In a previous 2002 writeup on the history of Whoisthefezz this site was described as "a byproduct of too much spare time, a little bit of HTML knowledge and the random thoughts of a curry with no girlfriend". My my how times have changed. Over the years Whoisthefezz has never been hosted by Geocities choosing instead hosting on Ozemail, Freeservers, Tripod, Fortunecity and finally our current host SmartyHost for their services. Anyway here's a look at the fabled history of Whoisthefezz.
The first incarnation of Whoisthefezz went under the name of "Fezbo Online 2" and went live on 30th December 1998. After learning the basics of HTML and simply doing all the graphics in Paint, the small and crappily built webpage was online in 5MB of pure unreadable quality. Chris Stavrou was the first ever visitor to my site after I constantly kept harassing people to "Visit my site!!" on ICQ. After people actually started visiting (namely my former Brighton chums) I came to the realistation that my site pretty much had nothing on it.
Along came SmackDown! Central which finally had a purpose to it. Wrestling, Trains, TV, Videogames and random antics that occurred during the first year at Melbourne High. It was during this period in 1999 that Gerard launched GPK Online and Bunn launched the (Still online to this day) Bunn.8m.com. Together the three sites formed the Gangsta Trippin Webring. Essentially all three sites were testaments to how much spare time and HTML knowledge we had since most of them were fairly barebones.
As the year 2000 ticked over and nothing happened during Y2K a spiffy little redesign graced the pages of SmackDown Central and more content came into fruition. Namely the famous Quotes page which is exactly what it sounded like. Amusing quotes and aecdotes documented and stuck on the web for all to see. It was during that time that in typical dotcom boom fashion I offered free email which suprisingly didnt take off. I dunno why no-one wanted a "yourname@fezmail.zzn.com" addy but thats life for you. As we all know a little known movie known as The Matrix was escalating in popularity and with that came its official website "Whatisthematrix.com". Around this time along came an online service by the name of "Namezero.com" offering free domain names. Let's see if you can join the dots.
And so in 2000 it was born. Whoisthefezz.com was born and a new focus was taken. Whoisthefezz officialy became just a place for me to rant and rave on various topics which was in 2000 mainly about my inability to get a girlfriend. In addition to the four billion site sections, we also added a Scott Hall fan page since he was Nick and myself's favoutire wrestler. 2000 also saw the first time real live WCW came down under and the first of many Whoisthefezz journeys started with myself Nick, Bunn, Gerard and Sam Wrong seeing WCW Nitro and Thunder live at Rod Laver. Times were good...
In 2001 the realisation came to me that Whoisthefezz was becoming a bit bloated. I mean did you really need free email, quizzes and random pictures of Scott Hall to keep you entertained? The correct answer was "Not at all" so we removed a few sections and added something new. The photos section! As I had recently acquired a digital camera (with its MASSIVE resolution of 640x480) Whoisthefezz was fast becoming one of the places to check out pics of nights out etc.
As 2001 rolled along something two things happened. First off all Namezero.com decided that they were no longer going to offer free domain names so along went "whoisthefezz.com" and if that wasnt bad enough, FreeServers decided that they would no longer be offering free hosting. All of a sudden all three Gangsta Tripping Webring sites were homeless as Gerard and Bunn threw in the towel on their sites. GPK Online sort of was merged with Whoisthefezz and Bunn left one final message on his site. Sans the dot com Whoisthefezz continued its course as a vehicle for me to vent on the internet via some lines of code and put photos of me and my friends up.
2002 saw yet another redesign to the hallowed pages of Whoisthefezz and a complete strip down to the bare essentials which were basically Pictures, Quotes, Year In Review and my opening monologue. The newer Whoisthefezz made it a crapload easier to maintain and the premise remained essentially the same.
At the conclusion of my Year 12 and Seconary education as a whole Whoisthefezz recieved yet another redesign. "Whoisthefezz 8" marked the last time that any form of Whoisthefezz would be hosted on a free webhost. This incarnation of Whoisthefezz also holds the record of the least updated with I think up to six months of inactivity online. Was 2003 going to be the end of the Whoisthefezz dynasty? Obviously not.
Probably the peak of the entire run of Whoisthefezz, ViVA La NiMS had Whoisthefezz securing the domain name Whoisthefezz.com and had the layout and site installed and set up by the legendary Scotsman. As 2004-2005 was the years where all of us turned that magical age of 21 and since Facebook and MySpace weren't as popular as they are now, there was only one place to see the photos from Mikey's, Steve-O's, Delano's and my birthdays. The themed drinking nights also started off here with Sub Zero Night at Frostbites, Fine Wine Night and Casino Royale appearing and of course the debut of the Christmas Tradition: Black Christmas.
This incarnation of Whoisthefezz came about when the database for Viva La Nims crashed and since it was a few years out of the initial setup, Scotsman had moved on from doing websites so I took it upon myself to power Whoisthefezz with WordPress and have ever since. Basically the exact same site as Viva La Nims with just a new name and a new coat of paint. This was also the first rendition of Whoisthefezz after Gerard and I had thatMartin/Molloy-esque falling out.
The final hurrah for the adventures of Whoisthefezz crew came along in the form of PISS WEEK 007. Which was myself and Steve-O and our band of merry followers hitting pubs and clubs and getting hammered for seven days straight. PISS WEEK 007 gathered everyone be it Ritchies crew, Melbourne High peeps and Monash Uni students to come together and down some drinks purely for the sake of it and so we don't look like Toolies. This was the nearest that Whoisthefezz had come since the glory days of 2000 and 2004. Also I finally secured the love of my life Alexis as my girlfriend. It seems all the loose ends were tied.
The current and final incarnation of Whoisthefezz as seen until the shutdown. Modern Drinking reflected the change in attitude of team Whoisthefezz. Gone were the party days and wild Edgy Wednesdays and hello to quiet nights in and the one night out bi monthly. Updates on outings were few and far between mainly due to the fact it was simply easier to chuck pics up on Facebook than getting everyone to run over to Whoisthefezz and check em out as they did in the day hence the more cricket oriented content of Whoisthefezz.
Essentially Whoisthefezz began as an online presence where I had all the power to share my views, adventures, anecdotes and interests with the world. We've had a good run but like all things it cant be forever. When I first uploaded my first bit of code to the web in 1998 I was 15 and a few months away from going to Melbourne High. As I shut this site down I'm a few weeks out of turning 25 and getting my Bachelor's degree from Monash. Who knows what'll happen when I'm 35 but i hope you'll be following my escapades as you've done in the past.