some people like privacy ............ and prefer not to mix business with private interests, like ITM. sadly, some members are unable to discern that distinction - so the profiles may stay blank ...............
You can still have privacy but create a profile which gives the other members some insight into your background and interests. Even if it's just something like "Cynic".
Those who submit nothing may or may not have something to hide. In fact, they may or may not be genuine posters. However, I feel much more comfortable communicating with members who have revealed something about themselves. There's no reason to give away their identity or tell their life story but a little information is nice.
What's hard is when someone asks a question that really needs an answer tailored to an ability level or a geographical location or whatever, but has nothing in their bio. On the other hand, we have a ton of people here who aren't aware that they even HAVE a bio available to them, or that they can put something in it. So what can you do? Anyway, if they ask a question and I feel the need to answer but need more info, then I'll ask. So, no real biggie, it'd just save a step if they'd have something in their bio, is all.
For example, if I start talking about someone skiing down a snowy hillside playing bagpipes, a bio mentioning that I live in the Sierra Mts. in the land of nutcases, California, it makes sense. If you make the assumption that I am, like most posters, from Ireland or the UK, you may think I am the nutcase.
"You can still have privacy but create a profile which gives the other members some insight into your background"
Believe it or not, for some of us that is difficult, and the user profile produces a high ranking Google hit. People who wish to "follow" me here could still do so with a bit of work, I don't hide my identity, per se, but I'm not inclined to make it easy for them.
This is *not* a private place or the corner pub, as much as it might feel like a quiet little corner of the world.
Knowing that leaving my profile blank might cause some issues I filled it with a joke indicating both my intentional desire not to post personal info there, and that people shouldn't take the whole thing too seriously (International Man of Mystery translates roughly as "Big doofus with bad teeth" Feel free to think of me that way. I do.), although I realize some may not get the joke.
People are free to respect my position in this regard, or they are free to bugger off. I leave the choice entirely up to them.
What's wrong with a profile such as "adult fiddle player, been playing for four years, lives in southern England" (a description which would fit me)? This would give the basic information for someone to reply sensibly to a technical query such a member might have without specifically revealing anything about identity, job or precise location.
Anyway, if you think about it, it's quite difficult for someone to take part in discussion threads over a period of time without revealing, either deliberately, inadvertently or by implication, a fair amount of personal information which isn't in their profile. The language used can give pointers to age, educational background, occupation, and even country of origin (hello Danny!). In practice, it's virtually impossible for anyone who writes more then a few sentences in a forum such as this to exist in a social vacuum.
I'll also add that some of us have distinctive writing styles, and that it's often possible to identify the writer without having to scroll to the end of the post concerned.
FWIW, and I know this has been brought up before, often by me, but when I answer a poster with no bio, I tend just to give bare details, whereas if someone writes a bit about themself, I'll relate to them as though they were a real person rather than a bland request. I can't help it - I can only respond according to the mental picture that the informationn has enabled me to make.
Jimmy Troy, back from the dead! ;) I know what you mean about getting slagged by your non-geeky friends, but I seriously don't much care, since I've made an awful lot of friends through the site that I'd probably have never met (in person) without it! And I agree with Danny -- I tend to do the same, actually, though i try not to.
Truly off topic answer, BUT, my son and I were talking about AIM and that adults have screen names. Some of my son's friends consider it odd that an adult (me) has a screen name and participates in an activity that would seem to be a generation y+1 activity ( x, Y,Y+1 soon generations will become polynomial in description). We created the terms, life persona, on line persona and the dreaded peer persona. Great conversation- had to be there.
So getting back to blank profiles; maybe its because some people haven't really developed an "on line persona" that fits, not that Zina, warrior fiddler, would raise eyebrows and wonder about her (or him- well another off point, best left to other forums)-just another triplet ornament in the tunes of things
I think it has something to do with the "climate" of the internet these days. The human race jumped into the internet with both feet. At the beginning it was rather like utopia, where we were free to research things, share ideas, and communicate more easily than ever before. It made the world a bit smaller, and brought people together in ways that weren't possible before (imagine beautiful harp music and rainbows...)
Unfortunately, the human race also has some darker elements, and they weren't far behind, looking for new ways to fleece the unaware public out of money or other things. So now we get hundreds of spam emails every day (my favorites are the spam mail that offers spam blocking software... oh, and cheap Viagra, of course... ) We have predators stalking our children in chat rooms, phishing scams that try to get you to reveal your most personal information, and people doing anything to get their pornography advertisements past your filters.
All of these things have led to a backlash against revealing ANYTHING personal on the internet. There are currently 17 and a half THOUSAND people signed up as users on this site. Granted, many of those are lurkers or tune hounds that don't even really know that there is anything besides a huge tune archive here. But how many of those people do you really *know*. How many people actually post on a regular basis, maybe 1000?
So that leaves 16 thousand "unknowns" that people might not want to reveal anything about themselves to.
And as far as "online personae", there's another thing that turns people off sometimes. How do you KNOW that Zina isn't actually a 13 year old boy living in the southern part of Tanzania?
