Relic and Worldview's Review From The 'Runnin' Down A Dream' Premier

[Refugee]

From their perspective, the October 2, 2007 premier of "Runnin' Down A Dream"

http://tompetty.com/lastdj_newsdetail.php?section=announcements&id=9036

[Echosoftom]

Nice reviews Steve and Melanie! Thank you both for taking the time to write a review from a real live fans point of view. That must have been some exciting evening. I wish I could have gone but since I couldn't this was the next best thing, to read about it. Glad you guys enjoyed yourselves. Once again, thanks! :)

[Refugee]

Very nice! I'm glad that www.tompetty.com (http://www.tompetty.com) finally posted your reviews.

I have to admit, I was a little hesitant at first to read them, didn't want them to spoil the movie for me, but it didn't, it only makes me want to see the film more!

:045:

[Ladywiz]

Fascinating reviews! Thanks for sharing.

[WildflowerNJ]

Great reviews, Melanie and Steve....thank you so much for taking the time to put all of that down...I really felt I was there.....beautifully written....a magical night is was! Thank you....:sun_smiley:

[agirl]

Great reviews. I can't wait to see it.

[Marion]

Very nice reviews! Thanks for posting the link here, Ref!

[Relic]

Thank you everyone, and thank you Linda for linking the material here.

I feel the need to apologize for not posting the reviews here myself, and doing it sooner.

As you might imagine I was pretty blown away to be allowed this kind of access. That surely goes for Melanie too.

I had no 'formal' discussions about the 'rules' for how the write-ups should be handled after their completion, but I felt it appropriate to give Tom's folks the first shot and let them proceed accordingly. That is why I didn't post the material on the farm.

Hopefully everyone gets to see this movie on the big screen next week. It is amazing, and deserves a big screen to 'stretch out' and envelop the audience. If you see it you are going to love it.



Sadly there is another issue I want to touch on. Ill do it once and then thats it.


There has been some craziness on Tom's bbs lately. if you have read some of the threads over there you know what I mean. If you have not, you might be considered lucky. Franky the behavior of a few folks makes me sick.

I'm just not going to allow myself to get drawn into that truly disturbing bullshit.

I hope everyone knows how much we value our friendship with Melanie, and how strong the urges are to defend her from the vicious attacks. But in all honesty, trying to engage in reasonable discussions with some folks is a lot like trying to teach a pig to sing - It only results in frustration as well as annoying the pig.

So to steal a line from 'Forrest Gump'. "Thats all I have to say about that".


Peace,

Steve

[surfnburn]

There has been some craziness on Tom's bbs lately.

Lately? It's always been there...lol

Thanks Relic. I peeked at your photos. They look great! I'm going to read the reviews after I see the movie.

[KansasPettyFan]

LOL, Ames! I am going to wait too. I am looking forward to it!

Thanks Relic for your thoughts. Stay over here and enjoy the peace. I for one don't need my brain subjected to psychotic, unreasonable people. :)

[Flower]

I dont even go to Tom's boards, this is my home.
I posted once over there as Indiana's Silentpartner. I dont really care for all the BS. The farm is a nice place to raise a family LOL:006: :112:

[TheWildOne]

Well said, Relic. Loved yours and Melanie's reviews. Can't wait to see the movie.

[Marion]

That's too bad Relic. It sucks all of the joy out of the experience, doesn't it? That's why I left there years ago.

[emmie]

Well seeing as I'm a huge part of the "crazyness" over there. I'd just like to say a few things.

1. Mel wasn't approached by any of TPATH, the website, or management personally to write that account at the premier. She ASKED to do it. She personally ASKED to do it! Her credentials for doing so were nothing more than stating her "Tara" thread that she writes in at the officials, which truthfully is a glorified personal online diary about her long hikes in the "wilderness", her endless treks through caves in the "high desert", searching for peace in the form of heart shaped rocks, camping, using the old "Handicapped" card when it's convenient and substitute teaching. Mel is amongst being a martyr...a jack of all trades apparently and master of none and a conniving, "poor me, poor victimized me", individual!

2. Since she got the gig to go to the premiere and do a write up - something she desperately wanted....she did nothing after that but whine and winge about the "toll it's taken on her", how exhausted she's been having to write this up for the unappreciative fans on the board, how it's been gruelling having to write and re-write and wait for the Powers that Be to edit it blah blah blah. She asked for the gig, she was happy to go, she was ecstatic to hob nob pretending to be a bonafide writer, but after bitched till the cows came home about it.

3. I had the inexuseable audacity to speak up. As always when I do this, about maybe between a dozen/2 dozen people ripped me a new asshole as usual. Mel's response was to continue on about how certain people victimized her, how she hates Toronto and Canada, Torontonions in general blah blah blah. Now, only 4 people had the guts to say what they thought about Mel. And you know what? We weren't rude and mean. We told it as it was. Unfortunately, 3 of us are Canadian! So now we are accused of "joining forces against her". Um excuse me, how about the few dozen in the "Old Boys Club" over there who repeatedly quote my posts over and over, ridicule me just for stating the bleeding obvious and bond together - even to the point of emailing me about me to one another - but that's not victimization......that's just because I'm a truthful old bitch who sees through to the real deal.

