re: tV's Mutek reports

[andrewduke@xxxxxxxxxx]

On Wed, 04 Jun 2003 16:47:02 -0400, "tobias c. van
Veen" wrote:
>Being a writer...is a risky proposition: for often it
means writing one's friends, acquaintances, enemies,
hell, the human flesh and all its vicissitudes into the
narrative. And some of us don't like it: to the point
where even an attempt at a joking apology for doing so
is taken as a further threat...

***As a writer myself, I know where tobias is coming
from.  My personal thoughts:  I am of the opinion that
everything is "on the record" at all times, unless what
is being said is asked to be considered "off the
record" by the person saying/doing such and such, and
at the time of it being said/done, not well after in
hindsight/retract-it-or-else form.  Heck, maybe it is
just me, but I know when I'm talking to a group of
people about someone who is not there, if the person I
am talking about walks into the room, whether I am
saying something positive or negative about that
person, I will say "we were just talking about you" and
give a paraphrase of what was being said.  Yes, really.
 And yes, that's whether what was being talked about
was positive or negative.  If I said it, I'll stand
behind it.  If I said something negative about someone
and that someone came up to me and asked me about it, I
wouldn't be two-faced.  On another note:  I'm often
privy to artists sharing with me information which they
ask to keep quiet (for example:  "such and such a label
will be releasing an album from me in the future" or
"this label owes me money") and which I do; both out of
respect for the artist, and, because as an artist
myself, I understand there's a time and place for
certain bits of information to be aired.  

So, if things are being said/done at Mutek and the
sayers are not following what is said/done with a
request to have that kept "off the record", I don't
think those people have a right to be pissed at tobias
or anyone else who writes about what was
heard/witnessed.  tobias wrote about my appetite in one
of his reports; I thought that was hilarious because I
made a point of eating well for every lunch and every
dinner I was in Montreal (too bad you weren't out to
dinner at the Indian restaurant with me, Michelle
"Granny'Ark" Irving and Charles "Galerie Stratique" on
Saturday afternoon, tobias; I said nothing as Charles
ordered a ton of food for himself--knowing full well he
wouldn't be able to eat it all--and then got to clean
up after him.  I'm on a see-food diet; if there's
vegetarian food around, I'll eat it!  Must be a
holdover from when I was bodybuilding--drug-free,
mind--and eating ten thousand vegetarian calories a
day)  Now tobias' writing about my appetite won't have
any negative ramifications on me as a
writer/artist/label owner/whatever, but, had tobias
written about me saying something negative about
someone's live set or something at Mutek that maybe
would have had some negative ramifications, I would
stand behind tobias' reporting it because I believe
that if I say it, it's reportable, unless I ask for it
to be "off the record".  Maybe I'm a rare breed, but I
sincerely hope not, and thus tobias' account that some
people have made threats about his reports bother me
deeply in many ways and on many levels (see above).
People go on and on about security cameras and website
cookies and the like, but this is something that is
different in that threats have been made against
someone who wasn't trying to be invasive.  Hopefully
while we're all applauding tobias for his detailed
reports we'll also take some time and think about this
unfortunate other area re: reporting. Andrew Duke 

albums out now: Sprung http://bip-hop.com 
http://warprecords.com/mart/music/release.php?
cat=BLEEP12&fc_type=CD 
*Canadian electronica album of the year nominee*
More Destructive Than Organized http://staalplaat.com
Highest Common Denominator http://pieheadrecords.com
Physical and Mental Health http://dialrecords.com 
74'02 (split with Hypo) http://tsunami-addiction.com
check Cognition (http://techno.ca/cognition)
for upcoming appearance and release updates

------------------------------