I would say that one of the nice things about this site is that people DO get to know each other, and so they get to meet each other in person from time to time. I have had the pleasure of meeting several of the regulars to the posting forums, and I believe that they are all what they claim to be (more or less) in their profiles. But that leaves another 17,498 ones to check out.
Either that, or people are just too lazy to fill out their profiles.
I've met Zina, played tunes with her, shared meals, even risked the passenger seat of her car. And I can confirm with confidence that she is in fact a 13 year old boy who plays tambourine and lagerphone, with the annoying habit of *snorting* during songs and slow airs.
My profile is nearly blank. I once would have thought that the more you tell people about yourself, the better they know you but it seems more information just leads to more assumptions. I've never liked people making assumptions about me because they've always been dead wrong. I'd rather people communicated with me on the basis they *know* they don't know me, as opposed to thinking they know more about me and how I think than they actually do. I can understand that some profile info helps in discussions, though, so mine gives instrument and location, as a compromise.
You don't have to put things in your profile if they'll give away things you don't want people to know KFG. But you can still tell people a little which will help in conversation, as Danny and Zina have pointed out quite nicely.
I haven't put in mine anything about gun running for the rebels.
And, really, I don't mind if most people work out who I am. I'd imagine those who know me through sessions, going to concerts etc, and my general interest in music would be able to do so quite easily. As long as the nutters, spammers etc don't.
I am more worried about my telephone number appearing in the phone book than my name on here. You can find it on my website anyway. A profile should contain instruments played, corner of the world and age, roughly, as well as your being male or female. I didn't mention my job in the profile but if you read my posts for some time you can find about my job, band, type of car as well as my musical tastes. There should be some benefit for those who read the more important threads thoroughly. That's the only way to get to know the regular posters anyway.
This penchant toward anonymous behavior escapes me. Maybe it is a cyberspace thing. I am who I am and I don't care who knows it. Maybe if we were less anonymous, people wouldn't flame each other, or behave in other disrespectful ways.
Of course, you could be just a Joe Ordinary, but cultivate the notion that you might be someone a cut above the rest of us by pretending to have a good reason for staying anonymous. It's a popular conceit among teenage boys who are just beginning to discover how insignificant they are in the world.
I can't say any more than that as I am an international "security agent", guarding a 13 year old boy who has been rogered by a transracial pop star, and whose only contact with the outside world is a web forum, where he pretends to be an "almost exactly middle aged" woman from Denver. Poor sad kid.
escapes me too Al. Though I tend to think that because I'm not anonomous, it gives me more authority to inflame and be generally disrespectful, especialy to drummers
That's fair enough, Michael. You are fairly fortunate in having a more common surname than me. As I said, it's not people I know (or have met) through the music whom I am concerned about.
Now how the hell did this turn into a "slag Zina" thread, huh? Huh?! Hah! Pete knows that I'm not a 13 year old boy from Tanzania because he's married to me, of course -- either that or he's got a MUCH more active fantasy life than I'd thought.
Though, Dave, I'm quite taken with the idea of you being another International Man of Mystery. ;) Kevin Costner has nothing on you.
And Will is not allowed in my car anymore until he can keep his fingernails from ripping through the upholstery when I take the corners at a mere 55 miles per hour.
Anyway, unusual names or common names have nothing to do with it. My married name from a previous life was Armstrong. There's another Zina Lee Armstrong who lived in Denver at the time, and she owed EVERYONE money and had much terrible trouble in her life, some of which would slop over onto me and my credit rating occasionally. Who'd have thought it?
And if you put my name into a search engine, while most of the hits *are* me (a lot of them from here), you also get some adolescent girl who is wacko over some actor or other, a porn star, and sometimes a tennis player. Also a couple of geneaology hits from some dead woman in Iowa or something. And a professor of something or other, who published a technical paper or two.
Anyway, if I dropped into Sandy Bells, I'd want to go looking for Michael Gill anyway, so I could whup him upside the head before I hugged him. It wouldn't matter how many Michael Gills there were. (John J would simply get the hug, of course. *smirk*)
So what you're telling us, tuner&brian, is that KFG actually stands for 'Kindly Frankie Gavin'?
How often do you change your strings, KFGav?
What sort of rosin do you use?
You might as well spill the beans now the cat is well and truly out of the bag.
I don't have anything in my profile because I don't have a lot of knowledge to share -- I am mostly lurking and learning from you all. This is my first post to the list, in fact.
In writing a bio, someone might be sensitive to some of the remarks here about:
Northern Ireland, England, Protestants, Catholics, Seamus Tansey, Paegans, Zen, North Americans, Bodhrans, Banjos, Piano Accordians, Innovation vs ITM dogma, and not to mention Finland and Lap Dancing.
It may be hard to recognize at first that the background and opinion you represent is simply another one for the melting pot.
As seldom as possible. This could be anywhere from several months to some years, depending. I've never figured out why people ask this question.
"What sort of rosin do you use?"
