Is this the BEST forum on the internet?
 

and why?

What do you mean, best? Are there other forums on the internet?

addendum:

for those of you who think it IS, is it the first one you got regular with?

best so far, and no.

Best to who?

There are other forums on the net?

What else haven't you people told me?

Anyway....

No.

I was a regular on a Masonic forum, and within weeks, several people tried to get me involved in the politics behind the scenes.
One guy was a Past Master (head of a lodge) who felt that only PMs should be mods, and he wanted exclusionary rules implemented.
Somehow, he got ahold of my RL email, and just fucking bombarded me with bullshit, of how I must take his side, as we are both PMs, and how non-PMs don't know what is going on, and so on.

Another regular started private messaging that I had better see things his way or he'd make my life hell. I replied that he never met my District Deputy (regional manager).

After enough of this nonsense, I just publicly posted that because of the political bullshit, I was leaving the forum, and I wanted no more contact with anyone from the forum. Any contact would be considered by me as harassment.

Nine years and no contact. Thank God.


//END RANT\\


I luvs The Cellar.

What do you mean, internet?

This place is so awesome, it's a five-um.

You know, like LJ's five-head.

Teh Cellar was not my first. But I like it the most. It's not for everybody, tho.

Yup.
Because you never know what you'll find here.

No.

It had a nice run though.

my first forum (i didn't even know these exsisted till I found YOU) and the best.

I can thank the Whale Penis for many good things in my life.

Absolutely the best.

Technically not my first, because I called two other dial-up BBS's before I logged onto The Cellar for the first time. Of course, I very quickly stopped visiting those other ones. Don't even remember names anymore ...

Cool people, varied interests, and realness.

This is the best forum on the internet.
Or at least the only one I have found that meets all my needs, whether I knew about them or not.

Yes, I have dabbled in other forums.
But nowhere have I found a group of people who are able to adapt themselves to any kind of post that comes along.
It might not be the same people for every kind of post, but often long term posters will surprise you.

Sympathy at a relationship breakup from the same person who advocates gun ownership? Check.
Understanding about property issues from someone who espouses a socialist POV? Check.
Child rearing advice from someone half a world away? Check?
Love and attention for a Dwellar with cancer, from damn near everyone? Check
A car? Seriously - a CAR? OMG a real honest-to-goddness CAR?! Check.

On top of all that, there is genuine day to day humour that stops you in your tracks. Maybe not every day - but at least once a week I will (literally) laugh out loud. Am I damning you with faint praise? No. I can watch many well written sitcoms and only just crack a smile. I enjoy them, but I can see the jokes coming over the horizon with semaphore. It takes a surprise to make me LOL. And the Cellar surprises me like a wet sponge on the side of my head. Over and over again.

And this is the first place I have ever submitted photos of myself. Fat and naked. No make up. Showing my ptosis. ADMITTING my ptosis! The Cellar has made me so much more open.

For the record - the people here care. They are funny. They are intelligent. They let me into their foreign lives and are interested when I do the same. They have very different viewpoints which sometimes allow me to amend mine. They are REAL. I've met two so far, and talked to more. I'd like to meet pretty much everyone here.

This is an amazing place. Had I cracked a wishbone and asked for a forum, I wouldn't have been disappointed. I love you.

it seems to me that if there is a strong sense of community on a board, there is also a very high incidence of xenophobia and hostility to newcomers. I think we do a MUCH better job of welcoming new people here. MUCH better.

Oh, yeah. Forgot that bit (being a mild xenophobe)
But in my defence, I was saying it like I see it, and I haven't been a noob for a long time.

It is one of our plus points though.

best general discussion forum, yeppers!

Oh no you don't! I popped into chat the other night and I was kicked out with an eff u. :eek:

Chat is NOT the Cellar.
Welcome to the Cellar littlepixie. :D

Hi xoxoBruce and thank you for the nice welcome.

you refused to identify yourself, sorry.

come back.....we'll be nice

there is a rule about no anon lurking in chat. it makes everyone in there uncomfortable, so we kick people that try to do it.

