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Feedback to the Big Fun Glossary

If your comments about the Glossary are interesting or contain interesting links, I will add them to this page. Send them to the Gus and mention "Big Fun" as at least part of the subject. For the simple reason of gross incompetence, Lpage, the guest book company, will no longer be a feature of this page.


Subject: tuss, big fun et al
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 1997 05:18:39 -0500
From: Danny Smith [smith.400@osu.edu]
To: gus@spies.com

Gus,

I blundered into Big fun by looking up (tee hee) tussin on alta vista and loo and behold, there it was. An Actual Spontaneous Tussin Occurence! Or something like that. Very entertaining to say the least. I'm glad someone else enjoys the syrupy sweet stuff as much as my freinds and i do. Now i have moved on to rooting around thru your musings and, again, enjoying them immensely. I even poked my head into sam n ellas tonite but it was moving like pond water. Having attended Oberlin i was wondering if you ever dropped down into columbus? I'm a sporadic osu/columbus state student myself. My hedonistic life is not very conducive to productive studies however.

Well anyway, i just wanted to say hi and thanks for some great late-nite reading (i am mostly nocturnal much to my room mate's chagrin). Feel free to drop me a line if you so desire. About what? I really don't care. I have only recently gotten on-line capabilities and i am enjoying using them as much as possible. I've got mail!?! WOW! later, Danny


Subject: wow
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 19:37:25 -0500
From: Tom Kretchmar [tmkretch@sas.upenn.edu]
To: gus@spies.com

Substantive page, my friend...

Just wanted to drop a note telling you so. Generally, there is too much fluff and not enough substance online.. and when substance is found, it is rarely within the realm of personal, societal sites. But I'm sure you know this already.

Anyhow, I'm just a random computer geek who thought he'd drop you and note complimenting you on your page and telling you how I got here... If The Gus is the resident technogeek of Charlottesville, then Kretch (he being me) is the resident technogeek of Philly. I was recently helping a Philly punk who lives/runs one of the warehouses up here (Stalag 13, if you ever visited it) get online - he does graphic design, and finally got up the money for a Mac, so I was hooking him up with an internet account - when he told me that the first site he wanted to visit was the "Big Fun Page". Apparently, he had been there a few times... his name is Mikey Brosnan, if that means anything to you. Anyhow, we're not at the site two minutes when, emerging from the group of people hanging out downstairs, Sarah Poiron comes up to say hi and sees her face staring back at her from the monitor...

So whatever, I don't mean to ramble, but longwindedness is my nature so I'll cut this off while I still can. Anyhow, nice page...

Kretch

PS: If you're curious, there's an entire page on the web dedicated to the Philly Punk scene, a society with which you're apparently at least somewhat familiar. Not coincidentally, I run this page. If you wanna check it out:

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~tmkretch/phlpunk


Subject: MeiSta Gus
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 03:06:48 -0800
From: stddgm14@shsu.edu
To: gus@spies.com

Ive been readin' your stuff, and really dig what you did. Just thought Id drop ya some praise and whatnot. I go to school in Huntsville Texas at SHSU, not that youve heard of it, unless you like visiting future landfill sites that is. anyway, drop me a line sometime youre bored, Im always lookin for someone to talk to. dont use the return adress though, use stddgm14@shsu.edu.....LaTeS......Dominic


Subject: heroin...
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 1997 22:07:59 -0500
From: GERRARD McCUTHEON [nirvana@rogerswave.ca]
Organization: GERRARD McCUTHEON
To: gus@spies.com

gus...thanks a million..i am recently in the midst(well...it's due in two days) of doing my report on heroin and its influence in the media...i just want to thanks a million for some of the infomarmation given...it was perfect...(i footnoted it of course..)..just a big thanks of appreciation....thanks..melissa


[email to a co-worker]

The Gus Page is, as you said, an independent slacker film waiting to happen. It's easy to become mesmerized by his daily musings ... it's of particular interest since I can picture most of the places he's talking about (Wertland St., etc.) I have to say ... I've never thought of Robitussin and Ritalin as recreation ... and, actually, from the way he describes it ... I still don't. (The design of the page is really interesting, too.)


Subject: Forward to the Big Fun Page
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 22:28:59 -0800 (PST)
From: "Will McCutcheon" [willmcc@hotmail.com]
To: gus@spies.com

All at Big Fun:

I swear that your page is the best use of the internet or ANY information format that I have EVER seen. I live in C'ville, right north of you (god, you know where it is) and happened to stumble across you. It was such a pleasant reminder that there is actually life similar to me right by home, with all the same problems, et cetera as mine and my friends'. Thanks.

- Will McCutcheon
willmcc@hotmail.com


Subject: Big Fun Question
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 23:42:32 -0500
From: Don Richards [donrich@neo.lrun.com]
To: gus@spies.com

Hi Gus,
Been reading your glossary and was wondering, .... where does Jonathan Hayward fit into the puzzle? Conspicuous only by his absence (except for photo credits).

Editor's note: Jonathan Hayward is a baker at the C&O Restaurant and knew members of the Big Fun community mostly as dishwashers there.