Hidersine light that's been aged at least 50 years ( I've had it myself for about 25, acquired used with my 1882 fiddle, which itself had been in storage for decades). I've really got to get to the shop one of these days.
Feel free to call me KFG, or Kevin, because that's my name. I can't say I like Kev or Gav and KFGav seems a bit silly, but ya doesn't have to call me Johnson, which would be really silly.
I shall, in turn, respect your chosen moniker and call you Ottery, if that is your real name, but you'll have to answer to the Coca-Cola company.
You can figure out what should be in your profile by simply asking yourself why you would look at anyone else's. I look to see if the person I'm talking to is a teenager living at home in suburbia or an old codger living on the helm of a ship tied up at a seedy port in Taiwan. I might weigh my responses to their comments based on that sort of thing. Also, it's helpful to get an idea of what the person's experience with the music might be. If it's someone that I know from meeting them in person at a session then it becomes moot, but if I only encounter them in here -- it's essential.
Well, KFG,
The Kevin thing is a bit of a blow to the ould Frankie Gavin theory that's given us so much joy and entertainment. But I must say it's a bit rich you telling us how often you change your strings and which Rosin you use if you're NOT the man himself - Why on earth would we want to know?
p.s. My name's not really Ottery. Ottery is just what the other Otters call me, but then that's what they call everyone, apart from their wives, who they call Mrs. Ottery.
Jack: How did you find out about my seedy port in Taiwan? That was the whole point of my pretending to be a woodsey nutter in the Sierra Moutains. Have to talk to you later. Mom wants her computer back and its time for homework.
BTW, Shannon -- KNOWLEDGE to share?! You think our having verbiage in our bios means we must have KNOWLEDGE to share? Good Lord. All right, y'all, we all have to erase our bios now.
The profiles do give good context to people's comments here, like Jack says. I love it when someone says something definitive like, "copeman whistle's are the best and all the others rot". Then you look at their bio and it is says "started playing the whistle 6 months ago and celtic songs rock!!"
What's "Moutains"? I meant "Mountains. Said out of consideration for our spelling nazis.
Jode: you reminded me of the wind up, ChillinLikeAVillain, allegedly a 16 year old with no Bio. Remember?
I believe I've already mentioned that I haven't a clue, but you asked and it seemed both reasonable and polite to answer.
"My name's not really Ottery."
Who woulda thunk it? I'll inform the Coca-Cola company that you were operating under an alias. It isn't going to help your case I'm afraid. Makes you look like you've got something to hide.
"OK. I confess. I have been taking the p*ss, and winding people up."
Welcome Babut! If you can survive this "passing wind storm" ( ) you're ready for a bio.
Greenwiggle: If both you and your wife are Frankie........ nah-nah-nah!
Still smoking to catch up with you guys, but I'm not Frankie Gavin yet. However, the dog passed out from the fumes and is slowly turning into a doggie Frankie Gavin. Does that count? (^:
Now the tune book is the place to take on a different identity...From mine you will assume that I only know 8 tunes. Hey, I'll put all the fashionable Lunasa tunes in next just to fool you.
True. Tunes are held in a member's tune book for a variety of reasons. I even caused a discussion about this a while back. Some of those in mine I actually submitted myself but , mostly, they are ones I still have to learn.
For some members, it may be a sample of their repertoire. I don't know. However, I am assuming that Frankie Gavin and the like will already know most of the tunes available here.
Armand, Kerri? I was taken by your tunes. I have caused them to rub up against The Merry Blacksmith and Rolling in the Rye Grass because I thought I might find it useful to use them to demonstrate ABCs to students and give them print outs of the dots. Forgive me.
". . .their tune book only reveals what's in their tune book."
Well, yeah, like, if you want to work from the evidence forward instead of your assumptions and conclusions backwards, I guess.
Among those assumptions seems to be the idea that something to do with Irish music has something to do with fame, which I find a rather peculiar notion, and that Frankie Gavin is famous even though hardly anybody has heard of him, including people who listen to Irish music.
I've spent a good deal of time over the last couple of weeks explaining to people who Johnny Cunningham and Paddy Keenan were/are, and I would have thought they were more commonly known than Frankie. Not one person I've spoken to has ever heard of them, including a Shanachie recording artist, who, as her husband said "doesn't really pay much attention to that Scottish and Irish stuff."
Seamus Connolly is right out, even though he lives here in America.
I thought Frankie Gavin is to Irish music, what Bono is to rock? The jokes are interchangable, anyway.
A tangent here, relating to fame within Irish music. Someone was telling me the other day that Johnny Connolly received a letter once, that had simply been addressed to 'The Best Box Player in Connemara'.
Can we name any other people who'd be able to receive their mail with a similar addressing system? What sort of dilemma would the postal service face, if you were to send a letter to 'The Best Piper in Dublin' or 'The Best Fiddler in Donegal' and so forth? Perhaps we should put it to the test?
KFG - I know what you mean about fame and Irish music. When I told friends, co-workers and family I was taking a workshop from Tommy Peoples and their response, almost to a person seemed to be, "Tommy who?"
