It's been a few years now. Few active posters would fit in to the category of 'pre-novemberist', or would even know what it meant. But it does mean something, as it represents the birth of TMO. Over four years have gone by since the pre-novemberists layed the foundations for the community. We've survived servers going down, a change of name, and the loss of thousands and thousands of posts. Something kept bringing people back though. There was something about Seethru/TMO that worked:
quote: "Ha ha, yes I recall the early days. Kitty, Tav, Bel. The whole ugly saga with Jones...Great days. You see, back then, ben and I were more than mere posters. Why, we were dualing Kings, and I fought for the kingdom of the right, as he valiantly defended the wrong. How we tussled! We chose our armies, yet always lead the attack. I remember when....
[this part of the recording is distorted]
...but, it was all lies. I would never sink so low, especially not 'I.R.L.', lol. Lol.....
You see, for me, it was the smell of pedantry in the morning; the roar of the keyboard as we fought. My victory could only bring the end of the war, and with that, the dism-
[the rest of the recording is lost]
(from 'Board Stiff', R.Joshua)
The yin and the yang were balanced. As bitterly as battles raged across boards, pmail, messenger and RL, there was always an equal measure of love. And how. Seethru and TMO quickly became a hotbed of crazy sex.
More people than you'd think have had a piece of the action. And there's been more action than you think. Take what you know, and double it, and you might be getting close to appreciating the full scale of the love-in that was TMO. If you haven't woken up next to a forumite, then you know somebody who has. Every winkie was a come-on. Every lol was a tug of a skirt, a fly being unzipped. The public display was only the tip of a sweaty mound of pumping bodies.
It worked because it was new. Internet geekjobs had been doing this shit for years, but Seethru represented the day when the internet became cool. Attachments played to a nation that was dreaming of paper millions, and those logging on Seethru were crossing the gap between fiction and reality. This was a real life space that existed within an abstraction. Soph was as hott as anybody wanted her to be. With more secret identities than a split personality superspy, forumites assumed the position as audience, author, critic, and broadcaster of the greatest show on Earth. Rave reviews became circle jerks, which descended into clusterfucks, which were realised at the wrap parties to full physical effect. As the audience demanded, so the audience supplied. Posts extended into lunch hours across the country, and all grew hungry for a .
Heavyweights emerged. A hierachy was formed. Conflict became feud. Wordsmiths upped the quality and dared onlookers to follow. Novellas were a daily occasion. Who can forget "Moider TMO wrote"? The greatest thread of all? Perhaps. Perhaps this was the peak. It was exciting to be a part of this, there was pride at meat attendence. As we tuned into Meat FM, hosted by The Nine Nine Nine, we were transcending the form of the bulletin board. Words really were our slaves. We thought that it would never end, and as the first child was conceived and raised on the forum, as the son of the saviour, it seemed as if the external world was in danger of melting away. We were all lawnmower men that year.
But, history dictates that an empire is a finite thing, and that success is the path to failure. The blazing heat of the Moon began to consume it's unsustainable core. Feuds were now etched in archived pmails. Soldiers, tired of fighting, retreated. The tangle of bodies began to take a rational form, and the threaded relationships became units of two. The loves and losses of the past were becoming scars, and the true world reclaimed virtual couplings. Words were beginning to cut down the strongest of fighters, and new blood no longer knew why the war must continue. Those who willed it, began to find that peace was only a minimised window away. The VSO shows were no longer the grand spectales of yore, and even the entertainers were withdrawing. The war was coming to an end with a whimper. Other lands held promise. Green rolling hills, albeit inhabited by teletubbies, were more attractive than the pitted and scarred surface of the moon. Day trippers spent longer and longer holidays relaxing elsewhere, and soon the Moon was a wasted and fragmented motherland to a nation of ex-pats.
Who would want to return? What was left? Even the Gods had fled for sunnier climes. Alone in cyberspace, the moon carried on turning. Those who stayed found that anarchy had descended. The structures and rules of the past were now ancient memory. Poster Fist and For To Make Smile were cave paintings, shared memories of the retired. The new generation, gorged on chate, viewed each other with suspicion. Threat still hung in the air like so many mexican eggs, and heads were bowed.
It's time for the morlocks to venture above the crust. It's a new land, or it's a ghost filled graveyard. It can't really be both. If there are lurkers, then now is the time.
[ 24.11.2004, 07:00: Message edited by: Dr. Benway ]
Posted by I am not... (Member # 25) on :
krkkkkkk.... Posted by Louche (Member # 450) on :
What the fuck is the point of trying to create a new land, Benway? Why bother? Is there any reward for putting any effort into TMO? If everything is always going to be benchmarked against The Great Days of SeeThru when there were real rows and people got really upset and the quality of the posting was at such a level that it must be remembered and revered always, then why bother putting the tiniest of efforts in now?
Why post when there’s perpetually another State of the Boards Crisis around the corner? Why play with your words and make them do a pretty little dance when the next post after yours is, odds on, going to be a flippant one liner from Misc or a Kovacian put down about how shit things are these days? And why the fuck bother when, as you have just so fucking eloquently shown, nothing is going to live up to the glory days?
You don’t actually have to answer these questions. Most of them can be considered to be utterly rhetorical.
Posted by 2@ (Member # 715) on :
There's a cloying stench of desperation on this thread (Issey Miyake?), mingled with the vanilla essence of the fantasist.
Posted by Dr. Benway (Member # 20) on :
I think that it could still work if it reached a critical mass. That's all it takes. If there are enough people posting who don't already all know each other, then quality comes automatically. I suppose that as much as 'the boards' are just a set of relationships, they are goverened by rules that are unique, and that forced inertia. I think that maybe now, in a state of anarchy, the rules no longer exist. I don't know. There seems to be few people here. In fact, there's less people here now than there was about a week ago, and that is obviously troubling.
Posted by Vogon Poetess (Member # 164) on :
What was it like being dead, Dr B? Do the dead have special spectral connections allowing them access to all The Dead threads ever?
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
quote:Originally posted by Louche: And why the fuck bother when, as you have just so fucking eloquently shown, nothing is going to live up to the glory days?
If it makes you feel better this sort of stuff has been going on for at least as long as I've been posting here. I think a lot of it is people posting shit and then whining about how the board shit these days and everyone else posts shit. A high proportion of these posters are 'glory days' posters. Fuck only knows what that must have been like: a bunch of fucking idiots carping on about how things were better before SeeThru when they only ever communicated through Ceefax and that required more effort. Yeah there's chate around these days, but it's not really a reason not to engage in debate as well, or creativity or whatever. When former "glory days" posters like London can only be fucked to link to a terrible article on "pimp"ness and then disappears out of the debate, you can't really take seriously any claims that the flirting and hott forum menz of the old days were so much better. It's more like "fuck you then, fuck off out of here." I don't want this to sound like a rant at Benway, because since his return I've really enjoyed reading his stuff, and I hope on the occasions I've contributed to his threads its been in a manner that they deserve. But christ, I can relate to Louche's ire, the way when someone huffs "not as good as the old days" it feels like they've just spat over anything decent you may have written over the past week. Fuck you! Show us what was so fucking good about the old days.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
Darryn should organize a TMO Recruitment Fair. Current forumites could host seminars about UBB skills and forum etiquette. There would be a four hour lecture about in-jokes and their place on the board. I'd be there, manning my TMOuncovered stall, handing out free biscuits and weak lemon drink, and bribing potential newbies with the promise of free image hosting.
Posted by Dr. Benway (Member # 20) on :
I don't want to have a go at anybody who is posting. It seems like maybe all the bad vibes have got to something that used to be here, and not that long ago. I'm just trying to understand the changes, really. Maybe it's best not to reflect on these things. Sorry everybody.
Posted by Louche (Member # 450) on :
A gigantic paen to the world of SeeThru basically says 'everything that followed was shite'. If you meant last week, Benway, say last week. As for the State of the Boards conversation we can have again and again and again and it will always but always come down to the following:
Some people are posting elsewhere
Some people are still smarting from a slight/imagined slight
Some people are a bit busy at the moment
Some people aren't posting because Kovacs took the piss out of them obliquely/otherwise
Because not many people are posting, there isn't much to reply to
Because there isn't much to reply to, lots of people aren't posting
Sadly, it's probably that fucking simple.
Posted by Ringo (Member # 47) on :
I'm not posting because about 90% of the stuff posted on here nowadays doesn't interest me, unlike on the MK Cruise forum which, unsurprisingly, keeps me far more interested.
Posted by saltrock (Member # 622) on :
Well, I quite like it here. Actually.
I guess sometimes though, there just isn't much to say.
