You first point is well taken. Indeed, it was a dark day when a musical friend of mine living in my own town of Orillia innocently drew my attention to Mudcat Cafe, thus luring me into an inescapable tarpit of time-wasting twaddle that would consume mega-parcels of my mental existence and render my life into a sorry shambles!

This friend, a former member of Mudcat Cafe, left it in a fury over "those f**king Americans" around about the time the USA made its decision to start bombing Afghanistan. She has never returned. My reaction to that war was rather similar to hers, but I stayed. (sigh)

And here I am to this day. Trapped like a fly on a fly strip.

As to your 2nd point... Ha! Very droll. I think that when it comes to self-admiration you have no rivals, except possibly for Shane McBride and Rapaire. Shane's self-admiration arises out of deep insecurity. Deep down he knows he's a major loser, but he covers it over with a show of bravado. I'm not sure what yours and/or Rapaire's arises out of.