Bobby sounds like he's either related to a preacher or a groundhog...lol.

I really DO have a friend like this.. and he IS a friend, but BOY, he can drift a topic more than anyone here on the Hangout.!!!..Seems to be a 'life skill'...

The tunes existed in our history and reflect the times in which they were developed and played. It is our history. Get over it. You can only change where you take them from here. You can't fix stupid no matter how well intended.

Oh yeah, had a good friend very much like that. Besides what you describe about answering a simple question the long way, he'd often keep talking to a stranger until he'd made some personal connection with whoever he was talking to, too, like having lived next door to their neighbor's sister's cousin in a far away state or something equally unlikely, though I never had reason to doubt what he came up with. But a simple concise conversation he could not have.

.... and he goes on to say, " Forget Tom Brown.. once I had to take a couple of youngsters hiking in the great northwest..I was just 20.. had a great birthday party just before we left. When we to the end of the logging road I walked maybe 100 yards off trail and found an artesian spring...I know you are into Bigfoot, so this spot was suspect.. the water was flowing in all four directions and since I'd only got to walk a ways down one creek I got confused and got right back....The mountains reminded me of the Polish skiing instructor whose father had come from Poland right after the war.:"     

. ........Bobby really is a smart and likable guy.. Really..  He even wrote a book about a deep cave rescue he did once in which they had to bring up the body of a friend of his .. Took 3 days and ten rescuers...  but I digress.. In  Bobby's case I think that he has sooo many things he wants to talk about that his mind just gets tangled up.. sort of like 'yours truly'..!!  When I  escaped from Bobby another friend came over to me and asked "How did you get away?"...I answered that I know Bobby, love him, and understand that he is not offended if  I leave..I just said to Bobby, "Look I have some stuff to do on my IPhone.. Lets talk more later..'' and I just get up and leave..even if he is still talking.... His mind will just go onto something else.. 

I just lost a big long post I was about to send, illustrating how a friend of mine ASKS a question: he would start with where Tom Brown's parents live and work his way through all the history and geography until he finally gets to, "So I was wondering: do you play Soldier's Joy?"

For the Lenten Season, wife and I are reading a chapter of the Book of Proverbs along with our daily devotional. Here's what King Solomon canonized the other day:

Chapter 17:28 (NIV): Even a fool is thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.

This parallels many other folk sayings, along the line of "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt."

I find more folks like this. I recon it's from isolation. In fact I catch myself sometimes. Now, I wonder why we all suffer from isolation? Hmm?

"The Story of the Old Ram", by Mark Twain.

There was a time in my life when I felt socially invisible..and even wrote a fiddle tune called The Invisible Man..Given a chance to talk to Anyone, I'd burn them up with the thing that were on my mind. Maybe that is why I like Bobby!! I still have that capability...as some of you may know..

I've got a yakkiddy condition, myself...you can meet me and in five minutes you will know all my darkest secrets and the entire history of my life. I think it's a groundhog thing. Everything reminds me of something else...which keeps my brain ticking way too hard, but once a unique and interesting old philosophy prof at the college where I went said when he saw a person connect one thing with various other things he figured they'd make pretty good philosophy students...true or not, I can't claim to know...but some people are just born yakky, for whatever reason. I've always been embarrassed about it...lol...I go back home and wonder about all the 50 people I met in one hour who now knew every single thought or thing about my life...thinking...now, that's sorta dangerous, ain't it? Lol. Maybe there should be some anti-yak pill out there somewhere for those of us afflicted...lol.

Well I came back reconsidering and wanting to delete that post...lol...too late. But I'm thinkin' that's a pretty good sign...maybe I'm crawling out of the yakkiddy groundhog hole, gradually.

quote:

---

Originally posted by TuneWeaver

Hey, Bobby. Do you play the tune, Soldier's Joy?......."Sure.. I've been playing it a long time. You do know that it is all about drugs, don't you? The Civil War was a lot about thing others don't know about. Like drugs.. The slave issue goes back to Africa.. and the ships transporting slaves dumped a lot of the overboard.. So, the cotton was labor intensive till the cotton gin was invented..and then the slaves had more time to raise chickens and send them to New York after the War.. and New York is really great.. I've been there a time or two.. the mountains outside the city are great and not too far from the Pine Barrens where Tom Brown developed his survival techniques.. I think his parents lived nearby"...........Ok Bobby.. Do you play the tune, Soldier's Joy?...
I Love Bobby, but I have to practice my 'escape' techniques when talking to him.. He is as smart as a whip, but he'll wear you out..!!

