Welcome to another fact and fun filled episode of the Weekend Update!
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Starting off the issue is an ftp address:
[ftp.eng.ufl.edu]
Every year, somewhere in the Netherlands, there is a competition called
"Assembly '[YY]" - as in "Assembly '94". It is a competition to see who
can write the best Assembler code and the focus is always graphics and
sound. This years' batch of competitiors is available at the above site
for your perusal. None of the ones I've seen, so far, have been spectacular,
but I'm sure I'll tell you all about it if I find a good one. This year's
pieces can be found in /pub/msdos/demos/alpha/NEW/asm94. If you're
interested in what everyone considers the best demo ever, then check
out Second Reality from Future Crew - the winner of Assembly '93. It
can be found under /pub/msdos/demos/alpha/0-9 - it's called 2ndreal.arj
and 2ndreal.a01.
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The following piece has appeared in several newsgroups over the years and is,
in full, more than 12 pages long. Here's a clip of it, and if you'd like the
full thing, you can write and ask me, or just wait for the next posting.
WHAT'S IN A NAME ?
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last updated 18th August 1994
[last seen in alt.1d]
10cc - Conceitedly a little above the average amount of male ejaculation
during orgasm.
10,000 Maniacs - named (incorrectly?) after a movie of the same name.
Abba - from the first letters of their christian names : Anni-Frid,Benny,
Bjorn, Agnetha.
Alice in Chains - Staley :"the name came from a side project of my old
group. We were going to have this band that dressed in drag and played
heavy metal as a joke." (RS)
The Beatles - Insect theme was inspired by name of Buddy Holly and the
Crickets. They also liked Crickets' double meaning( an insect or a game)
so they made Beetles into Beatles, to carry pun on beat music.
Earlier called the Silver Beatles something about using electric
(read: silver) intruments.
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Originally called The Golliwogs, the group
came under increasing pressure from their record label Fantasy to change
the name, which they did in December '67. The story goes that John Fogerty
has a friend called Creedence, he also saw a TV beer advert which stressed
the virtues of clear water and, finally, he felt some sort of musical revival
was in the air. Put it all together and what do you get?
(that's right : Friend Beer Musical.)
Dexys Midnight Runners - Although Kevin Rowland tends to be a bit vague
about this, it is understood to be a reference to illegally acquired
dexedrine pills, for which the slang term is dexys. The drug has the effect
of giving users artificial energy, thus enabling them to keep going when tired.
The Doors - Jim Morrison took it from an essay on drugs, The Doors of
Perception by Aldous Huxley. The title itself is a phrase from 18th century
poet William Blake:"If the doors of perception were cleansed, man could see
things as they truly are; infinite."
Fine Young Canninbals - Named after a sleazy soap-opera movie, All the Fine
Young Canninbals (1960, MGM), starring Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood. For
the record, Halliwell's Film Guide describes it as a "boring rather than
daring farrago which is not even unintentionally funny."
Frente! - This Australian band's name is Spanish for "forehead", I'm told.
Gang of Four - Name applied to four political figures in China, 1976, who
emerged in power struggle after death of Mao Tse Tung. Group included
Mao's widow Chiang Ching.
The Gin Blossoms - named after a famous photo of W.C.Fields gin-ravaged nose,
in 1986 (?)... ( RS #675)
Human League - From the science fiction boardgame Star Force, in which the
Human League was one of two rival futuristic empires in the year 2180.
Michael Jackson - From the subtle combination of his family name, Jackson,
plus the christian name given to him by his parents at the time of his
birth, Michael.
KMFDM - stands for Kein Mitleid fuer die Mehrheit which in English
means "No pity For The Majority." It has been argued that the name
really means nothing because the liner notes for their album, WHAT DO
YOU KNOW, DEUTSCHLAND (WaxTrax! Records) have it listed as meaning:
"Kein Mehrheit fur die Mitleid"
however, the proper use of the prhase would be:
"Kein Mitleid fuer die Mehrheit"
(mit=with,leid=pain -> Pity; Mehr=more,heit=-ness -> Majority)
which also uses the genders correctly.
