The National Midnight Star #696

From temples@syrinx.umd.edu Mon Jun 14 19:10:07 1993 Return-Path: <temples@syrinx.umd.edu> Received: from syrinx.umd.edu by dsys.ncsl.nist.gov (4.1/NIST-dsys) id AA05796; Mon, 14 Jun 93 19:10:01 EDT Received: by syrinx.umd.edu (5.57/Ultrix2.4-C) id AA23860; Mon, 14 Jun 93 18:30:06 -0400 Date: Mon, 14 Jun 93 18:30:06 -0400 Message-Id: <9306142230.AA23860@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: 06/14/93 - The National Midnight Star #696 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 696 Monday, 14 June 1993 Today's Topics: Administrivia Ravings of madmen and snarling dogs gild, political correctness, and reality RTB skeleton talk @ end More mindless banter about HOMEBOYS and Rap "What's Wrong With Being Sexy?" More Red Tide Columbia House CD Club Yuk Fest '93 the skeleton in RTB concert Sexism and drum solos Tom Sawyers Treasures Must be the heat.....these people are crazy! Sexism and Rush: an observation Blue Phonebooths and Pink Lemonade ---------------------------------------------------------- From: rush-mgr@syrinx.umd.edu <The RUSH Fans Digest Manager> Date: Mon Jun 14 17:43:49 EDT 1993 Subject: Administrivia Some quick notices, there's some information about the new album at the end of today's digest, take a look! For all those out there complaining about MTv, this is your chance to direct those complaints. This was recently brought to my attention (thanks John). What do you guys think about this? Mail in and let 'em know! Also, there is some "semi-flamish" material later on regarding previous posts. People, if you feel like directing something to a specific person then please send them some email. The rule of thumb here is to consider that others are reading your direct reply. - rush-mgr >============================================================================ >From: zamboni@ap.cl.msu.edu (happy zamboni) >Subject: INFO: MTV wants net-info. >Organization: Michigan State University, USA >Date: Thu, 3 Jun 1993 08:33:07 GMT > >Hello all, > This was just forwarded to me, and while I am by no means a fan of MTV, >and have mixed feelings about what they are trying to do here, I thought than >others may be interested in seeing this and/or replying to their request for >info. >I have not yet seen any of this posted anywhere on USENET, but if this >turns out being a repeat, please forgive. > >-Eric >cookeri1@student.msu.edu > >---------- Forwarded message ---------- >Subject: MTV News, Nets, User Feedback > >As you probably know, Billy Idol was seen using the WELL on MTV's "The >Week in Rock" last weekend. MTV News is gearing up to cover >technology in a big way, ideally at the same level and standard as was seen >during the '92 election coverage ("Choose or Lose"). They want to reach >the real users of technology and not just re-package press releases and >tow the corporate line. Where would be an appropriate place to >post the following invitation for comment? (Soon there will be an online >address for comment, but for now, the powers that be need to see voice >call volume for the segments to gain a foothold. >----------------------------------------------------------------- > >To: online communities and lurkers of all kinds >RE: MTV News on technology *** call (212) 258-8700 #7 *** > >An unsolicited invitation for comment (forward as you see fit): > >Register support for the online community at large and suggest >technology-oriented topics which might be enlightening for MTV audiences. >Be sure to call in your interest in MTV News' new alternative >coverage of "CyberStuff," featured this week on "The Week In Rock." >Help propel it forward into new hackerish, political, and cyberesque areas, >ideally with your direct input. 212-258-8700 is the number. >Press #1 to give a viewer comment. Press #7 for more info about >MTV News. There are live people to talk to on this line during regular >business hours EST. > >========================================================================= >From: curryco@panix.com (Adam Curry) >Newsgroups: rec.music.video >Subject: MTV Viewers!!! >Date: 7 Jun 1993 14:55:15 -0400 >Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC > >Hi, > >My name is Adam Curry, I work for MTV. I am conducting a test with regard >to poularity of videos, and need people with Internet Relay Chat access to >help me. If you are interested please EMail me at curryco@panix.com > >Future participants will be compensated for their time. > >Thank you. > >Adam Curry ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: 11 Jun 1993 10:32:08 -0400 (EDT) From: ahung@discover.wright.edu (The Sun Dog) Subject: Ravings of madmen and snarling dogs >From: "Ray (DJ) DeGennaro II" <degennar@bmsrs.usc.edu> >Subject: The Trouble with Rap > >A couple of things about this anti-rap theme: > >1) Don't be hypocritacal. Many of you all have bitched about people that >don't like rush, or say that the music is junk (many also treat the former as >if they were the latter). The standard reply is that they just haven't >listened to the right songs/albums, or haven't listened enough, or hard >enough, etc. Now here comes an artform that is different, and you are making >judgements based upon a small sampling of the pop stuff. My advice is to >explore, find the stuff that isn't pop (i.e. the same old shit, recycled, >with light, fluffy lyrics). Well, my point of view is that if a certain type of music does something for you, then you need to go wid' it. Whether "it" is hardcore punk or Barry Manilow is irrelevant. What gives with the twisted logic that anything on radio is sellout material? Artists write whatever they want. Only a few blatantly sell out. >In summary, for those of you that understand parables, just because $7.99 for >wo large pizzas Pizza Shop down the street sells the grossest stuff you've >ever tasted, doesn't mean that the small, just came over from Italy last week >family run Pizza Place (that can only be found by stumbling upon it) doesn't >exist. What????? I understand parables, but I don't understand this at all. I don't see any connection between Rush and pizza joints. Maybe I'm just not hip. This isn't meant to be a flame, I just don't understand what you're poking at. Not to spoil all of the enlightening conversation about rap, but can we get back to talking about Rush? This is starting to resemble that black hole thread of a few months ago (well, this is only slightly more interesting). Anyone else wanna throw in some writers that Neil has mentioned as influences? I've gotten one reply (which was great, BTW). Geez, this rap thing has generated more response than my question about Neil's influences. What's up wid' dat? Cheers to Beezus, Meg, Clio, Quinn, Rolaant ! See you all on the inside! *************************************************** Art Hung ahung@discover.wright.edu "The Sun Dog" ---"Sun dogs fire on the horizon, meteors rain stars across the night, this moment may be brief... but it can be so bright......" **************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------- From: pevans@sanjuan.UVic.CA (Patricia Evans) Subject: gild, political correctness, and reality Date: Fri, 11 Jun 93 16:54:21 PDT Doug Adams writes about Political Correctness and says: > Buying an album of a particular group does not mean that we, the consumer, > have also purchased a right to judge the individual lives of those who live > in the "gilded cage." Listen to the lyrics of Limelight and reflect on this > point. All the while, keep in mind that the definition of _gild_ is "to > spoil something already beautiful by trying to improve it." In the context > of this discussion, those who criticize Rush and its individual members > (note: there is a difference between the two) for exhibiting what they > _construe_ as sexist behavior are gilding reality with individual > perceptions of reality. Referring to Limelight for authority doesn't fit here the way Doug describes. The meaning he gives to gild above is incorrect. It's actually the meaning of the phrase "gild the lily", which is not what Limelight refers to at all. Instead the reference to a "gilded cage" is to a common literary image, a gilded cage is externally pretty or showy (a defn. of gild) but it's still a cage. I think what Neil was saying is that so-called public figures can be trapped in the limelight, which fits with the rest of the song. I agree that we don't have the "right" to judge them, but I can disagree with anyone about anything whenever I want to. If someone feels uncomfortable about something that the band (or a member) does or says, then let them feel that way. Dismissing it as overreacting is being judgemental also. I myself was not one of the original posters about the video intro to Tom Sawyer, but I do find it to be overtly sexist. Maybe it's supposed to get that sort of reaction, as it's quite a cliche. As for the mentioned "individual perceptions of reality", I assert that what I perceive is the only true reality, and I challenge anyone to prove otherwise. :-) Patricia Evans pevans@sanjuan.uvic.ca ORQ: "quick to judge, quick to anger, slow to understand" ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 11 Jun 1993 20:53:07 -0400 From: Christopher Mermagen <cmermag@eng.umd.edu> Subject: RTB skeleton talk @ end I believe he says 'Because we're here!'