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14 Feb 06 - 01:21 PM (#1668277) Subject: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Alba I was just wondering. After the Mudcat probs over the weekend and the giggles that where exchanged between those who could get in and those who couldn't, I got a familiar feeling of the old BS Mudcat exchanges and it was great. No abuse, No constant top 5 threads, refreshed daily and nightly, rehashing the same old nasty blah! Sick of the sight of some of them in particular now and don't even open them. So I am really asking the folks in the know here on the Mudcat. namely y'all. What has happened and more importantly when did the fun disappear! Now when an attempt is made to lighten things up it gets beaten down, not all the time but a good portion of the time. Curious as to why this has happened. Anyone else feel this way or am I just nuts (don't answer the latter please:) Love and Light Jude |
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14 Feb 06 - 01:30 PM (#1668282) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Rapparee Visit MOAB. |
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14 Feb 06 - 01:34 PM (#1668284) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Amos Your last request, not to address nuttiness, may be the answer, Alba!! The answer can be, I think, summed neatly: the fun of the Cat rises and falls in inverse proportion to the number of ad hominem slurs posted. If you find periods when all those who posted were paying more attention to being funny, insightful, honest, comapssionate or informative than they were to be defensive or atagonistic to various viewpoints, you'll find the fun times when creative juices flowed. Sure, there were some extremely humourous putdowns but they were usually given and accepted in a spirit of banter and goofiness, not in a spirit of attack and nullify. A |
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14 Feb 06 - 01:50 PM (#1668301) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Clinton Hammond Stay above the Bullshit line and Mudcat can be a very useful tool.... a tool full of know-it-all blaggarts who think they shit sunshine... But what did you expect from the internet? There are some very few who make this place worth wild... As with all things in life, the trick is finding them... |
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14 Feb 06 - 01:51 PM (#1668303) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Janie As for me, I'm just getting old and cranky;>) Janie |
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14 Feb 06 - 01:52 PM (#1668304) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Janie I agree Clinton. Wild can be worth alot! Janie |
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14 Feb 06 - 02:16 PM (#1668321) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: McGrath of Harlow Just hunt around. There are so many threads it's easy to miss the fun. It's a pity that some people always seem to try to turn discussions and arguments into slanging matches, and even more of a pity that others fall into the trap of getting into that same game. But even so, more often than not, there is still a real argument going alongside those kinds of post. I don't think we should feel it necessary to shy off from exploring our differences just because some fools are squaring up for a fight. Otherwise we end up like those pubs where they try to have a ban on people talking about anything controversial, like politics or religion or even sport, and the weather is about the only thing left. And not even that, in these days of global warming and consequent disasters. And you don't in fact avoid controversy and aggro just by sticking to the music threads here. |
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14 Feb 06 - 02:48 PM (#1668349) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: GUEST These are not happy times, and there's no Rick Fielding. |
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14 Feb 06 - 02:56 PM (#1668359) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: wysiwyg Oh, I reckon it's the same answer it's always been, Alba-- too many people failing to appreciate the nuances of the community when they first wander in, and changing it before they realize they've done that. (Then wondering, later, why the next batch of newbies "don't get it.") The rest of the answer is the same as ever, too-- all anyone really can do is to do what you, yourself, can do, to set the tone you'd like to be able to enjoy here. And leave the rest to those who like what they are creating. It's the nature of the medium and of human beans, that's all. ~Susan |
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14 Feb 06 - 03:01 PM (#1668367) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Anonny Mouse Well, I find many of these threads very entertaining, informative and provocative (to say the least!). Keep tuned in...as a relative newcomer, it's still all here--in spades! |
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14 Feb 06 - 03:02 PM (#1668368) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Clinton Hammond It's not like Rick was the only meritorious poster on Mudcat..... |
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14 Feb 06 - 03:06 PM (#1668372) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Donuel I was away for 4 weeks due to a minor fatal encounter. It seems the same here as always, perhaps you have changed... |
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14 Feb 06 - 03:15 PM (#1668377) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Alba Maybe so Donuel, maybe so..... |
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14 Feb 06 - 03:20 PM (#1668385) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: katlaughing It is not the same as it was several years ago. It is a microcosm of the State of Fear, which we see in the world. A lot of fear, acrimony, etc. and people who feel compelled to vent those feelings. The friendliness and helpfullness we used to see are still here, but not as evident. The fun is scarce compared to pre-Bush days. I take some of the blame for having started the first "BushWhacked" thread, after his election. BS used to be stories, sharings, games,a nd FUN. Now, it is mostly political sniping. I know what you mean, Alba...the Help Foruum, over the weekend, was a wee glimpse of what we've lost. It was also a faint glimmer of Hope. If everyone would take a deep breathe, try to exercise friendly manners and give each other the benefit of the doubt, it would help. I also agree with GUEST...Rick's influence is missing and has made a considerable difference in the tone of the place, as has the absence of those who are still alive, but not posting as much... kat |
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14 Feb 06 - 03:33 PM (#1668397) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: WFDU - Ron Olesko Nothing can stay the same, nor should it. With free expression and opportunity to share ideas, you have to expect that the tone will change. With success comes new members (and guests) and with that the tone will change. There is no sense in keeping a segregated country club feel to the place. You can't keep the old lightbulb forever! |
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14 Feb 06 - 03:38 PM (#1668400) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Alba I don't think the Mudcat now or at anytime in the past has had a Segregated Country Club feel to it:) but it is an interesting perspective! |
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14 Feb 06 - 03:41 PM (#1668405) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Peace WISH A BUCK WAS STILL SILVER (ARE THE GOOD TIMES REALLY OVER) Merle Haggard Wish a buck was still silver. It was, back when the country was strong. Back before Elvis; before the Vietnam war came along. Before The Beatles and "Yesterday", When a man could still work, and still would. Is the best of the free life behind us now? Are the good times really over for good? Are we rolling down hill like a snowball headed for hell? With no kind of chance for the Flag or the Liberty bell. Wish a Ford and a Chevy, Could still last ten years, like they should. Is the best of the free life behind us now? Are the good times really over for good? I wish coke was still cola, And a joint was a bad place to be. And it was back before Nixon lied to us all on TV. Before microwave ovens, When a girl still cooked and chopped wood. Is the best of the free life behind us now? Are the good times really over for good? Are we rolling down hill like a snowball headed for hell? With no kind of chance for the Flag or the Liberty bell. Wish a Ford and a Chevy, Could still last ten years, like they should. Is the best of the free life behind us now? Are the good times really over for good? One more time: Stop rolling down hill like a snowball headed for hell? Stand up for the Flag and let's all ring the Liberty bell. Let's make a Ford and a Chevy, Still last ten years, like they should. 'Cos the best of the free life is still yet to come, The good times ain't over for good? Let's sing it again. Stop rolling down hill like a snowball headed for hell? Stand up for the Flag and let's all ring the Liberty bell. Let's make a Ford and a Chevy, That'll still last ten years, like they should. 'Cos the best of the free life is still yet to come, An' the good times ain't over for good? Some of the old days weren't really all that good. |
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14 Feb 06 - 03:44 PM (#1668407) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Peace PS Nostalgia just ain't what it usta be. |
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14 Feb 06 - 03:44 PM (#1668408) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Clinton Hammond Nor all that old.... |
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14 Feb 06 - 03:54 PM (#1668423) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Windsinger Some of the old days weren't really all that good. Good point, Peace. :) The thickest rose-colored glasses in the world can't convince me that the 70's were fun to grow up in (OR that the clothes were cool.) Slán, ~F |
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14 Feb 06 - 03:54 PM (#1668424) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Gurney Donuel, what is a 'minor fatal encounter'? Is that when it is the other poor bastard that gets killed? I miss jOhn. A lot of the fun for me was his threads. Another victim of profligate curry, and core discardment. |
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14 Feb 06 - 03:58 PM (#1668428) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: WFDU - Ron Olesko Maybe the wrong choice of words - certainly there is nothing racist about Mudcat, but I think you know what I mean. We do not want to be a clique or a handful of friends that feed off each other. While there are detractors, overwhelming I get a spirit of openness and welcome here at Mudcat. I think we want to see more people posting notes and sharing opinions. You have to take the good with the bad. Windsinger said something on another post (after I foolishly posted some comments that were taken out of the context I intended) about people respecting one another. THAT may be missing these days. We tend to get caught up in our own opinions that we fail to listen to others. I've also noticed that the people who post the most negative comments seem to be looking for opportunities to make snide comments. It comes across as if they are just dealing with some inadequacy (like my spelling) and have some sick need to snap at others. As my mother used to say, you take the good with the bad and make the best of it. |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:01 PM (#1668429) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Clinton Hammond "We do not want to be a clique or a handful of friends that feed off each other" Too late.... |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:01 PM (#1668430) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Donuel Katlaughing The Holy Grail: You see the violence inherent in the system, you see the violence inherent in the system... Silliness with a grain of truth is here as always but with knowledge and wisdom comes respondsibility. Grounded fear is in fact a good thing. For example the bird flu H5N1 will be in the United States within weeks and there are precautions one should take. As for the fear tactics of a repressive regieme one can only agitate, agitate, agitate and act with defiance when prudent. It would not surprise me in the least if coments by people here have landed them on the no fly list (its not just for terrorists anymore). your friend , giggles the patriot. |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:03 PM (#1668431) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Peace Gotta tell ya that the 1950s weren't all that great at times. I disagree with the premise of this thread, although I have the greatest admiration and respect for the gal who started it. There are many threads that have 'fun' in them. However, political threads tend to get hot, fast. As do