Xref: utzoo soc.singles:12964 alt.flame:1339
Path: utzoo!hoptoad!amdcad!ames!sunybcs!ugfailau
From: ugfailau@sunybcs.uucp (Fai Lau)
Newsgroups: soc.singles,alt.flame
Subject: Re: Flames
Message-ID: <7862@sunybcs.UUCP>
Date: 16 Jan 88 06:57:26 GMT
References: <7728@sunybcs.UUCP> <1429@quad1.quad.com> <8612@ism780c.UUCP>
Sender: nobody@sunybcs.UUCP
Reply-To: ugfailau@joey.UUCP (Fai Lau)
Organization: SUNY/Buffalo Computer Science
Lines: 70

In article <8612@ism780c.UUCP> mikep@ism780c.UUCP (Michael A. Petonic) writes:
>
>Fai, you probably don't want to flame Oleg.
>
>A similar thing happened to me.  Someone told me that 
>Dorothy's flames were the ultimate.  However, at that
>time, I had yet to see proof.
>
>So, on this very column (soc.singles), I purposefully baited
>her.  I guess she caught on and didn't respond (got a lot of
>flames from OTHERS, though).  When I reached her (or she reached me)
>through EMail, I asked her for a sample.  She included a flame
>directed towards someone else on the startrek board.  Then, as 
>a gift, flamed a flame towards me.  
>
>Well, I have to say, I can't think of anything that would print
>her flame.  It was bad (read: good).  Not a thing for timid people
>to read.  Usually these old timers on the net have some flame
>ability (either natural or built up over time) and to purposefully
>bait them is foolish (unless you aren't affected by flames).
>
>Take a lesson from a learned one.
>

	Thanx for your concern, Mike, I really appreciate it.
Now let me tell a little history about myself. Once upon
a time in our university there was a bulletion board called
Insult Board. I had just discovered this board at the time,
and posted a couple of generic funny insults for entertainment
purposes. The board was very popular then, filled with all
kinds of insults that you can normally find in this net.
I soon instantly established a small reputation as being someone
who would post cute and non-serious insults. But then this
guy came in.
	This person was a master of insult, not to speak of
his master of the English language. Within a couple of
weeks of his appearance, everybody got SCARED off the board.
That is, except me. I wasn't very good than. But I had
a reputation as being an informative contributor in the
other bulletin board so I thought it was my obligation
to raise up to the challenge. I observed and learned,
gradually developed my own style. For the following three or
so monthes this person and I dominated the Insult Board,
noone would even dare to put anything up except us two.
Anyone else who would put a word on the board quickly
got dismissed and thrown out. After the three monthes
I got a little tried of the whole thing, and for
some other reason I decided to quit. The Insult
Board still exists, and that person has become the
operator. And I consider myself retired from that
and all school bulletin boards (now I read USENET). 
	I don't think I will ever encounter anyone
else with the wit and style of this person. I have
done battle with him, and I don't think there is anyone
else I can't take on. It is easy to put five nesty
words together and call it an insult. But there is more,
there is class, style, wit, and the ability to get to
the other people's inner most feeling and conquer it.
All of us have grown up hearing four letter word
insults. I don't think anyone can seriously get
physically upsetted by them. Of course I can never be sure.
There has to be someone out there who can write insults
better than anyone I have ever seen. And who knows,
I might get to run into him/her one of these days in
USENET.

Fai  Lau
SUNY at Buffalo (The Arctic Wonderland)
UU: ..{rutgers,ames}!sunybcs!ugfailau
BI: ugfailau@sunybcs INT: ugfailau@joey.cs.buffalo.EDU