The National Midnight Star #556

From root Mon Nov 9 05:22 1992 Received: by wake.ncsl.nist.gov (AIX 2.1 2/4.03) id AA01499; Mon, 9 Nov 92 05:22:30 Received: by syrinx.umd.edu (5.57/Ultrix2.4-C) id AA29975; Wed, 11 Nov 92 21:35:06 -0500 Date: Wed, 11 Nov 92 21:35:06 -0500 Message-Id: <9211120235.AA29975@syrinx.umd.edu> Errors-To: rush-request@syrinx.umd.edu Reply-To: rush@syrinx.umd.edu Sender: rush@syrinx.umd.edu Precedence: bulk From: rush@syrinx.umd.edu To: rush_mailing_list@syrinx.umd.edu Subject: 11/11/92 - The National Midnight Star #556 ** Special Edition ** Status: R ** ____ __ ___ ____ ___ ___ ** ** / /_/ /_ /\ / /__/ / / / / /\ / /__/ / ** ** / / / /__ / \/ / / / / /__/ / \/ / / /___ ** ** ** ** __ ___ ____ ** ** /\ /\ / / \ /\ / / / _ /__/ / ** ** / \/ \ / /___/ / \/ / /___/ / / / ** ** ** ** ____ ____ ___ ___ ** ** /__ / /__/ /__/ ** ** ____/ / / / / \ ** List posting/followup: rush@syrinx.umd.edu Administrative matters: rush-request@syrinx.umd.edu or rush-mgr@syrinx.umd.edu (Administrative postings to the posting address will be ignored!) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The National Midnight Star, Number 556 Wednesday, 11 November 1992 Today's Topics: Third Anniversary of the NMS ---------------------------------------------------------- ********* ******* *** ******* **** ** ** **** *** * * *** *** ** ** *** ** ** ** ** ** * * ** ***************** ***************** ** *** *** ** ** *** RUSH 3rd ANNIVERSARY *** ** * **** SPECIAL **** * * *** ISSUE *** * * ** ** * ** ** ** ** ** * * ** * ** ***** ** * *** ** *** *** ** *** ** * **** **** * ** *** ** *** *** ** *** ******* ******* **** **** ******* ******* ********* ********************************************************************* TABLE of CONTENTS ----------------- I. Administrivia II. The "Save the Rush-mgr Sanity fund drive" Story III. The Rush-Mgr Trip (Nov 91-Jan 92) IV. Subject: 3rd Anniversary Thoughts V. Special Edition: My Trip To California VI. The Rush Fanzine Info ********************************************************************* ---------------------------------------------------------- I. Administrivia From: rush-mgr <The National Midnight Star Editor> Date: Wed Nov 11 20:45:48 EST 1992 Subject: Administrivia There is no "regular" digest for today, Nov.11. Today's issue is for the 3rd NMS anniversary, which was actually Monday. There will be a "regular" digest tomorrow with today's posts and tomorrow's posts. rush-mgr ---------------------------------------------------------- II. The "Save the Rush-mgr Sanity fund drive" Story From: jlang@syrinx.umd.edu <~ Rush Fanatic ~> Date: Wed Nov 11 20:46:39 EST 1992 Subject: The "Save the Rush-mgr Sanity fund drive" Story What? We're on year 4 now? Well, didn't seem like that long. Before I start off I just want to thank you for all the subscribers who made this possible. The list is probably close to 1500+ members now, with all the distribution lists included in the tally. This is a long cry from just a handful when it all started out. The hardest thing about doing an anniversary issue is trying to find something that hasn't been talked about before. The everyday issue of the NMS is pretty much evident of this with rehash topics that occur in between the tours. A lot of things have transpired between the start of this list and its current incarnation. Some for the better some for the worst. One subject that I have to mention in this special issue is something that was long promised but never delivered. Funny isn't it how regular everday work gets in the way of what you want to do but never have time to. :( The topic would be of course, for those who've been around since the last anniversary issue, the tale of Dave's trip and the big NMS fund raiser. A brief history of how it all began: About a year ago at this time, I was doing pretty much what I'm doing right now! Writing an anniversary issue (ugh! :) when Meg mentioned to me an idea for Dave. Something about how great the NMS is and how cool it is that Dave donated his machine syrinx.umd.edu to be the home of the ftp site and the mailing list. With that in mind, everyone should send in a quarter or some such amount to show some thanks. Well, I didn't think much of it at the time but as the week when on, I started thinking about this. What would be a good way to show Dave that people wanted to thank him for his contribution to the list? Then Meg's idea came back to me, with Dave's birthday coming up (and more wrinkles in the skin :) and with Christmas around the corner, I thought if everyone really did mail in a money to a fund, say a voluntary $1 donation, we would be able to get Dave a good present and show him our appreciation for everything he's done with the list. With 1300+ people on the list, if everyone or just half of them contributed $1 I could get enough money to get him a good present. After mucking around with the idea for a while, Meg finally pressured me to put the plan in action. I started mailing out individually to the list asking if people would be willing to donate $1 to get Dave a present. The present was to be a round-trip ticket to California (sunny San Diego), and a few Rush shows here on the West Coast. I was reluctant at first, because I kept thinking, would people actually send some money in to this? Well, as it turned out the fundraiser went very well. Many people were donating $5 and even big amounts like $20! Well, soon, all the money started adding up and I realize we would eventually reach our goal. I guess at first I wasn't sure if people would contribute and that if I didn't reach my goal, I would end up contributing the rest of the fund to get Dave to the West coast for a show. Luckily this wasn't necessary as I realize a lot of NMS members were more than happy to contribute. To this I extend my thanks and I'm sure Dave does too. After a month or so of fundraising we got the necessary amount (see Meg's post below for statistics), I gave Dave a call. All this secret fundraising was done behind Dave's back all from his own machine. I would update all the list members (excluding Dave) about the progress of the fundraiser. With Dave on the phone I let him know what had transpired and he was pretty shocked I guess that Meg and I actually pulled something like that off. Nevertheless, he was extremely happy to hear the full story and said he would be checking with his boss. The schedule was to be Dave coming out during January to catch a 3 Rush shows with an all paid round trip ticket and tickets to the show. With the surprising success of the fundraiser (again many thanks to all who contributed!) I was able to purchase for Dave a 2nd row ticket to the San Diego show and also 2 additional tickets for 2 nights at the LA Forum. After a few days, Dave confirmed that it would be ok with his boss to take up this adventure and I'm sure permission from his wife :) (I understand Dave you have a special arrangement with your wife, a stipulation of the marriage that you be allowed to go see any Rush show!! :-) :) Meeting Dave again was nice, it'd been a while since we last met but I didn't have any problem picking him out from the crowd at the airport. I had planned a welcoming committee and party for Dave on the night before our San Diego show. We all went over to a friend's house and partied late into the night. Home-brew, pizza, chicken, and even some taping of certain Rush items went on. All in all, I think everyone had a good time, I certainly did. Also gave us a chance to meet other NMS people. Tom, Dave, and Dave, Louie, and a bunch of my own