Pirate and Other Alter Ego Status chart
BULLETIN: WE INTERRUPT YOUR NORMALLY SCHEDULED HUB FORUM POSTING TO BRING YOU THIS LATE BREAKING NEWS REPORT:
(Are we rolling? We're rolling? Yes?)
Eric, I'm here at HubPages forum, where I've spent quite a bit of time in this usually peaceful community. It is no news to long-time participants of this community that alter-egos claiming to be pirates have long existed here. While these individuals (under the guise of famous, not-so-famous, and infamous pirates) have long co-existed with non-pirates on Hub forums; and while they occasionally drop the pirate lingo in order to communicate with other community members; their presence on the forums has occasionally been the focus of controversy. These long-time community members have enjoyed a number of loyal fans and friends. The pirates have been known to come and go and return but then go again, often leaving in their wake several Hubs. At the same time, some leaving has resulted in the removal of Hubs and the changing of names. Reliable witnesses say that the end of the week often brings more pirate activity. Observers have seen community members who claim to bring popcorn to some of the pirate shows (as well other shows performed on the Hub forums). Whether or not popcorn is, in fact, really brought to these shows has not been corroborated; and viewers should keep in mind that "reliable witnesses" can be a rare find on Internet forums.
Witnesses say that the community was rocked and shocked this week, when long-time and well liked Hubbers, Brenda Scully and redneckwmn, mysteriously disappeared. One pirate was implicated in the disappearance of Scully, however, questions were raised when Scully mysteriously re-appeared under another name. Several suspicious Hubbers were said to be seen lurking around threads involving Scully's disappearance. Hidden among the threads associated with redneckwmn was a comment that one of the pirates may, in fact, also be another Hubber, who once went by the alias of "redneckmn". (Editorial note: Do the math, but keep in mind that 2 plus 2 may not always add up to 4. More to the point, just because redneckwmn and redneckmn would appear to be the male/female versions of the same "redneck", there remains the distinct possibility that the two may not be connected and that, instead, a pirate may have stolen the redneck identity from another Hubber.)
Witnesses say that two newcomers, Healthtip and 13, have raised little suspicion, in view of the disclosure of their association with the pirates; however, some witnesses were surprised to discover that Brenda Scully's avatar showed up, being used by a poet of another name, who eventually, reportedly, and allegedly admitted to, in fact, being Brenda Scully. When asked whether there was reason to doubt that the new poet was indeed Brenda Scully, one witness asked, "Who the hell knows?"
I had the opportunity to interview long-time, long-winded, and yet (presumably) reputable Hubber, Lisa HW (who happens to be myself and who admits to writing under a pen name while claiming to be otherwise as truthful as the day is long, which is what made the opportunity so readily available, of course).
Ms. HW, who admits to being the victim of the occasional troll, sockpuppet, or creative person (she isn't sure at this point whether there's really much difference), also admits to being suspicious of several other Hubbers as a result. Being careful to emphasize that she would not want to accuse innocent Hubbers of being guilty of sock-puppetry, Lisa does note that she has observed several Hubbers with suspiciously new sign-up dates, suspiciously sparse profiles, suspiciously similar attitudes (in spite of very different personas), and even suspiciously similar use of words; all of which may indicate the presence of far more pirate friends than community members may realize. In fact, Lisa notes that some similarities have been spotted among long-time Hubbers with profiles that would otherwise not indicate suspicious behavior - all of which lead to the question of the identities of a number of Hubbers, as well as any association they may or may not have with any pirates.
When I asked Lisa to share the names of Hubbers she suspects of chicanery or creativity, depending on one's views of either, her response was, "No comment." When asked, "Why?" Lisa stated, "I, personally, have witnessed the worldwide forum lynch mobs that can form when one Hubber offends another. Several months ago a fight broke out, and people from around the world's different time zones actually took shifts in keeping it going. More recently, I visited the crime scene of yet another forum fight and was shocked to discover that it took me almost an hour to read the whole thread. I'm not some delicate and fragile person who will melt at the first sight of bad language, but some of what takes place is enough to make even the toughest forum participant cringe. Besides, it's not my place to attempt to step on someone else's creativity."
