Optimism's Flames began life as a trade list, which still exists (site), and grew into this beautiful monster. It would not now exist in this form without the aid of a brilliant architect who wishes to remain veiled beneath a cloak of anonymity. I met him through a trade of XTC audio and luckily mentioned that I was interested in creating an XTC site as lavish and compelling as their music. Although I'd dicked around with a couple of the free ad-coated servers out there I lacked the experience to get the images in my head out and online. Not only did this fine chap have the experience; he also had better images in his head. He quickly came up with a basic sketch for the scheme: Click on the image above to view the sketch. We spent tireless hours on AOL Instant Messenger (a fantastic chat program which also allows you to transfer files) discussing both the site and life in general. We found that we had far more in common than either of us imagined. We've never met. We live on different continents. We're best of friends. This site is a testament to both our friendship and the first thing we found we had in common, XTC. Thank you my friend |