personal friends. The real rush-mgr was feeling a bit jetlag so before it was too late, we all headed home to sleep off the effects. The San Diego show was incredible (what show isn't I guess if you're close like that), Geddy played practically right in front of us, everyone was having a blast, especially Louie. :) That particular week was pretty bad for me actually, since I was working 6am this meant little sleep all week. Especially considering for the LA shows we would drive 2 hours to get there, we didn't get home until 2-3am. I did some sightseeing with Dave and Meg's roommate, Amy, down in Tijuana, Mexico, that was an experience in itself, and gave Dave a good tour of "America's Finest City", San Diego. Also, showed Dave around UCSD campus and the SDSC (San Diego Supercomputer Center), where I work at a regional network (CERFnet) at an NSFnet backbone. I find it funny recalling how Dave was standing in front of our Cray at the SDSC while I took his picture, he looked like a tourist :) The 2 LA Forum shows were just as good as the SD show. Certainly watching it from a different vantage point gave you the full effect of what goes on in the Rush concert atmosphere. The quad sound for example very well done especially during Neil's drum solo. Thanks Tom for the tickets! Another side note I remember walking around with Dave because for some oddball reason I had lost my wallet in the parking lot :( This was later recovered though so that's good. Ah.. the things that happen to you. Driving home in the fog was kinda fun too :) All in all with the 3 shows in 4 days, I think I pretty good job of tiring out the rush-mgr. Guess he's not as young as he used to be :) By week's end, I'm sure Dave had been all Rush-out and looking forward to returning home. It was a pleasure to see him enjoy himself at all the shows. With that in mind I was please to see that the fund-drive was a success and that everything paid off. If anything our now happy most-esteemed rush-mgr would be quite content knowing that those on the NMS list appreciated all his efforts and thanks him for use of the machine, and many other great qualities. The thing that I find amazing about this whole thing is that of the many different people on the list, the majority of those who contributed did so not because they had any personal connection with David, but merely so out of a common interest for music. The fact that perfect strangers who don't even know Dave but yet can contribute to a fund because of what Dave does is just proof that Rush music encompasses all of its fans. The NMS is certainly a good proof of that. And I hope that for this 4th year into the NMS it will continue to show proof that we're all on because of a common bond created by 3 superb musicians. Before I end this nonsense rambling, I would again thank you all who participated, and even those who didn't or mailed to say they would love to but can't for whatever reason. (Believe me it's all appreciated don't feel left out, I too am a "poor starving college student" :) It's amazing the amount of people on the list if you think about it from all walks of life and all sorts of contacts. I've met a few at many of the Rush shows and it's always been a pleasure to put a face to an email address. I hope that those I've met feel the same. Perhaps by the time next anniversary issue comes around, a lot of NMS people can meet up during the next tour, it's certainly a thought. Thanks all and here's looking forward to a new year. (Thanks Bruce for the kind words on this year's passing, you're the only one that noticed!) -Jimmy jlang@syrinx.umd.edu PS. hmm..how about a fund drive to add more disk space on syrinx? :) ---------------------------------------------------------- III. The Rush-Mgr Trip (Nov 91-Jan 92) From: meg@syrinx.umd.edu (****** Meg ******) Date: Mon, 09 Nov 1992 Subject: The Rush-Mgr Trip (Nov 91-Jan 92) For those members who have been on the list for over a year now this may sound familiar.. for those who weren't here's the background. In November 1991 (just after the RTB tour got rolling) we (Jimmy & I) were trying to put together the second anniversary issue as it was a bit overdue. He made some comment while I was writing my post that I should include "ps. I think everyone should send Dave 25 cents for all the work he's done." I thought that it sounded like a good idea, but then thought if *everyone* sent that in, we could get him plane tickets and concert seats! So we thought up an idea and the line never went in my post, just in case Dave would get suspicious. I wrote up a quick program to mail out to everyone except the rush-mgr and we asked for donations. The concert for San Diego was not until Jan 20th so we had about 2 months to get everything organized. In the original letter we asked if people were interested, and an asking donation of $1 from anyone who wanted to join in. I didn't include the address just to see how good the response would be, and I got almost 200 messages in the first week alone! So we sent out updates about once a week; towards the end it was slowing WAY down, and the air fare ticket prices went WAY up, but we were able to pull it off! Dave got a round-trip ticket fully paid for (we were going to pay for any shortcomings out of our own pocket), 2nd row seats at the San Diego Sports Arena, and tickets to the two LA shows. David's Response (in Digest #409): --------------------------------------------------------- |From: Editor, The National Midnight Star <rush-mgr@syrinx.umd.edu> |Subject: Administrivia | |Halloo all, | | Secondly, I just want to say that I'm reeling in amazement right now! |I got mail from Jimmy Lang today (and a phone call) to let me in on the |mystery post from yesterday, and the secret surrounding it! My head is |swimming!!!!!! | | For those new to the list, wayyy behind in reading, or just dead, this |is the story: apparently Jimmy sent mail directly to the list membership |without me knowing. He apparently mentioned about how I'd been managing |this forum for the past 2 years, and that he thought I deserved a little |"gratitude gift" from the list members. His idea was a trip to Southern CA |to see the band at a couple of shows; he'd asked for donations of $1 from |any NMS member willing to participate. Well, he apparently got over 150 |responses, and has been busily collecting money for the past couple of weeks. |(Oh, and you too, Meg; didn't mean to leave you out!) | | The upshot of all this is that he's finally been able to collect enough |money to (just) cover the airfare for a round-trip flight from here (the |Baltimore MD/Washington DC area) to San Diego. He's hoping to collect a bit |more to cover the costs of the tickets he'd bought for me - to three shows!!! |He wants me to fly out to San Diego in January and spend a week partying |with ... well, whoever will be around, and to catch shows in San Diego and LA |(hmmm, still not sure where 3rd show is...). | | His timing was amazing, for I'm finalizing a trip to Pittsburgh for some |NeXT training the week prior to when he wants me to come to CA - I'd fly out |to Pgh. on a Saturday, spend the week in class, fly home on Friday, then |turn around and fly to San Diego on Saturday (morning, no less!). If he |were planning for even a day earlier, it would not have worked. Of course, |if the Pgh. trip falls through, then it's no sweat. But, with any luck, I'll |spend a bunch of January in three separate states! (Oh, you Pgh. people, |stay tuned - once that's finalized I'll be sending out mail to see if anyone |wants to get together.) | | I'd