Having been on here for 2 weeks now and observing the traffic and topics, can I ask what Bedlam is supposed to achieve, if anything?

Presumably it allows people to feel they have achieved a certain status with their number of posts, and that they can be trusted to not post rubbish or get into trouble too much on here, and fair enough, but that said, many people who are very active on the main boards simply do not bother with Bedlam at all.

Usually when you get elevated to something you get some kind of value-added. On the Bedlam board I find it is the opposite. The cut and thrust, and most of the wit and spark is on the main boards. However there are some great topics on here – the “Short Ones” and some of the photo threads are good, but by and large the board could just as easily be relocated to a more “fun” general section without too much trouble.

If you look on the elevated sections of some of the less reputable forum sites it is easy to see what elevated status confers, but that is completely inappropriate for the TV business model.

So I can't quite get my head around the Bedlam board.

Maybe if Mods (or members were encouraged to) post more provocative/interesting/topical threads it might help, but that might detract from the strength of the non-Bedlam boards.

Maybe a more elitist feel to being/becoming a member might do it?

Or offer Bedlam members something? How about discounts at selected forum sponsors, per number of posts?

Or is everyone happy with it as it is?

It just feels moribund to me, but I will keep at it.

All observations welcome. I am just trying to work it out as a newbie on the board, not start a punch-up.

I see Bedlam as a haven from trolls and idiots. (Bite my tongue and won't qualify that)

It's also nice to chew the fat about anything at all, not just Thai-related topics.

And it is nice to have a relatively limited number of posters......you don't come back the next day and have to read 100 posts that have been made since your last post.

And there is a comaraderie as one gets to know the others. You get to know people better....harder to achieve when you are one of 10 000 posters in the rest of the forum.

To me, the advantage of Bedlam and its attending forum, outside the box, is the posts don't have to be strictly about Thailand. Many topics are universal, but if they get posted on the general forum, or other forums on thaivisa, they get deleted. In the past I've tried to use photographs to illustrate my topics, but will no longer do so. It seems to offend some people... no matter HOW innocent the picture. If it has people in the photo it is somehow a no-no. And, I've NEVER posted anything close to being obscene.

But, Bedlam IS the place to start a topic that can be interesting to people from many parts of the globe. There are many members on Thaivisa who don't reside in Thailand, and often only visit on an irregular basis. But, they still like to keep abreast of what's going on in this country. Bedlam is the place to do that.

I consider Bedlam like a place with white padded walls all around and considering the usual posters that hang out it here - it's appropriate.

To me, the advantage of Bedlam and its attending forum, outside the box, is the posts don't have to be strictly about Thailand. Many topics are universal, but if they get posted on the general forum, or other forums on thaivisa, they get deleted. In the past I've tried to use photographs to illustrate my topics, but will no longer do so. It seems to offend some people... no matter HOW innocent the picture. If it has people in the photo it is somehow a no-no. And, I've NEVER posted anything close to being obscene.

But, Bedlam IS the place to start a topic that can be interesting to people from many parts of the globe. There are many members on Thaivisa who don't reside in Thailand, and often only visit on an irregular basis. But, they still like to keep abreast of what's going on in this country. Bedlam is the place to do that.

You would like to keep a breast (or two) in Thailand, Ian.

I consider Bedlam like a place with white padded walls all around and considering the usual posters that hang out it here - it's appropriate.

agree

anyway.....

You know you're a pikey when:

The Halloween pumpkin on your front porch has more teeth than your spouse.

You let your twelve-year-old daughter smoke at the table in front of her kids.

You've been married three times and still have the same in-laws.

You think a woman who is "out of your league" supports a conference team.

Jack Daniel is top of your list of 'Most Admired People'.

You think Genitalia is an Italian airline.

You wonder how petrol stations keep their toilets so clean.

Someone in your family died right after saying "Hey, watch this!"

You wonder why your school has no creche.

You lit a match in the bathroom and your house exploded right off its wheels.

The value of your car depends on how much fuel it has in it.

You can't marry your sweetheart because there's a fuc_king law against it.

You think loading the dishwasher means getting your wife drunk.

Your toilet paper has page numbers on it.

