GrayLightning steps down from the judges panel

[Liontamer]

A few weeks ago Gray took on a new job and moved to his new "Corn Crib", wherever that may be. As a career move, Gray didn't have time to continue evaluating tracks for the site, so he chose to step down a couple of weeks ago. zyko's come in again to help us out ("boom-diggity," he'd say), but my deepest respects go out to Gray for his 2+ years of dedicated work to the panel and OCR as a judge and moderator.

I personally learned a lot from Gray about music as well as the community. His ability to interact with everyone and keep drama to a minimum helped us greatly, and I can't honestly think of anyone who hates the guy. I'm sure I speak for everyone on the panel when I wish him the best of luck with his career and hope that we seem him again soon. Thanks for everything you've done here, Gray.

You smellzy punk. :-P

[Arek the Absolute]

Gray, I wish you good luck to whatever fate might have in store for you.
Hope to talk to you again soon, good chum.

[shpladoink]

i hate him and i am glad he is gone >:[



Okay, not really. Good luck, fellow. I hope that you arrive at your destination in life without any flat tires or other things that can be used as a metaphor for something bad in life.

[Jillian Aversa]

GrayLightning was the very first person from OCR to instant message me on AIM, and the first friend I made in this community. I don't know if he'll see this thread, but nevertheless, I wanted to thank him for making this a very special, welcoming place. (And his music kicks ass, too!) Good luck, Gray. You will be missed. :cry:

[JJT]

I think it should be stated here if nowhere else that Graylightning was largely responsible for my appointment to the panel. That's not neccesarily a great thing in it of itself, though.

There were seasons where he literally did the work of two or three judges, plus he was one of the few "nice" people in this community that I could talk to without getting a headache. His absence will be felt for a long time.

Gray, you've left a large, discolored shadow on the panel, in our hearts, and on our wangs (where applicable).

Miss you bro.

-Jon

[OverCoat]

I taught Gray how to use FruityLoops :3

Other than that I don't really talk to him much.


lol

[Txai]

i still remember when larry went to unmod posting in most of the threads the following quote: "less liontamer, more liontamer, more judgehate". then gray helped him with this joke saying "larry is bringing back the golden age of unmod".

and after this fact most of unmod users started angry with both. gorveg created a thread called "ban liontamer and graylightning". he said they posted that joke in almost 17 threads.

well and finally, both stopped ROFLING. :lol:


as for Gray, i've talked to him for feedback and such. He's a great guy. Particularly one of my best friends in this community. He was always good in what he did, never caused trouble and audiences loved him. I think Larry summarized him well.

i lost a true friend.

-TJ

[CE]

Grey rocked. Good luck to you man, and we all know you'll be back eventually :wink:

[EdgeCrusher]

He let me judge. That was weird.

RIP Gary

[Nineko]

Farewell, Graylightning.

A remixer, a judge, a chessmaster. But most of all, a friend.
I'm going to miss you.

[Ninja-san]

Good luck Gray.

Hope to hear one more remix from you. Those works were great

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Gray was awesome. Well, I assume he still is, but it's a shame he'll have to take his awesomeness somewhere else. He was levelheaded even under fire, and a huge asset to this community. He will be missed.

AND WE STILL DON'T FUCKING KNOW WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE! GAH!

[KyleJCrb]

Gray was awesome. Well, I assume he still is, but it's a shame he'll have to take his awesomeness somewhere else. He was levelheaded even under fire, and a huge asset to this community. He will be missed.

AND WE STILL DON'T FUCKING KNOW WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE! GAH!

I BET HE LOOKS LIKE A DUDE!

Sad to see Gray go, since he was probably my most direct connection to the inner workings of OCR, and a really nice guy. We'll miss ya, dude.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

He looka like a man.

[Blue Magic]

Didn't know you all that well, but good luck and be sure to drop by when you get the chance.

Be cool.

[The wingless]

Gray was a fool to challenge me. His death will serve as a fitting example to the rest of his miserable little caucassian Resistance.

nobutsrsly gonnamissu kbye.

