Enough is enough. Perhaps like many others, I log on to this site and check out all the "yellow folders" to see what is new on the threads since i was last here.

If I miss a day or two, this alone can be very time consuming. That's why I am begging you to abandon this "race".

Other than some weird form of ego gratification, it certainly is a meaningless goal - and even if you don't mind wasting your own time, the real point is, you waste everyone else's who stops to check what is new on the threads, only to find every thread has some "pseudo-spam" hyping the race to 20,000 and the new Australian forum.

Seeing as you don't even have 500 posts yet, do we all have to sift through 19,500 more of the same before you have mercy on the rest of us?

Don't get me wrong. I consider myself a friend and comrade to you - and would never discourage you from posting to your heart's desire when you have some legitimate content to share, such as: emotional rant, technical question or recommendation, history, philosophy, poetry, or ghost story. But posting just to inflate your statistics is a really BAD idea, and will detract seriously from the overall vibe of this site, eventually driving people away.

I feel like if a friend can't tell you when he thinks you are screwing up, who can? Please reconsider. :confused:

Hi littledog. It's not "just to inflate my own statistics".

a. first off, the "race" above all else is to celebrate and further recognise the contribution Julian has made.Of course, there is no "race".
There will be a continuation of what people like about RO, a lively, informed and sometimes slightly crazy (in a good way) place to visit.

b. Secondly any talk of a "race" is to celebrate and congratulate RO in general for providing such a relevant and well used service.

c. It's true, I have a somewhat perverse idea of "fun" sometimes. However there has been a bit of stuff posted this year re Australian music - and not just by me - that, particularly with the "Didgeridoo" post, has caused me genuine concern.

d. The topics that I reactivated, with the exception (hopefully) of the Bushfires one, contain ongoing and still relevant issues."Chealy" posted recently again about getting information re Australian bands, despite people taking the time to state on the "What do Australians Know etc" post several examples for him.

e. What Do Australians Know About Drums" was reactivated to profile that despite some disparaging remarks made up here, Australian manufacturers produce world beating stuff, but few people get to hear about these - for many reasons, some of which are discussed on the "What Do Australian's Know About Sound" post.

f. Continuous reference by you to posts of mine being full of deliberate obfuscation are actually starting to concern me. The philosophical references I make sometimes in my posts are there because I use philosophy also as a tool for analysis re all things to do with sound, just as much as a spectrum analyser. I studied at university level, and have taught at universites,
people such as Umberto Eco and Salmon Rushdie (who has written lyrics for people such as U2) bring much relevant analysis and a sociological perspective to sound. This has relevance in many many areas to do with the industry we both work full time and professionally in. The "slinging" off that you do yourself re this would be better placed
by maybe a background reading of some of these texts. Certainly a more informed awareness of schools of analysis, works, texts etc that have appeared in general since 1953, including the Canadian theorist Marshall McLuhan would help to so prevent some of the stuff I've read recently up here - "stuff" which by the way, I find deeply offensive, morally corrupt, and in places, skirting pretty close to a racist attitude. I do not want to see this sort of thing up here - Racism, insults and the kind of garbage that has been posted here in the last two weeks. By the end of last weekend, when visiting for information on posts covering equipment, or topics of interest, and continuously finding discussion hi-jacked, frankly I did not want to come back here. It was abusive, demeaning, and I felt like having a shower after I left RO to wsh the "unclean" feeling that I had.
Do you get my drift here or is this another example of what you think is my deliberate obfuscation.

g. On my own posts, starting from when I first joined, there are several instances of insults, topic hi-jacking, and attempts at discreditation.
Again, offensive, time wasting. The occasional "flame"..well I guess we have to have them, but I have had enough.

h. Your comment re you and Goes to 11 at one time "misbehaving" was true, and prevented me from visiting topic listings at the time.

i. yes I consider us "pals", and yes I appreciate it when you let me know that you think I have gone "too far".

j. If you want to know what I seriously think about what happened, well visit the "Taliban" post - (and how offensive is that?) - and read my final comment.Time and time again up here I have had to try and diffuse aggresive, abusive, and certainly non-constructive dialogue. Again, I have had enough. And yes I'm glad audiokid took the Gender Post down. What happened up there was disgusting.

k. Sorry if Australian equipment, such as Fairlight - you're a ProTools user aren't you -, instruments such as didgeridoo's, and racism inconveniences you.

Kind regards
Stedel

Stedel,

I like your posts. Wordy as shit sometimes, full of things that I as a non-believer in just about anything I can't see, look slightly sideways at, but still make me think that there might be some kernal in there.

I too have had some run-ins here on RO with some rather opinionated folks, but I guess in reality, if you don't open up and occasionally insert foot you are guilty of not going past "GO" and certainly not collecting the $200.

There is a skin-thinness level that runs a little low sometimes, but in the long run I think that the level of info on this board is truly top-notch.