.. cool ending.. Chris ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1993 01:56:14 -0400 (EDT) From: Mike Smith <spawn@netaxs.com> Subject: More mindless banter about HOMEBOYS and Rap > Date: 09 Jun 93 03:36:14 EDT > From: Bruce Holtgren <70724.1622@CompuServe.COM> > Subject: One man's "garbage" ... > > I thought this would be a good time to thank those who have > contributed all the wonderfully eloquent and intelligent defenses > of rap and its place in modern music. While sympathetic to those > who are tired of the subject, I'd merely offer that this is > hardly the first time that TNMS has gone off on a tangent. This > one has been one of the best, and I've enjoyed it immensely. > Thanks for all the great posts. > And every once in a while, someone's got to kick it in the butt to get it back on track and off of it's tangent, eh? > I'm no fan of rap myself (gonna have to pick me up an album or > two now, tho :) ), but I was beginning to worry at all the > brainless bashing going on, so I was real pleased to see that > there are a few folks with a sense of perspective. As for the > rest of you: I know you don't *mean* to sound racist, I'm afraid > in some instances it has seemed to come across that way. And what's wrong with being racist? You say that as if it's a bad thing. :) Seriously, I'm racist, what of it? It simply means I care more about my own race than someone else's, let's face it, "minorities" certanily aren't out there pushing for the rights of anyone other than themselves. So what's wrong with being Pro-Whatever-you-are? "Racism" has gotten a bad rep because it's been connected with bigotry and prejudism, they're not related. But what does this have to do with Rush? > > Of course, I know that NOBODY on this mailing list could possibly > be even a *little* bit racist. ;) ;) ;) On the other hand ... > See above. > >Oh, and to the gentlemen who was having trouble with English, and didn't > >know what "Homeboy" meant, it's gutter speak, I don't think there's one > >solid definition, I guess the closest translation from garbage english to > >real english would be "friend" but I don't think that cuts it, because > >it's not used exclusivly that way. It's street slang, and if you're > >learning english, it's a word you can easily avoid. It's junk. > > "Homeboy," as I understand it, originally meant a guy from the > neighborhood. It has since evolved to mean just "guy" or, yes, > "friend." (British translation: "chap," "fellow." :) ) > > Far from being "gutter speak" or "garbage English," "homeboy" is > every bit as wonderful and valid of a contribution to the > language as the hundreds of other words and phrases that have > come from the same incredibly rich source. Black English has > given us such gems as jammin', slammin', ain't, gimme some skin, > high-five, kick-ass, get down, yo, far out, jive, diss, say what, > and livin' large - right on! Then there are all sorts of great > new meanings and nuances for old words: cool, hip, space, woof, > horny, crash, man, baby, chick, dude, wheels, cop, chill, cruise, > bread, bro ... and of course there are hundreds more; I'll spare > you any further humiliation. > Oh please, humiluiate me more, I enjoy it, because I'm more than capible of coming back at you with the proper answers. It IS gutter speak. Just because it's accepted "slang" doesn't make it accepted "ENGLISH", it's not. If a person is trying to learn "ENGLISH", that's one thing, once they've gotten a handle on the true language, fine, then they can pick up all of our slang as they go along. But we have more "slang" in the American-English language than any other language on the planet, and it causes many problems for people trying to learn it. Which is why I told the gentleman to ignore it as garbage, because it IS garbage. At some point in the future, if it becomes accepted, fine, but it's not yet part of the ENGLISH LANGUAGE. It's similar to the way certain uneducated people have been going around using the word "disrespecting". You do not "disrespect" a person, and there is no such word as "dis". You simply wind up confusing a person who's trying to learn the language beyond all point of reason, and they give up