Mur10k

[Vlad!]

Congratulations to murlough for hitting the 10,000 post mark! 



What modest success this board has enjoyed has come in no small part from murlough and his reviews, commentary, and analysis. He has been around the phorum longer than I have (and longer than it was even called "the phorum"), and today is still our most prolific poster--by a large margin.

Here's to another 10,000

[murlough23]

Congratulations to murlough for hitting the 10,000 post mark! 



What modest success this board has enjoyed has come in no small part from murlough and his reviews, commentary, and analysis. He has been around the phorum longer than I have (and longer than it was even called "the phorum"), and today is still our most prolific poster--by a large margin.

Here's to another 10,000

Holy hell, I didn't realize I was that prolific! (One could see this as a milestone or evidence of my lack of a life, I guess.)

I seem to recall taking a while to re-sign up after this place was created and the old Rebel Base forums were shut down. Weren't you around back in those old days? It surprises me that I'd have been here longer than you.

[Vlad!]

I seem to recall taking a while to re-sign up after this place was created and the old Rebel Base forums were shut down. Weren't you around back in those old days? It surprises me that I'd have been here longer than you.

You were part of the Rebel Base before I was, which is what I was measuring.

[murlough23]

You were part of the Rebel Base before I was, which is what I was measuring.

Ah. I guess I had thought that since you and Josh knew each other in "real life", that you had been part of The Rebel Base before I was ever involved.

[Vlad!]

Ah. I guess I had thought that since you and Josh knew each other in "real life", that you had been part of The Rebel Base before I was ever involved.

Mark had pulled me in to help with technical issues on occasion, but I wasn't part of The Rebel Base as a reviewer for a while, and by the time I got around to signing up for the TRB forums, you were already an established member.

For a while in the Proboards days Josh and I were neck-and-neck for the 'most prolific' award. In the IPB days, Josh definitely pulled ahead. I like to attribute this to the difference between a liberal arts school and an engineering school, but it's more likely because as the Rebel Base proper shut down and the CMC got, er, more like the CMC is today, more of the discussion around music and movies moved to the Phorum. I believe it's a fairly recent development that a) either I've gotten more prolific or Josh has gotten less and b) you greatly eclipsed either of us.

I think it's kind of cool that our top 5 most prolific posters have been around for over 6 years each. Also, believe it or not, of the top 5, the only one who's been around for less time than me is bloop--which is interesting to me because I feel like I've been around forever. I've had real life friendships that haven't lasted that long.

[murlough23]

Mark had pulled me in to help with technical issues on occasion, but I wasn't part of The Rebel Base as a reviewer for a while, and by the time I got around to signing up for the TRB forums, you were already an established member.

That's right. The posts on the TRB boards seemed to be mostly among the reviewers who wrote for the site. I still remember stumbling across Josh's post that was basically a classified ad looking for reviewers back when he started up - or attempted to expand - TRB. (That was on the old about.com Christian music boards, the predecessor of CMCentral.)

Whatever happened to Mark, anyway?

For a while in the Proboards days Josh and I were neck-and-neck for the 'most prolific' award. In the IPB days, Josh definitely pulled ahead. I like to attribute this to the difference between a liberal arts school and an engineering school, but it's more likely because as the Rebel Base proper shut down and the CMC got, er, more like the CMC is today, more of the discussion around music and movies moved to the Phorum.

I think a few relationships were formed with CMC members who realized they had more in common with folks here. bloop was the most notable person who got sucked in based on a pre-existing relationship at CMC. A few others followed later, their tastes perhaps a little more compatible with the CMC-era, but I guess they enjoyed the deeper level of discussion that went on here (or the less inhibited tomfoolery, take your pick) with some of the folks they'd met over there.

I believe it's a fairly recent development that a) either I've gotten more prolific or Josh has gotten less and b) you greatly eclipsed either of us.

Josh seems to post less nowadays, but is still as prolific if not more with his review writing. So what he posts here still matters a lot even if his posts are fewer in quantity. (As opposed to a lot of my posts, which are pure silliness.)

