Jakeobs
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Hey y'all
The BS over at the Zappa.com forum is beginning to wear on me (particularly their policy of deleting any and all posts having to do with Zappa tribute
bands but NOT deleting the multitude of spam posts that appear on a daily basis), so I figured that I'd come over here. So here I am.
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punknaynowned
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hi!
the more the merrier!
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BBP
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Hey Jakeobs! Good to see you here! How are you doing?
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polydigm
King Kong Status
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| Quote: | | Originally posted by Jakeobs: The BS over at the Zappa.com forum is beginning to wear on me ... |
Yes
indeed!! Welcome.
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scallopino
Frank Zappa Status
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Hi Jake! Would you like to give those of us who don't know you from the Zappa forum (probably just me) a little bit of a bio on yourself, or someone
else, if you prefer?
I don't understand the Zappa family sometimes. Actually most of the time. They do some great things but they also do some really fucking weird things
that defy the imagination.
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Jakeobs
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Well, I'm a 37 year old Southern Californian (unfortunately). I've been married to my wonderful wife Christy for over 4 years and we live in a one
bedroom apartment in North Orange County with our two dogs named Katie and Max and a Betta fish named Marvin. We also sort of have a cat named Jezel
but she went missing a little over a month ago and we don't think she's coming back.
As far as my interest in Zappa goes, I first became aware of him via "Titties 'n Beer" when I was 9 or 10. My friends kept singing it and I thought it
was hilarious, so I asked to listen to it. The version that I heard had been played on the Dr. Demento radio show, so they put all these weird sound
effects where the bad words were and that made it even more hilarious to me. I didn't actually buy a Zappa album until early 2004 when I decided to
check out Baby Snakes (primarily because of "Titties 'n Beer", natch). I thought it was okay but it would be another 4 years until I decided to really
explore the Zappa universe when I decided in late January of this year to make it my life goal to listen to all of his albums before I die (I've since
decided to try to listen to all of 'em before August 12, 2010 when I turn 40). I've listened to 27 so far and for the most part, I've loved or really
liked everything I've heard.
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scallopino
Frank Zappa Status
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Gee, that's a really interesting story so i'm glad i asked. I have to say Baby Snakes is not my favourite album but the film is great. What are your
favourite albums so far? Are you going through them in chronological order?
And what does your wife think of it all?
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Jakeobs
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My current favorite albums are:
Joe’s Garage (my #1 favorite)
We’re Only In It For The Money
Tinseltown Rebellion
One Size Fits All
Thing-Fish
You Are What You Is
Absolutely Free
Roxy & Elsewhere
I was originally going to go in chronological order (Freak Out! and WOIIFTM were the first two albums I bought) but I've been finding that I tend to
prefer the late '70s and most of the '80s albums, so I've gotten quite a bit of the albums from that period as opposed to the early and mid '70s
stuff.
My wife thinks my Zappa obsession is strange but certainly doesn't mind it (except when I max out credit cards to pay for it). She's a reality TV
junkie though and I tolerate that pretty well (I'm on the internet most of the time that I'm at home anyway), so it works out fine.
[Edited on 13-6-2008 by Jakeobs]
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BBP
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Are there any particular albums you're still looking for? It's always hard to get the last few ones... Best Band took ages. (And I have the wrong one
as well!)
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Jakeobs
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Well, sorta. 
[Edited on 14-6-2008 by Jakeobs]
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punknaynowned
Frank Zappa Status
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I see you got Weasels Ripped My Flesh!
First impressions would be most welcome!!!
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Jakeobs
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Well, to be perfectly honest, I didn't care too much for it after the first listen. I'm sure it'll grow on me after a few listens (like Lumpy Gravy
did) but I don't think it'll wind up being one of my favorites.
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punknaynowned
Frank Zappa Status
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tell ya a secret, neither did I.
It was one of those I force listened to for a long time. Toads was a cutesy thing along with Dwarf Nebula and the few seconds of jam before Weasels,
the album closer 
Then one day, Directly From My Heart hit me, hard. Then I realised there was more to the eric dolphy memorial than I thought, and so on.
I had wanted that Orange County lumber Truck to be longer and then Ahead of their Time came out with much more of that song on it. Then at last I
looked at the record in it's own historical context: What else was being done in 1970?
