Doug Meis,
Even though you are not in regular attendance with the Thicko gang, you
nailed it pretty well. (My best to your Mom & Dad...they didn' t raise no
dummies...and they are Iowans, too)
VSCDA is well organized and well run. The best vintage club in my opinion.
But it is quite closed to the 'great unwashed'.
Once a friend and I thought we might attend the annual board meeting, in
Chicago, and we were told that the day would be long and boring and there not
likely room for us in the hotel meeting room....egads! I took stock of this
and decided that I was better off taking the best of the club and leave the
"benevolent dictators" do their work. No rancor here....just a fact. And it
really works best this way for me. I should have known.
Then there is the irreverent Thickos. Yes it is fun and it is where most of
us belong. It balances out the stodginess that might exist...it also has
drained some stodginess out of some folks. And it can be family, too. The
very young Gurolinik & Alexander (Sean & Julie) children were fun to watch on
the 'dance floor' tech station while a couple guitars played and a sax
wailed....(Blackhawk Classic)
enuff...sorry I will miss the Grattan Party. The Thickos are agents of
change...bravo!
Joe Alexander
<< **** I am informed that this may or may not have made it out to the Thicko
list on the first go-round. Apologies if you already got this message.
<<
In a message dated 8/16/00 8:06:39 AM, wsthompson@thicko.com writes:
<<Tell me if you think I'm being paranoid, or
crazier than usual...>>
Just because you're paranoid does not mean that they aren't really out
to
get you.
Since I have not been on hand for any of these grand events (a
geographical problem & one I deeply regret), I may not have much basis for
comment. But I am greatly cheered and encouraged that the true enthusiasts
of Team Thicko seem to understand what this vintage racing thing is all
about
- FUN. Vintage Racing is not about showing up, racing and going home - It's
about having fun with your friends in the process of driving neat old cars
as
fast as we can. So I have to offer my .02 about the Flounders Paranoia.
A by-product of organization is that it tends to stamp out spontaneous
fun. The larger the organization/government/sanctioning body, the larger
the
threat to fun. It sounds like your parties have gained such notoriety that
the folks in charge of the event can't really ignore them. They probably
have no hidden agendas (is that synonymous with "secret handshake homo club
deal"?), but I would be wary of any hint of becoming an "official
attraction"
of some kind.
Follow a couple of rules & you'll have no problems:
Rule #1: make your own rules.
- this is what got you where you are today. Making your own
rules about
how to have fun is half the fun. So keep the focus on how you
as
Thickos
want to do things and try to ignore what the grand poobahs do or
say about it.
Rule #2: There is no rule #2. If you follow rule #1, you'll ignore
everything else I have to say. If there were a rule #2, it
would
be to continue to be
inclusive - don't let paranoia keep anyone out. It appears to
me
that one of the great attributes of Team Thicko is that anyone is
welcome if they
are there to have fun and know how to say "F*** them if they
can't take
a joke."
Doug "The Slug" Meis
Driver of the Team Escargot Honda S800 & "Attorney at Speed"
P.S. The above is not legal advice and no attorney/client relationship
exiests between myself and Team Thicko, William S. Thompson AKA "Flounder"
or
the "Thicktones" in the event of charges against the aforementioned
(including, but not limited to: obscenity, pornography, crimes against
nature, solicitation, lewd & lascivious behaviour, drunk & disorderly
conduct, noise ordinance violations or anything else that might be
considered
"fun")>>
>>
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