Today I'd like to take a few minutes to reflect on the voices that have made Rock Town Hall interesting and fun over the past year.

As you know, any monkey with a keyboard and an Internet connection can throw up a blog and spout off on whatever subject he or she would like you to believe matters. Fair enough. We do this every day. However, it's not so much how right we are that matters as it is whether we've built a foundation on which to bullshit. Who among Townspeople who've launched a Main Stage has not felt the disappointment of a seemingly surefire conversation starter that went nowhere?

Other times a self-described "hit and run" post on a busy day leads to fruitful, unexpectedly passionate banter of the sort most of us don't get out of coworkers and other everyday squares, maaaannnnn.

In fact, it's the beyond-our-wildest-dreams comments that make this place worth my time and effort.

Follow up:

Obviously our regulars are following and building off the Comments for hot threads, but I wonder what lurkers in the Hall read. Do they just read the Main Stage pieces, or do they quietly drill down into the nitty gritty of a post's Comments? Why do I address these lurkers in the third person: Do you? If you don't, you may be missing voices in Rock Town Hall that frequently outshine the usual blowhards willing to lay it all out for the blog aggregators and casual browsers.

A number of bloggers who do their own thing have stepped forward by invitation or when the spirit calls to make a particular case that may not be heard elsewhere. We love these contributions and appreciate folks' sharing their time and thoughts.

How 'bout how cool it is when a new voice appears in the Hall and starts making his or her mark on our daily jam sessions? Love it!

To conserve time - yours and mine - I'm leaving a lot of you out of my year-end Mad Props, but don't think I'm not aware of having left links to some of your finest contributions out of this post. Here's to the coming year of spirited, intelligent, interactive rock banter!

Coming soon: Rock Town Hall interviews and the shocking story behind our most visited post!