Ian,

this may be bedlam, but I suggest if you have issues with the action taken regarding your posting of some pics, to take it up with ADMIN via support.

I personally dont think posting some of those pics are appropriate, but I didnt take that action lightly based on my lone opinion (which can be biased).

You were nicely asked to stop doing so (ie. discussing moderation - which is against forum rules) by another MOD, but if you want to continue to discuss moderation in public, then Ill also enforce the rules more strictly, bedlam or no bedlam.

fair? cheers.

Ian,

this may be bedlam, but I suggest if you have issues with the action taken regarding your posting of some pics, to take it up with ADMIN via support.

I personally dont think posting some of those pics are appropriate, but I didnt take that action lightly based on my lone opinion (which can be biased).

You were nicely asked to stop doing so (ie. discussing moderation - which is against forum rules) by another MOD, but if you want to continue to discuss moderation in public, then Ill also enforce the rules more strictly, bedlam or no bedlam.

fair? cheers.

Like I said, Miggy, I'll no longer be posting photos or stories of my interesting trips around Thailand, so it is no longer and issue and I consider the matter closed. I'll abide by the rules as they are laid out. I don't have issues with anyone, but some may have issues with me. And, that is to be expected on any forum. I'm not questioning the rules of any forum, but Bedlam and the Outside the Box are places where subjects not related to Thailand can be discussed, and for that I happen to like this sub-forum of thaivisa.

What I found strange is in some computer cafes in both Kanchanaburi and Pattaya is I could not even FIND the Bedlam forum. I guess it is their hardware because in other, nearby internet cafes I did find Bedlam. I'm no computer techie so I have no understanding on how that happens.

if you consider the matter closed, you would not be bringing it up at every opportunity you get.

I am taking Bedlam and Outside the Box together for this thread (I mean why are the showstopper threads ‘I like New Zealanders because…’ and “I Like Brits and Aussies because…” in the Outside the Box section, which is purportedly for more serious stuff?).

Anyway, so far we’ve got:

1. Haven from trolls and idiots (the jury must be out on that )

2. Discussion of non-Thailand related matters (TV could just set up another general forum for that, although maybe to a more unwieldy and unmoderatable level?)

3. Relatively limited number of posters (!) This is, in part, of my point. There should be more posters, unless TV intends Bedlam to be a posting backwater?

4. Camaraderie – You get more of that on the main sites I think, but I suspect this is a personal thing in the end, depending on the poster.

5. A place to fume more liberally about more strictly enforced topics than on the main board (eg the discussion between Ian Forbes and MiG16) – which I did enjoy!

6. You can go WAY off topic – which has advantages and disadvantages.

If it was a success, there would be more posts, and more senior posters would be on here. They are not, so does TV judge Bedlam to be a success or a failure by whatever yardstick they had when they set it up?

Does anyone in TV have any comments on the rationale behind having the Bedlam board, and whether the above is enough to justify its existence in its current format?

To paraphrase the most overused term on TV, if you don't like it the way it is, don't use it.

BEDLAM 12 Step Program

• Step 1 - We admitted we were powerless over our addiction to Thai Visa - that our lives had become unmanageable
  
• Step 2 - Came to believe that BEDLAM could restore us to sanity
  
• Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of George as we understood George
  
• Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our POSTS
  
• Step 5 - Admitted to George, to ourselves and to other posters the exact nature of our wrongs
  
• Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have Admin's and Mod's remove all these defects from our posts
  
• Step 7 - Humbly asked George not to ban us
  
• Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had flamed, and became willing to make amends to them all
  
• Step 9 - Made direct PM's to such people wherever possible, except when they had already been banned
  
• Step 10 - Continued to post sparingly and when we trolled promptly admitted it
  
• Step 11 - Sought through PM's and Moderation to improve our contact with George as we understood George
  
• Step 12 - Having had a virtual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other posters, and to practice these principles in all our Topics
  

I consider Bedlam like a place with white padded walls all around and considering the usual posters that hang out it here - it's appropriate.

agree

anyway.....

You know you're a pikey when:

The Halloween pumpkin on your front porch has more teeth than your spouse.

You let your twelve-year-old daughter smoke at the table in front of her kids.

