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By: Da Sissop
Date: 6/11/00 1:25:33 PM
# Replies: 97
http://www.angelfire.com/boybands/zsuzsu/index.html
I finally got around to making some digitized videos.
Response #1
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 6/12/00 5:05:15 PM
Boybands?
Anyway.. I started to make a ZZP fan site a while back, and I still might have some of the scanned fliers on a zip disk somewhere... Now, if I could only find the studio demo that Marco gave me a copy of...
Response #2
By: Da Sissop
Date: 6/12/00 5:26:16 PM
Send me whatcha got!
Well I posted an announcement to the houston.music newsgroup, and I sent an email to a "Jerry Chrisman" allegedly in Houston, as per Yahoo, AND I sent an email to Trish Murphy, because I know Trish & Darin *kinda* intermingled with 'em. Hopefully maybe one of them will notice it, and send me more material.
Response #3
By: Gowan McGland
Date: 6/12/00 6:29:58 PM
I know for a fact that Trish & Darin used to cover The Great Frog Rain
You can email Darin at rafgard@aol.com. His website is
http://www.darinmusic.com/.
He and Trish both live in Austin now, but they've gone different ways musically. They still play together sometimes, though.
Response #4
By: Da Sissop
Date: 6/14/00 6:16:34 PM
I got a reply from Trish, which was Darin's reply to what she forwarded to *him*... and hey! Here it is now:
> Subj: Re: quick question...
> Date: 6/14/2000 10:37:32 AM Central Daylight Time
> From: Dpatmurf
> To: Trish1chaz
>
> The last I heard from zsu-zsu was a few years ago when I got a call from
> Scott Washburn. He was living in the Boston area at the time and pursuing a
> pilot's license (hope he hasn't attempted any night flights to martha's
> vineyard),
> and I think Patrick White (guitar) spent some time up there with him.
> Lead singer Brendan Jones (who once dated houston comic janeanne garafolo)
> was last seen in Los Angeles (home of his brother robin), writing film and
> play scripts.
>
> that's all i know, but I could ask reeder; i think she's still in town.
>
> d
>
Response #5
By: Seventh of Seven
Date: 6/15/00 5:20:56 PM
don't ask me how this came up, but just a few days ago i found out that in andrew dice clay's move the adventures of ford fairlane, there is a character named zuzu petal! isn't that wild?
Response #6
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 6/16/00 2:25:07 AM
"Whaddaya know about that!"
Response #7
By: Fung Swazy
Date: 6/17/00 2:28:00 PM
we were just talking about zuzu the other day, and i bemoaned the fact that i never aquired a recording. anybody got one?
Response #8
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 6/18/00 7:12:34 AM
Howdy, Fung.
Response #9
By: Fung Swazy
Date: 6/20/00 6:13:22 PM
Homer, how's it hangin? Do you have any zuzu recordings? This will now become my newest quest in the world of recorded..um, recordings.
Response #10
By: The Sorcerer
Date: 6/20/00 10:40:07 PM
Not to be confused with unrecorded recording.... :)
Sorc'(Rev)
Response #11
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 6/21/00 11:22:28 AM
I *had* some recordings, and they're somewhere in one of two big boxes of cassette tapes in my room, in Seattle, where I am not.
Response #12
By: Fung Swazy
Date: 6/22/00 6:28:42 PM
I have a box just like that, in Houston, where I am. Maybe we could trade.
Response #13
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 6/23/00 1:41:19 PM
but then you'd get the zzp tape, which I want.
Oo. I just found a bug in iCab.
Response #14
By: Fung Swazy
Date: 7/2/00 4:09:55 PM
How about a copy then?
Response #15
By: Da Sissop
Date: 8/26/00 9:29:09 PM
I received the following email from a certain former lead singer of Zsu-Zsu's Petals who just happened to stumble across my site:
Hello Mystery Fan:
(Kind of a crappy way to start off, but that's what you get for being anonymous) Hi, Brendan Jones here, former front man of the musikal phantasy troupe known as Zsu-Zsu's Petals (only due to a tragic misspelling which has haunted me lo these many years). I was scooting around search engines recently in an attempt to stave off a wave of brutal boredom, when I discovered that someone - besides myself - had actually bothered to post mention of my old band on this new-fangled contraption dubbed the "Inter-Net"! Imagine my surprise! No, really - go right ahead and imagine - I'll wait....
Done? Okay.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I was really flattered and pleased. Judging from the pretty obscure stuff you were able to cull for the site, you must have been pretty close to our little circle. I don't even have a lot of this crap! (Not one second of video or audio from our live shows do I own - which means I really wish I could download "Sir Rockalot" and "Just A Reminder"!) But I do have some fliers and miscellany you don't which I will attach. I'll also let Patrick and the boys know about your site so that they might contribute as well.
