^cosign...well articulated..

pine combs for everybody!

Y'know, it's funny...
I visited HQ daily, and have no idea what this big event from last year that has everybody arguing is.
Somehow, I either avoided it or found it insignificant and forgot it.
Whatever the discord is/was, I know it seems important to those discussing it, but I enjoyed the hell out of HQ every day without even knowing about it.
I'm sorry the drama overwhelmed the fun for some, but I still miss the place.

Now HQ's closed I can be a little more less subtle.

Do you think that this "false" HQ story, the pronounced limp that Prince has, and the fact he's using a cane are in any way connected ?

Don't believe everything you read in the media - it can be used both ways.

That's all I'm going to say on the subject but a lot of people were used during that period.

Were HQ mods a little over-defensive during that period? Probably.
Were some people duplicitous during that period ? Probably.
Was HQ a FREE resource that was only there to help the fans? Definitely.

djThunderfunk said:

Absolutely! It was a great place! A lot of fun to be had, a lot of nice peeps, not to mention there reference work...

HQ was my breakfast read, a bit of a coffeebreak, some lunch entertainment and a nice bit of webspace with tons of great info, to be found nowhere else in such a structured way, with an army of enthousiasts to provide all the info you looked for. I'll miss it ....

So a big, HUGE, thank you from my part to Aaron, and all the mods and experts who made the site such a wonderfull place.

I started out on the org, ended in Hq, and now back again I guess...

The HQuaker formerly known as krokostimpy

Is anyone else still visiting HQ a couple of times a day, just by old habit?

^ HQ is my home page....

cosmoplastic said:

Me too.

djThunderfunk said:

ya good point

The Sins of Princes...
by Tony Shawcross, February 5, 2009

I've been following the story of Prince's copyright battles for over a year, and found the latest development noteworthy enough to call attention to. My interest began with Prince and Universal targeting YouTube, fan sites, and housewives for a number of debatable copyright infringements in 2007. It got some good media attention at first, with ABC News doing a great piece in Oct. 2007.

But although the attention on the subject has waned in the media, Prince and UMG have kept up their plight, and the latest fallout is the death of one of the oldest and most popular fan sites around, housequake.com One of the few to take notice was Ben Margolin, founder of Prince.org. On more than one level, his blog entry from last week provides a poignant understanding of why the copyright claims of Prince and UMG are baseless.

Margolin writes that fan sites like housequake and prince.org have "nothing directly to do with Prince, but everything to do with the extremely diverse community that has grown out of past and present (and if he's lucky, future) Prince fans."

Like the music Prince and UMG put into the ethos, all information (whether music, photos, or words) takes on a life of its own. As humans, our connection to and understanding of reality is shared through information. Human development requires building on information from others, and that information is always flavored by the individual sharing it and the medium through which its shared. Almost none of it is new. Its just "flavored" by us, re-arranged, and re-released into the ethos so that others may build upon it. Once that re-release happens, the information takes-on a life of its own, designed to be perceived by others and, possibly, contribute to the progress of human understanding.

Meanings are re-arranged in our heads and perceived through the filter of the rest of our life experiences. Lyrics are misunderstood, unintended epiphanies are reached, and so on. Whether its a troubled teenager deciding the lyrics are encouraging suicide, or a housewife inspired towards a new career-path, the information (or song) released is no longer an isolated work.

In this sense, even the very process of being exposed to a work, re-arranges and alters that original work. The information is perceived and processed by the viewer/listener/consumer in a way that is profoundly different from that of the creator. The original intention of the creator of any work is thus separate from the work itself, a fact that applies to Prince's music as well as Margolin's website.

Margolin states, "I am still close friends with many people I met through a shared interest in Prince. I wouldn't say I'm still a friend, or fan, or fam, or whatever the hell the currently-authorized term is, of Prince. And that's okay." Ben Margolin is utterly devoted to Prince.org, but he's NOT EVEN A FAN of Prince anymore. He's a fan of a community that grew out of a shared interest in Prince, and Prince has no more right to shut that down than he has a right to call for a world-wide ban on the use of the color purple.

Prince re-arranged musical notes and words and concepts with a "flavor" that was so appreciated, it became his livelihood and earned him millions. For others to replicate and profit off of Prince's flavor is one thing, and so perhaps his lawsuit against Pirate Bay is justified. But for Prince to try to criminalize people like Stephanie Lenz for expressing themselves in a way that draws from their life experience (which includes the flavored information he contributed) is a crime against human development.

Like Prince's songs, these fan sites and YouTube videos have become something entirely separate from what the author originally created; and now, even though Ben Margolin is confident that his own flavored information, Prince.org, benefits Prince significantly, today he maintains the site in-spite of that fact, not because of it. As he tells his readers, "We're here for you, the now or once-, or future-Prince fan. Even if it does benefit Prince's crazy ass in the process."

For more recent developments in this arena, check out the work of our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

"... the sins of princes, it is the princes who have also suffered the penalty." -- Nicolo Machiavelli

http://www.pbs.org/ideala...es036.html

^Perfectly conceptualized...thanks incredibleD

That says it all doesn't it? All respect to Ben and Aaron and anyone who endeavors to host a "Prince" site.

