Re: Far out man!

[Dave Stagner <dstagner@icarus.net>]

On Tue, 1 Sep 1998, Steve Lauder wrote:

> Amazingly weird connections that leap off the screen when you play Pink
> Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" as the soundtrack to "The Wizard of Oz."
> The lyrics and music join in cosmic synch with the action, forming dozens
> upon dozens of startling coincidences... the kind that make you go "Oh 
>wow,
> man" even if you haven't been near a bong in 20 years.

I'll vouch for this one!  I've been blowing people's minds with it for a
while now.  Hint: turn up the volume!  Everyone thinks, yeah, this is
interesting... but when the alarm clocks go off the very second the witch
first appears, you'll jump right out of your seat!  The timing
coincidences, both musical and lyrical, are stunning - and loopers can
apppreciate the irony of serendipitous timing better than most.  :}
 
> Here's how it works. You start the album at the exact moment when the MGM
> lion finishes its third and final roar. It might take a few times to get
> everything lined up just right.

Have your CD player on pause, and start playing on the third roar.  It'll
line up closely enough most of the time.

My own little addition to the controversy - a lot of people believe that
it must have been intentional, that such perfect timing can't be just
coincidence.  Personally, i think they overestimate intent and
underestimate coincidence.  The best timing is always unintentional. 

I'll offer some practical evidence to support this view - the reason we
can enjoy this Wiz/DSotM magic today is the widespread availability of CD
and videocassette technologies - technologies that didn't exist when DSotM
was recorded.  The only way to have viewed it then would have been a
turntable and a film projector - an expensive combination, and difficult
to time.  Moreover, the B&W/Color transition (one of the best bits of
timing) would require flipping the album for effect!  Finally, even
quality turntables are not tremendously accurate speed-wise.  A 1% speed
variation would lead to over a second of error by the end of a side,
enough to throw the timing.  

But do try this!  If you don't have a copy of Wizard of Oz, you may need
to rent it - it's out of print right now.  But excellent remastered CDs of
DSotM are available... and a good thing, too.  The first CD i ever heard
back in 1983 was DSotM, and the sound quality was so awful that i didn't
own a CD player for almost ten years afterward! 

-dave

Practice beautiful randomness and act kind of senseless.
<dstagner@icarus.net>