religious threads. As do 'race' threads. The world is becoming polarized, much more so than I have seen in the past. However, there as still many kind and thoughtful people around the 'cat, and that's a truth. I suppose we can all look to halcyon times in our lives and feel that nothing again will match them. And we can make sure that that becomes a self-fulfilling thing. Rick was deservedly a well-respected, well-loved guy around this place. However, there are other people who have done as much with intent as good. I think it is unkind to his memory to assume that his legacy of caring died with him. It didn't IMO. |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:20 PM (#1668450) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Windsinger Peace, can you fill me in some more? I've frequented the site for about six or seven years, but 99.9% of the time it was just to quietly plunder the DT for lyrics, and only V E R Y sporadically to interact in the Forum. (Until recently. Blame cabin fever.) So there was a time the B.S. threads weren't dominated by inflammatory rhetoric posted by folks specifically trolling for a fight? Not that there's anything wrong with healthy debate; but people are people, and hot-button topics have a way of stankifyin' the general goodwill very quickly. This happens often enough by accident, when it's not actively encouraged by folks who are the conversational equivalent of arsonists (i. e., pour the gasoline, light the match, stand back and salivate with glee.) Seriously. A quick glance inside a couple of those threads was enough to make me want to shower for hours. Slán, ~F |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:22 PM (#1668452) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: katlaughing I know there has to be change. But, not at the hands of a few bullies. There are so many who do not post anymore because of them. There are those who just don't think it is worth it as they can count on being denigrated, and personally attacked. Some of us can take it, others cannot. I cannot count the number of emails and PMs I have received from those who made the Mudcat the FUn that it was AND CAN BE, who just don't post anymore because of the rancorous miasma of crap that hangs over it. (I know some don't post anymore because their 3D lives have become so busy.) A roll call of just a few might be a good reminder: Spaw Lonesome EJ BSeed (Chas. Kratz.) Night Owl Banjo Bonnie Alison in Oz Animaterra annamil Bill Sables Marymac JenEllen Mark Cohen Aine Auxiris Amergin Banjer Bearheart BlueJay Brendy Bugsy Dave Swan Firecat Deckman mygurualwayssaid Guy Wolf Animaterra and, many others. With all good wishes, kat |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:23 PM (#1668454) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Clinton Hammond "there was a time the B.S. threads weren't dominated by inflammatory rhetoric posted by folks specifically trolling for a fight?" Not that I've seen, in the time that I've been here.... Wanna see Mudcats true colours? Start a "What is Folk Music" thread.... all the fuckwits will come out to play.... |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:24 PM (#1668456) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Peace I think many folks will be willing to fill you in, Windsinger. I am certainly not qualified--although I appreciate you asking. I am one of the more unreasonable posters here: been banned before and cut off a few times. There are people I just won't ever reason with (I'd rather tell them to fuck off--racists, Nazis, religious fanatics. Just the way it is for me. So, basically, I'm the wrong guy to ask. |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:24 PM (#1668457) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: katlaughing Also, JustaPicker!! |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:30 PM (#1668462) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: greg stephens Well I miss JOhn from Hull seriously. I used to come to Mudcat just to see what he had to say! But you know there are still jokes to be had. I do find a lot depressingly offensive though. |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:32 PM (#1668464) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Windsinger There are people I just won't ever reason with Well, a calm and reasonable dialogue, takes TWO people willing to be calm and reasonable. The three categories you cite are not well-known for producing shining beacons of either qualities. You cannot really talk sense with someone who abides by the principal, "if you're losing, shout louder." Slán, ~F |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:37 PM (#1668470) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Donuel Shes got a list and shes collecting names!!! ;) All kidding aside its a good list Mortality has a way of setting priorities more than being intimidated by nameless internet "bullies". Actually I think most people would see the trolls as cowards more than bullies. |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:37 PM (#1668471) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Clinton Hammond Oh... so you've read the "What is folk music" threads already then? |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:40 PM (#1668475) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Clinton Hammond Cross post.... Repost for clarity... "someone who abides by the principal, "if you're losing, shout louder." Oh... so you've read the "What Is Folk Music" threads already then eh? |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:41 PM (#1668477) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Windsinger Wow. :D You're bringing out my mischievous streak, Clinton. Should I start one? (Not a fan of inciting gratuitous flame-wars, even if it's IN the name of science. But you're definitely piquing my curiosity. lol) Slán, ~F |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:43 PM (#1668479) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: number 6 If it wasn't 'fun' I wouldn't keep coming back. sIx |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:44 PM (#1668481) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: number 6 "Gotta tell ya that the 1950s weren't all that great at times." ... either were the 1960's. sIx |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:45 PM (#1668482) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Little Hawk I remember reading one once, but that was a long time ago. |
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14 Feb 06 - 04:52 PM (#1668500) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Severn I just see it as a temporary shortage of good straight lines to play off of. It'll be back. Maybe someone needs to set the proper bait. Maybe we should hold an Annual Fun Raiser..... |
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14 Feb 06 - 05:06 PM (#1668517) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: katlaughing Willie-O Banjer Crowhugger Billy the Bus MattR none of the ones I listed have passed on, that I know of... |
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14 Feb 06 - 05:20 PM (#1668536) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: gnomad I can't claim to be one of those addressed by the opening post (the folks in the know here on Mudcat) but I think that Kat would count as one such. I agree with her that (translating rather freely) the malaise here may be reflecting a change in society as a whole. There are nuggets of the old spirit around, they just aren't as plentiful. In Kat's later post there is a heck of a list of those that might be seen as gone missing. That is a loss to each of them, but a bigger loss still to the 'cat. Have they been driven away? Doubtless some will have found newer or more pressing activities, but I would guess that a fair few have just decided to fade away as agression has made the site less congenial. Spaw and JOhn from hull9 were particular favourites of mine, but I miss others too....Aargh, the list is growing as I type...stop it will you, it is more than flesh and blood can take. I promise to be nicer, will that do? OK, I will smile too, but I can't give up the puns. |
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14 Feb 06 - 05:39 PM (#1668550) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: WFDU - Ron Olesko "I would guess that a fair few have just decided to fade away as agression has made the site less congenial" Could it be that when Mudcatter had fewer members, it APPEARED to be more congenial? I have been visiting this site, daily, for a number of years. I think there were always a few that would bicker and instigate fights and what we see today merely reflects the increased number of people who visit this site. I came from a very quiet family with most of my relatives living in Pennsylvania. My parents came from large families and there always seemed to be one or two aunts and uncles who weren't talking to each other. I remember being at a family gathering and watching two aunts get into a shouting match because one person did not like the way the other made the coffee. All kinds of past history was dragged up over an innocent comment. They did not speak to each other for years. Most of the time, people just watched what they said and the gatherings were quiet and often boring affairs. My wife came from a large Jewish family from Brooklyn. I was amazed at the level of noise at one of the first gatherings I went to. People were laughing and joking and telling each other what they thought. They did not like something, they let it be known - often punctuated by a joke. No one took offense. No one was angry with anyone. Honestly, I see many people here on Mudcat having very thin skin and letting themselves become upset at piddly things. If you know someone is a jerk, you do not have to embrace them, just understand what they are and move on. Instead, people here become combative and look for a fight - both sides. Usually one person feels that they were slighted and drop out of sight, rarely to be heard from again. Mudcat is not a family, it should not replace a family, but it can be a friendly and fun site if YOU approach it with the right attitude. You aren't going to change someones mind or approach to others - they come here with established patterns. Accept it for what it is, find the joy that STILL exists here, and enjoy yourself. Don't worry about the jerks. They eventually get tired and drop out of sight. |
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14 Feb 06 - 05:48 PM (#1668553) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Liz the Squeak You know what? I was thinking the exact same thing Alba..... maybe we should start a 'where have all the sillies gone' thread.... LTS |
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14 Feb 06 - 06:00 PM (#1668564) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Joe Offer OK, I give up. What IS folk music? -Joe- |
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14 Feb 06 - 06:02 PM (#1668567) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: katlaughing Well said, gnomad. I think you nailed it. Thanks. Ron, I am surprised, because I know you've been here a fair amount of time. Yes, we had bickering and the occassional crap from the like of gargoyle and others, but I do not for a minute believe it just APPEARED to be more congenial. Folks just plain were nicer, less likely to take or give offence. I remember we even used acronyms a lot more to make sure folks knew we were were just joking as in **BG** (Big Grin); NOI (no offence intended), etc. And, most signed off with some kind of good wishes. Maybe it is partly ebcause there are so many new folks, but I don't think we can blame it on them; most seem like good folk. There are a few who post as themselves, and, I am sure, as guests, at times, who always seem compelled to bring others down, stir the pot, flame, troll, whatever you want to call it. They are consistent and if Rick were still here, he'd give you a breakdown of their times, styles, etc. as he delighted in studying posting habits, language used, etc. Almost makes me long for the days when garg was all we had watch for. kat |
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14 Feb 06 - 06:03 PM (#1668569) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Windsinger What IS folk music? ACKpht! :::diving into foxhole::: NOW you've done it! Slán, ~F |
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14 Feb 06 - 06:20 PM (#1668579) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: GUEST,Blind DRunk in Blind River I'll tell ya where the fun has gone, eh? The fun has gone to Sudbury. That's right, you heard me. Laura...the only $20 hooker in my town of Blind River...has moved to the big city of North Bay. This is not good news for Blind River! I expect that the local ecomony will be hit bad, eh? Most hookers charge way flippin' more than $20! That is becoz of inflation and probally becoz of the Liberal party too, eh? They take a cut on every workin' girl's trade, the bastards! If ya want fun in Blind River now, be flippin' preaiired to pay through yer flippin' nose, man. The salad days are over. - Shane |
