MIRAGE99.NFO
Today is December 31, 1993 .. and tomorrow, as is the tradition, Ill
be conjuring up a list of new years resolutions which will contain the usual
bullshit resolving to study 9 hours a night, run 23 miles every morning, stop
picking on R.Noble .. and, as is the tradition, Ill have broken them by the
next day Sorry R.Noble. The coming of the new year is also a time for
tying loose ends, wiping the record clean, defragging the human hard drive as
it were. It all seemed like the perfect time .. to announce the official and
permanent archiving of Mirage Designs.
When I originally began compiling this file I had written a several
page report on the history of the organization .. then decided against it.
Instead, Im opting to include just some of my abstract thoughts of the time,
detail a little insight behind the Mirage concept and give out a few thanks,
shouts and ever else.
For those closely affiliated with the organization, this was a day
long foreshadowed, where the question wasnt so much will Mirage die as it
was when will Mirage die. When Mirage was originally shaped I had a dream
of what I wanted it to be, it was going to be different .. succinctly put,
the artist would make up Mirage, rather than have Mirage make the artist. I
wanted the group to be a collective association of personalities and talent,
more of a loosely knit collage rather than a rigid company. This would be a
contact for artists looking for distribution, advice, or project partners.
There would be no regulated charge for production of graphics, the artist
would maintain personal choice over the matter. No quotas .. production was
to be a result of the artists desire to create, rather than one of pressure.
With time, it all began to change, as it became just another graphics group,
and thats not what we had set out to do .. because as everyone knows, there
are more than enough generic groups running around the scene.
As of this time, Ive been variably in and out of the scene, and of
recent, more often out than in .. and everytime I came back in, it was in an
attempt to revitalize a slacking Mirage. To keep an organization such as
this running at a certain quality takes a lot of time and dedication, some-
thing I found I was no longer able to give. Many other of primary membership
had the same loss of inspiration .. for us it had lost its luster. When you
call your first boards, the scene is a place of mystery and wonder. Everyone
wants to be the first to get 10,000 elite points and win .. but realization
later comes that its not all you expected, and often less. During my time
I met a lot of great people, as well as a share of that, well lets just say
werent so great. I feel with the departure of the organization that I began
just a litte over 3 years ago, thats it time for me to take a personal leave
as well .. an extended hiatus from the national pirate scene. As they say,
it was the best of times .. it was the worst of times .. now Im closing the
book on one of the most celebrated graphics groups in the short but ever
changing time that weve all been around.
-- Kaska . Kaska
Mirage Founder
Air Jordan : Admittedly, he never joined Mirage, but if he had, Im sure I
wouldve thanked him right here ..
Agent 86 : An invaluable help both to the organization and myself. Yet
another entry that will probably never be read, but if you
happen to see this in Vegas or wherever yer at, drop me a
line.
Beez : One of the original three members, and youre still around ..
along the way youve become one hell of an artist.
Black Night : You organized the best courier system we ever had in Mirage,
just too bad we were never able to implement it to its full
effect .. maybe if we had you in the early days of the group.
Bruce Lee : Just thought Itd be kewl to put him in here as well ..
Crushed Ice : A G. Washington without the artistic talent grin
Deadman X : iCE vs. Mirage on The Citadel .. damn, those were the days I
still think about. Yall can count that someday Ill make it
out there again.
Dragonbait : Your first .NFO file grin .. our very unofficial courier,
scout, and all around kewl guy.
Force Ten : NOW Ill merge wit ya ..
Frozen T : Founder of iCE .. there were rumors around, but you always
shot me straight. Luck wherever ya are ..
G. Washington : The hardest working man in the organization, as well as one
the best artists ever to hit the scene. Another vital piece
of the rise of Mirage .. and as weve learned, certain people
cant be replaced. Drop me a line when yer available ..
Kafka K : Second kewlest name in the scene grin .. it was all about
Social Ds graphics that inspired my ANSI start.
Lady in Black : Our un-official President of the Mirage fan club .. never did
get Tempus, but it was enjoyable.
Loki : Looks like LoL will outlast Mirage .. it wasnt for long, but
the time you were around was valued.
Metalhead : Though I dont give you as much credit for the group as Ren
does, cant deny what couldve been with The Next Legacy
Mind Bomb : Wassup dewd .. volleyball anyone?
Porizkova : Damn .. wish she was in Mirage ..
Poseidon : Another Florida kid who thinks he can ball grin .. also the
most productive VGA artist we ever had.
Psylocke : Smoke Pot Hail our leige Satan Down with Communist Regime.
R.Noble/Ren : Probably the person whos had the most influence on my life
within the scene. Also, in my mind one of the best artists
to come around, because everything hes done was completely
original. And no .. cant say it wasnt fun.
Ricochet : My San Leandro information source .. can only wonder what may
have been if we got you involved back as Silk grin
Slam Dunk : How many basketball players we got in Florida anyway? Ill
check ya too grin ..
Snibble : Miss those conversations en francais .. you also had some of
the best coding Ive ever seen.
TANK : Same as always, thanks for RPM.
Tempus Thales : I always thought that we had you right on the verge of coming
over to the group. Still think that youre one of the best
artists around, but I doubt if your basketball skills could
match .. Im gonna school ya someday grin
Terminator2 : Seems a shame that we picked you up when the group was going
downhill .. gluck wherever ya go.
TGiTM/Dodger : blah .. whatever happened to those application generators?
Zandorf : Guess it was just something that was never able to get up off
the ground again ..
And now, a real concise listing of anyone who was ever a part of the
Mirage membership .. Id like to thank all for their contribution.
Atomic Playboy:Bad Karma:Beez:Black Ire:Black Night:Black Spyrit:Black Wolf::
The Black Legend:Bookwyrm:Captain Kaos:The Carnage:Cobalt:Coin Master:Cool T:
Crushed Ice:Cue:Cyber X:The Dark Servant:Dark Wolfe:Dead End:Deep Freeze:::::
Desolation:Dodger:Don Quixote:Dr. Freeze:Dr. Jekyl:Dreamevil:The Drow:Faust::
Flag:Fusion:G. Washington:Iceman:Icy:Igniter:Kafka Kierkegaard:Killer:Kronos:
Logan:Loki:Magical Gangster:Malcolm X:Maltar:Metal Head:MicroFarad:::::::::::
The Morbid One:Mr. Brownstone:Mystic Knight:Nhim:Nightblade:Outlawr::::::::::
Paul Muaddib:Pnakotic:Poseidon:Prometheus:Pyro:Rasitlin:R.Noble:Razor:::::::
Regurgitated Fluff:Ricochet:Samurai Sam:Shihear Kallizad:Slammer:Slyboy::::::
Soulforger:Terminator2:THX:Toxic Marshmallow:Vito:Vlad Drac:Voivod:Weapon X::
The Weeze:Zandorf:Zero:Zirkoid:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
We wanted to end on a positive note, so heres our biggest pack ever ..
Frank Tire Pros / 2310 El Camino Real / Redwood City, CA / 415-3O6-9394
Golden State Warriors to win it all from 94 on ..
iCE - ACiD .. all yours
so .. anyways ..
.. ya ..
To be a champion you have to believe in yourself when no one else will
- Sugar Ray Leonard
Mirage Designs c1993 going on 94 - Elite has been successfully redefined ..