All I can say is good riddance.

I noticed that myself and contacted him at his website. He responded by saying that we was not posting to BC at this time. No other explanation was offered so I was left with the opinion he will return again some day at a time convenient to him.

Politics aside, I believe that Chris was arguably the best writer at BC. Some of his satire was hilarious to say the least.

Some of his serious posts were pretty funny, too :-)

To each their on. He struck as another semiliterate, Right Wing loudmouth.

I find myself in awe of the Chris Arabia's, Sharks and more recently CW Fisher. I secretly wish I could write satire like they can (shhhh - don't tell them I said so or I will never live it down). I'm a straight up, damn the torpedoes type of writer. At least you know where I stand (well.. maybe most of the time). That tongue-in-cheek stuff sometimes gets in the way.

Confronting reality, Chris is one of the 2/3 of Blogcritics who are not actively participating at any given time: therefore, nonparticipation (at any given point in time) is the norm (participation defined as posting within the last month). Of course linking to Blogcritics stories and commenting are also perfectly valid methods of participating. Rock on.

I've been most guilty of that as of late. I kinda went through an internet slump where I would go online, get my mail, and that was it. I must make a stronger effort to stay in the loop here.

Hi Andy, I think it's a habit, like anything else: it's much easier to KEEP participating once you get in the habit than it is to get back in the habit. Of course a lot of people never get in the habit and a few never (or rarely) get out of the habit.

If everyone got in the habit at the same time it would herald the coming of the apocalypse.

That's funny. I was thinking that this morning's bowel movement heralded the coming of the apocalypse. It was something to behold.

I wasn't impressed by Chris Arabia's tendency to lapse into personal attacks. He made a lot of unfounded assumptions and he seemed to read his own pet peeves into other peoples' comments, to the point of making personal accusations completely out of context to the subject at hand. Then he turned around and feigned outrage at others for the tone of their comments.

Maybe I just didn't get the joke.

i liked his music writing (what little there was of it).

i did have a problem with his attack mode in the commentary. more than once i had to tell him to stop putting words in my mouth.

Eric, I think part of my problem is knowing what to write about. So much of my life is devoted to my band and the study of theology, but no one cares to read writings about a band they never heard and theological issues have seemed to be death warrents around these parts.

no one cares to read writings about a band they never heard

not true at all. blog entries about music making can be very entertaining (in more ways than one)

go ahead, try it. we won't laugh (ok maybe just a little... ;-) )

I agree with Mark: most music fans are voyeuristic at least to a certain extent and like to hear from people actually doing it.

yea, yea!...we like to watch.

seriously though...one of my favorite music movies is Bring On The Night...especially the parts where they're trying to put the music together. very cool stuff.

Dude, Andy, please do write about your experiences with your band. Casper wrote a fascinating piece the other day about the behind-the-scenes people most never even think about unless they happen to get in the way of their view. And I read The Daily Adventures of Mixerman for quite a while, fascinated by the goings on this unknown, dysfunctional band from the perspective of the guy mixing their music. (I'd love to know who this band was, but he won't say . . . ) I think your experiences would be just as interesting to read, Andy.

Thanks guys. I was quite afraid of using the site as some sort of sick promo for some crust band from Lancaster PA. I will surely start writing more then!

"crust band"?

Unless he's using it in a different context, "crust" is a subgenre of hardcore music. Kind of slow, although, and heavier than typical hardcore (by which i mean tradionional hardcore, not the Victory Records type stuff). Basically, it's the halfway point between hardcore and grindcore The most readily availble example of crust I can think of is Amebix, whose album Arize was released in America by Alternative Tenatcles. Other such bands would include Nausea, Axegrinder, Hellbastard, and Doom. Crust can also refer to a style of dress, which usually means lots of leather jackets, piercings, ripped clothing, and a complete lack of personal hygiene.

Thanks Chris, hmm.

Gee, I thought Eric was the best writer at BC - but he is in good company.

There are probably as many opinions as to the best writer as there are visitors to BC. But I think no one can or would argue that Eric isn't a terrific scribe.