From lotus.uwaterloo.ca!sgroup-owner Thu Dec 3 08:15:09 1992 Received: from lotus.uwaterloo.ca ([129.97.140.9]) by watdragon.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <168459-3>; Thu, 3 Dec 1992 08:15:01 -0500 Received: from sunic.sunet.se ([192.36.125.2]) by lotus.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <35>; Thu, 3 Dec 1992 07:55:10 -0500 Received: from nada.kth.se (mail.nada.kth.se) by sunic.sunet.se (5.65c8/1.28) id AA28035; Thu, 3 Dec 1992 13:54:57 +0100 Received: from dront.nada.kth.se by nada.kth.se (5.61-bind 1.4+ida/nada-mx-1.0) id AA20063; Thu, 3 Dec 92 13:54:54 +0100 Received: by dront.nada.kth.se (5.61-bind 1.4+ida/nada-mx-1.0) id AA26382; Thu, 3 Dec 92 13:54:52 +0100 Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1992 07:54:52 -0500 From: d88-jwa@nada.kth.se Message-Id: <9212031254.AA26382@dront.nada.kth.se> To: sgroup@lotus.uwaterloo.ca Subject: Yo, party people, Status: RO Get ready for this, this is a serious song tha can't be missed... NOT! :-) Anyway, I'm ready and waiting for all those submissions for the S-groove to swamp me. Presently I have one (1) and that's my own :-) Is anybody out there? Could you lock yourself into the basement tonight and crank out 10 bars of 125 BPM music? Cheers, / h+ From lotus.uwaterloo.ca!sgroup-owner Thu Dec 3 09:16:06 1992 Received: from lotus.uwaterloo.ca ([129.97.140.9]) by watdragon.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <168473-1>; Thu, 3 Dec 1992 09:15:59 -0500 Received: from usl.com ([147.2.200.17]) by lotus.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <37>; Thu, 3 Dec 1992 09:10:33 -0500 Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1992 08:58:00 -0500 From: gfd@usl.com To: sgroup@lotus.uwaterloo.ca Subject: Sgrooove Received: from usl by usl.com; Thu, 3 Dec 1992 08:58 EST Content-Type: text Content-Length: 526 Message-Id: <92Dec3.091033est.37@lotus.uwaterloo.ca> Status: RO Groovers: Sorry I have been out of reach for a bit. My contract is coming to an abrupt end here at USL and I am job hunting at the moment. I too have also only received 1 submissions for the groove: that being from Neil (such a prompt young man!). Michael, Kat, Ray, Flavio: Could you send me status ASAP? I'd like to get an idea who is close and who has tossed the idea aside. I'd like to have everything by the end of the year if possible. John, I'll keep you informed The Rest of Sgroup, Wazzzupp??!! george From lotus.uwaterloo.ca!sgroup-owner Thu Dec 3 12:00:24 1992 Received: from math.uwaterloo.ca ([129.97.140.144]) by watdragon.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <168560-2>; Thu, 3 Dec 1992 12:00:20 -0500 Received: from lotus.uwaterloo.ca by math.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id ; Thu, 3 Dec 92 12:00:11 -0500 Received: from mailbox.syr.edu ([128.230.18.5]) by lotus.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <41>; Thu, 3 Dec 1992 11:56:47 -0500 Received: from rodan.acs.syr.edu by mailbox.syr.edu (4.1/CNS) id AA00508; Thu, 3 Dec 92 11:57:47 EST Received: by rodan.acs.syr.edu (4.1/Spike-2.0) id AA05608; Thu, 3 Dec 92 11:51:56 EST Message-Id: <9212031651.AA05608@rodan.acs.syr.edu> To: sgroup@lotus Subject: Re: Sgrooove In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 03 Dec 92 08:58:00 EST." <92Dec3.091033est.37@lotus.uwaterloo.ca> Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1992 11:51:51 -0500 From: "neil herzinger" Status: RO Sorry to hear about your situation george. Don't worry about putting time into this project until things get more stable. I'm sure no one here will hold it against you. But you other sgroupers - submit a piece!! It only needs to be 20 seconds long! The shortest commision of your life :-) n From lotus.uwaterloo.ca!sgroup-owner Thu Dec 3 15:39:13 1992 Received: from lotus.uwaterloo.ca ([129.97.140.9]) by watdragon.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <169778-3>; Thu, 3 Dec 1992 15:39:04 -0500 Received: from usl.com ([147.2.200.17]) by lotus.