Other forums

I've been perusing BBQ forums as I plan out a home-made smoker. I've found out two things: 1. BBQ guys are WAY weirder than Tiki nerds. And 2. They just wish people would use the SEARCH button!

What other forums do you visit?

gabbahey

I drop into aintitcool.com now & then
which should be called Douche Central & makes Tiki Central
look like the most wonderful place on Earth.

The inter-webs are an ugly & dysfunctional place for the most part
and surprises me when folks here loose their shit over small issues
that wouldn't cause most people elsewhere to blink an eye.

I am a lurker on thehotpepper.com but I never post. Good to be in the know but not have to deal with people. I don't really do much online for fun besides TC.

Have you been to this site yet?
It is the Tiki Central like site for food.
Lots of great info in there from top chefs world wide.
Egullet.
http://forums.egullet.org/

http://surfguitar101.com/

As if y'all didn't already know.
:wink:

Jeff btd

I came across a forum once for roadside diners (No,not vintage diners, just regular diners) where they had threads like "Ketchup VS Mustard", which turned into massive, epic flame wars...they had trolls, they had the "experts", the "original members", the "kool kids", all the same types we have here......all chiming in with heated, pitched battles. It was f-ing great!

And then there is this:

http://real-vampires.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=sang&action=display&thread=28

freaking hilarious!

This thread could be fun...let's post links to some of the weirder forums out there!

I own a forum... not tiki of course.

If you're into saltwater aquariums, please check out (for the rest of this month its decorated with a halloween theme).

http://www.captivereefs.com

[ Edited by: jimsflies 2013-10-18 11:03 ]

Guerrilla gardening is my other hobby.

You know what forums are remarkably low key that you would expect otherwise
Punk Rock forums!

On 2013-10-18 14:50, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
You know what forums are remarkably low key that you would expect otherwise
Punk Rock forums!

The Halloween, goth and creepy, ghoulish forums are very low key too.

On 2013-10-18 14:33, tikilongbeach wrote:
Guerrilla gardening is my other hobby.

Hey Lori,
I got plenny hobbies already but guerilla gardening sounds intriguing.( I checked out some websites)
Can you share your fav”
Btw, I’m an avid gardener, a member of the Los Angeles international fern society, and have been planting bamboo,palms,and many tropicals in an effort to “junglelize” my yard and compliment my love of tiki.
David

http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

On 2013-10-18 16:43, nui 'umi 'umi wrote:

On 2013-10-18 14:33, tikilongbeach wrote:
Guerrilla gardening is my other hobby.

Hey Lori,
I got plenny hobbies already but guerilla gardening sounds intriguing.( I checked out some websites)
Can you share your fav”
Btw, I’m an avid gardener, a member of the Los Angeles international fern society, and have been planting bamboo,palms,and many tropicals in an effort to “junglelize” my yard and compliment my love of tiki.
David

http://www.laguerrillagardening.org and http://www.guerrillagardening.org are the 2 sites I recommend. I have planted gardens with groups of people and on my own. What I mainly do now is buy pounds of native California wildflower seeds and make seed bombs that I toss in empty lots, traffic strips, barren hillsides, etc. I've literally made thousands of seed bombs and tossed them all over Orange County to the area around Dodger Stadium and every place in between.

Not a forum per se, but reddit.com usually provides me with my daily dose of infos.

Bass players sure are funny people!

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f34/chicks-steve-buscemi-eyes-760170/

I play both the bass and the ukulele. I guess my limit is four strings!

Ukulele? Where at?

I don't play in a band or anything, just for myself. Do you play the uke, Luke?

T-shirts based on vintage tiki matchbooks: TikiTees

[ Edited by: TikiTacky 2013-10-19 12:34 ]

On 2013-10-19 12:33, TikiTacky wrote:
I don't play in a band or anything, just for myself. Do you play the uke, Luke?

---

T-shirts based on vintage tiki matchbooks: TikiTees

[ Edited by: TikiTacky 2013-10-19 12:34 ]

No, I play the bass in a hawaiian hapa haole band, The Smokin Menehunes. Always interested in uke players!

Some commonly asked questions about vampires, let's just get a few out of the way, and if you have any more, feel free to ask below.

1. What is a vampire?
   Answer: Vampires are technically still human, though vampires are more like the next evolutionary step to humans. By definition, vampires drink blood.

