Back to index of "this and that in my life" pages by Donald Sauter.
Dedicated to the proposition that every thought that's ever been thunk may be of use or interest to someone . . .
THEE: I've always considered "life's what happens to you.." to be one of John Lennon's most horrible lines. I do have a vague feeling it was written by someone else. For his credibility's sake, I hope so. ME: Subject: The mind boggles... From today's newspaper (Jul 24 1997): >Rio de Janeiro - Two large blocks of ice that crashed in Brazil's >Sao Paulo state from clear skies in recent weeks were most likely >part of a meteorite, a Brazilian researcher said yesterday. > >The first block crashed through the tiled roof of a bus factory >on July 11 in Campinas, 62 miles north of the state capital of >Sao Paulo. > >The second block fell on July 15, creating a small crater in a rural >area some 37 miles north of Campinas. > >A meteorologist at the National Institute for Space Studies said >there was no climatic condition on either day that could have >accounted for the ice. Question: How many impossible things do we have to believe in today to swallow this? "On *either* day"... That's rich. [Climates don't change much in four days.] THEE: I agree it is very difficult to know what to believe anymore. I could imagine ice surviving the heat of the atmosphere by way of the shelter of rock which burns off during the fall, and I can easily imagine weather conditions being the same for days on end (as they are often clear here for weeks in a row), but I have to admit I find it strange that this would happen twice, four days apart, yet in so nearly the same place on earth, yet not be reported as occurring elsewhere on earth. Again, I wonder about 'Peace of Mind', since it is fresh in my mind after you brought the abbeyrd site to my attention (thank you again, by the way). It seems to me the only way to know for sure would be to ask John Lennon himself - something which some reporter should have been fan enough to do when there was a chance. I don't find either of the cases presented at that site convincing, because they both are looking at only a few slices of the issue - which brings each of them to their own little truth, but brings no one to a conclusive truth. I could throw in my personal observation that John's demos for the White album used a similar doubling of voices with only a guitar in the background, and that no stranger to the Beatles (around in 1970 when Peace of Mind appeared) who wished to imitate John's style would have been likely to know the style of John's demos, as those demos had not yet surfaced. But this is just a personal view from someone extremely far removed from the issue, as I believe both of the writers at abbeyrd are also removed from the possibility of judging the truth. It would be more productive to ask those who are most likely to know, but even then memories fade. The mind boggles indeed; it has been a recurring thought in my life generally lately that I don't know what to believe anymore - about nearly everything, and strangely each new day seems to bring new evidence to strengthen that feeling. ME: Has anyone caught Paul's vocal snippet 11 seconds into "Driving Music" by Olivia Newton-John from her "Soul Kiss" album? He sings, "WE NE..." Name that tune. ME: The experts in the the clip speculated the ice block was part of a meteorite. Never mind that they don't even know the distinction between a meteor and meteorite. The meteorite is what survives the fall. They should have *seen* the meteorite there, not have to speculate about it. Things that fall through our atmosphere get real hot. Ice melts when it gets hot. The block of ice would have had to have been the size of a who-knows-what before entering our atmosphere. A skyscraper? A mountain? (By the way, there is evidence that our surface water comes from huge blocks of ice bombarding our atmosphere from space every day. Don't know what to make of that. They never seem to hit the moon.) Very unlikely that it would have ended up conveniently block size, as opposed to house-sized, or no-size-at-all-sized. And for this incredible unlikelihood to repeat