin" ] Alloy: Very OT - Thank a Veteran [Merujo ] Re: Alloy: Very OT - Thank a Veteran [CRACKERS ] Alloy: Thomas performs!! ["Mary A. Brown" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 15:48:29 -0400 From: "Robin" Subject: Alloy: little CNET ad Thomas has forwarded me a small MP3 file of a digest CNet created of his interview for play later in the day, which he'd like me to share with everyone. Since I can't send attachments through Alloy itself, please contact me privately & I'll send it to you! xxxxx Robin T ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2001 22:04:58 -0400 From: Merujo Subject: Alloy: Very OT - Thank a Veteran Hi, folks, A little over a week ago, my mom passed away, after a difficult struggle with declining health. I was on a little commuter flight, trying so hard to get back to my home town when she passed away. I didn't get to say goodbye to her, and I will forever feel so much regret for that. My mother was a remarkable woman - raised in the deserts of Nevada and in a mountain homested in Oregon by hard people who had come west along the Oregon Trail in old horsedrawn wagons. She was born to pioneer circumstances, and a pioneer she remained all her life. Mom was one of only 1,000 Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) to serve the United States armed forces in the Second World War. Like her brother before her, my mother was drawn to flight early in life, and she gladly accepted her country's call to duty, flying all types of warbird and training plane for the U.S. Army Air Force. Sadly, Mom was the only of her siblings to survive the war. Mom loved to fly, but she gave it all up to raise nine children on my father's shoestring salary. I never once heard my mother complain about being broke all the time or about all craziness that surrounded her with all of us to take care of. She always supported my dreams, and she never told me there was anything I couldn't do. When I had a pile of money (long gone) and was living in Moscow, I asked Mom if I should save it for a down payment on a house or use it to travel the world, she told me, "See the world now! You have a lifetime to work and pay a mortgage!" Mom's health had been failing for several years, yet she never missed a Sunday night phonecall to each of her nine children. I can't believe that I'll never hear her voice again. I've been looking for my old answering machine, hoping that her voice is on the tape. I'm so afraid I'll forget what it sounds like. I would never be the person I am today, and I would never have had the courage to do the things that I have done without my mother's strength of character. Up until last month, Mom was still doing volunteer education projects, allowing grade school kids, high schoolers, and college students to come by and interview her for their WWII studies, hoping that children of today will keep alive the memory of the sacrifices made and the victories won. My mother is my hero. She was a shining example of The Greatest Generation. If you know a veteran of WWII, please thank them for saving the world for us. Consider sending a card to a forgotten veteran at a VA home. Tend a grave or leave a flower at a veteran's cemetary. Flying North always reminded me of my mother. I think I'm going to go listen to it now. Hope you and your families are all well and happy. With best wishes to all, Melissa Jordan ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 22:25:33 -0400 (EDT) From: CRACKERS Subject: Re: Alloy: Very OT - Thank a Veteran On Sun, 8 Apr 2001, Merujo wrote: > A little over a week ago, my mom passed away, after a difficult struggle > with declining health. I was on a little commuter flight, trying so hard > to get back to my home town when she passed away. I didn't get to say > goodbye to her, and I will forever feel so much regret for that. I'm sorry to hear about your loss. I lost my Grandmother, the single most important influence on my life, two summers ago but the one solice I had was that I had the chance to tell her goodbye and all she has meant to me. But you know, they're always alive as long as you keep them in your heart and I can still visit my Grandmother there. So you never really, truly do say goodbye. Crackers ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 01:08:25 -0400 From: "Mary A. Brown" Subject: Alloy: Thomas performs!! Whoa, What a week this has been! First I get to hear Thomas live on the radio and then I get to see him in the flesh, on stage, playing music, in a band! Bear with me if I gush too much but this is pretty damn exciting... The conditions seemed extremely favorable for TMDR to appear since I noticed even before the opening act came onstage that over to the side there was - this is for you, Crackers - a familiar, red strap-on! About 40 minutes into the Soft Boys set, my better half elbowed me and pointed up at the balcony to our left where there is a closed off area for VIPs there at the Fillmore. Sure enough, I caught a glint reflecting from a pair of glasses resting on a familiar face. I think the lovely Kathleen was there as well. Thomas seemed to really be enjoying the show, smiling and bopping along to the music. He was conspicuously absent just prior to the first encore so our hopes were raised even higher. Sure enough, once the Soft Boys returned we could see our hero patiently waiting in the wings. Robyn introduced "a Bay Area resident, Thomas Dolby". TMDR took his place next to pal Matthew, beaming and looking very comfortable. He handled the synth part on "You'll Have To Go Sideways" quite deftly but my biggest complaint was, it was nearly impossible to hear his contribution!! Jeez, you'd think if someone brings on a special guest, he'd make an effort to allow him to really shine! According to the set list that Stephen so kindly procured for me, the second song Thomas played on was "Evil Guy". During both of these tunes, TMDR had the strap-on sitting flat on a stand with a sound module. But for the next number, he donned it and clowned around a bit with Matthew. This last one was a Pink Floyd tune (information also supplied by my sweetie) called Astronomy Domine. Stephen commented that Thomas' synth line took the falsetto voice part heard in the original version. And for those who care about such things (that's at least Robin, Monya, and me ;-), Thomas was sporting a tiny bit of facial hair on the tip of his chin, a cool, woven hat with a sort of Native American pyramid design, a black t-shirt with a mosaic of squares with colors and figures, a short-sleeved black bowling-type shirt which I think had a Mindscape logo on it, light colored canvas pants, and a pair of tinted glasses which were squarish with rounded corners. Thomas looked like he was really enjoying himself onstage and seemed to be very pleased to be playing with Matthew again (not half as pleased as I was!). With any luck, these are the first, few, baby steps to him performing again! After the three songs were over, Thomas took a bow and waved at the audience while Robyn named him to the crowd once again. The band exited stage left and Thomas returned to his spot upstairs to enjoy the rest of the encores. Afterwards, Matthew went up to chat with Thomas. He was there for quite awhile and was still there when we reluctantly departed. I was thrilled to see Matthew again. He really hasn't changed much in the past 17 years! He was the oasis of sanity during the concert, with no rock star posing or being odd just for oddness' sake. He looked particularly gleeful during the last number, the Soft Boys "anthem", especially when he doused the audience with water. Now, for some comments from my companion... Hello, Alloy; Stephen Tilson here. Long time no parse... It's like this - what *she* said! Plus a bit from my perspective, if you will. In the opening number of the first encore, "You'll Have To Go Sideways", Soft Boys guitarist Kimberly Rew (the day?) took a long and boring feedback solo while making "rockstar" faces and generally grandstanding throughout the song, thereby almost totally overshadowing anything Our Hero could politely contribute. I found this quite frustrating for a handful of reasons. First, when you invite a guest artist on stage with you, you are essentially showcasing that artist and his or her talents. If the guest is part of the front line, this is the guest's moment to shine. It seemed to me that Mr. Rew in fact resented Thomas being there and was doing his damnedest to obliterate his presence. Second, I made myself familiar with a few Soft Boys tunes before the show and "...Sideways" was one of them. The song features not a guitar solo, but a SYNTH SOLO! I mean, hello!?! How rude. Other than that it was a great show and I am so very grateful to have been given the gift of seeing Thomas perform once again. I am also grateful that Robyn Hitchcock so kindly shared the limelight with Thomas, and this on the very stage I last saw him in 1988. Happy, Mary and Stephen ------------------------------ End of alloy-digest V6 #89 **************************