Was it Worth It?

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Viva was born from the ashes of the Philzone. With virtually no ability to be seen by the wider world and extremely high gates and a stricter ruleset to keep folks in line.

In retrospect, considering the numbers will continue to decline, is that what you wanted?

 >>>>>extremely high gates and a stricter ruleset to keep folks in line.

Really?

Anyone can lurk, takes about 10 seconds to sign up,  and the rules are looser than in many forums.

I wish more people would contribute here but wtf ya gonna do. I have no idea what the pzone was like at the beginning, but the last few years if it was like watching christians get devoured in the colosseum. I believe human sacrifice was actually encouraged by the moderators. A man destroy man shitshow of biblical proportions. I'm sure folks probably still have some pzone PTSD and don't want to risk being ridiculed for nothing more than having an opinion that didn't suit the severely damaged dozen or so fuckwads who ruled that roost. That place couldn't have died soon enough for me.  

Fuck that place, judit rules

^lol -- what a bitch you are. 

what are you, 10 years old? 

I view social media as a guilty pleasure.  The world was better without it.  It facilitates a herd mentality.  
 

YMMV

Really?

Anyone can lurk, takes about 10 seconds to sign up,  and the rules are looser than in many forums.>>>>

 

Really? Really.  No one knows about Viva and most don't care. If you prize your exclusivity and gated community, then you've answered the question I asked, for sure.

complainers rarely make threads.

 

Lager: Make It Better.

Believe

There is

Good

>>>>>No one knows about Viva and most don't care. If you prize your exclusivity and gated community

 

Lol. It's one or the other. Either nobody cares, so no gates needed, or people are dying to get in and can't, because of our extremely high entrance requirements. 

First person: "Restaurant X has really bad food these days."

Second person: "I know, and such small portions too."

>>Was it worth it?

I think the only people in position to answer the question are Judit and the small group of others who got this place up and running.

> No one knows about Viva and most don't care.

That's some pretty tangled thinking. If no one knows about it, no one cares about it.

The philzone was something in its heyday.

Clearly, Brett and Schnee decided their lives were better without it.

This fucking world has gone mad.

I find comfort that there is still a place where the light is still on...it may be flickering at times, but it's still on. heart

65210316_499237140616219_468936757149171712_n.jpg

Viva has followed in lockstep to the social trend of political correctness and overbearing liberal sensitivities, fueled by a pungent maelstrom of digital platforms and most recently, hatred of the Don.

The Left have stealthily snatched the baton from the Right in regard to what should be allowed, what shouldn't be allowed, and who should be banned/canceled. It's one of the more surprising societal shifts we've seen and absolutely fascinating to witness.

 

 

 

 

Isn't Lager the person who started/admin'd the Garbage Zone until its terrible demise. 

>>>>  ^lol -- what a bitch you are. 

 

exhibit A

 Nobody will ever admit to starting Garbagezone. Other than myself and a few others who used their PZ handles, nobody will admit to posting there (and at least a few did).

Who cares? This is what we have, and it's working well enough. If someone doesn't like it here, they can leave.

I posted on the Garbagezone once, in a sports thread.

<<nobody will admit to posting there (and at least a few did).

I'd put money on the fact that at least one of those super nasty posters was timpane or heater.  Will one of you admit to it?

I posted on the garbagezone for about a week or so until my knee sock sock got busted. That place started out pretty bad and quickly went downhill from there.

Just wow 

 

are you asking or just slamming?

even richer; 

lol -- what a bitch you are. 

what are you, 10 years old?  Highpocracy to the n'th degree     You are 2 years old at best  nanny nanny

yes it could be a lot better and in ways has devolved   We do have a new team of leading haters posting here after the Philzone killed itself  ....taking the mantle So to speak 

 

pandemic/ politics in the gutter/ amoral leaders and I'm right you are wrong era dominate 

and republicans are just evil   IMO Sorry if that hurts your sensibilities or conflicts with your values 

morals and ethics have no value, so be it

 

 

If We had live music it sure would be a little different

that in many of our heroes Are moving on

I think they have done a fine job.  There are folks here that I never want to read their posts again, but mostly good folks.

pretty big meltdown, joel

I always thought gravy ran garbage zone.

