I have been very busy with tax season this year, so I haven't had a chance to remind you all to "be nice". You guys seem to all recognize how pointless your most recent argument has been. The point of the list is discuss all aspects of the harmonica whether they are beginning or advanced level, new or old techniques and harmonica music of every genre we can think of. Instead we have spent a great deal of time arguing whether specific techniques, approaches and styles of playing and the individual players who play them are "better". If we are going to stick to our intended approach, we need to realize that every player, style, technique and approach to the harmonica not only has its place, but that there are many more places to fill.
Aside from that we need to remember that politeness and the ability to express our opinions without insulting or provoking others is a real asset in a group like this. It promotes positive dialogue that can spur some very creative and imaginative thinking. Now that I have a few moments to breathe, I am going to try to remind you all more often of this fact. We not only have a duty to each other, but because this list is archived (incidentally we haven't had a chance to re-index the archives this year yet) we have some duty to try to provide as much information as possible that will be useful to future players. We do the whole community a disservice when we get involved in silly arguments.
So, try to make your posts polite. Try not to get riled up and angry before replying to a post you find provocative or insulting. Sit back, breathe and really THINK about what value your words will have to the current topic and to future players who may browse them in the future. Let's get back to the fun part