Posted by jonesy999 (Member # 5) on :
I liked your post Benway. It was pretty. But I'm not sure you're right. Could it not be that the veil of involvement is what clouds an individual's reason when it comes to reflecting on the state of the boards? I mean, when one is posting regularly, contributing to the debates, putting their fiction out there, batting one line chate posts over the net, they feel part of something and they view that something through rose tinted wraparounds. There was just as much chate during every period you eloquently refer to in your Post Fist as there is now. The only difference being, back then you were more involved in the chateing.
There's been at least one late night drunken chate thread in the last month. I read it and shook my head. Is this what the boards have come to? The answer is yes but, equally, it's where they've come from and where they'll continue to go. The drunken threads of internet chate I participated in myself were equally banal. I just thought they weren't because I was inside them.
I agree it seems quieter in here. I don't think there are the numbers there once were, and there are individual posters whose contributions I miss, but I don't think 'standards' are any lower or higher than they ever were. That conclusion didn't come easily to me. I've popped in and lurked for an hour here and there, reading threads wondering why they aren't amusing me any more. I've read sprawling 200 post looms which spiderweb in a dozen directions of meandering online thought and wondered "Why am I reading this?" "Why the hell are they writing this?" "Why isn't it like it used to be?" The answer to the last question has to be me, my involvement. I'm the only variable, and I didn't bring that much to the party so I suppose it must come down to a sense of belonging and being involved.
I don't know if it's vanity or perception but if a person isn't involved with the boards on a regular basis then I don't think they 'get it'. I'm not casting aspersions about cliquiness or exclusivity; I just think it's impossible to evaluate the boards from an objective perspective. Right lurkers?
[ 24.11.2004, 08:58: Message edited by: jonesy999 ]
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
I am the second-best all-round, long-term contributor to these boards and much of what has been suggested following Benway's post is true:
Seethru's standard of posts was not stellar by any means, but it did feel more "exciting", "intense" and "important", perhaps because, as Benway says, the very idea of engaging with people -- attractive, professional, intelligent people a bit like yourself, who turned out to live pretty near you and have the same cultural tastes -- while remaining teasingly, intriguingly anonymous and fluid in your projected identity (if you chose it) was sexy and new per se. Four years later, with every semi-literate schoolkid and mundane mousewife online, the concept of a forum like this is unremarkable. At the time, the very means of communication, and the idea of making connections through it, was fascinating in itself.
Of course Louche is right -- fewer posts means fewer people post, which means fewer posts.
It can't be true that anyone is staying off the boards because they feel I slighted them, though. I radiate positive energy on here, and most of what I get in return is sniping and bad attitude. When I don't post for a while because I am sick of exposing myself to such negativity, the board traffic drops by about 20% and its quality by around 30%. That's why the boards have been particularly shit during Monday and Tuesday of this week.
Posted by Neurotic Cat (Member # 756) on :
Just wanted to say I been lurking and reading TMO for quite a while. It is pretty intidmidating but I liked Benways post and felt compelled to show myself.
Perhaps if there are any other fellow lurkers around, they might also reveal themselves therefore bringing some new mysterious identities on the boards for the regs to play with?
I'm open to questions or comments so feel free! Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
I remember walking downstairs and saying to my father ‘Dad, I’m bored’ and he said ‘I’m Dad, pleased to meet you Bored’ and I said ‘No Dad, I am reeeeeeally bored’ and he said ‘Well me ol mucker
you need to make your own entertainment’
Posted by Uber Trick (Member # 456) on :
quote:Originally posted by kovacs: When I don't post for a while because I am sick of exposing myself to such negativity, the board traffic drops by about 20% and its quality by around 30%. That's why the boards have been particularly shit during Monday and Tuesday of this week.
I also didn't post on Monday and Tuesday though, how does that work?
[ 24.11.2004, 09:16: Message edited by: Uber Trick ]
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
quote:Originally posted by Neurotic Cat: Just wanted to say I been lurking and reading TMO for quite a while. It is pretty intidmidating but I liked Benways post and felt compelled to show myself.
Hello Neurotic Cat. There used to be a neurotic cat who came band visited my girlfriend and I. We called her Pulbrook, and she would tentatively creep up through the patio doors and snoop nervously round the flat. If you made any sudden movements around her, she'd dart away, and run up the garden wall, and then crouch and watch from a distance, until she was sure everything had calmed down. Then she'd do the same thing again. Pulbrook used to enjoy cheese, and she was also partial to chicken. Once she'd been fed, she'd sit on my girlfriend's lap and watch The O.C. Then my girlfriend moved out and the cat stopped coming round. I don't think she liked me that much and anyway she was hit by a car and died.
Posted by Dr. Benway (Member # 20) on :
alright neurotic cat?
Posted by Vogon Poetess (Member # 164) on :
Perhaps she died from the shame of having such a stupid name.
Neurotic Cat: do you think there are any styles of posting that are conspicuously absent from the board?
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
quote:Originally posted by Uber Trick: I also didn't post on Monday and Tuesday though, how does that work?
Records show that the forum was on 42% during the 22nd and 23rd of November. Your influence on the boards, Uber, has been estimated at an average 6%. It is for you to decide whether TMO would have been on 48% or 36% with your contribution over Monday and Tuesday.
Don't feel bad, it took me ages to do that maths.
Posted by Neurotic Cat (Member # 756) on :
Thats a sad story Thorn!
Knowing most blokes attitude to cats (blokes I've met anyway) I can only imagine you didnt send out the right vibes? Cats are pretty intuitive when they sense a kick up the arse comin!
Hey Benway!
In answer to Vogon: Hey! I dont think its any particular style of posting thats missing? Just new contributers. Like you say once you've met the the majority its harder to come up with Q's that people can really get their teeth into. I also agree with the anonymity (sp?)thing too.
I'd like to turn the Q round if thats ok?
Do you guys think there are any particular posting styles that are missing?
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
I would like "Haus" off Barbelith on here. He is one of the only people online more clever than me. NB. it also took me an embarrassingly long time to craft that last sentence.
I'd also like to see big-mouthed, blustering, domineering but dim people like RedBlond and TJM from Handbag on here, just to see how long they last. That would be only temporarily entertaining, but there are a few others I could suggest as replacements.
Posted by Dr. Benway (Member # 20) on :
Yes, somebody with strong yet utterly incorrect views, in order to help maintain a constantly re-enforced collective morality. Also, some kind of butlins red-coat, with unending cheeriness and energy. An enabler.
Posted by damo (Member # 722) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dr. Benway: Yes, somebody with strong yet utterly incorrect views, in order to help maintain a constantly re-enforced collective morality.
we had one. he left. remember? he was a nazi?
Posted by Louche (Member # 450) on :
Jesus, Kovacs, is it neccessary to be quite so self-deprecating?
Posted by Roy (Member # 705) on :
quote: we had one. he left. remember? he was a nazi?
Have you got a phone number?
Edit: For him. I'm not on the pull
[ 24.11.2004, 10:10: Message edited by: Roy ]
Posted by turbo (Member # 593) on :
I used to really enjoy reading the threads on TMO and joining in the discussions. Sometimes you'd go away for an hour or two and come back to several new pages of posts. Now I pop my head round the door occasionally and see what the active topics are. When you see there have been a mere handful of posts since the last time you popped in, it's not particularly inspirational and doesn't motivate me to post. I just don't see why it's necessary to analyse the lull each and every time one occurs. I'm sure SeeThru was the bees knees, but things change.
It's as if SeeThru was the amazing ex who left and the new partner is just not quite as great as the memories of the ex. Thing is, it's not necessary to go for relationship counselling each time you're not communicating that well - it's just a different relationship. Get used to it, because SeeThru has long since got married and had kids and isn't coming back.
Posted by squeegy (Member # 136) on :
quote:Originally posted by Thorn Davis: I don't think she liked me that much and anyway she was hit by a car and died.
Your girlfriend or the cat?
ANYWAY... I have been away from the moon for more than 2 years. I expected it to be very different when I returned a few months ago but was pleasantly surprised to see most of the old faces still around.
After spending a few months reading the threads I have noticed that some of you have really changed (haha) your Online Personaand the way you write. Thorn used to be much nastier (and I thought funnier) than he is today. VP used to post less and Snorton used to post more. Jonesy would reply to everything. I can only assume that this change has come about because you know each other better IRL. Kovacs and Ben havnt changed a bit.
But another thing that hasnt changed is that we are all still spending half the time complaining that the post quality isnt what it used to be and blah blah blah. Then someone starts a thread that goes on for a few pages, becomes drunken chate and fizzles out. A week will go by with nothing. A "Whats Happening to the Board" thread will start and so the cycle continues. TMO wouldnt be TMO without neurotic worry over the State of the Board.
Posted by jonesy999 (Member # 5) on :
I never responded to everything. Really. I never did.
Posted by squeegy (Member # 136) on :
Yeah and next you'll be telling me Benway isn't an accountant.
