Longest ongoing Mudcat

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 04:49 PM

Yep, some of you sure seem old. I first posted May 1999 and have now managed 8350 posts - an average of over 2.5 posts per day.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: MMario
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 09:07 AM

Wyowoman got a job editing on the "Mother Earth" mag - keeps her hopping.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Den
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 08:28 AM

Certainly not the longest but I have been posting as Den since Christmas Eve 1998. I was posting as a guest before that for a year or two, I've never really been a joiner but I'm glad I stuck around here for some of the people I've met and I fondly remember the old pal talk days when we would sing into the wee hours.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Helen
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 02:54 AM

I had been lurking for some time - I can't remember how long - but posted my first question on 27 May 1997, and I've been here ever since.

Helen

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: heric
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 01:37 AM

The longest ongoing Mudcat would be Shambles.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: DougR
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 01:19 AM

Anybody know what happened to Wyowoman? She use to be a regular but I've not seen any of her postings in quite a spell.

DougR

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: GUEST,Divebomber
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 09:36 PM

I've been here about 2 minutes. Sheesh, the lot of you have sure wasted a lot of time. Think about how much fresh air you have missed breathing.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: freda underhill
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 05:44 PM

Another early bird was John in Brisbane. He's not with us anymore, but made a huge contribution to Mudcat, collecting and posting hundreds of tunes, Australian songs and the Scots Glossary.

I'm glad most of you others are still with us!

freda

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 04:42 PM

And I see that first post by Roger started "I get periods when I cannot reach Mudcat."

"plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 02:02 PM

Sometimes it feels like I've been here forever. I was led here by a search engine (probably Hotbot back then) when I was looking for information on how Lead Belly strung up his Stella 12-String. Here was the only place I found that information. I started lurking around and joined as a member fairly quickly. My first post was April 4, 1998.

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Bill D
Date: 21 Mar 08 - 10:34 PM

You ARE taking care of that spud, now...aren't you, Mick? IN its original bag?

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Big Mick
Date: 21 Mar 08 - 08:54 PM

Spaw, of all the folks that I have met here, I think our meeting will rank right at the top. I will never forget that, and the phone call. I am glad you mentioned the radio program. I remember, after my first Getaway, driving up 95 from Prince William, to 202 (I think) and meeting Max, and Bert, and Jeff, and having our first post Getaway concert and radio show. Pete Peterson came by, as well as Dick Swain (with the biggest friggin' squeezebox I ever saw), and Dick Greenhaus. We had a ball!! Max rigged up the damnedest rig you ever saw, ran leads out the window from the second floor and down to the Iron Horse Brewpub at street level down at the corner.

Yeah.......the tavern threads........ and that damn lime jello pit ....... and that friggin thong ...... with the spud ....... and that gorilla......

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: catspaw49
Date: 21 Mar 08 - 08:23 PM

So maybe your memory ain't so bad Bro..........I was thinking earlier while I was doing supper of a few threads that had significance back then that helped to "grow" the place and you just linked two of them that hadn't been mentioned yet. Your "Why We Sing" thread is not just a classic from then but one that has resurfaced time and again as the joys and woes of everyday life have come upon many different 'Catters and they bring back that thread to tell the tale.

The Vietnam thread took us to a new level of just how deep were we willing to plumb our psyches and how much we were willing to share of that exploration. Kat mentioned above the cross country tour of Allan and Bill Sables. That was a ton of fun for us all and I think the presence of Mudcat Radio was a great help to our enjoyment. Those days of Mudcat Radio were very special in the development here.........sitting around BS'ing on ICQ and listening to more of the same from Max and Bert and waiting for someone to call in for some extra fun. Hell Mick, that night in Cincinnati the first thing we did when we got to the restaurant was call in to Mudcat Radio. So as Bill and Allan checked in from around the country, the radio show added a lot to the trip and the night they arrived back at "Mudcat Central" the show ran until something like 2 or 3 in the morning.