You've been married three times and still have the same in-laws.

You think a woman who is "out of your league" supports a conference team.

Jack Daniel is top of your list of 'Most Admired People'.

You think Genitalia is an Italian airline.

You wonder how petrol stations keep their toilets so clean.

Someone in your family died right after saying "Hey, watch this!"

You wonder why your school has no creche.

You lit a match in the bathroom and your house exploded right off its wheels.

The value of your car depends on how much fuel it has in it.

You can't marry your sweetheart because there's a fuc_king law against it.

You think loading the dishwasher means getting your wife drunk.

Your toilet paper has page numbers on it.

:D

Bedlam is the place to be. It's like a private club where you get on with (nearly) all the members. Everyone knows everyone and anything goes - well, nearly anything! Just go with the flow and enjoy it for its indefinable nature...

I have a bit of a love/hate (like/dislike) relationship with Bedlam.

I like the fact that the world can be discussed without that phrase NTR being used.

I like being able to talk about the bannings of the stupid, trollish and out of control. (as long as moderation is not placed in disrepute)

I like that you can discuss matters without copping all the trolls, idiots and the self important blathers who consider it's their job to take over any thread that piques their interest. The posters who take exception with everyone elses opinions, and rack up 20 or 30 posts answering them all. You know who I mean, we could take a poll.

I like the fact that you can get to know and become closer to some of the inmates to the point where you are happy to meet them in real life without qualms about what they may be really like. (I've met at least 3 people from here)

I like the fact I can use irony and sarcasm here and many recognise it as such.

I dislike some of the sameness (staleness) of many threads caused no doubt by a lack of a steady flow of new posters.

It's a bit cliquey at times, which I guess contributes to the lack of fresh posters.

I dislike the fact that there are a few here who post multitudes of one liners seemingly just for the sake it.

I don't like the fact that OOTB has become largely about American politics.

I don't like all those silly little "I like ..... " threads that evolved from a desire to assuage irate Americans who took great exception to the suggestion they may be a little thin skinned.

We tend to self moderate a bit. Bedlam contributors have been banned but rarely from posts made in Bedlam.

International issues can be discussed in the pub forum but I find the arguments there to be a bit repetitive and often ill informed. Sure it happens here but not as much.

Edit: I recall that my first Bedlam post also expressed disappointment in it after looking forward to posting here for 500 posts. Now I rarely post anywhere else other than the Chiang Rai forum.

I have a bit of a love/hate (like/dislike) relationship with Bedlam.

I like the fact that the world can be discussed without that phrase NTR being used.

I like being able to talk about the bannings of the stupid, trollish and out of control. (as long as moderation is not placed in disrepute)

I like that you can discuss matters without copping all the trolls, idiots and the self important blathers who consider it's their job to take over any thread that piques their interest. The posters who take exception with everyone elses opinions, and rack up 20 or 30 posts answering them all. You know who I mean, we could take a poll.

I like the fact that you can get to know and become closer to some of the inmates to the point where you are happy to meet them in real life without qualms about what they may be really like. (I've met at least 3 people from here)

I like the fact I can use irony and sarcasm here and many recognise it as such.

I dislike some of the sameness (staleness) of many threads caused no doubt by a lack of a steady flow of new posters.

It's a bit cliquey at times, which I guess contributes to the lack of fresh posters.

I dislike the fact that there are a few here who post multitudes of one liners seemingly just for the sake it.

I don't like the fact that OOTB has become largely about American politics.

I don't like all those silly little "I like ..... " threads that evolved from a desire to assuage irate Americans who took great exception to the suggestion they may be a little thin skinned.

Great post - unless by responding to it I am now in your category of The posters who.....rack up 20 or 30 posts answering them all. !

You can do that when it's your thread.

You can do that when it's your thread.

Can I? Excellent!

Oh.....

"I dislike the fact that there are a few here who post multitudes of one liners seemingly just for the sake it."

I can't think of a humourous reply to that.

"I dislike the fact that there are a few here who post multitudes of one liners seemingly just for the sake it."

I can't think of a humourous reply to that.

Nor can I...

"I dislike the fact that there are a few here who post multitudes of one liners seemingly just for the sake it."