Then get the fuck out then if this is not what you wanted, no one here gives a fuck 

 

Lol. I get to see you good people here. I'd say it's worth it. Hi :)

Lol my man fabes,,  see how nice we can be ? Hahaaaaaaaaaaa

The zone with a difference, never mind the weather

When you come to judit's, the holiday's forever

< The Left,, The Right ----- banned or not

I believe any connection to the L or the R regarding bannings are purely coincidental. Only the true Asshole gets banned no matter their political affiliations. But asshole + republican,,,  they pretty much always go hand in hand.

And there's still some pretty large anuses still roaming the isles here. I always thought for pyro to still be allowed to post here with all his inner hate,  he has to be judit 's illegitimate son,,, cus who tf would ever admit to bringing that into the world ? 

why should i be banned, ras? for calling you a whiny ass bitch? 

for calling thom a white nationalist? 

you've said some pretty low key racist shit here, like many others (left or right, don't matter). 

your trash mouth is still here, breathing your oily breathe all over this thing. 

 

im sorry, is LLTD posting? i can't read psychobabble. 

<<<>>>I'd put money on the fact that at least one of those super nasty posters was timpane or heater.  Will one of you admit to it?

not my style. never went to another board w/ a diff name and posted. i would post as pyramid if i did. 

and the guy who started it hasn't been named. two names. F.S. 

Who is "Pyro "

Lol. The Zone is great and coming out of long time lurking to bitch about how much it sucks is truly Grade A Zoning. I can't tell if this thread is legit or just some old-school deep trolling, but I love it. Welcome back, Lager! I mean, of course, we understand you're too cool to actually come back, but hey, thanks for your bitching - it really ties the room together.

And yes, I think Pyro must be Pyramid, but just the idea of like Judit's illegitimate son being a Zoner troll is such Venezuelan soap opera comedy gold. 

Good stuff...

I'm not trolling, nor am I attacking Judit nor any individuals who admin or just post. I'm just asking the question. Philzone was pretty easy for outside people to discover. Viva is not. Unless you know about it already. I'm also not suggesting that being a moderator for such a website is easy or desirable.

But the setup here is like the Shakers. Sounds good and right and pious to be exclusive, but no one is having children and Viva isn't easy to find for outsiders join in, eventually everyone just ages out. Why not make some changes before its too late to open up so that the end is not inevitable?

ratdog isn't touring, nor is our leader

Yes, I know-that does impact it greatly. But the basic design premise of Viva was formed when members of the Dead were still touring. Sure, Phil was the star for us here and his scaling back has a definite correlation. So: why not brainstorm collectively about a way forward with this community that goes beyond that while still giving it homage and respect (and opens it up so it survives or grows into something new).

...let me work it,

put my thing down, flip it and reverse it.

I'm glad it's here. I haven't posted in forever but I always lurk. I was at the original Zone since the summer of 1999.

 

You could always start your own Board and create what you want. Most people here don't complain about what we've got.

Lager, how do you suggest it be opened up to a broader community? I don't think anybody here is trying to keep it closed, just doesn't seem to be all that many people who give a shit about this general kind of thing going on here, whatever it is.

There are no barriers for anyone to join. So...advertise? And why? For what? It would be fun to have a whole new batch of Zoners in but that requires serious training and breaking in. Most of them will collapse quickly in this PC age, no?

i got a potential recruit. 

other than being a deadhead, why should i tell him he should post here?

BrianK,

What complaint did I lodge exactly? I'm questioning the status quo, and whether this community wants to continue to be exclusive and shrink and not grow and change. It's a serious question.

Lager, how do you suggest it be opened up to a broader community? I don't think anybody here is trying to keep it closed, just doesn't seem to be all that many people who give a shit about this general kind of thing going on here, whatever it is.>>>

This is a good, serious, thoughtful question right here. Thank you. I don't have the answer. I'm asking myself. We should all try to think about this though and offer some answers.

Maybe we could do like a fraternity rush thing and bring in pledges. That way when they get treated horribly, we can say to them "Well, what did you expect? Pledges get hazed."

I never said that you complained. I said that most here don't.

What shocks me lately is how much attention and new fans the Grateful Dead and its surviving members are still generating and attracting. It's weird and I never expected it. There is time to attract some of these young folks. We have lots of institutional memory to share of all of our part of the Phil & Friends days and the previous years in general. Why create another new board when we could build on the history we have had and brainstorm ways to grow the current community you/we have.

If we weren't in the middle of a pandemic, we could recruit Zippy to hand out Viva flyers at D&C shows.

I've been listening to new music suggestions from Phook.dbmb.

Younger folks ain't coming to any of these dbmb message boards. 

