If you could ask scott t. a question....

[Joe Mendel]

I'm going to be interveiwing the brains behind Mandolincafe, Scott Tichenor, in a couple of weeks for Mel Bay's Mandolin Sessions. I thought it would be fun to get questions from all of us on the message board. So what questions would you like to ask him? You can post them here, PM me or, e-mail me at joemendel57@aol.
(that's an "L", not a one in the e-mail address)
Thanks,

[jim simpson]

I would ask him how and when did he become interested in the mandolin, how old is he, has he played in groups, what inspired him to start the cafe and how difficult was it, also how does he keep his sense of humor dealng with us folks on the Cafe.

[John Flynn]

Joe:

I would like to know, with all the mandolins he has gotten to play: What are his favorites in the various price ranges?

[J. Mark Lane]

I would ask him what kind of sedatives he takes, and where he gets them...and if I can get some. Because no one could put up with this #### without drugs. It's just not possible.

Mark

[jasona]

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[homermando]

I would ask him about who is playing the next mandofest and if we could start seeing a featured builder or two there each year.

[pathfinder]

What circumstances led to his locating in Lawrence Kansas? #Was it due to his job? #Is it his hometown? #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[Joe Mendel]

Thanks guys, please keep the questions coming.

[boatman]

On what type of mandolin does Mr. T most like to perform O'Carrollan tunes?

[dasspunk]

As a fellow geek, I'm curious about some of the site's statistics. For instance, how many hits, how much bandwidth, how much server space, etc....

In addition, how many times a month do Scott and co. consider shutting the whole thing down?

[Ted Eschliman]

Scott's secret stand on the important issues:
1.) Is Nickel Creek really Bluegrass, and just who do those kids think they are, anyway?
2.) F or A, and why spend $500+ for a fancy strap anchor?
3.) Are Pac Rim products ethical, and should we continue to support the starvation of American workers?
4.)Was Bill Monroe the greatest mandolin picker on the planet? Ever...
5.)Boxers or Briefs?
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sleepy.gif

[danb]

Dasspunk:
I'll field your tech query http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Mandolincafe.net is a single server, though backed up to several other spots.

AMD XP 2000+, 1.5Gb ram
Linux 2.4.26 custom kernel
Apache (custom build, various non-std modules)
mod_perl (custom/performance tweaks)
mysql (custom/performance tweaks)
ikonboard (largely stock, though I had to whomp it a bit to get it to play nice under mod_perl)

It also serves mandolinarchive.com. Cafe is 2 hits/sec on 24-hr average, much more during spikes. Traffic is at least 4Gb/24 hrs on weekdays, sometimes a lot more. That's *just* messageboard traffic mind you, no large mp3s/mpegs or anything. A phenomenal number of readers read and re-read the boards 30+ times a day.

For a while there when I was tweaking it, it was stumbling fairly regularly. This is a pretty darn busy site and took some special considerations to get rolling smoothly. I'm always tinkering with it to try to squeeze a little more out of it. Kind of my "geek outlet" I suppose.

I'll make it a 2.6 linux kernel sometime soon, but the baseline kernel stuff (scheduler) is still seeing enough change that I'm shying from doing it this week.

[mandopete]

Just one question....why? #

It would be nice to hear a response to this after all of these years (yes years) of running this here Cafe. #I would be curious to hear if any of the motivation has changed over time. #Seems like what may have started as a 'hobby' may now be more like a business. #Just how much work verses how much fun is to run a website like this?

[POB]

I'd be curious to know if there were any particular things that stood out as having made the whole thing worthwhile for him on a personal level: friends made, stories read, music discovered, whatever.

[Jonathan Rudie]

Send Scott sincere thanks and appreciation for starting and running this great site. #Questions: #How much time does he spend on average per week running the site? What has been the most rewarding aspect of running the site? #What has been the least rewarding aspect (i.e biggest headache) of running the site?

[Christopher Howard-Williams]

What is his all-time, aboslute favourite single malt for a quiet after-dinner relax?

[mandoJeremy]

I would ask if he misses old Ted Wigglesworth and his most famous classified ad ever?http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[mandoJeremy]

and also...if anyone responded to the classified and did he sell it?http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[Karen Kay]

If I could ask Scott T. a question.....
it would probably be, 'Are you there?'

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[Scott Tichenor]

Let's get things back on track. No profanity. Period. Some of you are having a bit of fun I'm sure. Don't take it too far.

[Keith Newell]

I would ask Scott what kind of music he like to perform most on the mandolin? I like several types when I play but love one more then the rest so what did he start out with? What did he spend most time on? And whats his favorite?
Keith Newell

[Peakbagr]

Ask him about the mandolins he owns, why, and a brief review of each.

[fatt-dad]

I would like to know how fast he types and whether his first proficiency was on the keyboard or the fretboard. (I really think there is some fast typing required for keeping this board under control.) I am also hopeful that 'cause I can type with a subconscience flow (i.e., I no longer worry about my fingers, just my words) maybe some day, I can get the music to flow from my fingers as the words do right now.

Am I dreaming?

f-d