Rebuttal on Commenting

James (Not Mud) Wrote:

oh yeah fuckers "nobody left comments so my post wasn't read and nobody liked it" - wasn't my fault that every "slug" was self-depreciative.

And "the board stays on the board" is an archaic thought system. Try hanging out with young 20 year olds sometime, thats all they talk about is INTERNET INTERNET INTERNET.

Hmmm.

Since Facebook is a worthless scrapheap - didn't you say you were trying to convert the board-history to a Word Press system?

Maybe I should just spruce up the ol blogspot board. hmm.

In regards to the commenting system being a factor in killing of the board, it isn't that not gaining comments stopped people from posting. I really don't think that played a factor at all. It was that people have short attention spans (though many of the board members had slightly larger attention spans). Thus, when someone comes on the board, they typically look only at the posts. They may look at the comments if they are board, or more likely if they are the ones that posted. The casual reader won't.

Some of the best/most interesting posts of the past took place prior to the comment system. Granted many posts were also one line "you're an idiot" type posts... but others were back-and-forths that had high-entertainment value. Those kinds of back-and-forths now get buried in a comment system, and the only indication that there was a commentary is a small digit indicator at the bottom of a post in a small font.

An early set of posts between you (James) and Jimmy went back and forth on the subject of winners being the deciders/writers of history and crimes against humanity (started here and ending here, with posts in between.

If you had started that post post-commenting system, the various back and forth would have been lost to the comment system, and the casual reader would have never bothered with it. (There are ways around that with the newer blog type formats, but that's a discussion for another time.)

As for the other stuff... I actually did migrate this over to Word Press... then I realized that by doing so, all of the past posts show up as if they came from me. That's a problem, so until I figure out how to fix that, this will have to stay with blogspot. I thought about starting a new board altogether, but there's a thing in marketing/advertising called "Brand Recognition"... it's why Sony keeps recycling the used Walkman brand, instead of coming up with something new.

And the problem is that people have no outside connections these days... it's all-or-none with the internet... there are mini-movements to change this, such as dedicated social-network sites, (i.e. Flickr) that are geared toward a social network specific to a common goal/idea/activity like photography (again, Flickr) or paintball. I'd go out on a limb and say that our board was a sort-of precursor to that idea, in that it was a "social network" dedicated to hating the idiocy of our contemporary environments and occasionally getting together to wallow in that.

I felt long-winded today.

Indescriminate Caring

So I've been reading over the old posts of the past - partly because I have nothing better to do at times, partly over the previously posted nostalgia, and partly because I'm working on a few projects (of which some of you know about, some of you don't, and many more in both categories don't care).

Something I noticed in reading all of those posts (and I'm only in December of 2000), there seems to be this undercurrent that people actually cared about what each other posted about and cared about what was going on in each other's lives outside of the internet...

And everyone seemed to genuinely care.

This is different from the kind of caring that seems obligatory in the age of Facebook. The idea that you have to say, "Aw... I hope you get well," on someone's Facebook Wall, so that others can acknowledge that you do "care".

Pre-Facebook, early-blog days, you get the sense that people cared and were interested beyond the superficial. And you could almost tell that because no one ever really said, "aww, I hope you get well..." type crap. Rather, expletives and insults were hurled at each other, but in ways that subtly belied the true intent, which was often, "good to know you are still alive."

Something else that seems interesting, is that I have had multiple conversations with people since the birth of MySpace and Facebook, the Cthulhu's of the depths of the Internet, about people getting pissed at each other on such sites. It at first would remind me of the back-and-forth animosities of the board... until you remembered that often that was left "on the board". And people knew that.

People don't know that now.

Is it because people who use Facebook are of the casual-user stock... the ones who came late to the burgeoning Internet? Whereas those of us from the board had used the Internet before, and understood some of the fundamentals... like, digital conversation is fun, and connective, but not end-all-be-all?

It's interesting from the sociological-psychological perspective, to understand the inter-dynamics of modern day human interaction (especially since at one point or other, I will be going back to grad school, likely to study child psychology, and I'll likely have to deal with the 3rd generation of children to grow up in "an increasingly interconnected world".)

