CBR Memories ... in honor of the 10th anniversary!

[f. chong rutherford]

I'm home this weekend, on the first sunny and incredibly nice weekend in recent memory in the magical land known as Brooklyn. Hopefully (fingers crossed) that movie I was working on last weekend will FINALLY get wrapped up today. At least the new opening.

Anyway, as I avoid work--er, as I 'take a break' from the project, I find myself drawn back here. And low and behold, this is the 10th anniversary weekend of the old Kingdom Come Message Boards. Holy crap, I'm not only fat, also OLD now as well!!!!

Back then, I was an ex-football jock stoner with a ponytail who collected comic books and was in LOVE with the art of Alex Ross. I had TWO copies of Marvels. When I heard about Kingdom Come, that was a holy shit moment.

And not a single one of my friends shared it. The two that liked comics only had eyes for the X-Men. Nobody I knew liked Kingdom Come or was excited about it.

At the same time, I was learning about the Internet. Establishing a telnet connection to our university servers was a fun challenge for anyone slightly technical--and when you did you got to--check this out--surf the World Wide Web at 5200 for FREE! I still remember the night where I got online. I had just finished a paper, was really excited about this comic that none of my friends gave a crap about, and had just learned about this thing called a 'search engine' from another friend. So, I used this new fangled 'search engine' (which was, like, the geekiest William Gibson-esque word combo I'd heard in a while) and found this links page. And one of the links was for this green and white website that had this thing called a message board. I looked at the comic, I looked at a script I'd been writing for my radio station about a college superhero (that was sadly never produced), and then I logged into the site.

So, my first CBR memory is pretty much the same as now, minus the hair, the connection, and the look. Lots of people talking about a lot of different things.

Your turn. What's YOUR first CBR memory?

[Michael P]

My first CBR memory was registering and logging on in the pre-vBulletin days to reply to something Larry Young wrote in his column, and thinking, "this is a great MB, but the system sucks."

Then, when the changeover happened, my first thread in Rumbles was a Spider-Man vs. Wolverine thread. I posted it specifically as an IQ test; if enough people had argued for Wolverine, I would have turned around and never come back.

[Wesley Dodds]

You know what I miss? The survey message board.

1. If you were a doorknob, would you turn left or right?

2. If you could be any one person, who would it be?

3. Are tiny monkeys eating your skin?

[Wesley Dodds]

To answer your question, I think my first post at CBR was in 1998.

[Convoy]

Is it bad if I have no clue what the poll selections mean?

[f. chong rutherford]

Is it bad if I have no clue what the poll selections mean?

No--it's a really bad set of joke references. The idea is that it goes from youngest to eldest--as in, if you're Frodo at the start of Lord of the Rings, your new to, er, adventuring. (new to CBR)
If you're Bilbo, you're a little more seasoned, but still new. (not so new to CBR)
If you're Aragorn, you've been around a while. (been at CBR a while)
If you're Gandalf, you've been around so long you've probably got a couple different nicknames. (been at CBR a long while)
If you're an Ent, holy crap you've been around a while! (been at CBR and probably seen most of the changes the site has undergone)
If you're Tom Bombadil, you've been around so long that no one remembers when you first showed up--including you. (you probably were one of the first to respond to a message on the original board)
If you remember the first age of Middle Earth, holy crap, you saw the birth of the universe! (you probably WERE the first person to post a message)

If you understand the poll without an explaination, well, then I'm sorry but you're a Tolkien geek. Like me! :)

[Wesley Dodds]

I am to CBR as Frodo was at the start of Lord of the Rings!

I've been here since yesterday.

I am to CBR as Bilbo was when Frodo went on his adventure!

Ah, I've been here for a while -- might even have won a CotM.

I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn

I remember when you suddenly had to sign up to post!

I've been around so long, I'm like Gandalf, the White Rider, Mithrandia, etc..

I'm a member of the late Silver Age of CBR, like Tim Drake (or Wesley Dodds!)

I am like a CBR Ent

I'm a member of the early Silver Age of CBR, like Buried Alien

I am CBR's answer to Tom Bombadil

I remember when the Kingdom Come Message Boards became Comicbook Resources!

I remember the first age of Middle Earth

I was there on the very first day!

[dingo]

No--it's a really bad set of joke references. The idea is that it goes from youngest to eldest--as in, if you're Frodo at the start of Lord of the Rings, your new to, er, adventuring. (new to CBR)
If you're Bilbo, you're a little more seasoned, but still new. (not so new to CBR)
If you're Aragorn, you've been around a while. (been at CBR a while)
If you're Gandalf, you've been around so long you've probably got a couple different nicknames. (been at CBR a long while)
If you're an Ent, holy crap you've been around a while! (been at CBR and probably seen most of the changes the site has undergone)
If you're Tom Bombadil, you've been around so long that no one remembers when you first showed up--including you. (you probably were one of the first to respond to a message on the original board)
If you remember the first age of Middle Earth, holy crap, you saw the birth of the universe! (you probably WERE the first person to post a message)

If you understand the poll without an explaination, well, then I'm sorry but you're a Tolkien geek. Like me! :)

I got confused in the first three, because Bilbo is older than Aragorn (I think), and then failed to see the progression. Doesn't matter anyhow since I voted for it being a very nerdy poll indeed

[Cei-U!]

I voted for Tom Bombadil because I like him. By F-Dot's standards as explained above, I shoulda chosen Gandalf though.

My earliest memory of CBR is talking DC continuity with Buried Alien. Jeezus, has it realy been nine years?!?

Cei-U!
I summon the temporal anomaly!

[Gordon Smith]

I got confused in the first three, because Bilbo is older than Aragorn (I think), and then failed to see the progression. Doesn't matter anyhow since I voted for it being a very nerdy poll indeed

Yes, Bilbo is older than Aragorn (by some forty odd years) Bilbo Baggins was born on September 22nd, 2890 of the Third Age. Aragorn was born on March 1st, 2931 of the Third Age.

[Convoy]

My first conversation was with Tuan, who seems to have left to join the real world.

Actually '03 was my join date now that I think about it. It was a year before the reboot.

[f. chong rutherford]

I voted for Tom Bombadil because I like him. By F-Dot's standards as explained above, I shoulda chosen Gandalf though.

My earliest memory of CBR is talking DC continuity with Buried Alien. Jeezus, has it realy been nine years?!?

Cei-U!
I summon the temporal anomaly!

Crazy innit? Where did the time go? And nine years seems like both a long and very short time. It doesn't seem like much for all the changes that have occurred technologically. yet, it's still a long time. maybe it's just me.

just FYI--I voted that it's a very nerdy poll. Tom Bombadill not being in the movie version is just another reason why it might've been neater to see 'Lord of the Rings' as a three season HBO series instead of movies.

[Michael P]

I signed up here 2 years ago (I think it was). My first conversation was with Tuan, who seems to have left to join the real world.

Or been thrown in jail for stalking a porn star.

[Convoy]

Or been thrown in jail for stalking a porn star.

Then wouldn't he be here chatting with us during "computer time". :D

[SUPERECWFAN1]

I believe I joined in 2003 . My mind is sketchy on things like that but I remember joining and being so bad at posting on message boards I believe I made several posters cry.

But without those experinces who else would go on to win the : Worst Presentation and Worst Signature Corries of 2003 ? Who I ask you ??

Then like the New England Patriots I turned the corner and went on to win " Most Improved " in 2005. I can't help it I rose like the pheniox on CBR. I was just THAT DAMN GOOD!


For those who have heard about my Corries I can not help it. I love braggin about them. I have a special place on my mantle where I stare at them daily. For I am that much of a loser ! :D