2. Are there any substitutes for blood?
   Answer: No. It's not one component of blood, it's everything in it together that we need. I've heard everything from people saying you can go off strawberry yogurt, red kool-aid, to v-8...to those people that think that, I tell them to lock themselves in a small room, with no windows, freshly painted red all over, so they suffocate on the fumes of the paint. Because they sound high to believe that crap honestly

3. Why hasn't the world acknowledged the existence of vampires?
   Answer: Because of poor portrayal in media, and by fakes who say what we are should remain secret and try to keep people in fear.

4. What's it like being a vampire?
   Answer: That's like asking what it's like to breath to born vampires. We don't know the difference because we've been born different our whole lives. Ask more specific questions like: ...the following.

5. What abilities do vampires have over humans?
   Answer: Heightened senses (hearing, touch, taste, feel, sight, psychic abilities), significantly higher in a vampire with no practice building these senses, than a human who has. Increased strength, stamina, speed, and intelligence. We are generally the most calm individuals you will meet, until you cross our line, then we are some of the most aggresive people you will ever see.

6. Do vampires exist in packs or groups?
   Answer: In the sense of asking if they operate by territory or factions, like in true blood? No, not that I know of, vampires don't control everything in divided territories. There are actually covens, groups, and meetings between vampires in some places. Except where the coven or group is just energy/magick users in general. Though yes, there are alot of vampires in the military.

7. What affect does the sun have on vampires?
   Answer: Significantly weaker in it, than in the dark of night. Easily susceptible to migrains, without blood. Overall higher sensitivity to the sun. It won't kill us, we won't burst into flames, we aren't allergic, and won't sparkle. Though we do become more easily dehydrated and sunburned.

8. What vampire-only abilities are there?
   Answer: The only one I know of that's vampire-only so far is cloaking, though there are a few others I think may be as well, though significantly higher level skills. I know empathy, mental manipulation, and time manipulation all come very naturally to vampires, but are not exclusively vampire abilities, other people can do them too, maybe not to the same extent though.

9. Do Slayers and hunters exist? If so, what do they do?
   Answer: Yes, both groups exist. Though hunters in this day and age are a bit of a joke. They're usually the people that come up to us when they find out about us and hold stakes and garlic or a cross or something. Slayers, are more or less a form of law keepers for vampires that cross their bounds and don't keep themselves in check. Like killing someone for their blood, or using their greater abilities to overpower humans.

10. What kinds of vampires are there?
    Answer: Either born vampire, or turned vampire. A parent has to be a vampire who passed it down, if born. And turning is done through an exchange of blood, not simply a bite from the vampire.

11. Do vampires actually hunt people down for their blood?
    Answer: Some have been known to, it was more common in the past, but now that people are becoming more accepting, we can easily find willing donors. Those that kill or attack people for their blood are dealt with by Slayers.

12. Do vampires have a sort of connection with animals?
    Answer: Yes. We are natural born empaths, and usually not too bad at telepathy or other mental manipulation. There are deeper reasons that I won't go into, but yes, vampires connect on a deeper level with certain animals (the animal varies for each person, though alot connect with wolves, ravens, and most definitely cats in general, because let's face it, cat's are born awesome.

13. Why do vampires have an effect of interference or troubles with most electronic devices or appliances?
    Answer: I don't yet have an exact explanation for that one, but I do know it has to do with our enhanced psychic abilities of vampires. And our heavier energy, which will unconsciously affect electrical things around you, because more focused energies do have that effect on these things. Depending on how powerful the vampire, this effect will be more noticable around some than others. Though I believe its possible to control it to an extent.

14. Can vampires eat human food and have kids?
    Answer: As I said earlier, vampires are technically human still, we can have kids with humans and other vampires alike and eat any kind of food we want. Some will even eat garlic, it won't kill them, but most don't like it because their heightened sense of smell makes it something not exactly desirable. As for holy symbols and holy water, there are vampires who believe in many things, some even devout Christians. We are not unholy beasts, though we do have a darker side to us. And I've heard of more than one vampire drinking holy water and it not having any effect.

15. Are vampires better with magick and psychic abilities than most others?
    Answer: Yes. It just sort of comes more naturally. Though emphasis on most, that doesn't mean better than all, but the majority.