itself 4 days later??? Only 36 miles away??? When it's never been observed before (except for jet plane lavatory flushings) anywhere on the face of the earth in the history of mankind? And then a weatherman tells us straight-faced, "No, we weren't expecting solitary-ice-block-out-of-perfectly-clear-sky storms on either one of those days." Good grief. And all of this gets through reporters and typists and news services and editors??? People's willingness to disregard all of their life experience and suspend common sense in the face of the printed word never ceases to exasperate me. Some of you might remember the trivia question which told us that there are hundreds - not thousands - of hurricanes a year. Every single person I showed that to switched a brain gear and accepted it completely, and even produced arguments as to why it was true. THEE: After a day when the stress seemed to get to us, we settled in last evening and watched "You Can't Do That--The Making of A Hard Day's Night." The Fabs made us happy. Hself vows to act as the Boys [Beatles] did with the TV director when the nurses bother her. To me, this illustrates why the Mops are still a force for good in the world. Thanks a lot, Lads. ME: I particularly liked your anecdote about the man who paid your tab. That's great. If I had loads of money, that's the sort of thing I would do. I suppose I mentioned my ice cream truck with free ice cream for the kids in a different neighborhood every day idea? The point is, you could give $100,000 to United Way and you would never notice any benefit to the world. But for a few dollars here and there, you can really make people happy! THEE: We watched the so-called restored "A Hard Day's Night" last night, which Itaped in April off of American Movie Classics (in mono). The picture's pretty good but the sound is incredibly tinny. Quick observations: There's a good glimpse of Richard Lester walking behind a closeup of a flash bulb in the press conference scene, in addition to his appearance later. The slo-mo control came in handy here. Fully restored and you still can't read what John Lennon writes on the notepad in the press conference scene. Don, it's been 10 years, fess up, you've been pulling my leg the whole time. After all, it wouldn't be a funny gag if you could read it. You've just been playing off my inexhaustible prurient interest. I think John Lennon's attire, aside from being inconsistent in the train finale, also changes between the time he leads the lads out of the hotel room and the time they're at the disco. This merits further investigating, however. I'm almost certain that the best shot of Phil Collins, as featured in the documentary, is an outtake from the movie. ME: Did I send you the complete liveletdie url? Here it is, possibly again: http://home.att.net/~liveletdie/ I'm getting the vibes it's just Paul McCartney's shirt tail. (Fine with me.) Made my first posting to talk.origins - the true implications of finding life on Mars. I'll see how it was received in a little while. Dug some really neat guitar music out of LC on Saturday. Humongous musical impressions of Napolean's exploits, the Cinderella story, and a couple of greek myths (e.g. Adonis and Venus). These are about 13 or 15 pages long - by the first really important guitar composer, Ferdinando Carulli. They date from between 1808 and 1835. Fun for me, anyway. ME: Subject: (c) Ok, man, I'll keep John's attire under wraps, but another Dick Lester sighting in A Hard Day's Night is BIG NEWS! (I think.) Anyhow, I've moved over to talk.origins. There's people there who still believe in evolution! ME: I believe it is widely known, and presented as such, that the Phil Collins appearance was only on outtake footage. I was taken by surprise that you still don't know John's hobbies. I'd figured the whole world had got it by now. Others have followed his pen strokes with no problem. I can say no more. THEE: Here's Hself's concise evaluation of the film: "I can't believe I'm sitting here laughing at a stage Irishman!" THEE: Subject: Compleat Beatles Let everything about the Beatles be posted on the net, and let it begin with me: Look magazine, Aug. 