I think it's kind of cool that our top 5 most prolific posters have been around for over 6 years each. Also, believe it or not, of the top 5, the only one who's been around for less time than me is bloop--which is interesting to me because I feel like I've been around forever.

A lot of our old regulars don't seem to hang around as much. At times The Phorum seems a bit insular, like it's just a clique involving a few of us that is tough to break into (and I have to ask myself if/how I'm contributing to that problem); at other times I'm surprised when someone like Thom Daugherty from The Elms finds us and considers us a good place to post new album news.

I've had real life friendships that haven't lasted that long.

I'm still weirded out by the fact that I've known Josh longer than I've known my wife.

NP: "Let It Go", The Reign of Kindo

[Vlad!]

Whatever happened to Mark, anyway?

After TRB went under he briefly tried a few other things, had a brief stint at blogging, and then decided his ventures would be mostly offline. He graduated from Bryan College this year with a degree in religious studies. He currently resides with his in-laws (ouch) and is looking for a job as a Bible teacher, considering the seminary option.

Josh seems to post less nowadays, but is still as prolific if not more with his review writing. So what he posts here still matters a lot even if his posts are fewer in quantity. (As opposed to a lot of my posts, which are pure silliness.)

Yeah, I figured that his various endeavors (and his marriage, no doubt) take time and verbiage away from the Phorum.

A lot of our old regulars don't seem to hang around as much. At times The Phorum seems a bit insular, like it's just a clique involving a few of us that is tough to break into (and I have to ask myself if/how I'm contributing to that problem);

Yeah, I've worried about this from time to time, generally when some new person joins, burns bright for a while, and then peters out all within the course of half a year or less. My position on life is generally that I will be who I am and if people don't like who that is then that's something they, not I, have to worry about. My brief bouts of angst have thus far come back to this philosophy. I figure I'll let the phorum become whatever it can become organically and not try to influence that one way or the other, aside from making sure the software works and there's not a whole bunch of spam clogging up the works.

at other times I'm surprised when someone like Thom Daugherty from The Elms finds us and considers us a good place to post new album news.

Heh, I saw him in the new members list and wondered if it was the Thom Daughtery. Apparently so.

I'm still weirded out by the fact that I've known Josh longer than I've known my wife.

As with most things, quality is more important than quality. I have friends in the church I go to that I feel incredibly close to, despite knowing them for less than two years; that sort of thing happens when you hang out multiple times per week, worship together, hold each-other accountable, and bear each-others' burdens. On the other hand, people online tend to be cagey (and rightly so, perhaps) about revealing personal details, even to the extent of hiding behind a handle and not revealing their real names.

[murlough23]

Yeah, I figured that his various endeavors (and his marriage, no doubt) take time and verbiage away from the Phorum.

I would expect this to be the case for a lot of people who get married, and I think it's actually a good thing. Personally, though, I haven't spent considerably less time online since getting married, because I already spent a ton of time with my wife before we got married. Now I've actually got more free time because I don't have to keep picking her up and dropping her off every time we want to do something together! (Just wait 'til I have a kid, then we'll see how much free time I still have.)

Yeah, I've worried about this from time to time, generally when some new person joins, burns bright for a while, and then peters out all within the course of half a year or less. My position on life is generally that I will be who I am and if people don't like who that is then that's something they, not I, have to worry about. My brief bouts of angst have thus far come back to this philosophy.

I'm an advocate of being yourself as well. I just know there's a certain amount of "knowing what you can get away with" when you feel like you know people well, and an outsider observing all of the ribbing on each other and the (usually friendly) heated debates about music and so forth could be a bit intimidated by some of it. I know there's a welcome wagon sort of thread in a part of the board that I rarely ever venture into, so maybe people's first experience here is usually a positive one due to that, before they come over to the Music section of the board and I give 'em a hard time for liking Kutless or something.

As with most things, quality is more important than quality. I have friends in the church I go to that I feel incredibly close to, despite knowing them for less than two years; that sort of thing happens when you hang out multiple times per week, worship together, hold each-other accountable, and bear each-others' burdens.