As far as my profile goes, no mystery there. Then again, I am not Frankie Gavin and probably never will be.
Nell, I know (or know of) five John Connolly's. Four play accordeon and one's the melodeon player. Four of them are from Connemara. I therefore think that if you didn't have the address, this addressing system wasn't the worst bet.
But then again, having no profile I don't have an opinion on the matter.
Showaddydadito, do not display your ignorance for all. Frankie Gavin does a gardening programme on TV, and the Chelsea Flower Show, and is absolutely famous.
However when in company of other "Stars" he tells everyone that he is Bodhran Bliss.
I have an impressive profile -- my nose gives it a lot of dimension. I also like doing shadow puppetry with my hands. My favorite is the dog profile. (I make it look like it panting)
I think that many mathematicians don't post a profile because they don't want anyone to think they're a nerd. And knowledge -- if you don't have much to offer yet, then why advertise the fact??!!
As for tune books -- So do the people with no tunes in their books already know them all??! What a sad life that would be.
Thanks for the warm welcome, Bobishere and Zina (and everyone else)
member profiles
member profiles
Anyone else wonder why some members leave their profiles blank?
# Posted on April 11th 2005 by maxF
Re: member profiles
some people like privacy ............ and prefer not to mix business with private interests, like ITM. sadly, some members are unable to discern that distinction - so the profiles may stay blank ...............
# Posted on April 11th 2005 by teetotaller
Re: member profiles
You can still have privacy but create a profile which gives the other members some insight into your background and interests. Even if it's just something like "Cynic".
Those who submit nothing may or may not have something to hide. In fact, they may or may not be genuine posters. However, I feel much more comfortable communicating with members who have revealed something about themselves. There's no reason to give away their identity or tell their life story but a little information is nice.
# Posted on April 11th 2005 by Johannes J
Re: member profiles
What's hard is when someone asks a question that really needs an answer tailored to an ability level or a geographical location or whatever, but has nothing in their bio. On the other hand, we have a ton of people here who aren't aware that they even HAVE a bio available to them, or that they can put something in it. So what can you do?
Anyway, if they ask a question and I feel the need to answer but need more info, then I'll ask. So, no real biggie, it'd just save a step if they'd have something in their bio, is all.
# Posted on April 11th 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: member profiles
For example, if I start talking about someone skiing down a snowy hillside playing bagpipes, a bio mentioning that I live in the Sierra Mts. in the land of nutcases, California, it makes sense. If you make the assumption that I am, like most posters, from Ireland or the UK, you may think I am the nutcase.
# Posted on April 11th 2005 by CeolCairdeas
Re: member profiles
Speaking of which, I need to update mine...
# Posted on April 11th 2005 by fiddlinviolinin
Re: member profiles
"You can still have privacy but create a profile which gives the other members some insight into your background"
Believe it or not, for some of us that is difficult, and the user profile produces a high ranking Google hit. People who wish to "follow" me here could still do so with a bit of work, I don't hide my identity, per se, but I'm not inclined to make it easy for them.
This is *not* a private place or the corner pub, as much as it might feel like a quiet little corner of the world.
Knowing that leaving my profile blank might cause some issues I filled it with a joke indicating both my intentional desire not to post personal info there, and that people shouldn't take the whole thing too seriously (International Man of Mystery translates roughly as "Big doofus with bad teeth" Feel free to think of me that way. I do.), although I realize some may not get the joke.
People are free to respect my position in this regard, or they are free to bugger off. I leave the choice entirely up to them.
KFG
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by KFG
Re: member profiles
What's wrong with a profile such as "adult fiddle player, been playing for four years, lives in southern England" (a description which would fit me)? This would give the basic information for someone to reply sensibly to a technical query such a member might have without specifically revealing anything about identity, job or precise location.
Anyway, if you think about it, it's quite difficult for someone to take part in discussion threads over a period of time without revealing, either deliberately, inadvertently or by implication, a fair amount of personal information which isn't in their profile. The language used can give pointers to age, educational background, occupation, and even country of origin (hello Danny!). In practice, it's virtually impossible for anyone who writes more then a few sentences in a forum such as this to exist in a social vacuum.
I'll also add that some of us have distinctive writing styles, and that it's often possible to identify the writer without having to scroll to the end of the post concerned.
Trevor
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by lazyhound
Re: member profiles
FWIW, and I know this has been brought up before, often by me, but when I answer a poster with no bio, I tend just to give bare details, whereas if someone writes a bit about themself, I'll relate to them as though they were a real person rather than a bland request. I can't help it - I can only respond according to the mental picture that the informationn has enabled me to make.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: member profiles
themself, I know, is grammatically incorrect. But might it be considered as the subjunctive analogue of "if *someone*..."?
