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Ocala Mike Member # 4657	posted Uhh, wasn't there a thread on here started by GBN not long ago which had to do with "car haters"? I realize it was getting a little heated and way off-topic, but to just "disappear it" with no explanation? It did contain a good link to a free WSJ article, now that is gone too. Was it me or the "Smith Bros." to blame?
Mike Smith Member # 447	posted It wasn't me... I had a wickedly witty reply to your last post...
smitty195 Member # 5102	posted Now, now Mike.....us Conservatives believe in free speech. We would not ask for a thread to be deleted. I have my own opinion of what took place, but I better keep that to myself. Ya know, even though we disagree, I am of the opinion that we have always remained respectful. I do not care for a board that deletes like that. I find that very disrespectful. After all, we are the ones patronizing it and are looking at the ads that pay for the site. Without us, there would be no forum. Just my 2 cents...
Ocala Mike Member # 4657	posted I agree with both you guys (incidentally, I always liked the licorice Smith Bros. cough drops over the cherry ones - do they still make those?).
Mike Smith Member # 447	posted I disagree with you Smitty. If I started a thread, and did not like the way it evolved, then requested that it be deleted; I would expect the moderator to comply with my request. I'm not saying this happened to the deleted thread, but that's the response I would expect from the moderator, if it were me making the request. And Ocala, it has been around 40 years since I had a Smith Bros. cough drop. I don't remember if they had licorice...
smitty195 Member # 5102	posted I stick to my opinion on this one. If someone starts a topic and doesn't like the way it goes (especially when it's a political topic from the get-go), then that is their tough luck. We can't go and run to mommy just because someone said something we don't like. Big Brother watches over us enough in our daily lives as it is---we don't need little brother doing it as well. PS: According to a quick Google search, yup, they still make licorice flavor. Yuck.
dmwnc1959 Member # 2803	posted I never quite understood why this forum doesnt have a place for off the cuff, opinionated, or newsworthy & informative topics that arent related to just RAIL. You could call it DERAILED or IDLE CHATTER. Really, theres only so much you can talk about in a narrow topic such as AMTRAK and something like this may get more replies and interest, input, and conversation than 'who knows what' about some tiny train depot in New Mexico. I also understand the concept of keeping a forum civilized, but it would be more appropriate to censor inappropriate replys than to remove an entire thread.
smitty195 Member # 5102	posted Certain members may enjoy ruffling the feathers of others, and then crying foul to the moderator just for kicks. I'm pretty sure I've got it figured out. Before my retirement, part of my job was to put pieces of "puzzles" together in order to get to the facts. I'd bet my next paycheck on my theory for this one. You know who you are. In the meantime, we'll continue talking choo-choo's, the politics of choo-choo's, and enjoying conversations about passenger trains...just as respectful as we've always been.
Railroad Bob Member # 3508	posted quote: Originally posted by Ocala Mike: I agree with both you guys (incidentally, I always liked the licorice Smith Bros. cough drops over the cherry ones - do they still make those?). My post was deleted too, Mike-- I believe it was my post that joked about the cough drops (gasp!) and whether or not President Perry would put certain ppl on a "do not fly" list when Texas becomes a country. OK, I admit-- we had a bit of "post drift" with that thread! Still a mystery why the whole thing vanished; probably better if the Mod pointed out what went wrong before deleting, but it is their Board. I enjoy the Board; I forgive them a peculiarity or two now and then...
Geoff M Member # 153	posted The whole forum needs restructuring really. It has around 40 sub-forums, 17 of which have not seen a posting this year - and a few of those for several years. My suggestion would be to keep the "Forum information", "passenger trains", and a smaller "general forums" section, with the latter including the aforementioned "derailed" sub-forum. Perhaps "passenger trains" could be renamed to simply "Rail" and include a sub-forum for freight. Until this forum is busier, there's no point in having 40 sub-forums. In fact I would say it's a bad avertisement to have so many sub-forums with mostly very few postings. You want people to join active forums, not ones that appear - on the surface - to be abandoned wildernesses. Going back to the original comments, having given this some thought over the last couple of days, I would tend to agree with Smitty - mainly because if I had made a relevant posting which I may have spent some time writing, then why should I be censored because of somebody else's actions? By all means censor individual posts that exceed the boundaries but not entire threads because of one or two comments. Just my thoughts. Geoff M.
