Where is s/he?
Dan Same
Victoria, AustraliaPosts: 6,054MI6 Agent
Thunderpussy's thread about the 'unloved Bond films' made me think of JFF. You remember him, don't you? :v The young man who used to embark upon the most ridiculously long pro-AVTAK/anti-CR + LTK rants? 
Although he no doubt annoyed alot of people with his often off-topic rants, they were also a source of delight for me, and I'm sure many others. He was a good friend who was one of a number of people who made my stay here an absolute delight. He hasn't been back onto the site for who knows how long, and I really miss him. It would have been great to read what he thought of QOS. 
)
Which brings me to the point of this thread. Are there any members who, for whatever reason, have stopped visiting and whom you miss? What is it about them that you miss?
Although he no doubt annoyed alot of people with his often off-topic rants, they were also a source of delight for me, and I'm sure many others. He was a good friend who was one of a number of people who made my stay here an absolute delight. He hasn't been back onto the site for who knows how long, and I really miss him. It would have been great to read what he thought of QOS. )Which brings me to the point of this thread. Are there any members who, for whatever reason, have stopped visiting and whom you miss? What is it about them that you miss?
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
Comments
I have been thinking along similiar lines.....
One fella I miss is "highhopes". I agreed with many of his observations about the oo7 legacy, we are from the same Bond generation.
Asp9mm has been very quite lately
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond
I think highhopes got chary about people recognising him from the site, he had a high-profile job of some kind and he got recognised. Also, personally I think he may have realised his slightly, erm, passionate views about CR and the new Craig era might have looked a bit odd set alongside his real-life context. But I am just surmising.
Red Grant is another who used to pop up, he was very pro-Brosnan.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I thought that when I first joined the site.
Which real-life context are you referring to? ?:)
He was the first person to welcome me on here - and he was a Craig fan
As for Strangeways, he's only been gone a few weeks surely?
Roger Moore 1927-2017
No, I haven't seen him on the new site - and I'm pretty sure I haven't seen him since I moved, which was February.....
I also miss Alessandra, haven't seen her for a while. I have been in touch with Asp9mm recently, I think, that he'll be back on the board very soon
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
But how would people find him here? Even with a high profile job, I'm sure his real name or even a stage/wrestler/politician/stipper name isn't really "High Hopes".
Oh and Mr. Martini, the one who loved Caroline Munro is Naomi _Fan. I miss him too...sweet guy. I'm afraid this new site change will deter a lot of the old regulars unfortunately.
By that I mean the living, breathing, three-dimensional ones---as opposed to the ones on the big screen, who wear riding pants and carry a crop, and who made two films of note (altogether) in their career.
Good for him; not a moment too soon. The quiet's been pleasant enough, but I wouldn't mind hearing from the boy---my opinion on QoS will never be fully crystalized until JFF has shat upon it.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
oh, if he does not turn up here, can I try to do so at his place? :v
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
One thing that High Hopes, for instance, didn’t know was the machinery at the Web page for dealing with the public, whether friendly or otherwise -- drunks, lunatics, Jason Bourne fans, bonafide applicants to join the site, and members of rival sites with plans for penetration or even assassination.
On that cold, clear January morning, he was about to see the careful cog-wheels in motion.
Lexi, a Londoner who had joined the site only a year before, sent a PM, or personal message, to Monique, her senior on the blog by several years, in Los Angeles. “It’s another nut who says he’s High Hopes. Even knows his membership number. Says he wants to message SiCo personally.”
“Put him through to Liaison, Lexi,” said Monique.
Lexi typed out a sentence. “Just a moment, sir. I’ll forward you to someone who may help you.”
High Hopes, sitting in front of his computer, said, “Thank you.” He had expected some delay before he could establish his identity. He had been warned by the charming moderator over at MI6forums.com.
The post finally came through. “This is Dan Same; can I help you?
“This is High Hopes. License to Blog 5135. Would you forward me to SiCo?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know who that is,” replied Dan Same. “Are you sure you have the proper user name?
“Should I spell it out for you, Dan?” said Hopes, testily. “You realize this a public blog?”
Dan Same was annoyed with the blogger. High Hopes could be every bit as infuriating, although he liked him immensely. He pressed several keys simultaneously. The blogger’s IP address flashed across his computer screen. It was the same as Hopes’. Well, there was always something odd about Hopes’ disappearance.
