BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: GUEST,fred miller
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 10:53 PM

It's an interesting thing you mention, Nerd. One could find my house, and my name is blandly just my name. But even Vladimir Nabokov who required all interview questions submitted in writing, and proofed the galleys of his replies, and always spoke of his persona an invention and an illusion, and was utterly aloof from public opinion in virtually all matters--even he hoped he achieved some sort of agreeable effect.

   I don't object to insult and vulgarity, per se, it's just not as reliably funny as it was when I was say, nine. And it does derail some fun threads, and maybe kills one every now and then. I don't quite blame MG. His posts would be much more fun if followed by different sorts of replies, or sometimes none at all, by less consternated curliques and repeats, all turning out the same. at least to my taste.

It's true I did once have a thread about my kids' band that Martin started noodling with, throwing in blowjob jokes and whatnot. But the thing that bothered me is I had read the same joke in other posts of his twice before, that week. If you want to play around, well, what? Are your writers on strike? Do you know so few jokes that a thread about 8 yr olds seems right for the bj one-liner? Whether Martin cares or not, he's usually a lame-ass wit, and I'm as entitled to say so as he is to be one. I didn't mind it much, and it was all right, but I guess some people might. Still, the coolness of this open forum is priceless--let offended people go to guitarnotes or somewhere with it's churchy moderated forums, sit in their seats, face straight ahead.

   Anyway, it's the interactions that often make a thread a fun and interesting event, not any one voice, or we could all just blog our own individual threads and follow our favorites.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Once Famous
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 10:18 PM

Jacqui C. So I piss you off? Moving up to an extra wide tampon should solve that problem.

Don't be confused Harpgirl, I really was 13 in 1963. Therefore, it should not be so confusing to know that I was one in 1951.

Bill D., did you get your psychology degree in a gumball machine? Your projection is kind of scary to me. I do agree sometimes with what you post, but it seems that you have the sense of humor of a moth. Have you tried anything to relax your sphincter?

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 04:43 PM

No problem GUEST Blackcatter at work....I still very much feel as though I am finding my way round here and the way to do it is to get involved. Sorry if that doesn't fit with your criteria but that's just me. Get put in my place a few times for whatever...have my signing off questioned....take insults from Martin Gibson....have PM's from people who tell me the things they said on the thread were only for effect....find a few people who are trading conversation honestly and openly....I am still learning about the Cat..I don't have your experience of it but am sure finding mine. Be Blessed.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: GUEST,Blackcatter at work
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 03:10 PM

What really bothers me is when a guest starts a thread and asks a perfectly reasonable question (even if it is one answered 1000 times here before) and the first response is a nasty thing, usually posted by another "GUEST" who is some idiot trying to be funny (I assume, but could be wrong).

It is one thing to be "funny," "combative," whatever in the BS realm as well as in a music thead once the person has been helped to some extent, but it really gives the Mudcat a bad reputation when innocent people come here looking for help and get grief.

I got into a fight with an idiot a few months back who did that and he/she followed me around to all the threads and tried to slam me all the time, because I told him/her to f-off after posting a mean response to a perfectly good question by a "newbie." I also thied to answer the question and tell the newbie we're not all like the idiot.


The other thing that bothers me is those new to Mudcat who make themselves at home so quickly. This is my problem, not theirs, of course and honestly is part of why Georgiansilver irks me. It probably took me 6 or more months of membership before I started a thread (nearly 5 years ago), yet GS has started a few having only been a mmeber for a few mnths. Like I said, that's my problem but it's not the only thing that frustrates me about him (sorrry to speak like you're not here GS).

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: harpgirl
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 01:05 PM

...MG confuses me...in one breath he says he was 13 in 1963 and in the next that he is not in Don Meixner's generation...sounds kinda "Loopie" to me!! But heck, what do I know??? right MG??? WILL you explain this inconsistency to me???

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Bill D
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 01:03 PM

oh...and by the way....I try VERY hard to add little bits to my posts to make my 'projection' as clear as possible. *grins* and emphasis and pauses and OTHER forms of emphasis are my feeble attempt to sound like I am talking. Smiley faces are used by some for the same purpose. ;>), but they are limited, and not even understood by everyone. I would prefer that everyone have a camera so that facial expressions could be added to the information during a discussion like this...and even an audio connection for certain times....and with technology, it is, of course possible, though not yet 'easy'....

one old farts opinion...