I appreciated greatly your analysis of the band and I agree with your summation of our appeal (such as it was). We had shitloads of fun (scientists have struggled for ages to accurately quantify the measurement "shitload", recently deciding it must rest somewhere between "butt-ton" and "a fuck of a lot" ) but we didn't all agree on where we were going. Pat's a really funny guy and appreciates silliness on a sublime level, but he is first and foremost a serious musician and composer (the man's god is Frank Zappa). I have always been a bit bi-polar - I enjoy entertaining people, but can only seem to do so through comic self-deprecation (a very theatrical form of insecurity). We had some disagreements about the skit comedy versus the sonic assault aspects of our presentation. But, really, I think those weren't the main problems. Mostly we just realized that our crowd wasn't growing, that no one in the press or music industry seemed too interested, and that we had become a band who couldn't support weekly gigging (as our last month of shows - in Nov. of '92 - proved). We were, at best, a novelty act that folks might see once a month. An event band!
Plus there was shitty management and morale-killing attempts at road shows (less said the better). We called it off.
(You're mistaken, by the way, about us never recording. We went in [various] studios a total of three times - each time sounding a bit better and coming out with a decent product - but also running out of money each time before affording a proper final mix. What we have represents us fairly well, but still needed one more go at the mixing board. If you're interested, I'll try and send you a tape of the stuff.)
Something else you may not know is that we re-formed (kinda) in 1997 in San Francisco as What Fresh Hell (from a Dorothy Parker quote as she entered a particularly awful party, "What fresh hell is this?"). I had been there about a year when Patrick and Scott moved out there too. We got a bass player and a second guitarist (Patrick had matured a lot by then and didn't mind sharing the spotlight) and no keyboards this time around. The sound was different, slicker, and the comedy wasn't so pronounced. We were great - for all three of our performances! (Scott decided one day, after we'd finished recording four tracks of a demo tape, that he no longer wanted to be a drummer. Instead of seeking out a replacement, we just took it as a sign and folded up our tent. I'll slap those songs on a tape for you too. Good stuff, if I do say so myself.) (And I do.)
Anyway, this e-mail is long enough, but we can talk again later. I just wanted to set you - and any other unlikely soul who stumbles across your site - straight on "what happened to the greatest (unsigned) band of the 20th century?". Looking over it now, it seems terribly anti-climactic. Instead, why don't you just tell everybody we broke up due to Patrick's dependence on cough suppressants and transcendental meditation, Scott's statutory rape charges, and my increasing fascination with Lite Satanism and firearms. Maybe toss in a cryptic sentence or two about Jerry's 1996 disappearance in Malaysia while on tour with a Christian pop group called "Sonburst". Maybe it would have been better if we had sold out and gotten some one-hit novelty video played on MTV, sold a few thousand cds of our first and only album, and vanished into obscurity (or played state fairs) - but this was more fun.
Enjoy all this crap and thanks again for remembering,
Brendan
(a.k.a. the Weasel Prince, a.k.a. the Quite, Quite Butch Sir Brendan, a.k.a. Joe, the Coffee Killer)
"He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad." - R. Sabatini
Response #16
By: The Sorcerer
Date: 8/26/00 11:03:57 PM
Thanks for the email Fang! Very cool indeed. Mayhaps we will be seeing more ZZP stuff on the nunnery?
Sorc'(Rev)
Response #17
By: Ralf
Date: 8/27/00 8:18:19 AM
Woo woo! I'm glad Brendan saw The ZZP Shrine, and that he's doing allright.
Plus, the thought of high-fidelity recordings of ZZP makes me giddy!
Response #18
By: Da Sissop
Date: 8/31/00 7:55:58 AM
Zsu-Zsu web has now been officially updated... and MOVED... to http://www.webnuns.com/zzp.
Notice that I have now also acquired the domain www.webnuns.com. The empire grows.
Response #19
By: Ralf
Date: 8/31/00 3:16:02 PM
Wooo! Looks good, Fangly.
Response #20
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 9/2/00 5:27:29 PM
Yah, it makes me yearn for yesteryear.
Response #21
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 9/2/00 7:08:40 PM
..so much so that I cobbled together a powerbook 540c and now I'm connected to the internet at a whopping 19.2 kbps.
Response #22
By: Capt. Spastic
Date: 9/2/00 11:03:15 PM
Damn MAC people.
:)
j/k Homer
Response #23
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 9/7/00 5:33:03 PM
But.. all NICs have a MAC. I bet you're using one of those right now.
Oh, you meant Mac, as in Macintosh.
Response #24
By: Capt. Spastic
Date: 9/8/00 9:47:38 AM
Homer, put down the bong, and step away from the computer.
:)
Response #25
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 9/8/00 2:12:34 PM
Mac is not an acronym, d00d. :-)
Response #26
By: Ralf
Date: 9/8/00 3:12:23 PM
Mostly Acceptable Computer?
