Avator

[Guest pumpkin]

How does one load an avator?

[Guest fountainhall]

Under the Live Web Guys Flirt for Free photos, you will see your name on the right side of the black bar. Click on your name, then click on “My Settings”. At the top, you will see “Photo”. Click on that and then upload your photo.

[Guest]

The menu's accessed here:

 

Last time I did this, there was a limit of 90x90 pixels & there was a long delay between changing the avatar & it appearing. Perhaps that's fixed with the latest board software, but if not, be patient. Any problems, please ask.

[Guest pumpkin]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the help.

[Rogie]

Re: post #2 with an avatar-less FH: don't keep us in suspense, what's happening? Does pumpkin have an alibi?

[Guest thaiworthy]

Re: post #2 with an avatar-less FH: don't keep us in suspense, what's happening? Does pumpkin have an alibi?

 

He is tarting it up. Whatever that means. A popular procedure here lately, it seems.'

[Guest fountainhall]

Not tarting up - just a bit of more haste resulting in less speed. As I was dashing out to meet friends for dinner, I thought I'd reply quickly to Pumpkin's request with his avatar. In the process, I did not realise I had deleted mine. And when I tried to find it, I couldn't locate it anywhere on the computer! You'll see it's back now, but maybe it is time for not a bit of tarting up, but a change. So there may be something new tomorrow!

[kokopelli]

Here is my suggestion for a suitable avatar for you.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lauder,_Lord_Fountainhall

[Rogie]

Talk about chalk and cheese

[Guest thaiworthy]

That picture would definitely need tarting up-- and then some.

[Guest fountainhall]

So you have discovered my ancestor, koko! But sadly, no amount of tarting up will make that photo acceptable as an avatar. Besides, I never like to play up my noble status. I am experimenting with a few new ones today and discovering how difficult it is to find one that has a small but very clear image.

 

I had really wanted to use this pic. It's a really tiny spider I saw at the Chengdu Panda Reserve last year. In fact, it was so small (about a quarter the size of the photo), I simply could not get the camera to focus on it. After 5 minutes, when thankfully it did not move, I finally got a pic. As one who normally runs a mile from spiders, this one was so beautiful I really wanted the pic. But as an avatar, it does not seem appropriate - "Oh! What a tangled web we weave . . . " etc!

 

[Guest]

That Taiwan gay pride event is a good source of avatar material.

[Rogie]

RE: FH's current mask avatar

 

Who doesn't love a good mask. Masks (and related coverings) are so mysterious. . . the masked ball, Zorro, the hangman's mask, a whole pantheon of cartoon heroes, pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, the bank-robbers balaclava or stocking, the Ku Klux Clan, the pirates' eye patch etc etc

 

The one in the avatar looks oriental, the yin and yang symbol quite prominent. Is it a real person or is it a puppet?

[Guest fountainhall]

Well, most of us on the internet are essentially hiding behind masks. This is one of the dozens of Beijing Opera masks from a photo I took at a Beijing market 3 years ago. Each mask denotes a different character, but I'm not sure which this one is, nor from which opera! Unfortunately, I can't get the full face in, but will keep experimenting.

[Guest]

I preferred the old Fountainhall avatar.

 

The current one stands out a little too much.

[kokopelli]

Z, I like what stands out in your avatar's bikini. Sure is not too much.

[Guest thaiworthy]

I preferred the old Fountainhall avatar.

 

The current one stands out a little too much.

 

I wasn't going to say anything, but since Z has more guts than I do, I agree with him. Sorry, Fountainhall. That one gives me nightmares.

[Guest xiandarkthorne]

Fountainhall's new avatar actually depicts a noble character from Chinese opera, if I haven't got things mixed up again (at my age, it happens far too often). I can't really identify which character it is either but the red and black combination is usually reserved for heroes and great military generals, if I remember right.

[Guest fountainhall]

That one gives me nightmares.

 

"Nightmares"? Like a Hannibal Lector character bearing down on you with mouth open all set to gobble you up?

 

Fountainhall's new avatar actually depicts a noble character from Chinese opera

 

Xian is exactly right! When I arrived in Hong Kong in early 1979, the first thing I had to do was get a name-card printed. For that I needed a Chinese name. So I was advised to consult a fortune-teller, as not only should the name sound relatively close to my real name (with the surname coming first), it must also have a good meaning and the correct number of brush strokes. Having paid what I felt was a lot of money, I was told my name in Cantonese means "Noble and Glorious!"

 

There are in fact more than 30 different various forms of Chinese Opera. Each has a series of stock characters and each has different masks or extravagant make-up. As a result of the Chinese diaspora, Chinese opera is often performed around the region. I reckon the use of a mask as an avatar is therefore particularly appropriate for a site based here Asia.

 

Here is the full photo I took at the market, showing another mask side-on.

 

 

Besides, there is a very strong gay association in some Chinese Opera, thanks to the use of men traditionally playing women’s roles. One of the great Chinese movies of all time was the 1993 "Farewell My Concubine" which won a Golden Globe and was the first Chinese film to win the Palme d'Or at Cannes. It deals with life in a Beijing Opera troupe over 40 turbulent years of China’s history, in particular with the feelings of two of the male performers for each other and the woman who comes between them.

