OFF: Metaphysical question... is BOC-L dead?

Peter Sondergeld p.sondergeld at QUT.EDU.AU
Tue Aug 4 05:32:16 EDT 2015


I remember fondly the 'BOC sightings', too, where any obscure reference to the band was noteworthy! Speaking of which, I was watching Top Gear (UK) on TV last night (here in Oz) where they built their own ambulances, and I was pleased to hear Clarkson piping 'Don't Fear the Reaper' to his 'patient' in the back! :)

This thread has got me thinking, too. I first joined BOC-L in 1995 because I've been a huge BOC fan since AoF was released and I was pleased to find  this cool place to lurk. I also learned more than I ever thought I'd need to know about HW and other bands, then I unsubscribed for many years while I was busy with other things, then resubscribed when a dream of my youth came true a while back i.e. BOC toured Australia and I finally got to see them live! Seems the BOC content is less than ever these days, which I find very sad, and I could lurk in other forums if choose to but it was the people here who made it fun and interesting. A bit of off-topic nonsense can bring a smile, too, as long as people are aware that they are off-topic, they keep it fun and don't overdo it. However, like many it seems that lately I've been deleting numerous posts without even opening them because I'm pretty sure that whatever they say it won't mean anything to me. Now I'm thinking, why am I putting up with this? I know I'm a lurker and I can't complain too loudly because my contributions over the years have been minimal, but I don't think any community shouldn't tolerate inappropriate behaviour. BOC-L folk don't appear to be easily offended from what I can tell, and I hope we can all start feeling comfortable around here again, soon.

Pete


-----Original Message-----
From: BOC/Hawkwind Discussion List [mailto:BOC-L at LISTSERV.ISPNETINC.NET] On Behalf Of Eric Falk
Sent: Tuesday, 4 August 2015 2:25 AM
To: BOC-L at LISTSERV.ISPNETINC.NET
Subject: Re: OFF: Metaphysical question... is BOC-L dead?

I subscribed to this list a long, long time ago (anyone remember the
t-shirts??) because of BOC.  I was already a fan of Hawkwind and this list helped me flesh out more material from them and related to them.
I have also discovered many other wonderful bands and music.

Over all this list is a community, and like any community there may be people who are a part of it with whom we may not like or appreciate things they do and ways they behave, but they are still part of the community.  We can ignore them, ostracize them, call them out or correct them, etc.  Or even react to them.

I have come to appreciate all things that come through my inbox from BOC-L warts and all.  Did I appreciate having 150 emails from this list pop up this morning.  Not really, but with simple filtering and occasional reading through it was quite easy to deal with.

I appreciate where Christian comes from; he make me laugh and rarely offends me, and he has targeted my religion at times.  I'm not that serious a person and I get the feeling he's not either.  Does he have issues?  Who am I to say?  Frankly I know of no one who doesn't have issues.

Frankly this is a community that strongly enjoys one of or both bands, each with a rich history but they are dinosaur bands. Though Hawkwind is certainly the more active of the two.
We are a community that listens to music that is in the global minority, an perhaps for that reason some of us think within a global minority at least when it comes to posting from the privacy of our homes.

At the end of the day it's better than reading the news.

Just my two bits of copper.

   --Eric

On 8/3/2015 11:59 AM, Mike c wrote:
> I'm pledged to try my very very hardest to conduct myself mature, not 
> say insulting things and not get caught up in chit chat mails
>
> It is hurtful when veterans are bothered, Alex being one.
>
> Come back Jon you can toss me out yourself if needed
>
> On 8/3/15, Jonathan Jarrett <jjarrett at coriolis.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
>> On Mon, 3 Aug 2015, Alex S. Garcia wrote:
>>> I've been subscribed to BOC-L for nearly 20 years now (time really
>>> flies!)
>>>
>>> I originally subscribed because I am a fan of Blue Oyster Cult.
>>>
>>> Through the list, I have also come to discover and enjoy Hawkwind.
>>>
>>> However, it seems that the more time passes and the more this list 
>>> is turning into the Mike and Christian Rant Podium, where they come 
>>> to vent their own personal griefs -- which most of the time bear 
>>> little if any relevance to either BOC or HW, let alone music in 
>>> general.
>>>
>>> Also, the racist contents of some of these mails leave me 
>>> speechless. The lack of any reaction, from anyone, is even more 
>>> baffling to me. Or does that mean everyone else has already 
>>> unsubscribed? Or, perhaps, that nobody reads their messages anymore? 
>>> (I have to admit, I rarely do myself).
>>>
>>> Still, if the madness doesn't cease soon, I'll most likely have to 
>>> accept the sad fact that BOC-L is now dead and will proceed to bury 
>>> it (ie.
>>> unsubscribe),
>>> which would break my heart considering how attached I feel to it 
>>> after all these years...
>>   	I think today is probably breaking point for me today as well, 
>> alas. I have 167 deleted messages from today's log-in and more than 
>> half of them are from Christian. Well, he can have it, I want none of them.
>>
>>   	As a parting shot, BÖC played the Rambling Man festival in the UK 
>> a week or aso ago, and though I couldn't go, an ex of mine whom I got 
>> into the band was there with the family and all agreed that BÖC put 
>> on the best show of the festival, so my fears that they had now run 
>> their course may be premature. At any rate, this line-up can hold up 
>> their heads amid the rockers who will never give up!
>>
>>   	I will check back in on the list in a few weeks and see what 
>> things look like then, I guess. It's a pity, because I'd much prefer 
>> my news and chatter this way than on a web board, but this is how 
>> Usenet went and I guess it's how listserv goes too; only the most 
>> determined will hang on when the traffic gets below a certain level. 
>> It's been good fun, people, catch you in a gig hall like as not, yours all,
>>   							Jon
>>
>> --
>>     Jonathan Jarrett       "There is scarce any tradition or popular error
>> Medievalist historian    but stands also delivered by some good author."
>>        Birmingham         (Sir Thomas Browne, "Pseudodoxia Epidemica", 1646)
>

--
"It's strange how the simple things in life go on
   while we become more difficult."  --Richard Brautigan
      --Check Out my blog and my journey: www.areturningadultstudent.com



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