When I asked Lisa if it wasn't just the least bit tempting to share her suspicions with fellow Hubbers she noted, "Sure it is. Who doesn't like to share what he believes may be a shocking secret? My thing is I don't want to raise unfair or unnecessary suspicions, to seem paranoid, or to spoil what some people see as nothing more than harmless fun." Borrowing from the 2004 Andrew Lloyd Webber film, Phantom of the Opera (as well as the novel by Gaston LeRoux), Ms. HW warned, "People must remember to approach all threads with their hand at the level of their eye. Oh wait, nobody has to worry about anyone else throwing a noose around their neck - not even the pirates. Never mind." It was then that Ms. HW echoed the words of so many professional athletes and coaches being interviewed after losing a game: "It is what it is."
Are the pirates wonderful people, as so many community members claim? Is Johnny Depp really a Hubber? Is Garfield really a Hubber? What about frogs? Can frogs really write and use a PC? (And, by the way, does the Hubber who goes by the name of Eric REALLY have two heads? I mean, if he did wouldn't we have seen it on one of our sister stations somewhere along the way?) Might Mark Knowles really be a preacher, playing Devil's advocate (or might he really be THE devil?). Of course, the most pressing question remains, "What the heck is with the pirates, anyway - but should we trust cowboys or kitties with lime hats more than pirates?" In a community where so many present themselves as dogs, children, flowers, and some creepy things that really do make others wonder if the owner of the avatar has "issues", who - many wonder - can anyone trust?
The real question here is, "What can any of us believe on the Internet?" (Another real question is, "Why on Earth is my Firefox so slow - but I digress.)
Sources say there are conflicting reports with regard to any pending investigations on the big, serious, important, foolishness now said to appear to have taken over the community. Some investigators claim further investigation is pending. At the same time, reliable sources state that no further investigation is warranted at this time. One, who requested his name be withheld for no particular, good, reason, states, "People who come and go, and people who have been around even for a long time, all need to watch out, because some in the community have expressed having had enough and point out that these days it isn't hard to get a microscope and do one's own forensics." (Oh, ok, that, that I just said, was a lie. This is the Internet, for goodness sake. People lie. By the way, I'm not really a reporter. I'm really a secret agent - no, a nun; no, a bullfighter, no wait, a famous actress. I am a Nigerian Prime Minister, and I have the sum of $102,456,000 for you if you will simply provide me with your social security and bank account numbers. Oops - sorry, I got carried away with the feeling of being someone other than a bored person with nothing much to do right now.) In any case....
Whether or not this community will find itself in the wrenching and never-ending turmoil of additional shocking revelations is what everyone (or at least a person or two) is asking this morning.
This is Lisa HW, reporting live from Hub forums (unless you read this after 8:07 a.m. EST, October 10, 2009; in which case, this report won't be live any more). Back to you, Eric (or whoever is out there and remains awake after this report).I agree Lisa! Fabulous read!
I remember that one well - a glorious alcohol fuelled weekend where the sun never set on that particular fight. Grizzled Hubpage warriors gathered round to defend the forums from an insidous troll. Inspirational stuff, and worthy of an entry in Hubpage lore
Must do it again, sometimethat's kind of how I felt late last night stepping into BC/PG"s thread with him and darkside going at it. felt like I was sitting ringside. bizarre entertainment.
o.k. I'm off this for now~ enjoy the day or night, whatever it is where you are.
That one was pretty tame, by comparison - the thread of which we speak was a bloodbath
You too - enjoy the weekend.
Ralwus - you are probably right. I don't know if I could face a hangover like that again.
Mind you, I just bought a bottle of Afrodite Ouzo. Happy Days
I have no idea on the status of BC
n not sure why there is disdain for researched works is mentioned but most people write what they know or enjoy. Welcome to HP, deartfrldodger Number 5 Eric, you heard it here first
Hiya Perez !!BC and all his alter egos, will come and go. It's up to his whims or his soberness.
