Any chance of DU Originals getting together on Election Night? If this

[KoKo]

site gets overloaded and crashes from the heavy traffic, does anyone have a Yahoo Chat Room or some Site, where those of us who have been here since just after the Florida 2000 Disaster can get together and share our experiences if we can't log on here.

Sort of a "temporary" Offsite DU Oldies Party? Somewhere that those folks who were here even before me and then came with me and shortly after can stop in? Like an Open Ended Drop in Lounge or Pub?

Has anyone thought of this? I would like it...thinking of folks like "Crewleader" and that Group all the way down, but with at least 2 Years on DU as the cut off?

Just a drop in place...just for the "time outs?" :shrug: Anyone interested? Is there someplace we could meet online? To celebrate, hashout, commiserate...and whatever? :shrug:

[tabasco]

1. There is a yahoo group called "DU Panic Room."

I don't think it's just for the oldies though.

[KoKo]

3. I haven't been invited....I am looking for a place just for election night

if DU get's so overloaded. I need to be with folks who were here when Bush Stole it...

It's a "Closure" kind of thing or experience I'm looking for. Just as an interim..for DU crash.

[anarchy1999]

6. DU Panic Room was started up some time ago when DU went down

and had problems for several days. BeHereNow started it up and I'm sure you would be welcome there.

[Kanary]

2. Well, gee, an exclusive club......

How......... sweet........

:eyes:

[KoKo]

4. No...not an exclusive club. Just a "therapy" for those revisiting trauma.

Doesn't mean that others can't start their own thing. And, who knows ...DU may be running great all night with no meltdowns.

But, to ask to be with some "elders" isn't exclusionary...I don't think...why do you think so?

[Kanary]

5. So, your club is the only one with those needs?

:eyes:

amazing........

[KoKo]

9. I don't understand what you say...sorry. ??? (n/t)

[Kanary]

22. Oh, I'm sure you're able to figure it out.

Maybe ignoring is easiest, eh?

:thumbsdown:

[Spider Jerusalem]

27. So, you're the only bloody people...

who were completely angered by what happened when the Supreme Court made its criminal decision? And you really think that having been here since then makes you somehow special? Different?

NO matter how frequently I run into this sort of ridiculous attitude, or where, it never ceases to amaze and iunfuriate me. No wonder I'm a misanthrope.

[Bluebear]

20. We'll find someplace, don't you fret none!

:)

[Kanary]

24. I'm not at all worried. I just think it's tacky and insensitive.

We were taught, even as very young kids, that you don't offer an invitation publicly if not ALL were invited.

Somehow, it no longer seems to matter whether you are rude or not.

To hell with it........ I'm no longer a Dem, anyway.

May the party mature.

Someday.

Kanary, sending plastic turkey some secret cookies.... :)

[Terran]

7. KoKo, you might set up your own Yahoo Group

I kind of see your point--it would be cool to have a place for just the oldsters to reminisce about the last 3.75 years (I can claim 3.25 of them myself). And a place to take a break from the madness that will be election night.

Do you kinow how to set up a Yahoo group? I've done it before a few times, it's very easy. If you need help, let me know.

BTW, I do also see Kanary's point--why make it exclusive? But I feel your point about people who have a long-term 'investment' in DU is valid also, and I would support it.

[KoKo]

16. Need help on this...lets see if anyone's interested tonight....as I said

on this thread...I'm not so computer savy and my time is limited..but if there's interest, I'll see what I can do, or maybe some enterprising soul will figure out a good solution. I have campaign duties, but will check in and see what's going on.

Keep this kicked..and lets see what happens.

[davsand]

8. Sounds like a great idea!

My only problem with it is I'm going to be at the local elections board in the Dem room waiting on local returns. Between my husbands race and the other local races my attention will be fairly divided.

My office is just down the hall from the Dem room, so I may be on and off DU, but I will not have access to AIM... :(

Let me know where the old gang is at--I'd love to be able to find you guys!


Laura

[KoKo]

11. I have the same conflict. As a Precinct Co-Chair I'll be working the Poll

s until they close...which given the way "early voting' has gone in NC this week might be past Midnight on Election Night. Been invited "as a worker drone" to that big bash for election folks down at local hotel with the "Big Wigs" to watch the returns...but I'm more radical than those folks (even more so after working on this Election) so I know I'm going to be up all night and wanting to talk to folks to share, commiserate or jump up and down with joy.

I was trying to figure a way that wouldn't conflict with DU but would get me in touch with folks who have a retrospective view of our journey these long years.

I just didn't want to deal with folks who didn't know where I was coming from...since this has taken a big chunk out of my life and those who were here a long time. It's not exclusionary...it's just that it's a different time frame.