More music and arts talk.  Less political wankery.

I think you characters are worth knowing (most of you at least). How did people discover Philzone.org? How are they discovering Viva? What's the difference beside Phil touring?

Is the process of people discovering Viva different than it was to discover Philzone?

I'm another that came in 99. I guess I searched for PL&F setlists, followed a link to the discussion board, lurked for a while, then chimes in. I was looking for both setlists and a sense of community, and found it at the Zone.

There were a ton of members at the peak, maybe in 2002. As people left, new members weren't joining at the same rates. It's attrition.

People aren't looking for setlists anymore. I also don't think that younger  people are looking for the community. They never knew it in real life and don't seek it out. They sure as hell don't want to learn from us. Times are different.

Change the name to gratefuldeaddbmb.org?

 

 

 

Younger folks ain't coming to any of these dbmb message boards. <<<

Phantasytour certainly hasn't seemed to slow down.

I signed up in '06. I was living in Ireland, had left the USA recently and was watching as the doors of my past life were closing behind me. It sucked and I looked around the internet for places that shared the same musical interests. First, I found nugs.net. I remember emailing Brad and asking him questions (I think that was his name).

Somehow, from there I found my way here and found a cool place to share just about any and all of the things I am interested in, so that was nice. 

are you asking or just slamming?

even richer; 

lol -- what a bitch you are>>>>>

This is one of my favorite responses right here. Highbrow. Nuanced. You read this and you know the person on the other end of the keyboard is making positive contributions in every community they are a part of.

Then get the fuck out then if this is not what you wanted, no one here gives a fuck >>>>

This one is wonderful also. Thank you.

I am hanging in until it's just me left, screaming, arguing with mice elf. Last man wobbling.

Z.O.A.T.

i think viva will outlast txr. 

then what? 

got a potential recruit. 

other than being a deadhead, why should i tell him he should post here?>>>

This is actually a great question. How about it folks? Why should people post here?

To share in and promote creative endeavors.

> Why should people post here?

It might be a sausage fest, but we have a nice selection of artisanal vegan links.

he started a grow at home youtube channel and is doing pretty well with it.

he is also a rocket scientist.

or was. no, really...and an amazing vw mechanic.

If he votes third party because he doesn't agree with the current two parties we can denigrate him for participating in democracy the wrong way. 

 

 

Maybe we could run a commercial to attract them young South Korean Pop Star fans that booked up all the tickets to the Trump convention?

 

and whats so bad about the end being inevitable?  
 

 

<<other than being a deadhead, why should i tell him he should post here?

To see the demise of the bernie bro and how they've now turned on that poor old man with a heart of gold.  It's really been remarkable and others might agree?

These are some of the negative themes I think I've picked up in the responses. Do you think this is correct?

Viva is perfect the way it is

Viva doesn't want new people

New people might be young people, and young people don't want Viva

Young people aren't the same and we don't want them

Somehow viva changing anything is threatening and might be lots of work

Who are you to question Viva

 

Viva could be just as fun/entertaining/interesting as PZ.  It's just that not as many people post here.  The Philzone had constant action going on and threads didn't sit at the top for hours between posts.

I don't really think that anything Viva admin has done has created the decline in people posting.  It's partly natural as the quality of the music has declined.  Plus a lot of folks that were Zoners have died too.  I'm sure lots more than the few popular ones we memorialized on the black screen.

 

Turtle, invite Ted back.

The big downturn for PZ on was when Nick quit.  I don't know the date but that was the beginning of the end.

Salient points and I agree. I'd like to see more people post for sure.

Psychobabble...

OK, I took the bait troller.  To lol at you 

reading comprehension not required.

Objective listening skills might be   (Acknowledge your flaws, I work at it some)

 

metaphors are OK. In my world . As are allegories and COLORFUL PROSE.  Hold the fort and have a good weekend and sell lots of pies

This is a troll thread.

hoover, i don't like my worlds colliding...

thanks brick.

Ok. Here's what we are gonna do. We are all gonna go listen to some Crazy Monk and then regroup and come back and try again.

https://crazymonk.bandcamp.com/

See you all in a bit.

Nick's schtick got tiresome.  Nice enough guy, but he had this whole emo bitch side to him that was grating.   The Big Friday Surprise bit grew stale, and frankly, nobody gave two shits about his damn roast beef sandwiches.