just like to say that I'm amazed by all this, and quite humbled. I |never considered anything on this scale possible, or any "real" payment, for |that matter. I considered the inside/pre-release/in-depth information I'd |gotten off the list as reward in itself. But hey, I won't look a gift plane |ticket in the mouth, and gladly (and gratefully) accept. And to see three |shows while I'm out there, that's just icing on the cake. Jimmy's told me |I'll have the chance to see one from the 2nd row - I've never been that close |at ANY concert before. Should I bring binoculars? :-) | | Well, to make a short note long, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all you |list members who responded to Jimmy!!! I am amazed at the response, and also |touched that you would do this for me, a mere faceless alias on the net. |(Well, a couple of you have seen the face, but that's YOUR cross to bear. :-) |I really appreciate the opportunity, and only hope I can do something to |repay all of you who have graciously donated. I think I'll try to wrap this |up now, and go home to think about packing. I'll be giggling all the way |through Christmas! (Hey, this could double as a Christmas/birthday present, |as they both are the same day...) | |Thanks again, |rush-mgr .... uuuhhh, David, that is. |------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- Here are some of the statistics: -------------------------------- Total amount received: $582.45 Total donations received: 141 (the list was at about 1000 people then) Most original donation: $5.28 ($21.12 divided by 4) Biggest: $21.12 (of course!) Most bizzare: $1.07 Most "interesting": A condom & an Alka-Seltzer tablet [ Still available Dave if you want them :-) : rush-mgr] -------------------------------------------------------- Contributors (alpha order by first name): -------------------------------------------------------- Ajoy Bhatia Alan Crouch Amit Majumdar Andrew Will Andy Adams Barry Brumitt Barry Warsaw Ben Walker Bill Barry Bing Kongmebhol Bob Joslin Breese Quinn Brian LaDage Brian Mirtich Brian Saunders Brian Sterling Bruce Holtgren Bryan Gorman Chad Hessoun Cheryl Renshaw Cheryl Stoy Chip Hart Chip Knee Chris Briggs Chris Craig Chris Klausmeier Chris Schiller Dan Dickerman Dan Quella Daniel L. Green Dave Anderson Dave Datta Dave Murry Dave Schmidt Dave Sheehan Dave Shreiner Dave Zegas David Conley David Pakman Dennis Laughren Donna Skarbo Doug Grumann Ed Chang Ed Lovell Eric Lundquist Erik Habbinga Erin Sasaki Ervan Darnell Frank Moore Frank Shaapherder Gary Arakaki George Klueber George Papadopoulos Gregg Jaeger Guy Kendall Jaimie Scott Jay Cook Jay Martin Jeff Murphy Jeff Waltersdorf Jim Fridlund Jim Mcleod Jim Zappia Jimmy Lang Joe Ferrara Joe Turner John Brooking John Connelly John Gemmell John Santore John Towse Jonathan L. Orwant K. Brent Fournier Keith Ford Keith Waggoner Ken Maupin Kevin Gosson Kevin Tipple Lance Neustaeter Lawrence Salomon, Jr. Lee Nussbaum Leon Shieh Lewis Bernstein Liz Atilez Louie LaPlant Marc S. Kazigian Mario D'Alessio Mark Kent Mark Maxham Mark Saleski Matt Barletta Matt Coohill Matthew Barton Meg Jahnke Michael Mcneill Mike Sandoval Mike Shatswell Mike Vargo Miles Lester Niall Fallon Pat Choy Pat Perez Paul Catalano Paul Knight Paul May Paul Parker Peter Bell Peter Nichols Peter Paul Phil Simon Ralph Torres Ralph deGennaro Rich Rubell Rich Sofranko Robert Berlinger Robert Cotton Roger Blakesley Ron Braun Ron Conescur Ron Kleiner Ron Rayas Rosemary Hometchko Rudy Rumohr, Jr. Saurav Misra Scott Casavant Scott Storey Stephen Spencer Sterling Udell Stuart Miyasato T.J. Higgins Ted Latner Terry Brex Terry Stedman Tim Calla Tim O'Connor Tom Brex Tony R. Rice Trevin Pick Tyler Weaver Wade Williams William MacDonald -Meg ---------------------------------------------------------- IV. Subject: 3rd Anniversary Thoughts From: dan@bud.csc.calpoly.edu (Dan Delany) Subject: 3rd Anniversary Thoughts To: rush@syrinx.umd.edu Date: Wed, 11 Nov 92 13:18:16 PST Well, I've been asked by Jimmy Lang himself to write a piece for the 3rd anniversary issue of TNMS about our experiences at the first in an occasional series of NMS staff meetings. The first full staff meeting, as I like to refer to it, took place on January 20, 1992 in beautiful San Diego. My day started off well. I got to drive 300 miles along the California coast. (I can think of quite a few worse ways to spend a Sunday than driving along the coast.) Upon arriving in San Diego, I found out that Jimmy and David had gone to Tijuana for a while, so I killed some time with Meg waiting for Jimmy & David. David and I hit it off really well - he's a real down-to-earth guy who just happens to have a whole bunch of people who are willing to pay for him to go see Rush shows. (I should have friends like that.) Unfortunately, the tickets Jimmy had didn't allow for David and I to sit together - he was in the 2nd row, while I was all the way back in the 9th row. Sigh. However, we made up for that on the 22nd by being next to each other at the Forum show in LA. My friend J.R. came along for that show, and he and David and I did a pretty good job (if I do say so myself) of air-drumming in unison through most of the show. I think Meg kinda felt left out of that, but we didn't mean to leave her out. All in all, an enjoyable few days, and I enjoyed meeting Dave. (Hey, whatever happened to the pictures from Sunday, anyway?) Dan Delany dan@rat.csc.calpoly.edu I failed the Turing test. ---------------------------------------------------------- V. Special Edition: My Trip To California From: davida (David Arnold) Subject: Special Edition: My Trip To California Date: Mon, 09 Nov 92 17:54:56 -0500 The California Saga: One Managers Experience It all started with a phone call. "Hey Dave, this is Jimmy. Whatcha doin' in January?" A wide-open question if ever I heard one! "You've got to be more specific," I replied. Well, after much hemming and hawing on Jimmy's part, it finally came down to this: he had conspired behind my back, with "my" very own mailing list, to do an amazing thing. He had asked for a contribution of $1 US from anyone on the list who wanted to contribute. This was to go towards something nice for me, the (then) rush-mgr. It had started out as a proposal to fly me out to San Diego and catch a show on the left coast. From the initial response, both of money and promises for money, it soon became apparent that it might be more. They wouldn't say (to protect the guilty), but apparently a few chipped in quite a bit more than the requested $1. I'll have to thank you in anonymity, but please know I do thank you! It turns out that from a list of ~1200, they got enough money to pay for a round-trip airline ticket for me, as well as tickets to not one, but three Rush shows in southern California! I was to fly in on Saturday, hang out for a day or so, then enjoy the San Diego show from the SECOND ROW, followed by a couple more days of lounging, then two more shows in LA, then back home! Whew, what a surprise, to say the least! When I picked my teeth up off the floor, I told him I'd check with my boss to make sure I could get a week off on short notice. Luckily I work for a really great guy, and after I explained what happened, he said "Sure, go for it!" I told Jimmy I was good to go, and he put the plan into motion. I flew into San Diego not knowing really what to expect. I'd met Jimmy once about two years before, but only got to talk to him for a couple of hours before he had to take off. Now I was going to spend a week with him and his friends. On