Subject: Big Fun
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 1997 19:36:19 -0500 (EST)
From: [BlatzNose@aol.com]
To: gus@spies.com

I am totally AMAZED with the Big Fun web page...i'm just wondering why I haven't heard about this place before. I live in Richmond, Va and am 16 years old and i'm looking to get away as soon as possible. From the way Big Fun is described it sounds as though it's the most wonderful place in the whole world and i'd love to hang there for awhile. Is it possible?

Love & Liberation,
Nicole


Subject: big fun
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 1997 17:53:55 -0500 (EST)
From: Domme666@aol.com
To: gus@spies.com

that crap sounds like a hippie commune

we're gonna find your scrawny girley earth mamma asses and grab you by your dreds and shitty burlap dresses and throw you in the ces pooll of decrepit cat shit from which you were born.

thank you and have a nice day
peace out


Subject: Article in Scientific American
Date: Sat, 01 Mar 1997 17:18:53 +0000
From: Frank McIntyre [frank@pixelworkshop.com]
Organization: Pixel Workshop Inc.
To: gus@spies.com

Gus,

I just read an article in Scientific American (the one with the split view of the ocean on the cover about rising water levels, I think it's the March issue) about some guys archiving the whole internet. They're doing it for historical/cultural purposes since the internet/web changes so rapidly, there may be no record of an importan development in our society.

The first thing that popped into my head when I read the article was that your contributions to the net would be archived along with everthing else out there. Somehow it makes me smile that Big Fun and your Musings will be archived right along with the Presidential Campaign pages in their historical signifigance. It's an interesting article. You might want to pick it up if you can.

Anyway, keep it up. I've been dropping in on your pages since November, and get a kick out of it every time.

Odd Little Coincidence:

I was at my Dad's house for Christmas with the whole family, screaming kids and all. After things had calmed down a bit I was taking to Dad about what was new with me. I mentioned this interesting web site I had stumbled across while looking for information on aluminum alloys (some AltaVista search with "metal" in it I think). The site was your Big Fun Glossary. I happend to mention that it was in Charlottsville and that a guy named Gus maintained the site.

To my surprise, my Baltimore City Bureaucrat dad says "Gus in Charlottsville? Yeah, I think I've heard of him." Turns out that an old college friend of his had quit his job and moved to Charlottsville to become a potter. Apparently this potter knows you and hand mentioned you to my father when he was down there for a visit. Unfortunately, I can not recall the name of said potter. He must be about 60 years old or so, is married and lives in a log cabbin, if I remember correctly.

Well, enough of the rambling of a stranger. Take care Gus.

Sincerely,
-Frank McIntyre

Pixel Workshop Inc.
Video Production - BetaSP - Non-linear Editing
3D Modeling and Animation - www.pixelworkshop.com


Subject: Big Fun
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 1997 16:47:27 -0800
From: Gabe Soria [gabe@newrave.com]
To: gus@spies.com

Just thought I'd drop you a quick note to let you know how much I've enjoyed the Big Fun glossary. You evoke the time and place so well, and the love you have for your friends is so evident, it makes me feel like I'm back home in New Orleans hanging out with my pals. I feel like I've been watching a really good show on the local Fox network that no one else knows about. Hmm, I'm not sure if that's faint praise or what.

Anyhow, great work and good stuff. When will there be more?

Thanks,

Gabe


After seeing your excellent web-site, I can only wish there would be more quality sites on the net. You appear to have spent some time on your site, and it is very impressive. It reminded me of MTV real world, or Road rulez.

This evening I have been winding out on a 15 hour lsidtrip party here in South LA. I had intentions of going to sleep, but your web-page has kept me glued to my web browser for close to two hours. Your page came up from an Alta Vista search for lsd and acid. I have been trying to calm my nerves, and you page was a very enjOyable tRiP.....


Subject: posturing the gutter
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 1997 12:27:41
From: "Glenn Redinger"
To: gus@spies.com

real cool little shits think big
--------------------------------
vacant strays, stunted down
to the swill,
swell about;
spoiling for the scene...

making big fun
of the trash

as they slop
and slobber,
admiring themselves
in their own toilet.


Subject: bigfun...
Date: Wed, 05 Feb 1997 17:34:59 EST
From: keenec@kenyon.edu
To: gus@spies.com

I am a student at Kenyon College and I was searching the net today when I came across your rather amazing site..... I am speechless............ How long have you been working on this? How old are you? Do you live in this house in VA?

Courtney Keene

By the way, I really like "Ether Drapes Earth"


Subject: an aspect i question
Date: Mon, 03 Feb 1997 11:59:32 -0500
From:local [none@no.where] (anonymous, of course)
To: gus@spies.com

how is it that adolescent swine who wallow in alcoholic infantalism become abitrators of cultural validity?