I used to laugh at all this ,but now I find it rather pathetic.Doesn't make me laugh any more.
And nobody shouldn't! this guy needs help. Can nobody see this ?
It's very selfish of all of you to want to get a laugh at his posts, when all he needs is help. I wonder if all the hubbers that say they love him and say that they are his friends, really are
He's not a clown. He's a human being- poetlorraineposted 14 years ago
0 - poetlorraineposted 14 years ago0
Some can flounce better than others.
I was banned for "personal attacks" or "suggesting a decent dictionary" as I called it for a while, but I have now learned my lesson and created several alter egos for the purposes of personal attacks in the future.I thought I was right!
Hello Evolution Guy! I knew you was around somewhere. Can't let the grouped believers go unpunished!
Touche!
Still think I am ignorant?I believe that you can buy Hubpages Alter Egos on EBay now.
Price depends on age of the accocunt, number of hubs. and number of forum posts.
I think that old quietness and Rust will make a killing
And now I'm REALLY off to bed.Mark dear, flouncing involves drama that revolves around you. One of my sons was a pro-flouncer. Forever packing his red suitcase, leaving, never to return. I'd leave him sat all mournful on the garden wall a little while. Then go and scoop him up, kiss him to death, make him smile and he's be all rosy again. And he'd flounce because he didn't like school
On the other hand, your flouncing involves very cleverly worded diatribes that are both brilliant and hillarious. Great that you've joined the alter-ego club.
But one question. Is an alter-ego classed as a secondary account from which you frequent forums, use for commenting and such? I have another account but I just publish. That's it. And it's openly displayed on my profile.
Yours - confused in LisbonThis is why we'll be able to spot Mark's alter ego - his writing is original & brilliant, unless he dumbs down his ego
I still haven't figured out who you really are Frogdropping!Do you really believe I'm another hubber? I'd love to know who.
Hand on froggy heart - I'm no one other than me
LOL
Well, I try not to do too much flouncing and any one who fails to spot my cunning disguise doesn't know me very well. I will be writing a hub or three for one of my alter egos and have already written one for my other one. Keeping up with them all is a another matter, and I may have to take advice from BC/Cabin girl/Health/Whatever.......Yes, shoot right around the ignorant marines assumption.
For somebody with no attachments you are taking it awful personal that you are ignorant of certain things.
Oh I forgot Mark - funny fact. Not only is The Dictionary the top selling book of all time (like who didn't know that), it's also the most thieved.
Now - believer and thieves. Or thieving believers. Love itBloody well done! How are you coping now? The first month is usually vile - then it seems to ease off.
And I just read through your journalistic report Lisa - marvellous! You should henceforth be known as the Kate Ady of HP! A great piece of investigative journalismYou are doing great old buddy, our thoughts are with your lungs!
Thanks Misha.
I don't want to sound like a drama queen (we seem to have plenty of those ) but this is tougher than I expected it to be.
My lungs will thank me in the end though.
I didn't think anyone could, but I just thought I'd try my hand at a little (a bunch of) forum foolishness of my own. It appears to be "The Thing" these days.
lol, that was excellent, hahaha.
p.s. has anyone else noticed that 'Tantrum' like BC, Healthtip etc. always leaves a space between the last word and exclamation mark.
Just saying.You can send me an e-mail and then check my IP. I'm from Argentina
I will leave you a comment on your latest hub and the ip will deff trace back to Ireland
Cheers dude, but to be honest, I've no idea how to trace IPs or check them anyway. Was just playing detective and following the clues, bored on a Saturday morning.
Is it Ireland if it starts with an 82?- ralwusposted 14 years ago0
Actually I think if Art(BC) was to drop out totally and completely, I'd lose over half of my fan base.
:
- ralwusposted 14 years ago0
I think for one to emulate Art(BC) one actually needs to posses multiple personalities which he does. That is why he is so good at it. You may need to see Mr Voodoo to get another personality or two to be proficient as BC is.
lol poor Mrvoodoo. A very unique hubber IMO
Tantrum, Eric, HealthTip, Jane, Sybil Marie; thanks.
