Saying Good-Bye To the Sci Fi Vine

OK, and Ancient Sites but I had to put Sci Fi Sites ahead of AS. (grins)

The email is out, March 30th is the day. So share memories, have a few beers, laugh a little, cry a little, and then return to the PATD.

Ignoring continuity in the PATD, Prof Crash wanders in....

"Bacchus, I'll have a Guinness please." PC smiled "I remember creating Bacchus back in the first Ancient Bath."

/me hides in the corner and whimpers....

SciFiSites was the first website I ever found that made me feel like posting, and saying "hello".

My best memories will always be of the gathering in Boston/Cape Cod I think. It just goes to show the friendship and trust engendered by all, that I felt fine about hopping the pond to meet you/them, given that it was the first time I had ever gone on holiday alone, and my first time outside north west Europe.

Oh, and PC.... I always remember to tie the cord on my swimming trunks since...

[This message has been edited by ianviking (edited March 01, 2001).]

Well, CT has just given me the perfect phrase to send to CyberSites upon the death of SciFiVine...


How wude!

PC pulls Gerge out of thn air and whaps Ian across the head "I hated Jar JAr"

Now now PC, there was nothing wrong with Jar Jar. Well, not much anyway. And wasn't it Maximus the eunuch you created back at the first AB?

My best memories on the net are from SciFiSites/Vine. I have made friends with some incredible people from there. In it's heyday, that site had everything, although chat always needed work the grams, homesites, board format, was all awesome. Even loading speed has generally been really good, except on the days it's had an attitude problem.

And as Tan mentioned on another board, the one thing I won't miss is the hostility some people are posting in the Questions...Topic. That's one thing we don't have to worry about here. But everything else was just great.

Whoops, your right Ran, its been so long since I have consumed alcohol that one or two beers does me in....

SFV was the my first cyber-community. I will miss it. I got more involved at TCV since I worked there, but I always enjoyed the feeling I got from checking out the "Best Homes" tour, sort of like walking through a sleepy town from a Ray Bradbury novel after a nice supper.

I wish they could have kept up the same format with newer technology, but I guess thats "progress" *sigh*

Thanks for inviting me here...

We had a kick ass site with a lot of great people and the Boston trip was most awesome.

Ian, I was very impressed you were able to make and I am very glad I got to meet you IRL. *hug*

And everyone I met there, Rantarn and Nommy, getting to meet you and your families was one of the highlights of the trip for me. Ransprout and Landrew were most awesome. And Ransprout had me and Crash whopped on babysitting duty. http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/wink.gif

The most important thing about SFS is us. What we all made it. You are a great group of people and I am honored to post with you anywhere. http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/smile.gif

The gatherings were a ton of fun. It was great to meet everyone and get to know them in the real world. I could never forget the walk to the Hard rock in Boston, I lost about 20 pounds that day, or the kareoke (sp). Queen GOP with the straws and spoons eating that huge dessert at the Olive Garden.... Hoover Dam from the Vegas trip.... Eating at Quarks.... Trouble with Tribbles (the picture)

SFS gave us a place to meet and post and get to know one another. It made the gatherings a possibility and for that it will always hold a place in my heart.

While we are on the subject, whatever happened to the Queen? I haven't seen a post of her's for ages.

Queen GOP is doing fine, we talk regularly. She really was never much of a poster, especially after B5 stopped airing.

She has read the damn books, she just doesn't post. We can beat her up in Salt Lake. (grins)

turn on ICQ

Hi everyone!

I'll miss the Vines. The first blow for me was when the SAGA disbanded a while back & I have since lost contact with most of my buds from there. (that PRPG had it's start in late 96, so the roots were very deep for me.) So?., I clutched onto my remaining friends, and new ones that I made from the 2nd exodus. Now the Vines epitaph is on the horizon. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, ScFiVines. Seems like only yesterday that Prof was showing the way for the 2nd geners from <strike>pathfinder</strike> to the Vines. Guess I'm a sentimental fool cause I kept my old bookmark to Pathfinder until very recently. Couldn't bring myself to delete it. Some would say that was a Freudian slip of sorts, hehe heh. Wonder how long I'll keep my Vines bookmark?

