exaKTly why are we here? for another overly long posting!

[Dave Hsu <hsu@eneevax.umd.edu>]

After four days in saturation mode, I've finally broken free from
_The Dreaming_ (hey look, ma!  Dave made a double entendre!) long
enough to make a posting.  First, I should mention that as predicted,
my productivity in the interim has fallen to amazingly low new levels.
You'll have to wait a while longer for the list of frequently asked
questions, folks, particularly while I battle out for myself the Great
Question e.g. which is the Greater Entity, TD or HoL?  Right now, it
appears that TD is assuming a substantial lead.  To be sure, its flaws
(at least, what I perceive to be flaws) and rough edges, intentional or
not, are far more visible than those which might be hiding somewhere in
HoL.  And yet again, it tempers, qualifies the intensity of each image.
For Powell & Lawson's anticlimactic string arrangement in Houdini,
it seems merciful that Kate did not refine the song further.  I don't
see how even the most dedicated L-H could withstand it were it polished
to the level of Get Out Of My House.  TD is to HoL what a Turbo Esprit
is to a 928S -- far less passive (HoL PASSIVE?), laden with character,
and all the more endearing.

But I digress.  An interesting observation this week...when I play TD,
the sky turns overcast in College Park.  And when I play Jennifer
Warnes, it becomes sunny (but still overcast).  Amazing but true!
Somebody in Boston should test this and let me know the results; it
looks as though I'll be moving up there in a month or so, and I
wouldn't want them to blame me for the weather...

I feel kind of uncomfortable with the way Dear God is sequenced into
the domestic Skylarking CD.  Then again, this could just be because I
shelled out a small fortune for the import last month.

Does the sound accidentally drop out for a few seconds at 3:27 in
the Smithereens' Blood And Roses on CD, or is this peculiar to my copy?

And now, for some replies.

>Really-From: prs@oliven.atc.olivetti.com (Philip Stephens)
>...
>Could be, I like *some* of the 'atmosphere' (yuppie Muzac) music played on
>a local 'New Age' station, though by no means all.

Fine with me...but I've gotta ask you - is there REALLY a station that
plays ONLY New Age?  I hope this doesn't escape Cupertino...

>->You could write Hofmann for this little project of his mentioned a long
>
>The guy I just called a little boy?   :-)

Yo, Hof may be abrasive sometimes (this sounds odd, maybe I meant
usually?) but he seems to know his shit.  Sort of a correspondent
from the nether regions of PG County.  One of these days, I might even
gather enough guts to go visit the 9:30 club.  Maybe.

>And thanks to everyone (well, almost).  I have seen the error of my ways and
>I promise to take a *little* more risk in my musical investment portfolio
>(obligitory yuppie joke).

That's just the way it is.  Good luck.

This mod.music.gaffa posting hasn't made it yet to my site, but I did find
it on a guest account:

>Really-From: seismo!nbs-amrf!oskard
>
>Dave "bd" Hsu -- What does the "bd" stand for Dave?  "bad dude?"
>You mean all that time I was working at CVL I didn't even suspect you as
>a closet KB freak, not to mention the Residents?
>......................................................dno

Not quite, oh exalted Former Keeper Of Fonts For A Laserprinter To
Which I DIDN'T Have Access Grrrr :-).  "bd" (you must be the twentieth
person to ask me) is a nickname some (taller) friends stuck on me in 10th
grade gym while playing basketball.  It stands for "Big Dave".  I was
12 at the time, you see.  As for the Vision Lab, well, there's a good
reason you didn't suspect...I wasn't that advanced yet.  Until I got to
this university, the Parental Management did their damndest to insulate
me from just about anything written since, say, Shostakovich.  Of course,
they've long since learned the error of their ways; being completely
unable to fathom Kate's music, they figure I must be otay if I can claim
to plumb *any* of its depths.  Either that, or I must have finally cracked
for good.  I'm not sure which I believe.

So you see, I've only had 4 1/2 years so far to cover a lifetime of
listening.  The approximate breakdown is, hmm, 1 1/2 years to break free
of the top-40 phase, 1 1/2 to break free from the AOR/heavy metal phase,
6 months for the schlocky ambient phase, and right now I'm deep in the
heart of the progressive phase, which looks like a good place to settle
down for Good.  I only started listening to HoL about a year ago, only
a little, and didn't go off the deep end until about two months ago.  So,
lemme see, figure I was at CVL from '84-'85, so I guess I was listening
to Def Leppard at the time.  Progress sho' is sumthin', ain't it?

-dave
-- 
David Hsu			Professional Undergrad & System Fascist
ARPA:	hsu@eneevax.umd.edu	UUCP: [seismo,allegra]!mimsy!eneevax!hsu
USNAIL: EE Computer Facility, Maryversity of Uniland, College Park, MD 20742