Subject: hey there gus
Date: Sun, 2 Feb 1997 16:30:36 -0600
From: mikila zaorski [mellamomikila@mail.utexas.edu]
To: gus@spies.com

dear gus,

I have been meaning to send you mail for a while now, since I found big fun in december. I was doing a search for "ian svenonius" who I was electronically stalking at the time, which led me to the part of the glossary concerning the make up and your distaste for the object of my stalking. my decision to stalk him was pretty spontaneous, having seen the make up months before the idea even occured to me, but what I stroke of spontaneous genius. fortunately, I began these net explorations after finals, not counting the fact that I missed one of my finals probably even as I prompted alta vista to search for traces of ian. what this means is that I had plenty of time on my hands, so I read lots of your stuff, even delaying my initial mission in the process, which was pretty unimportant considering that these scouting ventures really have nothing to do with me conquering boy lands ever. they are only practice manoeverings for the upcoming THIRD WORLD WAR. anyway, your writing is quite compelling.

the glossary was full of things I was familiar with, but the breadth of your analysis made even seemingly obvious definitions unredundant. the mix of pop culture, psychoanalysis, and astrology is a dangerous one, as the cult of generation x has proven, yet I didnt feel exploited as I read and read. I grew up in central louisiana a.k.a. cenla, and the descriptions of redneck living just made me dewey.

I had looked up my own personality profile days before discovering the glossary, too, so it was like I found a whole group of imaginary friends just in time, as my real ones here were systematically leaving for the holidays. I'm an infj, though I remember testing as an intp my sophomore year in high school. also, I am an aquarius. as a matter of fact, I come of age on the 12th of this very fine month, which is ufortunately a wednesday. admittedly, though, beer has never mattered much to me. and I have at times felt a void within me that I attribute specifically to my underdeveloped relationship with brewsky... especially when I see the faces of my friends lighting up as a beer purchase is secured. I did drink beer and get drunk last night, I suppose. we have a delicate relationship.

I have been reading the musings and just read some of the satirical writing for the first time today. I especially enjoyed the letters to the editor. I actually wrote a letter to the editor a couple of weeks ago concerning a certain club and a certain martini madness equasion which, apparently, is thrown off if minors are let in on the martini eve that is sunday, even though they proclaim in the paper that "all shows are all ages". I have very little angst about the situation, but my letter was maybe a little too angst-ridden, for it was not printed. I should be doing schoolwork. so really I should send this off. only one more thing I will address.

I guess it was the end of last may when my own fascination with guided by voices began. truly, their sound is something I had been searching for for a long time. oddly, I have caught myself thinking that sometimes g.b.v. lyrics are almost cheezy-- that they would be if found in some other melodic environment-- but this revelation has not mattered. possibly this contradiction is in itself some magnetic force. I find I can forgive them. (since my freshman year here at ut, I have developed a keen/over sensitivity to cheeziness, prompted by my former roommates unquenchable desire for tori anus. you may know her as the "cornflake girl".) anyway, recently I was introduced to a band from new zealand called the tall dwarfs, who are no longer. some of their stuff is very low fi and compatible with my affinities in the way that guided by voices is. the tall dwarfs cd I have is a compilation from 1981 to 1984 or something like that. I am not crazy about all of their stuff, but do recommend them and will continue to spread their gospel.

goodbye for now,
mikila zaorski


Date: Mon, 27 Jan 1997 18:21:26 -0500 (EST)
From: Piiyed@aol.com
To: gus@spies.com

Hello Gus...how's it goin? Ok here. I came across the very very interesting webpage about BIG FUN...I only found it yesterday and have to look into it further...I am very interested in it...so is BIG FUN still in existence? I would like to know more about it...i still have to read what is already there. Would you please E-mail me? please? Do you have AOL? well, I dont really know what to say except...I'm very interested in knowin ALL about it...k? =o) thank you..

Leslie

A.K.A......Pi..


Date: Sun, 26 Jan 1997 21:05:36
From: NKellogg@gnn.com (norman kellogg)
To: gus@spies.com

Dear the Gus:
this comes as a long overdue thank you to both you and Big Fun on behalf of the Nomadic Festival. We greatly appreciated your efforts in the organizing and promotion of the event,particularly when it could have resulted in your eviction. It made it one of the most successful stops on the tour. The rest of the tour went crazilly, going from great to really bad. But most of us completed the tour at the Burning Man festival in Nevada. The Nomadic bus(which missed Big Fun) unfortunately never made it out of Minnesota, thereby reducing the tour to a somewhat extended Coprolingus tour with occasional Wandering Womb performances. The whole tour has been documented and hopefully can be put online. While Ive only been in contact with a few of the other tour members since its end(most are unreachable), I hope to rendezvous with the other organizers in New Orleans at Mardi Gras this year. Hopefully then we could springboard into another action. However, Wandering Womb will be performing at Mardi Gras this year. The flyer reads as such:

New Orleans - Mardi Gras Nomadology International presents: The Floating Anarchy of the Wandering Womb, bring to you its promised anual brouhaha of transmorgraphying drumdrumdrumming and noise, diverted from the ether, strange animals will dance for you- delight in seeing puppets set on fire! galvanized gallavanting leads us to new knowingness of humaness covering the whole city - of course it is free! this event sponsored by the boxists society in an effort of premillenial organizing of networked rhizomatic unity and education for a positive social direction involving a non-commodified ecologically conscious future and challenges to institutionalized facism. while participating, love and non-violence, please. call 1(203)259-7534 for more info,leave name and number.