And again, I don't think you can say enough about how important the Tavern threads were around here. They first helped in the healing after a bad spot and then eventually became the beginnings of the joint story writing that was a significant part of the place for a long while.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Big Mick
Date: 21 Mar 08 - 07:24 PM

Damn, this gettin' old shit definitely has its downside. But I can tell you one thing...... that old bullshit about memory being the second thing to go ain't true. I still jump into it at every opportunity, but at times I can't remmember why.......LOL. All's I know is I remember when folks got here.

But Spaw, I wasn't saying you guys got here after that thread. I was just using that thread as an example of how it was in the early days, and how cool it was to arrange a song real time with someone on the other side of the world.

Besides that, what difference does it make. The facts are that the place has a fascinating history, fascinating characters, some wonderful writing and moments..... It is just a helluva place.

Amos, the WHY WE SING thread has always been a favorite of mine as well. I was not happy that new threads were started, and at some point I am going to combine them all into one. In those days, most folks were on dial up and it took too long to load on some machines. That isn't an issue anymore, and I will be combining them at some point.

The post of mine that got me the most PM's was THIS ONE FROM THE "SONGS OF THE VIETNAM WAR" thread.

HERE IS THE THREAD I STARTED WHEN CATSPAW GOT SICK in April of 1999. If you want a picture of the players early on, this one has them all. And about the third post down from bseed shows how important Spaw had become to the place in the few short months he was here by then. We had started to coalesce into a community before this event, in fact long before I even arrived there was a thriving community. But I think it was this event, plus the appearance of a group of us at The Getaway, that really firmed us up into a very unique place.

This thread is really digging up the memories for me.

Mick

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: catspaw49
Date: 21 Mar 08 - 06:36 PM

You can tell Mick's mind has gone as the the threads he linked were AFTER kat and Rick and I had joined.   LOL.......Matter of fact......................aw the hell with it.....This is sounding too much like old fart heaven anyway.......LOL again...............

Spaw

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: open mike
Date: 21 Mar 08 - 05:39 PM

or perhaps the poster wanted to say longest ongoing mudcat thread,
but got cut off by the limitations of the text box size? I have had
to abbreviate and re-arrange thread subjects due to that many times.
--Laurel (member #5925--with 6989 posts--since 16 March 2000)
wow! 8 years...my how time flies when you are having fun.

and so many friendships formed, and people met in person during those years! (there must be a thread about how many cats have you met....)

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: folk1e
Date: 21 Mar 08 - 05:11 PM

Not sure about the longest ........ but I vote for DtG as the shortest!

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: redsnapper
Date: 21 Mar 08 - 09:04 AM

Relative newbie me! Only joined (under a different handle) in mid-1999. It's amazing how time has flown by.

RS

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: GUEST,Dani
Date: 21 Mar 08 - 07:45 AM

Wow! Here since '97. When I looked at my post listing, I was amazed. And that was only the non-guest ones! Didn't know I'd done ANYTHING that many times, except maybe brushing my teeth!

Nice to know you guys.

Viva La Mudcat.

Dani

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 21 Mar 08 - 07:13 AM

"I am not a number"

RtS
(here from around 1999, -without checking)

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Amos
Date: 20 Mar 08 - 12:16 PM

In the annals of Mudcat History, the most moving thread I have read was "Why We Sing", 1, started by Big Mick. The funniest, I can't say...Condoms certainly comes to mind, but then there was the Mudcat Juke Joint fiction piece in which Catspaw revealed his true heritage as a duck-tailed drag-racing hoodlumd, Peter and LEJ doing the amazing "Blake MAdison" stories, and the wonderful Steamboat Albert Hansell thread, and scores of others. I think perhaps the most electrifying was the series on the World Trade Center attacks of September 2001, which Catspaw kind of anchored. There are so many others, though; we have an amazing legacy we have developed as a community. I have often thought it ought to be trimmed down into a wonderful book, but I can't just now envision what the trimming job would look like!

A
A

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Mar 08 - 04:15 PM

late bloomer 01

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Peter T.
Date: 18 Mar 08 - 09:37 PM

the pursuit of the fair one -- how could one forget?

