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<DIV>> Dave Phillips <<A href="mailto:dlphillips@woh.rr.com" ymailto="mailto:dlphillips@woh.rr.com">dlphillips@woh.rr.com</A>> wrote:<BR>>><BR>>> I must be perverse. As I listened to this (very fine) tune I kept <BR>>> thinking about the horror movie "Carnival Of Souls"...<BR>>> <BR>><BR>> Thanks Dave, although I find it slightly disturbing that you sensed<BR>> something not entirely happy in the tune. You're actually one of three<BR>> people who have said that, and I can't for the life of me understand how<BR>> that should come about.<BR></DIV>
<DIV>> To my ears the form and instrumentation are reminiscent of music for a <BR>> carousel or carnival. In my psyche (admittedly influenced by 'way too <BR>> many horror and sf books & movies from the 50s and 60s) there's <BR>> something inherently surreal or even menacing about such things and <BR>> events. Perhaps it's a cultural conditioning ?<BR></DIV>
<DIV>It was definitely early conditioning in my life regarding circus clowns.</DIV>
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<DIV>As a very sickly infant and young child, I quickly learned to associate circus clowns with intense, physical pain.</DIV>
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<DIV>The pediatrician had circus clown portraits on the walls of his waiting rooms, hallways, and patient rooms. Everywhere I went and waited, there were circus clowns. Then came the treatments and pain, with those circus clowns watching and laughing.</DIV>
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<DIV>To this day (I'm 56), I don't find anything remotely joyful or comforting about circus clowns. They were the stuff of nightmares to me.</DIV>
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<DIV>Amazed and just realizing how much I'm *still* upset with circus clowns,</DIV>
<DIV>Stephen.</DIV></div></body></html>