25, 1964, page 42: "When Julie stopped for hot dogs on a drive to the beach (below) at Plymouth, Mass., her accent roused schoolgirls to ask the inevitable question: Had she met the Beatles? Yes, she had, and she spent the next half hour in intense discourse--especially about 'the married one.' When she escaped, she said, 'I bathed in the glory of having met the Beatles.'" Please note that the same issue features a long feature on Walter Cronkite, including tidbits about his teenage daughters but the natural topic--his role in getting the Beatles on Sullivan--is nowhere mentioned. Please also file this in your Compleat Help! Database: In 1897, Army Commander in Chief Field Marshal Lord Wolseley pursuaded the prime minister, the Marquis of Salisbury, to allocate funds to purchase Salisbury Plain for use as a full-scale Army training ground. [Location of a scene in Help!] ME: Subject: The Fool On The Hill (music, not shirttails) Now it's midnight and I just got back from the One Step Down. A jazz singer friend invited me to a recital featuring participants of her jazz workshop. Amongst all the jazz standards was one Beatle song (if you don't count Sweet Georgia Brown.) "Nina" sang Fool On The Hill. It was great. When I complimented her on it she told me she had never heard the Beatles' version. We agree, that's quite remarkable, right? Amazing, maybe? It's hard for me to imagine there are too many examples of that phenomenon. I was with my friend Norm (or Shake? I can never remember) in the world's neatest McDonald's in Dale City. They have a great jukebox. It was free, too. Last time I was there (a couple of years ago) I musta punched up 20 songs. Well, this time there was a great crowd of rowdy kids having a party and keeping the jukebox thumping. They eventually split, leaving the place mostly empty. Even Norm was in the men's room. I mosied over to the jukebox and punched in the first two songs my eyes landed on - You're So Good To Me and You Know My Name (Look Up My Number). Well, the first one had the same effect on me as 30- however-many years ago. I was in ecstasy. Norm got back for the last 1/4 or so. Then I told him to fasten his safety belt. We waited. And waited. Nothin. I rambled over again again and discovered to my horror that they either changed or fixed the machine - you had to *pay*! Can ya believe it? I apparently freeloaded off somebody's unused dime for the first song. THEE: Never heard the original "Fool on the Hill"? I trust that she didn't say, "Oh no, I based my reading on the definitive Enoch Light version." ME: I've got bad vibes about Trip to Rocky Point. If there's no interest (or virtually no interest) I say scuttle it. Sure, my guitar trio members will be there but it's the sort of stuff they hate, anyway. I can't see doing it without a big group of fun-loving "musical meatballs" (as my college friends would say.) Maybe such open- minded musicians are extinct now. ME: Subject: Shirttails??? What are you talking about? Something tells me that all of my electrons on Paul and his fly have been ending up in the bit bucket. Bring it up on the phone one day. Maybe it's more than subject lines... THEE: Subject: Paul's fly? What about Paul's fly? Major cultural find: I spotted Christine Nelson in an episode of "Batman." THEE: I believe the word was "Bouy", a natural mistake if one lives in BOwie. ME: Subject: buoy, scrabble, art. Yep, buoy is right. In the old Monday night club, a member got away with BOUYANT for a bingo. I was dubious but didn't want to embarrass myself challenging it. I verified it was wrong at home and a few weeks later gave him those same tiles to unscramble. He proudly came up with BOUYANT again. I said, "Ha, gotcha. Remember the other week when...?" I still feel like a creep for blocking Hself's SATANIC play. By all rights, I shouldn't even have known what was on her rack. Sorry about that. For Hself, here's some "artwork" collected from one of the usenet groups. : /\_____/\ : ==-=-/ o o \=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=== : == ( == ^ == ) Good friends are the chocolate chips == : == ) ( in the big == : == ( ) cookie of life == : ==-( ( ) ( ) )=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=== : (__(__)___(__)__) Vivan PiTA ( "I have been and shall always be your friend" -Spock `-`-. Ps. *Nordic hugs* :) '( @ > use this instead _) ( forstro at cc helsinki fi / ) /_,' / \ / ===m""m=== ___ / *\ Carl, the shaggy librarian retriever dog | @ @ | "Just a Sled-dog on the Info-Highway" |\ Y /|------WOOOOF! === | * \ "Indicabo tibi, o homo, quid sit bonum, // *\ "/" et quid Dominus quaerat a te, utique // * C\ / facere iudicium, et diligere misericordiam, // d====|/ et sollicitum ambulare cum Deo tuo?" --Micah 6:8 * * * * * * * * * * * ^ * * *Squire to Lady KittWulf * / \ * *Pecan Pie Baron * /_D_\ * *Menace to society * {~~0 0~~} * *Cohort of Floyd the Cat * ~( 8 )~ * * ~ ~ * _ * _ < )____________( > >| SnowyBear |< <_(____________)_> > 'Let peace begin with me' ___ > Big fan of Starman and Due South!!! : {~._.~} >Writer of stories, and mother of teddybears! : ( Y ) > Giver of *hugs* and ice cream on request! : ()~*~() >The proud wife of Svennibear Jessen 23-3-95 : (_)-(_) And finally, a quiz. Who are these guys? ////\\ //||\\ //\|\\ ///||\ /`O-O' ` @ @\ //o o// a a ] > ) | ( _) - - - ~ ME: Subject: primitive mode of communication (paper and ink) Dear Citizens Concerned About A Better World, Did you all read your Washington Times this morning? No? Well, do not despair. Here's what you missed. It took me by surprise, too, since the letter was 3 weeks old and they never called me about it. (Our friendship has weathered previous Times letters. I trust this one won't break the camel's back.) [Material in brackets indicates edits by the Times. What did they have in mind with the last two lines?] -------------------------- Jul 19 1997 Dear Washington Times, You had some fun cheering for your new hero - the vulgar creep who forces coworkers to listen to crude jokes and wins $26 million dollar for doing so ("Tasteless yes, harassment no", July 19, page C2.) You even recounted all of his comedic genius - lifted from "Seinfeld" - for us. Thanks. You know, there's a reason I don't have a tv. [Last sentence deleted.] So Mr. 40-IQ [this individual] poked a thumb in the eye of "Sexual harassment!" screechers everywhere. Whooppee. I suggest there's a bigger picture, like the owner of a business having the right [having lost the right] to get rid of a trouble-maker. Suppose your receptionist answers the phone with a string of obscenities. Suppose your custodian spits on the floor. Do you want me to go on? That's all fiercely protected behavior, I suppose, in this day and age where everyone is guaranteed the inalienable right to make everybody else miserable. (But NO SMOKING!) Fortunately, it's still only a small percentage of the population that regularly exercises this right. But don't give up; perhaps the Washington Times and the ACLU working together can boost it to a whopping ["whopping" deleted] majority. Personally, I can imagine justifiable reasons for terminating an employee that are much less serious than malevolently upsetting coworkers. Your suggestions of acceptable responses to Mr. 8-Year-Old were idiotic - slapping, shrieking, fainting. [Your suggestions of "acceptable responses" were idiotic.] By the way, guess who ultimately pays the $26 million. Everybody hold on to your wallet. THEE: Real Beatle moment: My mother-in-law returned to Hself's hospital room from lunch. "I didn't see anyone I recognized in the cafeteria," said she, "except that pretty little nurse you've had." "And was she selling poppies from a tray?" I asked. "What?" "Oh, Hself!" Hself said. ME: Thanks a million for coming out for the "Trip To Rocky Point" recording session. Not only couldn't we have done it without you, but it's so much more fun with new faces. I can't for the life of me figure why so many guitar players in the area - in particular, WGS members - turn their backs on such an opportunity. It's like free lessons, plus fun, plus we produced something that will last. Thanks again. THEE: Thanks for your kind message, no one had more fun than I at the Rocky Point session(4 hours...whew). A great learning experience and an opportunity to meet other guitar