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14 Feb 06 - 06:29 PM (#1668581) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Amos Hey!! It's right over HERE!!! |
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14 Feb 06 - 06:30 PM (#1668582) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: GUEST j0hn was the only person who made me spit coffee on the keyboard. But some people maoned about him. Can't please everyone. |
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14 Feb 06 - 06:30 PM (#1668583) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: GUEST,Wesley S "Where have all the sillies gone, Long time passing ? Where have all the sillies gone, Long time ago" Where have all the sillies gone, Left the Mudcat long ago When will we ever learn, when will we ever learn ?" |
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14 Feb 06 - 06:42 PM (#1668591) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: bobad Ah yes Shane, them famous Sudbury saturday nights, when the girls are out to bingo and the boys are gettin' stinko - now that's some fun - sure as shootin'. |
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14 Feb 06 - 07:08 PM (#1668621) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Peace Severn, Great straight line from a thread by Art: "How tall is bin Laden?" They don't get much better'n that! |
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14 Feb 06 - 09:04 PM (#1668724) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: GUEST,Joe_F The silly '60s were a relief from the stuffy '50s, which were a relief from the bloody '40s, which were a relief from the dreary '30s, which were a relief from the silly '20s. -- --- Joe Fineman joe_f@verizon.net ||: Wealth, like happiness, is best attained while pursuing something else. :|| |
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14 Feb 06 - 09:26 PM (#1668755) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: WFDU - Ron Olesko "Folks just plain were nicer, less likely to take or give offence. ... Maybe it is partly ebcause there are so many new folks, but I don't think we can blame it on them" I really do not think anyone is to blame, because I do not think there is problem. It is the evolution of any website, we are no different. Some people take offense, others do not. Some people act like assholes, others do not. I honestly believe we are seeing an increase in the "traffic" on this site and when more names are involved, this happens. Lets face it, some of the early threads were harmless chats between a handful of people that got to know each other. Some people had history with each other before ever coming to this site. Some of those early threads were rather cliqueish and newcomers felt like they were interupting a private conversation. I know, because that is the way I felt initially. As someone also pointed out earlier in this thread, times are different. There is a lot of crap going on in the world and everyone now has an opinion to share. Instead of conversations about histories of English Ballads or memories of the Fox Hollow fest, we are now spending more time discussing politics, race and religion. Nothing has changed but the times and attitudes. You can't freeze time, nor can you freeze people. Everything evolves and I think we need to roll with the punches more. |
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14 Feb 06 - 09:59 PM (#1668789) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Once Famous I think a lot of Clinton's attitude is right on. Some of the fun obviously left this place shortly after I arrived and I realized that for the most part, what went on below the line was basically an impenetrable clique that was here for each other only, that pretty much seethed with arrogance and pomposity. I take some of the responsibility (not all), but I found so much of that bullshit was such complete bullshit. But, alas, I have calmed down some for the most part, have enough friends here that make me realize that there are some decent people for sure. However, I don't really care if it's not "fun." |
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14 Feb 06 - 10:25 PM (#1668818) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: WFDU - Ron Olesko I agree with you Martin, except I don't think you shoulder any responsibility for changes in attitude around here. You always call it like you see it, and even though I don't always agree with your stance I do think that you cut through the crap and speak your mind. Too many people fail to use logic or common sense. You also make people face an alternate position, something that causes them to feel uncomfortable. I truly enjoy your posts. You can also make me laugh, in a good way. "Fun" is what people make for themselves. I think there is just as much "fun" going on here at Mudcat as there ever was. |
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14 Feb 06 - 10:29 PM (#1668821) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: number 6 I agree Ron .... and Martin does make people face the alternate position ... and people do respond and enjoy it ... let's face it, as I said, if we didn't think it was fun we wouldn't be coming back and posting every day. I admit I get a good laff from a few of these posts on a daily basis. sIx |
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14 Feb 06 - 10:29 PM (#1668822) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Little Hawk I think there's lots of fun here. It's just different fun now, that's all. The cast of characters changes some as time goes by. |
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14 Feb 06 - 11:27 PM (#1668953) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Cluin It does on every forum on the Internet I've seen. And everybody laments how things have changed and how some people have moved on. It's the same the whole world over. The only thing that stays the same is change. |
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14 Feb 06 - 11:28 PM (#1668955) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Peace Naw. Even that's different. I remember when a quarter was worth twenty-five cents. Now? Fahhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . . . |
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14 Feb 06 - 11:57 PM (#1668987) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: number 6 and a pack of smokes was 35 cents. Now .... a cup of coffee is a $1.25 .... Fahhhhhhhhh sIx |
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15 Feb 06 - 12:11 AM (#1668998) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Cluin When I turned 19, two draught beers were 90 cents and the server was happy with the dime tip. |
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15 Feb 06 - 12:13 AM (#1669001) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Peace Video of British Soldiers in Iraq--check out that thread and you'll see very quickly where the 'fun' has gone. |
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15 Feb 06 - 12:16 AM (#1669006) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Peace Start with the last 15 or so posts. |
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15 Feb 06 - 12:18 AM (#1669007) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: number 6 Peace .... most of us here in the mudcat are disgusted with that .... and we all pretty well agree that the likes of the Guests post in that thread are intolerable and not accepted, in that we stand united ... and most of us here are in our ways different, but we realize life goes on and in the midst all of that crap, we do have fun. sIx |
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15 Feb 06 - 12:28 AM (#1669014) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Cluin Don't give them so much power, Peace. It's a bullshit troll and it'll be deleted as soon as a JoeClone gets to it. |
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15 Feb 06 - 12:54 AM (#1669021) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Gurney It takes all sorts to make a world. And other cliches like that. There are some who's posts I never read, because they often descend into vicious abuse, there are some who like to troll for an argument but do not seem to be looking for abuse, There are some who are very thin-skinned, and retire hurt at very little provocation, there are the excessively PC, and then there are the others. There seems to be a huge silent majority. I could wish for a few more like jOhn-from-Hull and Shane-BDiBR. Chorus from Jez Lowe; We must have been mad, to give them permission, we must have been mad, to let them make the rules. We must have been mad to give them position, to make us a world with no fun; without fools! Something like that. I don't think he meant the Mudcat, though. |
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15 Feb 06 - 01:46 AM (#1669032) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Lonesome EJ The thunder rolled through the sky with a stunning stereophnic effect that made Blake Madison jump up from the swivel chair he had been snoozing in. Standing bolt upright in the darkened room, he paused for just a second to see if the voice of Jim Morrison might intone Riders on the Storm. Having leapt into consciousness much too rapidly, Madison groaned and looked around him smacking his lips against the taste of stale Four Roses and Pall Malls. Instinctively he searched in his pocket finding only an empty fag-wrapper and a matchbook that read Serena's Haunted Tavern...246 Bel Mar. Madison fished a butt out of the ash tray that offered 3/4 inch of smudged and bent cigarette, then lit it with one of Serena's best. He ambled to the window, where the LA sky was lashing the glass with the remnant of Typhoon Gladys. A ghostly mist covered the interior of the glass and on it, Madison scrawled a cryptic message. As his hand dropped away from his scribbling,another flash of lightning illuminated it. Where did the Fun go? He drew on the butt and watched the cherry glow in the glass as the sky flung down another broadside of rain. He smashed out the butt and picked up a piece of pink paper from his desk. He held it to his nose briefly, and the same image slid through his mind...she was redheaded, lithe, and he seemed to glimpse her in the brief moment that she smiled at him, then turned away. On the card was written, in a soft flowing but correct cursive hand, the same strange phrase he had written on the pane. With his other hand he picked up the matching pink envelope the note had come in, and he examined the crisp 5,000 dollar bill that had accompanied it. Just next to the picture of Franklin Pierce a balloon comment seemed to emanate from Pierces pursed lips. "You mustn't let me down this time" was Franklin's warning. There was nothing else in or on the envelope. Madison glanced at his wristwatch : 3:45 am. Was it too early for a drink, or way too late? Madison decided that he'd have a drink while he pondered that one, poured a short and tossed it back, then croaked "well, here's to finding the goddam fun." The thunder rolled across the sky again, and Madison thought of the time his grandfather told him that when it thundered,gnomes were playing ninepins in the sky. The lightning then pealed violently, as if the gnome bowling alley had spontaneously detonated. Madison poured another short of Four Roses and sang in a low tone Into this house we're born into this world we're thrown In the silence that followed those words, the rain seemed to completely stop. Then the phone rang. |
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15 Feb 06 - 02:06 AM (#1669042) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: katlaughing (Let the FUN begin! Bravo, LeeJ!!!) |
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15 Feb 06 - 02:11 AM (#1669046) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Little Hawk LEJ, that is world-class, utterly brilliant Raymond Chandler-level private eye writing. Kree-gah! If I had the money to do it, I would pay you an outrageously high salary to write Chongo Chimp adventures in just that style. Alas, I do not have the money. |
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15 Feb 06 - 07:28 AM (#1669184) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Windsinger LEJ, I think I love you. :) Slán, ~Fionn www.geocities.com/children_of_lir |
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15 Feb 06 - 10:14 AM (#1669321) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: McGrath of Harlow You cannot really talk sense with someone who abides by the principal, "if you're losing, shout louder." So turn away from them and talk to someone else. And hope the shouters either move on or come to their senses in time, both of which things happen. (As has often been said, sometimes the best way to get listened to is to speak or sing in a soft voice, and be saying or singing something worth listening to.) In fact there's never been more than a handful of people who go over the top - and they aren't the real problem - it's much more the people who get drawn into responding in kind, until we learn better. I was looking at kat's list, and I agree, I miss a lot of those people - but I don't think we have to assume it's the squabbling that has driven them away. There are all kinds of reasons people give up doing something, mostly because other things in their life take up the time and the energy. |
