David, I said "I've seen this kind of thing before," referring to people who would rather not work if they can survive on the dole, but make excuses, not just to their friends and acquaintances, but to themselves, that it's not their own lack of ambition that keeps them from working, but "those other people," be they immigrants from Pakistan or Jamaica moving to England in hopes of finding work, or in the United States, Mexicans crossing the border to take domestic jobs or do farm work, or citizens who happen to be members of ethnic groups that have previously been discriminated against. Those "other people" make a good excuse for not bothering to try. As long as the unemployment insurance holds out.

And the people who drew unemployment checks while complaining about affirmative action, did have to try. It was a legal requirement that they had to apply for at least three jobs per week. There were people (the one's doing the complaining) who did the minimum required by law. Those who were serious about finding another job were out there putting in several applications every day. And, I might mention, even in the worst of times, they generally found work within a very few weeks.

It is not me who is naïve, David, it is you being disingenuous.

And—

"You've also criticised my myspace attempts at music, before being politely asked if there's anything of yours we can check on the web..?"

When I was critical of your attempts at music on your MySpace site, I was pointing out (and I don't think I would have much disagreement from others who have listened to it) that posting the things you have on MySpace is way premature if you want to be taken seriously as any kind of musician. Your work on the recorder shows that you are a relative beginner on the instrument, and when you sing, you do so without breath-support and a very precarious sense of pitch (which may very well be aggravated by the lack of breath-support).

What I was endeavoring to get across to you was that—again, if you wish to be taken seriously as a singer and musician—you should not be presenting yourself to the public before you are ready.

And for heaven's sake, don't take the position that since you're doing folk music, you don't have to be able to do it well. That's not only patronizing, it demonstrates contempt for both your audience and for the music itself.

What you should do is to sing for some long-time, experienced singer whom you can trust to tell you frankly what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong. You probably can't afford singing lessons in your present circumstances, but when you can, taking some singing lessons would be a very good idea—that is, if you want to pursue singing seriously. At least learn how to sing a whole phrase without sounding like you need to gasp for air, and to sing on the correct pitches without wandering off.

This is not a put-down, David, it's good advice. And I don't think there is anyone here, or any singer, professional or serious amateur, who would disagree with what I have said above.

And you asked if there is anything of mine on the web that you can check (the implication seeming to be that "If I'm so hot, why haven't I posted anything, like you have?" As I believe I told you before, I do not have anything on the web right now—not because I'm afraid to expose myself—but because I am currently working on a series of songs for a CD. Or several CDs. I've recently acquired some good quality recording equipment (a couple of good condenser microphones, an analog-to-digital interface for the desktop computer in my office, and miscellaneous other gear such as mic stands and pop-filters), and I am setting up a home studio. In the meantime, I'm selecting the songs—from the repertoire I have been singing in performance for years—that I want to record. In addition, I am learning a number of new songs. It will be some time before the project is complete. But I guarantee, it will be professional quality.

When it's well along, I will indeed post a number of songs on the web, for you to judge for yourself.

You may not like much of it, however, because in addition to a number of American songs, many of the songs will be from the British Isles, along with a couple from continental Europe.

Don Firth