players. I also don't understand why more WGS members don't participate. ME: Couldn't find Rocky Pt. in my road atlas, but did find a tiny dot for Auburn. Only recently took a closer look at the program notes and realized the boat ride is all the way back to Providence. Those last bells were a drawbridge, not the train. We'll have to re-record. (Just joking.) I get a big kick out of the recording. ME: I think I sent you an unused letter to the Times I wrote about the implications of Mars life. I eventually sent it to talk.origins and received a drubbing. You might be interested in seeing that discussion, all neatly laid out in my recent post "The human race is special. Round 3." I fully expect to get torn from limb to limb. Should be fun. Donald -=[ Volkswagen Beatle ]=- 6/97 ___ /___\ ." | ". (o_|_o) jgs u u (found in http://www.geocities.com/SoHo7373) .-=-. / ! )\ __ \__/__/ / _<( ^.^ ) / / \ c /O \ \_.-./=\.-._ _ `-._ `~` `-,./_< `\' \'\`'----' * \ . \ * `-~~~\ . . `-._`-._ * * `~~~-, * () * ) <^^> * ( . .-""-. ) .---. ."-....-"-._ _...---''`/. ' ( (`\ \ .' ``-'' _.-"'` \ \ \ : :. .-' `\`.\: `:. _.' ( .'`.` _.' `` `-..______.-' ):. ( ."-....-". jgs .':. `. "-..______..-" (Ever seen these people anywhere?) .-'"""'-. ,____|_______|____, '._____________.' REACH FOR |.-- --.| THE SKY! |(o) (o)| (| |) | U | __ | .___. | YOU'RE MY /||| | | FAVORITE |||| : : DEPUTY! | |/) `.___.' \ / __) (__ \/\ /\ \ / /\ \ \ /\ \ ^ / /\ THERE'S A \ \ / | |0_/\_ \ SNAKE IN \ \/ /| | \ /\ \ MY BOOT! \ / | |0//\\ \ \ \/ | / \ | \ \ |/ .-. \| / / .-'|-( ~ )-| / / HI! \ |--`-'--|/ / MY NAME'S WOODY! \ | | / \| | |/ | | | | | | HOWDY PARDNER! | | | | | | | | | |___|___| YEEEHAH COWBOY! `|---|---|' *| | |* |_._|_._| /' /|\ '\ SOMEONE POISONED jgs / /^ ^\ \ THE WATERHOLE! /__.' `.__\ _._ _._ |||| |||| ||||_ ___ _|||| | || .-'___`-. || | \ / .' .'_ _'. '. \ / /~~| | (| b d |) | |~~\ /' | | | ' | | | `\ , /__.-: ,| | `-' | |, :-.__\ , |'-------( \-''""/.| /\___/\ |.\""''-/ )------'| | \_.-'\ / '-._____.-' \ /'-._/ | |.---------\ /'._| _ .---. === |_.'\ /--------.| ' \ / | |\_\ _ \=v=/ _ | | \ / ' `. | | \_\_\ ~~~ (_) | | .' `'"'|`'--.__.^.__.--'`|'"'` \ / `,..---'"'---..,' :--..___..--: TO INFINITY... \ / |`. .'| AND BEYOND! | :___: | | | | | | | | | |.-.| |.-.| |`-'| |`-'| | | | | / | | \ |_____| |_____| ':---:-'-:---:' / | | \ jgs /.---.| |.---.\ `.____; :____.' .-"'"-. | | (`-._____.-') .. `-._____.-' .. .', :./'.== ==.`\.: ,`. : ( : ___ ___ : ) ; '._.: |0| |0| :._.' / `-'_`-' \ _.| / \ |._ .'.-| ( ) |-.`. //' | .-"`"`-'"`"-. | `\\ || | `~":-...-:"~` | || || \. `---' ./ || || '-._ _.-' || / \ _/ `~:~` \_ / \ ||||\) .-' / \ `-. (/|||| \||| (`.___.')-(`.___.') |||/ '"' jgs `-----' `-----' '"' Well, I gotta go. .-------.___ | ||||| |[_o\_ | ^^^^^ |- ` ) jgs '-()------()-' Be good. == <^\()/^> \/ \/ jgs / \ `''` Donald ME: P.S. Have we ever seen the inside of a record plant stamping out Beatle albums? [Reference to April 1970 National Geographic, page 568.] ME: Does the misspelled VW Beatle [above] count as an archivable Beatles reference, is what I meant. THEE: Since you accepted my recording of Billy Childish and Sexton Ming's song "Dung Beatle" (or were you just being polite?), I would be hypocritical if I didn't accept VW Beatle, eh? THEE: Subject: Bang, bang, Maxwell's silver hammer came down ... Was that you snooping around my web site late last night? Trying to sneak up on me, huh? Just remember: even Joan and Valery couldn't save Maxwell when his dirty deeds finally caught up with him. (Actually, he got rid of the judge too, didn't he? I'll have to go back and listen to the song again.) ME: The reason I finally got around to your site is that I didn't want to be too influenced by what other people put in their sites while I'm working on mine. I'm not keen on inviting people to visit mine yet, cause I figure who's gonna visit a site twice, and I have lots of pages to add yet. Last night I added the most important page, the one that will ultimately save the world. If you won't tell anybody, it's www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7049. (There's a story behind that crummy address.) Oh, I guess you want me to