Posted by Roy (Member # 705) on :
Didn't we do all this last week?
Posted by Bamba (Member # 330) on :
quote:Originally posted by turbo: Get used to it, because SeeThru has long since got married and had kids and isn't coming back.
Actually, if we're using that metaphor, SeeThru died suddenly in a car accident and even though we're in a new and fullfilling relationship sometime we sneak back to SeeThru's graveside and shed a quiet tear, mentally lamenting that nothing will ever be as good again now it's gone. We pull ourselves together though and return home to our current partner, putting a brave face on things and lying about where we've been.
Posted by squeegy (Member # 136) on :
quote:Originally posted by Roy: Didn't we do all this last week?
Aye, expect to see it next week too.
Posted by The Truth (Member # 755) on :
I think the style that is obviously missing from the boards is that of a middle aged woman pretending that they're still 21, and trying to emulate the style of their sister and failing to do it well at all.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
Posted by London (Member # 29) on :
No: what's missing is for a regular to register under a different username, then turn up and say all the things they're too chickenshit to post under their real identity. How could we possibly have forgotten!
Posted by damo (Member # 722) on :
fuck me.
Posted by Bandy (Member # 12) on :
quote:Originally posted by jonesy999: I never responded to everything. Really. I never did.
quote:Originally posted by squeegy : Yeah and next you'll be telling me Benway isn't an accountant.
Heh. And Thaun has the nerve to call me a 'third rate poster'. My offhand witticisms fucking made this place. :anger:
edit: However my poor typing and bad command of our language mean that i'm sure nobody would miss me if i left tomorrow.
edit 2: christ.
[ 24.11.2004, 11:03: Message edited by: Bandy ]
Posted by I am not... (Member # 25) on :
I think Harlequin was an asset to the boards.
Posted by philomel (Member # 586) on :
Does anyone use 'middle aged' any more? I thought it was a dead concept.
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
quote:Originally posted by squeegy: Thorn used to be much nastier (and I thought funnier) than he is today.
The thing is, most of the people (not all) that really[/i] got my back up aren't here anymore. In fact some of them left because of me, which wasn't really a great thing for everyone else. But I don't think it's true that I was that much nastier - if it makes you happy, I know a couple of people have been genuinely upset by comments I made in the past six months. I know this because I had apologise to them at meats.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
quote:Originally posted by Thorn Davis: I know a couple of people have been genuinely upset by comments I made in the past six months. I know this because I had apologise to them at meats.
There's an easy way around this - don't go to meats. Posted by Sidney (Member # 399) on :
Maybe we could ask Darryn to out the more regular username used by 'The Truth' - that would be fun!
Posted by Roy (Member # 705) on :
I think The Truth should post some more weird shit.
That makes it sounds like I was TT, but I'm not, and that's the truth.
[ 24.11.2004, 11:30: Message edited by: Roy ]
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sidney: Maybe we could ask Darryn to out the more regular username used by 'The Truth' - that would be fun!
At least wait for a few more posters to get roasted, so everyone knows which side to choose when the revelation takes place.
Posted by squeegy (Member # 136) on :
quote:Originally posted by Bandy: Heh. And Thaun has the nerve to call me a 'third rate poster'. My offhand witticisms fucking made this place. :anger:
quote:Originally posted by Bandy: They let Croydon have a library? Blimey.
Posted by I am not... (Member # 25) on :
Well it's not me, I don't think what The Truth wrote is true either. Good username though and refreshing opening gambit.
Posted by Darryn.R (Member # 1) on :
Dunno who they are Sidness...
What we need is a frisson of sexual tension, that never ends badly does it ?
Posted by Bandy (Member # 12) on :
Note 'made' rather than 'make'. All I ask is a little respect for my previous work. A little bit like Ron Atkinson in that respect. Except without the racism. Or the coat.
Posted by Louche (Member # 450) on :
quote:Originally posted by I am not...: I don't think what The Truth wrote is true either.
Well, it's blatantly a nasty little piece of venom rather than true, innit. I was going to comment that I have never been genuinely upset by anything levelled at me on TMO, but then, I've never had anything like that levelled at me on TMO.
Posted by London (Member # 29) on :
quote:Originally posted by Darryn.R: What we need is a frisson of sexual tension, that never ends badly does it ?
Might just fizzle out though, like Louche and Thorn. What a waste of time that was.
[ 24.11.2004, 11:37: Message edited by: London ]
Posted by Louche (Member # 450) on :
Incidentally, it's vastly more fun when getting a roasting from Bamba to pretend to retreat into hurt silence and cackle a lot as you imagine him tying himself in knots of guilty shame all afternoon.
Posted by sabian (Member # 6) on :
Still have no dialtone at home so this is a fleeting message...
quote:More people than you'd think have had a piece of the action. And there's been more action than you think. Take what you know, and double it, and you might be getting close to appreciating the full scale of the love-in that was TMO. If you haven't woken up next to a forumite, then you know somebody who has.
I knew I wasn't in the 'in-crowd'... I'm a pre-novemberist lurker, december 8th member, and I ain't never had a love in with a SeeThru/TMO member.
I suck. You suck.
Posted by Vogon Poetess (Member # 164) on :
He doesn't get guilty though, does he? The ensuing silence only feeds his exulting sense of victory, as he changes the colour of another name in his RAGE VICTIMS spreadsheet to "defeated beige".
Posted by jonesy999 (Member # 5) on :
Does it still take a day or so to register a new username on TMO?
Posted by Ringo (Member # 47) on :
I mostly stopped posting/going to meets when I ran out of women to sleep with.
Posted by jonesy999 (Member # 5) on :
I was going to post something similar: don't most people join bulletin boards to get laid?
Posted by squirrelandgman (Member # 201) on :
People called The Truth always come on to internet forums and start slating all and sundry. It is very predictable.
It would be better if they came on and actually told the truth. Like, erm, I once, aged 11, shat my pants walking home and had to go and wipe my arse on the train enbankment with a big leaf.
People might be interested in that.
Posted by Sidney (Member # 399) on :
quote:Originally posted by Vogon Poetess: He doesn't get guilty though, does he? The ensuing silence only feeds his exulting sense of victory, as he changes the colour of another name in his RAGE VICTIMS spreadsheet to "defeated beige".
lol. I would like to think of Bamba studying a colour chart and thinking things like "hmmmm, indignant puce? Heh, or retracted mustard maybe! Hang on - crushed umber! Yes, that's the fellow!"
Posted by Ringo (Member # 47) on :
quote:Originally posted by jonesy999: I was going to post something similar: don't most people join bulletin boards to get laid?
Maybe not necessaraly to get laid, but there's certainly the element of titillation/intrigue that must draw a lot of people into it. People who probably have no idea about this underlying motive.
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
I too have a shit-my-pants story, but I feel it will be overshadowed by your comedy use of a leaf.
Posted by Sidney (Member # 399) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ringo: I mostly stopped posting/going to meets when I ran out of women to sleep with.
Cuh, thanks Ringo.
Mind you, I'm guessing that I'm the sort of poster that The Truth would accuse of being middle aged so fair play to you, Ringers.
Posted by Ringo (Member # 47) on :
I would have gladly slept with you, were it not for the fact you were married. Not that that always stopped me, but you're a nice person and deserve a bit of respect.
Posted by I am not... (Member # 25) on :
35 is Middle aged though in't it?
Posted by Vogon Poetess (Member # 164) on :
quote:Originally posted by New Way Of Decay: I too have a shit-my-pants story, but I feel it will be overshadowed by your comedy use of a leaf.
I've got TWO; one involving wiping usage of a bobble hat (not belonging to me), and one involving city centre defecation.
Posted by Louche (Member # 450) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sidney: I would like to think of Bamba studying a colour chart and thinking things like "hmmmm, indignant puce? Heh, or retracted mustard maybe! Hang on - crushed umber! Yes, that's the fellow!"
Bamba's gay???????????
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
quote:Originally posted by Vogon Poetess: one involving wiping usage of a bobble hat (not belonging to me)
Please tell us that the hat was accidentally worn afterwards.
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
quote:Originally posted by Vogon Poetess: I've got TWO; one involving wiping usage of a bobble hat (not belonging to me), and one involving city centre defecation.
I'll trade you the 'city centre' one for a 'I hung the shitty pants on the door handle' story.
Posted by Roy (Member # 705) on :
I've got one that will end in the line "..and my brother just sat there, silent, with my shit all over his face."
Posted by saltrock (Member # 622) on :
Do wee stories count too?
ETA: As in bodily fluids, not small scottish ones.
[ 24.11.2004, 12:01: Message edited by: saltrock ]
Posted by Sidney (Member # 399) on :
quote:Originally posted by I am not...: 35 is Middle aged though in't it?
No...no...it's not!!! It's kind of teetering on the brink of being middle aged and clutching at the phrase "in your thirties" for at least another half decade.
