March 28, 2000

8:45 PM

Now this is something I just don't get.Getting worked up because some people are posting longer entries? Can someone explain this to me? So Ben Brown mentioned that he prefers longer posts, and a few people responded to the idea favorably. But then there's backlash to this idea? Can someone please explain to me how someone writing long posts is somehow wrong? Is anyone holding a gun to your head making you read anything on the web? If Ben Brown's posts are too long, don't read them. If Jack's or Brig's are too long, don't read them. If I'm wrong here, please set me straight. I must not have read the weblog rulebook that states posts should be short and snarky, if anyone has a hyperlink to said rule book, please post that too.
posted by mathowie (1614 comments total)

This may be a stretch, but I'm going to throw out the possibility that Neale is being less than completely serious... I think his record may indicate a predisposition toward tweaking people - I mean, he is the author of Weblog Jr. High after all... and if you look at it in that light, it's not far off from Ben's "weblogs are destroying everything I love about the web" essay - only it's not long enough for him to say "well, maybe I don't completely hate long essays" (although, at 637 words, he is making that point by writing a long anti-long essay essay) - It may not be particularly elegant, but so few of us are.

Matt, I'll be forwarding the official short-and-snarky rulebook to you in email.
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 9:01 PM on March 28, 2000

I can see it being a joke, but there's a lot of people saying "right on Neale!" I guess I understand that sentiment even less.
posted by mathowie at 9:08 PM on March 28, 2000

I don't know about Neale, but I'll let you in on a little secret - my "right on Neale" was sarcastic.
posted by adam at 9:39 PM on March 28, 2000

*chuckle*
It's because you're a kind and generous person who overestimates his fellow man. The problem with sarcasm (and I'm not speaking specifically of this situation, since I don't actually know anyone's true mind) is that it's a very delicate balance. If you don't do it well enough (or if you do it too well) there is nobody to appreciate the gag, since everyone thinks you really mean it and/or that you are a raving nutjob. Even when you do it well, a large portion of your audience will take your comments at face value and either get furious with you (fun) or agree with you (often very scary)... this can be either good or bad, depending on your intentions. If your intent is to lampoon a subject through ridicule, you want people to see that is what you are doing - if you want to troll people on the other hand... Maybe I'm the one giving people too much credit, but I don't think that either Ben or Neale are attempting to dictate what is and is not appropriate content on the web. And now, by writing this, I've sucked all the fun out of it for me.
bleah.
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 9:47 PM on March 28, 2000

yeah. joe sucked the fun out of it for me too.
posted by adam at 9:53 PM on March 28, 2000

That's me, sucking the joy and fun out of the room like a big anti-party hoover. whrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 10:01 PM on March 28, 2000

hey I agree with matt, I like reading Blogs, but personally I have the attention span of a 2 year old watching cartoons. I keep my own weblog, and I admit that I do post long posts, but its MY weblog :)

why can't we all just get a long?
posted by r-boogie at 10:01 PM on March 28, 2000

I personally don't like the idea of *anyone* telling me that
the way I choose to write is "wrong". that's always the feeling I've gotten from Ben's essays on the subject, and apparently that's the feeling you got from reading Neale's essay. (Ben and I spoke at SXSW, btw, and found that we definitely agree on some things and definitely disagree on some things...just like everyone else. I respect him; I just disagree with him on certain things.)

I've been a little dismayed by the number of "Oh, Ben was right" posts since SXSW. I don't care if people choose to try the long form; I just don't like the right/wrong aspect of it. I didn't think anyone was doing anything *wrong* before.

I don't think there's only one way to write well.

anyway, Neale adopts a pretty snarky tone, but really, I found his essay to be humorous, inoffensive, and, yes, to the point in many ways (for example, the distinction he makes about weblogs pointing out and journals pointing in. it's obviously not that cut-and-dried, but I think it's an interesting observation, and aligns with my internal categorization of where the site I'm looking at falls on the weblog/journal spectrum.)

so actually, I guess I'd have to say "right on Neale".

and then to everyone else, "as you were. it's your web. make it any way you want."

rcb
posted by rebeccablood at 10:20 PM on March 28, 2000

Can't we all just get a blog?
posted by bradlands at 10:57 PM on March 28, 2000

Matt, does your post constitute backlash against the backlash against the backlash against weblogs?