thank you for telling me about geocities. You never told me John Hammond Sr. (or Jr., for that matter) was your great-great-grandfather. No wonder you like that stuff (or think you do.) Quite enjoyed your grandma's story. (But I guess you already know I downloaded a copy.) She needs a new amanuensis, though. I want to show it to my father. I intend to put the french poem up for universal ridicule. And where's my royalties on that other piece o' doggeral? You know, John Lennon's (r) name is a registered trademark. Gieszczkiewicz is not so scary once you know sz = sh, and cz = ch. Thus, Gyesh ch kye' vich. Yeah, that's 4 consonant sounds in a row, but we have teksts. [texts] Man, you've got a lot to learn about Peter Skellern. I never did find a good pong game in your software collection. THEE: => How'dya do it man? I'm gonna have to implement such surveillence => techniques on mine. Most web servers keep a log of visits to the site. Pretty much the only information that appears in the log is the internet address of the visitor (e.g., "sailor.md.usa" or whatever it is), the name of the requested page, and the URL of the referring page. The last item is useful for seeing how people came to visit your page. If they come via one of the web search engines (as most people do), their query string is part of the referring page's URL. Knowing what people are searching for can help you fine-tune your pages, either to reduce the number of visits from misdirected people (who are really looking for something else entirely) or to enhance your content based on what information people really seem to want. => www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7049. "Unarchy" is so important to you that you put it at the very top of your main page? By the way, once your site gets indexed by a search engine, you'll find very few people actually arriving at your site via your main page - at least in my experience. (Then again, my main page has very little content.) Nice site. I quickly zoomed in on "Favorite Web Sites", figuring you HAD to have mine listed, only to get the GeoCities welcome page. I tried a few other of your links before realizing only the "*"ed ones go anywhere. I liked the Profile in Courage, but Rob Myhre and Bruce Allen for your quotes? => I intend to put the french poem up for universal ridicule. I already get that from a Russian colleague at work who happened upon it. => where's my royalties on that other piece o' doggeral? I only pay royalties on "doggerel". My apologies - correcting spelling on the net is a no-no. Besides, you still owe me for "shipping" on the HUNTERS AND COLLECTORS album. THEE: "Little known fact: When the Beatles played Indy in the late '60s, Ringo Starr left his hotel room late one night and got to talking with some Indy State police. He told him that his dream was to drive around the 500. The high priest state trooper calls the mayor of Speedway (the actual town where the 500 is) who in turn calls the keeper of the gate and at 3 AM, the gates are opened and Ringo Starr is hauling ass in a state troopers squad car wearing a trooper's Smokey the Bear Hat no less." ME: That story of Ringo at Indianapolis sounded vaguely familiar, but my research casts bigtime doubts on it. A book that *would* mention it if it were true would be _Beatles '64, A Hard Day's Night In America_ by Rayl and Gunther. Their research was extensive and very careful, as far as I can tell. It provides a day by day account of the 1964 U.S. tour. It describes Ringo's ride with 2 Indiana state troopers starting at 5:00 a.m., and a visit to one of the trooper's farm. No Indy race track ride. Also, I can bring in something a bit more "first-hand" (although still about 20th-hand.) My friend was in law school in Bloomington near Indianapolis a few years ago during the Anthology hoopla. He saves anything Beatle related on tapes for me. He caught lots of Beatle bits on the local news. One that I remember was one of the troopers recounting Ringo's visit. I'm sure I don't recall him saying anything about the racetrack. I mostly remember him saying how unimpressed his wife was, having Beatle Ringo there for eggs that