Kraftwerk - German for "power station".
[Power Station - English for Kraftwerk ]
L7 - supposedly because it makes a square shape when written,
which comes from an old industry name for an LP, because they were
square (not the records, the whole LP).
And by a scientific coincidence :
L7 is one of the "Legrange Points", places where the gravitational pull
between the earth and the moon form a sort of nether-point. there are 12
points i believe and the one known as L7 has been cited as the "best" place
to put a space station.
Lemonheads, The - Originally called the Whelps, it was a high-school friend
who suggested the band call itself the Lemonheads (after a popular
Midwestern candy). "It seemed to bite, 'cause Lemonheads are sweet on the
outside and sour in the inside", says Dando. "We definitely helped them sell
an extra few boxes. I know, because kids buy them and throw 'em at us" (RS #675)
The sweets incidentally bear the legend "Say No! To Drugs!".
Machines Of Loving Grace - from a poem by Richard Greigan (sp?),
which may or may not be about how humans in the future live in some
eden-esque environment and are cared for by "Machines of Loving Grace".
MC 900ft Jesus - taken from tele-evangelist, Oral Roberts, who
claimed a 900ft Jesus came to him in a vision
Milli Vanilli - because they liked the sound of Scritti Politti.
Pearl Jam - Be wary of any explanations of Pearl Jam. There are several and
none is the "official" version.
This was the first and most popular one. There are two more :
Pearl Jam's first name was "Mookie Blaylock". Mookie is an NBA basketball
player who was playing for the New Jersey Nets at the time and is currently
playing with the Atlanta Hawks. Jeff Ament is a huge basketball fan and thus
the attraction in addition to the fact that Mookie's name is different/cool.
I first heard of "Mookie Blaylock" as the second coming of Mother Love Bone
and this was big news. Mother Love Bone was *huge* in Seattle. Anyway
"Mookie" played club dates in Seattle and started to record their album.
They actually met with the real Mookie, got along with him, and received
his blessing to use his name. Pearl Jam's record label (not the NBA as
Rolling Stone reported) didn't think the "Mookie Blaylock" was not catchy
enough. The album they had been recording as "Mookie" was to be called
"Ten" because Mookie's jersey number is 10. So the story goes, one
of Mookie's favorite dunks is the "Pearl Jam". Thus Eddie and the boys
adopted this as their new name. The record label agreed. But of course,
the album was still called "Ten".
The other theory is in regard to Pearl Jam being a reference to semen.
This is the least credible. There is also a theory about Eddie's grandmother
Pearl, in regard to some hallucinogenic jam that she made which may
or not be derived from supposedly "Cow Pearl Jam" which is an Indian
sub-continent folk medicine for gaining weight.
The Pogues - Abbreviation of "pogue mahone", irish for Kiss My Arse. So,
are they now The Kisses, or The Arses ?
They had to drop the "mahone" part when they were contracted by their
record company.
The spelling is probably something like 'pog mo tho/in'
pog = kiss
mo = my
to/in (aspirated to tho/in) = arse
Redbone - a derogatory Cajun term for a half-breed
Snow - a) snow
b) Some Notorious Outrageous White boy
Steely Dan - Name of a dildo in William Burrough's novel Naked Lunch.
Temple of the Dog - Eddie Vedder, Chris Cornell, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard,
and another guy from Soundgarden are members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden
who recorded a tribute album to the deceased singer of Mother Love Bone,
Andrew Wood. Temple of the Dog is a lyric from the Mother Love Bone song
'Man of Golden Words.'
They Might Be Giants - taken from the 1971 George C. Scott movie
Wham! - Taken from their early composition Wham Rap, which contains the
lines "Wham! Bam! I am a man!"