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <43>; Thu, 3 Dec 1992 15:35:37 -0500 Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1992 15:23:00 -0500 From: gfd@usl.com To: sgroup@lotus.uwaterloo.ca Subject: Sgroove: the last word Received: from usl by usl.com; Thu, 3 Dec 1992 15:23 EST Content-Type: text Content-Length: 7043 Message-Id: <92Dec3.153537est.43@lotus.uwaterloo.ca> Status: RO Sgroupies, I have had some belated requests for more info on the sgroove. Of course, we are already passed the original deadline but I am going to extend it to New Years Dat 1993. Below is three former sgroup messages that give the basic gist of the sgroove. It should be clear how this works to all. Let's just get to work and send the stuff out, SHALL WE??!! Much Love and all that shit, George x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+ Part I. The IDEA x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+ I had an idea for a little fun to be had by sgroup members. It was sort of an answer to the Usenet tape banter that the netwaves are so full of. While sending out samples to folks, I must admit to a certain curiosity about what people are doing with their samples. I thought that perhaps, instead of having everyone send in one of their pieces, we could have everyone send in about 20 seconds worth of music, all at the same tempo, that I could load into Sound Tools and hack into a BIG UGLY DANCE MIX. Perhaps those that don't like "tempo" in their music can just send a big ball of noise that can be overlayed onto some rhythm tracks. The piece would literally be from around the world! Well, what dya' think? x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+ Part II. Refined x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+ >From usl.com!gfd Mon Oct 19 16:38:00 0400 1992 Received: from usl.com by usl.com; Mon, 19 Oct 1992 16:52 EDT Received: from usl.com ([147.2.200.17]) by taipan.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <30762>; Mon, 19 Oct 1992 16:43:44 -0400 Received: from usl by usl.com; Mon, 19 Oct 1992 16:38 EDT Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1992 16:38:00 -0400 From: gfd@usl.com (George Demarest +1 908 522 6363) To: sgroup@taipan.uwaterloo.ca Subject: SGroove (was "Re: Various and Sundry") Message-Id: <92Oct19.164344edt.30762@taipan.uwaterloo.ca> Content-Type: text Content-Length: 3047 > From: "neil herzinger" > Content-Type: text > Re George's Sample-Song Idea: > Terrific! Much better than the hour + tapes that other groups want to put > together. I'd be happy to submit a 'ball of noise' to the project. I'm not > afraid of rhythm though, give me a tempo! Jon and I have spoken a little about some specifics. Jon wants 125 bpm as tempo. Since I don't have a metronome or "Perfect Meter" (as opposed to perfect pitch), I will take Jon's word for it. NO KEY. Not necessarily atonal, but not G major either! :-) The mix-master can do what he/she wants. Which brings me the next point: Anyone else who feels like doing a mix should contact me. I thought that all submissions should come to me, then I can assemble them all and send cassettes or DATs out to those who want to do mixes. I know that Jon, at least, is interested in doing a mix too. So, the rundown: Submissions: Length: between 10 and 20 seconds Media: stereo cassette or DAT @ 44.1k saampling rate. Tempo: 125 bpm (try to be as accurate as possible!) Maximum: 2 clips per person (with ample dead air between) Like I mentioned, if someone wants to do something arhythmic to be in the mix as well, send it in (with the understanding that some nasty grooving pulse will be pumping underneath!!). Same rules (except tempo) apply to you. At this stage, I'd just like to get responses from people who are interested in participating. Just mention if you want to do a CLIP or a MIX. Got it? Send me mail and I will get in touch soon. We'll figure out a timetable and more of the logistics when we see who's involved. I think if we can get even just 6 or 7 submissions we're in business. x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+ Part III. Defined x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+ >From gfd Mon Oct 26 10:53 EST 1992 From: gfd@usl.com (George Demarest +1 908 522 6363) To: sgroup@taipan.uwaterloo.ca Cc: usl!gfd Subject: SGROOVE OK, Here's the final state of things. ========================================================================= Submissions ========================================================================= Tempo: 125 BPM (please be as accurate as possible!) Length: 10-20 secs* Number: limit 3 per customer (spaced at 10 secs apart) Media: Stereo Cassette, Stereo DAT (44.1k preferred) Deadline: November 30, 1992 ========================================================================= * Those who will submit non-metered/non-tempo sound bites to be incorporated can be less than 10 secs. ========================================================================= The Mix ========================================================================= So far, only Jon W{tte and I have shown interest in doing mixes. This is fine, but others are welcome. When all submissions are in, I will send