Oh, and something else I have casually noticed which lends credence to an argument I remember having with James years ago: the implementation of the comments-system was the slow death knell to the board. Suck on that James!

Wii!

Because many have requested this from me:

Wii Console: 4299-0178-9998-6595
Mario Kart Wii license: 2105-9143-6631
Super Smash Bros Brawl: 4682-8140-3095

There you have it.

Amorphous

First I thought it was a woman.
Then I thought it was a man.
Then I realized that it was the amorphous personification of my
nightmares and deepest fears.

Lines...

Nothing special today... Except "Beardy" being in front of me while I
wait for movies from Scarecrow.

My Suspicions Have Been Aroused...

I saw an article in the Seattle Times today:
Boy who hopped flights caught again at Sea-Tac

It's apparently about a boy named Semaj that doesn't like living in Lakewood (or Tacoma basically, for those unfamiliar) who keeps trying to escape back to Dallas, TX.

I can't blame the boy. I've lived in Lakewood, and other parts of Tacoma... (and Roy... [shudders]) and now when someone talks of going to that area, I want to gouge my eyes out with a butter knife.

But Texas? I've lived there too... it's not much better.

But I'm digressing... that's not what I wanted to mention today. What I wanted to mention was what I noticed in the article. Namely... the boy's name.

Now, the newspaper CLAIMS that this person is a 10 year old boy named Semaj... but just look at that name. It looks fake. I'm sorry, but it does. In fact, take a look at it again... and then flip it around... and you get:

Semaj = James

Coincidence.
Fuck no.

I think James is posing as a ten year old boy trying to hop flights to go down to Texas. For what reason?

I don't know... but I bet it's something deviant. Just look at that face:


I am DEVIANT!

some thing funny

check these out
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/350391
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/351128
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/354960

Elevators Make Friends

Setting: Elevator in Bellevue
DT, Jimmy, Bonnie, Myself

One woman enters, thinks elevator is going up when in fact it goes
down. Pushes button. Her friend says, "no that's going down."

The friend pushes the button again, still not convinced. Then pushes
it again.

Friend finally convinces her that it is, in fact, going down. Both
leave elevator.

Elevator doors start to close.

DT: I fuckin' hate dykes!

Elevator doors continue to close, slowly.

Enraged "dyke" yells: Fuck you cocksucker!!!

Door closes, screaming continued.

Hahahahhahaaa. Ahhhh DT...

Alleged Baby-Daddy Jimmy

Well its allegedly. I think it happened sometime while he was in the
Air Force. He doesn't talk about the child much.

I think something might be wrong with it. He seems almost embarrassed
when I ask him about it.

Dear god

Jimmy had a kid boy I have been out of the loop

Phone Updates

So I lied. Jimmy hasn't gotten remarried. I just learned how to post
to the board with pictures via email and iPhone.

I can't wait to run into a person drunk and throwing up on the street.

Updates

Hey jOe,
Forget to mention that Jimmy got remarried. And she is accepting of
his child from the first marriage.

Time changes all

People change with time man. Yet I think I have a solution for the jimmy issue. I think it is time for a little reunion. Lets get the hole gang to gather some way some how. Think of a way and post.

Near Eight.

Eight years.

Okay, that's premature. Not quite eight years yet. But we are slowly creeping upon that mark. And I do mean creeping. I was looking at the board statistics, being bored and yearning for a simpler time when I didn't worry about bills, melting glaciers, and super-viruses, and I noticed the trend in postings, and number of postings.

And I also have been re-reading some of our thoughts, many juvenile, some almost prophetic. (Okay, there really weren't many of those... I'm not even sure there was one of those.)

I really doubt this board will survive past this year because in the last three years it's pretty much been me reminiscing about how we don't post on the board. And then there is Heather who posts something arguably inane or downright scary. Then Bradbury who posts something that amounts to a solid, "Yeeeup."

Gone are the days of Jimmy and James screaming "buuuutttsexxxxx" to each other. (My bad, that was Jimmy and Zach.) Gone are the photoshop-wars that were launched from cities apart. Gone are the days of Chrissie and Bonnie half-bitchingly whining at each other about God only knows what. Gone are the blogged-about BBQ's and MEGAposts that almost never come to fruition. Gone are the lists and rap-battles. Gone are the days when Michael would get online, rant about something involving cows, and scare the living shit out of me.

