Why I'm not gone/still here

Subject: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Mr Happy
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 11:15 AM

or wherefore, which, wert and art and evermore shalt be?

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: frogprince
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 11:57 AM

Some years ago, I stumbled into here looking for the words to a dumb song. I soon found a bunch of people saying some things that made me laugh my butt off, some things that made me really think, and some things that went right to my heart. Last year a whole bunch of very good people here helped me hang in thru some of the darkest days of my life. I see more than enough recently that makes me shake my head, if not just about tear my hair out. But the positive content is nowhere near completely gone. Sorry folks, but I've never really considered leaving yet.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: jacqui.c
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 01:02 PM

i don't post as much as I used to - life and Facebook get in the way, but I do still lurk daily to see what is going on in all sorts of ways.

I must admit that I do find quite a few of the BS threads to be rather tiring - so much hostility does not suit me.

For myself, I am well aware that everything that gets onto the internet is pretty well there for keeps and I would rather not put up some piece of nastiness that someone might be able to access in the future.

My kids, I think, still come here to see what I might be up to and I would hate for them to see, from me, the sort of unpleasantness that is happening right now.

There are things I might think, and maybe say to a very small group of like minded idiots (I can think of two, maybe three people whose demons play well with mine) but, for the main part, I can't see the point in demeaning myself by sinking to the level of taking personal written pot shots at those who do not share my views.

I don't have any religious belief per se but, if that floats your boat, fine. Everyone is entitled to their own point of view on religion, politics, etc but maybe there should be a bit more respect for other people's points of view. I've always believed that, when one party in a discussion gets down to personal abuse they have lost. If it is not possible to discuss something in a civilised manner then just agree to disagree and move on. trading insults, to me, shows an immature mind set.

So, I stay on Mudcat, stay out of the threads that become unpleasant and just count myself lucky that, as a result of this site, I have dear friends that I would not otherwise have met (including a husband) and a lot of friends that I haven't yet met.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 01:39 PM

As a very old biddy, I love sitting at my computer browsing through the threads and reading all the many ideas, viewpoints and opinions. I don't much like some of the more spiteful posts, but like you jacquic, I just ignore them. I've enjoyed many interesting discussions and learnt a lot, about music and all sorts of things from the BS section. I really like most of the posters; many of them are kind, funny, informed and intelligent. I can't see myself staying away.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Elmore
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 02:23 PM

I'm still here because I enjoy all but the nastiest name calling. Funny, but I only get cranky when someone up in the musical section takes a cheap shot at a performer whom I've enjoyed for decades. Then I can be as nasty and childish as any troll.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 02:34 PM

Its our village green...

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Bill D
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 02:43 PM

Because I'm trying to set the record for most resilient, long-lasting, hard-to-dislodge silly old fool...It'll soon be 17 years.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: open mike
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 03:53 PM

because those of us who are still here need to carry on in the absence of those who have passed on...it is our duty!

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: GUEST,Damn, he's done-gone
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 03:56 PM

You are indeed far-gone,and done-gone, Mr. Happy

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 04:59 PM

I'm here because of the songs. I love learning about songs, and I love the "thrill of the hunt" of finding songs to answer requests. In all the years Mudcat has been here, we've discussed one heck of a lot of songs, but there's still new and interesting information posted here every day.

I never have liked the BS section, so I mostly ignore it.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 05:26 PM

Made some good friends here, met Max, he's a great guy, but he doesn't get the support he needs.
I only look in occasionally now, and rarely post.
Too cliquey, too many bitter and twisted BS posters.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 06:52 PM

I'm here because if I leave the terrorists win.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 07:06 PM

Rapparee-(aka, Rapaire-Repair). You can't fool me, you crafty fellow. I know you left awhile ago and were replaced by a similarly named bloke.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Leadfingers
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 08:01 PM

Mudcat is a community , and like all communities has a percentage of a***holes . The bigger the community , the more a***holes , and sadly they are the ones who make the most noise .
Its the Good Guys (Like Max) who make this place worth staying with .

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Larry The Radio Guy
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 08:06 PM

I post sporadically when something really resonates with me....like when I was doing some Mickey Newbury research and discovered a post about him that I had contributed to.....and had totally forgotten.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Eldergirl
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 08:10 PM

I've only been here a couple of months but in that time have discovered new songs, fascinating facts and opinions, and useful information about music events all over the world. AND seen examples of loving support and friendship. If others want to have a big row about something every time they post on here, that's up to them. Not all of us want to join in. If you Do want to join in, I guess you know what to expect.
Cheers me dears! X el.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 09:53 PM

Every few years, the editors at the Folknik newsletter of the San Francisco Folk Music Club, ask me to write a letter about Mudcat. Here's my submission for the next issue:

Songfinding at Mudcat

Back in about 1992, an online friend named Noel Paul Stookey (remember him?) introduced me to something called the Digital Tradition Folk Song Database (DT). I've long since lost contact with Noel, but I've used the Digital Tradition almost every day of my life since then. The Digital Tradition started in 1988. You could send a couple of floppy discs (remember them?) in a postpaid mailer to Dick Greenhaus, and he'd send back the database with a few thousand songs on it, and you could run it on your DOS computer (remember them?). You can still send a DVD in a postage-paid mailer to Dick, and he'll send you back the database – but it's still a DOS program, so you may have to run it in DOSBox if you have Windows 7 or 8.

