Over the years I've received some not-so-average e-mails from folks. In the early days of the website, I'd just smile a bit and think "Oh, how neat" and delete them after they'd spent too much time in my mailbox. But I've decided to post the newer ones here for all who may be interested -- or for that matter, just for myself to look at on some future date. These letters range in scope from students asking permission to use DSOTR information for high school or college papers, to teachers asking to use the information for a class project, to a fellow syncer putting together DVDs of syncs (whose father worked with Stanley Kubrick on 2001: A Space Odyssey!), to folks from VH1 and Q Music Magazine, to ... well, take a look for yourself.
Birthday parties are a fine way to introduce people to DSOTR
Hi,
I am hopefully having a Dark Side of The Rainbow Party on Sunday Night, July 19th in NYC to celebrate my 40th birthday and the 40th anniversary of The Moon Landing. I would love permission to include your list in the handouts at the party and, if you have any plans to be in the area, you are invited.
Best Regards,
Efrem "Ef" Epstein
I always love it when I get letters from educators wanting to use the information from DSOTR for whatever reason. This time our website has the honor of being used for a high school concert of music from TWoOz and DSOTM. I've requested a t-shirt and program from the concert, and hopefully will get one. I'll post a photo of it, if and when I get it. Here's the letter:
Hi! I am the orchestra director for two high schools in my district. We will be performing music from The Wizard of Oz and Dark Side of The Moon our upcoming concert. I was wondering if we may have permission to use the phrase "Dark Side of The Rainbow" for our advertisements, programs, and class T-shirts?
Please let me know if you need any more information.
Thank you,
J. Shaw
This is an abridged conversation between myself and Dan Stubbs of "Q" Magazine (not the gay magazine in the US, but rather the music magazine in the UK). Back in December of 2006, we wrote several correspondence, and then he called me on the phone at home and conducted an interview on the intentionality of the DSOTR sync.
Hello,
I'm writing an article
for Q, the British music magazine, that aims to get to the bottom of the old
rock myth about Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon being in synch with The
Wizard Of Oz. As an authority on the subject, I was wondering if you might like
to make a comment for my piece. If so, let me know how and when I can contact
you. I'm on quite a tight deadline so please reply asap.
I
look forward to hearing from you soon.
Many
thanks,
I wrote back, we made arrangements for the phone interview, did the interview, and he wrote back:
Hi Shawn, Thanks again - it was a pleasure to speak with you.
My address is: (omitted)
In the meantime, could you email a photo of yourself over to accompany your quote?
Thanks, and have a great Christmas,
Dan
It's been months now, and no article. Was the article canned? Was that really Dan Stubbs? I dunno. Oh well.
This is the most recent "weird" letter I've received. Not that it's bizarre in the sense of strange originality, but in that I can't figure out if this person is stupid or just unbelievably lazy. I don't do this to hurt anyone's feelings (well, maybe a little) it just floors me when someone asks me (this is not the first, believe it or not) such a question, which proves that they didn't even give a cursory browse to the site. If I didn't know better I'd wonder if I'd made the instructional website for nothing?
When do you start the CD? I heard
you push play when the MGM Lion appears on the screen. Is that true?
Chris Olivieri (kaya92663 @ yahoo)
This is a very short session of letters between Gabe Honig,
one of the Producers for VH1 and myself concerning syncs.
He contacted me with this letter first:
To Whom it May Concern:
Hi, I'm Gabe Honig, a Producer on a show for VH1 called "Pop
Questions." I am hoping this email finds it's way to Michael
Johnson, but if he is not available perhaps someone else can be of assistance
Our show's premise is to look into movies or TV shows that have twisting plots,
or unresolved events. And straighten them out for the viewers.
The reason I am writing you is that one of the questions we are pursuing is:
Did Pink Floyd really make Dark Side of the Moon synchronize with THE WIZARD OF
OZ? Or is it just a coincidence? I've seen Michael Johnston quoted in various
articles relating to this question of synchronicity. We think he'd be the
perfect subject to interview for our show.