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Bill D
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 12:50 PM

Nerd- if it is difficult to tell what really lies behind each screen persona, it is equally difficult to imagine how the 'banter' affects some of them who are trying to learn to find their way in the online forum world. Saying that fragile people should avoid this world is a cop-out...it's like saying that fair-skinned people should avoid going outside when the sun is shining. To operate in this new system, sometimes they have little choice.

Or...maybe a better example...when students are teased, hassled and otherwise bothered by school bullies, the usual reply of the bully, is "awww...I was just havin' a little fun. He needs to learn to take it, or get some backbone..."...various forms of that....

Why is the answer NOT that "bullies need to be re-educated and reigned in" ?

Why are some posters here totally open about who and where they really are? (You could find out who Bill D is in 2 minutes of searching and drive right to my fron door....but I don't think I have ever seen anything which tells me ANY details about Nerd. I know it is intelligent and can spell and usually has reasonable things to say...but I am not even sure about gender) Is this important?...No, as Nerd doesn't seem to cause the polarization that some here do.

This internet business is pretty new in the human experience. Many of our ways of communicating are being altered more rapidly than our psyches find comfortable...and some adapt more slowly, and 'maybe' some shouldn't try online forums at all....and perhaps some are borderline. That's what bell-shaped curves are about! I STILL see no need to make the online experience akin to a college fraternity hazing ritual, as Martin Gibson seems to take delight in. In many ways, he is a bigger problem than old .gargoyle, who gets so weird that it becomes a joke. Marin Gibson does not sound like he is joking, and if his 'projection' is merely an elaborate put-on, pardon me if I don't laugh at its wit.

Like I say....I tend to aim towards MEETING as many nice people thru Mudcat as possible and enjoying music & talk with them...but I have my reservations about some.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: GUEST,Tam the bam (Nutter)
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 05:44 AM

Me, I piss myself off

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 04:18 AM

Martin Gibson....I never have to worry about when I am going to get laid next...not one of my problems....what about you??.

GUEST Fred Miller...Yes I actually enjoy reading Martins postings in any form and as Little Hawk puts it "It can be interesting figuring out what is really behind them" AND yes Martin gets a huge amount of attention,even if quite a bit of it is by butting in on threads with irrelevant material and insults. That's his way, let's just enjoy him. Be Blessed.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: jacqui.c
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 01:59 AM

Problem is that Martin's gratuitous and unpleasant posts tend to sour an interesting thread. Then the attention is focused on the negative - point and counterpoint to MG's insults - and not on the original subject. That pisses me off.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Nerd
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 01:52 AM

By the way, reading some of my posts here, I can well imagine that I must piss some of you off, by being such a...well, a nerd! If so, I apologize!

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Nerd
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 01:45 AM

Good one, Blackcatter!

Goffman would answer BillD by saying that we have no way of knowing whether anyone on Mudcat is anything like the "real person," even if we know them outside of Mudcat. All we see are performative presentations of self, here or in the real world. All we would know for sure is that the person gives very consistent performances.

The part I really don't get is this:

Everyone views these words on a screen a bit differently...some treat every 'persona' seriously, and *some* act as though none of these characters are really real, and assume their Don Rickles shtick of gratuitous insults is only a play-party game. They are so dead wrong it is scary! There are REAL people on the end of every post, whether you ever expect to meet them or not. It IS possible to do real damage with insults and put-downs, and no amount of laughing & shrugging is going to change that.

I could understand you saying it's wrong, but "so dead wrong it is scary?" It sounds as though you're saying there are people here so fragile that an insult from someone who is essentially a stranger is likely to have serious psychological consequences. This may be the case, but such a person is an accident waiting to happen and should probably stay away from anonymous internet forums!

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Blackcatter
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 12:35 AM

"He may be a son of a bitch," US President Franklin Roosevelt is reported to have said of Nicaraguan dictator Anastosio Somoza, "but at least, he's our son of a bitch."

