I like SZ for the upbeat exchange of information and opinions and the sincere give and take among pros and hobbyists all over the planet who are all real enthusiasts at heart and want to share that enthusiasm. It's special!

As far as the needling and sensitivity, etc..I couldn't care less except it takes away others' time and energy and good people leave or get barred from the site because of it, and others leave in disgust, and more important topics are left to flounder because of the controversy. I have been needled myself and I either ignore or needle back,
however the mood strikes me. To openly complain about how somebody treated me would never occur to me. I think if I were the moderator I would just remove all the replies that had the needler/complainee going at it, and tell them to take it up privately, not on the forum. seems like an easy solution to me, don't understand why you see
it as having to bar people or let stupid arguments flower,
and then everyone else gets involved one way or another.

Here are some things that bug me and waste my time:
-clueless subject lines. should be barred by moderator.
rule should be to have subject line that is specific or else!

- I became a grandpa, it was nice meeting you and Ethel, go Patriots, how about da Bears? hey good for you pal, go to the bar, let someone buy you a drink. i'm here to talk arrangers, music, sound, performers..send a personal email, ok, keep it out of the forum.

-guys looking for love in all the wrong places: there are
millions of selections i could listen to if i had the time, why should i spend one minute listening to your recording
(the truth is that a compliment is what you are after, aren't you?) and then if i do comment, i have
to be diplomatic and not hurt your feelings? Phooey! we are not your music teacher, we don't have to be nice. If we
wasted our time listening and didn't like it we are pissed off, because we all are passionate about music and have strong opinions,that's what keeps us going. you wanna post clips? if you are sincerely looking for feedback to learn from, then absorb it all, constructive or not. the constructive critic can be dead wrong and the rude one right..you have to have a personal compass to go beyond.

Of course, we should all strive to be gentlemen.
the classic definition of which is:

" a person who can play the accordian but does not"


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Miami Mo