SIS Archives -- July 1999

Fagen and Becker both appear in a scene from a movie from circa 1970/71...could be 'You Gotta Walk It'...or maybe 'The People Next Door'....which starred Eli Wallach and featured a song with Jimmy Hodder on vocals.....those were the days.....
..........hippies, drugs, counterculture....G.Gordon Liddy!

Andrew - I'm sorry I didn't respond to your post last week; I felt like I had been posting too much since I had started that whole 11TOW in the first place and so I didn't respond to some posts that I found interesting. I went back and read it; good point. I've read that when Fagen and Becker write songs together, Fagen generally comes up with the concept while Becker fine-tunes the words. Fagen does tend to come up with more, one might say, theatrical, or perhaps dramatic, scenarios than Becker - perhaps his English major background comes into play here, or perhaps his interest in science fiction. In other words, he may use his imagination more than Becker. And so he might have been the one responsible for the richer character development in the SD songs, since he may have been thinking more about dramatic elements. Becker, on 11TOW, is quite good at capturing emotional states, but his songs don't tell stories the way Fagen's solo songs do.

Q - Regarding Fagen's role as an actor while singing, don't all good singers do that? This is particularly obvious in music theater and opera, but all singing requires the interpretation of the text. Some singers are better interpreters, or actors, if you will, than others, and Fagen happens to be especially good at this, but it's something that any good singer should be doing. I read an article about Mel Torme a while back in which he said that singing a song well involves telling a story, and that the way the lyrics are sung enhances their meaning and makes singing into a creative challenge for the singer (or something like that; it's been a while since I read the article).

Also, technically speaking, Fagen is quite a good singer. He apparently places his voice quite high in his head and cuts out the vibrato (I recognize this technique since it's what I learned when I was trained in the English choral style), which makes for a less "pretty" sound but allows him a great deal of control and shifts the listener's attention from the sound of his voice to the way he sings the words. He also shifts smoothly from his counter-tenor (falsetto) range to his "real voice" range, something that the classical counter tenors I know have great difficulty doing. Fagen also has a wonderfully flexible voice, capable of a variety of types of sound - for example, he sounds quite different when he's singing backup than when he's singing lead - warmer and less bright; this sound can also be heard on Maxine.

Regarding lyics in a vaccuum - good point; the complete work of art is the song as it is performed - the combination of lyrics and music as interpreted by the singer. You don't get the entire picture just by looking at the words. For example, the depiction of the person who dies in the car wreck in Trans-island Highway comes across as a bit cold (to me anyway) if one just reads the words, but Fagen lowers and softens his voice when he sings "The kid who was driving I know from somewhere," giving a warmer, gentler interpretation to the lyrics.

Fezo - Regarding Everything You Did, I guess Fagen just can't depict an emotion he hasn't felt. OTOH, he does portray surprise and discontent pretty well, as he does on the line "I jumped out of my easy chair, it was not my own!" I just listened to Dr. Wu, you're right - there's a kind of yearning in his voice that sounds quite heartfelt - he really sounds like he's hurting. Actually, I think that Fagen expresses emotion better than Becker - it's Becker's lyrics that expresss emotion well, not his delivery. This might be due to his lack of experience in singing, or it might be his personal style. I've noticed in recorded interviews that Fagen's speaking voice sounds considerably more expressive than Becker's.

Clas - To take this whole thing to its root, your inital post - so is your theory that Fagen is acting, not feeling, when he sings? Hmm, I don't really buy that. As I mentioned above, all good singers are actors, but they are, perhaps, "method" actors in that they feel the emotions they sing about rather than just pretend to. I think Fagen sounds quite genuine indeed, particularly on On the Dunes - he sounds downright impassioned on the repeat of the part that starts out "Pretty boats, sweeping against the shore...," especially on "It's like an awful dream I have 'most every night." I guess we just hear things differently.

Clas and Q-I think I know what you're getting at... bear with me.

"listen, babe... remember the time your dog died when you were six...yessss... that's what I need here... okay people back it up, take two; think about the dog just laying there... perfect;
cue the violins, and...action"

Clas "I don't for a minute believe that Fagen has shown any real emotions in any of the songs he's singing."

Actors portray real emotions. An actor tries to "BE" the part... spend 6 weeks humping 50 pound packs like grunts in the Nam so they shall be 'ripe' for the first day of shooting Platoon... "be" there now or get there later (if you need the method methodology). Can it be supported that none of this stuff is really Himself? Interesting thesis, interesting question: is he an actor? What else could he be?

Charley Freak- Fagen sings a role. He tells a story AND it's also perfectly okay for the "voice" to slip into the first person as desired- then, we hear he's telling the whole thing to the guy he NOW holds a hand out to truly help (not rip off, like C.)

Fagen is an AUTHOR, mostly- see where I'm trying to go? He's a Literary Mu Major, Bard College, '70-ish, reading aloud. Wait.

Contrast that with the voice of Everything You Did. I hear caricature- and hey- it would amuse us just so if the character getting caricatured would say the following: "it was not my own!!!"like there was enough of it to repopulate a good portion of the western hemisphere in addition to an easy chair .

Character vs. Caricature. A singing Caricature- maybe he is a cartoonist. Like Dunesbury, not Disney. see what i'm groping around for? you guys are on to something but it needs more. I'm just thinking out loud; listen:

delightful multi-faceted thesis to which I'd like to submit a three dimensional hyperbolic function out of variables within three axes:
x: actor in character "I know you're out there..."
y: author reading to us "... the preacher's face turned red"
z: cartoonist's caricature "...I'm gonna sell my house in town"

see what i mean?

values may be positive or negative and there can be no extremes! axes may not be intersected (you can think and think and think further out along the curve and get closer and closer to an axis but it isn't fucking calculus... there is a limit on limits- you can't slide on down to an absolute zero value. there. that's sorta what i mean. see what i mean? He's not any one of these distinctions. He's all over the map?

If you want Steely relativity you can add time as a forth dimension and sculpt a Dan-Time Continuum. Like Carl Sagan meets The Citizen Box Set (plus a certain worm hole named Aniton).

But, (ya, there's another point) how can *anyone* posit there's "nothing personal" in there?Perhaps there are PLENTY of personal, "real feelings" in the discography and Fagen is altogetherlywise too private and UNWILLING to open the trenchcoat... or, maybe he DOES but shrouds the naked singularities with veils woven of literary thread. The adage goes: write about what you know.

On the dunes- "homicide" per se, on them dunes- she's ripped his heart out, jack. he's dying while lovers lay on their blankies. he's losing emotional fluid volume; his brain numbs, floating, metaphorical shock as the waves gently roll in in tantric slow motion tantrum? might he be subtly torturing himself noticing all these pretty peaceful look at the nice boats while he's fucking toast? "Homicide" on the dunes. who's killing who? mild obsessive compulsive in-u-endo, like he's a pain in his own ass? [nyuks]
it's like an awful dream he has most every night.

Who's whose who says if Don ever got thrown back like a fish at Jones Beach, say West End Two? Write about what you know-
only he's not talking. Maybe so, maybe not.

Okay, then! A fifth dimension: stuff what actually happened to the man that he has real feelings thereby therefrom hitherto and thereafter which he 'allows' his characters to feel. Oh dear, or write about what you've seen, read, heard, imagined- back to the graph paper. Now the right side of my brain is hurting.

I'm peripatetic (recently read Infinite Jest and I think I got a contact high).

F#maj9 passing by every now and again. 'k?

Midnite--Sorry to hear it. Next time you better!

OMIO--Don't quote me, but I think it's gone with the Salad Days. Wanna choose something else? It's obviously not too late, and may never be.

Stranger--Bon voyage, baby, and bring us back some good hand gestures. Maybe there'll be a release date awaiting you at the gate.

Andrew--1) pouting is unseemly; 2) maybe nobody here is smart enough to have read the Browning monologues; 3) or maybe your post so unclear as to have elicited only "huh?" or as David Foster Wallace puts it, "(...)"; 4) see below for DanFest--we'll be expecting you with an exegesis of the Browning.

Clas--Very cool thought. But all performers are actors to some extent, songwriters too, if they write outside the exact boundaries of their experience, which they do. That makes poetry a form of acting, or vice versa. I think of both of them as driven more by emotional restraint, which pushes one toward irony, understatement, and ellipsis. Look at Mr. Becker's comments about "Surf And/ Or Die," in which he comments on the coincidence of the monks' prayer being exactly in rhythm and key with the prerecorded song--he greatly underplays what must have been a mindblower, especially during the shock of the loss of a young friend. Or Mr. Fagen's comments on his own "Words & Music." The earlier stuff often comes across more passionately, I think--they were young and fiery then--but even then were capable of dryness and indirection, as in "Only A Fool."

LAST MINUTE UPDATE
THE MINIDANFEST HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO DANFEST*
SUNDAY, AUGUST 1
THE LOBBY OF THE CAROLINA INN
CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, CHAPEL HILL
12:30 PM
LOOK FOR OBVIOUSLY SCURVY BRETHREN AND DIME DANCERS
(and at least one Barrytown t-shirt)

see you all in about a week
*miniDanFest defined as involving the same or fewer participants as the First Historic ACC DanFest in William(andMarywon'tdo)sburg

Sorry for the last minuteness.

yah, see - I'm not into the designer beers and have no discerning taste when it comes to barley swill- so I just drink either Budweiser(usually) or Heine's - mostly when I'm sick of good old Bud.

Now give me a tip on some exotic vodka's, and I'll follow you right down the road quickly!!!!

Q

PS Freutzen is the favorite son for tomorrow, but alas, Hakinnen will win unless Mercedes(favorite mechanical son) car fails.
Schumi does "live" broadcast from his bed in Switzerland pre-race !!!
Long Live the 1st Rule of the Universe: The Risk/Reward Ratio

Clas: You sound like a nice guy, Bo Hansson not ABBA. I used to share with a girl from Malmo called Ingela who brought out everyone's 'animal instincts', boys &girls alike.

Last week amid the discussion of 11TOW I made a post about the difference in lyric styles re Becker and Fagen. And refered readers to the dramatic momologues of Robert Browning in which the narrator unknowingly reveals their character.
No one even replies.
Then Clas (no offence big fella) says 'Fagen is an actor' and everyone falls over each other to say it's the greatest 'theory' in GB history.
I'll call myself Chopped Liver from now on.

Fagen I believe (and Becker?) had a small part in the movie You "Gotta Walk it Like you Talk It". I believe it ended up on the cutting room floor. Take a look at page 37 in Brian Sweet's book

clas, q, doc mu, et al,
fagen as actor is a sweet theory and explains much. because part of acting is saying one thing and meaning another and the audience can see this while it's done subtly. and fagen does that often. must be cool, hip, intelligent, creative just to think about singing those lyrics.

ugly steely dan moment,
on hold with twa a long time. deacon blues by muzac comes over the 16-cent telephone speaker. a terrible blasphemy. they're doing it with a sluggish flute and awful trombones and blended nausea behind it. got to talk to twa but they're making me sick. finally guy comes on the line and his voice and attitude match the deacon blues destruction but it's a relief. there ought to be a law about this. fezo, draft something.

