Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Erynn--
At the Detroit show Tori did "Sweet Dreams", which in my mind runs a
close second to "Flying Dutchman" in the "best b-sides" race. Glad to
know I'm not alone in loving the hell out of that song.
  

    
Well, at the Connecticut show Tori did both "Sweet Dreams"
*and* "Flying Dutchman", and you're not alone in loving them
both, Bill. 

Though I think Flying Dutchman comes out of the "best b-sides"
race and is pretty high up there in the "best song ever" race.

I was under the impression that Mulholland Drive was already out
in movie theaters, or close to it - there was a sneak preview
of it here (that I missed, of course) and I figured I'd be able
to see it soon in the theater.  
  

    
The tape that I was given in 1991 was a sort of proto Little
Earthquakes, and it had Flying Dutchman, Upside Down and Take to the
Sky, and  Sweet Dreams in place of some that hadn't been written yet,
like Me & a Gun, and China and Mother (if memory serves) and that was
the tape I played to death -- I remember being surprised, 6 months
later, when the album came out, that some of my favorite songs weren't
on it.

You know, I am very pleased with myself: I spent all of yesterday
setting up the house network, as my network administrator has gone off
to college and the house internet service was finally installed 6
months late. And for someone who hasn't a clue what he's doing I did
it...
  

    
abbe - Mulholland Drive is indeed out, unless the movie theatre by me
is lying.  

yay, pats on the back for Neil.  :-)
  

    
Congratulations Neil! 

Streak - Interesting summary of the area. I have an ex-gf who went to
Reed. Actually, I keep running into Reed connections, which is odd
considering it isn't a very large school. Maybe I just have an affinity
for genius types.

I have to admit, with all these Harlan stories flying about, I'm
getting a little curious. Based on the stories, I don't think I'd like
him at all, and yet everyone seems to have this amused tolerance of
him. He must be much more charming than he seems in the retelling of
things.
  

    
    Elise asked me to tell the Richard Thompson story (well, this
particular Richard Thompson story), so, well, here it is.

    For several years I had backstage access at the Cropredy Festival
(Fairport Convention's annual outdoor concert, which draws lots of
other musicians and ten thousand or so of your Closest Personal
Friends).  I got acquainted with Richard there -- we aren't close
friends, but we know each other.
    This year, I arrived, saw Richard noodling with a guitar, and
wentover to say hello.  I happened to be wearing a lapel pin from Steve
Jackson Games, whose trademark is the Eye in the Pyramid, as seen on
various shady and unspeakable documents, like US dollar bills.  (The
pins are color-coded by what branch of the Conspiracy you're in.  Mine
is , which is the color you can't purchase at retail.)
    So anyway, I went over, and we shook hands, and he started eyeing
the pin.  He said (approximately) "That's a Masonic thing, innit?"  I
explained that this one wasn't, and that I wasn't a Mason, though
(classic case of overexplanation) my father is.
    "Ah," he said.  "'Course, that's what you -would- say."  And we
shook hands with our little fingers describing non-Euclidean arcs.  (My
right little finger doesn't work, so I'm really not kidding.)

     In the interests of celestial harmony and [YOU'RE NOT CLEARED FOR
THAT], the jacket now has a White Rose of York pin instead.
  

    
I sometimes half-seriously say that my favorite Tori album is
'More Pink', this second CD that came in a 2CD set of Under The
Pink in Australia that has a nice collection of B-side songs.
I suspect, though, that if I had the tape Neil had, it would win.

Bravo for Neil the network administrator.  Can we all try hacking
into your house network to see whether you've done a good enough
job?   Now that it's set up, you will actually face the other
challenge of being your own home sysadmin:  expect your network
provider to do completely stupid and insane things that screw up
your house network in unexpected and exciting ways every few months.
If they don't do it yet, expect them to be bought in another few 
months by one who will.  It's the way of the future.