:-)
Response #27
By: Zane T. Dark
Date: 9/9/00 12:58:02 AM
Let me remind all would/wanna be Apple bashers (if there are any here) that what you are now buying the stores (and what I'm typing on right now) is the 'PC' industries best attempt to copy the MAC. Any of you who disagree are in denial and should practice breathing treatments. Sure, the Apple is more expensive, but so is a Lexus or Infiniti. There's no point in poo-poo'ing MACS because they're more expensive. I never once *had* to open my MAC, set a jumper, clear cmos, reload a driver twelve times in safe mode while standing on a milk crate full of live gerbils wearing Adolph Hitler outfits trimmed in pink lace...and it *always* worked. Well except when I tried out that beta os, but I knew I was asking for trouble then anyhow and it was MUCH less painful than win2k beta 3 anyhow and that was 11 years later so you figure it out.
There are two types of people these days that I really feel for:
1. People who have been forced to use a computer to do their job when they really don't need one and the company that installed them did not bother to hire anyone to work on them or pay for any training but still want people like the Computer Manufacturer to foot the bill for system administration under the default warranty that came with the computer and the employee to spend their time, energy and very last nerve learning how to use the damn thing or else.
2. People who had a MAC and had to change to a PC.
Response #28
By: Ralf
Date: 9/9/00 9:05:40 AM
I agree with the sentiment, especially your points 1 & 2. Mac-->PC folks never stop whining. Ever. It's so sad you just wanna put them outta their misery.
However, I would argue that the main reason for the Mac's legendary (and I use that word literally; as in not-quite-true) stability and reliability is due to its mostly-closed architecture. This is as much a liability as a virtue.
Wintel boxes are the way they are because any yahoo can buy a box of off-brand parts from sixteen different vendors, assemble it using a screwdriver and some prayer beads, and the thing has a good chance of booting Windows. Windows might even *see* all the devices and make use of them. More likely, the aforementioned yahoo will spend hours chasing down obscure device drivers and tweaking, tweaking, tweaking. But eventually he will have The Box Of His Dreams, configured the way HE wants. Kind of the 1960's hot-rodder do-it-yourself-or-die vibe.
By contrast, an Apple guy (and here I like to envision Jeff Goldblume, holding his hands just that way and speaking in that loathesome smug/smarmy voice) only has to open the top of the carton, grasp the handle of his new iMac firmly, and pull. Place the trendy clear-plastic ovoid on a table, plug it in, hit the power stud, and... and... here's where it breaks down, because I can't IMAGINE what Jeff Goldblume would do with a computer. But anyway, *that's it*. He's done! Ready to download porn.
But if he wants to do some overclocking, or install 3 more IDE harddrives and RAID them together, sorry -- Mac's generally don't like to do that. But nobody ever complains about this because these activities are generally not appealing to Mac people. Whereas in the PC world there's magazines devoted to overclocking.
Two different demographics are being serviced here. If you want a friendly, safe off-the-shelf experience, Apple is probably best. If you want that tinkering-with-explosives rush, then Wintel is your cuppa nitro.
Response #29
By: Capt. Spastic
Date: 9/9/00 4:23:34 PM
You're right Zane. You probably never have had to open your mac. For good reason. Compare how much SW & HW are available for MAC's VS. PC's. There's your answer. PC's have always tried to do too much. There in lies their eternal problem with stability. To the comment about PC's copy mac's, sure they have. That has also worked in revers as well too. All technologies borrow from each other. That's nothing new.
Lexus or Infinti? He-he.
That was pretty good.
Response #30
By: Zane T. Dark
Date: 9/11/00 3:02:35 PM
Ralf-inator:
I like that idea...pc's being the techno equivalent of the muscle car with road-side-diner-fry-vat-sized nitro tank where the trunk should be, speakers whose magnetic field alone could make swallows a permanent part of the colorado landscape taking up the entire back seat, enough engine to pull a cargo train, gas milage that really should be measured in feet, pollution control devices clinging for dear life under the hood like so many birds on the back of an enraged rhino only because the bolts were rusted and they couldn't be removed, no airbags, no crumple zones, no cutesy-wootsy cup holders, and a bumper-sticker that reads "I'll get there first or burst into a slowly rolling ball of flaming debris trying." Some of the overclocking web pages are a combination of voodoo witchcraft, NASCAR Pit crewing, and MacGyverism that's as spooky as it is impressive. Ya gotta love it!
Response #31
By: Zane T. Dark
Date: 9/11/00 3:22:05 PM
Capn':
For sure that's true...I only wish the Apple-dome had started encorporating some of the pc's lego ability earlier on. In answer to how many hardware devices did I add to the inside of the MAC..none because it had the ADB and SCSI from the word go..who would have wanted to, at the time? There were only two reas..make that three reasons to open an old MAC:
1. Add memory.
2. Curiosity.
3. To craft it into a fish bowl.
I like how winderz 2000 is going to this revolutionary scheme of drive 'volumes' instead of letters and how all the pc die-hards think that is soo cool.
Can you say ProDOS for the Apple II? And it only took them 15 years; amazing.
