you gotta admit it-charlie's pretty right on....
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> In a message dated 99-03-31 18:15:21 EST, you write:
>
> << Please folks. Let's stay on topic, shall we? This Jets to Brazil band
> seems to get brought up here a lot and I'm starting to develop a fond
> hatred for the band (and I've never even heard them). brian
> >>
>
> I may be blaspheming someone or something by bringing this up but I'll try to
> be as eloquent or meaningful and respectful as I know I can be.
>
> Brian, I understand you are well-connected with Sunny Day, and have produced a
> top quality home page for them, and probably eat dinner with Jeremy every
> other night or something. And you don't know me- for all you know I could be
> the president of Epic, or some moron who works at Taco Bell, or a vegan
> environmentalist who spends his day chained to trees. But I have a serious
> bone to pick with your statement here.
>
> Let's assume for a moment that I thoroughly understand the basic premise
> behind lists in general (because, as a veteran of many other lists, I really
> don't need a lesson in list rules & obedience). But I have seen a few people
> make unrelated comments about bands other than SDRE, well-read and coherent
> comments, only to have their sorta-meaningful discussion shot down by
> invisible authority figures. I do NOT accuse anyone of censorship, but this is
> unfair.
>
> I view lists as large rooms populated by all kinds of people who are there
> because they share a common interest. Some rooms are loud and obnoxious (the
> alt-country "Postcard" list is one example), and others are boring because,
> well, there is only so much discussion one can sustain with unseen pen-pals
> about tablatures and "my take on the latest song lyrics." In every room/list,
> conversation is organic, save those rooms/lists dominated by persons who seek
> to sustain interest in something by suppressing conversation about anything
> tangential.
>
> I understand that this is not a "genre" list, like an "emo" (whateverthehell
> that is) list, but a simple post about Jets to Brazil's album garnered no more
> than five responses, all with the heading "Jets To Brazil" so that anyone
> disinterested could delete appropriately, and the list moderator emerged from
> the shadows like a cantankerous substitute teacher telling the whispering
> students in the back of the room to "shut up and pay attention to the lesson."
> Wrong analogy? I certainly feel that way given your stated ignorance of Jets
> To Brazil above. Incidentally, I have been listening to Jets To Brazil for TWO
> WEEKS. I simply wanted to share my find with others who, because of their
> logging on to a Sunny Day site, might have either heard of 'em or liked 'em.
> And, conscious of the "topic at hand," I did not conceal a discussion of Jets
> To Brazil under any other heading. I put the band name and album name for any
> concerned to read.
>
> Before you tell me to go screw myself and that "if you don't like it, LEAVE,"
> I would like to *once again* say that this list is the best I've been on in
> years. There are no flamers and rude remarks befitting an AOL chatroom, the
> level of conversation keeps my interest, the information is current and mostly
> rumor-free, and the personalities, from what I can tell, are sincere and
> funny.
>
> But I really, really don't like the fact that, simply because Brian hasn't
> heard of Jets To Brazil and has developed a random hatred for them, we all
> have to watch what we say. That is totally wrong and endangers the freedom of
> speech that should be present on lists of this caliber.
>
> I had high expectations of this list, and enjoy it, and certainly don't want
> to see it transformed into anything overblown or chaotic. But perhaps, given
> the incident above, it may be far less welcoming than I thought.
>
> Charlie