Troublemaker!
posted by Sapphireblue at 11:14 PM on March 28, 2000

Thanks Rebecca, Joe... you two, collectively, have me nailed to rights.
I'm in the middle of a very interesting e-mail exchange with Ben, and I'm checking to see if it's alright by him to post a cut down version online.
We (Ben and I) really don't think all that differently; I think it's all a matter of how people have interpreted what he's said, and what I've said, and the in-between reactions.
I'm just hoping that people are launching into 3000+ for the right reasons, instead of the fact that all the other kids are doing it.

posted by Neale at 3:57 AM on March 29, 2000

My original point is that it is in fact, all good, there are no "right" or "wrong" reasons to personal writing, and I didn't like seeing Neale insinuate that someone shouldn't write on the web because it's outside the bounds of his personal tastes (I was equally displeased with Ben's original teethmag piece for saying the same thing). Whether or not it was a joke, I didn't like the idea of discouraging anyone from writing.

The beauty of the web is that anyone can write anything they want and not only should they feel free to do so, they should be encouraged to do so. Short or long, it doesn't matter, as long as people are writing something interesting, I'll be reading and enjoying it. If it's not interesting, someone else may find it so.

It is all good.
posted by mathowie at 5:40 AM on March 29, 2000

Yeah, it's all good. I too reacted negatively on Ben's original piece. I have no idea why, but the way it was written annoyed me no end. (I'd never read anything by Ben before and have no idea who he is.) I just felt attacked for writing short weblog entries. That's why I reacted perhaps a little more negatively than was called for.
posted by prolific at 5:58 AM on March 29, 2000

We all have different stories that we want to tell, and those stories should be allowed to find their own lengths. I find the idea of a "magic number" like 3000 rather silly, and find it difficult to believe that saying nothing in 3000 words is inherently better than saying it in 100, or vice versa.

On the other hand, the one thing that really caught my attention in Ben's SxSW piece was the claim that Powazek had been promoting weblogs at the expense of other types of personal publishing:

"A few minutes ago, Derek was saying that the organizers here at SxSW wanted to do a panel on personal publishing, you know, journals, zines, that sort of thing. And Derek said 'Oh no, that's so uncool now. Do it on weblogs.' and see, that's exactly what I'm talking about here."

Is there any truth to Ben's claim?

posted by harmful at 6:16 AM on March 29, 2000

Like Neale said, we've been having a big long email conversation, and we really don't disagree too much, and this is what I've found with every single person I've talked to. I don't want people to stop writing their weblogs. The TeethMag piece I wrote, jeez, like a year ago, was a sarcastic bit, and was written when I didn't really read any blogs. Now that I've met these nice folks and read their sites for a while, I've come around on the whole issue.

So what I said at SxSW and what I'll say here again is not that I don't like weblogs and think they should go away -- My fear is that people are saying that the future of personal content online is the blog, that journals and zines are evolving into the blog, and that it's so wonderfully easy to do a blog that most people won't even need to make a decision about their content format. I don't want everyone to write a billion words, right? I don't want people to stop writing their blogs and start zines. I just want people to remember that they can, that they aren't limited to the weblog format, and that they may have a lot of creative potential in their heads that they aren't utilizing. (which is not to say that weblogs aren't creative!) The people who heard me talk at SxSW, I think they did realize this, and so now, they've taken a step to trying the longer style. Does this mean you have to? No! Does this mean the weblogging masses have to? No! Did I mean for this whole 3000+ meme to spread to the unwashed masses of geocities webloggers, causing a volcano like eruption of bad journals? Good god no, but that's the beauty of the web, isn't it?
posted by benbrown at 8:37 AM on March 29, 2000

Yes, Derek is the Anti-Christ.
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 8:39 AM on March 29, 2000

Ben, get to the important issues. Are you the one who eats your bread with the butter side down, or is that Neale?
posted by harmful at 8:39 AM on March 29, 2000

Ben's people are the ones with the stars on thars. Or was that Halcyon?
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 8:43 AM on March 29, 2000

Butter side up for me, cept on bagels. On bagels, it goes in the middle. Never ever eat an openface bagel! What a waste! Round bread is supposed to have a nice crusty (or sugar coated) skin ALL THE WAY AROUND.
posted by benbrown at 8:48 AM on March 29, 2000