Sometime along the way, the Digital Tradition also became available on the World Wide Web, hosted on a Xerox Website. Xerox got nervous about copyright issues, and stopped hosting the DT on the Web. A young man in Pennsylvania named Max Spiegel had a blues Website called the Mudcat Café, and in 1996 he offered it as a home for the Digital Tradition. He also set up a discussion forum so people could submit or request songs, and the whole shebang opened on October 1, 1996.

I really missed the Xerox Website, so I kept looking for the Digital Tradition. I found it again on Mudcat in January, 1997 – and I've been a Mudcatter ever since. Mudcat has developed into a multi-faceted online community over the years – and I'm the first to admit that I don't like many of those facets. Still, the Mudcat has always been the best place to go to for folk music information.

Other people go to Mudcat for other things, but I go to Mudcat for the songs. The Digital Tradition Folk Song Database has grown to almost 10,000 songs, and Mudcat has thousands more songs that have not yet been added to the database. If you are looking for studiously accurate information on songs, look for the "DTStudy" and "origins" threads at Mudcat. In those threads, we do our best to present a number of versions of a song, each documented with source information and background notes. We have thousands of songs in the discussion forum that have been thoroughly researched and documented.

I used to love reading the "Songfinder" column in Sing Out! Magazine, drinking in the songfinding wisdom of Holly Tannen and Michael Cooney and Shelley Posen and Joe Hickerson and others. It was a real thrill when Joe Hickerson himself recognized ME in his column as an expert songfinder. And, in as much humility as I can muster, I think maybe he's right. In 16 years at Mudcat, I've found hundreds of songs, including original versions of songs that might not have been seen in over a hundred years. It's a thrill, and it always will be. That's why I love Mudcat. You, too, can be a Songfinder. Drop by, and give us a hand.

-Joe Offer, Archivist-
The Mudcat Café, www.mudcat.org

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 10:02 PM

Oh, heavens! Joe, now everybody will come! They'll overrun the joint! They...they...may be guitar players and banjo pickers!!! What have you done???

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Padre
Date: 24 Sep 13 - 10:15 PM

Like Joe Offer, I almost never read below the line - the overarching negativity on both sides of any issue just seems to suck all the joy out of the day. At one time, it was possible to specify that you didn't want to see the BS, but I can't find that option now. End of rant, If'm going back above the line now.

Padre

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 25 Sep 13 - 06:28 AM

I'm with Joe. The DT is priceless. The BS section can be hilarious (especially when Bobertz comes up with a good story - remember the drug-fuelled Christmas Tree saga?). Any BS thread that goes bad can simply be ignored...

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Claire M
Date: 25 Sep 13 - 06:51 AM

Hiya,

Why am I still here??
Cos I can talk about things I enjoy, that I always have enjoyed & always will, that I can't w/ many other people. I try to get on w/ most people, but I find it easier to chat w/ those who have similar interests.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: kendall
Date: 25 Sep 13 - 07:01 AM

The problem is, everyone is an asshole to someone.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 25 Sep 13 - 01:11 PM

Not true, kendall. I am scrupulously fair. I'm an asshole to everyone.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 25 Sep 13 - 01:19 PM

Not true Eliza. You're a little darlin'.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 26 Sep 13 - 10:40 AM

A great big HUG to you Backwoodsman!!

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Stringsinger
Date: 26 Sep 13 - 12:30 PM

See my post on the "Why I'm Gone" thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Mo the caller
Date: 26 Sep 13 - 06:38 PM

No, I never read threads that get that long (from bitter experience)
Even to make the comment that if whoever it might be is gone, then why is he talking about it - or maybe everyone else is talking to themself.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Raedwulf
Date: 26 Sep 13 - 07:15 PM

I still lurk occasionally. I just don't post much any more, largely because most of the people I used to enjoy debating with seem to have disappeared, and because interesting topics seem few & far between in the last few years. I always did lurk beneath the line, I'm afraid.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Sep 13 - 07:21 PM

I'm still here because some of my favourite people hang around in this segment of the aether. Rapparee and Bobert, Jeri and the Stilly River Sage, gnu and Leadfingers, WYSIWYG and Joe Offer, Kendall and Eliza; all the cat-lovers and dog people; and especially the song chasers and obsessed collectors of Martin guitars -- my world would be rather small and dull without the Mudcat.

