On March 22, 1996 David Haberstich wrote: Humor is a subjective thing, but I believe Scott Williams was right about not having a free-for-all humor contest on this list. The anecdote about not knowing the difference between Tokyo and Japan is a good example of the risks: not a single person in my office thinks that's funny or even mildly amusing. Sorry if we're a bunch of sourpusses... David Haberstich I enjoy Museum-L for it's informality and great variety of expression. I belong to several heavily moderated lists which tend to be highly technical and fairly boring. I think that Anita's suggestion has a legitimate place here in the Big Tent of Museum-L and that we can all exercise our preferences by pressing the delete key if the subject is not one of interest. In this same spirit I think that it would be only fair to ask those who want to express their displeasure at the current thread, "A lighter note" to mark their subject header: "Sourpuss". This way, those of us who enjoy annecdotal and humorous communcation can intelligently exercise our own delete keys. Cheers, Dave David Harvey Conservator of Metals & Arms Colonial Williamsburg Foundation P.O. Box 1776 Williamsburg, VA 23187-1776 USA voice: 804-220-7039 e-mail: [log in to unmask]