“The man you want is Napoleon Plural. He should be able to put you in contact with this 'Psycho' you want to message. Give me 10 minutes to contact him first, then shoot him a PM.”
“Welcome back, Hopes,” wrote Napoleon Plural, answering the mysterious blogger’s query when it came, like clockwork, 10 minutes later. “So how do you fancy the news about Bond 23? ”
Plural had carefully prepared the loaded remark as soon as Dan Same e-mailed him about the strange man calling himself High Hopes. It was a reference to the upcoming Bond picture with Daniel Craig. Hopes could be expected to prattle on incessantly like a sissy fan boy whenever that troll Craig’s name was mentioned. It was always “Craig this, Craig that.” It was the most pathetic case of man-love he'd ever seen. To hear Hopes tell it, Casino Royale wasn’t the painfully inadequate Bond picture that it was and that any thinking person would immediately recognize it as far inferior to Pierce Brosnan‘s worst. It was on a par with Citizen Kane. No -- it was better than that. Nervously, he noted Hopes’ apparent lack of interest.
“I saw A View to A Kill on BBC America last night,” the blogger messaged blandly. “I enjoyed it immensely.”
The remark caused Plural to be seized by the cold hand of fear. The Hopes he knew wouldn’t watch a Pierce Brosnan Bond if his life depended on it, much less an aging, pot-bellied Roger Moore’s final outing as the British super spy.
“How can I help you,” asked Napoleon Plural, typing tentatively. “What do you want?”
“It’s very simple,” the keyboard at the other end clattered back. “ I’ve resumed posting at AJB and wish to message SiCo.”
“Quite. But you must realize that you haven’t been in contact for more than a year. You’ve even been mentioned in a “Where Is He?” thread. But I‘ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you,” typed the blogger who claimed to be High Hopes.
“By the way,” wrote Plural. “Loeffenholz, your old Yank ally on this site, says he’s glad to see you back and wants to talk to you about the Sam Mendes story.”
“That’s very kind of him. But tell him I shan’t be free.”
***
“Well, it’s High Hopes, all right. But I don’t like it, sir,” typed Hardyboy nervously. “All the mods agree. Several have interviewed him. In three days he’s yet to make a single reference to Daniel Craig, Casino Royale or Eva Green’s sex appeal. There’s something wrong.”
His fingertips were clammy as they pecked the keyboard. Usually fastidious about his keyboard skills -- he knew SiCo disliked the slang and abbreviations that characterized most Internet postings, and did not tolerate typos -- this time Hardyboy didn’t care and left them in his lengthy report when he clicked “send.” The situation was too serious.
SiCo wearily clicked open Hardy’s post and read it. Finally, shaking his head, he began to type:
“Thank you Chief of Staff, but I’m afraid it’s not as easy as that. We need to know. Remember how he dutifully forwarded the Daniel Craig workout to everyone who asked? And then that query from the ‘reporter’ from his hometown. Sacramento, I think. He seemed anxious when I approached him about it. Perhaps he was recognized. After all, he posted his picture at one time. At any rate, he’s been gone for more than a year and I need to know what happened to him. As you know, there was that thread with all the speculation. Of course I’ll take his message. We can link your address to mine so that you can “listen” in, so to speak.”
***
“I’m afraid there’s still a lot I don’t remember, sir,” typed High Hopes when his access to SiCo had cleared. “There was an e-mail to my home address relating to James Bond. I remember clicking on a link that accompanied it. There’s a blank until I found myself on the MI6 forums. But I discovered I enjoyed it there. They were very nice and were able to explain some of the reasons why their site was was the ‘world’s most visited 007 website’ …”
SiCo winced. When would the membership realize the proper style was two words, with the “w” capitalized: Web site.
“ … And they asked me a great deal about AJB,” Hopes’ message continued.
“And you told them everything you could? Wasn’t that rather, er, generous of you?” A small frown had gathered between SiCo’s eyes.
“Of course. It seemed like the least I could do. They were very nice to me in every way. They explained how MI6 and AJB needed to work together for the good of the Bond franchise, but that AJB was hindering that effort. They made clear a lot of things that hadn’t occurred to me before. They quite convinced me.”
