O-10, I have two sons. One is a young man, the other is about to become one. It is very common for children and even almost-adults to, in order to feel in control and with a sense of power, to throw tantrums and act out in childish ways by saying disrespectful and downright insulting things when they don’t get their way. A good parent will be very accommodating and flexible when the child, in the face of their obvious brattiness, offers a token “olive branch” of faint praise. Well, you are not a child and, God help me, you are not my son. So, I would offer the suggestion that, before anything, you offer an apology to all here for your childish and disrespectful rants; most recently and specifically, for calling the contributors here “henchmen” and part of a “mob”. Not that I expect it, but you may extend any show of maturity to the “lipstick on a pig” comment. The list is long, but that would be a good start. Jus’ sayin’.
Now, while it probably is not surprising, I don’t agree that “we hardly ever agree”. Fact is, that we agree fairly often. Problem is that when we do disagree over one of your “pet” topics (or anything else, really) you tend to, in your mind, assume and extend disagreement to everything else. Case in point and an example of something that has happened many times: I posted the iconic recording “Money Jungle” by Ellington, Mingus and Roach quite a while back, and you thought it was the bomb. Now, because I expressed views, backed by data, on the African influence topic that differ from your OPINION, suddenly that same music is no longer any good. Childish rant.
I assure you that while it is pretty good, my knowledge of music is not encyclopedic by any means and I prefer, faint praise aside, to always remember that there is always a great deal to learn. May I suggest that you try that approach; it is a far more productive way to approach things.