Ahem!...(dragging LaMarca's soapbox to the center of the room)...I know that the direct links back & forth to the database & the discussion forum are simply a matter of the management (Mudcat...not Dick G.) deciding to do it. Likewise, a link to a 'help' page and a note about content. I get the impression that this would be about 30 minutes work for someone who knows HTML. I really believe this should be done--if what it takes is many pleading emails to 'the bartender', I will try that. As to subject matter...as long as this is the only forum of this nature, it is GOING to be beset with requests outside it's stated purpose, no matter how broadly or narrowly that purpose is defined.I feel very strongly that some sort of attempt to clue in newcomers about general limits is advisable.-----For those of you, (Bert, Rodney, Ralph, and others) whose interests go way beyond whatever 'folk/trad/' is...(I know that LaMarca's do!),I refer you to the 'Love is a Many Splendored Thing" thread (you all remember that*grin*) where the irrepressable Elsie said "You don't go into a Mexican restaurant and expect them to cook you Ravoli with mustard and goat cheese! If you FIND a restaurant that serves that, feel free to eat there! Start one, if you like...." ...I kind of like that (the comment, not the recipe).We have to have some limits..

As to Bert's idea that " folk singers have a 'duty' to sing the songs that 'they like', so that future generations will have folk songs from this generation"-----that is the way it has always been! My interests, unlike Rodney, are mostly folk/trad, but I sing lots of songs that are not strictly folk...I just don't claim that they ARE folk just because I sing them(though most of them tend strongly toward folk themes, styles, etc.).The problem ,Bert, is that we can't decide ahead of time what is to be folk a hundred years from now.A lot of songs produced these days simply have a different feeling about them than what 'folksingers' used to collect, remember, pass on orally and analyze endlessly. I do not like a lot of the trends in music, and I come here to immerse myself in the sort of things I do like. Dick G has said that he includes a wider variety of stuff than even HE likes. Well, so far I can live with his limits...(I guess I'd better..I am unlikely to start my own site!)

I suspect that these sort of discussions will always be with us...I don't seem to be able to restrain myself when certain topics arise...if we keep it reasonably civil, it can only be helpful & fun!

*returns soapbox to corner-but leaves it in plain sight*

In line with LaMarca suggestion, I am Bill D- extree@erols.com