the plane, I thought of a Talking Heads lyric, "My God, what have I done?" :-) I landed at the S.D. airport about 1/2 hour late & got my luggage. Wondering how I was going to find Jimmy & co., I stood staring ... then I spotted him. It turns out he was also late, so he'd gotten there about 5 minutes before the plane. I took this as a good omen and we took off. We piled into his car and headed directly for a friends house. There, a party commenced, complete with all the necessities; bad-for-you food, excellent beer (homebrew, even - more on this later), and a bunch of people I had never met (hi, Whatis). Hey, there was even a swimming pool and an iguana. These people had taste. :-) We talked Rush and all sorts of things between late into the evening ... for me it was well into the a.m. hours when we finally headed to where I would be staying. It turned out I wouldn't be staying with Jimmy, I'd be staying with his girlfriend, Meg, and her roommate Amy. Hmmm, I said to myself, can't wait to tell my wife about the sleeping arrangements! On Monday I got to meet yet more of our intrepid show-people, including Louie whom I'd been trading e-mail with for months/years, and Dan, our hallowed Keeper of the FAQL. The pre-Monday show excitement was pretty much; we had a crowd of about 15 to go. I was especially psyched, as I was going to see them from closer than I'd ever before. Needless to say, the show was incredible! It was my first live taste of Primus, and I must say I'd rather have seen them than any of the other openers I'd seen (since '79). Then Rush hit the stage, and we went wild. We were so close we could almost touch them, and at certain points, you could tell Geddy or Alex were looking right at YOU! I was drained after that show, to be sure. I will take that ticket stub to my grave. On top of the show, I got to meet more people there whom I've known via e-mail for years! It was great to finally put some names to the faces! (Hi, Kelly!) Most of the time I spent in San Diego was pretty hectic. Jimmy & Meg gave me a tour of the area, and I shot a bunch of film. (Yes, I still have the pics and negatives - interested parties can contact me or Jimmy/Meg about them.) Unfortunately, I played tourist too much, so only have a few of the Rush-list people. (There are others, in a certain roommates camera, Meg.) It was great, and I got a good overview of the area ... literally, from Mt. Soledad. I also got to see Black's Beach (and The Black, thanks Jimmy! ;-), the San Diego Supercomputer Center (which my university has a part of in a consortium) and we even got down to Tijuana for one afternoon of sight-seeing (and hearing of Jimmy's bar exploits). I got to experience the fabled LA traffic that Wednesday and Thursday night as we drove up to LA for the two shows there. Unfortunately, these seats were not quite as good, but over the three nights in CA I got to see the band from three very different perspectives. I'd like to note, if I may, that you see quite different shows from different places in the arena. When you're right up close, you see the stage show - Geddy & Alex, with glimpses of Neil through his kit. By contrast, in the back of the floor you get the full effect of the "surround sound" used during "Time Stand Still", etc. You also get a good overview of the show. From the rafters you can see how they play to the crowd, and how the crowd responds. You can also see the patterns of the lights & lazers across the crowd on the floor. Very inter- esting all in all! Also while in LA I got to (re-)meet another homebrewer, Tom, who introduced me to more local brews and his homebrew. I hope to be able to repay you the favor sometime, Tom! Finally, after a whirlwind week of loud (mostly excellent) music (a couple of the LA rides were ... interesting musically :-), it was too soon time to leave. I was at the same time anxious to get home and sorry to have to leave. I'd met people with whom I had no common ground with other than music, and ended up having a great time, one that I would relish for years to come. Oh, and one excellent Chinese dinner. All I can say is THANKS to all who helped in this effort. Amazingly enough, the money came out just about right, or at least to within a few dollars of what was needed. I paid for my own food, etc - it was the least I could do! It was an excellent present, and just happened to come just after my <mumble>th birthday, which made it even more special. I owe all of you one, and Jimmy & Meg (and Amy, who put up with a strange man in her place for a week) a really big one. To all of you I met there I mean what I said; you've got a place to stay if you ever hit the right coast. Which, after the recent election, maybe isn't so "right" after all! :-) To wrap this up, it was a great time. If you ever get the chance to get together for a party or show with fellow list members, go for it! You'll meet interesting folks and probably have a great time. It's worked locally for some shows, and on a grand scale one January in southern California! David Your sometimes rush-mgr ---------------------------------------------------------- VI. The Rush Fanzine Info From: rush-mgr <The National Midnight Star Editor> Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 Subject: The Rush Fanzine Info <Begin Shameless Plug> For those unfamilar with the 2 Rush fanzines currently available. A Show of Fans Spirit of Rush - UK c/o Steve/Mandy Streeter 25 Garden Close PO Box 292 Chinbrook Road Canton, CT 06019 Grove Park Phone: 203-693-0506 London SE12 9TG ENGLAND Subscriptions for ASOF are $15/year (4 issues + "Pressure Release" newsletters on happenings with the band as they become available between issues.) The latest ASOF issue #5 is mailing out this weekend. ASOF #4 has a nice letter from Neil to the fanzine. Check it out! Back issues available. Subscriptions for SOR-UK are $20/year (4 issues) available through ASOF. SOR-UK and ASOF are sister magazines and are completely *independent* of each other, but are fine complements of one another. As a result for US subscriptions, SOR-UK is available through ASOF. Back issues available. As a subscriber of both, I can vouch for their strived quality as a non-profit publication run by fans, for fans. Give them a try and tell them you heard about ASOF and SOR-UK through the NMS. <End Shameless Plug> ----------------------------------------------------------
To submit material to The National Midnight Star, send mail to: rush@syrinx.umd.edu For administrative matters (subscription, unsubscription, changes, and questions), send mail to: rush-request@syrinx.umd.edu or rush-mgr@syrinx.umd.edu There is now anonymous ftp access available on Syrinx. The network address to ftp to is: syrinx.umd.edu or 128.8.2.114 When you've connected, userid is "anonymous", password is <your userid>. Once you've successfully logged on, change directory (cd) to 'rush'. There is also a mail server available (for those unable or unwilling to ftp). For more info, send email with the subject line of HELP to: server@ingr.com These requests are processed nightly. Use a subject line of MESSAGE to send a note to the server keeper or to deposit a file into the archive. The contents of The National Midnight Star are solely the opinions and comments of the individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the authors' management, or the mailing list management. Copyright The Rush Fans Mailing List, 1992. Editor, The National Midnight Star (Rush Fans Mailing List) ******************************************** End of The National Midnight Star Number 556 ******************************************** From root Fri Nov 13 02:11 1992 Received: by wake.ncsl.nist.gov (AIX 2.1 2/4.03) id AA01794; Fri, 13 Nov 92 02:11:08 Received: by syrinx.umd.edu (5.57/Ultrix2.4-C) id AA22979; Sun, 15 Nov 92 18:30:05 -0500 Date: Sun, 15 Nov 92 18:30:05 -0500 Message-Id: <9211152330.AA22979@syrinx.umd.edu> Errors-To: rush-request@syrinx.umd.edu Reply-To: rush@syrinx.umd.edu Sender: rush@syrinx.umd.edu Precedence: bulk From: rush@syrinx.umd.edu To: rush_mailing_list@syrinx.umd.edu Subject: 11/11/92 - The National Midnight Star #556 ** Special Edition ** Status: R
