Less is More

[lumberjim]

FWIW I don't think (but maybe I'm wrong) Hubris Boy was complaining about humorous things as much as he was complaining about the abundance of posts that don't add anything at all, including humor--posts which say things like "right on!" or "yeah, what he said!" or "OMG that was so funny!"

oh, yeah, well....that part i agree with.

so, lets get it straight:

conversation is ok

omg, rofl, lmao is not

deep thought good, confirmatory responses bad

is confirmatory a word?

where does senseless ranting fall?

how about generalized negativity?

when i read the original post in this thread, my first reaction (as i'm sure is true of many of you) was to apply what he said to my own personal habits. I see that sometimes i post a response like a quip or a pun, and for the most part, that does not have any real worth. yet, if i was standing in a room talking to you folks, thats what i would say.

the other thing i thought was that if we all took great care in replying, and never shot from the hip like many of us do, we'd never get to know one another. i could if i chose, write verbose and melodic prose that sounds like it belongs on a greeting card, with perfect punctuation, and grammar, but that is not me. you want that shit, go read a fucking greeting card. We could all concentrate on composing one well thought out post per week complete with research, supporting facts and links to more information, but i doubt that it would be very exciting.

i have an idea. and i dont mean this sarcastically at all.

HubrisBoy, you have a point. you also have a standing offer of a user based forum. ask UT to set it up for you, and have rules. moderate it. only allow well thought out posts, and delete the crap posts. if people know going in that there are guidelines, i think they'll respect them. i know i would. that way, you dont have to go start your own site, but you can proudly maintain a higher level of thought within your forum walls.

[zippyt]

I sorta look at the cellar as that cool little restraunt that you find on some back street , at first no body but the folks that look for such know about it , then word spreads , then a crowd starts gathering because they have good food , then the old timers can't get tables any more get pissed off and stomp off , and a new crowd of regulars start it all over again .

Thats life , ever changeing , allways a challange , most of the time its worth sticking around just to see what happens next .

Personaly I don't have any problem with the way the cellar rejuvinates its self , I find it facanating watching the folks come and go , some assholes , some not . Interesting crowd mostly .


Just my 2 cents .

Originally posted by jaguar
*shrugs*
Outdated is a funny word to use, I assume it means political discussion above the level of fark.com. I fail to see how stating, point blank that there is hell of a lot of crap being posted and putting a little bit of thought it to it, or possibly refraining from pinky and the brain style 'NARF' posts when you have nothing to say is unreasonable. It's not some kind of arcane idea he's made up, it's just general decency. In another era it was called etiquette.

Why bother? It's called a signal to noise ratio for a reason. Look at any major public forum, look at the forums of slashdot, or fark, or any other major site you happen to name, you'll see the same thing, hundreds of oh-so-fucking hilarious one liners drowning out anything worthwhile, after a certain point moderation often makes it worse to boot. Cellar used to have a remarkably high one, it doesn't anymore. People left over time for various reasons, a few in silly spats of one kind or another but most simply flitted off into the ether as the ratio slowly dropped, I assume for greener pastures or simply found better ways to spend their time. Some of us have different tolerances than others and while today there's not tinytits69, the ways things are going it would not shock me before long. If and when there is, dig this out, you might see what I mean after all.


As for ads, I noticed UT has stayed out of this, I assume he follows a policy that new blood will always replenish the forums with new ideas and perspectives, I'm not so sure that works so well but that's his choice, it's his board.

Make of it what you will, I really don't give a fuck anymore.

Well, you sure seem bitter, Jag, what's up with you? I am in the rather ironic position of probably being the oldest one (in age) posting here, while at the same time being a kitten with its eyes barely open when it comes to length of time since I discovered the Cellar. I, too, was enticed here by an ad on another board (it was a slow day and I wondered what the heck all those monkey's on typewriters was about). If you guys don't want new members, you should stop putting out lures for them. I'm sure the ad which brought me downstairs here cost UT a pretty penny since it appeared on a rather glossy "high profile" site. Why's UT throwing his money away if you guys don't want us?

Frankly, I think some people are just upset because they're being forced to adjust their comfort zones. "Good ole Cellar," you could always check in for a few minutes and see the same points of view posted by the same old members. Now all of a sudden you have to deal with the likes of me and LJ and DanaC (haven't seen much of her lately, maybe she got disgustred - a shame), and labrat etc.,etc., and even Tomas R. there for a while.

Well, I'll tell you what, IMO, even Tomas had something worthwhile to contribute. Yeah, he could be an annoying kid, but he was posting in a language foreign to him from a country that has some pretty different values then the U.S. does, and he actually said some interesting stuff (sometimes, anyhow).

And while I know full well that I annoy the hell out of some people around here, in all due humility I don't think my posts (or LJ's or labrat's or DanaC's or most of the other newbies) lack in intelligence. All too often, it's the oldtimer's who will post some trite one line reply about "tree huggers" or how big their wang is or "LOL" or just some stupid emoticon. Go back and look thru the threads if you don't believe me.

Have YOU been in an AOL chatroom lately, Jag? I hope for your sake you haven't. I wandered into one out of curiosity a while back and it was a highly depressing experience. There is simply no comparison. Jag, I agree with you on a lot of things, but not this one. I hate to "pull rank" on you, but the things one believes to be intellectually fascinating at 16 become childishly boring at 19 and not even worth noticing at 21. Did it ever occur to you, that it is you who are developing a keener sense of insight rather than the cellar becoming polluted by an influx of new blood?

Since I consider you a cyber-friend, I'll make you a challenge: Name your issue and I'll meet you with the opposing point of view (whether its mine or not), and I promise you won't be bored by my replies.

[xoxoxoBruce]

If you guys don't want new members, you should stop putting out lures for them. I'm sure the ad which brought me downstairs here cost UT a pretty penny since it appeared on a rather glossy "high profile" site. Why's UT throwing his money away if you guys don't want us?

This is UT's board not "you guys" board.

I am in the rather ironic position of probably being the oldest one (in age) posting here,

Don't think so.

the other thing i thought was that if we all took great care in replying, and never shot from the hip like many of us do, we'd never get to know one another.

Is that what a bbs is for? I thought chat rooms were for getting to know each other and bbs' for the exchange of ideas. The Cellar seemed to be a unique combination of the two. I think it vacillates, but seems to come back to center, repeatedly. I guess in the end, there's enough threads for it to be all things to all people.

[Undertoad]

I think of it as you guys' board more than my board... actually, truth be told it's somewhere in between.

[vsp]

Originally posted by Undertoad
I think of it as you guys' board more than my board... actually, truth be told it's somewhere in between.

I think of it as Bob Dobbs's board, but that's from a prior age.

[Happy Monkey]

Actually, I would like to take this opportunity to thank UT for making this board available to us all. While we may have our petty squabbles (or grand verbal wars), the Cellar is all in all, a varied and interesting board with many intelligent and thoughtless posters. Thanks, UT!

[lookout123]

hip hip... c'mon don't leave me hanging now... HOORAY forUT

[xoxoxoBruce]

The PayPal tip jar is at the bottom of the front page.

[OnyxCougar]

pssssst.... Bruce.... Beestie's name has 2 e in it.

Originally posted by OnyxCougar
pssssst.... Bruce.... Beestie's name has 2 e in it.

[SIZE=1

]Shhhh! What if Bruce already knows that?[/size]

[OnyxCougar]

Oh! I get it! It was a test! Yeah....a test... ahem.... *grins and cuddles Bruce*

[xoxoxoBruce]

My bad.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally posted by OnyxCougar
pssssst.... Bruce.... Beestie's name has 2 e in it.

I think it's three.