ON THE EVE OF GREAT ADVENTURES.

Saturday, January 8, 2000

There are also likely to be other changes to this site in the next few weeks as well. I am considering whether or not to put up a real message board that would handle different topics from those discussed at Pianoworld, which does seem to me to be a terrific site for discussing issues solely related to pianos. What will appear here very shortly is something quite a bit more spirited, opinionated and controversial. But that is the way of most cultural revolutions; they usually result in offending some people. I have no realistic expectation that I will not be offending at least some people. Perhaps just as this site has taken on the appearance of a many roomed house, these new additions will form a sort of "other side" to the house I've begun building here and for those people who aren't that interested in this "other side", they will be warned ahead of time by perhaps passing through yet another entry point.

To begin with, I will shortly be posting a paper I just wrote for some clients of mine concerning the future of this planet and the future of humanity on into the next millenium and I will invite anyone interested in some of the topics covered in it to join in sensible discussions of the issues it raises on a real message board that will be put up after it appears here.

One reason I determined to launch this website in the first place was to meet like minded people and to connect them together around the world. This is the dawning of the age of the internet, an age of vastly expanding communications. To these ends I have posited the existence of various groups of people who seem to share a "cultural resonance" or affinity with each other. For want of a better word, I used the word "tribe" to distinguish these groups of people from each other. Some pundits have described the future groupings of peoples with shared interests as "techno-tribalism". It is not very difficult for me to see that this is precisely where we are headed; there may be other characteristics that keep people together, but their shared or common interest is what will make or break for them a sense of belonging and a place in the world of the future.

The group that I have defined myself as belonging to is not that easy to describe. It is largely based on my abiding lifelong interest in classical music. But while in New York next week I will be revisiting many places I used to frequent often enough when I was living there over ten years ago, places that resonate with the constellation of interests I share with my "tribe"; the Metropolitan Museum, the Frick Gallery, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Modern Art, and perhaps a few other places as well. I'll probably take in a movie with the friends I'll be staying with. I am reading a few books now, usually manage to finish one a week. I can't recall the last time I actually bothered to sit down and watch television for any length of time. If this sounds like you, then you may be a member of "the tribe" I'm describing and may not have found a forum to express your LOVE for certain things and perhaps conversely your LOATHING for certain other things.

The future forum, for that might be a name for it, will I hope not be just another dreary message board where lively and spirited discussions are kept to some phony standard of "niceness". On the contrary, I expect and hope that real passions on a variety of issues are aired plainly and with depth, courage, insight, imagination, honesty and integrity. Aren't you getting a little tired of having the lid kept clamped down so tightly on certain issues that all real debate is quashed? I am getting very tired of it. It has been my observation that many of the liveliest threads on message boards around the internet have been about the most controversial issues, only to have them spoiled by the moderators who decided to start deleting posts they considered too offensive. Well, I have my limits too, and probably so too does everyone out there, but mine may be a bit wider than some others. At any rate, this is something that I am going to give serious thought to trying out here in the near future.

There used to be a message board called "Classical Insights" that was quite lively. Perhaps some of the regular contributors to that board will appear here as well. When I get it up and running, they are more than welcome to join in.

Finally, I have greatly appreciated the success of this website, such as it has been over the past few months, and want to thank all of you for your response. At this time, this site is receiving on average better than 50 hits a day. The more the merrier. Please continue to visit and tell your friends. There will be many interesting things to share on here in the very near future.