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15 Feb 06 - 10:52 AM (#1669358) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: GUEST,Bea Beiking In another bar, in another part of town, Reza, known as 'Bunny' amongst those who'd 'known her when', had taken shelter from the torrential downpour. She slapped the oaken bar, liberating a few crumbs that had lodged themselves in one of the names carved into the surface by the steely blade of some wannabe tough long years ago... or maybe it was just last night. "Cal, give me a glass of Four Roses." "Sure, Miss vonWren," he replied, looking at her meaningfully,"But you usually drink wine. You OK?" Bunny took the proffered glass, and staring past Cal's eyes, past the painting of the naked hoochie, past the brick wall and on down the street, began to reply. As she raised the glass before her world-worn face, a blinding flash of light exploded through the front window in an atmospheric fanfare, a visual drum roll. A hundred juke boxes in a hundred bars went silent, and as the electricity fled the fury of the storm, the last light in the place illuminated Bunny's sad, whimsical face. "The men in my life...the women too, for that matter... I try to talk to them and they answer in one liners and sound effects. I swear they once were capable of stringing a couple of sentences together. I seem to remember being inspired by these clowns. I was talking to a guy the other night and I thought he was listening, but followed his eyes and he was staring at the fight on the TV. What is it about that brainless stuff that's so much better than talking to people!? "It's easy," Cal offered, as he lit a few of the candles he kept around for emergency 'ambience' should he ever be invaded by a flock of disoriented yuppies, "Pop culture in any form is familiar. Don't matter much if it's sports, politics, bitchin' about their pet peeves or pet hates. They don't need to think, they don't need to create nuthin', they don't need to question whether they're doin' the right thing. They don't need to leave their comfort zones and try to make theirselves or their little part of the world better. They just turn it on, tune in and forget what they hell life's for." "But don't you like football?" "Yeah, well, OK. Maybe it's just a guy thing. Weren't you gonna make a toast?" Bunny sipped from her glass then pinned it down with her gaze, "The moment sorta passed. I really wish I could find out where all the fun went. I wish there were someone else who cared that it disappeared, because it feels like I'm the only one who thinks something went wrong..." Cal picked up a candle and walked a few feet down the bar, setting it down in a carefully chosen spot. "Miss vW, here you go." She slid off the stool and walked down the bar. There, carved in the stained surface, was the name "Blake Madison, Private I" and a phone number. "Oh God," she sighed, "Not him! I'm looking for fun, for a good time, and he's as sad a person as I ever met. Why should I call him?" Cal slapped down a tip-jar quarter in front of her, smiled, winked, leaned across the bar, and very quietly, answered, "Because he still dreams." |
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15 Feb 06 - 03:12 PM (#1669619) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Windsinger Heh. :) There was a standup comic whose entire schtick was a parody of Chandler. Trenchcoat, fedora, deadpan delivery, throwaway zingers ("she had a voice so husky it could pull a dog-sled") and all. It was a hilarious act. Cannot remember his name...wonder what happened to him. Slán, ~Fionn www.geocities.com/children_of_lir |
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15 Feb 06 - 04:52 PM (#1669714) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Liz the Squeak Life, and Mudcat, is like a sewer... what you get out of it, depends on what you put into it. Paraphrasing Tom Lehrer.... LTS |
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15 Feb 06 - 05:24 PM (#1669735) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: katlaughing Not when the sewer gets swamped, LtS. Then ya have to call in the crapsuckers.:-) |
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15 Feb 06 - 05:40 PM (#1669745) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: the one we are all educated behond our intellegence. |
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15 Feb 06 - 05:59 PM (#1669758) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: bobad To everything - turn, turn, turn There is a season - turn, turn, turn And a time for every purpose under heaven A time to be born, a time to die A time to plant, a time to reap A time to kill, a time to heal A time to laugh, a time to weep |
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15 Feb 06 - 07:45 PM (#1669826) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Lonesome EJ The wipers slapped four-four time to Roger McGuinn nasal voice and his equally twangy Rickenbacker A time to plant a time to reap then another blast of lightening put a bad mojo on the WLAC signal tower and static pushed the Byrds off the bandbox and roared in synch with the wipers. Madison had his chin on the dash, a Pall Mall bobbing dangerously close to the plastic surface, as he gazed through the inch-wide clear strip in the overall smudge left by the defective left blade. "A time to ramble, a time to creep" Madison finished for McGuinn. He leaned back momentarily to glance at the gas gauge. Shit. Still empty. He tried to remember the last time he had actually put any fuel in the Mercury. You just couldn't stretch 5 dollars worth of unleaded like you used to. The radio locked on the signal, Tom Petty intoning "don't do me like that", and Madison wildly slapped buttons on the Delco combination AmFmCassette, snarling "goddam McGuinn impostor." Big puddles lay in the asphalt of Sunset Strip. Madison hit one near the Viper Room that washed over the hood of the Merc and obliterated his vision until he had passed the Whiskey A Go Go. When he could see again, he swung the car over to the curb where two hookers were just coming out from under the canopy in front of the Subway. Blake slid across the seat to the passenger door, the door that worked, popped it open and stumbled out onto the pavement. He smiled at the hookers and said "Morning!". They cowered slightly, causing Madison to cup his hand in front of his mouth and huff a breath, detecting only Four Roses with a slight Cheetoe undercurrent. Shaking his head to free his hair from some of the rainwater that had splashed down from the Subway awning, Madison lit a Pall Mall and stalked toward the door of Murph's La Cienega Pub. Why she would want to meet him here, he had no idea. He wouldn't call Cal Murphy's a place for fun, not unless you considered being insulted by Murph fun, or having your wallet lifted in the john a good time. One good thing about Murph, though. He knew his clientele. Murph poured a quick three fingers of Four Roses and slid it in front of the stool next to the lady's room, saying "three fitty, Madison. Pay first, smart ass." "Missed you too, Murphy" said Madison as he sank the bourbon in his gut and slapped a fiver on the bar. From a slender form that sat in the half darkness a voice purred "buy a lady a drink, Mr Madison?" Madison shoved the glass back in front of Murphy, who filled it, and Blake tipped it back before saying. "For a Lady,sure. Good luck findin one in this dump." She tapped a cigarette from a gold case, and Madison snapped open his zippo. The light lay on her face like a revelation. Just for a moment he thought of an art history class he had taken at Pomona Community, Raphael, Vermeer, Tintoretto. She had the face of a courtesan, or the Holy Virgin. She smiled, then blew out the flame. "Give her one of whatever she's having, Murphy." |
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15 Feb 06 - 07:50 PM (#1669829) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Amos (Yeah, man....this kid has got It....welcome back, dude! :D) A |
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15 Feb 06 - 07:52 PM (#1669831) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: GUEST,Wesley S ...And make it a double. Just like the trouble I'm in. |
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16 Feb 06 - 05:52 PM (#1670327) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: katlaughing (Hats off ta ya, darlin'...again!!) (*Aside* just a note to let those who are following but not posting: my "list" was nowhere near complete and I did not intend to slight anyone by not including them. There are many more of you whom I miss and well-remember. My list was meant as an example.) |
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16 Feb 06 - 05:54 PM (#1670329) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: GUEST Shure. Say that NOW after breaking my heart. |
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16 Feb 06 - 09:30 PM (#1670566) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Lonesome EJ "You don't remember, do you?" she said. He smiled."On the contrary. My minds just full of all those things I can't forget. God know I've tried." He glanced back at her. Behind her, the first gray gauze of dawn hung in the air of Sunset Strip. The rain had stopped again, and neon filled the quiet puddles outside with fluorescence. A figure straggled by...bald head with mohawk, heavy boots, duster. Madison pulled on the Pall Mall and smiled as he exhaled. The light above the bar highlighted her full lips, tousled hair, drink clasped near her chest. "Botticelli," he said. "Who?" "You know," he smiled. "Venus. On the half shell. Surfing out of a sea of clouds and painted beasts into a shore full of seraphim blowing on conchs to announce her arrival." Cal Murphy dumped the ash tray, refilled Madison's glass and said "that's one hell of a poem, Blake. Don't give up yer day job. Oh, that's right. You don't have a day job, do you?" Murphy rubbed thumb and forefingers together expectantly, and Madison fished a twenty out of his coat pocket, and said "don't you love me anymore, Murph? You act like you don't trust me. Relax. I got money to burn." Murph snagged the 20, saying "no, you're readin' me wrong, Blake. I've always had a soft spot for beautiful losers. Even beat-up ones like you. If you got some cash, why don' you go get a new trench coat?" Madison sipped the bourbon and said "because this coat's just like me. Dirty, ragged, and out of style since 1973." Murphy chuckled and walked down to the end of the bar where the tv was tuned to Mexican Wrestling, and he stood gazing at it. "No. I remember you Bunny. I hold you personally responsible for a wrong turn my life took in the late eighties. No hard feelings, though. Still married?" "No. You?" "No, I don't think so. Probably not." The California Sun was making a furtive appearance outside, the first few cars rushing by."Why'd you call me up and invite me down here, Bunny?" Murph had ambled over to the juke box and continued pushing buttons as the Burrito Brothers' Devil in Disguise began chugging out of the speakers. "I don't know, Blake. I couldn't sleep last night. Maybe it was the thunder and rain. Maybe it was the ten o'clock news. I came down here for something...some human touch." "So," he said, "you want to get a bottle from Murphy, drive over to Zuma Beach and walk barefoot in the sand? Just like old times?" Bunny leaned her head on her fist and smiled. "Times have changed, Blake. We'd probably get arrested." "That wouldn't have stopped the Bunny I used to know." "Well this Bunny's been up all night drinking. She's tired." "I thought you were looking for the fun?" She looked back at him quizzically. He shook his head. "You didn't send me the note, did you? Or the five grand." She lifted her glass and drained it, looked at him and said "you were always on some secret mission. I never knew what you were up to half the time. What you meant, what you wanted from me..." "So it was just the fantastic sex, then." She pulled on her windbreaker. "No, not just. But we did have fun. And I guess I loved you." She made an attempt to fluff her mop of hair, and laid some cash on the bar. She strode toward the door, and stood in an orange shaft of morning sunlight that pierced the murk of Murph's La Cienega. "Get him another round, Cal. Good luck finding the fun, Blake." And she opened the door and vanished down the Strip. Cal Murphy put another Four Roses in front of Blake Madison and Blake said "shitty timing." Murphy paused, holding the bottle in the air. "What?" "She said she loved me. If she'd told me that twenty three years ago I'd be living in Simi Valley with three kids and a degree in archaeology." "Tough break," said Murph. "Tell me about it" said Madison to his empty Pall Mall pack. |
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16 Feb 06 - 10:48 PM (#1670641) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Alba yesssssss..love it Thank you Lonesome EJ Jude |
