6 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

What about bikers. ????????????

Motorcyclists yes. Tw@ts who dress like a pirate No. Freemasons, Rotary, Toastmasters, et al. have no need to advertise their membership.????????????

4 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

What about bikers. ????????????

Bikers too. Most men yearn for some kind of brotherhood. It's ancient and instinctive. 

On 4/23/2023 at 9:52 PM, Jai Dee said:

I went to a Lodge dinner in Perth WA once, it was full of pissheads............................... 

Some people use lodges as a drinking club, despite being told that conviviality is only one aspect of Masonry. This is in common with other groups where blokes get together - there are those who just want the social element, because they're lonely perhaps, and there are a subset whose interest lies in whatever is supposed to be the purpose of the group. Yacht clubs, for example, have lots of people who can't sail and just prop up the bar - they pay their dues, support the club's finances and are liked, so all is good.

28 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Motorcyclists yes. Tw@ts who dress like a pirate No. Freemasons, Rotary, Toastmasters, et al. have no need to advertise their membership.????????????

So as an supporting ex UK Hell's Angel I'm a tw@ts. ????????????????

5 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

So as an supporting ex UK Hell's Angel I'm a tw@ts. ????????????????

A bit off topic that. You might want to start a bikers thread.

 

6 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

So as an supporting ex UK Hell's Angel I'm a tw@ts.

Next time we meet you will have to tell me all about it.

5 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Next time we meet you will have to tell me all about it.

Thread .... totally ..... hijacked ...... by sweary people talking about bikers. I'm out of here. 

2 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Next time we meet you will have to tell me all about it.

Yeah the rock concerts raised dosh. 

Just now, sidneybear said:

Thread .... totally ..... hijacked. I'm out of here. 

Freemasonry is labelled as the secret hand shake club like it or not,  grow up. 

1 minute ago, sidneybear said:

Thread .... totally ..... hijacked. I'm out of here. 

No saying something sensible about Freemasonry will bring it back. My father was a member for years.  Grand master, the lot. I usually got given my mother's ladies night gift. But I always thought it operated on discretion not open discussion. I was quite shocked when I went to Canada and saw Masonic window stickers on cars.

4 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Freemasonry is labelled as the secret hand shake club like it or not,  grow up. 

That's an immature and ignorant point of view. It's like a worm who thinks a small piece of soil is the extent of the universe. 

7 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

No saying something sensible about Freemasonry will bring it back. My father was a member for years.  Grand master, the lot. I usually got given my mother's ladies night gift. But I always thought it operated on discretion not open discussion. I was quite shocked when I went to Canada and saw Masonic window stickers on cars.

Aside from receiving ladies night gifts, you didn't become a member yourself. The OP was asking for actual experiences, rather than hearsay from people who had never joined themselves. 

7 minutes ago, sidneybear said:

Aside from receiving ladies night gifts, you didn't become a member yourself. 

I was invited to but I think I was a bit young. All the other members of the lodge seemed much older to me. Friends of my father. I think the timing was wrong. I have been involved with a service club not unlike Rotary.

28 minutes ago, sidneybear said:

That's an immature and ignorant point of view. It's like a worm who thinks a small piece of soil is the extent of the universe. 

Thanks for showing your ignorance of what people think of clubs people.

1 hour ago, sidneybear said:

Bikers too. Most men yearn for some kind of brotherhood. It's ancient and instinctive. 

That sounds a bit...........????..............to me....................

There is a reason the word Mason or Freemason is associated with countless  conspiracies over centuries.......You dont hear of the Rotary club associated with conspiracies do you?

 

The guy who says he is a lifelong member but has seen none of this is 100% correct...He has not seen or has chosen not to see anything wayword about the freemasons...

 

But the Masons are just one of many many secret societies....But I would think they are the most well known of the lot.... 

 

Its well known you must be in the higher ranks to know more of the purpose of the oganization.....And those people most likely will never post on a open forum....

34 minutes ago, sidneybear said:

That's an immature and ignorant point of view. It's like a worm who thinks a small piece of soil is the extent of the universe. 

I thought you had gone..............Besides, that's way off topic................

29 minutes ago, sidneybear said:

Aside from receiving ladies night gifts, you didn't become a member yourself. The OP was asking for actual experiences, rather than hearsay from people who had never joined themselves. 

I've been to Masons stuff, but never joined, so I cannot comment then...?

13 minutes ago, transam said:

I've been to Masons stuff, but never joined, so I cannot comment then...?

The OP was asking for actual experiences from Masons, and you aren't one, so please draw your own conclusions. 

18 minutes ago, transam said:

That sounds a bit...........????..............to me....................

Aside from flippant remarks, you seem to have nothing to add.

On 4/24/2023 at 3:09 PM, LaosLover said:

The black music style known as Go-Go originates from live shows played at Masonic Lodge venues.

Really? I never knew this .. Trouble Funk, Chuck Brown, Tilt, etc are some of my all time faves, yet, I have never been to DC. 

2 minutes ago, recom273 said:

Really? I never knew this .. Trouble Funk, Chuck Brown, Tilt, etc are some of my all time faves, yet, I have never been to DC. 

I wonder which lodge that was, because I've never seen it. I have seen stuff like this in my local pub though. 

2 minutes ago, recom273 said:

Really? I never knew this .. Trouble Funk, Chuck Brown, Tilt, etc are some of my all time faves, yet, I have never been to DC. 

I saw Chuck Brown 5 years ago -opening for Eddie Palmieri at a park show; on my feet all night. He rocked the house.

 

There was some cross pollination with that music and NYC where I'm from so I've seen all of your list. This was the crossover attempt record that was played to death downtown that summer:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Go-Crankin-Paint-Digitally-Remastered/dp/B009SFRL64 

 

Sadly, sort of scary shows to go to. Google Go Go Show Masonic Lodge Washington DC Shooting and more than a few events pop up. I got tired of waiting for Chuck and missed possibly getting killed myself.

On 4/26/2023 at 5:03 PM, Kwasaki said:

Freemasonry is labelled as the secret hand shake club like it or not,  grow up. 

I would think that when people get promoted in any job it should be on their ability , not on the way they shake hands.

8 hours ago, NoshowJones said:

I would think that when people get promoted in any job it should be on their ability , not on the way they shake hands.

If your job is shaking hands, then your wage-payer comes second

 

On 4/28/2023 at 7:48 PM, NoshowJones said:

I would think that when people get promoted in any job it should be on their ability , not on the way they shake hands.

Masonic handshakes generally aren't used in everyday life. They're one of the modes of recognition when asked specifically to prove that you're a Mason, when you turn up at a Lodge where you're not known, for example.

1 hour ago, sidneybear said:

Masonic handshakes generally aren't used in everyday life. They're one of the modes of recognition when asked specifically to prove that you're a Mason, when you turn up at a Lodge where you're not known, for example.

I won't argue with that, but there is another reason in Scotland what masonic handshakes are known for, but I will not go into it as it is not suitable for this forum.

On 4/30/2023 at 11:04 AM, NoshowJones said:

I won't argue with that, but there is another reason in Scotland what masonic handshakes are known for, but I will not go into it as it is not suitable for this forum.

You've got me there, but I imagine it's crude ????

I would have thought that there was no shortage of organisations in Thailand that exist to further the (often intrinsically linked) social, financial and political ambitions of their members!

4 hours ago, sidneybear said:

You've got me there, but I imagine it's crude ????

Not crude. ????