217 replies to this topic

[embArk]

it looked like this:

http://www.murmurs.c...88&d=1143475404

A memorable moment for me was the hijacking of the Microwave conference, in which a couple of feaks who shall remain nameless started random threads in a section that was devoted to questions and answers with the bands's guitar tech.  If I'm not mistaken that was the mutation that started the evolution of 'These Elvis Poses.'

I remember poor Ethan having to read every single post in the forums.  That overwhelming task lead to the creation of the MurmursCrew, a.k.a. Murmur Screw.

What is most peculiar to me is that I have no recollection of Derek from those early days.  Maybe it was during one of his numerous bannings?

[MizMills]

I found Murmurs when I got my 1st computer. Was getting tired of being laugh at by people for being a R.E.M. fan. So this web site has been a blessing for me. Got to make friends here and be allowed to express myself. May the next 10 years will be better and no "Reveal Part II" :D

[Matthew Wood]

embArk said:

What is most peculiar to me is that I have no recollection of Derek from those early days.  Maybe it was during one of his numerous bannings?

To randomize the chronology of this post, I'll first say that the image you posted recalls many memories, particularly of the various places I used to post from (college and related living arrangements, etc.)

Funny thing about Derek, I didn't know he existed until Eric mentioned him in Flashchat (roughly 2000). The way Eric boasted about him, I thought Derek descended from the mountains with We Talk commandments, and I had joined the original forum that, if I'm not mistaken, [nearly] coincided with Up's release. This was back when Eric had poetry power and Chris and I would express our love of "Emphysema". So I guess Derek has been banned a few times...

I also remember being very shy about posting at first. I was an R.E.M. fanatic in 1998, but I was quite bashful about sharing my opinions online; I didn't think anyone would read or care about my thoughts. Who could have predicted I'd become the boisterous asshole I am today? ;)

[bizaleth]

It was 1999, I think. I was living in a small town in central Wisconsin and only knew one other person with similar music tastes... And I found Murmrus in 1998 while looking for info on the band.

I remember when WeTalk started but I didn't join for a few months. I lurked a bit before I actually posted anything.

[Hezalin]

I just wish I had tried harder when I first discovered Murmurs, to figure it out, then i would  have known all of you longer. I had tried figuring it out numerous times, the threads and such. As I was just an old Bulletin Board poster from Prodigy's original days, I just couldn't get my thick head around it.  Then I guess it must have changed formats somewhere in the tme I said "Screw it!" and all of a sudden a bell went off in the noggin and it worked. Now it is a part of my daily life, which might be sad, but I truly love it here, love most of the people, and hope it is around for the next generation of REM fans to sit in awe over.

[Driver Nate]

I kept hearing about Murmurs from the rec.music.rem newsgroup I was still trying to figure out when I first went online back in 1998 but it took me some time to finally find the site. When I did, I was still new to chatting and messageboards so I didn't jump into We Talk right away. I'm still not sure exactly when I did but I'm guessing it was somewhere around the release of Up that I found the site and eventually took the plunge into messageboards in general. I've been a regular visitor here pretty much ever since.

Jonathan

[screamin squaw]

Oh wow! I remember that front page!
I bought my first PC in the May of 1999 and found murmurs sometime towards the end of the tour that year.  Through Murmurs I have made numerous friends, enjoyed many an hour in many a queue (line) and even rediscovered someone I worked with in the 80s!
Yvonne:)

[beccakay]

I even remember that front page. I was just lurking then. I also thought that I had to get 10,000 posts the first month I was here:o :rolleyes: ;) When I joined murmurs.com, I knew nothing about message boards. Now I know next to nothing:p

[Red Frog]

I'm quite the newbie.  I originally signed up for Murmurs/We Talk in September of 2001 under the name danericsson, but after a couple months of lurking got distracted and when I made it back I had forgotten the password.  So I registed Red Frog (I get double birthday announcements now) and proceeded to make myself quite the post whore for a little while.  I think for the large part I've had the exact same secondary handle and avatar since I joined, which is very unlike me, and may contribute to my feeling that We Talk is not nearly as transitory as most messageboards.

I was a fugitive from greenplastic at the time, and I think that I fit here much better than I ever did on a Radiohead messageboard.

