Sing no more of enchanted days

[juli@cabot.dartmouth.edu (Julian West)]

Replies to Steve W., Brian, Arthur Davis, Jeff Adams, tracyr:

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> Summary: Huxley, not Gurdjieff, but only by accident
> Steve Williams               ...!cs.utexas.edu!halley!steve

No, that's not what I meant.  Someone distinctly posted a message saying
"I always thought _Suspended_in_Gaffa_ meant, you know, _Suspended_in_Gaffa_
 (compare Nirvana, see writings of Gurdjieff)" [my paraphrase]

 Obviously we _don't_ know what who-ever-it-is meant, so perhaps s/he could
 enlighten us.
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> Subject: Kate and James
> Please go look up "Occam's Razor" in a philosophy book [expletive deleted]
> -- Brian  ...buita!lti!berns

To quote Ed "are you trying to make me look like a fool?" Of course I know
what Occam's Razor is.  You want me to apply it in this case and say
"well, the word he appears a lot in the song because she is singing about
a man", "mmmm" is there because it sounds good and is naturally paired with
"yes" in spoken English.  That's a sufficient explanation, and it's the
simplest, so it's a good one.

What can I say?  I don't agree.  Consider that Kate is very specific in
her allusions in the song, even using the proper name "Howth Head", but that
"he" still occurs six times without antecedents.  The easiest way to nail
down the source of the song would have been to mention "Bloom" by name.
I had to pick up the reference from "seedcake"!

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> Arthur Davis  davis@bdmrrr.bdm.com

> "And no more turn aside and brood,
>  Upon love's bitter mystery,
>  For Fergus rules the brazen cars"

 :-) :-) 
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> Jeff Adams   amams@math.berkeley.edu
> 2. four songs now (by my count) dealing with birth/womb themes.  
Interesting, I agree. Try counting "all we should have done but didn't" songs.
> (Is it Irish with Bulgarian influences or Bulgarian with Irish influences?) 
You read it here! ("Before we return to Rabelais, consider two suspended wires
of equal cross section.")

>5. Regarding _Heads We're Dancing_, has anyone pondered the
>   significance of the title sans apostrophe?  "Heads were dancing"
>   could have the meaning of "Heads were rolling" (past tense).
I hadn't pondered it, because I hadn't noticed!  I have a copy of the infamous
Joe-and-Larry demo tape, so no track listing.  But you are very observant!
I'm sure your theory is close to the mark.

At the risk of drawing more scatalogical references from Brian, I observe that 
"Finnegans Wake" also has no apostrophe where many people would expect one.
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> -tracy, tracyr@sco.com
> in the context of ex's, that is.  
> don't worry jon--we aren't the clods you think.  it's just nice   
> to hear that you've been in love, 

Tracy, are you jon's ex?    :-)

> remember when ied said we could expect a period of silence 
> from him upon release of tsw (to give him a time of quiet
> reflection and contemplation)?  is this still true, andy?

Evidently, andy is as good as his word.  I would again bemoan the dearth of
cogent insight emanating from that corner, but I understand that this is
simply Andy's style.  I need to bounce my ideas off other people as they
develop.  Andy prefers to percolate for a while before allowing his theses
into the light of day.  Rest assured, that light will be forthcoming later.
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Julian