My running theory on Harlan, having heard him in front of an
audience, not sharing very nicely with Peter David and Neil
(which looks like it's missing punctuation and should be Peter Paul
and Mary, but nevermind!), is a) that he loves audiences and they
hate him (but in large part do so good-naturedly, if they're fans
of his writing.)  But b) that if you take him away from the audience
and put him with a few people who he's actually willing to talk to
for real, they'd probably come out liking him, even if they still
disagreed with him on the sorts of things he likes to poke people
with when he's in front of an audience.  But that's all a theory,
as I've only heard him in front of an audience.  All I know about
him not in front of an audience is that Neil and Peter and he all 
seemed to actually be friends,  and if all there was to him was the
act I'm not convinced either of them would care to be his friend...
  

    
Installed the household network yourself?  You're such a hardware geek!
  

    
Congrats Neil!  That's quite a feat.  You get the GeekScouts
networking merit badge for that one.
     I have to second Abbe and say that you must beware of your
network provider.  I have a lovely network running through my home that
they managed to knock offline for four or five days of every week for
about five months straight; only recently have I managed to resolve the
situation -- mostly at least, I still can't bring my web server back
online...

I've seen Harlan speak on quite a few occasions and I've never not
enjoyed myself.  He's funny, he's passionately opinionated, and he
makes you think.  I've often seem him not even bother to listen to the
other side of an argument -- much less give the other side time to
articulate it -- but that's always at cons, where the same issues seem
to be brought up time and time again in regards to Harlan's views.  He
often refers to others, not present, with insults in his talks but he
doesn't do it maliciously imho, but rather simply to make his point. 
Harlan is larger than life when he's in front of an audience.  He can
be extremely nice, polite, and sentimental as well; he has come to the
aid of many people in incredible ways and never uses them to advance
his own star.  I like Harlan's stories and I like Harlan.
  

    
Neil--Sorry Neil, that post just read like something you had heard a
lot, an awful lot, before. Rolled off your keyboard way too easily...

Tree "Is that jewellery/nail polish/make up/hair dye you are wearing,
young lady? I don't think so..."
  

    
*bounces in*

I think More Pink is one of my favs, too - tho I had the CD single of
Winter with all the great songs, too.

Congrats Neil... lemme know when you want that network broken, and
I'll happily take care of it for you.  ;-)

Streak - Powells is a great book. I spend hours there every time I
visit the 'rents...

AND... I got the best news today... my unemployment benefits work out
to a whole $300 less than what I was making at my last job... so, uh,
THANK YOU MICROSOFT! *giggles*

Why yes, I'm in a damned good mood tonight, how could you tell?  :-)
-Kelly
  

    
Just got back from the Tori show. 
Amazing.
That's all I can seem to say, and I've seen her quite a few times
before. 
She didn't play "Flying Dutchman", but she did play "Mary", which is
my second favorite b-side. (really, I have too many to name) I cried.
And I NEVER cry at concerts. Moved, yes. But I never cry. The emotion
was building throughout the show, but when she played "Let it Be" I
just lost it completely. I don't really know what happened. I thought
Jess was going to make fun of me, but I looked over and there were
tears in his eyes too. When she played "Mary" (last) I was like, "Oh my
god! No way! " It was one of the first songs of hers that I fell in
love with. I waved at Joel and Mark. They looked well. 
Oh yes, The Dream King was there too. I said "hi" because I've always
wanted to meet him...he had a nice cape, and very expensive looking
contacts. Bought the tourbook. Now I have a nice calendar with lots of
important dates marked including Robert Plant's Birthday! Ha!
And just when I thought the evening couldn't get any better, we went
to a bar and watched a little old lady dance to Micheal Jackson's "Man
in the Mirror".  

Streak- Thanks so much for the info. We haven't used up Cleveland
quite yet, but soon, and when I decide to actually stick with not
smoking and have money, we will probably be headed that way. Sounds
like my kind of place...and lots of sex shops! Bonus!

Neil- Okay then. So, I guess my quesion now is: The Forgotten God is
real, right? I can find him in books? I've been looking, and I don't
think I've found him yet. I don't mind though, because I'd been meaning
to research all kinds of gods eventually. This (and other things in
AG) just gave me an excuse to get off my ass, and I've learned a lot in
the process, I think. Thank you.

