Weekly Firesign Chat Cheese Log

A Firesign Chat
01/01/2026

Archive

||||||||| Catherwood re-enters the Waiting Room and explains "This is the main discussion room which is logged each night."
||||||||| Catherwood announces, "The time is 4:32 AM - I now declare Thursday's chat log for January 01, 2026 officially open!"... and then, he retires back to the vestibule...
||||||||| "8:00 PM? 8:00 PM!!" says Catherwood, "Tweeny should be here by now...oh, THERE you are!" as Tweeny enters and sits in front of the fireplace.
||||||||| New notice: '** WE'RE GLAD YOU MADE IT!! **
The Firesign Chat & Show starts at 7pm Eastern/6pm Central/5pm Mountain/4pm Pacific
Tonight: ** HAPPY NEW YEAR!! **
A Replay of a show from December 26, 2024
DUKE OF MADNESS MOTORS ”Anarchist Army”
with Firesign’s Y2K New Year’s 2000 album
GIVE ME IMMORTALITY OR GIVE ME DEATH
plus part one of RADIO NOW LIVE!
Listen to the 256k stream at: http://listen.ehhh.us:8000/rfd2 or the 16k stream at: http://listen.ehhh.us:8000/rfd1
This show is archived at www.kurtericson.net/firesign | Cat’s collage archive is at www.kurtericson.net/cat'
||||||||| Tweeny rushes off, saying "8:00 PM? Mark Time is almost on! Where's a radio?"
||||||||| Catherwood strides in with a trumpet, plays a fanfare, and proclaims "Nine PM on Thursday, January 01, 2026 - I now declare alt.comedy.firesgn-thtre's chat officially open!" -- then he looks around at the empty room, looks at his watch, and mumbles "...am I early?"
||||||||| Outside, the 8:00 PM uptown bus from Billville pulls away, leaving Deputy Dang coughing in a cloud of diesel fumes.
Deputy Dang: Has anybody seen my pickle?
||||||||| Catherwood ushers cease into the room, accepts a wooden nickel as a gratuity, mumbles something about 8:00 PM, then departs.
cease: Hi all
||||||||| Catherwood walks in wearing his pyjamas, yawns, and mumbles "It's midnight here in New York city"...then he falls over and starts snoring loudly..
cease: This is one of my recordings. Very profound stuff
Deputy Dang: Howdy, cease! Happy new year!
cease: sAme to you,dang
cease: i was with the extended family last week so didnt hear the show but was ableto chat a bit.
cease: sad news about Elayne's mother.
Deputy Dang: I remember she said it was expected that night, so I guess a week ago exactly.
cease: a couple of days ago.
Deputy Dang: ah,ok
cease: we should listen to my collage based on Ossman's diary about making this.
cease: also, the newly released Good byes and Hellos thing.
||||||||| A time machine materializes at 8:00 PM and Beet bounds out, carrying a grape from ancient Greece.
Beet: Evening, Friends!
Deputy Dang: Howdy, Beet!
cease: The Beet Nick
||||||||| Catherwood interjects: "Open up, your door knocker fell off!"
cease: of is the Beet Nick Danger
Beet: Hi, Deputy, cease. Happy New Year!
Beet: Anybody nursing a hangover?
cease: not me
cease: unless you can get a hangover from over consumption of thc
Deputy Dang: Sadly, I'm clean. :-/
Beet: I felt the absence of some champagne last night.
cease: it would have been a good idea. we were invited to a party but my wife had other plans. new years eve, etc very big in japanese culture
cease: i actually have some background on the creation of this bit.
||||||||| Mutt enters at 8:00 PM as Catherwood takes their hat and goat and runs off to the Haberdashery Barn.
cease: when visited proc in LA in 95, he showed me an ad for Joe Chemo from Adbusters, which i helped brfing into existence.
cease: hi mutt
Mutt: Happy Gregorian New Year to all
Beet: Hey, Mutt.
cease: greg must be happy
Deputy Dang: Howdy, Mutt!
Mutt: Hiya Beet, Cease and Deputy D
Mutt: Greg been dead a loooong time
cease: probably died happy.
Mutt: Somehow I doubt it. Popes rarely came to peaceful end but I don’t really know about Greg.
