Tribute to "Easy Livin". retired Site Moderator

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   I have to say that until yesterday I knew not of S Lang or his alter-ego Bora, whatever aggrieves him was afore my time and sod all to do with me or any of the current Admin Team. Whatever it was, given the 6+ year interval between then and now, it is something best forgotten. The Admin team members of those halcyon days have moved on, most of the SCs that lurked in the CZ all those moons ago have also found less mundane things to do in the real world, a few had to be shown the door with slightly more determination and some just faded away. The time for egos and ego-tripping is long since waned, the rest have just grown old or grown up or grown tired of the bickering of a few malcontents who will never be happy regardless of what we do. Pouring salt into old wounds stings, but it's better to grin and bear it than dwell in the past. 

Sure, as one of the (then) three remaining Admins, it fell to me to chose between making a public announcement, a private one, or doing nothing when Bob retired. Since he is still with us, albeit on a well earned sabbatical, I decided to let him make the announcement if he so wished, but of course that is not his way - he is a quiet man who does things in his own quiet way - low key and without a fuss, that's our Bob. 

Instead I created a Retired Admin Hall of Fame in the CZ for all the past Admins. We made no song-and-dance when Tony, Jody, Guigo, Iain, Alex, John and Angelo stepped down, we didn't make a big announcement when Maani, Peter, Bryan, Martin and Raffella retired and we'll make none now for Bob. If you respect those fine people then show it in whatever way you think fit, but somehow, making snide comments and picking fights isn't a fitting tribute to anyone.

I'll close this post by copying what I posted in the CZ for all to see:

 Dean wrote:

Retired Admin Hall Of Fame

Ian, (Maani)

Peter

Bryan

Martin, (Trotsky)

Bob, (Easy Livin)

Tony R

Jody, (TheProgtologist)

Guigo, (Atkingani)

Raff, (Ghost Rider)

Angelo

Alex, (harmonium.ro)

John, Easy Money

Iain, (Exitthelemming)

 Dean wrote:

I wanted to commemorate Bob's retirement in someway but didn't want to usurp any public announcement he may want to make, so I thought this thread could serve as a way of commemorating all the past Admins. I considered putting a small comment for each but unfortunately I don't know Bryan or Trotsky and have only had limited contact with Maani and Peter so decided against the idea. If people want to post their thoughts and comments on each then I think its a good idea.

It would be unfair of me to single-out any from the list, but that's not going to stop me:

The whole of the 2nd row are the Admins who (IMO) made the biggest impact - the PA and forum we have today is directly down to them - M@X and Rony created the framework and it was the leadership of the early Admins that put flesh on that framework but it was the policies, procedures and guidelines, the subgenres, teams and definitions of Bob, Tony, Guigo, Jody and Jim (who's still an Admin so not listed obviously) who brought it to life. They are also the five that made the Admins into a Team, it was a privilege to be asked to join them and an education working with them. For a bunch of ageing old men, (and I mean that in the nicest possible way ), their knowledge, appreciation and passion for Progressive Rock in all its forms and all its eras is unequalled and unsurpassed. Seriously. 

And I am going to further single-out Bob Macbeth, sorry, McBeath, not for his Admin skills (which are formidable - he produced so much of the policy around here it's too long to list), or for being the father-figure of the team and its de facto leader (though we never conferred that on him, or referred to him as such, nor did we ever defer to him, or do anything he suggested asked ), but for his reviews. I love Bob's reviews, the way they are written, how he conveys the music and his impressions of it, and for the controlled use of language he employs - you just know he listened, thought, listened again, understood and then thought some more before committing word to page - like a breath of fresh air that blows the dust of the platter prior to the stylus touching down gently on the groove - and then the music starts. Quality, depth and quantity - no one comes close - I'll take a handful of McBeath reviews over a truckload of 150 word first impressions or a bucketful of track-by-track chronologies any day of the week.

Thank you Bob. 

Edited by Dean - September 22 2013 at 12:40