That's our MG.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 12:20 AM

Yes, we are all seeing projections. It can be interesting figuring out what is really behind them, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Bill D
Date: 27 Jul 04 - 12:15 AM

well, Mr. Nerd, sir...you are, of course, technically correct. We see textual representations of some 'person'.....but some represent themselves in a pretty real approximation of what they are in reality.

I have MET a whole bunch of Mudcat folks RT, and it is my observation that those who are willing to be known RT are pretty much like their online personas. (there are several who are a 'bit' more bashful RT, and who actually express themselves better with time to think and type)

Now, it might be that Martin Gibson, aka ******** *. ************ in his supposed 'real' persona as a Jewish bluegrass musician from Chicago, is a well-liked and friendly fellow, but I sure wonder at the inner self that thinks it a great experiment and good fun to foment the amount of rancor he persists in spreading around this forum!

Everyone views these words on a screen a bit differently...some treat every 'persona' seriously, and *some* act as though none of these characters are really real, and assume their Don Rickles shtick of gratuitous insults is only a play-party game. They are so dead wrong it is scary! There are REAL people on the end of every post, whether you ever expect to meet them or not. It IS possible to do real damage with insults and put-downs, and no amount of laughing & shrugging is going to change that.

"Martin Gibson" is clever, bright, fast with the quip and has a thick skin....but I suspect that he is not a guy I'd care to be stranded with on a desert island.....not that he cares, anwyay...

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: GUEST,Fred Miller
Date: 26 Jul 04 - 11:47 PM

Well Gs, I like some of Martin's posts when he has something to say, but don't enjoy his routine postings(I KNOW, Martin, You don't care, don't give a whatever, yes, I get it, done got it, am watching re-runs, thanks).
   Except I always do enjoy the part of the routine where he tells people he doesn't care what they think of his routine, online persona, manners, style, humor, whatever. I think I like it because it's a question he keeps answering that nobody keeps asking him.
    When you or I ask a question like you have, correct me if I'm wrong, we are not asking Martin, or "Martin" whether he cares what we think, or even really addressing him at all. Why would we? It's more like an open question to absolutely anyone else--even anonymous guests--and addressing a dismal, recurring phenomenae, like say, We're getting some bleak weather here aren't we? One isn't asking the dull grey skies if they care what we think about them, or addressing the question to them.
    That's why I enjoy the way Martin always and very predictably butts in right there to answer, always naively supposing anyone cares WHETHER he cares what we think. Different people find different things funny, that's the side of MG that amuses me. That, and his other, genuinely interesting posts, his take on folk music in general, and his musical knowledge and tastes.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Nerd
Date: 26 Jul 04 - 11:36 PM

I wouldn't put it in quite those terms, but Martin is being sensible. The point you could draw from Goffman is that there is no sense wondering if you're just seeing a projection: you are. You are ALWAYS seeing a projection, not "the real person," even if you're talking in real life, let alone on the internet. Furthermore, I would say this has to be a dialogic performance. It's even more true on the internet (which did not exist in Goffman's day) because you experience so much less: no facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, quality of voice, etc. So all you see are words made up by a person. Any "person" you construct out of those words is as much your invention as his.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Jul 04 - 11:36 PM

I used to worry about that a lot, Martin...but there are actually better things in life than sex! (yeah, I know you don't believe that for a minute) :-)

I sure don't worry about it these days. It's great being single. I kid you not.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Once Famous
Date: 26 Jul 04 - 10:31 PM

Georgiansilver

Really, what the fuck is the difference? There's only a few here like yourself that ponder or "wonder" the impact.

Why don't you worry about when you are going to get laid next?

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: CarolC
Date: 26 Jul 04 - 08:48 PM

Thanks Don and Fred.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 26 Jul 04 - 07:59 PM

But why do people or at least one person want to appear cool to themselves by playing such a provocative role? Is it the real person we are actually seeing or is it just some projection? I wonder if people actually know the impact the role has or could have on others and more importantly on themselves...who knows??
Be Blessed.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: GUEST,fred miller
Date: 26 Jul 04 - 12:45 AM

or whatever.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Once Famous
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 09:14 PM

Another one who actually gets it!

It's cool to have impact.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Nerd
Date: 22 Jul 04 - 08:10 PM

Thanks, Fred!