When I looked at what Led Zep , the Rolling Stones, LA Woman, Miles Davis, Santana, Lick My Decals Off Baby and Mahavishnu Orchestra were doing at
that time, Weasels became even more interesting.
It was a bunch of different styles, cut up and edited precisely how Frank wanted it to be -- within the limitations of the two-sided record format, of
course.
The longer I looked at it like this, Weasels became an excellent primer for all things zappa. A great overview of his methods and execution. Now,
Lather is a better overall 'sampler' of the ranges and for a longer period, I'll agree. But Weasels seems more concentrated in a peculiarly zappa
way. Therefore more definitive, probably because of the editing and the amalgamation. Some might dismiss it as a mess, but it's more . . .
mysterious somehow to me, as a result.
my two-cents
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BBP
Super Administrator
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Weasels was hard on me as well... though it has some firm favourites, like My Guitar and Oh No.
Lumpy Gravy was instant love. I used to have a friend who laughs just like Louie the Turkey, and so loud too... I never made a joke at him because
he'd start to laugh, and that would hurt my ears. (Which was difficult because he was pretty funny. And we were in a play together in which he was my
husband and we did a bed scene.)
So when I heard LG it's first the wonderful Duodenum, then Oh No, then all the talking and craziness, and when I heard Louie laugh for the first time
I couldn't restrain rolling on the floor.
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scallopino
Frank Zappa Status
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I have a story about Weasels. At my old high school there were two teachers who happened to be married to each other. One was an English/Literature
teacher and his wife was an art teacher. The English teacher had an amazing general knowledge and a great taste in music. We got on really well and
sometimes he would poke his head in the band room when the stage band was rehearsing to watch me play drums.
I got into Zappa in about year 9 or 10 (12 is the last year), and one day he saw me reading 'Electric Don Quixote', the biography by Neil Slaven and
we started talking about Zappa. He said he that he used to be a big fan back in the day but he'd since lost a lot of the albums. I let him borrow a
few of the cds that I had bought so far.
Anyway, about the same time I was in the art room one lunch time and I spied the cover of 'Weasels Ripped My Flesh' pinned onto one of the walls. I
couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that my school, my incredibly lame and uncool and unadventurous school, would have a Zappa album pinned up on
one of its walls!
I said to the art teacher "I didn't know you were into Zappa!!" She said: "I'm not. I hated the music but I loved the cover." She snaffled the album
cover that had belonged to her husband (the English teacher) and discarded the album!
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Jakeobs
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Good stories, boys and girl!
| Quote: | Originally posted by BBP
Weasels was hard on me as well... though it has some firm favourites, like My Guitar and Oh No. |
Oh yeah, those are both great. I liked some of the music of the other songs as well. I'm sure after the 3rd or 4th listen, I'll start really liking
it.
Not that this really means anything but Weasels was released two days before I was born (assuming this is accurate, which I do), so it'll always sorta have a special place in my heart for that reason alone.
[Edited on 14-6-2008 by Jakeobs]
[Edited on 14-6-2008 by Jakeobs]
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scallopino
Frank Zappa Status
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I can't figure out a way of organasing this into a paragraph so:
- I always find that "Years ago in Germany, when I was a very small boy..." monologue to be hilarious.
- 'Oh No' is really a perfect mix of malt shop sentimentality and melodic and rhythmic complexity. Actually the melody is probably not overly jumpy
pitch wise, but its rhythmic phrasing is, which makes it sound jumpy.
- I think Punky is right in his analysis of the whole album as a great example of the AAAFNRAA ethic. It has a unifying randomness.
- In other news, the album that was released closest to my birthday was Jazz From Hell...about a month and a half before.
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scallopino
Frank Zappa Status
Posts: 1321
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Location: Melbourne, Austria
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Hey, i nearly spelled organised like on that sign in Taxi Driver: "We Gotta Get Organasized" or whatever it was, with the letters sort of tumbling
down.
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scallopino
Frank Zappa Status
Posts: 1321
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Location: Melbourne, Austria
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Huck_Phlem
Sheik Yerbouti Status
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Mood: cough*blowme* cough
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I like dweezil's my guitar wants to kill your mama album the best and also shampoo horn. Havin a bad day is pretty good too though.
I like the mid 70's and early 80's zappa stuff the best.
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