[Katsurugi]

From what I understand, he doesn't have time to evaluate remixes... but he better keep remixing!

And if you're reading this, Gray:

YOU BETTER KEEP REMIXING!

:o

[analoq]

oh, kinda sad news.
i am glad to have had the opportunity to work with gray on the panel, his dedication will be missed.

but i trust his talents and dedication are now being put to better use, so i wish him the best in his current endeavors.
cheers.

[DarkeSword]

First Steve Irwin, now GrayLightning?

WTF man?

:(

[Atomic Dog]

What's up dude, we all knew GL was off to bigger and better things.

Don't weep for the guy and long for his presence. Be glad he's out doing what he's doing.

[RocketSniper]

Crocodile Hunter... Gray Lightning... Clearly it's only people with crazy names. Which means unfortunately I'm next.

Mod edit: Shut up Rocket

Edit: Alright, fine, whatever. Tears were shed. No seriously. They were.

[Kureejii Lea]

Good luck, Gray.

[EdgeCrusher]

The question is, who will Wangless get his porn from now that gary is gone?

[Vig]

I know I said this yesterday about Zyko, but he was one of the best judges the panel has had. So I guess this week goes to prove conservation of awesomeness.

[KWarp]

I liked Gray's judging comments. :(

[Txai]

as a few gentlemen mentioned, his skills have better usage in other things nowadays.

so for those who thinks he will return, this is a waste of time.

leave him alone.

[kamoh]

This frightens me.

I will have to leave the intarwebs one day, and follow in the footsteps of the good Dr. Gray.

[lady zelda]

Best of luck and we'll always continue to listen to and love your mixes. Don't forget to come back and say hi every now and then though!

[LongeBane]

I believe Gray was one of, if not the most influential and prolific judge on the panel. Sad that he's stepping down, but I am aware he has other things to do with his enormous talent and heart-warming social abilities. GL

[suzumebachi]

byes Gary, you will be sorely missed. good luck, have fun, and all that other mushy shit. %^(

ps: thanks for letting me be a guest shitty judge fgt!

[Dhsu]

Dude, that bum still owes me 10 bucks! Or was it the other way around? Either way, I hope he takes some time away from buying hookers and cocaine to chat someday.

gl to you, GL.

[The Coop]

Best of luck to you Gray. Hopefully you won't vanish completely from OCR. But, should your visits be few and far between, thanks for all the shit shooting on AIM back in the day, and the critiques on my older mixes.

[Rexy]

I think I did that in zyko's reappointment thread, but I think I'll say it again here for references' sake. Gray was among one of the nicest people I came to know in the community, and it shows to his communication with others.

I found him one of the more informative people when telling me something's been going on inside the "walls", so to speak.
I found him one of the most comforting people that I managed to speak to whenever things go wrong.
I found him to be a very fine example of communication while seeing drama at a minimum.
And on top of that, as shown by his musical aids for multiple artists (dhsu, Bladiator and myself among others), he was also shown to be a great assist to remixers alike.

I don't even know if I'll get to speak to him again down the line, but whatever happens, I hope he does well in his new career.

[herograw]

I only recall gray using my irc hostmask. apparently he did something for the community too?

at any rate, good luck in your future endeavors, sir.

[ocremixfan]

Best of luck, Gray!

[sephfire]

Man, this is some hard news. :cry:

Try not to be a stranger, Gray. You'll really be missed around here.

[big giant circles]

I never really knew him personally, but he gave me a "YES" on my first remix, thus keeping me from having to re-resubmit it, which was awesome :lol:

I see so many good comments, that I can only sincerely appreciate all his work here, and wish him the best of luck.

[Ranael]

I never talked to him but I listen to his music and it kicks ass! Don't be a stranger because we want more submissions!

[ZeroBass.Exe]

Props to ya, GL! Have fun and success in life, and remember always, never smell the inside of bowling shoes...especially someone elses.

[The Author]

And to think I finally had blackmail worthy material on him...