Little Hand - Thanks for thinking of me. I haven't posted in the last few days since I was going to go back to posting under my real name, but I found that I didn't have anything to say. I feel more creative as Altamira.

I'm intrigued by the "Fagen as actor" thread, but I have a horrible headache right now (a hangover, what on earth was I thinking last night? Talk about zero self-control!) and I'm not up to analytical thinking, so I'll post again after I take a nap.

i can't beleive that anyone is still drinking heineken when there are so many unbelievable american beers - in brown bottles!!

Anchor steam

Sierra nevada

Sam adams

Harpoon

just to name the biggies!!!!!!!!

Malibu: If you're looking for Rick Griffin stuff, one of his last album covers is now available on a T-Shirt, the Mercury Head cover for Quicksilver's "Peace By Piece".. He was very proud of the fact he made it look like chrome without using any silver color at all.. It's $23 from the Quicksilver Messenger Service website, and these are Rare Items..
www.penncen.com/quicksilver
Is it June 31st yet?

Clas in the 3-4 years I have been viewing your posts your "Fagen as actor" theory is your most brilliant and compelling stroke yet.

My take on it though is that Don isn't trying for "believability in his threats", as usual it's dramatic sarcasm leading to self effacing melodrama - and comedy. I smile when I listen to these songs because I relish the sarcasm and irony that they bring to the table at a level as NO ONE else in pop music ever has. It definately is "acting" and I agree with Clas that our ever detatched heroes do not pour out their emotions - they are a level above that. By synthesizing incredible melodies,and awesome lyric qualities to the voicing by Don(despite "technical failings that some have dwelled on- which I find to be irrelevant and demonstrative of a lack of understanding of what they are going for- bye the bye- what is lost "technically" in the boy's vocals is MORE than recaptured in the virtuosity of instrumental performances)(whew) they are EVOKING a response in - you! that to me is the magic - and it is magic.

I personally think people spend way to much time trying to analyze their lyrics as if they were produced in a vacuum. I think standing alone many of the lyrics have no homogenous threaded meaning but are a collage of thoughts and commentary on a number of things. But equally as important i think that the lyrics and Don's voice is simply used as one more instrument that when all combined in synthesis creates a level of communication that actually rises to the level of art- a rarity in "modern music"

I believe it was Bob Dylan(?), of all people, who said that the Dynamic Duo are the best song writers(and i would dare to add studio performers/masters of execution) in pop music history?

Fagen as actor - you nailed that one Clas - and it is a multi-faceted thesis.

Back to my Heinekins and qualifying action in Hockenheim, Gernmany

Get well Micheal Schumacher

Q

fezo: Yes, I noticed more of a detached quality in Fagen's vocals throughout Royal Scam except for Caves of Altamira. This works expecially well naturally on Don't Take Me Alive and Haitian Divorce. There is much more immediacy and urgency on Dr. Wu and a lot of Katy Lied. You can hear the anguish in Any World building as he's singing "..a vison of a child returning, a kingdom where the sky is burining. Honey, I will be there. Yes I'll be there..." Michael McDonald's piercing backup brings the feeling to a cerscendo. I noticed the vocals on Rikki Don't Lose That Number to be more visceral also. A bit of anger, contempt, and frustration are obvious as he spits out "...but you don't even know your mind" Then he softens suddenly when he begs "and you could have a change of heart" The quick switch is extraordinarily hard to do and very convincing.

Yesterday afternoon I was convinced Becker was in my midst. I was at an outdoor concert featuring some Beatles cover band and there He was. The band was great though I couldn't quite figure out what Walter would be doing in Charlottesville. But I was in the raptures of fandom and was about to approach to stammer out some praise. Then Mike Love and Richard Manuel walked by and I realized I was having severe heat-induced hallucinations.

Ruby: cold beer? fish and chips? What's not to like? The first two pitchers are on me. Then how about two hours minimum of book and record store browsing?

Clas: Fagen as an actor. Cool theory. I've thought that too on songs like "Everything You Did". In fact, in that song, he does such a lousy job of playing the role of a domestic abuser I never found the threats in that song believable. He sings like such a paper tiger.

On the other hand, the angst in Dr. Wu sounds real. As real as any emotion in 11TOW. I haven't heard Wu in awhile so this interpretation may be tainted by time lapse but that whole song almost aches with failed redemption. At the beginning there's hope for the nararrator; he'll get the girl, he's get the drugs, whatever it is he needs to feel redeemed. But at the end Katy fails him. Fagen "could see it in her eyes" and his vocal on that line alone sounds like actual pain; not an actor simulating it.

I'm so sorry I missed it!

Reveille!

The cavalry is here!

Edd is back! Yahooooo!

Wait a minut Edd, I'll go gather my questions I've saved for you...

Javier Moreno - have you ever heard the Swedish folktune;

"Limu Limu Lima, kom låt solen skina, över berg över dal"?

Great tune. Like Nordic Gospel. Lima is a small village in the northwest county Dalarna. Interesting eh?

RubyBaby - I don't AGREE with you damn it! :)

Fagen is an actor, he never gets personal! "On the Dunes", for examples, only mirrors the narrators "mind-ghosts", the lyrics is not much about the pain when the lover has left him, it's more about the fact that he can't stand to be alone. He needs someone to be close to him. And the song is sung in such way that it's clear that Fagen is pretending to "be" someone. Like an actor. I don't believe for a minute that Fagen EVER has shown any real emotions in any of the songs he's singing.

Becker has. On every tune on 11 TOW.

Godnatt fröken, vi syns imorgon.

Clas, the Musclemountain

"Martin" - last word - your right it was a "weak comeback" - because if anything, it was meant to be understated - that was what WAS funny about it - it's pretty well understood that I know what ebay is.

AND because none of it meant much to me.........but, you "Martin" - you mean a lot to me.

oh shit gotta go - an auction is ending...........

Q

yes Martin - I don't have it - you've got it... up your ass !

PS your post is barely coherent , and bye the way - who the fuck are you anyway? - just another loser who won't post under their real identity because they don't have the BALLS to put themselves on the line - even in a forum where they will never even meet 80+% of the people participating......pretty pathetic -talk about "not having it".

So "Martin" why don't you come out and give your real name and email address and shake off all of that obvious sophmoric insecurity.

Oh.... and as for my "spending spree" - you can't spend it if you don't "HAVE IT" - shithead.

PS my spending spree has been going on for over 15 years and bye the way, ebay is only a FRACTION of it.

Come on out "Martin".........you can do it..... I know you can, or is your living room a bunker filled with sand(that's a Dan line -Martin)

PPS I really think what I detect most in your little scolding note is some form of bitterness - that's a real bad state of mind "Martin"

Back to "civility" !?!

Sorry for this waste of time - God, I can't wait til the new CD comes out - so there is something WORTHWHILE to discuss on the board

Another Weak Comeback

Q

11/22 is still the release date. The boys are so hip they can't stand anybody second-guessing their intent. What power they must have over their record company! I'm reminded of Mothra Vs. Godzilla! Wasn't that movie shot in Aja?

Besides, who reads the release crap except...us? CD Now could give a shit. Tower Records could care less. You don't hear any DJ's lamenting the delay. Hey that gives me an idea! Let's all assume TNO will be released on the 12th of Never. Heck, it could be in our hands tomorrow...

&: LOL means Lola without the "a".

&: Where are Altamira and Oleander? Oh, that's right. There's a Mini-Me on Sunday...

&: ebay RULES! You can't argue with 1.5 BILLION hits per month. I should know. I created it shortly after Al Gore cooked-up the internet.

So Wealthy I'm Miserable,

Little "Big" Hand

Steely Dan is the best band on earth.

FANOFDAN!!!!............THOES DAYS ARE GONE FOREVER OVER A LONG TIME AGO!!..............What as shame! I often do that same trip. When I listen to The Royal Scam it brings back memories of crusing to Darwin, in my mates EH Holden Special!! { with visors down of course !! } in 76. Then three months later drove the same car to Perth!!..What a trip that was!!,with our Clarion 4 track with 40 wats a side cranked to the max!! booming out YOUR NEVER GONA DO IT WITHOUT YOUR FEZ ON....... O NO............................Great Days!!

Table Talk- Q Knows what ebay is. There was a poster making fun of his spending spree their and spelled ebay, Ebay. That was about as good a comeback Q can give, when he say's, What's Ebay? Some people just don't have it. Q's one of those people.

FanofDan - Thanks for the message yesterday. I didn't get it until late. Much overtime lately. Nothing changes? Look forward to hearing the new music.

Anyone - I always thought LOL meant "lots of Love" and one put is at the end of a letter (people have been doing that for decades). However, people do it on E-mail for all sorts of reasons. What does it all mean?

Clas: kimmy sleeps in the garage 'cause the "big doggies" roam the house at night. I need protection, dude! As the song went, "gotta keep 'em sep-ar-A-ted!"

I guess DF sings Green Earings so sincerely, I believe it is him!

When I hear royal scam, I have to thing that the lyrics were written first, then a melody was born from the attitude and wraped tightly around the words that are bulging at the seams, but it worked beautifully. How do they do that?!

Any Freecell players out there? Try game # 617. It's got me.

rb

...uh, it appears that the scheduled release date (11/2) has evaporated from the Reprise site:

http://www.repriserec.com/newreleases.html

Does this mean the mixing is near completion?...and "an important announcement" will coincide with a rumored near future broadcast of the "Making of Aja" special? OR was the new one erased from the memory banks of a River Sound computer during the recent NYC blackout? OR Did it seem redundant to release a packet of songs entitled Fall of '92, Fall of '93, Fall of '94, Fall of '95. Fall of '96, Fall of '97, and Fall of '98?

...stay tuned to the ODP - trying to channel Nostradamus now...

Roy: Yes, it was Opie!! Did you notice that the 1st cut "Narcolepsy" is a waltz, and the final track "Lullaby" is 3/4 - but with a gospel structure of a real rouser??

M: The purge is complete

You're right, TableTop ~ E-Bay is one of the only places on the 'net where people treat one another with a modicum of civility...barring the snake(s) who've gained notoriety in the past weeks with their bogus scams. Bottom line: only buy from sellers with a good rep and LOTS of positive feedback. I've been collecting the artwork (posters/comix/albums/etc.) of the late Rick Griffin, and have gotten many GREAT deals on E-Bay....take a look at www.boards.com at my lil' collection if you're a Griffin fan (or a survivor of the '60s!).

Listening to Kamakiriad for the first time in a while today ~ sheer genius :)~

Anyone itching for something new to listen to might want to give Joyce Cooling a listen. (Have I said this before?)

http://www.persontoperson.com/p2p_team.html

Q - ebay is this online auction thing - www.ebay.com Pick out a cute nickname (not like the ones here), sign up and bid away - great thing about America and the Internet, you can bid as much as it is worth to you. There at least, if you treat everyone civilly, honestly and fairly, they say nice things about you - unlike here.

