Sex, Schizophrenia and Massacres – a Year in the Life of the Hendon Mob Forum
Ok, so I lied about the sex, though barely a day goes by without it being alluded to, hinted at or discussed. I’m not sure if any of it actually happens on the forum, although I have my suspicions about OwenP and Mrs. Blennerhasset.
Forums are never dull, well, poker forums are never dull – I’m sure that there are some forums with 2 or 3 members discussing the intricacies of cross-stitching which some people would find dull, but there has never been a day since joining THMF that I have not been entertained.
Forums are often surprising; witicisms, advanced poker theory and even on occasion deep philosophy have sprung from the unlikeliest of sources; even the M1stro has written some sense* from time to time.
(*to be fair, it probably makes more sense to him than it does to everyone else but beggars can’t be choosers…)
We are lucky on THMF to have valuable contributions from Vicky, Catman, Badbeat et al., not to mention our regular posters who have turned their hands to article writing and some damned good articles they are too. To all of our contributors: thank you – we love you!
The THMF has had it’s fair share of controversy. From NickS’ non-payment thread and general Gutshot-related shenanigans to the battle of wills between M1stro and Gandalf not to mention roughly 3,258 other conflicts currently raging on THMF, we have to thank the moderators (except me as I’m usually the one starting it….): Nemesis, Indestructable and Checkov for keeping the nuclear wars in check.
But you know what? Despite these occasional spats, THMF is still the nicest and friendliest forum out there, and one I’m proud to be a member of. I had the great pleasure to meet the Mob recently (/brag) and was overwhelmed by how genuinely nice all of you are, and I think that this factor is key in explaining why the forum – for all it’s disagreements and mild scraps has a real sense of community and belonging.
Whilst we’re on the subject of mods, admins and nice people; Robert, Wez and Marius are legends; the unsung heroes of THMF – keeping the site updated and running at it’s best even under the deluge of posts from Ronnie’s 217,857** alter-egos.
(**At last count. A few thousand more may have been created while you were reading this.)
There have been some lows throughout the year; sad news of the passing of Vicky’s father Alan Coren and Chip Reese have given many of us pause for thought, and also some highs; welcome to Caitlin Emma, the youngest honourary member of THMF although still probably capable of more coherent posts than M1stro…..also happy 18th birthday to rangers_fc and happy [censored]th birthday to Joe!
Congrats to The Mob in general who have taken home a plethora of poker victories especially Ram’s WSOP bracelet (although that was eclipsed in my opinion by Ram’s even greater victory in making 3 whole posts on the forum in 2007!), Joe’s GBPT and Pokermillion double victory and Ross’ theatre play in the westend which I have heard good things about but not yet managed to see (are you allowed to heckle the actors in theatres Ross?).
The forum ‘massacre’ was an unrivaled success (from what I can remember of it what with Nemesis trying to get me drunk), despite Ace_Kray failing to turn up, and furthest-travelled award goes to martypalin. I can confirm that Nemesis does in fact exist and that Grumbledook has the lamest excuse for a black eye in the history of mankind…
So that pretty much wraps up 2007. I think there was some poker-related stuff as well that I was going to mention, but you can read all about it for yourselves. By the way, did I tell everyone about my Gusthot-Vic double back in may?
A happy, healthy, prosperous and lucky new year to you all.
