ian rastall

I just wanted to say that I've been a one-man army on here in the
past, so I know what it's like. For a while that was all I did. I
would feel that I had to stand up for what I believed in, despite the
fact that everyone else disagreed. It always ended in a pile-up, and I
never gave in.

So while I write this, it doesn't matter to me who's right and who's
wrong. It seems that both of us believe strongly (and honestly) in
something, which (IMO) puts us in the same camp ... that of the seeker
of truth. There are many people who refuse to fight against huge odds,
and I don't have as much respect for them as I do for someone who
takes on all comers for what he believes in.

Just a thought for this peaceful morning. I'm afraid things may get
even uglier, and I'm already looking forward to the time when, no
matter what the outcome, everything is peaceful.

Ian
--
http://www.aspipes.org/
http://www.bookstacks.org/

ye242

Ian, you're an army of several , count me in.
What you do is honest, selfless and beautiful.
Gravity and (contrary to what physics taught us) people like you keep
this little planet turning.
I stand by you. Your efforts in maintaining a wonderful website such
as ASP are simply sublime and I'm personaly grateful for it.
Yours is an effort of solidarity towards your fellow pipesters and the
least we can do is respect the way you manage your prerogatives.
I support whatever you decide to do with the ASP website . You're the
captain of the website and we sail with you through any journeys you
choose.
Small armies rely on the light of a just cause to muster strenght and
overcome adversities.
Yours is a just cause and you'll prevail.

ian rastall

Thanks, man. That was a really nice thing to say.

I think it speaks well of ASP to offer a resource for new pipe
smokers, and a good read for seasoned pipesters. We're getting, on
average, 120,000 hits a month now, so that's got to account for more
than just the members of this group. :-) We're out there educating
people about this rather mysterious artform. We're hooking them up to
the greater pipe world on the net, and getting across, I think, the
idea of pipe smoking as something deeper than many would have thought.

Come to think of it, we really need some pipe and tobacco history on
there. That would also be great for people to read. A new project! :-)

Ian
--
http://www.aspipes.org/
http://www.bookstacks.org/

joshua rosenblatt

Quick, some one get me a shovel..... a big one.

I've refrained from posting on this matter up to now primarily cause I don't
really care what's put on the ASP website or not. I think there certianly is
room for posts such as Nizo's in the classic post section (particularlu if
you look at some of the so called 'classic' posts already on there) - but
it's of no real concern for me either way. But this hero-ification, if you
will (yeah, I made that word up) is just nauseating and misses the potential
lessons of this little fray.

I would like to say that I know and respect both Ian and Tim from ASP and
off-ASP - both for several years now. Both are very good guys, passionate
and a credit to the pipesmoking community - I also consider both as friends.
Neither is fully right or wrong in this case IMO - though both have exhibited
either a bit too much emotionalism, or have taken things too personal about
this issue - at least as I see it.

Ian is a great guy who has done a fantastic job on the ASP site, and I hope
he continues to. Some will say we wouldn't have the site were it not for the
donations of ASpers, which is true, but we also wouldn't have it without his
dedication and committment. OK, perhaps he's aligned a bit too much of his
ASP persona to being the webmaster for it, but whatever.... no big deal, and
it's arguably deserved.

Tim is also a great guy, very passionate about the incursions on smokers
rights (as most of us are) and has a valid point about Ian's refusal to
include a post he admittedly didn't read from being included on the classic
posts portion of the website at the behest of fellow ASPers. OK, perhaps he
got a little too emotional regarding this issue, but again... no big deal, it
doens't invalidate his point.

Perhaps there is a lesson for all concerned... For ASP as a whole, to realize
that though subsidized by our members, the website is indeed a result of
Ian's investment of time and energy and his say is ultimately final -, for
Tim that personal attacks are never productive (though they may feel good),
and for Ian to realize that sometimes a counsel of one should put aside his
personal views (in this case an almost irrational fear of offending - who?
nonsmokers???) for the benefit of the constituents to whom his services are
meant to provide. The irony is, in his mission to avoid offending some
non-existant potential user of the website, he wound up offending several of
his own. Ouch.

But the threads keep going, the smoke keeps withering upward and the trout
keep rising.... C'est la vie, baby.

Just $.02 from the peanut gallery. Feel free to continue with your flames or
sweet as molasses accolades... I'm going back to work.

Joshua

ian rastall

I was hoping we'd finished with all this.

Ian
--
http://www.aspipes.org/
http://www.bookstacks.org/

chantymanjack1

All of what, Ian? The issue of what powers you have as leader of the pack?

Jack

Fair winds,
Sailorman Jack
Port of New York
-------------------------------------------------------------
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." Professor Bernardo De La Paz in
Robert Heinlein's "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress"

ian rastall

On 11 Jul 2003 10:46:43 GMT, chantymanjack1@aol.com (Sailorman Jack)


Yes. I was kinda hopin' we'd put that baby to rest. Just because the
job is hard enough without having to fight just to make my own
decisions.

Like I've said, it exists now without having been influenced by anyone
else's decisions, for the most part, and it's getting 120,000 hits a
month. It's doing good. The main reason it got so big was that I was
able to do it without having to fight anyone.

I'm really thinking about just handing it over. I had decided not to
do that ... yesterday??? (It couldn't have been yesterday. Perhaps two
days ago, although who knows.) Instead, I decided to make a fresh
push. I wrote to Dave and asked him to step down, and turn the
financial side of it over to me. I plan on putting a page up on the
site listing all the donations, the total in the kitty, etc. We're
only talking about looking after $300 a year, so I don't think it's
that tough.

I'm sure that will cause problems too.

But what I'm trying to do here is just work in peace. Why is that so
difficult? The site does represent us. In fact, it represents us quite
well. I think it makes us look quite good to the outside world.
Better, in fact, than the truth, because the truth is that we spend a
lot of time bickering and attacking one another, and this is a great
example.

Ian
--
http://www.aspipes.org/
http://www.bookstacks.org/

ian rastall

On 11 Jul 2003 11:59:10 GMT, chantymanjack1@aol.com (Sailorman Jack)


You're comparing me to Benito Mussolini?


If we had to vote on what goes into the site, I'm afraid it would be
impossible to do (for me, or anyone). It's not a democracy.

Ian
--
http://www.aspipes.org/
http://www.bookstacks.org/

chantymanjack1

Oops, I stumbled there.

I do not think it would be appropriate to compare you with Mussolini.

What I had in mind with "making the trains run on time" comment, is the way in
which so many ASPers seem to excuse your brushing aside other opinions because
of the good work you do.

Jack

ian rastall

On 11 Jul 2003 12:17:05 GMT, chantymanjack1@aol.com (Sailorman Jack)


Like I said, Jack. It would just be too difficult to get anything done
if I had to run it by committee.

Ian
--
http://www.aspipes.org/
http://www.bookstacks.org/