patricia

Jazz, I guess you don't really know and it could indeed be a red herring...heh heh. Are people still trying to "find themselves"?? I thought they quit doing that years ago. I just go like this.......there I am.

I refuse to wear an ankle bracelet, unless it's lightweight, attractive and 22K. The heavy, plastic kind invite stares and derision here in Calgary, AB. Canada. But, I'm with Chuck on this. I know where I am, when I post. Right here, in front of my computer.

Me too!! Thank you Rooster Ties. I'm glad I'm not alone.

Well, I'm going to grab my nineteen-year-old daughter by her hand and take her to see "ELF". I liked "The Santa Clause" too. Call me a sentimental fool, if you want to. In my own defense though, normally I like heavy dramas, often with subtitles, with dreary, death-obsessed plots.

Anytime of year in Duluth was exactly what I was thinking, Clinton. After all, we're not planting crops, we're getting together, indoors for a "hang". I would be a little hesitant to head out there in the dead of winter, because of the difficulty for some driving and the uncertain air travel conditions for some of us. I'm thinking between end of June and late fall, '04. Even though the event would span only one or two days, we still have to plan. Love the sound of the Electric Fetus. Also, Grandma's sounds like a place that would welcome a gaggle of jazz aficianados. Lansing, being the home of Organissimo, is not out of the question either. Just give us time to clear our calenders.

Perhaps so. As you know, I walk into walls without my very chic eye crutches. However, my comment was that [i'm paraphrasing here] just because one is under the influence does not mean that one's creative and intellectual skills are necessarily impaired. That would seem to speak to the situation in which, even while drinking, it is possible to think perfectly clearly and create beauty. It's not true of everyone who drinks but it is of some. But, it is also true that one's sober personality is quite often quite different from one's drinking personality. Misunderstandings of how one is perceived, can indeed be skewed by seeing only one side. No dispute there.

No, the subtlety of this exchange is not going "over my head". I do understand what Chris is saying, what you are saying and what everyone else is saying. I believe I addressed the "goading" situation and also the excellence of your musical and intellectual abilities. Both are considerable, hence the remark about going into a battle of wits, unarmed. Do you understand what I am saying?? Oh, and hello to Clint.

It's true that one's cognitive and creative abilities are not necessarily affected by alcohol. My father's weren't. But he did say things and do things, when he was drinking, that he was much too tactful and kind to say and do, when sober. The stereotypical drunk in the gutter, down and out, is true of only a small fraction of those who are dedicated to the grape and the grain. The others walk among us. I don't pretend to understand alcoholism, or any other addiction, but I do know what it's like to live with it. Nobody is questioning, as far as I know, Dan's musical ability. It's a given. The caged tiger is being umbrella'd and it's just not wise to go into a battle of wits, unarmed. :D

I guess I'm the designated driver.

Patricia, I feel that the insult was no different than personal attacks on Gays, Negroes, Woman, Heterosexuals....etc. Alcoholics are to be pitied (and helped if at all possible). I was offended by the personal attack. I guess we'll just have to leave it at that as it appears no action is forthcoming. Thank you for listening. DEEP I agree that personal attacks are personal attacks and that there is no distinction between mocking someone for their ethnicity, sex, faith or personal habits. Addictions are personal habits and it is not possible, IMO, to change that in another person, especially by mocking them. As for pitying them, that's not constructive either. Like all addictions, alcoholism is one that is difficult for those closest to the alcoholic to understand, but pitying them is not on the menu. Nobody wants pity. If change is to come, it must come from them. If the addict doesn't want to change, nothing in the world will make any difference.

In Edinburgh, Scotland, there is a wonderful zoo. Many years ago, according to my late mother, if a person wished to see the caged wild animals and was carrying a cane or an umbrella, they had to check it at the entrance. Why, you ask? Because there were many dignified, older gentlemen, who amused themselves by poking the lions and tigers, through the bars of their cages. The animals couldn't effectively react, as is their natural instinct when attacked. An analogy could be drawn between that situation and goading another poster to react angrily to a personal attack. There is no honour in that. Posting a comment to stimulate spirited exchange is not the same thing as posting a personal insult to incite unpleasant exchanges, resulting in people getting warned and then banned.

You don't "stack" them on the spindle, do you?? I'm sure you're aware that that is an indictable offence.

Please don't think that. We challenge one another. I am usually the one cyber-bleeding on the cobblestones.

by DEEP (a condemned man), IS FOR THE WRONG ONE HAS DONE SO I CAN ONLY FEEL SORRY FOR ONE WHEN YOU TALK OF ME, I BECOME YOU SO I CAN ONLY BE SORRY FOR TWO WHEN THEY TALK OF ME, BEIN' I'M YOU, IT'S WE THERE I AM FEELIN' SORRY FOR THREE THOSE TALKING DIRECTLY TO MY FACE MAKES ME A YOUR THERE I AM FEELING SORRY FOR FOUR EVEN THOUGH I'M NOT MOVIN', I'M STILL ALIVE SITTIN' HERE FEELIN' SORRY FOR FIVE ALL ALONE IN THIS WORLD OF MINE I COULD JUST AS WELL FEEL SORRY FOR NINE SO FEEL FOR MAYBE, WE, YOU, AND US I COULD FEEL SORRY FOR ANY NUMBER PLUS TAKE THE PRONOUNS, WE, YOU, US, THEY, THEM, AND I MAYBE IT'S FOR THE WHOLE DAMN WORLD THAT I CRY DEEP (THE CONDEMNED) That calls for a group hug. As Stefan Kanfer said, "Inside every man there is a poet who died young".