<<Nick's schtick got tiresome.  Nice enough guy, but he had this whole emo bitch side to him that was grating.   The Big Friday Surprise bit grew stale, and frankly, nobody gave two shits about his damn roast beef sandwiches.

 

I sense a lot of jealousy in your post, java dave. 

Nick was a douche and he still is. 

>>>>>Nick's schtick got tiresome

 

Does change the fact that him leaving coincided with the demise of PZ.  

I think the old PZ was a somehow perfectly timed and coagulated board for wandering  Deadheads looking for a sense of community and info. on what was happening with the then-morphing GD "scene". So it did happen, and I know I met about a dozen or so of those "pholk's" along the way or at a show, and every person was seriously cool or helpful.

There was a an  interesting, palpable, cross-country  energy to the place and some pretty hilarious stuff along the way- even some of the friendly (or not) "rivalries" were at least good theater. (I still think Mike deserved to be left at the show by Coyotte. C'mon, man.)  BTW, I bumped into him briefly at a Phil in Central Park show- very nice guy. All kinds of info on what was happening re: shows. Some outstanding smarm and snarkiness, and sometime's a pinch over the proverbial top. Some solid trash-talk in Sports.  

 

I agree with Hoover that Nick's exit was a tipping point of sort's, because he was irreplaceable as the village idiot, although still obviously a sharp guy who could take it in character, and did contribute a lot of funny stuff. Then, it did slowly devolve int a "pack of cool-kid wolves" where you had to watch what you said, lest you spend already-too-much time there defending yourself. Newbies began to be grilled suspiciously as the "sock" culture evolved. Then, of course the unnamed lad from Central NY dragged it to a place that was too nasty and rude for a lurker to consider joining. Destruction from within, to a degree. And as has been mentioned the Admin-folk had done it long enough, and I sure get that. 

 

It was groovy while it lasted, but you know what they say about all things. I'm grateful to have this as place to poke around in, so thanks to Judit and Co. for that. Not having shows right now doesn't help, but I can listen to and talk about aspects of Jerry and the GD 'til my dyin' days. Besides, I'm Deader-than-thou.

Go, Viva. My $.02

his bathroom toiletries were like an old man's.

after shave and weird implements.

 

the rise and fall of the colo crew...

>>>>>>where you had to watch what you said, lest you spend already-too-much time there defending yourself

 

I disagree with that and the people who argue against cancel culture.  If you stay stupid shit you'll get some blowback.  Same as it's ever been.  Don't want to be called an idiot?  Don't say stupid things.

Pheater blamed the demise of the Zone on me. I guess it was my fault that I had a crazy stalker who started 20 threads about me a day, 24/7 (literally)???

To be fair you and 6 had a couple of pretty rough years but yeah Kirley sucked pretty bad.

Those threads would spin, and the bait would fly, and people who where regulars would get sucked into the troll game as if they had not watched it night after night. It was like a Chinese finger trap that place was, the more they tried to get out the deeper they got. It was great entertainment and a hodgepodge of the freak society from across the country and great info was everywhere along the way, beauty, kindness, comedy and knowledge was right next to trash, and used condoms. I enjoyed the fuck out of it. 

You know my feelings about it, Timmy. Let's just agree to disagree, and move on.

Well said fabes

I just come for the pictures

36200b6c813a623de6f662a05c330f2a.jpg

I'd view viva more often if they'd bring back PJ and the Dogman through syndication

I miss those guys, and you too, E. Where you been?

Furious and hooves and floops

Lions and tigers and bears oh my

wow. Cosmic worlds colliding 

 

  Nice reminiscences team zone  ...and heater gets a beer invite too

loved your post earl 

> loved your post earl

^This^ bears repeating, and fabes did the old place right too. 


     I feel some responsibility for any perceived "point is moot" repetition by way of constant decimation of various fragile political ideologies ad nauseam...I'm often putting forth a marathon of discussion points while having way too much enjoyment in being correct, I see now how that comes across as unseemly, I'll try to be more gracious moving forward.

 

     नमस्ते

 

     https://youtu.be/kHW_SwH6w68

The demise of the Phil Zone coincided with the demise of Phil & Friends.

And one might argue that the Phil Zone began to decline when the Q broke up.

I've always contended that the Phil Zone was at it's core more of a Q fan site than a Phil Lesh fan site, and every Phil band that came after the Q was compared to the Q, and always found wanting one way or another.