Oh well, guess I'll have to resort to money bribes again...

[ZeroBass.Exe]

And to think I finally had blackmail worthy material on him...

Oh well, guess I'll have to resort to money bribes again...

You still have Darkesword.

[The Author]

And to think I finally had blackmail worthy material on him...

Oh well, guess I'll have to resort to money bribes again...

You still have Darkesword.

True... but he does not carry any real weight :P

[Dhsu]

Indian BURN!

[Smoke]

Indian BURN!
Yoga Fire?

[Saundra]

He was ok.

[zircon]

Gray was a pleasure to work with, both on the panel and on the mod team. He was always very dedicated to his job. But besides that, he was also a good friend, and it's sad that I haven't even seen him on AIM for months now. He would never hesitate to listen to one of my WIPs or give feedback; there was never a bad time for him.

I'm going to miss GL :(

[CN]

I was actually in utter shock when I first heard this news. I guess I only refrained from posting sooner, in the hopes that it wasn't true.

As someone who rarely posts, and certainly still probably a newcomer in music-making, this really means something. GrayLightning was unbelievably supportive during my first attempts at remixing, and always prompt when it came to private messaging. When submitting a remix, the e-mail never worked, so I relied on him to help me get my stuff on the judges' panel (although my stuff was rejected, rightfully), and he also helped me find ways of improving my skills.

I've done it already, but I'd also like to apologize for that bind that took place when a vocal piece of mine got evaluated. And as such, thanks for sticking up to me.

Aside from me personally, I agree he always had the most positive advice when critiquing on the panel (and Liontamer), or probably saying anything for that matter. And along with commenting on tons of topics, his music also speaks for itself. I was never a fan of that style he composes in (I won't guess in the likely fear of getting it wrong), but then I got into it, and he's no doubt the best at composing it.

I have nothing else to say but to thank you so much for everything you've done, for me and for everyone else here. I, of course, wish you the best of luck, and will look forward to any more advice or music you may contribute down the road. Your presence here at OverClocked ReMix will never be forgotten.

[Dhsu]

Indian BURN!
Yoga Fire?
It takes talent to come up with a pun worse than mine. :lol:

P.S. You forgot to turn off anti-hotlinking on your site. :P

[sephfire]

Despite his increasingly busy schedule, he would always take the time to provide me feedback on my latest WIP whenever he could. For a guy with a demanding new job and judging duties, that's no small feat.

Journey's End wouldn't have turned out half as awesome without you, Gray. If you couldn't tell already, you're gonna be missed around here.

[Smoke]

Indian BURN!
Yoga Fire?
It takes talent to come up with a pun worse than mine. :lol:

P.S. You forgot to turn off anti-hotlinking on your site. :P

Actually, that should be open for quite a few sites. There's only a very small amount of people that get the wrong image, and it's usually related to some sort of proxy use.

[Dhsu]

No proxies here, but it looks like the image shows up fine now.

[tgfoo]

I figured this was coming. I hadn't seen him around the forums here or on AIM in, well, forever. Sad to see him go, but he's now off doing bigger and better things. Good luck!

[The Orichalcon]

Gray was the major reason I was placed onto the panel. During the weeks before the first test batch was ready, he'd chat with me every day and get to know me. Even after Shna was selected to the panel, he still chatted with me often until eventually the place re-opened and he put in the good word for me.

He was a great friend, I instigated a couple of arguments with him, but he was always very calm and polite, never flying off the handle. Even though I didn't agree with his P.O.V. some of the time, he made it very difficult not to respect his position.

I'll miss the games we played online, the chats we had and I'll just generally miss the guy. If ever there was a person who deserved to have the very best opportunities in life, it's Gray. And I wish him the very best.

[Evilhead]

Gray is a cool and extremely nice guy. I'm sure he'll succeed doing whatever it is he is doing. Good luck!