16. Do vampires have a warmer body temperature than most humans? Because they seem to have a higher tolerance for the cold, but don't like the heat of the sun much.
    Answer: I'm not 100% certain on this yet, but of the vampires I've asked, yes, it seems our bodies' liquids are significantly warmer than that of humans, giving us a higher tolerance to cold, and in most cases heat too. Its more so the brightness of the sun that is harmful to us. As well as the fact that we don't tan well and without blood are significantly more pale than most others of the same race.

17. What's better? Human or animal blood?
    Answer: Human is better than animal, psychic human's blood is sweeter, vampires blood is a bit better though you probably won't find another vampire wanting to give you blood without some in exchange, but virgin blood is by far the best.

18. What happens during awakening?
    Answer: A number of things, but for certain reasons, I cannot go much further than that. There are many positives and a few negatives that come with it though. But I'm not going to say them directly.

19. What happens if vampires don't drink blood?
    Answer: Vampires become noticably weaker or more susceptible to sickness without having blood on a fairly regular basis. They won't die without it, at least not directly from it. They will operate more on the level of mental, physical, and psychic ability they should be at regularly if they've had blood recently though.

20. How much faster do vampires heal than humans?
    Answer: Noticably faster. For a vampire with a broken bone or something that would take the average human months to recover from, it would only take that vampire maybe a couple weeks for it to just heal on its own. Cuts and the like also heal faster. Though that process can be sped up by a vampire licking the open wound as well.

21. Does it make you a vampire if you drink blood?
    Answer: No. You could just be a human with a blood fetish, or perhaps a sadist or masochist.

22. What causes vampirism?
    Answer: An endogenous retrovirus (more accurately known as vHerv: Vampire-Human Endogenous Retrovirus) that can be passed down either through blood transfer, or being born with it, coming down from one or maybe both of your parents, and so on with their parents, unless one of them was turned along the line, it would have been passed down to them.

23. What separates vampires from cannibals?
    Answer: Pretty obvious. Cannibals eat the flesh of their own kind. Vampires drink blood, they don't eat flesh, though they'll bite into it.

24. Are all vampires creatures of the night? Or are their day walkers too?
    Answer: Don't know or care where the term "day walkers" came from, I just associate it with the south park episode about gingers. Yes, all vampires prefer the night to the day because they have more energy at night. We can walk in the day, as told earlier in the effects the sun has on us. Vampires also see very well in the dark, we are practically nocturnal.

25. Why is there always a strong connection with sex when it comes to vampires? Are the two closely related?
    Answer: Okay, some won't admit this because sometimes we tend to be shy around people we aren't too close with. But vampires are naturally better at sex than most others, all around, especially with stamina though. It's like energy work really, you just sort of go by feel. And because we are energy users as well, we do focus on making our bodies and abilities better all around, though with sex it doesn't take too much effort.

26. Do you feel?
    Answer: Yes. In fact, due to heightened senses, vampires feel things more deeply than most humans. Though, sometimes we become overwhelmed with the feelings of others stacking onto our owns, so to most people we will seem callous, like we don't care, or just sort of cut off. This is because alot of us will choose, at some point in our lives or another, to cut off our emotions to protect ourselves.

27. Do you age?
    Answer: Yes. Vampires age, though noticably slower than others. And we live about 20% that most humans put under the same circumstances as eachother throughout life. We are also more likely to live through life-threatening situations.

28. Where do you get blood from?
    Answer: As said earlier, we usually find willing donors. But if we can't find those, we function well enough with having a couple rare or medium-rare steaks every so often. Like a few a week, though can vary depending on size.

29. Do you sleep in a coffin?
    Answer: No, though you can usually find us confined to the coldest and darkest room in the house during the day.

30. How do you not get nervous telling people what you are?
    Answer: Gets easier everytime you tell it.

31. How hard is it to blend it?
    Answer: Well, I'm glad that no one would say I'm exactly normal, I've always sort of been an outcast, except around strange people. So I say, try to fit in where you belong, and I stick to strange, fun, and interesting people mostly. Not boring robots just trying to fit in. Yes, we can fit in to people around us, we've been blending in for centuries, or as long as we've needed to. It doesn't really seem necessary to blend in anymore though.