I would recommend selling their stock short right now, until new software bugs are worked out. Don't shoot anyone if my advice causes you to loose money. ;)

what is Ebay ??

Hey Kids:

Just checking in....still no new album ....but hey the millenium is ending...but boy I was just thinking the other day with coffee in hand....unfinished manuscript on desk...WHAT A FRIGGIN" DULL YEAR this is......sorta like.....jeez 1971 or something.....'You Gotta Walk It...' indeed.....bring back the Flip Wilson show already!.......

this date in 'Dan History (as I remember it)
1996-'Dan play successful US Tour and debut two new tracks
1980-release of ;Gaucho' upheld due to legal wrangle (LA concession)
1978-Josie enters Billboard Hot 100 on its way to #26
1977-Steely Dan tour rehearsal begins (and ends)
1974-Baxter and Hodder kicked out of band
1973-Steely Dan plays live on Midnite Special
1972-Production on debut album ends
1971-Fagen and Becker smoke joint in Central Park
1969-Mets fall 9 1/2 behind Cubs...oops wrong chronology....anyway have a good summer people...when New millenium eve comes at least we will have something to listen too......right?????????right!!!!!!!!

Andrew! Are you bye any chance related to Pete Hamill?

Dusted off an old Ricky Lee Jones CD after seeing her name mentioned here ...and enjoyed, enjoyed . "Traces of the Western Slopes" sounded so familiar that it came as no shock to see on the liner notes that Steve Gadd was present but imagine my surprise when I saw a Mr. D Fagen (I believe he contributed to 'The Royal Scam' ) mentioned.
To the Antipodeans: I once worked the night shift at the Rocks and finished with a few quiet 'nightcaps' from 7.30am at a pub called the 'Fortune of War'. It was always full at that time with construction workers, old soldiers etc. having 'breakfast'. I remember how much I loved watching all the Suits on their way to work. Proust was wrong , it's the smell of stale beer that brings back memories.Ah...

Anne Thomas,

( ) ( ) ( ) ( )...........*

I guess you kinda scared yourself. Not me. The rhyme is my middle name.

F. Goose

*Meet me in the washington zoo?

clas

yes, lamerica is bad or worse than anthing you no in sweden. Usa courts us for our market not knowing our appetites. This is why we duplicate terminator and bruce lee willis all the time. Usa gives us gifts and then wants us to pay for them. No wonder we torture and kill people like cows who love you. A billion served is a big cigarette hard to not smoke. They no nothing about our resolve wich is like a tiny bonzai tree. Little tree shows how much disclipline we have to demand tiny feet or no sex and she can't run away and roots stay here.

Gokubi,

Won

Today I was just driving around listening to Aja (great album)
a beautiful sunny winters day when I started to reflect back to the 70s.
Ahh!!! Finishing school,being with your mates,surfing,innocent
romances,good times and a new Steely Dan album EVERY YEAR.
Well almost.
Yeah!!!! Those were the days.

Jesus Christ! Can't we talk about anything but steely dan here? Steely dan, steely dan, steely dan. How long can we talk about a non-entity? Speaking of non-enititys, would anyone care to comment on "Eyes Wide Shut"? I haven't seen it though I was prepared to see it straight away. I bet Kubrick is turning in his grave and shooting spurious shots on Kodak "Max" film just knowing what a bunch of gun-loving, sex-swilling idiots have done to his film. Who knows? The 65 seconds of orgy covered by digitized shadows may have been the straw that broke the camel's back. It must have been. Why else would American censors all converge on that one point? If the film is remembered for nothing BUT what was done posthumously to it then that should serve as an accurate record of our time in history: We demand cheap smut after 11:00pm on HBO and Cinemax. We are incapable of differentiating the video whores we see at home from the Mona Lisa. Kubrick gets the last laugh. He sprang from simply directing his actors to directing the fools who protect our morality. Guess I better go see it.

U2OK

Don't let the cat get too used to the piano! She'll soon figure out how to wake you in the mornings!

Expressions to avoid in a recording studio;

- Can you turn up my ears?

Cueso - I've just learned one thing, Edd is NEVER here when you need him. He's probably out hunting jakals or something...

RubyBaby - but isn't Fagen "acting" a thief, a gangster, in that song, Green Earrings? This is what I see in these two men; Fagen is writing his lyrics like he's writing a play. Becker is more openhearted, not so afraid to show his feelings.

If Fagen had children, maybe he has, can you imagine him write a song about them?

Is China taking over the world? I hope they have better movies and talkshows than USA.

Fezo - thanks again! I'll be looking for that one!

And where the hell is Roy?

C, Amish

er, that's 'mini'. No offence Mimi. Have a good w/e

R&ks

oops!... must have been that light beer at lunch...burp

Anyway, Mr Chow: the Australian's not one I know, though I've probably been in there at some point... can't even remember the name of the Japanese noodle house I was in last night at the top of King St. But, a mimi psudonym-free fest sounds good. Next time I'm in town on a Friday I'll let you know.

Ole: I quite understand... and please, come on down! one Black Friday perhaps? I still have to get that DMB offering to you for the prize pool.

Richard&kangaroos

Clas--funny, I heard a quote from Duke Ellington on NPR yesterday. Something about "It" not being in a "Box". I'm assuming "It" is music and the "Box" is conformity but I think I need some help with this. Edd?

Is Dr. Mu on vacation?

Ok, I'm going to the chat room now.

Cheesy,

Cueso

Q: Yes, they will take over the Panama Canal. Then, they will refuse entry to the U.S.A. At some point, they will invade CA. What they want is world dominance. They are patient. They are serious. No, I'm not out of my mind. Taiwan will be the first step. They covet the resouces.

Clas: I have to disagree with you about the Fagen/heart issue. I think there is some of Becker and some of Fagen in that song.
I remember/ that look in her eyes is Fagen all the way.

Did I tell you my cat loves to sit on the bench while I practice piano? She stays the whole time. Of course, I don't practice that long...

fezo: I've never been on BART before. I feel like such a child - everything is new. Sounds fun! Can we have fish & chips & cold beer for lunch?

rb

Q (Danman)- Check out Ebay! I saw a flame suit up for sale with Steely Dan written accross it. It's only going for $4,500.

oleander....thank you for the kind words. My lovely wife and I live only an hour from Chapel Hill and we'd love to meet you (I'm guessing Rudy the jOkEr will be there too?) but alas I have to work a 12 hour shift on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Perhaps we can Do It Again sometime in the near future? We've got the three day weekend off every other week though we are going to visit her Mom in WV on my next weekend off which is also my birthday....is this too much information? *LOL*

See y'all Monday!

Ok - Since the concensus is that the Guestbook "community" will is to talk of all manner of subjects, how about this one.

It sounds real conspiatorial but, I think it's worth some thought if not outright alarm(long term) !

Has anyone been reading the stories about how since we "gave up"
the Panama Canal, the Chinese Gov't has proceeded to buy up ALL of the surrounding lands ! Hmmm, only @15% of our oil imorts move through there , and @ 15% of all other imports move through there(=%30 of ALL imports to US).

I like Chinese people and food but I am not fond of the Chines Gov't for some reason - or any other Gov't having control of such a vital interst. But then I'm sure i'm just doing a "Third World Man" thang here.

It just irks me when we shoot our feet off - constantly.

OK, just a minute - there....ok, now I've got my flame suit on - go for it......

Q

Ruby: sounds like a plan. after lunch can we hop on BART and head up to Berkley?

Clas: for your next Ellington adventure, see if you can find a copy of his recording of "Single Pedal of a Rose" (or something like that). It's a piano solo he wrote in honor of Queen Elizabeth back in the 50's. His recording of the song was originally just pressed for her; it shows up later in a couple of live recordings of dubious audio quality but between the hisses it sounds to me like the most haunting and best piano piece I've ever heard. It's lyrical without words.

Stranger - damm - you caught me there. Actually, I don't mean a shit with it. It happens so that the word itself is a mix of my sons girlfriends name and another thing (that's a secret I cannot reveal).

Ole - yes we have - "cool". And what the hell girl, what is this about a Midi Dan Fest? In a chapel? Who is to be married? And is it via synctone?

RubyBaby - hmmm, I think those lines are Beckers. I can't imagine Fagen has a "heart" for other humans when he writes serious lyrics? Come to think about it, I think Royal Scam and Any World and maybe Bad Sneakers are the only serious meant lyrics.

And now I recall why I have a special ear for Bad Sneakers; I was a huge fan of Traffic when I was small, and the song "Hole In My Shoe" sure had an impact on me.

Thanks for pic, I email you, you Pacific Pearl.

Has anyone here read the English musicmagazine "Mojo"? Bought it just by chance the other day. Great articles. About Marianne Faithful, Chrissie Hyndes and a marathon on Brian Jones.

But hell, I am used to the American English, the Brittish English is quite not understandable sometimes. I mean, they got words like "Chap", "Lad", "Radge", "Popped" etc etc...

So, where the hell is Roy?

C, Basharasha

PS - mr La Page - get out of that freezer now eh?

Stranger,
Did I say Stanger? I make occasional errors, but I provide references.

Stanger,
I do windows, arrange papers, clean refrigerators, tune engines, forge passports, remember pins.... I don't come cheap.

Alta...I mean Anne - When you're in NY on a Wednesday, you can also enjoy the "Bloomberg Blues Jam" in the Plaza between the World Trade Center towers. I think it starts at about 6.30pm each Wednesday. I got this goss off my Bloomberg screen - didn't print it out, so I'll report back with more later. It's just a pity that I'm about 20,000 k's away or I'd join you. Maybe next week.

Good King Richard - Do you know the 'Australian Hotel' at the Rocks? Great gucci pizzas - Tandoori chicken is brill. Everything on tap and very relaxing at Friday lunchtime (although needs to be booked. I don't cook there - not a Szechuan dumpling in sight, but maybe if you're free one Friday? FanofDan - come on up! Lew - Come on down! Everyone else - come on over!

Ben _: could be a CASE of de-Briefing , that said , I'd love to make it to a DANFEST.

Andrew

Pseudonym "free" days are called Dan Fests and usually encompass both days and nights. I'm sure Oleander can brief you. But then, she's so used to diapers you may prefer to do your own briefing. Depends. Do you like to bulge all over or in one specific area?

Pablo : hail & well met (i know where you're coming from) just be prepared to duck when they start swinging.
How about a "pseudonym -free day" where folks could meet on a first name basis and play guess who?

clas,
falasha with one L is the word for ethiopian jews. i have no idea what your new signature is all about. but i can't worry about it right now because i'm trying to determine the meaning of taco bell.

will there really be another steely dan album ever? if so, will it be any good? i think if it occurs, it will be good. but i'm not sure it's going to happen.

going to paris tuesday. getting shit ready. it's complicated. i don't have flunkies to do the small shit.

Midnite--That your cool & friendly self shines through your nick. You don't have to reveal a thing.

OMIO--Yeah? Guess what I was doing during Woodstock? WORKING FOR A LIVING, DAMMIT! And how did you know about my prom?

St. Al--He's right. Diaper service RULES!

Stranger--I've always kneaded doughboys.

