Thanks for the advice and encouragement. I'll be honest, this is the first proper forum I've ever been on and so I'm probably a bit unfamiliar with the way things work in general.
In answer to Freebase, yes I have been reading some of the old threads. Mainly because I think some of them are really hilarious, especially ones with Baggs or the Virgin. I only know about that because I like to follow the links in people's signatures (LastFM, RYM etc), I'm working through reading your own music thread at the moment, actually.
I see Il Duce's amusing quote, and feel interested in what kind of conversation could possibly generate something like that.
I hope I'm not being too annoying or just being an hyperactive n00b you want to see the end of!

I've been here for 5 years and I still don't know half the people who post here.

Hopefully it's just a phase.
Personally speaking, if you cut out the sycophancy you'd be tolerable in my book ;)

I think you're fine, Salami. Ignore Stu, he's been miserable as long as I've known him. (In attitude, i like his opinions)

Lol, Salami, you're creeping people out.
Overhere that means you're a really nice guy.
I don't know people, how do some of you seem to think friendliness is creepy...
In what kind of world do some of you guys live? Almost seems like I should feel sorry for you for having such an awful reference.

I think Salami is notably friendly. Even I notice he's friendlier than most people on most forums, but it creeps me out in no way. He's just a nice guy. Nothing wrong with that.

Most 'friendly' people in real life display a semblance of self-restraint when communicating with new people. Kissing people's arses to me is anything but endearing. It wouldn't surprise me if you disagree with this.

I don't disagree with you at all.
I cannot speak for Salami, but when it comes to me I am not kissing arses. This is just my character. If people here think I'm kissing arses, they probably got an entirely wrong idea.

Salami's 16 years old, he's got to a forum packed with 'righteous dudes'. I'd be friendly too if I were him :D.

This is a rather passive agressive post for someone so "friendly" and "nice".

s_k, you need to learn how to take criticism. You flip out everytime somebody says they don't like you or points out one of your flaws. Not everybody you meet in the world is going to like you and that's okay. You don't like everybody, do you? Whether you creep people out because of shit that goes along with your aspergers syndrome or because your personality has a creepy vibe to it (or because you said that you saved pictures from the member gallery to wank to or something), you should ignore it or tell them to go fuck themselves rather than letting them know that you're upset.

Next time somebody says something like that to you, consider the criticism and use it to better yourself.

P. S.: This post is a very roundabout way of telling you to blow it out of your ass.

Is he flipping out there? Seems fairly reasonable to me.

I'd like to see how you take criticism. You're probably one of those people who can't be criticized because you're never wrong in your own mind.

Oh, trust me, Tumor can take your criticism. If anyone can take criticism, it's her.

Bull****. Anyone that's talked to me knows I'm my own worst critic. I'm aware of my flaws and I admit them. Like right now, I'll admit that I really like being a bitch.

I don't know if she's ever not being criticized, but maybe I'm just projecting.

You even admit it in your title...

Now, I'll treat you to some more of my thoughts on MB members:

TheCunningStunt: I've only encountered him a few times, but each time he was hilarious. I hope he'll be around a lot next year.

Tumor: I'll agree with Urb on her: a lot of people don't really get her and think she's a troll. I don't think that's fair, to be honest. From my converasations with her in the shoutbox, she's more prepared to make fun of herself than anyone else. She can be a bit obscene, but who cares? So can Urb, and there's nothing wrong with him.

Stu: My Union Jack was hung up the right way round. You just dislike me so much that you chose to interpret right-track's comment as being sarcastic. You mean person. I was going to follow your Emporium of Sound journal too. Now I think I'll postpone reading that for a while.

Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra: Contrary to what people might think, he does have some very interesting tastes in music. I have MuMu to thank for this. I'll need to talk with him a bit more often.

TheBig3: I don't get how he's going to win the "Angriest member award". He seems very pleasant company and I've not seen anything that he's done that has angered me. And I've read the "Rage Against the MODchine" thread. Thought he wasn't doing anything wrong, sounded perfectly reasonable to me.

Right-track: Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him in the shoutbox last week. He's back! Maybe only for the odd post, but he's still back.

Tsunami: Oh go away and stop trying to email me cyberpuke.

duga: the awesomest person ever. Definitely my favourite member here. Every post is genius.

Rubato: I really hope he stays around. Very interesting person.

s_k: I don't find him inane or creepy in any way. I think he's just really friendly. And considering English isn't even his first language, I think people are being unnecessarily mean.

You'll have to pardon Stu on that one, it was me who first interpreted RT's post as a sneaky, but vicious jab.

