Too much negativity here

[jgkojak]

I like to spar with the best of 'em. See: political threads.

I've been coming to this site for a long time, I think its the best Macca site on the net, and I'm pretty darn disillusioned by what I am seeing on here-

It seems like this board has been HIJACKED by two or three extremely negative personalities who really don't care for Paul's music all that much. Here is how it goes:

POSTER: I really love <ALBUM> and <SONG> and think they may have been overlooked. I love <THIS SECTION> and <THIS LYRIC>, it may not mean much to you, but I really like it.

NEGATIVE #1: <SONG> is just another example of Paul's poor lyric writing. He can't finish a thought, as evidenced by <EXAMPLE> from <SONG>

NEGATIVE #2: Paul was washed up in 1971. It says so in Rolling Stone. I can <WRITE/PRODUCE/PLAY> better than Paul on this track.

POSTER: All I said was I liked <SONG> and <ALBUM>- jeez!

NEGATIVE #1: <8 paragraph diatribe about Paul's lyrics>

NEGATIVE #2: <2 paragraph diatribe agreeing with NEGATIVE #1 and adding further insults masked as observations>


So... this long-time poster/writer on this site is gonna take a break. I'm gonna answer this thread this weekend, then I will be gone for a while. Hopefully if I come back (and that's a big IF) things will have calmed down here and we can have reasonable discussions again.

I'll point to one- the recent SONG BY SONG thread on Steve Hoffman Forums about Chaos and Creation. This is a great discussion.
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showt ... p?t=220099

Some examples:

Linda's vocals remind me of what Tony Palmer said about Paul in that great review of the White Album (Yellow Submarine British liner notes)-----"drifting melancholy overhangs the entire proceedings like a purple veil of shadowy optimism...." Maybe pretentious but it describes her voice to me.

"How Kind of You" is a nice change of pace sounding track from Paul. The track sort of meanders around... in a good way. I like when the piano drops down from an F# to an F at around 3.30 or so , and like Jim, I like the way the track ends. Hey Jim,(zobalob) quit stealing my thoughts before I post them.

And a slightly negative/criticism (note its legit, and backed up, and doesn't repeat the point ad nauseum:

I am obviously going to be in the minority here, but this is one of my least favorite Macca tracks off C&C. It is actually the one I am most likely to skip when I listen to the album. IMO, this is Nigel Godrich at his indulgent worst and Macca did a poor job of reigning him in. You have a weak Macca melody combined with alot of extraneous Nigel production (the drone that drives me nuts). Also, not a very strong vocal performance by Macca. The music does not fit with the lyrics at all.

Basically it is 4 minutes of overbearing tedium. There are so many better tracks on the album than this one. This is the track that almost makes me not want to listen to the rest of the album after a solid opener.

This is one track I would have gladly traded for any of 3 or 4 of the b-sides that eventually came out. I just don't find it enjoyable to listen to at all.

[EddieV]

Hope you not gonna stay away for long, jgkojak. Always enjoy to read your post. They are all intelligent and well argumented. See you soon here on Macca-central.

[linclink]

I hear you amigo...I spend most of my forum time over at the Steve Hoffman Forums anymore, for various reasons, meaning...1) I've already left here for the most part...I do drop by & leave updates on stuff, etc. & check in...and 2) I agree with you. It's sad really, but...the thing is...the only thing needed to stop it is...to decide not to engage those people. Without someone to be nasty to they starve to death. So if I ever read someone who is a loose canon of any sort (nasty language, arrogant, dogmatic, irrational, etc.- sometimes all of the aforementioned), I just write to them letting them know that I'm not going to be having any dialogue with them, and then move on. I might answer a simple question that'd ask me to be polite (I've actually done that here), but I don't waste my time, or feed their fire. What's sad is I watch others do this, and well there goes your board...then it's just filled with those people getting to vent their spleen, rage on about their pet theories and the infallible objective absolute truth of their completely subjective opinions, etc.. It's hilarious for about 1-2 minutes, & then really sad, and like I said you see theses people begin to just pollute the place, and...there you go. So I'll recommend the Steve Hoffman Forums. They have what are referred to as "Gorts", they sort of monitor the place for any "crap", and you know what there generally just isn't too much there. Folks are human, of course, and there are occasional newbies, but on a much, much larger Forum things stay really well behaved there.
I really like Mike, the guy whose kind enough to provide this space & deal with all of these issues. I also really like a lot of the other posters here, so I do stop back now & then. I don't hate the difficult folks by any means, I have a lot of compassion for them, but I do dislike their communication methods & the energy they bring to these places, and it's sad to see. Blessings Of Love & Light!!

