I've read an old thread on THE. I didn't get it then and still don't. Hate to ask, but will someone please explain?
I was hoping someone from that time would explain. I'll explain a bit. It started before I started posting here.
As I understand it, something happened. Raf meant to post about it (a twi news event, if memory serves.) He posted it with a normal title and a normal initial post. For reasons of internet, somehow the post got eaten, but not 100%. The first word of the title remained, and the first word of the post remained, along with the comma following it. The rest of the post was blank.
Naturally, some of the posters had some fun with it, reacting as if it was intentional, and an artistic choice. But the jokes...just...kept...coming......
Months and years later, they were still coming. People wrote song lyrics for THE. People got titles for THE ("Official Shaver of THE", etc.)
It was an inside joke that just never stopped.
Years later, another thread was posted. The poster immediately reconsidered. They changed the title to "Oops" and the post to something like "Never mind, please delete." We had a few pages of similar jokes, IIRC. I speculated on whether "Oops" would someday rival "THE" and overtake it (my speculation was largely a joke.) That joke ended a LOT sooner.
The original The was on the GSC's predecessor site, Waydale. I believe it was April 14, 2000, which totally coincidentally the very same day GSC debuted. In any event, we were on Waydale at the time. There was a competitor site to Waydale that was run by John Lynn's group, Christian Educational Services, which was more openly and explicitly Christian. Waydale didn't care what you believed (like GSC). CES cared. And the contributors did not. Eventually, CES decided it was not worth their time to continue to host a message board where an increasing number of people were committed to badmouthing God, Christ, Christianiy and CES. So they shut the board down. On April 14, 2000. Maybe it was April 15. Not relevant.
So I went on Waydale to let folks know the The CES Board has been taken down (that was the thread title). The first post was something to the effect of, "Well, looks like the folks at CES have decided it's not worth it to host a message board where a growing number of people are challenging their doctrine and" blah blah blah.
But when the thread posted, for no reason I can figure out, only the first word of the thread title and one word of the post survived.
The
Well,
And people responded. And responded. And responded. Thousands and thousands and thousands of responses.
It shut down Waydale. They had to close the thread. A new one popped up in its place. And another. And another.,
Waydale shut down. Greasespot became our new home. THE followed.
It took YEARS for it to finally die. Seriously, some actual GSC members died before THE did.
Anyway, this was a joke to let everyone know we were back online.
BUT
We're going to do another fundraiser because Pawtucket cannot and shpould not handle the expense alone.
So buckle up. We need your help if you want GSC to stay open.
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waysider
Shout out to the kitchen staff for reopening this greasy diner.
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WordWolf
Ladies and gentlemen, the triumphant return of THE!
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waysider
Will there be any sea monkeys? I feel like we need sea monkeys.
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Nathan_Jr
I've read an old thread on THE. I didn't get it then and still don't. Hate to ask, but will someone please explain?
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Twinky
Dunno about The, I only know about Tea, but pleased to see the Cafe is up and running again.
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WordWolf
I was hoping someone from that time would explain. I'll explain a bit. It started before I started posting here.
As I understand it, something happened. Raf meant to post about it (a twi news event, if memory serves.) He posted it with a normal title and a normal initial post. For reasons of internet, somehow the post got eaten, but not 100%. The first word of the title remained, and the first word of the post remained, along with the comma following it. The rest of the post was blank.
Naturally, some of the posters had some fun with it, reacting as if it was intentional, and an artistic choice. But the jokes...just...kept...coming......
Months and years later, they were still coming. People wrote song lyrics for THE. People got titles for THE ("Official Shaver of THE", etc.)
It was an inside joke that just never stopped.
Years later, another thread was posted. The poster immediately reconsidered. They changed the title to "Oops" and the post to something like "Never mind, please delete." We had a few pages of similar jokes, IIRC. I speculated on whether "Oops" would someday rival "THE" and overtake it (my speculation was largely a joke.) That joke ended a LOT sooner.
That's all I've got.
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Raf
Close enough.
The original The was on the GSC's predecessor site, Waydale. I believe it was April 14, 2000, which totally coincidentally the very same day GSC debuted. In any event, we were on Waydale at the time. There was a competitor site to Waydale that was run by John Lynn's group, Christian Educational Services, which was more openly and explicitly Christian. Waydale didn't care what you believed (like GSC). CES cared. And the contributors did not. Eventually, CES decided it was not worth their time to continue to host a message board where an increasing number of people were committed to badmouthing God, Christ, Christianiy and CES. So they shut the board down. On April 14, 2000. Maybe it was April 15. Not relevant.
So I went on Waydale to let folks know the The CES Board has been taken down (that was the thread title). The first post was something to the effect of, "Well, looks like the folks at CES have decided it's not worth it to host a message board where a growing number of people are challenging their doctrine and" blah blah blah.
But when the thread posted, for no reason I can figure out, only the first word of the thread title and one word of the post survived.
The
Well,
And people responded. And responded. And responded. Thousands and thousands and thousands of responses.
It shut down Waydale. They had to close the thread. A new one popped up in its place. And another. And another.,
Waydale shut down. Greasespot became our new home. THE followed.
It took YEARS for it to finally die. Seriously, some actual GSC members died before THE did.
Anyway, this was a joke to let everyone know we were back online.
BUT
We're going to do another fundraiser because Pawtucket cannot and shpould not handle the expense alone.
So buckle up. We need your help if you want GSC to stay open.
To be continued.
It. Just. Won't. Die.
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