Bongo has passed away ...

[DandyA]

Hi Peeps,

With regret, I have to announce that the great Bongo has passed away ... we'll miss you Bongo!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7931251.stm

[RocketRoy1983]

Haha God my heart was in my mouth for a minute.

[DandyA]

Haha God my heart was in my mouth for a minute.

you're worried RR? think what Bongo will think when he reads this LOL

[Monique]

Well I was worried aswell for a minute. Bongo is very (very) young and things do happen ... I must say this doesn't make me smile.

[mushka]

This wasn´t funny at all.

[LavaChild]

I agree that the original post was in bad taste but I don't think DandyA meant any harm by it - Often it is very difficult to convey yourself through the internet... I don't think anything was meant in the way that it has been interpreted, but none-the-less; This is obviously not a joking matter. Not least for Ali Bongo. I'm not familiar with the guy... But RIP.

[spike]

This wasn´t funny at all.

agreed Mushka!! My heart skipped a beat just for a second there

[bongo]

I don't know what to say really!

Dandy, You didn't mean anything harsh. Anyway, RIP Ali Bongo...

bongo

[crucible77]

Well I was worried aswell for a minute. Bongo is very (very) young and things do happen ... I must say this doesn't make me smile.

i agree, poor bongo,

[Leila Keller]

This wasn´t funny at all.

I completely agree.

[Rane]

agreed Mushka!! My heart skipped a beat just for a second there

I have to say, I really got shocked when I read it, knowing how young Bongo is. Think a little before you write please.

Do the mods have any possibility to change the title of the thread ?

[DandyA]

I have to say, I really got shocked when I read it, knowing how young Bongo is. Think a little before you write please.

Do the mods have any possibility to change the title of the thread ?

Well I have to say, I clearly didn't mean any harm and I clearly referred to this article ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7931251.stm whch is an article about the great Bongo who died recently ...

I'm not sure why my posting is causing so many negative replies and, of course, Rane you are welcome to consult the moderators of this fine forum regarding it ... I'd be interested to hear what they say ...

[edit] ... I'd like to add the posting is in "off-topic" which in itself could be a slight clue [/edit]

[DandyA]

Well I was worried aswell for a minute. Bongo is very (very) young and things do happen ... I must say this doesn't make me smile.

I think in reality Monique, you'll find whilst, of course, people can die at any age the odds are really stacked up against crinklies like me ...

But I would once again point out that I was referring to the great Bongo, the magician who died at the age of 79 ...

May God bless Bongo and may he rest in peace which is all any of us can hope for ...

[mushka]

I have found your post about the passing of the magician Ali Bongo to be done in a very poor taste. If you were indeed interested in informing the rest of us about his death and not in making an unfortunate double meaning post, I am pretty convinced you would have chosen your words differently.

You are quite aware that this is a forum with posters from all over the world. Surely you don't want me question just how much thought is needed to figure out that majority of us didn't have an idea who Ali Bongo was. And I surely don't want to give other posters the opportunity to question my common sense by believing that your omittance of the full name or occupation of the departed person wasn't purposeful.

Given the initial feeling your thread had to cause, I think the comments made here are pretty mild. Noone has personally attacked you. To me it was a joke gone wrong, but worse things happen. However, your inability to try to look at the matter from others' perspective or to own up to a fault which would be immediately forgotten with a little "I am sorry" tells me that next time I don't need to be so careful in my response.

[Jacko]

In my spare time when not playing snooker, I like to do a bit of Magic on my friends. I'm lucky to be friends with Derren Brown so obviously the Mind Reading side of magic appeals to me more although I love all areas of magic.
Ali Bongo was a top drawer magician and one of the best ever. I heard about his death on Derren's blog site on which he wrote:

"Some of you reading this with only a peripheral interest in magic may have read the notices that a famous and well-respected magician called Ali Bongo died today. If the name rings a bell, let me explain who Ali was, is, and will continue to be. Firstly, as might be imagined, Ali was a legend amongst magicians and has been for decades. As a performer, he dressed in trademark garish, mock-Oriental garb as the ‘Shriek of Araby’ (definitely riding the furthest cusp of political correctness by today’s standards) and was famous for his colourful, visual comedy magic. As a consultant, aside from his film and musical work, and his own 1971 series Ali Bongo’s Cartoon Carnival, he was a vital force behind Paul Daniel’s unparalleled success, and David Nixon before him, and has lent his encyclopedic expertise to probably every British magic show in memory, including mine. As a thinker, his ideas were nothing short of brilliant. Several times I have seen him lecture for a room of magicians and floor all of us with impossible tricks which he treated so lightly; methods so devious, delicious and invisible, yet passed off with a shrug and a laugh by their extraordinary inventor. As a man, he was always brightly yet impeccably dressed, twinkling and courteous; the very image of sprightliness, sporting his iconic thick-rimmed glasses on equally iconic thick-rimmed ears; a gentleman of the old school but effortlessly delighting in the changing face of the craft. He was only a short way through his presidency of the Magic Circle when he died, following a stroke, at 79. The magic fraternity is often a pedantic and political place, and Ali was a rare spot of vibrancy in their ranks."