32. Do your eyes change colour when changed?
    Answer: Yes. They actually become lighter in color.

33. What other changes do people undergo when they are turned?
    Answer: There's a number of things, I know of them in some bit of detail. But a turned vampire would be able to explain it better than me because I was born with it. I'm not going into much more detail on the other changes because I don't want fakes to say they went through those changes and try to be something they aren't. When blood is transfered in the process of turning, the vampire drinks the human's blood first, and then the human drinks from the vampire. I'm not entirely sure yet why the vampire has to drink first, but I think it has something to do with an increase in adrenaline from someone elses blood being digested, causing some sort of change that allows the retro-virus to pass through their blood and be digested by the human. If you tried it and no noticable changes happen within the next half an hour, then either they were already one, or you weren't one.

34. When does the awakening usually start and how long does it take? And how do you feel during the "change"?
    Answer: It starts sometime around the end of puberty usually. Though some won't realize it and don't know what they are until they find out later, like when they have a really bloody steak or something.

35. How often and how much blood do you need?
    Answer: How often depends on how much you consume. But on average, once a week can keep a vampire in moderately healthy condition with small amounts. I personally have never measured how much I take, I just go by how much it takes to satiate me at the time. If a vampire could find a donor willing and comfortable with it, they'd probably have blood every day of the week, once or twice a day in small amounts (the more often you have it, the less of it you'll need). But I'm happy with taking my fill four or five times a week. Remember that if you're human, you wouldn't even be able to ingest that much blood without getting physically sick. And always remember that if you do use donors, instead of animal blood, you're going to want to make sure you get their blood tested on a regular basis.

36. Are you able to hear lower frequencies than average people and do your ears hurt from it? Yes, to both. We can hear things like dog wistles. From this test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o810PkmEsOI I can hear the full range from 20 Hz to 16 Khz, had to force myself not to stop it, and the volume isn't even half-way turned up. And every vampire I've asked so far can hear that full range and it is painful to put yourself through.

37. Are you faster and stronger than others, even if you don't work out?
    Answer: Yes. Though working out doesn't hurt at all, since we build muscle much quicker than humans. But naturally, a human that has trained their speed, and a vampire that hasn't, would be roughly about the same in speed.

38. How long does the added color to your skin last after drinking blood?
    Answer: All I can say on this one is if you just turn pink for a couple hours, you're just flushed from chewing the steak. Though the color you become after consuming blood varies on how much sunlight you've gotten.

39. What causes people to believe in vampires? What started the myth and how did it evolve into the things it is now (Twillight)?
    Answer: Myths about vampires have been around about as long as vampires themselves have, which is somewhere between 1900 and 2200 years. Though people have imaginations and have always expressed it, mainly with exaggerations, because the telling of a story is never the same way after the original. All I know is the origin is english, and the first time vampires have been known to exist in large numbers was in Germany about 100 to 200 years later. There were between 70,000 and 90,000 back then. Now, its statistically about 1 in 15 in Germany. For the sake of comparison, the ratio in America today is about 1 in 1,000. And the main root of people believing Twilight vampires being real would be out of sheer stupidity, whether reading, watching, or writing about vampires like that, because, honestly...vampires sparkling? Really? Come on now. But that's hollywood, they try to reach a range of audiences, and for that movie, I guess they were going for pre-teen girls as their demographic.

40. What kind of tolerance do vampires have for pain, and to the other senses?
    Answer: Vampires have an extremely high tolerance for excessive amounts of toxins to a level that would kill any human. Drugs, alcohol, iron, etc. As well as an exceptionally high tolerance for pain, cold, and heat to a lesser extent, but we can endure more than what most people can take, though we prefer not to and stick to the cold. With blood, we are a bit over-sensitive to some of the other senses though, to the point it can be painful or overwhelming at times.

Read more: http://real-vampires.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=sang&action=display&thread=39#ixzz2pTqAQya7

Rules of Shinai Combat

1-No head shots!!!
Do not hit anyone in the head! However if it occurs, the person who was hit in the head decides they need to step out due to the head shot. If so, then the fighter that hit them should also step out. The exception to this is if the fighter hit in the head caused the hit.

2-No thrusting!!!
Do not thrust, poke or jab!

3-Gauntlet
The gauntlet extends from the bend in the elbow down to the finger tips. If you are hit in the gauntlet it does not count, continue fighting. However, you cannot block with the gauntlet. If you do, then you lose the arm. Unless the arm blocked a killing shot, then you treat the hit as though the arm was not there, and take the kill.

4-Ankle Gauntlet
The ankle gauntlet extends form the ankle down. If you are hit in the ankle gauntlet it does not count, continue fighting. However, you cannot block with the gauntlet. If you do, then you lose the leg.

