Specifically, when You Am I came through town back in March, I declared it "You Am I" day here on the blog, and I sent messages around to various musicians in town to get their comments on the band. You can trace those posts by looking at the ones that carry the You Am I label.
Well, now You Am I is back in town, this time opening up for Silverchair at the Showbox. And what has the Stranger done? They've posted a piece with quotes from musicians regarding their feelings about the band. Of course, they're a much bigger publication than my humble little blog. So, their names are bigger. But, you've got to admit that's quite fishy that they would take the same approach with the same band.
No respect. No
Blogger update at 12:35pm: Both Jonathan Zwickel and Dan Savage have written to me about this situation. I am thankful that they are both taking it seriously and checking with Barbara who wrote the story to see if it was really just coincidence or something else. I'm not super-pissed or anything. But, I do appreciate them not simply dismissing it.
Blogger update at 9:42pm: I've spoken with Barbara, the writer of the Stranger piece. She says, in fact, she had not seen my posts and that apparently "great minds think alike." Of course, I've said all along that such coincidence was possible (both here and in my conversations with the Stranger folks). So, onward we go.
2 comments:
This is my first visit to your humble little blog. Overall, pretty nice work. I do, however, have to take issue with this post. I have been a good friend of Barbara Mitchell's for a long time, and I honestly doubt that she even knows of your existence, let alone is familiar enough with your writing to rip off one of your ideas. Accusing another writer of plagiarism is serious business, and I’d like to think that you’d have something in the way of proof before you made such an accusation publicly. It’s irresponsible and amateurish. There are several times I’ve seen other bands play songs similar to ones I’ve written. For years I swore that Green Day ripped off one of my ideas. Of course, let’s be logical here. Why would they? And, even if they were the type to do such a thing, would they even know that I existed in order to rip me off? And, if the idea was merely to get other musicians’ quotes about a band you like, no offense to you OR Barbara, but what’s so freaking original about that anyway? You know, a few years ago, I wrote a review of a live show I saw. I think your entire blog is ripping me off…
By the way. There’s a typo in the last sentence of your post. You misspelled respect.
See my updated note in the post.
FYI: There was more bemusement than venom behind this post (I quoted Rodney Dangerfield for goodness sakes!). But, I can understand that you're defending a friend and her work.
So, anyway, to try to follow your analogy, Barbara can continue to be Green Day and I can continue to be you.
But, I've gotta work more on both my snark and my typing skills for that role, though. ;)
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