Before we go into the field to do on-camera interviews with the key people
behind the making of these pieces we are covering, we are doing off-camera
pre-interviews. It would really help us map out our program so we can ultimately
sit down on-camera with yourself and some of the major players involved on the
project. Below are the questions we will ask. We're looking for
either a quick verbal interview or a written response to the questions below.
Here are some of the questions we have: (you can either call me back at
the number below or an email response would be perfectly acceptable)
1. When and where did this information leak that Dark Side and The Wizard of Oz
synchronize?
2. When was the first time you saw Dark Side and Wizard of Oz synchronized?
3.Let's for a second imagine that Pink Floyd did not intend for Dark Side and Oz
to synchronize, can you explain how they work together so perfectly? I mean,
what are the odds that "Money" starts just when they transition to
color?
4. What other albums and films synchronize in addition to Oz and Dark Side?
5. What is your personal opinion:
Did Pink Floyd create Dark Side of the Moon to synchronize with The Wizard of
Oz? Or is it just a coincidence?
Thank you so much for your time. Any help would greatly appreciated. We're
looking forward to hearing back from you and working with you in the very near
future. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or
concerns. Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Gabe Honig
Producer
VH1/Varsity Entertainment
450 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10016
I answered his questions to the best of my ability, with the
hopes of perhaps getting a quick shot on a VH1 television show.
Of course I asked him to read the "Planned Or
Coincidence?" article I wrote (accompanied by MP3 clips of the band
members)
refuting the intent theory. Gabe wrote back:
Shawn-
Thanks so much for your detailed answers, they are going to go a long way in
making this project work, and eventually getting this show on the air. I
do have one other questions for you...
WHO WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO SYNCH IT UP? IT HAD TO START SOMEWHERE?
Also, I was wondering if I could have your phone number in case I have to follow
up with any other questions... Again, your responses were amazingly
insightful. Keep up the good work on the website and we'll be in touch
soon.
Thanks for all of your help!
Gabe Honig
Producer
I told him that to my knowledge, no one knows who originally
discovered the sync, and at this point, anyone claiming authorship would be
suspect.
I've not heard from him since. I did drop him a line about a month or so later,
just to see if he'd made any progress.
I asked that he'd let me know, so that I could watch it, irregardless of my
inclusion or exclusion. So far, nothing ...
This one's from a neat fellow asking permission to use the Definitive List as a guide for a showing of DSOTR in Hampton, Virginia.
We got great coverage for the Dark Side of the Rainbow event and
your web page was a big help! I gave your link to the reporter who wrote the
story and she included it! THANK YOU STEGOKITTY YOU ROCK!
Your fan, Devon Thornton (devon @
studiocenter) www.HamptonRoads.com www.PilotOnline.com
Here's a link to the article Dark
Side of Oz story
Followed by ...
Hey Stegokitty!
We sold out Saturday and Sunday
night!!! (about 550 people) The Sunday night show was the 1st in the history of
the theatre (about 40 years old) that ever sold out. Friday was a healthy crowd
as well.
Without the detailed info on your
page we never could have promoted the event as effectively as we did. I
thank you so very much for your page and all your help.
Warmest wishes and brightest
blessings-
Devon Thornton
Dark Side of the Rainbow at the Naro
Ad Hoc Publicity
Coolness!
Hej stegokitty!
My name is Anders Carlqvist. I´m a student at the university of Stockholm and I
am writing a report on the subject of the Pink Floyd/Oz phenomenon.
I want to ask you if i can use some of the material on your site. Of
course the address to the page will be mentioned in the report. If this is
possible, I also would like to have the name of the author and dates when the
page where first published. I´d be very happy for a reply to this request.
best wishes/anders (anderscarlqvist @ hotmail)
Found a link to your graphic on a Ebay auction that sells
Bootleg VHS copies of the Wizard of Oz Movie with Dark side of the moon
soundtrack.
