[mplpost] tongue [FIRMLY] in cheek

[Richard Davis]

[Dana Whittle wrote]:

>>... it seems that, as members of a folk music listserve, we're not 
>>supposed to be interested in anything BUT folk music (precise, agreed upon 
>>definition Mission Impossible).

[snip]

>>Our feeble, human attempts to categorize and compartmentalize everything 
>>sometimes cause us to miss the point, as well as some
>>very wonderful connections between different worlds.


[Then Dan Kershaw wrote]:

>maplepost, for me, is like a map of the folk community in this country, and 
>maps are only useful insofar as they leave something out.  that is, if 
>*everything* were included, you wouldn't know where you were.  so i think a 
>little comment about whether posts like the steely dan thing are 
>appropriate is worthwhile, as it allows the community to get its bearings.

Now me...

Interesting perspective Dan.  I like the analogy.  In fact, I like it so 
much, I think I'll extemporize upon it!

Your reference got me thinking about a particular practice in early 
cartography, which inadvertently led me to the following quote (from the 
X-Files of all places):

     SCULLY: You know, on the old mariner's maps, the cartographers
     would designate uncharted territories by writing 'Here Be
     Monsters'.

     MULDER: I got a map of New York City just like that.

Maplepost is a little like Mulder's map of New York.  I've got a mailbox for 
this list littered with posts stating (to give the sentiment the Brooklyn 
Fly-Girl treatment)-- 'don't go there, sister!'  Frankly, I'm as 
uncomfortable with the tone of some of these censorial and admonishing 
responses as I am irritated by the fatigue in my right index finger from 
deleting the original, offending posts.

I do think we're a little bit hasty in marking out monster terrain.  Does 
Steely Dan belong on this list?  I don't know.  Does it really matter?  
Should our listmoms be cast in the role of netnannies and expend time 
rooting out the identity of Helen Highwater, Foot In Cold Water or whatever 
nom de guerre the little imp is using today?  Not sure that really matters 
either (however, the thought of our elusive deviant being publicly outed IS 
delicious -- come on, admit it, not since JR got shot have you been more 
curious about the identity of a trigger-person... so many people out there 
with a motive).

Do I get my knickers in a knot over all of this?  Not.  Mostly I sit back 
and watch it go by.  I'm not a frequent contributor, but I do read this list 
and I'm all for keeping the discourse as open as possible.  That includes 
tolerating periodic digressions.  The occasional 70s revivalist sentiment 
won't hurt anyone.  After all, it was a revival in the 50s that got all this 
whole folk thing started up again, and hell, it's not like we're having to 
battle a tide of revanchist thinking around folk music...

I think we'll even survive Running Hot & Cold Water's dam-busting breaches 
of decorum.  If I may, I'd like to introduce an analogous personal anecdote. 
  I have a ten year old sister and a couple of years ago she left the table 
during Christmas dinner and returned wearing her 101 Dalmatian Halloween 
costume.  She refused to take her seat at the table, preferring instead to 
sit under it, barking like a dog, taking scraps, being patted on the head... 
and biting the ankles of family members (including those of my eighty year 
old - very English - grandmother).  Now we are not THE stuffiest of 
Anglo-Saxon Methodist stock, but Xmas dinner with the Davis's can be 
somewhat stiff affair.  It's hard to ignore your sister as a dog.  Equally 
hard to sustain a stiff demeanour with the werechild nipping at your toes.  
She'd devised a fabulous attention getting device and subverted the tone of 
the whole proceedings.  Laughed my ass off, wished I could have got away 
with it myself.  Now I'm not saying that Hot & Cold is anywhere near as 
funny and imaginative as my ten year old sister, only that it rarely hurts 
to lighten up a little.

I'm glad Dana and Dan (also relatively infrequent contributors) engaged in 
the discussion and talked about listservs as maps that provide a community 
with its bearings and used phrases like "feeble, human attempts to 
categorize and compartmentalize".  That's the kind of thing I signed up for! 
  A little intelligent and polite gauntlet dropping.

Me, I think it's a little tough to find a Northwest Passage when you stay in 
the monster free zone.

That's me done.  I will now re-dedicate myself to the art of deletion.  Neca 
eos omnes. Deus suos agnoset (Kill them all, God will know his own).

Take care, RD.

PS.  My good twin assures me that neither a Steely Dan nor a Steeleye Span 
cover band are eligible for a Canada Council touring grant.  RD.

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