# Sid James!



## Lenfer (Aug 15, 2011)

I could never stand *Sid James* (the actor) even the sight of him used to make me cringe. However when I joined *TC* I met *Sid James* (the TC member) and I have spoken with him and few times and he recommended some CDs to me which are rather good thanks by the way. 

I used to hate seeing his avatar, a picture of his name sake *Sid James*. Then I had to stop posting etc due to ill health, only to find that *Sid* had changed his avatar to something else.

Your posts have lost something *Sid* maybe I'm a *masochist* but I always smiled when I read your posts because I hated him so! Would you consider changing it back please? 

Haven't seen you online for a bit hope everything is well.

Everyone else please vote.


----------



## Ravellian (Aug 17, 2009)

I think he should change his name back to Andre and bring back the hooded cat avatar.


----------



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Ravellian said:


> I think he should change his name back to Andre and bring back the hooded cat avatar.


True, I almost view his new avatar as a new person. I also noticed that soon after he changed to Sid James, he actually started liking more of my posts, and being curious about Russian composers. So I have trouble viewing him as that prior person who was really into Modern and Australian composers like before.


----------



## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Sid's a cool señor no matter what he or his cat are sporting...it's true that you can easily skim past his posts with a different avatar but that can only happen if you're not reading the posts; only a couple of lines and you pretty much know who it is!


----------



## Lenfer (Aug 15, 2011)

kv466 said:


> Sid's a cool señor no matter what he or his cat are sporting...it's true that you can easily skim past his posts with a different avatar but that can only happen if you're not reading the posts; only a couple of lines and you pretty much know who it is!


True very true but I pictured *SJ* in my mind as looking like *Sid James* I know he most likely doesn't though which is a good thing seeing *Sid James* is dead. I feel that people who have avatar that are their own pictures that they have a certain mystique about them and changing it once you are well known lessens it.

I didn't know he had changed it before I just assumed it had always been that way because of his username. It's his picture though and he can choose what he likes next time I just hope it's Sid James.


----------



## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

For me, I love *our* *Sid* *James *regardless of the avatar he posts because of the intelligence and deep thought which he puts into all of his posts. That said, however, being a Leo and a cat lover to boot, there is little doubt in my mind what his avatar should *really* *be* {and it's so cute also}.


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Thanks guys for all the compliments.

As to changing my username and avatar, I just wanted a change as I'd had the old ones for like 2 years. I always liked British cinema, so the actor Sid James was as good as any. Another thing is that the name Sidney is similar to the city of Sydney here in Australia.

As for the old cat with hoodie avatar, I thought of reinstating him on public demand, but we now have a couple of other members with cats as avatars already. So I wanted to change to another animal, after a brief period as a chameleon, I went to one of our Aussie birds, the sulfur-crested cockatoo. I think they have a kind of cheeky & inquisitive character which I like. When their head feather is up, they are probably feeling very emotional in some ways. I hear these guys all the time around here, but they fly quickly & quite high up, so often I hear them but don't see them.

As for Russian composers, *Huilunsoittaja*, I have been getting into them more than before. The big names mainly, I've still got loads to discover in those. Recently heard Shostakovich's _String Quartet #4_ live, my first time hearing it, & it was awesome. It took me to a very deep & dark kind of space. But by the same token, I'm still very much into things that I was before. I'm just diversifying a bit more now.

I hope to be less long-winded in my posts as well, as I've gotten some minor complaints there & you know, you've got to keep the punters happy!!!...


----------



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I like the new avatar as it reminds me of the amazing Snowball who went viral on YouTube and was studied by the science community.


----------



## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

Weston said:


> I like the new avatar as it reminds me of the amazing Snowball who went viral on YouTube and was studied by the science community.


Proof that pop music is most suitable for things with peanut-sized brains.


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

_Sid_, you are making progress on the Post Length Project - but Webern-ian compactness has not yet been achieved; keep working, mate.

_regressive_, the cockatoos are members of the parrot family. Parrots have demonstrated on many occasions that they were smarter than their owners. Hmm; that actually doesn't contradict the 'pea-sized brain' thing, eh?


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Cat, actor, bird, I don't really care; I just like Sid, whoever he is.