[inspectorjason]

June 30, 1999, if I remember correctly.   I had an extra ticket to one of the Atlanta shows on the Up Tour that I was trying to sell and one of my friends here in Atlanta suggested that I try one of the R.E.M. internet sites/chatrooms/etc.   So that's how I ended up on Murmurs.com.   Thanks to Donna (Internet Legend) for taking the extra ticket off of my hands.  

The site looked quite a bit different and I remember visiting the chatroom a lot to talk with Sandi (cricketmachine), Sarah Florez, Kelly, Donna, Eric, Derek, Drew, Nicole, Ethan, Penny, Samantha, some guy named Shoeless Joe, several several others, etc. etc.   I think that Biz joined about the same time that I did as well.   In one of my first posts, I wrote that R.E.M. songs are like women; they are beautiful, but I don't try to  understand them...I guess that got me noticed pretty quickly.   That and the fact that I found several other fellow Cure fans here.  

Wow.   Almost seven years I've been here.   Doesn't seem like that long.   They say that life is like a roll of toilet paper; the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.   I suppose that this is proof.   Seven years have flown by.   Time flies when you're having fun, though.

[thisfilmison]

Well, I'm a total newbie compared to everyone else. I can't actually remember when I joined (and yes I know it says it just above my post number but I can't see that right now...):p , but it's down to poor memory rather than time passing.;)

I remember talking to Lucy and Kayla on my first day here - it was really strange. I remember reading one of Derek's posts and thinking, "Woah.... he's strange..." :rolleyes:

I didn't quite manage to catch a lot of the legends that have passed through these doors, but I was around for such threads as "The foul Man Bill Berry" - one that will never quite leave my mind...

Now, a couple of years along, I've met some great friends here, and I hope to meet many more of you in the future!!

[OneArpeggioPete]

well well well... i joined this place in early 2000, so i guess objectively i'm an old hand here. i still don't feel like one, though, there is so much stuff from those days, especially from the chat, that i still only know from second hand accounts. anyway, those were the days, huh? does anyone still have a screenshot of the way the boards looked, with the logical trees? jays, we've come far since. i remember being in the chat the first night, and at about 02:30 cet someone (i think it was penny) told me i rocked. i decided to stay so! *lol* murmurs was a way cuddlier place then, being a member kinda felt like being into r.e.m. before losing my religion, having that shared little secret of something really good. well - we're not sharing a little secret anymore i guess, but there is still no community anywhere out there that could hold a candle to this one. murmurs, all these years later, is still a very special place, i think we can be proud of ourselves for keeping it that way...

:-)

oneArpeggiopete:cool:

[Sweet Fanny Addams]

We had just bought our first computer, it was 1999. I had no idea how to use it but as soon as I got online I went searching for REM  and found murmurs pretty much straight away. And I'm still here. Well, I struck it lucky, I found my spiritual home by a happy chance. I was amazed and thrilled to find a whole group of people who wanted to talk REM minutae for hours, dissect the relative merits of 7 Chinese Bros vs Voice of Harold and what Michael is saying on 9-9. I thought I was the only one who was that obsessed. I was fucking overjoyed to find this place.
Donna and Kelly were among the first to greet me I think. One of my very first posts was to ask what flaming meant, as it wasn't allowed. Yes, I was that much of a computer virgin. Penny was also very kind and helpful to me when I was trying to get to grips with the most basic computer stuff ( I couldn't even do copy/paste back then.)
Forward to now, this site is HUGE in comparison and some of my favorite people no longer visit here, although I think of them often and wish they would come in just to say hello........Frinky, Frances, and so many others. But I've made new friends in recent years here too, and you know who you are and that I love yas.
Here's to another 10 years of murmurs and We Talk!! When REM themselves write a special note to the webmaster you know you're the very best. Congrats to Ethan, and to all of us, old timers and newbies.

[Sweet Fanny Addams]

Oh and would just like to add, had the BEST ime meeting a bunch of people from murmurs in Athens GA for Athfest. We came from all over the globe to cause merry mayhem in the Holiday Inn. (not the Holiday Inn Express, the main Holiday Inn. The ones that have wheels on the chairs for room2room service. Some of you will know what I am talking about.)
And I will never forget the chatroom. There was one time when everyone went in using a variation on Ethan Kaplan for user nicks, we had irvin kipling, alvin krampon, elvin crouton, and the real ethan was in there as well just to mix it up, although none of us knew who was who by then. Fun times, fun times.