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16 Feb 06 - 11:04 PM (#1670658) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: frogprince fine, distilled essence of noir... |
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16 Feb 06 - 11:11 PM (#1670663) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: GUEST and a bicycle built for two |
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16 Feb 06 - 11:23 PM (#1670674) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Auggie Awesome, LEJ. Please keep it coming...and send some of it over to my side of LA-Barrington between Santa Monica and San Vicente. |
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16 Feb 06 - 11:30 PM (#1670679) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Little Hawk By God...marvelous! More Blake Madison! Chongo is highly impressed. "This is the real McCoy!" he said to me. "Top Banana." |
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17 Feb 06 - 01:05 AM (#1670806) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: GUEST,Art Thieme "It all comes down to a red wheelbarrow..."--- No, not that good old poem. Roger Miller wrote in his song that: "The last word in lonesome is ME". FUN, since you asked so politely, is just the first word in funeral ! The "fun" went where Bush's damn war took it!! Like roadside bombs, until we can wash away the B.S. that's everywhere underfoot, we all, of necessity, must continually watch where we step... Art |
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17 Feb 06 - 02:21 AM (#1670829) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Lonesome EJ The eggs and bacon at Duke's Coffee Shop were as greasy and aromatic as the patrons. In fact, in the wake of the storm that had flushed through the City of Angels, the strengthening morning sun had raised up a ghost of funky vapor all along Sunset, like a snake of steam. Through the plate glass, Madison could see the morning creatures making their way distorted through the pavement's dank essence. The waitress brought his check and another cup of black coffee. She was pretty and clean in a Midwestern way despite the black widow spider tattooed under her left ear, and he wanted to tell her to split back to St Paul before the predators sensed her blood in the water. But she was probably an actress, not a waitress, like Cal Murphy was a trumpet player not a bartender, like Madison was a detective and not a homeless person. Nobody in LA was what they seemed to be, which was why you had relocated drug informants living next to little old ladies in San Vicente, and dentists stashing the bodies of their victims in Topanga Canyon. It was a teeming hive of illusion, and Madison realized in his few lucid moments that he needed it. The archaeology thing was an amusing dream. Madison dug his bones much closer to the surface. At some point on the way from Duke's heading down Santa Monica Blvd, it occurred to Madison that the "where did the fun go" note and the talking 5 gs might be in the nature of a message from God, a cryptic slap on the ass meant to shake him out of the alcoholic depression he had been in, and into a more blissful but equally alcoholic state of nirvana. The coffee had helped focus this concept, and by the time he pulled into the parking lot at Barney's Beanery he was ready for a red beer to really start the morning. The sky over Hollywood was bright blue now, birds chirped in the palm trees, and Blake had a huge smile for Sarah when he hit the barstool at Barney's. "A mission from God," he mumbled as he quaffed the cold Budweiser and tomato juice. Momentarily he pictured Belushi with fedora and shades mouthing the phrase, Belushi slurping lentil soup at the Rainbow, Belushi stumbling through the Chateau Marmont back gate with Catharine Smith. Sheeee-it. Maybe the mission was to pick up where John left off. That was a heavy responsibility. Blake pulled the folded up 5000 dollar bill out of his wallet and plastered it on the beer-dampened bar. "You mustn't let me down this time" read the caption. Could be a message from God. He tried to recall when he had failed in previous attempts to find the fun. He had been largely successful. No, clearly this was a message from a client. But in the absence of further communication...Madison chased the beer with a shot of Four Roses. The pink envelope under his wiper held a card written in the same hand as the first. "you're wasting time. See Cassidy at the Ash Grove." "The Ash Grove?" Madison queried aloud. The Ash Grove had been a rock bar where he had watched John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal, and Spirit in the late lamented decade of peace and love. But it had coughed up its ghost on a March night in 1973 when the fire had been visible from the top of Topanga where Blake had been smoking a hookah with Leon Gardipee. "What the hell. Find the fun." He did as instructed, the Mercury giving a short squeal as he steered toward Melrose. |
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17 Feb 06 - 09:19 AM (#1671040) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: mack/misophist The question "Where did the fun go?" is easily answered. 'Fun' is the Chinese word for noodle. I ate them. Complex carbs are good for you. |
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17 Feb 06 - 11:02 AM (#1671128) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Auggie LEJ-Thanks Man. I'm just going to take a stool here at Apple Pan and maybe after breakfast at Duke's they'll all show up later for burgers down on Pico. At least here you know the waiters are waiters. |
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17 Feb 06 - 11:40 AM (#1671167) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Little Hawk Yeah! Wotta tale. Just sittin' back here, soakin' in that depraved L.A. aura... Chongo says he likes Chicago better. Figures. |
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17 Feb 06 - 05:41 PM (#1671435) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: The Shambles I don't think we want to go there, "Peace"/Brucie/Bruce Murdoch. Just resist the temptation to post to the troll threads, and Mudcat will be a much happier place. You are by far the worst compulsive poster I have ever seen. You have posted over fifty messages in the last twenty-four hours, and there are many days when you post far more than that. There are almost 18,000 messages posted under your registration; and that doesn't count all the anonymous messages you post, or the hundreds I've deleted. While most people can say what they have to say in one message, you post ten. And when you get tired of posting under your own name, you post anonymously. You are the only "regular" Mudcatter who posts anonymously with any frequency. It's high time that you stop. -Joe Offer- Fun like is like all of life's rare and truly wonderful things. They can't really be defined and you only really appreciate when you notice they are missing. They usually go missing because you take them for granted and for a general lack of care but often because they are just killed by kindness. Good intentions may be just that but clumsy attempts to fix something that may not be broken or to heal someone who may not be that sick can often be as bad as intentionally trying to inflict harm as has the same result. No matter how well intentioned you may be - before you can help or fix anything you it is not enough just to appreciate it you first have to first understand its true nature. Only then do you know how much pressure to exert to help and how much will deprive it of the free air that it needs. Sometimes you will never know its true nature - that is why it is rare and truly wonderful and often it is too late - for out of concern - you find you have squeezed all the life out of it. For as rare things do - it vanished! |
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17 Feb 06 - 05:46 PM (#1671436) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Little Hawk Blake Madison had vanished for a long time. I'm delighted he has returned. |
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17 Feb 06 - 05:47 PM (#1671439) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: number 6 Maybe for you it has vanished .... after all, it's only what you make of it. sIx |
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17 Feb 06 - 06:27 PM (#1671465) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Amos "I'm delighted to hear Blake Madison has returned. This burg was getting to be really Dullsfville without him stirring up trouble, ya know?" The long-legged redhead with the high-strung garters and the low-slung cleavage leaned over the bar to light a menthol Eve cigarette on the candle burning by the tip jar. "I'm not saying he isn't trouble, mind you. Sure he's trouble. But...well, he's fun trouble, if ya get my drift. "Besides, he and I have some unfinished business, I guess....". She tossed her long locks back over her shoulder and settled her finely formed bottom on one of the tall, leather-topped stools that lined the broad mahogany bar in Chez Frog's skylight lounge, and looked across the dining area through the plate glass windows across the rolling vista of LA's fog, smog and skyscrapers. Up here on the 25th floor, everything always seemed normal and safely out of reach. Hell, life seemed normal and out of reach. Maybe that's why her heart started pittering and pattering at the thought of the shabby PI in the old trenchcoat. Not the coat, which was shabby, not the old car or the worn-out Italian loafers... something in his eyes and the curl of his smile when he heard something interesting. Blake Madison was no winner, maybe. But...well, he was alive, and she needed that more than anything. "HEY! Gina!!!" The yell from the maitre d's stand out by the elevators snapped her into the present. "Finish those setups!! Your cocktail crowd is gonna start showin;' up in less than an hour!!". Fat, oily features glowered at her from under a combed-back thinning head of once-black hair gone salty. Arrogant, overweight and saggy-jowled Caprio "Froggi" di Mancini turned back to a discussion he was having with his operations chief and maitre d', Ralph Piccolini. They were both sneering. Embarrassed and angry, she put down the bar coaster she had been doodling on, and started back to her afternoon preparations for the fast-laners who showed up around four. She caught herself at the last minute, remembering to scoop up the disfigured coaster with "Chez Frog" printed on it in gold letters. She paused and reflected on what she had scribbled...a circle in a circle, a wavy line, and a small block of perfectly formed script, feminine and neatly contained, reading, "Where Did the Fun Go?" |
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17 Feb 06 - 06:29 PM (#1671467) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Little Hawk WAugh! (OOK! OOK! OOK!) that's Chongo, in the background. |
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17 Feb 06 - 06:48 PM (#1671482) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Peter T. From a reasonably distant view, the extinct volcano bore an astonishing resemblance to an extinct volcano, though something was slightly clumsy about it that you could not quite reach, like listening to Linda Ronstadt singing Cole Porter. If you came closer, in a speedboat perhaps, like the two people hurtling towards the island in the dwindling day, the imposing falsity of it grew to the point where the woman in the boat was inevitably reminded of the notion that America had no imperial ambitions in the world. This was particularly ironic because the man beside her not only had similar imperial ambitions, he at least had the courtesy to revel in them. She looked straight ahead at the high cliff looming up, and a flutter of anxiety came over her for a moment, though she knew somehow that it was all going to be fine. One look at Dr. Spoyle -- with his commanding mien and his firm grip on the steering wheel -- and she was comforted. She turned back to look at the wake behind them, her bikini increasingly soaked in the spray from the salt sea. Dr. Spoyle looked at her and thought sadly to himself: ÒHalle Berry, not Ursula AndressÓ. Such was the story of the times. And the purpose of Care Island. Abruptly a shaft of deeper darkness appeared in the cliff wall ahead of them. Cutting through the crashing waves, the speedboat rushed into the black maw, and was swallowed up. Dr. Spoyle cut the motor. They were momently blinded by the scanning searchlight that washed over them, and the churning sound of a hydraulic lift that suddenly raised them onto a vast platform swarming with people. Waiting by the side of the lift pool were three uniformed figures: two men and one woman. Dr. Spoyle acknowledged them with a nod, and helped his bikini-clad companion onto the platform. One of the two men, who was dressed like, and bore the appearance of, a sinister Zen master, stepped forward. ÒWelcome back, Dr. Spoyle.Ó Spoyle said sternly, ÒSo, Malincorne, what is your report? Were you able to fix the de-magaziner?Ó Malincorne replied with a smile on his face, trying not to appear too proud. ÒYes, Doctor. You were of course right. It was far too simple and obvious merely to eviscerate the content of all the magazines in the Western world, instead we followed your orders and used the ÒMarketobombÓ which shortened all the articles to bite sized chunks, removed all the big words, and scrunched the text in between the inserts and the fake articles that had been bought by advertisers. Much more subtle, and much more horrible.Ó ÒAnd the Aniston virus?Ó ÒWe are still working on it. Our problem is that the original is so vanishingly untalented that we are finding replication difficult. But the team believes that within a week we will have it solved, and then every article in the Western world -- and at least 35% of the Eastern world -- will contain some reference to Jennifer Aniston.Ó "Mwwahhahahah!!!!" Even Dr. Spoyle shuddered as he laughed at his own diabolical powers! |