----------



## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Old avatars. It's plural, you know.


----------



## Ravellian (Aug 17, 2009)

Sid James said:


> As for the old cat with hoodie avatar, I thought of reinstating him on public demand, but we now have a couple of other members with cats as avatars already.


Nonsense! You were the original, the others are just... erm... copy_cats._


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

^^ :lol:

...But I think the members with cats as avatars - eg. Klavierspieler just above, plus Clavichorder, I think - came after I switched from the cat in the hoodie to actor SJ...so they were copying eachother, not me!...


----------



## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Sid James said:


> ^^ :lol:
> 
> ...But I think the members with cats as avatars - eg. Klavierspieler just above, plus Clavichorder, I think - came after I switched from the cat in the hoodie to actor SJ...so they were copying eachother, not me!...


I didn't want to copy klavierspieler, but put the two cats up on Beethovenian's suggestion and also to be confusing. Things have changed though.

What happened to the chameleon?


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

^^ Oh, okay. I liked the two cats one, but I like your new one as well, I like those old style portraits. Re the chameleon, some people thought it looked kind of wierd, so I went for something that looked better, which is what I've got now...


----------



## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Looks like I'll be on the same boat as you with people being dissapointed with my new avatar. But unlike you, there will not be a whole thread devoted to me in part due to your long legacy as andre the hoodie cat(I only caught the end of his presence). It won't take long to undo the two cats but we are being reminded of the hoody cat still.


----------



## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

@ Clavichorder, Who is your avatar anyway?


----------



## Ravellian (Aug 17, 2009)

samurai said:


> @ Clavichorder, Who is your avatar anyway?


That would be Wilhelm Friedmann Bach, the prodigal son...


----------



## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

@ Ravellian, Thanks for that 411.


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Ravellian said:


> That would be Wilhelm Friedmann Bach, the prodigal son...


He definitely looks quite a bit more relaxed than his dad...


----------



## Lenfer (Aug 15, 2011)

I can understand that *Sid*. I'm actually very photosensitive so without my sunglasses it was hard for me your new avatar but today with them on well it looks like a *Sulphur-crested Cockatoo*. Which makes a lot more sense to me than what I thought it was some abstract painting or a Pink Floyd album cover gone wrong. I actually quite like that now that I can see what it is.

I do still appreciate your post as do a lot of people it seems so my plan half worked if it all. Off topic but I had a *Cockatiel * like the one below when I was younger.


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Lenfer said:


> ...I do still appreciate your post as do a lot of people it seems so my plan half worked if it all...


By coincidence, I think the compliments on this thread made me stay on TC, as I was thinking of leaving due to some things going on lately. Anyway, I think it's all good now.



> ...Off topic but I had a *Cockatiel * like the one below when I was younger. ...


I never owned any bird as a pet but I just like seeing them around, eg. in the back yard or in the parks. There's many native birds here, but they're getting some competition for food etc., from imported ones, eg. pests like the horrible Indian Myna have been in plague proportions here, but there have been some efforts to control/cull their numbers...


----------



## Lenfer (Aug 15, 2011)

It's almost 6:30 in the am so I'll have to be quick. I'm sorry to hear that things have been that way for you *Sid* and I'm glad you may stay. I would have been quite sad to see you go I know I haven't gotten into any in depth talks on the music section of the thread but I come here to read posts by you and many other people I would truely miss you all if anyone of you left.

The cockatiel I had was rescued from horrible conditions. I was a very sick child so was not always able to go out and the bird cage in my room was a welcome sight indeed. Once he died I'm sure he was only 7 which is rather young due to an infection he had picked up before I got him, I cooul not get another one seeing him caged like that was still upsetting even though I cared for him deeply. I do not eveny you *Sid * *Australia *is far to hot for me and then the sipiders...

But I do think I wouldn't mind turning the music off now and then to set outside on one or two of those fly about my back garden.


----------



## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Man, can't be away for four days without people getting sick, people leaving, people coming back....

Dramatic place this TC!

But, it's at least better since "Sid" decided to stay. Thanks, Lenfer.


