I love coco cornflakes!!!! they r scrummy in your tummy!!! wot do other people like?

i dont like beef cause i am half monkey half cow and my name is daisy moooo!

Is there a reason this is on the Bradbury site?

Can't see a reason for its being here, but can't see enough justification for removing it. Ray's so down on censorship, y'know.

Well, I think Mr. Dark's contention is quite justifiable, though there is no "Open Discussion" forum here, which sadly restricts posting of subjects; sometimes I do feel inhibited by the format, wondering where to put the post detailing my thoughts.

And to answer the question: I do enjoy Kelloggs corn flakes, with a dash of sugar. (Insert esoteric, slightly twisted metaphor-association here: I once owned an aquarium that housed fish and two frogs -- one frog dared the unthinkable and fled his glass house; his only reward was resembling a corn flake encrusted in our living room carpet the next morning.)

And just to make this thread a little more relevant: I wonder what cereal Ray prefers ... Does he in fact eat breakfast or does he skip it while writing until he has lunch? Ray recommended to me, many years ago (was it in 1985?), Dorothea Brande's Becoming a Writer, a book he read while he was an impressionable young scribe. I recall several writing exercises in that book, but no mention of cereal whatsoever.

I understand the concern about censorship. Who makes the call? In this case, however, as it is not a government site, and we have a well-respected moderator who has the "power of the post/unpost" to make that call, I think the site's integrity can endure some "cleaning up" in an effort to keep this a site for serious students/scholars of Bradbury and his works.

This site has been wonderful.

I think slander and juvenile references to private body parts or functions, arbitrary references to violence, subjects unrelated to Bradbury, his work, his influence, or related literary/philosophical works, could be removed without any real qualms of censorship.

Maintaining the tone of the site is critical to the site being taken seriously. Once it gets mucked up in irreleveant, crude, garbage, "real" contributors will stop coming and the value of the page will diminish.

Maybe we could consider a short "mission statement" (I know, I've been in the corporate world too long!) that we could put at the beginning of the message board would at least allow us to post a serious statement of intent. This could even proactively include a brief policy of what kinds of entries will be edited out.




[This message has been edited by Mr. Dark (edited 09-24-2002).]

The value of this site was diminished several months ago with like posts. Somehow it was rectified behind the scenes. I am sure this will be the case again.

Disagree with what is presented, challenge if you wish, ask if you do not know, but take it elsewhere if you are just vilifying. This is not what this forum is all about - after approximately 2300 exchanges!

Ironically, several of the posts included comments about "stuff, stuff, stuff.... and more stuff!" "STUFF" has been a favorite word of Mr. Bradbury's for many years and in many forms of writing!! I wonder if they knew this stuff?

Good suggestion, Mr. Dark! I explained to you in a private e-mail that posts which were primarily responses to or complaints about posts deleted for the reasons you have mentioned, would also be deleted. You know how it is--you scrub graffiti off a wall, then you have to repaint that whole section of wall to make it look right--not just the parts marked with the graffiti. We should probably post an official policy to this effect--but I only moderate the board, I don't format it.

I'd be interested in learning more about how these "pages" work (technophobe that I am -- I suppose pretty typical in my elderly status as a resently made grandfather). What is the role of the moderator? What is the difference between a member and a jr. member? Who hosts/pays for the site? Who owns formatting? If we wanted to put a "mission statement" who would compose that and get it on the pages?

I honestly don't equate keeping the postings clean, academic and relevant with censorship -- it is what the page is about. There's a defined purpose. No one would be precluded from finding another internet forum for thier purile, childish comments, if that is what they want. I'm not suggesting we control the entire internet -- just keep this site one that reflects serious interest in promoting Bradbury learning, news, reactions, and scholarship.

Are there other ideas on what kinds of things WOULD go into a mission statement, or do most people just want to leave this site alone as is, and hope the "lower classes" just get bored and winnow themselves out?