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17 Feb 06 - 07:26 PM (#1671514) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Amos LOL!!!! Welcome back, Maestro!! A |
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17 Feb 06 - 07:53 PM (#1671530) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Little Hawk Peter, take note of the fact that you are blocking and pasting from some program that includes a code that appears repeatedly in the text as a large "O" with a little accent above it...at least when viewed on my computer. I've seen this before once, but I don't know what causes it. Oh, wait, I know what it is...it's the quotation marks. They're not translating right to my video for some reason. |
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17 Feb 06 - 08:00 PM (#1671537) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: katlaughing THIS is wonderful!! SO good to see you, PeterT and LeeJ!! I can feel some of my own creative muses stirring about, thanks to you fellahs... Albadarlin'...thanks for asking the question!!!! See where it's gone?!!!! |
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17 Feb 06 - 09:05 PM (#1671590) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Rustic Rebel Now you went and took the fun out of it for me Hawk! I was thinking the story line and people were from the Óplanet in Óville down on Ólane where the Ófamily took up residence! RusticÓ |
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17 Feb 06 - 09:18 PM (#1671598) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Amos (It may be Word. I think there is an option in prefs to turn off "curly quotes" which should do it.) |
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17 Feb 06 - 09:58 PM (#1671632) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Little Hawk I have noticed just a wee bit more Jenifer Aniston references in the media in the past year than are totally necessary... Too bad they could not have arranged a steel cage match for her and Angelina in Las Vegas or Tijuana. |
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18 Feb 06 - 05:12 AM (#1671776) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Peter T. “And you, Horst?” Dr. Spoyle turned to the high booted figure with a clipboard. “Mein Fuhrer -- er, Dr. Spoyle -- ve haff been working very hard as vell. Taking our cue from Malincorne’s excellent work, ve haff been able to firmly degrade ze movie experience as according to your orders, Mein, er, Doctor. Ze "Marketolaser” has, in ze space of a few short years, accomplished astonishing things!! Ve haff replaced cartoons and short subjects with commercials that can go on for fifteen minutes -- unzappable!! -- ve haff introduced trailers that give you ze entire film in two minutes and ruin all the plot points! and ve haff made the sound so loud that it causes deafness to everyone except zose who are on their cellphones throughout ze films!! As to content, vell, Mein ---” Dr. Spoyle cut him off with a wave of his hand. It was not good for subordinates to gloat. Finally he turned to the woman, a fierce dragon of a lady in a dark red leather jumpsuit. “So, Svetlanolinskaya, what have you to add to your colleagues?” Svetlanolinskaya smiled a ghastly smile. “Dr. Spoyle, while my-- colleagues -- have been accomplishing their relatively simple tasks --” Her colleagues glared at her -- “my team has been far more deeply engaged in ruining many of the core basics of fun!” She turned, and with a pointer elucidated her triumphs on a nearby wall screen. “What have we done? We determined that the place to start was with the central players, the children of course. To begin with, we cut off their sources of supply: places to play. As you know, children now no longer play in woods, along streams, waste time in swamps, etc. These no longer exist, or if they exist, one must drive there.The rest of the play experience is now blanketed by insurance policies, and is so restricted that the fun has gone out of it completely. Meanwhile, we instilled paranoia in the hearts of parents, so that children are no longer allowed to be alone at all outside. There is no playing in the street anymore, and children no longer play in groups outside. They are all playing on computers. Thus WE HAVE ENDED CHILDRENS PLAY!!! It was not child’s play, believe me, but it is mostly done. We are into mopping up exercises.” Dr. Spoyle smiled. Svetlanolinskaya was his personal protege. “Well, well, I must say that you have all done well in my absence. But now we are after even bigger game. Let me introduce you to our newest partner” -- and here he turned to the beautiful woman on his arm, whose bikini was alas drying fast -- “Miss Tara Boomdeyah” She bowed briefly, her hand on the knife in her belt. “Miss Boomdeyah is here to assist us in the final stages of Project F, my most secret and dastardly project of all, which is completely foolproof and unstoppable, and must lead to world domination!!!” Tara raised a shapely arm. “Not quite, Doctor.” He looked at her appraisingly. “There is one slight wrinkle in this polyester dream, Doctor.” “How can there be? We have thought of everything, everything!!” She smiled grimly, and shook her tousled hair: “Does the name Blake Madison ring any bells?”
curly quotes fixed, I hope. - joe clone - |
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18 Feb 06 - 10:35 AM (#1671928) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Amos (Applause) A |
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18 Feb 06 - 05:12 PM (#1672285) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: GUEST,Art Thieme My favorite noir quote from an old detective radio show is from PAT NOVAC FOR HIRE (Jack Webb played Pat Nocac. "She had a voice like a bowl of warm stew!" And, as I'm fond of saying, "The more things change, the more they get different!" (That's from me.) Art Thieme |
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18 Feb 06 - 05:19 PM (#1672287) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Alba :) Art. LEJ's and PeterT's Stories are wonderful. I am hoping for more, more, more. Yes I am greedy but in a nice way..lol Love Jude |
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18 Feb 06 - 05:24 PM (#1672289) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Little Hawk Simply marvelous, Peter. See if you can work lawyers into the plot. |
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18 Feb 06 - 05:51 PM (#1672316) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: DougR |
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18 Feb 06 - 05:52 PM (#1672317) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: DougR No can do, L.H., lawyers are for shooting! :>) DougR |
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18 Feb 06 - 06:02 PM (#1672330) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: michaelr Good story, but that insulting Nazi accent stopped being fun after the first ten minutes of the first episode of Hogan's Heroes. |
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18 Feb 06 - 06:08 PM (#1672341) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Cluin "Kleeeeenk! Who eez zees man?" |
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18 Feb 06 - 11:18 PM (#1672561) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Amos Gina Lolititia swept up on her black raincoat from where she had left it in the tiny staff section at the back of the kitchen at Chez Frog's, and wearily shrugged it on. It had been a long shift, and the last of the big-bill, small-tip uberyuppies had left the dining room, weaving out to the elevators in a smug cloud of wine-soaked complacence. The bar had cleared out, the lights of LA had shifted to the early morning traffic grid and a rare passing highlight. She wondered how much longer she'd work for those damned fat-cats at Frog's. Sure, she needed the dough. But there was a limit. She slapped the elevator button for the garage, and leaned tiredly back against the rear wall, sliding her hands into her pockets. SUddenly she opened her eyes in alarm, and pulled out of the left pocket a cardboard disc that felt familiar. It was the coaster she'd been scribbling on when the afternoon started....but hadn't she thrown that in the trashcan under the bar? She looked closer at it. It wasn't the same one, but it had the same gold logo for Frog's on it. She turned it over, and her fingers trembled. "Gina -- need to see you. I'm at Murph's. Blake Madison" The doors opened and she strode toward her beat-up looking 22-S Volvo in the corner; She tried to remember where Murph's was, somewhere east, La CIenega? She'd find it, godammit. Suddenly, she felt less tired. The dull late night streets looked interesting again. Damn that man, anyway, she thought, pulling out of the garage and veering right onto 8th Avenue on two wheels. |
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18 Feb 06 - 11:30 PM (#1672569) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: katlaughing She was bright and shiny like a newly-minted coin; fresh from the cornpatch and new to L.A. Her hair hung down her slender back in shimmering waves of gold, freshly brushed; a natural blond, no dry or burnt ends from dyes or permanent waves. She walked down the Strip with her suitcase in one hand, her handbag tucked up under her arm. |
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19 Feb 06 - 12:04 AM (#1672590) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: katlaughing There it was, the address her Aunt Ella had scribbled down for her. It was an old and dingy building, a few stories high, with a bail-bondsman office on the first floor. Like an old beauty gone to seed it'd seen better days. Now, the marble steps were worn and uneven; the brass door-pulls dark and dull. As she pulled open the glass-door and stepped into the building's lobby, she looked for a marquee. In tiny, white block letters, she finally spotted what she was looking for Private Eye Room 333 Walking over to the ancient elevator, she slid open the grilled door, then an accordion-like black grate. She wasn't too sure about trusting it, but the stairs offered a dark and cavernous three story climb she'd rather not take. Lighting was a scarcity around there. As she closed the doors of the elevator and pushed "3," she remembered her Aunt Ella's advice, "Now, just march right up there and tell Blakey, er, I mean Mr. Madison, to remember a certain night in a Nash back in, well, nevermind, back when. Just tell him to remember and that he is sorely in need of a new secretary and that is YOU!" She sure hoped her auntie was right about this Madison guy. She really didn't like the looks of things. The elevator was groaning and going very slowly. No one was about and as it left the ground floor,the light fled, leaving the corners very dark. |
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19 Feb 06 - 12:09 AM (#1672591) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Alba Way to go Kat Darlin. I now have my bedtime tale and all I can say is...... Me want more of this good stuff..***BG*** Love Jude |