I have turned this into the FBI and hope you are not involved. If you are you
may want to cancel this before you are arrested.
Either you sell these directly or are authorizing the storing of images used to
sell bootlegs, either way you are in big trouble.
I have included the url to this illegal auction in case you have forgotten where
it is (wink wink) Good luck
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2303&item=3321879593
(rockimtmomma @ hotmail)
I informed "Momma" that I had
no connection to whoever it was selling the copyrighted material. I also asked
her why she cared if people made copies of the sync.
Her reply was less than
satisfying. Oh well.
bonjour
j'effectue en ce moment une recherche de
video musicale ! et j'ai decouvert par le peer-to-peer des clips et autres
de Pink Floyd ,Led zeppelin ,incubus... mais j'ai remarqué que beaucoup
provenaient d'un site ou ete produit par "the wizard of oz" et
j'aurais aimé savoir si vous connaissez l'addresse de ce site (qui ,donc
regorge de video rock !)
je vous remerci d'avance pour votre reponse !
M Fourcroy vintersorg @ infonie.fr
I assumed the above was in French, so I used Babel Fish to translate it. Below is what came out. I'm sure the real meaning is not quite as clunky.
hello
I carry out in this moment the video research musical one! and I have decouvert
by the peer-to-peer clips and others of Pink Floyd, Led zeppelin, incubus... but
I noticed that many came from a site or ete produces by "the wizard of
OZ" and I would have liked to know if you know the address of this site
(which, therefore abounds in video rock'n'roll!) I you remerci in advance for
your answer!
Okee Dokee. I've no idea what that means, even in broken English.
Dear Stegokitty:
I have to say I think the premise of your site is silly! It does, however, clearly provide some source of entertainment to its visitors. Maybe if I ever sit down and try the sync myself, as you've suggested, I'll understand all of the intrigue. For now I guess I'm just going to enjoy the film without the "alternate soundtrack", but I will definitely let you know if I ever try the sync. Cheers.
Sincerely,
Maya Lahr Gottfried
The above letter was from the granddaughter of Bert (Cowardly Lion) Lahr. Nice gal!
Hi,
I would like your permission to use your Definitive List, and some of the other
content of your site, as part of a lesson plan for a High School English class.
I plan to do this on Friday, Nov. 8th, 2002. I hope to hear from you
before then, but, quite frankly, I'll probably do it then even if I don't. In
fact, while we're being honest...I already did something like it about three
years ago, but not with the detail I'm planning this time.
Here's the background: I'm teaching a 12th grade "Technical Writing"
class. I plan on doing DSOTR, and have the students write and "informal
report" (the unit we've just completed, with specific rules, techniques,
etc. for this type of "report") along the lines of "you've been
hired to investigate whether this is intentional, and therefore copyright
infringement..." I'd like to use your article "...Planned or
Coincidence" as possibly a "revision" exercise. Finally, I'd like
to use the page on the "Hanged Man" as a basis for some sort of
investigative or perhaps incident report.
When I did it with 10th graders a few years ago, it was wildly popular! In fact,
my wife and friends have also enjoyed it with me. If you'd like, when I
"formalize" my lesson plan on this, I could send it to you. You could
add it to the site if you'd like. I saw in your correspondence with the crazy
lady that music teachers have used it, but it provides great opportunities for
English teachers as well.
Speaking of Lahr's alleged granddaughter, I couldn't help thinking of Monty
Python's "Arguement Clinic!" "An argument isn't just
contradiction!" "Yes, it is!" "No, it isn't!"
That page actually would have been a good example for our chapter on
"correspondence" in replying to a request, dealing with an
"unsatisfied customer" etc. Other English type lessons would be
imagery, symbolism, persuasive writing...well, there's a bunch!
To return from my tangent, I hope to hear from you. I'm a fan of the site/sync,
and more than just teaching a lesson, I wanted to do something fun for a good
class that works hard. Not to mention give myself a bit of a break!
