dude

You will be able to START your own AD Community Blogs from Labor Day weekend.... (that's weekend after next for non-US folks. ) If you have a blog elsewhere you'd like to have appear at AD ... we'll start linking them THIS weekend. Thank you for asking.

And there you have, Camy, the reason those particular two smilies were carried over from the old board.

Yeah... I said I haven't got everything implemented yet... As the lovely and talented TalonRider pointed out in a PM... they do have a BOOK on the subject and from the dearth of online documentation for this board... I understand they must sell a lot of them. I'll have you know I have ordered the book... which should be here in Borneo in a mere six to eight weeks on the bananna boat... but I have purchased the e-version of the book and it resides on my hard drive now. It is now Monday morning now so after taking care of morning duties and getting the coffee IV bottle flowing... I'll be all over that little PDF file... Thanks for all your support!

Hi Gang, Well quite a bit of action around here this weekend... The most noticable is probably the new look to the AwesomeDude Forums. As I write this, our new board - by Invision Power Boards - has been online less than 24 hours and we're still pretty low on the learning curve with it. I hope to have all the features working by this time next week. I have migrated our database which carries all your posts and user info from the old board which was phpBB2. There is an all new look, and much better functionality in the new board, once I get it all rolled out. Like I say... I am working through this with you but with a commercially produced board comes one big advantage... customer service. No longer do I want to put our forums in danger using a freeware... under development board with NO recourse should there develop a problem. Bear with me on this one... we'll have features and services galore and will roll them out one-by-one. Like... can you say blog: Let's take a look at what's new this week: Free Fall by Codey - Chapter 2 has been posted - Codey will be posting fortnightly - we forgot to mention. Robert's Day by Camy - This is a new short story from our newest young UK writer, Camy. He has 3 now! The Scrolls of Icaria by Jamie - Chapter 11 of Book Two is now posted. Jamie also posts fortnightly. Collision by The Collision Crew - Ch 16 - The final chapter of this collaborative story wrapped up Ryan Keith Someday Out of The Blue by LittleBuddhaTW - Chapters 21 and 22 are now availableI It Stays in Vegas by Jack Scribe - Now up to Part 10 in this Sin City-based story The Garden by Nevious - Chapter 16 is an emotional one. Get out the Kleenex. Camy and Graeme have new Author's pages... please check them out. No the model on Graeme's page is NOT him... but Camy does appear in HIS mini-site. Both along with Josiah Jacobus-Parker's new author's page are available directly from the AwesomeDude Home Page... That's it... Codey, with assistance from Blue will be rolling his new site over the Labor Day weekend and a surprise from AD coming that weekend too. Have a great week of reading.

Hmmmm .... bright pink, thanks for the suggestion, Des. :-P

We are now rolling out the new Invision Power Board here at AwesomeDude Forums. As I'm still low on the learning curve on this new and complex piece of software... please bear with me. If you notice a function that doesn't work... drop me an email at dude@awesomedude.com and let me know... When all the bugs are worked out... And everyone gets used to using the new board... including me...I'm sure you'll like it and that it will be much more reliable and secure that our previous software. Bear with us! and yes.. I'm working on getting the smilies to not take up so much room....