Mutt: Maybe he did. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_XIII
cease: I have some Firesign news. In an exchange of emails with Ossman, he sent me this:
cease: Happy New Year and thanks for posting this - this whole “vector” has helped the group over some lost weekends fer sure - and it is in the LoC - sorry I don’t participate in the chats - but I do follow all the posts (for good or for evil) - and I was about to suggest a discussion and maybe more posts around the subject - If there was to be a documentary film about TFT, what should it “do” - what statement might it make with images? Should it be interested in individuals or the group? And don’t say both. ‘cause you can get lost in 4 bios - viz the Beatles. Should it be us being funny on stage and in interviews for the most part? Do celebrity quotes mean a lot in screen-time terms? How important are the elderly PP and DO? Interview/quote-wise? How important are our close-knit fans and
Beet: It could be spectacular if done well.
cease: How important are the years of and reasons for the group not working together? What might be the “reveal?” Is there a question to be answered? What’s the most evocative film title? OK, ’nuff for now. Cheers, D
cease: I answered: Firesign Flick idea? How about The 4 or 5. The reveal could be performance of a script from your live shows and leading up to that, Before that, we'd see original script ideas in scripts written by first an individual, and then watching it evolve with additions from the others. Hence the answer if the 5th is the combination. Cat
cease: I was going to say 4 or 5 Crazy Guys but that sounds too much like Trump's cabinet
Mutt: I was going to suggest The Fifth Man, but I like yours better.
cease: the problem with waiting for it to happen is that DO and PP are so old and their fans are mostly old too.
Mutt: Using the Marxes as a guide, the best bios of them have delved deeply into the early years, team formation, honing of skills and inner-team structure, and then given briefer coverage of post-initial success
Beet: It could be a timeline history interspersed wih clips of live performances, short exerpts from albums, plus one could use parts of the history narratives by the group itself. They did pretty much that on one of their DVD's.
cease: i think several people who were working on documentaries about them, including Brian Westley but nothing seems to have come of the projects
Mutt: Yeah, Beet. That’s right.
cease: true, Beet
cease: sounds likely Weirdly Cool, their pbs doc.
Beet: Yes.
Mutt: Being a mostly audio act does not help them in these days.
cease: i think the steve jobs story should be in it. John Candy too, considering how imoprtant SCTV was
cease: true, mutt, but onthe other hand special effects used to cost a fortune and now are on everybody's phone
Beet: There are a gazillion photographs of them at different points in their evolution.
Mutt: Yes, but video is what sells. Radio is not where people under 60 go to get their music/spoken word fix.
cease: bergman released a single when he was stilll in high school. Ossman's early radio days, partic his being part of the first stereo broadcast in NYC
Mutt: The ild time comedians got eternal reruns on tv, cable, internet. Audio only, unless it is music, gets lost in the chaos easier, I think.
cease: yeah, REally Interesting Video would be required like but Bruce Snyder is doing
cease: what
Beet: I should put my eyeball hat on.
Mutt: Or what Todd Haynes did with the Velvet Underground a few years ago
cease: didnt see it. is it on youtube?
cease: not a fan of that band.
Mutt: Don’t think so. Was theatrically released but also on Apple tv. Dvd has been out.
Beet: Is Ken Burns a fan?
cease: he should be
Mutt: Great question beet!
Mutt: Velvets film was amazing given what little footage exists.
Mutt: And with Warhol, Nico, Sterling and Lou all being gone.
cease: You know the Silverberg story Nightwings?
cease: What a gorgeous, moving album.
Beet: Fabulous album.
cease: i think their best since the quadrology
||||||||| Catherwood enters the room, strikes a gong, and bellows "THE TIME IN NEW YORK IS 1 O'CLOCK", then silently exits.
cease: this is great live firesign. i saw them live on new year's eve, 69 and they weren't very good.
||||||||| Catherwood escorts llanwydd in through the front door at 8:00 PM, picks up his cues (only slightly scorched), and heads for the billiard room.
llanwydd: happy new year
cease: happy llan year, new
llanwydd: did you all catch the doll drop?
llanwydd: I dropped in on a doll
cease: i was under my desk
llanwydd: lol
llanwydd: trying to think what I was doing new years eve 69
Beet: Hey, llan.
cease: go to the log and read the email Ossman sent me, about a possible Firesign documentary. Our ideas are wanted.
llanwydd: FST documentary. Wonderful idea!