Ok, I'll try again sometime. I wasn't trying to be sneaky....sorry. :o

Yeah, that wasn't personal, there's a reason for that.

Come back sometime. It's fun!

And welcome to the Cellar.

Thanks Shawnee :-)

I have never really been a member anywhere else. I did post comments to lycos message boards from time to time. I ended up with an email pen pal, a guy from Scotland, who responded after I'd made a smartass comment (imagine that) about the ad they were running.

I forget how I found the Cellar, I was googling something. I started reading posts, and posting, and I emailed my friend from Scotland and another friend...saying "I found it. You have to go here, smart and funny people alert." I seriously did. I've lost touch with both those people since then, but I wonder if they ever popped in?

Anyway, the Cellar has taught me much and given me much. I can't really explain to people irl the sense of community you experience here. With all my, and our, faults...we are like a big surreal family. Sometimes we even piss each other off...but we are welcomed back and forgiven.

I just had deja vu. Have I written this before? ;)

This is my third forum. The first one was political...I found it during Bush's run for his second term. I found several like-minded people there and one of them invited me to his forum. I loved it there. I was part of its small 'family' early on, and felt the warmth and community there that is being described about The cellar here. I still visit that forum, but it recently lost a lot of its members due to some fracticous episodes, so not much is going on there anymore.

Hmmmm. Not in all cases. I started posting my mind with my first few posts and was not given a warm reception, which I think colors the way I am received still, or at least my perception of it. But I still like it here. There is a lot of diversity in viewpoints which is really refreshing. The realness that Wolf describes makes it very interesting. And of course, all the cool things that SG mentions are what keep me coming back.

I've been on a few forums, and still visit them on occasion, but the vibe here is best. Most diverse and open minded. Like the members are trying to connect and learn from each other. Most are anyway.

Thanks for the welcome Shawnee.

Yah I have been on many forums, this was not my first....but it is my fave....:)

teh Cellar rocks!!

Yes. Because you're all here.

People who like this sort of thing will find that this is the sort of thing they like.

I don't think this forum welcomes newbs well all the time.

Some people here are very quick to pass judgement and it would seem they can be very unkind.

Besides that, I find this forum to be an interesting source of news, particularly the trivial stuff that is found on iotd usually.

you know, T.....you're a baaaad motherfucker


that is more suessian than Dr seuss.

Yes, his leadership of The Cellar is monumental. It's almost . .. dare I say . . . presidential?

Yes, the Cellar is an intriguing farrago, hodgepodge, potpourri, melange, assemblage, medley, mishmash, and pastiche of POVs, ideas, and insights that are difficult to find or express elsewhere, and it's unique because it encourages discussion from any quarter. I belong to other sites and I enjoy them, too, but the Cellar is a banquet for the brain.

Heh heh no LJ, I will not take credit, that was actually a bastardization of an Abe Lincoln quote. Little-known I think, and I *almost* got it right.

It's in the cookie file, you could just refresh the page a few thousand times until it comes up.

I knew that... but only because I was reading an article about Lincoln last night.

I think sweetwater's "the Cellar is a banquet for the brain", ought to go on the masthead. :thumb:

Or, the Cellar is a banquet of brains, would attract the zombie crowd.

I have the anti-zombie shotgun ready.

I like it here although I don't seem to fit in too well. :p I still go to other forums, but they aren't quite "hang-out" forums. They are more specialized forums. Each forum has a different community and serves a different purpose.

Yeah, y'all don't welcome newbies well. But what I noticed is that newbies that just jump right in are readily accepted. :) I was a bit intimidated when I first came here but stayed because of the level of intelligence and openess (never seen such cuss words used in any forum before!:eek:). I also stayed because of Undertoad. He seems very mature, intelligent, and even witty! hehe....a forum with such an admin, I wanted to hang around to see what it has to offer.

