Empty-Headed?

Is The Fortress Of Solitude a total no-brainer?

The next couple of threads I'm going to write are going in a slightly different direction than previous ones. That is, I'm going to be talking about this site in general, as well as the people who make it worth visiting in the first place.

So, first up I'm going to address something that's been at the back of my mind for a couple of weeks now, and it all started with this comment from someone who had visited The Fortress (but neglected to post anything.. boo!) and he had this to say..

"So wat does the almighty curmudgeon actually deem worth talking about? do u actually talk about serious things like politics and war or do you only talk about really pressing matters like computer games and godzilla?"

And then, with a totally different attitude of course, Trashcanman commented on Invisible Wolfman's post about his previously estranged dad; "Wow. I wasn't expecting to read anything of this sort here".

So I feel a need to bring this to the front for a bit. When I started this site I wanted to create a vibe of, well, let's call it a Pub Conversation (or a bar for our American Dwellers). You know the sort of easy, lightweight chat you have when a group of friends gets together over a few beers? You talk about movies, girls, music.. it's just banter. I wanted to create a sense of logging into this site for twenty minutes and just sharing pleasant, friendly chat over the things we spend our spare time on, as well as ripping into the things in modern society we hate.

To continue with the bar-conversation angle, there's a rule that the things you DON'T talk about there are politics and religion, because no one will ever agree. Sure, I could post threads on asylum seekers and suicide bombers and who's going to be the new Prime Minister, but there are a million websites dedicated to shit like that, and hell - this is The Fortress of SOLITUDE, meaning the depressing state of current affairs is kept strictly OUTSIDE.

I've always said that you can talk about anything you like on here, so if any Dweller contributes with a thread about the war situation or whatever, by all means I'll post it. But I won't be writing anything like that on here myself.

Invisible Wolfman's "I Am Your Father" post was a totally new direction for the site, and I thought it was an excellent progression - it's moving the Fortress into far more of a "community", making us all aware of who it is we're actually talking to, instead of just random names on a website. I didn't expect it, but I would certainly welcome any further "from the heart" threads (and hey, who doesn't have conversations like THAT in bars as well?)

What I'm trying to say is, to the naysayer who started me off and to anyone else first venturing into this site - we're not naive idiots who don't have a clue what's happening in the real world. But you've just logged into a site with the address "like a squashed octopus" - you really think we're going to be getting deep and meaningful here?

Enjoy it for what its supposed to be – escapism, pure and simple. A chance to chat with eloquent, funny and intelligent people about the things that don’t really matter, but really actually do.