Sincerely,
Daniel McVey
Language Arts Teacher
Pacific High School
Meramec Valley R-III School District
(636)271-1414
(mcveyd @ meramecvalley.k12.mo.us)
Yet another testimony to the educational value of a well-made site, even if it's only about a/v syncs ...
We
are planning on showing Dark Side of the Rainbow at our school.
Richard
Tobin
Educational
Technologist
Office
of Teaching and Learning
New England Institute of Technology
401-739-5000 x 3513
And another ...
Hi,
I’ve been synchronizing DSOTM and Oz for a high school music class for almost
10 years as something fun to do at the end of the year. I ran across your list
and would like permission to use it with the class after they’ve watched it
once to see if their list compares to yours.
Thanks
Jim Hix
Harriman High School
Harriman TN
hello! i have only just discovered the whole "dark side of the Rainbow" thing and think its amazing! heehee
there is an exhibition at the Tate art gallery in Liverpool about popular culture and stuff, and there was a room which was showing the wizard of Oz whilst playin the DSOTM. i'm not sure if you are aware of this so just thought i'd tell you - especially saying as "the artist" is using pretty much all of your definitive list of synchs!(the artist might well be you - i can't remeber sorry)
Your site is v cool, will be visiting it frequently from now on :-) love jo x x x <>< (from Newcastle, England)
Wallis Jo (magic_rainbow_hat @ hotmail)
Hi-
I work at a summer camp in PA and as an activity period I am running the Dark
Side of Oz. I wanted the kids to be able to look at a list of syncs so they
could appreciate it more. I think that your list is very comprehensive so
I was wondering if I can use it. I will of course give you full credit for your
work. Please let me know asap if this is ok.
Thanks
-Claire LeCuyer (clairelecuyer @
mac)
Hello, My name is
Travis Padilla and I am doing a report about the synchronicities and myths and
mysteries about both Pink Floyd and The Wizard of Oz. I need some credible
resources about these issues. Interviews with the band would really
help. On your website you have links to interviews with David Gilmour and
other people. The links are broken. I was wondering if you could
repair these or give me a link to where you found these interviews. They
don't have to be media player and would be even better if it is just written
down. Either would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Travis (TravisPadilla @
mail.weber)
What's up, Stegokitty . . .
Just wanted to compliment you on your site, and to your insight on the whole synch idea. I've been a life-long Floyd fan myself. I recently purchased a copy of The Wizard Of Oz on DVD, and just had to visit this site!
The letters from "the grand daughter" were amusing! Funny how people will choose anything to complain about.
Here's a little bit of shameless self promotion, simply because you're a music fan: I'm in a band called Brickfoot. We're about to get involved with something really big (something new) called "Operation Gratitude". We tour for the troops around the world, and this will be throughout the U.S. Anyway, see if you like what we're all about: (http://www.brickfoot)
Take care and God Bless,
Jay T (sony246 @ comcast) (http://www.brickfoot @ hotmail)
My name is Rick Evans and I am the Director of a Planetarium in Alabama. I would like permission to reprint your definitive list.
Last year we presented the Dark Side of OZ in our auditorium as part of our Halloween festivities, and it was well received. We had compiled a list from various sources, to give to the folks watching the show. This year I would like to use your list if at all possible. We would of course give you full credit.
Thanks in advance
Rick Evans (revans @ tsum)
Of course I gave him permission, just like I always do - and then he wrote back ...
Stegokitty,
Thank you for the permission to use your
Definitive list. The planetarium is a relatively small venue and I have
always tried to do something just a little different than the mainstream.
We had a laser light system installed about 5 years ago, and we have made it a
tradition to run the Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon show near Halloween ever
since. Last year was the first year I added the synchronization to the
Wizard of OZ. I had always heard about it, and decided to try it for
myself. It was absolutely incredible, and needless to say I was hooked.