What has happened to Big Fun? Chelsea and I were prank calling the number not too long ago, but it had been disconnected. But anyway, thanks again, and thanks for the coverage the festival got in your glossary, it's always fun to read reviews. If your interested in more Nomad stuff, of know anyone who is, let us know. thanks, from Skotty.

NKellogg@gnn.com



Subject:      Big Fun

Date:         Thu, 16 Jan 1997 14:58:21 -0800

From:         Stephen Huff [grimwulf@evansville.net]

Organization: Gentleheart Interplanetary

To:           gus@spies.com





http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2550/index.html.  I found your homepage

or the Big Fun Glossary by accident while linking my horoscope planets

to  web pages containing descriptions of those things.  I think I was

looking for mars in virgo when your page came up.  It was sufficiently

interesting for me to bookmark it, and then spend an hour or so looking

for it after I accidentally crashed my system and lost all my

bookmarks.  I have linked to it from my links page and invite you to

visit my site.



Subject: Why did you leave us John Wayne?

Date:    Thu, 16 Jan 1997 11:06:13 -0500

From:    Mark Ballantine [markb@inetnow.net]

To:      gus@spies.com





   The Gus,

No doubt we were spawned in very different times and environments. I care little for punk, heavy metal or jazz music. I have no nazi-skinhead aquaintances and don't expect to in the near future. The piercing of one's body with sharp metal objects sets poorly with me. I equate the drinking of cough syrup for recreational purposes with standing on the double yellow line of a busy highway (this is not a suggestion) for the fun of it. Never the less, I find it mandatory that people have the right to do whatever they choose as long as there are no pernicious effects upon others. The constitution I defend demands this! Just the same, you've got WAY too much free time on your hands!!!

I ran across your Big Fun page while searching intensly for information on the dreaded "mad cow disease"! Out of 100,000 hits or so your Big Fun page was discovered as I diligently perused one link after another in my quest for knowledge and enlightenment. I marked it for later consumption as it reaked of curiosity even though it was of little value to my immeadiate quest. I've had the chance this week to digest page after page of "Gusmania". It's incredible! You have a tremendous gift of presenting mental images in a text format that puts the reader right there in the midst of the insanity you call "Big Fun". It's fantastic and I have had a great time reading one account after another of escapades undertaken by the members of this bizarre little crowd.

While admittedly I'm not much on most art and music, I find good writing, on almost any subject, to be very enjoyable. You have a real talent in that regard, that must not be kept from the masses. You could probably be quite successful as a novelist or at least writing repair manuals for Volvos. Whatever the case, don't stop! I need the laughs!!!

In case I didn't simply miss it, I would highly recommend your adding an indepth auto-biography to give the reader a greater chance to identify with the source of this eccentric web site. And yes I'm serious...

Mind you, these are only the opinions of a simple, fat jolly redneck from the latitudes of Georgia. I was once a prisoner of war in south-western Virginia though!

                                                                    

    Mark

--

Mark S. Ballantine

markb@inetnow.net



Subject:      that damn page

Date:         Tue, 31 Dec 1996 15:37:48 -0600 (CST)

From:         NUGENTMO@SLUVCA.SLU.EDU

Organization: SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY St. Louis, MO

To:           gus@spies.com

X-URL:        http://atlas.comet.net/~bigfun/me/ 

X-Mailer:     Lynx, Version 2.6 



gus, this is one of the better accidental

discoveries I've made today, by far. Very utopia-in-tatters. Possibly. 



Subject: yore page

Date:    Thu, 26 Dec 1996 03:28:00 -0500

From:    Dewey0@aol.com

To:      gus@spies.com



i loooooove yore page.

keeps me educated and entertained.

thanks. 



Subject: big fun v. real world

Date:    Tue, 24 Dec 1996 23:45:52 -0500

From:    FreeFlowr9@aol.com

To:      gus@spies.com



hey gus,

while researching heroin, i came across your site and, after attempting

several times to digest it all, i finally read the (nearly) entire thing.

What strikes me is how the big fun situation is so much like my living

situation, but to an exaggerated degree. I live in a 6-bedroom rowhouse in

West Philly named the Hall of Justice (i didnt pick it) with 4 guys and

another girl. For a month, from Sept to Oct, we were without heat or hot

water. We had to pull this scam in which we made up a fake lease and took it

to the gas co. because the person whose name was on the gas bill had moved

out, and there was this huge balance. Also, 2 of my roommates are in a ska

band, and there's always random people crashing (including the suicide

machines about a year and a half ago -- i saw that they were mentioned by

another feedback person. But that was before i moved in...Anyway...) One of

my roommates is addicted to heroin, and his girlfriend is also a roommate.

