The Brain
  a weekly digest from the staff of brainwashed
V01I02 - 08161998

NEWS
C IS FOR CARTER WHO DROVE OFF A CLIFF
I have had one interesting day. Well, hmm, how do you say it? Have you ever been up here in the mountains? If so, then you know how scary the mountain roads can be at times and how high up you can be. If not, then just trust me. Anyway, I went over the side of one of those roads.

I guess I should start at the beginning. For the past few weeks my grandmother has been planning on buying a new car and I said that I would take her to pick one out becuase she doesn't like to drive long distances. This morning since everyone in Blairsville was starting school today (Friday) I decided it would be as good a time as ever to take her to get one. So, I got her this morning at around 10:00 and we took my mother's car and I started driving towards Gainesville. To get to Gainesville you have to go over Neel's Gap, where two mountains converge at a heighth of around 3800 feet. It's a real windy road and all. At that point it started raining and I was driving and the roads are very windy. I came around one of the corner's and the car started to come out from under me on the road and so I overturned. Nothing happened and we continued to go. At this point I realized that I was going to go off of the side of the mountain. I think I said something to the extent of "oh shit. hold on" and I grabbed hold of the steering wheel tightly. We did a 180 degree turn in the road and then went backwards off the side and plunged down 25 to 30 feet as the car did multiple flips. We got to the bottom and I realized that I was ok, but that I needed to get help for my grandmother. I took off my seatbelt and I think I went through the roof of the car (it had been torn off as the car went down) and I *flew* up the embankment. By the time I got to the top a trucker had seen the accident and was stopping his truck. Other people cruising through on vacation stopped and phoned 911 on their cell phones and some of the men went down the bank to see how my grandmother was. I was very calm during the whole thing and looked myself over and realized I wasn't hurt at all, just some scratches and miniscule cuts and very dirty from climbing up the hill.

A few of the ladies who stopped as their husbands went down to the car sat me down and had me drink some water. They asked what happened and I explained and then I phoned my father on one of their phones and told them what had happened. I was not worried about myself, but about my grandmother becuase she was older and I just didn't want a thing in the world to happen to her. After 15 or 20 minutes of waiting lots of firemen, ambulances and sherriff officers started arriving and got everything under wraps. By this time my grandmother down the bank had regained consciousness and was coherent, althoguh she didn't remember what had happened. The paramedic asked me if I was ok, and I told him "Yes, I am fine" and he seemed to be satisfied with that. I answered questions from a sherriff who was doing an accident report and then I was informed that I needed to ride in the ambulance to the hospital unless my parents came and signed a waiver saying that they took responsibility. They wanted me to get in the ambulance and wait, but I refused with the thought that if my parents were to get there and see the car before seeing me and that I was ok they would become hysterical. So I waited and my parents eventually came and overtook me with hugs and such. I took them to see Nana, who at this time was in the ambulance and then I showed them the car. When they saw it my mother screamed and my father recited "oh dear God, oh dear Lord...." The car had apparently missed a boulder by inches, but I couldn't see all that well since I had lost my glasses as the car plunged.

At that point I rode with my father and his secretary to the hospital as my mother rode in the ambulance with my Nana. We ended up about an hour from the accident in Gainesville becuase that was the closest place that had an orthopedic unit which they thought my Nana might need. Everything was well and I was fine, but my grandmother is staying the night and she has a broken shoulder. Things could have been much worse and I am thankful they weren't. I am home now and just resting. I am sure that I will be rather sore in the morning, but I have no visible injuries right now and don't feel that bad other than a mild headache. I didn't get any sort of citation for the accident and insurance will most likely take care of all the damage done.

That seems to be the way everything has worked out so far. Hopefully in the next few days everything will get back to normal. - Carter Adams

A SUCCESS
Well, the first issue was received very well, so we're proud to announce we're back with another week of fresh new content for you, the wonderful reader.

MARRIED
In 1992, my best friend and roommate from the first two years of college in Boston told me to get a lynx account at Northeastern, to get on "the net" and he then showed me the World Wide Web and told me how everyone in the world will be able to have access within only a couple years. Well, he got married this weekend and I tried my hardest to get out there. (Story down below.) But basically I owe all my internet knowledge to him, for giving me the jump start before anyone else. I owe him a lot and he means a lot to me and I encourage everyone to email him at ray@ccs.neu.edu to congratulate him and thank him for being essential to my own development.

SITE
VIDEO KILLED THE WEB RADIO STAR
New video clips have been added to the site including a shot from Legendary Pink Dots' "Live At La Luna" video, two clips from Tortoise and two clips from Thrill Jockey artists. Check the sites for the stuff.

PEOPLE
ARE
WATCHING

WIRED
The following appeared in July's issue of The Wire, an amazing rag from the UK devoted to "Adventures in Modern Music".