[Navi]

In December 2003, Gray responded to a wip thread I made where I instructed judges to "AIM ME PLZ" with comments. Over the next two and a half years, Gray became a mentor to me, molding me from a noobish FL beginner to what I am today (take that as you will).

From that day up until the last day he popped online (mid July) we talked without fail almost every day. He was always willing to give critique and listen to my constant slew of wips and in exchange, I got to hear a lot of his works in progress before anyone else did (I still have a rough wip of Sacratus Bellator that's drastically different from the final version). Along with that, he was always up for a game of chess, literati, poker, or whatever. I also got him addicted to anime and opened his mind to rap music.

It's a damn shame and I'll miss him tons. He's probably the first person I ever really TALKED to on OCR and - if I may make a lame cheesy middle school comment - probably was my best friend on this site.

:(

Internet death rite?

[The Orichalcon]

Gray became a mentor to me, molding me from a noobish FL beginner to what I am today

I thought Larry was the one that "molded" people. :)

[Vig]

To be honest, none of us are completely sure that he still actually exists.

[ambient]

Respect and good job. Thanks for YESing both of my OC mixes.

[DarkeSword]

To be honest, none of us are completely sure that he still actually exists.

I'm pretty sure he's just a sentient being who's grown out of the massive information exchange of the internet, similar to, but not exactly like, Jane, from the Speaker of the Dead trilogy.

Or I could be wrong.

[Navi]

To be honest, none of us are completely sure that he still actually exists.

I'm pretty sure he's just a sentient being who's grown out of the massive information exchange of the internet, similar to, but not exactly like, Jane, from the Speaker of the Dead trilogy.

Or I could be wrong.

We discussed this at Jill's house that one day. It was pretty funny (and freakishly possible)

[Vurez]

Take it easy Gray. Best of luck :)

[DarkeSword]

To be honest, none of us are completely sure that he still actually exists.

I'm pretty sure he's just a sentient being who's grown out of the massive information exchange of the internet, similar to, but not exactly like, Jane, from the Speaker of the Dead trilogy.

Or I could be wrong.

We discussed this at Jill's house that one day. It was pretty funny (and freakishly possible)

I doubt you made the Speaker allusion.

Or you're all a bit more well read than I previously believed.

[Navi]

We didn't but you make bad assumptions nonetheless. :P

I read the entire series (up to that point) back in middle school.

[Chuckles]

That sucks.

Like, totally, a way lot. He was all up in my top five of remixers. Yo.

[mDuo13]

<3 Gray. He and SgtRama were the only ones in #ocremix whom I remember being friendly and encouraging to me, back when I was a pitiful n00b trying to remix Super Mario Sunshine.

The more I've gotten to know Gray, the more I realized what a great guy he is. Hopefully he isn't leaving OCR in its entirety purposely, but rather just doesn't have time to dedicate to judging.

[The wingless]

To be honest, none of us are completely sure that he still actually exists.

I'm pretty sure he's just a sentient being who's grown out of the massive information exchange of the internet, similar to, but not exactly like, Jane, from the Speaker of the Dead trilogy.

Or I could be wrong.

We discussed this at Jill's house that one day. It was pretty funny (and freakishly possible)

I doubt you made the Speaker allusion.

Or you're all a bit more well read than I previously believed.

*Thread Commandeered*

Hey Darke! You notice anything strAaAaAaAange about the name of the characters on my new website?

:3


*Thread Relinquished*

[zircon]

No, he's leaving OCR in it's entirety. As anyone who talked to him regularly can attest, he disappeared without a word to anyone. Haven't seen him for months on AIM - no posts at all in any forum, no PMs, nothing. I guess he really wanted to leave this part of the internet cold turkey.

[DarkeSword]

To be honest, none of us are completely sure that he still actually exists.

I'm pretty sure he's just a sentient being who's grown out of the massive information exchange of the internet, similar to, but not exactly like, Jane, from the Speaker of the Dead trilogy.

Or I could be wrong.

We discussed this at Jill's house that one day. It was pretty funny (and freakishly possible)

I doubt you made the Speaker allusion.