** ____ __ ___ ____ ___ ___ ** ** / /_/ /_ /\ / /__/ / / / / /\ / /__/ / ** ** / / / /__ / \/ / / / / /__/ / \/ / / /___ ** ** ** ** __ ___ ____ ** ** /\ /\ / / \ /\ / / / _ /__/ / ** ** / \/ \ / /___/ / \/ / /___/ / / / ** ** ** ** ____ ____ ___ ___ ** ** /__ / /__/ /__/ ** ** ____/ / / / / \ ** List posting/followup: rush@syrinx.umd.edu Administrative matters: rush-request@syrinx.umd.edu or rush-mgr@syrinx.umd.edu (Administrative postings to the posting address will be ignored!) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The National Midnight Star, Number 556 Wednesday, 11 November 1992 Today's Topics: Third Anniversary of the NMS ---------------------------------------------------------- ********* ******* *** ******* **** ** ** **** *** * * *** *** ** ** *** ** ** ** ** ** * * ** ***************** ***************** ** *** *** ** ** *** RUSH 3rd ANNIVERSARY *** ** * **** SPECIAL **** * * *** ISSUE *** * * ** ** * ** ** ** ** ** * * ** * ** ***** ** * *** ** *** *** ** *** ** * **** **** * ** *** ** *** *** ** *** ******* ******* **** **** ******* ******* ********* ********************************************************************* TABLE of CONTENTS ----------------- I. Administrivia II. The "Save the Rush-mgr Sanity fund drive" Story III. The Rush-Mgr Trip (Nov 91-Jan 92) IV. Subject: 3rd Anniversary Thoughts V. Special Edition: My Trip To California VI. The Rush Fanzine Info ********************************************************************* ---------------------------------------------------------- I. Administrivia From: rush-mgr <The National Midnight Star Editor> Date: Wed Nov 11 20:45:48 EST 1992 Subject: Administrivia This is a RESEND of Digest 556, as many people did not receive it. So if you've already gotten a copy, just ignore this one. - rush-mgr ---------------------------------------------------------- II. The "Save the Rush-mgr Sanity fund drive" Story From: jlang@syrinx.umd.edu <~ Rush Fanatic ~> Date: Wed Nov 11 20:46:39 EST 1992 Subject: The "Save the Rush-mgr Sanity fund drive" Story What? We're on year 4 now? Well, didn't seem like that long. Before I start off I just want to thank you for all the subscribers who made this possible. The list is probably close to 1500+ members now, with all the distribution lists included in the tally. This is a long cry from just a handful when it all started out. The hardest thing about doing an anniversary issue is trying to find something that hasn't been talked about before. The everyday issue of the NMS is pretty much evident of this with rehash topics that occur in between the tours. A lot of things have transpired between the start of this list and its current incarnation. Some for the better some for the worst. One subject that I have to mention in this special issue is something that was long promised but never delivered. Funny isn't it how regular everday work gets in the way of what you want to do but never have time to. :( The topic would be of course, for those who've been around since the last anniversary issue, the tale of Dave's trip and the big NMS fund raiser. A brief history of how it all began: About a year ago at this time, I was doing pretty much what I'm doing right now! Writing an anniversary issue (ugh! :) when Meg mentioned to me an idea for Dave. Something about how great the NMS is and how cool it is that Dave donated his machine syrinx.umd.edu to be the home of the ftp site and the mailing list. With that in mind, everyone should send in a quarter or some such amount to show some thanks. Well, I didn't think much of it at the time but as the week when on, I started thinking about this. What would be a good way to show Dave that people wanted to thank him for his contribution to the list? Then Meg's idea came back to me, with Dave's birthday coming up (and more wrinkles in the skin :) and with Christmas around the corner, I thought if everyone really did mail in a money to a fund, say a voluntary $1 donation, we would be able to get Dave a good present and show him our appreciation for everything he's done with the list. With 1300+ people on the list, if everyone or just half of them contributed $1 I could get enough money to get him a good present. After mucking around with the idea for a while, Meg finally pressured me to put the plan in action. I started mailing out individually to the list asking if people would be willing to donate $1 to get Dave a present. The present was to be a round-trip ticket to California (sunny San Diego), and a few Rush shows here on the West Coast. I was reluctant at first, because I kept thinking, would people actually send some money in to this? Well, as it turned out the fundraiser went very well. Many people were donating $5 and even big amounts like $20! Well, soon, all the money started adding up and I realize we would eventually reach our goal. I guess at first I wasn't sure if people would contribute and that if I didn't reach my goal, I would end up contributing the rest of the fund to get Dave to the West coast for a show. Luckily this wasn't necessary as I realize a lot of NMS members were more than happy to contribute. To this I extend my thanks and I'm sure Dave does too. After a month or so of fundraising we got the necessary amount (see Meg's post below for statistics), I gave Dave a call. All this secret fundraising was done behind Dave's back all from his own machine. I would update all the list members (excluding Dave) about the progress of the fundraiser. With Dave on the phone I let him know what had transpired and he was pretty shocked I guess that Meg and I actually pulled something like that off. Nevertheless, he was extremely happy to hear the full story and said he would be checking with his boss. The schedule was to be Dave coming out during January to catch a 3 Rush shows with an all paid round trip ticket and tickets to the show. With the surprising success of the fundraiser (again many thanks to all who contributed!) I was able to purchase for Dave a 2nd row ticket to the San Diego show and also 2 additional tickets for 2 nights at the LA Forum. After a few days, Dave confirmed that it would be ok with his boss to take up this adventure and I'm sure permission from his wife :) (I understand Dave you have a special arrangement with your wife, a stipulation of the marriage that you be allowed to go see any Rush show!! :-) :) Meeting Dave again was nice, it'd been a while since we last met but I didn't have any problem picking him out from the crowd at the airport. I had planned a welcoming committee and party for Dave on the night before our San Diego show. We all went over to a friend's house and partied late into the night. Home-brew, pizza, chicken, and even some taping of certain Rush items went on. All in all, I think everyone had a good time, I certainly did. Also gave us a chance to meet other NMS people. Tom, Dave, and Dave, Louie, and a bunch of my own personal friends. The real rush-mgr was feeling a bit