hope. So the person who was learning does not need to know that word, because it's NOT a word. "Home" and "Boy" are words, and you can put them together in a sentence in the fashon "You better run home, boy.", however "You better run, homeboy" is NOT correct. And to be quite literal it's not any "Black" word at all, it originates from Spanish "Homme", or "hombre", and it does mean FRIEND. The bastardization of the word into the slang "Homeboy" means literally NOTHING. It's not racist or bigoted of me to say so, it's proper. > Well, OK - maybe just one more priceless contribution from black > English: rock 'n' roll. > Gosh, now there's some words we never would have known about had it not been for the black population. "Rock" (When we landed here on Plymouth THING, we didn't know what the hell to call it, but then some black guy told us "DatZ a R0ck", and straightened our honkey asses out!) And Roll, wow, we were confused, dahm! We used to just, oh, throw ourselves onto the ground and shift back and forth, we'd take round objects and send them sailing across the ground, but, thanks to another fine Black man, we discovered we were ROLLING! <Gasp!> And of course, where would we be without the word "and" minus the a and the d. Thank you, o' black people where ever you may be, for the addition of these words to our vocabulary! We're truely honored! <Giggle> Might I suggest getting a grip my friend? > So what does this have to do with Rush? Everything. No English > speaker alive today, native or otherwise, can fail to benefit > from the priceless contributions that black people have made to > the language - and, even moreso, to popular music. Rush, and all > of us, owe the speakers (and, yes, rappers) of black English a > tremendous debt. Neither they, nor the words they use, have ever > been "junk." I won't deny the addition of certain words to every day vocabulary that black Americans have made, but let's be honest, you're giving credit for the wrong words, and lending creedence to words that do not deserve it. For the most part, black "slang" is just taking existing words, and due to a lack of education, or, a desire to be different, twisting those words around, and using them in different ways. VERY FEW words were actually INVENTED and added. New DEFINITIONS for words have been added, but new words rarely. I'm not trying to say that this is bad, just that the facts are the facts. We can also credit other groups of people with slang expressions that are often used. For instance, my own section of the country can be credited with giving you the expressions "Yo!" and "Stoop (as in sitting on the)", but this doesn't make them any more valid, or give them a place in the LANGUAGE, they're still SLANG, and still GARBAGE words. We use them, but it'd be nice if we tried NOT to when speaking to someone who is trying to LEARN the language. Obviously you've never worked with anyone in a teaching capacity. For instance, the deaf, illiterate, or taught the language to anyone. I have, and there's one thing you try never to do, and that's walk into a classroom saying "Yo Hommies, Wazzup? We be down wit dat bad sheet!" That's just asking for trouble. Oh, sure, Robin Williams got lots of yucks doing similar things in _Good Morning Vietnam_, but let's try to seperate fact from fantasy shall we? Regards, M. Smith > Date: Wed, 9 Jun 1993 03:54:22 -0500 (CDT) > From: "J.P. Thompson" <jpt2@engr.engr.uark.edu> > Subject: Where's my brain? > > I think that the word "homeboy" is just as crucial to the English language as > any other word. The U.S.'s version of the English language is > basically just Slang+English. If you think that the word "homeboy" is not > a word worth knowing, remember:a Japanese boy didn't know that the slang > version of "freeze" meant "to stop", and he lost his life. Just another arguement for not using slang when dealing with people who aren't familiar with the language. If the person who said "Freeze" was a police officer, are you aware that in so doing, if he were honest about having said "freeze" and it were true that the boy didn't understand, the officer would most definatly be serving time on a MURDER sentence? Think about it. Police officers are not free to make up a new language wherever they want to. And if a police officer told me to "Freeze", I'd be more than happy to throw him an ice cube and be on my merry little way. So long as I knocked him out with it <Grin>. Yes, American English incorperates a lot of slang, but a person