Mr. La--Just finished it a few days ago. Still reeling. Feeling kind of overwhelmed. I have a lot of questions for you. Let's e & talk about it. Anyone who hasn't read it (Infinite Jest): bolt all the doors, turn off your phone & computer and put a sign on the door: "Back in two weeks," and do it.

Clas--sassy--walking with a hitch in your hips, cutting your eyes, flipping your hair over your shoulder as you leave someone in the dust, chip on your shoulder, voluptuous attitude, not taking any shit and proud of it. Got a Swedish word for that?

GKR--I swear I'm STILL working on it. You guys make me long to go DownUnder.

maj--you & the luckster going to gig there?

Pablo--hey there.

kettle--stupid at best, I won't say what at worst.

NEWSFLASH: IMPROMPTU MINIDANFEST
SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 12:30
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA
VENUE TBA

maj@ - Cool! I'm planning a visit to New York soon, and I'll make sure I'm there on a Wednesday so I can visit the Triple Inn. Thanks for letting us know about it.

Clas: Yepper, AnyWorld smacks of DF. ThrowBackTLO has a definite WB air to it.
I had to consider those lyrics to RoyalScam you suggested. The lines, "While the memory of their southern sky/ Was clouded by the savage winter" leans towards being a WB thought.
I'm with the Major about Caves of Altamira.

Now I ask you, what about the lyrics, "Sorry/Angel/I get hungry/Like a child?"

My Dan-tolerant spouse has been having all the spontaneous Dan Moments lately. He was in Wallgreens in San Francisco when he heard Donald Fagen singing "something with a lot of xylophone to it" and he keeps hearing the music of Walk Between the Raindrops played on a tv commercial for Honda. I wonder if he's just teasing me...

Djawge: Where've you been? I haven't felt any foxy German vibes around here, so I assume you haven't visited recently. Don't tell me if you did. How are the sweet potatoes doing?
And the little one? He should be running about, driving you crazy by now! Does he plunk the keys yet?

Peg: I've been wondering what you're reading this summer. I have less time, but I have managed to pick up a good one called "In the Skin of a Lion" by Michael Ondaatje. I love the way he writes. He's poetic, but in a very manly way. Sporadic gentleness amid precise movement...

PS Clas: when you sign out as C Fallasha, are you saying you are falling, or you're a teacher? I was trying to look it up and I noticed that the svensk word for tampon is "tampong". How quaint!

rb

oleander....what did that mean? I'm just fine anonymous?

Hi book!

Nice to have a look at you again. You read as you ever did. Some things never change. Yeah, that was kinda lame too.

Roo-bee!!! I hope all is well w/ you. Must get back to you soon. Just I'm so busy. Resting my head on my keyboard.

Sancto Alphonso: Hello and best wishes for the 2nd asshole. You'll love it.

Whoever: what sampler of King Crimson would you recommend? Explain you're choice svp.

Until THE DAY I'll hide my ears in a cushion with a mix of Tab Two, Tribal Tech, FZ, Nettwerk compilations.

Bye now.

Wandered into the Triple Inn, 54th Street, in NYC last week. It's a Dan-friendly place to hang. On Wed. nites, Dan alums pick up and play. Bartender tells me "Drew somebody" comes by to play some Dan stuff. Drew Zingg, I suppose.

What a way to beat the heat in the CITY.

who wrote what: Caves of Altimira was Donald. My guess.

maj©

What can anyone tell me about Jango? Sounds like they are very much influenced by Steely Dan.

http://www.latimes.com:80/excite/990728/t000066974.html

BTW: To whoever my wife, co-workers and I really loved the JFK, Jr. jokes last Friday - they were great!!!

When will that big announcement happen ...

I've been an SD fan since CBAT and reading all you yankee college kid's nonsense makes me wonder if we're listening to the same things. Over here in the real world were always told that Americans don't have irony. I hold Donald and Walt (and Randy Newman) up as exemplars of the true strain of US cynicism. We in Europe have known for generations that no dream, whether religious, political or social has all the answers. In SD's music I hear the gradual dawning, post 60s, of that hardening of the heart in the USA.. I'm looking forward to hearing what they've made of the 80s and 90s and they can take their time about it if that suits them.

Johnny Boy - Oh, you meant you thought I eat.... I wish! Alas, I'm single now. (I'm a little slow this morning, not yet fully awake.)

Alkaseltzer - You're right. I hadn't considered why some of use pseudonyms; I had merely picked one because someone suggested I do so. Certainly pseudonyms offer a way to express different sorts of thoughts under different identities - you know that a book written under the name Barbara Vine is going to be different from one written under the name Ruth Rendell, even though they're the same person. So I will use more names from now on, although they are probably going to be along the lines of what I used to put in the "city" section when I wanted a little variety. (Actually, I may just go back to using my real name, as I do on all the other on-line groups I participate in.) However, I think it's inaccurate to say that I use (or formerly used, since I won't use it anymore) the same pseudonym to feel pure and powerful, since I am neither. I guess I didn't explain exactly what I meant in my last post as I lack Mr. Becker's verbal skills [I just made several attempts to explain what I really meant, but I erased them because they were getting long and wordy]. I just used it because I enjoy maintaining a consistent identity, and some people don't, that's all. But, as you've pointed out, I've been using the pseudonym for the wrong reason, so I'll go back to just being Anne Thomas.

Of course I'm unsure and unsteady - that's why I'm so quick to change in response to suggestions like yours. I am truly sorry if I've given the impression of self-righteousness; in real life, I'm quite tolerant and easy-going (although I do occasionally go off in tirades against the patriarchy as my pent-up rage breaks through). I'll read more carefully what I write and try to make extra sure that it doesn't sound self-righteous, for that is something that I would surely never want to be, and I am deeply ashamed that I gave you that impression. Thanks for the comments; very thought-provoking.

Dr. Greenstreet - I've noticed this only on NYR&SR, especially Madison Time.

Mr. La Page - No, I haven't, but I've read some great reviews of it and I will see it soon. I am pleased that it's at the National Gallery rather than the Museum of Women and the Arts.

Big Fan - Damn, that is disappointing. Oh well, F&B did say that when the release date has been set, it will appear on their web site first - I should have paid more heed to their words and not gotten my hopes up for nothing.

Johnny Boy - Figuratively, perhaps, but not literally - I'm a vegetarian!

Barney - I wouldn't say that this is exactly a form of communication that is "brand spanking new" - there have been countless articles and even some books written about people who communicate on-line using pseudonyms.

teapot, call me black again and i'll stomp your ugly black nigra ass.

As a freshman in college (1980 Northern MIchigan U) I was "enlightened" by my roomate by heavy dosages of SD day and night until the day came when we went through a "coming out" ceremony where we smashed my garbage vinyl LP's (Alice Cooper, J. Starship...)against the cinder block wall of the dorm room. I heard he is selling bicycles in Belgium. I owe him...Rob P, R U out there????

re: pseudonyms -live by you're own rules but boys&girls how mature is it to only talk to people with silly SD names -are there really a set of customsand manners for a form of expression so brand spanking new?

Alkaseltzer- Altamira eats crow? I thought she eats.... oh, never mind.

Messrs Chow, Chang and FanofDan (hey, a rhyme): don't s'pose a classy Sigma's quite in the same league (reversed into a gum this evening... looks less classy than ever). Hey FanofDan you got a dog in the back of that V8 ute? Was going to ask about your blowhole, but some readers might get the wrong idea... I'm a good middle-class pommie bureaucrat (but then you knew that anyway). So, DanFest?: I'm spending a bit of time in Sydney these days, so where's the restaurant? I was walking through Chinatown on Monday night on my way to catch 'My Name is Joe' (excellent Ken Loach), but it could so easily have been noodles, laksa, chopsticks... dumplingarama in a piano bar? Japanese tomorrow night in George St, as a friend does a book launch... but maybe one evening soon?

Yup, kangaroos everywhere...
with nothing to do but feed all the parrots on the rear deck (lovely pair of crimson rosellas this morning)

Ah GoodPrincessLeia is waking up... time to go

richard&kangaroos

Clas - It sounds like Becker wrote those lyrics. His skills seem to lie with the pen and the guitar.

FanofDan - How could the car you look after so well give you nothing but trouble? Good talking with you today.

RubyBaby! You Pacific Pearl!

Who wrote this, Becker or Fagen, what do you think?

"They are hounded down to the bottom
Of a bad town amid the ruins,
Where they learn to fear an angry race
Of fallen kings their dark companions.
While the memory of their southern sky
Was clouded by a savage winter.
Every patron saint hung on the wall
Shared the room with twenty sinners."

StAl; I've already told you this but that day you did not listen to That Ear;

"I lived in holy house but the Grand Hotel
Back streets of this old town I know so well
and I drunken no holy wine save Muscatel
And now my friend I got to go
You tell everyone I know
Sayin' goodbye"

should be;

"I lived in no holy house but the Grand Hotel
Back streets of this old town I know so well
and I'm drunk but no holy wine, save the Muscatel
And now I got to go
You tell everyone I know"

Sayin' goodbye

Well we all knew it was too good to be true. That Nov 2 date kept getting closer and closer. Something had to give. Reprise updated their new release sight - no mention now of Steely Dan at all - not even the future albums section - oh well, what's another year or so. BTW please don't kill the messenger.

http://www.repriserec.com/newreleases.html

PS I've really loved all of the various Dave Matthews posts.

Lew Chang
Yeah mate! 54 model FJ Crusin' with the visors down!!!!!
Perhaps the sun was in your eyes in 82???
I am a FC model myself so I am not that far behind you.
Never was much of a Holden fan though.Bought a brand new V8 ute in January 99,very disappointed.Nothing but trouble!!
Anyway as I said in my last post,certain things regarding SD
might not be that far away.Drop me a line via the email address
above and I'll get in touch with you!
Oh BTW can I take the photo's of the chop sticks sliding down!!

Mr Chow
Keep practising! Can't wait to here those ivorys tinkling.

Good KIng Richard
Hope your keeping a good eye on those kangaroos.
Danfest downunder ???? One can only hope!!!!

Alta: You're right and I'm sure you can relate some personal experience to further illuminate anything that's posted here. That's what makes your stubborn refusal to fly under a different moniker so laughable. Instead of posting off the top of your head you feel you must share each and every experience as Altamira--(which I must say, is also a pseudonym)--in order for you to feel pure and powerful. But the truth is, you are also unsure, unsteady and unprepared for the mass of humanity and their reactions to your own peculiar brand of self righteousness.

Don't get me wrong. I've learned to not only accept you but appreciate you on this GB. We'll always know who you are and where you stand even if you eat crow as your unadulterated, genuine self...Altamira.

Good Blessings,

Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz

Hi Kids,

Just got back from a thousand mile cruise and boy is my leather stiff. Good thing I brought back a girl from the saddle-soap factory. She wasn't making shit! God, I hate to see a woman making half of her worth. Abe is with me on this one.

Just perused what I've missed and it's nice to see that very little has changed. Except for the blessing bestowed upon St. Al. Congrats big guy! Pisces Virgo rising is a very good sign...