(not to mention a certain someone in a gorilla suit......)

yours,

Peter T.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: katlaughing
Date: 18 Mar 08 - 01:36 PM

Mick, I was going by Gervase saying he came in 1999, which was after Spaw and me, so wondering why he had a lower member number?

As to WyoWoman...she's the one person I knew before Mudcat, in person, in the same town, editor on the paper which carried my column. She didn't come until May 1999. I remember wondering if it was going to put a damper on my style to have her here...would I have to be careful of what I said about Wyoming, etc? (I didn't know her that well in 3D life.) Little did I know it really was not a concern.**bg**

Annamill, Animaterra, PeterT, and all you others, it is GOOD to *read* you!! Dwditty, I had no idea!

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Big Mick
Date: 18 Mar 08 - 01:05 PM

Kat, I am looking at your numbers and comparing to others with the time you came, it is about right. I am pretty sure Gervase was here first, not that it makes much of a hill of beans. That time when you, Rick, and Spaw came really was the beginning of the fast growth. I was lucky enough to stumble on it during the end of the initial growth, so I still had exposure to the early comers. Alice, Wyowoman, Animaterra, Peter, alison, all those were already here, in addition to the ones already mentioned. It was really a fascinating time, because we were discovering all the neat things we could do, in addition to discovering what we could do over the internet.

One of the cool things that I remember was when we discovered ICQ. On there we figured out we could chat like we do now in Mudcat Chat, but alison and I figured out we could use the talk function, like an internet phone call, and do real time conversation for free. We could also use a camera to see each other. I remember that I started THIS THREAD asking for help. Go read the thread (it is short) for a flavor of what the Mudcat was like in those days. It is also the one where I started my "shameless pursuit over cyber hill and dale" of THE FAIR ONE known as alison. Anyway, we hooked up over the internet, she called me a big lump of an eejit, and then taught me a song I needed for a performance, her in Sydney and me in Wayland, Michigan, USA. It was a great moment.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Peter T.
Date: 18 Mar 08 - 10:02 AM

Actually, I was thinking the other day that there were a number of threads that got people embroiled in the place. One was the death of Princess Diana (1997)! Another was that perennial question about what was folk music, and whether the Mamas and the Papas' lyrics should be hereabouts. And lots of others. The two things that most excited me then, and still do were: (1) The sheer elegance of this site compared to the clunky monsters that were (and are) out there; and (2) watching the group try and work on the evolution of long distance manners (for which we have to thank the infinite patience of people like Joe Offer). What struck me then, and still does, was how appropriate it was that folkies were doing this: who better?

But some threads did really tug us into a different league: Catspaw's trouble being the most powerful.

yours,

Peter T.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 18 Mar 08 - 05:12 AM

Actually, GUEST (unnamed) your first post was on 02 Oct 96 - 08:59 PM
when you started a thread titled Folk Lyric Request, and you have a mere 71,621 posts to your discredit.

And you received a "gentle reminder" from Joe O on proper posting methodology at that time.

John

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Amos
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 04:37 PM

I am really glad you old hands still show up occasionally -- we miss your bright voices.


A

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: annamill
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 04:19 PM

I seem to remember being in there somewhere. I think I came in just before 'spaw became ill the first time. Mudcat was something. I was drawn in by the love shown to 'spaw at that time. I was Annap.

Love, Annamill

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 02:21 PM

I see with all of these lists of lists that no one is bothering to ask which is the longest thread. Shall I conduct a search for you?

;-D

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Wesley S
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 01:08 PM

I arrived in November of 1999. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: MartinRyan
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 01:00 PM

I see from this thread that I was already around in 1996. Didn't even think I was that old! My name has morphed a few times, mind you.