Or you're all a bit more well read than I previously believed.

*Thread Commandeered*

Hey Darke! You notice anything strAaAaAaAange about the name of the characters on my new website?

:3


*Thread Relinquished*

Jawesome.

[RocketSniper]

To be honest, none of us are completely sure that he still actually exists.

I'm pretty sure he's just a sentient being who's grown out of the massive information exchange of the internet, similar to, but not exactly like, Jane, from the Speaker of the Dead trilogy.

Or I could be wrong.

We discussed this at Jill's house that one day. It was pretty funny (and freakishly possible)

I doubt you made the Speaker allusion.

Or you're all a bit more well read than I previously believed.

*Thread Commandeered*

Hey Darke! You notice anything strAaAaAaAange about the name of the characters on my new website?

:3


*Thread Relinquished*

I think Gray has turned into a Lain style figure... Everywhere and nowhere, always watching...

[Smoke]

No, he's leaving OCR in it's entirety. As anyone who talked to him regularly can attest, he disappeared without a word to anyone. Haven't seen him for months on AIM - no posts at all in any forum, no PMs, nothing. I guess he really wanted to leave this part of the internet cold turkey.

I miss talking to Gary on AIM, he's always entertaining :(. He did say he was tired of OCR though, but I do hope he'll return someday.

[Dhsu]

No, he's leaving OCR in it's entirety. As anyone who talked to him regularly can attest, he disappeared without a word to anyone.
He told me he'd be back in a week...that was a month ago. :(

[Geoffrey Taucer]

No, he's leaving OCR in it's entirety. As anyone who talked to him regularly can attest, he disappeared without a word to anyone. Haven't seen him for months on AIM - no posts at all in any forum, no PMs, nothing. I guess he really wanted to leave this part of the internet cold turkey.

Really? I hope it's just that he left OCR, and not that something bad happenned to him or anything...

[Nineko]

No, he's leaving OCR in it's entirety. As anyone who talked to him regularly can attest, he disappeared without a word to anyone.
He told me he'd be back in a week...that was a month ago. :(Uh? I thought he went to buy some cigarettes




<_<




>_>

[Navi]

Gray popped on AIM in July to give people a "last notice". I assume he popped on more recently to confirm these details of his leaving but the last time I talked to him was then. :(

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Gray popped on AIM in July to give people a "last notice". I assume he popped on more recently to confirm these details of his leaving but the last time I talked to him was then. :(

:(

Long live GrayLightning! He appeared from nowhere, and brought forth sweet mixage and brought peace to the community. Then, he dissappeared, never to be seen again, but for years to come, when remixers sit around campfires, they shall tell of the legend of GrayLightning....

<_<

>_>

Shut up, I'm underslept.

[Xerol Oplan]

Did he actually tell anyone he was leaving (recently), or is this just the "acceptance" of the disappearance?

[mDuo13]

I know he gave me some forewarning a while back. I haven't heard anything from him in a month or two.

[Xerol Oplan]

I didn't hear anything from him about leaving. I was trying to rework my OCRI Terranigma mix, back in May or so, he said he'd take a listen at it tomorrow, and I haven't seen him online since.

[Arek the Absolute]

plus he would always invite me to play poker with him and myf....
I feel kinda bad declining all those times now....


GRAY T__________________________T

[DarkeSword]

Gray posted a message to us in the Judge's forum officially abdicating his position on the OCR Staff.

[JJT]

To be honest, none of us are completely sure that he still actually exists.
quoted for emphasis

[Arek the Absolute]

It truly is saddening, but it is something that we all go through. He shall be missed, but he was touched by the lips of the cruel maiden known as "life".

[hhallahh]

Gray was my favoritest judge. Now this site sucks!

Well, not really. Good luck, though.

[Crabsmasher]

At first I thought Gray was the judge that did alot of F-Zero mixes and I was going to say something about that. Then I looked him up and I realized I had mixed him up with JJT. Shows how much I know him(or the judge panel in general). But still he has 23 remixes on the site, thats a whole lot. Nice Work.