jetlag so before it was too late, we all headed home to sleep off the effects. The San Diego show was incredible (what show isn't I guess if you're close like that), Geddy played practically right in front of us, everyone was having a blast, especially Louie. :) That particular week was pretty bad for me actually, since I was working 6am this meant little sleep all week. Especially considering for the LA shows we would drive 2 hours to get there, we didn't get home until 2-3am. I did some sightseeing with Dave and Meg's roommate, Amy, down in Tijuana, Mexico, that was an experience in itself, and gave Dave a good tour of "America's Finest City", San Diego. Also, showed Dave around UCSD campus and the SDSC (San Diego Supercomputer Center), where I work at a regional network (CERFnet) at an NSFnet backbone. I find it funny recalling how Dave was standing in front of our Cray at the SDSC while I took his picture, he looked like a tourist :) The 2 LA Forum shows were just as good as the SD show. Certainly watching it from a different vantage point gave you the full effect of what goes on in the Rush concert atmosphere. The quad sound for example very well done especially during Neil's drum solo. Thanks Tom for the tickets! Another side note I remember walking around with Dave because for some oddball reason I had lost my wallet in the parking lot :( This was later recovered though so that's good. Ah.. the things that happen to you. Driving home in the fog was kinda fun too :) All in all with the 3 shows in 4 days, I think I pretty good job of tiring out the rush-mgr. Guess he's not as young as he used to be :) By week's end, I'm sure Dave had been all Rush-out and looking forward to returning home. It was a pleasure to see him enjoy himself at all the shows. With that in mind I was please to see that the fund-drive was a success and that everything paid off. If anything our now happy most-esteemed rush-mgr would be quite content knowing that those on the NMS list appreciated all his efforts and thanks him for use of the machine, and many other great qualities. The thing that I find amazing about this whole thing is that of the many different people on the list, the majority of those who contributed did so not because they had any personal connection with David, but merely so out of a common interest for music. The fact that perfect strangers who don't even know Dave but yet can contribute to a fund because of what Dave does is just proof that Rush music encompasses all of its fans. The NMS is certainly a good proof of that. And I hope that for this 4th year into the NMS it will continue to show proof that we're all on because of a common bond created by 3 superb musicians. Before I end this nonsense rambling, I would again thank you all who participated, and even those who didn't or mailed to say they would love to but can't for whatever reason. (Believe me it's all appreciated don't feel left out, I too am a "poor starving college student" :) It's amazing the amount of people on the list if you think about it from all walks of life and all sorts of contacts. I've met a few at many of the Rush shows and it's always been a pleasure to put a face to an email address. I hope that those I've met feel the same. Perhaps by the time next anniversary issue comes around, a lot of NMS people can meet up during the next tour, it's certainly a thought. Thanks all and here's looking forward to a new year. (Thanks Bruce for the kind words on this year's passing, you're the only one that noticed!) -Jimmy jlang@syrinx.umd.edu PS. hmm..how about a fund drive to add more disk space on syrinx? :) ---------------------------------------------------------- III. The Rush-Mgr Trip (Nov 91-Jan 92) From: meg@syrinx.umd.edu (****** Meg ******) Date: Mon, 09 Nov 1992 Subject: The Rush-Mgr Trip (Nov 91-Jan 92) For those members who have been on the list for over a year now this may sound familiar.. for those who weren't here's the background. In November 1991 (just after the RTB tour got rolling) we (Jimmy & I) were trying to put together the second anniversary issue as it was a bit overdue. He made some comment while I was writing my post that I should include "ps. I think everyone should send Dave 25 cents for all the work he's done." I thought that it sounded like a good idea, but then thought if *everyone* sent that in, we could get him plane tickets and concert seats! So we thought up an idea and the line never went in my post, just in case Dave would get suspicious. I wrote up a quick program to mail out to everyone except the rush-mgr and we asked for donations. The concert for San Diego was not until Jan 20th so we had about 2 months to get everything organized. In the original letter we asked if people were interested, and an asking donation of $1 from anyone who wanted to join in. I didn't include the address just to see how good the response would be, and I got almost 200 messages in the first week alone! So we sent out updates about once a week; towards the end it was slowing WAY down, and the air fare ticket prices went WAY up, but we were able to pull it off! Dave got a round-trip ticket fully paid for (we were going to pay for any shortcomings out of our own pocket), 2nd row seats at the San Diego Sports Arena, and tickets to the two LA shows. David's Response (in Digest #409): --------------------------------------------------------- |From: Editor, The National Midnight Star <rush-mgr@syrinx.umd.edu> |Subject: Administrivia | |Halloo all, | | Secondly, I just want to say that I'm reeling in amazement right now! |I got mail from Jimmy Lang today (and a phone call) to let me in on the |mystery post from yesterday, and the secret surrounding it! My head is |swimming!!!!!! | | For those new to the list, wayyy behind in reading, or just dead, this |is the story: apparently Jimmy sent mail directly to the list membership |without me knowing. He apparently mentioned about how I'd been managing |this forum for the past 2 years, and that he thought I deserved a little |"gratitude gift" from the list members. His idea was a trip to Southern CA |to see the band at a couple of shows; he'd asked for donations of $1 from |any NMS member willing to participate. Well, he apparently got over 150 |responses, and has been busily collecting money for the past couple of weeks. |(Oh, and you too, Meg; didn't mean to leave you out!) | | The upshot of all this is that he's finally been able to collect enough |money to (just) cover the airfare for a round-trip flight from here (the |Baltimore MD/Washington DC area) to San Diego. He's hoping to collect a bit |more to cover the costs of the tickets he'd bought for me - to three shows!!! |He wants me to fly out to San Diego in January and spend a week partying |with ... well, whoever will be around, and to catch shows in San Diego and LA |(hmmm, still not sure where 3rd show is...). | | His timing was amazing, for I'm finalizing a trip to Pittsburgh for some |NeXT training the week prior to when he wants me to come to CA - I'd fly out |to Pgh. on a Saturday, spend the week in class, fly home on Friday, then |turn around and fly to San Diego on Saturday (morning, no less!). If he |were planning for even a day earlier, it would not have worked. Of course, |if the Pgh. trip falls through, then it's no sweat. But, with any luck, I'll |spend a bunch of January in three separate states! (Oh, you Pgh. people, |stay tuned - once that's finalized I'll be sending out mail to see if anyone |wants to get together.) | | I'd just like to say that I'm amazed by all