Bonobo's Forum is no more

[pieter]

Dear friends,

It is sad that Bo's Forum is gone. It is deleted and this abolished now. It is very sad that years of hard work of various contributors is gone. This great source of info and knowledge about Polish history, Polish cities, towns, villages, hamlets, culture, Roman-Catholicism, society, politics and phenomenon is gone. It was a different Forum than this Forum. It was a Forum of people who left this Forum and started their own Forum. It was a little bit more focussed and directed to Poland. I loved the combination of the two Forums, being active on both (although slightly more active on this Forum). For some reason Bo and Tufta left or abandoned the Forum. Their unique Polish contribution and mild competition as Crakovian and Varsovian made the discussions fresh and also sometimes humoristic, due to their ironical comments or statements.

That time was gone since 2013/2014, and only Jeanne and me visited the Forum every now and then until the end, except some irritating spammers and other unwanted guests. Until recently the content of Bo's Forum was liked and used by various people. The latest news about the latter we received from a British lady from Camebridge who was working on a history education project for British highschool pupils, about the period 1956-1990 in the Polish Peoples republic. She asked us if we have statistic, scientific, historical information about the Polish demographics, society, health care, education and housing in that period. She said that Bo's Forum had been a great source for useful information for her, that there was a lot of valuable knowledge over there which was useful for her. Unfortunately that rich source is gone for her and for others with the same interest.

I hope that the info of Bo's forum is stored somewhere are Proboards. I t would be a great loss if everything is lost forever!

Cheers,
Pieter

[karl]

Thank you Pieter for your informative and update in concerns of the Forum of Bo's. Also do I share your regret of the loss of such an important forum for Polish people to visit and exchange in good will.

Bo was/is an interesting person, his curiosity and need to keep learning was just as interesting, him and my self got a long quite well. Also did I like Tufta, but unfortionantly we were not compatable in respect to cultural differences that was not of his making or fault.

Bo had been active upon The New Russian Forum for some time, I am not sure if he is at this present time.

Non the less, it is most unfortionant of such a loss of his quality forum.

Karl

[jeanne]

I'm holding out hope that as administrator Bonobo may have agreed to remove the forum, but perhaps was able to save the information somewhere. I know it's probably just wishful thinking on my part, but I need something to make me feel better about the loss. I can't believe all the beautiful photography and my "window" into Poland is gone...

Jeanne

[pieter]

dwars Jeanne,

I hope That somehow the content of the Forum can be saved or replaced to a safe location. I hope that the interesting threads and content isn't deleted. That would be a waste of beautiful material and all the time, love and energy the people who contributed to that Forum put into it. Especially Bo with all this Polish travel reports with images he took himself. It is a strange idea that years of exchange and postings would be suddenly gone.

The content on Bo's Forum had historical, cultural, traditional Polish and contemporary value. There was news about today's Poland, the education system today, Polish infrastructure and modern architecture (next to old styles), Polish Roman Catholic church life, and there were honest reports and debates about the relationship of Poland and Poles with it's minorities. I heard one visitor saying that it was great and strange that on this Forum there was no xenophobia, racism or anti-semitism.

The Forum attracted a broad range of people, from conservative to progressive, and that was the quality of it. I consider it a sad fact that it has not been possible to merge Bonobo's and Jaga's Proboards Polish Culture Forums. This Forum contains more general, global and Polish diaspora Poles news and Bo's Forum contained more news from Poland generated by 'Polish Poles'. The combination of the two, even with an entirely Polish language section and an English language Poland section (like exist today on this Forum), would have been and will be great.

But for that tolerance, difference of opinion, pluriformity, and a hetrogenous character is needed.

If Bo's Forum is erased forever, that will be a great and terrible loss for many and the lack of a nice opportunity to learn about Poland for others. No more great images of Bonobo. Let's try to find a way to save this content.

Cheers, Pietrr

[Jaga]

Bonobo had so many wonderful pictures and information. I wish it could remain at least as the rich source of information about Poland.

