GMG --- Friends, Inc.

Started by Florestan, April 10, 2021, 08:30:33 AM

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Brahmsian

Quote from: Florestan on April 13, 2021, 06:46:02 AM
Just re-read his (Sydney Grew's) posts. A strong contender for the most insufferable and affected member, a cut above even M Forever, whose rudeness was at least naturally expressed and whose knowledge was at least indisputable. He gets my nomination for the greatest GMG prick ever.

To beat out James in that category is quite a feat!  :D

Florestan

Quote from: André on April 13, 2021, 06:44:12 AM
M Forever was a very knowledgeable poster, always interesting when posting about music. But he could be...difficult.

Indeed. If only he could restrict himself to music only...

I hated him the most when he started lecturing Americans about how they will never be able to even begin to properly understand and perform Austro-German music because they were simply too different culturally --- which is nonsense on stilts.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Florestan

Quote from: OrchestralNut on April 13, 2021, 06:47:20 AM
To beat out James in that category is quite a feat!  :D

I remember him as well but he posted much more than SG so there's no way I'll re-read his posts. Let's call it a tie.  :laugh:
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Spotted Horses

My first experience of a classical music discussion board was "ClassicalInsites," part of "Musicboulevard," and early e-commerce site run by a company called N2K, if memory serves. I think that was 1997. I wonder if there are refugees from that site here.
There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind. - Duke Ellington

Florestan

I think I have joined GMG around 2004, stumbling upon it by chance. I remember posting and starting threads in the old forum. Before that I had never been a member of any other international forum, musical or otherwise.



Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Holden

Quote from: Spotted Horses on April 13, 2021, 06:57:57 AM
My first experience of a classical music discussion board was "ClassicalInsites," part of "Musicboulevard," and early e-commerce site run by a company called N2K, if memory serves. I think that was 1997. I wonder if there are refugees from that site here.

ClassicalInsites was my first classical music forum.
Cheers

Holden

DaveF

I think I joined around 2010 and, while I'm hardly a regular contributor (more of a lurker) I very much value the exchanges (always friendly) I've had with people over the years.  If these exchanges never blossomed into full discussions, that's my fault - too little time, too little energy.  My family life seems to have been beset by deaths over the period of my membership, so it's been comforting to know that GMG is just "there" - to read people discussing thing of interest to you, even if you don't participate, is curiously comforting.

I don't think anyone so far has mentioned snyprrr - I was never sure whether he was from Planet Earth at all, or the inhabitant of some Trans-Neptunian Object who had just hacked into our terrestrial internet.  We talked about home-made pizza once - that was when he had a home, as (if his posts were to be believed) he spent a spell living on the streets.  I think there were a lot of quite unsavoury opinions hidden in his stream-of-consciousness posts.
"All the world is birthday cake" - George Harrison

Karl Henning

Quote from: Florestan on April 13, 2021, 06:51:47 AM
I remember him as well but he posted much more than SG so there's no way I'll re-read his posts. Let's call it a tie.  :laugh:

Spoken like a gentleman, sir!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Brahmsian

Quote from: DaveF on April 13, 2021, 09:06:24 AM

I don't think anyone so far has mentioned snyprrr - I was never sure whether he was from Planet Earth at all, or the inhabitant of some Trans-Neptunian Object who had just hacked into our terrestrial internet.  We talked about home-made pizza once - that was when he had a home, as (if his posts were to be believed) he spent a spell living on the streets.  I think there were a lot of quite unsavoury opinions hidden in his stream-of-consciousness posts.

Although not mentioned, he is in my thoughts too.  I liked snyprrr, even if he wasn't from Planet Earth.  He was entertaining, for sure.

steve ridgway

Quote from: OrchestralNut on April 13, 2021, 09:24:19 AM
I liked snyprrr, even if he wasn't from Planet Earth.  He was entertaining, for sure.

