I'll admit that we have a unique way of doing vines here but as John K said it's because folks don't follow the instructions. We do form a chain before the vine starts. It's just that we allow additional links to be added onto the chain after it starts. It's not called a chain after all but a vine and a vine is a living thing that can grow. We used to do the post one at a time way but found that it worked better for members that checked their email 20 times a day and discriminated against someone that only checked every other day. That's when we went to the living vine concept. Being an international group prompted the Hopination concept. I suppose it can be frustrating if someone is third and then gets bumped to seventh because of Hopination but it does speed the overall distribution of the vine. It shouldn't be difficult at all if everyone plays by the rules. There are 2 rules that are most often ignored and I think this is where the problems come from.
1. Never change the subject line on an official vine communication email post. 2. Always post an email after you send the vine on to the next guy with the current vine (CHAIN) list but with your own name removed. This way a simple search at the website or on your local email client for the subject line of a particular vine will find all the information you would ever need. If the vine gets hopinated there should be no problem as long as rule 2 has been followed. I recommend copy and paste to avoid leaving someone out and make sure your working off the list posted by the guy who sent you the vine. Oh he didn't post a list when he sent it to you? Well there's the problem. Another personal rule I have for myself is to never sign up for more than 2 vines at once if there is a chance of them arriving at the same time. Unless you have no life beyond the collecting of live music it can get confusing to have 4 or 6 vines all come at the same time. This should be a fun hobby and I've found that it stresses me out if I have too many vines to deal with all at once. Of course everyone is different but it's something to think about. I've observed others having great difficulty after signing up for every vine that comes along. Jim L _____ From: Zappa-List@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Michael Golub Sent: Saturday, December 02, 2006 1:11 PM To: Zappa-List@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Zappa-List] the vine structures in this group are a joke sorry but this group really makes vine structures difficult..why not either form a chain at the beginning of the sign up period, or post a vine offer one at a time..this is ridiculous Mike "Everybody take a deep breath, because thats all youre gonna get" Bob Weir