train lady Member # 3920	posted When thread disappears I wonder if the moderator is removing it or if the poster has. Some people get agitated if one does not agree with them and decides "I will just get rid of this". Smitty I think you are right. Most of us on this forum have very definite opinions on everything and don't hesitate to express them. But very seldom does anyone get nasty
dmwnc1959 Member # 2803	posted So who would be the 'man to see' to get this done? quote: Originally posted by Geoff M: The whole forum needs restructuring really. It has around 40 sub-forums, 17 of which have not seen a posting this year - and a few of those for several years. My suggestion would be to keep the "Forum information", "passenger trains", and a smaller "general forums" section, with the latter including the aforementioned "derailed" sub-forum. Perhaps "passenger trains" could be renamed to simply "Rail" and include a sub-forum for freight. Until this forum is busier, there's no point in having 40 sub-forums. In fact I would say it's a bad avertisement to have so many sub-forums with mostly very few postings. You want people to join active forums, not ones that appear - on the surface - to be abandoned wildernesses. Geoff M.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541	posted For the benefit of anyone who holds that the P J O'Rourke material can generate worthy discussion, here is a link to such at The Wall Street Journal site: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203771904574173401767415892.html This may or not be free content at this time.
Moderator Member # 2933	posted Boy, this topic has a life of its' own. First off, I did not delete the topic nor subsequent posts to the topic, but.... before anyone jumps to conclusions, we have been experiencing(no surprise) technical problems on the forum for a while. The forum is in the process of being revamped, but, before we can move to the new server these quirks and whatever else have to be found and corrected. Such moot subjects as star rating and mail notification we're all familiar with, but Mr. Kisor and others have been experiencing trouble accessing the forum and they have been patiently waiting somewhere in limbo for this problem to be resolved. Mr. dmwnc1959s' suggestion of having an "off-rail" topic where anything unrelated to rail is a great idea. I believe it was Mr. Toy who first suggested that concept a number of years ago and I did try to convince the "powers that be" at that time, but they were not in agreement. Geoff Ms' post about restructuring makes a lot of sense. Maybe someone could start a new topic about what changes they would like to see at the forum, and I'll put up a few I'd like to see also. I do apologise for the delay the Moderator p.s. I can remember years ago, as I was heading out to school promising my mother, with crossed fingers, that the dime she gave me would indeed be spent on the Smith Bros. licorice cough drops and not the cherry flavor.
Ocala Mike Member # 4657	posted So, we are experiencing technical difficulties. Anyway, I'm glad I rekindled some Smith Bros. cough drops memories.
Railroad Bob Member # 3508	posted May I be the first to thank the Moderator for his reasoned, well-written post above? "Modding" is one of those thankless jobs the Internet has generated...and thanks for making this place a nice destination to visit; most here will agree. AND keeping it free, compared to another huge RR site that is NOT free, if you want posting priveleges. Some of us are dual members here and there, so they will know what I am talking about...
TwinStarRocket Member # 2142	posted Some things do indeed get fixed. We can now use the word "dog" without having to wash our mouths with soap (for years "dog" used to appear as *** after the censorship filter). So now, besides discussing the Smith brothers, I can quote a Marx brother (Groucho): Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
RRRICH Member # 1418	posted The only suggestion I would make to the moderator is to retitle this board "AMTRAK and VIA Rail" -- it included our sister Canadian rail system in the title for a while a couple years ago, then the "VIA" part was dropped again. While VIA is not as big a system as AMTRAK, there are still many of us, including our fellow Canadian members, who also enjoy talking about and traveling on the Canadian passenger rail system.
Henry Kisor Member # 4776	posted I have returned. Miss me? No? Oh well. The webmaster solved the little problem that was keeping me from logging on lo these past five weeks.
HopefulRailUser Member # 4513	posted Didn't miss you Henry because I have your tweets to follow. With links to your blog. I find it all very interesting as I am a train/birder/nature/mystery books person too. Where are your books available? Not in my local library.
Ocala Mike Member # 4657	posted Henry, I've been following your tweets also. If anyone wants to follow mine, I'm on as ocalamike.
Henry Kisor Member # 4776	posted Those aren't tweets. They're twitches. I'm a regional mystery novelist so my books aren't sold widely in bookstores outside the Upper Midwest. They are available on Amazon.com and in online used bookstores. All the nonfiction books are long out of print but are available used. I'd assumed GBN himself killed the thread in question when the politics grew too heated for comfort. I've done that myself. (But nobody noticed.) Thread-starters are owners of the threads in a sense, and when they're hijacked in unwanted directions the starters have every right to be stoppers.
HopefulRailUser Member # 4513	posted I'm watching you too Mike. Got your wish on the horse race didn't you?
Ocala Mike Member # 4657	posted Yes, Vicki, made a few bucks on Summer Bird. His owner's have a "little" 300 acre horse farm just a few miles from where I live (on my 3 acres!).
