[78-L] tolerance

[Michael Biel]

buster wrote:
>> This group, by definition, is composed of a higher than average number 
>> of "eccentrics." That's what we record collectors are, to ourselves at 
>> least, as has recently been discussed. Outsiders are less kind, often 
>> (seen "Ghost World" or "American Splendor"? 78 collectors are 
>> pitiable freaks and outcasts). We have bombastic pontificators, 
>> tightwads, endless repeaters, egotists, antisocial hermits, whiners, 
>> and who knows what else. I mean, fergawdsakes, if you need any 
>> evidence just look at Leah's trailer, or go to an ARSC event.

Not quite.  If you pay attention to what Leah's whole documentary is
about, it was the rebuttal to "Ghost World" and other such films,
especially "Vinyl".  The collectors selected are among those we knew who
had made positive contributions to the scholarship and appreciation of
the recording industry and the content of recordings.  And the same is
true of ARSC, which actually is a serious group of professional
archivists and advanced collectors, researchers, and enthusiasts -- and
those who aspire towards those goals.  Sure we are a friendly lot and
filled with diverse personalities -- some of them extreme -- but we are
not examples of misfits.  The documentary does touch on the compulsion
to collect, and as Graham Newton says with a laugh in the documentary
"We're all crazy.  We're nuts!" and as one of the posted clips show
there were some extremes in The Syndicate, but on the whole it shows
collectors with a life.    

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com