Fast Marina Magazine

Ben and forum users,

This hopefully will be my last entry on this subject,i now feel this issue has come to an impasse that will simply be void of a suitable outcome,and all that will arise from this is negativity,so wishing to move on i will just address the final points.

I would not devalue the viability of this forum,or the benefits that it has given in the past and continues to do,for i truly believe that the positives greatly outweigh the negatives,and from the feedback and feelings expressed by many of this forums members preservation is paramount that has been shown that this very bastion of Marinadom must be preserved at all costs,unless of course this has a financial cost attached and then this seem to fall on the deafest of ears,and that voices are far louder when there is no cost to silence them.

Ben i find it almost unbelievable that you had no knowledge that i was willing to stand the sites hosting fees and was more than willing to reimburse previous contributors to the site,even if you missed this topic surly would not one of the other moderators must have mentioned this (see below)

How much do you value this forum? PROBLEM SOLVED *** by The original northen Jul 24, 2008 8:19 pm 26 Replies 952

I'm sure that with this many replies and hits in total for this to have been over looked seems to be rather unlikely to say the least,may i add that those who joined after this date are free from any accusation what so ever.

Ben i understand that many members of this forum simply choose to opt for the course of action that offers the "line of least resistance" i'm sure that many of the people you spoke sadly only gave you the response that they thought you wanted to hear,ask yourself this if these people are even without an opion when there are are only luke warm conversation in play will they really get involved in a heated debate? and the answer is simple,no they will not.This seems to me a case of them waiting to see what side comes out victorious over an other,and then siding with that side,such is the way of fence sitters,and such is the way of those members that give their utmost support and good wishes when the subject of site fees is removed,such is the way of this forum.

Paul (Jubilee Nut) mentioned some points that i feel must be addressed,on the issue of of getting involved in

silly political conversations non Marina based

i shall a use a citation from Aristotle" Man is by nature a political animal." and this will lead from time to time to contention that is most definitely non-Marina based such is the nature of man.The final points of Paul's i shall try and answer as objectively as i can,i don't think Sean(ado28) as you do not elaborate on the reasons or reasons is worried in the least about Fast Marina,trust me when i say that matters that arise on here are of not paramount importance to him,when stacked up on what a day at work entails really matters on here are trivial,and any comments that are submitted to to B.L classics are not removed,lost or deleted response would simply be on a like-to-like footing,so in essence in the spirit of free speech you may say within the basic frame work of no threats or violence what you want if you have a justified point.

As i finish I really must say that i commend Sean's stance on many issues, he has offered help with this forum both in assistance and in cash,and without doubt he is what he is,he will stand up for what he believes to be right,and i can say that without hesitation that i value his friendship,he is the genuine item and if you see him as either a saint or sinner he has the quality that i admire most loyalty an item that cannot be bought no matter what the price,and without doubt is not a person who "sits on the fence"

The final point i shall attend to is that i make is that i see Marinas and Itals as not the Holy Grail enjoy them be passionate about them but other thing are far more important and are not the be all and end all of everything,i have made strong and lasting friendships though my ownership of the cars, but Marinas have only been the catalyst to start many other things,but i see that this view is not the accepted norm on here,the example i give is to look at the interest on the off topic section too be honest the interest level is too myself very poor,if you are only interest in Marina/Ital matters that is your choice,but what a great waste of a potential life enriching tool this,this i feel that is the is the downfall of many people and not just those on here,that they will have a Marina for so long then move onto another make or model as they have been looking for something the car does not offer,but the fault does not lay with the car the fault but with them life is what you make of it.I wonder in a years time how many of the people who gave their undying loyalty to Ben will still be here?

Russ

Beckett Bros "If" :roll:

Hi Russ,
I will keep this short! Mainly as you seem to have posted the same article 5 or 6 times above!! :shock:

I have used this forum for technical help most of the time and made some good friends in the process who I see at the MMOC meets etc.
I see this site a great place to contact and find out items I need to help with my restoration.

I will be on here as long as I have a Marina and that (Providing I don't crash it) will be a very long time unless the forum closed.