They are both friends of mine. AND...i am engaged in a secret "torrid affair"

with the junkie guy. The guy i  share a bathroom with, very much a "hesher,"

and a "rennie" (is way into the renissance faire) has been violently angry at

me for 2 months because at our halloween party, i tried to kick out his

friend because he broke a window in the house. There's all this drama all the

time...It's never boring...Lots of Mickey's consumed ($2.95 at Sam's Deli in

West Philly), lots of spliffs ($10 for a dime in North Philly at Broad and

Diamond). This life reminds me of MTV's the real world. The Hall of Justice

is a combo of big fun (at the chaos extreme) and the real world (at the other

end of the scale.) Big fun scares me though, because i see how my house COULD

be. The gas bill is in the junkie roommate's name. I should change that

somehow, huh?  Anyway, cool site...jennifer



Subject: That "Big Fun" thing

Date:    Fri, 13 Dec 1996 17:02:09 -0800 (PST)

From:    Richard James Bell [rbell@osiris.ac.hmc.edu]

To:      gus@spies.com





I stumbled across your page and I must say it's pretty cool.  I liked

those messages people sent you about how they were punk and told you and

MTV and Burgerking (one actually said "booger king", how clever!) to fuck

off.  Some people will just never get it I guess.



Anyways, I'm going to school here at Harvey Mudd but I'm originally from

Hawaii.  The punk scene in HI is pretty small, but it's comfortable,

y'know?  Everybody knows everybody and there are some cool local bands.

I'm pretty stoked because on the day I get back for christmas break,

there's gonna be a Suicide Machines/Guttermouth show which should be fun.

A lot of trendy dorks come to the big shows, but I personally think they

make the pit a lot more interesting, y'know?  The small shows are, well,

smaller, but we get some good bands to come out, I mean who wouldn't wanna

play in Hawaii?  So anyways, I'm struggling to find a scene here, but

there's not much of anything in Claremont, Ca.



There's a cool page I think you should check out.  It's from one of the

radio stations in HI, Radio Free Hawaii.  I think it's pretty much the

best radio station I've ever listened to.  Anyways, they have a pretty

cool system where there are ballot boxes in cool stores all around the

island and you can vote for what you wanna hear and what you don't.  Lots

of new and independent/alternative music gets aired, as a result, which is

damn cool if you ask me, just look at their play list.  They also play a

huge variety of music from punk to ska to gothic/industrial to metal

to rap to classical. Songs that people think are overplayed or bands that

have pretty much turned lame can be banned from the station forever by

"sledghammering" them over the air, it's cool. 



Alright, so check out http://www.lava.net/radio-free/  and add a link to

your page if you feel so inclined, I think Hawaii is pretty much ignored

as a whole and that kinda sucks because a lot of cool stuff comes out of

it.  Just look at Hawaii Five-O for instance.



Ok, that's all I can think of,

Richard Bell 



this is cool (Green1212@aol.com, Mon 21:16)

To: gus@spies.com





hey you guys, hit your page by accident or providence.  It is a great site.

 Want to start a page called Janes World.  Hope it will be as cool.  Look for

it if you get a chance.  By the way I am a 38 yr. old mother of 3 finding her

way thru this world.  It is not always easy but I am making sure it stays

fun.  Will check you all out again.   Keep up the great work



Subject: Only on the 'net...

Date:    Sat, 7 Dec 1996 00:22:53 -0700

From:    "John-Henry" [jhenry@c2i2.com]

To:      [gus@spies.com]



Gus, you happy madman:



I left C-ville in June, the victim (at least from one side of the argument)

of a failed relationship with a grad student at UVA.  I stumbled across

your home page quite by accident (If you don't subscribe to the Norns) and

I was moved to write to you.  Kim has a little brother who could well be

the author of this page, and I have forwarded this link to him, on the

theory that if he is not the writer using a Nom de Guerre, then he should

be making an effort to contact you.  



I'd write at greater length, but I've fallen victim to the Southwestern

version of C-ville drunkeness and so forth, and having escaped from the

Mexican puta casas once more, more or less intact, I think that I would do

well to assume the position and let the tequila fumes whirl me into

oblivion (wittness the fact that it has taken me a LONG time to push the

li'l buttons that made this missive).  



His name (the brother) by the way, is Craig, so you hopefully will not

decend into a paranoid fantasy should someone accost you on the street.



Roll on, brother

John-Henry



Subject: (no subject)

Date:    Tue, 03 Dec 1996 22:15:49 -0500

From:    Brownboy [danorules@earthlink.net]

To:      gus@spies.com





I enjoyed your page and the pix. I like your style of writing, you have

talent.



Subject: 

Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 12:48:20 -0800

From: "Elizabeth McCafferty (General)" [a-elizam@microsoft.com]

To:   "'gus@spies.com'" 



DUDE



hey. My pal Corey reccomended yr page. Wicked!



We're slaves to the Bill. We live in Seattle but we never go out. Where

do you guys get all your fun? 



I want to know your secret. 



Here at Microsoft they give us free beverages and medication.  My

favorite is called "Histenol-Forte"--fluorescent orange pills with the

following ingredients:325 mg acetaminophen, 30 mg psuedoephedrine, and

10 mg dextromethorphan.  I wouldn't advise taking more than six or eight

at a time while at work, but ten to twelve are an excellent mix to drink

on. 



Elizabeth



Subject: the pond

Date:    Sun, 1 Dec 1996 11:20:23 -0500

From:    "Randall Pharr" [con4prog@i2020.net]

To:      [gus@spies.com]



Hey Gus!

