In the early days of Prius Chat, the main forum got a lot of off-topic discussion, and some folks were upset at having to see discussions unrelated to the Prius, while other folks felt that an on-line "community" should be able to range beyond one narrow topic. It was agreed that we needed an off-topic forum, and rather than just call it "Off-Topic" or "Other" somebody (I forget who) suggested "Fred's House of Pancakes," as a whimsical name. There is no Fred. I seem to recall that maybe IHOP came up in the discussion, as a place that people sometimes get together to chat over coffee, but rather than use an existing restaurant name, everyone liked FHOP. Those of us that remember this are the early adopters: the people that bought Priuses in the early part of the first year of the current generation, when more doubtful minds still regarded this car as an unknown, and not to be trusted. We are the tree-hugging elite, forward-thinking enough to recognize the future when it was placed before us.
i can't think of one forum i frequent that doesn't have an off-topic section (ok... i can.... but just ONE!) i think off-topic sections are great because you can take them or leave them.... you're choice!
The pancake part of Fred's House of Pancakes comes from Oolong, the pancake wearing bunny. In one of the VERY off-topic threads, someone replied simply with the following picture. Heck, I remember blowing Leinenkugel out my nose I laughed so hard. From that moment on, we knew the name of the new off-topic forum would reference pancakes.
Oolong balanced many objects on his head. But he was probably most famous for the pancakes. They made him famous and he has an entry in Wikipedia. Sadly, he has passed away. But his master has a new bunny, Yuebing. Perhaps the new one will also have a talent for balancing objects on her head. The photo diary is really wonderful. I'm a dog person and I can tell that he really, really loved his rabbit. I wish I had been as faithful taking pictures of my dogs as he did of Oolong. There have been no new pictures of Yuebing, the new rabbit, since 2005. I hope nothing has happened to her.
It confers positive things on PriusChat founders for making this large tent. Tent accommodates forward-looking car people who also have widely perspectives on many things. All those get 'play' here, along with deep discussions of the vehicle-in-question. >3 million posts suggest a thing is being done well here. For me, there is no better web-place to blather and see what comes of it. Long dedication by my betters here rises above that blather.