this, and quite humbled. I |never considered anything on this scale possible, or any "real" payment, for |that matter. I considered the inside/pre-release/in-depth information I'd |gotten off the list as reward in itself. But hey, I won't look a gift plane |ticket in the mouth, and gladly (and gratefully) accept. And to see three |shows while I'm out there, that's just icing on the cake. Jimmy's told me |I'll have the chance to see one from the 2nd row - I've never been that close |at ANY concert before. Should I bring binoculars? :-) | | Well, to make a short note long, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all you |list members who responded to Jimmy!!! I am amazed at the response, and also |touched that you would do this for me, a mere faceless alias on the net. |(Well, a couple of you have seen the face, but that's YOUR cross to bear. :-) |I really appreciate the opportunity, and only hope I can do something to |repay all of you who have graciously donated. I think I'll try to wrap this |up now, and go home to think about packing. I'll be giggling all the way |through Christmas! (Hey, this could double as a Christmas/birthday present, |as they both are the same day...) | |Thanks again, |rush-mgr .... uuuhhh, David, that is. |------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- Here are some of the statistics: -------------------------------- Total amount received: $582.45 Total donations received: 141 (the list was at about 1000 people then) Most original donation: $5.28 ($21.12 divided by 4) Biggest: $21.12 (of course!) Most bizzare: $1.07 Most "interesting": A condom & an Alka-Seltzer tablet [ Still available Dave if you want them :-) : rush-mgr] -------------------------------------------------------- Contributors (alpha order by first name): -------------------------------------------------------- Ajoy Bhatia Alan Crouch Amit Majumdar Andrew Will Andy Adams Barry Brumitt Barry Warsaw Ben Walker Bill Barry Bing Kongmebhol Bob Joslin Breese Quinn Brian LaDage Brian Mirtich Brian Saunders Brian Sterling Bruce Holtgren Bryan Gorman Chad Hessoun Cheryl Renshaw Cheryl Stoy Chip Hart Chip Knee Chris Briggs Chris Craig Chris Klausmeier Chris Schiller Dan Dickerman Dan Quella Daniel L. Green Dave Anderson Dave Datta Dave Murry Dave Schmidt Dave Sheehan Dave Shreiner Dave Zegas David Conley David Pakman Dennis Laughren Donna Skarbo Doug Grumann Ed Chang Ed Lovell Eric Lundquist Erik Habbinga Erin Sasaki Ervan Darnell Frank Moore Frank Shaapherder Gary Arakaki George Klueber George Papadopoulos Gregg Jaeger Guy Kendall Jaimie Scott Jay Cook Jay Martin Jeff Murphy Jeff Waltersdorf Jim Fridlund Jim Mcleod Jim Zappia Jimmy Lang Joe Ferrara Joe Turner John Brooking John Connelly John Gemmell John Santore John Towse Jonathan L. Orwant K. Brent Fournier Keith Ford Keith Waggoner Ken Maupin Kevin Gosson Kevin Tipple Lance Neustaeter Lawrence Salomon, Jr. Lee Nussbaum Leon Shieh Lewis Bernstein Liz Atilez Louie LaPlant Marc S. Kazigian Mario D'Alessio Mark Kent Mark Maxham Mark Saleski Matt Barletta Matt Coohill Matthew Barton Meg Jahnke Michael Mcneill Mike Sandoval Mike Shatswell Mike Vargo Miles Lester Niall Fallon Pat Choy Pat Perez Paul Catalano Paul Knight Paul May Paul Parker Peter Bell Peter Nichols Peter Paul Phil Simon Ralph Torres Ralph deGennaro Rich Rubell Rich Sofranko Robert Berlinger Robert Cotton Roger Blakesley Ron Braun Ron Conescur Ron Kleiner Ron Rayas Rosemary Hometchko Rudy Rumohr, Jr. Saurav Misra Scott Casavant Scott Storey Stephen Spencer Sterling Udell Stuart Miyasato T.J. Higgins Ted Latner Terry Brex Terry Stedman Tim Calla Tim O'Connor Tom Brex Tony R. Rice Trevin Pick Tyler Weaver Wade Williams William MacDonald -Meg ---------------------------------------------------------- IV. Subject: 3rd Anniversary Thoughts From: dan@bud.csc.calpoly.edu (Dan Delany) Subject: 3rd Anniversary Thoughts To: rush@syrinx.umd.edu Date: Wed, 11 Nov 92 13:18:16 PST Well, I've been asked by Jimmy Lang himself to write a piece for the 3rd anniversary issue of TNMS about our experiences at the first in an occasional series of NMS staff meetings. The first full staff meeting, as I like to refer to it, took place on January 20, 1992 in beautiful San Diego. My day started off well. I got to drive 300 miles along the California coast. (I can think of quite a few worse ways to spend a Sunday than driving along the coast.) Upon arriving in San Diego, I found out that Jimmy and David had gone to Tijuana for a while, so I killed some time with Meg waiting for Jimmy & David. David and I hit it off really well - he's a real down-to-earth guy who just happens to have a whole bunch of people who are willing to pay for him to go see Rush shows. (I should have friends like that.) Unfortunately, the tickets Jimmy had didn't allow for David and I to sit together - he was in the 2nd row, while I was all the way back in the 9th row. Sigh. However, we made up for that on the 22nd by being next to each other at the Forum show in LA. My friend J.R. came along for that show, and he and David and I did a pretty good job (if I do say so myself) of air-drumming in unison through most of the show. I think Meg kinda felt left out of that, but we didn't mean to leave her out. All in all, an enjoyable few days, and I enjoyed meeting Dave. (Hey, whatever happened to the pictures from Sunday, anyway?) Dan Delany dan@rat.csc.calpoly.edu I failed the Turing test. ---------------------------------------------------------- V. Special Edition: My Trip To California From: davida (David Arnold) Subject: Special Edition: My Trip To California Date: Mon, 09 Nov 92 17:54:56 -0500 The California Saga: One Managers Experience It all started with a phone call. "Hey Dave, this is Jimmy. Whatcha doin' in January?" A wide-open question if ever I heard one! "You've got to be more specific," I replied. Well, after much hemming and hawing on Jimmy's part, it finally came down to this: he had conspired behind my back, with "my" very own mailing list, to do an amazing thing. He had asked for a contribution of $1 US from anyone on the list who wanted to contribute. This was to go towards something nice for me, the (then) rush-mgr. It had started out as a proposal to fly me out to San Diego and catch a show on the left coast. From the initial response, both of money and promises for money, it soon became apparent that it might be more. They wouldn't say (to protect the guilty), but apparently a few chipped in quite a bit more than the requested $1. I'll have to thank you in anonymity, but please know I do thank you! It turns out that from a list of ~1200, they got enough money to pay for a round-trip airline ticket for me, as well as tickets to not one, but three Rush shows in southern California! I was to fly in on Saturday, hang out for a day or so, then enjoy the San Diego show from the SECOND ROW, followed by a couple more days of lounging, then two more shows in LA, then back home! Whew, what a surprise, to say the least! When I picked my teeth up off the floor, I told him I'd check with my boss to make sure I could get a week off on short notice. Luckily I work for a really great guy, and after I explained what happened, he said "Sure, go for it!" I told Jimmy I was good to go, and he put the plan into motion. I flew into San Diego not knowing really what to expect. I'd met Jimmy once about two years before, but only got to talk to him for a couple of hours before he had to take off. Now I was going to spend a week with him and his friends. On the plane, I thought of a Talking Heads lyric, "My