I don't know what all this Dave Mathews stuff is about but I will tell you that the band played Austin Sunday night and got terrible reviews. Seems Dave was a little frazzled from his Woodstock gig the night before. Anyway, I have no comment except for this: His oriental-sounding stuff gives my cousin, Strawberry, serious 'Nam flashbacks...

Cooling Tower,

SEMB

"Piano Reflections". Thanks Fezo, it's great!

Where is Roy?

Mr La Page - wow, write a Doctors thesis on that one and send it to me. Was it cold?

RubyBaby, yes, great idea, 'who wrote what'. "Any World" is definy* Fagen.

"Throw back..." is Becker.

"Tonight when I chase the dragon" is... ooooops, sorry. That was very nasty of me. To become so... private. Sorry. Will never meantion THAT song again.

SunnySam - where the hell are YOU? Are you also sassy? Whatever that is.

* Aniton

Adjö,

C, Fallasha

All of my SD CD's require that the volume be turned up a notch or two to achieve the same volume as most of my other CD's. Does any one else notice this and is there a good reason for it? This includes the re-masters by the way.

Peter North - Don't forget:

Do Me Again & Fire In Her Hole

Spew it Again
Kid Gnarlyvein
Spray 19
Dr. Goo
Hose Darling
Spodishottva
Your White Teeth
Deacon Spews
Jack-off Speed
True Cum-panion

The Generation X`ers who watched Woodstock 99, many said that Dave Mathews Band was not very impressive, setting the place on fire wasn`t very impressive either.

oleander: Did you get around to the David Foster Wallace? I'm waiting for your insight.

clas: Last night, to conserve heartbeats, I slept in my freezer.

altamira: Hot. Very hot. Have you checked out the Cassat exhibit at the Natl Gallery?

truth is, we're ALL assholes.
now shut up and pour.

YOU'RE the asshole.

kettle - has anyone told you recently that you're an asshole? Seems you're way overdue.

Stranger-Yet another great Steely Dan post. I get enough of that kind of crap reading the comics in the morning paper.

oleander,
perhaps you are as old as i am. remember the first time we ran into each other? i was a doughboy exhausted from running 75 miles nonstop away from the trenches and you, fresh out of medical school, treated me with a strange, aromatic new herb.

Congrats St. Al & partner.. Try a diaper service..
Tight Bands: Frank Zappa's bands were like precision instruments & they put out bunches of live stuff to prove it.. Also one of the greatest guitar stranglers to ever choke a neck..
Damn i miss him.. Like SD, there's a quality to his stuff that nobody can replace.. "Let's Move To Cleveland.."
Hey! My curmudgeon lost it's crust when it fell off at Woodstock.
Sounds like a Ray Stevens song, don't it?
"You Know You're A Redneck When Your Local High School Fight Song Is Dueling Banjos, And The Junior/Senior Prom Requires Childcare.." (ba-ba-boing!)

Can't wait for the *new* one!

Clas - Why not? Yes, we don't have to, but it would be nice to see Steely Dan mentioned for once instead of the usual useless stuff. Also, thought it might interest a few people.

Lew Chang - Dumplings as usual. Trying a new hi-fat variety.

FanofDan - I have copied the manuscripts. "Throw back the little ones" works better than most so far. Finally successful in an Ebay auction last night, although not SD related. The Johnnie Johnson Band CD is great!

!! I`ve noticed that 11 TOW has been tossed around,anilised and whatever again!!. As far as i`m concerned if the NEW ONE! sounds anything like 11 TOW! i`ll swollow my fucking chop sticks
sideways!!!.............Mr Chow!! whats on the menu tonight?? FANOFDAN!! Did you read my reply??.............BY!

This was the topic today; (sorry for the third post here, got a little "halleluja" up in my head when Fezo gave me three dots and called me big boy)

(and hey Ruby, was it not me that that was going to look for those records? How got Fezo involved?)

Imagine yourself standing in China, Beijing. You are looking at a worldmap.

The big country in west is - Russia.

The big country in east is - USA.

That is a thought, isn't it?

Doesn't that tell us something? Yes, it's telling us that we're NOT the center of the world! The Western World is NOT the center of the world.

Good thinking teenies.

God, I'm so glad I have you kids, it's nothing better than teach things to unruined little human beings. You are so undestroyed!

Tomorrow we'll talk about how to play (the basics) and tune a Lute.

C Fallasha

Rudybaby = RubyBaby

That was NOT a Freudian slip. I must have been confused when Rudy said that he is going to be a father again.

SASSY? What the hell is sassy? LISA, SEND ME A NERIUM-PICK!

StAl - "Haven't changed a diaper in 9 years." Hey StAl, this is a mans world. Do men really change diapers over at your country? Congrats any way!!!

RudyBaby - my sweet little peach-pit, my beautiful little honey, I'll send you a picture of that plant. It's growing. Love you!

I'll be back soon if I have forgot anything.

Only a Fool Would Slay That
With a Knife
My Rival
Goodbye Look
Book of Lawyers
Neck's Too Flat
I? Gee? Why?
Stain Lightening
Throw Back the Little Gloves
Barry's Town
Razor Boy

St Al...A daddy again? Congratulations Sir!
Speaking of Steely Kids ...Geena, Are you back yet?Hope your Trip was a success.

Altamira- Nice job laying Down the Ground Rules and presenting
your take on this place.
David

Clas: When you say things like, "Dave Matthews, is he the guy from traffic?" I miss you most of all.

Sven: Dark-haired Swedes are BEST FROM ALL THE REST!

fezo: I'd love to look for that Ellington/Coltrane record with you. But we can't, so maybe I'll pretend. We'll start at Spinners, a used record store in the Tower District. Then we'll go to Butterfield's for lunch.

rb

The Stranger - You seem to have some pretty good points here. I always hate that gender-bashing stuff; I have many male friends and I don't think that women are any better than men, but I have noticed that this group seems to be more interesting when more of the women posters are involved, The men seem to get into these on-line shouting matches, while the women seem to be better at bringing in new topics of discussion, sometimes on-topic, sometimes not (although men can go off-topic as well), but I find this list a bit less interesting when there are fewer women posting. I was surprised when I first noticed this, since I hate all this gender-stereotyping, but I've found that every time I find this forum to be getting dull, I've noticed that not many women have been posting lately. I'm sure I'll draw some flames for this, but just let me point out that I'm surprised by this and not all that happy, since I have much respect for men and their contributions to this guest book.

Regarding those who hide behind various aliases here; that is one consequence of posting in this format, since if you were posting to a listserv, you would probably be identified by the origin of your posts, unless you could find a way to obscure that, and even then it might be traced - we know people can hide here, so it's not really something we should complain about. However, the anonymous posting does lend a different flavor to this group. I can sometimes detect a pattern in some of the negative posts so I suspect the same person is responsible for them, but I don't take these posts as seriously as those from someone who is clearly identified as a regular poster. This is a sort of community here, and those who wish to become a part of it will naturally have a somewhat stronger voice than those who hang out at the edges, dashing in now and then to snap at the rest of us. If you really wish to have your voices heard, then establish your regular posting name here as a consistent contributor, and maybe we'll pay a bit more serious attention to you.

Midnite--that's OK, you're just fine anonymous.

St. Al--MAZEL TOV!! Pursuant to our recent conversation, and in keeping with your trademark Saintly efficiency, you didn't waste any time. I guess Joker & I better start turning out those little Steely t-shirts again!

DMB & Bela Fleck put on one of the best live shows I've ever seen. I also think that's one of the cookin'est bands around. Don't much like the most recent album, though. Kind of amusing to see assholes flinging themselves through the air.

Stranger, OMIO--I just adore you crusty old curmudgeons (I can say that because I'm at least as old as you).

To all lisafans--she is alive and well and SASSY.
Clas--Hmm, sounds like medicine is a little different in Sweden. Maybe I'd better go on a medical fact-finding mission toot sweet. Say, thanx for the card--it's almost as tall as you are.

jk--I would love to hear Rapunzel & Reflections revisited.

fezo, RS--Two very good points, you guys: sometimes it's a case of knowing too much; and we invite ridicule when we intentionally distort our faculties. I still hate it. Funny is determined so much by your history. The only thing I know too much about is my own experience, plus spending a lot of time with alcoholics and addicts who are powerless over and destroyed by their disease. If I saw it as a transcript, I'd still know he was drunk. So it's not just the delivery. I can get tickled occasionally by tipsy behavior, but not often. People tend not to get funny but obnoxious & stupid--so if the faculties to be distorted in this kind of humor are obnoxiousness & stupidity, then have at it--but it's not my type. Anyway, I don't think he was intentionally distorting anything except the meniscus in a bottle. But hey, I can't tell you what's funny or not. Just where it hits me.

Mu--your e is bouncing again.

St.Al....congrats to you and Mrs. St. Al on the news of the new bambino whenever he/she arrives!

my two cents on Dave Matthews Band....probably the best live show I've ever seen and I've seen a lot in the last 25 years....to compare DMB and the Dan is apples and oranges and I'm sure that no two people here like exactly the same music, we just happen to have an immense appreciation for the music of Steely Dan....while I do anxiously await the release of their new recording I will continue to enjoy Dave Matthews and anyone else who strikes my ears fancy.

I hate to see this deteriorate into a "my dick is bigger than your dick" type of thing so why not just everyone enjoy what they like and if you don't share an opinion then don't flame....I know we've all heard the expression "opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one" so chill out and enjoy.

P.S....I don't hide behind my handle, if you're really interested you can find out my name and where I live and what I do with a minimal bit of effort.

see y'all in a couple of days.....MC

DMB = grooveless swirling guitars?

huh? one of the band's main attractions is their sound is NOT guitar heavy, except when Tim Reynolds sits in and he's never sounded grooveless or swirling to me.

i don't understand why DMB attracts such harsh criticism here. their music is a lot more innovative than most of the artists out there and the front man never has claimed to be a musical genuis in any of the interviews i've read. in fact he seems to bend over backwards to give most of the credit to Beauford, Tinsley, etc.

Come on everybody...you know better. Dave Matthews Band sucks and so does Sheryl Crow and so does Alannis Morrisette. Just a bunch of tuneless, grooveless swirling guitars and bad singers who sing with their mouths open too wide. I don't care how many records they sell to cretians, this is not good music. I know I'm a Dan Bigot. My son tells me so all the time. I have to concede that these others must have entertainment value or they would not be so popular. But play DMB (anything) and then immediately play Babylon Sisters. Play Crow and then play Rikki Don't Lose That Number. You will instantly hear the dreck by comparison. Don't lose your stamina waiting for the new one!! Don't settle for this noise they call composing. Real arrangments are on their way. Walter and Donald will soon send us something to purify our air again and kill all these flys. Mu-chord snobs Unite!!!

Hey Wilson! Your name is one of my favorite Phish tunes! I'll bet you're a real fan of them...

This is fun?

Good news -- Just got official word there's gonna be a little StAl come around March of next year. That makes 2 ASSHOLES. You think we're ready for it?

Haven't changed a diaper in 9 years. It's like riding a bicycle, right?