As I said, I in no way was trying to intimidate you from posting. Perhaps the line between posting and spamming is getting too subtle for me to tell the difference. For those of us without cable modems or DSL lines, the simple fact is gratuitous or self-indulgent postings (or worse, duplicate postings) add to the decline of the R.O. experience. I was hoping you would understand that was the only point I was trying to make. What is gratuitous and self-indulgent? Damned if I know - I wouldn't want to have to judge. But it sounded like you were threatening us with 19,500 more posts announcing the formation of your Aussie site, just so you could win your race. Sorry if i reacted in fear and horror. But you got to admit, if someone else made the same kind of pronouncements, you might also find it pretty fearful and horrible.

If it was all just a joke, forgive my obtuseness. You gotta admit, when you actually start posts with the line: "I'm only posting here because I'm in a race with Julian..." it sounds like you are intending to really go through with it.

Lately, I don't know if you are merely ignoring my actual intent, or simply consistently misinterpret it. You seemed determined these days to meet ANY discussion of your ideas or methods with hostility, sometimes attacking points that I never even made (or certainly didn't intend). Yet I have no rancor towards you at all. Is there any way you can be convinced of that?

When I admit freely that I can't follow some of your more esoteric meanderings, I do it purely as an admission of my own inadequacy or ignorance. I'm not claiming your writing is nonsensical - only that I can't always follow it. I honestly don't think I'm stupid, but I don't claim to be the world's greatest intellectual either. There's plenty of other posts here that get into more complex engineering/technical concepts, for instance, that I can't follow either. I just don't have the training. I don't think that makes me a moron. I just may not have taken the same college courses or read the same books as you. And I'm honest enough to admit that I can't always comprehend your posts, at least as written. Yet, whenever I do so, your usual response is patronizing (e.g: "Gee, Littledog, which of these VERY basic and VERY simple concepts is beyond your comprehension?"). So, given how you've reacted, these days I usually just ignore what i can't understand. Recently Goes to 11 admitted the same. So that's two of us. Maybe everyone else understands you perfectly - in which case clearly you are not the one with the problem.

If I occasionally make a joke about it, it is more a matter of personal style - no insult intended. I thought we had a certain respect and understanding between us. But then you come up with stuff like item (k) on your last post - after all of our past interaction I honestly don't think I deserve such an insulting tone. Perhaps you think differently.

I have been under the impression that we were friends, at least in the internet sense of friendship. We've had a few misunderstandings from time to time. I'd like to be able to slough it off as cultural differences in humor, but the fact is most of the other Australians I know find me kind of funny, or at least they pretend to. More often then not, we've been on the same side of issues and had very productive and engaging exchanges. Yet, it appears that lately I can't have a critical discourse with you on ideas or style without you taking personal offense. Is this a temporary emotional state that is causing this (in which case I'll just give you some space for a while) or is this the new "improved" Stedel that is around to stay?

....A sincere and concerned littledog.

Originally posted by littledog:

Lately, I don't know if you are merely ignoring my actual intent, or simply consistently misinterpret it. You seemed determined these days to meet ANY discussion of your ideas or methods with hostility, sometimes attacking points that I never even made (or certainly didn't intend). Yet I have no rancor towards you at all. Is there any way you can be convinced of that?

....A sincere and concerned littledog.

Littledog, these are the same comments you made about Jay. Who like my ghost, is apparently, somewhere, some-who around.

I think the whole way that people often mistake the tone within writings and text up here is interesting in itself. Some of Jay's earlier posts, which you reacted to similarly here, I didn't percieve that way. In actual fact I agreed with some of what he said. I do think in Jays case it has been a bit tragic, and because of this difficulty with interpretation, it rapidly escalated to a level..well you know what I mean.

You speak of no ill or rancour, but is this true?
If we want to get anally retentive and all legal like, I can draw instances out and post them.Or we can turn this into some bizzare Oprah Winfrey Virtual "He was my pal, but now he's gone mad and set up an Australian Embassy" TV show.

There was one comment, for instance regarding my status as Fairlight Moderator that you posted recently. I would love you to explain why that was really a nice, constructive, feel good thing.

As far as "k" is concerned, well that's why in part I posted or re-activated posts. Take the recent converstaion on the Didgeridoo and mic'ing post.
How do you interpret the tone in my last reply?
Do you find it aggressive? Paranoid? Evidence of a shattered mental health? Or a plea that yes. These are serious, emotional laden, and historic things that deserve to be discussed for more than thirty seconds. And I would like to do this, if it's all right with you, would you like to do it also?

BTW this is not the way I intended for this post to go. I AM - (NOT SHOUTING, stating gently) - very conscious of disruptions to Julians Forum. I don't mind discussing this further with you, but this is not the place. Do you want to meet for a drink at the Virtual Bar and Grille?
:cool:

Originally posted by stedel:

You speak of no ill or rancour, but is this true?

There was one comment, for instance regarding my status as Fairlight Moderator that you posted recently. I would love you to explain why that was really a nice, constructive, feel good thing.

:)

I do believe you gents have WAY too much free time!