I can't think of a humourous reply to that.

Nor can I...

Ditto

Let's Bedlamise this thread. Anyone got an irrelevant post about a fat woman a mangy dog and a bus full of right wing American Christians?

Well, there was this fat woman walking her mangy dog down a country road, when a busload of right-wing American Christians pulled up beside her.

The driver opened the door to ask her directions to the nearest shooting range as they had been on a church picnic and now wanted to complete the day's outing.

The fat woman, being a feminazi lesbian with a love for guns, happened to be the proprietor of a shooting range nearby, but recogbnised these church-goers because they were the very same people that had picketed the local lesbian drop-in centre.

Torn between obtaining the business and her principles, she hesitated to give the driver the advice he sought.

Meanwhile, the mangy dog was lifting it's leg on the front of the bus. When the driver noticed what the dog was doing, he hooted the horn, startling the dog in mid stream, making him jump and thereby causing the fat woman's leg to get wet.

This annoyed her, so she made up her mind and told the driver.......

Punch line needs work.

Yes it does.

I'm not sure if she gives the directions then does something nasty to them once they are on her turf, or if she tells them to piss off and they take umbrage and shoot the dog,

I'm not sure too, whether I left it open for someone else to complete.

I'm just an indecisive chap at the moment.

'

Might I suggest that the beautiful Nurse Diesel increases Sharecroppers' medication another 50ml.

Meanwhile back to the "fat woman a mangy dog and a bus full of right wing American Christian"

Ah, is this the 'Random Posts' thread?

Nurse!

^(Was that a 'dislikeable' one-liner?)

Bedlam described by Lewis Carroll

Alice: But I don't want to go among mad people.

The Cat: Oh, you can't help that. We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.

Alice: How do you know I'm mad?

The Cat: You must be. Or you wouldn't have come here.

Alice: And how do you know that you're mad?

The Cat: To begin with, a dog's not mad. You grant that?

Alice: I suppose so,

The Cat: Well, then, you see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad.

Bedlam described by Lewis Carroll

Alice: But I don't want to go among mad people.

The Cat: Oh, you can't help that. We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.

Alice: How do you know I'm mad?

The Cat: You must be. Or you wouldn't have come here.

Alice: And how do you know that you're mad?

The Cat: To begin with, a dog's not mad. You grant that?

Alice: I suppose so,

The Cat: Well, then, you see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad.

I won't argue with that....something at the back of my mind suggests that Alice's interaction with the hookah-smoking caterpiller has some relevance to an anolgy with bedlam, too:

(Sorry it's so long...it is good though.)

Alice in Wonderland

by Lewis Carroll

Chapter V: Advice from a Caterpillar

The Caterpillar and Alice looked at each other for some time in silence: at last the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and addressed her in a languid sleepy voice.

“Who are you? ” said the Caterpillar. This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, “I--I hardly know, sir, just at present--at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.”

“What do you mean by that?” said the Caterpillar sternly. “Explain yourself!”

“I can’t explain myself, I’m afraid, sir,” said Alice, “because I’m not myself, you see.”

“I don’t see,” said the Caterpillar.

“I’m afraid I can’t put it more clearly,” Alice replied very politely, “for I can’t understand it myself to begin with; and being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing.”

“It isn’t,” said the Caterpillar.

“Well, perhaps you haven’t found it so yet,” said Alice; “but when you have to turn into a chrysalis--you will some day, you know--and then after that into a butterfly, I should think you’ll feel it a little queer, won’t you?”

“Not a bit,” said the Caterpillar.

“Well, perhaps your feelings may be different,” said Alice; “all I know is, it would feel very queer to me.”

“You!” said the Caterpillar contemptuously. “Who are you?”

Which brought them back again to the beginning of the conversation. Alice felt a little irritated at the caterpillar’s making such very short remarks, and she drew herself up and said, very gravely, “I think you ought to tell me who you are, first.”

“Why?” said the Caterpillar. Here was another puzzling question; and as Alice could not think of any good reason, and as the Caterpillar seemed to be in a very unpleasant state of mind, she turned away.

“Come back!” the Caterpillar called after her. “I’ve something important to say!”

This sounded promising, certainly: Alice turned and came back again.

