January 19, 2001

RinkChat, CA - With voting for the RinkAwards now open, many "RinkyDinks" are flocking to the polls to ponder and place their votes. Some quickly and effortlessly complete the ballot, while others spend hours rereading the archives and debating the placement of each vote.

However, others merely see the voting procedure as something to be observed from a distance. RinkWorks regular Tubba, of England, is one of these people. While he does spend hours in RinkChat, he is not especially interested in the archives, Tubba said in an interview.

"Most of the archives are things that are funny at the time, if you were there," Tubba said. "I see an archive more as a disjointed, unorganized collection of mildly amusing things."

However, Tubba also said that he views some archives, such as "The Sting: Parts I and II," as exceptions. He said that these archives are more planned, rather than being spontaneous. Although Tubba does like these archives, he said he still does not plan to vote in the RinkAwards.

Tubba finds other parts of the site entertaining, but for him the people, rather than the features, are the most important part of RinkWorks.

"All credit to the admins for making an entertaining site, but it is really the people that keep me coming back. I bookmark RinkChat, not RinkWorks," he said. "Other chats I have tried haven't sustained my interest for even five minutes. RinkWorks has a real sense of community, and you can feel that from the first moment you see it."

Although Tubba has no wish to vote in the RinkAwards, he said that he does feel badly for not having a stronger desire to vote. He does not want to let his friends down by not participating in the event.

Tubba said that another factor hindering him from voting is that he has not read all of the archives, thus making it even harder for him to vote. He said the second round of voting might be easier for him to choose, but he will still probably not vote in that round, either.

Despite Tubba's lack of desire to vote in the RinkAwards, he does have every intention of attending the ceremony, even if it means that he must stay up late due to the time difference between England and the United States.

"I want to see what happens," Tubba said.