Jon what I have and he will send me what he has. We will then do our mixes, send each other the results and then re-distribute to those that submitted. We'll work out how to get copies to other interested parties later. For my part, I intend to take the submissions I get and get them under Sound Tools on my mac. This will allow me to hear them back to back and switch the order around to see which pieces flow into others ("flow" is, of course, relative). I wont know until I hear them all whether there needs to be some unifying rhythm track underneath. I'm going to try to minimize this, although I suspect that it may be needed to make it work. I will, most likely, use each submission whole but may also take fragments as well. I will include the raw submissions on the final tape by themselves. ========================================================================= ========================================================================= Submitters so far: ========================================================================= Jon W{tte (Sweden) Kathy Carter (US (well, California :-)) George Demarest (US) Neil Herzinger (US) Ray MacNeil (Canada) Michael Moncur (US (I think)) I'd like to see more from outside the US (Mr. Flemming?!! Terje?!! One of our distinguished Australians? IMPORTANT: I'd like to get email confirmation from all submitters that everything is clear and understood as soon as possible. Specifically as to whether the deadline for submission is doable. ========================================================================= Submissions from US and Canada send in a SASE to: George Demarest 1165 Hillside Avenue Plainfield, NJ 07080 (908) 757-4655 (home) (908) 522-6363 (work) Submissions from Europe, Asia, Australia send to Jon W{tte (address to follow). My address is Jon Watte Svartmangatan 18 S-111 29 Stockholm Sweden In case you want it: Phone: +46-8-107069 Cell: +46-10-2141652 Fax: +46-8-140303 From lotus.uwaterloo.ca!sgroup-owner Fri Dec 4 10:41:21 1992 Received: from lotus.uwaterloo.ca ([129.97.140.9]) by watdragon.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <168698-3>; Fri, 4 Dec 1992 10:41:04 -0500 Received: from ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca ([128.100.102.3]) by lotus.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <49>; Fri, 4 Dec 1992 10:26:18 -0500 Received: from BRUFSC.BITNET by ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca with BSMTP id <9410>; Fri, 4 Dec 1992 10:25:11 -0500 Received: by BRUFSC (Mailer R2.08) id 0989; Fri, 04 Dec 92 10:59:52 BSC Date: Fri, 4 Dec 1992 05:50:55 -0500 From: Flavio Bressan da Luz <87141167%brufsc.bitnet@utcs.utoronto.ca> Subject: My contribuition to sgroove To: sgroup@lotus.uwaterloo.ca Message-Id: <92Dec4.102511est.9410@ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca> Status: RO Hello folks, I've been busy with my graduation projects and studies ( one week left to end of the EE course). I think that I'll can to rec some music this weekend... because a stupid reason, I had my D20 disks stucked while waiting for the W30. Now, a old friend bought a D20, and then I can rec some music at him house. Next monday I'll sending a tape. Sorry by the late information. Abracos, Flavio From lotus.uwaterloo.ca!sgroup-owner Mon Dec 7 10:03:29 1992 Received: from math.uwaterloo.ca ([129.97.140.144]) by watdragon.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <168523-3>; Mon, 7 Dec 1992 10:03:26 -0500 Received: from lotus.uwaterloo.ca by math.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id ; Mon, 7 Dec 92 10:03:19 -0500 Received: from usl.com ([147.2.200.17]) by lotus.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <35>; Mon, 7 Dec 1992 09:59:19 -0500 Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1992 09:47:00 -0500 From: gfd@usl.com To: sgroup@lotus Subject: Sgroove: The Deadline Received: from usl by usl.com; Mon, 7 Dec 1992 09:47 EST Content-Type: text Content-Length: 544 Message-Id: <92Dec7.095919est.35@lotus.uwaterloo.ca> Status: RO Groovers, My music/procrastination simulation program has been crunching numbersw through the night. It has advised my that January 1 is the most appropriate Deadline for the sgroove. Not being one to allow a machine to tell me what to do, I have consulted with my attourney, my local representative and have just received word from the Pope VERIFY THIS DEADLINE. In to me by January 1!! I still have the Swedish Connection to make and of course, the Pope's word is always final. gfd P.S. No promises after January 1. I MEAN IT! ;-) From lotus.uwaterloo.ca!sgroup-owner Mon Dec 7 10:07:32 1992 Received: from math.uwaterloo.ca ([129.97.140.144]) by watdragon.