Ebb and Flow and Confluence---reply to Jenn Turney

[stern@chem.nwu.edu (Charlotte Stern)]

Jenn Turney posts a provocative note regarding what she terms
"force-feeding."  "Well, I'm sure I'll get flamed for this," she warns.
Well, Jenn, this is not a flame, but rather an alternative view point
for you to consider.

In fact, I was just on the phone with Vickie this morning and she 
commented to me how with the supersaturation of gaffa with Happy Rhodes-
related posts it was surprising that more voices didn't surface
echoing both your sentiments and other reasons that we she apply
the foot to the heartbrake on happy.  --- Skid ---

"I really dislike being forced towards particular music or musicians; 
I much prefer to discover them of my own volition..."  100%.
I have, over the few years that my interest in modern-age music
has flourished, drifted in and under the influence of many artists
who I, like yourself, discovered on my own, either through the radio,
or purely by chance, or by some set of references that someone all
pointed toward that one artist or group.  Needless to say, this
climaxed at Kate.  I have been soaked in her brilliance for a while
now, but even this interest slowly waning (though it will never entirely
pass) to make room for other things.

Richard's point recently that there is a "musical correctness" at play
in gaffa almost misses the point.  After all, in a topic-driven
newsgroup, so narrowly focused as ours, how can there *not* exist a
hidden agenda of sorts, a directed influence forming a common thread
amongst the active participants and the many-fold more who just listen
now and then?  

The way I see it, this is all part-and-parcel of interactive stuff,
with little or no moderation.  People write whatever they feel like 
writing.   If I like it, I agree.  If I don't like it, I am free to
dismiss it; or respond with a counter; or just plain stop reading
the group.  There is a natural flow and ebb here of people and subject
matters.  The common bond is Kate.  If a topic is Kate-inspired,
however indirectly, it appears for your perusal.  Hot topics mean
there is something of an overwelming interest in that one thing.
If lots of people write about it, then clearly it must be close,
in some way, to the focus of the group, Kate.

Hence, there is little down with the preponderance of Happy Rhodes
mentions of late, that many Kate fans now share another, complimentary
common interest --- strongly.  Perhaps this topic will slowly melt 
away.  I'm sure that when Kate's tour passes through Wichita Falls, 
we'll hear a host of exclamatory commentary from the folks over there.
The convention received big billing because lots of people were interested
in it.  The whole thread about where did you discover Kate, took up lots
of space.  Personally I got tired of it after a while, and just started
automatically deleting notes about that.

This is the last paragraph.  I promise.  It will be about the philosophy
of notes files or digests or news groups.  My attitude is laissez-faire.
Let the whimsy of the clientele dictate the content.  Further,
there is significance in any large-scale, identifiable trends.
If Jane Siberry yields 4 notes a month, that could be used as a rough
indicator as to how the group, as an entity, reflects on Jane.
If Happy Rhodes is mentioned for 6 months straight by every other
posting, some common bond between Kate and Happy must surely exist.
I love discovering art naively, innocently.  But I also love hearing
about things that I would possibly never hear about otherwise... it
simply accelerates the process.  When I first began reading gaffa,
I would skip *every* posting related to *any* artists other Kate.
I was purely interested in finding out about her.  Now, I have a
list of music that I actively seek, much of which originates from 
reviews or comments seen in these very pages.  I merely make a note
of it.  I'm sure I'm not alone when I say it took at least a year of
hearing Vickie refer to Happy Rhodes (and Kirsty MacColl who I love now,
and Jane Siberry who I don't love as much, and Christine Lavin who I
love, and Dead Can Dance who I value, and so on) before I acted on
the recommendation.  What we have here is a system in which many 
voices are heard.  When there is a confluence of voices and opinion,
people take notice --- if they want to.  That is the beauty of
this system.  It is *this*, in my mind, that brings us together.

-mjm (mike mendelson)