I'm thankful for Hostboard & CommunityZero, good people on both! (All of you!) That's a plus! Lots of familiar topics, ?.. that will ease the transition, and everyone's <u>always</u> friendly, unlike some boards that are around. I guess it's like a refining process, the more we had to move to new homes, the more loyal our group became.

I suppose I'm just a bit saddened right now, intermingled with a touch of anger, so ?. I best not post any more tonight.

Sorry for my absence. It's been a bad two weeks!

(duel posting this at communityzero also)(cause I'm lazy)

My life has been so full of the sites for so many years now that it's hard to put into words what closing them means to me. I feel like it's the death of a child, in a way, since I spent so @*!# much time building the sites up and trying to make them a pleasant place to be. I have to say that SFV was one of the best places for me, one where I always felt welcome even (some days despite) sporting a red star.

Jas, I have got to confess it: I still have my pathfinder bookmark to the original SPQR boards where I played the game and tried to solve the puzzles with my friends. Why I've kept it is beyond me, but you make me feel better for doing it.

Hi Erythrina, I guess you & I & no doubt a lot of others here gave a piece of their soul to pathfinder & the vines.

The last few days, when I have had some 'quiet time' & my thoughts would drift to the vines, there was a feeling of succinct nostalgia, laced with a bit of panic in the sense of trying to find a way to stop what must be. I felt much the same with pathfinder. Crazy, huh? I never would have reckoned that I would have become so attached to a place reached through my computer screen.

Anyways, just posting my thoughts here & talking with you & the rest is good therapy for me.

Crash, tell her to read the damn books and post on them http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/wink.gif

The avalanche has started. It is too late for
the pebbles to vote....

LOL Ian, what a great saying.

------------------
The Red Witch
True Names by Vernor Vinge
[email protected]

Ery, we really have to get you watching B5, there are some great one liners that show. (Grins)

Ery, I know what you mean. I have been trying to pretend that I am not pissed about the demise of Sci Fi Sites, but I am. I put alot of time into Sci Fi Sites, watching it shut down is really, really hard. I still remeber the chats I had with Mars and the sense of utter panic I felt when he left Cybersites and I was all alone there. (Admin wise)

I'll never forget going to AS and finding someone on who said she was a Demi Goddess and leaving her a message (that would be Ery). We had never chatted before that and I was not quite sure if Demi Goddess equated to Admin. Sure enough it did. Up until then I had one email address to someone in NY and had felt really isolated. Finding someone to talk to and bounce ideas off of did me a world of good. Heck, without Ery, I never would have asked Jot about promoting Azziz to Admin (sorry Azziz).

I know that the revelation I was Sparty Bear lead to some really bad feelings for some folks, but I still take pride in the contribution I was able to make to Sci Fi during that time.

I know this, I could not have survived without the support of Ery and Azziz. The phone calls, IRD chats, grams, and ICQ messages did alot to help me keep perspective, and my cool, on any number of occassions.

I know that I grew alot because of my experiences at Sci Fi. I learned a great deal about who I could trust and how to lean on others in good times and bad times. The support that I received from my friends at Sci Fi was incredible. Meeting folks in real life just cemented the relationships I had developed online.

That is why this hurts, its not the closing of a site, but the closing of a home. Jas, your not the only one who has been thinking about the past. We all are. It's natural.

In alot of ways, this is different then Pathfinder for me. 1) I am more invested in Sci Fi Sites then I was Pathfinder 2) We have had alot more time to adjust to the idea. I am angry, but grateful that we have had time to move and say goodbye. I am angry that I have to leave my home. But I am more sad then anything.

I'd rather share that with everyone then bottle it up. What the hell, lets grieve together (I have Irish blood in me, we believe in giving loud, abnoxious Wakes for the deceased. Its cathartic)

No matter what, I would not have passed on the last three years. The ups were much more numerous and fun then the downs.

(hugs everyone)

So now we start to build a new home.

(PC taps a keg of Guinness)

Beers on me.

