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
