Today I want to talk about how amazingly under someone’s skin I managed to get last week (see the copious comments posted below my Dancing DQ blog, February 28th). I don’t intend to let this blog get overrun by an on line boxing match with Mr. Slings, but I do want to clear the air about a few things. First of all, I was not surprised to get a reaction to my opinion of EQ-MuSync (or is it EQ Mu-sync, or EQ Musync, or EQ musync?), but I was at first surprised that the wrong pot was boiling, at least until the third comment ‘on behalf of Cees Slings’ was posted. So, to reply to the comments that merit as much:
The reason I haven’t read the other articles about the judge-replacement machine is because I didn’t know they existed. As Mr. Morton kindly points out, they aren’t in English. Alas, if they were in French, Spanish or even Czech (enter my husband as translator) I would be off and running in my further education on the electro-judge. If anyone would like to translate said articles – I assume they are in Dutch – please leave a comment on the blog with your email address.
As for something else of which I was apprised by Mr. Morton, I was not aware that Evi is Señor Sling’s client. I worked with her on a project a number of years ago, though I would assume she has since used other freestyle designers, as she has been actively competing in freestyle classes with several horses. She and I have always been on friendly terms which remain unaffected by her affiliation to Mr. Slings. I find Mr. Morton’s suggestion of otherwise to be in very questionable taste.
Mr. Slings did not appreciate my joke about C-3PO. Given his claims of all the many miracles this device will perform, I propose a different nick-name: HAL (if you didn’t watch 2010: A Space Odyssey, then never mind).
What perhaps did not come through loud and clear enough in my blog last week is the point that I disagree in principle with any proposal to replace human judges with electronic devices, especially when the assessment is of artistic merit. But I understand that some 4 million Euros will have to be raised in order to bring the machine to life, so until it actually exists, there doesn’t seem to be much more to argue on the matter. I must say, though, that anyone who thinks this thing is a good idea is demonstrating a pretty dim view of the judges’ willingness or ability to be trained.
Oh, one more thing for Mr. Slings. As impoverished a language as English is in many respects, at least when we want to compliment someone we Anglophones put a feather in his cap, not his derriere.
Next week I promise to write about what we all care about, the actual horses!
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