learning the language must learn THE LANGUAGE FIRST, then worry about the slang. You do NOT teach a person "Freeze means stop". You teach them what freeze means, then after they have a grip on the language, you might teach them a bit about slang... > From: joseph paul mancewicz <jmance@engin.umich.edu> > > To whomever was inquiring about homeboy- > Perhaps saying that it's *gutter speak* is giving you a slightly biased > opinion. Homeboy is slang, and is *usually* associated with rap artists and > fans. It is a noun used to address or refer to a male- most commonly in a > friendly manner, although it can also be employed in the neutral and > aggressive situations. Some examples of person's whom you might call homeboy: > brother, friend, guy on the street who is about to do something stupid, guy > your about to fight... Things you might say: Hey homeboy, Homeboy here is > taking out fer a beer, Watch it homeboy, What did you say Homeboy... Persons > NOT to call homeboy: your dad when you're asking for money, your mother- ever, > any guy in a suit, a cop, a priest, a nun,... Never say, "Bless me > homeboy for I have sinned." Here we have a textbook example of someone who only wishes they'd completed the required 3rd grade level of English. > Take what's been said about it being junk English or my favorite *gutter > speak* and think of it as one person's opinion. If I were to state my > opinion, I'd have to say that homeboy is a far more valid term than *gutter > speak*, but I'll refrain. Keep in mind that homeboy is a casual term for a > male (maybe a female as well, but I've NEVER heard of it), and is most > commonly friendly. As I said, it's gutter-speak, slang, garbage talk. It is not part of the English language. And nothing you have said disprooves that. More to the point, your entire message serves to highlight the problem of illiteracy in the United States. Read over your own message, and you tell me, Would you really have posted that, knowing how illiterate it makes you appear, if you had any true knowledge of the English language? I think not. Your posting is a poor example of how to write a message, letter, or corrospondance. ====================[AND NOW MY REAL LETTER]============================= All of the above, quoted, and what I wrote, serves to illustrate one thing and one thing only. This newsletter is really getting a bit out of hand. Too much emphisys is being placed on little worthless details, like rap, and finally here we have 3 responses to my after-thought about a person's query about the slang term "homeboy", simply because it appeared once, in one Rush song. We went from drawing out 20 seconds of a Rush song into 2 weeks worth of postings, to drawing out 1 single word into 3 long postings and my wordy response to them. Is this the kind of mailing this is intended to be? I think not. I think the creators of this mailing had something a bit more RUSH oriented in mind when they started it. But it's not my place to change it. I'm just one of us, it's OUR place to change it. Might we now, move off of these worthless topics, and onto a discussion that fits the mailing? There's more than one issue that could be discussed, why harp on pointless things? Let's move along ok? Next! [ Hey, you should've been here when we had the 10+ digest discussion of whether Neil's watch said 9:12 or 10:12... :) : rush-mgr ] Michael A. Smith ---No annoying tag to clutter up the mailing, "just the facts!"--- ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1993 21:14:37 -0700 (MST) From: Guy Kenneth <guy@gas.uug.arizona.edu> Subject: "What's Wrong With Being Sexy?" Was-sup boyz and girrrls? Rush isn't sexist? This is the band who write songs like "Working Man" "Digital Man" "New World Man" etc. And "the _men_ who hold high places..." =8-P But who cares, anyway? +----------------------------=============================--------------------+ "I got my sights on the stars< -- -- -- -- > . . won't get that far > __ __ __ __ < . . but I'll try anyway..." < __ __ __ - __ > * RUSH/best I can > == == == == < SEDS/Astrophysics +============================<<<guy@gas.uug.arizona.edu>>>====================+ ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 13 Jun 93 12:47:12 -0400 From: atd@po.CWRU.Edu (Aron T. Drake) Subject: More Red Tide Hello everybody, In the NMS #695 Joe Servaites writes: >"I just saw a story on a show called 'Beyond 2000' (on the discover >channel) about a phnomena called 'The Red Tide'. Apparently, in >Hong Kong, the water is