OT stuff, archives

[Phillip Ford]

>You guys just dont get it.... we are a family, and while we are primarilly 
>interested in talking piano here, like every family the conversations 
>stray into this and that.

Straying into this or that is one thing.  Deliberately raising an 
incendiary topic is another.  In my family we observed certain rules and 
decorum.  If I had raised the topic of abortion at the dinner table my 
father would have immediately said that this was neither the time nor the 
place for that discussion.  I agree that a certain amount of banter is 
inevitable, and in my opinion, even desireable.  But I think common courtesy
and regard for others would dictate that a lot of what is 
going on the list shouldn't be going on the list (much less in the archives).

>  Its just like being in one of those big convention receptions. 80% of 
> the mumbling going on within any given earshot is piano related... and 
> then there is a good portion of kidding around, a few religious, 
> political freys, a bit of sports talk... whatever. You have to expect the 
> same here.

As long as it's 80% piano.  If it got to be 80% other stuff and 20% piano 
then I wouldn't be at the convention in the first place, because I go 
wanting and expecting it to be about pianos.  It's billed as a piano event 
(as is this list), so if it was 80% noise I would feel cheated.  There are 
times when I have to take a break from this list because the noise level 
gets so high.  There are others who had things to contribute who have taken 
a permanent break from the list because of the noise level.  I think that's 
a shame.

>  I can imagine what would happen if you walked up to the guy a few feet 
> away at the closing dinner at the national and asked him to keep the 
> discussion on piano only topics.

I can also imagine what would happen if you walked up to two people who 
were having a serious discussion about pianos and said, hey, how 'bout them 
9ers.  I agree with Andy that sticking OT on your post shouldn't be a 
blanket cover-all to allow discussion of any topic you wish to 
discuss.  How do you like these subject lines:

OT Abortion = Murder (Feel free to delete)
OT Self Righteous Right-Wingers Oppose Abortion (Feel free to delete)

In my opinion, this sort of stuff has no place on this list.  Saying I'm a 
member of this family and felt like discussing this, or I put OT on, or 
just use the delete key doesn't cut it.  Since we don't have a monitor we 
have to be self-policing.  When someone takes on the burden of doing that, 
(s)he deserves better than to be accused of 'not getting it'.


>All that said... I see no reason why all this must be saved in the 
>archives. And I really dont see why some degree of automation could not be 
>employed to do the largest portion of the work.
>
>John Page states that he goes to the trouble of cutting and pasting 
>directly from the archives. If thats not more trouble then its worth for 
>him to do... then requiring the addition of a small <<for the archives>> 
>signalment in the subject line should be even less work for all of us.

Not a bad idea, if Andy is willing to take on the work.


>If each of us stops to think of just how much we write in that we really 
>would like to see saved... I am sure most would find quite a bit could 
>easily be dropped for one or another reason. Conversation is one thing.... 
>keeping records is another.
>
>Cheers
>RIcB

Hey, is this being recorded?

Phil Ford

PS  In the giving credit where it's due department, I have to commend Thump 
for not adding fuel to the latest political fire.