The Intergalactic Struggle

[nessus@twitch.mit.edu (Douglas Alan)]

> From: chrisw@fciad2.bsd.uchicago.edu (chris williams)
> Subject: Re: IGG Alert! (was Re: KATE Alert!/TORI Alert!)

> Every contact that *I've* had, and several contacts that friends have
> had, have been uniformly negative.

Maybe you and your friends, Chris, just have a personality conflict
with Allen.  Not all people can get along with each other.  Perhaps
you and your friends are too sensitive.  Perhaps if Allen says the
true statement that a many Kate Bush fans are weird, you get all bent
out of shape and start insulting Allen.  Maybe if I hear this, I
reply, "Yeah, isn't it great!"  Maybe for reasons something like this,
or maybe for different reasons, you and Allen just don't get along.
On the other hand, none of this justifies your constant unfounded
attacks against someone I *know* to be a pretty reasonable guy.

> he pressured John Reimers to give him a copy of the unedited "Night
> Flight" interview, calling him names on the front page of his
> mailing list.

Many people were quite upset at John Reimers, not just Allen.  Are you
going to persecute them too?

> He told another close friend, who called about another artist and
> started chatting, that Kate Bush fans were suckers who would pay
> practically any price for stuff.

Many Kate Bush fans *are* suckers.  If stating the truth is a crime,
you're going to have to lock up lots of people.  Allen's price's
aren't out of line with the market.  He's not making himself wealthy
with this business.  Perhaps Allen feels that the market is too
inflated and that this is bad for him as well as the fans.

> Your positive impression of him is due to your experience with him,
> colored by the slack that one is likely to give someone that you have
> met in person.

I knew Allen before I ever met him in person.  My possitive impression
of him has to do with never having had any negative dealings with
him--only positive ones.  I don't consider it a bad thing to give
someone some slack.  You might try it yourself sometime.  It'll make
you feel better.

> I have never met AB or spoken to him on the phone.  I base my
> impression of him on his actions.

Mighty quick to judge someone you have never met or spoken to, aren't
you?

> If he is the Kate fan you make him out to be, why has he never
> posted a single non-commercial word to gaffa (other than one
> response to a flame)?

I don't see him as the kind of fan who obsesses over minutiae the way
that we do, but neither is my girlfriend, and she's definitely a Kate
Bush fan.  Her favorite artist is Kate, and she was willing to drive
more than two hundred miles to meet her for thirty seconds.  On the
other hand, she has never posted, nor even read Love-Hounds.  She even
said after standing on line for several hours, "Kate's fans are
weird."  Kate Bush herself told me that her fans are weird, obsessing
over little details.  Allen may be kind of like this, and he may think
that Kate's biggest fans are rather obsessive, but this does not mean
he does not love her music.

Your problem Chris is that you think that someone who does not think
exactly like you must think the opposite.  The world is not so black
and white.

> Why hasn't he shared this amazing storehouse of knowledge that you
> insist he has, rather than simply using love-hounds and
> rec.music.gaffa as a postage-free mailing list in obnoxious
> violation of nettiqite?

The notion that the Internet can't be used for commercial purposes is
obsolete and incorrect.  The issue of netiquette is one of how
obtrusive and appropriate Allen's posting are--not whether or not they
have a commercial purpose.  This issue a matter for dicussion--not one
for your mandate.  If there is a significant fraction of Love-Hounds
readers that are interested in seeing Allen's price lists, then they
are appropriate.  It might be better if they were toned down a bit and
edited to include only artists that would be of interest to
Love-Hounds readers.  On the other hand, perhaps many Love-Hounds
readers don't limit themselves to only Kate and don't mind seeing
entries for other artists in a price list.  I know that I, for one,
would rather see the price lists with some other random junk I don't
care about in them, than no price lists at all.

>>> This long-time fan has never seen any proof that this is not so.

>> You have now seen it.

> I have not. He gave some help to a person who's help may be of value
> to him. It has obviously paid off.

I didn't offer to help Allen in any way and he didn't ask for any.
This was eight years ago--I truly doubt that Allen was plotting this
moment eight years in the future.  I didn't even buy much from Allen
back then, because I was able and willing to find the things in my
price range by scowering Boston record stores and newsstands.

> I have no doubt that he will get more than one or two things signed.

Considering that Tower has always had a policy of only one autograph
per person (though some people manage to slip in two), I don't see how
this could be the case.  And if you were to be rational about the
issue, you'd have trouble believing such things too.

-- The angriest |>oug in the world
   <nessus@mit.edu>