Is that a Dannimac I spy in my wardrobe? God help me.
Also - lol, you made me remember something that Lowlevel once posted. He worked out my age and posted something like;
[flirt]you don't look middle aged [/flirt]
The flirt brackets were what made me lol.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
quote:Originally posted by New Way Of Decay: I'll trade you the 'city centre' one for a 'I hung the shitty pants on the door handle' story.
Now I'm imagining a Panini Sticker Book of unfortunate toilet-related accidents.
Kids in playground trying to complete their book:
Pissing on a train seat? GOT Crapping in full view of a group of builders? GOT Shitting in a hat, then wearing it? (this one's a shiny) NEED! Posted by Sidney (Member # 399) on :
quote:Originally posted by saltrock: Do wee stories count too?
I hope so. I once made my sister wee out of her bedroom window.
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
quote:Originally posted by saltrock: Do wee stories count too?
Only if the force of the spray was enough to make the wee-er, fly up into the atmosphere, like Bond in Thunderball.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sidney: I once made my sister wee out of her bedroom window.
What was wrong with her urethra?
Posted by squirrelandgman (Member # 201) on :
I reckon, if you looked at my post history, scat-istically I would have moved more threads on to bodily functions than most.
This is why I am invalubale. See?
Posted by Bamba (Member # 330) on :
quote:Originally posted by Louche: Incidentally, it's vastly more fun when getting a roasting from Bamba to pretend to retreat into hurt silence and cackle a lot as you imagine him tying himself in knots of guilty shame all afternoon.
Note to self: Ensure Louche ends up 'enjoying' next Saturday night in the company of toothless, tracksuit wearing knuckle-draggers while everyone else meets up in a normal pub. Philomel unfortunate collateral damage but situation can't be helped. Try not to feel guilty later. Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
This thread didn't take long to go from familiar-but-nevertheless-interesting to utterly worthless, did it?
The Truth is Fish again, of course... and perhaps there was some truth in his comment, although I admit I couldn't quite tell if he meant Uber Trick or London. Or both!
It's a funny thing but State of the Boards threads, though now so ridiculously frequent that they'll soon, statistically, dominate actual/other board comment, in a sort of mega-meta-forum, are kind of fun in their bitterness and melancholy. It's also interesting that we have so many here, whereas The Cuban Lounge, which is even more dead and insular -- such a dull place I haven't even bothered registering there -- never seems to have these "what went wrong" hand-wringing sessions, and happily continues, content in its lot, hosting chats between Chocolatebuns and Space Cowboy.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
quote:Originally posted by Bamba: Note to self: Ensure Louche ends up 'enjoying' next Saturday night in the company of toothless, tracksuit wearing knuckle-draggers while everyone else meets up in a normal pub.[/i]
Is everyone else staying south of the border? Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
Krist!
Posted by London (Member # 29) on :
I'm assuming that the first part of the the Truth's convoluted sentence refers to me, and the second to Uber Trick.
quote:Originally posted by The Truth: ...trying to emulate the style of their sister and failing to do it well at all.
I don't think it's fair to say UberTrick tries to emulate me - she's always been pretty aware of being considered 'London's sister' before anything else, and I think she tries to get away from that. She's much chattier than I ever was (and nicer), and interacts online with a wider range of people than I ever did, while, in the main, avoiding fights. If there's any resemblance between our posting styles that would presumably be as a result of similar upbringings, current social groups and a shared vocabulary rather than anybody trying to emulate anybody else.
quote:Originally posted by The Truth: I think the style that is obviously missing from the boards is that of a middle aged woman pretending that they're still 21...
As for the first part of the sentence, it seems to be aping something Kovacs said about a year ago, when I made a reference to taking drugs and going to see a band - so top marks for originality there. 'The Truth' says the board misses the character of a middle-aged woman pretending to be 21. I'm sorry that I can no longer supply that for everybody. These days I'm more concerned with my imending flat purchase, mini-cash ISA, and stakeholder pension than where the next vial of ketamine or slim-hipped 23-year-old boy is coming from. I understand that the board has its needs - and if that need is for a middle-aged woman pretending to be 21, then so be it - but, after nearly four years' service, I can no longer accommodate this need as I once did. I apologise. But things have changed.
And if The Truth is really Fish? That's just fucking weak.
Also, I am younger than Kovacs. And he reads comics! Posted by froopyscot (Member # 178) on :
I'd frankly rather dispense with the state of the boards whimpering and get on with just, well, posting about other stuff.
That said, I can appreciate taking a step back for retrospection on occasion. In this case, I observe:
The notion of prenovemberist is dead. Not that it really ever applied to me, of course, as I happened upon Seethru of my own path, wholly unrelated to Attachments.
News That's Surprising To No-one™: The number of users would drop by half if we were to eliminate other incarnations of kovacs and fish.
Everyone in the 'in crowd' has had sex with at least one other forumite. At this stage, I'm not sure whether that means I'm in or out.
A 'serious' discussion about the state of the forum degenerated quickly to a discussion of people weeing out of windows. This again comes as a surprise to no-one.
Posted by Uber Trick (Member # 456) on :
No no no - read it again:
quote:Originally posted by The Truth: I think the style that is obviously missing from the boards is that of a middle aged woman pretending that they're still 21, and trying to emulate the style of their sister and failing to do it well at all.
I don't think the Truth is referring to me and London at all because it's talking about an older woman trying to emulate a younger sister and London doesn't do that, I think it's a misplaced comma.
I think the Truth is a) a poor troll or b) a middle aged woman who tries to copy the style of her 21 year old younger sister, but fails. Believe it or not, other cases of "sisters" have been reported.
Meh, whatevs.
[ 24.11.2004, 13:14: Message edited by: Uber Trick ]
Posted by fish (Member # 22) on :
Although I admit that I was prone to the occasional barbed comment whilst in the guise of Colin or Sweet, neither were created to be annonymous logins from which to launch nasty attacks. They were, with limited success, attempts to create different "characters" to play around with on the boards and were only intended as a bit of fun (perhaps only for me).
Creating an alter-ego simply to attack someone just isn't my style. Added to which, given the history (and I'd like to think it is history by now) of tension between myself and london, it would be a pretty stupid move to launch straight into an attack on her in a first post as a troll.
Also, FWIW, I didn't think that The Truth's post made much sense as I can't think of any way in which the two sisters are similar in either style or content of posts.
I can understand the knee-jerk response troll=fish, but it's becoming a little tired. Especially since so much time has lapsed since I gave much of a damn about the boards either way.
Posted by London (Member # 29) on :
It's definitely history. We sorted that shit ages ago.
Posted by jnhoj (Member # 286) on :
someone sleep with me! im young ! single ! I can't post for shit, but hey! t
R...ringo? Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
quote:Originally posted by Uber Trick: No no no - read it again:
quote:Originally posted by The Truth: I think the style that is obviously missing from the boards is that of a middle aged woman pretending that they're still 21, and trying to emulate the style of their sister and failing to do it well at all.
I don't think the Truth is referring to me and London at all because it's talking about an older woman trying to emulate a younger sister and London doesn't do that, I think it's a misplaced comma.
No, I think you have misread this. It isn't saying that by trying to emulate the style of their sister, they're pretending to be 21 -- which would indicate a younger sister. It is, I think, treating those two "sins" as separate.
It's confusing because if anything, if someone was being unkind, they would say that London perhaps projected a persona, or lived a lifestyle, younger than her actual age -- but Uber Trick who tried to emulate London's posts. This second point is a bit dubious but the reverse, London trying to emulate Uber Trick, certainly isn't true.
Sorry Fish for my guess, which was wrong and perhaps insulting to you. I thought it was a good bet. However, whoever The Truth is surely has to have a relatively long-term view of the boards, because London has barely posted over the last year. To accuse Uber of trying to chief her sister's style, you'd have to have read London's posts...which means The Truth must have been lurking since 2001!
Anyway it's nice to see London again on the boards! I am grateful to The Truth for drawing her out. I don't know whether to be amused or baffled by the fact that nobody picked me up on all the self-serving invention I posted on page 1 and the abrasive comments more immediately above. I guess people are just used to it.
Posted by Uber Trick (Member # 456) on :
It's all bollocks kovacs, we all know that. I still don't see what you're trying to say, but perhaps I just don't care enough. I don't try to ape London and like I said she doesn't try to ape me, any similarities in our styles would be for the reasons she stated. Trying to induce paranoia in either side just ain't gonna work. I personally don't believe it to be a troll going for Amp or me whichever way you look at it and whatever spin you put on it.
eta: sorry, correction, I do see what you are trying to say but I don't agree, and also the "inducing paranoia" comment was a general comment and not just aimed at kovacs.