morning. So, my vote is - not likely, though not impossible. It is possible that Ringo had his joyride at 3:00, before meeting these troopers at 5:00. THEE: About "Weber's Last Waltz" (also known as "Weber's Last Thought"--most people (even in the early nineteenth century) thought this piece was written by Weber, but it was actually by Karl Gottlieb Reissiger (1798-1859). Originally titled "Webers letzten Gedanke", it was No. 5 in his Danses brillantes pour le pianoforte (1822). Here's a tougher question--who was the composer of the "Favorite Waltz of the Duke of Reichstadt" that several guitarists (Carcassi, Castellaci, Sagrini) played? If you ever find out, let me know. About the Picchianti "Di piacer mi balza il core"--I found several of Picchianti's settings of Rossini arias in the Conservatory Library in Florence, and in the middle of the group was a setting of "Di piacer mi balza il core"-- from the same publisher, same engraver, but it didn't clearly state that Picchianti was the arranger. I always assumed that he was, but I left it out of the Picchianti set that I published because I just couldn't be certain. So, I'd very much like to see a copy, or at least the first page, which would at least clarify whether the copy I have is really by Picchianti. The Gardenghi was great. Do you suppose he came to America? THEE: Sensible and Senseless Sayings from the Mindful and the Mindless The signature line in a 3/21/94 posting to misc.consumers. What a great sense of humor! Filip "I'll buy a vowel" Gieszczykiewicz Phil Miller in a 7/23/96 posting to rec.music.beatles under the subject, "Re: Olympics bigger than Jesus". Thus as of last count we have: Gold Medal: McDonalds Silver Medal: The Olympics Bronze Medal: The Beatles Crown of Thorns: Jesus These quotes speak for themselves: "[He] couldn't empty a boot full of water if the instructions were on the heel!" (Fatso, in one of Admiral [7]Daniel Gallery, D.D.L.M.'s Fatso books, quoted from my 25-year old memories.) THEE: "Muscle Beach Party" wasn't nearly as good as "Bikini Beach." "MBP" featured Dick Dale but only went to show how terrible he could be in the '60s. ME: Subject: Ever heard of President Clinton? Aug 29 1997 Dear Washington Times and Inside The Beltway, There's no particular significance to this, but I wanted to share it with somebody. Being sort of a word-game enthusiast I read Jennifer Harper's article on the new Random House dictionary all the way through. (I hardly ever do that.) Near the end is a sentence mentioning Bill Clinton and DeWitt Clinton (with whom I was unfamiliar.) Later the same day I was reading a National Geographic article about New Hampshire. At one point it asked the reader parenthetically, "Never heard of President Clinton?" This gave me a slight pause. Of course I have, what sort of dummy do they think I am? Then I re-oriented myself and put everything back in focus. The National Geographic was dated December 1982, so it was a perfectly valid rhetorical question. Here is some surrounding material for context: "In fact the White Mountains, topped off by Mount Washington at 6,288 feet, are the highest east of the Dakotas and north of the Carolinas. And they were certainly high enough for me to appreciate the hot supper and soft bunk of the AMC's Mizpah Spring Hut near the summit of Mount Clinton in the Presidential Range. "(Never heard of President Clinton? In the election of 1812, DeWitt Clinton lost to James Madison. A century later the legislature decided to change the name to Mount Pierce in honor of Franklin Pierce, the state's only presidential son. It is a testament to Pierce's place in history that no one paid the slightest attention.)" (p792) THEE: From: autoresponder@WhiteHouse.gov Thank you for writing to President Clinton via electronic mail. Since June 1993, the President has received over 2.3 million messages from people across the country and around the world. Online communication has become a tool to bring government and the people closer together. Because so many of you write, the President cannot personally review each message, though he does receive samples of his incoming correspondence. The White House