[Groop]Quality of Groop Life

[Daniel Bron]

Ahem,

Allow me to rant like the Swede I am not (Cartoon Network fans will get 
this reference):

I joined this group a little over 2 years ago, and save for a brief hiatus 
over the summer of '99, I've been here ever since.  I don't know how long 
the Groop had been around before that time, but I can say it was a lot 
livelier back then.  We had many more posts each day, and a wider variety 
of posters (though the core Groop personas were as they are today, plus 
Nate).  I have noticed (though maybe this is a function of overall the 
jading a young man acquires as he first ventures into the cold, cold, 
world) a general decline in the Groop over the last two years.  Postings 
are less frequent, newbies drop out (or into the bog of Lurk) almost as 
soon as they join, and Groop projects now get lost in the digital 
aether.  Whereas the Groop I joined was a loud and raucous Viking orgy, 
today's Groop seems to be more like a New Year's Eve party at Dick Cavat's 
house (funny, but slightly somber).

And, to be honest, I'm as much at fault as anybody else.  During my first 
few months on the Groop I would post 2 or 3 messages every day.  Then, one 
day, I just stopped.  I don't know why.  I would still read Groop posts, 
and usually get a good laugh, but I wouldn't post anymore.  At first I kind 
of procrastinated on it, as if it was a chore, saying I'll post tommorow, 
I'll post Monday, etc.  Then I didn't even bother with that.  Furthermore, 
I've never proposed or helped with a Groop project, I didn't go to 
GrooFest, and the only other Groop member I've seen in the flesh (not all 
of it, thankfully) was Larry.  I didn't offer to forward or search for Groo 
items for Groopies in strange lands, and in fact my only contribution to 
the Groop last year was a vague sense of guilt every time I read my email.

Perhaps the Groop is like the economy:  it has a fairly regular and fairly 
dependable cycle.  Perhaps I came in on one of the upstrokes, and we are 
now entrenched in one of the downstrokes.  I don't know;  maybe. But I 
don't think so.  It is my opinion that even with the incredible luck of 
somehow getting together some of the greatest and funniest people on the 
planet, the Groop is dying.  That it, like the majority of things on the 
internet that depend more on legacy than on infusion, is going to quietly 
disappear.  Am I being too pessimistic?  Any other opinions?

Of course, long after the Groop is gone, some Netizens will say they can 
still hear a faint call in the night:  "I am not obesssssed....."

-That Guy "who felt it had to be said" Daniel

PS: "I'll be coming to the US for my honeymoon this May, we're staying in 
Disney World for a few weeks.".

Alright, let me be frank about this (sorry, Frank, but it's only for a 
minute).  Disney World is for 
kids.  Children.  Sub-adults.  Juveniles.  Whipper-snappers.  Unless you've 
already got kids (in which case your honeymoon is kinda over-due), or 
you're kids yourselves (in which case your honeymoon is kinda 
under-due):  you have NO EXCUSE for going to Disney World.  It's not cute, 
it's not funny, it's not "hip".  I think this problem is becoming 
pandemic.  ADULTS SHOULD NOT GO TO DISNEY WORLD.  If you want adult fun, 
I'm sure Florida can provide [though you're better off coming to NYC, 
IMO].  And, just in case you're not convinced - if you go to Disney World 
for two weeks I guarantee you'll have that godawful song stuck in your head 
until your silver anniversary.

I know I'm probably gonna get flamed by all the Floridian Groopers (who 
number 3, by my count), with all the great reasons an adult would have for 
going to the land of the mouse, but unless it's to assassinate him, I stand 
firm.  Disney World is for the young-uns.

PPS: Actually there's one more excuse for going to Disney World as an 
adult:  you're from Long Island.  But if this is the case there's no hope 
for you anyway.

PPPS:  And yes, Gary, twist-ties.  Not being a Man in Bag I can understand 
how you've never had a chance to rig an alien's 
Hyper-phlegmatic-dynamic-atomic-subverter to blow his space ship out of 
orbit using only twist-ties and snippets of Farrah Fawcett's DNA, but I 
assure you it has been done.  A testament to the mighty power of the 
twist-tie.

PPPPS:  .....whoops!  Forget I said that. There are no such things as aliens.