IDM Mailing Archive

Ok can any of you folks from the Isle help clarify the meaning of trainspotting or being a trainspotter? That is such a classic idm word, but i never had a clear clue of what it meant. Thanks.r. ----------

I'm pretty sure it means "to be obsessive". Kind of like being an "Aphex Twin trainspotter" would be someone who would collect EVERY Aphex Twin release, buttons, tshirts, toilet seats, anything you can think of. I also think the meaning of Trainspotting (the movie) was how they were utterly addicted to heroin and the lifestyle that comes with it. Correct me if I'm wrong... - Dan J. -----Original Message----- From: Pier G Antolini [mailto:antolini@worldnet.att.net] Sent: April 3, 2001 10:18 PM To: idm@hyperreal.org Subject: [idm] Trainspotters? Importance: High Ok can any of you folks from the Isle help clarify the meaning of trainspotting or being a trainspotter? That is such a classic idm word, but i never had a clear clue of what it meant. Thanks.r. ---------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

At 10:17 PM 4/3/2001 -0400, Pier G Antolini wrote:

quoted 4 lines Ok can any of you folks from the Isle help clarify the meaning of

>Ok can any of you folks from the Isle help clarify the meaning of >trainspotting or being a trainspotter? >That is such a classic idm word, but i never had a clear clue of what it >meant.

I've always understood it to meant someone who becomes so involved in one thing at the expense of knowing little else. For example (fictional): "oh, right, that autechre song noenrkoa (pronounced "correctly", of course). that came out in '97, on their 3rd album from warp, which is funny because it showed up on a compilation a few months later on the Fishy label, based out of denmark, which is where the ae boys were playing live at the same time. Sean got the stomach flu from some bad asparagus, which gave him inspiration for some wicked tracks on the next album, namely blahhaha and whooga, which he says were created from the sounds of him puking on tour. I can point out the actual samples. I talked to them about it, too, they were right nice blokes." however, after trying to find a bite to eat, remarks: "oi, how come all the beef is so bleedin' expensive all of a sudden. you'd think all the cows in britain died." cheers, /derek ------- eggytoast.com ------- now updated daily --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

i think the gescom ep on warp makes it pretty clear. INSIDE the sleeve (it's printed on both sides, if you look on the backside of the spine, in very small text it says something like "if you're reading this, then you're a sad trainspotter". spot on /franz --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

I've been told the true meaning of the term goes way back to when train buffs would write down the numbers of all the steam locomotives they saw, with the goal of seeing (or spotting) all of them. Today it just means music fanatics :) On Tue, Apr 03, 2001 at 10:17:53PM -0400, Pier G Antolini wrote:

quoted 7 lines Ok can any of you folks from the Isle help clarify the meaning of

> Ok can any of you folks from the Isle help clarify the meaning of > trainspotting or being a trainspotter? > That is such a classic idm word, but i never had a clear clue of what it > meant. > Thanks.r. > > ----------

-- Kevin Lewandowski :: http://www.discogs.com kevin@zinkmedia.com :: http://www.beatseek.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

Rail fans are among us... my Father is a literal trainspotter... he's got decades worth of photographs of them... these days he goes out into the field and does recordings with a portable Mini-Disc recorder and uses ProTools to edit these and produces small runs of CD-R's of his train recordings. Josh -----Original Message----- From: Pier G Antolini [mailto:antolini@worldnet.att.net] Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 8:26 PM To: idm@hyperreal.org Subject: Re: [idm] Trainspotters? Importance: High Man that's the most logical and quite frankly most beautiful answer! Makes me want to leave everything behind and live my life doing that. Except i'm not sure if trains today would give the same romantic reward that old steam locomotives do.. well (..maybe a possible time travel destination)..then being a bit of a trainspotter myself i have to admit that there are too many 'locomotives' around to spot and...blah blah blah thanks.r. ----------

quoted 16 lines From: Kevin Lewandowski <kevin@zinkmedia.com>

> From: Kevin Lewandowski <kevin@zinkmedia.com> > To: Pier G Antolini <antolini@worldnet.att.net> > Cc: idm@hyperreal.org > Subject: Re: [idm] Trainspotters? > Date: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 11:11 PM > > I've been told the true meaning of the term goes way back to when > train buffs would write down the numbers of all the steam locomotives > they saw, with the goal of seeing (or spotting) all of them. > > Today it just means music fanatics :) > > On Tue, Apr 03, 2001 at 10:17:53PM -0400, Pier G Antolini wrote: > > Ok can any of you folks from the Isle help clarify the meaning of > > trainspotting or being a trainspotter? > > That is such a classic idm word, but i never had a clear clue of what

it

quoted 12 lines meant.

> > meant. > > Thanks.r. > > > > ---------- > > -- > Kevin Lewandowski :: http://www.discogs.com > kevin@zinkmedia.com :: http://www.beatseek.com > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org > For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

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quoted 8 lines I'm pretty sure it means "to be obsessive". Kind of like being an "Aph

>I'm pretty sure it means "to be obsessive". Kind of like being an "Aphex >Twin trainspotter" would be someone who would collect EVERY Aphex Twin >release, buttons, tshirts, toilet seats, anything you can think of. > >I also think the meaning of Trainspotting (the movie) was how they were >utterly addicted to heroin and the lifestyle that comes with it. > >Correct me if I'm wrong...

Not quite right - it has to do with trains in that specific case. Read the book. It's worth the time. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

quoted 4 lines I've been told the true meaning of the term goes way back to when

> I've been told the true meaning of the term goes way back to when > train buffs would write down the numbers of all the steam locomotives > they saw, with the goal of seeing (or spotting) all of them. >

quoted 1 line Today it just means music fanatics :)

> Today it just means music fanatics :)

While the roots of the term are as you described, in most DJ circles, this would refer to the guy who stands right next to the DJ and tries to identify every record he plays either by ear or by peeping the label... B --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org

Trainspotting is all about being an obsessive, hence it tends to be quite appropriate in the context of IDM fans. It comes from a pastime which I believe is probably uniquely British, though I stand to be corrected on that. There is a thriving subculture in this country involving boys and men (rarely women) who like to stand on railway station platforms ticking off train numbers in a little book as they 'spot' them. They want to 'spot' as many different trains as possible, and of course, they particularly value the numbers of those rare trains that don't make it out too much. They're widely regarded as socially inadequate in many ways, thus 'trainspotter' is not simply a description of someone who's obsessive - it's also generally used as a term of abuse. The term 'anorak' means precisely the same thing, and refers to the terminally unfashionable yet functional raincoats typically worn by trainspotters. Therefore, if you are an IDM trainspotter, you are also an anorak. I believe the nearest American equivalent would probably be a 'Trekkie'. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org