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541	posted WAAY OT-- I was with four friends in Indianapolis last Sat to watch the Stakes at a hotel Suite I booked at a Courtyard for the occasion. From one now quite accustomed to HDTV, the TV in the Living Room left much to be desired. The streamers showed "Mine...." in the lead....and then. It seemed like all we collectively caught (two of the three bottles had already been cracked) was ",,,,Bird is the winner'.....high fives and hugs.....waitaminnit..... Why can't these nags have different sounding names...is all I have to say with regards to the rather premature euphoria.
palmland Member # 4344	posted No doubt, Mr Norman, you enjoyed the finest in transportation to get there - the Hoosier State.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541	posted Mr. Palmland-- For the 3.25hr 18.34 to Carmel itinerary, Lex Noir with his premium audio treated me to a "Mahler Festival' (#2 & #4 down #8 return) en route - a new set of Solti and the CSO I recently bought but had not previously had time to give it justice.
Ocala Mike Member # 4657	posted Mr. Norman, both Mine That Bird and Summer Bird have the same daddy, Birdstone, hence their similar names. As for your taste in music, I've always considered the Georg Solti era CSO to be among the top handful of orchestras. With regard to Mahler, I can only say that I share his obsession with Beethoven. You know, he refused to write a Ninth Symphony because of that obsession. My, how this thread has crept!
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541	posted Mike, sounds pretty Mahlerry to me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwnqeYjjGFQ However, there is foundation to your comment regarding a "curse of the Ninth": Wikipedia: Mahler was obsessed with Beethoven's legacy; he declared that all of his symphonies were "ninths", having the same effect and scale as Beethoven's famous Choral. Mahler was also apparently a believer in the curse of the ninth and thus scared of writing a ninth numbered symphony. I was never able to air much of Mahler on my Univ of Illinois radio show - I only had an hour and I was never into the "a movement here a movement there' style of programming. I did once air the "Kindertotenlieder'; I was very quick to hear from my "Play Misty for Me" voice (every jock has one) that this was too sad. I also once aired Strauss "Four Last Songs" for which fortunately "Misty" never surfaced. Subject matter indeed morose, but such is the art that drove the late romantic/early contemporary composers. End of Music History 101 lecture.
Stourbridge Lion Member # 1796	posted This topic is a perfect example of one that either needs: Removed/Deleted or Moved out of the Amtrak Forum...
Henry Kisor Member # 4776	posted What we need is a "Hijacked" forum! Of course, we'd all end up in a Homeland Security file somewhere. I enjoy thread creep. In fact, I enjoy thread sprint. What I don't enjoy is thread snark.
dmwnc1959 Member # 2803	posted quote: Originally posted by Stourbridge Lion: This topic is a perfect example of one that either needs: Removed/Deleted or Moved out of the Amtrak Forum... OK. There was this one time, at band camp...
Henry Kisor Member # 4776	posted That reminds me of the one about the rabbi, the priest, and the Amtrak conductor . . .
TBlack Member # 181	posted This thread may ramble, but look what we've learned: GBN, the disc jockey! Truly a renaissance man!
railrev Member # 2640	posted I was just getting warmed up to make a political statement, then I wanted to get in on the cough drop discussion and then GBN told us about his disc jockey experience, and a picture came into my mind that I just can't shake. And as TBlack says, were it not for thread drift, we'd have missedd it all.
RRRICH Member # 1418	posted "........Welcome to the University of Illinois classical music hour, with your host Gilbert B. Norman, from Chicago... This show is brought to you by Smith Brothers, makers of the best licorice cough drops in the country -- good for what ails you. And now, back to the music, this week, featuring the Boston Pops Orchestra playing Mozart's 9th Symphony........." I wonder if Gil ever played bagpipe music on his show..........
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541	posted Actually Rich, during my Univ of Illinois years, my home was Riverside, CT.....and in the tradition of the " WQXR 96.3 classjocks", I did use Gilbert Norman when on air. Oh and BTW, here's more about "Wolfie's Ninth".
RRRICH Member # 1418	posted Well, Gil -- believe it or not, I too was a disc jockey when I was in college at DePauw University. I had a Sunday afternonn "Broadway" show for a couple years. At first I would play the entire soundtrack from that week's featured Broadway show, but then I changed the format slightly and played several different selections each week, from several different shows.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541	posted quote: Originally posted by RRRICH: I wonder if Gil ever played bagpipe music on his show.......... Funny how I get all the encounters with bagpipes I care for without having to have thought of airing such on my one-time radio show. Recent encounters: Oct 2007 - I was using the passageway at 14th St in Manhattan to transfer from the IRT to the BMT when a "tunnel musician" let loose. Don't need that in an enclosed area. Sep 2008 - at my Nephew's wedding (Bride's family name McNicholl); that was OK as both ceremony and reception were all outdoors. Mar 2009 - at Berghoff's (yes it is resurrected of sorts; hardly what it once was) for a pre-concert Dinner. Seems like the Police Department's Emerald Society thought the customers wanted a 'concert' from them - and I guess in the bar two days before St Paddy's they did. Nobody asked me if I wanted same.

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