[ 24.11.2004, 15:17: Message edited by: Uber Trick ]
Posted by Bamba (Member # 330) on :
quote:Originally posted by kovacs: I don't know whether to be amused or baffled by the fact that nobody picked me up on all the self-serving invention I posted on page 1 and the abrasive comments more immediately above. I guess people are just used to it.
I thought for a minute about commenting on your anti-TCL stuff if that helps? I've realised that it's a complete waste of time though in general so I took a deep breath and left it. Except for this explanation of course which perhaps makes a liar of me.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
quote:Originally posted by Uber Trick: It's all bollocks kovacs, we all know that. I still don't see what you're trying to say, but perhaps I just don't care enough. I don't try to ape London and like I said she doesn't try to ape me, any similarities in our styles would be for the reasons she stated. Trying to induce paranoia in either side just ain't gonna work. I personally don't believe it to be a troll going for Amp or me whichever way you look at it and whatever spin you put on it.
Sometimes I think you are reading the same posts as me but upside down in a mirror. You come up with a response that just stuns me in how far it is from my understanding of what I or others wrote. Not to say that your interpretation is wrong, but it's often bafflingly different from mine and you seem to come out of left field accusing me of things I never dreamed I was doing.
I think it's entirely obvious that The Truth meant to insult you and/or London, and if you disagree then I do wonder what other pair of sisters you could possibly think that post was referring to. I'm not saying it was to stir paranoia: I think it was just an insult disguised as "straight-talking".
It's regrettable that we have given so much time to this newbie though, who obviously only really wanted to be malicious.
And in part I only slag off TCL so somebody will respond and explain why it's still going at all. That nobody does unfortunately confirms my poor opinion of it as a discussion board -- but then, who is sadder! the people posting on it, who probably do get some pleasure from it as a community, or me, reading it as "Guest" without any reward.
Posted by Uber Trick (Member # 456) on :
Sorry, I'm working on innocent until proven guilty, perhaps that's just my naivity? If The Truth is a newbie who has a sister and all that like I said then they should come out and say it.
If it's someone trying to be mean to London and / or me it was poor and didn't make sense and to be honest I would be hard pressed to think of someone who would bear that kind of a grudge, not least because of the time implications which you stated. Which is why I find this to be highly unlikely.
I'm not quite sure exactly what you think I accused you of this time as I specifically edited my post to make it clear that I wasn't having a pop at you but was making a general comment to everyone or anyone who might want to induce paranoia for whatever reason.
But yes, I do often look at things differently from other people and so far this has taken me a long way in my career and has not been a bad thing! But I appreciate it may be confusing for others to be presented with an alternate view on something they saw as cut and dried. Alternate but not necessarily wrong.
Finally, I agree, way to much time has been spent on this!
[ 24.11.2004, 18:05: Message edited by: Uber Trick ]
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
I deliberately ignored your edited addition, Uber, so I would have something to say. That's how desperate I have become to KEEP THE BOARDS GOING. Posted by Uber Trick (Member # 456) on :
O kovacs Posted by jnhoj (Member # 286) on :
no ones asid it yet so INDIANNA JONES
or woteva.
drunk. ho ho ho ;D
Posted by jnhoj (Member # 286) on :
I thought it was os truth was aimed at london /ubertrick but kind of missed the mark as id never considerred uber qas imitating london. all i know of london is zs at one piont, lots of zs.
Posted by froopyscot (Member # 178) on :
quote:Originally posted by jnhoj: drunk. ho ho ho ;D
TAG!! Posted by Samuelnorton (Member # 48) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ringo: I mostly stopped posting/going to meets when I ran out of women to sleep with.
I mostly stopped posting/going to meets when I finally found a woman to sleep with on a more permanent basis.
Posted by Samuelnorton (Member # 48) on :
The boards are dying because people have run out of interesting things to say. That is, of course, if they haven't said it three times already. I count myself among these people. I must have started or contributed to at least two "what's on my desk" threads or something equally banal.
It's just dull. Even Ben and I can't last more than a few paragraphs these days. At the beginning smacking huge essays across the proverbial net was fun, but now it has become a time-consuming chore. I know, for when I saw an interesting thread the other week (or was it month?) I considered posting, but then thought of it as an hour of my life with which I could something infinitely more interesting. Like pull the weeds from the front garden.
There have been far too many meets. People know each other so well, and in spite of (and in some cases because of) the drips of new blood now and then, the air is stale. As is the tone of this post, of course.
Posted by Vogon Poetess (Member # 164) on :
Perhaps we should designate a small number of people who are never allowed to go to meats and see the human face of Team Oh. They can therefore post indiscriminate vitriol without fear of being nasty to "real live people".
Posted by Louche (Member # 450) on :
quote:Originally posted by kovacs: I don't know whether to be amused or baffled by the fact that nobody picked me up on all the self-serving invention I posted on page 1 and the abrasive comments more immediately above. I guess people are just used to it.
Well, yeah, they are. I take about as much notice of your arrogant self-aggrandising as I'm sure you do of my nighilistic maundering. Is just Kovacs. You can't seriously have expected some form of response to 'I'm the second best poster on the boards' can you? What did you want? A long, involved, articulately argued, empirically evidenced discussion about who sits where in the uncomfortable echelons of the TMO hierarchy?
Incidentally, and I ask this in all seriousness, what do you want? And this question goes out to all those who feel that there are issues with the state of the boards. State of the boards threads hark back with rosy tinted nostalgia days of yore but never quite precisely state what the promise of those days of yore was made of. What three perfect threads would make TMO your acme, omega and perefction? It's not really good enough to complain that everything degenerates to chate or that Bamba and I having a go at each other is routine. What wouldn't be routine? What would tickle your synapses and make you glad to be here?
As for what is TCL for, you're a bright boy, Kovacs, so I find it difficult to imagine that you haven't worked that one out.
Posted by I am not... (Member # 25) on :
Alright V?
Posted by Vogon Poetess (Member # 164) on :
I think that what we have is fine, we just need a bit more of it.
Our employers need to be made to understand this, so as to reschedule our workloads accordingly.
Posted by I am not... (Member # 25) on :
To hark back to Dr. Benway's excellent first post. I remember when Seethru was exciting (to me, at least) then a lot of the relatively newer people such as Dr. Benway and Quantum Fish went to their first meat... and J999 and QFish did that excellent radio DJ type thread... and you could almost smell the anticipation through your monitor... and the meat seemed (from an outsiders view) to be a massive success... and the next few days after that the boards turned to incrowd chat... and there was a backlash... and the board was pronounced to be shit and ruined.
But then after that there were good threads and bad threads and mediocre threads...
I don't think this board is ruined... I don't think that everything that can be said has been said... I still talk about new stuff to my RL friends who I have known for much longer than I have been posting on bulletin boards. There are still good posters here.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
quote:Originally posted by Louche: Well, yeah, they are. I take about as much notice of your arrogant self-aggrandising as I'm sure you do of my nighilistic maundering. Is just Kovacs.
Yeah, I agree with this: I can see it is true.
quote:You can't seriously have expected some form of response to 'I'm the second best poster on the boards' can you?
The second-best all-round long-term poster, I think it was. And I think that is true. It's not even arrogant! it is very humble, for me.
Well, I expected a kind of raised-eyebrow O, that kovacs response, but then that doesn't really show up on the boards.
quote: State of the boards threads hark back with rosy tinted nostalgia days of yore but never quite precisely state what the promise of those days of yore was made of. What three perfect threads would make TMO your acme, omega and perefction?
That's a good question and could even make a good new thread. But I did state in some detail what I thought made Seethru (and I suppose also a good stretch of TMO) seem different. That is, the novelty and excitement of the very concept and context motivated and thrilled people into putting a lot of energy into the boards, which in turn kept up a high level of intensity and gravity, pulling people back. I genuinely think the novel idea of this type of communication and this type of community had a lot to do with it.
quote:As for what is TCL for, you're a bright boy, Kovacs, so I find it difficult to imagine that you haven't worked that one out.
Thanks! But it is an extremely small, quiet community, and most of you also seem to post elsewhere, so it remains an oddity to me.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
quote:Originally posted by Vogon Poetess: I think that what we have is fine, we just need a bit more of it.
*churtle*
Posted by Darryn.R (Member # 1) on :
Perhaps an internet forum is the 'java' chat room of the future ? Who remembers when they were full, busy and exciting ??
I agree with Kovacs that when this all began four or so years ago it was new, it had a genuine feeling of the future about it, a new communication medium for the cyber savvy to explore and merge minds in.
As he says now the net is full of every Tom, Dick and Harry posting and plastering whatever they feel fit across forums and websites the world over.
I remember when 70% of the posts on B3ta were good quality Photoshop montages or well thought through animated gags - Now for each worthwhile picture and joke there’s at least 20 cut'n'shunt pictures of George Bush fisting Osama or a badly drawn cock in MS Paint.