 

The younger man was played by Hong Kong heart-throb, Leslie Cheung - then as big a star as you could get almost anywhere in Asia. He was gay, a fact that he eventually announced in dramatic fashion at his last series of public concerts in Hong Kong. Nine years ago, at the age of only 46, he tragically jumped to his death from the top of the city’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Few outside his family knew he had for years suffered from clinical depression. He had so much to give and was adored by all, yet felt so alone. He ended his short suicide note with the words. “I did nothing bad Why does it have to end like this?” So sad!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGeOO3BLC_A

[KhorTose]

I wasn't going to say anything, but since Z has more guts than I do, I agree with him. Sorry, Fountainhall. That one gives me nightmares.

 

I do not get nightmares from your avatar, but agree with Z and TW that it is over the top. Just a little glaring. However, I can live with it, and fully recognize your right to choose whatever avatar you wish, even if it is ugly :) .

[Guest]

since Z has more guts than I do

More probably I have less tact than you.

 

Anyhow, there's something reassuring about logging on and seeing several male torsos posted up against all the sub forums. Also has the advantage of being quite easy on the eye too.

[Guest fountainhall]

I find it fascinating that this Board should be having a discussion about the merit or otherwise of avatars and a desire to see tiny images not much more than 1 sq. centimeter of naked torsos when logging in! If I want to se a naked torso or a low-cut speedo, I'd far rather have it at a decent size, frankly.

 

I notice there is no discussion about pumpkin's (very appropriate) equally intense avatar, but then that is almost all-black, whereas the one I am trying out is merely mostly red. Nor has anyone mentioned the intense colour on anonone's avatar - but then that is mostly a bright rainbow flag! It seems some people feel there's a bit of a danger signal being sent out when in fact I think it is a highly appropriate symbol to use in an Asian context and on a Board where we occasionally have a bit of drama. If you look closely at the mask, it is in fact smiling! But it's not yet set in stone.

 

Perhaps I might consider adopting the 'beach' photo favoured by a certain poster who now seems to have disappeared from all Boards. No doubt he's gone back to enjoying his retirement But I suspect there would be a number of objections if I did that!

[Guest]

When one of the board's most active & established members changes Avatar from a glorious male torso to a rather loud one of a mask, them it's going to get more attention than most other people would.

 

Particularly when there happens to be a live thread on the subject of Avatars.

 

As for Pumpkin, a google images search for "gay pumpkin" didn't find the kind of material I had in mind.

[Guest thaiworthy]

I notice there is no discussion about pumpkin's (very appropriate) equally intense avatar, but then that is almost all-black, whereas the one I am trying out is merely mostly red. Nor has anyone mentioned the intense colour on anonone's avatar - but then that is mostly a bright rainbow flag!

 

I was going to say something about pumpkin's avatar, but because he doesn't post enough for me to assess his character, it doesn't matter. However, having met Fountainhall and knowing his character so well from reading his many interesting posts, this is why the glaring red seems so inconsistent. I always thought of the avatar as a symbol of who that person is in some respect. I do not identify a glaring red Chinese opera mask with the persona I know as Fountainhall, (unless I don't know him at all.) I like the old avatar and wish it were back. And while the new one doesn't really give me nightmares or remind me of Hannibal Lecter, suffice it to say it is somewhat unsettling.

 

 

It seems some people feel there's a bit of a danger signal being sent out when in fact I think it is a highly appropriate symbol to use in an Asian context and on a Board where we occasionally have a bit of drama. If you look closely at the mask, it is in fact smiling! But it's not yet set in stone.

 

I don't like red because yes, it is a danger signal. While it may be appropriate as a symbol in Asian context on a board where we occasionally have a bit of drama, I can do without the drama as well. There are many masks with smiling faces, but they look menacing to me. I just watched the latest Batman movie last night and noticed this about the Joker character, same same. You are not menacing Fountainhall, you do not need to broadcast dangerous colors because your posts are kind and gentle. And lastly, as much as you may like to think of yourself as almost totally Asian, I think of you more as nice gay man from Britain with a fascinating penchant for Asian history and culture.

 

Thankfully, when Bob got pinned for an avatar, he did not resurrect that awful Hunan mask! So I guess I have a thing about masks. In the virtual world, there is already enough of our identity shrouded in anonymity, and that is a mask, too! One hardly needs to convey that symbolically with the image of a mask as well!

 

I agree with Z and I want the GLORIOUS headless torso returned to its rightful place below your name.

[Bob]

Thankfully, when Bob got pinned for an avatar, he did not resurrect that awful Hunan mask!

 

Aw, come on, I'm kinda partial to the monkeyman Hanuman. If/when I get around to it, I'll resurrect it in some form in your honor!

 

P.S. No time like the present. This masked entry is cropped from a photo taken during the Poy Sang Long ceremonies at Wat Gu Dtao in April of this year. Much more benign than the monkey god Hanuman, I suppose.