Duane, perhaps the whole problem is you are taking what I say personally, while it was meant very much in general. When I direct a response to a particular person, I point that out. Otherwise it's just meant as a general statement, not directed at any one group in particular. Much less one individual.

Yep I am the king of blunt. I'm actually pretty happy about that. I used to be extremely shy and quiet (I know, but you didn't meet me 15 years ago) but then I got Lupus and it almost killed me. I was supposed to be dead in 98, 2002 and then again this last summer. So if I'm blunt, that's why....I hate wasting time, because it's precious. It's part of my whole being. If I feel I can save 5 years of wishy washy maybe by throwing something out there and ripping it to shreds, I'll do it so fast it'll make your head spin. hence why I don't do politics in AMA pattern anymore...too much compromise for my taste.

While I will compromise, I won't give up and go away. I'm not sure I know how.

you KNOW I feel the same about all of this and quite frankly, I wasn't even aware that we disagreed on that much. What are we disagreeing about exactly? That's my point. The one that has been missed.

Yep in the beginning...what 5 years ago if my seacrh engine works properly...I wanted to change some rules in SPA. While I understand the "whys", I don't agree on the SPA rule set. That is exactly the reason I'm not in SPA, so the fact that I disagree there simply should not matter at all. I realized I could not change it...you and I both know why....so me and a group of like minded guys just went and did our own thing. Because we don't want to wait to have fun and play with our toys. And again if you remember the conversations in H'ville, you know what I mean by "waiting". if I had to wait for that, there is a better than average chance I won't live to see it. Now there, it doesn't get much more blunt than that does it?

Ok switching subjects slightly.

What would I like to see? I would love to see SPA evolve into what BPA is. But I am not going to hold my breath because there is nothing "wrong" with SPA. There's no reason for change like that, if you're an SPA member. If you're not, you're out of luck without the BPA contests. My primary concern if I actually have one for the SPA is this: I hope time doesn't pass SPA by. There is a window of nostalgia that constantly moves forward. It follows people's own aging process like the cycle of life itself. The nostalgia process runs about 20 years deep and really kicks in when a person approaches 40. When SPA was formed, what era did the want to "relive"? The era of about 20 years prior. Now that guys like myself, Gary, Ryan Mc, Joe, etc are approaching middle age, that 20 year nostalgia window has moved forward.

And so, just like SPA was born from nostalgia and a backlash against turn around pattern, BPA is born of nostalgia and a somewhat different backlash from SPA. There is no more animosity towards SPA from us than there was from SPA towards AMA when SPA was born. But if there WAS animosity back then, why is it ok for SPA but not ok for us? Double edged sword isn't it?

I'm just being analytical. Maybe I have a point. Maybe I should let my hair grow out so no one will notice.

-M