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Internet antics and history buffs
After several years of using the internet for research I have come to the obvious conclusion that we really need to be careful when quoting things read or viewed on the web. I realize that this is not astonishing news, but I am getting more and more frustrated at the stupidity and sometimes just plain foolishness that goes on.
I recently posted a video from the Doc Holliday museum in Griffin, Georgia. The owner is a distant cousin of Doc's. Now some clown responds to my video that he knows the owner is no cousin of Doc's and would bet his life on it. (It really wouldn't matter either way.) This same person also responded to a video (not mine) about driving safety featuring Wyatt Earp of Phoenix, the man who performs on stage with wife Terry, not once but twice, to tell the video maker that Wyatt Earp died in 1929 so this is not Wyatt Earp. Well, duh. But, he IS Wyatt Earp. Just not the one who died in 1929. He also responded to another guy's video about going to Doc's grave site in Glenwood Springs and told him that he "knew for a fact" that the video creator had never been to Doc's memorial grave site in Glenwood Springs, even though he doesn't know that person.
Just for kicks, I researched this guy's profile on YouTube. My God, what a troll! There are three pages of negative comments posted there, many of them quite vulgar, telling this jerk what an idiot he is. Not a single positive comment.
Where do people like him come from? How do they rationalize their behavior? It is bad enough that there are well meaning but uninformed people who state things that are untrue, like the guy who informed me that the cow-boys in Tombstone all wore red sashes, but these people who intentionally try to muddy things need to go away. There are worse examples than what I have mentioned here, but this troll is the most recent I have had to deal with. What if someone else believes anything this guy says?
Views: 124
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bungalo Bill on -
Nothing is really new, Bo. I am still putting together video that I shot in Tombstone on Clanton Days. Hopefully some of the footage will appear on Ike Clanton's Haunted Saloon show. I have a guest appearance by a masked man who resembles the Lone Ranger in one clip. It seems someone has stolen his white hat!
Still having lots of fun in spite of the crazies about.
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Permalink Reply by Bungalo Bill on
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That is my intention. Wyatt Earp Days is always one of the better celebrations, in my opinion.
BTW I saw your letter in the Tombstone News. If you were addressing me with your "Hello Bill" I have to let you know that although I do spend several weeks a year in Tombstone, I regretfully have to spend most of my time "somehwere else." I don't want you to think I am a phoney. I love that town in spite of its problems, but am not a full time residient.
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Permalink Reply by Bungalo Bill on
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No, no. I missed that one. Different Bill. I guess it was co-incidental that you were saying hi to Bill and I thought maybe you believed I live full time there. So - never mind!
My mistake. I do write the editor once in awhile but he never prints my letters.
There are too many Bills around, I reckon. I once worked at a gas station with two other Bills. The boss got angry when he would yell for Bill and no one answered. We always thought he was calling one of the other two.
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Permalink Reply by Bungalo Bill on
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Actually, old newspapers can be a real problem also. I got a real kick out of an article from a midwestern newspaper reprinted on the internet that told how the Earp brothers and their cousin Curly Bill Earp used to terrorize Cochise County by robbing stagecoaches on a weekly basis. Trouble is, people read that drivel and repeat it as gospel truth.
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Permalink Reply by Gold Lady on -
Nutcases are no longer constrained to just bothering acquaintances. Now they have computers and can bother people worldwide.
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Permalink Reply by Bungalo Bill on
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You are right about that. I just like to rant about it once in awhile. Sometimes I miss the old days, but it would be really difficult to give up my computers.
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Permalink Reply by Eric James on -
I retired from a career in show business when my children were born, because I didn't want my children growing up around a lot of crazy people. However, when I went into the business world, I found the business world to be occupied by people who were just as crazy as those in show biz. Now that I live in cyberspace, again I've found cyberspace is occupied by crazy people, too. Crazy people have one thing in common. They crave attention. If you give it to them, they come back at you like a vengeance. If you don't give them attention, they go elsewhere and leave you alone...until the next time they need attention.
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Permalink Reply by Melvin Graf on -
“What if someone else believes anything this guy says?”
