Mark Squires' BB to close for good - UPDATED (WA sold to Michelin)

[David_Glasser]

What? It’s still alive? I thought it died years ago…

It did. They’re finally getting around to burying it.
Pretty fast response IMO, especially if compared to their release of MyWines.

Snarkiness aside, it was a fun and vibrant board before moving to eRP. It grew rapidly with the move and suffered some growing pains. Thin skin and a heavy hand with moderation in response to the conflicts that arose started a downward spiral.

We sat at the same table, during the 2005 Robert Parker luncheon, in the Baltimore Inner Harbor.

I remember it well, Victor. That was one of several memorable offlines, some with Bob Parker and others with Mark Squires and the Philadelphia and NJ crew back in the antebellum days. I met a lot of people through that board, a fair number in person and that I consider friends. I met Ron Kramer in person the first time when I offered him a room in our home for one of the MacArthur California barrel tastings. My wife was sure I’d connected with an internet axe murderer until she met him.

[Howard_Cooper]

Do I have to choose between them???

Yes, absolutely. It would be a complete harshing of a perfectly good mellow to avoid further inciting their Abbot and Costello routine as much as humanly possible.

More like Oscar and Felix.

Who is who?

[mike_basile]

The Squires board was a great place to learn about wine. I lurked there for many years when my taste for wine grew, just absorbing the vast knowledge that was given willingly by so many. I am grateful to all who participated. It did not matter if I agreed or disagree with their tastes or opinions. I would have never found all the wines I have tried without the Squires board. It was really an entertaining place to expand your knowledge and taste.

[Howard_Cooper]

It did. They’re finally getting around to burying it.
Pretty fast response IMO, especially if compared to their release of MyWines.

Snarkiness aside, it was a fun and vibrant board before moving to eRP. It grew rapidly with the move and suffered some growing pains. Thin skin and a heavy hand with moderation in response to the conflicts that arose started a downward spiral.

We sat at the same table, during the 2005 Robert Parker luncheon, in the Baltimore Inner Harbor.

I remember it well, Victor. That was one of several memorable offlines, some with Bob Parker and others with Mark Squires and the Philadelphia and NJ crew back in the antebellum days. I met a lot of people through that board, a fair number in person and that I consider friends. I met Ron Kramer in person the first time when I offered him a room in our home for one of the MacArthur California barrel tastings. My wife was sure I’d connected with an internet axe murderer until she met him.

David, I remember meeting you at a tasting at Lavandou. It was either the first or second offline I ever did. I also met a lot of people from that board including a decent number of people in my current wine tasting group. It was sad to see what happened to it.

[David_Glasser]

We sat at the same table, during the 2005 Robert Parker luncheon, in the Baltimore Inner Harbor.

I remember it well, Victor. That was one of several memorable offlines, some with Bob Parker and others with Mark Squires and the Philadelphia and NJ crew back in the antebellum days. I met a lot of people through that board, a fair number in person and that I consider friends. I met Ron Kramer in person the first time when I offered him a room in our home for one of the MacArthur California barrel tastings. My wife was sure I’d connected with an internet axe murderer until she met him.

David, I remember meeting you at a tasting at Lavandou. It was either the first or second offline I ever did. I also met a lot of people from that board including a decent number of people in my current wine tasting group. It was sad to see what happened to it.

I remember that one too. I’d have stayed more connected to the DC group if it weren’t for the drive.

[Robert.A.Jr]

Yes, absolutely. It would be a complete harshing of a perfectly good mellow to avoid further inciting their Abbot and Costello routine as much as humanly possible.

More like Oscar and Felix.

Who is who?

Well, I should be embarrassed to admit this, but life has its humor. My frat pledge name was Felix. Apparently I had a reputation quickly developed that I was a silver spoon baby and needed to have things done for me. I never attended the pledge work parties and got a hallpass from the cool brothers because, allegedly, I brought hot chicks around. In my defense, I was much more studly than the name implies. And given that I am more of a finicky palate than my friend Leve, who likes goopy stuff - like a frat boy with nachos and industrialized beer - the choice is pretty obvious.

