Obituaries

[jester]

Dear Jim

Moving the debate was a good thing. However, the Curtain Calls thread is as much Pablos as it is Taxi or Dr Eric.

Tolerence! Dr Eric and Taxi and Ettiene are entitled to their views but I think they should respect Pablo and anybody else who puts a obituary in Curtain Calls.

Curtain Calls is not just a record of people who have passed, but it has become a record of things that may have influenced us.

I think Steve Irwin and James Brown both belong there. It is a record of how we felt and what influenced us.

Anna Nicole Smith may have been a celebrity irritation (she didn't irritate me as I hardly heard of her before she died) but she was there in the eternal buzz of popular culture.

I am not arguing for ANS I am arguing for Pablo. Maybe he was wrong, maybe he was flippant, maybe it was too easy for him to slap a few keys and remark that ANS is dead.

However, I think that Censorship is foul. Our opinions on ANS have been well documented. Please put the original obit back where Pablo put it.

I have a lot of sympathy for many of the reasons given why ANS should not have been remembered in Curtains Calls, but I still think the principle is more important.

No matter how distasteful, ANS died and a signed up forum member posted in Curtain Calls. That is how it should be left.

[pixiejester]

Jester

Originally posted by Mr.Taxi Trix
Bravo.

And how could you not of heard of ANS, she was in playboy magazine.

[Rachel Peters]

edited.

[Mr.Taxi Trix]

Jester, nothing was censored. Something posted in the wrong forum was moved to the right one.

Originally posted by jester
Curtain Calls is not just a record of people who have passed

Actually, it is, and that is where you are mistaken. For a "record of things that may have influenced us" see Blah Blah Blah.

[Peter Voice]

James Brown performed thousands and thousands of shows of all sorts and Steve Irwin's live show in the ampitheatre at Australia Zoo really was something special. Any-one who had seen Steve's show would tell you that it was as good a circle show as any.

Pls note P.net is a "Variety Artist Community" (read the hypertext)

[pixiejester]

Peter, your a mod, can you not move it? Or is it up to Jim?

[Mr.Taxi Trix]

Originally posted by Rachel Peters
By the way, if tonight I slip on my unshoveled front steps and break my neck, I'd like to be memorialized in the "Has Anybody Seen..." thread, if I may be so honoured as to be remembered. I've become such a hermit that it'll probably be some time before anybody finds me.

I think its phair to say I can handle that assignment, and in my judgemental judgement, you do qualify for "Has Anybody Seen". If I go up to Toronto and slip and fall and die, I'd like a brief yet short write-up in
RESOURCES/EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL.

Thank You.

[Peter Voice]

The only "moderating" that I'm prepared to do is the deleting of spam emails. I believe our community can and will moderate itself

I am pleased though, to see that you are doing a little self-moderating, PixieJester. I was about to get you a saucer of milk.

[Doctor Eric]

Originally posted by pixiejester
the guys got no debating in their threads.

Actually, I addressed that "issue" in my post, although I shouldn't have bothered, being as it was a stupid question anyway.

[Doctor Eric]

and the quoting becomes recursive

Originally posted by Mr.Taxi Trix

Few things bug me more than pretend reverence.

That was what I was trying to get to. I would have plenty of respect for Pablo's sympathies if they were real.

In my opinion, that sort of "sympathy" is more insulting to the deceased (if insulting a corpse is actually possible), than coming out and saying that that person's existence was completely pointless.

And Jester, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but tolerance isn't really my bag. I think that there is far too much of it in the world.

[Peter Voice]

Ummm, EXCUSE ME but this thread is about Anna Nicole Smith, a person as opposed to an acronym. Read the title again.

I've read and reread Pablo's posts and think this thread is a place to discuss her but he did wish for her to find peace. I'm sure Pablo knows he can re-post his original or another obit for her if he wants.

I started another thread "Obituaries"so that we can discuss issues surrounding "Curtain Calls" and our attitude to this part of P.net.
Pls use this thread if you have anything interesting to say about Ms Smith.


What people seem to not understand is that all legitimate media outlets allow "Obits" for any-one, even the most dubious (criminals, dicatators even lawyers), if some-one cares enough to post one. It is disgraceful to allow debates about people in the "Obits". If such a debate is of interest to subscribers etc. then it takes place in other more appropriate spaces, eg Blah Blah at P.net. Not everyone that dies will be popular, it's just not stylish to discuss it in "Curtain Calls".

If you have nothing to say about Anna Nicole, pls take the discussion to another thread that does not have "Rest in Peace" in the title.

It's embarassing to read some of the hissy comments that have been posted then deleted/edited (yes gals and guys, delete and edit all you want but it's all still there) in a thread with a title like this.

Okaaay, everybody take a deeeeep breath and leave the girl alone.

PS. I have checked my diary and am a reasonably sure that I'm not the father.

[Jim]

Crikey! This thing got way out of hand.

I did a little thread maintenence. Nothing was deleted... I just moved all the meta-commentary from the Anna Nicole Smith Obit thread over to this "Obituary" discussion thread. Posts pertaining to Smith's death were left in her RIP thread. All the debate was moved here.

Regarding "Curtain Call Worthiness"...

I purposely labeled the Curtain Call forum on the vague side: "A place to remember fellow entertainers, friends, community members and heros who have passed on."

I intended "fellow entertainers" to mean mainly variety artist or musician street performer types... but I did not want to exclude other people who maybe were not street performers, but still meant something to our community. (Tony Montanaro, for example.) In this sense, "fellow" would mean "colleague."

"Friends" could certainly include producers of events or perhaps mentors or teachers who played a part in our world. For example, if something horrible happened to our favorite festival producer I would not want to exclude them from the Curtain Calls forum because they were not a performer.

"Community Members" would include people in the variety arts and/or musical community, but also anyone who has ever participated in this forum... that includes you Rachel Peters.

And the really vague one: "Heroes" is the gray area. I'm sure some musician street performers or even variety acts would consider James Brown a hero of sorts. And he could be considered a colleague. I don't know If I'd call Steve Irwin a "hero" personally, but he did have a definite variety performer quality about him. He certainly knew how to hold an audience. He was an icon. He was loved and respected and he was most definitely a fellow entertainer. I don't mind that he is in the Curtain Calls forum.

On the other hand, I can't say any of those things about Anna Nicole Smith. It has nothing to do with the fact that she was a woman or a stripper or a playmate. She was not a variety artist, a musician, a friend or a hero. She was an "entertianer" but I would not call her a "fellow entertainer." She was not a colleague. It's tragic to many people that she died so young. And I think a thread about her can stay here in Blah Blah Blah if even just one person wants it. I'm not going to delete it. But I do feel better that it's not in "Curtain Calls."

Good night all.

[Peter Voice]

Thank you Jim.
True leadership is so rare. I have always believed in benevolent dictatorship despite the fact that altruism seems seriously unfashionable these days.

[pixiejester]

Ok, it wasn't what I suggested, but thanks anyway, at least now her thread isn't filled with stuff that didn't belong in it.

[Butterfly Man]

Stop ...you're killing me!

The "curtain calls" thread ... I, for one, eagerly anticipate writing up Butterfly in it

I'd like to read that someday...