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Lenfer said:


> ...I'm sorry to hear that things have been that way for you *Sid* and I'm glad you may stay. I would have been quite sad to see you go I know I haven't gotten into any in depth talks on the music section of the thread but I come here to read posts by you and many other people I would truely miss you all if anyone of you left...


Well, I didn't kind of announce that I'd leave to draw attention to myself, I was honestly feeling like doing that at the time. I was very emotional & bitter, reacting badly to the opinion of one member here - basically since I don't worship J.S. Bach or like opera much, esp. the long & "grand" or very "serious" variety, my opinion on certain things is questionable & of little or no value. It's just throwing things back in my face, using them as battering rams against me. Anyway, I won't go on, as then this very positive "feelgood" thread would be likely to be locked down...


----------



## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

clavichorder said:


> Looks like I'll be on the same boat as you with people being dissapointed with my new avatar. But unlike you, there will not be a whole thread devoted to me in part due to your long legacy as andre the hoodie cat(I only caught the end of his presence). It won't take long to undo the two cats but we are being reminded of the hoody cat still.


Dude, the hoody cat was like a TC convention. It was mandatory in the classical music discussion subforum to see the cat in every thread. It's not like I even know Mr. Sid or am addicted to this site, but the hoody cat was just an essential part of the vibe here. However, I'm back and there are new members, so this is a new vibe.


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Lukecash12 said:


> Dude, the hoody cat was like a TC *convention*...but the hoody cat was just an essential part of *the vibe* here. However, I'm back and there are new members, so this is a *new vibe*...


Love your use of the word "vibe," it's a word I often use myself. I love that word, it means so much to me! :lol: But NOT "convention." I don't want to be setting up conventions, I want to be breaking them! But I suppose after a while, everything becomes cliche, no matter how good it was in the first place...


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

For various reasons, I'll not be posting here on the main boards for the next couple or few months. I will however maintain my weekly listening blog here on TC, if you're interested please visit HERE.

I won't go on my usual rant, I've been doing quite a bit of that lately, embittered by some recent exchanges here. I was talking about this to a friend a few weeks back, and she said "it sounds like these people are making up their own canons and forcing them onto others." I refer to my own recent situation which I won't go into, and also the young British lad Argus, who had his own challenges and now seems to be gone. Some people have understood my musings about this, in particular THIS thread I made.

It's gotten so bad to the point where I don't do my concert reviews, for fear of being attacked for listening to "atonal junk" or somesuch. As a result, I've just been sending some of these reviews by PM to members here who I know are interested and won't attack me for listening to music that's newer than and not as monumental as the pyramids of Egypt. Funnily enough, recently I've turned towards more traditional and so-called "conservative" composers of the 20th century, eg. Rodrigo and others who I'd previously dismissed. I had to clean up my own act regarding rubbish ideologies, seems that some others won't admit the limitations of their own "world view" whatever it is. It's easier to build your own canon and ram it down another person's throat, esp. if the conversation is about new or newer music. We all listen to music, some of it different, some of it the same, but my "issue" is not with what people listen to but with certain attitudes, which are as ancient and distant to the present reality as the pyramids of Egypt.

Okay well I'll still be around & will return to posting in due course. It's well worth visiting here, this is like a world community hub for classical lovers. I esp. like when people post news related to classical that I often don't hear of anywhere else, eg. the recent death of Maestro Kurt Sanderling.

Cheers for now...


----------



## graaf (Dec 12, 2009)

I respect your decision. Negativity on forum or not, the fact is that many of us spend too much time here anyway - this is one of my favourite ways of procrastination.

Anyway, take care and have a good offline time.


----------



## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

I'm sorry to hear that. I'll do my very best to tempt you back!


----------



## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

We'll miss you greatly Sid. Hopefully, you can do what many of us are in dire need of - getting out in the fresh air and experiencing life and music as it is really meant to be. Enjoy the sabbatical!

Anyhow, when you return, I expect it to be in the guise of the hooded cat.


----------



## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

It's alright, folks. The last time member SJames wrote a farewell note, he decided to return the following day (this happened a few weeks ago). So with any luck, he might be back sooner than you might think.

Spring is in the air. Hyde Park in Sydney is holding food festivals.