How kind of you I thought so. Gentle sarcasm was the intent. This isn't WORLD PEACE and some say I am kind ...........and some don't.

At first I was going to draw that obvious redundancy to Daniel's attention, but he was more concerned with the can/cannot typo because rarely ever/rarely didn't support his case. Legal documents are notoriously wordy, to the point of being almost incomprehensable, so I let it go.

That's right Brad. The burden is heavy on the shoulders of he/she who wields the power. Solomon had it easy, when all he had to do was threaten to cut a baby in half.

OK, B, so with that admission should I assume that my 10% warning is recinded since I was acting under the rules as stated?? In short: DO I RECEIVE CREDIT OF 10%? I realize it's a technicality but my continuance on the Stapleton / Christiern question was within the guidlines as stated and even Marsha "Patricia" Clark will have to agree with THAT!! DEEP I can't argue with your logic, re the original quote, since a literal quote would seem to indicate that the sentence, because of the typo, was contradictory. However, if that's your entire case, I think that B-3's equally high-priced and doubtless, colourful attorney would prevail with his argument that the sandbox's owner can be totally illiterate and still decide who stays. Similarly, the owner of the sandbox can credit you the 10% you request...........or not, depending on what his mood is. In short, this website, as are all websites, is a benevolant dictatorship. :D

Daniel, DUH, your ownself. OK. Glasses on and I am reading the quote: "We rarely ever delete threads but we do have the power to close them so that no new posts cannot be added." Yes, I see the double negative, but the wheels on your defense wagon would still be wobbley, since the intent of the sentence is quite clear, and the literacy of the average jury, should you opt for trial by jury, is woefully scant.

Although I see your point, it seems to me that if a flame war is in full force, with personal insults flying back and forth and the moderator "locks" the thread to prevent cyber-bloodshed, that that is the end of the thread in question. It also seems to me that if one of the participants in the flame war continues, simply by starting another thread, it would be just a matter of time before, if thread after thread, continuing the blasting, that the moderator would have to make a decision on what the best course of action would be. I'm assuming that "flame war" would not define every spirited discussion during which feelings and the expression of those feelings may become heated. That is the nature of most interesting conversation and nobody dies. If things got out of hand, surely the participants could settle really nasty disputes off the board, but if that's not possible, then there has to be a dispassionate, responsible person, in this case, the board moderater, who has a perfect right to decide what's to be done. However, there seems to be a majority who simply participate in the war, by reading the posts, without posting their objection, in the context of the discussion in progress, on the thread itself. They sometimes prefer to complain to the moderater. In real life, if you are present when a fight breaks out, first you try to get the people fighting to see your point of view, thus, perhaps, calming the water. Perhaps that might be the first step, before trying to get a thread, which none of us are compelled to read, and may very well sink out of sight, if ignored, to sink into the abyss, deleted or "locked". It's up to those who are responsible for the site to decide what their parameters are. As far as I can see, they seem to be quite tolerant of spirited discussion, but the limits, whatever they are, are theirs to set. If I yell "Dwarf Alert"!!! at an American Association of Little People Of America convention, I would expect to get swarmed by an ugly mob.

I smiled when you mentioned the effort it would require to get up off the sofa to flip a 45 record. Nowadays we hardly have to get off the sofa to do anything, once esconced. Remember when you had to change TV channels manually??? No wonder there are so many large bottoms these days. What I like about my old vinyl is that they are essentially recorded with everybody there and whatever happened, happened. Some are several sessions on one or two records, but the sound-doctoring, which is expected now, was not used then, to the extent that it is now, if at all. Everybody just showed up, rehearsed and then recorded. I love that. Of course, the records presented the talent, warts and all, which doesn't happen now. Also, if you were lucky enough to get to see the artists, live, they were at least as terrific as they were on their records. NOBODY played air-instruments, or lip-synced. Sure, the records may be in mono, but that was really them [although occasionally somebody would be there, but not credited].

It seems to me that it would be a good idea, considering that the turntable is working well with the stylus it has now, to pick up a replacement to keep at the ready. I would suggest that you try to get the best deal that you can now, considering that they are not widely available now, and may not be available at all, when your present one finally craps out. That's what I did, even though, like yours, mine works wonderfully now. It's up to you, but if you wait, you may not be able to easily get one at all. I have to keep reminding myself that what we are using is not being manufactured anymore, as far as I know. So, later, you may have to "graverob" to get a replacement, because they will be even more rare then I've had my turntable [an old, but perfect BSR], for about eight months and it's still good with the stylus that came with it. But that stylus is not going to last forever.

My turntable is a BSR, don't know how old. I picked it up at a secondhand store and it is compatable with the rest of my sound system which is about thirty years old. The turntable was covered with dust, when I found it, but works perfectly. There are a couple of places in town that I know carry needles, etc, so I'm good. I can actually feel my heart beat faster when I spy a JazzTone for a dollar at a garage sale. Amazingly, I've rarely had to do more than a surface cleaning on any of my really old stuff. I stay away from anything "pop" as I mentioned. The older the find, for the most part, the better it was looked after, with few exceptions.

Good idea.

I know that. My attempt to inject some levity fell flat and I apologize. I'll leave the liguistics to those who are obviously more adept at them than I.