To: schooler@venera.isi.edu, jmoore@venera.isi.edu,
wicinski@nrl-css.arpa
Cc: trainor@cs.ucla.edu
Reply-to: trainor@cs.ucla.edu
Home-site: trainor@lanai.cs.ucla.edu
Subject: Kevin Cronin recently gave an interview!!
Date: Tue, 17 May 88 19:38:29 PDT
From: Vulture of Light <trainor>
Biff: So someone tried to shoot you?
Kevin: Yes, some crazed mother-fucker thought I was that Zen Master
Dumb-Fuck character in the parking lot of L'Orangerie, and he
shot at me with a rifle!!
Biff: What happened?
Kevin: The assassin's bullet hit my personal manager, poor fellow.
Wendy: You know, like I'm a stylist. I like what's ORIGINAL. I don't
like people who are formula. I mean... that makes me want to
throw up, the middle of the road formula stuff. They're the
whores. They're the people who totally sell themselves out,
they've got nothing to say, and who the fuck are they anyway?
Kevin: I don't know. We had a few regional number one singles prior
to that. I didn't really change that much in my writing after
that happened. I'm pretty confident when it comes to my writing,
and it always seemed to me, like eventually, people were just
going to catch on to it. When "Keep On Loving You" hit, it
felt real good, but it wasn't like I looked for what I did on
that song that I hadn't done on the other songs. I felt like,
okay, now is the time for my writing to be accepted.
Biff: Why don't you tell us how Rod Swenson "found" the band members
of the (original) group?
Wendy: I like doing different things. In 1978 we were doing like the
fastest songs of their time... and you know, maybe we were the
fastest band in the world. Most of our songs were less than
a minute long. I think "Fast Food Service" probably WAS the
fastest song of its time. I like doing different things--like
my new album "MAGGOTS: The Record", a lot of people are calling
it the very first THRASH OPERA. This is nothing that would
compare with the images that you can create in your own mind.
I mean whatever I say Maggots Is, that's Not it. It's for
each individual. I hope that everything that I do, that this
album is, is something that IS thought provoking. I hope it IS
stimulating. I hope it is something that IS mind-altering...
I hope you're never the same again.
Biff: That's sounds very Zen.
ZMR: You should be so lucky! C'mon Biff... No, I don't believe
that I'm the leader of a cult. It's funny what has happened
in the United States. Every new movement or group of people
who seek to explore awareness is considered a cult. It's
quite strange because, actually, the United States was founded
by a cult, or several cults, who felt that they were being
restricted. The Puritans, whose practices were very stringent,
left England and came to the United States because they wanted
to set an example for the world. They felt that Protestantism
had become much too lax, so they came to America and set up a
hard-line religious cult. I would say that Jesus Christ and
his followers were a cult, Buddha and his followers were a cult
and Mohammed and his followers were a cult. Every religion
starts out as a cult and if it becomes a `box office', it is
accepted. As understood in common English, a cult is an
organization in which someone is brainwashed. They are lured
into the organization under false premises. They are perhaps
invited to a weekend away someplace where they are kept up
for long hours and deprived of sleep, at which time the mind
is somewhat suggestible. A particular philosophy is pushed,
and often they are given physical assurance by members of
the group that they are loved and wanted.
Stuart: I first saw him perusing the entertainment pages. A double-page
spread featuring a photo of a guy with Arlo Guthrie hair, attired
in a sleep, black leather getup. Underneath the photo, the tease
read: ``A ONE EVENING INTENSIVE WITH ZEN MASTER RAMA.'' Zen
Master Rama?! Holy mother of God! Who in their right mind would
buy such a patently sleazy hustle? I immediately strode to the
front of the line and, ignoring the protests of the two geeks
whom I'd butted in front of, thrust my press pass in the face
of the blissfully smiling woman selling tickets at the door.
Zombie: Do you want an interview?
Stuart: No thanks, I'll just do it telepathically.
Zombie: Beautiful.
Stuart: At the entrance to the theater a sign was posted: ``NO SMOKING.
NO CHILDREN. NO LOWER OCCULT ENERGY.'' Considering the number
of obviously demon-possessed people in attendance, I found this
highly amusing. Many of the people had that curious, waxy-faced
look that you see at so many New Age events. It also reminded
me of a statement made by Adolph Hitler: ``It's lucky for us
that people don't think.'' During the intermission, I stood by
the door and watched the Baby Zens stumble out into the lobby.
To a man, they looked dazed, zonked out. As they stood smoking
and talking, Zen Man's troops -- easily identified by their
all-black get-up, milk-white skin, and glassy-eyed stares --
patrolled the lobby liike good little robots. I noted that --
despite their ever-present smiles -- they all had the identical
``haunted'' look. Just as I thought this, Zen Man materialized
to my right. As he talked with an enthusiast, I had an
opportunity to study him. Up close, he was not the pretty boy
in his promo photos. In fact, he sported a rather unsightly
case of acne. Moreover, he didn't look like someone overflowing
with compassion and love. In fact, he seemed very uptight.
He, too, sported the ``haunted'' look. His eyes were dead.
Gone. Nobody home.
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kids -- Guess who's featured in the Newage Journal this month? That's
right, Zen Master Rama. He agreed to an interview.
The Phone Clench will be glad to hear that a new Trance Drunkenness
hotline has been setup: 1-800-CRAVING.
Vulture of Light
------- End of Blind-Carbon-Copy
