Missing Members

[ChiTownScion]

Why NOT try to breathe life into a thread that has lied dormant for nearly fifteen years.... right?

I'll be honest: there are a small number who I am GLAD are no longer around. (I'm sure some will say that about me one day.. and that's life.)

But in an attempt to keep this positive: I do miss seeing sheeplady and Stray Cat: they always seemed very sweet, upbeat, and kind to others. And Big J was a great source of information: the gentleman taught me a lot.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Yes, Big J was great. And where did Benzadmiral go? They were friendly, intelligent, and entertaining. I guess that’s the nature of these places; people wander in and then drift away.

 

[GHT]

Where did jamespowers go? He said that's it, more or less in his final post. No acrimony as far as I can tell. His number of postings, 54,309, is way beyond that of anyone else. He was born into the wrong family, our Queen will go on forever, James could have inherited that kind of stamina.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I haven't heard from Sheeplady for quite a while -- she was having some health issues when last in touch, and I can only hope she's gotten thru them. She was, and I hope, will be again one day, a real asset to the Lounge.

I know Lady Day still peeks in from time to time and I'm always glad when she does. And of course my real-life friend Prettysquaregal, who I last saw across a plate of really good Chinese food in 2019.

 

[Touchofevil]

Where did jamespowers go? He said that's it, more or less in his final post. No acrimony as far as I can tell. His number of postings, 54,309, is way beyond that of anyone else. He was born into the wrong family, our Queen will go on forever, James could have inherited that kind of stamina.

He left disgruntled. Unhappy with something that happened in the Lounge.

 

[Peacoat]

Interestingly, the OP, @jake_fink , the member interested in missing members has been missing himself since December, 2008. 12.5 years is a long time to be missing. Probably won't see him again.

 

[Peacoat]

I haven't heard from Sheeplady for quite a while -- she was having some health issues when last in touch, and I can only hope she's gotten thru them. She was, and I hope, will be again one day, a real asset to the Lounge.

I know Lady Day still peeks in from time to time and I'm always glad when she does. And of course my real-life friend Prettysquaregal, who I last saw across a plate of really good Chinese food in 2019.

After your post, I realized I hadn't seen anything from Sheeplady in a long time. I checked and she hasn't logged in since February, 2020. That's a long time for a member, and especially a bartender, to have not logged in.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

After your post, I realized I hadn't seen anything from Sheeplady in a long time. I checked and she hasn't logged in since February, 2020. That's a long time for a member, and especially a bartender, to have not logged in.

Interestingly, the OP, @jake_fink , the member interested in missing members has been missing himself since December, 2008. 12.5 years is a long time to be missing. Probably won't see him again.

Was thinking about this, Peacoat and made me think...this must be what a Pastor or Priest feels like on Sundays.
Nowadays it’s hard not to first think Covid.
I imagine the Priest thinks another 5 letter word. Kinda the same.
I hope both are wrong.
B

 

[Peacoat]

Was thinking about this, Peacoat and made me think...this must be what a Pastor or Priest feels like on Sundays.
Nowadays it’s hard not to first think Covid.
I imagine the Priest thinks another 5 letter word. Kinda the same.
I hope both are wrong.
B

Yes, unfortunately Covid may be the reason some have disappeared. @EmergencyIan used to post in the outerwear section. He hasn't logged in since April 2020. Ian was an EMT in NYC during the height of the pandemic in that area. His extedend absence is disturbing.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

^^^truly morbid thoughts I know but the reality of it is one would need to provide login and passwords with instructions to whomever, to let the lounge know of our demise.
(And instructions who to pm about what the hell to do with all our hats and jackets and stuff).
Sounds like we need kind of accountability buddies around here.
B

 

[GHT]

But in an attempt to keep this positive: I do miss seeing sheeplady and Stray Cat: they always seemed very sweet, upbeat, and kind to others. And Big J was a great source of information: the gentleman taught me a lot.