Response #32
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 9/11/00 4:25:37 PM
I remember when Window95 came out and one of it's revolutionary new concepts was the use of multiple monitors! MULTIPLE monitors, mind you! Wow!
So, I've got this Quadra 950 that has three video cards in it and it can run system 7.1, which predates Windows95 by how many years? I remember, uh, 'obtaining' system 7.1 from a certain Mac-based BBS which Zane may remember... Way back when a Mac with 20 megs of ram was a big freaking deal. (BTW, Apple still SELLS System 7.1. It's profitable enough to do so, even though they give away 7.0 and 7.5.)
Anyway. There's a community of Mac tweak-heads who probably represent the same percentage of Mac users as the PC overclocking hot rodders represent of all PC users. Overall, people just want the damn thing to WORK.
Response #33
By: Ralf
Date: 9/12/00 6:07:13 AM
Actually, the multi-monitor thing didn't show up until Win98. So add a few years to your smugness, Homey.
One thing I can't understand is how so many Mac people are free-thinkers and artists and general non-traditionalists, and so loyal to the Cause that they'd probably lay down their lives if the PC/MAC coldwar ever went hot.
And yet Apple itself is run by one of the biggest techno-fascists ever. In 1997 (or thereabouts) he revoked all licenses to Mac technology, essentially destroying the fledgeling Mac-clone manufacturers. The one trick that has given the PC its marketshare -- open architecture -- was denied Mac users because... why?
Jobs hates Gates mostly because Microsoft is a bigger force in the marketplace. But were the roles reversed, I'm certain we'd have a truly Orwellian version of personal computing. Can you imagine a world where 90% of all PC users were forced to buy software AND hardware from one company? Color monitors and CD-ROMs would still be a few years away, probably.
Jobs has kept such a stranglehold on the Mac that he's crushed all competition, pissed off vendors on a whim, and generally been worse for Apple than any other force. Yet people want to bear his children and call him savior. Why?
Response #34
By: The Sorcerer
Date: 9/12/00 5:17:23 PM
AH! So here's where the religious discussion has moved to. :) Guess I'll wade in too.
Ralf Sez:
================
The one trick that has given the PC its marketshare -- open architecture -- was denied Mac users because... why?
================
Have you seen Apple sales since Job took over and did his slash and burn?? He's turned the company around. Job is just as much a techno-fascist as Gates, just in different ways. That's besides the point. IHMO the Mac and PCs are aiming for two different segments of the market. I think the idea behind the Mac is to make buying/owning/using a computer like buying/owning/using a toaster. Because of their history and proprietary nature they are closer to being able to do that than anyone. I think the market segment that Apple is going after are people who don't care about open architecture hardware as much as they care about being able to take it right out of the box and start making toast...er...surfing the internet or doing their multi-media stuff. It's similar to the argument the Microsoft faithful make. Give up these sets of freedoms & options in exchange for this nice friendly black box called "standard".
Anyways...Jobs saw that his base segment of the existing market for home computers as easy-to-use as a can of SPAM wasn't big enough to support Apple and clone makers. Not to mention that Apple and their computers had been written off by most people as being on their last leg. So the next step was almost a no-brainer. Close down the clone shops so you can get back that piece of the market ($$$), take that new influx of cash & mix it with Uncle Bill's donation and reengineer a new product line and market campaign to revive the faithful and gather new converts. And it WORKED! Apple's making REAL money again and their market share has gone from decreasing to increasing (albeit only a point or two in the overall computer market). And since people are so religiously attached to their computers (OSes), when Job's steps in and raises the dead people start writing The Book of Steve.
Ralf Sez:
=====================
Can you imagine a world where 90% of all PC users were forced to buy software AND hardware from one company? Color monitors and CD-ROMs would still be a few years away, probably. Jobs has kept such a stranglehold on the Mac that he's crushed all competition, pissed off vendors on a whim, and generally been worse for Apple than any other force. Yet people want to bear his children and call him savior. Why?
=====================
Again, almost the exact same argument made w.r.t. Gates and Microsoft...and equally valid in my view. But no surprise there, eh? :) What Apple has done in hardware, Microsoft is trying to do in Operating Systems.
I'm a "chiphead" as Randy Smith at UPS used to call us. I *LOVE* to tinker with my computers, especially since I don't have the chance to do it at work anymore. I like the hot-rodder idea. On my home network I've got a Linux Server (File/Print/FTP/WebServer/DHCP/Simulated NT PDC), SparcStation5, NeXTStation Turbo, PowerMac 8100 and my main PC is a Linux box with a bootable Win98 partition to allow me to play EverQuest. That's doesn't count the two Proliant 1500 servers, couple of laptops and assorted hardware laying around my home-office. So I *LIKE* to get my hands into the guts of things.
As a matter of fact I think the 1960's hot-rodder do-it-yourself-or-die vibe REALLY applies to Linux users. Although with all of the new advances made by Mandrake and RedHat and other major players lately, it's getting to the point that even Mac users can setup and use a Linux machine now (just kidding. ;>). All the changes in just the last year alone have been like going from DOS 3.2 to Windows 3.11! It's exciting as hell!!