Well, thanks for taking the time :).
Point I, I can take criticism if I see why.
But I cannot get why I should be criticized for being friendly? Is that defendable?
You never hear me deny being a bad debater though :).

:laughing:

No, I think right-track was just genuinely pleased that I'd got it right. It would have been pretty dumb of me to have got something so obvious wrong!
If I had, I wouldn't have minded Stu having a go at me (it's only a flag!!!), but I don't think he would have known if it was right or wrong without right -track pointing it out.

One more for today:

Unchained Ballad: Love this guy. He's very funny, and I think his journal is fascinating. We even love the same sitcoms, for anyone who was confused by our odd posts in the shoutbox....

Mighty Salami: You're creepy, and the way you try to suck up to other members is something I try VERY hard to tolerate.

Pedestrian: You go out of your way to invest a lot of time into this community, so thanks.

Stu: Interesting music taste from what I've seen on the Mumu's. No offense but you seem like a downer. You speak your mind though, which I like.

Jack Pat: A polite young man and I have you to think for bringing some jazz into my life!

Janszoon: You are my Industrial-buddy-fo'-lyf yo.

No, I did not purposefully chose to interpret the comment in a way that mocks you, I evidently made a mistake. It isn't my intention to display my irritation towards you at any given opportunity, you post a lot of crap around here and I mostly bite my tongue, granted I've slipped up a couple of times. I don't want to come across a bully.

Without meaning to sound patronising, I appreciate you're only 16 and, in all honesty, I was a bit of a douche at that age too. Depending on who you talk to, I still can be.

p.s. Please read my journal, PLEASE!

I don't think you've seen enough of me to say that, Above. See what Ska said a couple of weeks ago:
Obviously we've been getting on a lot better since then, but I don't go out of my way to "suck up".

This is hilarious.

Very rarely do the comments on this thread come across as anything other than self obsessed nonsense. It would be nice to just hear what we think of each other without getting uptight.

Tumor - Very funny and not afraid to just say what she (100% sure she was male until recently) thinks. Top poster.

TheBig3 - Seems uptight and tetchy. Quite hard to have a debate with (Foster the People) because it seems to be quite one way. No real problems.

Mighty Salami - I like him. I wouldn't say he is a suck up, just enjoys getting involved in the community.

s_k - Awesome poster, one of my favourites. I would take 'inane' over 'being an idiot to make people laugh'.

Urban Hatemonger - Fall fan. #Winning.

I apologize for that false assumption.

Whatever. A combination of fatigue and not knowing what the fuck to say to him has probably contributed to what unintentionally comes across as an arse wipe of a comment. The point stands that I appreciate the fact that there is an age gap, I remember being very keen to impress when I joined MB around the age of 17, and I'm quite sure I irked a few established members with my ways. That isn't me trying to claim superiority, it just highlights a difference in posting styles and habits. It's a flaw on my part that I don't give him enough slack.

That said, this whole 'flag comment' thing has been blown needlessly out of proportion.

Well for what its worth, we joined around the same time and I don't remember you being a pain in the ass. Though for some reason I do remember your avatars. Which is weird. Something with a bird and goofy or pluto...its all a jumble up here.

Although was it you or the other led zepplin guy I used to brawl with?

I have been posting altogether too much crap in the last month. In October I was all sensible and thoughtful, but this November was a bit much for me and I've found myself unable to think straight and end up posting pointless nonsense at your irritation. I'm working on it though, and am trying to be a bit more of a contributor, and I think I might even start a journal. I started off with two lengthy album reviews in a fortnight which were generally well received, but I can't remember posting anything particularly good since then.
Hopefully, you'll see me as a member who just got off to a bad start.

I was only joking about not reading the journal, I've only had time to skim though the first three pages, but was too tired and generally shaken up to take anything in. I'll have a proper read of it this weekend, I promise.

Big3, I didn't take offence or find it hilarious. I'm probably still a bit opaque at the moment. If I'm being a "douche", I don't want to seem beyond correction and am happy to accept Stu's rebuke.

By the way, I think I'm one nomination away from being through for this year's most inane member. Since I don't consider it a bad thing, I'm hoping someone else will nominate me!

Fucking hell, yeah I used to have that lame peace symbol with psychedelic images of animals and other swirly shit. I was so zany. And I'm quite sure it was me, I remember a couple of humdingers, the reasons for which evade me. For what it's worth, I thought you were a pain in the arse :laughing:

It's all cool dude, as others have already said, I'm a miserable bastard anyway.