I have been asked many times through my life if I have 16 distinct personalities (can't imagine way
) I tell people yes it's true but I'm felling much better now, much much better.
frogdropping, thanks. (I don't really investigate the news. I just make it up. Oh, isn't that what anchor people are supposed to do?
) - ralwusposted 14 years ago0
I'm just tired of the whole thing. I don't care anymore
- ralwusposted 14 years ago0
Not when my missus finds out - I was only supposed to buy cigarettes, but the temptation was too much
- ralwusposted 14 years ago0
Sure do - get in the way of a good night's drink and debauchery. When they start rationing how many glasses you are allowed, you are in trouble. Luckily, I have an emergency bottle stashed in the tool shed
- ralwusposted 14 years ago0
Oh, RKHenry, I'm not blaming you. It was just that your remarks appeared "newsworthy". I couldn't resist going for one more laugh before stopping my own "reporting" foolishness. I do think people on here could use a little more sense of humor (and that's not directed at you, personally). (Although that bloodbath Sufidreamer and I recall was a lot of fun.
)Hey RK
Good to see you.
Sadly, Mark nailed it - I cannot remember the last time we had a good political or religious debate on here. I hardly even bother reading the political forum anymore - little chance of learning anything new
Thanks guys
36 years of smoking and 6 weeks of not. I already feel better - well, 50/50. The half that breathes in and out feels better. The half that wants a fag feels horrible.
RK - I have been smoking since I was 12 years old. I am now 48 - If I can do it - you can.
And lest we forget - we also had a pretty big influx of trolls and religionists over the last couple of months. I don't think we can blame all the drama and bad vibes just on BC.MARK!!!! how are ya? and I see you changed your picture very nice.
Good thanks.
It suits me don't you think?Oh no - I am keeping out of the religion forums.
If there ever was anything to persuade me over to the dark side - it would be the ceiling of the Sistine chapel. Every one should see it in the flesh before they die. That and David.I go back about every 2/3 years just to see the Sistene chapel. Hands down the most moving piece of art I have ever seen in my life. And I have seen a lot.
You have to go. I am due another visit soon. We should meet up for a beer or six.Sounds like a plan - we hope to go to Italy in a couple of years. I want to take the missus to Pompeii, and Rome would certainly be on the agenda.
Besides, pizza followed by ice-cream and coffee, in Naples - one of the best meals ever.
Tantrum - I see what you are saying, but don't forget that friendship continues outside the HP forums
PS - Hope that Argentina win tonight - a World Cup without Argentina and Messi doesn't seem right
hahah! I can't handle doing multiple identities due to my limited time, but I did have multiple egos on a BBS years ago (yes, I go back to a time before the internet).
Interesting this is ... I made my one identity so far different from the other that everyone thought it was a unique personality, and then they hated the new character and laughed as I humiliated this new identity, assassinated it, and then made it leave.
We then went on for weeks talking about 'Grog the caveman', and only the sysop (the guy who ran the BBS) know it had been me. We even brought Grog back a few times, insisting he was getting around the bans, but in time I got bust with real life and had little time left to spare for another incarnation - albeit, one created for the express purpose of trolling other members.
Those were the days ...
Nowadays, I just change avatars, and with each change comes a slight shift in caricature. I keep the name, as I want others to know it's me, and I allow them to figure out for themselves what might have caused the shift in my thoughts and reasoning - some of it can be online stuff and some can be offline.
For now, I chose the dragon, as I see a lot of people getting all uppity over something that is just an online forum where a lot of people play around and quite often get carried away. Still, it's an online forum, and it's far easier to drop out of threads gone astray than it is to get up and turn the channel on your TV set.
I do agree that personal attacks should be a definite no. After all, we're still human beings and should not have ourselves personally assailed for things we share, but I see personal attacks as name calling ... not expressing displeasure with the thoughts and behaviors of others.
