I just read the Taking A Break My Friends thread, so I get it. There has been tension in this forum since the explosion last fall. I've certainly felt it in the posts. I think that the The Most Overrated Pipe Maker In The Known Universe thread has provided a MUCH needed and healthy opportunity to let off a lot of steam. Most of it has nothing whatsoever to do with the OP. The perceived over-the-top opening just opened the floodgates.
I've enjoyed all of the wacky postings and videos. They have provided much needed levity.
But I also get that we occasionally step over the line.
We have a General Discussion forum so that we can share about other topics, the personal events in our lives, our other interests, etc. So I think that there is a place for content other than the hobby here, but it should perhaps be posted in that forum.
But the let off occurred in a different forum and it was much needed or it wouldn't have happened.
I certainly have not intended to offer offense to anyone here, and have practiced restraint of pen and tongue, which is good for me to do. Like Warren, I can go very dark with my humor, but I rein it in here. So if I have inadvertently offended anyone I apologize.
Participating in this forum is a privilege and I enjoy the time that I spend here.
But we can't walk on egg shells either.
So, the next time I decide to post something like Kate Upton in Zero Gravity, or two remarkably talented cellists performing AC DC's Thunderstruck, I'll do so in the General Discussion forum.
...Unless I do so in The Most Overrated Pipe Maker In The Known Universe thread, which frankly confounds any definitions.
Feel free to contact me and tell me that I have gone beyond the limits of civilized discourse when I do so.