However, I'm still going to buy one of these G4 Cubes that Apple has come out with as soon a OSX desktop has come out because I think they are just so damn cool looking. By the time OSX desktop comes out the assimilation of Apple by NeXT Computers will complete. :)
Sorc'(Rev)
Response #35
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 9/12/00 6:17:29 PM
The open architecture arguement doesn't fly, either, since Apple decided to use ATA/IDE drives, PCI buss architecture, USB and FireWire. New Macs even have SVGA monitor connectors, fer cryin' out loud! The Mac versions of expansion cards are the same as the PC versions with different drivers. Same with USB and firewire devices; buy from the PC aisle(s) at CompUSA, go home, download the Mac driver, voila. This leverages the PC market share against itself, as long as hardware manufacturers make decent drivers, and who wouldn't make a driver if it meant attracting more customers?
Of course Jobs is a techno-fascist. He's in charge of a company that's supposed to turn a profit.
Response #36
By: Capt. Spastic
Date: 9/12/00 7:58:07 PM
You know, I just wish the whole pissing contest would stop. The PC vs. Mac arguemnt is the same as VHS vs Beta. The bottom line about it is that if they didn't have something viable to offer, they wouldn't be around. Mac's have their advantages in some arenas, PC's have theirs. No different than the Linux vs Windows arguement.
Of ourse if I owned something as inferior as a MAC, I would get pissed everytime someone suggested that it was a piece of crap too.
That was a joke guys!
Response #37
By: Ralf
Date: 9/13/00 9:10:43 AM
Sorc': Nice reply, and good job explaining why Jobs wasted the clone makers. With that bit explained, I think we're in total agreement.
I'm still sore about that, though, because one of the companies that made really excellent Mac clones (DayStar) was based here in Georgia, and I worked in the same building with those guys. Great bunch of people, and when Apple yanked the license agreement, it put a huge hole in their bizplan. Instead of becoming a Forbes 500 company, they "reorganized" as StarTeck and now make upgrades for aging Macs. A sad end for a great, great company.
If DayStar had stuck around, we'd've seen some truly powerful Macintosh screamers, not just some lukewarm competition for the latest WinIntel box, like what Apple keeps doing. When they died they already had hardware that was half-again faster than anything Apple would make for another year.
Oh! But I forget -- the Apple hardware is "cute", and comes in pretty colors. That makes up for it.
Homer: IIRC, Jobs wasn't even involved in that decision -- Apple adopted PCI and IDE during the Scully years, didn't they?
The current Mac standards (compliant with PC acrhitecture) is a good thing, but would've made a TREMENDOUS difference had they been adopted five years ago. It'll be interesting to see what happens to Apple's marketshare in the next five years.
The "buying PC hardware and downloading Mac drivers" is a cool phenomenon I was not aware of! That's neat. But I don't think it's really helping the Apple cause, since manufacturers see 100 zillion PC-version Furbies fly off the shelf and assume they're all going to be plugged into Windows. If anything, it skews the demographics and impacts future marketing decisions. There will NEVER BE a Mac Furby at this rate, and this is a tradgedy.
BTW being a successful business leader has nothing to do with techno-fascism. I think it's possible to run a company with compassion and honor, and win your market through clever ideas and good execution of those ideas. We never hear about the Good Guys because their stories aren't as interesting as Jobs screaming at the CEO of a video-card manufacturer at a Mac exhibition.
Spaz: Just to be clear, I'm not a Mac bigot. I *like* computers, all computers, and just happen to have a houseful of PC's because that's what I understand and can afford. I started out with a Commodore PET and an Apple-II in 1978, and learned 6502 assembly language from a book so I could write a Star Trek game.
When the Mac came out, I really, really wanted one... but couldn't afford spending thousands for a black-and-white 64K computer. So instead I spent $600 on a Commodore-64, with color. When the Mac-II's came out, with color, I looked again -- coveting the mouse and pretty graphics -- but again, couldn't afford the price. I looked at the Amiga, and REALLY wanted one of those... but the IBM-PC clones were just starting to come out, and for about the same price as an Amiga I could get a Kaypro WITH a 5-megabyte harddrive! Woo!
So for me, the argument has always been about bang-for-buck ratios. I wasn't afraid to buy an expensive toy I might not know how to use, as are a lot of computer newbies, so the Apple "easy to use" mantra was never a factor. I was willing to save big bucks in exchange for something that was harder to use, but that I could have *right now*.
As it turns out, my horse came in first and the market's PC-centric for the time being.
But it coulda been ALOT different, because a lot of geeks made the same decisions I did for the same reasons.