Before my time but I've enjoyed reading his posts in various composer discussions. He did seem to get carried away by sudden enthusiasms. :D

Spotted Horses

Quote from: Holden on April 13, 2021, 08:59:20 AM
ClassicalInsites was my first classical music forum.

Is it possible, then, that someone else remembers Ralph Stein, a young trumpet player from Oklahoma, I think, and "Ionia?" :)
There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind. - Duke Ellington

Holden

I remember the late Ralph Stein. He was the creator of some very interesting threads. My favourite was one where every post was a humorous reworking of classical music titles.
Cheers

Holden

j winter

Quote from: DaveF on April 13, 2021, 09:06:24 AM
...I don't think anyone so far has mentioned snyprrr - I was never sure whether he was from Planet Earth at all, or the inhabitant of some Trans-Neptunian Object who had just hacked into our terrestrial internet....

Quoted for truth  ;D

I was prompted by this thread to check the Wayback Machine and see how long ago I actually joined GMG... turns out it was March 14, 2005.  I dug up my original intro from the "Tell Us About Yourself" thread....

Quote from: A Very Young Me

Name:  Bill
Age:  33
Location:  Newark, DE USA
Married, 2nd kid on the way

Musical interests:  Many.   :)   In classical, mostly old dead German/Austrian guys, but lots of other stuff as well.   Rock, blues, country (old), bluegrass...

Musical education/background:  formal music eductation nil, other than a bit of choral singing and musicals in school.   Have a huge and varied CD collection that I listen to constantly.  First got into classical music when I was a teenager -- some teenage boys go for heavy metal, I went for George Szell doing Wagner (his Tannhauser Ovt. is still a huge sentimental favorite of mine, sadly now out of print).

Favorite composer(s):  Beethoven & Mahler at the top, followed by lots of folks:  Haydn, Mozart, Prokofiev, Bach, Vivaldi, Brahms, Bruckner, Wagner...  As far as non-classical, Beatles, Stones, the Band, Muddy Waters, John Hiatt, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, etc.

Favorite work:  toughie.  Probably Beethoven's 7th symphony, but it depends on when you ask me.  If I could say LvB's symphonies as a whole, that would definitely be it -- I probably have twenty-some sets rattling around the house (& car, & office, etc.).

Pleased to make your collective acquaintance!  8)

I'm surprised at how little of the above has changed in 16 years.  My 2nd child will be driving a car next year, and fatherhood naturally absorbed much of my spare time, which caused me to leave the forum for a good long stretch.  My listening is no longer quite as Beethoven-centric as it used to be, but my favorite composers are still largely focused in the group I listed, with the order shuffled around and several added (Sibelius comes immediately to mind; I've also dipped several toes into jazz). 

I don't post as much as I used to, mostly due to the lack of spare time (those pesky employers), but also out of an acknowledgment that my taste in classical music is frankly a bit conventional -- which is fine since it's my taste, but with 20 years of history the forum doesn't particularly need, or have an appetite for, new discussions on "what's the best recording of Brahms PC1?" since we've covered it in great depth many times already.  I can learn a lot more than I can actively contribute on most topics, which has always been the case.

But it is undeniably nice, particularly as we approach the end of a year like the last one, to be in the company of a community of like-minded souls (classical fans are not thick on the ground in these parts), and have a nice chat over a virtual pint. 

Here's to a fine forum, by far the best I've ever run across.  Long may she flourish.  :)   
The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus.
Let no such man be trusted.

-- William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

Karl Henning

Quote from: j winter on April 13, 2021, 01:10:48 PM
Quoted for truth  ;D

I was prompted by this thread to check the Wayback Machine and see how long ago I actually joined GMG... turns out it was March 14, 2005.  I dug up my original intro from the "Tell Us About Yourself" thread....