so polluted in some areas, that no wildlife >at all can grow. In these areas, a type of red Algae (or bacteria).. >lives off the pollution, and accumulates near shore." Well, this isn't just a phenomenon in Hong Kong. I happens here in the states too. In Maine the red tide runs in cycles and gets bad every few years. I know this because it ruins one of my favorite things to eat, lobster. I remember being a kid, going to Maine and *not* being able to eat the stuff. (About as bad as the time my mom drove by Disney World without stopping ;). Just thought I'd add my $.02. Also, I made a comment about the whole barchetta thing. Well it seems that Maserati (sp?) *and* Ferrrari are going to produce them, barchetta being a car class. "...only immortal for a limited time." -NP -Aron -- | Aron Drake - atd@po.cwru.edu | | Biology/Education | 68% of all statistics are lies. | Case Western Reserve Univ. | -Belcher | (busboy extrodinare) | ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 13 Jun 1993 13:23:57 -0500 (CDT) From: BEEZUS@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu Subject: Columbia House CD Club Yuk Fest '93 Hello, Rusheads! It's yer Uncle Beezus and boy, have I got a short (thank gawd) and stupid story for ya'. I was perusing the Columbia House CD Club catalog last night--don't ask me why--and I happened upon a sort-of "spotlight" page on which Rush, and the CDs Columbia House carries, was featured. For your enjoyment, please allow me to transcribe the comments Columbia House saw fit to throw into the tiny descriptions of some of the CDs: "Signals"--Geddy Lee and co. spin an intricate web with vocals, major-chord guitars & drum action. "MP"--Contains their breakthrough hit "Tom Sawyer." "PermW"--The progressive power trio's departure to shorter, pop-flavored hits. "Hemispheres"--Canadian threesome's unique blend of hard rock and artful musical interplay. "AFTK"--Their 1977 breakthrough album features... "2112"--Platinum concept album features the epic title track... "P/G"--More tough, technoid rock from Lee, Lifeson, & Peart. Hmm...'technoid'? Breaktrough this, breakthrough that...pop-flavored...Geddy Lee and co.? And, just how many ways can we say "a group of three people"? Also, "RTB" gets a big black 'E' for explicit lyrics. This is a priviledge Rush shares with about, maybe, five of the CDs in the 'rap' section of the Columbia House catalog. Try as I might, I can't find the explicit lyrics on ANY song on "RTB." Oh, hold on a sec...I found 'em: "...so I grabbed my A-K and stone-cold smoked da' bitch / Slapped the ho' / Gave her an itch / Gone and went and kicked my homey in de ass / Rock-n-roll lives fo'evah!" Ah, yes, how silly of me to have missed THOSE. Lastly, Columbia House mentions the "By-Tor & the Snow Dog Suite" as part of the fun on "Fly By Night." SUITE?! I guess with its two movements, three if you wanna push it, you could consider it a suite...or not. ---------------------------------------------------------- From: LAUGHREN DENNIS P <laughren@spot.Colorado.EDU> Subject: the skeleton in RTB concert Date: Sun, 13 Jun 93 13:54:30 MDT as i recall(and this is my feeble memory reaching back to Las Cruces) the skeleton says "because we're here" just before the stinger on the live version of Roll the Bones. later rrrrrrrrrr uuuu uuuu sssssssss hhhh hhhh GREETINGS FROM COLORADO rrrrrrrrrr uuuu uuuu ssss hhhh hhhh THE HATE STATE! rrrr uuuu uuuu sssssssss hhhhhhhhhhh rrrr uuuu uuuu ssss hhhh hhhh "Ignorance and prejudice rrrr uuuuuuuuuuu sssssssss hhhh hhhh and fear walk hand in hand" ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 14 Jun 93 00:01:43 -0400 From: Alan H Ristow <ristow@engin.umich.edu> Subject: Sexism and drum solos It's interesting to read all the responses to Rush's alleged sexism. I think several valid points were brought up, but I *do* have to say that I consider myself somewhat rebellious and I don't really take crap from anyone, but I don't think it's in *my* nature to be sexist... :-) Really, I thought the parody theory about the MP cover sounded good, but I think that another explanation might be that we all have prejudices to some degree or another -- there's no such thing as someone who's totally non-sexist. Still, did anyone else see the women dressed in Playboy bunny outfits who brought water onto the stage during a break on the Presto tour? Though possibly sexist, it was pretty funny to see such a group of people standing in front of these tremendous inflatible rabbits bouncing up and down