Okay, that last crack from Moulton was the last straw for me.

Observing the motto, «Garret First, Garrote Later», I am setting aside this space for Mister Mime Moulton to work on his comic opera or e-musing musical or whatever — and don't get me started on mimes …

Jonny

We've done something like this twice before.

I'd open with Pied Rants of Pissants.

Seriously, Moulton, read what you wrote:

"The best we can do at this time is to craft a narrative description of the dysfunction."

Do you really believe that? Is that what serious analysts, critics, and inquirers do? Is that all they do?

Sure, in the face of such tragic waste of human potential as we see in Wikipedia, we need to keep our sense of humor, but only to fight another day.

Do you really not see the Loss of Nerve that is implied by your constant refrain of statements like the above?

Jon Awbrey

A traveler arrives in town and the first thing he notices is a guy hitting a donkey on the head with a 2x4.

"Why are you hitting that donkey on its head?" asks the traveler.

"I want to get him to move to the other side of the road," responds the man.

"How will bashing the beast on the head accompish that?" inquires the traveler.

"Well, first I have to get his attention," explains the man.

News flash — your donkey is dead.

Jonny

That dumb donkey has a nasty habit of resurrecting itself as a zombie.

It's the Endless Night of the Undead.

The WR:PUNCTUS here being that even a strong believer in the power of drama — comic and tragic and every mix promiscued thereon — has to come out of the theatre eventually and apply the lessons of the play to real life in the light. Sure, sure, all the world's a stage, and every stage is set within another stage, ad infinauseum, but all and all we can't be clowns all the time.

Believe me, I tried …

Jonny

There is a season for comic opera. Laughter is good for the soul.

That's a nice cant for the choir.

But comic opera is not the be-all end-all of what we're trying to accomplish here.

Wikipedia is a threat to many of the things that most of us hold dear — academic freedom, democracy, education, inquiry, and free speech in general.

Mocking the absurdities of the Wikipediot Regime with a bit of e-street theatre improv — no one here is denying the utility of that.

But it does not go the distance when it comes to understanding the phenomenon before us, much less doing anything about its clear and present dangers. That will take more than the production of yet another opera buffa — it will take the generation and testing of conceptual models that can serve as guides to effective action.

Jon Awbrey

This may either astonish or disturb you, but I'm actually doing serious research on the role of carefully crafted drama as a serious educational vehicle.

I cant imagine why not. I'm sure we all have many parallel pots aboiling. But notice how that is a drama wrapped in a lesson inside a study and not a bubblegum wrapped in a comic inside a wack's paper.

I'm just saying that a thing like that might be nice for a change.

'Cause some of us donkeys have already crossed over the Puns Asisnorum …

Jon Awbrey