The demise of SFS is a bit odd for me.

I had some great times there.

- Writing stories with my friends.
- Playing in the pool area.
- Getting the nerve to post about B5 without fearing being flamed.
- Helping people learn the site.
- Fixing problems.
- Supporting people during times of hardship and having people support me during my own hardships. *hugs all round*
- I virtully came out at SFS and found that I had a lot of wonderful friends. And that we had a outstanding group of people.
- Some great vacations meeting people I already knew. http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/wink.gif
- Getting to meet the folks at Cybersites and getting to work with them, basically creating my job from the ground up.

The smiles and kind words I got made much of it worth it.

I remember when one of our posters accidentally posted a very graphic moving gif and couldn't figure out how to get rid of it. I remember looking at it and thinking Oh my! http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/wink.gif And she was so worried she would be banned for it. I had to reassure her, while telling her how to remove it. Heh, one thing I can tell you, I no longer thought of her quite so innocent.

I remember Iz gramming me to look at the mainpage and some goofhead had created a nick with a naughty avatar and managed to get it posted in all four slots on the main page. He/She/It really was most popular that day! http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/wink.gif While I was trying to get help getting rid of it, I got about 8 grams from people telling me about it. I had to track down the developer over at AS to get rid of it. He said, "Ask them to remove it and I'll be over when I get a chance..." I replied, "Full frontal nudity, spread eagle, against a wall." LOL, he was over in a shot to remove that bad boy...er, girl.

I remember the first anniversay, what a grand time we had.

The first Sci Fi convention. I put in a lot of work on that one, we finally were getting some attention at SFS. I enlisted the help of various people from the boards and we created some kick ass contests I think. The trivia quizes and scavenger hunts were a lot of fun. I think I stayed up most of the weekend on that one. It was truly a group effort and a ton of fun.

I remember with Star Wars coming out with a new movie. I got a bit of a budget and was able to hire one of the posters to help out.

There truly were a lot of great times at SFS.

To be honest I felt a tad guilty setting this site up when I left the company. But I love this site, it is free of some of the less nice baggage I have from SFS.

I wouldn't trade the hardtimes, because they gave me the chance to meet all of you and good times come with bad.

But some of the things that happened at SFS were very hard on me.

I don't regret coming out, because I did it for the right reasons. I saw some intolerant voices being the loudest and I didn't want SFS to be a intolerent site. I was afraid we had teens there who might be questioning their sexuality and they needed to know that that was ok. We lose too many teens to intolerance as it is. But the whole thing was tough on me personally. It strained several friendships, more from my being the center of attention than being gay tho. http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/wink.gif

But the hardest part was losing people I thought were friends over stupid control issues. Sometimes I think maybe we had too much at SFS. I like that this board is simple. But what I like most about this board is that it is most of my favorite people. http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/smile.gif

Ery takes a mug of beer from PC and sips it thoughfully.

Thanks, bud, you know it's amazing how long we've lived togehter at SFV (in dog years at least) and I still clearly remember Mars contacting me one day and asking me to make avatars for the SFV. I think this was a couple of months after one of the founders asked me to work as a remote admin, so I signed up for the site and started cranking out avatars. I had to rely on Mars and Betty to upload them, so I usually had time to read the bulletin boards and get aquainted with a few folks. I've always been handicapped neverhaving seen "B5" but there were so many really nice people, and with my fantasy/SF book collection I soon felt like I had a place there.

Right away I met PC, and I guess it just didn't take me long to put two and two together, because one day I asked Mars if Sparty were PC, and he laughed and said yes, how did I know? I said it just seemed so obvious, because PC's such a good guide and showed great leadership.

Soon, we roped Azziz into things, and before I knew it I was on the phone to each every week -- more than my own mother, most weeks! By the time I met Azziz, I felt like we'd known each other for years, and when I met PC last Summer, it was like we were related (and the world ain't ready for THAT!).

Losing the site where I worked -- and more importantly -- got to know some wonderful people is as hard, in a way, as if urban renewal came along and wiped out every trace of the neighbourhood you grew up in. Maybe I'm being a tad overdramatic, but that's the sad thing about the Internet -- you can wipe away every trace so damned easily.