Response #38
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 9/13/00 7:37:52 PM
Yes, Macs were PCI before Jobs. I forget who was in charge at the time, but so what? :-)
I can remember using my Atari 1040ST to log on to the curiosity shop. At the time my brother got a hot shit 486 and I lusted after {gulp} it's Window 3 interface. Then it came time to buy a computer for my mom to use for word-processing, and my brother and I both decided that she didn't want a Windows box, since WE'D be her tech support. The LC II moved into the house, and it was all over. Oh, and somewhere in there Craig Smith gave me a Mac Portable with a whopping 5 megs of RAM, the very one that his BBS used to run on.
And while I'm all nostalgic and stuff, I have recently come to possess a TRS-80 Model 100 portable computer. Its OS is reputed to be one of the last programming projects Gates worked on at Microsoft. Does anyone know any special secrets about what use I might find for this thing? Or will it be ebay bound, marketed as a COLLECTOR'S ITEM! LOOK!
Response #39
By: Ralf
Date: 9/14/00 5:11:27 AM
Man, that Model 100 *is* valuable. I understand a lot of older print journalists at big city papers still use 'em because they're small, have a full-size keyboard, and run on AA batteries!
Before you eBay it, do some research into user groups and whatnot... it's true value may be more than you think.
Response #40
By: Da Sissop
Date: 9/15/00 7:46:02 AM
(brief topic reallignment)
http://www.webnuns.com/zzp/mp3s.html
Brendan sent me tape. Now you Napster users, go forth and propagate.
Response #41
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 9/15/00 5:04:54 PM
ROCK.
Response #42
By: Da Sissop
Date: 9/5/01 4:14:04 PM
New news on the ZZP front.
Take the survey and let 'em know you still care. Or if you don't know or care, please do the rest of us a favor and pretend like you do. :-) And tell all your friends to vote, too.
Mark your calendars. The gears are in motion. Expect a miracle. The First and Greatest ZZP Reunion Show of the New Millenium hangs in the balance.
Response #43
By: WitchHazel
Date: 9/6/01 8:00:27 AM
Like a good Nunizen, I did my part. Do I get a cookie?
--Haze
Response #44
By: Da Sissop
Date: 9/6/01 4:50:41 PM
If this reunion show actually happens, I will personally bake you a whole batch!
Thanks! Wooohoo!
Response #45
By: WitchHazel
Date: 9/6/01 10:37:28 PM
Peanut Butter cookies! Yummmmay!
Response #46
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 9/7/01 10:31:46 PM
I helped build a better tomorrow.
BTW, all you folks in the Zsu-Zsu's diaspora: Since many of you are on the west coast, please consider a more convenient location than Houston for your obviously-forthcoming reunion show.
Thank you.
Response #47
By: Capt. Spastic
Date: 9/7/01 11:14:43 PM
Now if we can just get llama porn to celebrate the occasion with, we're all set!
Response #48
By: WitchHazel
Date: 9/8/01 11:50:44 AM
I agree with Homer. West Coast, please! ;-) Of course, if I have a REASON to go to Houston... well... I *still* prolly won't go. Heh!
Response #49
By: Da Sissop
Date: 9/11/01 5:08:28 PM
Well when the drummer initially asked me about the possibility of a survey, the one I mocked up did not specify a city, and in fact, provided a textbox for the user to suggest a city.
But HA HA they didn't want that as they had already decided it was going to be Houston or bust.
Response #50
By: Capt. Spastic
Date: 9/11/01 7:53:05 PM
Just let me know.
I'll be there!
Response #51
By: WitchHazel
Date: 9/12/01 4:02:45 PM
Well drat. I may end up in Houston AFTER ALL. Heh!
Response #52
By: Da Sissop
Date: 10/21/01 8:04:40 AM
BREAKING NEWS BREAKING NEWS
According to the bass player, Zsu-Zsu's Petals has an "informal gig to reintroduce us all to each other's playing again" slated for November 18th, 2001, in San Francisco Californy! At a venue called The Voodoo Lounge.
That's a Sunday night. I'm seriously considering taking a vacation day or two if I can.
Response #53
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 10/21/01 8:42:48 PM
If you decide to go, let me know since I'm planning on making the trip.
And BTW, Marco lives in Oakland, though he might not be in town then (he's migrating to Mexico for a few months). I should email him and find out what his schedule is.
Response #54
By: WitchHazel
Date: 10/22/01 8:28:02 AM
San Fran! One of my favorite burgs!
Homer, are you flying, or Vanagoning it?
Response #55
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 10/22/01 10:57:09 PM
Probably not the vanagon. Probably not the plane. Probably the train and Fang's rental car if I can hook up with him. Heh.
I suppose I should ask my friend Dale if it's OK for me to crash at his place. Hmm.
Response #56
By: WitchHazel
Date: 10/23/01 9:07:46 AM
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles!
Yes, you might want to alert Dale before you stand on his doorstep.
Response #57
By: Da Sissop
Date: 10/26/01 6:00:57 PM
Well I'm pretty darn sure I'm probably going to be there, maybe. Look! There they are on the Voodoo Lounge calendar! That's almost certainly gotta mean it's really happening, right?