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <168525-3>; Mon, 7 Dec 1992 10:07:27 -0500 Received: from lotus.uwaterloo.ca by math.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id ; Mon, 7 Dec 92 10:07:13 -0500 Received: from usl.com ([147.2.200.17]) by lotus.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <37>; Mon, 7 Dec 1992 10:03:27 -0500 Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1992 09:48:00 -0500 From: gfd@usl.com To: sgroup@lotus Subject: About the deadline Received: from usl by usl.com; Mon, 7 Dec 1992 09:48 EST Content-Type: text Content-Length: 124 Message-Id: <92Dec7.100327est.37@lotus.uwaterloo.ca> Status: RO This same computer simulation program informed me that 10 secs of music may take up to 20 minutes to create!! Oh no! gfd From lotus.uwaterloo.ca!sgroup-owner Mon Dec 21 19:57:36 1992 Received: from lotus.uwaterloo.ca ([129.97.140.9]) by watdragon.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <169211-3>; Mon, 21 Dec 1992 19:57:29 -0500 Received: from hercules.cs.uregina.ca ([142.3.200.90]) by lotus.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <27>; Mon, 21 Dec 1992 19:53:18 -0500 Received: by hercules.cs.uregina.ca (5.61/1.34) id AA21861; Mon, 21 Dec 92 18:50:30 -0600 From: keeler@hercules.cs.uregina.ca (Jason Keeler) Message-Id: <9212220050.AA21861@hercules.cs.uregina.ca> Subject: New Samples Almost in Time for Christmas! To: sgroup@lotus.uwaterloo.ca (Roland Sampler Group) Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 19:50:29 -0500 X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11] Status: R Merry Christmas to all on the list; I've assembled a disk of misc. samples which I hope you all will find fairly useful. I will be sending the disk to George tomorrow. The contents include just tones...yes I know I'm lazy but hey, the samples are fully truncated, looped, normalized etc. All were run through SampleVision for touch-up (something I rarely do given the built-in software of our Roland samplers :) The tones include: 1) ClikBass - M1 2) CuthruBS - M1 3) MoogBass - M1 4) AcidBass - M1 5) XpandBas - M1 (excellent patch for Techno basslines) 6) YeboBass - M1 7) SynBrass - D50 8) Brassy - DS8 9) Breathy - DS8 10) Clav - DS8 11) HCStrgs - DS8 Enjoy! ...Jason Keeler From lotus.uwaterloo.ca!sgroup-owner Mon Dec 21 21:39:27 1992 Received: from lotus.uwaterloo.ca ([129.97.140.9]) by watdragon.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <169223-2>; Mon, 21 Dec 1992 21:39:21 -0500 Received: from mailbox.syr.edu ([128.230.18.5]) by lotus.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <35>; Mon, 21 Dec 1992 21:35:22 -0500 Received: from rodan.acs.syr.edu by mailbox.syr.edu (4.1/CNS) id AA25806; Mon, 21 Dec 92 21:35:09 EST Received: by rodan.acs.syr.edu (4.1/Spike-2.0) id AA11110; Mon, 21 Dec 92 21:29:06 EST Message-Id: <9212220229.AA11110@rodan.acs.syr.edu> To: sgroup@lotus.uwaterloo.ca Subject: Re: New Samples Almost in Time for Christmas! In-Reply-To: Your message of "Mon, 21 Dec 92 19:50:29 EST." <9212220050.AA21861@hercules.cs.uregina.ca> Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 21:29:05 -0500 From: "neil herzinger" Status: R Sounds good Jason, thanks for informing us! It's nice to hear something from the sgroup after such a long silence. I'll look forward to getting a copy soon. Happy Holidays everyone. neil From lotus.uwaterloo.ca!sgroup-owner Tue Dec 22 10:12:00 1992 Received: from lotus.uwaterloo.ca ([129.97.140.9]) by watdragon.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <168224-1>; Tue, 22 Dec 1992 10:11:57 -0500 Received: from usl.com ([147.2.200.17]) by lotus.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <41>; Tue, 22 Dec 1992 10:06:22 -0500 Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 09:53:00 -0500 From: gfd@usl.com (George Demarest +1 908 522 6363) To: "neil herzinger" , sgroup@lotus.uwaterloo.ca Subject: Re: New Samples Almost in Time for Christmas! Received: from usl by usl.com; Tue, 22 Dec 1992 09:53 EST Content-Type: text Content-Length: 1612 Message-Id: <92Dec22.100622est.41@lotus.uwaterloo.ca> Status: R Folks, A two fold message: a. Happy Holidays! b. The employment crisis is past (for the time being :-) and I am back with the same login at (pretty much) the same location. Thanks one and all for the kind words and leads that you sent in. I have taken a right turn career-wise and have moved from a strictly technical job to somewhere between engineering and marketing (oh no! the "m" word!). You