KingBrilliant, there's much truth to what you say. I have a great memory of the part where Frank (and I, the invisible accompanist - well, maybe not so great a memory after all) won the banjo contest. I'm wondering what my impression of the event would be if we had won the band contest. This may mean either that only winners have a positive view of the world, or only people with lower expectations whose results match their expectations have a positive view.

But that's just the point. Winning and losing changed my perceptions. The competition itself had the effect of coloring my reality. Our band's performance hasn't changed, but my estimation of it in relation to the rest of the world has.

Your DARE is tempting.

And what about the whole thing with the bass player? No one has commented on that.