tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Feb 28 07:37:24 1995

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Re: From the Edge of the Galaxy

According to tsai kat clio-international:
> 
> 
> Because I enjoy all matters Klingon I try to support both
> the Interstellar Language School and the Klingon Language
> Institute.
> 
>    vaj cha'logh Doghbogh qoH jIH'a'?
> 
>    (Then, am I a double sucker?)
> 
> Qapla'
> rIn

I have two reasons to favor KLI over ILS. Proechel tries to
personally profit from his Klingon endeavors and when fails to
do so, he stiffs others without looking back. He sold a
substantial quantity of material belonging to David Barron with
a clear agreement on commission. In other words, he took the
products from David at David's risk promising to pay him back
for all items that sold and to return all items that were not
sold.

Well, he sold the items and kept the money, essentially
stealing the items or the money (your choice, really) from
David and then lamely threatened to take David to court if he
didn't just drop the whole matter. Proechel clearly is more of
a Ferengi than a Klingon.

Secondly, Proechel is clearly wrong in some of his opinions on
Klingon grammar and vocabulary and he refuses to accept debate,
declaring himself somehow superior to anyone else's authority
on the use of the language. Nobody ever sets him straight on
his errors because he never listens.

On the positive side, he does attract a lot of interest in the
language simply because he is such an effective huckster.
Meanwhile, I have much more respect for those who exhibit more
honor in their contributions to the cause. David Barron
willfully offered his labor and materials for free for years
with the Postal Course, asking students only for SASEs in
return for his work. Lawrence Schoen has put in countless hours
publicizing KLI and arranging qep'a' as a mutual vacation
around a fascinating theme rather than as a profit center for
Schoen, Inc. HolQeD has never been profitable and never sought
to be. Ask Lawrence how much money he expects to make from the
publication of Hamlet and stand back. His laughter can be a
substantial force to face at close range.

And don't forget the grammarians. Primarily, I feel that my own
contributions are humbled when compared to those of Krankor and
~mark, and I don't really remember trI'Qal or Holtej asking for
financial contributions to cover the time they spent here
responding to the list. Compare that to Proechel's catalog of
cheaply produced materials at professional prices.

Then, there's the Elf-chief, himself. Jay put in a lot of work
to make the machine run as the platform for this list, the WWW
site, the FTP site and the MUSH. Eli supported the list for
years before that. Then there are those involved in KSRP and
KBTP, the artists and other contributors to HolQeD and to this
list. The spark offered to this movement is pretty mind
boggling when you get down to it. There is no way to assemble a
comprehensive list of people to thank and things that they have
done in order to enhance our experience as we explore the
artificial language of a fictional race of people, originally
marginalized as minor bad guys without much character
development on a TV series that ran fewer seasons than Gunsmoke
and in its more recent versions still draws a smaller audience
than Wheel of Fortune.

The only time that anyone associated with KLI asked for
contributions that I can remember was when Lawrence asked for
money towards the Klingon Hamlet, offering leather bound copies
in return. This was clearly to soften the blow of the financial
burden that otherwise one person alone (well, one person and
his wife alone) would face for the specific project of the
publication of Hamlet.

[charghwI' sits and seeks to take in long, slow breaths and
relax. Ahhh. Much better.]

Anyone is welcome to make any choice they desire in whom they
support for the betterment of the Klingon Language movement.
The KLI is sincerely non-profit, depending upon the labors of
many volunteers who share an unusual hobby. We've consistently
tried to keep our act together, arguing out our concerns so
that the best ideas, rather than the most dominant
personalities win as we find the best ways to express a wide
range of thoughts through our language. We got non-profit
corporation status, as good a working relationship with Okrand
as anybody, and a cross-licensing agreement with Paramount.

Maybe that doesn't compete with mosquitoes and Klingon softball
teams, though drifting in the qep'a' pool would seem
competitive to tubing down a Klingon stream... Anyway, as I
said, all are welcome to make your own choice. Mine is clear
and I welcome anyone to join me in considering KLI to be one
cool group to join. We're a swell bunch of guys with a rather
unusual hobby, and under no circumstances are we trying to
fleece anyone.

charghwI'
-- 

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