clinic/peej

[Kim Harrison-Lavoie]

On Mon, 1 Mar 1999 09:42:47 +0000 Stuart McHugh 
<smchugh@...> wrote:

> From: Stuart McHugh <smchugh@...>
> 
> >4. Erm, that's all I guess except that I think I'll stick
> >to information-only posts in the future or maybe just
> >lurk...
> Plewase don't do that, everyone has a right to discuss (and 
> anyway, we're just starting to get a deecent number of 
> posts here!) 

I'm pleased to see that free speech is so important to the 
members of this list and on a more personal level I 
appreciate the encouragement I've had from others on the 
list to continue to express my opinions. I don't feel that 
any of the replies to my original comments were an attempt 
by anyone to suppress my freedom of speech but were just 
the result of other people excercising their right to 
disagree. My comment about not posting my opinions to the 
list was mainly motivated by a realization that what I say 
can be interpreted very differently by different people and 
I may not feel that what I do have to say is worth the 
effort of posting a clarification, especially if it is
intended as a tongue-in-cheek remark.

I must also admit that the responses I received to my 
message did cause me to become a bit concerned that this 
may be one of those lists whose members may not tolerate 
even light-hearted irreverence directed toward their 
subject, let alone any real criticism, in which case I 
would have to reconsider my membership.

As much as I greatly admire and like Mr. Peel (and I 
did mean everything I wrote about him) I would hate to see 
him treated as some sort of sacred cow and I suspect that 
he would not enjoy that either. Having said that, I think 
that it is unlikely that anyone would subscribe to this 
list if they had very negative feelings towards him.

WARNING: The rest of this message will probably be 
extremely dull for most people - there is no music 
content. :o(  

Perhaps I was dwelling on the technical flaws for a reason, 
which wasn't to criticize his technical skills but was 
possibly my subconscious way of voicing a sudden concern 
I've had recently about the programme, which stems from 
what I think has been a significant increase in these 
mistakes lately (I may be wrong about this - just my 
impression!).

Although I would agree that JP is not especially proficient 
in the technical aspects of broadcasting, I do feel that 
many of the mistakes that are made are possibly due to the 
lack of attention or interest on his part, which would not 
be surprising given that he has been doing his programme for 
Radio 1 for over 30 years now and once he has selected the 
tracks to play the actual mechanics of the programme may 
seem rather dull to him. It has occurred to me that he may 
be getting a bit tired of the job, a thought which has 
caused me some concern because the prospect of his 
retirement would be very grim indeed. The recent addition 
of the 'Broadcasting Cottage' nights, which is most likely  
a result of his weariness of commuting to and from 
London, has probably reinforced my concerns about his 
eventual retirement.

Of course I may be completely wrong in my interpretation of 
all of this, and he may not have any intention of retiring 
in the foreseeable future, which would be good news for all 
of us.

As for playing records at the wrong speed, I don't even 
count that because my own rather limited record collection 
has a surprising number of records whose playing speeds are 
not listed anywhere on the records or the sleeves and many 
of the ones that do have it listed are 33 rpm on one side 
and 45 rpm on the other. No wonder the belt on my turntable 
is getting worn out!

Please feel free to disagree with, argue about, criticize 
or completely ignore any of the above.

Cheers,

Kim