4. Once again, I repeat as I have on the officials. I have NO beef at all with Melanie, Relic and Athena getting into the premiere even it was handled in a rather unscrupulous way. They are lucky enough to live in an area where this type of thing goes on, they have the time apparently and the cash to follow the band(s) here there and everywhere. It's great for them. And I do mean that. More power to them. I'd go to more stuff like that too did I not live in the vile remote outcast North which is Canada! However, what I do have issue with, is after all the conniving Melanie did for this gig then going, rubbing shoulders here and there, getting a free book, free pass, getting up close and personal, seeing the movie before anyone else etc etc, she managed to turn herself into the victim afterwards!

5. People can be clubby. There is definitely an "old boys network" over on the bbs and more than likely on here too although it's less visible. I'm not a joiner, I'm a free thinker and I tell it as I see it. I'm not allowed to do that apparently but yet, others feel very free to say very loudly their opinions of me. I find it hypocritcal and ironic. Am I a victim? No. And let me tell you why. I "bring" it on myself according to the club members by saying what I find to be true.

6. Only 4 people I believe have spoken up anywhere even close to what I've done, but let me tell you something, I've had PM's from people that back up my feelings. Alot of people agree with the masses because they don't want to be left out and ostracized. I don't really feel that need to be that intimate with people that for the most part I'll never meet in real life, and judging by their characters and persona's I wouldn't even want to.

I'm sorry for saying all this on here, but I think I've been polite. I kind of know that it will be deleted and that's ok. I just hope that at least a few people will read this before it's put in the "trash can".

I enjoy posting on here and hope it won't mean a banishment - I remember how that was the first time around for speaking my mind. It's unfortunate perhaps, but I just can't toady. I'm sorry if people find that a problem and it makes me look cynical and negative.

[Mudcrutch]

wow geez.. i guess i will pass on my next once a month visit there.. lol..

[KansasPettyFan]

Yes, you were polite with your post. However, this is the kind of 'drama' that people come to the Farm to escape. I appreciate your feelings, but please keep these two worlds separate for the rest of us.

[emmie]

:confused:Well if you all want to escape it, why do so many people still go on about the drama on the officials? Why mention anything at all then. I just totally don't get people:confused:

[AmyLou]

I'll chime in here on this and then leave it once and for all. I know Ryan (and the others involved in the day-to-day of this awesome place), have worked really hard to keep this a "safe" place - open to reasonable debate without the venom of the Officials - so I'll respect that and say this once in my ever so wishy-washy, never-want-to-offend-anyone way.

I've watched the whole thing over there surrounding the review etc. I've posted "cryptic" comments here and there which to those involved are obvious. At times the arguments on both sides get out-of-line and personal, which unfortunately is human nature. What is most disturbing though, the bane of the officials over the Farm, is that anyone who even breathes a mention of anything against the majority over there is violently and personally attacked. Use, for example, politics, it just does not work there. There is so little room for discussion. Emmie and I have discussed this. . . but I personally have held my tounge (fingers) and not posted in public in defense of the viewpoint held by Emmie and some others, as I am just unwilling to put myself in the line of fire. I've dabbled being in there before and, even though it is "just a board," the attacks really affect you. The idea that "everyone who hasn't spoken out against me is with me" is ludicrous... many just don't want to speak up either way. I applaud Emmie for putting herself out there and saying what she thinks about this situation - I have not and frankly, that makes me a real pussy.

I won't even post this over there because the mindset is you're either one kind of person or another. That is just so wrong... I may (for example) see eye-to-eye with Nel on the majority of things, but when it comes to politics we are on different planets (right Nel ;)) - know what? - that's ok, it's a civil discourse and grown-ups try to keep it fair and can agree to disagree. You need to be able to speak your mind without fear of attack. Heaven forbid someone actually reads your post and learns something from it. I know I have learned alot about human nature from the variety of people here who I might not otherwise run into in my daily life.

I read something yesterday that, if you would indulge me, really struck me as just so freakin; logical that I wanted to share it.

". . . Each of us places varying degrees of signifigance on what's really relevant and important, and we can almost always find fault with the way someone else is thinking or behaving. We can usually validate our own versions of reality by focusing on examples that, we believe, prove us to be right. In short, the way we see life will always sem justified, logical and correct -- to ourselves.
The problem is, everyone else has the same assumption.
Our spouses, children, (web-friends!) - and everyone else - are equally convinved that their versions of reality are the most accurate! It's absolutely predictable that the people in our lives will not understand why we don't see things the way they do and will think, if you did, all would be well.
Knowing this is true, why then do most of us continue to be frustrated and annoyed by the fact that we seem to disagree so often?
. . . we forget that in a psychological sense we all live in our own separate reality. The way we interpret life has been influenced by a variety of factors unique to our own lives. . . instead of becoming defensive when your interpretation of an event is different from someone else's, see if you can be grateful and delighted on the rare occasions when you do see things in the same way. . ."

yada yada yada - this is a great book! :)

Ok - I'll close. Not even sure what my point was anymore. . . just that I share many of Emmie's thoughts above, you would have to be living under a rock to have missed the whole martyr thing over the years, just as I see where WV may be hurt at some interpretations of this. What I'm really speaking out against is the mass polarization of everything over there. Us or Them, Good or Bad, Dem or Repub., the world is not so black and white, and this attitude really stops many of us from speaking our minds on one issue for fear of "chosing sides" and being labeled for all others.