---

Well, all I can say is - Listening is one thing, BELIEVING something else. Some folks like to hear themselves talk, can even make it up as they go and never miss a beat.

Hey! Do we have a picture of this guy?

Play Happy

Swing

I’ve experienced the same thing, but I am very hesitant to go into it because I do appreciate the sincerity and friendliness of the individual, someone who has been very cordial to me whenever we’ve met and has a genuine love of the music, two attributes I respect.

The most effective strategy I’ve found for this is to emphasize wanting to get started on a tune or to start tuning the fiddle to indicate you want to start playing. Sometimes just saying “let’s get back into the jam” in the friendliest way you can is a good solution.

There are different reasons for being extra talkative. It can be excitement, nervousness, or loneliness, for a few examples. In my experience it’s almost never meant to be harmful, and I try to appreciate the enthusiasm and carefully direct it into the playing.

well, actually Bobby, Soldier's Joy is much older than the U. S. Civil War. It goes way back to the 18th century at least...



Oh wait.  You weren't talking about me were you?   

We've got both extremes in our group...person #1 shares a lot about life, goes on about key signatures and points out inconsistences in sheet music, etc. And person #2 who never speaks a word. I really like 'em both! :-)

The way our leader handles it is by simply cutting off person #1 with the first notes of the tune - LOL. Nobody ever minds, including person #1, who just starts playing with the rest of us. With person #2, she asks gently, "What would you like to play this week?" Gotta hand it to jam leaders...grateful for them!

During the pandemic I became like THAT GUY by the way. Desperate to talk to anybody about anything! I am slightly more normal now...maybe a little... :-)

Yeah, folks like this don't have conversations but deliver speeches. They spew their factoids at such a pace and volume that there's no time to ask them to back them up, or accept another point of view. They may have been smart once, but have stopped learning anything new a long time back. I've met (usually a) him, but run fiddle tunes in my head while he talks.

quote:

---

Originally posted by ChickenMan

well, actually Bobby, Soldier's Joy is much older than the U. S. Civil War. It goes way back to the 18th century at least...



Oh wait.  You weren't talking about me were you?   

---

  Sorry, Billy.. Not you..!  Nor, is it anybody here on the Hangout...Want to point out that my goal is NOT to put his person down in any manner..  He is a Good friend.....I'm just commenting on  a  social correspondence issue that many people have or may have had at one time... I remember once when I was working with a chiropractor he commented, about Me, that  "Clients don't talk to Lee...Lee talks to them."....!!

quote:

---

Originally posted by groundhogpeggy

I've got a yakkiddy condition, myself...you can meet me and in five minutes you will know all my darkest secrets and the entire history of my life. I think it's a groundhog thing. Everything reminds me of something else...which keeps my brain ticking way too hard, but once a unique and interesting old philosophy prof at the college where I went said when he saw a person connect one thing with various other things he figured they'd make pretty good philosophy students...true or not, I can't claim to know...but some people are just born yakky, for whatever reason. I've always been embarrassed about it...lol...I go back home and wonder about all the 50 people I met in one hour who now knew every single thought or thing about my life...thinking...now, that's sorta dangerous, ain't it? Lol. Maybe there should be some anti-yak pill out there somewhere for those of us afflicted...lol.

---

I met a lady like this in the grocery store the other day. It was actually helpful...I learned about organic food, and she decided to try my favorite brand of mushroom ravioli...

And yea I have one of those jumpy brains too! I think it's a "creative person" type thing? I can't help it. I will make a random/humorous connection and say it, and find everybody looking back at me blankly. LOL. Then somebody says something which more logically follows what they were actually discussing...) I think that's one of the things that drew me to my husband! He was one of the few dates that could follow my "mind jumps" and would actually laugh...he doesn't mind circling random conversations...)

It sounds like "talk at you" would be the operative phrase ... !

Interesting, NC. My mom was the same way...just really funny but you had to be thinking pretty hard to catch her humor. I find my grandson a similar type person...his humor is absolutely bizarre and I often spend half my time with him just cracking up...lol.  Sometimes on the surface it seems he's gone way off topic, but it comes around to have more meaning once he gets his humorous point across.

Eg: Good bowing is like when your saw is throwing out chips with ease, with minimal vibrations, at an easy rpm.

I thought about good bowing the whole time we were installing wood planks for flooring one year...lol.

I also think about bowing while brushing my teeth...great practice.

Peggy - You don't even have to meet you. Just being on this forum you will hear "all your dark secrets and the entire history of your life!"
There used to be a woman who played in a band around here who was very energetic and "yakiddy." One time I heard her say that her Mother had once told her "Just because you think something doesn't mean you have to say it." I liked her a little better after that!