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Mike punches the keys, the well-known tempered tones sound forth.

Jeff,



You make it sound easy, but I’m not just dangling a bare line in the water.

My comments on Chinese advertising and market realities while blunt are factual. The irrelevance of sound in the marketplace vs. brand authenticity might have something to do with the thousands of pianos sold simply because they are loud, shiny, and their name rings a bell. And while the term plywood is arguable, it gets the point across and is less deceptive than grade “A” spruce or meniscus coating.

As far as the SMP being somewhat arbitrary, I was quoting Larry Fine.

You are a good writer, Jeff, but after finishing with me, devoting the other half your post to a piano brand homage doesn’t really help your objectivity.

And then there’s you and Karl commiserating over my wickedness, speculating on my roguishness, and congratulating each other on your restraint. Smite the wicked? Are you guys serious? Wait, don't answer that.

Anyway, if there is a method to my madness it is stick with facts and ignore the trash talk:

“ shows your total ignorance of the reality, personally attacking a particular pair of brands, blathering on about a piano of which you have no knowledge, mental, rogue, I think you smoked one too many, lobbing feces, don't have a clue about what you are talking about, cheap rethorics about China are worth less then a dime, a ridiculous statement, you are obviously paranoid, moron, was a member of his family injured by a Chinese person or persons, is there a rational explanation for this venom, buffoon, the contributions of MC are hysterical and mental, appallingly bad manners, Mike Carr . . . he doing a pretty miserable job, plan nine from outer space, juvenile, Be a man or listen to your landlord Jeb play it,” etc.

I’m not sure whose feelings you say are being hurt, who is showing restraint, or who is trolling, and while it's all pretty heroic stuff, all I see is that everyone seems to be having a good time.

Anyway, if casual observers were to read this thread they'd marvel at a tiny mob of piano cultists and didacts ineffectively chasing me around, that doozy of a beginning with Mr. Second to Nobody describing the inner workings of a piano store he’s never been in, but the final and most intriguing question, the one that would leave most folks scratching their heads?

Who in the **** is Jeb?

Mike

You do not need a contractual or signed agreement to prove collusion or conspiracy regarding antitrust law. The concept of agreement in antitrust doctrine is far removed from the law of contracts and can be proven with direct or circumstantial evidence. Waterboarding, hooking a field telephone to defendants’ appliances, or forced listening to Yma Sumac records are also options. In a practical sense, it’s important to avoid conduct which might be construed as an agreement. Anti-poaching by-laws or ethics codes endorsing customer ownership would likely fit that conduct.

And remember, this action is not aimed at music teachers, it is against the trade organization. Trade organizations, by their nature, an organization of competitors, are petri dishes for anti-competition investigators, the salmonella of anti-trust doctrine.

The only intent the plaintiff has to prove, in a per se anti-trust violation, is the intent to enter into the violation. State of mind or intent to harm are not required.

As a side issue the poster who mentioned frying small businesses now leads me to believe that the anti-poaching clause might have been used in a cooking or possibly hunting lexicon. How would you poach piano students? Straight up water or maybe a butter sauce? I never thought the meat would be that tough to begin with but as with all stringent meat, say tri-tip or brisket, I favor an overnight marinade in the fridge or possibly a shallow dish on the counter covered with cheesecloth.

As for hunting, I was not aware there was a season for piano students. How do you go about it? Sprinkle a little corn on your front lawn? Or do you need a poster of a Steinway in the window to lure them in. Maybe speakers playing Chopin hidden strategically in the bushes will work. But if they are in season, I’m all for hunting them. I heard there is a ready market for the piano students' teeth in China. Chinese piano makers claim that when hand-matched and fitted together the teeth make great piano keys, easily cleaned with pepsodent or dentu-crème.

I discussed this with my neighbor, Jeb Harlan (I often help him haul down the confederate battle flag he flies off his front porch so he can sleep in it), who’s 112 and of the mind that it’s all an Obama conspiracy to get rid of music, Christmas carols in particular, so he can replace them with Islamic chants. Jeb’s also against high fructose syrups and fluoride in the water system.

Mike

Mr. Carr,

I'm not sure what "setiments" are, but your reference is hubristically unaware.

.

You're a very sick man.