MK is just the luckiest guy in the world, as he said about himself. He found his own sound (that feeling when you can be 100% sure it was Mark playing from the very first seconds of the record), he found his own style of writing, own way of playing. I mean, how many guys you've ever seen plays with resting ring and little fingers like MK? It's his most original invention and to me, the "Knopfleriest" thing of all. Also, I absolute hate when people are trying to copy that signature rest, to me it's ridiculous, worse than anything. You can copy songs, vocals, licks, but the rest? No, thanks... Don't do that.
I disagree with you. I like playing the way MK does and I have a lot of fun seeing him play and trying to get close to the sound he creates, and put my own feeling in it. Don't say it's ridiculous when other people have a lot of fun doing it. I'm not not saying I want to sound like MK but I can't. But I like the way he plays. It's nonsense too, since every guitar player has influences and uses it in his own style.
I get it... My point was that I never seen any guitar player playing like that, it's like Dizzy Gillespie's balloon cheeks and bent trumpet—maybe occasional, but certainly unique. I said it because somebody was talking about "greatness" of MK as a guitar player, so to me his greatness is his signature sound and, among other things, his signature right hand, hence my rant on people copying it just for the sake of it.
Nice to hear you have a lot of fun playing like that.