Homer Flynn CompuServe appearance, March 12th 1996

CompuServe forums, pictured shortly before the service closed in 2017

On March 12th 1996, Homer Flynn of The Cryptic Corporation appeared on Todd Rundgren's Music In(Tr)action Forum (or IMUSIC) on CompuServe forums^{^[1]^[2]} for a special guest chat with fans of The Residents.

The below text is a transcript of the chat reposted by fan "Mancubus" to the Smelly Tongues email discussion group and then uploaded by fan tzoq to his now-defunct fan site RZWeb. It has been transcribed to this wiki for posterity by a Mysterious Spanish Lady.

Transcript

Note: Some format changes have been made to create an easily readable version of this chat session within the restrictions of this wiki. Such changes have been made as infrequently as possible to present the closest possible representation of the text as posted to RZWeb. Links in the text to other wiki articles are included by The Mysterious Spanish Ladies in order to help facilitate easy navigation and further reading.

(6-8,TunaBob-Mod): Therre's homer -- HOMER!!!!!!!
(6-13,Homer Flynn): hi
(6-8,TunaBob-Mod): Glad you are here
(6-16,TR-i): Yo Homey!
(6-8,TunaBob-Mod): lots of members in here with lots of questions
(6-8,TunaBob-Mod): Everybody please welcome Homer Flynn of The Residents
(6-12,Jeremy Giacchi): Ok so who in here is ACTUALLY from The Residents?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): They're all here looking over my shoulder GA
(6-8,TunaBob-Mod): The Residents are very incognito, but Homer is here to take on all challengers, so without further ado, we will take questions.
(6-14,the SphinxTurd&Cool;): Was Todd one of the founders of The Residents?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): I can't comment on The Residents' identities GA
(6-16,TR-i): I already told them that.
(6-14,the SphinxTurd&Cool;): c'mon Todd!
(6-15,Pun Ditz): Your music reminds me of a wild Voodoo movie I once saw, are you originally from New Orleans? (or have blues roots in your musical background?)
(6-13,Homer Flynn): The Residents listened to a lot of blues growing up but they're not from New Orleans GA
(6-5,Nudedescending): In regards to "Gingerbread Man" CD-ROM instructions, or lack thereof, by design or by accident?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): regarding Gingerbread Man...The Residents don't like to give instructions. They think life should be treated like a trip to Disneyland (but the weird part you never went to).
(6-8,TunaBob-Mod): Like underground tunnels, Homer?
(6-12,Jeremy Giacchi): Will The Residents clue us in to their Identities when they all kick the bucket? I mean that's not an unreasonable request?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): it's pretty hard to tell what The Residents will do after they're dead but they never admit amything and lie all the way to the grave GA
(6-3,Big Eyeball): Lets compose a song within this forum and you put it on your next album..you having total control and all of course....Get InteRaCtiVe,,just a thought...one tune..as an experiment
(6-13,Homer Flynn): Underground tunnels to nowhere....how do you compose on line?
(6-3,Big Eyeball): good name for the tune! we have been doing it for a few months
(6-13,Homer Flynn): I'm afraid i'm merely a mouthpiece with no poetry in my soul
(6-3,Big Eyeball): I would like to invite you tomorrow to the session we have at 8 cst in the studio here.
(6-2,Randy Hall): I'm curious why _BDOTM_ was released as CD-ROM only while _Gingerbread Man_ allows you to play the disc in a normal cd player. I have to say like being able to listen to _GM_ while working on something else, and I kinda miss that ability in the new disc (love Lottie's tune...always get a chuckle/tear out of that one).
(6-13,Homer Flynn): Bad Day is more of a story world that goes quite deep while Gingerbread Man is interactive music videos..there is a Bad Day soundtrack coming out soon though GA
(6-1,former priest): Homer...have The Residents and Klattu ever hung out together?........and I second the composing the song on-line idea!
(6-13,Homer Flynn): What part of Louisiana Is Klattu from?
(6-18,Kelli Richards): (Klaatu)
(6-1,former priest): not sure.....hmmmmmmm
(6-22,God): do you think you will ever tour again? and did you ever recover the missing eyeball?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): MIssing eyeball?...
(6-22,God): I heard one of the eyeballs was ripped off at a show?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): Unofficially, the missing eyeball was recovered. As far as touring, it's an unknown at this point GA
(6-14,the SphinxTurd&Cool;): huaah! huaaah! huhaauh!!!! never thought it would be like this!? and how many cds has Todd helped on?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): Officially Todd has only worked on Gingerbread Man (I can say no more) GA
(6-15,Pun Ditz): Which characters are based on "real life"?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): LIKE WHAY? or maybe that should be WHAT? All of them GA
(6-16,TR-i): The Residents deal with Voyager has brought a lot of publicity & promotion for the new title. Is this a long term relationship?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): Voyager....The Residents are no longer involved with Voyager. Their relationship was with Michael Nash the producer for Voyager ...