Reading up on your site somemore.  Can make a map to the pond

if you like but I guess its a little late for that.  



There are actually two ponds.  One to the southeast of the front 

door and one to the north.



We used to ice-skate on the one to the north.



Randall Pharr



Subject: holy shit! re: big fun

Date:    Sun, 17 Nov 1996 13:48:07 -0700

From:    Jay Babcock [jaybab@cinenet.net] (Jay Babcock)

To:      gus@spies.com



gus,



wowza. i came across yr site last night completely by accident (i was

doing an alta vista search for "Two+Fingers book", trying deperately to

find info on this British hip-hop author) and somehow i got directed to

the Big Fun glossary. anyways, this is amazing stuff you've got here,

and i've only scratched the surface of what you've got on the Big Fun

site. being from the silverlake area of l.a., which is suffering from a

heroin abuse epidemic not unlike the one you describe occuring in

philadelphia, i often find myself dreaming of someday (hopefully soon)

moving to a more rural setting also not unlike the way you describe

charlottesville. so the cultural anthropology/reportage work you've done

here is fascinating. I suspect that the "urban bohemian" yearning for rural

surroundings is universal...



i'm curious: were you posting this stuff while Big Fun was functioning

as a living arrangement, or did you wait till after?  there's so much

about people's personal lives that --while fascinating--seems kinda

invasive to me. but maybe they didn't feel that way...



so: congrats on putting up a great site and doing ana amzaing job at

documenting something special.  i've got a million questions if you have

the time...



- - -jay



****************************************************************************

Visit the New House of the Rising Smiles at

www.cinenet.net:80/users/jaybab/



Catch The Horchata Hour on Sundays, 6-8 pm on KBLT (104.7 FM). KBLT is

free-form pirate radio from Silver Lake, broadcasting 4 PM-midnight

everyday.



"Recipe for an American Renaissance: Eat in diners; Travel on Trains; Shop

on Main Street; Live where things can be walked to; Put a porch on your

house."



Really exciting web site! I really enjoyed it, thanks.



I have punk stuff on my site 

http://www.infi.net/~homeroom/eyezee.html





hope you find something interesting there.



Principal Ingram



From: Astrovisuals astrovis@cadvision.com

To: 'gus@spies.com'

Subject: Big Fun Glossary

Date: Monday, November 04, 1996 1:27 AM



Hello, Gus. I generally avoid making eye contact with unknown 

people on the net. But you deserve to know your website is great.



It's not just the graphics (which are beautiful & clean). It's the content. 

I suppose if this thing were between two cardboard covers printed 

on dead trees it would be considered literature. I've read it like people 

would read Trainspotting or Catcher in the Rye or Less than Zero or 

any other thing like that--it's just good writing. You've made a really 

evocative thing...very talented...but there's no Booker Prizes for stuff 

on the web. New ground. Would love to build a site as beautiful as yours.



Sorry to read your epilogue...hope everyone lands on their feet. 



I don't know how the hell I got to your site...I actually am an astrologer, 

so that's a coincidence...but I think what I keyed in on the searcher 

was "mad cow disease."



Martha



I lived/grew up at Big Fun!!

Lived there for 10 years.

Do you know Morgan O'Kane?

His is my brother.



Randall Pharr

con4prog@i2020.net



Gus,



I am a grad student at UVa living in Atlanta doing research and I just 

ran across your bigfun pages; it's a tremendously entertaining and 

imaginative site, and reminds me of all the great stuff happening in 

cville.



Thanks!



Bruce Fort



Subject:      Big Fun Glossary

Date:         Sat, 12 Oct 1996 16:41:46 -0700

From:         Heather Norris [I@don't.get..e-mail]

Organization: Javanet Cyberbar, Seattle's Finest Coffee Injection and Internet Connection.

To:           mallfellows@comet.net

CC:           at@comet.net, waldo@comet.net, gus@spies.com, webmaster@comet.net





Hi.I saw your letter in the Feedback to the Big Fun Glossary page 

and I could be wrong,but it seems like you need to liten up a little 

bit.I have read the Glossary from front to back and it only says that 

you are a dork, while it seems (if gus is to be believed) that you 

called him a pederast,which is not a very nice thing to call 

someone.as for what he said about waldo and noah, well he only said 

they were home schooling victims.now I disagree with Gus on 

homeschooling,since I wish I did homeschooling instead of the high 

school humiliation I am in now.but I know what Gus means when he says 

that the home schooled kids often lack social skills.They do.Not all 

of them, but many of the Christian kids I have met do.



     I think the Glossary changed my life for the better.I wrote a 

paper about it for my llth grade class which I am attaching if I can 

figure this thing out.My friend Paul is helping me because I don't 

know much about these computer thingies.

 

     It is true that it tends to be gossipy at times, and even 

sometimes immature.But mostly it is really good writing and 

insightful.The gossipy parts even add to it because they make it seem 

more immediate anmd real,like a Sherwood Anderson novel (I am reading 

Winesburg Ohio).I think you have added alot to the discussion in the 

Feedback page because of your different view.I understand your point, 

but I think you are overreacting.I wouldn't want to see the site shut 

down because I think it will help more than it will hurt.I wish I had 

email so I could write back.maybe you could sign the glossary guest 

book and we could keep communicating.Take Care.