I'm surprised at how little of the above has changed in 16 years.  My 2nd child will be driving a car next year, and fatherhood naturally absorbed much of my spare time, which caused me to leave the forum for a good long stretch.  My listening is no longer quite as Beethoven-centric as it used to be, but my favorite composers are still largely focused in the group I listed, with the order shuffled around and several added (Sibelius comes immediately to mind; I've also dipped several toes into jazz). 

I don't post as much as I used to, mostly due to the lack of spare time (those pesky employers), but also out of an acknowledgment that my taste in classical music is frankly a bit conventional -- which is fine since it's my taste, but with 20 years of history the forum doesn't particularly need, or have an appetite for, new discussions on "what's the best recording of Brahms PC1?" since we've covered it in great depth many times already.  I can learn a lot more than I can actively contribute on most topics, which has always been the case.

But it is undeniably nice, particularly as we approach the end of a year like the last one, to be in the company of a community of like-minded souls (classical fans are not thick on the ground in these parts), and have a nice chat over a virtual pint. 

Here's to a fine forum, by far the best I've ever run across.  Long may she flourish.  :)   

Huzzah, Bill!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

The new erato

Quote from: OrchestralNut on April 13, 2021, 09:24:19 AM
Although not mentioned, he is in my thoughts too.  I liked snyprrr, even if he wasn't from Planet Earth.  He was entertaining, for sure.
I think of him occasionally as well. He was very human in his otherwordliness, and displayed moments of great insight in his more lucid moments. I sincerely hope all is well with him.

vandermolen

Quote from: Mirror Image on April 12, 2021, 08:45:05 PM
Anyone who dislikes you is an absolute moron regardless of the reason. I have had nothing but a good time talking with you through all these years.
Me too  :)
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

Quote from: Florestan on April 13, 2021, 04:10:08 AM
Yes, the guy who always used the royal we when speaking of himself and lost no opportunity to trumpet his view that gay people were artistically and intellectually superior to straight ones.
I think that he tried to launch a take-over coup on a different music forum.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

Quote from: The new erato on April 13, 2021, 02:23:36 PM
I think of him occasionally as well. He was very human in his otherwordliness, and displayed moments of great insight in his more lucid moments. I sincerely hope all is well with him.
+1
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Que

#118
Quote from: j winter on April 13, 2021, 01:10:48 PM
Quoted for truth  ;D

I was prompted by this thread to check the Wayback Machine and see how long ago I actually joined GMG... turns out it was March 14, 2005.  I dug up my original intro from the "Tell Us About Yourself" thread....

Could you explain how to do that? How to search the stored pages?  :)

vandermolen

Quote from: DaveF on April 13, 2021, 09:06:24 AM
I think I joined around 2010 and, while I'm hardly a regular contributor (more of a lurker) I very much value the exchanges (always friendly) I've had with people over the years.  If these exchanges never blossomed into full discussions, that's my fault - too little time, too little energy.  My family life seems to have been beset by deaths over the period of my membership, so it's been comforting to know that GMG is just "there" - to read people discussing thing of interest to you, even if you don't participate, is curiously comforting.

I don't think anyone so far has mentioned snyprrr - I was never sure whether he was from Planet Earth at all, or the inhabitant of some Trans-Neptunian Object who had just hacked into our terrestrial internet.  We talked about home-made pizza once - that was when he had a home, as (if his posts were to be believed) he spent a spell living on the streets.  I think there were a lot of quite unsavoury opinions hidden in his stream-of-consciousness posts.
I switched off as I thought that I should be getting on with my 'going back to school' preparation (which I should) but then I thought about what you wrote Dave and switched back on! I very much agree with what you say about the GMG Forum being 'there' during difficult times. I'm sorry to hear about the deaths in your family. In recent years my lovely sister-in-law (more like a sister) and two close friends have all died much too young (early 50s to mid 60s) and the forum did offer a sense of normality during those difficult times. I know that the Forum is not a 'support group' but then maybe every good group can be a support group at times - that's my experience here anyway. Now, I must get back to work!
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).