(6-16,TR-i): So this was a one off?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): Michael left Voyager to start Inscape, the publisher for Bad Day and The Residents went with him GA
(6-1,former priest): How easy is it to finger a Gmin7/dim9th from inside one of those huge peepers? And is the rumor true that Andy Kaufman is a Resident ?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): Freak Show was a one off GA I can't comment on Andy Kaufmann (at least not on the record)GA
(6-3,Kelly Norris): I am very serious about the online compostion of a tune....are you at all interested? We have been working at this for several months..have 4 tunes finished and available in the libraries...the participants are flexible...lets at least butt heads onthis....and consider it...
(6-13,Homer Flynn): on line composition...
(6-3,Kelly Norris): yes, it is very efficient
(6-16,TR-i): Homer, you are caught in Kelly's 'tornado of interactivity'!
(6-13,Homer Flynn): As i said before my poor soul contains little poetry so I'm a poor candidate for composing anything except press releases GA <<Ed. (someone??) asked about the apparent fascination with carnivals>>
(6-12,Jeremy Giacchi): When The Residents kick the bucket will they reveal themselves? or will it burn in our hearts forever? Awhile back I got a catalogue for Eyeball paraphernalia; where can i get another? I'd love to help write an interactive song...i'm even willing to be anonymous
(6-13,Homer Flynn): I'm afraid of tornados GA carnivals...The Residents spent a lot of time at the Louisiana State Fair when they were yound and saw a lot of the Freaks in the historical section of Freak Show. It must have made an impression GA
(6-5,JVW2): Have you ever considered 'Visine' as a corporate sponsor?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): It's been mentioned GA
(6-14,the SphinxTurd&Cool;): hey eskimo'S what do you think about the NWO???
(6-13,Homer Flynn): eskimo? (is that for me?)
(6-14,the SphinxTurd&Cool;): yea! what about NWO?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): The Residents don't think there's any order in the world GA
(6-16,TR-i): And don't seek to create any
(6-15,Pun Ditz): What is the origin of the "Residents" name? (You keep mentioning Louisiana - I still think you played in that voodoo movie, they were "buffalo hunting" everyone was really wasted...)
(6-13,Homer Flynn): The Residents name ...this will take a while...
(6-8,TunaBob-Mod): take your time
(6-8,TunaBob-Mod): while we wait for homer.....I remind you to go to AMG to get a complete readout of The Residents and all that they have out there..very informative.
(6-13,Homer Flynn): The Residents submitted a tape to Warner Bros records in 1971 called "The Warner Bros Album." They had no name at the time so it was returned to them adressed to "Residents" at their then current address GA
(6-20,Lynn Pounian): Has being anonymous affected/influenced the kind of music you write?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): anonymous music...
(6-16,TR-i): That's Eno's department.
(6-13,Homer Flynn): being anonymous has definitely affected their music. In a way they became anonymous so they could do the kind of music they do GA
(6-13,Homer Flynn): ENO WHO?
(6-16,TR-i): A guy that writes music for airports.
(6-13,Homer Flynn): So that's where that music came from GA
(6-18,Kelli Richards): Obviously, "Bad Day" just came out (to a fair amount of critical acclaim!). Can you give us a quick preview of what's coming up next from The Residents? Current/pending projects and/or focus in the near-term?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): next for The Residents...as I mentioned before a Bad Day soundtrack will be released soon...also they have been invited to perform at the Millenium conference in SF early in June...and they are starting to develop their next CD-ROM for Inscape GA
(6-14,the SphinxTurd&Cool;): Are The Residents going to put out anything else in the CD-I form, or cd-rom?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): As I just said, they are starting to develop their next CD-ROM which will probably be released late in '97. No plans for CD-I at this time GA
(6-28,Mike Hogan): Any Residents been back to Louisiana lately?
(6-13,Homer Flynn): One is back there visiting his mom now GA
(6-8,TunaBob-Mod): ok, Homer, well, I see it is time to wind this puppy down, and we all appreciate you taking the time to share with us. Please come back again soon.
(6-13,Homer Flynn): BYE BYE
(6-8,TunaBob-Mod): everybody give a big thanks to HOMER of The Residents
(6-16,TR-i): Thanx fer commin, Homer!
(6-13,Homer Flynn): Thanks for the invite

External links and references

CompuServe Music Forum Interview at RZWeb (archived via archive.org)
Smelly Tongues Email Digest Issue #31 at RZWeb (archived via archive.org)

↑ "The Individualist Calendar '95" at The Todd Rundgren Connection
↑ Support Group, Inc., "List of CompuServe forums", 1996

[1] "The Individualist Calendar '95" at The Todd Rundgren Connection

[2] Support Group, Inc., "List of CompuServe forums", 1996

[1]

[2]

Transcript

See also

External links and references