I've lost all faith that Prince will ever understand that these sites are here to enrich our knowledge about him as an artist. Yes, there are some threads that delve into his personal life, but by and large they celebrate his accomplishments as a musical inspiration to many. HQ imho was THE testament to him in this regard.

incredibleD said:

What!?

Oh yeah! PFU!

Man that song was funKAY!

incredibleD said:

Thanks incredibleD!!!

BTW I think this article deserves its own thread in Music and More.

great article - it says it all !

Trisha aka abc (hq)

dothejump said:

That's where I wanted to post it first. Just because the article is so great.
But then I was unsure as it fits thematically into this thread... But it would deserve it.

Thanks for that indeed !
Great read

lol well let me say something prince does whatever the hell he wants
and im trying to read the rant of this article to make sense of it

Susann209 said:

I don't think Prince wants us to have faith in him ...but in god...and in some ways the more to listern to his work(music) the better understanding you get of him...the threads are made up guess of what we think he means...but we don't really know what's going on in his head ..hes human...he likes making music but there must come a point when he's like.....sh*t damn...enuff already...

Wall said:

How is that different from anyone with a 30 year career? Most artists with his longetivity are not doing hits and are make money from tours playing past hits records, and are the youth knowledgeable about most artists from back in the day. You're making it seem as Prince is unique in that situation.
[Edited 2/7/09 8:18am]

incredibleD said:

Wow, thanks for the article.

incredibleD said:

Well, okay article, still doesn't mean the org is untouchable though.

wonder505 said:

yep he still puts out music lol. isnt he going to release 3 albums this year i heard somewhere?
[Edited 2/8/09 2:21am]

I wish my name would not be brought up in any of this. Since it has....

Straight up, if HQ really does not come back, and it looks like it will not unfortunately, you guys who say you don't miss it, actually will. It provides/provided a pleathura of information. It was the ying n yang of everything.

Aside from some stupid ass drama in March/April 2008 that I had with them, I have had nothing but respect n Love for them. Seriously. You guys do not understand how much hard work and time goes into things like that.

Plain and simple, I don't mind people talking trash about me (been happening since I was popped out the hole in all honesty) what I do mind is lies and there has been too many of those. I tried to deal with one person directly and that got no where. So instead, I have been silent. Why? Because I feel in my heart, I did nothing wrong. When you feel you have truth on your side, you can say nothing.

Regardless, I considered a lot of these people who kind of went after me my friends before all of this. Whenever I would go to something and know that mods would be there, I would always come with a gift, wether it was an org mod or an HQ mod. I felt a kinship with them. Honestly. When I hugged Dansa/seventynine on 7-7-7, it meant something to me. Same as when I met Anxiety and CarrieMPLS, it was all something we had in common. A bond. I wish I could have met more but didn't.

Judgment was passed on me without anything being said. Perhaps if it was true, I would have something to be ashamed of. But it is not, so I don't.

I love the org too but I had a run in a long time ago n that was squashed. I miss HQ and the way you could see to the left of you what new topics were going on. I miss the layout. I miss HQ. Period.

jseven said:

Both websites were at the time registered at your name and address. And at that time it hurted HQ's credibility that you were backing up your own story. That may not seem wrong in your opinion but to me it is.

You have nice info about Prince sigthings etc. I won't deny that. And you are also close to the fire. But for me it had to do with the credibility of HQ. When you posted about the sightings under your own name I enjoyed it but after that row I always had a bitter taste in my mouth when you used the alias to post stories.

BTW People are talking trash about me too after the incident so we can shake hands about that
[Edited 2/8/09 5:02am]

double post. sorry. i'm still mixing up buttons.
[Edited 2/8/09 5:01am]

DrFunkenberry said:

Was that the whole 'Hip story?' I remember that. Prince has an operation on his leg but because HQ got it slightly wrong and said Hip they got a load of flack for it.

You're right though, A hell of a lot of work went into that site. It's a shame it's gone but having seen a few ex members now bitching about the place, I think Aaron made the right decision.
[Edited 2/8/09 5:03am]

jseven said:

Self-pitying aside, are you Dr Funkenberry then or not ?

The only "drama" I saw was you trying to pretend that you weren't Dr Fb and that you clearly weren't being controlled by Kathy Adams ?

freakyfeet said:

Are you one of the mods on HQ? Are you in or involved in Prince's camp? Does it REALLY matter if he is Dr FB or not? Please, it's not like jseven was involved in destroying HQ. That shit died on it's own. I don't give a care if j7 is Dr FB but if he is, then cool. HQ did themselves a diservice by making a thread about something that wasn't going to happen. That's why things went the way they did. That was a very dark period on HQ and maybe it never fully recovered from that. It's sad all the way around for all Prince fans.

"HQ's Dark Period"

How fucking drama queen was that ?

.
[Edited 2/8/09 9:30am]