WordWolf

"Magic Mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" "Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go!"

Well, I was optimistically hoping lcm was able to be fixed by some help from his friends. ("Iron sharpens iron...") I figured the old-timers from twi could restore him to full functionality. (Since almost everything was under news blackout, I had no idea what the underlying problems were or how pervasive they were in twi.) So, I figured that vf and some others would chat with lcm, and lcm would settle in. The next mailer from twi was lcm saying "I fired vf and every leader in your state because they're carnal and greedy, and serving themselves rather than God." Now, I had to choose who to believe. vf and the local leaders, or lcm. the local leaders I had worked with in a few cases, and people I trusted worked with other local leaders. I'd seen vf teach and he didn't seem off. Therefore, it was unlikely that some 2-3 dozen of them were ALL carnal, greedy, etc. lcm, on the other hand, had demonstrated a willingness to yell, and to pontificate on matters he didn't understand. (He criticized some political strategies as ridiculous- and those strategies were exactly what the US needed to do at the time, and they benefited us in the long run.) So, if I HAD to choose one- and lcm was insisting that I HAD to choose one- the reasonable side had all the locals. My further exposure to them seemed to support that. That was 1989. I went to the ROA'89 with the intention of buying out the bookstore, and making personal observations. lcm's mass firings had resulted in 4/5 of twi leaving, so I had lots of space to move around and see things. I asked questions. People gave me faulty logic, and in one case, threats. All of those were quite indicative. The "side" of people staying was the "side" of people not making sense, relying on intimidation, trying to silence the other side, emotional appeals, etc. So, my arrival at ROA'89 was a watershed moment. It FELT nothing like the previous one. It felt empty, as if it was constructed based on DESCRIPTIONS of previous ROAs. And from what I'd heard, ROA'88 was a pale imitation of the ROAs that had come before. So this was more of a bad photocopy lacking any toner than a "real" ROA. I met lots of people, made many observations, bought many books, and said my goodbyes. At the end, when I left, I was thinking of "American Pie" and how the "Father, Son and Holy Ghost" had "caught the last train to the coast". I had the distinct feeling that our exit pretty much was a final judgement, and what we left behind was beyond repairing. (History pretty much proved that correct, if a gross understatement.) Of course, I was saying goodbye to the organization and the insane top leaders. At the time, I was still hanging out with the locals. It took a few more years before it was obvious to me that I was not particularly welcome nor appreciated among the splinter group that had formed. (I thought for myself too much. When leadership said things that sounded wrong, I didn't just ignore that-I looked into it, and if error was shown, I spoke up, mostly TO said leadership. I didn't just BLINDLY go along with them any more than I BLINDLY went along with twi. So, as time progressed, I found fewer and fewer locals meeting that I felt wanted me around. So, that exit was more of a slow drift away, and there wasn't a watershed moment of exit. I seriously doubt more than 3 or 4 of them missed me, any way.) Frankly, the GSC is the most interaction I've had with any ex-twi since then. Even with the food fights and petty bickering, it's been a LOT more healthy than my twi and splinter experience- because we actually spoke our minds.

Since Facebook has a history of sharing and selling profile information with vendors and things, I'm signing up for Facebook only because you guys mean so much to me. However, I'm using my GSC name and not using my physical photo. You'll have no trouble telling that I'm the same poster as always. My avatar=my profile pic.

Right. I like to post 2 quotes every 24 hours, approximately.

Is this one of the Mirror Universe DS9 episodes? "Thru A Mirror Darkly" or something?

Is this the new "Hawaii 5-O?"

No, this is not from ANY version of Sleeping Beauty.

Paw wants his life back. What happens next is being discussed- possibly a new site (WayDale closing was followed by the GSC), and all sorts of details.

That would be between Paw and staff, and whoever set up a new site, and I really don't think the rest of us should get in the middle of that. There's a lot of considerations on every little thing to change, and every little thing to keep the same. Unless there's monstrously bad ideas (like making the new site pro-twi instead off offering the other side of the story), I'd rather just support those making the decisions and trust them to make wise ones without having to explain each and every one to those of us who are not actively helping in any capacity (like paying money, buying hardware, coding the new site, etc.) Let me know what's been decided, ask my opinion if welcomed, but otherwise, don't waste your own time. I've trusted Paw this far, I can trust him further. He's got an excellent track record, IMHO. And, again, he's entitled to have his life back, especially after having offered so much for so many for so long. Who said the website name=the URL? You can make the URL something easy to remember, then title the pages "Greasespot After Hours". Make stuff prominent (in links, in the titles, etc), and the search engines should pick up the title easily. This would allow searches for "Greasespot", "Greasespot Cafe", etc to bring people to the new site. Maybe Paw will allow the current URLs to redirect to it until the subscriptions run out, since he has the URL anyway... It would certainly help people adjust to the change better. Might I suggest a possibility of doing both? We can have one URL through GoDaddy to cater to new twi escapees and walking wounded, with some resources, and maybe a more compassionate board, even. (And tighter rules concerning posting, with lots of modding.) We can also have one URL to cater to the regulars, and the people who specifically are looking for the GSC. I mean, STFI has a BUNCH of URLs, some which are obviously them, and some less so. It's an idea, at least. As for games, I'm sure the "Name That"s can continue, if nothing else. :) Maybe after all the "mission-critical" stuff is moved over, and a working chat is set up, a search for doable games can begin, and some installation. I mean, we can FIND games if we want them- but the new site's more important. Games on the site would be a LUXURY, not a NECESSITY.