Although this is a part of my life it is small compared to the rest of my day / time and it will never be my whole life.
Hats off to all those who devote many hours to the Forum, but I will mainly be popping off and on when I can.
Also being a relatively new to the MMOC I have not got the 20 + years friendship some of you guys have so don't or can't chat about old times and add to threads about topics non Marina related.
I personally don't post on the off topic section much if at all, maybe I will later, but presently long political or when I went down the pub conversations are not what I am looking for on the forum. Not to say your postings not been very entertaining and good to read and very well told, I just have not got that story telling skill :|

As for sitting on fences, I am supporting this forum as I think it is still the only one for me. As a newish member the last thing I want to see is other members of forums and MMOC slagging off each other! The system suits me and I have never been put on the naughty step or banned etc. I guess some can't help expressing their views without using bad language and insults which is a shame.

This seems to me a case of them waiting to see what side comes out victorious over an other

This is one of the main problems, it always seems to be about sides instead of the one goal of Marina's. There are already to many wars in this world and Marina's don't need one. If a war breaks out the Marina will loose not you or I!
In the case of the name it is still just a name. For example - Twitter, every time I hear this I think of a load of twitts telling each other about some famous person who eats curry for breakfast!!! Not really of interest to me but seems to have a huge following despite the silly name!
Can't see the point, but maybe I am not seeing the whole picture

It is said there is no bad publicity, good = good, bad = great publicity!

What are the sides out of interest? As I have missed it or no one has told me! :?

If I were to offer help to someone, and in the process call them all the names under the sun and insult them I think they would be confused as to whether that person was really offering help or taking the mickey and being rude!

The above was meant to be short! :roll:

The final point i shall attend to is that i see Marinas and Itals as not the Holy Grail in lifes great quest as perhaps many of the members do,i find this rather sad that their lives seem devoid of anything else,enjoy the cars be passionate about them but other things are far more important,and Marinas are not the be all and end all of everything

We do agree on the above, but I don't think any of the MMOC are SAD!! This is something that a TG follower would say!
Presently all I do is work, look after my wife and son and rebuild my marina. So the Marina is a big part of my life presently but will become less of a consumption of time after it is finished. If I don't concentrate my efforts on the only restoration project I have and get it finished, it will never get put back on the road. Some people collect cars but never have the time to complete one of them. I have always had goals set and I have never failed yet! Certainly not 'sad' more accomplishment I think. Not sure what I will do next but it won't be another Marina as my body will say no but it will be something else
Regards,
Paul.

OK Russ, Your extra posts got deleted

Ben,

I think you may have deleted my post whilst deleting russ' ?

Hi Ray,

My post and yours seem to have vanashed, im looking through the server logs at the moment.

Ben

Ben,

I have also went from 2104 posts to 2079 how;s that ?

Paul thank you for your honest answers,

The bulk of your post i pretty much agree with (did i post the previous post more than once ?) and i give credit that you have had the decency to respond,and for that once again i thank you.

To tell the truth i find all this,bickering childish and immature and really don't have the time for it.I wouldn't blame you for an instance not wanting to hear about things that happened in the 90's that didn't concern you or had happened before you maybe even had a driving licence never mind being a club member,i feel the same when people dribble on about about the most mundane technical questions,and find this even worse at a show when they do the same,but this is me,but the off topic section has more than reminiscences,if this were the case it would be called "Memory Lane " but very little is in a past tense,as i have said on many occasions "we are all different" and indeed i respect people for that.

Paul you have hit the nail on the head when you say sides,so much does boils down to taking one side or the other,but as posts have been deleted,i shall simplify the sides issue,the sides seemed to be those who thought that Ben had let the forum down,with his apparent abandonment of the fastmarinamagazine site,leaving it to Chris to run,entirely on his own,bringing about the possible loss of FMM, i believe this was the side you took and the others who thought that Ben was a prince amongst men,who's next stop was sainthood.

On the question of help,if i had offered to give my services and had no response from this,on more than one occasion (although the financing part was accepted) and i saw the same mistakes being made time and time again i would not be happy with this,and i'm sure you wouldn't either.

On the subject of "sad" perhaps not my greatest choice of word there.now trust me when i say that after over twenty years of Marina involvement,i'm being kind when i say SAD to some of them, but i never said MMOC,now did i or i have brought any club into things ? whether this is Top Gearish (a program i do not watch) no the truth is the truth,and you can shame it but you can't hide it,but these are only a small majority,and Paul if you stay the distance and you must trust me when i say this you, will find the same is true T.G or not.

