Official Luthiers Forum!

Never met the guy, having joined after his departure, but I will say that was an extreme reaction to a simple request by Brock.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

"What we've got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. I don't like it any more than you men."

by the content of his writing he was probably/hopefully locked up in a psych ward shortly after the last post. i speculate that he sniffed one too many wafts of C37 laquer.

maybe the administrators "aided" in that "commitment". as for entertaining, if i want to hear hallucinating bible thumpers, i'll click over to Fox News.
i'm not claiming i myself am innocent of spouting off and being abrasive...but i have decided to tone it down and try to respect the guidelines of the forum to some extent. feel free to hold me to it.

Serge is my dear, dear friend!!!!

Serge left the OLF because being a man of great faith, integrity, and honor not to mention kindness too... Serge found himself in a precarious situation where his faith became so very strong he believed that he could no longer speak or write in a manner that did not include expressions of his great faith.

Since OLF rules expressly prohibit topics such as religion and politics and since Serge was always keen to never, never, never offend anyone he thought it best to leave the OLF.

It was a very sad day for me and many of us and my own posts are no longer in the linked thread because of a prior time when I got my own panties in a bunch and asked Lance to delete my original OLF account.... In hind sight, shame on me.

Anyway I wanted to fill in some of the blanks if anyone is interested in remembering when our pal Serge graced the OLF with his kindness, humor, wit, and a personality that seemed to be likable by nearly all, even folks who may not like each other much....

He always had something positive to say and most of all was as encouraging as can be to everyone here. Serge is one of these rare, genuine people who actually did get off on celebrating the accomplishments of everyone. In his day job as a maintenance guy at a retirement home he often had to deal with the folks he affectionately called "grannies" and when he did I am sure that their experiences with Serge were always positive in so much as Serge was just one of these infinitely positive individuals.

Back in the day Serge was very much the heart and soul of the OLF. He never fought with anyone, far from it.... and he was not keen to even bring up matters that would ultimately divide and cause disruption. He played by the rules until the day came that he could no longer and then in keeping with the great guy that he is he decided to leave the OLF and not pee in the collective canteen. What a concept......

When Serge was here threads might be discussing what we had for breakfast or something as unrelated to Lutherie as you can get but it was never boring, at least for me, and the level of participation because of Serge was perhaps the greatest ever on the OLF. I'm not speaking of metrics either, what I am speaking of is a time when many of us woke up in the morning only to jump on-line and read what Serge might have to say.

You see Serge knew that forum participation could be grown in a number of different manners. He believed that having the OLF be an inclusive, respectful, fun place to participate was way better than creating ginned-up controversies and intentionally being offensive, unkind to others, etc. in an effort to grow membership and what really matters, participation by all. Back then forum fighting was pretty rare....

In my collection of OLF moments... I have many, many pics of Serge and wanted to share some of them. Serge and I remained friends for years but I have not heard from him for about a year, perhaps two now. If you read this Serge please contact me and let me know how you are doing????

Here are some pics of our friend Serge but before I post the pics it's important to me to make it crystal clear that Serge did NOT leave the OLF because of the rules or Brock or this or that. Serge and his faith at some point became one and true as this was it became impossible for Serge to address us, participate here, with out expressing his devotion and great faith. It was a choice that Serge and Serge alone made and in my view a choice that shows great character and commitment to one's closely held values. Sad as I was to see him leave I also understood and in a way perhaps even envied Serge for the very good, decent, kind and caring man that he is. Serge is my friend!

Well, all of two pages before Religion proves again to be too much of a hot topic issue for this forum.

I was close to Serge. We hung out at each others shops. Serge was a recovering alcoholic, but I'm afraid his religion just became another crutch.

I bought off all of Serge's equipment and wood when he decided to pull the plug.

I think it came to a point where he realized that building guitars just wasn't for him. He was a great guy. Caring and loving to a fault. He was passionate and kind. But a competent wood worker, he was not.

I think that whole I'm leaving thread was just a catalyst to push away from guitar building. He moved from Gatineau to Orangeville (Ontario) to live in a kind of Religious commune. Shortly before leaving, he claimed that he had felt the presence of a demon/evil spirit in one of the appartment where he was a superintendant. Orangeville didn't work out though, and the last I had heard from him, he was back in the region.

So I think in the end, Serge was a man of extremes. There is no middle ground or balance in his beliefs, actions or thoughts. There was love and kindness in him, but there was also very deep sorrow and doubt. The perfect addict, really.

I lost contact with him, but wherever he is, I hope he is happy and has found peace.

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Nyazzip, if your goal is to be insulting and disrespectful to individuals who have a different perspective/worldview - then you are doing a fine job. However, you will find that those of us who strive to be tolerant and accepting of individuals from diverse backgrounds, religions, and perspectives (from atheists to scientologists) will quickly lose respect for you.

Refreshing.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"