“Keep your temper,” said the Caterpillar.

“Is that all?” said Alice, swallowing down her anger as well as she could.

“No,” said the Caterpillar.

Alice thought she might as well wait, as she had nothing else to do, and perhaps after all it might tell her something worth hearing. For some minutes it puffed away without speaking, but at last it unfolded its ams, took the hookah out of its mouth again, and said, “So you think you’re changed, do you ?”

“I’m afraid I am, sir,” said Alice; “I can’t remember things as I used--and I don’t keep the same size for ten minutes together!”

“Can’t remember what things?” said the Caterpillar.

“Well, I’ve tried to say ’How doth the little busy bee,’ but it all came different!” Alice replied in a very melancholy voice.

“Repeat ‘You are old, Father William,’” said the Caterpillar.

Alice folded her hands, and began:

“You are old, Father William,” the young man said, “And your hair has become very white; And yet you incessantly stand on your head-- Do you think, at your age, it is right?”“In my youth,” Father William replied to his son, “I feared it might injure the brain; But, now that I’m perfectly sure I have none, Why, I do it again and again.”“You are old,” said the youth, “as I mentioned before, And have grown most uncommonly fat; Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door-- Pray, what is the reason of that?”

“In my youth,” said the sage, as he shook his grey locks, “I kept all my limbs very supple by the use of this ointment--one shilling the box-- Allow me to sell you a couple?”“You are old,” said the youth, “and your jaws are too weak For anything tougher than suet; Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak-- Pray, how did you manage to do it?”“In my youth said his father, “I took the law. And argued each case with my wife; And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw, Has lasted the rest of my life.”

“You are old,” said the youth, “one would hardly suppose That your eye was as steady as ever; Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose-- What made you so awfully clever?”“I have answered three questions, and that is enough,” Said his father; “don’t give yourself airs! Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff? Be off, or I’ll kick you downstairs!”

“That is not said right,” said the Caterpillar.

“Not quite right, I’m afraid,” said Alice, timidly; some of the words have got altered.”

“It is wrong from beginning to end,” said the Caterpillar decidedly, and there was silence for some minutes.

The Caterpillar was the first to speak.

“What size do you want to be?” it asked.

“Oh, I’m not particular as to size,” Alice hastily replied; “Only one doesn’t like changing so often, you know.”

“I don’t know,” said the Caterpillar. Alice said nothing: she had never been so much contradicted in all her life before, and she felt that she was losing her temper.

“Are you content now?” said the Caterpillar.

“Well, I should like to be a little larger, sir, if you wouldn’t mind,” said Alice: “three inches is such a wretched height to be.”

“It is a very good height indeed!” said the Caterpillar angrily, rearing itself upright as it spoke (it was exactly three inches high).

“But I’m not used to it!” pleaded poor Alice in a piteous tone. And she thought to herself, “I wish the creatures wouldn’t be so easily offended!”

“You’ll get used to it in time,” said the Caterpillar; and it put the hookah into its mouth and began smoking again.

This time Alice waited patiently until it chose to speak again. In a minute or two the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth and yawned once or twice, and shook itself. Then it got down off the mushroom, and crawled away into the grass merely remarking as it went, “One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter.”

“One side of what? The other side of what? thought Alice to herself.

“Of the mushroom,” said the Caterpillar, just as if she had asked it aloud; and in another moment it was out of sight.

Alice remained looking thoughtfully at the mushroom for a minute, trying to make out which were the two sides of it; and as it was perfectly round, she found this a very difficult question. However, at last she stretched her arms round it as far as they would go, and broke off a bit of the edge with each hand

“And now which is which?” she said to herself, and nibbled a little of the right-hand bit to try the effect; the next moment she felt a violent blow underneath her chin: it had struck her foot!

She was a good deal frightened by this very sudden change, but she felt that there was no time to be lost, as she was shrinking rapidly; so she set to work at once to eat some of the other bit. Her chin was pressed so closely against her foot, that there was hardly room to open her mouth; but she did it at last, and managed to swallow a morsel of the left-hand bit. “Come, my head’s free at last!” said Alice in a tone of delight, which changed into alarm in another moment, when she found that her shoulders were nowhere to be found: all she could see, when he looked down, was an immense length of neck, which seemed to rise like a stalk out of a sea of green leaves that lay far below her.