[Merrill_Lindquist]

For those of us who were not part of that board, how did it compare (during its heyday) to this one?

It was compelling. A wealth of knowledge and a real wide cast of characters. I joined it in 2005 and it was a real learning experience. I did not even know that chat or bulletin boards existed - I had been caught up with single-parenting a then-11 year old and with establishing my label. I never had run ins with Parker nor Squires, but plenty of people did. I made lots of friends on that board, although there is an entire cadre that has not followed over here.

[Howard_Cooper]

More like Oscar and Felix.

Who is who?

Well, I should be embarrassed to admit this, but life has its humor. My frat pledge name was Felix. Apparently I had a reputation quickly developed that I was a silver spoon baby and needed to have things done for me. I never attended the pledge work parties and got a hallpass from the cool brothers because, allegedly, I brought hot chicks around. In my defense, I was much more studly than the name implies. And given that I am more of a finicky palate than my friend Leve, who likes goopy stuff - like a frat boy with nachos and industrialized beer - the choice is pretty obvious.

I assume that your frat brothers would read this as blah, blah, blah he “brought hot chicks around.”

[Howard_Cooper]

I remember it well, Victor. That was one of several memorable offlines, some with Bob Parker and others with Mark Squires and the Philadelphia and NJ crew back in the antebellum days. I met a lot of people through that board, a fair number in person and that I consider friends. I met Ron Kramer in person the first time when I offered him a room in our home for one of the MacArthur California barrel tastings. My wife was sure I’d connected with an internet axe murderer until she met him.

David, I remember meeting you at a tasting at Lavandou. It was either the first or second offline I ever did. I also met a lot of people from that board including a decent number of people in my current wine tasting group. It was sad to see what happened to it.

I remember that one too. I’d have stayed more connected to the DC group if it weren’t for the drive.

Yes. It is a shame about the distance. We used to have George come from Baltimore all the time, but he has not come to DC in several years. We miss him.

[Arnold_Caplan]

Forum will permanently close in 2 weeks
07-01-2019, 11:00 AM
This forum stopped being principally oriented as a peer-to-peer sharing site perhaps a decade ago, and was intended primarily to be have a supporting role for the pay site since then. We have better software for that now, a comments section tied to individual articles by reviewers, and social media better fills other needs for us. Several threads make it clear that no real purpose is well served by the existing software, i.e., the forum, and that is our view.

We are going forward solely with the upgraded software previously announced–the comments section. That will better fill the role of support and contact software that the forum was supposed to have, but never really filled well. We will send an email with further instructions on how to use it, if you haven’t already tried it. In any event, this forum will be permanently closed in two weeks.

That’s an official statement. How do I personally feel? Great. Not a trace of nostalgia. I liked other incarnations when they seemed appropriate. Their time passed. As I’ve made explicit in numerous threads over the last few years. I like far more these days social media, and have for some years. I think most of the reviewers do. Feel free to follow my Instagram feed, or my Facebook feed (it is maxed out for “friends,” but you can “follow” and wine posts are always public). I know some won’t agree–as those numerous threads point out. So be it. We do feel that social media and the comments section strike the right balance.

[ToddFrench]

Merging

[Jim_Brennan]

Just FYI, it was announced earlier today that the Mark Squires’ BB will close for good on or around July 15th (if someone else has already posted about this, my apologies). It had been limping along for several years, so no real loss, but I couldn’t help feeling a little nostalgic when I read the news. That this should be planned for the day after the commemoration of the taking of the Bastille is, I’m sure, pure coincidence. There are still one or two quality reviewers, notably William Kelley, but TWA does increasingly look like the Norwegian Blue parrot.

Can Mark open it temporarily to the public for well wishers?

I’d look forward to telling that little Parker-ass-kissing-quisling MFer to go F himself.

[Brad_Kane]

We sat at the same table, during the 2005 Robert Parker luncheon, in the Baltimore Inner Harbor.