StAl

now yur talkin turkey

have becker/fagen ever done anything with fripp?

levin? bruford?

good bones.

after looking at the latest posts i see a connection between this board and the wholesale slaughter of serbs, albanians, hutus, tutsis etc. etc. just as a hutu thinks it's a great deal to murder a baby tutsi with a club when he's in an anonymous crowd, people here start talking about music and end up hurling the most vile insults as they hide behind net handles.

i think we need the women to come back to this board and the insane men should enlist in the manson family. perusing all this hatred just isn't any fun. can do that with my morning paper.

Yeah St. Al...Big Head Todd, another great group. Man, your taste is up your ass!

Dave Matthews is the anti-Dan.

Stradleneedledick: Evergren State College. Olympia Washington. DMB Opened for Big Head Todd and the Monsters. July 1994. Rumor has it you were hangin' round the mens locker room at that show.

Can't you do better than that?

Clas: Never said *tightest*. Close though. I'd have to say King Crimson is the tightest band in the world. At least, the tightest band I've ever seen... (3 dots just for you big boy)

StAl

Mr Chow - why?

Just give me a good answer on that and I'll do as you say.

C Fallasha

Everyone - Please go to the "Classic FM" (UK site) and vote in the "music of the millenium" vote for the best music of the millenium. Some of the categories are best band, best song, and best album. I've done my bit for Steely Dan. Also, while you're there, put in a plug for Beethoven. He's better than Mozart after all. The voting ends on the last day of July (5 days.

Cheers,
Mr Chow.

Sorry, had to take a piss.

Sven - Ellington hated Sweden? But he sure liked Alice Babs uh?

Fezo - thank you very MUCH. I'll go looking this afternoon.

...and Walter, ol pal, if you move to Sweden don't worry about work. You could be my assistent; walk the dog, tune my guitar, update my midisystem and so on. I could also arrange a meeting with one of our most famous guitarplayers, George Wadenius (god damn it, I've been hating that man since he threw me out from backstage in a club in Stockholm 1976, I was a little drunk but I just wanted to thank him for he had, via radio, introduced Steely Dan for me. But he was a big-wig then, he'd just came back from USA and Blood Sweat and Tears, and he had learn how to smoke a JOINT!)

And though we both are socialists we'll split your money and you can move in with me and my wife (we wont split her though!).

StAl - the tightest band ever? Reminds me of the site on the O-Steely Dan site "Words not to use in the studio":

"- How tight do you want me to play?"

- Is Dave Matthews pregnant?

- Nahh, not much, just a little.

C Fallasha

?

Is Dave Mathews the guy from Traffic

St. Al,

Why don't you follow your heart and blow-off this SD waste and go for what you know? Dave Mathews. Hell, they were your "own little secret", right? Or do you just like hanging around gymnasiums? BTW, exactly what gymnasiums did you see the DMB perform in? Or was that just a figure of speech? If it was then I'm sure you can appreciate this: "Go fuck yourself, asshole." My figure of speech is a little more honest than yours.

Have a "Dave" Day,

Strat

St. Al,

Is there a new piece of software that will show the faces of the people that post here? Damn, technology is so hip!

hey, i hear that dmb eats really well on the road.. dey got dem a real live
CHEF.
yup. smart cookies.

wonder what w & d like to eat???

Alice's Unc: Dave Matthews' bandmates would be playing nightly jazz club gigs and living with roommates scraping for rent if it wasn't for their meal ticket, Dave Matthews. A nice parallel to the careers of Dias, Baxter, and Hodder, although I don't mean to put Matthews on the level of D+W.

If I let the egos of my favorite musicians influence my perception of their music, I would toss out more than half of my CD's. Get over it, celebrities are jerks.

oh COME on.
we show all our faces here.

dave's band is better than he is.

that's why it's called dave matthew's band.

DUH.

love, uncle pffred.

Why people who flame on this book are afraid to show their faces?

Steven Paul: I'll bet you are one of those glass-is-half-empty anal retentive types? You know, the type of guy with moderate inteligence but assumes to know more than he does. The type of person who's been scorned by their lovers more times than they care to rememeber, thus leading to my first point (or does the first point lead to the second point?). Yet all the while attempting to be hip by participating in a cyber-community such as this?

It's just a feeling I get based upon your post. Similar to the feeling you get from my posts. BUT WAIT! Could I be wrong...?

Dave is a human being first, rock star second -- unlike yourself. Get over it silly boy!

You know were to reach me...StAl

Clas: try "The Duke Plays Ellington", a 1953 Capitol release. A much later release of the same recording was retitled "Piano Reflections". In the early 60's, he did a record with John Coltrane. An intriguing combination, which I have never heard, but I plan to track down one day.

Clas--How are you? You know Duke Ellington hated Sweden even more than America so he chose the lesser of two edens. My english is rusty but I bet you get it!

What is Berkley? Is that where smart people go to bed and breakfast and save money by spending $2.50 for a quart of milk? Why are everyone's pants so big there? Do they have large genitals? Who is Dave Mathews? I heard a stupid song by him recently where he is fawning all over a girl like he is talking to a whore on a 900 line. Unfortunately it was on the radio. That was a mistake, right? I'm trying to get used to America. Is there some inside joke I'm not getting? I don't want to spend too much for my fun but then again not too little either. Does this make sense? How much is a glass of milk at a typical restaurant? Can you drink from the carton if you're just visiting or do you have to pour it into a plastic cup and keep it on-ice in your back-pack? Also, is it true Captain Kirk can get me a really cheap ticket?

Thanks You Bet,

Sven

Just went over the OD page and read Beckers latest. God, is that man funny or what?

"P.S. The doorman in question isn't black, in fact he's Italian. Is that gonna be a problem?"

Move to Sweden Becker, think you'd like it here.

As I've heard from friends who have lived in USA for months or years, when they get back to Sweden they say - I'll never complain about the Swedish taxes again.

AHHHhhAAA! NECK RUB!

Ole, I thought you meant something kinky here, I've been trying to figure out that one for days now. First I thought you wanted me strangled and then... well.

Yeah, neck rub, the human touch is the best thing ever.

ROY! I was on a jazzconcert yesterday. The band played Ellingtons "Come Sunday". I remember that you said your son used to sit in the livingroom playing Ellington-songs. You lucky bastard.

Can anyone recommend an Ellington-album, with just piano and his songs? Is there such a thing?

I love DMB. I saw them in LA in Oct last year, and they certainly justified St Al's claims. Carter Beauford kicks any drummer's ass. I just bought Remember Two Things, their '93 indie release, and I'm mightily impressed. They were destined for greatness. Also, the Live at Luther College CD with Matthews and Tim Reynolds is a gem. Yes, Matthews is a damn drunk and a stoner, but when he's playing- God damn he's great.

St. Al...I saw Dave Matthews do a solo show back about 8 months ago. This guy is so full of himself it's sickening. He talked more then he sang and between songs he kept on reminding everyone how hung over he was, and how cool it is to be a rock star. He just was the kind of guy you wanted to slap in the face. If his crowd is mixed in age I surely didn't see it. Everyone there was wearing University of whatever on there t-shirts jumping up and down with a mug of beer in there hand. I couldn't believe this cat could EVER get so popular! Again, he was the most pretentious, the most obnoxious person I'd ever seen.....no wonder you love him St. Al he sounds a lot like you.

There is a good reason Dave Matthews is playing Hartford for 3 shows. DMB has to be the most consistently tight live act I've ever seen, and I've seen them 9 times. Each musician in the band, save Dave himself, rules their instrument. I can't think of another drummer I enjoy watching as much as Carter Beauford. When Tim Reynolds plays guitar with them, they're equal to none.

But its more than that with DMB. It's the music. Hard to pin down -- blending a variety of musical styles -- Jazz, Bluegrass, Blues, Rock, etc. All this combines to make a sound that is fresh and relatively unique. Because of this approach, he appeals to a wider audience than any band I've heard in the last 25 years. Kids are turning their parents on to the sound (YEA RUBY!). More than a bunch of Fratboys and Girls, this band appeals to a MASS audience. I've been noticing a trend over the past 5 years. The age diversity at the shows has become dramatic. Ages 1 - 60+ can be seen at a DMB show, however, unlike the Dead, these guys have only been playing nationally for 5- 7 years. No hippies that never grew up, just brand new fans. If you think this band only appeals to the testosterone crowd aged 17-25, you need to get out of the house more often and educate yourself...

DMB is played on just about every radio format on the dial. Triple A, Rock, Cutting Edge, Jazz, Easy Listening, DMB can be heard on all of these stations. Perhaps this is why there are bound to be their detractors. Dave is dangerously close to becoming overexposed. However, unlike the Bee Gees or some of the others that fizzled and died, these guys have substance and are capable of pushing to envelope in order to stay fresh.

I can dig this band doesn't appeal to everyone. No band does. I hate Bob Dylan (*ducking*), but don't think for a moment I don't appreciate what he has brought to music. Frankly, I'd like it if you all STOPPED listening to DMB, this way I can go back to watching him in college gymnasiums when he was my little secret...

Hey! Anyone catch the Eric Clapton special on VH1. Steve Gadd on drums. Very cool. Watch for a rerun.

StAl

The same day of the unfortunate plane crash off Martha's Vineyard 15 poor people from Sri Lanka trying to reach Australia to start a new life were drowned. Who were they? Were they great human beings? The survivors are sitting in jail right now. If you're poor in this world you are not worthy of mention.
I think JFK Jr and his wife & sister-in -law are just as good as any of the other prople in this world, no better or worse.

did anyone see the All Blacks up to their old tricks against Australia tonight - they seem to be able to come in from the wrong side of the ruck without penalty - I guess when you have that reputation... but then you yanks don't know what i'm TALKING ABOUT, DO YOU? iNSULARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT.

Wayne - I have read your post again and I don't understand where I went wrong in my inital post. I wasn' imposing my own opinion on what should be done with their remains; of course I'm not a family member or friend; I never claimed to be. I merely wrote that their remains should be handled in the way that they had indicated, which, at the time of writing, I didn't realize was burial at sea. My suggestion that their remains be handled in the tradition of their families was kind of a back-up suggestion in case they had not left specific instructions, which obviously they had, but I did not know.

So, what did I do wrong? I was just going by what I knew, apparently there was some important information I wasn't aware of, but what about what I wrote was wrong? I have lost several family members (including both parents) and a number of friends in recent years and I would like to think that I know something about following people's wishes regarding the handling of their remains, since I've seen a number of conflicts come up, but if I've missed something essential, I'd like to know.

Sorry to have offended you; it was surely not my intent.

Wayne - Good point; a gravesite of a celebrity is ripe for desecration for those inclined to that sort of thing. I didn't realize that John, Caroline, and Lauren had expressed a desire to be buried at sea, but since they did, then I'm glad that their remains were handled as they wished. Everything is as it should be.

St Al: Dave Matthews is playing 3 shows in Hartford next week - nobody plays three shows in Hartford - even The Stones only played two shows. Did I really give my Stones ticket to my wife so I could stay home and watch UCONN-Duke? Was worth it still!!!!!

