October

• Mike, Mike, Mike::

  In the last Schvice, you said the words in You Enjoy Myself were, "Wachusett Fiji is sunhives to floor antsy." But, you had said it was, "Washa Uffize drive me to Firenze" back in the Spring 1993 Schvice. Please, please, please explain.

  Jenna So. Portland, ME
  Jenna::

  By mixing the two replies, you get the right answer. Here's how you mix: The Spring '93 is right and should be put into the mix. The last Schvice is a pile of hogcrap and shouldn't be put in to the mix. [I might add, that if you start with the Spring '93 issue, and take the first letter of the answer, then go to the last issue and take the first letter, then go back to spring, and take the second letter, etc., then it would spell: "WWI choochoo's first, fizzle second."]
  
  - Mike G
• Dear Trey:

  In tapes of your earlier shows, I've heard many original tunes and covers that you no longer (or rarely) play these days. Some songs are absent for a few tours, and then reappear. What is the reason for shelving these songs that so many of your fans enjoy?

  Sincerely, Aaron Pelta
  Aaron::

  A man needs to shoot his own dog.
  
  - Trey
• Dear Mike:

  I was reading recently in an interview with Trey how you experienced "a glimpse of the ineffable" (how best to put it, I do not know) during an Oh Kee Pa ceremony years ago. Subsequently, you declared a religion major and continued from there. Following that same track myself, I was hoping despite the inherent contradiction in my request, you might enlighten us on how your relationship to the music changed and what "things" have been formed or freed since then.

  Thanks, Seth Clippard Chattanooga, TN
  Seth::

  Freed: A pentagon room where we played was freed from its foundations. Formed: New faith. What Trey said is true, except that I only took a couple religion courses. I learned that to feel completely myself, 100 percent, is a different feeling than usual, and that really being myself is a state where "self" disintegrates. Awareness is lucid and objective, but the experience and the music are internalized and inseparable. Without self, who is being aware? I suppose it's the universal entering the equation as protagonist. Hence: no protagonist. I learned that being awake can be as flavor-specific as dreaming and that sound and motion can be the key to an unknown ecstasy. I learned that all I would ever need is in front of me, now, and it's just a matter of opening my eyes.
  - Mike