I really can't comment whether the birthday threads were intended to be provocative (unlike some of my fellow posters I don't profess to have the ability to read minds) but obnoxious? - give us a break!

However starting a thread with the sole purpose of banning someone from the forum would certainly fall into that category.

It's fair to say moreover that, initially, the birthday threads were met with the "typical" nastiness we have come to expect which I for one considered misplaced and insulting to the muscians being celebrated