My mom and sister are coming to visit for a couple of days tomorrow.
Lots and lots of cleaning and fussing to do. There's only one closet in
this place! 

Toodles,
Erynn 
  

    
Sorry just got an e-mail from my dear friend Sir Jon who is the total
comic nut and thought some may be interested in the links he sent.


http://www.comicon.com/ubb/Forum13/HTML/000434.html

and the total release

http://www.comicon.com/ubb/Forum12/HTML/000079.html

I'm pleased, Miracleman has been a long time favorite of mine and to
see something finally come of things is a good thing in my book.


Neil, yeah for you and the comp (just for behaving itself) I just got
a new laptop and it hates me. I'm going to attempt to de-bug it, before
I call in the exoricist.

I'm in an odd mood, music movies, "Still Crazy", "Almost Famous",
"Velvet Goldmine", and "Grace of My Heart" all got rented tonight.

Jinx who had a wicked diva movie kick the night before last
  

    
Oh, such news!  I second Quesada when he said, "I'm fanboyishly
giddy."  Good for you Neil, not letting McFarlane get away with his
insolence (or, at least, not without a fight).

I picked up the latest Year's Best Fantasy and Horror tome the other
day; I really like your poem, Neil!  I noticed that, in the TOC, where
it is indicated which titles are poems, yours is the only "poem"
designation that is not italicized.  Which I feel should mean
something, but I haven't the slightest what.
  

    
Insignificant Elephant story!

"I just think he adds an air of class that's lacking at Marvel, and
he's got a wonderful accent, and that's really it. I am fanboyishly
giddy." -- J. Quesada


There is much joy in my life this morning, for these and other
reasons. ^_^
  

    
Greetings all!  And so very happy!  Right quick (because it's my
second to last day at work, and I need to get some things done before I
start training my replacement).  The producers, and business managers
took me out to lunch yesterday, and I got all (phuklempt?  Is that
right?  I dunno) because, before then, I'd really felt like I hadn't
had that productive a year.  And I realized, you know, day-wise I might
have just been paying the bills, but I've been writing, and made some
great friends, and it seems like I touched some people, and there's
something successful in that.  Which made me feel *way* good.

Jinx- *Velvet Goldmine*?  What'd you think?  I really wanted to like
that movie.  I really did.  I mean, Eddie Izzard was in it!  And Ewan
McGregor (I've not yet seen *Phantom Menace*, but *Moulin Rouge* rocked
the house)!  Ultimately, though, it just didn't get me.  A little too
trying-to-be-artsy (I thought).
Speak of Eddie Izzard movies, anyone seen *Circus*?  *That* one I'm
looking forward to.

Neil- Good one on the computer sys.  Did you ask it who its daddy was
when you fixed it? <chuckle>

Erynn- Glad to hear the Tori show rocked.  And I think the "Winter"
single is my second favorite Tori, right after *To Venus and Back*,
which was phenomenal.  I could listen to that album for years and never
get bored.  It's funny; I wouldn't instantly name it as an album I
love, but, given the choice of only having five albums for the rest of
my life, that would be one of them.  Even if someone wanted to count it
as two.  Not that I can name the other four.  You know.

I'm excited about Miracleman, but not, unfortunately, fanboyishly
giddy, simply because I've never read Miracleman.  Perhaps I'll check
for some issues when I get back home.  *Wall*, though, has forced me to
wipe my chin.

On a downer, I got... well, he called it a 'parody', but I call it a
bashing, the other day over in the topic about books you've, believe it
or not, never read.  First time someone on the Well wasn't marvelously
interesting to me.  Which made me realize something;
You guys have spoiled me.  So thanks.
  

    
i, too, sometimes think More Pink is my favorite album. 
but i find i can't commit to one, cause then the other ones get
jealous and i have to bring them extra sweets.  