cease: There was Weirdly Cool and at least 3 other projects that I know of.
llanwydd: I caught weirdly cool on youtube. wonderful
cease: They sold it as a DVD
llanwydd: yeah, now that I think of it it wasnt on youtube, it was on a roku tv app
llanwydd: thank heaven for roku
cease: roku means 6 in Japanese.
llanwydd: no kidding
llanwydd: I dont have six tvs
llanwydd: but maybe roku tv is a japanese app
||||||||| Catherwood interjects: "Mister policeman, what makes America great?"
cease: i hav e an exercise app called Better 5. actually there are 7 routines. I don't know what 5 refers too.
llanwydd: you tell is. catherwood
||||||||| Catherwood ignores llanwydd
llanwydd: us. I mean
cease: i'll never be an older American.
cease: when i ived in LA, the freeways all had names.
llanwydd: I know, cat. you are a canadian
||||||||| Catherwood interjects: "There's a seeker born every minute!"
cease: gehry just died. loved his stuff
cease: he was canadian too, though lived in LA forever
llanwydd: gehry? not familiar
cease: i started a substack a few weeks ago and first posts are about Gehry buildinds I've seen. I'm at Cat Ishikawa, if anyone cares.
llanwydd: substack?! sorry. I am behind the times
cease: google him.
llanwydd: will do
cease: as i said on substack, (it's an app) gehry is mentioned in both the simpsons and firesign, the twin mt everests of american culture
cease: i thikn i first said that here
llanwydd: architecture is something that fascinates me ever since I started reading Ayn Rand
cease: i call substack facebook for smart people.
cease: my uncle gilbert beatson was a major architect.
llanwydd: you must remember howard roarke
cease: he designed the Western Canada pavillion at Expo 67 and I went there with him.
llanwydd: very impressive!
cease: so i have a deep background of architectural appreciation. the reason i went to Bilbao last year was to see his building there.
||||||||| Catherwood interjects: "It goes in - it must come out."
cease: it really put the city on the map and the locals deeply appreciate it.
llanwydd: I wish I had learned to build bridges and tunnels
cease: marsh gas?
cease: i learfned how to use words and teach other people. that's enough for one life
llanwydd: it certainly is
llanwydd: you da man! do da math! lol
cease: meth?
llanwydd: no I dont do da meth
cease: your country is breaking bad these days.
cease: i only know of its existence. thc is enough for me.
llanwydd: I think I have heard that expression. what does breaking bad mean?
cease: if i had an opportunity to do dmt, i'd take it, but nothing else interests me.
Beet: name of a popular tv series
llanwydd: ah yes
llanwydd: my brakes have a warranty
cease: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethyltryptamine
llanwydd: thanks cat
Beet: Basically means turning to the dark side.
cease: saw a tv show about it. appaently shamans in the amazon have been doing it for thousands of years.
llanwydd: I watched the ball drop for the first time since Jan 1 1981 last night
cease: not i. nor eye
cease: my daugvhter wanted to go to nYC and do that.
llanwydd: I have only seen it on television although I lived so close to it for so long
cease: she had been to NYC with her mother who used to live there and still had relatives there.
cease: she was also in NYC and Boston on a trip to the Caribbean with her boyfriend, which also landed them in Rio.
llanwydd: ah rio. I have been in texas
llanwydd: how grande
llanwydd: I know nyc like the back of my head
Beet: I'd rather be in Texas right now.
cease: one of my fave aurthors is Brazillian, Jorge Amado
cease: yhou can replace Tweeny
Beet: Tweeny can't be replaced.
cease: get on over the dark side
cease: You know the Shelob ref?
cease: One of the most despicable creatures in literature
Beet: LOTR
cease: yep
llanwydd: hate to admit I dont know any brazilian authors but there is one brazilian composer I love. Villa-Lobos
Beet: Giant spider. Ugh.
llanwydd: mental detectors. LOL
cease: My fave song is brazillion, Ponta De Area by Nascimento, on Wayne Shorter's Native Dancer album
llanwydd: miss shelob is feelin poorly
llanwydd: oh, if you like brazilian songs, look a Tribalistas by Tribalistas
cease: he descibed the origin of the line in he satelite show. appaently ossman was on a plane with famous singer whom he waned to meet, but was told she was feeling poorly
llanwydd: first heard it on NPR as I was waking up in the morning
Beet: Catherwood get me a glass of champagne.