It went over well with the audiences as well. I decided that I would run
it annually, kind of a Rocky Mountain Picture Horror show style tradition of
our own. All year I have people asking when we were going to run it
again. As I mentioned previously, I had done some piece meal research in
trying to compile a list of coincidences for the audience. Although I
had many of the things on your list, your list is just so much better
prepared than was mine. I am the only full time person on staff here, so
my time was limited as for as how much research and effort I could put in to
it. When I came across your list, I discovered I was reinventing the wheel.
What I am trying to say is I really appreciate the quality and effort you put
into your Definitive List, and am extremely grateful that you are allowing me
to use it. I will put it out on my mail server and will include a link
to your web page. I will put a hard copy of the handout in the mail to
you as well.
Thank you so much....I truly appreciate it.
Rick Evans
Director
W.A. Gayle Planetarium
1010 Forest Ave
Montgomery Al 36106
www.tsum.edu/planet
This is a portion of a letter I received from a fellow syncer who had an interesting story.
Hey Stegokitty
... So your a big fan of 2001 [A SPACE ODYSSEY]. My father was the focus puller (1st Asst Cameraman) on 2001 for the first six mouths of shooting. Then the Director of Photography had to leave the movie and my father became the D.O.P. for the last year and half of shooting. My Dad met my Mum got married and had me on that movie. It was a two year shoot and was scheduled to shoot for six mouths. That Stanley was a real artist. Now its all about money in Hollywood.Sync on mate,
Gavin (contactwithpinkfloyd @ mac)
This fellow below actually tried my own discovery Contact/Echoes BEFORE ever seeing DSOTR!
Hey,
Man I just did the Contact/Echoes sync and I am
left speechless!
This is the first sync I have ever experienced, and boy am I looking forward to the other ones, especially the 'Dark Side of the Rainbow' one.
Thanks for such a great site and source of info,
Brandon
(brandon @ nww)
Hi man,
I just wanted to drop you a line and tell you how cool your site is. Me and my buds have been messing around with synchs for about a year now and your site has really opened our eyes to things that we wouldn't have otherwise seen/heard or thought about.
I'm in a band, and we played a show at our high school. We played "Breathe in the air" in synch with the beginning of TWofO. Our name was "the dark side of the rainbow" the whole school went crazy, I think we blew a couple minds.
I was just wondering.....have you ever heard of anyone pulling off the synch during a live show or are we the first?
later bud,
~Dave Russell~ (d_russ44 @ hotmail)
p.s. I just finished writing an essay on the whole synchronicity between the two for a school paper....again I just want to say thanks, your site really helped!
Hello, I am writing a paper for a film class I took this past
semester on The Dark Side of the Rainbow and would like to use your website
(among others) as a reference point. I was going to use my own list of
synchs as my reference, but yours far surpasses mine in many ways. I
figured to avoid plagiarism problems, I should write and find out if it is ok to
use some of (I should say a majority of)your definitive list, with appropriate
citation of course. Is it copywritten or anything of that nature?
Thanks in advance. One more thing, do you know of any articles published
on the topic? Your link to the magizine is dead and I can't seem to find
any others. Thanks again.
-James Barone (jbarone @
loyola.edu)
Hi Stegokitty!
I just wanted to write to you and tell you that I found your web site 'Dark Side Of The Rainbow' fascinating. I have been looking for something this intreagueing for the longest time. People who take the time to focus on detail are wonderful so thanks very much for providing a site with this much information. I know more inquireing minds will surely benefit from such a place. Thank you!
Haullie
PERFECTLY STILL
Tori Inspired Forum For Survivors
http://www.aftertherain.com/messageboard/
Hello,
My name is Trent Thompson.
I live in Las Vegas, NV; a sophmore in high school in august. I am wondering if
i could do a school report (with your consent) on the
most (in)famous sync of them all. I have done reasearch about which site i could
use for the best reasearch and yours seems to be the best. If you
say yes i will talk about a link to your website. All in all, i was searching
for a perfect report next year and it turned out I Spent 4 hours
on your site instead. So anyway, if you could reply to me with your answer that
would be great.
Thank you very much for your help,
Sincerly,
Trent (trent @ silverstage)