----------



## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Okay, Sid, it's time for me to pull out the big guns.....If you don't come right back immediately, I'm going to keep doing "Five Degrees of Separation" posts EVERY...SINGLE...DAY!!!

(that should get him  )


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I think I jumped the gun. I was being emotional and impulsive (not surprising). *I think I will mainly stick to posting in non-controversial threads, eg. "current listening," "latest purchases," & maybe some composer-specific threads.* As well as my own weekly blog here on TC, which I mentioned. I'm more bound to stick to the music in these types of threads, or the history, etc. not my obsession, the ideology, politics, etc.

I have done things here that aren't necessarily "smart" or relevant to matters at hand, eg. carrying on conversations from real life to this forum, comparing real life with this forum, etc. It doesn't always wash but I think I'm the same in real life as here with regards to music, my aim is to focus on the music not on comparing things & throwing things in people's faces which ultimately lead nowhere, a lose-lose situation.

Thanks for all your comments, compliments, etc. Ok I'll shut up now & try to be "useful"...


----------



## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> It's alright, folks. The last time member SJames wrote a farewell note, he decided to return the following day (this happened a few weeks ago). So with any luck, he might be back sooner than you might think.
> 
> Spring is in the air. Hyde Park in Sydney is holding food festivals.


You see, folks?! I was right in my prediction. Predictably, member SJames is back, within a few hours this time of his farewell note. Welcome back, Sid James!


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

*Announcement re my ranting...*

Since this is "my" thread, set up kindly by another member, I will announce things here.

I am now aiming as I said above to cut the ranting, which is not positive. I will aim to stick to just the music not the "extras" which I seem to go on about. I'm not the only one but I am getting a bit repetitive, I know, about certain things, etc.

& my avatar, I changed it again, I am now a saltwater crocodile, our fiercest predator here, apart from things like sharks...Now there's an idea, should I "be" a shark?...


----------



## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Sid James said:


> Since this is "my" thread, set up kindly by another member, I will announce things here.
> 
> I am now aiming as I said above to cut the ranting, which is not positive. I will aim to stick to just the music not the "extras" which I seem to go on about. I'm not the only one but I am getting a bit repetitive, I know, about certain things, etc.
> 
> & my avatar, I changed it again, I am now a saltwater crocodile, our fiercest predator here, apart from things like sharks...Now there's an idea, should I "be" a shark?...


I happen to like the croc quite a bit. Maybe it's cause I like gators a lot. I've tried changing mine a couple of times but the guy you see looking right at me keeps changing it back!


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

^^Yeah, I think crocs are okay, they are often given a bad wrap, but our fear of them is natural in a way. They are a vital part of our ecosystem here, in the north of the country. Since the 1970's protection laws prohibiting killing them randomly have come in, they were on the brink of extinction then, but now there are too many of them, we have the opposite problem. Their meat and skin is harvested in commercial crocodile farms.

But basically I don't mind them as long as I don't actually meet one, unless he's behind bars in a zoo!...


----------



## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

kv466 said:


> I happen to like the croc quite a bit. Maybe it's cause I like gators a lot. I've tried changing mine a couple of times but the guy you see looking right at me keeps changing it back!


Did you read about the giant that was caught not long ago? Scary! I started a thread about it.

http://www.talkclassical.com/14815-6-4-metre-1-a.html


----------



## NightHawk (Nov 3, 2011)

You know you've arrived when the site cares about you AND your avatar!  Personally, I like the old crocodile as I can identify

Joke from recent New Yorker: Two alligators are 'sitting' together on a NYC subway car with people, one has his hind legs crossed - they are both looking at a lady sitting across from them. One Alligator says to the other, "Her shoes remind me of Joey". haha.



Sid James said:


> Thanks guys for all the compliments.
> 
> As to changing my username and avatar, I just wanted a change as I'd had the old ones for like 2 years. I always liked British cinema, so the actor Sid James was as good as any. Another thing is that the name Sidney is similar to the city of Sydney here in Australia.
> 
> ...


----------



## TrazomGangflow (Sep 9, 2011)

I don't even remember what it looked like but I remember it being more original. I don't mean to offend I just liked the old one better.


----------