"Brainwashed is a storehouse of sites devoted to the musical loves of American Jon Whitney. The difference between this and most fan sites, however, is that Whitney codes like a pro -- even if he does still do it unpaid -- and many of the sites have become all but official. A slick black intro page leads you straight into the artist list, which centres on the post-Industrial diaspora as it bleeds in with US post-rock and downtempo beat junk: Aerial M, Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, Current 93, Coil, Diamanda Galas, Non, Meat Beat Manifesto, Organum, Tortoise, Luke Vibert and more; each with its own discrete layout and identity. The TG site is a good example: with full discography, sound samples, and cover artwork from their myriad releases. Additionally, the Axis Archive which adjoins the site has been installed as a research archive stocked with articles, data and info on tangents arising from the kind of artists mentioned above, such as articles on Burroughs, Robert Anton Wilson, and Coum Transmissions."
- thanks to Andrew Shires for transcribing this

MUSIC
IN BRIEF

NICK SPEAKS
I am currently engrossed in the newest DEAD VOICES ON AIR offering, a double CD known as :piss frond:. It receives extremely high marks from me, being quite possibly the most accesable DVOA release to date. VVV (the Pan Sonic and Alan Vega collaboration) and THE CURSE OF THE GOLDEN VAMPIRE (Alec Empire and Techno Animal facing off) have also snuggled their ways deep into my heart -- nearly far enough to make my precious ears bleed! I fully await the new EC8OR album, which should be fab-boo. If you get free moments, I suggest renting the movie ZERO EFFECT, quite funny and well-done.- Nick Curtis

As always, check out the latest update of NEW RELEASES brought to you by Greg and Feedback Monitor.

MOVIES
REVIEWED

HIGH ART
Ally Sheedy has grown up, old, and nasty. This movie, about "making it" in the photography biz has got a plot full of holes and a cast of characters without purpose. Quite similar to The Ice Storm, you don't like anybody in the movie and it's hard to sympathize, everyone ends up miserable and they deserve it. - Jon Whitney

THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO
This is a wonderful look of the horrors of the early 80s when the disco clubs were being closed down and everyone was getting herpes and gonorrhea. The lead girl from Kids ends up with the STDs again, while Mackensie Astin shows us he hasn't aged as gracefully as his dad, Jon (Gomez Addams and Harry's father on Night Court). Overall, you hate the people, but you love the story, it's quite enjoyable and a MUST SEE for everyone sick of "retro nostalgia". It does NOT flatter the 80s in any way, it can remind many of us how bad things actually were. - Jon Whitney

FEEDBACK
FAN MAIL
Subject: New Releases

Dear Staff,
First of all you have an outstanding web page (and I was onto it before The Wire was).
Second of all I am having difficulty accessing your new release page which has essentially been my record buying bible for the last six months or so.

Help!
Doug.
- Doug McDonald

Doug: keep reloading the page.


Subject: GETTIN' IT

Check it.

I like what you guys (I don't mean "you guys" as a way of generalizing your staff and assuming that you have to be men to be doing a good job, but rather "guys" as a sort of Northern slang replacing the more popular "y'all") are doing here.

You've got the right idea; I'll be watching you.

later,
lry krb
- Larry


Subject: what i think

Hi I'm a fun of Coil, LPD and PTV from Belarus I think that your BRAIN is realy cool.

- Dimitry

COMMENT
FLYING STANDBY
Well, Wednesday night I was supposed to be on an airplane going out to Colorado to see Ray get married. We had lost contact for about 4 years so it was weird to get in contact with him out of the blue for him to tell me he was getting married so quickly and he wanted me out there. Well, it was pretty close to the date and pretty expensive to get there so he got his friend to give me a "buddy pass" (which meant standby priority and a cheap fare). Well, I got stuck in Boston as planes were grounded due to fog, made it to Pittsburgh only to miss my connecting flight, pay out of my own pocket for a hotel room and then get stuck at the airport another day as all the flights were overbooked and sold out.
I used to love to fly, now my big advice is NEVER FLY STANDBY. I missed the wedding and it meant a lot to me, but I did get to Detroit and spent a wonderful night with an awesome friend I would love to spend more time with. Thanks to everyone who made efforts to get me out there and stuff. As for the picture to the right, I think it deserves a hilarious caption cos it's a pretty damned funny diagram.

LINKS
OF THE
WEEK

YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE
Kinda like those old x-ray glasses but allegedly this product actually worked,... Too well.

WHAT'S IN
YOUR CD
PLAYER?

NIC'S CD PLAYER
Sneaker Pimps - Becoming X
Vainio/Vaisanen/Vega - Endless
Cabaret Voltaire - Radiation
Tony Bennett - Snowfall
- Nic Doye

IN CHRISTINE'S CD PLAYER AND/OR ON HER TURNTABLE:
the Magnetic Fields, "The Charm of the Highway Strip"
Rachel's, "Handwriting" [which is deceptively pleasant yet dangerous when I'm trying to sleep]
Belle & Sebastian, "3... 6... 9 Seconds of Light"
Unrest, "Fuck Pussy Galore (& all her friends)" [still trying to decide how I feel about this one]
Low, "One More Reason To Forget"
- Christine Eslao



  © 1998 Brainwashed, all rights reserved.

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