Just what is the problem?

If you look around the Space Patrol site, you will encounter some sites that carry material of interest. The three I have in mind to lead off with are Fiftiesweb, Brian's Doowop Fixx and Draco Rex. there are others Patchy to name one.

what's my beef? Well it goes back to my early days on the Internet. Kirez Kirgan (If that's not a make-up namd, I don't know what is) appeared on the David Brudnoy radio program. He is a contributor to Reason Magazine and runs or ran at the time, We the Living/Boston. I was delighted to find a fellow Randite and opened the site. used the email that was displayed at the index page and tried to open a dialog. what I got back was some note that I had violated some rule or other: Silly me. I thought that the email on an index page was to CONTACT the site owner. When I sent a reply saying I was sorry and how do I contact him I got back nada.

Well, that's just it. I tried, using the given email addy to contact the owners of these sites. You know what I got back? Crabs in icewater. Now this is passing strange because the guy who owns Draco Rex knows me persnally and is in my Address Book.

Now, these sites are mostly gorgeous affairs: The graphics are 2di4 and the content superb (I love Patchy's oldies although the fidelity could be better). Fifties web covers the ground well and I would like to be on these persons' link list. I'm relevent to the material and My site has been called by the two persons who ha d the most contact with Space Patrol, "Marvelous..."(Warren chaney) and "...a lot of fun"(Jean-Noel Bassior) and I'm at the top of the Swapsale link list, mentioned me twice in his "Editorial" and Cadet Bruce actually talks to me: It doesn't get any better.

So, why do these other sites maintain emai accounts and display them If they're so laconic and taciturn (that means they don't answer or say much for those of you in Rio Limbaugh).

Now, I'm decidedly not slick and I make that point. I'm homebrew (for which I got kudos from a Bravent site holder on the company forum becuase he liked that sort of thing). All my own graphics, which is 90% of the site graphics, are done an Paint and GIFworks. Consequently, I have a simple style and it's sort of Comics style. I did not have that in mind but it works since there is such a strong relation between sci-fi adventure and the Comics.

I would really have liked to create a dialog with the owners of the other sites that I mentioned to promote what we have in common but no soap: Pity.

Well one thing: Not only can you do more at SpacePatrol.us, but you can contact me. Try it, you'll get a real person. There's actaully somebody home. You can start a dialog with me and maybe find a place here in a letter-to-the editor. However, while I do not jump down your throat right away, I do not suffer fools gladly, otherwise I am easy to get along with and a fun person (so I've been called). You can join one or all of 5 discussion groups. In short: Participation and interactivity are the name of the game.

Now, my other complaint. I just left two groups. Atlantis II and Rand Discussion. the "discussions" mostly got into things on the order of separating the flyspecks from the pepper and were so in-group or stupid that my head was about to explode. so I left. I've been a member of ComboOrgan for years and these guys have a lot more going for them than the persons you'd think would be a top-flight group. I can reccomend them if you're interested in that kind of thing.

I guess you should avoid groups built around intellectual issues as it attracts malcontents: Pity.