Marcum Memoirs: The power of Wikipedia

Oh how I love my Wikipedia. There is no greater tool run by the people, for the people.

My faithful readers also know of my love for the David Crowder* Band.

So when I read the DC*B blog on their myspace the other day, I knew I must repost for my readers enjoyment:

Thursday, May 31, 2007
Them are his friends (or, This is what you have been waiting for!)

We never cease to be amazed. Truly.

Yes, it is readily available knowledge, that we, as a band, nurture an obsession with the general-public-edited Wikipedia. We have been at numerous times astonished at the uncanny accuracy and inconceivable expeditiousness of the information pertaining to the band; noting information we had forgotten about ourselves and citing trivia we had no idea anyone would or should know.

Yes, we are also fully aware that the information made available on the site can at times be dubious in nature, i.e.: the salvation of African elephants by one, Stephan Colbert. So, everything with a grain of salt, no?

All said, we were recently delighted to find ourselves embroiled in a war of epic editorial control concerning our very own encyclopedic page on Wikipedia.

First, a little background: In October we found ourselves short one guitar player. Enter the Kid, Taylor "the Wild Pony" Johnson. He finished the Third Day tour with us. He played all of our Spring shows with us. And he did a fantastic job. We loved it. But the allure of the big city called strong to the Kid, too strong for him to dig his tent poles into our small little town. He has a mercenary heart and announced to us that he needs to follow it with his guitar in tow. Basically, after filling in for us, the time had come for him to ride off into the sunset.

Thanks, Wild Pony.

Which leads us to the aforementioned battle of editorial wits. We have, for a brief time, been giddy with excitement over who would next fill the proverbial footwear as an official member of the DC*B. We could not, however, make anything public due to outside environmental circumstances. (Like, he had to finish his spring semester of sophomoric-Baylor-University-premed schooling; he had to secure the unwavering blessing of his parents; he had some important work to do in Kenya involving orphans; you know, the usual.)

So, imagine our surprise, when on a tip, we typed "wikipedia.com" (henceforth be referred to as "W") into our browser, moseyed over to the DC*B page and discovered Taylor Johnson's name occupying the "former member" section. And wouldn't you know it, the "current members" listed a guy by the name of Mark Waldrop.

"Strange," we said to ourselves with furrowed brows and confounded glances, as the total number of those aware of this new imminent dawn amounted to less than double digits. We re-edited the entry, removing this overhasty information, and pointed accusing fingers at one another.

And then moments later there it was again. "Mark Waldrop."
"Strange indeed!" we cried as we quickly swiped the name again from the site.

And so the battle began. Back and forth between us, (providing accurate and officially approved information) and them, (providing ever more accurate, yet, pre-mature information) all the while, our tight lips quivering from want of united proclamation.

And who is "them" you ask? "Them" are his friends, who are apparently jumping plumb out of their skins along with us from excitement.

"And what do you mean by accurate information, anyways" you say?

Well, we mean that we have a new member, and W scooped the news, once again proving its reliability and ever deepening our awe and reverence!

So, without further ado, Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Mark Waldrop. (He's the one who looks sorta rockstarish - second row from top on left.)