"What It's All About" site gone for good

[kant1781]

Dear Friends,

The site on which I published the essay I wrote on Fucking Åmål five years ago, "What It's All About", has gone. The provider has discontinued its free homepage service - without telling me by the way. I only noticed it by chance. Since the page was built using the provider's web-based assembly kit, all the files are irrevocably lost. I didn't have a backup.

I decided that I will not rebuild the page. It didn't contain much more than the essay itself. The link section was terribly outdated. It seems that interest has dwindled away in recent years anyway. I received quite a few email comments in the first years of the page's existence, but not anymore in the last two or three years. So I join the many, many fanpages I have seen disappear from the web since I started roaming it for Fucking Åmål-related content in 2004.

Still. What's left are the texts I collected on the site - two or three essays besides my own, as you may remember, and some pieces of fan fiction. And I think it would be a pity if they all disappeared from the web completely. So my question is, what could I do in order to keep them available - without having to maintain my own page? I guess I could put up the fanfic pieces on fanfiction.net (but I don't have the consent of the authors), but that wouldn't be a solution for the essays. Is there something out there which is for text files what youtube is for video clips and photobucket is for pictures? Then I would simply post the links here, and that's it.

Any ideas?

[snaps]

I remember it, though can't remember saving it, although I have the fanfictions people wrote way back saved as pdf files. you could set up an account at blogger.com which enables you to mix text, photos, and videoclips all on the same page. It's a bit fiddly at first to get round the formatting but easy enough to add to PAGES (i.e. permanent set up pages) rather than POSTS (mostly used for introductions and current updates) there are lots of options for formatting and controlling readership, feedback comments etc. I did reserve a slot at fanfiction.net but I think I took my two pieces down because I wanted to publish them elsewhere rewritten as originals. I did have in mind to use a blogger account as a sort of online biography mixed in with fanfiction short stories and poems, . I wrote a brief sample piece on here on 3rd September. ‘Tribute to a Moonbeam’

http://showmelove.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=962&start=105

Unlike this Forum it could be structured more or less chronologically. I say ‘more or less as there are some idiosyncracies, like ‘Sherdil’’being filmed before FA but not released until a year after FA. It would take some doing to weave the two parallel but different careers of Alex and Bex together into one unified piece, but its do-able. I woud probably aim to limit it to an ending at their reunion in February this year, the bulk would be about about the FA period. You can have up to ten pAGES (e.g. chapters) on a blogger account, so it gives some flexibility.
e.g

1) Introductions
2) Earlys years (pre-acting) part1 Bex, part 2 Alex
3) Rebeckas acting career and life pre-FA
4) Alexandras acting career and life pre-FA
5) FA itself
6) FA reactions , reviews, analysis
7) Guldbagge and after. Moodysson post FA
Bex career post FA
9) Alex career post FA
10) Reunion, reflections and conclusions

Just thoughts at the moment.

[bruno]

It can't be avoided that "Fan webpages" related to a film or an actor will fail,in time, to draw a continuous flow of visitors, still it's a sad thing your site disappeared. The blog solution could be a sure, long living (I hope) way to make available whatever remains of it.

[snaps]

I agree, Bruno. I was checking out one for the Ginger Snaps trilogy last night. It went quite well up to about 2006 then more or less dried up, and that was THREE films. A few problems as I see it.

1) Actors, unlike say old fart footballers never really retire, don't want to be discussing their previous high points, but what their current work is. I imagine it pisses off Alex to be described all the time as Alexandra ''Fucking Åmål'' Dahlström (like she's never done anything since). We are unlikely to attract the support of the protagonists in such a venture.

2) Actors, musicians, entertainers who run their own fanbases frequently have to exercise tight control over material like Forums. Publicity is a two-edged sword. Being the internet, places can be targeted by flash-mobbing spammers (people who are anti-fans) who descend and troll off arguments with loyal fans for the sake of it.

against that

1) It would be good to have a permanent repository of all things existing FA/SML that is easy to navigate. Specialist publishing houses do produce limited edition books on individual films, but these are only usually found in University libraries. We know that FA/SML IS still being shown on TV and in arthouse cinema ''seasons'' and festivals, and is appearing in the PSHE curriculum in some schools worldwide. We get the occasional query in here. There is ongoing interest as the FA/SML story is being revived for school drama projects and musicals, even up till recently.

2) Like it or not, what attracts people to websites is those that use the medium, i.e. music, photos (especially the rarities), and videos clips, and the use of inet technology to maintain a ''high'' placement profile.

What I am suggesting is not an Encyclopedia of absolutely everything, but something which has ''tasters'' and up-to-date cross referenced clickable links to other sources, as in ''here you lazy git, click on this to find out more''.

[kant1781]

That seems a pretty good idea, snaps. But certainly involving massive amounts of work... which is, in a way, just what I cannot afford right now. I am sure that if the few people in here threw together everything they have, the resulting collection of materials would be impressive. I must say I like the idea very much.

(Just read your tribute to Månstrale by the way... very very lovely! )

[Ian]

That's very sad. Hope something can be done.

[bruno]

1) It would be good to have a permanent repository of all things existing FA/SML that is easy to navigate. Specialist publishing houses do produce limited edition books on individual films, but these are only usually found in University libraries. We know that FA/SML IS still being shown on TV and in arthouse cinema ''seasons'' and festivals, and is appearing in the PSHE curriculum in some schools worldwide. We get the occasional query in here. There is ongoing interest as the FA/SML story is being revived for school drama projects and musicals, even up till recently.

A more wide effort (to assure more longevity) could be:
1) making a page (blog) where the topic is Moodysson in general (and FÅ in particular) so it could focuse on the director's career too
2) making a page on... the quality that makes FÅ special. What it is? In which films it's found?
That would require a lot of effort and it's a subjective topic.

[eric]

Dear Friends,The site on which I published the essay I wrote on Fucking Åmål five years ago, "What It's All About", has gone. The provider has discontinued its free homepage service - without telling me by the way. I only noticed it by chance. Since the page was built using the provider's web-based assembly kit, all the files are irrevocably lost. I didn't have a backup....

This is the Internet. Of course there is a backup. (minus the image files)

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://freenet-homepage.de/what-its-all-about/

But its not complete, it seams.

[snaps]

There you go Dave Even my poxy puter can find it. Word to the wise, BACK IT UP NOW!!!!!

[fish]

It's a beautiful site which deserves to be saved.

I hope something can be done.

[snaps]

Oh dear, I've been playing round with that site trying to find some long lost postings on another site. Sadly it does seem rather random about what it scans and stores. ive checked for Dave's pages. There are a lot of different dates, hav only checked a few. it looks like the intro and first two chapters have been saved with the library and links pages as well. not sure if the other six chapters will turn up. Maybe you can contact the site and see if it has them backed up?