“Did they happen to mention that they have made several attempts to siphon off our membership here at AJB?”
“Oh yes, sir,” came Hopes’ response. “They have to defend themselves. If you would close down AJB, they would be more than happy to pick up where AJB left off and give James Bond fandom a site to be proud of.”
SiCo now felt the red flash of anger. He clicked the “reply” button.
The virus struck without warning. SiCo’s screen flash wildly, as 1s and 0s marched across it before the screen flashed again, before flickering off, then on again. Soon, his mailbox was jammed with frantic messages from Hardyboy, Dan Same, Napoleon Plural, Lexi, John Drake, Lady Rose -- all longtime members. A Trojan disguised in the “Reply” link! How clever. How diabolical. How MI6-ish. But AJB’s new anti-virus software, only recently installed to deal with an eventuality such as this one, had saved the site.
SiCo’s fingers raced along his keyboard, quoting his exchange with Hopes for a global e-mail to the membership. Finally, he added a message of his own on the bottom of the message thread.
“Briefly, as you’ve now read, the MI6 forums got hold of Hopes. Brainwashed him. He was already a sick man with a truly bizarre obsession with CR. Amnesia of some kind. Hardyboy -- I need you to put out a message for the home page. Something along these lines: “ ‘AJB, where the elite of Bond fandom meets, is pleased -- make that ‘delighted’ -- to report that member High Hopes, posted as missing for more than a year, has returned to this site after a hazardous sojourn on the MI6 forums, which is expected to yield much valuable information.’ ”
“Shall we ban him, sir?” asked John Drake.
“Certainly not,” SiCo responded. “He’s a sick man, not responsible for his actions. If one can brainwash a man, one can presumably unbrainwash him. Member 5135 was a good member once, he can be a member in good standing again. Within limits of course.”
Then SiCo typed out a separate, private message to Hardyboy.
“Chief of Staff -- After lunch, bring me the file on “007 Magazine Online. ” That’s the right sized target for 5135. "
“But that’s suicide, sir,” Hardyboy protested. “Even High Hopes could never take them.”
“He ought to be banned, Better for him to fall on the battlefield. If he brings it off, we can all forget the past. Anyway, that’s my decision.”
Hardyboy stared at SiCo’s message. “You cold-hearted bastard,” he muttered under breath.” Then his usual sense of duty returned and he went about his assignment. His not to reason why!
(To be continued …)
With apologies to Ian Fleming
Yeah yeah I'm a bit embarrassed about my appraisal of your absence but it's true, if you're a bit well known no one wants their Bondian ramblings coming to light! I notice you don't have a picture this time, not even your Dustin Hoffman circa 68 mugshot!
Why don't you have a bash at fanfiction?
Roger Moore 1927-2017
And it was 7289!
Thanks. I'm glad you guys enjoyed it.
Recognition wasn't really an issue in my going AWOL from the site, although I did take my picture down -- or replaced it with that old picture -- and decline to talk to the reporter. My profile is not particularly high, but at the time I was a spokesperson for someone else and I'm always concerned that any personal opinion I give will somehow reflect on them, particularly if I speak to local media.
I don't know what happened to my old profile with that '68 pic. I had to request a new password to get back on. No matter. I'll get up to speed soon.
Hmm.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
You have to remember I was brainwashed, Loeff. That was Bond's message to Bill Tanner, whom he evidentally didn't remember was his best bud in the service after the Soviets brainwashed him. Made his behavior seem all the more strange. As an old Fleming aficionado, I'm sure you remember
I was thinking exactly the same thing. I've been back for a couple weeks and haven't heard from him. We had some great arguments. I hope everything is OK. And it probably is. Sometimes life intrude on Bond fandom.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
yep, me too - I also have PM'd him, and nothing
Hope everything is okay.....
Jenny Agutter. Another classic, like Geraldine. Unlike Geraldine, she got naked in her movies, too. :v
Here is a treat for you, prehaps this will help bring you back from the void!
Bond’s Beretta
The Handguns of Ian Fleming's James Bond
Dan Same seems to have been quiet lately yes - I'm sure he'll be back soon.
Members come and go. I myself left ajb once, for a good while, then came back again. Just one of those things that happens with people I guess..
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby