While living in Normandy I picked up a British talk radio station on my walkman. On one programme there was a segment called “Tosser of the Week” where listeners called in and and said who they thought was the biggest tosser. It gave the listeners an anonymous opportunity to let off a little steam.
I’m not going to start a big flame war by naming tossers but there have been at least a couple on the forum lately. Some have been forum members who carry a lot of wait among the others in terms of knowledge. Some have been regular contributors of various levels of skill and knowledge. And others have been relative newcomers who got caught up in the mess (which I’m afraid includes me upon starting this thread).
The geo-political situation is pretty tense so it’s normal that arguments about these matters should spring up. It’s weird that one would manifest itself in thread about and an antique flute up for auction, but it happens. I just wish it wouldn’t turn so ugly and such ignorant comments weren’t made.
As for the antique flute discussions, they seem to end up turning into pissing matches. It’s one thing when somebody turns it into a personal attack but another when the other party retaliates. Then everybody else rallies around like a cockfight or something. Way to destroy any credibility you have or were trying to establish.
I’ve made this comment before and I’ll make it again. It seems like with internet-society everybody who participates has to relearn their skills of social appropriateness. Somebody who may be very respectful in real society can be a complete sociopath in internet-society or get dragged into somebody else’s sociopathic behavior. I’m not excluding myself from this commentary either. I have posted or stopped myself from posting some pretty ignorant things here (this is borderline but I have done a lot of pre-editing).
So, if you ask yourself if maybe you are one of the tossers I am referring to, you very well could be. If you think I’m the tosser and you can’t even be bothered to reply, then you still may be one of those tossers but you have just taken a step in the right direction.
I don’t mind owning up to being a tosser/wanker/whatever. What irks me is someone who can’t. I normally just pass on threads where there is a hint of trolling going on and I wait to read the next on-topic thread, but sometimes you can’t help but be drawn in…
So, I don’t think I’d quite get the honor of Tosser of the Week, but there’s always next time.
I think your a good chap ,Grixxly .
As for who would do your Gerock flute , have you thaught of doing it yourself ?.You may find it an useful experience .
Sometimes there is nothing like just getting on with things .You may be surprised by what you can do .
If you need equipment you may find it available in local colleges .
If I didn’t care so much about it I’d try, but I’m worried that I could do more damage than good. I suppose I could try to pick up another flute off ebay and learn how to do some restoration work on that one… The Gerock is just way to fine a stick to risk me doing something wrong…
Actually, TOTW is a wonderful idea. The world probably needs more of it. And hey, that’s the beauty & horror of the Web & chat/boards & stuff. A bunch of disparate people come together – people who might never converse if they lived in the same town – and bingo. You get both the unexpected friendships, and the unplanned-for disagreements, multiplied by several thousand.
But FWIW, at least we’re all passionate about this stuff, and it’s nice to know that this is a thinking group.
As Levine said, sometimes it’s just my NYC ire coming out. Never take the first punch…but beat the snot out of them at all costs after the first swing.
Juvenile, I know.
And, thanks, Jessie, for not being the “third man” into the fight (to use a bad ice hockey metaphor). That would truly have been awful. See how much a beautiful little baby calms the nerves and focuses on good things?
You’re a lucky woman.
So, days after we get to calm down…
Grix…I’d not advise taking a shot at fixing your flute. Your thought on buying a klunker off eBay to practice is a terrific idea. It took me a few efforts before I was happy about touching a prized flute.
And isn’t it boxwood? If so, all the tougher to make the repair “hidden.”
Good luck on it!