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19 Feb 06 - 01:07 PM (#1672970) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Lonesome EJ Madison had a little adrenal throb in his temple. He was glad it wasn't going to be a mission from God. That kind of thing just wasn't his cup of meat. But chasing clues through the ashes of his past? That was right up his turnpike. KLAC was shooting some Love through his sound system, if you could call an AmFmCassette with 2 and 1/2 functioning speakers a "sound system". Ain't no one in my little red book could ever compare to you Blake glanced at the volume knob, twisted it up, then looked back up to see a flat bed truck, red cab, black-rusted bed, lettering on the cab saying Lizard Landscapers, all this in the 1/20th second before the impact. ----- Blake discovered himself sitting on the hood of a '63 Falcon parked against the curb on Lankershim. He knew the place. This was the birthplace of California Honky Tonk. This was the Palomino Club. It didn't seem to matter that Madison knew the Palomino had close in the eighties. Hell, he hadn't seen the car he was sitting on since he forgot to set the parking brake at the top of Mulholland Drive in 74 and it had disappeared into a thick forest of mesquite, creosote, and yucca. He was realizing that this wasn't real, that he was dreaming, hallucinating, or dead. He was hearing familiar strains wafting from the bar, and he thought he would just go on in. It was then he saw this apparition, white and glowing, kicking along Lankershim toward him. Something about the shuffle was familiar, the shock of finger-combed brown hair, the smile he could see from 300 feet. And it wore a Nudie Suit, white, with green embroidered pot-leaves decorating the front, and some kind of big, white cape or...no! They were wings. He knew who it was right away, even before the Florida drawl hit him. "Well I'll be damned. Ol' Blake Madison!" "Gram? How...what are you doin' here?" The Ghost of Gram Parsons sidled up, pulling a bottle of Jack Daniel's from under one of his wings. He took a long bubbling pull at the bottle, wiped his mouth and handed it to Madison. "Yeeeee HAR!" It said. "It's good to be back. That shit tastes ever bit as good as I remembered. How long I been gone?" "Since 1973. Same year I lost this car I'm sittin' on. "And what's it now?" "2006." "Well, I guess that explains it. You look like hell. I thought somebody was poisonin' you. Guess you just got old, huh?" Parsons slugged at the bottle again and wiped his lips on his left wing. "Listen Blake ol' buddy, I can't stay long and I got to tell you somethin'." "Am I dead?" "No, but you got yourself one heck of a concussion. Right now they're pryin' you out of the wreck with the jaws of life. Wasn't your fault. Somebody's trying to kill you. They didn't want you talkin' to Cassidy. Now you need to get your ass over to the Chez Frog. Know where it is?" He slapped his forehead dramatically and continued "fuck am I talkin about? It's a bar ain't it? Course you know." "I know a girl there." "Yeah. Hot looking redhead. Makes me wish I was flesh and blood again." Parsons took a final slug and presented Blake with the bottle. "Keep it, but go easy until you get this one figured out. You don't wanna have too much fun. Witness yours truly. Anyway, I got to get back." The wings stretched out to an amazing breadth and Parsons smiled, a little sadness in his eye, said "adios, amigo", and shot up into the star-scattered LA sky like a klieg light, then disappeared, leaving the echoing strain of a pedal steel guitar on the wind. Blake waved at the spot where the spirit had disappeared, took another drink, and heard "He's awake! Take that whisky bottle out of his hand and help me get him on this stretcher." |
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19 Feb 06 - 01:10 PM (#1672974) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Lonesome EJ Oooops. Forgot to close the italic after the line from Little Red Book. Right before "Blake glanced...". Can you fix it Kat? |
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19 Feb 06 - 01:22 PM (#1672992) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Alba mmmmmm. Now reading that LEJ was kind of like eating something you want to eat slowly cause it tastes so good. I didn't want your Story to stop there. At the same time...I like waiting to see what comes next as I wouldn't have the discipline to stop reading if I could turn a page and find out:) Love and Light Jude |
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19 Feb 06 - 01:55 PM (#1673028) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: katlaughing No problem, darlin'...:-) |
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19 Feb 06 - 06:28 PM (#1673279) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Jeri LEJ, marry me and bear my children... |
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20 Feb 06 - 03:33 PM (#1674039) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Amos By 2:45 in the morning she was completely lost. To make it worse, the marine layer had moved in and was dumping athick, stained mist across her windshield which the undersized, worn old wipers could only smear around. She wished she could remember where Murph's was, and she felt like crying, and didn't know why, and her head was beginning to ache. Somewhere east of Melrose, peering through the driver's window, halfway around the pillar of the old 122S to see her way ahead, she saw the flashing lights, and caught a glimpse of a badly mashed Merc, an accordion-nosed flatbed truck, and a couple of paramedics moving someone onto an x-lift stretcher dolly from the sidewalk. Oh, god! That poor person!, she thought, and continued her struggle through the early morning mists of Los Angeles, looking for Blake Madison, private eye. |
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20 Feb 06 - 06:26 PM (#1674189) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Jeri Amos, thanks for posting. I thought maybe LEJ needed emergency therapy and I scared everybody else off with my last post. |
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20 Feb 06 - 06:48 PM (#1674208) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Little Hawk It's asking a lot of any man that he should bear your children... |
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20 Feb 06 - 06:57 PM (#1674221) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Lonesome EJ COMING SOON When last we left our Hero, he was the victim of a deadly auto crash. Can he escape yet AGAIN from the clutches of disaster? Will Blake find the Fun? What about Aunt Ella's bright and shiny niece? Will she fall into Madison's web of intrigue, depravity and mayhem? And this Gina? What kind of underwear do you suppose she's wearing? Can LEJ possibly defy medical convention and bear Jeri's children? These questions and MUCH MORE to be answered Tomorrow Night at 10 PM CST! when we return to The Adventures of Blake Madison....Private Dick! |
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20 Feb 06 - 07:02 PM (#1674231) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Little Hawk I am always curious about the underwear preferences of women named Gina... |
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20 Feb 06 - 07:06 PM (#1674234) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: GUEST,Gina Wonder no more....great big baggy bockers that keep my knees warm. And in winter I wear two pairs. |
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20 Feb 06 - 08:27 PM (#1674357) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Amos (Not the same Gina at all, I assure you. This one wears a thong the color of a Mondrian sky on Mondays, but on Fridays, she wears a teddy the color of a rich, softly-promising Merlot. Those are the only days for which I have any empirical data, however. I don't get up to Los Angeles as often as I would like to, either. Jeri, your post was not at all frightening, it was delightful!) A |
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21 Feb 06 - 12:31 AM (#1674550) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: The Fooles Troupe For 2:45 to the morning it has been lost completely. In order to render it defective, the layer of the sea had been moved to the inside and has poured often, spotted haze through the relative one tergicristallo that the old too much small pulitori, consumed could blot only around. It has intentional that could be remembered of where Murph was and thought like crying and it has outside not known because and the relative head was beginning the ritrovamenti it. In a sure place to east of the Melrose, perscrutando through the window of the driver, around to the old column of 122S in order ahead seeing in incomplete way the relative sense, it has seen the lights of I flash and arrested an evil glimpse of a crushed Merc, of a base of the fisarmonica-felt truck the odore of and a connection of the paramedics that it moves someone in it x-raises the erector of the esticador of the sidewalk. The OH, God! This poor person, has thought and continued the relative effort with the névoas advances you of the morning of Los Angeles, trying Blake Madison, confidential eye. |
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21 Feb 06 - 01:14 PM (#1674963) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Little Hawk Are you the person who has been sending me incomprehensible spam that appears to be advertising something but no one can figure out what it is? |
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21 Feb 06 - 03:00 PM (#1675064) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Amos (Chentlemen, Chentlemen, please. Dis isch a creative literary thread. Do not disrespect dotdivine aura, I urge you; for if you do, I muschtt warn you der consequences to your own creative powers vill be cat-ash-TROFfik! -- Liebenscheiss) |
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21 Feb 06 - 11:01 PM (#1675468) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Jeri Anybody old enough to remember sitting around the radio of an evening, waiting for a program to come one? Me neither, but I heard about it. Or, if one does a bit of BabelFishing: Any old a lot of for you tie up it reminds it seats round the radio of one night, that expects a program in order to it comes? Persons, but I have been heard in. |
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22 Feb 06 - 01:57 AM (#1675521) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Lonesome EJ Up and up from some depth beneath a heaving dark sea, Madison's lungs were on fire with the need to breathe. He could sense rather than see the surface as he kicked ineffectually, pulling at the water with his arms. Still up, waiting for his head to break through, unbearable the urge to suck in air, then with a gasp taking in the icy water. His eyes were open, a woman in white hovering over, her hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" she said, then affirming "you're alright." Blake took in the etherized atmosphere of the recovery room, lapsed into a dreamless stupor. Awakening, tethered to a heart monitor, IV drip being checked by another nurse, she rolled his left arm slightly, numb pain climbing up the bone, the knowledge of pain rather than the sensation. Then a man's voice. Madison stared to the bed's foot at the middle-aged doctor, who smiled "welcome back, Mr Madison. You're here atNorth Hollywood Medical Center. How are you feeling?" Madison thought, then said "well, I'm not Beethoven." The Doctor looked puzzled, saying "perhaps I'll come back in the morning." "No," Blake said "tell me what happened to me." "You were in a collision.You're lucky. Contusion to the forehead, mild concussion, broken left wrist from the suicide knob on the steering wheel. I haven't seen one of those in years, a suicide knob." "I wouldn't be without one. Only thing that will bring you out of a Death Spiral." The Doctor sat down in the yellow plastic easy chair, placing the chart across his knees. "Other things of a more serious nature. Your blood-alcohol content. Near lethal levels of toxicity, much less intoxication." "When did they bring me in?" "About four and a half hours ago." Blake closed his eyes, then stared back at the physician. "It was a special occasion. I was trying to find the Fun." The Doctor stared back somberly, then said "something else, Mr Madison. We put some hardware in your left arm. During the surgery there was a problem. You experienced extremely erratic heartbeat. I did further tests..." Blake felt as if he might slip back into the darkness again, but screwed up his forehead, squinted his eyes, and said "what tests?" "Your heart is in an extremely fragile condition, Mr Madison," said the Doctor. "You run the risk, as things currently stand, of experiencing a major heart attack." Madison again closed his eyes, feeling the breath drain through his lips. "this isn't it. This isn't the Fun." When he again opened his eyes, it was dark in the room, the monitor beeping in steady pace. He jerked the catheter free, pulled out the IV, swept several electrodes from his chest, stumbled into the bathroom. He then found the closet, his clothing hung inside it. He searched the pockets of his trench coat, found the flask of Four Roses and drained it, then put on his clothes, the sleeve of his shirt tearing on the bulk of the cast on his arm. Easing the door open, he saw two nurses standing at the station, then he slipped down the hall to where he guessed the elevator might be. In the harsh light of the hospital foyer, Madison paused, shook off a faint nausea, then stepped outside. A man was taking the keys from a woman, climbing into her car, and pulling off to the overnight lot. Before the attendant could return, Madison watched a man in scrubs pull up in a Porsche 914, get out, and hand Blake the keys. "Thank you," said Blake. "Just take good care of it" grinned the man. "I promise," said Blake, as he slid in behind the wheel, glanced at his wristwatch and gunned the 914 out of the lot toward the Chez Frog. |
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22 Feb 06 - 06:56 AM (#1675662) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Alba Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees THANK YOU LEJ. Love Jude |
