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What you speak about is on a CD set of his called "Indeterminacy". It's a 2 CD set with a good sized booklet. He reads a lot of his memories while David Tudor plays music. He does that story, the one about Japanese poetry, his past teachers, and times he was just hanging around friends. It's out on Smithsonian Recordings so it shouldn't be all that hard to find. Jeff Collins -----Original Message----- From: James Pokorny <j.pokorny@worldnet.att.net> To: Loopers-Delight@annihilist.com <Loopers-Delight@annihilist.com> Date: Tuesday, June 08, 1999 10:51 AM Subject: Flossing / Combing / John Cage >>>PS I am drug free as well. Usually I floss when I'm looping at home. >> >>Thank you for mentioning this, Dennis. Actually I am surprised that, so >>far as I know, flossing has yet to be discussed in-depth on this list. I >>am sure that somewhere I read a Terry Riley interview in which he described >>extensive use of dental floss during his famous all-night concerts in the >>sixties, certainly setting some sort of historical precedent which will >be >>of obvious interest to loopers. >> >>David Myers >> >>BTW, maybe some of the knowledgable John Cage fans who have developed >that >>thread can comment on Cage's attitude toward flossing. I've combed through >>"Silence", but so far haven't found any reference to the subject. > > >Wait a minute! We're talking "flossing" here! Please don't get off-topic >and mention "combing" -- we'll save that for a "grooming" thread. > >Since you mentioned "Silence" and flossing, it reminded me of one of my >favorite anecdotes in that great book. Also the fact that it's only 8:30 AM >and is already close to 90 degrees here. I don't have it in front of me, >but the gist of the story went like this: > >Cage said that he had a dental appointment on what turned out to be the >hottest day of the year. He mentioned that since he thought of going to the >dentist as a somewhat of a formal occasion [this was the 1950's] he >decided >to wear a jacket. While he was seated in the dentist's chair the dentist >said, "It's so hot today -- wouldn't you feel more comfortable without >your >jacket?" Cage replied "I would, but my shirt has a hole in it." The >dentist then said, "I have a hole in my sock, would you like me to take my >shoes off?" > >I'd recommend "Silence" as a great read. But not necessarily for the essays >on music. What I love are all the tiny marginal paragraphs like the one >above, which are packed with all of Cage's wisdom, humor, and absurdity that >might not be quite as apparent in just listening to the music, or reading >the texts. I remember seeing Cage mentioned once in an article on >contemporary music in my local newspaper. I was infuriated by a statement >along the lines of "His ideas are so important that you don't even need to >listen to his music." That killed me! Apparently this writer never >caught >on to the basic musical fact that "theory" only comes about long after >"practice" is well-established. I'm sure Mr. Cage didn't start writing >music to become a "theorist!" > >But try to find a copy, if just to read all those little gems, some of which >have been posted recently. > >James > >