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: member profiles
Jimmy Troy, back from the dead! ;) I know what you mean about getting slagged by your non-geeky friends, but I seriously don't much care, since I've made an awful lot of friends through the site that I'd probably have never met (in person) without it! And I agree with Danny -- I tend to do the same, actually, though i try not to.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: member profiles
Truly off topic answer, BUT, my son and I were talking about AIM and that adults have screen names. Some of my son's friends consider it odd that an adult (me) has a screen name and participates in an activity that would seem to be a generation y+1 activity ( x, Y,Y+1 soon generations will become polynomial in description). We created the terms, life persona, on line persona and the dreaded peer persona. Great conversation- had to be there.
So getting back to blank profiles; maybe its because some people haven't really developed an "on line persona" that fits, not that Zina, warrior fiddler, would raise eyebrows and wonder about her (or him- well another off point, best left to other forums)-just another triplet ornament in the tunes of things
fel
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by I_Fel
Re: member profiles
I think it has something to do with the "climate" of the internet these days. The human race jumped into the internet with both feet. At the beginning it was rather like utopia, where we were free to research things, share ideas, and communicate more easily than ever before. It made the world a bit smaller, and brought people together in ways that weren't possible before (imagine beautiful harp music and rainbows...)
Unfortunately, the human race also has some darker elements, and they weren't far behind, looking for new ways to fleece the unaware public out of money or other things. So now we get hundreds of spam emails every day (my favorites are the spam mail that offers spam blocking software... oh, and cheap Viagra, of course...
) We have predators stalking our children in chat rooms, phishing scams that try to get you to reveal your most personal information, and people doing anything to get their pornography advertisements past your filters.
All of these things have led to a backlash against revealing ANYTHING personal on the internet. There are currently 17 and a half THOUSAND people signed up as users on this site. Granted, many of those are lurkers or tune hounds that don't even really know that there is anything besides a huge tune archive here. But how many of those people do you really *know*. How many people actually post on a regular basis, maybe 1000?
So that leaves 16 thousand "unknowns" that people might not want to reveal anything about themselves to.
And as far as "online personae", there's another thing that turns people off sometimes. How do you KNOW that Zina isn't actually a 13 year old boy living in the southern part of Tanzania?
I would say that one of the nice things about this site is that people DO get to know each other, and so they get to meet each other in person from time to time. I have had the pleasure of meeting several of the regulars to the posting forums, and I believe that they are all what they claim to be (more or less) in their profiles. But that leaves another 17,498 ones to check out.
Either that, or people are just too lazy to fill out their profiles.
Pete
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Reverend
Re: member profiles
Profiles?
What are you on about? ;^)
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Tunes!
Re: member profiles
I've met Zina, played tunes with her, shared meals, even risked the passenger seat of her car. And I can confirm with confidence that she is in fact a 13 year old boy who plays tambourine and lagerphone, with the annoying habit of *snorting* during songs and slow airs.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Will CPT
Re: member profiles
as long as her.... hir?hes? snorting is onkey and on tempo. ;)
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Pádraig
Re: member profiles
My profile is nearly blank. I once would have thought that the more you tell people about yourself, the better they know you but it seems more information just leads to more assumptions. I've never liked people making assumptions about me because they've always been dead wrong. I'd rather people communicated with me on the basis they *know* they don't know me, as opposed to thinking they know more about me and how I think than they actually do. I can understand that some profile info helps in discussions, though, so mine gives instrument and location, as a compromise.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Tish
Re: member profiles
You don't have to put things in your profile if they'll give away things you don't want people to know KFG. But you can still tell people a little which will help in conversation, as Danny and Zina have pointed out quite nicely.
I haven't put in mine anything about gun running for the rebels.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by showaddydadito
Re: member profiles
Damn.
Damn damn damn damn damn!
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by showaddydadito
Re: member profiles
And, really, I don't mind if most people work out who I am. I'd imagine those who know me through sessions, going to concerts etc, and my general interest in music would be able to do so quite easily. As long as the nutters, spammers etc don't.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Johannes J
Re: member profiles
I am more worried about my telephone number appearing in the phone book than my name on here. You can find it on my website anyway. A profile should contain instruments played, corner of the world and age, roughly, as well as your being male or female. I didn't mention my job in the profile but if you read my posts for some time you can find about my job, band, type of car as well as my musical tastes. There should be some benefit for those who read the more important threads thoroughly. That's the only way to get to know the regular posters anyway.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by kuec
Re: member profiles
This penchant toward anonymous behavior escapes me. Maybe it is a cyberspace thing. I am who I am and I don't care who knows it. Maybe if we were less anonymous, people wouldn't flame each other, or behave in other disrespectful ways.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by AlBrown
Re: member profiles
Of course, you could be just a Joe Ordinary, but cultivate the notion that you might be someone a cut above the rest of us by pretending to have a good reason for staying anonymous. It's a popular conceit among teenage boys who are just beginning to discover how insignificant they are in the world.