God, what have I done?" :-) I landed at the S.D. airport about 1/2 hour late & got my luggage. Wondering how I was going to find Jimmy & co., I stood staring ... then I spotted him. It turns out he was also late, so he'd gotten there about 5 minutes before the plane. I took this as a good omen and we took off. We piled into his car and headed directly for a friends house. There, a party commenced, complete with all the necessities; bad-for-you food, excellent beer (homebrew, even - more on this later), and a bunch of people I had never met (hi, Whatis). Hey, there was even a swimming pool and an iguana. These people had taste. :-) We talked Rush and all sorts of things between late into the evening ... for me it was well into the a.m. hours when we finally headed to where I would be staying. It turned out I wouldn't be staying with Jimmy, I'd be staying with his girlfriend, Meg, and her roommate Amy. Hmmm, I said to myself, can't wait to tell my wife about the sleeping arrangements! On Monday I got to meet yet more of our intrepid show-people, including Louie whom I'd been trading e-mail with for months/years, and Dan, our hallowed Keeper of the FAQL. The pre-Monday show excitement was pretty much; we had a crowd of about 15 to go. I was especially psyched, as I was going to see them from closer than I'd ever before. Needless to say, the show was incredible! It was my first live taste of Primus, and I must say I'd rather have seen them than any of the other openers I'd seen (since '79). Then Rush hit the stage, and we went wild. We were so close we could almost touch them, and at certain points, you could tell Geddy or Alex were looking right at YOU! I was drained after that show, to be sure. I will take that ticket stub to my grave. On top of the show, I got to meet more people there whom I've known via e-mail for years! It was great to finally put some names to the faces! (Hi, Kelly!) Most of the time I spent in San Diego was pretty hectic. Jimmy & Meg gave me a tour of the area, and I shot a bunch of film. (Yes, I still have the pics and negatives - interested parties can contact me or Jimmy/Meg about them.) Unfortunately, I played tourist too much, so only have a few of the Rush-list people. (There are others, in a certain roommates camera, Meg.) It was great, and I got a good overview of the area ... literally, from Mt. Soledad. I also got to see Black's Beach (and The Black, thanks Jimmy! ;-), the San Diego Supercomputer Center (which my university has a part of in a consortium) and we even got down to Tijuana for one afternoon of sight-seeing (and hearing of Jimmy's bar exploits). I got to experience the fabled LA traffic that Wednesday and Thursday night as we drove up to LA for the two shows there. Unfortunately, these seats were not quite as good, but over the three nights in CA I got to see the band from three very different perspectives. I'd like to note, if I may, that you see quite different shows from different places in the arena. When you're right up close, you see the stage show - Geddy & Alex, with glimpses of Neil through his kit. By contrast, in the back of the floor you get the full effect of the "surround sound" used during "Time Stand Still", etc. You also get a good overview of the show. From the rafters you can see how they play to the crowd, and how the crowd responds. You can also see the patterns of the lights & lazers across the crowd on the floor. Very inter- esting all in all! Also while in LA I got to (re-)meet another homebrewer, Tom, who introduced me to more local brews and his homebrew. I hope to be able to repay you the favor sometime, Tom! Finally, after a whirlwind week of loud (mostly excellent) music (a couple of the LA rides were ... interesting musically :-), it was too soon time to leave. I was at the same time anxious to get home and sorry to have to leave. I'd met people with whom I had no common ground with other than music, and ended up having a great time, one that I would relish for years to come. Oh, and one excellent Chinese dinner. All I can say is THANKS to all who helped in this effort. Amazingly enough, the money came out just about right, or at least to within a few dollars of what was needed. I paid for my own food, etc - it was the least I could do! It was an excellent present, and just happened to come just after my <mumble>th birthday, which made it even more special. I owe all of you one, and Jimmy & Meg (and Amy, who put up with a strange man in her place for a week) a really big one. To all of you I met there I mean what I said; you've got a place to stay if you ever hit the right coast. Which, after the recent election, maybe isn't so "right" after all! :-) To wrap this up, it was a great time. If you ever get the chance to get together for a party or show with fellow list members, go for it! You'll meet interesting folks and probably have a great time. It's worked locally for some shows, and on a grand scale one January in southern California! David Your sometimes rush-mgr ---------------------------------------------------------- VI. The Rush Fanzine Info From: rush-mgr <The National Midnight Star Editor> Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 Subject: The Rush Fanzine Info <Begin Shameless Plug> For those unfamilar with the 2 Rush fanzines currently available. A Show of Fans Spirit of Rush - UK c/o Steve/Mandy Streeter 25 Garden Close PO Box 292 Chinbrook Road Canton, CT 06019 Grove Park Phone: 203-693-0506 London SE12 9TG ENGLAND Subscriptions for ASOF are $15/year (4 issues + "Pressure Release" newsletters on happenings with the band as they become available between issues.) The latest ASOF issue #5 is mailing out this weekend. ASOF #4 has a nice letter from Neil to the fanzine. Check it out! Back issues available. Subscriptions for SOR-UK are $20/year (4 issues) available through ASOF. SOR-UK and ASOF are sister magazines and are completely *independent* of each other, but are fine complements of one another. As a result for US subscriptions, SOR-UK is available through ASOF. Back issues available. As a subscriber of both, I can vouch for their strived quality as a non-profit publication run by fans, for fans. Give them a try and tell them you heard about ASOF and SOR-UK through the NMS. <End Shameless Plug> ---------------------------------------------------------- To submit material to The National Midnight Star, send mail to: rush@syrinx.umd.edu For administrative matters (subscription, unsubscription, changes, and questions), send mail to: rush-request@syrinx.umd.edu or rush-mgr@syrinx.umd.edu There is now anonymous ftp access available on Syrinx. The network address to ftp to is: syrinx.umd.edu or 128.8.2.114 When you've connected, userid is "anonymous", password is <your userid>. Once you've successfully logged on, change directory (cd) to 'rush'. There is also a mail server available (for those unable or unwilling to ftp). For more info, send email with the subject line of HELP to: server@ingr.com These requests are processed nightly. Use a subject line of MESSAGE to send a note to the server keeper or to deposit a file into the archive. The contents of The National Midnight Star are solely the opinions and comments of the individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the authors' management, or the mailing list management. Copyright The Rush Fans Mailing List, 1992. Editor, The National Midnight Star (Rush Fans Mailing List) ******************************************** End of The National Midnight Star Number 556 ********************************************