50........

6. Discuss Sony's early online mall and your involvement.

Soon after I left counseling, I went to work for a large fulfillment company. They were quick to get online and convinced the early Sony Station to have an online mall. Since my company pegged me as a ?creative type? they asked me to act as the webmaster and ?fake it till you make it? in meetings and try to convince Sony that we were experts in this emerging field. This was in 95-96 and there were no HTML classes or anything. I worked with a Perl programmer and we held the server together with Popsicle sticks and duct tape. I would manually update their product catalog using Notepad and Photoshop when changes were needed. Everything was so new, nobody really knew what we were doing. Lots of trial and error and late nights in the server room. Eventually Sony took it all in house, but it was a cool ?first computer related job? as I learned about the web.

http://cockybastard.com/images/2004_...plus%20037.jpg

This is bound to be very interesting

7. What the fuck was the deal early on in the net with 'ezines' and why did they die out?

Long before people had blogs or even homepages, they had physical ?zines.? These were roughly produced, Xeroxed, personal magazines. There was an amazing community of underground personal publishing going on in the late 80s early 90s. My zine was called Prehensile Tales and contained mostly humor. But I used to spend $100-200 to publish each issue and I would only get it to a few hundred people. When I discovered the web, I registered prehensile.com and started publishing to 10s of thousands, world-wide, for free. I wonder if kids today will ever understand how MASSIVE a revolution that was to us. Most paper zines I read went online in the mid 90s and became the pioneers of personal publishing online.

When the web was new, we didn?t have much guidance as to how to do it. Hypertext was new. So one of the most obvious formats to copy was a magazine format. As we learned more about how hypertext and interactivity changed reading habits, the zine structure started to morph and grow until it no longer was relevant.


old prehensile crap:
http://www.lifestudent.com/photos/00...starwars62.jpg

http://prehensile.com/tales/otter/cherrypop.gif

and the famous "Smack, Crackhead, Pot"
http://prehensile.com/tales/krispy/krispypotsm.jpg

Wonderful person to interview!!

everytime i write your name i want to write HALYCON and not Halcyon

I'm heading out for a low tide beach walk. Will answer more of these fuuuun questions when I get back.

In the meantime: Snoop, Krackle, Pop:
http://prehensile.com/tales/krispy/newsnoopsm.jpg

extremely interesting....cant wait to hear more.

Jim

Way too Halcyon, you are most def. a VERY interesting person/character!!!!!

BTW- KICK ass response to question #1 about the gay thing... I for one find it VERY sexy when a man can be that comfortable with ones sexuality! ;)

purrrrrrrrrrrr

Thank you, sexy!!!

Nice interview going...

how is it an ambush if he knows the questions?

8. I understand you got sued by fruit of the loom - discuss.

This was a defining moment in my life. Here is the press release from '98:

http://www.prehensile.com/tales/meatloom/smalllogo2.gif



INDEPENDENT WEBSITE WINS CENSORSHIP BATTLE WITH UNDERWEAR GIANT
San Diego, CA -- March 21, 1998 -- When Fruit of the Loom's legal department issued a cease and desist to a small independent website, it was doubtful they anticipated the ensuing backlash from the web community at large.

On March 2nd, Fruit of the Loom gave John Halcyon Styn, creator of Prehensile Tales (http://www.prehensile.com), five days to remove his parody of the garment maker entitled "Meat of The Loom". (http://www.prehensile.com/tales/meatloom/fruitlove.htm)

"You'd think a company that used grown men in fruit costumes in their TV ads would have a better sense of humor." said Styn, "They should have gone after the guy in their Marketing Department who approved those ads. He did far more to tarnish their trademark than I ever could."

Believing his article was protected as parody, Styn decided to fight the order on the battlefield he created it for: the Web. After contacting other independent web publishers, within 48 hours over 100 websites had pledged support to his cause. Banners, saying, "Freedom of Speech doesn't end at an elastic waistband - Support your right to be funny" blanketed the web. Styn contacted a lawyer and filed a "Declaratory Relief" action against Fruit of the Loom in federal court.

Sites pledging their support ranged from personal home pages to Online Magazines and prominent web development firms. Participating sites added banners and pointed their visitors to Styn's site to help spread the word about the potential censorship threat.

Jeffrey Zeldman, publisher of "Ask Dr. Web," gave a day by day commentary of the struggle on his site, "This may seem like much ado about a few silly underwear jokes, but much is at stake."

Thanks to the support of the web community, over the 2 week period following the Cease and Desist, The www.prehensile.com site received over a quarter million visitors. Prior to the legal action, less than 1500 people had read the story in the 8 months it was posted on-line.

Prompted by this increase in traffic to a site they had hoped to squelch, and bowing to the pressure of web-wide community opinion, Fruit of the Loom's legal department relented on March 17, 1998. Just 15 days after issuing the Cease and Desist, the company's P.R. department sent Styn a friendly letter, informing him that they would not be pursuing legal action against him or his site. All correspondence is published on his website at www.prehensile.com.

Styn reflected, "I think big companies adopt a 'You can't afford to fight us' attitude and try to intimidate small publishers like me. The power and community of the web has proven them wrong."

some of the banners other sites out up:

http://www.prehensile.com/tales/meatloom/mrt.gif


http://www.prehensile.com/tales/meatloom/elasticban.gif


http://www.prehensile.com/tales/meatloom/loinsban.gif


http://www.prehensile.com/tales/meatloom/tshirt.gif



:)

I didn't know the questions, only the day that I would be ambushed.

