From: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org (alloy-digest) To: alloy-digest@smoe.org Subject: alloy-digest V12 #180 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 Wednesday, December 5 2007 Volume 12 : Number 180 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Alloy: UPDATE: A little scheduling change for the Dolby Forum Chat Holiday Par-tay! [Merujo ] Re: Alloy: 9.8 meters per second per second [John McJunkin ] Alloy: OT: You're kidding. Really? [Merujo ] Re: Alloy: OT: You're kidding. Really? ["Mary Brown" ] Alloy: OT: Cutting greenhouse gases [Patrick McMillan Subject: Alloy: UPDATE: A little scheduling change for the Dolby Forum Chat Holiday Par-tay! Hello again, folks! Just one small update for you -- the virtual holiday party in the chat room on Saturday, December 15th has been moved up to a 6 p.m. (UK time) start. So many holiday events for folks to attend in the flesh on a weekend night before Xmas, so little time! This will get things started off on the right foot. :) Spiked cocoa for everyone! MJ - -- "It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness." -- Leo Tolstoy ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2007 15:33:41 -0500 From: "Rochelle" Subject: RE: Alloy: 9.8 meters per second per second William, My husband and I would both love to know where we can hear your "Girlfriend in a Coma" cover. That's pretty impressive that a friend of Morrissey's was even aware of your tune! The only Morrissey/Smiths tune I like is "If Not Now When." My husband, however, is a huge fan. I think he must appeal more to men. Your email got me to thinking about covers all day yesterday. Ironically enough, I was listening to the ultimate Christmas cover album by the Jingle Cats (or, as my husband put it, the cover your ears album). One of our favorite covers was "Mrs. Robinson" by the Lemonheads. I've heard that Paul Simon detests that version. It must be very difficult for an artist to distance himself/herself from a creation and let others tinker with it. It made me appreciate all the more that Thomas allowed several artists work on "Submarines." Perhaps our acceptance of covers has a lot to do with what we knew/heard first. For example, I love the Damned's version of, "Alone Again Or" while my husband hates it. He won't accept any version but the original by Love. You can probably guess which version we each heard first. But what discussion of covers would be complete without acknowledging the best cover ever? Ok, that sounded a bit like pandering, but I genuinely think that Thomas's "I Scare Myself" IS one of the best covers I've heard. I'm curious about your saying, "... it was too tricky doing one Dolby cover, I couldn't possibly put myself on that tightrope again!" What was the challenge? Getting permission from Thomas? Getting the reactions from Dolby fans? Something else entirely? Rochelle - -----Original Message----- From: owner-alloy@smoe.org [mailto:owner-alloy@smoe.org] On Behalf Of William Steffey Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 3:26 AM To: alloy@smoe.org Subject: Re: Alloy: 9.8 meters per second per second My pleasure Rochelle! I'm always pleased (ok, thrilled) when fans of the original artist like a cover. Before 'Weightless' I did a cover of the Smiths tune "Girlfriend in a Coma" (which led to some hilarious misunderstandings amongst my myspace friends by the way) and I immediately got a msg from a friend of Morrissey's saying "you've RUINED this song for me." I was very polite and said that "that wasn't by any means my intention." (My brother suggested I should have responded with "Mission accomplished!") So, especially from a discerning listener & Dolby fan (redundancy noted), your compliment means alot. And no, it was too tricky doing one Dolby cover, I couldn't possibly put myself on that tightrope again! However, word on the street is that there's another ALLOY member working on a cover of Budapest..... - -William Rochelle wrote: > William, > > Thanks for the heads up on this. It was the fire under my feet I needed to > finally listen to your song. I LOVE it!! It has now been downloaded 49 > times as I definitely want to add this to my iTunes library. Thank you for > sharing! Any more Dolby covers in the works? > > Rochelle > > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-alloy@smoe.org [mailto:owner-alloy@smoe.org] On Behalf Of > William Steffey > Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2007 4:04 PM > To: alloy@smoe.org > Subject: Alloy: 9.8 meters per second per second > > > Hello again everybody, > Just wanted to let you know that after 48 downloads from ws.com and 483 > plays on myspace, I'm going to be taking "Weightless" down from both > sites on Tuesday. I'm really happy with the way the track ended up and > the attention it received. I've covered a handful of tunes over the > years, so I figured Weightless would be just another little project. Not so. > > First off, how do you improve on a song that's already brilliantly > written and produced? Also, whenever I approach a cover, I have to make > it my own style. This presented a bit of a paradox because my > production, chord voicings, and even aspects of my vocal style are > boldly influenced by TD! So, it really made me do a little artistic > soul-searching. All good stuff. Oh, furthermore, you guys are all nutty > audiophiles, so I had to make the production a zinger as well. Granted, > I had an edge because the tools available in 2007 on my LAPTOP blow away > what was available when the original was recorded around 1982. I want to > thank Thomas again for allowing me to put the cover online, and ALLOY > for pushing me to a production level from which I can't retreat. Cheers, > William > > - -- http://www.williamsteffey.com http://www.myspace.com/williamsteffey ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2007 16:14:07 -0500 From: Merujo Subject: Re: Alloy: 9.8 meters per second per second On Dec 4, 2007 3:33 PM, Rochelle wrote: > > The only Morrissey/Smiths tune I like is "If Not > Now When." My husband, however, is a huge fan. I think he must appeal > more > to men. > I'll admit it. I love Morrissey's music (but I probably wouldn't want to hang out with him.) If you ever make it to a Morrissey concert, enjoy watching the incredibly overwrought women (and some of the men) swoon like crazy over the Moz. It's like some dark, depressed Beatlemania, lol. And Morrissey encourages fans invading the stage. It's a tradition (one that would scare the crap out of me as a performer, frankly - people just dive into him.) There's a local radio station here that recorded man-on-the-street interviews with some people before a Morrissey concert in DC or Baltimore about 10 years ago. One woman simply sobbed and sobbed "HE'S THE ONLY MAN WHO'S EVER UNDERSTOOD ME! WAAAAAAH!" It's a seriously hilarious clip, and it makes me giggle to even think about it now. Melissa - -- "It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness." -- Leo Tolstoy ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2007 14:29:01 -0700 From: John McJunkin Subject: Re: Alloy: 9.8 meters per second per second My buddy Ash who works with Apollo 440 in London doing remixes, played in a band that opened for Morrissey a few years ago. He said that Mr. Morrissey is "more drama than you can imagine." LOL On Dec 4, 2007, at 2:14 PM, Merujo wrote: > > On Dec 4, 2007 3:33 PM, Rochelle wrote: > >> >> The only Morrissey/Smiths tune I like is "If Not >> Now When." My husband, however, is a huge fan. I think he must >> appeal >> more >> to men. >> > > I'll admit it. I love Morrissey's music (but I probably wouldn't > want to > hang out with him.) If you ever make it to a Morrissey concert, enjoy > watching the incredibly overwrought women (and some of the men) > swoon like > crazy over the Moz. It's like some dark, depressed Beatlemania, > lol. And > Morrissey encourages fans invading the stage. It's a tradition (one > that > would scare the crap out of me as a performer, frankly - people > just dive > into him.) > > There's a local radio station here that recorded man-on-the-street > interviews with some people before a Morrissey concert in DC or > Baltimore > about 10 years ago. One woman simply sobbed and sobbed "HE'S THE > ONLY MAN > WHO'S EVER UNDERSTOOD ME! WAAAAAAH!" It's a seriously hilarious > clip, and it > makes me giggle to even think about it now. > > Melissa > -- > "It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is > goodness." -- Leo > Tolstoy ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2007 01:33:46 -0000 From: "Tim Dunn" Subject: RE: Alloy: 9.8 meters per second per second As someone who has invaded the stage at a Morrissey concert (and fought off the security guys to shake his hand as he sang Last Might I Dreamt...), I can say it's a life-changing experience - you really have to try it. I actually don't like his last two (three?) albums, the ones that were really successful, but if you're a guitar fan who in any way likes rawk, you really have to get Your Arsenal, Vauxhall and I, and Southpaw Grammar... The work done by Boz and Alain on these albums (and also Mick Ronson on the first one) is really phenomenal. As a serious Morrissey fan though, (OK, I tracked down his guitarist and MD Boz Boorer to produce and play on my last album!) I have to say that, like a stereotypical Smiths fan, he is a massively important person to me. It's really hard to explain why - the best thing to do is to find and download the little-known b-side Nobody Loves Us, which really encapsulates the Morrissey fandom rationale. Give it a go! Tarah! ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2007 22:27:19 -0500 From: Merujo Subject: Alloy: OT: You're kidding. Really? A few years ago, a friend and I went to see Alan Parsons play a venue in Baltimore. It was a lot of fun, for sure - one of the best parts of the evening was my friend and I debating whether the paunchy dude in cargo shorts, eating crabs with a motley assemblage at the bar was, in fact, Alan Parsons. When the lights went down, he wiped the Old Bay seasoning from his fingers onto his shorts, strode up to the stage, and just started playing away. "Yep, that's Alan Parsons." Well, I just got an e-mail from the Ram's Head in Annapolis, Maryland (where I've had the pleasure to see TMDR three times now) saying that Alan Parsons is playing there. Cool, I think! Tickets will be, what, maybe $30, $35, right? I can sell some stuff and finance that! No. To see Alan Parsons in the tiny room at Ram's Head, it's 80 freaking bucks!! (Okay, 79 and change, but still...) Eeeek! I realize in the era of $500 Hannah Montana tickets, 80 bucks is a steal, but jeez. Am I too cheap/broke/out of touch, guys? Maybe for $80, you get to eat crabs with Alan. - - Melissa - -- "It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness." -- Leo Tolstoy ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2007 20:02:33 -0800 From: "Mary Brown" Subject: Re: Alloy: OT: You're kidding. Really? Yeah, Tim Finn is a bargain at 22 bucks plus the absurd Ticketweb charges...I might pay $80 NOT to see Alan Parsons (I can only think of Scott Evil when I hear the name)! Mary P. S. I finally got a photo of myself in my Alloy shirt. What about the rest of you folks? Where should I send it, Merujo? On Dec 4, 2007 7:27 PM, Merujo wrote: > > A few years ago, a friend and I went to see Alan Parsons play a venue in > Baltimore. It was a lot of fun, for sure - one of the best parts of the > evening was my friend and I debating whether the paunchy dude in cargo > shorts, eating crabs with a motley assemblage at the bar was, in fact, > Alan > Parsons. When the lights went down, he wiped the Old Bay seasoning from > his > fingers onto his shorts, strode up to the stage, and just started playing > away. > > "Yep, that's Alan Parsons." > > Well, I just got an e-mail from the Ram's Head in Annapolis, Maryland > (where > I've had the pleasure to see TMDR three times now) saying that Alan > Parsons > is playing there. Cool, I think! Tickets will be, what, maybe $30, $35, > right? I can sell some stuff and finance that! > > No. To see Alan Parsons in the tiny room at Ram's Head, it's 80 freaking > bucks!! (Okay, 79 and change, but still...) Eeeek! > > I realize in the era of $500 Hannah Montana tickets, 80 bucks is a steal, > but jeez. Am I too cheap/broke/out of touch, guys? > > Maybe for $80, you get to eat crabs with Alan. > > - Melissa > > -- > "It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness." -- > Leo > Tolstoy ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2007 23:23:02 -0500 From: Merujo Subject: Re: Alloy: OT: You're kidding. Really? On Dec 4, 2007 11:02 PM, Mary Brown wrote: > > Yeah, Tim Finn is a bargain at 22 bucks plus the absurd Ticketweb > charges...I might pay $80 NOT to see Alan Parsons (I can only think of > Scott > Evil when I hear the name)! I had totally forgotten about the Alan Parsons Project reference in the Austin Powers movie! One of the best bits in that flick. "Why don't you just call it 'Operation Wang Chung'?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Duj2oZIC8U And Seth Green looks like a baby! (Which reminds me, I need to record the Robot Chicken Holiday Special...) P. S. I finally got a photo of myself in my Alloy shirt. What about the > rest of you folks? Where should I send it, Merujo? > Hooray! Another person in their Alloy gear! Folks can send their Alloy portraits to me at merujo@gmail.com. I'll get the gallery up over the Xmas holidays. :) Melissa - -- "It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness." -- Leo Tolstoy ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2007 23:16:33 -0600 From: Patrick McMillan Subject: Alloy: OT: Cutting greenhouse gases Dear alloy members, I make the following plea. With your extra cell phone minutes would any of you mind calling 15 US Senators tonight or tomorrow morning and urge them to support bill S.2191 and pass it to the Senate floor for a full vote. The vote is tomorrow, December 5. Answering machines are standing by. In a nutshell, It would gradually mandate emission cuts up to 70% by 2050. Not exactly ambitious, but it's a start. This could mean a return to normal weather cycles, better food harvests, fewer species extinct, and a better chance of not witnessing an ice-age in our lifetimes, nor our children's. A list of senators to call is here, and a little about the bill is here: http://ga6.org/boxer2010/gw_calls.html Thanks, and go renewable! Patrick McMillan Toxey/McMillan Design Associates 218 Washington  San Antonio, TX 78204  (210) 225-7066 4608 Ramsgate Court  Arlington, TX 76013  (817) 368-2750 925 Jackson Street  Benicia, CA 94510  (Studio) fax 206-339-3394 http://www.tmdaexhibits.com Conservation Tip: If every home in California replaced 4 incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents, 7 powerplants could be dismantled. ------------------------------ End of alloy-digest V12 #180 ****************************