Pro-family boycott hurting business, letter acknowledges Published August 17, 2006 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)?A letter representing 78 Texas Ford dealers was sent to Ford?s Detroit headquarters earlier this summer, urging the company to ?cease? advertising in homosexual publications. The letter acknowledged that a pro-family boycott is hurting their business. Sent to Ford Motor Company CEO William Clay Ford and dated June 23, the letter was posted on the American Family Association?s website Aug. 9. AFA and other pro-family groups announced a boycott of Ford in March to protest the company?s advertising in homosexual magazines such as The Advocate and Out as well as Ford?s support of homosexual activist causes. ?To be clear we strongly urge that Ford not only cease to advertise in homosexual related media and events, but in all politically charged and controversial media and events. We believe that Ford can and should market to all Americans with transportation needs, but that it should do so without tacitly approving a controversial lifestyle or stance,? the letter stated. By advertising in such publications, the letter said, Ford was ?alienating our mutual customers.? The letter was sent by the Greater Texas Ford Dealers Advertising Fund, which the letter said represents 78 Ford dealers in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. The advertising fund?s governing board ?unanimously endorsed? the letter, which was signed by Doss Rogers, chairman of the Greater Texas Ford Dealers Advertising Fund, and included the names of the other board members. A spokesperson for the advertising fund confirmed to Baptist Press that the letter had been sent to Ford. The letter pointed to a Ford advertisement in an edition of the Advocate that was placed ?on the facing page to an article on gay polygamy.? That edition, with a cover story titled ?Big Gay Love,? was released earlier this summer. The first two paragraphs of the story describe a foursome relationship involving three men and a woman who is married to one of the men. ?When the blue oval is placed next to offensive photos of the gay lifestyle, as it was in the ad mentioned above, customers then believe that Ford endorses that lifestyle,? the letter stated. The letter further said: ?As one dealer at a recent meeting put it, ?The folks supporting this boycott are not on the fringe, they are not religious fanatics or persons that typically protest, but are average citizens concerned for the well-being of their families and about an all-American company like Ford advocating a lifestyle that they find objectionable.?? Customers, the letter said, ?are besieging us in person, by phone, mail and e-mail.? ?Individually we respond as best we can, using the information provided by the company,? the letter said. ?Although in some cases we are somewhat successful in this effort, in the majority of cases we are not.? The boycott, the letter said, is ?affecting our business.? ?As many of us try to convey to our customers, we as dealers have no control over where Ford Motor Company advertises, we do however suffer the brunt of consumer outrage and boycotts such as this one,? it stated. According to a January business article in the Detroit Free Press, Ford ?donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to homosexual groups, sponsors gay pride parades and holds mandatory diversity training for managers.? In an Aug. 9 e-mail to subscribers, American Family Association chairman Donald Wildmon said Ford had advertisements in the latest editions of the Advocate and Out. Wildmon also said Ford was a contributor to PFLAG?Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. Wildmon said Ford refused to contribute to PFOX?Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (an organization for those who have left homosexuality). Ford sales, Wildmon said, dropped 5 percent in March, 7 percent in April, 2 percent in May, 6.8 percent in June and 4.1 percent in July. ?Ford sales have consistently dropped since AFA began the boycott,? Wildmon said. For information about the national debate over ?gay marriage,? visit http://www.bpnews.net/samesexmarriage

Sacramento, CA) -- About ten Republican members of the state Assembly either walked out on or boycotted a ceremony in the Assembly chambers Monday honoring achievements of gay Californians. The Pride Recognition Awards event was put on the the Legislature's Lesbian, gay, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus. Republican Leader George Plescia (PLEH-sha) of La Jolla said the event was ridiculous and a waste of the Assembly's time since there are many bills to be considered before the end of the session later this month.

Bricks with profane remarks are thrown through window By Tim Vandenack The Hutchinson News tvandenack@hutchnews.com MEADE - Someone tossed a brick through a plate glass window early Friday morning at a hotel that is the focus of controversy here because the proprietors hung a rainbow flag out front. Loren Borger, chief of the Meade Police Department, said no arrests have been made but that police and the Meade County Sheriff's Department are investigating the incident. He suspects a local had a hand in the matter, which occurred sometime between 4:15 and 5:15 in the morning. J.R. and Robin Knight hung a rainbow flag outside the Lakeway Inn here last month after their 12-year-old son, drawn by its bright colors, sent the banner as a gift from California. The rainbow flag represents gay pride, however, and the move irked some in Meade who are uncomfortable with such a symbol in their midst. The word "fag" was written on the brick tossed through the window. "Get the -- out of town" was written on a second, which was found on the sidewalk in front of the hotel, according to officials and the Knights. J.R. Knight expressed dismay. Similarly, officials from the Kansas Equality Coalition, formed to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation, condemned the turn of events. "These are isolated acts by a few people who don't represent the vast majority of our neighbors and friends," said Anne Mitchell, head of the group's southwest Kansas chapter. "However, this kind of harassment will continue until the good people of the state stand up for their neighbors." The rainbow flag actually wasn't hanging outside the Lakeway early Friday morning, when officials say the brick was tossed. It had been cut down in the early-morning hours of July 31, and Knight was in the process of fixing the pole so it could accommodate a replacement. But the hotel proprietor - who has said the decision to fly a flag at the Lakeway should be his and his wife's, not their critics' - finished the repairs and hung a new flag Friday afternoon. The southwest chapter of the equality coalition is set to have its regular monthly meeting on Sunday at the Lakeway. Though he suspects the meeting itself will be peaceful, Borger said authorities will be attentive to any possible disruptive activity. 08/12/2006; 02:34:21 AM