I have truly enjoyed the site in the six months or so I have become acquainted with it. But I have been very bothered by the tone and irrelevance I've seen lately. If it continues to decline, I won't be participating for much longer. For those who have been on the site a bit longer, is this atypical? Do I expect this to just come and then go away, or is this a degradation? One comment was to ignore them (valid, and could work in and of itself) another comment was that it's just tied to back to school childishness (could also be true).

I certainly hope that no one is contemplating ending their participation in this site (at least those with something worthwhile to say).

I enjoy the great discussions that are so common aroud here. Reading messages, and adding my own, on this site is a daily ritual. I often look forward to seeing other member's comments, and benefitting from their seemingly endless supply of valuable insight.

Here's the history on this message board: it was started in October 2001 as part of Ray Bradbury's first and only official website, which is owned and run by his publishers. (For those of you who address Ray here directly: he is not online and never even looks at it.) Julia Bannon oversees the site, among many other HarperCollins author sites. When I arrived in December of 2001, it was virtually deserted, but activity picked up. Early on we were very disturbed by the postings of one individual under the names of pothead and bradburyhater. When our e-mails went unanswered, we notified the publisher in writing. That got results! (All the offensive posts are gone, but responses to them are still there. To any new member who bothers to read the archives, this must prove rather confusing.) Difference between a junior and senior member is number of posts. I don't know how many because I post only when I have something to say. Some time later, another offensive poster arrived. I complained directly to Julia and she gave me the moderating job. I just try to keep the boards a nice, clean, relevant place without inhibiting anyone's creativity. I don't even correct their spelling (in some cases, a nearly endless task!) To post a "Mission Statement," we'd have to clear it with Julia, and she would have to agree to it and then do it. Our chances? I dunno, as the news area of this site is never even updated. All that is done on this board by the fans! If you want, start a new thread entitled "Mission Statement" and we can all contribute our part to it and then send it to the publishers. Let's light a rocket under this and see if it takes off.
Cori (aka Dandelion)

I dont' want to be a dork or anything, or inhibit creativity; but I am a real Bradbury fan and have loved the dialog by real people here. I just want to see it hold to high standards where there is a real focus on enhancing a knowledge of Bradbury, his works, his influence, and related aspects (film, lit, phil, etc) where we understand him better.

I think maybe a string with a mission statement compiled/edited by the "true believers" and then submitted would be fine. But others may just feel it's beauracratic garbage. Is this something the loyalists want to do? Or should we just wait for the juvenile-itus to go away of its own boredom and pointlessness?

I'd be interested in other opinions before starting a useless string. If controlling the site and elevating/maintaining it's level would be helped by something like this, I wouldn't mind submitting it to the publisher to see if they want to do some upgrades, but don't want this to be about what I want. Is there interest?

Dandelion: I know your time is far too valuable to correct my spelling (a bit of a weakness) you should feel free to fix any spelling errors in my postings that make you cringe!

Mr Dark i feel that you are being just a bit harsh about this whole 'juvenile' behaviour. admittedly it is rather immature but i believe that they will soon get tired of it all and leave the site alone. i personally would like find out what cereal mr bradbury eats - it could be very informative. and i dont believe juvenile-itis is a word.

Here's the Problem:

Nothing...nothing goes away...

Juveniles will always be re-placed by a brand new wave of juveniles just a breath away. There were juveniles giving their neighbors trouble in 1822. Kids were unruly in school in 1555. Kids were disobedient to parents in 451 BC. I've been around long enough to come to this rather slow realization that everything remains the same. The individual that deals with all this must "improve" with his or her handling of their particular problems around and about.

Complaints about violence in the movies and its graffitti on the young and society date back to the time movies were invented. I've read articles and commentary from the 1920's, 30's, 40's, 70's, etc. etc. And funny, they all think that it's a brand-new problem, or at the most, pretty recent.

I've got some ideas what to do here...at this Ray Bradbury Site...and am open to some sort of contributing them to somebody to oversee and implement.



[This message has been edited by Nard Kordell (edited 09-25-2002).]

John:

This is really acceptable to you? You are far more tolerant than I.

Mr. Dark

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[This message has been edited by dandelion (edited 09-25-2002).]