[pieter]

Dear friends,

Where is Bonobo (Pawian or Jerzy) today? What does he think about the closure of his Forum? Did he allowed it, did he participate in the termination? Is he sadden by it? I have the impression that the Forum might have become to much for him to maintain as an administrator, contributor and inspirator. Like Jaga on this Forum he put a lot of energy in his Forum. I think the combination of a family (wife and child[ren]), pets (his cats) and the fact that he worked as a teacher/Dekan for a highschool and councillor for a university there and maintaining a Forum was to much. Work and family always go first and after that comes hobbies and pastime activities.

This is just my impression, and I might be wrong. My conclusion is based on the things he posted on this Forum and Bonobos Forum which is gone now.

I still hope that some or much of the content and especially the immages (Jeanne, Jaga and I om so fond of) are spared and placed or stalled somewhere. I hope that in some way or another these images and content can be found.

Again I believe that Bonobo's images and content have historical, cultural and social value. In the Polish context ofcourse.

How can we convince Pro-boards of the value of Bo's Forums imagery and content (again in the historical and social-cultural, and even psychological and sociological and anthropological sense). His Forum had a great human (humanistic), education, cultural exchange and Polish value and importance.

Cheers,
Pieter

P.S.- In the same time I want to state that I am worried about Bonobo's health and wellbeing, since I know the past of his family and his mental vulnerability. I know he mounred the loss of a family member, a pupil/student of his and a colleage that died too.

[pieter]

Dear friends,

What I blame my self for or am sorry about is the fact that I did not brought the subject of Forum merging (a fusion of Jaga's and Bo's Forum after a reconcilliation, negotiation and councelling/mediation process in a both private and public diplomatic and pragmatic way) earlier when both Forums still existed. I know that there were differences of opinion, different characters and different styles and different subjects and contents on both Forums. But the core issue was and is that both were and are 'Polish Culture Forums' on Proboards.

I have to admid that I have sometimes posted the same subject in a thread on both Forums. Copy paste. One Forum with two sections or with a pluriform, tolerant and diverse anture would have been and would be great. I didn't excactly understood the tensions or disagreements that caused Bo and Tufta to leave this Forum and to start their own Forum? Fact is that a Forum (bo's Forum) is gone and that we miss the images and content. I hadn't read and seen everything yet. Now I don't have the change to watch and read them, neither does others.

Cheers,
Pieter

[karl]

Pieter

I would be remiss if not to at least speak out from the plate form across the hall. I under stand your consternation and that of others in the loss of Bo's Polish forum, it means a great deal to your self and others for as the loss was a direct contact with the nation of your heart and family connections.

I was saddened with the news of Bo's issues and loss of friend. Perhaps this was one more chip out of his foundation that kept his forum entact.

I suspect one reason of Bo,s creating his own forum, was to then directly control the content and stream of subject matter being more directly Polish. Understandable for it is a Polish forum designed for Polish content and discussion on subject matter dealing with Polish subjects.

I am not sure, being not a member of that forum, just simply saying from the standpoint of what I have gathered from your experience in past.

Bo and Tufta worked very closely together and it is entirely possible one or the other may start another similar forum in the future.

It is entirely conceivable of most any forum to run its course of member interest. It is equally conceivable to extend the life of a forum that it not be of only one subject, for once most aspects of that subject is exhausted, then it would be a natural tendency for those attending, to gradually leave for fresh ground in another forum.

Of course, my self am only speculating as above.

Karl

[pieter]

Karl,

What a wonderful reply with empathic psychological understanding and sociological rational-analysis of the working of a Forum. (How it starts, how it works and sometimes how it ends) My primary concern is the maintainance, archive function and the value of the images and content of that Forum. Maybe it is a conservative human aspect of mine to hold on to something that was and functioned while the human mechanism (or ogranism) behind it worked. The entitity of the Forum (the human collective, organisation, group or club or gathering of people) was lost and that made the Forum a 'dead horse' to say it bluntly or without respect.