I have occasionally come to a point where I think, "Man I miss the board the way it was..." and think of efforts to resurrect the finer, best points of it. Maybe even introduce a few new things, like podcasts (maybe of movie reviews), another shot at a MEGApost, a comic book series involving some of the slugs as characters, etc...

But then I think of all the wasted effort as no one reads the board anymore. Few probably know it still exists in some fashion, and I'm sure many of the original authors have hit puberty and are now into girls (or guys, I'm not judging). James has lost his creative-motivation or something, because he can't muster then mental-libido to fire anything back these days. I think he was right when he posted years ago that when he got a job, he would become corrupted:

However - my parents are seriously considering going down to some car-store and getting two cars for the price of one. You know what that means? That means I get a car, and I have to get a job. And when I get a job, I'll be corrupt and wallow in the filthy pollution known as MONEY. God I hate the concept of money.

Jimmy is in a relationship, and having been in one, and being in one know, I know what type of time-resource-consumer that can be. Last I heard, he doesn't have a computer again.
Joe, as in MEGAjOe or just jOe, well... he's still around in some fashion or another, but I doubt he uses his computer for anything other than looking up Pokemon-related porn. (Hentai, sorry, gotta get my nouns correct.)
Bradbury... he too will always be around in the same way that fog is around... ethereally, with his trademark "Yeeeup"-type comments. I don't fault him for that, half the time my life is a yeeeup-type situation (with regards to career).
Are Mr. R and "Slim Jayee" (I still don't know who the hell this is) still alive?

There are more names, many more than I can recall on my ever-shortening lunch break... and maybe I'll get the inclination to write more about times-since-past. But then again, I don't want to be that loser that attends his HS reunion every time because he can't let go of the past and move forward.

Perhaps that's what I'm doing now... trying in vain to grasp as a past, instead of what I think I'm doing, which is trying to preserve a potentially meaningful outlet into my darker, laid-back side before it succumbs to the titanic pressures of adulthood, responsibility, children, and death.

Why, oh why, did this switch to google? I hate it - HATE it! Half the time I can't log in at all, and even when I can, I can never post comments to Rae's Azeri Blog. Lame.

Return of the King and Top Lists

Red Rusty Waves
Originally uploaded by NONfinis

So as I had said earlier, I had not known that James updated Blogger such that I could post to it again until recently... and I had been meaning to post since that recently announcement, but I've been kept busy by work and by a dog. But now I have some time while my computer busies itself with archiving stuff to blank DVDs (by the way, you all need to watch Arrested Development if you haven't, because it owns you).

Anyway though, enough of that stuff. I was reading the paper the other day and came across an article about people and making lists and how it's become this huge thing lately, which I thought was odd because I know we here have been doing it forever... well, forever ago... since nobody fuckin' posts to the board anymore (present recent posters excluded).

But anyway, as I was saying, it used to be that we would make Top 5 Posts all the time. SO, in the spirit of that old tradition...

A NEW TOP FIVE POST FROM ME!?!?!?!!!!

My Top 5 Favorite Cartoons/Animated Series' of All Time

Starting from least favorite to most favorite, we have:

5. Invader Zim

I know that this one might come off as a bit goth-trendy or whatever, but since I'm not goth or emo, I really don't have to worry about that. First seeing this on James' computer, and dismissing it slightly at the time, I later again caught it while working at Hollywood Video, and for whatever reason this time it stuck. Probably because when you work at a video store, you are introduced to ALL of the crap out there and begin to appreciate good random stuff.

4. Batman: The Animated Series

I would have to call this cartoon as one of the first of the modern or contemporary cartoons of our time. It certain was one of the best adaptations of a comic book character for TV, and one of the first. And it was fuckin' Batman! And Batman was actually bad-ass, not campy like previous cartoon versions. And then, he went on to be the bad-ass member of the Justice League cartoons, with the same voice actor. The lesson: Batman is supposed to be bad-ass!