All that is arguable of course, but I don't think it's hard to argue that the Q lit a fire under many dead heads who had nothing to get excited about since Jerry passed (and before then for many of those heads) and it was that new fire that lit the Phil Zone, which then carried on as long as Phil was touring nationally.

But after about ten years, when the P&F model had mostly played itself out and Furthur came along lots of people began losing interest, and when Phil stopped touring and started TxR that was the end of the main reason for the Zone's existence and that's when many zoners began pealing away, while those of us that stayed were left with too much ham & cheese (as apposed to Ham & Eggers). 

As far as the idea of Viva being hard to find or whatever, it's here just like the Zone was, there's just no exciting central focus now. I'm betting that if Phil had signed on with Dead & Co. then Viva would be much livelier and there would be more people here, old zoners and newbies, because Phil would have been involved in something that generated large-scale attention and the black screen snarking at D$C would have been loud and that would have brought in new people, and old zoners as well.

Either way, it's good to see Hoover & E here, and I wish the likes of Bucky & his sidekick Keyshawn were still around, along with many others. We haven't had a miraculous elbow healing in forever.

Maybe if I went back to bagging on the Hallowed Q that would inspire some of the old-timers to come back.


     I think a lot of people were introduced to the original philzone.org from the moment of silence, meditation & prayer for Phil during his transplant procedure twenty years ago +/-

 

 

 

 

     Phil really is the man, carrying the water for the revolution of consciousness...love personified!

 

     https://youtu.be/A_1Dtbn8cYA

 

 

 

This thread needs more P&F setlists and less Bryen vids.

<<>>Pheater blamed the demise of the Zone on me. I guess it was my fault that I had a crazy stalker who started 20 threads about me a day, 24/7 (literally)???

haha. did i say that? that's funny, right? 

>>>>This thread needs more P&F setlists and less Bryen vids.

 

yeah, his arrival coincided with the downturn of Viva



 

     "This thread needs more P&F"

 

     https://youtu.be/mgbRHXlCGdA

Was it worth it? To me, yes. I’m a Zoner.

It was a lot of hard work to put Viva together and we had great hopes for Zoners being Zoners without the harassment and mean shit that happened on the Philzone. Everyone knew what we had planned before Philzone closed down and Viva went live, and for the most part it feels good now.

We decided not to make it findable through searching to protect Zoner privacy. 
There are quite a few lurkers who already know where Viva is. Interesting posts beget more active Zoners.

It’s wonderful that we don’t really need a HepC folder anymore because treatment is so successful but it was a life saver at the time and it was a great entree to the Zone for me.

Zoners are varied, but most are smart, interesting, loyal, quick-witted, authentic, helpful, kind… well, you know us.

Viva la Zone, viva la Zoners.

Well put.

Ty

ty to all

As the zone turns.  One of my favorite soap operas.  I hope it gains steam as we at some point return to a more normal life

i need carpet bombing, I need to commune, I need to dance   God Bless R&R, put another dime in the jukebox baby

 

Maybe more art or culture or observations of kindness would energize and inspire us as well

peace and prosper and good health 

 

 

 

Ty

ty to all

As the zone turns.  One of my favorite soap operas.  I hope it gains steam as we at some point return to a more normal life

i need carpet bombing, I need to commune, I need to dance   God Bless R&R, put another dime in the jukebox baby

 

Maybe more art or culture or observations of kindness would energize and inspire us as well

peace and prosper and good health 

 

 

 

i need carpet bombing, I need to commune, I need to dance   God Bless R&R, put another dime in the jukebox baby

 

Maybe more art or culture or observations of kindness would energize and inspire us as well

peace and prosper and good health 

Many clever folks hang here. I like a smile or a chuckle

and thank you to all the freaks that keep this place up and semi active 

>>Lucky Day  Timmy Hoover on Friday, September 11, 2020 – 06:55 pm

>>To be fair you and 6 had a couple of pretty rough years
 

To be truly fair - you have zero idea who I am. You never did. And you never will.

Your know-it-all nature has always been your least attractive feature.

Your defensiveness is yours 6, King of the Pussies, Lord of the Butthurt, Disgrace to Punks everywhere. I think that's truly fair. 

Nice to see you, btw. 

Do you feel better now after posting that, floops?

I'm not sure why you felt that was important to post that unless you really have harbored something all this time. 

Lol. Hi, Six. Nice confirmation. 

Okay. So you do feel better. That's nice.

Passive aggressive nature, check. Aww, maybe I did miss you. 

Man, that's fantastic. Thank you.