[bonovox66]

jgkojak, don't let a few negative posters drive you away. I've always enjoyed your posts and many have brought a smile to my face, as they are typically witty and fun. I don't think you can really escape negativity on the net.

Remember what Holden and Banky said in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back: "The Internet is a communication tool used the world over where people can come together to b**** about movies and share pornography with one another.... That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously."

Seriously though, if you leave the negative posters win. Just don't reply to their posts. They are like little children just begging for attention. If you don't give it to them they will either stop or go somewhere else that will give them the attention they crave.

I do understand what you are saying. There is one forum I use to visit and have been since 1998 but stopped going to last year because the negative posters had outnumbered the positive posts by 5:1. But I would say the majority of the people here are here to have a good time and are generally very cordial. Sure there are a few, and I probably know who you are talking about, but don't let them ruin this great site for you.

And i do not think I am alone in saying you have brought much to this forum.

[pates78]

no reason to "drop out" at all, just ignore the aforementioned posters. it always reminds me of the Simpsons Halloween special when all the Billboards spring to life and start destroying the city. Lisa recruits Paul Anka to write a jingle convincing people to ignore the ads so that they'll die off. "Just don't look, just don't look..."

Ignore them because there is no point to them.

[jjs]

Too much negativity? You poor, poor victim. How terrible it must be.

Let's put another spin on how things are around here ok?

I say: "Hey, guys, there is nothing wrong with the McCartney collection remasters. All remastering again is really going to amount to is re-equalization. Things will sound "better" because they will sound a bit different because they were EQed differently. You can achive the same results with an equalizer."

Response: You don't know what you're talking about. There's all this new "technology" out there...

I say: Yes, but unless they go back and redo the stereo mixes, the technology won't do anything miraculous. You're still working from the same analog stereo mixes, and all that can be done at that point is re-eq and re-compress,and since there is nothing wrong with the existing masters, all you're paying for is re-eqing. I know what I'm talking about. I was a sound engineer for a number of years, and now I'm a software engineer for a music software company.

Response: Oh, you must not have been a very talented engineer. Ha ha. Well, I read that you can sample at 96 bits instead of 16, and a computer algorithm will pick out aaaaaallll the bets bits, and 96 is better than 16 and... You must not know what you're talking about.

I say: Yes, 96bits is better than 16Bits, but that doesn't apply here because we're still mastering from the analog stereo mix tape. For those 96 bits to be useful, you'd have to redo the stereo mix tape at 96 bits,and then master at 96 bits then finally down to 16. If you're coming from the analog tape, mastering up to 96 bits and then down to 16 doesn't buy you anything. You might as well go from the analog tape right to the 16-bit master.

This is what every single conversation here turns into. It's not a few people hijacking everything. Its a few people who are so stubborn that that they cannot learn, and they cannot be taught, and they take it as a personal insult when someone else is smarter. You are incredibly narrow minded, close minded and ignorant. You try to bullshit me every single time, and for the life of me, I don't know why.

I criticize the lyrics because they are weak and unfinished, and this is why Paul gets panned. You can just go online and find this out for yourself.
I say another set of remasters is nothing but marketing and advertising to extract more money from the stupid, because unless they go back and redo the stereo mixes, that is exactly what it is.

You and others like you make the negativity. You're compelled to challenge what you don't want to hear with your feelings, and you get your a$$ handed to you every time. You counter everything I say with one error after another. I've been handing you your a$$ for months. Wouldn't it make more sense just to ignore the post you don't like? I ignore the posts I don't like.