Sort of like kids at "Family Reunions" don't want to sit for hours listening to their Grandparents talk about "The Old Days." It's fun for awhile but...then one drifts off. I want to be with the "Grandparents" of the DU Movement...I want to sit and jawbone about "the beginning." It would be boring for many newer DU'ers.
:shrug:

[davsand]

18. Between you and me, I'm ready for the rocker.

I FEEL like a real oldster on here sometimes.

I do understand what you mean when you talk about the younger days of DU and how it has grown up (and changed.) (I could insert a joke here about becoming more full bodied and more robust but I am restraining myself.)

Politics has become more than a hobby or a passing interest for so many of us in the last few years. I feel that a LOT of my life for the last three years is represented here, and I have a sort of protective feeling about it. Your comparison to a family reunion is quite apt, I think.

Laura

[KoKo]

25. Sounds like a good bumpersticker: "Rockers Unite" ....no one would

really get the double entendre! :D...but yes...I know what you mean.

[Old and In the Way]

10. I know this forum that'd be perfect for your needs.

I just can't name it here. They should be really excited about Kerry winning!

[KoKo]

14. Well, PM me with your ideas. I'm not real computer savy and my time

because of my Election Duties is going to be limited the next two days to try to set something up from scratch...but just PM me...maybe we can get something together...particularly you computer savy folks...

I wish it could happen...I miss so many folks and the people I'm working with aren't into what happened in Florida in 2000 or the Iraq Invasion Debates.

I think some folks here, would understand..that some of us have a "history" that needs working out..for closure..or new beginnings..:shrug:

[Stuckinthebush]

12. How many of us are left?

Too many names have disappeared over the past four years.

[davsand]

13. A lot have come and gone.

Some of them I miss a great deal. I do hope they come back sometime...

Laura

[KoKo]

15. I think there are "lurkers." and name changes. At least I hope so.

Maybe if we can keep this kicked, some of them are going to feel the same need I do...and come re-visit DU since we are back to another round in the election cycle.

There are so many folks...(but not so huge a group as DU has today)maybe they are long gone...I hope not...hope they will see this and needed to come back to DU with a "homing instinct." :shrug:

Whatever...surely some simple place to meet..at least it's something.

[Rebellious Republican]

17. Yes where have people like Crewleader, Underpants and others

gone. There were many that helped in my tuteledge to DU ettiquitte that I have not seen in a while.
How about an oldtimers check post?

[charlie]

26. Underpants is still here

Still posts regularly. Maybe you don't recognize him since he dropped that Fruit of the Loom marquee :)

[thebaghwan]

19. By the way, when did DU start? I don't remember when I signed up but I

was here on 9/11 and maybe awhile before that. I don't have a high message tital as I don't always have a lot to say.

[Rebellious Republican]

21. Its not about quantity, its the quality that counts thebaghwan.

:toast:

[KoKo]

28. When Skinner, Earl G, and Elad held up a banner when the Emperor

got his crown. C-Span was viewing the ceremonies and they held up a homemade banner with "Democratic Underground.com" on it. And folks saw it and went online to find the site.

The Admins had a story about it, but it's in the "Old DU" Archives and is down because of the "bandwidth" for the election.

Hopefully when this is over they will re-post the "founding of DU."

But, one by one folks started to come to the site...and it grew to what it is today. With many fits and bumps along the way! :D

[Merlin]

35. I'm all for this. Have you talked to Skinner about it?

I'm thinking that--aside from election night--it could be like a special forum where people gain admission based on the length of their participation and number of posts. It should be on a different server, and can then serve secondarily as a back-up if/when DU main goes down temporarily.

[SoCalDem]

23. I started one ages ago, and over the years it got overrun with

teenyboppers who just wanted to talk music and then the freeps found oout too.. I haven;t been there in ages..

I have started a new one. Please do not post your AIM name in the forums..

If you PM me with it, I will send you an invite.. Then all you have to do is save it to your desktop.. then you can go there anytime (it's not an exclusive place..just private)..and invite your own trusted friends too.. the more the merrier.. We just do not want uninvited disruptive people ruining it for others..

It;'s not a "counter-DU".. We used to use it when DU would bog down horribly, and we all thought it was US.. We would start showing up there asking.. "Is DU down for YOU too"??

I think DU will be fine on election day, but just in case, it's nice to have an alternate place to hang out until it comes back up :)

[KoKo]

29. Kick...for the night time crowd......eom

[Swamp Rat]

30. Kick, but not for those of us who registered after two years ago, right?

What about folks who lurked here since the beginning? I didn't register until this year, after I moved back to the USA, but I have "been here" since the stolen election almost every day. I sat sweating for a year in hot cyber cafes in Brasil reading LBN and GD religiously. Why are you quantifying DU worthiness with an arbitrary date? Why didn't you suggest that those who donate might be invited too? Why would someone with more years posting have priority for "closure" than the rest of the DU universe? Whether we have 3 years and 10,000 posts or 1 month and 1,000 posts, we ALL have feelings. I understand your concern and desire to communicate with like-minded folks, so why don't you furtively PM your DU friends?