I remember it well, Victor. That was one of several memorable offlines, some with Bob Parker and others with Mark Squires and the Philadelphia and NJ crew back in the antebellum days. I met a lot of people through that board, a fair number in person and that I consider friends. I met Ron Kramer in person the first time when I offered him a room in our home for one of the MacArthur California barrel tastings. My wife was sure I’d connected with an internet axe murderer until she met him.

David, I remember meeting you at a tasting at Lavandou. It was either the first or second offline I ever did. I also met a lot of people from that board including a decent number of people in my current wine tasting group. It was sad to see what happened to it.

I remember meeting a bunch of great folks at the “Cult wine” offline at Steve Levy’s place, in September of 1999, followed the next day by the Bordeaux gig at Cafe Matisse. Believe it or not, Ed Assidio’s webpage about it is still up, though some of the links there are broken, such as my tasting notes which linked to the old board. The pics are still up, though. The Cult Wine Offline

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

Just FYI, it was announced earlier today that the Mark Squires’ BB will close for good on or around July 15th (if someone else has already posted about this, my apologies). It had been limping along for several years, so no real loss, but I couldn’t help feeling a little nostalgic when I read the news. That this should be planned for the day after the commemoration of the taking of the Bastille is, I’m sure, pure coincidence. There are still one or two quality reviewers, notably William Kelley, but TWA does increasingly look like the Norwegian Blue parrot.

Can Mark open it temporarily to the public for well wishers?

I’d look forward to telling that little Parker-ass-kissing-quisling MFer to go F himself.

Squires just decided not to open it up.

[brigcampbell]

WB needs cutting software that has a “comments field”

Instructions on how to use will be sent soon.

LOL

[David_Bu3ker]

Just FYI, it was announced earlier today that the Mark Squires’ BB will close for good on or around July 15th (if someone else has already posted about this, my apologies). It had been limping along for several years, so no real loss, but I couldn’t help feeling a little nostalgic when I read the news. That this should be planned for the day after the commemoration of the taking of the Bastille is, I’m sure, pure coincidence. There are still one or two quality reviewers, notably William Kelley, but TWA does increasingly look like the Norwegian Blue parrot.

Can Mark open it temporarily to the public for well wishers?

I’d look forward to telling that little Parker-ass-kissing-quisling MFer to go F himself.

Squires just decided not to open it up.

Smart move by Mark, as numerous posts here prove.

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

My post about not opening it up was a joke.

[Ken_V]

What’s going to happen to MyWines?

[David_Bu3ker]

My post about not opening it up was a joke.

I rest my case.

[Tom_DeBiase]

I remember it well, Victor. That was one of several memorable offlines, some with Bob Parker and others with Mark Squires and the Philadelphia and NJ crew back in the antebellum days. I met a lot of people through that board, a fair number in person and that I consider friends. I met Ron Kramer in person the first time when I offered him a room in our home for one of the MacArthur California barrel tastings. My wife was sure I’d connected with an internet axe murderer until she met him.

David, I remember meeting you at a tasting at Lavandou. It was either the first or second offline I ever did. I also met a lot of people from that board including a decent number of people in my current wine tasting group. It was sad to see what happened to it.

I remember meeting a bunch of great folks at the “Cult wine” offline at Steve Levy’s place, in September of 1999, followed the next day by the Bordeaux gig at Cafe Matisse. Believe it or not, Ed Assidio’s webpage about it is still up, though some of the links there are broken, such as my tasting notes which linked to the old board. The pics are still up, though. The Cult Wine Offline

That was an offline to remember as well as the one at Cafe Matisse the next day. Met many fine people from Mark’s and this board. Steve Levy was a character and very generous. I remember toward the end of the evening Steve opening several gems because he was determined not to let his soon to be divorced wife get her share of the wine.

The Offline at Charleston with Parker was another nice gathering of people from every area of the US.

If anyone wanted to put together a similar offline on the East Coast in memory of those good times we would gladly fly in from California to attend.

Tom