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If you haven't been up at 10:30 on Saturday mornings for the last three
weeks, then you've really missed a golden opportunity. (And you'll have
to get up at 9:30, now, since the time-slot has been moved.) Favored
Cult Comic Classic "The Tick" has made it's way to the Boob Tube, which
is kind of appropriate, since the Tick is one of the funniest Boobs on
printed page, today. The Tick started strong several years ago and was
quickly snatched from comic stores nationwide. It has since been the
silliest, yet most hillarious comic available. Ben Edlund has a strong
hand in the TV show and it's true to the original. If you can't handle
the early wake-up call of "SPOOOOON!!!", then get a VCR, this is not to
be missed.
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A halloween joke from a co-worker:
A couple was invited to a swanky masked Halloween Party. She
got a terrible headache and told her husband to go to the
party alone. He, being a devoted husband, protested, but
she argued and said she was going to take some aspirin and
go to bed, and there was no need of his good time being
spoiled by not going. So he took his costume and away he
went.
The wife, after sleeping soundly for one hour, awakened
without pain, and as it was still early, she decided to go
to the party. In as much as her husband did not know what
her costume was, she thought she would have some fun by
watching her husband to see how he acted when
she was not with him.
She joined the party and soon spotted her husband cavorting
around on the dance floor, dancing with every nice chick he
could, and copping a little feel here and a little kiss
there. His wife sidled up to him and being a rather
seductive babe herself, he left his partner high and dry and
devoted his time to the new stuff that had just arrived.
She let him go as far as he wished; naturally, since he was
her husband. Finally he whispered a little proposition in
her ear and she agreed, so off they went to one of the cars
and had a little bang. Just before unmasking at midnight,
she slipped away and went home and put the costume away and
got into bed, wondering what kind of explanation he would
make for his behaviour.
She was sitting up reading when he came in and asked what
kind of a time he had had. He said, "Oh, the same old
thing. You know I never have a good time when you're not
there." Then she asked, "Did you dance much?"
He replied, "I'll tell you, I never even danced one dance.
When I got there, I met Pete, Bill Brown and some other
guys, so we went into the den and played poker all evening.
But I'll tell you... the guy I loaned my costume to, sure
had a real good time!"
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WALLOWING SELF-PITY:
With a strong cold winter approaching, and an over-active seasonal
disorder, I've been in quite a pickle lately. Helping me to wallow
and moan at the maximum possible depth has been Douglas Coupland's
book "Life After God". This book shows why Douglas Coupland has become
the media's literary demagogue for the X-Generation. This novel
is divided into small chapters with even smaller paragraphs, each
of which is a self contained tale. Each chapter covers someone
that the author was familar with during his journey of pity. It
is probalbly the most self-indulgent depressing book I've ever
read, but I plan on reading it through to the end. It even has
that Mtv feel. Each paragraph is in large print and only takes a
page or two and is seperated into it's own section. Buzz bite after
buzz bite... Imagine Dave Barry minus the use of literary devices
and minus the minimum word restriction on his column's contract,
then add a dose of spirit filth and you've got a good idea of
"Life After God".
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[Andy Rooney whine]
Have you noticed that the makers of the Simpsons have been trying
to cover the fact that they don't have any new episodes. During
the first week of the new Fall season, they had an excellent premiere.
Then the next week was a re-run, and the this last week was an
hour-long special with one half-hour re-run, and one half-hour re-
hash/amalgam show. Come on Matt Groening (pronounced like Raining),
when will you have a NEW episode?
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A quick apology to one of our consituents known as Brady'O. He
sent in a rather humourous submission for this WU, but it seems
to have slipped away from my electronic grasp. This shouldn't
discourage anyone from submitting, though (SUBMIT! SUBMIT!).
Please, tell me what new and interesting things you've discovered
and would like to share with the rest of the world.
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P.S. Local band, Frantic Mantra is rumoured to be discussing
contractural business with a rep from BMI. OOOoooooo!