3. X-Men: The Animated Series

The other great comic book to cartoon adaptation, and perhaps better (at least in my opinion) was this cartoon. If Batman had Batman, then X-Men had Wolverine. I think my only problem with this cartoon was that Iceman was only in it a few times. But they made up for that with good stories, including the Phoenix saga and all the Apocalypse stuff. Hell, they even had Cable and Bishop show up from time to time.

2. The Simpsons

I was actually not going to include this cartoon on the list, because I see it more as a series or sitcom then I do as a cartoon. Still, it is animated, and so it's here. It's the Simpsons. What can you say? I think it cemented it's place as an all time favorite every time it had some parody of something that wasn't mass pop-culture but that I still got. For some reason, the scene of Lisa running that parallels "Run Lola Run" sticks in my mind the best. Yeah, it can be argued that the show has lost it's way from time to time and may be suffering from having been on the air for too long, but it's still better than a good majority of anything out there.

1. The Transformers

With all the new hype coming out for the Transformers live movie, I began to wonder if my beloved memories of the original were just hype and nostalgia, so I went to Scarecrow and rented the series. I can honestly say that it isn't hype, though maybe some nostalgia to be sure. The Transformers were awesome. Yes, there were some cliché things about the show, but hell, there will be some cliché things about any show of any time period, and I'm willing to dismiss those. The classic battles between Optimus Prime and Megatron will always be that: classic. And awesome. Yeah, it was absurd some times and sometimes hearing Megatron yell "RETREAT!" every episode starts to feel redundant, but that also made it comfortable and welcome. And you couldn't beat Starscream's constant efforts at trying to claim power. Why Megatron kept him around all that time, who knows? Of course, this all makes me that much sadder that the new movie will probably suck, and not due to the natural modernization of classics... but because Michael Bay is a bastard who seems to have a knack for ruining what he touches with too much over-the-topness. But hey, maybe that will help with this movie. At least it isn't being directed by Paul Anderson.

And they say there isn't a God.

Still cooler then Stephanie

I am so sad that RaechelleLaRee is leaving me.

Just thought I'd put that out there.

Going away party

Ok, so my going away party (little last min notice on my part, sorry guys) is going to be in Spanaway at my friend Stephanie's house, today (the 9th) at 3:30pm. I know a few of you will be going, and directions can be found on my myspace blog at www.myspace.com/sovietsaint

Also, just an FYI, since I probably won't have much time on a computer for the next two years, I created a new blog to keep everyone updated. http://raechellewatkins.blogspot.com I will update/post as often as I can (probably about once a month or so). Since the region I'm going to won't have computers anywhere but internet cafe's, I will have limited access. If you want me to add you to my email list, send me an email to: Raechelle.Watkins@gmail.com

If you don't write, that's fine too. See you all in two years.

Post Frenzy

First off... I fucking hate Arial. It's a shit font and should be done away with.

Secondly, I didn't realize James' had fixed the board so that it worked with new blogger... so now i can post again... and you all missed that. You know you did.

Third... well I don't have a third yet, but now that I know I have a creative place to vent... oh yay... it will be venting time!

Fourth... I hate Michael Bay. He is going to ruin Transformers, and I'm gonna eat his liver for it.

Na-na-na-na, hey-hey-hey, good-bye!

Well it's official. I leave June 24th for Philadelphia PA, where I will spend two days getting a briefing on safety and vaccinated for yellow fever and typhoid. After that I will be on a plane to spend the next two years in Azerbaijan. (For my geographically challenged friends, it is located north of Iran, south of Russia, with Armenia and Georgia--the country-- on the western border, while the Caspian Sea is on the Eastern border). I will be back in the USA on September 12, 2009.
I got the job I wanted though. I will be piloting a new program in Azerbaijan, as a Youth Development Facilitator. Basically, I will be teaching English, leadership, teamwork, and any marketable skills that these kids aren't getting in school. I will be living with a host family for the first three months in a small village doing my language and culture training. After that time, I will be officially sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and will then spend the next six months after that with a new host family at my work site. Each volunteer is placed in their own small community, and we are assigned to schools, libraries, or other organizations that work with youth. I will have housing, food, and other essentials covered by a living stipend.
I have a going away party on June 10th at 4pm. Not sure where yet, they haven't quite figured that out... I will let you know when I know.