I don't think vpw sat down and said "I want to add practices from metaphysical sources" at any point. vpw's goal was to build an organization with the trappings of Christianity, with which he could get adulation and money. His means of doing so was to steal/plagiarize the works of others, cobble them together into a framework, and claim he had special, secret knowledge from God and that's how he got it all. This "special, secret knowledge" thing, is, technically, an OCCULT approach- that there is secret, HIDDEN, esoteric knowledge for the initiated. That some of the ideas and practices of his "occult" (Gnostic) framework just happened to cross over with more conventional "occult" (supernatural elements, non-Christian) frameworks is more due to him having occult GOALS. So, he ended up going in the same direction as the ouija board users he'd condemn. As someone who taught there were hidden secrets, and that you could manipulate reality with a so-called "LAW" of believing, he introduced far more Christians to occult doctrine than all the ouija board owners in the history of the US. If one is a practicing Christian, this shouldn't be too much of a surprise- a man who seeks to serve himself, commit and hide sins, and hide them in God's name will of course end up serving satan in the process.

And it was convenient all the time, unless something would cost twi some of our ill-gotten money. THEN they held a hard line. But anything that didn't mean our money would leave their hands, why, there was always some compromise, some exception. "This holiday is pagan and it is evil and error for other Christians to practice it! So we're going to change the name and otherwise do exactly what the other Christians do in practicing it. But since we changed the name, now it's completely different and safe for us to do." Hey-I missed the Halloween ones! I caught the compromises and renames for Christmas (Ho-Ho), Easter (Resurrection Sunday), and Valentines (Happy Hearts), but didn't catch the Halloween one. Amazing how they can talk like they're such a conservative group, and yet A) practice Halloween B) practice no-strings sex among the top cadre and say it's ok to do so but wrong to SAY it was done Then again, hypocrisy has a long, proud tradition at twi.

And don't you think that doesn't break what's left of the little hearts of the twi hierarchy. They so miss being able to threaten and intimidate "their" people (God's people whom they stole.). Being unable to threaten or intimidate removes one of their most effective tools. Now they can only spread scary stories about what happens when people leave- and have no ability to make the scary stories actually happen. Anyone with the brains to leave is now free and clear once they're outside twi's direct clutches.

Amazing how many of us were threatened with physical violence when considering either telling someone the truth, or even ASKING UNCOMFORTABLE QUESTIONS. (I was threatened with the latter- which saved me the trouble of asking- that response told me more than I could have found with a lengthy interrogation. Plus, it didn't intimidate me in the least. I was far too quick for him to tag me.)

"Magic Mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?"

So far, GreaseSpot After Hours has a ring to it. No matter what name is chosen, I strongly recommend a prominent placement to the name "Greasespot" and possibly "WayDale". That's because "Greasespot" already has built a reputation as being the big center for learning about twi and telling "the other side of the story." As long as that name is up, twi knows their main obstacle to recruiting new young folk is still warning people away from them as fast as twi can try to deceive them. Plus, the people looking for information already have heard of "Greasespot" already. If they see the name appear, they'll know this is the current iteration of the community. No matter what name is chosen, I think those should be serious considerations.

Oh, I think we still serve a valuable purpose by existing as a resource. When twi tries to grab another person in their clutches, those over 40 generally know better already and are lousy targets for twi, and those under 40 go online to read about twi and find-us!

If you haven't seen "THE PRINCESS BRIDE" yet, you should.

Kirk, cow and dishwasher were all 1 moderator? Here I was thinking there were a lot more moderators, alternating moderating....

Chatroom New Year's Eve? I'm sure I can squeeze that in...

I heard about Paw's arrival when meeting a few GS'ers for dinner in Connecticut. It was me, Paw, Steve!, Shazdancer, and some more posters who didn't post a lot. (I don't know who'd still want to be mentioned, and who was there in a case or 2.) Looking back, it sounded hysterical. I pictured myself being there when he gave his name, and mentally reaching behind me to pick up a chair. :)

I like the idea. Let me get back to you. I'm usually pretty good with clever names, if I have time for my muse to work on it.

========================== Is anyone volunteering to set up a temporary meeting-place post-GSC so the regulars and semi-regulars can log in and get contact information for each other? Most people are running around and some won't check in until after the holidays. I'm thinking a temporary messageboard for that, with a prominent thread and link from here, would work, and buy us more time to exchange contacts.

It breaks my heart a little to see it go, but I can't blame you at all. You deserve to be able to get on with your life, the same as any one else. Will the material that's up remain up in a "read only" format? I imagine all that's been written will still be of use to people, and there's still people who come here to read about twi.

That's it, "The Adventures of Robin Hood", starring Errol Flynn as Robin, Alan Hale Sr as Little John, Olivia de Haviland as Maid Marion, and Basil Rathbone as Guy of Gisbourne. (With Claude Rains as Prince John and Patric Knowles as Will Scarlett.) It's full of inaccuracies, and a lot of fun. And Howard Hill, Hollywood's Archer of Archers, actually fired the split-the-arrow shot in one take, splitting it in 3 fair and square. (Of course, in the movie, it's ROBIN who fires it, but still.)

Sorry, George, you can't make 9 guesses at once.