Click here to download a higher resolution version of this picture.
Page last updated on 3rd May '95. There's not a lot more here (in case you've been here before) but the html has been updated a tad and there are a few more web references.
With special thanks to Mark Brown and Jeff Slattery for guiding ECOLN towards this information, I will quote directly from the 'Frequently Asked Questons' (FAQ) document for the alt.music.pink-floyd news group that was originally compiled by David Schuetz and is currently maintained by Matt Denault.
I will list some Pink Floyd Internet resources at the end of this article.
Publius:
-----------
Extracted from the FAQ:
[Thanks to Mark Brown for this summary:]
In the summer of 1994 someone describing themselves as a messenger, and using the common Latin name Publius, started posting anonymously to the alt.music.pink-floyd Usenet newsgroup. (The name Publius was also used as a pseudonym early in U.S. history by the writers of The Federalist Papers.) The posts continued on an irregular basis, with a mysterious tone and many ambiguous clues, inviting us to look at the new album with open minds, discuss it in the newsgroup, and investigate some sort of Enigma or puzzle in The Division Bell music, lyrics, art, and other tour materials. Publius has said a tangible prize is to be found.
The newsgroup was generally pretty annoyed by the posts, but on July 16, Publius told us to watch for a sign: flashing white lights, East Rutherford, New Jersey, July 18, at about 10:30 p.m. At the Pink Floyd show in N.J. that night, "PUBLIUS ENIGMA" was displayed from the foot of the stage by the lights they use during KT and ABITW.
Then, many people accepted the idea that Publius was a messenger with some connection to the band and began to take the Enigma seriously, excitedly looking for clues. They believe they have found some.
Many theories have been entertained, but no one knows who Publius is. Publius says that his/her/their identity is unimportant. However, many are continually critical of those searching for answers to the "Enigma" because of speculation that Publius might merely be a lighting engineer(or some similar position) connected with the tour, playing a practical joke. A few others, annoyed by the somewhat "smug" tone of Publius' posts, refuse to have anything to do with the matter. The majority of newsgroup readers have been silent on the issue.
While response from the band has been non existant, Douglas Adams, the friend of the band who suggested the name of the album, has said that he is not involved and is not aware of any involvement by the band members.
Publius has said that the Enigma will not be solved for us, and that it will require considerable cooperative effort on our part. Because early Publius speculation in the newsgroup was hampered by flamers, some people have been using private email to develop theories. However, Publius has said that the ideas should be discussed openly, so there is continued newsgroup discussion of them. The most recent Publius message (September 12) says that another signal of authenticity is imminent.
-=-
Because of polarizing effect Publius discussion produces, it is requested that, if you wish to discuss Publius, you include the word "Publius" in the subject header of your post. Likewise, if you have no interest inreading Publius-related posts, put the word "Publius" in the kill file of your newsreader.
For those wishing to learn more about Publius, check out what's available in the "publius" file area of echoserv.
Page index
It *is* Ely Cathedral on the cover of 'The Division Bell'.
The cover shows two large metal face sculptures - erected in a
field on the Stuntney side of Ely. The photograph is composed so
that Ely Cathedral appears exactly between the two open mouths
of the faces. Messages sent to the alt.music.pink-floyd newsgroup
point out details such as 'The face on the left has rivets and
the face on the right doesn't - does this mean anything?' Well
who knows? Who *would* know? I posted a message to suggest that
perhaps the position of the Cathedral between the two mouths was
supposed to hint that ancient dogmas were a hindrance to
unfettered communication. No one replied to this message in the
newsgroup. Perhaps all of the correspondents on alt.music.pink-
floyd are fundamentalist Christians? This could be possible,
considering how seriously some of them seem to take 'The Publius
Enigma'. However, I did get a private email from a rather irate
Christian from Australia who thought I was suggesting that all
Christians were into some sort of fascist thought suppression.
Perhaps there are people from the Ely area who could shed some light on 'The Publius Enigma'. Perhaps they have information of which they are yet to realise the significance. If any such person is reading this then they would make themselves extremely popular by sending a message to the alt.music.pink-floyd newsgroup. Anyone who doesn't have usenet access can send a message via ECOLN (address and info given at the bottom of this page).
Click here for more information about Ely Cathedral.
The following is based on a newsgroup post I made last fall:
Well, the September Q Magazine (from the UK, about music)
has finally hit the newstands in my town. Thanks very much to
Aaro J Koskinen
Some map reference comments include:
The Rex, where Joker's Wild played in '64. Pink Floyd came
back to this venue during their first major UK tour in '69.
Union Cellars, where Syd Barrett played a benefit gig with
Clive Welham, a Gilmour school-mate, and Geoff Mott, who
said, "Syd wasn't a bad rhythm guitarist. It was nice to
hear someone who could play as opposed to thumping around."