Unfortunately, people do believe guys like this. Recently a person who, in my opinion, registers a ten on the Richter Nutbag Scale was featured on The History Channel. On the same program a well known scammer of misidentified antique images actually had two of his images briefly presented as people they were not. That particular guy has been discredited on this forum and many others. Guys like the one you mention can be successful in duping TV producers, newspaper and/or magazine editors, and unknowledgeable museum curators. It’s a shame because then an unwary public is exposed to scams furthered by people the public tends to trust. As BBB recently pointed out, what people believe becomes a fact in itself.
Like military imposters, these sham “historians” have a great need for attention and are frequently very narcissistic. They fancy themselves as the discoverers of rare images, or manuscripts, or relics, etc., etc. They don’t mind contriving “evidence” to suit their own needs. The image scammer I have referred to claimed on another forum that he was going to get a grant (he never said from who) to write a “definitive” history of Jesse James. It would be nice if the guy could string two coherent sentences together. Anyway, the crazies are out there and “history” presented on TV, in periodicals, and even in museums should be scrutinized closely.
One of the good things, among many, about our forum is that a vast amount of collective knowledge resides here. It is up to us to notify those that have been duped whether they’re TV producers, newspaper/magazine editors, authors, or museum curators. I’ve found most to be receptive but some are very thin skinned and would rather continue on the wrong path rather than admit a mistake. One curator of a small county museum I have contacted in the past about various bogus exhibits is so thin skinned that she couldn’t bring herself to correct the museum’s webpage that wished the U. S. Marine “Corp” a happy birthday even after being notified of the error. We can’t win them all but we have to fight the good fight. For those of us who cherish history there is no other course.
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Permalink Reply by Ringo on -
I can say that the man who runs the museum in Griffin is not a relative of docs, Karen Holliday said she cant find any trace of him in the family, and she has a complete family tree.
Anyway ,what was the museum like? i would like to visit sometime, any photos?
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Permalink Reply by Bungalo Bill on
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My concern was not so much that Bill is or is not related to Doc, but the challenge made by the "troll" made me research him a bit and I found that he spends all of his time on YouTube contradicting others and making unfounded statements. This guy has no credibilty even if he is right in this case. Let me point out, though, that Bill never harped on his alleged relationship during the entire time I spent with him. I showed up out of the blue with no notice and Bill devoted the whole day, about seven or eight hours, talking to me and helping to make the video. It was casually mentioned that he was a distant cousin by way of marriage at one point and I brought it up in my video without asking him if it was okay first.
The museum has several interesting pieces and is worth a short side trip if you are in the Atlanta area. I have a video here that shows a part of it.
My complaint is that there are so many people like the guy I mentioned who have nothing better to do than make false statements intentionally just to irritate others and cause a ruckus, or who pose as experts because they have watched a movie.
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Permalink Reply by Bungalo Bill on
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Jeff, I believe you are talking about a different museum. There is also one in Fayetteville. Right? The one I visited is in Griffin. The owner makes no claim that anything in his museum ever belonged to Doc, but he has many interesting period artifacts and some great photos.
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Permalink Reply by Stan H on -
I can understand the attitude of folks here, responding to this subject. However, we must be careful to not throw out everyone that disagrees on a subject as being wrong or being a nutcase. That is probably my only problem with this (and a few other) sites. One person posts an article, believed by him to be true, then is challenged by others. The bickering goes back and forth (reminds me of kids and the old "did not,""did so" routine).
In my not-so-humble opinion, much of history (the "whys") are nothing more than opinion. I have mentioned this in the past.
An example: the dust-up in Tombstone.
Fact: it happened.
Opinion: why it happened that day and in the manner it did.
i,e; Maybe Wyatt had a toothache and a generaly bad hair day and wanted to take it out on someone.
Now, my opinion is not based on fact, only opinion, but who can honsetly dispute it?
So, my point is, just because we disagree on some issues, we should not be tossed in with the nutcases. Yes, there are such jerks out there as Bill points out, but not all that disagree are.
I am only posting this as a cautionary remark.
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