Hi Gang, Congratulations to Graeme[/size]. Lots of new things afoot? Codey is getting ready to launch his own website and the peeks we?ve had so far indicate it should be a fun place to hang out. We?ll be making the formal announcement and pouring the Champagne (alcohol-free) about this time next week. Stay tuned. On to our Serial Story Chapter updates for this week: Another Day In Paradise by WBMS Chapter 6 Someday Out Of The Blue by LittleBuddhaTW Chap 20 Heart of The Tree by Graeme Chapter 7 It Stays in Vegas by Jack Scribe Part 9 The Garden by Nevius Chapter 15 We?ve made a listing of Recently Completed Novels on the AwesomeDude Home Page as well. Remember, all the stories listed on the Home Page now have comment balloons associated with them. By running your mouse cursor over the links you can get a short sample of the story or chapter's content. Word has it that at least three of our resident authors- Joel, Sequoyah . The new poetry listing is finally up. Gabe?s Picks for August are: Truth by Ryan Keith As You Dream by Camy Do You Know Me by DJ Hospice by AJ Life is ? by Alex I understand our Humor and Limericks Forum? we?re not sure. He is still babbling incoherently? but then again he?s been doing that since we attended high school together. That?s it for this week. A few technical things are going on in the background, shuffling directories around at AwesomeDude. If your browser balks at opening a story or chapter you?ve been to before? just use the refresh or reload button and it should appear. If you have problems seeing anything on the site? just drop me a line at dude@awesomedude.com and we?ll look into it. Another plug for The Bull Penbased in North America. Check it out.. and better yet, submit a bit of that story you?ve been working on and see what others think of it. Have a great week of reading!

:D

An Australian town is refusing to fly all flags from its council buildings amid uproar after the local authority rejected pleas to display rainbow flags for the annual ChillOut gay and lesbian festival. Despite previously displaying flags for other local events, Heather Mutimer, the mayor of Hepburn Shire in Victoria, has rejected demands to fly the flag of the gay community for their pride event symbol at Daylesford Town Hall. According to the Melbourne Star, the town has the largest lesbian and gay population in rural and regional Australia, but over the last three years has never been allowed to fly the rainbow flag. Ms Mutimer told the Melbourne Star that only the Swiss Italian Festa had been allowed to fly flags at the Town Hall, ?As these were official national flags [of Switzerland and Italy] the council considered it acceptable.? But Chillout President Renee Ludekens said the Mayor?s recollection was wrong, ?Those flags have been flown whether or not a dignitary was visiting, Also, other festival flags have been displayed.? In reaction to this, councillors recently voted to ban all festival flags at the town hall, instead choosing to have a new pole for events at the tourist information centre. Chillout organiser Jim Culbertson claimed most of the town?s residents were asking, ?What do you mean they won?t fly the rainbow flag? This is the gay capital of rural Australia.? The Mayor of Hepburn Shire told the Melbourne Star that councillors had allowed the gay event to display rainbow lights and a rainbow banner on the fence of the building, she said: ?The Council has demonstrated it is not ashamed to be associated with the gay and lesbian community.?

Willie Nelson resembles that remark!

Hi Gang, Well, if Tragic Rabbit and wibby (writebymyself) can do it? I guess I can too? come off my hiatus, unexpectedly, that is. A lot has gone on behind the scenes at AwesomeDude in the past couple of months? including a lot of personal grief. But life goes on? and for as long as my subscription lasts, I guess I will too. I want to thank James for leaping in and filling the void these past couple weeks? greatly appreciated by all. We?ve been doing a bit of tweaking around the site? and hopefully for the good. Rather than go into the details of each story chapter each week (yes I DO read them) which always involves the danger of spoiling it for somebody who?s not current with a story? I?ll just list them.. and bring you other news of AD in this space every Sunday. By the way, in case you didn?t notice? by moving your cursor over a story link on the AwesomeDude Home Page? a little box will pop up and give you a taste of what?s in that particular story or chapter. This is now standard. Let?s do a rundown for you this week: Free Fall, a novel by Codey [/size]is a welcome addition to AwesomeDude this week. This is Codey?s first shot at a novel and follows a successful career as a poet and short story writer. As Codey is believed to be the youngest of our writers here at AD? I guess he?s our official ?little brother,? as well. Credits for illustration and web design for Free Fall go to Blue. Drama Club by Tragic Rabbit is at Chapter 20 at the moment with the final two chapters coming very soon. TR is working on them simultaneously and 21 and 22 should come to you close together. It is good to have Drama Club back with us! Another Day in Paradise by WBMS is good news too. The author has come of his hiatus in a big way with Chapters 4 and 5 coming within days of each other. And the surprises keep coming? stay tuned for more action. The Millrace by Camy is one of two new short stories gracing the Home Page this weekend. Camy has come through with a winning combination of likeable characters, romance and action to craft a neat tale. Heck, I even liked the villain! Check this one out. Blood?s Thick by Gabriel Duncan best he has written. It?s short but sweet. You?re gonna like it. Family Snippets: Maths and Mazes by Graeme spotlight. If you think you missed out on a lot ?not raising your own family- then checkout this delightful ongoing account of family life by Graeme Weekly Chapter Updates are available this week for: The Scrolls of Icaria by Jamie ? Book 2 Chapter 10 It Stays In Vegas by Jack Scribe ? Part 8 Someday Out Of The Blue by LittleBuddhaTW ? Chapters 18 & 19 The Garden by Nevious ? Chapter 6 Our Dude?s Picks for August are up: Novel Short Story We?ve done new Authors Pages for both Josiah Jacobus-Parker and new AD author Camy. Both list the current stories posted here by their respective authors. I hope you?re checking the Authors are also worth checking out as well. Best of Nifty Welcome to vwl (or vowel-less as WBMS has dubbed him) an accomplished author in his own right who has agreed to moderate our Best of Nifty Discussion Forum. Best-of-Nifty.org is part of the AwesomeDude family of websites and we hope you?ll give vwl your help and cooperation as we refurbish the BON site? and also add more listings for stories that are published at other sites and not at Nifty. You?ll also notice a list of recommended story sites and links to Grasshopper stories at IOMFATS.org on our AD Front Page? as you can see, we?re not here just to blow our own horn? but to promote good writing wherever we find it. OK.. that?s about it from here? the rest is up to you. Have a great week of reading and see ya again next weekend. And don?t forget to write your favorite authors as well. Your comments, feedback and encouragement is their only payment for their many hours of effort.[/color]