I can't say any more than that as I am an international "security agent", guarding a 13 year old boy who has been rogered by a transracial pop star, and whose only contact with the outside world is a web forum, where he pretends to be an "almost exactly middle aged" woman from Denver. Poor sad kid.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by showaddydadito
Re: member profiles
escapes me too Al. Though I tend to think that because I'm not anonomous, it gives me more authority to inflame and be generally disrespectful, especialy to drummers
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by llig leahcim
Re: member profiles
That's fair enough, Michael. You are fairly fortunate in having a more common surname than me. As I said, it's not people I know (or have met) through the music whom I am concerned about.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Johannes J
Re: member profiles
Now how the hell did this turn into a "slag Zina" thread, huh? Huh?! Hah! Pete knows that I'm not a 13 year old boy from Tanzania because he's married to me, of course -- either that or he's got a MUCH more active fantasy life than I'd thought.
Though, Dave, I'm quite taken with the idea of you being another International Man of Mystery. ;) Kevin Costner has nothing on you.
And Will is not allowed in my car anymore until he can keep his fingernails from ripping through the upholstery when I take the corners at a mere 55 miles per hour.
Anyway, unusual names or common names have nothing to do with it. My married name from a previous life was Armstrong. There's another Zina Lee Armstrong who lived in Denver at the time, and she owed EVERYONE money and had much terrible trouble in her life, some of which would slop over onto me and my credit rating occasionally. Who'd have thought it?
And if you put my name into a search engine, while most of the hits *are* me (a lot of them from here), you also get some adolescent girl who is wacko over some actor or other, a porn star, and sometimes a tennis player. Also a couple of geneaology hits from some dead woman in Iowa or something. And a professor of something or other, who published a technical paper or two.
Anyway, if I dropped into Sandy Bells, I'd want to go looking for Michael Gill anyway, so I could whup him upside the head before I hugged him. It wouldn't matter how many Michael Gills there were. (John J would simply get the hug, of course. *smirk*)
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: member profiles
So what you're telling us, tuner&brian, is that KFG actually stands for 'Kindly Frankie Gavin'?
How often do you change your strings, KFGav?
What sort of rosin do you use?
You might as well spill the beans now the cat is well and truly out of the bag.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Ottery
Re: member profiles
"King Frankie Gavin", surely ?
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Kenny
Re: member profiles
Come on now Kenny - you'll only make him worse!
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Ottery
Re: member profiles
No, no - Frankie Gavin would be FFG, if we're referring to him with all full respect.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Nell
Re: member profiles
Fabulous?
Fantastic?
Fribulishious?
Fiddling?
Firstrate?
Fearless?
Fascinating?
Fizzing?
Furious?
Flash?
Fast?
Faster?
Fractious?
Frightening?
Frenetic?
Fastest?
Ferocious?
Fiery?
Pray tell...
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Ottery
Re: member profiles
Flashing ?
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by BegF
Re: member profiles
I don't have anything in my profile because I don't have a lot of knowledge to share -- I am mostly lurking and learning from you all. This is my first post to the list, in fact.
But I'll update my profile now.
Shannon
(aka fluti31415)
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by fluti31415
Re: member profiles
Good for you, Shannon.
Welcome to The Session.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: member profiles
A nice welcoming smile from Zina. The *snorts* come later.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Johannes J
Re: member profiles
Pbbbbbtttthhhht to you, Johnny J. :-p
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: member profiles
Ottery - it's Frankie F*****g Gavin, to the likes of us!
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Nell
Re: member profiles
That's what I f*****g thought in the first place! :-|
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Johannes J
Re: member profiles
aah!
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Ottery
Re: member profiles
So
KFG = 'king Frankie Gavin...
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Ottery
Re: member profiles
Shannon,
So that's "fluti-pi"?
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Bob himself
Re: member profiles
(Good one for a mathematician flute player.)
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Bob himself
Re: member profiles
In writing a bio, someone might be sensitive to some of the remarks here about:
Northern Ireland, England, Protestants, Catholics, Seamus Tansey, Paegans, Zen, North Americans, Bodhrans, Banjos, Piano Accordians, Innovation vs ITM dogma, and not to mention Finland and Lap Dancing.
It may be hard to recognize at first that the background and opinion you represent is simply another one for the melting pot.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by CeolCairdeas
Re: member profiles
"How often do you change your strings, KFGav?"
As seldom as possible. This could be anywhere from several months to some years, depending. I've never figured out why people ask this question.
"What sort of rosin do you use?"
Hidersine light that's been aged at least 50 years ( I've had it myself for about 25, acquired used with my 1882 fiddle, which itself had been in storage for decades). I've really got to get to the shop one of these days.
Feel free to call me KFG, or Kevin, because that's my name. I can't say I like Kev or Gav and KFGav seems a bit silly, but ya doesn't have to call me Johnson, which would be really silly.
I shall, in turn, respect your chosen moniker and call you Ottery, if that is your real name, but you'll have to answer to the Coca-Cola company.