I'll be seeing George Thorogood and Steve Miller next week and Lilith Fair the week after with Sheryl Crow and The Pretenders. I've always liked Sheryl Crow and will be seeing her for the third time in a third different venue in the same state. First time was in a 300 person night club. My two concerts for the year, per national statistics for baby boomers.

For those of you who don't know it, Sheryl mentions Steely Dan in The Na-Na Song on her first album "Tuesday Night Music Club" "Cause anybody in a helmet looks just like a dick Steely Dan Rather be a hammer than a nail" Seems to right on target. And she plays the accordion to boot.

Altamira,
Are you in that much of a funk that you don't see it? Let's take Jim Morrison's grave for example; Those who are missing more than a few screws in their demented craniums, and there are a lot of them around visit his gravesite often. They defecate, urinate, and have their dogs do same, throw empty beer and liquor bottles against his grave, leave trash, spray paint his tombstone with obscenities and satanic icons, spit on his grave. This leaves your family to replace your tombstone every 3 or 4 years. Jim Morrison's family has replaced his stone 3 times already. JFK was smart. This way the fucking National Inquirer doesn't hire divers to find his coffin, open it and post pictures in their next edition to sell papers.
What you think would have been more appropriate or normal doesn't fit into the equation. You are neither his family, nor a good friend. A person's last wishes should be honored regardless of what it is.

Any word on release dates for Royal Scam, Aja, and Gaucho remasters? Are we waiting for proofreading or something? Fill me in, anyone.... don't misinterpret that, Peter.

Just Fucking Killed, Jr. - I've wondered about that too. Normally burial at sea is reserved for those who had some connection to the water. If they were buried at sea simply because they died there, that seems awfully grisly. Wouldn't it have been more appropriate to find a final resting place for the remains that would have had some relation to their lives or to the way their families had handled this sort of thing before?

Regarding Aniton - Thank you for providing a different perspective on Jerome. I will listen to it again with a more charitable state of mind than I had before.

What I don't get, is why did the government bother spending all that money to find and retrieve the bodies if the family was just planning to throw the ashes right back in the water?

Come down to Crazy Howie's. We cut out the middle man.

Some things i think i think: That hero worship must come into play if people are serious about 11 TOW. That Antoin got his fifteen minutes of fame, and is still getting airplay, lets not get to serious about laughing with or at him. That Horses with Ricki Lee Jones is a nice throwback and a nice un- steely sound. That im sure thats got to be David Sanborn on the song The finer things off of My Mandarin Plum That the Jazz purists must love Rapunzel off of MMP That after hearing CHESTNUTS like Dallas and Sail the Waterway (they were OK) im glad their sound evolved to the Jazz- Rock fusion.

The way certain band members are snickering seems a tad cruel. Isn't there, however, a cruel streak running through the SD catalogue and isn't that part of the allure?
On the up side, his memory lives on - he'll always be there, lusting after those "purdy, purdy ones" with a bodhisattva to help him to the next life.
At the very least he got to share a stage with SD which is something I'll never do ... and he sounds happy - Rikki Lake not Gerry Springer.
In his own mind he was probably the 'fifth Beatle' or 'third Steely Daner' ...whatever.

Ruthie,

Watch television, eat, rearrange furniture (that's especially amusing when one is high; I'm laughing at the memory as I write this). In general, the same sorts of things we would be doing otherwise.

Guys, while I'm away, please don't post so much. I have to sit here for hours and read if someone is writing about/to me.

Oleander Nerium - barykardy uh? That's very dangerous (as tacycardy, the other way around) as I explained in a previous post. If your heart rate is under 50, stand up and jog on the spot. And read my posts more closely so I don't have to write the same things twice, it's night here and Pompe needs to take a piss, okay? So listen; When the HR is under 50, the electric impulses from the brain "forgets" what they are up to, so they just kind of looking the other way and stops sending out their electricity and you fall stiff dead right down on the floora. If you are lucky, the fall itself will turn that heartbeat over again, you know, like on "Chigao Hope" when they place a fist real hard on someones dead Sternum and the heart goes back to boom do be boom do be boom do be boom...

...and for a person like me, who is dying almost every day, it's called The Panic Syndrom (I have a very special diagnosis by the way; Vase Regulatorisc Astenia), is a valium now and then not bad (alcohol is making the symptoms worse though). Or rather, Xanor 2 mgs Depote.

Do you have Panic Syndroms over there? I know you Yankees panic from time to time but do you have this special Intellectual Type of Neurosis? It was invented by a Swede named Sigmund Freud, a very talented professor.

GoodKingRichard - nah, I didn't stay in town to see her. It was raining.

Altamira - thanks for the Zoo-info. And you are right, bagpipes are great! But it shall be outside, live. Great.

Schwinn - who died? Well, as I said, I am almost dying every day.

RubyBaby - the Cars would be great! But... I have no licence!

As I am reading what I just wrote, something struck me, is it really so that I am a very selfcentered person?

Altamira- What else do you do with your friends when you're drunk and high?

"She's got a Steely Dan in her hand"

Ah, Drunks.. I quit laughing for a couple Of reasons.. First was after working several years for one band or another doing sound & equipment, I got really sick of the 2AM Drunks who hang around when the bar closes.. There's always the Local Musician who wants to play your guitars or drums.. And the Drooling Sexpot with makeup running everywhichwaybutloose who's ready to Ball the Band.. or the Redneck Bully-Boy who's gonna show them faggot Moozitians who can really kick ass.. Quick shot to the shins with a mike stand brings this variety of Asshole right down like a tree..
All fueled by alcohol..
Then there's those cold dawns in the emergency rooms seeing if some buddy or other was gonna live after wrapping a car around his face... Other than that, I guess it's Live & Let Live..

Roy Scam - I MUST stop posting late in the evening when I'm less likely to be precise in what I write.

My friends and I often laugh at one anyther when we are drunk and/or high and say and do really stupid things. Sometimes these things are so ridiculously amusing that we talk about them for years afterwards. This is perfectly valid. I just don't find that intro funny, which is why I don't like it. It doesn't have a damned thing to do with the person sounding drunk. I just don't think it's funny. Please ignore what I wrote last night; I didn't mean it; from now on out I will read everything I post several times before posting it to make sure it precisely conveys my meaning.

Fezo - Oh, I guess I didn't explain what I meant very well. Personally, I have no trouble laughing at what drunk and/or high people say if I find it funny - as a matter of fact, it's something I do fairly often. I just find that intro more irritating than funny, which is why I don't listen to it. Also, it does bring back some embarrassing memories of times when I have babbled in a similar manner, and I tend to avoid things that cause that sort of negative nostalgia. Hell, I'd be the last person to ever object to what people laugh at.

Sorry about the typos in the previous

Bye

SFK

hi.

Can you believe this. I am sitting here waiting for my colleagues to fuck off so I can start working on my resumé and get out of the shit hole where I work.

Anyone know of any decent record companies that require a decent inter/intranet webmaster?

I'd apply to D&W of course, but I think they have that covered!

Another instrument I can't stand.

The 'cor-anglais'. A pathetic oboe extension with 2 stupid ends. One's bent, the other is bell shaped. It's as irritating to look at as it is to here.

Oleander: The little Steelies are pretty cool. (although expensive!)

Laters babies

SFK

Until enlightenment at Danfess 2, I always thought the Anitron intro was just the product of inherent stupidity and a bit too much desire to sound hip to the crowd. I also thought it was funny as hell. I still do. Was it wrong for me to laugh at someone cause in my mind he was stupid? What's the difference between laughing at him for that reason or laughing at him if I thought he was a funny drunk.

Obviously, I think this is an instance of knowing too much. What if the next biographer after Sweet discovers that during the recording of Aja Walter and Donald got their jollies by performing ritual sacrifices of baby seals? As a consequence, would we all like the album any less?

Why didn't JFK, jr. shower before leaving for the Vineyard?
He said he'd wash up onshore.

What do the Kennedys miss most about the Vineyard?
The runway

What was JFK's final thrill?
Going down on Gay Head

Why was JFK flying to the Vineyard?
He was gonna crash his cousin's wedding

What will they name the movie?
Three funerals and a wedding

How are JFK, jr. and penguins alike?
They're both cute as hell and can't fly worth a damn.

If anyone understands the reference here, please enlighten me. Do you think it is a play on words Asia/Aja or does this guy just not know what he is talking about?

http://www.washingtonpost.com:80/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-07/23/050l-072399-idx.html

Dr. Mu: Good call on Ben Fold's "Don't Change Your Plans" borrowing from "Gary, Indiana" (sung in the movie by Ron Howard, I believe). I usually notice similarities like that, e.g., "Give Peace A Chance" borrowing form Sonny Bono's "You'd Better Sit Down Kids". Or Paul Simon's "Drizzle of the Rain" using the tune of "Bob Dylan's Dream". Or Donald Fagen's "...mad about Brubeck" sounding like "..reelin' in the years".

Ole, Altamira: I don't like the Anitron intro either, mostly because it's too long and pathetic to really be funny. Foster Brooks would have done it better.-- But I hate to draw lines about what can be made fun of. Don't we invite ridicule when we intentionally distort our own faculties? To wit, wasn't Spicoli in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" a great character, and Otis Cambell on "Andy Griffith"? Maybe it's like life: The whole story may be sad, but sometimes the little events that make it up are amusing.

RS

Ahh, the contest that won't die. Actually, the judges have ruled that since St. Al didn't officially enter "Dave Mathews" as the world's ugliest instrument then he cannot be deemed the winner. Nothing like good, solid, heads-up officiating to keep the strike-zone intact. My apologies to the Saintly One for assuming his admiration of Dave Mathews was not genuine. Evidently I can't tell a tongue from a cheek.

About 11 TOW: Changes everytime you listen to it. Only Mr. Becker would deliberately emulate programmed rhythms with real players. The album that ate Las Vegas.

Wearing a Cup,

Strad

Sick mommy kitty has been occupying my thoughts and my time today, but the hours I took off from work to take her to the vet have turned out well, she apparently has a uterine infection which I'm keeping under control with antibiotics. Of course, a month from now she won't even have a uterus!

Lyrical Ballads - I definitely see your point; Becker has limited his options by using this point of view. However, this doesn't seem to affect most of the other songs.

Oleander - Ok, I got a bit carried away in my initial enthusiasm. It's still an impressive work, however, with some lyrics that really cut to the heart. I am not familiar with Waiting for the Sun, but I will check it out. Alright, something new to order!

Regarding the Aniton intro - I've always skipped over it. And I do know about alcohol and drug abuse from my own personal experience, which makes this intro especially uncomfortable for me - damn, I know what it's like to get up and babble, and I don't like hearing anyone doing it; it brings back too many bad memories.

Ruby Baby - Yes, certain lines do seem to be written by one or the other. But they did collaborate on all the lyrics and music, so it would probably be impossible to determine exactly who was responsible for what.

Instrument Curious - Panpipe? It's a legitimate instrument and has been used sporadically in classical music.