in their hats... A lot of people at the show didn't seem to get the joke, though (if it was intended as one), and the band members *did* have silly grins on their faces... Okay, almost done... A few days ago, I saw a drum solo (of sorts) to rival Neil's. Now, before you flame me or condemn me and call me names, you should go see this. Daniel Lanois' drummer (Brian Blades is his name) did a very short solo that was quite good. The bassist then joined him with a bongo drum, then Lanois joined them with a mixture of bongo and vocal, then switched entirely to guitar. Okay, so it took three guys, and by the time it was over it wasn't entirely drums, but if you're a drum enthusiast you should catch the show. I didn't know a single song of his, but I was blown away! (by the whole show, not just the drums) Sorry so long... Alan ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 14 JUN 93 14:54:49 GMT From: BLTSBARRY@VAX.LIVERPOOL-JOHN-MOORES.AC.UK Subject: Tom Sawyers Treasures Hi Guys! Well, seeing as though I haven't posted for about 2112 days I just thought I'd ask if anyone has heard of 'Tom Sawyer's Treasures'????? It's basically a RARE Rush Collectors fanzine, and gives all sorts of foreign presses,etc. It cost me 1.50 (English pounds) so it will probably work out at about $2.80ish??? It really is very good, and if nobody has heard of it, I will post the address in my next posting! Bye for now Shaun Barry P.s Hi Dan! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shaun Barry | 'Every Day We're Standing in a Time Liverpool John Moores University | Capsule!' School of The Built Environment | Liverpool | Hold Your Fire England | UK | | E-mail: BLTSBARRY@UK.AC.LIVJM.VAX | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: 14 Jun 1993 12:22:10 -0400 (EDT) From: ahung@discover.wright.edu (The Sun Dog) Subject: Must be the heat.....these people are crazy! Geez, you folks are funny! All of this raging discussion about some video babe! I read a lot of posts from people using the term "sexist" rather loosely. From my understanding, a sexist is someone who discriminates against others based on the sex of others. Now tell me, how is showing some busty video babe a sexist act? Don't tell me that seeing a clip of some animated woman made you decide to put women back in chains or something goofy like that....No, I don't feel that the clip is exploitative in the context of the song.... As for women being exploited.....no one forces the women in magazines to pose nude or scantily clad. Those women make their own choice to do so. (Good God, I can't believe I wasting the time to write about some animated woman!) On the woman drummer deal: Yeah, it seems strange that Neil would point out that particular drummer as a woman.... >From: Bruce Holtgren <70724.1622@CompuServe.COM> >Far from being "gutter speak" or "garbage English," "homeboy" is >every bit as wonderful and valid of a contribution to the >anguage as the hundreds of other words and phrases that have >come from the same incredibly rich source. Black English has >given us such gems as jammin', slammin', ain't, gimme some skin, >high-five, kick-ass, get down, yo, far out, jive, diss, say what, >and livin' large - right on! Then there are all sorts of great >new meanings and nuances for old words: cool, hip, space, woof, >horny, crash, man, baby, chick, dude, wheels, cop, chill, cruise, >bread, bro ... and of course there are hundreds more; I'll spare >you any further humiliation. Yeah Bruce, stuff like "say what" or "woof" are definitely gems (not!) Somehow I get the feeling that the order of the world is falling apart when one generation can't talk to another due to the language barrier... I've seen grandparents unable to talk to their grandchildren because the grandkids speak in slang and are unable to express themselves articulately in any semblance of English. Don't take this as a flame, 'cause it's not meant to be one. My point is that when slang such is this becomes accepted as "normal" English, kids start having trouble expressing themselves intelligently. Okay? (*grin*). >So what does this have to do with Rush? Everything. No English >speaker alive today, native or otherwise, can fail to benefit >from the priceless contributions that black people have made to >the language - and, even moreso, to popular music. Rush, and all >of us, owe the speakers (and, yes, rappers) of black English a >tremendous debt. Neither they, nor the words they use, have ever >been "junk." Well, I think that I