How many here were participants in Classicalinsites?

[T. D.]

The plain-sense posters are less apt to etch themselves in memory. I think it's a  Japanese proverb: the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.

Maybe the weirder ones who post in high volume (frequency x average post length) really stick out and stay in one's memory.

[DavidW]

There is probably some truth to this. I've met many lovely (and some strange) classical music lovers in real life, and sometimes they're so passionate that I suggest that they join this here forum. They usually say something like "Oh I'm too busy with real life"...and that's how they remind me that I am one of the small percentage of weirdos   

I find concert goers don't obsess over recordings.  They fall into two groups: they like to make an evening of it, but are not obsessed with classical music; and the second group are musicians and they channel their time into performance and not say arguing over Karajan vs Furtwangler or whatever we're doing here.

[Jo498]

One point I was trying to make was that in the 1990s the internet and internet message boards were not at all mainstream. This is probably quite different today and has been for about 20 years, I'd say.

So especially back then one got a particular intersection of people obsessed with music (and/or certain artist, collecting recordings and sometimes playback quality/equipment) who also didn't have enough real life friends (at least not for these hobbies) and already had access to the internet. That is, they were either really into computers and/or in some field that already used internet in the 1990s (mostly academics and computer science/programming).

Additionally, the message board social environment tends to make some people (maybe most) more pedantic/sarcastic etc., so I think some people either appear stranger than they are or are strange enough to develop a net persona that is stranger than they actually are.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I find concert goers don't obsess over recordings. 

That's true. I have known classical music fans who don't collect recordings at all. They might have a few CDs at home that have some special significance for them, or which they've just randomly picked up. The idea of obsessing over the differences among 25 different recordings of a Bruckner symphony is totally foreign to them.

One point I was trying to make was that in the 1990s the internet and internet message boards were not at all mainstream. This is probably quite different today and has been for about 20 years, I'd say. [...]

Additionally, the message board social environment tends to make some people (maybe most) more pedantic/sarcastic etc., so I think some people either appear stranger than they are or are strange enough to develop a net persona that is stranger than they actually are.

I remember how strange it was, when I was first on CI in the 90s, realizing that now I could interact in real time with someone as far away as Australia or Hong Kong. It was kind of a shock. I had to remind myself that these were actual, real people behind all those strange nicknames and personas.

[Florestan]

I thought (though Florestan could clarify) that the OP was referring to the general category of "classical music aficionados" rather than "classical music aficionados who post to Internet discussion forums".

General category, yes, although I confess that I've never met in real life the degree of eccentricity and weirdness I've encountered on internet fora. The vast majority of concert- or opera-goers in Bucharest are solidly bourgeois in appearance and manners; the few eccentrics I've noticed are behavioral --- what they think I cannot know.

[Florestan]

I find concert goers don't obsess over recordings.  They fall into two groups: they like to make an evening of it, but are not obsessed with classical music; and the second group are musicians and they channel their time into performance and not say arguing over Karajan vs Furtwangler or whatever we're doing here.

I have known classical music fans who don't collect recordings at all. They might have a few CDs at home that have some special significance for them, or which they've just randomly picked up. The idea of obsessing over the differences among 25 different recordings of a Bruckner symphony is totally foreign to them.

This is my experience as well.

I'd say that they like to make an evening of it, but are not obsessed with classical music is an apt description of the audiences until well after mid-19th century. I doubt that Haydn's, or Rossini's, or Liszt's audiences consisted of people who were obsessed with their music, let alone obsessing over different performances.

[Brian]

One point I was trying to make was that in the 1990s the internet and internet message boards were not at all mainstream. This is probably quite different today and has been for about 20 years, I'd say.

I agree and would even add that message boards like this are not mainstream anymore now, having been largely replaced by Facebook, Reddit, etc. The message board software is superior and more useful for discussions like these, especially compared to Facebook, but the latter have achieved dominance through sheer numbers.

[Holden]

There is probably some truth to this. I've met many lovely (and some strange) classical music lovers in real life, and sometimes they're so passionate that I suggest that they join this here forum. They usually say something like "Oh I'm too busy with real life"...and that's how they remind me that I am one of the small percentage of weirdos   

I'm going to quote 'Dilbert'.

"Everybody is somebody else's weirdo." As far as I am concerned that's a fact

[(poco) Sforzando]

Another video with Rob Antecki:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeVBt6_hhGc&t=6s

I quote the one comment by the uploader: "Rob Antecki cofounded Fountainhead Genomics and The App Radi8er.  He was the pianist for the band Silver Smith and in general led an amazing life and legacy in the West Michigan area.  This is his entry for a film contest showcasing his idea for a horror film.  I have no idea how it ended up in my pile of VHS tapes.  We were in college together around the same time though.  It is good to see and hear him again in those carefree days when all the dreams he would later pursue were still bubbling in his brain.  Rest in peace my good friend."

This makes me wonder as if something went very wrong for him near the close of his short life. RIP my young friend.

[Florestan]

Another video with Rob Antecki:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeVBt6_hhGc&t=6s

I quote the one comment by the uploader: "Rob Antecki cofounded Fountainhead Genomics and The App Radi8er.  He was the pianist for the band Silver Smith and in general led an amazing life and legacy in the West Michigan area.  This is his entry for a film contest showcasing his idea for a horror film.  I have no idea how it ended up in my pile of VHS tapes.  We were in college together around the same time though.  It is good to see and hear him again in those carefree days when all the dreams he would later pursue were still bubbling in his brain.  Rest in peace my good friend."

This makes me wonder as if something went very wrong for him near the close of his short life. RIP my young friend.

This reminds me of the GMG member Drasko, who a few years ago committed suicide by shooting himself, after his mother, whom he had been taking caring of for years, died. A very sad story.

[ritter]

This reminds me of the GMG member Drasko, who a few years ago committed suicide by shooting himself, after his mother, whom he had been taking caring of for years, died. A very sad story.

Yes, Drasko was a nice guy, and we and some common interests which it was a pleasure to discuss with him. R.I.P.