The Dorothy Ballroom ("the Dot"), where Joker's Wild played
some two-week gigs in '65. Pink Floyd played there on 17
February, 1967 just before they released Arnold Layne.
College of Arts & Technology, where Syd began ('62) a two-
year arts program. One of his mates there was John Gordon,
a member of Joker's Wild along with Gilmour. In '63, David
Gilmour joined Syd at this school to take modern language
A-levels, and they practiced Stones licks on lunch breaks.
The Pink Floyd Sound played there in '65.
King's College Chapel, which has a lawn in back that Roger
Waters said inspired "the lunatic is on the grass", where
they played a May Ball gig. "... went down quite well.
Everyone was pissed," he said.
King's College Cellar, where in '72, Syd played as a guest
with musicians who later were his band-mates in Stars.
Market Square, where Joker's Wild played Wednesdays at the
Victoria Ballroom from '64 to '66.
Earl Street, the home of Storm Thorgerson, schoolfriend of
Syd's, in the early '60s.
Mill Street, location of The Mill, a pub that hosted some
acoustic Syd and Dave sessions in 1963.
Regent Street, where the Beatles played in November '63.
Syd loved Lennon and had looked forward to this show, but
had to miss it to interview in London for an art school.
Perne Road at Mill Road, the spot where Gilmour's early
band The Newcomers rehearsed in the scout hut.
Mill Pond, home of the Anchor Coffee Bar, a hangout for
Syd, Roger, Storm, and later Gilmour. The Anchor was also
the location for the Riverside Jazz Club, and in '62 Roger
Keith Barrett was nicknamed after a regular bass player at
the club, Sid "The Beat" Barrett, by patrons who learned
"... that the schoolboy who quietly watched jazz jams from
a corner was also called Barrett. They nicknamed him Sid,
then gradually the spelling altered to avoid confusion."
60 Glisson Road, Syd's birthplace in 1946.
109 Granchester Meadows, "well-to-do street and meadows
on the banks of the River Cam where Dave Gilmour was born..."
and a site for Joker's Wild practicing. Gilmour's song Fat
Old Sun on AHM remembers this place, and of course so does
Waters's song on Ummagumma, the album whose title "... is
said by Floyd's Rick Wright to be a Cambridge expression
meaning 'fuck'". (That's the first time I've seen a quote
attributing this interpretation directly to a band member,
although of course it's in the TDB tour book trivia quiz.)
[I suspect this may be a facetious interpretation. It seems
as likely to me that the slang may have come from kid's tales
of monstrous, primitive people in the Fens who would chant
"ummagumma". Rick Wright is not from Cambridge, so perhaps
someone was having him on whenever he heard that. -- mb, Jan.
'95]
Hills Road, where Syd moved at age four. The article has
him beginning to learn guitar here at age fourteen in 1962,
so either the date or his age is wrong. Anyway, Roger came
around to listen and introduced Syd to tag-along Dave, who
jammed with Syd. Roger attended the High School For Boys
on this road, and "Much of his dislike of authority and the
education system ... comes from his experiences [here] ...
In the words of his final report, 'Waters never fulfilled his
considerable potential.'" Other students here were Syd, Tim
Renwick, and Storm. The Perse, a private school attended by
Gilmour, is on Hills Road as well.
Rock Road, which was the residence of Waters and his mother,
a school-teacher, in the early '60s.
Click here to view the artwork that Pink Floyd commissioned for their album 'The Division Bell' which centers on Ely Cathedral.
and here for The Division Bell lyrics.
This is just the sort of thing you can find among the following resources. This list is from a posting by Matt Denault to alt.music.pink-floyd.
Click here to read 'The Old Vicarage, Grantchester' and 'The Lady of Shalott'. The Old Vicarage might be interesting to Publius seekers & I put The Lady of Shalott in for the hell of it.
Please email either of these boxes if there is anything that you
would like to see in ECOLN or anything that you would like to
contribute. I want to put as many interesting html www links in
that I can get hold of - so please tell me about your web site.
ECOLN is a commercial project and as such will have to charge for
all commercial advertising material included.
Click here to go back to the ECOLN home page.
brown@iowave.physics.uiowa.edu
Page index
Here is a link to Bernie Stocks' Web page devoted to canoeing on the river Cam from Grantchester Meadows down to Grantchester.
--==============--
Pink Floyd (and assorted solo members) MiniFAQ v. 1.95
--==============--
Before posting a question to the newsgroup, please look through
the various sources of information detailed below. Chances are,
you'll find what you're looking for...
+ Common Abbreviations
We tend to use many abbreviations here on a.m.p-f and a.m.r-w,
or at least I do ;) Anyway, here's a list of the main ones, most
straight from the FAQ...