I would also rather talk about favorite mudcatters than people who piss me off. But on the other hand, some of my favorite mudcatters often DO piss me off, like DougR. And Martin Gibson himself.   I mean, who could not be amused by some of MG's comments, and pissed off by others?

By the way, as to whether Martin Gibson is "Real" or not, there's a classic of sociology by Erving Goffman, called "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life." His essential argument is that we are all acting roles most of the time. The version of us that most other people see is not the "real" us or the "complete" us, but a role. Martin Gibson is one of the roles acted by his creator. He is not "completely unreal" (whatever that may mean), but he is only a projection, a role, being acted by his creator.

Certain things MG certainly has in common with his creator. I believe the creator of MG is really Jewish, for example, from sentences like

Don, what I forgot, you haven't even imagined.

But of course, it's possible that MG is just a very well-created role.

In either case, I long ago decided that MG just says what he says to be funny and yank our chains, and since then he's gone from being someone who pissed me off to one of my favorite mudcatters--because it's usually amusing to read a thread he's in!

Other favorites: Bobert, Fred Miller, Wolfgang (who keeps both sides honest on the political threads), Sandy Paton, Kytrad, and the late lamented Rick Fielding, among others.

'Catters who piss me off? Life's too short

(er, that's too short to be pissed off, not too short to list the 'Catters who piss me off!)

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Peace
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 10:54 PM

Your name should be on that list, too, Fred. IMO, you are one heckuva thinker.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: GUEST,fred miller
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 10:49 PM

whoever soured the Favorouters thread and got it deleted sort of pisses me off, since it was a little less mind-numbingly boring than this one. Good lord this should certainly be a little more fun than ragging on about the barbed persona Martin G likes to adopt online. So what? It could be more to my taste, but I suppose it's going to be more to his. Fine.

Some of my favorite catters are Jimmyt, Ebbie, Nerd, John from kansas, carolc and jts, blackcatter, little hawk, Ellenpolly, leprechaun, kimc, and whatshername, whatshisname, and also whatshisname. Some of these are people i've had snits with about things, but those are also people I feel I've got to know a little, whose names I remember, and whose posts I often like to read.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 01:38 PM

Martin Gibson and I are worlds apart "GUEST". I am who I am and what you see. He is a fake by his own admission and treats people totally differently than I do. You however are hiding behind the "GUEST" guise as so many people do, who make bold statements that they cannot justify. Be Blessed anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Peace
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 12:27 PM

Never mind "wake up Georgiansilver", wake up little Susie. Right.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 12:14 PM

WAKE UP! Georgiansilver IS Martin Gibson.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: M.Ted
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 12:04 PM

And, once again, Martin shows off what he doesn't know--

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Peace
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 11:42 AM

It's hard to say that ten times fast.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 21 Jul 04 - 05:13 AM

More proof Martin that you know so little about the people you taunt.
If you want to wind something up...buy a clock with a winder. You might have more success.
Love your posts though... Would imagine you are a really nice guy underneath the facade. Be Blessed.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Once Famous
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 10:23 PM

The only thing that I saw on a Chicago rest room wall was, "for a good blow job, call Don Firth,"

Georrgiansilver, ooops, you're a fuck-up.

As far as classic literature goes, how does anyone know what I've read. Actually, Holden Caulfield would probably be proud of me.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 09:57 PM

I doubt that akenaton - I don't think it's that common an expression across the Atlantic. No shortage of candidates, but I think they'd call them something else.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Don Firth
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 08:09 PM

Actually, GS, I think we were probably operating under similar assumptions: that Marty's idea of classic literature is to be found in publications like Penthouse Forum or Hustler. Ordinary (non-classic) literature, he finds on the walls of rest rooms around Chicago.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: akenaton
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 06:26 PM

Strange how Doug is the only person in the world who doesn't know what a "pillock" is ??

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 06:20 PM

OOOps sorry Don. Didn't realise the implications of Martins compliment. Be Blessed.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Don Firth
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 06:19 PM

"You write like classic literature's worst nightmare."

Thank you, Marty! That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 06:18 PM

Martin. I have to say that from your postings on here, I would have thought that Classic literature would be the last thing you had been in contact with. Be Blessed.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 04:35 PM

jOhn you're a diamond geezer. Such a way of putting things in perspective.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Once Famous
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 04:24 PM

Don, stop trying to emulate pillocks and try to ejaculate them instead.