Fact stays that the images, the historical and social-cultural content of the Forum had a value for today, tomorrow and the day after (tommorow). For research purposes of Modern Poland, the Poland of the communist era (the Peoples Republic Poland -1952–1989 -), the Polish state of the interbellum (1919-1939), the partitioned Poland before that and etc. Just before Bonobo's Forum was closed a British educational developper and researcher from Cambridge in the UK posted a positive message on that Forum. Saying she had had great benefit from using Bo's Forum for her educational project (maybe Jeanne can tell us more about that). She wanted to make a case or curriculum about the Polish Peoples republic in the period 1956-1990 for a British historical school program for highschool students (if I say it correctly).

That was a wonderful illustration of the great work Bonobo, Tufta, Jeanne and others did on that Forum in creating a structure with sections about various Polish subjects. I don't mention my self and do not give credit to myself, because that structure, the discussions and debate was created before I entered that Forum. It was so great that they created that sections and posted all those images about the different aspects of Polish life, Polish society, Polish history, Polish culture, Polish art, Polish cities, Polish education and Roman-Catholicism and it's customs and traditions in Poland.

Even Jaga said this in this thread about it, I quote her: "Bonobo had so many wonderful pictures and information. I wish it could remain at least as the rich source of information about Poland." That is so wonderful to hear from a person of another Polish Culture Forum. I do believe you were also a member of Bonobo's Forum, but I am not sure.

It is true that Bo and Tufta worked very closely together on Bo's Forum to create a Forum which is strictly or mainly focussed on Polish history and culture and Poland today. aI sincerly hope that Bonobo or Tufta will start another similar forum in the future. And I hope that they stored some of the old content (information) and images for use in the new Forum. But it will be difficult to start up new, and rebuilt all that had been created before. Sometimes it is better to reform, rerconstruct or reshape, reorganise and transform and existing Forum than to completely abandon and delete/abolish an old Forum. If Bo's forum is vanished and all the information gone, than years or months of work will disappear in thin air.

You are right in your assumption that is entirely conceivable of most any forum to run its course of member interest. Probably Bonobo and Tufta lost interest in the subject of their Forum or were simply to bussy with their professional lives and private social lives. I believe so that Tufta also had work abroad outside Poland, and think that Bonobo had a very bussy job in assisting, guiding, giving advice to, councelling and teaching his pupils and students, educating and being a father for his son, being a good husbant, taking care of his pets, being a good Catholic (church and community life), and being bussy with traveling through Poland. I is hard to continue or maintain a Forum next to such a bussy life.

Cheers,
Pieter

[pieter]

I am greatful and happy that I was able to visit Bo's great Forum and learn a lot about Poland there and I am greatfult that this Forum stil exists and that I have learned a great deal of Jaga's, Pawians (Bonobo's), Tufta's, Karl's, Kaima's, John's, Eric's, Adam's, Bunjo's, Jerzy's, Ludwiks (about the Stalinist era), Jeanne's and others posts over here. Both general and public threads and private conversations (messages) I had with people. Also Jaga's Polish culture website attached to this Forum was and is a great source of information about Poland today and Poland in the past.

Thank you Jaga, Bonobo, Tufta, Adam and Bunjo! Your Polish dedication and effort to serve us with the information and knowledge you had and have and shared with us is great. It has enriched our lives. Thank you Jeanne to stay with me until the 'bitter end'on Bonobo's Forum. We have struggled to remove spam there by filling in complaints to Proboards and we filled reports when spammers with occult or sexist ads smeared the positive image of Bo's Forum. We enjoyed the images (wonderful photographs of Poland) and the great stories, reports, documents and discussions about Poland. I felt like an onlooker sometimes. My contribution was to search the internet for information and images and edit and them and made them fit for the Forum.

Cheers,
Pieter