I'm in, I will do Front Porch blues. With what brains I have left I will learn to post it on you tube. Good luck to everyone.
Last Edited by on Sep 22, 2009 2:56 PM
Now I really wish I wouldn't put up my Creeper vid! Could've worked in it for months and perfected it. oh well. ---------- http://www.youtube.com/user/mgimino Michael
Last Edited by on Sep 22, 2009 3:06 PM
I see that the happy-clappy PC brigade bullies finally got their way with the euphamistic name change. Good God almighty, is there no place left where these people don't get their way? Makes me wanna puke. Still, superb job with the poster. ---------- 'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchen; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it's shitty' - Frank Zappa
Count me in, too. Since I'm new to the board, I figure I've got some flaming and ego-crushing coming my way, so I may post some 'preliminary' vids so I can catch up. Sounds fun, and nice poster, btw. ---------- I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.
@Gloth@. I'll post the rules up soon but no, there will be no singing.
@Dave@. Item 9, Paragraph 16, Subsection 173, says. To keep to the spirit of the challenge it would be undesirable to use previously exposed and existing material. Entries must have been made after the announcement of the challenge and have a maximum duration of two minutes;) Nice playing though, maybe you can re-configure it again for the challenge? ----------
I've already made my point in another thread relating to HPC2, which I've pasted the link to below. In brief, there was disagreement, both with regard to the name and the notion of whether or not we could actually have a winner!
I absolutely detest that kind of politically correct, euphamistic thinking. In my lifetime, it has become something of a cultural straight jacket, at least in the UK. Some of our schools won't even allow winners in their sportsdays. This is the last place I expected to find that kind of tyranny. Yes, I did say 'tyranny'. It seems to have crept into absolutely every walk of life, and taken the fun out of the most harmless little thing.
I don't mean to sound immodest, but to try and make my feelings clearer, in HPC2 I got more votes than anyone. However, if we'd adopted the system we're using next time round, which is based on your self-assessment, I probably would've come next to nowhere.
Still, I wouldn't give a monkeys. It's a contest - oops, challenge. The idea that we can't have a simple little competition without someone being frieghtened that someone will get their feelings hurt is something I find utterly ridiculous. I prefer to omit myself from something like that.
I can hear people typing away already, saying, 'It's only a name!' Exactly, so why does it have to be changed just so as not to upset someone's ego. It's symptomatic of something much bigger; that's why I loath it so much.
http://www.modernbluesharmonica.com/board/board_topic/5560960/485135.htm ---------- 'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchen; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it's shitty' - Frank Zappa
Hey Bluzdude46. Thanks for your support. Submitting a video is a piece of cake really. There will be plenty of help here should you get stuck. I'll also make links available where the process has been discussed before. ----------
There's a how-to link on the forum's main page. I know when you first do all that stuff, it can seem a bit of a total effing mystery. The truth is, if you follow that how-stuff, it's not too bad.
The only big problem I ever had was when uploading to YT; it just wouldn't happen. However, when I read the Upload page more carefully, it said something like, 'If you're having trouble uploading, click the...' I can't remember what it was now, but it's all there to the patient reader - read, not me! ---------- 'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchen; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it's shitty' - Frank Zappa
@Mickil--Just so you know, I was crushed that I got no votes in HPC2. It's not fair that the other contestants were a lot better than me. I'm only going to participate if I'm promised a participation medal. And I want it in advance of my submission, thank you very much.
And while I'm at it, I find your tag line offensive. Please change it to 'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchen; if it sounds BAD to YOU, well I'll certainly keep my opinion to myself because I would hate to hurt someone's feelings and maybe make them feel uncomfortable or question their self worth, so I'm going to vote for everyone and say only nice things for now on and never be mean' - Jack Handy
Challenge or contest, I'm in. Although there was a top 5 "in no particular order" in HPC2, I think we could all count the votes. Congrats to Mick. Now on with HPC3.
Tooka, Nice job man.... Well done indeed. I failed to manage my time well enough to get into the Summertime/HPC2 contest but I'm up for this.
I notice you're quoting items, paragraphs and subsections already but as my internal rhythm is circadian and I'm afraid I'll just doze off if I rely on my own timings, I am plugging for the allowable use of foot stomps, click tracks, drum machine, simple rhythms or something like that for timing reference.