     -Heather

How the Big Fun Glossary changed my life

by Heather Norris
English 11S
September 10, 1996
Assignment Number 2,
"Short Essay about a Place You Have Been"

Because I live in Aberdeen,WA,I have to deal with that Kurt Cobain used to go to my high school.He used to walk down my halls and I'm sure this is where he felt all alienated so he could write all his good music.But it isn't easy to live with.My school is still full of stupid football jocks, those sons of reneck lumber jacks who pick on you if you don't wear the write deoderant or hang out with the write people.In many ways I hate my high school and my town.I like punk rock and "alternative" living, and this place is designed for people who like to conform, even if this is also what gave us Kurt Cobain.

So when I go to Seattle to hang out with my punk rock friends,it is a cool thing.We go to the Javanet Cyberbar on Capital Hill and surf the web and find out about other punk rockers who have to deal with the same stuff as me.My favorite site is the Big Fun Glossary (http://www.comet.net/personal/bigfun/).This site is not full of graphics (though it has some).It is mostly just text.But it is all linked together and your supposed to read it by jumping around.In it you learn about a whole group of punk rockers living by themselves in a big farm house out in the country in Virginia.They have to deal with rednecks and skinheads and even a wild cult of people who think the world is coming to an end.But they are philospohical and smart.They talk in really insightful ways about love and even consciousness.They also drink alot and take drugs,so in many ways it isn't like they are good role models or anything.But they are inspiring and they help me to deal with the depression of living in Aberdeen,the town that started Kurt on his ultimately tragic life.

-Heather Norris



From:     Staff at the Mudhouse  [Patrick Reed]

To:       webmaster@comet.net

Cc:       mallfellows@comet.net; at@comet.net; waldo@comet.net

Subject:  The Gus' big fun

Date:     Friday, October 11, 1996 5:52 PM



Look guys, fun is fun.  But when it comes to including potentially

libelous material on a page (Re: Patrick Reed, Noah McMurray, Andrew

Vaughan, Waldo, others), enough is well past enough.  I'm not sure what

the proper forum for complaint is, but fact is, personal attacks &

slander with the tact and humour of a four-year-old have no place on yer

server.  If you guys wish, I can take this up with Mr. Arnette or

whomever, or whatever other course of action I (we) deem neccessary.



      Love and fishes-

            Patrick A. Reed



Subject: checked out you'r page

Date:    Thu, 10 Oct 1996 15:36:43 -0400

From:    Stephen Edward McCallister 

To:      "'gus@spies.com'" 



Hey Gus,



I saw you'r words on the Liddy user comments so I decided to check out

you'r page... You didn't mention that you had babes galore running

through you'r halls...ESPECALLY Jατασyα!!!! WOW , HARDCORE!!!!!

You'r enhabitants will have to take up a collection to pay her back

so she will come back!!! It's the only cool thing to do...

I will put you'r page on my favorites list and will be keeping an eye on you...

Keep from burning down!!!



Stephen E. McCallister



Subject: well done!

Date:    Thu, 03 Oct 1996 22:38:37 -0400

From:    Jason Taylor {jason@olg.com}

To:      gus@spies.com





I gotta tell you, your glossary and homepage may be the most interesting

and best website i've seen so far...I am from southern Maryland and have

close relatives in richmond, va (my parents met there and my mom is a

native of richmond) so I can relate to punk rockers living around areas

with right wing rednecks.  Since I am very interested in punk rock and

writers like noam chomsky and parenti and read punk zines its only

natural for me to like to read about people who really live the punk

rock diy lifestyle, i am 22 and still live with my dad so its something

i've never really done...well again i just wanted to thank you for your

page and glossary and say that i find the people and the whole thing

very interesting and some of it even very inspiring...

bye...

jason t.

jason@olg.com



Subject:      tussin

Date:         Thu, 03 Oct 1996 16:24:34 -0600

From:         Chad Bowden {cbowden@prairie.nodak.edu}

Organization: OBOR

To:           gus@spies.com





I have just read your wonderful story about your tussin trip.  I am 

originally from Roanoke, it still is my hometown.  I am currently at 

college in North Fucking Dakota.  I am an aviation student, which is 

why I turned to tussin.  One of the greatest drugs ever, and its not 

tested for.  I have robed over one hundered times in the last year and 

a half.  I love every trip.  Up here we have formed a group called 

OBOR - Official Brothers Of Robitussin (also ROBO backwards).  I have 

never done less than eight ounces, and on one occasion on spring break 

in Boston I did 28 in the course of one day.  We have found that 

Walmart's Equate tussin is the best buy, and the best tasting.  It is 

always good to hear about fellow robers, especially from so close to 

home.  Thank you for you time, keep up the good work, I love your 

stuff. Chad


Subject: Big Fun site Absinthe
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 1996 18:52:05 +0300
From: PureArtist: PureArt@PureArtMkt.com
Organization: PureArt, Inc.
To: gus@spies.com

Dear Big Fun,

Saw your website, quite struck by the concept, kind of a combo of a personal web-site with a high-end intellectual discussion of very important defined terms. I found it doing an altavista search for absinthe.