Response #58
By: WitchHazel
Date: 10/26/01 6:14:34 PM
No worries, Fang. They'll be there. ;-)
Response #59
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 10/27/01 10:38:48 AM
The question is: Will Fang?
I'm booking a flight on Amtrak at this very moment for the trip. (Amtrak has trains that fly now. We're getting incrementally closer to hovercars.)
(Actually, they don't, but it's kind of a funny idea.)
(or not.)
Response #60
By: sooz
Date: 10/27/01 3:01:01 PM
I asked Bob (an airplane-type guy) why they didn't make the whole PLANE out of the stuff the Black Box was made out of (since the black box almost always survives, etc.).
He says "We have those. They're called TRAINS."
Response #61
By: WitchHazel
Date: 10/27/01 7:21:50 PM
Trains rule -- especially the bullet train in Europe. Those things really DO fly! (180mph?)
Response #62
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 10/27/01 11:27:55 PM
So essentially, if I ride the train to the SF bay area in time to see the show, I'll have to wait around there for a full two weeks before I can catch the return train since it's all booked up. Amtrak is lovin' the fear of flying.
Please God, don't make me ride the bus.
Response #63
By: sooz
Date: 10/28/01 6:37:11 AM
I wish Amtraks had publicly traded stock.
Response #64
By: bob
Date: 10/28/01 10:20:26 AM
you know homer, airfare is really cheap right now. (sorry, shameless industry plug)
Response #65
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 10/28/01 6:02:23 PM
I don't like planes anyway. Besides, two days of uninterrupted coding on my laptop while sitting in a comfy chair rolling across America means I'll be very productive. And maybe I'll finally finish Unreal.
Response #66
By: Da Sissop
Date: 10/28/01 8:29:26 PM
Okay, it's official, I'm there. I've booked a flight for Saturday, returning Monday. Rock and roll!!! Woooo!!!
Response #67
By: bob
Date: 10/29/01 6:54:34 AM
don't like planes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BLASPHOMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Response #68
By: WitchHazel
Date: 10/29/01 8:02:29 AM
Woo, Fang! SF kicks booty.
I love flying almost as much as I love driving. But alas, I have other travel plans that conflict.
Response #69
By: rorschach
Date: 10/29/01 10:23:08 AM
bob's right. if theyt built planes as strong and fireproof as "black boxes" (which are day-glow orange with reflective tape! go figure...) you'd need four times the thrust just to DRIVE DOWN THE ROAD.....forget getting airborne.... it ain't happnin....
Response #70
By: sooz
Date: 10/29/01 11:20:29 AM
I know, Ror*... Bob, the aerospace engineer, patiently explains these things to me. He even tries not to laugh at me.
However, it's time to point out that Bob has a coworker (i.e., another guy that works on planes) that refuses to fly. How interesting is THAT?
Response #71
By: WitchHazel
Date: 10/29/01 2:22:34 PM
I used to work at Boeing, and I honestly can't TOTALLY recommend it (although they are reputedly the safest planes in the sky), only because some of the dudes I knew, working on the wiring in those planes, were alcoholics. Really. I wouldn't want to know how many times they came to work hungover (or back from lunch DRUNK). I'm sure they do some sort of drug tests and breathalizers now (this was literally 15 years ago). But that's NOT something you forget.
Response #72
By: bob
Date: 10/29/01 3:32:37 PM
probably shouldn't point out the the majority of the fleet is probably 15 years old, huh?
Response #73
By: WitchHazel
Date: 10/29/01 3:58:00 PM
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Response #74
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 10/29/01 4:22:55 PM
I'm not concerned about air travel being more or less safe than any other way of gettin' there. I just dislike being cramped in a sardine can with changing atmospheric pressure and disorienting maneuvering, the only cure for which is to get smashed before boarding.
I'd much prefer to get smashed in the observation car while Oregon zooms by outside.
Response #75
By: WitchHazel
Date: 10/29/01 9:07:26 PM
Airplane seats suck. But the booze en route can make up for it. And if you like to sleep and/or watch movies, it's a nice consolation to driving.
Response #76
By: bob
Date: 10/29/01 10:38:34 PM
the only thing i get smashed is my nose pressed up against the plastic windows.
Response #77
By: rorschach
Date: 10/30/01 1:17:46 PM
don't forget the Kapton wiring in alot of those old birds.... the sad part about is that the US manufacturers wised up and completely banned it's use but airbus still uses it for "non-critical functions" like inflight movies and pa systems etc.... which of course lay in the same cable tray as the other "critical" stuff..... I refuse to fly on european planes.... (and you think BOEING has a problem with drunks... you should see the typical french lunch!)
Response #78
By: WitchHazel
Date: 10/30/01 8:34:47 PM
Yeah, you DO have a point there.