Now, to get a camera so I can show off all my handsome self at the same time.
---------- "Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
Last Edited by on Sep 23, 2009 8:56 AM
I'm probably being a bit naieve here, but I'm not really quite sure whether you're laughing at me or with me. Oh well, 'sticks and stones' as they say. I'm sure I'm not the first or the last person you've heard or will hear express those views. If that was a challenge to those views, it wasn't a particularly articulate or intelligent one. ---------- 'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchen; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it's shitty' - Frank Zappa
HPC3... just when you thought it was safe.... Lumpy'll be back. Look out world are you ready for it.
Maybe only one vote last time round but if I manage 2 that'll be a 100% improvement. How many others have that possibility ahead of them? :^) On the other hand if I get one vote less.... I'm stuffed :^(
@Mickil, I was just kidding. I came of age before the internet era and am not secure enough in my manhood to use smiley faces or other emoticons, guess my dry sense of humor gets lost in translation.
For the record, I was laughing with you. I don't find your tag line offensive at all. Moreover, I generally agree with the sentiment you expressed in your post, although not nearly as vehemently. Here in the States, "everybody wins" is still largely confined to organized sports activities for kids under 10. Notwithstanding the foregoing, I apologize for stringing together a series of words that could be misconstrued as ambiguous or mean-spirited. I am flattered, however, that you used the words articulate and intelligent in your reply, because I am a selective reader and see only what I choose to see. The rim of my glass is chipped and a little ragged, and my lip is bleeding, but my glass is still half-full, gosh darn it! Life's easier that way. Please don't change a thing (smiley face).
@Sorin, my response to Mickil was not a dig at your use of the laughing emoticon. No offense intended. Rather, I appreciate how clearly you were able to express yourself, and non-verbally at that! Thank you for laughing at my joke.
Disclaimer: this post, and the contents therein, are intended to be humorous. The author promises to use his best efforts to limit all future posts to harp content.
@tookatooka Well I said I was in on the last one (HP2), but it ended up being a lie as the summers over the last three years for me have been not much else but drudgery with little time for practice. (Only been playin' harp two yrs., tho.')Given that I'll TRY to do one this time with the foreknown knowledge. The only thing I do for sh*t is sing :-( so I was disappointed to see that not being part of the game. My gig is vocals with aspirations of SOMEDAY adding the harp... I guess in a nutshell I just suck - er - I guess I blow too. Nature of the instrument I guess. How's that for a commitment (or lack thereof...)?
Last Edited by on Sep 23, 2009 1:25 PM
Well, I'm in--contest or challenge--although I mostly agree with Mickil--maybe some of us should butch up a little and stop being so fu*king sensitive--back in the good old days, (it was a simpler time in the last century), when winning was winning and losing was losing and if you lose you just work harder until you win.
If somebody said "You're terrible," in those olden days of yore--you'd just suck it up and tell them "Yeah, but not near as terrible as the last time you heard me!" Then you'd go work your ass off to get better--just like Robert Johnson did--and the reason to keep working was to stuff it into the face of the assholes who said you were no good.
Now it's all "You have damaged my self-esteem, you ignorant little dick--we should change the rules of the game to make that illegal!" Come on, if you want to be a musician, you just gotta grow a thicker skin.
But, even though the game may become a shadow of the original, it's still fun--and it was a fine thing to win the last one, in no particular order.
@Tooka--great job on the poster--I think that could get this one to the next level--and get more people willing to put up an entry. . .
Last Edited by on Sep 23, 2009 12:56 PM
Just like modern school sports....there are no losers here. We are all winners. To each according to his needs, from each according to his abilities.
Except myself. I am barely able to operate a keyboard, let alone a recording device that can somehow magically put my noise online. White Man's Magic scares me.
Come on Buzadero, the party wouldn't be complete without you. It's really not that difficult. There will be plenty of help on hand from the guys here. ----------
Well, I sort of fall between the cracks here, vis a vis Mickl's rant.
I'm a competitive road-runner and have been a competitive table tennis player. The race, the match, is glorious because it has winners and losers. I engaged in both sports, of course, for reasons that can't be at all confined to their competitive aspect. In fact, I got tired of the match-play-losing element of table tennis--I'd rather just rally forever and feel that my strokes are in terrific shape--and running let me go for solo runs every day and feel great every day. But I still like to race on a semi-regular basis, and I've got the killer instinct.