Regards

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 12:51 PM

16 Jan 98
Now mostly lurking, but still around!

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: bassen
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 04:15 AM

As far as I can tell I first posted as Bassen in September 1998. I had posted before that as a guest looking for song lyrics, but not that long before. I am a veteran lurker, infrequent poster, the virtual equivalent of the recluse from the back end of town that everyone forgets about. Not that I'm complaining, I figure this community needs anonymous entities too. And I definitely feel at home here. I've tried to do without but find I can't, I need this place. Being able to escape to the Mudcat those first few fantastic years was a godsend at a time when my other life was in the doldrums professionally and spiritually. Time to start paying back and participating a bit more regularly perhaps?

Bassen

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 04:01 AM

As a side note, I'm pretty sure that my first download of the DT was not from mudcat, but from the previous site where it was hosted before coming to mudcat. (The DOS version was the only thing there was, which was fortunate as it was before I had Windows.)

It was a few years later that I (we) learned about mudcat, and by then of course the DT had been "adopted." It was at least a couple more years before Lin and I "joined up."

Lin In Kansas made her first (official) post 02 Dec 1999. We only had one email addy, so I couldn't join on my own until 15 July 2001 when we figured out how to get into a freeby second account.

I'm still trying to catch up. I think she has about 1,000 posts more than I do. I could whine that lots of her posts were "significantly assisted" by my searches, transcriptions, and other "scut-work" - and I guess I had (and/or bought after we met) most of the books she submitted "our" few hundred tunes and lyrics from - in her name.

[The "little people" never get any credit.]

John

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 10:08 PM

Don't forget Bill & Allan's Excellent Adventure...that went a long way to bring us all together in a long-distance sort of way, though it wasn't until 2000.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: dwditty
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 09:53 PM

Number 89 here.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: catspaw49
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 07:16 PM

However it works, I showed up in late'98 like's been said and came along with kat and Rick at about the same time. We were running some strange threads back then. I think it showed the age of the group and the overall distrust veresus marvel at the technology since there was a great deal of banter which we did "secretly." I remember for instnce a thread asking "How Old is a Mudcatter" where no one gave their names, just sex and age. Another covered where we all lived in extremely general terms. Finally Art Thieme in gneral disgust for the whole silly concept started a thread as a joke asking what kind of condoms we all used and it was the first really loose and free flowing conversational thread of any note. Yeah, there had been others, but THAT one was a biggie and moved us all down the road.

When I got sick at the end of April in '99, it was at Mick said above.   The site became far more of a community as prayers and wishes for my recovery (or even the ones for death from our resident troll Gargoyle) began coming. I was out of it of course, my only contribution was offering up 2 near death experiences in a two week period. But for some reason this allowed many of the membership to realize just important and close to each other we had all become.

AS more folks came along I think the next events came on top of each other and the growth through them was by leaps and bounds.   Various arguments united and divided and we all got to know each other on a pretty intimate level. Leej started the Tavern threads which helped the healing after a serious conflict and then along came annamil with her first homespun gathering...................

I'd go on and on but I'm being called to the kitchen by son Tris for a rousing game of Aggravation!

Spaw

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: gnu
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 06:35 PM

The big crash has topseyturveied it all.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 06:10 PM

I think the counter-numberer-thingie is outta whack. Spaw and I both came in 1998, before Gervase and we are 2993 2962 and 2962 2993, respectively. So what gives, huh? (No offense, Gervase and NICE to see you!)

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Gervase
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 05:40 PM

Another 1999 arriviste here - with number 1496, if that makes any sense. Though I did take a lengthy sabbatical when everyone was chewing the carpet over wars and things, so I suppose I can't claim to have been around consistently.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Amos
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 05:33 PM

Gnu
For You
83-
62.

A

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 05:28 PM

oh...I was OVERLY clever...*tsk*..well,anyway, it's a way to get to a list of names without finding a thread they are in.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Jeri
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 05:22 PM

Well, I took too long trying to be cute, but mousing over the 'PM' in a message header is pretty easy.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Alice
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 05:13 PM

thanks for that info, Bill.
I am #129.

