Another Real Frank Zappa Book

[emdebe]

I don't know if these forums are the place to start... A place to discuss the start, but not the place to start.

We need a (separate) place to write the "book/encyclopaedia", but we also need a place to shake, rattle and roll about (the preparation of) our writing… If the Wiki thingy includes something forum-like, it’s OK with me… If it doesn’t, we could do it here, but under a separate board.

[Dunk]

Do we really need any more autobiographical trivia about Frank? Seems a bit redundant. Insights about the music and lyrics would be much more worthwhile.

Insight of the day:
Lots of the lyrics and music are about FZ's autobiographical trivia.

Can we (should we!) separate the man from the music?

[houdinination]

So where is the link to this zappa-wiki-wiki-woo?
I am up for contributing/translating.

[Barry]

So where is the link to this zappa-wiki-wiki-woo?
I am up for contributing/translating.

I've yet to install it!

In the mean time, this thread looks like a good place to brainstorm about That Wiki Of Wiki's...

[Bálint]

Damn it, they will really make it! I'll have to learn english, to contribute!

It would REALLY be interesting to give more emphasis (or what) to the music itself, rather than the autobiographical things.

Hey!

B

[houdinination]

Alright, here is my five cents:

There should be the following sections:

1. biographical section
2. movies/television
3. discography
4. song by song section (releases, coverversions, sheetmusic, analysis)
5. tour/concert guide
6. zappa the composer
7. zappa the producer
8. musicians section
9. conceptual continuity section (threads or trees of characters, musical quotes etc.)
10. bibliography (books on zappa)
11. Links


Of course, a hell lot the material is out there. But that only means that it can be included in the wiki-woo. So contributing may not only be generating material, but transferring from one source to the other.

I also suggest smaller research projects that could be published similar to the way they do it at:
http://www.changethis.com/

Small manifestos that are, obviously, part of the wiki in plain text format, but there is also a standardized PDF version for download. So the wiki-woo is both source and outlet in some parts, as all research done for a manifesto will enter the wiki-woo together with the manifesto.

This way, there will be condensed documents with detailed information. persons can be "the wiki-woo master" for a short period of time.

whuddya fink?

[Chris]

Well, it's great to see that folks seem to balance each other out in their interests between biographical stuff and musical stuff (and that was an excellent point about not separating the man from his music); it will make for a great "cover all the bases" sort of thing.

Maybe an efficient way to start would be a simple time line. Once all of the years are listed, the 45s released in the early '60s and the albums released starting with the Verve material could be plugged in. Then we could go from there; it would certainly grow quickly.

Musical insights and touring events would naturally be added under their respective albums or concert dates, which will come to be their own nested entries once they get big enough, still under the main "year" headings.

Just some ideas.

[emdebe]

In the mean time, this thread looks like a good place to brainstorm about That Wiki Of Wiki's...

It seems that we’re not going to get our separate boards – at least not for the time being… I’m not quite sure that this is a good idea… I think we need a more structured approach, because we are discussing a number of different things simultaneously… I see many Matryoshkas – you know, these Russian wooden (nesting) dolls – opening, and successively smaller ones pop-up (please, don’t give us a Matryoshka vs. Babooshka discussion). Before we know it, we won’t be able to see the forest for the trees (I’m not really convinced that this is correct English/American – but you will get the point I guess/hope)…

The way I see it, FZ aficionados who want to contribute to the ARFZB (“Another Real Frank Zappa Book”) project, will be eager to demystify their feelings, frustrations, worries, rants, raves, and wishy-washy topsy-turvey experiences (whatever that means), about…

… finding the right tool, and how to use it; this is going to be a discussion of the more technical matters (not content-related). Will we setup a Wiki or did somebody mention Lotus Notes or are we just going for Microsoft Office? What about a “file system”, or rather a “database”? And if we make a choice, how are we going to structure things in the best possible way, what layout will we be using…

… the "open source" book/encyclopaedia's content… As stated before: let's not take the notion of a book (as in "Another Real Frank Zappa Book") to strict, let's think more "encyclopaedia"-wise. Let's jot down data, information, knowledge, and - perhaps - some wisdom, to the lowest detail possible. After that, many books can be written with the same pieces of text, according to one's taste... ;-)

… the quest to find a name for our baby… Whatchamacallit… What will the real title of the project be? Are we going for "About Ancient Eskimo Legends & Other Playground Psychotics", or “Adventures Of The Iron Sausage”, or “The Wishy-Washy Topsy-Turvey Experiences Of Being Confronted With Frank Zappa”? Will we stick to “Another Real Frank Zappa Book”, or can we do better than that?

… the many books and articles that already have been written about FZ... What sources do we trust, what sources do we reject… Shall we invite “serious” writers to contribute to our “open source” project? Will they be crazy enough to do so?

… the good, the bad and the ugly websites covering FZ... Again: a lot of valuable work has already been done… if only... we could convince these people to step in and recycle much of their material. It could be a blessed relief for these people... So, who are the people we will invite to join in?

…

It’s going to be a hell of a ride!

[Kill Ugly Radio]

It seems that we’re not going to get our separate boards

Check again.

[emdebe]

It seems that we’re not going to get our separate boards

Check again.

Thank you, thank you, thank you...