Our company helps promote and distribute independent and avante-garde works of art & entertainment. We recently finished a web-site for a film that's in development called "Speed & Absinthe".

It seems that Absinthe is making a comeback in N. America.

If you want to check out the site and read about the film, you can go to http://www.purefilm.com/speed&absinthe I'm certain the director would like to hear about any feedback you've had using the name absinthe. Plus, if you like what you read, feel free to grab an absinthe spoon icon off the page and create a link.

Good luck with your website.

Sincerely,
--
Stuart L. Carroll
CEO & General Counsel
PureArt, Inc.
Unfiltered Entertainment on the Internet @ http://www.PureArtMkt.com
Read about PureArt in the New York Times!!

http://www.nytimes.com/web/docsroot/yr/mo/day/artleisure/28nich-filmcol.html


Subject: To the Gus...
Date: Wed, 4 Sep 1996 22:45:48 -0400
From: Trance66@aol.com
To: gus@spies.com

Hey, just read the glossary and almost shit my pants I was laughing so hard. I was all robo'd after my classes ended, putting "dextromethorphan" into Altavista trying to find some page calling Bill Gates a "Robitussin chugging, corporate seeking muthafuckah who is dextromethorphan dependant", when I found all these goofy ass things going on at some house in the country. Not neccessarily BAD personal humor, but humor among a small tight group of friends that doesn't always look good in print. But that thing is a fucking MASTERPIECE!

We will find you. We will take Rt. 6 west from Richmond and hit Rt. 20 with big DM-dilated pupils and then we'll give you and any other heart attck man who bucks robo the Mountain Dew Extreme Acid Test (900mg or so DM extracted in lemon juice + 10oz Mountain Dew)

Seriously, I'd like to come out and chew fatties and meet these characters.

I'm not gonna invite myself, so how 'bout it?

Trance66@aol.com
F "Happy Bingswanger Glass" Briggs


Mime-Version: 1.0
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 1996 13:27:55 -0500
To: gus@spies.com
From: Marianne Ramsden
Subject: Deya

Hello!
Hope everything is going well with you. Talked to Deya last night and she will get her e-mail account tomorrow - and - I hope learn how to use it....In the meantime here's her phone number (she didn't know it to give to Jessica) 1-704-52XX extension 52XX. She seems a little homesick but more for her friends than her family, I think. I was ecxited to see many of her photos on the Big Fun page. In case you, or anyone else want to send some snail mail this is her address: WWC #5917; P.O. Box 9000; Asheville, NC 28815-9000. I have a feeling she considers herself somewhat isolated and would appreciate some mail or whatever. Come see us when you get a chance (=ride?)

Marianne Ramsden.


Date: Wed, 28 Aug 1996 11:09:57 +0000
From: Ezikial Farbrishnallesha [eFarbrishnallesha@doubtme.com]
Reply-To: eFarbrishnallesha@doubtme.com
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: gus@spies.com
Subject: Hello again

Dear Gus

I guess by now your have fingured out that "doubtme.com" doesn't exist. I did this to avoid you just replying email. I want to be apart of "Big Fun" I have been reading your work again, I especially like The Jehu End of the World Party

I still have few pages to read. For you posting my mail so soon thank you. I want to say many many things about my feelings for you and you writing style but I just can't find the time. I hope to become some part of you life somehow. If only on you web pages. I will be in touch if you wish to reply to this do on you page. It couldn't not become meaningfull exchange. bye bye

I will be watching your page and you Editor's note: Mr. Farbrishnallesha wrote in the recent past a somewhat flip message about his wishes to "hang out" with me and perhaps take Jessika as his wife. Who Mr. Farbrishnallesha really is remains to be seen.


Subject: Dextromethorphan
Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 18:00:23 -0400
From: William White
Organization: FrogNet, Inc.
To: gus@spies.com

I have been researching dextromethorphan (the active ingredient in most cough syrups, notably including Robitussin Maximum Strength, Drixoral Cough Liquid Caps, etc.) and its use culture (or rather cultures, as it has had sporadic but intense use in various subcultures from the beatniks to 80's warehouse hardcore to modern use). I also maintain the DXM FAQ.

I periodically search for DXM-related information on the net in an attempt to find references to DXM use subcultures I haven't found yet. I would be interested in hearing from you about how you and your friends learned about DXM, your frequency of use, what problems you have had, etc.

All information would be kept strictly confidential unless you desire otherwise; obviously you've already made it public so I'm guessing you're not terribly concerned (some of the people I've spoken to who used DXM in the 1950s were concerned about confidentiality, being Upstanding Members of the Community[tm] and all that now).

Please email me back if you are interested. I'm trying to get as accurate a picture as possible about DXM, as I believe there are some fairly interesting implications for our current drug policy and our understanding of how and why people use drugs (in case you haven't guessed yet I have a low opinion of US drug policy).

William White
FrogNet, Inc.