I have kids in my house, and I let them disagree with each other ... kids do that. However, they get grounded whenever they call each other vile names or raise a fist to each other ... I see the online world as no different ... other than the kids being much older.
As someone who has run his own forum with 500+ members (a paltry sum, compared to Hubpages, but large at the time) I can tell you that there is never a moment of total peace and harmony, as everyone wants to communicate their own thoughts and ideas, and such expression doesn't always click with that of others. The religious and political forums are a great example, as they represent the greatest division of beliefs and produce the largest debates.
Be honest ... would you expect much of a debate in the food forum? I should think not.
As an interesting thought ... there is a resolution to all of this that has proven quite effective on other forums I have participated in ... it's called an ignore feature and allows members to avoid the comments of other members which they can't seem to get along with.
If a member is ignored by too many people then he is voided, allowing him only in litterbox forums (kinda like the sandpit) and then they need to work off their snit before approaching the regular forums again.
This method allows the membership to get a message across without the management getting immediately involved, and it's done in such a way that the member never knows who is squelching them.
Now ... as someone who managed such a forum, I can tell you this is a proposal that involves a bit of work. So, even if the staff chose this direction, don't expect something like this to pop up overnight (I'm not saying the staff isn't highly capable, I'm just looking out for them, so they aren't deluged with demands to immediately put such a system in-place).
The whole truth of it all is that some people will never get along in the same room, but removing them from each other's presence allows them to coexist without anyone thinking anything of it.
To be honest ... Back in the day I would hit the squelch on members I saw constantly battling each other and it was quite amusing to hear them come crying to me when X couldn't see what Y was saying and then Y would complain because he couldn't see what X was saying.
My reply to them? Learn to live well together and I might consider removing the squelch.
That's my thoughts on it all, but you can be certain that - as the newly incarnated dragon - I will be saying it like it is.that grog the caveman thing is scary. it makes BadCo look like Mary Poppins.
if someone annoys the f#@k out of me i just ignore them. i don't think we need an Ignore feature...i mean we're all adults here. that's why i dig people like Helen - she gets it.
Healthtip is Badco? Oh my, I sent a message to team HubPages, notifying them of a new spammer. Oops!
They will be back...as always...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3MiD_U4CHQ
A song, usually sung at camp, around a campfire.Its weird, never heard about it before. Different nationalities and all, I ah don't think I have missed alot.
Something like that.
I agree.
What also amuses me is how all the armchair psychologists and psychiatrists jump on and give their considered verdicts on various peoples mental states, or lack thereof.
Personally, I reckon that Art (like a couple of other HP identities) is a brilliant showman who knows how to woo a crowd and build a base of fans, and ambulance chasers who can't tear themselves away from the regular train wrecks.
Not sure what category I'm in
cheers,
Eric g.Im taking the bus
lol Eric
To be honest and just my opinion I dont think playful alter egos' ( not to be confused ,with those who primarily use them for other writing) increase traffic necessarily ,but no doubt do keep profiles never the less exposed and fresh
Wouldnt mind a new ego ,but I have enough trouble keeping up with myself these days
I wondered about that too. Public nuisances? Same as crabs? Pubic nuisance?
So to catch those of us who don't want to read endless pages of nothingness
Have all 4 left, if so, who will they talk to? They can easily carry on a conversation in a thread with each other & most people (which I find amusing) would think it's four people, except they all use the word "deff" - pure give away.
Goodbye for now, I'm sure we'll see a grand re-entrance soon, full of pomp and circumstance, with young lass's ready for the captain to call.I don't know, your a snake and I hate looking at your picture
cuz I hate snakes <shivers>I've met only two snakes and disliked them both, but I guess I should be more forgiving of your snake, since I haven't been formally introduced!
BTW - its not a read artichoke, its a flower silly, I had to crop it way down to fit.
Ah yes Kiwi, we are as young as we feel!
Well I saw a snake for the first time today at a local fleamarket!!!
Anything thats on the ground or above my head and slithers makes me alert ,to say the least
And I think you are either old and young at heart , or old and deadly hehe
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