And who was it who said 'You won't find any Rimbaud's in AD's Poet's Corner Forum?

How quickly we forget... I remember back to when My Lai hit the media... we (the American people) were appalled. But then it wasn't a war against Buddhism. Buddhists weren't thought to be the enemy. A young officer - Lt. James Calley - bit the bullet. Now under the current Gods Own Party leadership... similar stuff happens in Afghanistan and Iraq with even incursions into Pakistan. With Fox and CNN the current media leaders jostling for viewership and each trying to grabmore conservative viewers... the criticism -and coverage- is muted. Enlisted people are blamed this time. Political observation ended... thanks for this poem, TR. You're attention to recent history earns you the prose and poetry title of AwesomeHistorian.

Thanks for pointing it out, Rad. I looked at it a couple of times and all I saw was a mountain bike. You are right ..... eww gross :pukeright:

Since I won't be rusuming my weekly News & Views column until Labor Day... let me weigh in here and say how much I've enjoyed reading and hosting Sealing Our Fate. Josh has found the right combination of romance, sensuality and sexuality and expresses it so well... We look forward to reading (and hosting) more of his stuff in the future. Perhaps more of 'The Greatest of These' ??? Great job, Josh!

Peachy indeed. And now I have another favorite character... never thought I'd find myself infatuated with The Angel of Death but under the skillful story crafting of Jamie... it has happened. Another excellent chapter, Jamie!

Glad to see Drama Club Part 20 finally has arrived... and I certainly wasn't disappointed. And talk about cliffhangers... arrrrrgh I know a lot of readers were waiting to see if the story was going to be finished to even start reading it. Now they have no excuse. With the concluding chapters 21 and 22 in the works and even titled I'm sure nobody will be disappointed. And for those who haven't read the preceding chapters... there's no time like the present! Well done, TR!

We're all -in the lyrics of Dusty Springfield- Wishin' and Hopin' it will be soon, Rad. Let's all keep the bunny's feet to the fire till he feels the heat and starts hopping again!

I am so happy that Jerry has picked up on this story again. It -to some- might be off putting in it's title. My experience with Mormon missionaries has not been good or bad... never having met one on US soil but seeing them all over Asia - my domain. They always seemed so mysterious... young 20-year-old boys going around in pairs with strange nametags... calling themselves elders. While not by any means troll - they appeared aloof and distant like they cosidered themselves apart from the unwashed multitudes. Well it began with the movie Latter Days, I guess. The idea that these lads even had sexual thoughts, much less acted on them, was new to me. Jerry has taken this notion one step further - for me - and actually takes us in to the 'Mormon mind' so to speak from a very authoratative position, a gay mormon himself. I am writing this soon after reading Part 4 - a series of scenes alternating between real life crisis scenes in a hospital ward andto a tribunal being held somewhere between heaven and hell where life and death decisions are being made. It was, well... exciting and I felt my heartbeat jump with every transition and scene. It was so well executed that I was totally caught up in it and found myself smiling and nodding my head when the chapter came to an end. Bravo, Jerry. Keep this one a little closer to the 'front burner' from now on!

Welcome to the addiction, James! :roll:

I thoroughly enjoyed JJ and The Boys, Camy. I hope you choose to share more of your stories with us. Nicely done.

Totally, totally excellent! Everybody should see this - even if you aren't quite 18! These days, 18 may be too late!