hey, i like and respect stuart even if he can't manage to crank out a sentence without multiple spelling errors so respecting someone who has a different take on a given piece of music or art barely rates a second thought. though we like similar types of films, i find my impressions diverge greatly from those of derek and brian on any number of films. for example, where brian will enthuse over any mediocre piece of crap released by an independent film company and derek will instinctively loathe any film i give an advance rave, i actually think about what i've seen and....okay, okay, kidding...

disagreement is far more interesting than agreement. as any book club member will attest, when there's a wide consensus on a given month's selection, the ensuing conversation is usually pretty dull and short-lived. when there is a lack of consensus, the ensuing conversation is still short-lived but is at least much livelier. if i haven't liked the book, i find i usually come to appreciate it a little better after hearing a spirited defense. i may not agree but at least i understand where that person is coming from.

we're coming up on the end of the year and i'm sure that we'll each want to share lists of our favourite discs or to posit the best releases of 2004. may i suggest that we take turns presenting and defending our top 5 or 10 discs, songs, etc. for the year. there are 5 of us presently contributing to the blog and coincidentally 5 weeks (after this one) until the end of the year so could spend a week on each person's list.

what say you?