I have to agree with much of what has been said here with regard to the festival's downturn. In many ways, the fall of this event has crashed more thoroughly than our economy. All, that once made this event precious to many of those who put their talents, time and energy in to making it happen in the first place, has been washed away via that downward trend. On the way down, many have tried bailing it out, in the vain hope that something positive could be resurrected or turned around but no amount of pleading, tears, anger, fists pounding in frustration, raised voices, emails, suggestions, letters, complaints, messages like the above, on sites like this or even goodwill on the part of those who wanted to see this event succeed, or restored to it's former glory has been effective in reasoning with the cold, callous, thoughtless indifference and yes, even malice demonstrated.

Here's an interesting aside to all of this. After hearing about this thread and possibly even reading it, someone from the event approached my friend, the one who I initially described in this post and reprimanded him for speaking to me about his issue with the event. They were trying to quell his concerns and apparently did not like the fact that I brought the issue to light. I don't blame them for that. Who wants to be caught with their pants down?

The people at this event have my email address, my phone number and my street address. They were (note I said "were") even once befriended by me on my MySpace page but at no time have I received one private piece of communication about this, not that I would respond to it, even if they did call or write. My only interested is in shining the light of day on the issues that have come to my attention, their belligerence and lack of respect for civil rights.

Being abusive to others is not something that I can stand by and watch, without speaking up about it. Sadly, subjects like this are the themes of many of my original songs. In the words of Popeye the Sailor Man, "I've had all I can stands and I can't stands no more!"

Most abusers know that there is only so much abuse that they can reasonably act out and that there is only so much abuse that that those they prey upon will put up with before that control, that they engage in, begins to backfire. So, the act of abusing others is usually a subtle dance. Those who choose to dance that dance usually do so by taking only small steps, so as to not arouse the attention of those who they are taking advantage of and risk retaliation for their actions.

Just as a poker player looks for tells in his fellow players to gauge and guide his actions in a game of cards, abusers look for signs in those that they abuse and use response clues to guide and direct their actions toward others that they wish to control. Like a magician, who is adept at sleight of hand, they are usually well versed in the art of distraction. As in this case, they show you what they want you to see and meanwhile they steal what they wish with impunity.