Correspondence staff helps him read and respond to the mail. All responses are mailed via the U.S. Postal Service. This is the only electronic message you will receive from whitehouse.gov. No other message purporting to be from the President or his staff with an address at whitehouse.gov is authentic. If you have received such a message, you have received a "spoof." We appreciate your interest in the work of the Administration. Sincerely, Stephen K. Horn Director, Presidential E-mail The Office of Correspondence ME: Subject: da Vinciman 1. My presidential platform is not unarchy, although I might use a fireside chat or two to promote the idea. 3. The Olympic line-up was a complete dud. My friend said "I didn't get it." That's my life story, actually; the more positive I am about anything, the less comprehending everybody else is sure to be. P.S. I got an email from the President. ME: Subject: simpsons Did I mention I was dognapping again this week? The house has a television (!) so I cranked up the Simpsons. It was good - Bart vs. Burns in court. Hee hee hee. THEE: Subject: Does the President know what he's getting into? Harry Georgeson's recent intemperate remarks about the current crop of rock stars merited a feature story on CNN Headline News Saturday night. I wish I'd taped it, even though his quotes were read and he didn't appear. I think the story got pulled from the rotation when CNN headed into full-Lady Di mode. It was strange to watch the report on rock music as the first news about Di was coming in. On Sunday, I dropped eight bits for the Radha Krshna Temple Apple LP at Second Story Books Warehouse. Cool! ME: Just curious, what time were you watching CNN when the Lady Diana story broke? You make it sound like the regular 6 or 7:00. I found out via the Sunday Times. It was quite a shock. I pulled the paper out of the plastic, unrolled it but didn't unfold it, looked over the bottom half, verified that, as always, there is no news content on the front page of a Sunday paper (not that there is any on the weekdays, but somehow even less on Sunday), turned the wad over to the top half, read the headline of the top story, couldn't believe I read it right, and read it again. The type size was all wrong for the message. (I suppose they had to work within the space of whatever it was they replaced) THEE: On Saturday night, we were watching CNN Headline News at around 11 p.m. We had the TV muted when the Harry piece started. I suspect that he gave an interview in one of the papers, you see, and that prompted the piece. George was a little harsh, saying that no one would remember U2 or the Spice Girls in 30 years. I guess he's right about the Spice Girls (he'd be fairly safe if he'd said 30 months about that rum lot) but U2 will have some fans forever. CNN gave us occasional blips about Diana at that time (again, around 11), saying that she was gravely injured. In fact, she'd been dead an hour already. Did the "Times" do the popular follow-up, stories about how slow the news coverage was that night? Did you know that I quoted Macca ca. '63 in this message? ME: Thanks for the detailed rundown of the Saturday night news. Didn't mean to make you type it all out, actually, but this way it's archived forever (you'll be thrilled to hear.) Rum lot sounds familiar, but help me with the context. '63, you say. Why do you waste electrons putting quotes around the Times? Had one of my worst-ever tv experiences last night. I cranked up the Simpsons again. It was about the family vacation to Itchy and Scratchy Land. Pure torture. I mean to me the viewer. And the commercials are even worse. That article I mentioned yesterday said there is an average of only 9 seconds between edits on tv. No way. Counting Simpsons and the commercials, it *had* to be less than a second. What is going on here??? Lucky, that A) it wasn't my tv, and B) there was no elephant gun handy.
 
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Abbreviations and keywords: Hself = generic name, male or female (Himself, Herself). LC = LOC = Library of Congress. WGS = Washington Guitar Society.
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