i agree with Jay wholeheartedly.... having met/hooked up with Bruce from that Goldmine ad in '95, i offered my graphic design abilities/services/limitations almost without limits....having designed tons of cd's and most of those cool mail order catalogs many of us received over the years, I always loved just being a part of the 'pop community', contributing what I could, not looking for ay kind of pay day, just being glad to help..... would it have been awesome to have a big paycheck? maybe yes, but you know? as a musician, and a fan, and a designer, it felt great to be involved and help make Bruce's passions come to life, as corny as that may sound....sometimes it's not about the reward, it's the support and effort that means something. i met a lot of great people, and worked with a ton of cool folks over the years, many, like David Bash, I still work with to this day, but Bruce in so many ways was MY gateway to great music, and may great friends as well...he was/is my Mickie Most/Brian Epstein/Colonel Parker!!!!! In these days of downloading everything for free, it's easy to forget that companies like Not Lame put their heart and soul, and yes, WALLET, into this world we take for granted..........I, for one, never, ever took that for granted-it's easy to criticize and comment, but harder still to put YOUR life and YOUR money into making something matter..... We all should thank Bruce for not only only having the passion and commitment and love to keep Not Lame afloat for many years, with a good portion of those years working at a great loss, but just for being a wonderfully loving, special and cool guy....... Not to mention a great friend and father. love, jim horan -----Original Message----- From: jdrav With Thanksgiving arriving tomorrow, it's a real mixed emotion day for me. Incredibly sad to see Not Lame close its doors today. A small ad for Not Lame in Goldmine magazine in 1995 re-awakened me to power pop (actually I had been collecting this music for 30 years prior but never knew it was an official genre until then) and thus changed the course and expanded the richness of my life. Bruce Brodeen is a true gentleman, superb friend and probably the finest judge of good music that I've ever encountered. I wish him all the best as he ventures into new music and social networking business ventures. We (the few of us remaining on Audities, that is) owe Not Lame and Bruce Brodeen an immense debt for his 16 years of tireless effort to bring us musical happiness. So from me, a huge thanks, Bruce! Jay Dravenstadt