“What can all that green stuff be?” said Alice. “And where have my shoulders got to?’ And oh, my poor hands, how is it I can’t see you?” She was moving them about as she spoke, but no result seemed to follow, except a little shaking among the distant green leaves.

As there seemed to be no chance of getting her hands up to her head, she tried to get her head down to them, and was delighted to find that her neck would bend about easily in any direction, like a serpent. She had just succeeded in curving it down into a graceful zigzag, and was going to dive in among the leaves, which she found to be nothing but the tops of the trees under which she had been wandering, when a sharp hiss made her draw back in a hurry: a large pigeon had flown into her face, and was beating her violently with its wings.

“Serpent!” screamed the Pigeon.

“I’m not a serpent!” said Alice indignantly. “Let me alone!”

“Serpent, I say again!” repeated the Pigeon, but in a more subdued tone, and added with a kind of sob, “I’ve tried every way, and nothing seems to suit them!”

“I haven’t the least idea what you’re talking about,” said Alice.

“I’ve tried the roots of trees, and I’ve tried, banks and I’ve tried hedges,” the Pigeon went on, without attending to her; “but those serpents! There’s no pleasing them!”

Alice was more and more puzzled, but she thought there was no use saying anything more till the Pigeon had finished.

“As if it wasn’t trouble enough hatching the eggs,” said the Pigeon; “but I must be on the look out for serpents night and day! Why, I haven’t had a wink of sleep these three weeks!”

“I’m very sorry you’ve been annoyed,” said Alice, who was beginning to see its meaning.

“And just as I’d taken the highest tree in the wood,” continued the Pigeon, raising its voice to a shriek, “and just as I was thinking I should be free of them at last, they, must needs come wriggling down from the sky! Ugh, Serpent!”

“But I’m not a serpent, I tell you!” said Alice “I’m a---I’m a---”

“Well! What are you?” said the Pigeon. “I can see you’re trying to invent something!”

“I--I’m a little girl,” said Alice, rather doubtfully, as she remembered the number of changes she had gone through that day.

“A likely story indeed!” said the Pigeon in tone of the deepest contempt. “I’ve seen a good many little girls in my time, but never one with such a neck as that! No, no! You’re a serpent; and there’s no use denying it. I suppose you’ll be telling me next that you never tasted an egg!”

“I have tasted eggs, certainly,” said Alice, who was a very truthful child; “but little girls eat eggs quite as much as serpents do, you know.”

“I don’t believe it,” said the Pigeon; “but if they do, why, then they’re a kind of serpent, that’s all I can say.” This was such a new idea to Alice, that she was quite silent for a minute or two, which gave the pigeon the opportunity of adding, “You’re looking for eggs, I know that well enough; and what does matter to me whether you’re a little girl or a serpent ?”

“It matters a good deal to me,” said Alice hastily; “but I’m not looking for eggs, as it happens; and if I was, I shouldn’t want yours: I don’t like them raw "

“Well, be off then!” said the Pigeon in a sulky tone, as it settled down again into its nest. Alice crouched down among the trees as well as she could, for her neck kept getting entangled among the branches, and every now and then she had to stop and untwist it. After a while she remembered at she still held the pieces of mushroom in her hands, and she set to work very carefully, nibbling first at one and then at the other, and growing sometimes taller and sometimes shorter, until she had succeeded in bringing herself down to her usual height. It was so long since she had been anything near the right size, that it felt quite strange at first; but she got used to it in a few minutes, and began talking to herself, as usual. “Come, there’s half my plan done now! How puzzling all these changes are! I’m never sure what I’m going to be, from one minute to another! However, I’ve got back to my right size: the next thing is, to get into that beautiful garden--how is that to be done, I wonder?” As she said this, she came suddenly upon an open place, with a little house in it about four feet high. “Whoever lives there,” thought Alice, “it’ll never do to come upon them this size: why, I should frighten them out of their wits!” So she began nibbling at the right-hand bit again, and did not venture to go near the house till she had brought herself down to nine inches high.