I joined on November 29, 2003 with the main interest of exploring and discussing contemporary free jazz / free improvisation in what would become an infamous Funny Rat thread. Before that, I was at BNBB which I joined in 2001 (?) as a complete jazz newbie. I was just starting to post fairly actively there when it folded! I learned a lot about jazz from (very patient) people who posted at BNBB and still post here - to whom I am very grateful (seriously). I then joined the AAJ board where I was pretty active, but Chaney, king ubu and J.A.W. dragged me over here. These were the people I wanted to discuss the music with and they were here and not at AAJ - so I followed them.  This was exhilarating. My (and other posters') relative ignorance multiplied by insatiable appetite for adventurous, hitherto unheard music resulted on exuberant - and often extremely funny - rapid-fire exchange. Then it wound down. Chaney, JohnB and LeMo (and Gary, I guess) left the board for good. I lost interest in jazz and listened to classical music exclusively (well, somehow Stan Getz would keep creeping in) for a year or two. Right now I am as excited about new jazz / improv music as ever (and there is A LOT of excellent new music created nowadays), but I am just not that interested in discussing it an online forum any longer - hence my puny 2.5 posts per month. And anyway, just as 23 years ago, there is very little interest in such music here anyway. I still check Organissimo every day, but it's probably nothing more than a habit at this stage.                              

That happened to me only twice so far. They end up as birthday or Christmas presents for a befriended couple (they always say, they'd starve musically without me). No I alway checks before ordering anything. Baoque music bargains are a dangerous field in this respect.

Pres!