I guess the same applies here to a certain extent. Once you've been through as many discussions as there have been here, once you've written all you can think to write the forum will fall into 'in jokes, one liners and post meet bitching' but that’s not such a bad thing is it ?
Those of you who have stuck with TMO are in a relationship with it now; it’s your regular girlfriend/boyfriend who you've been with for years, who knows and understands you, who loves you for who you are..
Ok, so its not hot new guy from accounts or that sexy blonde barmaid from the pub who you fantasize about, the one you wish would fly you to the extreme heights of passion and fuck you and abuse you till you die of ecstasy but it is here for you like a comfy sweater or a nice warm hug from your mum when you finally come in from playing in the cold.
And like any relationship its up to you to make it work, either that or leave, make a fresh start and never look back, not even for the sake of the children and don't come a visiting every time you feel a little low and need a pick me up or a kind word because once you've broken up with us I don't think we could take it...
So just come here and give us a kiss - I've put your slippers on the radiator and your dinners in the oven.
And I'm always here for you because I love you all.
[ 25.11.2004, 05:46: Message edited by: Darryn.R ]
Posted by dang65 (Member # 102) on :
quote:Originally posted by Uber Trick:
quote:Originally posted by The Truth: I think the style that is obviously missing from the boards is that of a middle aged woman pretending that they're still 21, and trying to emulate the style of their sister and failing to do it well at all.
I think the Truth is [...] b) a middle aged woman who tries to copy the style of her 21 year old younger sister, but fails.
In my innocence I actually read The Truth's post in this way myself. I thought The Truth was a newbie who was describing herself and offering to fill the gaping hole made by this missing style of poster.
I imagine the middle-aged, but conscientiously hip, Truth reading through subsequent posts and going, What are those wicked dudes rapping about in that there 'hood, m9? I think I need a nice cup of tea with a drop of gin.
On another note... I've joined other boards around the WobWib, mainly music or cycling related, and been pleased to find myself amongst interesting people posting excellent and informed comment, only to find oldbies posting huffy comments about how the place isn't like it used to be.
Things do go stale with familiarity, but remain fresh to newcomers. This is why there are so many revivals of fashion and music amongst the young - because it's the first time they've heard that music or worn those clothes and it seems cool and new to them, while those who lived through it all before just go, Oh Jesus H. God, they've decided to dig up the stinking corpse of the 80s and wave it around again. For example. And then you get called a sad old git.
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
quote:Originally posted by dang65: I thought The Truth was a newbie who was describing herself and offering to fill the gaping hole made by this missing style of poster.
I really wish that this was the case, and that the whole board had accidentally insulted Uber and Lungdung by assuming The Truth was talking about them. That would be really funny.
Posted by Uber Trick (Member # 456) on :
Well, as Oscar Wilde said: The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.
I honestly don't give a fuck, it's just a faceless no-one posting words on the internet. At this stage anyway.
Posted by Dr. Benway (Member # 20) on :
I liked the bit when Paranoid Cat said something.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
I'd like the Truth to tell me the Truth about myself, and see if I agree with it.
Posted by Physic (Member # 195) on :
I can't believe you heartless bastards just ignored Darryn's declaration of love for us all, Darryn despite all the bitching I imagine that pretty much everyone here would agree that TMO has made the last few years far more enjoyable than they would have been otherwise, I mean christ if it wasn't for your hard work in setting up and maintaining this place I might have actually had to become..a productive staff member, it doesn't bear thinking about.
I personally think its wrong to say that the quality isn't there any more, there are still plenty of posters here who can write very well indeed when they put their mind to it, I think the problem is largely a lack of inspiration. I know that the reason I haven't started a thread since I don't know when, is because every time I try to come up with an idea that hasn't been done I draw a blank, it feels like whatever idea I can come up with someone has already done it. The thing which I think is easy to forget, is that although most ideas have probably been done in the past, many of the people posting now wouldn's have been here then. Maybe we should be less afraid to revive ideas which have been done in the past, though obviously it would require a tacit understanding that no amount of 'it was better the last time we did it' would be allowed, as negativity like that is what really threatens the creation of quality threads on this board, negativity and a maudlin pre-occupation with what threads were like back then, when we should be focussing on how we can contribute something meaningful to threads now.
And no the irony of me saying that when these days I probably contribute less than any other person on this board hasn't escaped me, but I do stand by the points above..
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
the glory days!
Posted by sabian (Member # 6) on :
what we need is Turtle back... Cuz, she fancied me and... That's always a good thing.
To all you other whingers... The boards 'died' when you all started chating on Handbag... That cesspool of animated fairies and glittering calligraphy has sucked the marrow out of you and you are now as inane as HappyBunny32!
Posted by Dr. Benway (Member # 20) on :
look at how many active topics there are! My Goodness.
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
Christe, did I really manage somehow to start an 80-poster? Blimey, how the mighty are fallen etc.,
Posted by Dr. Benway (Member # 20) on :
Can you remember what that one was about, h1ppy?
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
Not. A. Clue.
Posted by Dr. Benway (Member # 20) on :
Have you ever had any joy from cross posting?
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
Sounds kinky. Combative rodding. Hmm.
Posted by Samuelnorton (Member # 48) on :
Good stuff Kovacs. I had long forgotten about "The Ivory Tower", a username I shared with the infamous Jones. Do you have a link to that page, mon ami?
Posted by London (Member # 29) on :
I think, in 'Cross Posting Joy', everyone just tried to post posts in rapid succession, with the aim being to post stuff at the same time. Ah, glory days, eh?
Posted by Dr. Benway (Member # 20) on :
Exactly. Now that's quality.
Posted by Dr. Benway (Member # 20) on :
hey, a dp! Haven't done one of them for ages.
[ 25.11.2004, 09:48: Message edited by: Dr. Benway ]
Posted by Neurotic Cat (Member # 756) on :
quote:Posted by Dr Benway: I liked the bit when Paranoid Cat said something.
[BLUSH]Awww gee shucks[/BLUSH]
Apologies I been working!
I'd love to contribute more to the thread but the good ol' days I dont feel qualified to talk about with any authority having only lurked!
Further to Psychics post - Are there any threads which could easily be revived. Things which can be brought up to date and maybe newly contributed to by us newbie scum? Any old favourites that could still work with fresh input?
[ 25.11.2004, 09:54: Message edited by: Neurotic Cat ]
Posted by Dr. Benway (Member # 20) on :
neurotic cat, sorry.
Why not start a thread? What's the worst THAT could happen?*
*Nobody posts on it, ever.
[ 25.11.2004, 10:02: Message edited by: Dr. Benway ]
Posted by I am not... (Member # 25) on :
Nice grooming db.
Posted by sabian (Member # 6) on :
quote:Originally posted by sabian: I'm a pre-novemberist lurker, december 8th member
Christ, I lied, I found Seethru's old board:
quote: Date Registered: 05 November 2000
Posted by Abby (Member # 582) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dr. Benway: hey, a dp! Haven't done one of them for ages.
Oh - I thought that was a clever joke. In that you were cross-posting with yourself, in reference to the cross posting thread...see?...no?...I laughed...
Posted by turbo (Member # 593) on :
quote:Originally posted by kovacs: the glory days!
Yawn...
Posted by I am not... (Member # 25) on :
I think he was being sarcastic.
Posted by jonesy999 (Member # 5) on :
Nice grooming.
Posted by Dr. Benway (Member # 20) on :
Jonesy and I know all about grooming. We've been burned before.
Posted by turbo (Member # 593) on :
quote:Originally posted by jonesy999: Nice grooming.
Who was grooming who exactly?
Posted by I am not... (Member # 25) on :
I never groomed you.
You wanted me to groom you.
Both of you, you both wanted it you little sluts.
Posted by jonesy999 (Member # 5) on :
Enough grooming.
[ 25.11.2004, 11:03: Message edited by: jonesy999 ]
Posted by Dr. Benway (Member # 20) on :
When I say that Jonesy and I know all about it, I don't mean that we try and pick up children on the internet.
Posted by I am not... (Member # 25) on :
lol
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samuelnorton: Good stuff Kovacs. I had long forgotten about "The Ivory Tower", a username I shared with the infamous Jones. Do you have a link to that page, mon ami?
Sorry mein Freund! It was just a screen grab -- one I use in a class on "overflow" and "convergence".
No, "glory days" was not meant as sincere praise.
Posted by I am not... (Member # 25) on :
Look look! a Bride and Groom! Posted by sabian (Member # 6) on :
that's why harley left... He's on honeymoon
Posted by vikram (Member # 98) on :
GAWD!
Listen to yourselves. Ageing rockers. SeeThru got dead and Soph flushed it down the toilet. Deal with it. Santa is a lie, children. Either put Suede on the stereo, smoke a fag, put it out, get wasted and solipstic... or be honest and join the golf club, drink that extra glass of wine at dinner and fucking accept what we are.