could live a normal life if "soul speak" had never been invented....I would hardly say that rappers have advanced the English language with their often homophobic, racist, crime-littered verse. Just my feelings, again no flame intended. Yo mama indeed. (*grin*) >From: "J.P. Thompson" <jpt2@engr.engr.uark.edu> >I think that the word "homeboy" is just as crucial to the English language as >any other word. Definitely, I concur. Let's quit using the word "the" (and substitute homeboy instead!) or maybe we should quit using any personal pronouns.....everything just becomes a homeboy instead of him or her....... Just teasin' with ya Johnman, the John-ner-rooney, the joltin' J.....by the way, cute .sig! >From: "Ian Livingston <IPL2527@ritvax.isc.rit.edu>" >It is the kind of booth that attracts bikers, rednecks, and rebelous >teenagers. The funny thing that caught my eye was that amongst all this was >a RtBs t-shirt (the one with the boy kicking the skull). I got a good laugh >out of this. Ever hear of rebellious, redneck, biker Rush fans? I might just have to run over you wit' my hog now! (*giggle*) -To the guy who feels that instrumental compositions are not songs: Really.., then all of the realm of classical music is composed of "ditties" or some such term that you prefer, right? Man, YYZ is a song and a damn good one at that. Well, I've probably just bored many people to death. I'll stop here. Have a great day! **************************************************** I am: Art Hung or ahung@discover.wright.edu "The Sun Dog" ---"Sun dogs fire on the horizon, meteors rain stars across the night, this moment may be brief... but it can be so bright......" **************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 14 Jun 93 11:59:39 CDT From: aspi@falcon.natinst.com (Aspi Havewala) Subject: Sexism and Rush: an observation _Rush ON Hi guys, There's this interesting thread going on about Rush being sexist and since I was hoping someone would take it up, I'll throw in my worth. Rush's lyrics may not (or may) be overtly sexist, IMHO they do think in terms of strongly typecast gender roles (atleast their songwriting reflects that: check out _War Paint_ on _Presto_). IMHO Part II, that makes them sexist. Not misogynist, mind you (this comment for all impatient potential flamers), but sexist. It is this one singular thing that convinced me Rush was not really created by God on the eleventh day with a delayed Entry. Yet, while I wish Rush would be as progressive about gender as they are about everything else, I don't mind a touch of gray in the guys. Cheers, Aspi _Rush OFF_ ---------------------------------------------------------- From: jlang@syrinx.umd.edu <~ Rush Fanatic ~> Date: Mon Jun 14 18:07:51 EDT 1993 Subject: Blue Phonebooths and Pink Lemonade Hello all. Thought it was time I made a few comments. - First off I would like to thank all you guys who wrote in with suggestions and corrections/additions to the Tour Listing. - Also, I've been getting some mail about the status of the long ago proposed NMS newsletter. Well here's the official word. It is still on, for those who've mailed in articles, yes, I still have them, they are all ready, I am waiting on some more pictures to be scanned in, and lastly, I'm trying to get a certain NMS member (who is an editor) to help me put together some of the final stuff. The reason for the delays are many: a - this was a bigger project than I initially thought! b - school, classes, and work just kept me from investing too much time into it. So the short answer is yes, there will be one, it probably won't be monthly, maybe bi-monthly, I'm not sure yet, there certainly is enough material, so I'm not too worried about that. I'll post an update here shortly. - And finally, some album news. The latest word on the album is that the release date is October 5th. This is straight from someone in Atlantic, apparently the Sept. 15th date has been pushed back. - The "supposed" working title of "Critical Mass" is just that! A speculation, whose roots I think came from USENET and crept its way into the NMS. Some friends I know in Seattle spoke to John Rutsey who had recently been talking to Alex about the new album. When asked about the title, Alex said they currently don't have a title for it yet. This was as of last week. Well, that's it for now, I'll relay any more info I have as soon as I hear anything. -Jimmy ----------------------------------------------------------
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