Alice

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Jeri
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 05:12 PM

Gnu, gnu,
You got a 'PM' link in blue
Next to your name in each message - it's true!
And your number's 8362

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Amos
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 05:10 PM

Geeze, Bill -- I quote some doggerel about an Italian blacksmith, and you get all uppity. Tetchy, aincha. Well, my apologies to your Ferrarri, I never meant to disrespect her as you know, I hope.

A

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 05:06 PM

I did try just typing 'a' and got a list of everyone down to Azizi....by scrolling down the list, I see numbers in the 21000s...and since A is a common initial, I would assume there are not numbers much higher.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 05:00 PM

you are 8362 (you go to "send a PM" type in a name...or even one letter, and get a list...mouse over the names to read the # at the end) I don't know any way to create a list BY number)

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Peace
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 04:52 PM

Is that your new name then?

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: gnu
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 04:52 PM

B D.... what's MY number?

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 04:48 PM

May I assume the numbers were 'assigned' in some automatic manner according to the order members posted after memberships were created?

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 04:45 PM

ah...I found a way to see my #...I am #114.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: gnu
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 04:43 PM

I was not gnu before I was gnu neither.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Alice
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 04:39 PM

In the begining... we did not need to log in with our names, so searching on a name does not take you back to
the first people on the forum necessarily. But, as Max made Mudcat, he and Dick and Susan and the others
as previously described were here at first. I found Mudcat in 1997. Old searches will bring me up as Alice or
Alice in Montana, but I know my first posts were earlier than the ones recorded.

Alice

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 04:34 PM

??Membership number? Do I have one? How did you find them, Jeri?

(and you see, Amos? Even the renowned poet, Aberdeen Mc Fuzian, couldn't get the name right. It ain't Ferr-er-a neither!)

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Amos
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 04:00 PM

Mr Happy:

"From the get-go" is a Yankee expression meaning from the very start, derived from the old race-starting chant "Get ready, Get set, Go!". "From the gitgo" is a vernacular version.


A

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: gnu
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 03:56 PM

Ya can't go by the name clicky rigginfriggin... since the great crash, thingamajigs are gone hellwestandcrooked.

I been here a while, I think. But, that don't make no nevermind a me. I am just glad I am still here.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Leadfingers
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 03:47 PM

makes us newcomers feel REALLY new , a thread like this one ! LOL

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Jeri
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 03:26 PM

Mick, remember you're old now and must take care of yourself.

Posts don't necessarily demonstrate who's been a member the longest. Peter T has the lowest membership number (58) in this thread. Bert's is 90, Dick Greenhaus is 80, dwditty is 83. Max is actually 49, but I don't believe he counts because 1) he's the host and 2) he doesn't really post any more.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Big Mick
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 02:58 PM

Can't believe I did that, Bill!! The only excuse I have is that I am pretty beat up from playing one high energy gig after another. I could barely move this morning, and am only just now starting to limber up. Fortunatley we only have one gig today for a couple of hours, but tomorrow...............Oy!!

Mick

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Amos
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 02:51 PM

I think Ferrara is an ancient Italian name, Bill, which originally meant "The lady blacksmith".


Beneath the spreading olive trees
The town Ferrera stands.
The local smith, a mighty lass
With strong and work-worn hands.
And the muscles on her dainty arms
Stand out like soft-shelled clams.

Aberdeen Mc Fuzian
In Praise of Ladies
Edinburgh, 1886

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 02:37 PM

Mick...I'll have you know, my wife NEVER ran for VP! Nor was she a member of an Italian car building family! (durn it!)

(never mind..*grin*..it's an ongoing, never-ending process separating the Ferraros from the Ferraris and the **Ferraras**) You should have heared the telemarketers asking to speak with "Ms. Ferra")

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Peter T.
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 02:34 PM

I was here bright and early. The part that stunned me the most was a little later when we had a first gathering in Toronto, and all these people came from all over. It was the first time I really got a sense of the power of this kind of Internet community.

I have these incredibly close friends I have never met, even 10 years later (catspaw, katlaughing and others). And others I have. I still think it is weird.

What a place.