KFG
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by KFG
Re: member profiles
You can figure out what should be in your profile by simply asking yourself why you would look at anyone else's. I look to see if the person I'm talking to is a teenager living at home in suburbia or an old codger living on the helm of a ship tied up at a seedy port in Taiwan. I might weigh my responses to their comments based on that sort of thing. Also, it's helpful to get an idea of what the person's experience with the music might be. If it's someone that I know from meeting them in person at a session then it becomes moot, but if I only encounter them in here -- it's essential.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Phantom Button
Re: member profiles
Well obviously we are all nosey buggers who like reading about other people in order to reinforce our own ludicrous stereotypes, or stereo systems.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by maxF
Re: member profiles
Well, KFG,
The Kevin thing is a bit of a blow to the ould Frankie Gavin theory that's given us so much joy and entertainment. But I must say it's a bit rich you telling us how often you change your strings and which Rosin you use if you're NOT the man himself - Why on earth would we want to know?
p.s. My name's not really Ottery. Ottery is just what the other Otters call me, but then that's what they call everyone, apart from their wives, who they call Mrs. Ottery.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Ottery
Re: member profiles
I thought thay would just said De missus....
Oy veh.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Pádraig
Re: member profiles
Oh yes.,... everything in my profile is precisely true, 100% percent
except for the bits that ain't. ;)
a Phádraig... dum de diddli di i o
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Pádraig
Re: member profiles
Jack: How did you find out about my seedy port in Taiwan? That was the whole point of my pretending to be a woodsey nutter in the Sierra Moutains. Have to talk to you later. Mom wants her computer back and its time for homework.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by CeolCairdeas
Re: member profiles
BTW, Shannon -- KNOWLEDGE to share?! You think our having verbiage in our bios means we must have KNOWLEDGE to share? Good Lord. All right, y'all, we all have to erase our bios now.
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: member profiles
The profiles do give good context to people's comments here, like Jack says. I love it when someone says something definitive like, "copeman whistle's are the best and all the others rot". Then you look at their bio and it is says "started playing the whistle 6 months ago and celtic songs rock!!"
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by Jode
Re: member profiles
What's "Moutains"? I meant "Mountains. Said out of consideration for our spelling nazis.
Jode: you reminded me of the wind up, ChillinLikeAVillain, allegedly a 16 year old with no Bio. Remember?
# Posted on April 12th 2005 by CeolCairdeas
Re: member profiles
How did you tumble to me, Tuner and Brian?
And thank you KFG for taking the rap, but they already know.
OK. I confess. I have been taking the p*ss, and winding people up.
I am Frankie Gavin.
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by bodhran bliss
Re: member profiles
No, I'm Frankie Gavin!
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by Ottery
Re: member profiles
Whatever you guys are smokin', I want some. Now, will the real ChillinLikeAVillain step forward.
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by CeolCairdeas
Re: member profiles
No, I'm Frankie Gavin, and so's my wife!
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by Greenwiggle
Re: member profiles
Well, you talked me into it. I have mainly been lurking and browsing, but I just put in a profile.
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by babut
Re: member profiles
". . .you're NOT the man himself. . ."
But I'm afraid I am.
"Why on earth would we want to know?"
I believe I've already mentioned that I haven't a clue, but you asked and it seemed both reasonable and polite to answer.
"My name's not really Ottery."
Who woulda thunk it? I'll inform the Coca-Cola company that you were operating under an alias. It isn't going to help your case I'm afraid. Makes you look like you've got something to hide.
"OK. I confess. I have been taking the p*ss, and winding people up."
Noooooooooooooo!
KFG
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by KFG
Re: member profiles
Welcome, babut!
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by Bob himself
Re: member profiles
Indeed, welcome babut, but I can't help noticing that you are collecting animals in twos.
Do you know something we don't?
KFG
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by KFG
Re: member profiles
Welcome Babut! If you can survive this "passing wind storm" (
) you're ready for a bio.
Greenwiggle: If both you and your wife are Frankie........ nah-nah-nah!
Still smoking to catch up with you guys, but I'm not Frankie Gavin yet. However, the dog passed out from the fumes and is slowly turning into a doggie Frankie Gavin. Does that count? (^:
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by CeolCairdeas
Re: member profiles
I've never heard of Frankie Gavin.
Is he famous?
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by showaddydadito
Re: member profiles
No harm against KFG or any other member here but a good test to see if someone is famous is to check what's in their tune book!
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by Johannes J
Re: member profiles
Good Lord, John J, I've had a look at your tune book and discovered that you're actually Uma Thurman!
KFG
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by KFG
Re: member profiles
See? It's more interesting when you know a bit about people!
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by maxF
Re: member profiles
John, I think I get what you mean.
Thjough it's evil and nasty of you to point it out ....
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by Ottery
Re: member profiles
Now the tune book is the place to take on a different identity...From mine you will assume that I only know 8 tunes. Hey, I'll put all the fashionable Lunasa tunes in next just to fool you.
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by kuec
Re: member profiles
No JohnJ - their tune book only reveals what's in their tune book.
None in mine - can't hardly read music. But I can play a lot of tunes.
Perhaps I'm famous.
Perhaps I'm Frankie Gavin?
I dunno.
