mailed 7/23/06:
Subject: Save the Earth

Q: Remember when your first album was released? It captivated listeners with a truly infectious passion. At that glorious moment, the power of music proved to be magical.

What if musicians like you could band together for a massive effort to rescue Earth's biodiversity? It could be called Life Aid : to save life on Earth , based on the motto of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)* Might we be able to save our planet's most precious treasures: rainforests like the Amazon & countless endangered species approaching extinction? I want to look my students in the eyes & at least be able to say: "We're doing our very best."

I beg you to consider this cause before we reach a point of no return for Mother Nature--an unimaginable tragedy! I've been extremely committed to saving biodiversity for many years. What could be more important for the health of our planet & for future generations?

Only recently have I come to believe I can really make a difference. My students have learned that people can take action to save the animals they adore--pandas, tigers, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, rhinos, apes/monkeys, lemurs, penguins, polar bears, & so many more--so that these noble creatures won't end up existing only in zoos. Still, they know that their total extinction in the wild is a very real possibility if our generation doesn't do more to prevent such an unthinkable tragedy.

Although greed is often the problem, so is ignorance. My knowledge as well as my new-found optimism stems from being a lifetime member & volunteer for WWF, considered one of the most--if not the most--efficient of all such charities. Among their many vital duties, WWF staff is in the field supplying & paying park rangers & anti-poaching patrols to enforce conservation laws. Groups like WWF have learned how to work with locals, including indigenous tribes, to successfully protect wildlife & habitats.

They need far more money, however, to succeed long term. Buying the land--as Sting, P. Gabriel, & others have done--is only a first step. That needs to be followed up by appointing & funding highly experienced stewards--like WWF, Nature Conservancy, & Conservation International--to manage the preserves. So fundraising for such groups is paramount.

Live Aid had the right idea by uniting nonpartisan forces for fundraising on a global scale. Ideally, that's exactly what's needed right now to save ecosystems & wildlife . Can we get successful musicians to focus on this goal now--& be willing to sacrifice their precious time--while they're being solicited by so many other charities? With your help, why not? (e.g. Could you forward e-mails like this?)

To persuade them to commit to this urgent cause, they need to realize just how fragile is the web of biodiversity, just how fast it's slipping away, & just how irreversible its loss will be:

It will destroy forever not only Nature's miraculous beauty, but its promises of clean oxygen & water; its potential cures for cancer, AIDS, etc.; as well as countless other benefits from tropical forests (like watersheds that prevent floods/erosion). Ironically, that includes foods to potentially end starvation --the very cause that musicians have focused on.

Few people realize just how many wild species are approaching--or right on--the brink of extinction: all rainforest species (plant & animal), all the great mammals of Africa, all primates, all large felines, all polar species, all marine mammals including whales, all amphibians, & most species of birds & reptiles. Calling it a worldwide emergency or an impending catastrophe is an understatement --the current rate of extinctions is already greater than the age of the dinosaurs!

Please join me for a benefit concert & recording. How wonderful it would be for ourselves & for posterity to save Earth--the only life-sustaining planet we know of in the entire universe!

Hope to hear from you--& please check out this WWF link:
http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site (my source for facts stated)

-- Lakota (my Sioux name)

A: It's too late already and any sponsorship by corporations big enough to get the word out on a level that would impact a solution would by definition "whitewash" the messages so as to render it ineffective. Humans will Terraform Mars or some other planet and pollute their new environment more slowly than this one.

-- Gerald V. Casale of DEVO

mailed 7/19/06:
Subject: A Really Stupid Question

Q: To whom it may concern,

My co-workers and I are almost coming to blows over the following question: In an all-out fight, who would win - Devo or Led Zepplin?

I told you it was a stupid question. I would completely understand if you didn't dignify it with a response. However, a response would be greatly treasured by all of us.

Success in all your projects,
Raymond Wolper

A: OK! Well, this is an apples and oranges type question. In an all out fist fight DEVO would win. There are 5 of us and 4 of them (well, there WERE 4 of them) and they are older than us and smaller than us. Bob #2 would bear hug Robert Plant to death in less than 60 seconds alone. In an aesthetic fight it would be more like figure skating scores calculated in various categories. Page's guitar is like a triple axle, double reverse and wins hands down. On conceptual competition DEVO 86's the Zep. Record sales: Zep aces DEVO. Memorable riffs: it's a tie. Live show: it's DEVO on top. Big hair: Zep puts DEVO to shame. Be thankful that the spuds could co-exist with the Hammer of the Gods.

-- Nutra of DEVO, Inc.

mailed 2/28/06:
Subject: How long before the bomb crosses our ports?

Q: I'm wondering what devo thinks of all the madness with the ports. Although I think it's insane that our govt is going to hand over our ports to the UAE, I think the real problem is that only 5% of the containers are searched.
How long do you think it will be until 'THE' bomb crosses our borders? I'm a scared little potato.

Thanks!

- Clifford H.

ps: just purchased your dvd of you in japan and it was brilliant! loved the little interview stuff too. I was afraid to buy it for awhile because I thought maybe you guys lost your magic on stage, but damn, you guys rock better than most young rock fools. bless you, devo!! I LOVE YOU!

A: Spud. There are no actual countries. It's a branding construct to promote football-style team spirit and jingoism. Bush and his cronies are robber barons and have more in common with Putin and the Chinese Premiere than with our founding fathers. The port scandal is a diversion for the masses so they won't ask the real questions about international corporate rape and the end of democracy. The UAE doesn't want a dirty bomb going off any more than you do but for very simple business reasons. The insane fundamentalists with nothing to loose are able to play out their end game due to the horrific hypocrisy of supposedly "free" nations. And yes, less than 5% of the containers are inspected. It's been that way forever. Don't be afraid. Enjoy your flight until it intersects a skyscraper. There's nothing you can do about it anyway unless you are allergic to peanuts.

-- Jihad Jerry

mailed 11/27/2005:
Subject: The Many Q's of Jo'el Pool

Questions from: Jo'el Pool / Aurora, CO:

Q: Why is it that some of the greatest DEVO albums have not been re-released in the states.
Primarily Shout! and Duty Now for the Future? 2 of the greatest DEVO albums ever. My total de-evolution is hindered severely.

A: A vast pinhead conspiracy is the reason. -- Nutra of DEVO, Inc.

Q: Time has past.. de-evolution is upon us yet the modern orifice of de-evolution suffers. The new traditionalists lack direction! where are the smooth noodle maps to guide us? How can we obtain total de-evolution. No more pinhead excuses.

A: Mark holds the key. -- Nutra of DEVO, Inc.

Q: On a conservative ideological island i drink in the devo-light. can I fully de-evolve with a belief structure opposite of spud dogma? Pondering the egg.

A: The egg and the "I" is all there is. the rest is foolish fantasy to make the human animal feel secure. -- Jihad Jerry