Toucan Puerto Rican - Hey, don't take my word for it; some people like the CD; some don't. I've listened to it a number of times since I bought it and I find more to appreciate in the music each time I hear it, kind of like Kamakiriad, but it would be better for you if you listened to some soundbites from it first.

11TOW : the first person narrative lacks the speaker's fallibility so evident in SD's best work - sometimes they're up there with Robert Browning.
Whatever happened to my college belle/When did she turn into the wife from hell/ gives away the whole song in the first line.There is no real insight into the character of the speaker so it doesn't really go anywhere. Contrast this with : Agents of the Law/Luckless pedestrian ect. through the speakers words, we see their character.
Check out "My Last Dutchess" or "Gaucho".

Ole: Honey, dry those tears. Jeez, I thought cynicism was something we all aspired to here. Trying is Kinky's department anyway.

Stranger: We're gonna tie you up and force you to listen to Surf and/or Die 18 times in succession. Then you'll get it. ket's face it, on 11 TOW and Kama they were trying to do something different. Walter could have easily released an album that sounds like the China Crisis CDs he produced if that was what he was after.

fezo--ah, broken hearts.... In a technical sense that wouldn't be a heart attack, since what happens there is that the heart is asphyxiated suddenly. Ventricular rupture is when the bottom, strong chamber of the heart just blows. Pretty sudden exit then. But when people die soon after a loved one I don't think it has very much to do with the heart. Vonnegut thought such people form a karass of two. There must be neurochemicals we don't know about, and maybe as Mu says some triggering of accelerated apoptosis, and/ or Something In There, the psyche, that just says it's time to go. Which must take incredible strength, since there are so many people who seem to want to die, or try to kill themselves slowly, but who just keep hanging around, tortured and miserable. So maybe it isn't really dying of a broken heart but segueing into another tune of existence (going up?), maybe even reuniting with the loved one for real.

Stranger--Dark City, deeply flawed though it was, was cool. The imagery was fabulous. Seeing those buildings creak up out of the ground gave me the goosebumps. PS, Geena is getting strokes.

James--great story.

Rubybabe--Now wait a second. I was kind of hinting to Mu but he didn't rise to the damn bait. Naw, I'd love to be your aide-de-tuchus.

SFK--Mazel tov, dude! How are the little Steelies?

OMIO--I dig Spirit. Saw them once in a high school auditorium; still have some vinyl and bought 2 cd's last summer.

Clas--hey, honey: hold the whiskey & Valium, OK? How about a nice neck rub?

Alta--I love 11TOW, though I wouldn't call it a masterpiece (drum tracks, eg). After all those years of mystery, I feel as though Mr. Becker invited us into the basement to watch reruns with him. You can get Waiting For The Sun from the dreaded amazon, or maybe order it from your friendly neighborhood independent bookseller. Is the Savile still open?

Mu--I am not a cynic, so stop trying to hurt my feelings. You know how inadequate and inferior I feel around true cynics. I think Kubrick is anything but constant, judging from the vast range of his work.

Chick--you are on the list for the next ACC DanFest. In fact, how would you like to plan it?

KDF--So sorry, one more rant. I hate the Aniton intro. I fastforward past it. It's a humiliating example of a drunk encouraged to make an ass of himself. Sure, some of the stuff he says is funny, but the band was a bunch of young, callow, clueless assholes to allow/ encourage him to do that. Anyone else live intimately with alcoholism or drug abuse? Then maybe you know what I mean.

Hello DanFanDom!

Hoping you are all engrossed in waiting for the "New One", as I am.

Interesting about all of the people who were involved in the horn arrangements for the Steely Dan albums. Reads like a "Who's Who"

Just wanted to say "Houston, we ain't got a problem", tonight and hope you are all doing well----matter-of-fact, GREAT!!!

Keep smiling, and remember your attitude will get you much farther than your education or skills.

KatyDanFan, I will meet you in two weeks, wife-for-life, HSRD!

Cheers!

ES

sounds like a pan flute to me.

watching Clapton on VH1 as I post.....very nice.

Ole: Can I please be The Objective Observer? I know I'd be great at that! And hey, I could use an ass-istant, too. Are you free?

Let's hold a contest. We can call it Guess Who!

Altamira (and everybody): I've often thought that certain lyrics just say Walter. Like, "Turn up the Eagles/ the neighbors are listening." And "No he can't sleep on the floor/ What do you think I'm yelling for?" And some lyrics seem to say Donald. Like, "I recall when I was small/ how I spent my days alone." And, "You walked in/ and my life began again." I wonder if they ever kept track of who wrote what. Lyrics are important, but it's the music that grabbed me by the hair and never did let go...

rb

OKay, here's one for you: A wind instrument - it has maybe 6 or 8 bamboo(?) pipes side by side, each one a bit longer than the previous, and you blow into the top. Saw someone playing it in performance over the weekend. For $25, what is this instrument?

Ugly instrument, Piccolo. There has to be another instrument that does the same damn thing. Very similar to a Steely Dan.
There's usually a sexy girl playing one in any high school band.

Alt: Wow, I guess I'll have to go out and buy the CD now.

So, is rock-n-roll really dead? Is this crap I'm hearing on the radio really, rock? St. Al, where do you classify Dave Matthews and Phish? Hey, I can dig both, and Crash is best CD I've heard in years, but my 70's roots can't call it rock. What's your take drummer Schwinn?

Will Don and Walt be on any stage December 31, 1999?

Lyle Lovett has a great live CD out.

some of you kids must be listening to a different 11 tow than i got. mine has about 2 interesting tracks and several others which sound exactly alike and aren't much good in the first place. becker is a talent, but he's part of a fine formula. without the rest of that formula he's more like an ingredient.

geena went on a long, fragile, life-altering journey and i'm sure she could use positive encouragement.

Send all your money to me and you will double your investment in six months; three months if you can also send me a copy of the latest Brittany Spears video

Regardless of what any of you thought about the solo efforts, you will not be disappointed by The New One. The Steely Dan label won't be put on just any old music. They have high standards, higher than any of us have for them.

Go Girl! 11tow best Cd of the 90's. However if you read the lyrics to to outtakes from 11 and wet, and 1/2 of kama, it does not bode well for the new album. Where is the poetry, where is the caring about each and every word, where are the compleatly right field kacamamie phrase that are stilll evident in walters writing, say on the home page and the new liner notes? get's me?

Worst instrument(s) of all time

1. David Palmer
2. Oasis
3. The Corrs

Infact, substitute the word 'instruments' for 'tools'

Gotta hop

Laters

SFK

Regarding 11TOW - Oh, well, we all have different opinions. Maybe I just like it because it's different - while I will always adore Fagen's well-crafted and well-performed music, it does tend to be a little...mainstream, maybe. Of course, this can be a good thing, since Fagen's music has many qualities that are found in music that has stood the test of time, as I'm sure his will also. I just like something different now and then, like that avant garde choral music I listen to that people think is so wierd.

I do find the lyrics on 11TOW more interesting than the music - I think that if Fagen and Becker had been one of those great songwriting teams in the earlier part of this century, Becker would have written the words and Fagen the music, since that seems to be where their stronger abilities lie. (Note: I am not saying that Becker is not good at writing music or that Fagen is not good at writing lyrics, I'm just referring to relative skill.)

alta, alta....
come be my marshmallow bunny.
you vixen you.

Fellow loyal subjects of the SD realm...
Good to see that there has been no let-down in the quality and substance in the recent posts. I haven't looked in for about 6 weeks or so but I see Ole, Alta and others are keeping the place respectable and interesting.

Got back last week from the big 2 week family vacation in SC and have a little advice for y'all.
Visit Annapolis! I made an overnight stop there and found Maryland's capital city to be a charming and vibrant stop. The USNA is definitely worth the tour. Fascinatingly tranquil harbor and port. But 2 major "Don'ts" Don't stay at the Loews Annapolis. The "4 Star" accomodations there are a rip-off! The rooms are the worst I've ever seen! Musty, moldy smelling and humid with carpeting so brittle you don't want to walk barefoot or wonder why it's so crusty. The bathrooms I can't even begin to describe from the fungus-coated showers to the peeling wallpaper. UGH! Stay at the Marriott! And don't eat at Phillips'on the wharf. Having eaten at the one at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore a few times, the one in Annapolis is a sad copy. Wonderful location and view. Lousy service and tasteless food. Tourist prices. Try the out-of-way taverns instead. Got to see the Titanic exhibition in AC on the trip home. Fascinating and chilling at the same time. Ironic that John jr. dies in the ocean a week later... Very sad.

Anybody seen Geena?

So where's the new release? What's the latest bullshit excuse for the delay?

Who died?

11WOW : certain homework was not done -for example :
hard up case/cringemaker/girlfriend/my waterloo/this moody bastard
and by the way -little kawai sounds like something Ricky Lee Jones might have left lying round the studio.

Mu : 11TOW - it's like Dan alright - without Donald Fagin. Ha

"miraculous" ? "on key" chants ? harmonizer ? ja

FANOFDAN!......I`m a 54 model , the same as the FJ!!...I had an FX & FJ { Crusing with visors down!! }...............BY!!

Altamira: Welcome to the home of the brave. Wonderful review of 11 TOW. At times he seems as if he wants to smash the Dan veneer much as he does the windshield on the back cover. It's like Dan - stark raving naked...the elegance is in the body, the form as the skin is peeled away. As usual it those little touches that mean so much: Walter's exquisite solo on Junkie Girl, the end guitar solo rising to hysterics on Lucky Henry, the gateway key(board) chords to the Bob Sheppard solo on Book of Liars, the miraculous on-key chants of the monks on Surf and/or Die, the echoing reverb guitar shords rising on slow cadence during the verse on Girlfriend (don't think I've head a better song since '94)...my wife is impressed with his enunciation and phrasing - a great poetry read.

Hey BFF fans: Did you all notice that the melody line of the verse on Don't Change Your Plans for Me sounds a bit like the chorus in Gary, Indiana from the "Music Man?"

fezo: I dunno. Maybe some things are better left undissected. Having said that, it could be a big bolus of stress hormones like cortisol and epinephrine (adrenaline) eroding the flesh and mind...a whacked out immune system and systems failure..maybe a systemic dance of an elegant funereal process known as "apoptosis" or "programmed cell death" usually saved for cells which sacrifice themselves to save others - the most natural altruistic streak in us. I think about stories about people (this is a theme among some American Indian cultures) or animals that find a special place to pass once their time is up.

Alt: sorry to say but I don't think 11tow stands the test of time that well. I liked it for about a week but over the years it was missing from the 'rapid rotation' pile. Lyrically I think he misses DF's polish and musically , I mean, it's pretty basic stuff - Fagen would never settle for a standard shuffle(see keyboard video). There was filler in Pretzel Logic , but that was due to Record Company pressure ... know what I mean.

Willie: Like I said -- couldn't resist.

Also can't resist poinint out your asshole, er, uh, I mean opinion doesn't count for much around here either...

Wait till I start talking about Phish or Widespread Panic.

Signed,
Fratboy

James - you da man,baby - you da man !
What fun !