This makes sense. My closest friends tend to be the ones I see in person with the most regularity. Generally that's folks from my church and especially our Bible study group - I'm used to sharing with them what's going on in my life because we make it a regular thing. Some other folks who I've known longer and only talk to once every few months or so, I may have once considered close, and they didn't do anything to make me trust them less or want to talk to them less... we just don't naturally encounter each other as often as we used to. (The closest friends tend to be the ones I feel perfectly comfortable picking up where I left off with even if I haven't seen them in years.)

On the other hand, people online tend to be cagey (and rightly so, perhaps) about revealing personal details, even to the extent of hiding behind a handle and not revealing their real names.

I've never been a big fan of hiding behind an alias online. Short of things like my mailing address or phone number that could be harvested by those looking to SPAM or otherwise exploit a person, I have no problem with people online knowing the real me. So I'll share a prayer request here when it's weighing on my mind or announce a personal triumph or whatever. The difference is that I tend to be a lot less conflict-averse in my interactions with people online (meaning I'll point out my objections to someone else's point of view and/or behavior much more quickly), and also that the discussions online tend to revolve around more academic topics and/or hobbies. I'm pretty trusting with everyone here and there's probably very little that I wouldn't want any of you to know about me (if you asked, anyway - I don't want to bog anyone down with embarrassing stories they'd rather not hear!), but I can see what you're saying, the relationships exist on a different level than those of "close friends" in real life.

I suppose it can be this way with in-person relationships - you can have your buddies you play poker or basketball with on a regular basis, and you can have your friends who you go out of your way to sit down and have conversations with and not need to have any activities on the agenda. Sometimes you can know the "hobby friends" for years or even decades without any of those people knowing stuff about your personal life and how you actually feel about anything.

[Vlad!]

I know there's a welcome wagon sort of thread in a part of the board that I rarely ever venture into, so maybe people's first experience here is usually a positive one due to that, before they come over to the Music section of the board and I give 'em a hard time for liking Kutless or something.

If we have anything like that, I don't know about it. Sometimes members have created their own "hi, I'm new here" thread, but there's no official "post here if you're new" thing.

I've never been a big fan of hiding behind an alias online. Short of things like my mailing address or phone number that could be harvested by those looking to SPAM or otherwise exploit a person, I have no problem with people online knowing the real me. So I'll share a prayer request here when it's weighing on my mind or announce a personal triumph or whatever. The difference is that I tend to be a lot less conflict-averse in my interactions with people online (meaning I'll point out my objections to someone else's point of view and/or behavior much more quickly), and also that the discussions online tend to revolve around more academic topics and/or hobbies. I'm pretty trusting with everyone here and there's probably very little that I wouldn't want any of you to know about me (if you asked, anyway - I don't want to bog anyone down with embarrassing stories they'd rather not hear!), but I can see what you're saying, the relationships exist on a different level than those of "close friends" in real life.

I agree, to some extent. I don't make details of my life particularly private online. My concern isn't the other people I know I'm sharing the data with so much as people who might come across it and exploit it. On this board, as with most of the Internet, things are known either by nobody or everybody, and I hate forums that don't even let you read until you have an account, so that's definitely the case with this forum. If a phorum regular were driving through the Raleigh area and wanted to meet up, I'd gladly give my phone number out, but I'd definitely not going to post it.

However, like you, any reticence I may have about sharing details of my own life comes not from a desire to hide who I am but from the fact that my life is generally so outrageously boring that I'm not even interested in what I did today, so how should I expect you to be?

The one exception to this is the company I work for. I love my job, but unfortunately the legal climate in which we live makes me leery of associating my online presence with their name--as with most companies, mine is very brand-conscious. I'd prefer to not have to do the mental calculation of "if I say this/do this will it reflect poorly on my employer?". It sucks that I would have to do that, but there have been enough stories of someone getting fired for what they wrote in a weblog post or on a forum somewhere that I would rather keep a part of my life private than worry about whether the consequences of making a fool of myself online are not just embarrassment but unemployment.