THE BETH LISICK ORDEAL was a band that featured the sharply honed writing and the vocal onslaught of its namesake, operating from a secret location in Oakland, California between 1997 and 2000. Lisick recruited some impossibly handsome men to serve as her musical platform: Andrew Borger on drums, David Cooper on vibraphone, and George Cremaschi on contrabass. Tom Yoder also factored into the balance, with frequent trombone donations. This augmented quartet released one CD, Pass, on DuNord Recording in 1999, to critical acclaim. They performed at the 1998 Lilith Fair, and at the 1999 South by Southwest fest. They played a lot of other (better) venues, as well. But the real question is: Where Are They Now? Whither the wünderkinder? To wit: Lisick released her second book for Manic D Press: This Too Can Be Yours, the first book having been a collection of prose poems entitled Monkey Girl. She has performed in a musical duet called The Loins, and in the sketch-comedy group White Noise Radio Theater. She co-starred with Tara Jepsen in the short film version of their stage play Fumbling Toward Rock: The Miriam and Helen Story. Moreover, she continues to author an informative bi-weekly column for the SF Gate, called Buzz Town. Borger, who has been known to comply with instructions from Tom Waits to whack scrap metal with hammers next to the world's most expensive microphones, currently performs with Norah Jones. Cremaschi (pronounced crum-MOSS-key, in case you were wondering) continues to play this thing called a bass, hither and yon, just as if that were a perfectly normal thing to do. Cooper formed a band called Dropsy, and then retired. That's it? You can learn more about the Beth Lisick Ordeal by reading articles that appeared in The SF Weekly and The San Francisco Chronicle.