It's more than two years since we heard from Rue. A thoughtful member and her loss is felt. Our gender balance needs, well, balancing.

 

[LizzieMaine]

To be perfectly honest, I know that a lot of the women who've left have moved on because the Lounge just doesn't have the Era-specific focus that it used to. And then too, with the "vintage/swing" scene that was popular fitfteen or so years ago having now dwindled near to the vanishing point, there haven't been many others coming along to take their places.

 

[belfastboy]

To be perfectly honest, I know that a lot of the women who've left have moved on because the Lounge just doesn't have the Era-specific focus that it used to. And then too, with the "vintage/swing" scene that was popular fitfteen or so years ago having now dwindled near to the vanishing point, there haven't been many others coming along to take their places.

I have not heard from "LuvMyMan" in quite a long time. I enjoyed her input. She was a magician in restoring leather shoes

 

[LizzieMaine]

And of course, others have been removed due to inappropriate off-board harassment of Lounge staff and other members. It's happened to a lot of men, too.

 

[Trenchfriend]

I think, the core of the vintage subculture is still there, worldwide. But the usual "subculture tourism" moved on to any other subculture, two/three years ago, so we're out of focus now. Not a bad thing, to me.

 

[tonyb]

To be perfectly honest, I know that a lot of the women who've left have moved on because the Lounge just doesn't have the Era-specific focus that it used to. And then too, with the "vintage/swing" scene that was popular fitfteen or so years ago having now dwindled near to the vanishing point, there haven't been many others coming along to take their places.

As noted numerous times in other threads, the mention of “vintage” these days conjures images of the 1960s and ’70s.

After all, 1970 was 51 years ago. Most of the population is younger than that. The ’60s were their parents’ and perhaps their grandparents’ era. The 1930s and ’40s are their equivalent of the Gay ’90s for people my age — a time not even our grandparents knew.

 

[LizzieMaine]

But alas, "The Macrame Hat Made Out Of A Beer Can Lounge" doesn't have much of a ring to it.

 

[belfastboy]

But alas, "The Macrame Hat Made Out Of A Beer Can Lounge" doesn't have much of a ring to it.

I still have the Tshirt though!

 

[belfastboy]

As noted numerous times in other threads, the mention of “vintage” these days conjures images of the 1960s and ’70s.

After all, 1970 was 51 years ago. Most of the population is younger than that. The ’60s were their parents’ and perhaps their grandparents’ era. The 1930s and ’40s are their equivalent of the Gay ’90s for people my age — a time not even our grandparents knew.

My wife and I were watching a travel show the other night and the show focused on one of the San Juan Islands. I remarked that it looked different than my recollection......then my wife reminded me that it was close to 50 years ago since we last visited. I was telling a young guy how much weed it took to get a slight buzz back in the 60's. He was incredulous and at the end of the discussion I still thought he thought I was just shitting him. So yeh, the 1970's is long ago and far away in so many respects. I read this morning about Blockbuster and how a short 18 years ago they were an 8 billion $ company with 9000 outlets. Now reduced to one nostalgia store in Bend OR. The pace of change is rapid and scarily increasing

 

[tonyb]

And of course, others have been removed due to inappropriate off-board harassment of Lounge staff and other members. It's happened to a lot of men, too.

I hadn’t known of any of that kind of behavior. People actually do that, eh?

I’ve been here for about 15 years now. Things have changed for the worse in some minor ways and for the better in some larger ways. We rarely any longer see the 1930s and ’40s characterized as some idyllic moment we should all strive to recreate down to the final detail. And we no longer seem to conflate a fondness for the styles of that era with an endorsement of every aspect of the social environment of that time.

Part of what brings me back is the focus on the material culture of that bygone era. There are beautiful and not so beautiful artifacts of any era, but the effects of improved manufacturing processes and aerodynamics certainly showed in the fashions and consumer goods of the 1930s and ’40s. A toaster or a radio receiver really doesn’t have to be streamlined, after all. But it can make them look pretty cool.