may be sure that this job is where I should be at this stage and am very content to be where I am. Enough of that, now: I still have samples and/or disks from several folks, (Bill Fox, Michael, Brian Coan) and I apologize once again strenuously for being so lame. Unfortunately, my new job entales travel and I have been away for at least a few days each week for the last month. My studio has been collecting dust. I'm afraid that dust has also settled on your disks. I'm not sure that I will be able to get to them before Christmas (I'm not too hopeful) and I will be away until the 2nd of January from the 26th. I will indeed be able to turn over a new leaf for the new year and will get all of your disks out the 1st week in January. Once again, please pardon me for my neglectful handling of my solemn task. I have been through the Coporate Hay-Baler and now I See The Light! May you all have peace in the new year. Yours in Samples, George F Demarest (908) 522-6363 P.S. So far, I have received Sgrooves from Kat and Neil. Those others involved, please let me know what's going on (of course, far be it from me to chastise anyone for being late :-). From lotus.uwaterloo.ca!sgroup-owner Tue Dec 22 06:34:51 1992 Received: from lotus.uwaterloo.ca ([129.97.140.9]) by watdragon.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <168168-3>; Tue, 22 Dec 1992 06:34:48 -0500 Received: from kruuna.helsinki.fi ([128.214.4.112]) by lotus.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <29>; Tue, 22 Dec 1992 06:28:26 -0500 Received: from plootu.Helsinki.FI by kruuna.helsinki.fi with SMTP id AA28181 (5.65c8/IDA-1.4.4 for ); Tue, 22 Dec 1992 13:28:04 +0200 Received: by plootu.helsinki.fi (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA28238; Tue, 22 Dec 92 13:28:03 +0200 From: tykkala@cc.helsinki.fi (Kimmo J. Tykkala) Message-Id: <9212221128.AA28238@plootu.helsinki.fi> Subject: Disk mapping, processor and christmas To: sgroup@lotus.uwaterloo.ca Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 06:28:03 -0500 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Length: 807 Status: R Hi! I'm trying to make a program to write Sparc-audio-files to S-550 disk. (Yes... they are only 8-bit and 8kHz, but I just want some backround noice and lines from movies. And with 8 kHz I can have almost double the time...). The program will run on Sparc (or in PC). But well, I have problem... Where is the wave data in S-550 disks? The memory map of the manual and the data on disk don't seem to be very similar. And how is the wave data coded? (I think that there is 2 words packed in 3 bytes.) What processor does S-550 have? (Not wanting to program it, just curious.) Yep, Merry Christmas and happy New Year to all! - Kimmo -- > Kimmo J. Tykk{l{ > University of Helsinki > yks-kaks-kol-tekno > < tykkala@cc.helsinki.fi < Computing Centre < suurin melontanopeus < From lotus.uwaterloo.ca!sgroup-owner Tue Dec 22 15:10:13 1992 Received: from lotus.uwaterloo.ca ([129.97.140.9]) by watdragon.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <168404-2>; Tue, 22 Dec 1992 15:10:04 -0500 Received: from sunic.sunet.se ([192.36.125.2]) by lotus.uwaterloo.ca with SMTP id <48>; Tue, 22 Dec 1992 15:06:58 -0500 Received: from nada.kth.se (mail.nada.kth.se) by sunic.sunet.se (5.65c8/1.28) id AA06627; Tue, 22 Dec 1992 21:06:37 +0100 Received: from hemul.nada.kth.se by nada.kth.se (5.61-bind 1.4+ida/nada-mx-1.0) id AA18335; Tue, 22 Dec 92 21:06:36 +0100 Received: by hemul.nada.kth.se (5.61-bind 1.4+ida/nada-mx-1.0) id AA17039; Tue, 22 Dec 92 21:06:21 +0100 Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 15:06:21 -0500 From: d88-jwa@nada.kth.se Message-Id: <9212222006.AA17039@hemul.nada.kth.se> To: gfd@usl.com, naherzin@mailbox.syr.edu, sgroup@lotus.uwaterloo.ca Subject: Re: New Samples Almost in Time for Christmas! Status: R > So far, I have received Sgrooves from Kat and Neil. Those others > involved, please let me know what's going on (of course, far be it from > me to chastise anyone for being late :-). Well, a certain Norwegian fellow promised me a tape, but I haven't seen it yet. Maybe it got lost in the mail (that DOES happen :-( ) In case anyone in Europe happens to have ANYTHING remotely drone-like or remotely 125-bpm-like (I have pitch shifters :-) please send me a cassette or DAT at: Jon Watte Svartmangatan 18 S-111 29 Stockholm Sweden Merry Xmas, / h+ -- -- Jon W{tte, h+@nada.kth.se, Mac Hacker Deluxe -- The word "politics" is derived from the word "poly", meaning "many", and the word "ticks", meaning "blood sucking parasites". -- Larry Hardiman