Music, harmonica playing, is very different for me. I've never particularly been animated by the idea of trying to "beat" other players. #1, who is doing the judging, and #2, isn't it true that when we try to "beat" people using music, we sometimes stress certain aspects of music-making--i.e., technical proficiency or flash--and let others (such as subtlety, economy of phrasing, etc.) fall by the wayside? I approach my own music the way a warrior or athlete would; I train hard, cultivate fierceness, prepare for the performance in a way that brings me into peak shape. But I still shy away from trying to...well, defeat anybody else with my music. For me, that's a contradiction in terms.
Still, I understand why some harmonica players feel differently and want to vanquish each other as a way of being declared #1. I tend to side with Mickl: if you're going to have a competition, let it BE a competition. There's no point in having a competition if you get rid of the category "the best." Do that and its not a competition. It's something else. The something else it is may be a very good thing, of course.
That's all I have to say on the subject. To each his own.
Disclaimer: I haven't yet read the earlier thread that Mickl is referring to and it's certainly possible that I'll revise what I've said here after I do so. These are simply meant as general statements about my predisposition towards competitions involving musicianship.
i think it just the world of music that is competition. has nothing to do with harp players. there is guitar battles all the time. battle of the bands etc... "cuttin heads". i dont think any one is more competitive in music then guitar players. they can get mean. an i think its that if some one practices so hard on an instrument they want recognition for that hard work. top dog gets the most fame/money/braggin rights what ever.
Really sounds like semantics to me. I didn't think we were getting rid of voting and therefore there can be an entry with most votes.
I think in competition you got a board of judges who know what they're talking about. We really don't have that. What we do have is a bunch of friendly people looking for a challenge to show what they got and get feedback on how to improve.
I'd like to think it wasn't me but I think I used the term 'contest' re: HPC2 re: people questioning a known pro participating. My intention was not, hey let's get rid of voting and have no best entries.
That being said, HPC3 is a post anything, show us what you got *thing*. I don't too much see how there can be a declared winner (in hpc3) with the plethora of possible entries.
Edit: spelling mistake.
---------- ~Ryan Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
Last Edited by on Sep 23, 2009 8:11 PM
I've never been a competitor I consider myself a performer, a harp player, a vocalist, in many instances a Frontman. I enjoy watching "the guys" post videos and I'm fairly certain that more then half of the people here are technically better harp players. That doesn't bug me at all. I'm in it for the lights on stage, the applause I see and hear and the smiles and appreciative comments I get in between sets. Being #1 or #23 has little value to me
Bluzdude46, I'm with you. I'm not asking for critique, lessons, praise or marital advice from any of you knuckleheads. For me, this forum is a gathering place for people who all have interest in the same little goofy noisemakers. True, there are those you arrived and exist here under the premise of lessons and learning. I do not fall into that category. While I am always "learning", I am not asking for, nor seeking lessons or advice. If I am able to get one of these things to work and something that I can produce gets out there, it will no doubt be something that has already proven itself as marginally entertaining to someone; be it my dog, somebody in a park, a friend or with a guitar player on the street corner. In fact, as declared earlier, my biggest challenge is to actually focus myself enough to sit down and record something. That already feels like work. But, I have never been anything less than sporting. Let's get ready to rumble.
Ok Hold on a minute, marital advice may be ok, I told ya been Divorced twice here. Still open to meet anyones sister, niece, aunt, cousin, daughter, widowed mother well y'all get the idea. Please send pics before ya send the woman!!! very key point. Also Hard working employed or well off do get consideration!!
Reminds me of a bloke I knew who told me he was shagging a beautiful girl from near where I live, and that he was also shagging her twin. Oh! really I said, how do you tell them apart. He said, well that's easy, Diane's got really nice long blonde hair and Dave's got a moustache. Boom! Boom! ----------
Personally I like to compete. In every sporting endeavour all of which started out as 'hobbies' I became so engrossed they dominated my free time ie all weekends & were almost like work. I was competitive & I did always win or place in Sailboarding, Sailing and in Triathlon. I never ever liked to lose. It was more work than my real work ie it became time to relax when having to go to work on Monday morning.
