Science fiction author Ray Bradbury, whose imagination yielded classic books such as “Fahrenheit 451,” “The Martian Chronicles” and “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” has died at 91.
It was almost 7 years ago today that I reviewed his short story collection Quicker than the Eye, a collection I still look at from time to time. And I still find one of my favorite quotes in that book.
–Make Haste to Live –
Thanks Ray – you will be missed.
On February 1, 2009 a long chapter in my “online life” will end. I am closing soundchaser.org.
I decided back in the summer that if there was not an uptick in activity on the site , I would close it.
The site was devised as a solution to a problem. Originally the foundation was a Yahoo Group designed to discuss and debate the music of Yes. It went online Sep. 22, 1998. I started it while sitting in a web design class and then promptly left it alone. Along the way, it actually started to get activity. I returned only to find a community! I did my best to join in and be a big part of the community. And a community did grow! People met, people got married even! Then Yahoo changed the groups. And the result was not grand. On top of it, they changed the name, we had been simply Yes before. After the change, we became yes2 because a group of 6 people that were into motivational speaking got the Yes moniker. The beginning of moving to a space that we controlled was seeded and I set to work, with a lot of help from the community.
The band was very active at this time, releasing several albums, touring and doing interesting shows. The site was as active as the band. We did real bandwidth numbers and the community blossomed. Over 1,100 people joined the site. Then the band “took a break” in 2004.
The site slid further down with each passing month. The band announced a 40th anniversary tour in the spring of 2009 to promptly cancel it. The cancellation was a result of the aging singers health. The band moved forward and hired a tribute band singer to front the band. The site continued its decline. I was hoping with the pseudo-band touring that traffic would pick up. Not so.
The ineviatable decision was made and the doors will be closed. Ironically, the members – the few who read the site and post even less – asked that the Yahoo Group be reactivated. So in a “Fool Circle” the Yahoo group is coming back.
This is my goodbye from the site and my way of saying Thank You to all that helped and all that I met.
In the sake of all things fun. Here are some of the versions via the WayBack Machine
So Long, and thanks for all the fish
