[Harp-L] Re: Subject: Re: Dumping on other harmonica players' Videos for no good reason...

[joe leone <3N037@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Jul 11, 2010, at 12:17 PM, EGS1217@xxxxxxx wrote:

> But....I wasn't talking about 'top mechanics'....or even 'top  
> harmonica players', so your example doesn't seem to apply, imho.

Oh, you're right, of course. My post had nothing to do with your  
post. Which I think was a great post and right on the money. My post  
was giving a different perspective of why 'possibly' a person in a  
high position might attract comments. Most would be positive, some  
may be negative. Of course  one would have to take it in the context  
it was made. We see it all the time on T.V. Commentators get on there  
and give their opinions. Then someone else takes shotes at the  
commentator, and it all goes round and round. I would hardly think  
that anything 'I' said amounted to a hill of beans and I sure  
wouldn't expect anyone to put a lot of stock in it. I'm not exactly  
E.F. Hutton.

My story had to do with my father in law and what happened to him. It  
wasn't an example to COMPARE with anyone. It was to be taken at face  
value. Why read something into it that wasn't there. When I look at  
things, I have a habit of looking for different takes on the same  
issue. That way, I don't have to feel that one point of view is being  
forced on me. This comes from years and years in court.
> A top harmonica player - I'll use Jason Ricci as my personal  
> example - would never and HAS never found the need to put down or  
> insult another player in writing in a public forum. That's a fact.

I agree.
> Further, we weren't talking about genuine 'critiques', but of  
> laughing at and insulting - whether by innuendo or outright comment  
> and including the person's choice of genres. Why is choice of  
> genres even a topic of conversation here?  Is this 'blues-l, jazz- 
> l, classical-l'?  I thought it was harp-l  - everything related to  
> harmonica. Mike's just affirmed that fact - and more power to him  
> for wanting to play his music HIS way.

I certainly didn't jump on the band wagon about insulting people. My  
post didn't delve into that. My post had to do with 'possible'  
reasons why a person in an exalted positions need to expect it. Don't  
shoot the messenger.
> I was also specifically alluding to people who put videos onto  
> YouTube for their own use and needs - such as those who want to  
> send them to family and friends living far afield (didn't I already  
> mention this?), or per requests from friends who have no other way  
> to experience their loved ones' music. There are soldiers posted  
> overseas for whom this is the only way to see their loved ones'  
> music. Anyone spare a thought for that?  What must their family  
> members feel like reading nasty comments beneath THOSE videos..and  
> trust me I've seen more vicious and uncalled for comments on  
> harmonica videos than I ever need or want to.

Well you're talking about people who add comments TO a video. Like  
you tube, my space, or face book. I have NEVER posted a comment in  
those places. I hear people write some nasty stuff there, so I don't  
go there.
> Those are specifically the ones I'M talking about - continuing the  
> same thread from a couple of years ago - when a lot of people here  
> decided that as long as a harmonica video was put up on YouTube it  
> was 'fair game' to be brought here to be dissected, and they WERE  
> being dissected. Almost invariably the comments were not kind.  
> 'Dumping-on' is most assuredly exactly what was being done. You  
> might consider it 'people talking'...but you weren't on the  
> receiving end of it.

Most of my posts are positive, but I have to admit that one or two of  
my posts in the last 10 years may have been construed as dumping.  
After thinking it over, I realized that I was out of line. So bad bad  
on me. But I think I explained it. I was only talking about a minute  
or two. I wasn't talking about their entire life.
> Perhaps you don't see it as 'dumping' Smokey, or actual 'critiques'  
> because you're very thick-skinned seemingly. Then again - the  
> comments made on the videos I continually posted of your playing  
> many times here 'back when' were invariably positive so you haven't  
> had to personally deal with people 'dissecting' or insulting you. I  
> wonder if you'd feel quite the same way if your playing was trashed  
> for no good reason?

If I get trashed, that means someone didn't like what I did. I would  
feel bad for making them feel that way, but I would have to live with  
it. :(
The thick skin comes from a life of violence :( I'm sorry if I come  
across that way :( I have seen things no human has any right to see :(
> I'm stating here and now - that IF I were ever to put something up  
> on YouTube or anywhere else (hardly likely under the current  
> circumstances but I do play at Open Mics at some conventions so who  
> knows what others may do?), I am specifically invoking my personal  
> privacy rights against having anyone on Harp-l posting it here for  
> critiquing and/or dissection without my express permission.

I promised yesterday..no more negative waves....from me.
>  There are cases on YouTube/facebook/myspace - the internet in  
> general-  where very vulnerable adolescents have actually committed  
> suicide due to being attacked/vilified/insulted verbally by other  
> people (pick one - I was trying to use the least inflammatory word  
> previously).

I don't visit those sites. For the very reasons you mention.
> People - even musicians, have to be aware of the repercussions of  
> their actions and even their choice of words.  Where on earth did  
> all the JOY go and all this 'righteous' nastiness surface?  This  
> isn't what music is supposed to be about, is it?  It's sure leaving  
> a sour taste, if it is.
>
> 'Dusting oneself off' isn't easy at all when one is young and  
> vulnerable, and just to reiterate something a lot of us know - most  
> people posting online ARE young. Not everyone out there on the  
> internet is a grown professional musician (we ARE talking harmonica  
> here and not your level of trained mechanics who would pretty much  
> be grown adults simply by virtue of their level of expertise).
>
> Sorry, but I don't see how one has anything much to do with the  
> topic in question.

As I said, my post had nothing to do with your post.

And now for some cheerful harp content. Did a house party today.  
Played with Harry Connick's trumpeter.
> Elizabeth