Honestly! I was never part of the in crowd, nor have I met anyone in real life who still posts here, but goddamn, I come back, how many years now, even through the months of abuse (largely my own fault), even though I am a million miles away, even though half the inferences and jokes go way over my head, even though I have nothing much to say anymore, even though wonderful Derek is dead, even though you are all have middle aged middle class lovehandles. And you know why?
It's comfortable, it's warm, you are still interesting and intelligent and insightful and all that, even if not quite so vital anymore. Embrace the bourgeois, embrace and submit.
Posted by Helen Back (Member # 649) on :
Not enough women post on here, when they do you either want to;
1/ fuck them
2/ ask them if they are from the handbag
3/ pick up on a typoi
4/ then tell them to fuck off if they don't post something that is TMO.
Even now I am an established user...you you lot still make me cry Posted by Modge (Member # 64) on :
fuckoffkovacs
[ 28.11.2004, 19:22: Message edited by: Modge ]
Posted by froopyscot (Member # 178) on :
quote:Originally posted by Helen Back: Not enough women post on here, when they do you either want to;
1/ fuck them
True enough.
quote: 2/ ask them if they are from the handbag
Fair enough.
quote: 3/ pick up on a typoi
Again- fair enough.
quote: 4/ then tell them to fuck off if they don't post something that is TMO.
Part for the course.
All fair, but unsurprising. Like visiting a chicken coop and complaining about all the clucking, isn't it?
Posted by Octavia (Member # 398) on :
quote:Originally posted by Helen Back: Not enough women post on here
What is "enough"? Do we need quotas and positive discrimination now?
Posted by Roy (Member # 705) on :
quote: Not enough women post on here
I'd like to see ethnic minorities represented better also.
Posted by funkypurplepants (Member # 746) on :
1:Enough for there to be one to everyone who wants a shag. That would be, at least, nearly plenty.
Posted by Octavia (Member # 398) on :
There could be some sort of rota system, perhaps. Then everyone would be guaranteed a go - ooh - once a month perhaps. Who's good at organisation?
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
Not only is VP good at organising stuff, she always complains about how she hasn't had any action since she was 11. The system writes itself!
Posted by Octavia (Member # 398) on :
Come the hour, cometh the woman. Hopefully, anyway.
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
You two have formed some sort of satanic comedy double act. Morecambe and Wise on mescaline, perhaps.
Posted by Octavia (Member # 398) on :
Didn't they used to go to bed together?
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
And now they're dead.
Posted by a_lady (Member # 757) on :
quote:Originally posted by Helen Back: Not enough women post on here
Greetings from the land of love, a real moon with craters of bliss and a sea of tranquility, happiness and smug. This is my home. I am with my Michael. Cumback 69 is alone. Without my Michael. Now I am in your moon, your cold noMichael moon. I am a lady in your land and I have a picture of my Michael in my hand, stroking it. Cumback 69 can only stroke dogs and perhaps cats, although they will probably wee on him, like a tree, like a lamp post or a new rug. He too may stroke his pipe of Cumback penis flesh. But he strokes it with his own hand, not with My Michael's. Ha, this is called gloating. When your moon had many ladies and a Cumback 69 you all played at games of sex and love. 69 Cumback played many times but he tried to take the Michael and I won the big game. Ten points to a lady, no points to him. Yes, he lay on a bed, ready for my Michael, like a World In Action Man. No, he did not get my Michael. Yes, he put me under water and into space but my love is strong and I lived on. He is not here now but I am here. See how I dance. This is the dance of "Ha!"
[ 29.11.2004, 06:31: Message edited by: a_lady ]
Posted by Petite (Member # 539) on :
quote:Originally posted by froopyscot: [QUOTE]Originally posted by Helen Back: [qb] Not enough women post on here, when they do you either want to;
1/ fuck them
True enough.
quote: 2/ ask them if they are from the handbag
Fair enough.
quote: 3/ pick up on a typoi
Again- fair enough.
quote: 4/ then tell them to fuck off if they don't post something that is TMO.
Part for the course.
Do you mean par for the course? Posted by Petite (Member # 539) on :
quote:Originally posted by Helen Back: Not enough women post on here, when they do you either want to;
1/ fuck them
2/ ask them if they are from the handbag
3/ pick up on a typoi
4/ then tell them to fuck off if they don't post something that is TMO.
Even now I am an established user...you you lot still make me cry
Modge: are you saying that Helen Back is Kovacs?
I happen to agree with what Helen says whether she's a real person or Kovacs posting as a jest/intellectual experiment. There are far too many testosterone fuelled threads on here.
Posted by Vogon Poetess (Member # 164) on :
Which threads run on testosterone, out of interest?
Posted by sabian (Member # 6) on :
quote:Originally posted by Petite: Modge: are you saying that Helen Back is Kovacs?
When one doesn't know what's going on, one shouldn't click 'reply'.
quote:Originally posted by Petite: I happen to agree with what Helen says whether she's a real person or Kovacs posting as a jest/intellectual experiment. There are far too many testosterone fuelled threads on here.
Shut the fuck up and make me some breakfast... I've had a busy morning of changing my oil and lifting weights!
Posted by Petite (Member # 539) on :
quote:Originally posted by Vogon Poetess: Which threads run on testosterone, out of interest?
Most of 'em Vogon - I'm talking about the competitive, aggressive, frustrated tone of the posts.
Oh stop it Sabian. I wont be able to sleep tonight what with imagining you stuck beneath a car
[ 29.11.2004, 07:22: Message edited by: Petite ]
Posted by froopyscot (Member # 178) on :
quote:Originally posted by Petite: Do you mean par for the course?
Yeah yeah. It was late, I was tired, what can I say.
Posted by fish (Member # 22) on :
quote:Originally posted by Helen Back: Not enough women post on here, when they do you either want to; 1/ fuck them 2/ ask them if they are from the handbag 3/ pick up on a typoi 4/ then tell them to fuck off if they don't post something that is TMO.
quote:Originally posted by Petite: I happen to agree with what Helen says whether she's a real person or Kovacs posting as a jest/intellectual experiment. There are far too many testosterone fuelled threads on here.
quote:Originally posted by Petite: I'm talking about the competitive, aggressive, frustrated tone of the posts. Oh stop it Sabian. I wont be able to sleep tonight what with imagining you stuck beneath a car
quote:Originally posted by Petite: Part for the course. Do you mean par for the course?
It's exactly these sort of unprovoked, needless and hurtful attacks that stops people posting on here.
Here's a list of your badness
Publicly willing poor little Sabian to be run over???
Laying into Froopy for a mere typo???
Accusing Kovacs of not being a real person??? How hurtful is that! He's got feelings too you know, even if he is really modge!
People like me lurk on the board, think of posting something, but then never hit that ADD REPLY button for fear of just such tandem attacks by people like petite and helen.
I'm going to handbag and i'm never ever coming back!!!!!
Posted by Petite (Member # 539) on :
Now now, I never willed Sabian to be run over, stop putting words into my mouth. I was just imagining him using it for weight lifting.
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
Now you want Sabian to work out? Love a duck!
Insensyetithe!
Posted by Petite (Member # 539) on :
Well if it isn't New Way of Decay with the small secret. Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
It'll make your eyes roll and your tongue loll honey.
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
But usually just lol.
Posted by Petite (Member # 539) on :
quote:Originally posted by New Way Of Decay: But usually just lol.
Don't be so hard on yourself. Good things come in small packages sometimes
I can't believe I am writing this crap. I am only replying because I am very, very bored.
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
If you can't be hard on yourself how can you be hard on anyone else?
Posted by Petite (Member # 539) on :
Ah, so you're one of those people that thinks you should practice being hard on yourself?
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
Yes. I'm a wanker. You're too quick for me.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
Petite, Modge reckons you are "CaramelX" off Handbag but I can't really see it... am I losing my touch?
Posted by ben (Member # 13) on :
Petite is currently appearing in the Cadburys "happiness" advert featuring the four women with chuckling, tiarraed hyena daemons. She plays all four of them.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
Yes it took me a while to cotton on that those sub-70s kids-telly handpuppets were meant to be daemons. (As clearly they are.) Having said that, they are slightly better than those in the National Theatre's HDM.
Posted by Petite (Member # 539) on :
Uh-uh Kovacs I am TJM.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
That's a shame, I wanted you to be "CaramelX" so I could ask you to reply to your thread here and tell me what book you were thinking of. Perhaps you can PM "CaramelX" and ask her.
Posted by sabian (Member # 6) on :
quote:Originally posted by kovacs @ 30-11-2004 00:34 : That's a shame, I wanted you to be "CaramelX" so I could ask you to reply to your thread here and tell me what book you were thinking of. Perhaps you can PM "CaramelX" and ask her.