Albums: Fanzines:
PATGOD: Piper At The Gates Of Dawn TAP : The Amazing Pudding
ASOS : A Saucerful Of Secrets BD : Brain Damage
AHM : Atom Heart Mother
OBC : Obscured By Clouds
ANP : A Nice Pair
DSOTM : Dark Side Of The Moon
WYWH : Wish You Were Here
TFC : The Final Cut
TPCOHH: The Pros And Cons Of HitchHiking
+-oHH : The Pros And Cons Of HitchHiking
AMLOR : A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (sometimes MLOR)
DSOT : Delicate Sound of Thunder
ATD : Amused to Death
TDB : The Division Bell
Songs:
ABitW : Another Brick in the Wall TIB : Take It Back
OoTD : One of These Days CBtL : Coming Back to Life
TGGITS: The Great Gig in the Sky LFW : Lost for Words
WDYWFM: What Do You Want From Me
SOYCD : Shine On you Crazy Diamond (Note: SOYCD --> SoYcD --> SYD ;)
General Stuff:
BTW : by the way
IMHO : In my humble opinion (IMNSHO = "...not so humble opinion")
ROIO : Recording Of Illegitimate Origin | See the FAQ for a complete |
oreo : bastardization of ROIO | discussion of RoIOs |
+ The FAQ
The Echoes FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) list contains
answers to the most commonly asked questions people have
about Pink Floyd and the solo material produced by its members.
Please get and read the FAQ before asking any questions.
To get the 5 parts of the FAQ, mail to
"echoserv@fawnya.tcs.com" the following, lowercase and
left-justified:
send echoes.faq.3.0 echoes
send echoes.faq.3.1 echoes
send echoes.faq.3.2 echoes
send echoes.faq.3.3 echoes
send echoes.faq.3.4 echoes
quit
This will mail the FAQ directly to you. It is roughly 260k, so
make sure you have sufficient disk space.
+ Publius
New folks are bound to wonder who/what is "Publius." Do us
all a favor and educate yourself before jumping into the
discussions -- send to "echoserv@fawnya.tcs.com" the
following:
filelist publius
help
quit
The three commands should be lowercase and left-justified.
This will send you information on how to access past Publius
posts, theories, etc.
Note that posts that involve Publius should contain that word
("PUBLIUS") in the subject line -- this is so people not interested
in this topic can put that word in their kill file, and not have to
read the posts.
+ Tour Information
Information about all aspects of the recent Pink Floyd world tour is
available via anonymous FTP at "ftp.twi.tudelft.nl" in "pub/music"
The files available are:
tour.charts.94 Chart results for TDB and its singles
tour.dates.94 List of all '94 gigs
tour.reports.94 A list of what they played at each show
tour.rumours.94 Facts and rumours about Pink Floyd in '94
tour.stats.94 Tour statistics for '94
+ Lyrics
Lyrics to Pink Floyd and solo albums are available via anonymous
FTP at "ftp.halcyon.com" in "pub/pink_floyd/lyrics"
NOTE: Don't trust the lyric files for some of the earlier stuff;
some of them are pretty bad. I intend to fix some of the
more obvious errors Any Day Now ;)
+ World Wide Web (WWW) Sites
You need some sort of Web browser, such as Netscape, Mosaic,
or Lynx to access these sites...
Page index
This list was originally part of Matt Denault's MiniFaq (above) but has been added to by ECOLN.
+ Pictures
In addition to some of the Web sites mentioned above, there
are several FTP archives with Floyd-related pictures. Some of
the main ones are:
"ftp.halcyon.com" in "pub/pink_floyd/gifs"
"humper.student.princeton.edu" (Temporarily down)
"ftp.cc.umanitoba.ca" in the "pub/pinkfloyd"
"ftp.uwp.edu" in "pub/music/artists/p/pink.floyd/pictures"
"ftp.ulaval.ca" in "contrib/Images"
Pictures are also occasionaly posted to the
"alt.binaries.pictures.misc" newsgroup. You can request a
specific picture by posting in the "alt.binaries.pictures.d" group.
+ Articles/Interviews
To learn more about the Floyd "from the horse's mouth," check
out the various articles and interviews available at
"ftp.halcyon.com" in "pub/pink_floyd/articles" and
"pub/pink_floyd/interviews"
Likewise, if you find any PF article or interview not already there,
we'd all appreciate it if you took the time to transcribe it and
send it UUencoded to "rjones@halcyon.com" to be uploaded.
+ Who Sang What?
Gerhard den Hollander maintains a comprehensive list of who
sang what on each album/single. This "vocallist" also contains
info on the first and last time each song was performed live.
To get a copy, mail to "echoserv@fawnya.tcs.com", with the
following in the body of the message:
send vocallist.2.99 echoes
quit
This will mail a copy directly to you.
If you have any questions/comments/suggestions about this
document, or its contents, please let me know, at
"mdenault@pomona.edu"
ciao
matt
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