From: dan@rat.csc.calpoly.edu (Dan Delany)
Newsgroups: alt.music.rush
Subject: FAQ: Changes to Rush Fans Frequently Asked Questions
Date: 10 Jan 93 08:30:21 GMT
Organization: The Rat's Nest, Cal Poly SLO


Rush FAQ: Changes since last posting

A few lines around each change are shown to give you an idea of the context.

Lines that have been added have a + in the first column.
Lines that have been deleted have a - in the first column.
Lines that have been modified have a ! in the first column.  The old form of
the line is shown first, then the new form is shown.

Special note for the Jan 10 1993 posting:
There have been lots of minor tweaks made to part 3 of the FAQ.  These are
mostly spelling corrections and format changes.  The only information in
part 3 that has been modified is Neil's answer to the question about why
"Where's My Thing" is labeled as paer 4 of a trilogy.
The FAQ header file has also been tweaked.  The only informational change
there is that I removed the note saying that there was no video release
scheduled for December 1992.

 ----- Changes to faq.header -----

*** /tmp/da2657	Sun Jan 10 00:30:08 1993
--- faq.header	Sat Jan  9 15:11:42 1993
***************
*** 20,28 ****
  please send them to me at dan@rat.csc.calpoly.edu and I'll add them in
  if you have documentation supporting your theory.  Also, don't send
  your suggestions to rush-mgr@syrinx.  I'll repeat that because it's
! important.  Don't send faq suggestions to the moderator of the Rush
  fans mailing list.  He doesn't have anything to do with keeping the
! faq up to date.  Faq suggestions should be sent to me at
  dan@rat.csc.calpoly.edu and not to the mailing list moderator.
  If mail sent to dan@rat bounces, try dan@polyslo.csc.calpoly.edu or
  dan@garden.csc.calpoly.edu - they should work.
--- 20,28 ----
  please send them to me at dan@rat.csc.calpoly.edu and I'll add them in
  if you have documentation supporting your theory.  Also, don't send
  your suggestions to rush-mgr@syrinx.  I'll repeat that because it's
! important.  Don't send FAQ suggestions to the moderator of the Rush
  fans mailing list.  He doesn't have anything to do with keeping the
! FAQ up to date.  FAQ suggestions should be sent to me at
  dan@rat.csc.calpoly.edu and not to the mailing list moderator.
  If mail sent to dan@rat bounces, try dan@polyslo.csc.calpoly.edu or
  dan@garden.csc.calpoly.edu - they should work.
***************
*** 70,75 ****
--- 70,80 ----
  be patient.  I eventually read all of my mail.  However, Rush FAQ related
  stuff has a lower priority than my job.
  
+ I'd like to thank Bruce Holtgren <70724.1622@CompuServe.COM> for lots of
+ editing advice on the FAQ.  He volunteered to proofread the entire set of
+ FAQ files for me, and he seems to be much better at that than I am.
+ Thanks, Bruce!
+ 
  Here are the questions I get asked the most, so I'll put them here at the
  start:
  
***************
*** 95,101 ****
  Latest Word on the next album:
  
     I haven't seen any official word about the rumors of a boxed set of
!    Rush CD's.  Until I see official word on the subject, I'll treat that
     as a rumor.
  
     The band is scheduled to go into the studio in January or February
--- 100,106 ----
  Latest Word on the next album:
  
     I haven't seen any official word about the rumors of a boxed set of
!    Rush CDs.  Until I see official word on the subject, I'll treat that
     as a rumor.
  
     The band is scheduled to go into the studio in January or February
***************
*** 118,123 ****
  
      The target date for release is September 15.  This disagrees with what
      Alex has said, and I don't know who is right.
- 
-    Atlantic/SRO has denied the rumors that there is a video release
-    scheduled for December.
--- 123,125 ----

 ----- Changes to faq.1 -----

No differences encountered

 ----- Changes to faq.2 -----

No differences encountered

 ----- Changes to faq.3 -----

*** /tmp/da2672	Sun Jan 10 00:30:10 1993
--- faq.3	Sat Jan  9 15:19:47 1993
***************
*** 1,4 ****
- 
  What are the hands in the "Presto" liner doing?
  