Response #79
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 11/11/01 7:35:04 PM
Y'know what REALLY sucks? www.smartcal.com no longer exists. No big deal, except they serve the voodoo lounge's calendar of events!
Response #80
By: WitchHazel
Date: 11/12/01 8:33:34 AM
There must be SOME place on the Web with their calendar? I mean, they're a lounge with live music!
Response #81
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 11/12/01 12:05:29 PM
Well, the calendar is back. ZZP still scheduled to appear on 18th, show starts at 8 (whether they're the opening band or not remains to be seen).
Response #82
By: Da Sissop
Date: 11/12/01 6:58:50 PM
ZZP!! Wooo! Rock and roll!! Woooo!
Response #83
By: WitchHazel
Date: 11/12/01 7:46:56 PM
Homer, bring your digital cam. I want pics!!!
Response #84
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 11/12/01 10:57:13 PM
Oo, that reminds me. I need to ask my friend John about borrowing his video camera.
Response #85
By: Da Sissop
Date: 11/14/01 8:00:20 PM
In an effort to support the USA and freedom and not let the terrorists win, I will be flying into San Francisco Saturday afternoon, capturing the ZZP performance on my new mini DV camcorder Sunday night, and returning to Houston on Monday morning.
I also have a rental car, although I may be afraid to drive it in San Francisco. Don't their streets go straight down or something?
Response #86
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 11/15/01 12:11:25 AM
Unless something really amazing happens tomorrow with regard to my sudden onset of sinusitis, I regret I won't be attending.
Don't worry about the streets. Worry about the drivers.
Response #87
By: WitchHazel
Date: 11/15/01 8:43:09 AM
Their streets are not any worse than Seattle streets. However, if you're used to flat Texas roads, the only advice I can give you is KNOW WHERE THE BRAKE PEDAL IS. :-)
Response #88
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 11/15/01 5:51:05 PM
Oh, and just assume that there's no way to make a left turn, and that the one-way street you want to turn on goes the wrong direction. These are safe assumptions, and could save your life.
Response #89
By: WitchHazel
Date: 11/15/01 9:28:54 PM
And hitting pedestrians is LEGAL there. Just don't STOP.
Response #90
By: Gowan McGland
Date: 11/20/01 4:08:56 PM
Anyone know if Fang ever made it back?
Response #91
By: WitchHazel
Date: 11/20/01 8:38:15 PM
Yup.
Response #92
By: Da Sissop
Date: 11/21/01 7:23:18 PM
I'm back. Two full days of travel to-and-fro, bookending one single day of actual vacation. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, it was indeed well worth the trip, although there really wasn't much of a crowd, and as a result, not a whole lot of audience enthusiasm. They also had only about 2 or 3 days of rehearsal time to refamiliarize themselves with the material and with each other. They're also all almost 10 years older.
I, a longtime fan who has missed them terribly, thought they were very good. Most of the rest of the crowd, which was just about evenly divided between those who were (A) there to see the headlining act, or (B) members of the headlining act, didn't really provide much in the way of inspirational feedback.
The trip on the whole was enjoyable. Again, I stress, there was really only the one day of actual "vacation", and I pretty much got my moneysworth from one single excursion at 7am to the vicinity of Pier 39. As I stood in one spot at sunrise, I could see: Sea Lions to the east, Alcatraz to the north, the Golden Gate Bridge to the northwest, the cityscape (featuring the TransAmerica tower) to the south. Excellent. Check please!
I killed the next few hours walking the Fisherman's Wharf, ate some squid salad, and a little after 10 am I came across a BREWPUB where I settled in and watched football and drank beer. All in all, an excellent one-day vacation.
Response #93
By: WitchHazel
Date: 11/22/01 1:54:28 PM
Sounds great. I'm heading to Georgia next week for six days. I'm excited to see the city (Atlanta) for two full days (any suggestions?) and spend time with one of my best girlfriends (Augusta) for another four. It'll be just what the doctor ordered!
Response #94
By: Da Sissop
Date: 11/22/01 9:07:34 PM
Oooh! Oooh! Drive north up Peachtree and when you cross over/under/whatever highway 85 start looking to your right, I used to live in the building that has the Atlanta population sign in front of it. I was on the 8th floor, in the back.
Keep driving another mile or two and you'll reach my favorite brewpub, in Buckead. John Harvard's. It might be difficult to spot from Peachtree, but when you get to the fork in the road, TAKE IT. No wait, double back. It's right there, on the right.
If you make it into John Harvard's, you need to either have (A) the meatloaf (spectacular), or (B) a sausage platter (spectacular).
Response #95
By: Homer The Brave
Date: 11/23/01 10:40:47 PM
Be sure and take a drive out to visit Howard Finster.
Response #96
By: Gowan McGland
Date: 11/25/01 9:06:38 AM
And where's the nifty DV from the concert, man? We want video, we want MP3s, we want interviews, we want photos, we want it ALL.
Response #97
By: WitchHazel
Date: 11/26/01 10:46:00 AM
And nudity, please.