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by showaddydadito
Re: member profiles
True. Tunes are held in a member's tune book for a variety of reasons. I even caused a discussion about this a while back. Some of those in mine I actually submitted myself but , mostly, they are ones I still have to learn.
For some members, it may be a sample of their repertoire. I don't know. However, I am assuming that Frankie Gavin and the like will already know most of the tunes available here.
I really wasn't meaning to be cheeky.
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by Johannes J
Re: member profiles
Mine is certainly a fair sampling of MY repertoire, that's for sure. ;)
Sure you weren't meaning to be cheeky, Johnny J. Sure you weren't. *smirk*
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: member profiles
Ah, my dirty little secret is out.
Armand, Kerri? I was taken by your tunes. I have caused them to rub up against The Merry Blacksmith and Rolling in the Rye Grass because I thought I might find it useful to use them to demonstrate ABCs to students and give them print outs of the dots. Forgive me.
". . .their tune book only reveals what's in their tune book."
Well, yeah, like, if you want to work from the evidence forward instead of your assumptions and conclusions backwards, I guess.
Among those assumptions seems to be the idea that something to do with Irish music has something to do with fame, which I find a rather peculiar notion, and that Frankie Gavin is famous even though hardly anybody has heard of him, including people who listen to Irish music.
I've spent a good deal of time over the last couple of weeks explaining to people who Johnny Cunningham and Paddy Keenan were/are, and I would have thought they were more commonly known than Frankie. Not one person I've spoken to has ever heard of them, including a Shanachie recording artist, who, as her husband said "doesn't really pay much attention to that Scottish and Irish stuff."
Seamus Connolly is right out, even though he lives here in America.
It seems an odd sort of "fame."
KFG
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by KFG
Re: member profiles
I thought Frankie Gavin is to Irish music, what Bono is to rock? The jokes are interchangable, anyway.
A tangent here, relating to fame within Irish music. Someone was telling me the other day that Johnny Connolly received a letter once, that had simply been addressed to 'The Best Box Player in Connemara'.
Can we name any other people who'd be able to receive their mail with a similar addressing system? What sort of dilemma would the postal service face, if you were to send a letter to 'The Best Piper in Dublin' or 'The Best Fiddler in Donegal' and so forth? Perhaps we should put it to the test?
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by Nell
Re: member profiles
KFG - I know what you mean about fame and Irish music. When I told friends, co-workers and family I was taking a workshop from Tommy Peoples and their response, almost to a person seemed to be, "Tommy who?"
As far as my profile goes, no mystery there. Then again, I am not Frankie Gavin and probably never will be.
Ken
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by RogueFiddler
Re: member profiles
Hugh Hefner once got a letter from a friend that was only addressed with a drawing of the bunny head logo.
The letter read, "If you get this, you have arrived."
"Can we name any other people who'd be able to receive their mail with a similar addressing system?"
Ah, but was it, in fact, for Johnny? "
KFG
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by KFG
Re: member profiles
We could write letters to Seamus Tansey under some type of title, and probably get ugly responses to post here.
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by CeolCairdeas
Re: member profiles
Nell, I know (or know of) five John Connolly's. Four play accordeon and one's the melodeon player. Four of them are from Connemara. I therefore think that if you didn't have the address, this addressing system wasn't the worst bet.
But then again, having no profile I don't have an opinion on the matter.
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by SL*
Re: member profiles
CeolCairdeas, shall I send a postcard to The Angriest Flute Player in Ireland, and see if it arrives?
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by Nell
Re: member profiles
Nell: provide some tips about tuning up for a gig in order to inspire his best efforts.
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by CeolCairdeas
Re: member profiles
Showaddydadito, do not display your ignorance for all. Frankie Gavin does a gardening programme on TV, and the Chelsea Flower Show, and is absolutely famous.
However when in company of other "Stars" he tells everyone that he is Bodhran Bliss.
That is Bodhran Bliss
Europe.
for anyone wishing to write.
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by bodhran bliss
Re: member profiles
You're smokin' that stuff again. Sorry, I can't join you again until the doggie Frankie Gavin recovers.
# Posted on April 13th 2005 by CeolCairdeas
Re: member profiles
I have an impressive profile -- my nose gives it a lot of dimension. I also like doing shadow puppetry with my hands. My favorite is the dog profile. (I make it look like it panting)
# Posted on April 14th 2005 by Phantom Button
Re: member profiles
Yeah, it is fluti-pi. Not many people get that!
I think that many mathematicians don't post a profile because they don't want anyone to think they're a nerd. And knowledge -- if you don't have much to offer yet, then why advertise the fact??!!
As for tune books -- So do the people with no tunes in their books already know them all??! What a sad life that would be.
Thanks for the warm welcome, Bobishere and Zina (and everyone else)
# Posted on April 14th 2005 by fluti31415
Re: member profiles
I find it a very disconcerting handle. . . I keep waiting for the 9 to drop.
KFG
# Posted on April 15th 2005 by KFG
Re: member profiles
Can you do 'Deformed rabbit', Jack... it's my favourite!
# Posted on April 15th 2005 by Q