5-Power
Do not intentionally swing hard! We are out here to have fun and learn, not to hurt people. If you are hit hard, then ask the fighter to watch their power. If you are asked to watch your power then please do so.

6-Backstab
Any hit form behind kills you no matter where or how hard. Please keep in mind that the tap is a courtesy. Accept it and extend the courtesy to others.

7-Fly-fishing
Fly-fishing consists of holding your weapon on the bottom half of the hilt during a swing. Any hit from this type of swing does not count.

8-Taking hits
When you get hit, think about the hit. Would it have cleaved you? Or would it have just drawn blood? If it is just a scratch, it does not count. A cleave is when two or more inches of the blade contact your body. Drawing blood is when less than two inches of the blade contact your body. Note that this does not in any way, shape or form imply power.

9-Loss of limb
When you lose an arm tuck it behind your back. When you lose a leg either drag the leg or hop on your other leg. When you lose two limbs you are dead.

10-Newbie
Newbies must be trained by a veteran fighter. This means the veteran must spar with the Newbie, tell them the rules, and make sure they are able to control themselves. Anybody with experience can go over the rules with a newbie, however only a veteran can train.

Rules of Shinai Site

1-Train Tracks
Stay AWAY from the train tracks!!! We mean it!

2- Dock
The area for sideliners is on the dock. That is the raised area next to the fighting field. This is an area just for people that do not fight, and/or not currently fighting. No one is allowed to fight on the dock (except to play with a child for a minute).

3- Fighting area
This is the lower platform, where the trees are. It extends from the black iron fence, over to where the cement ends and the brick begins. From the dock to the small brick wall. That center square is the fighting area, no where else is fighting allowed.

4- Training area
Training, and sparing is allowed on the brick space where the water fountain and benches are. This area is from the fighting field to where the walk way to the parking lot begins. From the wall on one side to the wall on the other side. Do not train/spar in the walkway to the parking lot, or on the cement towards the tracks, or past the start of the walk way. All of that area is for the cafe, and the train depot. Once circle is called, training and sparring is not allowed on the battle field and must be moved here. Training and sparing are ONE-on-ONE, for teaching only.

5- Trash
ALL trash must be picked up and put in the trash cans! We have two trash cans located right next to the field, there is NO REASON to leave your trash laying around. Please put it where it goes. If you are the last person to leave, you are the one that makes sure the site is left clean.

Back to the Index

http://www.shinai.org/housemef/PhotoSection/Friday/index.htm

This is by far, the geekiest, weirdest group out there! For my brief explanation, these are fantasy/sci-fi geeks who pretend to fight using a Shinai, which is a bamboo training sword used in Kendo. But unlike Kendo, there is no learning or discipline. Most of the shinai geeks are grossly overweight. If you know anything about real swordfighting, thrusting is the MAIN way of fighting...it's not like the movies, yet these weirdos do not allow thrusting of any type! To watch them engage in their mock battles is hilarious! When one supposedly gets slashed in the arm, they hide their arm behind their back...as if it was lopped off!

Here is what it looks like....(you can't make this stuff up!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3ik_nB7UGk

[ Edited by: lucas vigor 2014-01-05 12:19 ]

Thanks for all that Vampire info.

I post on http://forum.brighthand.com/off-topic/ Great group of techies there, very helpful. I sty in the off-topic area cause that is where I feel the most comfortable, but if I have techy questions I post in the appropriate forum. I used to have my own board at one time too, just to play around, never had many members to deal with.

But have to say, that the TC community is my favorite place to be. I know lot's of us have moved over to Facebook and other social medias, but TC is still old home for most of us.

On 2014-01-05 14:03, VampiressRN wrote:
Thanks for all that Vampire info.

I post on http://forum.brighthand.com/off-topic/ Great group of techies there, very helpful. I sty in the off-topic area cause that is where I feel the most comfortable, but if I have techy questions I post in the appropriate forum. I used to have my own board at one time too, just to play around, never had many members to deal with.

But have to say, that the TC community is my favorite place to be. I know lot's of us have moved over to Facebook and other social medias, but TC is still old home for most of us.

Well, keep in mind that it came from a forum basically run by one pale- faced, acne scarred teenager who thinks he is a real vampire. It really cracks me up, and I wonder if this person actually believes he is a real vampire.

Vampires don't exist, I know this because I am a Time Traveler....

I thought you were ahead of your time ATP!!!!