     They are making scissors, paper, and stone, like in the children's
--- 1,3 ----
***************
*** 10,30 ****
     "I'm a weather fanatic - I really love weather, and I watch the
     weather and look for a good weatherman.  And, one night I was watching
     it, and there are two incidents in that song that are synchronicity to
!    one weather report, where the weatherman showed a picture of sun-dogs,
     and described them, and they are just two little points of light that
     appear at sunset, often in the winter when the sky is clear and
     crystalline, and they are like little prisms, and they sit about ten
     degrees north and south of the setting sun, and they are just
!    beautiful little diamonds of light, and often-times there's a circle
!    of light -- one line, that connects them.  So they are a really
!    beautiful natural phenomenon, and I love the name too.  'Sun-dogs'
     just has a great sound to it.  And in that same weather forecast, the
     weatherman announced a meteor shower that night, and so my daughter
     and I went out on the lake in the middle of the night and watched this
     meteor shower.  So the whole idea of the song was response and how
     people respond to things, and it's a thing I've found a lot in
!    travelling around the world, too.  It's not enough just to travel and
!    see things.  You have to respond to them -- you have to feel them, and
     a lot of the thrust of that song is how things are transferred, like
     chain lightning or enthusiasm or energy or love are things that are
     contagious, and if someone feels them, they are easily transferrable
--- 9,29 ----
     "I'm a weather fanatic - I really love weather, and I watch the
     weather and look for a good weatherman.  And, one night I was watching
     it, and there are two incidents in that song that are synchronicity to
!    one weather report, where the weatherman showed a picture of sun dogs,
     and described them, and they are just two little points of light that
     appear at sunset, often in the winter when the sky is clear and
     crystalline, and they are like little prisms, and they sit about ten
     degrees north and south of the setting sun, and they are just
!    beautiful little diamonds of light, and often times there's a circle
!    of light - one line, that connects them.  So they are a really
!    beautiful natural phenomenon, and I love the name too.  'Sun dogs'
     just has a great sound to it.  And in that same weather forecast, the
     weatherman announced a meteor shower that night, and so my daughter
     and I went out on the lake in the middle of the night and watched this
     meteor shower.  So the whole idea of the song was response and how
     people respond to things, and it's a thing I've found a lot in
!    traveling around the world, too.  It's not enough just to travel and
!    see things.  You have to respond to them - you have to feel them, and
     a lot of the thrust of that song is how things are transferred, like
     chain lightning or enthusiasm or energy or love are things that are
     contagious, and if someone feels them, they are easily transferrable
***************
*** 35,41 ****
     with you to share it, then it multiplies, you know, it becomes
     exponentially a bigger experience, so response is a theme that recurs
     in several of the songs and was one of my probably dominant sub-themes
!    in the writing." -- Neil Peart, on the _Rush - Profiled!_ CD
  
  What is "The Pass" about?
  
--- 34,40 ----
     with you to share it, then it multiplies, you know, it becomes
     exponentially a bigger experience, so response is a theme that recurs
     in several of the songs and was one of my probably dominant sub-themes
!    in the writing." - Neil Peart, on the _Rush - Profiled!_ CD
  
  What is "The Pass" about?
  
***************
*** 50,56 ****
     better be accurate, and so I found in the case of the
     Manhattan Project, I was having to go back and read histories
     of the time, histories of the place, biographies of all the
!    people involved, and that's not without it's own rewards, but
     it's a lot of work to go to to write a song - having to read
     a dozen books and collate all your knowledge and experience
     just so you can write, you know, if it says the scientists
--- 49,55 ----
     better be accurate, and so I found in the case of the
     Manhattan Project, I was having to go back and read histories
     of the time, histories of the place, biographies of all the
!    people involved, and that's not without its own rewards, but
     it's a lot of work to go to to write a song - having to read
     a dozen books and collate all your knowledge and experience
     just so you can write, you know, if it says the scientists
***************
*** 65,71 ****
     stories from them about people they had known and
     what they felt, and why the people had taken this desperate
     step and all of that and trying really hard to understand
!    something that, fundamentally, to me is totally ununderstandable.
     I just can't relate to it at all, but I wanted to
     write about it.  And the facet that I most wanted to write
     about was to de-mythologize it - the same as with 'Manhattan
--- 64,70 ----
     stories from them about people they had known and
     what they felt, and why the people had taken this desperate
     step and all of that and trying really hard to understand
!    something that, fundamentally, to me is totally un-understandable.
     I just can't relate to it at all, but I wanted to
     write about it.  And the facet that I most wanted to write
     about was to de-mythologize it - the same as with 'Manhattan
***************
*** 82,88 ****
     can understand someone making the choice; it's their choice
     to make.  I can't relate to it, and I could never imagine it,
     for myself, but still I thought it's a really important thing
!    to try to get down."  -- Neil Peart, on the _Rush - Profiled!_ CD
  
  What is "Scars" about?
  