Sure, there's jerks here; jerks are to be found everywhere. I don't let them bother me, and -- fortunately -- I don't attract their attention. That's cool with me.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Bobert
Date: 26 Sep 13 - 08:29 PM

Yeah, I am a glutton for punishment and thus...

...still here...

B;~)

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: GUEST,Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 27 Sep 13 - 11:22 AM

The global village needs an idiot, so....

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Mr Happy
Date: 27 Sep 13 - 12:41 PM

If you feel there's a dearth of interesting threads/discussions, then you're as well placed as anyone else to initiate some.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Donuel
Date: 27 Sep 13 - 01:47 PM

It seems like many people take the summer off from mudcat. once a nip is in the air folks start tapping away again with the fireplace crackling nearby.

With the Gov shutdown due on Tue. lots of folks should have even more spare time.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Andrez
Date: 27 Sep 13 - 11:16 PM

Its nice seeing people accentuating the Mudcat positives for a change. As noted above its easy to eliminate the negative by just not reading let alone engaging in the BS negative threads. In real life there are ideas, people and music that we engage with and other stuff that we don't. Thats how it goes. For better or worse, it takes all kinds to make a community!

Cheers,

Andrez

With apologies to Johnny Mercer :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: keberoxu
Date: 05 Apr 16 - 06:06 PM

The post on this thread from Rapparee is priceless.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: The Sandman
Date: 05 Apr 16 - 06:17 PM

because of threads like this
Musical technique hints and tips

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: gnu
Date: 05 Apr 16 - 08:34 PM

From: keberoxu - PM
Date: 05 Apr 16 - 06:06 PM

The post on this thread from Rapparee is priceless.
*********************************************************

Can you fill us in on which one?

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 05 Apr 16 - 11:19 PM

Not only am I still here...though I'm not posting all that often...Chongo Chimp is still here! Yes, he's everywhere! He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He even knows when you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake! It's a big job keeping track of all you people, and I think Chongo deserves to be far better paid for it, don't you? Send your dollars to Chongo Chimp, 22 Bogart Drive, Apt 5-A, Chicago, Illinois....and be generous! He needs campaign funds, and Cuban cigars aren't cheap!

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Andrez
Date: 06 Apr 16 - 01:41 AM

Is Chongo Chip running a Presidential campaign or have I mistaken him for that Drongo Trump?

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 06 Apr 16 - 02:12 AM

where else can I go? I'm not on facebook, & I've never seen a site like this one.

Interesting to see the names on this 3-year old thread.

where are ClaireM, Eldergirl, Eliza ...

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 06 Apr 16 - 02:52 AM

Eliza's still here, Sandra. Posting several timesrecently in BS.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 06 Apr 16 - 03:02 AM

Compulsive & Addictive ——

Bugger·it!

≈M≈

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Senoufou
Date: 06 Apr 16 - 07:47 AM

Yooohooo!! I'm Eliza under a different name (waves to everyone)
I'm a member now.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Apr 16 - 07:55 AM

Hi, Eliza! So glad to see you all signed up and everything.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 06 Apr 16 - 07:57 AM

Welcome -- so now you are a real Cat at last!

x❤x≈M≈x❤x

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Senoufou
Date: 06 Apr 16 - 08:02 AM

Yes, Michael. My three Siamese cats are quite proud I'm a Cat too.

I couldn't keep my old name of Eliza, as it seems there's a folk singer here who has had that username for a long time.

Love all those pink hearts and kisses!

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 06 Apr 16 - 08:14 AM

I told my cat Cleo, & she miaows a welcome also. She's a black·&·white 'tuxedo' cat, but hopes your Siameses not too grand to accept a loving greeting from her.

❤☺〠☺~M~☺〠❤

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: Senoufou
Date: 06 Apr 16 - 11:42 AM

Smoky, Minty and Murphy are waving their paws at Cleo and singing a Siamese folk song in chorus for her.
They're not 'too grand' at all. They're little sods and wee on things, scratch up the carpets and howl in the night for attention.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: keberoxu
Date: 06 Apr 16 - 12:13 PM

I meant the post in which Rapparee responds to a post from Joe Offer.

Subject: RE: BS: Why I'm not gone/still here!
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 06 Apr 16 - 12:41 PM

When I'm pottering about in the house on my own...

Typing the occasional post on mudcat has got to be a bit of a better option than talking to a budgie..
and a lot less mess to keep clean and maintain... 😜