Best of luck.

[Ronyn]

Gray - if you're reading this: Say hello once in a while you snob!

Seriously, sucks you're gone. I returned to mixing to this site because you were on the panel, so I guess that's all ironic and such. :wink: Good luck buddy, don't be a stranger.

[sgx]

BAI!

[RoeTaKa]

I feel I should say my thanks to Gray as well, whereever he may be, as he always made it his time to help all the little folk, and friends alike. Gray also helped me on occasion, it's sad to say a huge part of OC personality has gone :(.

[Garde]

I always get to this stuff late...

Looking at how many people talked to AIM, and how many people got help from him in some manner outside of the forums, I can't blame him for leaving. It wasn't just moderating and judging that was taking up time, it was all of us as well. I knew he talked to a few people besides me (I thought mainly judges and collabers), but after reading through all of these posts, I can see that he was probably terribly over-burdened by us all...

I first got to know him during a somewhat controversial rejection of his Distorted Star mix (and I kept every single one of his WIPs of all his mixes, I loved listening to all of them to see how he developed his music, though they've all been lost in a hard drive crash :(), and ever since then we've talked about all sorts of personal things. I've been away from these forums for quite some time, but I would always come back whenever he told me a new mix was posted, just to post a review of each of his songs.

I've been wondering where he's been for some time, I assume I was probably at work when he got on in July to let everyone know he was leaving for good. I've sent him various emails without response, I've sent him PMs, and he's not on MSN or any of his AIM SNs. Who knows, in a year or so he might come back. I know I'd certainly love to catch up with him, but so would everyone else that got the great opportunity to befriend him.

Anyway, he was more than just a friend to me, he was pretty much the best older brother figure I could've asked for. He gave me all sorts of advice throughout high school and even partially through college. He was always supportive of my endeavors, and we would talk for hours on end, sharing all of our WIPs (haha, at one point I had to make folders for the songs because I had too many versions of each!). He never got upset and we rarely disagreed (and when we did, we respected one another's opinion). Hell, we even watched anime and listened to music synced over the internet so we could be listening/watching the stuff at the same time... I really loved how our music and anime tastes were near identical, there was never a moment where we had nothing to talk about... I'm really going to miss you, man.

I wish you the best of luck in whatever you've moved on to (not sure if it's still the studio or something else). If there's anyone out there that deserves everything great this world has to offer, it's you. I think it's pretty clear that you mean a lot to us all. Take care of yourself, man.

If you ever do decide to keep in touch with any of us, hit me up on AIM or send me an email or something.

[Arcana]

Late to this thread. Just adding my sentiments to those who've already stated that Gray was one of the most defining members of OCR to many of its visitors.

He was the first person here to give me strong technical assistance on my tracks and really expanded my knowledge.

He'll be missed.

[saxman]

I don't know if he'll see this, but I have a lot of respect for him! Some of the judges and such I didn't get along with in the past, but he always liked me. He's probably one of the nicest guys at these forums (not that there aren't other nice people though!), and he's the kind of person everyone wants to be friends with.

Good luck Gray with your career, and maybe I'll be able to talk to you on AIM again sometime =)

[Arek the Absolute]

What's up dude, we all knew GL was off to bigger and better things.

Don't weep for the guy and long for his presence. Be glad he's out doing what he's doing.

agreed
But god do I miss the guy...
We were really close, and I was THIS CLOSE to meeting him.

[HoboKa]

He looka like a man.

Hahah that Mad TV episode. He Look like a man.. Uhhh, can you tell us any more?

Yeah, yeah... He look like a man.

Ah...good times.

Anyways, i never got to know Graylightning, or any 1 from the community (yet), but from what I hear of him and the remixes of his that I DL'd, I think he's 1 cool guy. Godsend!

[Bugalogic]

It's kinda hard to say bye to a judge like him. A guy of courage and such...
I remember the time I used to walk around here and find some of his post at the boards, it was always a pleasant thing.