[demgrrrll]

31. I lurked in 2001 and joined in 2002 but did not post very much until

the past year or so. I imagine that the administrators will streamline the site to allow for more visitors and more traffic. I hope that is the plan.

[Swamp Rat]

32. Skinner has said that's the plan.

I hope it works. Lots of folks are going to come here for various reasons, including me.

I :loveya: DU!

[SoCalDem]

34. Look upthread, SR..

The chat I set up is Not exclusive.. we just don't want people posting their AIM names in the forum..

PM them to me and you'll get the link, so you can come and go as you like..and invite your own buddy list.

[Swamp Rat]

36. Thanks

I don't even know what 'AIM' is, nor do I ever "chat" so to speak. I'm so bad when it comes to typing that I cannot participate in that world. Therefore, I'm happily stuck here. :)

[Catherine Vincent]

33. I don't think there should be a place just for the ones that happen

to find this place right after the 2000 election. I probably would have had CNN not gotten rid of their boards. There should be a board for all. We don't want to be left out.

[jadedcherub]

37. Oh, C'mon. Absolutely foolish.

Look. You can have an "oldies" site if you want, and it can be inclusive of all the people who are directly relative to YOU.

All of those "before ME" and "with ME and...after (ME)," as your post suggests.

Or, you could just ask a place for all those who lived through the terrible loss of the 2000 election to grieve/exhalt, share, and ultimately relate.

It's not about proprietary Democraticness... This is just about having a place where the people that care, the people that need, the people that feel...

Can go...

We're all welcome. Don't imply anything otherwise.

[Q]

38. I'd be interested...

...in having a plan...just in case. Skinner has planned it out very well...but we should have a backup plan if RWing hackers have their way with the board.

[anarchy1999]

42. To one and all, DU Panic Room was set up for everyone in case of a

temporary melt down at DU. All are welcome, old and new alike. Just no freeps allowed. I'm speaking for BHN, but I know she'd say the same.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DUPanicRoom/

It was started for all in case of an emergency, and sorry I have to say KoKo, you are being an elitist in a rather ugly way. Even I'm offended at your attitude. There are lots of new people that may be looking for help and you are suggesting hiding in a hole. I think that is kinda just sad.

[LiberteToujours]

39. That's just insulting

If you want to set up an exclusive club for you and your friends do it, but don't post about it in a public forum where you make it clear to other people that they aren't important. Invite-only clubs were insulting in elementary school and they're insulting now.

You know, conservatives accuse liberals of being elitists all the time and it's crap like this that they feed off of. What purpose exactly does it serve for you put yourself above others who you consider less important? If you feel the need to be special, do it somewhere else because you're going to piss off 95% of people doing it here.

[Q]

40. Aren't you over-reacting a bit?

- It's a simple invitation...not an affront to anyone. Your jealousy is misplaced. It's like a family reunion...many of us were here from the beginning and went through many life-changing events together.

- And speaking of insulting...I'm getting a bit tired of the 'liberal elitist' talking points that some people use to denounce others on this board.

- Incidentally...I can't speak for the thread author...but you would probably be welcome if you expressed an interest.

[JNelson6563]

41. I'll be celebrating with real life allies

who I work so hard with every day. Much more fun than virtual celebrating. FYI, I'd qualify for the cut-off list but am going to a party where all are invited. Even the *shudder* newbies to our effort.

But for your sentiment, here's a pretend toast: :toast: Enjoy!

Julie--looking forward to the real thing

[juajen]

43. I don't think anyone should be insulted

I just think KoKo wants to reminisce. I miss a lot of people too, and can't even remember when I joined.

Unfortunately, I am sorta shut in; so, depend on DU for discussing politics, other than with family.

Everybody chill. Remember, we are in this boat together.

[kayell]

44. Original DUers: I hope you will choose to remain here. Your experiences

are very valuable to all of us, and would enrich the election night commentary here at DU. If some of you choose a private spot elsewhere, I hope that you will at least drop in frequently during the night.

[OneTwentyoNine]

45. What the hell is an original? I joined in December 2000....

About the same day Bush was anointed by the SC to the throne. If that makes me an original then so be it but I'd rather spend the evening with any and all that make this site what it is,not just a "select" group.

David

[kayell]

46. I have no idea actually. I don't actually remember when I joined.

I found DU sometime after the 2000 election, don't remember when, lost it, and found it again shortly after 9/11. Don't remember exactly when I started posting either, although I lurked quite a while first.

I am very glad that you and others will choose to be right where you started.