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Bust my chops
Bust means "punch" and chops means "mouth", so "to bust someone's chops" literally means to hit them in the mouth, but most of the time it means to give (someone) a hard time.
Don't bust my chops; I'm sick and tired of you calling me names.
harrass tease annoy bust your chops bust someone's chops
— Urban Dictionary
The term "busting chops" comes to mind many times these days as I read forum posts. Not that I'm entirely innocent of that kind of behavior but the frequency is working it's way up to a pitch that I think becomes deadly to online forums.
We have lots of "Braves" on the forum, but probably more "Chiefs" than we need or who can co-exist peacefully.
From the forum administrator's "Read First > Getting Started" message (http://www.shakuhachiforum.com/viewtopic.php?id=2) :
Respect other forum members
When posting to the forum, please be nice. Respectful, civil interaction and debate keeps us closer to the original purpose of a forum. Take the high road. Be kind to newcomers. If they ask questions that seem obvious, (or whose answers seem easy to find) cut them some slack. Many valued contributors started out this way. Treating newcomers kindly makes them more likely to turn into the valuable community members we all know and love.
Personal Disputes
These should never intrude on forum discussions or topics. These include personal attacks, business grievances, flame wars, etc. Heated debate or exchange between individuals should be handled privately. Please do not respond to posts of this nature. Even if your intentions are good, threads of this type only drag out the drama, and that's not an option here.
Whether you are just a member or whether you're a moderator or pro, insulting others on the forums just needs to be taboo, period. That includes calling people's input "stupid" or "foolish" or calling others "fools," idiots," "Nazi's," or "cry-babies." Once that's tolerated the gates are open. It's all downhill from there.
Finally, It isn't a democracy
While we care very much about what the members here like/dislike, please remember that the administrators have the final say. This is not a democracy, it is a benevolent dictatorship. We take this responsibility seriously. We work very hard to make this forum enjoyable and informative for as many people as we can, but it's impossible for us to please everyone about everything all the time. If we do something that you don't particularly like, please remember that all our decisions are carefully made based on what we feel contributes most to the greater good of the forum and ultimately the shakuhachi.
Personally I'd like to see the 'benevolent dictatorship' tighten up. I can't see any reason to have individual forum moderators. Aside from the "Ask the Pro" forum with its multitude of experts, I think individual forum moderation was an experiment that outlived its time. A good idea at the time, for certain, but it sets up moderators in positions where they might feel trapped into defending their turf of individual beliefs and theories and putting their own personal, professional or spiritual concerns ahead of the good of the forum as a whole.
Lastly, as much as I've enjoyed the Zen forums, I second (or third or fourth) the motion to not return there. Not that it's up to a democratic vote, because it isn't. Even eSanga can't keep the peace in their Zen forums. Tricycle magazine's online forum has been an "ex-Forum" for years now. Usenet and Google Groups Zen forums are a wreck. Let spinning dogs lie.
There's my twenty-five dollars worth.
Peace. -- Chris
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Hi Chris,
Thanks for the post and reminding people of the rules and common courtesy.
Regarding moderators, the only people who have any real power are me and Ken. The moderator positions are honorific and have been granted to anybody who is a licensed teacher and/or professional performer or maker. I decided to give every pro moderator status in order not to be put into a position where I would have to decide Player A is worthy of moderator status whereas Player B (who might have the same rank or similar accomplishments) is not. Perhaps that's too liberal. However at this point if I strip people of moderator status because they are KNOBS that would probably cause bad blood.
Forum seems to be thriving without the Zen forums.
We are open to suggestions.
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Thanks Chris.
If I may add, as stated in the forum rules, one thing Brian and I try to do when making a forum decision is to stand back and decide what is best for the shakuhachi and the forum as a whole. We also try to put ourselves in the place of a newcomer to the forum and promote an experience that is relevant and positive through beginners eyes.
It seems this is a good practice as well to test the relevance of a post before we click "post reply."
For the most part, shakuhachi forum members treat each other with respect here. Most of us assume the responsibility of posting on a forum. For the occasional contributor who does not, the most effective response is silence.
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Think of it as a party. Like the shakuhachi BBQ's which sometimes happen Chez Mujitsu. If people come to the BBQ and start hurling sectarian invective at each other, the Bombay would stop flowing. Or if Horst Xenmeister grabs the tongs from Ken and screams, "In my ryu we place the bratwurst perpendicular to the BBQ grate, not parallel, you are an infidel!" Ken's feelings would be hurt. Or if someone always has to have the last word maybe everybody would shake their heads and do .
So don't do anything on the forum you wouldn't do at Ken's BBQ.
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I appreciate everyone's noticeable reserve when I posted my very rudimentary version of Kyorei on my blog and advertised it here. I really expected to hear alot of stuff over it. Perry even complimented my "raw" style, which makes me giggle a little.
I just wanted to bring to light that it is not always chop busting and head smacking around here. I actually got some pretty good feed back and it has helped me improve things that I would not have noticed immediately.
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The bad news usually gets the most attention, and also the "bad guys". However, there's a world of good people and good news that's so much bigger!. The same kind of applies to the forum for me. I log in every day and always come out with some kind of valuable information, even if it's only about human nature or the weird mind of Shakuhachi players (it's very interesting, because I found Japanese culture so full of contradictions and conflictive values... maybe Shakuhachi players reflect that to some extent). It is very sad to read from people that have so much experience and precious knowledge getting personal and petty... However, let's not condemn the forum for what, in my experience, is a small percentage of the content. Heck, we get rid of so much junk mail every day, it should be easy to navigate past the junk here too.
With gratitude...
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jdanza wrote:
The bad news usually gets the most attention, and also the "bad guys". However, there's a world of good people and good news that's so much bigger!. The same kind of applies to the forum for me. I log in every day and always come out with some kind of valuable information, even if it's only about human nature or the weird mind of Shakuhachi players (it's very interesting, because I found Japanese culture so full of contradictions and conflictive values... maybe Shakuhachi players reflect that to some extent). It is very sad to read from people that have so much experience and precious knowledge getting personal and petty... However, let's not condemn the forum for what, in my experience, is a small percentage of the content. Heck, we get rid of so much junk mail every day, it should be easy to navigate past the junk here too.
With gratitude...
Excellent post, jdanza!
I just quickly skimmed the pages of the individual forums and came up with a top 18 list of most viewed topics(5000+). I'm sure there are some I've missed.
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1. Zen at War - 10092 views
2. Yuu Shortcomings - 9923
3. Jinashi vs Jiari - 9585
4. Anasazi flute - 9126
5. Nay and Shakuhachi - 8874
6. 6- and 8- hole Shakuhachi - 8843
7. Question re: jiari/jinashi - 8829
8. Zen and Mikkyo - 8656
9. Non-Traditional Music - 7665
10. What do you listen to? - 7422
11. The Best Shakuhachi, jinashi or otherwise -7129
12. Choosing a "Suizen" Shakuhachi - 6985
13. Do you play any other instruments? - 6667
14. Zazen and Suizen - 6612
15. Jazz/rock/improv - 6565
16. Trigger finger - 6027
17. Free "Zen Shakuhachi" Recording by Ejun Yechika - 5814
18. How to make a Chikusing Utaguchi Cap - 5521
.
Of course, this doesn't reflect on all the incredible info and insight that's here. It would be interesting to see the statistics that could be derived between topics and views. The good will always outweigh the junk.
Last edited by Kerry (2008-09-04 13:36:23)
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