My Hand is In Your Pocket "For Evaluation Only"

Let's not start a kerfuffle.

Why is my hand in your pocket? Well, I have determined your wallet has money in it, and I think it ridiculous that you don't share it with me.

I will evaluate how much to take from you; perhaps half, perhaps the whole thing. The important thing is that I feel I'm entitled to it. After all, you are ridiculous, and your needs are trifles, whereas I (and I don't mean to sound condescending), I enjoy spending other peoples' money.

I will have a good DARK beer with this bill I'm taking out, and I will go on a nice FISHING TRIP with these bills, but...why go on? If you object, go to your bank and withdraw more. It's THAT simple.

What was all THAT, then?

Oh, just another lovely blog that the LARD OF THE FRUIT SALE enjoys. Let's have more of the same, shall we?

Unlike the LARD, this enterprising fellow with time on his hands, has his own FARCEBOOK and TWATTER accounts. My, my, how much expense did he put into acquiring THOSE?

Like the LARD, he is amused by "flops," and things that did not chart. Other peoples' failures seem to give HIM a sense of superiority, don't you know.

Now, the important thing to note is that some people who sell rare records do so for "extortionate sums on ebay." HOW DARE THEY!!!

If a record is rare and hard to find, and worth 20 pounds, why not sell it for 1 or 2? Isn't that fair? If you're a dealer and you spend your life driving to estate sales, or wrangling with people who want to sell their collections for the highest price, shouldn't YOU offer the items at a few pence above cost? Isn't THAT fair?

The important thing is that somebody with absolutely NO right to copy or distribute the music should do it anyway. To wit:

"In short, if I like it and it's interesting, I'll upload it. And sometimes if I don't like it but it's interesting it will also feature."

And remember:

"The music uploaded to this site is for evaluation only, and where it is otherwise available at a REASONABLE PRICE I would persuade you to support your local second hand record store by buying it...no blog or download site can ever be an effective substitute."

The caveats are REASONABLE PRICE, and the delusion is that when almost everything is available on blogs or GOOTUBE, people will really care about the "thrill" of taking a bus to a train to a train to a bus to FIND that obscure record store still in business, or that bucolic boot sale.

As I recall it, even in the good old days, when there was some kind of joy in foraging around and finding a bargain, or something I didn't know existed, there was the misery of a store blasting ugly music, a lot of smelly idiots bumping into me and pushing to get at the trough of records and even reaching over to snatch something as I was flipping through.

Ah, let's all be impressed by the snotty Herbert who calls the shots, determines what HE will upload, determines what a REASONABLE price is, and who takes that air of superiority over "flops" and things that "did not chart." How he muses over obscure records, showing an edge of nastiness. He only wishes he could do a "worst records" blog but several swine are doing those already...guys who never created anything and have no empathy for those who tried.

The record stores have nobody looking out for them. They can't call the RIAA and say, "Help us, you represent the copyright owners, you can keep us in business." No, they just sit around having to mark treasured rarities low just to pay the electricity to keep the store open a few more days. They have to be nice to pricks who come in with a lot of attitude, demanding "amusing" records at "reasonable" prices, knowing that in the end, those blogs run by egocentric insensitive prigs will endure, but the working man's store will shutter.