Have a football :soccer:

I think he meant he tolerates you. I wouldn't make a big deal out of it. And yes, I have seen enough of you to know you're stuck up and you put a fake guise of ass-kissery on to muscle your way in with what you must see as the "cool kids".

Whatever.

You couldn't have got someone more wrong if you tried.
Stop bleating and read his journal!

Sneaky?
Vicious?

Moi?

Cutting someone else down doesn't exactly ingratiate you to the "in crowd" either.

I admired it before I realized I may have interpreted it wrong. :laughing:

You seemed to also have a sidekick, as I remember. Can't remember his name for the life of me.

Pedestrian: You are legitimately the shiz. I've seen you go above and beyond so many times, and respect the hell out of that. Your threads are always thought-provoking or interesting in some way, and your commitment is wholly admirable.

Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra: (I think that's your name? Sorry if I messed it up...) I seriously think you have excellent taste in music, although your posts can read a little elitist or close-minded upon occasion. This isn't an insult at all, however: You remind me of one of my really good friends in that respect. You're certainly a very valuable member of this community.

s_k: You are a legitimately nice fellow. My only criticism is this: Don't worry about the people who don't seem to agree with you / hate on you. It's much better to pick your battles. If someone doesn't like you, and you can't understand why, that's not at all a battle worth fighting. Just don't acknowledge it, and you'll be all good. Also, you have awesome musical tastes. I have seriously downloaded albums because you've mentioned them and not been disappointed.

Stu: I'm 95% sure we've never spoken, but I've seriously used you as one of my main sources of music recommendations over the past little while. Fantastic stuff.

James: I've missed seeing you, you little bastard. Where have you been?! I have been wondering that for a while.

Vanilla: You're a very interesting person, to be honest. Our musical tastes don't frequently align perfectly, but when I see you've posted, I regard it (in music discussions - not in general discussion) with high levels of respect.

Paloma: Many have called you a drama whore. I don't know, but I really disagree with this. You seem to be more of a real person than a lot of posters, and your posts seem very conversational.

That's all for now. I'm ****ty drunk. But I seriously think you all are fantastic, even the ones I didn't mention.

Oh yeah, and Mighty Salami - you seem like a good kid. You may need to slow your roll a bit, but you do seem like a good kid.

Aww, this really touched me. I feel like if people actually see where I do contribute I can actually bring out some cool suggestions, just like most people on here.

Much love back to you my sweet.

-----

So to the previous conversation, what gets you into the in-crowd and who is actually in it?

Haha, I told him I'll do it this weekend! I've only seen the first three pages so far! I always like reading the journals, and since he asked nicely, I'll read his next.

Above, I'm sorry if you don't like me. It seems to me that you dislike people for being nice, but I'm not going to try and force anything here.

I'm glad to hear that, Sara. We haven't talked much on the forum lately and I've always thought that was a pity :).
And you're right in what you say. But I'm afraid it's actually a disability of me to ignore things. Not just what people say, but also sounds and text. I cannot see text without reading it. It's a big problem as there will always be people disliking me, even though I try to be nice to everyone.
Also, I just cannot, really can not stand injustice. Not towards me, and not towards others.
Believe me, compared to earlier times I've become so much better in ignoring stuff, to just shrug and move on. But when I see people attacking me for no obvious reason over and over gain, it starts to well... sort of come through the shield I have. And, believe it or not, this happens even faster when I see someone attack other people. I know I'm a strange guy, I undertand not everyone will understand me. But when I get attacked I keep an eye on my attacker and I often notice it's not just me they're attacking.
And that makes the ever friendly guy quite vicious ;).

Nevertheless, I'll try to do as you say as much as I possibly can. I already did, really. But it does help me to get along when people tell me they like me. Makes me feel a bit more useful :).

Oh thankyou! Yeah, I have kind of neglected this place recently. I think I needed a break cause I was getting rather grumpy towards the end. Paloma contacted me and told me to pop in and I think my love for MB has been reborn!

My thoughts exactly. It's not as if he's been here long enough to pass judgement like that. Absolutely ridiculous, if you ask me.

On the other hand, I do think Mighty Salami is making a bit too much of an effort, but it's perfectly understandable. One is easily impressed by the musical knowledge of some of the established members. Perhaps he should take it easy a bit, but it's hardly a reason to destroy the man.

To be fear. When you first join Music Banter you do kind of try a little too hard. When I came here, I lurked for about three months because I didn't want anyone to hate me then when I did post I was extremely cautious for the first month or so. He'll get over it eventually. (May be speaking for myself here)
Personally he seems like a top notch guy.