There isn't any rage or vitriol behind this post, but I'm just curious as to why the idea of a longer post is so *new* and *revolutionary* to everyone. Do the names Xeney, Anita,
and Kim Reed (not to mention
me!) mean anything to anyone? These people have been doing weblogs and journals together for quite a while now. Maybe I'm a little jaded to longer posts since
I'm so used to the journal scene, but come now folks! Nothing any of us does online is particularly *new* anymore so there's no reason to boohoo about it.
posted by stefnet at 8:49 AM on March 29, 2000

Nope, sorry. No bells.
<<duck>>
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 8:52 AM on March 29, 2000

And nobody has said it's a new thing. It's just that bunch of people have started new essay format projects all of a sudden. And Neale's point about doing it for the right reason is so important. If you actually don't have anything to say, don't! It takes me a whole week to come up with enough crap to say on my page, sometimes more. Blah blah blah, I really should be getting to that developers conference.
posted by benbrown at 8:53 AM on March 29, 2000

Me, I like a long post, as long as it's called for. Someone who just writes stretched-out and verbose filler on their blogs reserves themselves a special spot on my "grrr" list, but if they have a legitimate reason to be ranting for 4000 words, I'm all over that shit.
posted by Succa at 9:04 AM on March 29, 2000

I like 'em short. I don't have anything against long writings, I actually liked Jack's saga w/ the girl from SXSW and have found Ben's recent writing interesting as well.

However, I wouldn't want all the bloggers, or even a medium-sized group of them, to start writing this way simply because it takes way too much time to read.

Dang, I gotta go now, I'll write some more about it later.
posted by schlyer at 9:52 AM on March 29, 2000

Schlyer wrote:

However, I wouldn't want all the bloggers, or even a medium-sized group of them, to start writing this way simply because it takes way too much time to read.

But no one has given up their weblogs. They've just added a new section for longer things. If you like someone's weblog, wouldn't you want to hear more from them? More in-depth discussions of something that's on their mind?

Even if a good bunch of weblog authors abandoned their format for a long one, it would be their choice and up to the reader to choose to read them or not. I guess part of this is an ownership discussion. Who owns your weblog, You or the readers?

I make time to read long posts that I find interesting. Does anyone complain that Lance goes on and on? Regardless of their length, all his things are just great and I set aside time to read each new one, even if it takes me 4 or 5 attempts to get through it all with my MTV-crippled short attention span.
posted by mathowie at 10:09 AM on March 29, 2000

*smirking*
Yeah, but Lance doesn't update on a daily/hourly basis.

Once again its not the quantity of content, rather the quality of the content.
posted by dangerman at 10:20 AM on March 29, 2000

hi, im red scare, the guy thay matt and brig linked to about the little agreement of mine with Neale over on neoflux.com

ill start off by saying that i dont have anything against long, personal, heartfelt, deep emotionly rooted writing on the web. quite the contrary, when i first began web publishing two years ago all i did was write my life... my most deep and inner life that i would not tell my dog. no password although a constant fear of someone finding out and me being outed at school or something of the like. so when i said i thought brig 3000+ was not impressive, i meant to say that this trend of webloggers - whose sole purpose in my opinion is to post links of their daily web browing and proved a word, sentence, paraghraph, rant of commentary. even that isn't necessary. i just feel this dismay towards the big names of webloggers all assuming that they are doing something different and original. or maybe i'm just bitter that im not popular, i dont know.

i also agree with rebecca, the collest weblogger i know next to neale, when she says that what she got from ben's essay is what is wrong. all this moralizing is just more elitism of the web that diguests me and makes me ponder is my reasons for choosing the web lifestyle to get away from the shit real world was in fact a mistake.

i just now realise that ben was supporting what i support more than anyone knows; and that is that personal content and journals should continue for they are wonderful. what makes me into an irate russian is that ben brown thinks he is a leader. he assumes that because he loves himself, everyone else does, and that sickens me. i also thought the same of derek and many other web elites, but i have realised that my assumptions are wrong and i apologized to derek for flaming him and attacking him. i dont feel that i am wrong about ben brown. the arrogence he exudes in his daily text disgusts me. i read his long posts, which i do not oppose to whatsoever as long as there is something worth saying, and i feel that he just wants to tell us about how much he wants to get laid, and personally thats not worth knowing.

for a while i ran my journal in weblog, short post format, which worked well because it showed my continuous changing feelings throughout the day. then again, my longer essay type journal entries werer just more passionate. to write 3000 some words about how your angry and want sex, is just annoying, im sorry.

the web can be art. journals are art. weblogs are art , to an extent, where its more like news or an information buffet. writing is art, as long as it's out to convey the writers point of view and a feeling.