There goes history! Poof!

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The Red Witch
True Names by Vernor Vinge
[email protected]

Ery, you succeeded in making it a pleasant place to be, there are lots of folks who will miss your work!

Working with both you and Asis was a pleasure and you should be proud of what you did at the vines.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Erythrina:
My life has been so full of the sites for so many years now that it's hard to put into words what closing them means to me. I feel like it's the death of a child, in a way, since I spent so @*!# much time building the sites up and trying to make them a pleasant place to be. I have to say that SFV was one of the best places for me, one where I always felt welcome even (some days despite) sporting a red star.

Jas, I have got to confess it: I still have my pathfinder bookmark to the original SPQR boards where I played the game and tried to solve the puzzles with my friends. Why I've kept it is beyond me, but you make me feel better for doing it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hey PC, pass me a Zima, I'm not a beer drinker... http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/wink.gif

Zima? Have you been rewatching Season 1 of B5 and that is why you have that drink in your head? (grins)

PC passes Azziz a Zima

PC looks around for Wizzard

WE could use some magical margarita's.

Fondly remmebrs Chicago, Las Vegas and Boston

I got to have about 2 sips of a margarita in Chicago before Buscar confiscated it (he knew I was on meds at the time and hence really shouldn't be drinking). But Vegas and Boston I was in the clear. Those were some damn fine Margaritas.

Then there was the trip to San Fransisco were we actually ate at the restraunt were the Margarita's came from. I got to sing the Super Bowl shuffle when Carlo's questioned my knowledge of football and devotion to the Bears.

grins

This group sure has led to some serious traveling....

<sniffle> I love youze guys. OK, what d'you think about putting a site together on Tripod or some such where we could sort of enshrine SFV archived posts, a few homes, etc? That way we could at least reread the posts....

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The Red Witch
True Names by Vernor Vinge
[email protected]

Ery, great idea. This week is spring break at MSU, I am workign alot of hours so I will probably start putting up old topics at my home page.

OK, I have started to put up the topics I saved. If you have saved topics and would like to send them to me, so I can put them up as well, please send them to [email protected]

The account size is small so if a message gets bounced back to you, please try sending it again in a couple of days.

Ok, this is my half-baked idea: to have at least some sort of memorial page for SciFiSites (yeah call me old fashioned. I never 'got' the vines concept). It doesn't need necessarily to be at Tripod, but that's where my website's hosted so it was comparatively easy to throw this together with all the graphics I couldn't bear to part with.

Ideas? Thoughts? Comments?


http://erythrina.tripod.com/scifisites/



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The Red Witch
True Names by Vernor Vinge
[email protected]

Prof & Erythrina, really great ideas!

I fondly remember gridworld. Think the memorial page idea is a good one.

Would there be any copyright probs?

Azziz, I somehow missed seeing the naughty avatar & the very graphic moving gif. I always miss the juicy
stuff! http://www.geocities.com/jasoom.geo/smily.gif

:-)

SFV's demise has confirmed my basic belief: that the greatest evil in the universe is a corporate mentality.


iz

jasoom:

i downloaded the naughty avatar BEFORE telling azziz about it.

i'll see if it's still kicking around on the hard drive.

iz

Ery, Two Wings up.

I Love the awesome work you did on the Memorial Page. It was almost like being there.

LOL, and I have one frame of the naughty moving gif somewhere as well. It was a guy uhm, pleasuring himself, with just the pertinante areas of the body shown. Oh and the aftermath...

Well Asis,

you could post that on a Survivor board and claim it was Kel. Maybe make some money. HMMMM?

[This message has been edited by sindatur (edited March 05, 2001).]

Id like to do a gallery of avatars. If anyone would like to send me a gif and the name, Ill put together a page somewhere and send links to everyone interested.

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---Shadowjack

SJ honey, I probably have most of the avatars created for AncientSites and the SFV!

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The Red Witch
True Names by Vernor Vinge
[email protected]