Peter T.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Big Mick
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 02:21 PM

***chuckling over McGrath's comment**** How true that is,was, and ever shall be, Kevin.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 02:16 PM

I came in about the same time as Amos - October 16th 1999 to be exact. By which time there were lots of people lamenting the good old days that were no more...

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Big Mick
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 02:00 PM

Yep, Barry was here when I got here, and started out kicking my big Irish behind right from the git go. hahahahahaha, I knew we would be friends right away.

Here's a memory for you, Barry. I had driven all night long to get to Getaway, got out of my car there at Prince William, and who is the first person to greet me, screw with me about my bodhran, and see to it I got checked into those god forsaken, filled with mold, sleeping cabins? Good old Barry. Remember the walk through the mud to the showers, and once all squeeky clean, having to walk through the mud to get back to the cabin??? hahahahahahahaha. Great stuff.

Mick

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Barry Finn
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 01:46 PM

Oh Mick, your memory is bad, even I remember when you first can in. You were late as usual.

Barry

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Big Mick
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 01:41 PM

Wow, talk about a faulty memory. In reading the earlier thread, I see where I am off by a year. According to Allan C, my first post was October of 1996.

I don't know...... I just know that it was about 6 months old when I found the old place. Joe, Dick, Max, BillD, alison and many others were already here at that time.

Mick

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Big Mick
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 01:34 PM

My first post as Big Mick came at the end of March in 1998. I had posted as a GUEST since the end of November of 1997. I have never been able to find my first post as a GUEST but I do remember it was a request for all the variations of the "old ladies stuck in a lavatory" song. I had been a lurker and was describing the site to a guy I played music with. He asked me to check out this song, because his Dad had loved it, but he didn't know the words. In those days we had a plethora of really interesting characters here, like Shula whom I remember fondly. I remember when Spaw joined and when kat joined. I especiallly remember when Spaw got sick the first time, and I started a thread on it. That was really the genesis of the community tradition of folks around the world interacting in this community in a way that has become legendary. The Mudcatters rallied around with prayer, healing thoughts, and assistance in whatever way possible. I remember the first time Mudcatters went to FSGW Getaway. It was wonderful, and that is where Jeri, Dani, Barry, Sandy & Caroline, Dan & Bonnie Milner, Joe Offer, Bill D & Ferraro, Dick Greenhaus, Kath Westra, lamarca, and so many others became friends.

Thanks for starting this one, it is nice to reflect on the early days.

Mick

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 11:49 AM

The earliest I could document was not posted as a member, but it was dated March 21, 1999, from [e-mail]. I had an idea that there was a somewhat earlier one dropped into a thread when I was just sampling Mudcat, but I can't find it after extensive search, so I'll assume March 21 '99 was my first.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 11:44 AM

"Gitgo"=the beginning, the very start

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Mr Happy
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 07:40 AM

What's 'gitgo' mean?

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 01:09 AM

Clicking on any of the threads listed above will get your even more answers, esp. the first posting by Joe in This One.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 12:36 AM

There were a bunch of us who came in near the end of '98. My gawd, it's almost ten years, Spaw!

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Amos
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 12:06 AM

Hell, I am but an egg -- I rolled into the Cat in late '99 and found all these Great SPirits already hard at play in the sandbox.


A

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Barry Finn
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 11:26 PM

I've been here since 2/97 & I'm not close to being one of the earliest, I seem to remember that there was quite a crowd already gathering here by then. But I'm glad to see all those early birds that are still here.

Barry

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: catspaw49
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 08:54 PM

Y'all need to re-read Bill's answer.........He was here pretty much at the gitgo as was Bert and course Dick and Max. Kinda' makes him the expert to me.

And I'm glad he's still here!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 08:39 PM

Further checkout of the "Messages by Date" function shows that it returns the individual posts made on one single date.

The earliest date that I found that returns anything is 01 October 1996:

Vivian Price        [m] Battle of Decata        01 Oct 96 - 09:47 AM
Larry        [m] Lyric Requests        01 Oct 96 - 12:02 AM
Max        [m] The Mudcat Café        01 Oct 96 - 12:00 AM

The listing appears in reverse time order, making the first recoverable post the one by Max at "midnight" on that date.