Go BIG Halcyon! :thumbsup

Interesting interview. I never knew your roots went back to the ezine days. :)

I think it's cool your real name is Halcyon! :)

Great interview so far - learning lots of things!

I LOVE this interview!!!

I can't wait to hear more!

Another great interview, we have here.

Highly interesting...

Both Halcyon & tassy seem like really cool ppl :)

(See sig! :thumbsup )

Definitely an interesting person to interview... Reading his posts is always an interesting thing even tho I do not know the man..

9. How many women have you had sex with in your life? Men? Ever had group sex - how many people were involved?


http://www.lifestudent.com/photos/00...4284679586.jpg

Oh, boy. I don?t have a tally, but I would say more than 50 and less than 100 women. I?ve never had ?sex? with a man, but I have had a few experiences with super hot couples.

I?ve been in several open relationships and was active in the Lifestyles community for a while, so yes, I?ve had many group experiences. Most memorable was being tied up for my bday and having 5 girls have their way with me. I?m a huge fan of having sex in front of other people who are also having sex?so that we are all absorbing (and amplifying) one another?s sex energy without crossing any serious relationship boundaries.

http://pinkgasm.com/images/prurience.jpg

Halcyon, where can I get one of those shirts, they rock!!!!

http://www.dtoz.com/mspa/halcyon.jpg

for sure, with good personal style to boot.. lol, those boots are tight.

i'd totally have sex with you in front of other people who are also having sex, you know, in case you needed a volunteer. :winkwink:

Damm this interview is turnin out good i cant wait till he gets back with the rest

10. What the fuck is 'cockybastard"?

http://www.lifestudent.com/photos/00...ges/018_18.jpg

CockyBastard.com was my personal site for years. It was a digital temple erected to myself. It was an uber blog that won lots of awards, long before ?blogs? existed. Now it is more of a digital hub for my many online playgrounds. The irony is that when I first registered the domain, I was MUCH more insecure than I am now.
But the idea behind the name is this:

I believe self-love in important.
In order to fully love others you much first love yourself.
Of course, if you say you love yourself, people will call you a ?cocky bastard.?



Older designs of cb.com:
http://cockybastard.com/2001/cocky2001.htm
http://cockybastard.com/2002/2002.htm

http://www.lifestudent.com/photos/00...010029_jpg.jpg

http://www.lifestudent.com/photos/00...10010c_jpg.jpg

If I never meet you in real life, your solid and down-to-earth vibe transcends even a website filled mostly with vapid posts. That in itself, makes it a pleasure to have read your posts and the vicarious goodness you bring.

Other than that sappy shit, good for you for being able to do what you seem to love and much good joo-joo your way as you frolic through the wonder and amazement you surround yourself with.

Cheers man.

bret

Thank you. Sincerely. I'd be lying if I said that I don't get my share of criticism. But as I get older, i find more and more that good things come my way if I love more and fear less.

Indeed so. Speaking of good things to come, you have one flog, one pink-handled cane, and one tit flog done out of the lambskin you sent. Not very heavy stuff at all, matter of fact, VERY sensually light. Yummy. :)

WOO-HOOOOOO!!!!

Okay, the cane is evil and can be very brutal, but I'm sure you won't be using it too harshly.
:winkwink:

i don't think i've ever been so excited for a beating in my life... :zzwhip

:1orglaugh

Heavier leather will beget heavier, more thuddy goodies. I have fun making these. you'll notice that the flog has very unevenly cut falls - gives it a better snesation IMHO.

Now the question is how do I get them to you?

AND GODDAMMIT HAL, you're rubbing off on me!! I cut my hair, and my wardrobe is turning slowly but surely black and PINK. Geesh.

cool read so far halcyon :thumbsup

Its true people, Tala has cut her hair. I had dinner with her tonight and it scared the shit out of me. Just a few inches below her shoulders. But damn she look good! Makes her look thinner.

Now a question for the Mighty Pink King.

Hal, since you said you've writting in a zine and a "blog" have you ever written much erotica? What themes did you prefer if so?

hit me on Q. I'm always there.

thank you, thank you, your check is in the mail. :1orglaugh

you scare me some times. :1orglaugh

YOU CUT YOUR HAIR?

I'm good at scaring people.

And yes, I cut my hair.

*waits for the rest of those who said they'd kill me to pipe up*

See Tala. I was right! Pink is the sign of Evil. And Hal is the devil!! :1orglaugh

Intresting interview :thumbsup

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

Classic!

great read so far

Outside of writing about the occasional real experience, I haven't written much erotica. But maybe I'll take a stab at it now that I have inspiration so near.

And Tala, you look great with the cut!!!

pink is a symbol of freedom and peace with sexuality. i think halcyon reminds me more of Pan in this picture, god of the woods, who amused himself with the chase or in leading the dances of the nymphs.

http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/biop1/pan1.jpg

We only met Halcyon briefly in Vegas, but all the girls and I got just the coolest vibes from him, totally chill, friendly and devoid of ego. The girls were bummed that we didn't have a chance to hang out with him more

http://www.angeldollars.com/angels/hal.jpg

Awesome picture and cool explination. I'm a mythology buff so what you said makes a lot of sense. Pink just irks me for some reason. I'm more into the color purple. To me that represents a more erotic and exotic sexuality, full of life and spontinaity (did I spell that right?).