--- 81,87 ----
     can understand someone making the choice; it's their choice
     to make.  I can't relate to it, and I could never imagine it,
     for myself, but still I thought it's a really important thing
!    to try to get down."  - Neil Peart, on the _Rush - Profiled!_ CD
  
  What is "Scars" about?
  
***************
*** 108,116 ****
     the pavement, and Christmas in New York is the perfect time
     to feel that, really, where you just get charged up by the
     whole energy and the positive feelings of it all."
!      -- Neil Peart, on the _Rush -- Profiled!_ CD
  
! What is the song, "Anagram (for Mongo)" about?
  
     "It doesn't really say one thing; it says a bunch of little things, and
     I think that's OK as long as it sounds good.  You know, as long as it
--- 107,115 ----
     the pavement, and Christmas in New York is the perfect time
     to feel that, really, where you just get charged up by the
     whole energy and the positive feelings of it all."
!      - Neil Peart, on the _Rush - Profiled!_ CD
  
! What is the song "Anagram (for Mongo)" about?
  
     "It doesn't really say one thing; it says a bunch of little things, and
     I think that's OK as long as it sounds good.  You know, as long as it
***************
*** 125,135 ****
     did work, even though it's a game - the whole song is a game.  The
     choruses are quite smooth and quite interesting, and they have a nice
     sound to them and they kind of mock the whole song itself, so I think
!    it was effective there."  -- Geddy Lee, on the _Rush - Profiled!_ CD
  
! Has anybody noticed that  Anagram (for Mongo) contains lots of anagrams?
  
!    Yes.  {I resisted putting this into the faq for a long time, since
            this seems to be about as shocking as pointing out that
            "The Big Money" is about, of all things, money, or that
            "Countdown" is about a launch.  But it shows up in TNMS
--- 124,134 ----
     did work, even though it's a game - the whole song is a game.  The
     choruses are quite smooth and quite interesting, and they have a nice
     sound to them and they kind of mock the whole song itself, so I think
!    it was effective there."  - Geddy Lee, on the _Rush - Profiled!_ CD
  
! Has anybody noticed that "Anagram (for Mongo)" contains lots of anagrams?
  
!    Yes.  {I resisted putting this into the FAQ for a long time, since
            this seems to be about as shocking as pointing out that
            "The Big Money" is about, of all things, money, or that
            "Countdown" is about a launch.  But it shows up in TNMS
***************
*** 138,144 ****
  What does (for Mongo) after "Anagram" on the "Presto" album mean?
  
     It's a joke from the movie _Blazing Saddles_, referring to the
!    "Candygram for Mongo" scene, according to Geddy on Rockline 12/4/89.
  
  What is "Red Tide" about?
  
--- 137,143 ----
  What does (for Mongo) after "Anagram" on the "Presto" album mean?
  
     It's a joke from the movie _Blazing Saddles_, referring to the
!    "Candygram for Mongo" scene, according to Geddy on "Rockline" 12/4/89.
  
  What is "Red Tide" about?
  
***************
*** 147,153 ****
     I'm not working, so that's important to me.  One of my main
     hobbies is cycling, so air quality kind of becomes of critical
     importance.  So it is a selfish thing, and it's something
!    I've written about before, on the previous album - the song,
     'Second Nature'.  So, again, you want to say things in a way
     that is not only not preachy, but also not boring.  So finding
     the images like 'Second Nature' - I was really fond of
--- 146,152 ----
     I'm not working, so that's important to me.  One of my main
     hobbies is cycling, so air quality kind of becomes of critical
     importance.  So it is a selfish thing, and it's something
!    I've written about before, on the previous album - the song
     'Second Nature'.  So, again, you want to say things in a way
     that is not only not preachy, but also not boring.  So finding
     the images like 'Second Nature' - I was really fond of
***************
*** 172,178 ****
  
  Who does the RTB spoken section?
  
