Aspel Tapetree Reboot

[Peter Byrne Manchester <PMANCHESTER@ccmail.sunysb.edu>]

       This is to confirm that the Aspel Tapetree is up and running again.  
Those of us who have already been involved rejoiced in Cindy Loiselle's update 
yesterday, but it will probably be useful to take it from the top.

	About a month ago, shortly after _Homeground_'s electrifying 
announcement of a new Kate Bush album "The Red Shoes" for September, Kate 
appeared on the British TV show Aspel <truth to tell, I don't have a clue what 
sort of a thing that is, but it has a catchy name that is easy to type and 
remember>.  She was on camera for some apparently rather slight repartee, but 
the important thing is that she lipsynched, at the piano, the song "Moments of 
Pleasure" from the new album.  PAL tapes of that appearance were made and 
found their way to several US Lovehounds.   Other songs from the album have 
been selected for release next month as singles, but this is--in effect--the 
one Kate wanted to give us first.

	Meanwhile, another Kate Bush work has been circulating in the PAL 
world, a video for her cover of Elton John's "Rocketman."  Jorn Barger first 
voiced the idea of creating a tapetree to circulate these two kateworks in 
NTSC translation, and with Cindy Loiselle agreeing to serve as root, I and six 
others agreed to be nodes.  Lots of ideas for how to use the rest of a T-120 
tape were mentioned, but enough people were attracted to the basic proposition 
that a ready-to-function tapetree was lashed together, needing only input.

	Translation is a tricky business.  The first effort crashed.  Whether 
it was incompatible device drivers, fragile host connections, conflicting 
transfer protocols, or simple spurious emissions, need not be decided:  the 
basic network structure was saved.

	As Cindy said, 

>We've also located some better quality video equipment than mine, so I'm
>relinquishing my role as "root" to Peter Manchester.  Other than that you
>should notice no change in how things are set up.  If you've contacted
>one of the "seven samurai" that Jorn listed to make a copy for you, that
>person will likely still be your "parent."  Stay in touch with him or her to
>work out any details about mailing tapes, etc.

	Everybody who has mailed tape to, or made other arrangements with any 
of the Seven Samurai, will get what they invested in.  I am keeping the 
'leaves' who have sent me tape when I was just a node, but in the new 
configuration I cannot take on any new ones.

	If you are only now deciding to participate in the tapetree, here's how 
it works.  Choose one of the following seven who have agreed to be nodes--
geographical proximity is a good basis for choice--and e-mail them for address 
and any special instructions.  The general procedure is this:  you send your 
blank tape along with a self-addressed, stamped return mailer (use _stamps_, 
not metered postage, which is only valid on the date of issue) to the node 
person you have contacted.  This makes it easy for him or her to give you a 
quick turnaround--no trips to the post office, no sending money, etc.  Note 
that not every tapetree node will be making hifi stereo dubs.  I have tried to 
ascertain which of us can dub in hifi stereo, but the pressure of time has 
left some uncertainty, which means that if it is important to you to get 
stereo sound (from those originals that are in stereo), you need to check for 
that when you contact your chosen node.

	The Gang of Seven:

( _loiselle%coins@cs.umass.edu )                  Cindy Loiselle
( _rurfin04@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu )
( _chai@utcc.utoronto.ca )                        Tippi Chai (MONO ONLY)
( _johnz@eaglet.rain.com )                        John Zimmer
( _woj@remus.rutgers.edu )                        woj (MONO ONLY)
( _rtimko@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu )             Martin Timko
( _henrik@husc.harvard.edu )

	Chris Williams, who is compiling the master for this tapetree in S-VHS, 
has at every stage wanted only to make his skill and his access to equipment 
available to the benefit of us all.  It looks like I'm the one who can pass 
that benefit along, and it's a pleasure to do so.

.............................................................................
                                                             Peter Manchester
  "C'mon, we all sing!"                         pmanchester@ccmail.sunysb.edu
                                                      72020.366@compuserv.com