2017: Markedout in memoriam

The Results are in!!!
Locked
User avatar
class316
Marked Out God
Posts: 7020
Joined: March 14th, 2008, 1:49 pm
Contact:

2017: Markedout in memoriam

Post by class316 »

2017 was a year where markedout was affected by deaths.

Let us begin with the loss of convention goer, occasional street meeter, and board member therearecertainrules, Martin Aaron Totten (1977 - 2017).

martin.jpg

I first met Martin around 2009 during my very early days of NYC street meeting. Couple of years later I would meet him yet again and then we started connecting and associating a little more.

Conventions meant a lot to Martin. They were his reason to be. His motivation to work and make money was essentially to afford conventions. The last con I attended with him would be the Spring 2017 Chiller. He would then go to his last ever con, Hollywood show in LA (a con which he started going to after me and Joresky decided to try out). Couple of days after his final weekend in LA, he would take his own life at age 40.

The exact reason and circumstances behind his death remain unknown. But he was having troubles at his job, and his job in jeopardy meant less con money, so that was likely a factor for his hasty move. And it has been theorized that he did it via shotgun, which somewhat made sense given the neighborhood in Baltimore that he resided in a shotgun is kinda a necessity. Martin was cremated and is survived by his mother and his sister.

Martin took an extra liking to me in the months prior to his death, and before the ill fated moment sent me his tickets for WW Philly, which would be his final gift to me. I messaged him saying we would use them together, and that was when his sister informed me of the news as I was combo hunting with two others who also knew him. After we all updated our facebooks, the news spread.

Following his death, some of his lifelong dreams and fantasies would come true. He was featured both on the Chiller and Monstermania facebooks and websites (two of his favorite cons) and he would subsequently be featured in the program of another con he always attended, The Mid Atlantic Nostalgia Show.

Martin on the Chiller website

martin_chiller.jpg

Martin on the Mid Atlantic program, which in eerie irony featured a memorial for another Martin that was also slated to attend that con in 2017 and died in 2017.

Martin_MANS.jpg

Martin's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stagedoorguide


Another loss was board mascot Fluffy the Third (2008 - 2017) :fluffy:

Fluffy.jpg

Fluffy would enter my life in October 2008 at the young age of 2 months old.

Most current members won't remember this, but Fluffy became relevant on markedout during the days of the arena. I would make some youshoot videos where board members would ask me questions, and Fluffy would be featured in the videos as he would pass by. Then questions would arise about Fluffy which were answered in subsequent youshoot videos. As board member Luke (then named Sor) said back then "I want to see the Steve and Fluffy show".

Following his popularity on the board I would occasionally make posts involving Fluffy. Subsequently he would break barriers as he would become the first ever non-human to get a real smiley on markedout. He would even make my ice bucket challenge video which was also posted on the board.

The details behind his death were already posted both on here and on my facebook so no need to rehash them, but he was gone too soon just a few days shy of his 9th birthday. Following his death Fluffy has been cremated and currently rests in an urn. I made him a memorial service which ended with a gunfire salute in his honor.

Post Fluffy death, I would score some epic photo ops, including but not limited to Bill Murray who was a huge thorn in my ass for years. I wish Fluffy were here to see these epic photo ops.

Fluffy photo album memoraim on my Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SS.14.14/media ... 631&type=3


On a lighter memoriam related note, markedout saw a purge of smilies some which had been a staple for years. The purge was in part due to pave the way for newer better smilies, and in part due to removing board members that were no longer active or remembered by most current board members. So in some respects the smiley purge of 2017 symbolized a new era of marked out. Most of those smilies can still be seen in the smiley memoriam on this board.

2017 also saw the end of the Headline news sub section of markedout. There weren't very many political threads on there (1 or 2 active ones) but the mods decided to kill it. I had some productive times in this sub section exposing the hypocrisy in the media's interpretation of free speech and highlighting why Donald Trump is the most appropriate choice for president of the USA (largely due to immigration related issues). Now that section is gone for good.
Last edited by class316 on December 31st, 2017, 1:56 pm, edited 6 times in total.
Follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/celebmeets
User avatar
Greg2600
Site Admin
Posts: 7377
Joined: November 13th, 2012, 9:00 pm
Location: New Jersey
Contact:

Re: 2017: Markedout in memoriam

Post by Greg2600 »

You forgot RIP to AOL instant messenger and the archaic Compuserv Forums!
The Paunch Stevenson Show pop culture podcast
User avatar
class316
Marked Out God
Posts: 7020
Joined: March 14th, 2008, 1:49 pm
Contact:

Re: 2017: Markedout in memoriam

Post by class316 »

Greg2600 wrote: December 18th, 2017, 10:49 am You forgot RIP to AOL instant messenger and the archaic Compuserv Forums!
Well those aren't board related issues.
Follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/celebmeets
User avatar
class316
Marked Out God
Posts: 7020
Joined: March 14th, 2008, 1:49 pm
Contact:

Re: 2017: Markedout in memoriam

Post by class316 »

I updated the memoriam to reflect the loss of the headline news sub section. I also added Facebook links for both Martin and Fluffy.
Follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/celebmeets
User avatar
Gumby
Marked Out King
Posts: 642
Joined: January 9th, 2016, 9:11 pm

Re: 2017: Markedout in memoriam

Post by Gumby »

R.I.P. Martin and Fluffy.

It's also a shame that Headline News was cut out. It was more relevant than some of the other sections still standing.
User avatar
class316
Marked Out God
Posts: 7020
Joined: March 14th, 2008, 1:49 pm
Contact:

Re: 2017: Markedout in memoriam

Post by class316 »

Gumby wrote: December 30th, 2017, 6:28 amIt's also a shame that Headline News was cut out. It was more relevant than some of the other sections still standing.
I couldn't agree more. In fact I told the mods the exact same thing.
Follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/celebmeets
Locked