1.8 Things NOT to ask or bring up/threads which go nowhere

The following questions should not be asked: 

1) When are they touring in my city?
2) When's the new album/single?
3) What is a true fan?

Above questions have been asked ad nauseum (to the point of sickness), and
since the answers are all in well-known locations, they shouldn't need to
be asked. Just for your information:


Here are the answers to the above questions by the way:

1) All upcoming tour info can be found at http://www.spfc.org/tours/info.html

2) Release dates for singles and albums etc. are on most well-updated web
sites, as well can be easily found by reading through the newsgroup; read 
it before asking yet again. If a new album is in the works, check the band's
official web site for status updates, as it most likely won't be listed on
spfc until there is a full tracklist and release date.

3) There is no definition for a true fan.  Billy hit it right on the 
money when he said (and I'm paraphrasing here), "A true fan is someone 
that will give the band's next record a chance.  Not just one listen, but 
a few, just to make sure they really don't like it". (For the true quote, 
track down the 1998 Rockline interview with the band).


Useful URLs: 

Smashing Pumpkins Fan Collaboration - http://www.spfc.org/
Smashing Pumpkins Internet Fan Club - http://www.spifc.org/spifc/
Starla.org - http://www.starla.org/


The following information has also been brought up countless times,
and should be regarded as common knowledge: 

-"Tristessa" means "sadness" in Spanish, French, Italian, Latin, etc. (actual 
spellings may vary slightly), and was the title of a book by Jack Kerouac. 

-"Soma" was a drug in the book _Brave New World_, greek for "body", a legendary 
place where people sleep for a billion years, various religious entities, and 
about a million other things.  We've heard it before.  Many many many times 
before... :P" 

-If you hold up the back of the PI CD to the light, you can see Billy through 
the white thingy on the back.  According to someone who worked with the band, 
BC said this was a complete accident. 

-The same trick works for the liner with the fish pan & the necklace-looking at 
both sides through the light looks like an eyeball.

-Any thread relating a song's meaning to drugs, Kurt Cobain, Marylin Manson...  
etc.  Usually  those threads just start flame wars, so they're best avoided. 

-Threads bashing other bands.  Two words: counter-productive.  Such threads 
accomplish nothing but flame wars.

-Threads about moshing.  Opinions will vary, but are unlikely to change as a 
result of an argument. 

-"Selling Out".  People have their own definitions thereof, ranging anywhere 
from simply signing a record contract to changing their own art or image purely 
to make money.  Sure, Billy said they sold out.  Who cares?  Has the integrity 
of their music changed?  No.  Check out the text from the back of the SP Heart 
shirt (section 4.3, #4), or see Tool's song "Hooker with a Penis" on the 
Toolshed at http://toolshed.down.net/lyrics/hooker.html 

-Silly rumors. See 3.8.