(TV) Off-topic vs. On-topic

["Philip P. Obbard" <pobbard@yahoo.com>]

Hi all,

I've been meaning to respond to some of the things Jay raised in his message
several days ago.

Jay writes, "the OT restrictions are, frankly, too restrictive, and typically
lead to rather mundane, fungible discourse." I'm surprised by this, because the
"OT restrictions" are fairly mild. As noted by the FAQ, they are essentially
(1) don't openly trade bootlegs on this list, (2) don't personally attack other
list members (e.g., "your taste in music sucks" is OK, but "you and your people
suck" is not), and (3) don't post spam or commercial messages to the list. You
can see more detail at: http://tv.obbard.com/listfaq.html#2b

Everything else is basically up to the discretion of the list members. The only
time I've declared something OT was when we were discussing US retaliation
against terrorist cells, which is beyond the scope of this group by any
measure. The two other times I've felt we went seriously off-topic - the
lengthy "why the PBS documentary on jazz sucks" and "why rap sucks" threads -
were both greeted by a wave of people unsubscribing, including long-time list
members (Scott Aldrich springs to mind, among others) who simply weren't
interested in the flood of off-topic email anymore. But I never said these
discussions couldn't continue; I only said that if they wound-up being just 2
or 3 people arguing, they should probably be continued off-list.

The fact is, there's "slightly off-topic" (what's your favorite movie, what are
your favorite jazz albums, and why you can't stand the Ramones) and then
there's "*way* off-topic" (rap stars have no talent, French film surrealists
have sold out to nefarious capitalist influences, and the US is an empire, not
a republic). Slighty off-topic is fine. But there are plenty of mailing lists
out there to discuss geopolitics, rap, jazz, French surrealism, etc. There is
really only one list - this one - to discuss Television, its music, members,
influences, goings-on, and its contemporaries past and present, and I would
prefer that it wasn't flooded with messages that are unrelated to its purpose
("an unmoderated, public mailing list dedicated to discussions about the
recordings and career of Television, as well as the solo activities of its
individual members").

Jay writes "give me a fucking break!" with regards to a past conversation on
"Yonki Time". If you're not interested in a discussion about "Yonki Time", I
don't blame you, but you can just hit delete. In the past 2 years, according to
the archives, there have been less than a dozen posts specifically discussing
"Yonki Time". (Compare that to the number of "Marsalis sucks!" posts from
January and February of 2001).

I'm glad to continue discussing this topic with anyone who is interested,
on-list or off-list. If there's enough interest, perhaps we can set up a
"sister" list, like "Television Fans Discuss non-Television Related Things".

Thanks,
Philip

--- Jay Pontrelli <jaypontrelli@yahoo.com> wrote:
> sorry about the delayed response but i don't come
> around here as often as i used to.  the OT
> restrictions are, frankly, too restrictive, and
> typically lead to rather mundane, fungible discourse.
> no offense intended, but i prefer spontaneous random
> argument/discussion among "friends" with a common
> interest than sterile discussion about yonki time
> (give me a fucking break!) 


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