[Corpus]

I have been a huge REM fan for as long as most here -1985 approximately- but was never interested in music boards.  Thought it was nerdy.  I actually checked in a couple times for news and info over the years- but the board never caught my attention.  I still thought it was nerdy.

In the summer of 2004 I was looking for tour info and started to read the GLR.  I stumbled across a couple funny threads with Grace and Etty and Kelly and Derek doing their things.  Then Heather and Lucy became friends, and Jonathan and Lizish made great music recommends- and now I hang here while I work.  I'm happy to know you all.    

It's much cooler than it used to be.  :)

[WaterHyacinth]

Ahh, the nostalgic in me is going to love this forum...

I joined Murmurs in December 20th, 2003. To sum up the story, after having gotten really into REM in late 2002, I sorta started to lose interest in them and music altogether during the first half of that year, which really wasn't the best of times for me, for many reasons. I had an alright summer, and when school started (senior year), I got back into REM practically by accident, and late in September, I stumbled upon Murmurs thanks to a link that had been posted in REMHQ, about this Kaplan dude that had interviewed Stipe - anyway, I started to lurk around the boards and I came close to joining a couple of times in Fall 2003, but I didn't get around to do so 'til that fateful December day - I was just starting my winter holidays, had caught a REM special on TV the night before, and thought "oh what the hell...". After a careful thinking about what my username should be (let's not go there, please :) ), I signed up, and well, the rest is history!

I started to post everyday and chat every now and then, but it wasn't until April/May 2004 where I became a full-fledged regular, and even then, I wouldn't had believed it if they had told me that I'd become a host, that I'd meet some of the greatest people I could ever possibly now, and that Murmurs would've influenced my life in such a big way, and that's underestimating it a bit. Yeah, it's no secret that we've had a couple of slow months, but I don't think I could ever dismiss this place altogether, it means a lot to me.

[Heather R]

i dont remember when i officially joined murmurs, i know i was kind of a rem fansite whore, there were a few i frequented, but by UP, this was the last one left (of those i visited) so it kind of won by default.  

even though my postings have gone to nil of late, i do remember the great weekend of the Microwave Q&A hijacking and ethan freaking out and shutting it down when he got back from vacation (then coming to his senses a day or so later, and officially giving us a room to play in).

i think my other postiest time was the first Album Survivor... a frantic happy wave to Tessa, my high priestess if you are still out here somewhere....and i hope you naihf ppl still feel a little guilty about trying to backstab us Up folks in the alliance (trying my damndest to remember the name of our alliance...)

anyway, good times.

heres to another ten years.... maybe i'll have time to get into the boards again someday.

[Rachelk]

When I first joined murmurs I was really really young. I probably annoyed many people on this site ;) (cause I was like 13)

I guess my take on all of this is a little different because I saw how it turned from this little idea of a geeky anti social guy to this great project who caused this guy who find some fun in life, get self esteem, become nicer because of that self esteem, and meet the love of his life (well indirectly but still)

I also met some very awesome people through this site. My life would not be what it is today because of this site.

I would not have met friends that I have met, fallen in love with who I  had fallen in love with, gotten to experience some of the fun times I have experienced, listen to awesome music live so many times, driven to New Mexico, and found a bunch of cool people who don't look at you funny when you insert an REM quote into a sentance.

[zveozdi]

When I joined Murmurs I spent 3 months posting in TEP and CC because the site was overwhelming for me, I was scared to death to post.:o I had never been a member of a forum in my life, I barely knew what the internet was and it took me about a month to figure out how to fix my signature or upload my avatar (Thanks Wim for helping me out!!) :)

I think I was some kind of an indirect member back in 2001, as I used to get the Murmurs newsletter in my e mail account every once in a while. But when I didn't get them anymore, I decided to join. It was Aug 14th 2003, date that I remember because it's was birthday.

Thanks to murmurs I've met a lot of wonderful people. It's kind of strange because I might never meet them -considering I live in the very end of the world- but they've become a part of my everyday life and they mean a lot to me. I am part of other communities, but for some reason, no one can be compared to this one, even considering all the bad and good things that have happened over my 3 years as a member.

I shall finish writing this post before it gets more cheesier, so Congratulations to all murmusians and Ethan for this 10th anniversary!!

And pass me some Kleenex, please! :p