'There was music in the cafes at night and revolution in the air.'

Here's the dull bit…

When traffic builds to a sensible level, we'll open this zone with the de-rigeur bulletin board discussion forum.

Yawn. Info-and-interaction is everywhere, what about passion?

And now for something completely different.

Here's the 'what were they on when that was written?' follow-on…

It gets totally carried away with itself, so strap-in and don't forget to laugh.

Years back, in the days of fourteen four modems and pentium twos, and on another project, we built a community which became 'real neat'.

Amid the interactive buzz of heady hours-long marathon flurry exchanges literally spanning the globe we set the wire alight.

We breathed the thing. Stayin' up after dark and doin' 'real work' by day to fill the hours 'til the night came again. 'Magic' was a term not-lightly coined. Nor bettered as a description.

Askabout this, whineabout that, talkabout… any damn thing you like really… just belong and be here… as friends… fumbling along together and trying desperately to make sense of it all in a world that threatened to move from embrace to engulf if you so much as dared be distracted.

Sure, it wasn't quite Big Wednesday surf stuff—but somehow it genuinely had the smell of warm places. It was, to us, the morning glass—something for which we'd happily sleep in our cars. Yeah, each morning we knew this would be a special day.

Although just a web-based-thing… it was nonetheless real—and a vital source of energy to the most tired of us.

Lament. Laugh. Love. We lived in there. Sure, we never got much work done. And who cares? 'Work' was never the point. We came to… dance.

We fought, found fun. And forged amazing relationships. Emotion ran riot as folk paired-off… 'Lovers lane' was born.

Somebody suggested a Town Square (shades of Apple eWorld)… another 'placed a park bench'. 'Reach into the screen' close, we sat on the damn thing, hugging each other.

As new and wonderful people showed up it became 'miles long now, to get everyone a seat' and we budged-up-a-bit to make room for others… all virtually sat with takeout and laptops… busy writing messages and reaching out and around the world.

'I like new friends'… dreamers all, the sharing was incredible. Spinnin' and surgin' we swirled around, caught in the vortex.

Was it personal? Oh yes. And populated by otherwise hard-edged people allowing the child within free rein and reveling in the delight of what 'they said could never be' and thus supporting the suggestion that often 'the most seemingly inappropriate is really the most fitting'.

Sure, it could have been done in similar-and-different ways. Something tighter. More structured. That wasn't the point.

Instead… we chose a simple, pressure-free 'come as you are, and if you wish' approach. We ran single daily starter posts, to which individual contributors added to the whole or dove off-site into personal sidebars.

'Doing business' forums abound. Dime-a-dozen-dozen. And most of 'em have confederacy-of-dunces sing-alongs from the fan-boys-and-girls… usually friendly exchange, sometimes genuine discussion.

Neither is enough for us. Perhaps Grail-searching for something which'll pass the test laid down above—and about which we can spin stuff like 'Show us somewhere with the vibe of this place—the breathless intimacy… that's our angle. It can be very special here. Cherish. And please contribute.'

So yeah… 'Informed opinion, misplaced speculation and biased rant on life… the universe… everything really. Sometimes commerce. Join in!' …a free-wheeling, stone-rolling, moss-gathering, thoroughly informal and sometimes barely-even-recognizable… 'thing'.

Are we serious? Ab-so-lutely.
Rock on. And roll a bit to.

So then, that's a taste of what can be had. And will—if enough of us uncheck the 'moderate' option.

And if it's not for you, then go back onto the web and enjoy your average day.

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