For unknown reasons, it's the first post of Thread #4, and is shown as post number 4.

Threads 4, 5, and 6 were started on that day.

Thread 2, was created the following day, 02 Oct 1996 08:35 AM by Vivien.

Thread number 1 pops up mysteriously on 07 October 1996 07:33 AM, created by PhillyBluesboy, who almost immediately after (12 minutes later) started another thread which is numbered as thread 21.

Thus far, I can account for threads numbered 1 through 21, except for number 3 and number 11, all appearing from 01 Oct through 07 October 1996.

Individual posts are numbered in chronological order, and the first one I've found is number 4, Max's first post (in thread 4). Numbers 15, 28, and 29 are also "missing" thus far.

From my search, the first retrieveable post was the one by Max, midnight morning (12:00 AM) 01 October 1969.

[Note that we've had debate about whether 12:00 AM is midnight or noon, but the posts listed in time order in the search result do indicate that it's midnight at the beginning of the day.]

John

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Bill D
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 07:53 PM

Currently, the posters from the 1st month (oct. 96) who are still about are Max, Bert (who once worked with Max), Dick Greenhaus, Susan of DT, 'occasionally' lamarca, and yours truly, me. Several others who are still here posted in late '96 or early '97.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 06:55 PM

Thanks John! - that's really neat. One of the things I love about the Mudcat is that there is always something new about it to learn and try out. It's a bit like playing the guitar in that respect.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 06:43 PM

At the top of the page, on the same line where it says "Mudcat" there's a little box that probably says "Quick Links" with an "arrow" and a "Go" button.

Click the arrow to roll down the menu.

On the menu there's a choice named "Messages by Date."

Click Messages by Date and then the Go button.

When you get the list, you'll find a place where you can change the dates you want to look for to get a new list.

Technical Quibble: You don't get "messages" in the sense of PMs - the common usage here - you get "Posts" and/or "Threads" as we normally speak of them. That's probably not something that should be a problem.

Technical Problem: The date in the list is apparently based on the last post in the thread that's listed, not on when the thread was started. I'm not really certain on this point, as I haven't used the function enough to poke into flavors, colors, spins, parities and other quantum characteristics of the experimental objects and data.

John

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 05:53 PM

Not sure about the "list-by-date function" either.

But if you go up to the address line remove everything after threadid= and type in 1, you get the first thread, 2 you get the second and so forth.

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 05:35 PM

the oldest post is not to be found in thread #1, paradoxical as that may seem.

the oldest post, dated 1st Oct 1996 is to be found in thread #6, but the poster is no longer an active Mudcat participant, which is what the original question was about.

I still think the answer is Max

I am sure there was a thread about this some time ago ...

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: pdq
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 04:39 PM

Here is "thread #1" :

PhillyBluesboy                     07 Oct 96 - 07:33 AM
GUEST,Lucille                     30 Sep 00 - 12:55 AM
WyoWoman                         30 Sep 00 - 01:13 AM
WyoWoman                         30 Sep 00 - 01:16 AM
Lonesome EJ                     30 Sep 00 - 01:21 AM
WyoWoman                         30 Sep 00 - 01:31 AM
Lonesome EJ                     30 Sep 00 - 01:34 AM
WyoWoman                         30 Sep 00 - 01:37 AM
GUEST,.gargoyle                17 Jan 03 - 11:54 PM
Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull         18 Jan 03 - 12:40 AM

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 04:31 PM

Amos, most people reading this are going to ask, how the hell do you use the "list-by-date function".

(including me, I have to say :-)

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Amos
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 04:19 PM

You can use the list-by-date function to trace it back.


A

Subject: RE: Longest ongoing Mudcat
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 04:12 PM

Max, I think ...

Subject: Longest ongoing Mudcatters
From: Leadbelly
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 04:06 PM

Obviously, that's not me.
But there must be someone or someones which took part in this forum from the early beginning till now.
Any proposals?