Reply posted by CaramelX at 30-11-2004 01:12 AM...
That's cool, kovacs can make people post just by willing it.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
What book was it she was thinking of? Please have a look, then post it here.
Posted by philomel (Member # 586) on :
quote:Originally posted by kovacs: Yes it took me a while to cotton on that those sub-70s kids-telly handpuppets were meant to be daemons. (As clearly they are.) Having said that, they are slightly better than those in the National Theatre's HDM.
The daemons in that were excellent and extremely effective. You...you philistine.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
Were they CGI? Then they were rubbish. You would prob have liked it if they were tin cans on strings trailing bits of jumblesale fun-fur, Philomel -- then you could have "used your imagination" more. Cuh! Posted by Abby (Member # 582) on :
I would say it looked pretty shit, but the word 'loins' is used in an apparently unselfconscious way in the description, so who knows.
Oh no, my mistake the word 'hubby' is also used. It is shit.
Posted by philomel (Member # 586) on :
What? The daemons in HDM were marionettes (with actors in black manipulating them, or the characters themselves). Admittedly I was sitting pretty far back and my eyesight (even with contacts) isn't 100%, but they conveyed the character of the individual daemons really well. Sometimes simple things work better.
The daemons in the Cadbury's adverts are shocking.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
The technology behind the "daemons" in the NT's HDM is what's shocking. You could see people walking around carrying them. We have had bluescreen on television for decades, enabling people dressed in coloured bodystockings to be mixed out of an image. That I was sitting in the National Theatre, presumably the best theatre Britain can offer, in 2004, having to "suspend disbelief" and pretend I couldn't see a bunch of stage-hands carrying around constructions of wire and feathers, was aesthetically offensive. Pantalaimon looked like two soft toys once owned by my brother, "White Blanket" and "White Pussy" -- a mangy rag and a shapeless hunk with goggle eyes -- mutated into one sorry creature. I don't pay to go to the theatre and expect to be told to "imagine" that such an Oxfam reject is transforming into a bird, a quirrel, a wolf.
The Cadbury's daemons don't look very convincing but they at least resemble real animals and presumably have some sort of motors controlling their eyes, ears and mouth movements. A bit of money and effort on the part of the National Theatre could have produced creatures of this, more acceptable standard; and from a distance, in the dark, they might have passed muster.
Am I the only one who thought that for £20 I would be entitled to see a stage full of real-life magical animals?
Posted by philomel (Member # 586) on :
I always saw them as being slightly ethereal (I think this was conveyed well by the wire and cloth arrangement) and 'unreal'. I'll be the first to admit that I was extremely dubious at first, but I honestly forgot the puppeteers were there after the first few minutes. It was quite astonishing quite how much personality they conveyed.
Yes, I go to the theatre to be 'transported into another world', as it were. But it's not the right medium for fancy tricks and too many special effects. The most advanced technology I've seen (lighting excepted) is the revolving, raising stage. And that's how I think it should stay. If I want CGI and ultra-realism (this may nearly be an oxymoron) I'll go to the cinema.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
As soon as I can find TMO Uncovered again so I can upload a few images, I will show you my conception of how the National Theatre's daemons could have looked.
Does anyone have the link. My computer was banjaxed and I lost everything.
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
OK now I admit I'm not a professional artist -- merely an amateur dabbler! But I flatter myself that my quickly dashed-off design knocks spots off the travesty of the National Theatre daemons.
I only had twenty-five minutes to work on this, between my paid work (a nice earner this week re-branding a corporate website) but it's my sketch of "Pantalaimon".
Combined with the fairly talented actress who played "Lyra", and a little bit of stage magic -- the results could be absolutely spectacular.
It's easy with a little bit of thought... what a shame none of that went into the National's production.
Posted by philomel (Member # 586) on :
They look better when animated, but I can't understand why you were so disappointed. How on earth did you think they were going to manage them? I know you've been on about computer wizardry and blue screen and stuff but I can't see how that would have worked. And it wouldn't have fit with the 'raw' feel of the production.
Incidentally, what did you think of the bears?
Posted by Vogon Poetess (Member # 164) on :
I was undecided about whether to go and see this. Now I think not. The daemons were better in my head. Things are always better in my head than in RL.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
Don't start me on those witches -- an unholy cross between TV-am's "Mad Lizzie" aerobics and early-80s Top of the Pops's Pan(talaimon)'s People.
Yeah I'll come to the bears later, and also explain how my vision of the daemons would not just have been possible, but cheaper to implement than the NT's misjudged design. As well as theatrically astounding (see sketch above).
Posted by Octavia (Member # 398) on :
quote:Originally posted by kovacs: As well as theatrically astounding (see sketch above).
I think you're right there. If I had paid £20 to go to the theatre and see HDM, and saw that, I really would be astounded.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
That was just a rough draft, so if you liked that you will be offering me a contract with this revamped version. Again, I knocked it up swiftly between work on a client's website but I think it shows pretty effectively what I would do with His Dark Materials on stage.
1.
A team of animators design the CGI characters in Pullman's magical world. These would include daemons, armored bears and witches. For this example, we'll use our old friend Pantalaimon.
2.
A CGI-whizz makes the pictures into a computer picture.
Here I've imagined Disney/Pixar golden boy Brad Bird working on our familiar Pantalaimon design! A long shot perhaps, but I believe if you want to "be best... you have to dream best." Whatever you can imagine, you can make real. And Brad knows that as well as anybody...check out his The Incredibles for living proof.
3.
The CGI images are projected from backstage -- the place where actors prepare lines, rehearse and put finishing touches to make-up and costume -- through a series of colored lenses that add depth and vivid hues to Brad's computer drawing.
Don't worry too much about the specifics for now... but you'll notice that our old friend Pantalaimon is being "thrown" onto what's called a Lens/Optics at the other end. (We made sure he didn't get hurt.) That circular Lens/Optics is what the audience on stage sees... creating an illusion that Pan is literally "floating" in space.
As you can see, the effect was best described as... simply magical.
[ 30.11.2004, 10:47: Message edited by: kovacs ]
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
Creating the Magic -- behind Kovacs' His Dark Materials Part II
Test screenings of what the animation team were humorously calling "The Pantalaimon Effect" were a resounding success. One of Bird's favorite stories is of how author Phillip Pullman (he's the impressed-looking African-American gentleman, front right) turned to him after the show.
"I was nervous as hell," admits Brad. "Then Pullman leaned close and whispered 'How did you know? How did you see inside my head?'" Brad smiles "That's when I thought...we nailed it."
But Pantalaimon was just one in a host of magical creatures from Pullman's amazing fantasy universe. The technology was in place, but animators had to work around the clock to create the rest of the cast... a cast that included armored bears and witches.
"We were able to re-use certain things we'd learned on the Pantalaimon trials," Brad explains, "recycling certain polygonal elements, tweaking them a little and building them into a new creature." He laughs. "So there's a little of Pantalaimon in Iorek, the Armored Bear! We thought that would be fun for fans to try and spot."
Bear Necessities: Iorek
The greatest challenge was animating the tribe of fearsome witches, led by beautiful Serafina Pekkala. Pullman was adamant that his witches should not look like Hallowe'en freaks, and his prose descriptions stress that these ladies are very far from our normal conceptions of hags on broomsticks.
The task was given to Iranian artist Nafiseh Riyahi, already feted for her sensitive, ethnic drawings. Nafiseh came up with something that blew Brad's socks off. "I knew when I saw the first sketch for Serafina," he confessed. "This was her. This was Serafina as I'd first seen her in my mind's eye."
Beautiful Cruelty: Serafina is queen of the witches ------------------------------- any more questions? ask me later
[ 30.11.2004, 11:00: Message edited by: kovacs ]
Posted by 2@ (Member # 715) on :
I'm laughing so hard I may be about to have an embolism.
Kovacs, excellent work. Your sly self-deprecation is almost as funny as the way you make it sound so serious.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
quote:Originally posted by 2@: I'm laughing so hard I may be about to have an embolism.
Kovacs, excellent work. Your sly self-deprecation is almost as funny as the way you make it sound so serious.
Don't take the piss. Posted by Black Mask (Member # 185) on :
I would've lolled but kovacs sneers at that sort of thing.
Posted by Petite (Member # 539) on :
Just reread what I've written on this thread. Quality posting or what?
quote:Originally posted by kovacs: The technology behind the "daemons" in the NT's HDM is what's shocking. You could see people walking around carrying them.
This sounds pointless. The should have just dressed up in furry costumes like we did in the Cadbury's ad.
Posted by Samuelnorton (Member # 48) on :
Even I laughed at Kovacs' post, and that takes something as I am generally a miserable git who only laughs at things most people would consider distasteful.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
.
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
NEED!