[Mark Rink]

[mr h atom]

sorry to see you feel that way, though, i understand: sorry if i've contributed too much to that; that would bring a sad face...hope you change your mind, we need more voices like yours...good luck & have fun @ the sprint center

[Mike]

Well, again I tend to agree with the fact that a few people are ruining this. I have been tolerant but when I get complaints I have to act on them. One person in particular has a vengeance to cut up everyone and most songs. Being critical is acceptable but if that is the vast majority of JJS's of what he or she, has to say, then it's about time to get order of the chaos here.

People are very busy with their personal and internet lives. People who take the time to come here to must get more appreciation. Plus the fact I have sacrificed a great deal of my time and personal income over the years to build and maintain this site. Fans have also contributed through donations and that has helped. My point is that the topic of the day is constantly being taken over with negative nonsense. JJS thinks his logic is the way. JJS you seem to be semi-intelligent. I have seen some normal and tame posts from you so I know you are capable to contribute positive things, however you do not seem to have the will to do so. You enjoy confrontation and knocking down posters and of course a great deal of music many people love. Yes you are going to be a target and NO, I am not going to let this site be about you. Your time has ended.

JJS, do expect your posts to be either edited or deleted. I won't suspend your account right now but of course I reserve the right to do so. I won't be editing/deleting your posts for very long cuz I'll grow very tired of that. If the negativity continues, you will be de-activated.

I do this to keep this site somewhat a safe place for longtime fans that still come here and for new comers that haven't yet discovered this site.

[jjs]

Well, again I tend to agree with the fact that a few people are ruining this. I have been tolerant but when I get complaints I have to act on them. One person in particular has a vengeance to cut up everyone and most songs. Being critical is acceptable but if that is the vast majority of JJS's of what he or she, has to say, then it's about time to get order of the chaos here.

People are very busy with their personal and internet lives. People who take the time to come here to must get more appreciation. Plus the fact I have sacrificed a great deal of my time and personal income over the years to build and maintain this site. Fans have also contributed through donations and that has helped. My point is that the topic of the day is constantly being taken over with negative nonsense. JJS thinks his logic is the way. JJS you seem to be semi-intelligent. I have seen some normal and tame posts from you so I know you are capable to contribute positive things, however you do not seem to have the will to do so. You enjoy confrontation and knocking down posters and of course a great deal of music many people love. Yes you are going to be a target and NO, I am not going to let this site be about you. Your time has ended.

JJS, do expect your posts to be either edited or deleted. I won't suspend your account right now but of course I reserve the right to do so. I won't be editing/deleting your posts for very long cuz I'll grow very tired of that. If the negativity continues, you will be de-activated.

I do this to keep this site somewhat a safe place for longtime fans that still come here and for new comers that haven't yet discovered this site.

Yeah, Mike do that.

To keep this place somewhat safe and sane, be objective. I didn't tell that crybaby to read and respond to my posts. It's was HIS choice. And when he challenges me, (which he's free to do) I hand him his a$$ because he's always inaccurate (which i should be free to do). So he gets frustrated, and he's the victim and your response it to take it out on me.

Well I agree things shouldn't get out of hand. No one wants that. I don't, even though you seem to think I do. I just want to discuss what I like and dislike.

But I didn't ask the crybaby to get into it with me, it's was his choice. There are two sides to it, Mike. Why did someone tell that other guy "!@#$ Dylan"? I didn't read the post but what a shitty thing to say to a guy that's been here all of a week. You really need to examine where the negativity is coming from Mike. Trust me, It's not from the obvious place. I'll bet if you dig a little, you'll see that some people are very professional in stirring up ***censored*** and then playing the victim.

I'd just prefer he ignored my posts. I ignore posts I don't care for. All the negativity would then vanish, and no one would need to a victim or be censored. Don't you think? Just ignore posts you don't like... how simple. For example... I couldn't care less about Dylan, and so I didn't read that thread.