From: glambert@pyramid.com (George Lambert)
Newsgroups: rec.music.gdead
Subject: Round the Wheel Goes
Date: 12 Nov 92 02:39:36 GMT
Organization: Pyramid Technology

Hello again folks,

Sorry, Mr. Hack, but I may be getting more email than you!  Much of it is
quite interesting, some of it very eloquent, but I'm not going to be able
to share all of it with you (time just doesn't permit, and I don't want to
aggravate the situation too much :-)).  I'm off on a business trip tomorrow,
so I won't have net.access for a few days.  I thought I'd share one letter
with you though, from one of the Wheel members.  Names have been eliminated
where I decided to (quite the editor, eh?).

By the way, while I have a list of the memebers, it is not my intent to out
any of 'em.  I don't hold any grudges against them, and if they would like
to introduce themselves, they are welcome.  As a former student of psychology,
sociology, and history, though, I find this thing truly fascinating.  If you
don't care, simply press 'n'.

"George, as you and I both know, the terms  DICK and DACK were on r.m.g
*long* before I used  them ... they've been  around since the  Porsche
guy days.  When I mention DICKs and DACKs I'm talking about the Dale's
and the Joe Hack's of the world, not the rest of the net."

To bring the rest of the net up to speed here, XXX's point is quite true.
Unfortunately for his case, I certainly haven't seen them used lately.  They
came up in a discussion on the Wheel involving the ol' "I've got a spare
ticket...who wants it?" thread that they have on the Wheel (gee, how unique).
The person didn't wish to have to get barraged by a bunch of college kids.

Well, au contraire! mon ami!  I've stumbled across a spare ticket or two in
my time, offered it over the net, and have NEVER been 'under barrage'.  I've
met some nice folks, and when the tix were gone, the rest were disappointed
but always gracious.  I've got several large campuses around me, so I 
certainly should've seen some of this terrible behaviour you lived in fear
of from the net, but not once did it ever happen.  

Dale's been gone for years, and Joe Hack is abrasive, but he does make some
good points.  I believe it was the film "Start the Revolution Without Me"
that contained the line, 'He's a cruel man, but fair.'  Kinda reminds me of
Joe.  By this time, also, I have a LOT more info on your group from other
'insiders', and even the sweetest messages contain the theme that there is
a great amount of cruelty in your little private mailing list...tho the 
authors may not wish to have meant to say that.  But hey, my cover's about to
get blown in the next paragraph, so let's go onto that first; I quote again:

"Isn't it hypocritical to complain about a private mailing list you are
not  on when XXXX  has his own private  list  which  you  neglected to
mention, and which (according to my sources) you are  on.  Why are you
so concerned about what some of us do in  our spare time?   If you are
so worried about private  mailing  lists why didn't you mention MXXX's
new 'magic-bus' idea on  the  net?  Are some  private lists okay while
others aren't?"

I'm BUSTED!  Well, maybe not.  This person's correct, but less so than he
knows.  I'm on a slew of intra company mailing lists, and I'm on two that
pertain loosely or otherwise to gdead.  I receive email announcing Dan
Hicks' shows.  I am on the above referred list that contains EXACTLY THE
SAME ANNOUNCEMENTS that appear on gdead.  I was invited on the net (you all
were) for the Hicks list, and I just started getting the new show 
announcements out of the blue several months ago.  T'ain't nuttin' in that
list that you ain't seen on the net.  Comes in on the same day it propagates
to the net.  Pretty controversial, eh?  Well, mea culpa, mea culpa.

"Trust me, from what you  wrote you have  no idea of what *really* goes
on on the Wheel.  It's a nice, friendly community and Joe Doheny seems
to have gone off the deep  end and taken MXXX with  him.  The wheel is
definitely  not "where the  elite   go to meet"  it's  a collection of
friends.

"I guess that's all I have to say..."

OK, he signs here, but as I said, I'm not in this to out anyone, so you're
all safe.  Tell me if I'm wrong about the following points:

1. In part, the members started the Wheel to get away from that nasty ol'
chaff on the net.  Having heard that the Well just might be the land of
electronic milk and honey, the wise folks decided they need some articles
from there.  Problem is, the Well is a subscription service, and nobody
wanted or could fork over the scratch necessary for a real subscription.  So,
what's the next best thing?  STEAL, I mean, BORROW Well articles for the
purpose of discussion.  What a great idea, from some of those very same
people who complained about net postings being sold in parking lots at shows!

Nope, I don't see any hypocrisy or thievery there.  But the Well didn't care
for it, and the Wheel got busted.  Bye bye Well!

Not a great start: "If you plant ice, you're gonna harvest wind."

2. The Secret Society and membership therein.  You folks operate this much like
a fraternity.  Prospective members are selected, given an invitation, and
then you wrangle over the merits/demerits of that person's qualifications.  A
vote is taken, and the person is accepted or rejected.  Upon acceptance, the
person is sworn to secrecy of the Wheel's existence.  How quaint.  Given
the list of names I have, one cannot look at that at and not believe, given
the strong intellectual and articulation skills of your members, that there
was a certain 'ubermensch' mentality that went into the selection process.
And I'll grant that that was the initial period.

Now, you don't want new members because your community is too large as it is,
and that damn ol' section of cyberspace can't hold no more.

Either way, it stinks.  Here's a topic for your little community:  Given 
your proclivity for exclusivity, how many of you support building a wall 
around the US of A to keep out the rest of the world?  Or another topic:
We just observed the anniversary of Krystallnacht.  What have we learned, and
how are we using those lessons in The Wheel?

You folks started the Wheel with theft, and you maintained it in an air of
secrecy and exclusivity.  You may think my analysis harsh, and while I didn't
see his name on the list, Nixon would feel right at home on one of your
spokes.

I'm certain you have wonderful, loving conversations, and justify your trip
that way.  Be my guest.  You also have ego tripping, power trips (now, who's
that princess again?) and bad vibes.  In short, a microcosm of what you left.

And a final note for Joe: No, I didn't leave the net because of an invite
to travel this Golden Road to Unlimited Self-Absorption.  I got tired of the
Neil stuff, yes...but I also have a life that involves employment, and that
employment has been very involving lately.  You identified yourself, and
from what I know you went through a lot of pain regarding this.  I hope it
heals soon, and if I can help, let me share this anecdote with you.  I use it
as metaphor, and leave it to the reader to decide which is which (shouldn't
be too hard :-)):

While in Eugene for some Autzen shows, I had the good fortune to meet Jon
McIntyre from the Dead's family.  We met through a mutual friend, and the
subject of backstage passes came up.  I hadn't been backstage before, and had
always been somewhat envious of those who got to partake of that exclusive
bit of Dead-dom.  Jon said that sure, we can have some, "but why would you
want 'em?  There's nothing but a lot of silly, sycophantic posturing that
goes on back stage.  The real action, the real scene, is out there in front."

Well I got backstage.  Jon was right...I'll stay out front from now on :-).
My friends who go backstage?  I wish 'em the best, and I have a wonderful
time with several thousand friends.

I hope you all do, too.

Out of curiosity, I wish I could see what transpires here, but business calls
and I must head off to New Jersey for a few days.  Take care, and focus on
the good.

George Lambert

"Lately I've been running on faith,
What else can a poor boy do?
But my world will be right
When love comes over me and you"

"Lately I've been talking in my sleep,
Can't imagine what I'd have to say...
But my world will be right
When love comes back your way"	---E. Clapton