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Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2001 00:03:09 +0800
From: "william" <king8egg@ms60.url.com.tw>
Subject: (exotica) karaoke
>[Side note: I typed in "videoke" in Google and found hardly anything but
>Philippine and Brazilian websites! What gives? What's this stuff called in
>other places???]
they are called K-TV here and possibly in other chinese speaking
countries as well. i seem to recall seeing some in china. a few of my
roomates work for them. they were packed during the recent typhoon. if you
do a search on "K-TV" you might come up with more hits but i don't know.
apparently there's even a KTV here owned by the KMT political party. weird.
william in taipei who does not sing.
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Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2001 12:09:19 -0400
From: nytab@pipeline.com
Subject: (exotica) [obit] Martin Stern Jr.
August 2, 2001
Martin Stern Jr., Architect Who Redefined Vegas Skyline, Dies at 84
By DOUGLAS MARTIN,NYTimes
Martin Stern Jr., an architect who pioneered the eye-popping Googie-style coffee-shop architecture of Los Angeles and then brought his exuberant vision to the skyline of the Las Vegas strip, died on Saturday at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 84.
Mr. Stern designed three Ships coffee shops in Los Angeles in 1956 and 1957 that joined the pantheon of what came to be called Googie architecture ù an enthusiastic cocktail of neon, modern design principles and clever signage. Preservationists protested mightily when the shops ù featuring distinctive orange color schemes and looking like rocket ships about to blast off ù were demolished during the 1980's and 90's.
Mr. Stern went on to design a significant part of Las Vegas's skyline, including a skyscraper and convention center at the Sahara Hotel and the MGM Grand Hotel, which became Bally's. He also designed the 26-story Mint Hotel.
He was part of the second generation of Las Vegas architects. Space had become more expensive, and the sprawling motel-like developments of earlier years no longer made economic sense. He and contemporaries like Wayne McAllister adapted by building hotels with towers that replaced neon signs as the defining elements.
"Gone was the sleek and low-slung intimacy of lounges, manicured lawns with rambling motel wings with private box balconies overlooking the pool with its beauties, replaced with a bigger, bolder and self- confident look of a legitimate corporate business," Peter Michel wrote on the Web site of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, to which Mr. Stern donated his architectural drawings. "There is much of the history of Las Vegas in the drawings of Martin Stern Jr.," Mr. Michel wrote.
Mr. Stern designed the Sahara Hotel's first skyscraper (14 stories) in 1959, its convention center in 1967, a 342-room high-rise addition in 1977 and a 625-room high-rise addition in 1979. He became known for his attention to the sort of details that make money. One trademark was the tower with the top floor wider than those below, to accommodate luxury suites with panoramic views.
Steven Izenour, a Philadelphia architect and one of the authors of the 1972 book "Learning From Las Vegas," said Mr. Stern and his contemporaries "took the vocabulary of modern architecture and turned it into an ornamental style." He said Robert Venturi, who with Denise Scott Brown was a co-author of the book, called the approach "the architecture of the decorated shed."
Mr. Izenour argued that Mr. Stern's design has stood the test of time, calling it "wonderfully funky." He predicted that the Las Vegas style that succeeded that of Mr. Stern's generation ù huge theme parks modeled on New York City and other themes ù would fade, with Mr. Stern's style possibly making a comeback. He said, "In hindsight, it was a lot more sophisticated than people gave it credit for at the time."
Mr. Stern is survived by his wife, Chantal; three sons; a daughter; a sister; and four grandchildren.
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2001 10:55:37 -0400
From: nytab@pipeline.com
Subject: (exotica) bubblegum blast party
Wednesday, August 15th, WFMU's HOVA will spin you in a cocoon of sugar, from The
Monkees to Britney and back again, at a party in honor of the new book,
Bubblegum Blast, from Feral House. Talk with the book's creators and even
rub elbows with the men and women behind the hits you can't forget, no
matter how hard you try. Enjoy sticky sweet drink specials, win CDs, and dig
the pre-teen beat as only Hova can dish it up. 7:30 to 10:30 PM at Beauty
Bar, 231 East 14th Street, NYC. Free! More details at
http://www.scrammagazine.com/gumball.html.
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LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Ron Townson, the portly centerpiece singer for the Grammy-winning pop group The 5th Dimension, has died. He was 68.
Townson died Thursday of renal failure at his home in Las Vegas after a four-year battle with kidney disease, said Bobette Townson, his wife of 44 years.
``Ron always felt that he would get well enough that he would perform again,'' his wife said. ``He never lost his desire to do that.''
The 5th Dimension combined the sounds of pop, jazz, gospel and rhythm and blues for such 1960s hits as ``Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In,'' and the Laura Nyro songs ``Wedding Bell Blues'' and ``Stoned Soul Picnic.'' The group won four Grammys in 1968 for the Jimmy Webb tune ``Up, Up and Away.''
Declining health forced Townson to retire in 1997, ending a career that saw him tour with such music legends as Nat King Cole and Dorothy Dandridge.
Townson was born in St. Louis and began singing at age 6 in school and church choirs. He attended Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo., where he directed choirs, and moved to Los Angeles in 1957.
In 1965, he and a childhood friend, LaMonte McLemore, formed a singing group called the Versatiles that, McLemore recalled Thursday, they soon renamed The 5th Dimension at the suggestion of Townson's wife.
Other original members were Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis.
Early on, some critics dismissed the smooth-sounding group as black singers trying to sound white.
``I know some people accuse us of singing white, but it makes me laugh,'' Townson told the Los Angeles Times in 1970. ``It is based on ignorance. People sing styles. They don't sing colors.''
As various members left The 5th Dimension in the 1970s to pursue solo projects, Townson formed the group Ron Townson and Wild Honey. Later, he reunited with McLemore and LaRue in a new version of The 5th Dimension that included Phyllis Battle and Greg Walker.
Townson also appeared on television and in films, including the 1992 movie ``The Mambo Kings.''
McLemore, calling news of Townson's death difficult, said from his home in Los Angeles that he hopes to see his old friend again some day.
``I hope we're all going up, not down,'' he said. ``It would be great if we could all sing together again.''
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------------------------------
Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2001 14:26:35 +0200
From: Piero Cavina <p.cavina@mo.nettuno.it>
Subject: (exotica) Fred Buscaglione
Fred Buscaglione fans should not miss these five CDs that collect his
