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)
.-=-.
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\ \/ /| | \ /\ \ MY BOOT!
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\ |--`-'--|/ / MY NAME'S WOODY!
\ | | /
\| | |/
| | |
| | | HOWDY PARDNER!
| | |
| | |
| | |
|___|___| YEEEHAH COWBOY!
`|---|---|'
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/' /|\ '\ SOMEONE POISONED
jgs / /^ ^\ \ THE WATERHOLE!
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'"' 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.
Helpful keywords not in the main text: Beatles ascii art.
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