Quote from MoreLikeVernie on Feb. 6, 2005 at 5:36 PM
Will, you made the interactive discography right? That is a pretty useful tool, thank you for that as well.
Oh God, not that.
Yeah, that was me. Thanks for the kind words. I need to find a new place to put it, but more than that, I need to redo and update it. It's been some time indeed (you know, that whole "finishing school thing got in the way). I'd probably need to (again) call on people to fill me in on the songs that disappeared (when I last updated it, "Love Is Golden" was new and still being played, for instance, and "Arkada" and "Hold Me Alone" weren't around... I think it's a useful thing to have, especially given the way we're privelidged enough to be able to follow the creation of new songs so intimately. But I can't keep track of "most recent performance" anymore, and they're big enough that we can't really follow that anyway (until they get even bigger and someone bootlegs every show). I do intend to make it useful again (it is now so out of date that I doubt it is as useful anymore), but more than that, i now get paid to do graphics and web work for a living. Not design, so I can't make it look *ALL* that better, but I can do a damn sight better than I have done right now. One day...
But enough about that. I need to respond... it was certainly out of line for me to say what I did how I said it. I meant what I said, to a point, but it came out all wrong.
I certainly didn't intend to belittle you (or anyone else) for having made only a handful of posts. That's cool. There's a school of thought that says you should be proud that you've not lost as much time as the rest of us on this silly little message board. It isn't a flawed argument. There's also, as Pokey pointed out, a number of folks that simply don't shoot their mouths off the way the rest of us do. Hell, I don't shoot it off like I used to (contrary to recent behavior).
But there's still alot to be said for the argument that I (rather poorly) made. I've seen far too many people show up, ask for bootlegs within the first couple of days, and get angry when people don't give them something. That's not fair to the people that have made bootlegs: to RD. When someone shows up with a sense of entitlement, there's a certain tendency to jump back. People are alot more willing to help out people that stick around, or ask graciously and without demand in their tone. Pokey's stuck around, and Clay, you've been around longer than I gave you credit for (now that I take the time to actually look). All told, we do what we can, when we can, for the people we feel good about doing stuff for. I use the "royal we," but I don't do much, nor have I the means to.
Is all of this elitism? There's a tendency to call this place elitist. Maybe it is; I've never seen it that way. Maybe I'm part of the elite? I've never seen it that way. I've just been here longer than some. But take jamiecarrol, for example... a less elitist person I've never met (where's he been, anyway?). People joke around alot, sure, and newbies are given shit for being annoying (not for "not knowing everything," but for being annoying in more tangible ways... someone point me to an example of a simple question of fact that led to someone being treated wrongly), but it's typically because they're being annoying, and you can see that plain as day. So much of what anyone here says needs to be taken with a handful of salt, I think, and I guess that takes getting used to. But I've never put anyone down for "going against the grain" or "using improper grammar." Well, okay, maybe a potshot here or there awhile back at someone that showed up to cause trouble (a Features-hater) that couldn't communicate anything clearly, but that's different. I try to be civil, kind, and helpful to new fans. I gladly share any knowledge I have, and the discography was certainly created with that in mind. I'm not too big to admit that I was in a bad mood this morning and I crossed the line taking you to task the way I did, and I apologize. I sympathize with being a long-distance fan; I've lived in Chicago for almost five years. And yes, I have relied on people on this board (including RD at a time) to help me keep in touch with the band's stuff. But I'll tell you that I'd been here for over a year before I did. Elitism or familiarity? Maybe it just depends which side of the fence you're on, I guess.
Stick it out here, though, and you'll find that most everyone is a really great person, and helpful as can be. There's a tendency against being as gracious with people that are new in town, but it's like any community... you've got to feel out the new neighbors before you invite them to dinner.
Wow. A more jumbled collection of thoughts I have never assembled. I need sleep.
Will
Who is curious about the number of references, intentional or not, PokeyDot made to me in the criticism... I don't tend to throw "8 years" around, do I? God, I certainly don't intend to. If I need to be taken to task for being an asshole, please, everyone, let me know.
You may like grandma's yard gnomes, but I've seen Rock City. Remember it.
. My apologies, it just seems this place is often full of personal attacks so that's the mindset whenever I read certain things.