Oh yeah, there's never a boring moment. There's always some kind of drama going on. :unsure: :p

Don't fit too well? Why do you think that?
I don't remember anybody stealing your seat while you were in the bathroom, or spilling a drink on you. :headshake

The virtual landscape is ever-shifting. There are few landmarks, fewer solid institutions.

The Cellar is exactly that. It's a landmark in the virtual sphere, a permanent institution that has held its head high for almost 20 years. It isn't like any other community.

They didn't exactly welcome me with open arms, either (I recall being asked what was in my medicine cabinet and bruce called me an unmentionable name; but then, after he got to know me, he became my sex slave!! ;) but I liked the people here so much, they made me laugh, I just stayed---much to their chagrin!

This place has saved me many times. I love it here.

Thank you Tulip, that's most kind of you.

Are we harsh to newbs? I've been thinking about this since yesterday.
I honestly don't think so. although I accept I am in the minority. Which makes me feel odd - there's something I'm just not seeing.

I've joined forums where they expect you to stop by a special thread, tell them all about yourself, then the mods and perhaps one other person welcomes you (whoever you are, you could be John William Gacy for all they know, everyone gets told hello, and how interesting they sound - clowns you say? How interesting!)

Then they go about the usual forum business of pretty much ignoring you and responding to the in-crowd.

At least we don't pretend we're going to faint with bliss just because someone new has turned up.

And anyway, unless someone writes something that completely blows me away in their first week, why should I act as if they do? I wouldn't do it in real life. A new starter at work, yes - I would take them under my wing. Show them where the toilets are, explain the kitchen rules, lend them my Tippex. But I expect to have a relationship with them that will last months if not years. And they tend to turn up at the same time I do every day.

If I'm at a party with my friends (ahem, we're pretending here) I don't spend all evening talking to the only person there I don't know. I don't ignore them certainly, that's just bloody rude, but unless they happen to be one of my all time heroes I won't press myself upon them.


We've had some newb rows over the time I've been here. But in general I think the Cellar is the way I found it - cautiously polite and more likely to shake your hand than spit in it.

There is no Cellar.

Crimson Ghost: nice to see another brother online. I meet other Masons from time to time out here. I'm a true "Travelin' man"!

Wolf, weren't you on KAOS once upon a time as silverwolf?

I have lazy fingers today! I hope you don't mind if I just say "ditto" to you SW?:)

We spit on your soul

i must be lost this exact same thread started by the same person was filled with self depreciating, humorous testimonials about how bad the forum is, troll fail, ROLFL battles with trolls, text wall spamming, and image spamming of owl pics. where the hell am i? this place is tooth rotting'ly pleasant (it may be the best general form ever if you can handle the sweetness)

"It's nice to be nice to the nice." - Frank Burns

It would seem so.

Always nice to meet a brother.

I feel that I don't fit in well because quite often, I feel that I don't something worth contributing or something witty enough to contribute to the thread although I do enjoy reading it.

Don't get me wrong when I said y'all don't welcome newbies well. It wasn't a criticism but a mere observation and comparison to a few other forums I've been to. As I mentioned before, although y'all don't gush over to the newbies with welcome and greetings to acknowledge them or make them feel comfortable (we're adults at a bar here, right?), y'all readily accept anyone who jumps right into a conversation. That in itself is wonderful. Y'all aren't harsh to newbies. If you were, I wouldn't have stayed.

Sundae Girl: Your feelings aren't wrong. There's nothing wrong with how Cellarites are treating newbies.

Ok I've been looking for that "goes without saying" thread in response to post one - Where the _ _ _ _ is it?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh - - - Thank you!

Shhhh, it's a trick. ;)

Everyone?

No.

I was not on KAOS. I have always been wolf on the cellar, and was slvrwolf on netaccess.

I joined just after the GTG Dinty Moore came to, but got to attend the GTG for the book signing.

For the record, we have savaged a number of newbies, but usually they've deserved it.