my love for neale is beyond most of your comprehention. i have been taking nude pics to show neale because, well, he requested it. the reason neale has been such a prominent web figure for me is because of his dismay towards the elite of the web. the "your not as good as you think you are" attitude coupled with his cynicism and sarcasm makes for wonderful and profound reading.

i dont mean to say brig 3000+ is bad writing, it just bored me and so i dont read it. i stick to her blog (which i think is a nice design no matter what sally 10penny says). i read derek, i read saturn and jack more than ever, and i read ben brown... for about two seconds before bringing the blade closer to my wrist.

so, i say, do whatever you want! and ill voice my opinions! and ill agree with whomever i want!

my favorite quote in this thing by rebecca:

I've been a little dismayed by the number of "Oh, Ben was right" posts since SXSW. I don't care if people choose to try the long form; I just don't like the right/wrong aspect of it. I didn't think anyone was doing anything *wrong* before.

so, i say everyone can do what they want as long as i say i like it... and i have a profound hatred for ben brown. i somewhat feel bad about that because he's kind of hot... but oh well.
posted by red scare at 1:56 PM on March 29, 2000

brig writes:

i wonder why people get so upset and jump to accuse others of being trendy and exclusive when it's really just jealousy over the fact that they're better and more popular?

maybe its because of statements like that where arrogance and elitism just emanate with the worst stench.
posted by red scare at 2:01 PM on March 29, 2000

red scare:

all this moralizing is just more elitism of the web that diguests me and makes me ponder is my reasons for choosing the web lifestyle to get away from the shit real world was in fact a mistake.

I don't see elitism on the web, really, I never have, except when people accuse others of it.

If your problem is with "popular" webloggers being recognized for writing longer posts while yours go unnoticed, take a step back and analyze the situation. Why should it matter if webloggers are recognized by Ben for writing long? Who said Ben was a god that is leading us to the promised land? He just put forth an idea that people should express themselves more and some people responded to that. That's all.

These elitism discussions go nowhere, but I honestly have never gotten an elitism vibe from anyone on the web. I just plug away on my stupid sites and if people like it, great, if they hate it, that's fine too. If you think some people are elitist and you're convinced they think they're somehow better than you, maybe the web lifestyle was a bad choice after all, because frankly, I don't see elitism existing.
posted by mathowie at 2:14 PM on March 29, 2000

funny. that quote was written based on an entirely different topic i happened to be discussing with matt.

in relation to this topic, it is occasionally true. look back at the whole derek discussion, where people were ripping into the most wonderful, sweet, kind person accusing him of elitism and exclusivity. merely because he's good at what he does and well-aclaimed for it.


posted by brig at 2:14 PM on March 29, 2000

How about...

Oh, this is going to be an incredibly novel idea...

How about everyone write about whatever the hell they want in their log, be it in 3000 words or 12. And if you run across that page and decide you don't like it, you can...

(Damn, this is going to be an even more novel concept)

You can just not read it.

*gasp*
posted by precocious at 2:25 PM on March 29, 2000

brig writes:

look back at the whole derek discussion, where people were ripping into the most wonderful, sweet, kind person accusing him of elitism and exclusivity. merely because he's good at what he does and well-aclaimed for it.

i have seen the light in that sense and i agree. oh, and i thought your post was in regard to this, sorry.

hey matt... so by saying "I don't see elitism on the web, really, I never have, except when people accuse others of it" you are accusing me of being elitist? odd, i had no idea that being upset at the elite subsequently ment you yourself are elite. hmmm, extremely intresting and wrong, sorry.

"Why should it matter if webloggers are recognized by Ben for writing long? Who said Ben was a god that is leading us to the promised land? " i never said that. i never said that i am angry that it is ben noticing people, i meant the majority of the web... i am angry at this exclusive clique of webloggers that no one is allowed to. for example, if you werent at sxsw, you really dont matter. thats a vibe ive gotten. and your comment about maybe the weblifestyle was wrong for me is quite juvenile. i never said that everyone on the web is a prick elite asshole, just that the ones who are (ahem, ben brown) really get to me. i see countless of websites with only 50 hits a day that still put more heart into everything they do. the guy from the above link hand draws his art, writes feveroushly, and gets a minimal amount of attention and recognition for it. in a few days will culminate his two years of running his website and he might close it down because it seems as though he has been exausting himself sick week after week, day after day, for no reason because it seems as though no one notices. that pisses me off. fine, derek has A LOT of talent and i respect him tremendously, but others arent doing anything spectacular and proclaim themselves as web gods (not literally, but thats the style in which they write) and them being so full of themselves is quite... infuriating.
posted by red scare at 2:34 PM on March 29, 2000

but, ben isn't a god. he's a sweet, cuddly, nice guy who plays a god on the web. the whole point of doing a site isn't to be famous or popular or make lots of money. it's for yourself. if someone's doing it for any other reason, they're doomed to resentment and anger.
posted by brig at 2:47 PM on March 29, 2000