!    Geddy Lee, according to Neil on the Dec 2 1991 "Rockline".
  
  Who is the boy in the RTB video and on the RTB cover?
  
--- 171,177 ----
  
  Who does the RTB spoken section?
  
!    Geddy Lee, according to Neil on the 12/2/1991 "Rockline".
  
  Who is the boy in the RTB video and on the RTB cover?
  
***************
*** 181,206 ****
  
  Is there a "Gangster of Boats" trilogy?
  
!    No songs other than "Where's My Thing?" are labelled as being part of
     this trilogy.
  
! But why is "Where's My Thing" labelled as Part IV of the trilogy?
  
!    S72UJOH@TOE.TOWSON.EDU has posted that Neil said that was a joke
!    on the Dec 1991 Rockline show.  (I didn't hear that show - can
!    anybody confirm this or provide me with the exact quote?)
  
  Is there a reason for the arrangement of the numbers on the dice on the RTB
  cover?
  
     I doubt it.  And if there is a reason, I doubt that it will be
!    made public.  (Much like the significance of the HYF cover)
     Please don't send me mail saying that "it just has to mean something."
     Lots of people have theories about that.  But I haven't heard any
     "official" word on the subject yet.  If you have a theory about
     this and have to share it, post it to TNMS or alt.music.rush and
     see if anybody is interested in discussing it.  Don't send me mail.
!    I won't add it to the faq without support from a band member.
  
  Has anybody noticed that the "Gangster of Boats" is mentioned in the HYF
  liner notes?
--- 180,208 ----
  
  Is there a "Gangster of Boats" trilogy?
  
!    No songs other than "Where's My Thing?" are labeled as being part of
     this trilogy.
  
! But why is "Where's My Thing" labeled as Part IV of the trilogy?
  
!    "Strictly an inside joke, in the sense that the other two guys
!    keep threatening that if I don't come up with an album title in
!    time, they're gonna call it 'Gangster of Boats,' for reasons best
!    known to them. And then the joke in that, of course, is it's
!    'Part IV of a trilogy', so we thought that was apropos." - Neil
!    Peart, "Rockline," 12/2/91
  
  Is there a reason for the arrangement of the numbers on the dice on the RTB
  cover?
  
     I doubt it.  And if there is a reason, I doubt that it will be
!    made public  (much like the significance of the HYF cover).
     Please don't send me mail saying that "it just has to mean something."
     Lots of people have theories about that.  But I haven't heard any
     "official" word on the subject yet.  If you have a theory about
     this and have to share it, post it to TNMS or alt.music.rush and
     see if anybody is interested in discussing it.  Don't send me mail.
!    I won't add it to the FAQ without support from a band member.
  
  Has anybody noticed that the "Gangster of Boats" is mentioned in the HYF
  liner notes?
***************
*** 207,226 ****
  
     Yes.
  
- Who is the "Gangster of Boats?"
- 
-    degennar@bmsrs.usc.edu sent me this:
-    According to Neil on the Dec 2 1991 Rockline, it's a running joke.
-    Geddy and Alex keep saying to Neil, "If you don't come up with a name
-    for the album soon, we're going to call it Gangster of Boats."
-    It's also, supposedly, the nick-name given to the Mac they use.
- 
  What does the pattern of skulls and bones at the bottom of the inside
  front cover of the RTB tourbook mean?  Is there a pattern to it?
  
!    It's Morse code for "Remember Death".
  
  Will there be a live album or concert video from the RTB tour?
  
     "I don't think so, no. Definitely not a live album and no plans for a
!    video." -- Neil Peart, in the April 23 1992 TNMS interview
--- 209,220 ----
  
     Yes.
  
  What does the pattern of skulls and bones at the bottom of the inside
  front cover of the RTB tourbook mean?  Is there a pattern to it?
  
!    It's Morse code for "Remember Death."
  
  Will there be a live album or concert video from the RTB tour?
  
     "I don't think so, no. Definitely not a live album and no plans for a
!    video." - Neil Peart, in the April 23, 1992 TNMS interview

-- 
Dan Delany                                              dan@rat.csc.calpoly.edu
  "If Bob can't figure out his VCR, he'll never be able to figure out women."
Newsgroups: alt.music.rush