Portland sounds so lovely! i really want to check it out.  it would be
great, of course, if there was enough acting work and music industry
to make a living there.  man, it sure narrows my options down, i'll
tell you what.

yesterday i had a classic Hollywood audition.  i went in, got a really
horrifying scene to do, and in the middle of reading, the casting lady
stops me and says, "Ms. Roze, have you ever even SEEN a sitcom
before?"  i responded to the affirmative, and she said "then ACT like
it and stop reading like you have EMOTIONS.  my god, you're putting me
to sleep."  

wowza.  

needless to say, i don't think that went well.

well i want to invite all y'alls once again to another viewing of my
band.  we'll be performing here in Hollywood on Halloween Night
(OOOOOOOOOH) at The Crooked Bar at 9 PM.  only $4 if your name is on my
special list.  

ok i'm done advertising.  i just really like sharing my music with
people, that's all.

-adriana
  

    
I didn't have a chance to read over the thousands of posts that I've
missed while I was gone, but I just wanted to announce that I am on my
way to Tori's Indianapolis show in a couple hours...to watch her from
my 6th row, center seat.  I am truly excited.  

Angelina.
  

    
<somewhat uncomfortably>
Well, if we've spoiled you in a way that makes you likely to ignore the
rather, um, bracing commentary that mnemonic offered, I'm not sure I feel
good about that.

There's hidden treasure in his comments, there, although you might
understandably feel as if you are digging through, uh, some other
substance to locate the valuables. 

In the fairy tales, when the old grumpy traveler on the road takes the
viewpoint character to task on something, the viewpoint character's
reactions and subsequent actions are significant. In more ways than three,
even (as a friend of mine used to say).

That said, I understand that it probably did feel a bit like a slap in the
face with a wet fish. But y'might want to interview the fish, just to make
sure it's not the Salmon of Wisdom on an afternoon pogo-stick outing....
  

    
The foregoing was meant for Will; sorry about that. <smacks self on
forehead, whispers, "D'oyyy, Lioness.">

Oh, and Tori was great in Minneapolis the other night. Beyond words....
  

    
Will, well this wasn't the first time I've seen it. I did actually see
it in a theater, local art house place. I liked it for my standard
reasons I like movies that I like with no decent plot. It was pretty.
Basically I loved the costuming and the makeup, the way it was shot,
the acting wasn't poor, but the plot was odd, not bad, just disjointed
and this time around I rewound it several times to "get" something I
missed.  

Looking forward to two mainstream releases K-Pax and Life As A House.
The Kevins (Kevin Kline and Kevin Spacey) are both wonderful actors
who can bring joy to the worst piece of Shite.

Jinxie who is the rock and roll movies are an excess thing.
  

    
<lioness>, thou art a treasure. : )

I got my Tori Tour Book in the mail yesterday!  YAY!!!  Thank you so
much, <Bill^2>!  It was really so cool... proof that there's something
really real in this non-Realtime thing we're all doing, here.  You
know?  It was like having a character pop up out of your storybook or
something.  Like, hey!  Bill really lives out there and does lovely
things for people he's never met.  I got kinda silly and mushy about
it.

Neil's words and Tori in the same place is almost too much gorgeous.

Neil:  I really like the new bits on the website.  I especially loved
the samples from your AG notebook.  Neil's handwriting: Beyond Nerfme. 
And a yellow sticky note.  This seemed significant.  Despite what
other authors say about the writing process, deep down I couldn't
really believe that you ever wrestled with the alligator.  In some
irrational place, I implicitly believed that you sit down and it all
just... rolls out.  Maybe because of what your writing voice sounds
like.  And maybe some of it's the English thing, in the same way that I
can't visualize QEII at the Monster Truck Rally.  Not that your notes
look like a jacked up Ford 350, or anything.  (Ack!)  

Lord, I'm not saying this well.

It made you human.  It made you, writing, like the star that falls
down to earth.  Still shining, but not so far away.  

Oh, hell.  Anyway.  It made me happy.
  

    
All Tori concert-goers: Warning!  It's a girl moment.

What I *really* want to know is... what did she wear?  Plumage report,
please.

To all attending MadCon this weekend: Safe travels and please have fun
for me, too!
  

    
Will, well, he was poking you with a stick a bit, but you did bite
kinda hard.
The whole conversation was interesting though.

Jo (seconding Pam's call for an wearage description :) )
  

    
I loved the american gods notebook bits, although I must admit the
drawing of Wednesday kind of um, scared me.