Since retirement I take it as it comes. I get offered crewing jobs on racing yachts & always say no but jump at the opportunity to go for a liesure sail. Been there- done that and I don't ever want to go that competitive route again with any hobby. That doesn't mean one shouldn't strive hard for their own self. I want to play the game now like a kid and be one of many winners.
I will throw my hat in the ring on HPC3 so between now & then I hope to figure out how one goes about posting a video and what equipment (camera) is needed ie this technical crap is my biggest challenge. Hell, the other part is just blowin the harp & I don't care but would love to hear what others think.
I'm currently writing up the rules but due to the flack I get for not meeting everyones demands I'm holding back until I think I can no longer improve upon them. Honestly you'd think there was a fortune at stake rather than just being a fun thing to do.
However, the points you are concerned with are listed below. I don't see that any changes will be required but I'm sure there will be someone who will not be happy.
As for my objection, it has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with any material or fiscal prize; on the contrary, I suggested that that would not be a good idea.
My objection in a number of threads - aside from those referenced above and others that I don't have the time to rummage for - is the idea of deconstructing the thing from what was a perfectly good idea in the first place: a contest.
Some people came alomg after the first Harpfriends Playalong Contest (and, alas, one of only two) had taken place who semmed to be expressing the notion that 'contest' was some kind of dirty word. I can't quote them verbatim now, but they seemed to have this idea that a contest/competition was somehow going to damage those who took part but failed to do well. Quite frankly, I found those views insipid and risible.
Ordinarily, I wouldn't let myself be so tasked over something that you rightly point out is meant to be 'fun'. However, as I posited above, that kind of PC nonsense is sympomatic of something much more insidious. Many people, probably those born post '85 or thereabouts, have been inculcated to the extent that many of them no longer say what they think; they say what they think they're meant to think. That is extremely unhealthy, even dangerous.
Everyone knows the terms used for this kind of thing: 'thought police' 'lilly-livered' 'namby pamby' and so on. Everyone can cite an example of it. Yet, too few people challenge it to any great extent. I am.
If you think I'm wrong then just change the name back to contest or, God forbid, competition and see how much of the proverbial brown stuff hits the fan. I don't expect you to do that, but, I daresay you see my point.
Anyway, I've had my input, expressed my views and, here at least, I seem to have lost the argument. Though, I've seen that others share my view as it's been expressed prior to this post.
Aside from all that, I think you're making a great job of HPC3. With HPC2, I wish I'd thought of a poster and the mini version in your signature. I know you're trying to balance everyone's views and how difficult that is to do.
I'll say no more on the subject here. I believe I've made my views clear. People can take them or leave them. ---------- YouTube SlimHarpMick
as far as my personal thoughts are concerned, they are not far from your own, but, as you have expressed, for the company we keep in the forum I have to tread the middle line.
I don't think the Challenge versus Contest thing is a concern. As I naively see it, a challenge is an invitation to fight, and in order to fight you need to be a contestant and one will win and the other, well..........
As I see it, this is a Harp Forum and I just want to talk Harp and Harp playing and learning etc. Another person may have different views and values to my own, but if I can learn something from them, I don't want that to get in the way, and vice versa.
I was hoping this was just going to be a thread where people were just going to put themselves forward and not delve into the 'politically correct' issues that confound us, but there you go. I know some people feel strongly about these but there are tons of forums where these things can be discussed and argued over. I write to my MP's blog on a regular basis and he will be only too pleased to tell you what a pain in the arse I am. I think my other political activities have more impact elsewhere.
You said, "I know you're trying to balance everyone's views and how difficult that is to do." Too right. I've written up the rules and have been delaying posting purely for the aforementioned reasons. I keep tinkering to make them acceptable to the majority but it's hard work. I'm going to have to post them soon but to be honest, I'm really not looking forward to the flack and volume of questions and suggestions that will arise. One problem is the request for different levels of skill, I can't see how that can be accommodated with the numbers that will be taking part. Anyway I have a semblance of an idea that will keep it simple but probably unfair. Ho Hum. ----------
@took I think if we all follow what rules are posted it can't be unfair. When you enter any contest you have to follow the rules if you want to participate. If you were to go the the contest director and say I don't like the rule I want them changed or I won't enter he would laugh at you and tell you to go away. We are all here to show our stuff. No guts no glory. Let the best man win. Post your rules and let that be the end of it.
Last Edited by on Sep 23, 2009 8:32 AM
