Closing the Forum

[lizzytysh]

Ohhh. Alriiiight... I didn't know this was s'posed to be a serious quiz. Will you be looking it up then, Margaret ?


~ Lizzy

[margaret]

Maybe not tooooo serious! I just popped in here briefly in my lunch break. No time to check it out properly.

Gotta get back to work now.

[John Etherington]

Dead right, Margaret!

But Geoffrey wasn't asking a question, he was alluding to what he considers the falsity of other people on this web-site. Pity that all the silly mind-games and childish squabbles have been going on, here. Jarkko set up the site for discussion of Leonard's work, and it's totally disrespectful to
both Jarkko and Leonard, when people use the site for other purposes.

All good wishes, John E

[Davido]

"My falsity stung me like a hornet" (The Traitor)
Take heed, trolls!

[~greg]

"Like a hornet on a wire
Like a beast with his hornet
Geoffrey darkens our door
And must not ask any more
So hey, why not just let it go by?"

[Tchocolatl]

Well, when a lyer said he did not say the truth, should we believe that? Or not?

Here is the missing "h". I hope nobody died of a stroke in the meantime.

[MonkOverBook]

Reading about your decision, Jarkko, to close the forum, makes me truly sorry. You've been doing a great job and just don't deserve what's obviously been going on in here.

Thanks for your efforts!!

Johannes

[Natalie]

Hi everyone,

Although I don't like the idea of not having a Forum anymore, I think Jarkko has been forced to close it. With all the animosity, it seems, relating to mostly one individual, it seems necessary to keep the peace, so to speak.

One of my posts was already edited, or a better way to put it is censored, which made me see every shade of red imaginable. I have never been censored, and now I know what it's like and I DO NOT like it.

It's really too bad that intelligent adults (I would like to think so) can't debate amongst themselves without causing civil unrest.

It's a sad state of affairs, especially on a Leonard Cohen Forum.

I can't believe it's come to this.

Natalie

[Manna]

As far as I can tell, the guilty "one individual" will be various individuals, depending, of course, upon who is answering that question.

[UrPal]

One by one the guests arrive
The guests are coming through
The open-hearted many
The broken-hearted few

And those who dance begin to dance
And those who weep begin
Welcome, welcome, cries a voice
Let all my guests come in

I guess Lenny might have overlooked the irritating drunken bores you always get at parties on a mission to prove they're cleverer and unholier than thou and too involved with the sound of their own voices to care too much about listening to others. Let's call it the Sir Les Patterson factor. Personally, if it were my houseparty I'd escort them to the door with more vigour than they might prefer but I'd openly admit to a benign oligarchical approach and even Stalinist tendencies when it comes to guests in my house taking liberties. Of course, there is a law, and perhaps house rules need tightening.

I'd just like to say, Jarkko, that those of us more comfortable out here in the kitchen as the party swings have found this forum a good place to get useful information about our man and to speak to fellow enthusiasts about things that might be other common causes, even if it involved wading through more of the puke and detritus of the beer swillers than would normally be tolerable. If you hold to present course, thanks for the dance, mate. A bit nauseatingly dizzying at times, but certainly the whole of the human condition has been on full display.

[Geoffrey]

blonde madonna wrote:
>When we write we write for an audience. Good writing communicates its intention clearly.


Well, I wonder. The song 'Diamonds in the Mine' is quite a good song, is it not(?) - but what is being said to its audience seems questionable. I have listened to it on many an occasion, attempting to understand what is being communicated. I envisage a man; there is something wrong with his body - one of his arms or legs has been hurt. He is in ancient Rome, probably the Colosseum, engaged in cunnilingus - unless I have misunderstood. But the verse is so obscure that I do fail to see what 'clear intention is being communicated'. Can you help me?

[Red Poppy]

Well done Geoffrey.
I can just about stoplaughing to type this.
Haven't had such a good belly laugh in ages.
More of this stuff - it makes life worthwhile!!!!

[mat james]

I have been pondering what the closure of this forum means to me.

I came to the forum with the hope/expectation of meeting some kindred spirits. The work of Leonard Cohen was the bait, I thought, that would bring a certain type of mind together with similar minds and on percentage, I would say that both my hope and expectation were fulfilled.
I can listen to Leonard’s music on my own players whenever I like, so the closure of the forum won’t affect me with regard to my personal appreciation of his work. In fact, usually I feel I prefer my own perhaps misguided interpretations of his lyrics; as I enjoy the self-determined sauntering journeys of thought/mind “where I go” after the Leonard Lift-off! In some way the forum has stifled this free-range, “don’t fence me in”, experience. But groups always do that to one degree or another, so my comment is not a criticism.
On a different front, entering in discussions and posting topics for discussion enabled me to develop more elaborately an understanding of certain mytho-concepts, related to my own and Leonard’s universal and eclectic wanderings. And for this opportunity I am grateful to both the creators and particularly a few pro-active members of the forum.

I have particularly enjoyed posting poems on the relevant threads. Before this forum, I wrote in isolation and have had scant opportunity/desire to share my work/thoughts with the company I generally keep. It is just not their “thing”. So again, for this opportunity for communion; I am very grateful.

Thanks to Jarkko and all who assisted with this forum, and a personal thanks to the forum members who responded to, particularly, my poems.


Matj

[sandman]

just want to say thank you to you jarkko and everyone involved for keeping this site up and running for so many years. it is indeed a labour of love. l am so sorry that the countless hours you and everybody put in have to come to this. when people come onto this site, they are greeted by a picture of leonard, saluting to welcome his guests....guests! well, some people must have forgotten that.
l feel so sorry for you and the team, jarkko and of course for leonard. maybe you can close just the forum. this way you can still post news about leonard and pictures/poems leonard gives to the site.

however, if the worst happens, l wish you guys a peaceful and contented life in the future and that goes to the proper guests here too.

[lightning]

Thanks to Jarkko for already giving more than his share to Leonard Cohen and all the people who have stopped by here to discuss his work and unburden themselves of grief and loneliness or share their thoughts, music and poetry at the same time.
I can imagine that it's been like a bad investment for him, one that hasn't returned even a fraction of what he's put into it, so he will have to get rid of it, for the sake of his sanity and well being.
As this type of forum has been an important meeting place for so many, perhaps someone else who understands the software could take it over, and be more self-protective, cautious about sharing his energy, maybe keep his address private, as does Leonard himself.
Thanks for everything Jarkko and Eija, I still have the wonder ice scupture Christmas cards on display, and will never forget you, even if your forum melts from too much fire and ice.