Ok - enough - now on to read what I wrote!

Oh and BTW - I love you Farmers! :)

[surfnburn]

^So am I...lol <-- that makes me a real pussy.Oh god....I stopped going to that board for the reasons you quoted from that book. I live in an area where people have some really diverse opinions about things. Acceptance is a part of life where I live. It blows my mind that people believe there's only one way of thinking about something -- theirs. I gave up on that place. I think it's a waste of time to fight about a single view as the only valid one, especially online. I don't know if those arguments mean anything other than what you get out of it at the moment. If it's negative or pulling you down, walk away from the computer, I say. Some people will never change their views. Some people get off on arguing. Whatever.. I'm not wasting my time over there.

Emmie...I wish you lived L.A. (I think you're buying into an illusion created by the media....lol)

[Relic]

Guess I should have left well enough alone.

Sorry everyone.

(And I do mean everyone)

[Refugee]

Points all well taken. I think some of this needed to be said one way or the other, glad we are able to do that here without it getting ugly.

:)

Okay everyone! Breathe in....breathe out...breathe in....breathe out...

Now I'm dizzy, lol. :p

[Nel]

I just find it so unsettling that some fortunate fans are treated with kid gloves; while others are hit sharply with them....repeatedly. It's a damn shame.

[Marion]

I'm with Teresa on this one.

[Nel]

Points all well taken. I think some of this needed to be said one way or the other, glad we are able to do that here without it getting ugly.


I wish I could agree with you on that. However, I think a lot of cruel and uncalled for accusations were made against Melanie, Relic, and Athena.....well, primarily against Melanie. I won't get into a lengthy argument on the subject, like some have. But, I really have to wonder what the real reasons are behind this barrage of attacks on Melanie. I think it's bizarre and extreme.

[Mudcrutch]

I wish I could agree with you on that. However, I think a lot of cruel and uncalled for accusations were made against Melanie, Relic, and Athena.....well, primarily against Melanie. I won't get into a lengthy argument on the subject, like some have. But, I really have to wonder what the real reasons are behind this barrage of attacks on Melanie. I think it's bizarre and extreme.

i think ref was referring to it getting ugly HERE.

[Nel]

i think ref was referring to it getting ugly HERE.

Sorry if I misunderstood. I just felt some of the comments in this thread were indeed getting ugly. And, I hope no one thinks that I'm contributing to it, because that was not my intent. I just think what happened in recent days to Melanie was wrong. No worries, I'll say no more about it.

[Danny Mac]

Cool! So there is a big event tomorrow in all of Petty Land! Then Tues.
we can all get the DVD for our Collections, Then the book will eventually come out. Maybe some Late Show Apprearances!!
Lets just all be happy about the upcoming stuff and Accomplishments of the best frickin band around!!! Hot Damn!!!

[Nel]

I'm happy to see that Melanie received favorable remarks from Tom and Dana over at the Officials. :023:

[Relic]

That was beautiful :)

I have the windows open - Mel lives a couple of hours away from us but I'm thinking I just might hear happy cheering from that direction once she realizes what has happened.

Way to go.

[Mudcrutch]

yea? what else did they say?

[Relic]

"Originally posted by Dana:
We just wanted to say that we enjoyed Melanie's (Oneworldview) review of the film. Thank you Mel for coming to the premiere and for sharing your experience on the website. We really did love reading it. Just so you know, we have never read a review that doesn't have a mistake or two. To hammer someone who only had good intentions is lame. The site should be fun and represent the spirit of the band. All of the fighting and abusing people on the boards is unacceptable. Anyone in a musical frame of mind would be driven away. None of you want that and neither do we. We are overjoyed at the way you are receiving the film. This should be the happiest of times. God bless and PEACE.

Tom and Dana"

[Mudcrutch]

wow. how embarrassing they had to say that.

[Relic]

Maybe we can all learn from this - myself included.

[Athena]

I ran into a quote today right after I heard about Dana's post. It seemed appropriate:

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."Mahatma Gandhi

I'm not saying Melanie won anything, so to speak, but what a nice "We got your back".

[surfnburn]

Jeezz...That place has always had its issues. I hope her post helps....

[KansasPettyFan]

wow. how embarrassing they had to say that.

I couldn't agree with you more, Mud. :rolleyes:

[agirl]

^ Me too, Ryan. I hope they come over here to the Farm once in awhile so they can see how well-behaved we are.