You write like classic literature's worst nightmare.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 04:14 PM

Pillock - a dismissive term indicating a degree of contempt for the person referred to. Similar to jerk, but with more mocking overtones.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Don Firth
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 03:41 PM

There you have it, Doug. The perfect example. In England, Marty would be the quinessential pillock, a model for all aspiring pillocks to emulate.

Marty, hope springs eternal within my breast. I keep trying to give you chances to rise on the scale of evolution, but you just don't seem to have the capability. 'Tis a pity.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: SINSULL
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 03:38 PM

jOhn,
It is about time you showed up here to rescue your thread from creep. How is the taxi driving going?
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 03:27 PM

colour=red, size=really big   HELLLOOOO!

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Once Famous
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 03:05 PM

Don, I really don't have to act any way that you want me to. I am my own man and you are your own girlie man. I didn't write that stupid guest, Martin Gibson post as my cookie is always on. You are gullible, don you old fart.

there are people here who like what I write also. Have more friends than you or many could ever realize. Some of them encourage me to say things to you and I don't really always mind being their mouthpiece. I respond to plenty of PMs from my friends here all of the time.

Some have found my pull no punches, total lack of political correctness quite refreshing and I hear it all of the time. Others I know feel that some of the old guard psuedo intellectuals have gone stale and really are quite boring and full of themselves amongst other types of fecal matter.

So Don, I'm in it for the long haul to keep in check just how off the wall that the world could be, to show that polital correctness is out of control, and to continue with another angle on life. One that could give you sometimes a nice dose of what life in the big city is like.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: DougR
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 02:46 PM

Hey Kevin, what the heck is a pillock?

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Don Firth
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 02:37 PM

In fact, Marty, although you say you find my writing boring, it seems that there are others who don't. A few people have read things I've posted here and apparently liked what they read because they offered me opportunities to write for print publications they're associated with. I have over a dozen magazine articles published. Some for pay.

So you see, there are certain advantages to using one's real name. And, of course, to writing things that you're not ashamed of.

Also, I don't at all mind "co-habitating" (don't you mean "cohabiting"?) with the "usual Internet varmints" who frequent Mudcat. With the exception of a few "varmints" (variant of the word "vermin"), I find most Mudcat habitués to be interesting, knowledgeable, informative, and friendly. Not only that, where else could I converse with people all over the world? Amos in San Diego, McGrath in England, Wolfgang in Germany, CarolC in Alabama, DougR in Arizona, Bobert in West Virginia, Foolestroupe in Australia, etc. Even converse a bit with Jean Ritchie and old friend from decades ago, Sandy Paton. Rather than a collection of "varmints," I find Mudcat to be one of the real miracles that modern technology makes possible.

You know, Marty, I think there is a remote possibility that you might actually have something to offer if you ever gave yourself permission. And if it's really true that you're "fed up with the things people say about me" and "I do not mean most of the things I say here so please start being nice to me," then there is a very easy way of bringing that about. If it's really true, that is, and you're not just trying to jerk people around. Wouldn't it be nice if people actually liked you and valued your comments and opinions? All you need to do is stop acting like a pubescent barbarian who has recently discovered his and other people's crotches and start acting like a mature, happy human being that you claim to be "in real life."

It's that simple.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 02:35 PM

The overwhelming majority of people who post on the Mudcat are people anyone would be happy to be associated with. The right way to see the occasional persistant pillock is that. they help people to appreciate the fact that most Mudcatters aren't like that. Thank God.

Subject: RE: BS: Mudcatr people waht piss you off?
From: Don Firth
Date: 20 Jul 04 - 01:30 PM

Marty, it doesn't worry me to use my real name because, unlike some others, I don't post anything that I would be ashamed of.

And as far as anyone looking me up is concern, it happened just a few weeks ago. An old friend did a google search on my name and found me here on Mudcat. He registered as a member here solely to use the PM facility and sent me a PM with his e-mail address. I e-mailed him and we got together for the first time since 1985. He's a former guitar student of mine and a very good friend.

Perhaps I'm gullible and foolhardy, but I can't see any reason why anyone would want to do me any harm. And if it were to ever happen, I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself.

Don Firth