Jeff Evans
The thread should be about ideas and not people. It is the silly people who keep it on track re people.
John I get your point about defending your name but really who cares. Nearly everyone here knows who the good people really are (Craig included) so they don't have to waste time defending their name. There is always going to be somebody who does not like something about someone and takes a shot. Do you have to get all huffed about it though.
Jeff, I enjoy your posts because you engage in discussions, while presenting reality-based opinions. You understand how to use, and contribute to, a forum.
This thread was never about ideas. Its premise was to unearth an article that hit the newsstands in late November/early December 2012 and was written in October 2012. Why? Was it attempt to educate people? To present ideas that would help Sonar users? To lodge a valid complaint to try to rally people to support getting the bakers to change something?
No. It was strictly to stir up crap. Other people, not realizing the thread was based on a faulty premise, jumped on the bandwagon. Around post #15 I thought I better say something, so I did. I said Bub wasn't bad, that he simply didn't do his research, which I have to do because, well, I write things and put my name on them. Then I gave factual, idea-based, refutations involving quotes from actual forum members from around the time the article was written to address the initial post. My last sentence in my initial post was admittedly snarky, but I wasn’t going to let the phrase “we all know the article is inaccurate” get off scot-free.
Anyone with integrity would have said "Okay, I get it, I didn't realize the circumstances around which the article was written." And no apology would have been necessary or even make sense, because the original premise would have been based on not understanding something, instead of taking a cheap shot in the form of a personal attack.
I’ve been moderating forums for 18 years and on BBS systems for over a decade prior to that. Moderators classify people like GlennP as the archetypal “can dish it out but can’t take it.” He never responded to my posting of facts; he just distanced himself from his initial premise, and descended into ad hominem attacks while feigning superiority.
I’m not attacking him by saying this; read his posts. I’m summarizing. As to defending my name, the only “product” I have is credibility because without that, reviews, articles, videos, recordings, etc. mean nothing. If GlennP came into a forum and said he was at a restaurant where the waiter urinated in his soup and that never happened, you can bet that restaurant would be out there defending itself. Some people don’t know who I am, and might actually believe his premise was valid.
I can handle posts that exemplify condescension, but I feel only a bully would make a statement like this:
“I state this because it seems to me that a significant number of forum members (like backwoods and jb101) think it’s a toy to fill in the hours of an unfulfilled existence. Too much spare time they have, because they no longer can make it as a muso. You need to stop and realise that you are emotionally and artistically crippled and all that is left for you is to play with yourself in your bedrooms and pretend… Oh what might have been… If only…” I don’t like bullies.
When I see one, the Mongol blood in me rises to the surface (yes, there’s Mongol blood in there).
My brother had cerebral palsy and this bully named Jack like to attack him physically. Jack was a sports guy, strong and also, evil. He was 16, I was 10. One day I couldn’t take it any more. I beat the living crap out of Jack until he was bleeding from places he probably shouldn’t have been bleeding. I wasn’t stronger, but I had motivation...like those women who lift up a car that pinned a child. He never attacked my brother again. Or me, for that matter. I still don’t know how I managed to beat him up. And I’ve never gotten in a physical fight since.
But it left me with a very, very,
very strong dislike for bullies that I carry to this day.
If people think I’ve sullied my reputation as a nice guy because I decided to take on someone for making a personal attack, I cannot disagree. I try whenever possible to take the high road. But if someone challenges me to a duel, I reserve the right to accept. And when he bullies other people in this forum, I will definitely accept.
However, I also need to say one more thing. You won’t be seeing as much of me here soon, and I didn’t want anyone to think that some of the people were sufficiently toxic to negate all the wonderful, knowledgeable, and helpful people who make up the majority of this forum, and therefore draw the erroneous conclusion that they drove me away.
Far from it. There has been a
major change in my life; the press release will be going out this week. I will be involved for the foreseeable future in spearheading a world-wide educational initiative involving music, and it will take up a lot of my time. I'll still write articles, give lectures, and perform because that’s actually part of my job description. And I’ll still take “quick glances”
here to gauge which subjects need to be covered in articles like my Sonar column. But, my time will be at even more of a premium than it is now. There is much to do, and more years behind me than ahead of me, so I need to get moving.
Finally, for the record...I have zero doubt that if Bub and I were sitting in a bar, we’d have some great conversations.