Klarinet Archive - Posting 000295.txt from 2000/11

From: "Ian Black" <clarinet1@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: [kl] Final Chapter, Stolen Bass Clarinet
Date: Sun, 5 Nov 2000 18:20:32 -0500

----- Original Message -----
From: <LeliaLoban@-----.com>
Subject: [kl] Final Chapter, Stolen Bass Clarinet

> "Jim" writes,
<<much snipping>>

> >And since I was in legal possession of what may have been your old
> >ax, I have disposed of it, as was my lawful right to do. You sir, will
> never
> >again see the piece in question.
> [snip]
> >Had you just been cool, we probably could have worked it out. I know it
> >pains you but you are no longer the legal owner of a particular instrument,
> >which, by the by, was in super condition. You will just have to live with
> >that.

Not really the actions of a fine upstanding citizen, in my view. If I had come by an item where
there was subsequently any similar suggestion of it being stolen property, I would probably hold on
to it and wait until legal ownership was established. Disposing of it as quickly as possible
suggests to me an attempt to stop the police digging about in his trading affairs. If this was in
Scotland, and under Scots Law, "Jim" could probably be charged with "Reset" (similar to "fencing" -
i.e. knowingly selling on stolen goods. NB usual "I am not a lawyer" disclaimer applies) until his
legal ownership was no longer in dispute.

Also I am not sure that he can be a player. What clarinettist would even contemplate running such a
fine instrument over with a car? And surely any other musician would understand Hat's intense
interest in his former instrument (even if the insurance company had paid out on the loss). In
Britain, insurance companies rarely pay out what something is worth to the owner. Hat was entitled
to be concerned that the instrument was not sold on until ownership was established, whether he
wanted it back or not.

> >And finally, to the moral and ethical crowd, quite frankly, at this
> juncture,
> >I pass gas on the lot of you.
>
> Okay. Guess we know exactly where he stands on that issue. Guess I know how
> far I'd trust this guy, too: Not as far as his fart can fly in a downdraft.

Oh, so _that's_ what he means by gas! I had horrible visions of the gases used against troops in
WW1. I suppose that this would be a US colloquialism.

P.S. Lelia, Loved your description of the mass clarinettist attack on the "Jim" fortress. If we
could get some conductors on-side, simply catching a baton on a music stand in full flow can launch
a rather sharp projectile. How many folks on the list have been narrowly missed by a sharp fragment
of baton which broke off during rehearsal/performance?

Ian

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