Okay, wake the hell up! Options

[Absomphe]

Admittedly, your posts may have seemed a tad extreme, Artemis, but I think they were quite understandable, given your years of devotion to absinthiana. Besides, Absinthesizer seemed to recover rather quickly, and those haikus certainly did a delightful job of derailing that thread. I kinda miss the fun of those days, sometimes.

[Jaded Prole]

Those were the daze.

Still, I like his original post -- and Oxy's haiku.

Also what Kirk said. The folks I've met and the community that has formed here (and at the Lounge) has changed my life and given me friends I consider family (better than family).

[Artemis]

That thread did take a delightful turn (as many did), which is why I was more comfortable bringing it to attention then I otherwise might have been.

given your years of devotion to absinthiana

Yes, but there were previous years when I was devoted to that other stuff he mentioned, too. I don't remember why I was so harsh about it, other than I was fed up with people coming in comparing absinthe to drugs and followed Don Walsh's lead (among others) in deciding that the best way to quash it was to deal with it in the FAQ and not mention it on the board any more, no exceptions tolerated.

[Tibro]

I drink to get drunk.
Blood for the vampires maybe.
Sap for the greenmen.

[Artemis]

Tea for the tillerman
Stake for the son
Wine for the women who make the rain come

[Tibro]

I was dreaming of a steel guitar engagement
When you drunk my health in scented jasmine tea
But you knifed me in my dirty filthy basement

[dr_ordinaire]

Aware as I am that correlation is not causation, I still believe that the Forum's decline started when Kallisti, misguidedly well intentioned, banned all talk about distillation in the Forum.

Those times are well behind me, but I remember thinking at the time that if members wanted to risk their asses (and assets) they should have been able to. The most epic fights (not always fair and proper) in this Forum were about the noble art of (thanks Artemis for the word) hausgemachting.

[Kirk]

I think it happened when we met, became socialized, there was freedom in the air in the early days of the internets, we spoke without fear of hurting anyone, including ourselves, now that we are all over socialized by the ubiquitous high speed, what we say to each other seems to matter more so we
say nothing.

[Artemis]

I might have popularized that word, but it's a legitimate German word for home made. I first saw it used by German Andy in an on-line review (in German) he had published of a lavender absinthe made by the Nephilim. I started using the word immediately. Head Prosthesis changed it to Hogsmack, and shortened it to HG.
The HG discussion ban came about after Kallisti was made aware of an "interview" with Treasury agents to which Ted had been "invited", wherein it was mentioned that this forum was a regular source of entertainment for the men in suits. I guess there's no harm in revealing at this point that HG discussion didn't disappear; it just moved to a secret venue, open by invitation only. The venue changed several times over the course of many years and was eventually burned to the ground from within (see my previous post about making enemies through honesty). Several other venues also arose for that sort of thing, which is why it wasn't missed here by insiders and why suggestions for reviving it here and/or complaints about it being gone were ignored.
It seems to me that the most epic fights arose from political discussion, and people pretending knowledge they didn't have (about absinthe and many other things) and refusing to back down when called out. Getting personal in both cases and in many others fueled the fire. Being creative at getting personal was part of the blood sport relished by the spectators.
And 100% ditto to Kirk.

[thegreenimp]

It's Facebook's fault.

[Artemis]

I think Facebook and ennui had more to do with the dissolution of the forum than any HG issue.
People lost interest in the HG forums as well. It reached a point where the members knew enough to get by, and the few who knew more (due to experience outside the group) had interests to protect (i.e. went commercial) and became reluctant to share. Promoting the art to unknown noobs was never in the best interest of anybody. It was always fun when whiners on the open board insulted a member in the vein of "who the fuck are you to be talking down to me, you're just another pompous Fee Verte ass with a credit card", unaware that they were addressing one of the best makers in the world at the time.

[OCvertDe]

I always did find that humorous. Happened a lot less after I joined, but the years I lurked were filled with mirth.

I always assumed HG stood for "Home Grown". Huh.

[Artemis]

Might as well; it has exactly the same connotation, for me anyway. I'm not sure about the Germans but I think it's the same for them.

[Bruno Rygseck]

This forum has been a wonderful community, and it still is. The Buyer's guide doesn't get too many new reviews, though. But it is somewhat compensated by the What are you drinking now -thread.

[Artemis]

Drink it or sink it killed the buyer's guide, not that this is a bad thing.