In a weeks time all this will have blown over and all will be back to normal on here,Clarkson permitting.

Russ

Beckett Bros "To dream the impossible dream" :roll:

It’s now getting pretty hard to comment on because some of the posts we are referring to have mysteriously vanished! In my original points I just commented on the “Moderation Policy” past and present with reference to posts going missing when the temperature gets turned up.

My post led to a lot of people becoming unhappy with Ben’s lack of input here (no names mentioned as you all know who you are) and as a result Chris decided to step down because we has flying solo in effect. At no point did I once ever mention clubs as this was not a club issue but instead a forum issue that I addressed. I wasn’t looking to make a divide or start a war, I was just stating some facts.

When I make points or defend the car or forum I just say it how it is. I don’t believe in being nice about something when it isn’t actually nice. I tell it how it is! If this upsets people then I’m sorry but with me what you see is what you get. I will always try and help anyone out if I can without wanting brownie points or a pat on the back.

On a final point I administer other forums and one of them is built on the same platform as this one (phpBB 3.0.5 previously 3.0.4) and not once have I had posts going missing but it’s always funny how it’s the topics/ subjects that hit a raw nerve seem to be the ones that mysteriously vanish without a trace... :roll:

Sean

JubileeNut wrote:Hi Russ,
I will keep this short! Mainly as you seem to have posted the same article 5 or 6 times above!! :shock:

I have used this forum for technical help most of the time and made some good friends in the process who I see at the MMOC meets etc.
I see this site a great place to contact and find out items I need to help with my restoration.

I will be on here as long as I have a Marina and that (Providing I don't crash it) will be a very long time unless the forum closed.

Although this is a part of my life it is small compared to the rest of my day / time and it will never be my whole life.
Hats off to all those who devote many hours to the Forum, but I will mainly be popping off and on when I can.
Also being a relatively new to the MMOC I have not got the 20 + years friendship some of you guys have so don't or can't chat about old times and add to threads about topics non Marina related.
I personally don't post on the off topic section much if at all, maybe I will later, but presently long political or when I went down the pub conversations are not what I am looking for on the forum. Not to say your postings not been very entertaining and good to read and very well told, I just have not got that story telling skill :|

As for sitting on fences, I am supporting this forum as I think it is still the only one for me. As a newish member the last thing I want to see is other members of forums and MMOC slagging off each other! The system suits me and I have never been put on the naughty step or banned etc. I guess some can't help expressing their views without using bad language and insults which is a shame.

This seems to me a case of them waiting to see what side comes out victorious over an other

This is one of the main problems, it always seems to be about sides instead of the one goal of Marina's. There are already to many wars in this world and Marina's don't need one. If a war breaks out the Marina will loose not you or I!
In the case of the name it is still just a name. For example - Twitter, every time I hear this I think of a load of twitts telling each other about some famous person who eats curry for breakfast!!! Not really of interest to me but seems to have a huge following despite the silly name!
Can't see the point, but maybe I am not seeing the whole picture

It is said there is no bad publicity, good = good, bad = great publicity!

What are the sides out of interest? As I have missed it or no one has told me! :?

If I were to offer help to someone, and in the process call them all the names under the sun and insult them I think they would be confused as to whether that person was really offering help or taking the mickey and being rude!

The above was meant to be short! :roll:
Regards,
Paul.

I agree with everything that Paul has said.I have never looked at the off-topic stuff, and some of the cryptic banter between members who perhaps know each other very well is open to allsorts of (mis)interpretations. I personally go down to the pub,usually every sunday, and look my friends in the eye when I am messing about so that there can be no misunderstandings,only belly laughs!
This site is a great & valuable resource for all that Paul mentions, these are my reasons for being here and coming back.As a member of diecast toy, bus, warbird and cricket forums as well I would have to say that in general ,the relatively high volume of banter that appears here on the public forums is restricted to personal messages systems on most ,but not all other forums.
If it pleases Ben and the other mods, why not focus this site back onto the Morris Marina & Ital alone, and put the personal chatter either onto a hidden forum ,or better still on the personal messages system, and then TG will not be able to point to us as a bunch of w**k*rs in future, and the persoanlity clashes that have arisen will not be able to publicly re-occur