In defense of Bolle

[John A Swartz]

Well, sort of . . .

I guess he won't make too many new friends on this list.  I've gotten to
know the guy a bit over the past few years and ... well, he probably
wouldn't make any excuses for his actions so I won't either.  I'll just
say that he speaks his mind and uses whatever language he sees fit -
immature? maybe.  Some of it is cultural I think (Bolle, originally from
Sweden, seems, IMHO, "uncomfortable" with various aspects of culture in
America -- I believe he's stated to me in the past that he's felt that
European's are more open in expressing opinion without worrying of
offending others - note: I'm ignorant in different cultures, so I don't
speak this as fact, but Bolle's opinion).

Anyways, Bolle's not much on "netiquette"
and I imagine some would say that he exemplifies the sort of stereotype
some of us have of AOL users in general -- no, I'm *NOT* trying to
start a BOC-L vs AOL flamewar - I'm just saying that those of us who
have dislike for AOL users, well Bolle is probably the type of person
who reinforces those opinions.

While I'm on that subject, however, I wish to point out some comments
that *I* have received from some other non-BOC-L members -- for what it
is worth, Bolle is not alone in his opinions of BOC-L.  I'm going to list
here a few things that others have told me of our list, or at least give
what I perceive their feelings are.  These are not my opinions, but what
I interpret to be the feelings of people who have either heard of us, or
tried BOC-L out for some period of time and then left:

1. Hawkwind content -- well, all I can say is blame it on Steve Swann!
He's the guy who wanted a forum to talk about his 2 favorite bands.  Bolle
doesn't see these bands as related as some of us here do, and I'm sure
many BOC fans don't want to have to deal with extra e-mails on the
subject of Hawkwind and related bands.  Now, before any of us say that
to do so isn't a big deal, recall the times in the past when those of us
on this list have complained internally about the mail volume being
at times unbearable.  Sure, the filters do help, but they aren't perfect
since it requires us to remember to use them -- and perhaps some folks
like Bolle aren't even aware that they are there.

2. Negativity towards BOC -- some BOC fans just don't want to be part of
groups that consistently have negative things to say about the band.
Sure, BOC has been somewhat frustrating to those of us waiting for new
material, and sure they aren't the same band they once were, but some
would prefer that we focus on the positive stuff instead of bitching
about what albums/tracks/band members we don't like.

3. Tolerance of new BOC-L members -- let's face it, some of us who've
been around for awhile get tired of answering the same questions over
and over (yeah, that's one reason I started the FAQ - but perhaps
telling a newbie to "read the FAQ" rather than answering their question
is a turnoff to a newbie -- and I'm probably more guilty than anybody
in doing this - not so much because I don't want to answer questions,
but I want as many BOC fans a possible to check out the FAQ).  We've
probably become less-tolerant of people who continue to join the list
and ask these questions (questions that many of us asked when we first
joined the list too).  I know, it's a waste of our time to answer some
of this over and over (and sometimes depressing since there seems to
be so little "new" to talk about in terms of BOC these days), but I do
think that it wouldn't hurt to try and be a little more tolerant in this
area.

Related to both points 2 and 3 above, I've been told that we come off
as "elitist" at times, sort of thinking we're somehow better than other
BOC fans - we think we're "real" fans because we aren't afraid to say
something sucks when we think it does (the very thing that some of us
are now slamming Bolle for).  Again, this is my interpretation of what
others have told me -- I think it's overblown, but perhaps there are
some grains of truth in there.

Also related to this, we spend alot of time talking about what we all
think BOC "should be" doing with their career -- I know that this is
probably the biggest "problem" Bolle has with BOC-L (and he points it
out on AOL when he sees it there as well).  Bolle feels that most of
us are pretty ignorant as far as the music business goes, and don't
really understand alot of what we are talking about when we start in
with this stuff.  I've also told him that I'm probably as guilty of
this on BOC-L as anybody -- I think his problem is that he gets the
feeling that many of us doing this are "angry" with the band, and it
puts him off not that we talk about these things, but that we have this
attitude that we know enough about the business to blast BOC for not
meeting our expectations in this area.  Well, there may be some truth
there - certainly folks like Al and Deb have helped enlighten us with
the business aspects now and then.  Still, we probably are fairly
ignorant in alot of this - maybe not an excuse for Bolle (who may
have more experience than alot of us, but I suspect is not exactly an
expert either), but these are how other people may see us.

4. Al and Deb -- unfortunately, many non-BOC-L BOC fans have some
ignorance of their own in this area:  some of them think that having
Al/Deb here somehow makes us all "negative", and see an "Al vs. BOC"
type mentality.  Those who have spent any time at all on BOC-L, and
have gotten to know them would realize that Al/Deb are great assets
to this list, and not detriments (personally, if someone is really
against joining BOC-L because Al/Deb are here, well, then I think
they shouldn't join BOC-L:  I'd rather have Al/Deb here).  It's too
bad that while Al has put most of the past behind him as far as his
dealings with BOC, some BOC fans can't seem to do the same.  This is
one area where I don't think we can do alot about - while we can try
to overcome some of our own perceived stupidity, we can't correct
the stupidity of others who would not want to join BOC-L for this
reason.  And, if Al/Deb decide to unsubscribe, many of us will probably
send them numerous annoying e-mails incessantly until they return.


Again, I'm not trying really defend Bolle, and many of the points I
raised are not necessarily my own opinion, but how I interpret some
people (Bolle included) see us.  In some cases, you may disagree, and
in some cases, we might feel that such opinions don't count.  But,
since Bolle's comments caused a few responses here (and rightfully
so), I thought I'd give you this information for your consideration.
Maybe the guy's got a point, maybe not.  Maybe Bolle is not on your
Christmas card list now, maybe not.

John

ObCD:  Rush *Test for Echo* (despite Martin's review, I still like it)