GrayLightning steps down from the judges panel

[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. 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.