||||||||| Catherwood gets Beet a glass of champagne.
cease: i dont know when i last had champagne. had some good proseco at xmas party last week
Beet: Thanks
llanwydd: I dont like champagne
llanwydd: to each his own
Beet: Camels were too strong for me.
llanwydd: yeah, they didnt have filters if I remember right
llanwydd: I had a temporary job with Camel. I worked at their concession at the Daytona Speedway
Beet: The Camel ad in Times Square actually blew smoke rings.
llanwydd: they gave me a carton of filterless cigarrettes along with my last paycheck. I dont smoke so I threw awa the whole carton
cease: we were talking about it at family xmas party lasrt week. champagne is just sparking line from the champagne area. notihing special about that.
cease: proseco and cava the same thing, basically.
llanwydd: champagne, Illinois?
cease: does camel have a filter?
cease: lol, llan
Beet: I liked the taste and the bubbles.
cease: have you had good proseco and or cava? I've had a lot.
llanwydd: same thing with cognac. its only brandy. you pay for the name
cease: true, llan
Beet: Never was a fan of liquors.
llanwydd: gooks all around here
cease: i like sparkling wines in general. they go together so perfectfly with basically any food
llanwydd: they live here
||||||||| Catherwood interjects: "They never come up into the hills."
cease: i was sober on Aug 15, 1971. Not since.
llanwydd: you've been drunk from that moment since?
llanwydd: I doubt it
cease: i've been connected to alchohol in a chemical sense since, yes'
llanwydd: sure did
cease: sure i dont drink occasionally, but my biochemistry has been connected with the molecules cine aug 16, 1971. works for me.
Beet: Well, this ws total fun and a perfect way to start 2026. Nice to see everyone. See you next week. G'Nite.
||||||||| Catherwood interjects: "I say Live it, or Live With It!"
llanwydd: yeah, thanks tween and cat for your dedication to fs chat.
cease: same to you, beet.
llanwydd: TORMATO
cease: hopefuly i'll do many interesting collages in 2026
llanwydd: Grear song
cease: i was here on the first day of chat. i'm as connected to it as i am to booze.
cease: i'm kind of the Tom Bombadil of chat.
llanwydd: lol
||||||||| Catherwood enters the room, strikes a gong, and bellows "THE TIME IN NEW YORK IS 2 O'CLOCK", then silently exits.
cease: off we flit.
llanwydd: nit
llanwydd: nite folks
||||||||| Catherwood interjects: "Decode your answer now."
||||||||| At 8:00 PM, llanwydd scurries out the door saying "Hey, mister ice-cream man, I've got a nickel, wait for meeeee..."
||||||||| It's 2:15 AM, and that means it's time to play BEAT THE REAPER! And here's how our contestants did:
||||||||| Mutt - dead from jaundice
||||||||| Better luck next time! And now, back to our chatroom, which is already in progress...
||||||||| It's 2:30 AM, and that means it's time to play BEAT THE REAPER! And here's how our contestants did:
||||||||| Deputy Dang - dead from Globner's disease
||||||||| Better luck next time! And now, back to our chatroom, which is already in progress...
||||||||| It's 2:45 AM, and that means it's time to play BEAT THE REAPER! And here's how our contestants did:
||||||||| Beet - dead from Covid 19
||||||||| Better luck next time! And now, back to our chatroom, which is already in progress...
||||||||| Catherwood enters the room, strikes a gong, and bellows "THE TIME IN NEW YORK IS 3 O'CLOCK", then silently exits.
||||||||| It's 3:00 AM, and that means it's time to play BEAT THE REAPER! And here's how our contestants did:
||||||||| cease - dead from dengue fever
||||||||| Better luck next time! And now, back to our chatroom, which is already in progress...
||||||||| Catherwood enters, and announces to all and sundry "It's 4:31 AM, time to change the log file and clean out unused rooms; please exit the chat room for a minute or two. Thank you for your patience."

The Evening's Participants:
Beet
cease
Deputy Dang
llanwydd
Mutt

URL References:
http://listen.ehhh.us:8000/rfd1
http://listen.ehhh.us:8000/rfd2
www.kurtericson.net/cat
www.kurtericson.net/firesign
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethyltryptamine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_XIII