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22 Feb 06 - 09:57 AM (#1675822) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Amos She had given up around 4 in the morning, facing the fact that she didn't know where Murph's was anymore, and failing to find it in the Yellow Pages at the all-night iHop on West Jefferson. Exhausted, fighting tears and fears, she steered the ancient Volvo toward the sunrise and her studio apartment overlooking the grime of Alvarado Boulevard. She threw her clothes on the floor, threw some cold water on her face, threw some food into a saucer for the cat, and threw herself face down on the small bed, collapsing into dreams in which she was searching for something she couldn't ever find. |
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23 Feb 06 - 01:18 AM (#1676527) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Lonesome EJ Blake grimaced as he gripped the steering wheel with his left hand and shifted with his right. "Why'd it have to be a five speed," he mumbled. He turned on the CD player and Verde's Puccini soared out of the Klipsch system. Sweet nectar of the gods, but he needed something to give him some traction on the night. He punched the changer button and got the Moody Blues, hit it again and got Tony Bennett, and finally, incredibly, Eric Burdon. when I was a little boy I had a puppy that always followed me around and I'm gonna love you just the way I loved that puppy Girl I will never let you down Suddenly, a cell phone rang and Madison found it on the passenger seat. He didn't recognize the number and rejected the call, but immediately dialed his Mom in Venice Beach. It was 4 am and she was bound to be doing what she did every morning...smoking reefer and fishing the surf outside her bungalow. The phone rang twice before she answered. "Mom it's me. Catching anything?" He heard her draw on the doobie, then reply "no, I think the damn hammerheads are chasing everything around. I've pulled 25 pounds of kelp out, though. Say, who's Herman Keschner?" "Don't know, Mom, why?" "That's the name comes up on the cell phone. The hospital called looking for you, Blakey. So did the LAPD." "Don't worry, Mom. I'm working a case and they want to know about it. That's all." "Stop lyin' Blake. They said you wrecked your car and broke your arm.." "Wrist." "Wrist, and stole a car." "Don't worry, mom. Everything's under control. I'm just looking for the Fun." "Oh, you won't find them. They went underground in 68, and except for a couple of bomb threats at strip clubs and beauty pageants, nobody's heard from them since." "I don't follow you." "The F.U.N. Feminist Underground Network. Gotta go!! I've got a bite!" Blake shook his head, pulled over in front of The Torre del Mar Arms, and pulling the Porsche up behind Gina's rusty silver Volvo. Blake climbed gingerly out and heard someone call his name. From the balcony above, Gina, clad in a loose terry cloth robe, was smiling down on him. "You son of a bitch. I looked for you everywhere. Meanwhile you're tooling around in a sports car." "It's ok. It's stolen." "You mean you stole a cherry red Porsche 914 with a license plate that says 'CUTTER'? Brilliant, Madison." "It was a crime of opportunity." She grinned and let the robe fall open a bit wider. "Well, you've got an opportunity here, and it would be a crime not to take advantage of it." He held up his cast-covered left arm and said "Baby, I'm wounded, on the run from the law, somebody's trying to kill me, and apparently my ticker's ready to quit." 'You're just full of excuses," she said, tossing him a key. "Park the car in the alley behind the building and get up here, Madison. We need to talk." "Yes ma'am." As Madison started the Porsche, he had to admit... things were starting to look up. |
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23 Feb 06 - 10:20 AM (#1676827) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: katlaughing "Verdi's Puccini?!!" LOL!! kat, proud member of FUN!! (Brill, darlin'!!!) |
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23 Feb 06 - 10:36 AM (#1676839) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Lonesome EJ That's one thing Blake and I have in common : The only thing we know about opera is waht we hear in car commercials. |
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23 Feb 06 - 11:00 AM (#1676859) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: katlaughing Check out The Ballad of Baby Doe. It's in English and the best version, imo, includes Beverly Sills. It's rootin' tootin' high times in mining-crazed Leadville in the old days and has some wonderful songs in it!:-) |
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23 Feb 06 - 11:27 AM (#1676871) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Amos "You mean you stole a cherry red Porsche 914 with a license plate that says 'CUTTER'? Brilliant, Madison." That's my girl -- beautiful body and bright eyes and a mind like a scalpel. No wonder Blake ended up at her place. A |
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24 Feb 06 - 01:29 AM (#1677401) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Lonesome EJ The first rays of the morning sun were falling on the bed, and Madison was watching Gina's naked shoulder rise and fall, her red hair in a beautiful tangle across the pillow and across Blake's right arm. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest, and he was hoping the two hours of lovemaking hadn't done further damage. Blake lit a Pall Mall as his eyes moved around the room talking in the Hopi Kachina on the shelf, the 1967 Fillmore poster in blue and orange that promoted a show by the Byrds and Moby Grape, a photo Gina had taken of an old man selling flowers, another she had taken of Jim Morrison at the Hollywood Bowl. From a pair of pegs near the balcony window hung her old worn Gibson Hummingbird. Gina moaned and turned slightly on her back. Blake looked at her. There was some grey streaking that magnificent main of red hair, wrinkles near her lips, lots of smile lines around the eyes. Despite the hard miles, he had to admit she had aged well. God knows she was still just as rambunctious in bed as she'd been in 1971 when they'd first met. She smiled a little, a bright dream apparently passing through. Blake eased out of bed, took the cordless phone and walked into the living room, dialing the number of his office to pick up any calls. He was surprised when a voice tinged with Terre Haute Indiana said "Private Eye Blake Madison's Office, may I help you please?" Blake hesitated in surprise and the voice said, tentatively, "hello?" "Who's this?" said Blake. "Vera Jane Hill. May I ask who's calling, please?" "This is me... Blake Madison." There was another pause, and Vera Jane said "I can explain, Mr Madison. You remember my mom Ella Hill, her name was Mason then, she was your close friend, well, I wanted to come to California and she said see Blake Madison, he might give a job to a girl like you and.." "Vera Jane," Blake said, "you're hired." "I am? When should I start?" "Sounds like you've already started, Vera Jane. Anyone call me?" "Yes, Mr Madison. A Doctor Lane called from North Hollywood Medical Center, your Mom called, the landlord called twice, a Lieutenant Becker from LAPD..." "So nothing important." "No sir." "How did you get in, Vera Jane? Pick the lock?" "No Mr Madison. The door was unlocked, sir." "Fine. Key's in the skinny drawer in my desk. Lock up at five, come in tomorrow at 9. If anyone calls, you haven't heard from me." "Yes, Mr Madison." "Goodbye, Vera Jane." "Goodbye! Thanks for the job!' Blake hung up, a vague vision of Emma Mason flitting across his mental landscape. Madison climbed back into bed, his arm throbbing. He lay back, closed his eyes, the throbbing receding into the distance where a distant sun was rising over desert hills, the bizarre shapes of Joshua Trees numberless across the terrain like human figures, arms raised in jubilation or despair, and the soundtrack to this dream was provided by a figure perched on a rock in black silhouette against the rising sun of the morning. As the tune resonated, the figure began to sing brass buttons, green silks and silver shoes Warm evenings, pale mornings, bottle of blues and the tiny golden pins that she wore up in her hair brass buttons, green silks and silver shoes "Thought I'd seen the last of you, GP," said Madison. Gram's Ghost continued strumming as he smiled, saying "though that was you, Blake ol buddy. Survived the encounter with the truck, I see." "Takes more than that to kill Blake Madison." Parsons laughed. "Oh you'd be surprised how little it actually takes." Gram folded his hands and rested them on the guitar, and said "I used to come out here with ol Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg. She sat on that very rock where you are sittin'. Naked. While Keith and me played our guitars. That was a long time back." Parsons put down his guitar and strolled over to Madison. "You know, the Man wanted me to come down 'n fetch you. He wanted to make that heart of yours just quit." Parsons ran his fingers through his hair. "But naaahhh. I talked him out of it. I said the world needs that boy. I told him Blake and I used to sit at Ciro's and talk about how the world was comin' into a new era, people were comin' together. You could see it in the music, borders between rock and folk and soul and country disappearing. Borders between black folks and white folks disappearing, borders between countries bein' abolished. Wars strictly passe." Parsons climbed up to a rock, his wings stretching out, then folding back against his back. Somehow, Parsons reached behind him and detached them, as if he were throwing off a guitar strap, and leaned them against a joshua tree. Madison hadn't noticed before, but next to this tree there was an old barber's chair mounted to the rock. Gram sat in this, leaning back. "Saw a lot of shooting stars while sittin' in this chair, Blake. Some UFOs, too. Reckon that could have been the drugs?" He laughed. "So anyway, Blake, I made the argument that since I died young, you ought to have a chance to get old. And the Man bought it." "You said someone was trying to kill me." "yeah," said Parsons. "I did. I meant you. You are tryin' to kill you. And you got to stop. That gal Gina?" "Yeah?" "She loves you. Even though you let her down before, she still loves you. She'd be the best thing in the world for you if you gave her a chance. She's got that old revolutionary spirit, too, boy. Oh, hell, I know its hard to give up the honky tonks. So don't. Take her with you. You could use somebody to drive your drunk ass home." Parsons got up from the chair, rooted around in his wings, and found a bottle of Four Roses. He turned it up and guzzled dseveral inches of it, then handed it to Blake. "Damn," said Parsons," that is some rotgut shit." Parsons reattached the wings, snapped his guitar into the case, and said "that's it, brother. You won't see me no more in this life. But think about it...I believe you have found the Fun, don't you?" Parsons rose on the light desert breeze like a curl of smoke that lifted and finally settled like a desert mist in the sky near the horizon. Madison woke, and was not at all surprised to see a quart of Four Roses sitting on the night stand. He turned to see Gina stretching in the first act of waking. "It was from you, wasn't it?" Groggy, she smiled and replied "what was from me?" "The note. And the 5,000 dollars." She sat up, shaking her hair back. "It was all the money I had. It was worth it though. Now you work for me." "This I do for free," he said as he kissed her. "Look", she said, "you've got to call that surgeon and return the poor man's car. He won't press charges. After all, you had post-operative delirium." A puzzled look crossed her features. "Hey," she said, "where did the bottle come from?" "An angel," he said. "An angel left it here." Her eyes brightened, and she said "I've got an idea! Let's take that bottle and go down to the beach and have a nice long walk. We could skinny dip!" He laughed. "We'd probably be arrested. Besides, I shouldn't get the cast wet." She slapped his arm. "Don't be a sissy. We'll go skinny wading then." She jumped out of bed, pulling on her shorts. "Come on, Madison." "Yes maam. Let the Fun begin." The End |
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24 Feb 06 - 08:32 AM (#1677602) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Amos (Appppplauuuuse) A |
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24 Feb 06 - 08:41 AM (#1677612) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Alba THANK YOU MAESTRO. Total enjoyment and FUN LEJ. I love happy endings. I am so glad you are back here..:) Love and Light Jude |
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25 Feb 06 - 05:11 AM (#1678357) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: katlaughing AH, plumb beautiful, darlin'. Thanks for wrapping it up. luvyakat |
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25 Feb 06 - 05:12 PM (#1678811) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: Little Hawk Hmm. Well, it didn't end like a Chongo Chimp story. You'll never find Chongo looking for "the fun". ;-) But it was very well written, that's for sure. |
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26 Feb 06 - 01:59 AM (#1679057) Subject: RE: BS: Anyone know where the Fun has gone! From: The Shambles Responses to bullying |