That's about as much crap from ben as I can take.
What the hell is wrong with an openface bagel? A little cream cheese, a little salmon, some onion... after all, how the hell are you going to balance all that on a non-sliced bagel? It's madness, I tell you, madness!
Red, thanks for your nice words, but I'd have to say Ben and my arrogance is well on par (at the very least). If you object to his level of arrogance, well, you're shitting on me as well. I think some of the things we're saying have been confused in the heat of the moment.
Ben and I doooo disagree on some things... and that's the way people will always be. I think we're heading into the whole blog/journal thing from two very different directions, and some of our views are getting polarised. Jason et al. It's all good. It's just that sometimes you gotta watch out if it's the right good at the right place at the rights time... and there's some (some!) confusion about what ben or I are advocating.
Matt, what I said was my personal preference; they'll match up with some views of some people, and go against those of others. That's pretty much par for the course. Most of what I said came of as telling people what they should do (intentionally so), even as I was complaining about someone telling people what to do... heh.
So... yeah. The one good thing about being in Australia is the fact that you can read all the reactions at once and post one long sanctamonious reply.
Speaking of sanctamonious replies, Ben and I will be posting or chat online, and hopefully we'll be able to set up some sort of bulletin-board like feature for reaction shots. Of course, the likelihood of anyone giving a shit about what two pretentious wankers have to say about the whole thing is slim, but you never know...
posted by Neale at 2:51 PM on March 29, 2000

Neale writes:

but I'd have to say Ben and my arrogance is well on par (at the very least). If you object to his level of arrogance, well, you're shitting on me as well.

well, from what i sense, his is genuine "im better than you and what i say is right" whereas i find yours to be more cynical and sarcastic, as i already said.

and i think what brig just said, was fantastic and made me think a lot more. im off to work where instead of helping old jewish women who think going to an art house movie thetre makes them cool, ill be studying A.S. Neil and his school Summerhill. That, and postmodernism, i look forward to where this goes further and writing fully what nrig's statement just made me think about. good things...
posted by red scare at 2:58 PM on March 29, 2000

hey matt... so by saying "I don't see elitism on the web, really, I never have, except when people accuse others of it" you are accusing me of being elitist? odd, i had no idea that being upset at the elite subsequently ment you yourself are elite. hmmm, extremely intresting and wrong, sorry.

Oh no, oh no, please don't do this.

i see countless of websites with only 50 hits a day that still put more heart into everything they do.

It's been like this forever, in any sort of creative work. Anyhow, I don't see what's so bad about 'just' 50 hits a day.


posted by EngineBeak at 3:00 PM on March 29, 2000

i think long, eloquent writing is good when it is done well. and i'm glad people do it.  but every time i read "3000+" i feel like cringing.  i know it's not your fault, ben, but god, look what you've spawned.  people can't put up a new journal-style site without mentioning you or throwing out that numeral above.  i know that if such a thing happened to me, i'd be sick for days.  it almost makes me want to take my extended writing back to the print zine where it originally resided.  weblogs-- that's a trend i could get into for awhile, but god, putting a cheesy meme name on lengthy, personal writing?  it just devalues it all.  ugh.
posted by jacksaturn at 3:26 PM on March 29, 2000

Let me set the record straight. When I said "I don't see elitism on the web, really, I never have, except when people accuse others of it" I mean that literally. I never see the word "elitism" nor do I ever get the feeling that someone is being elitist *except* for people writing on their site, saying "hey, those people are elitist!"

I'm not being elitist saying that, and I'm not saying you (red scare) are either, just that I never see any mention of it except for people pointing out what they think is true about someone.

What I'm trying to drive home is that anyone you say is elitist is a perfectly fine person that would talk to you if you walked up to them in real life and introduced yourself. Heck, email them and if they're not too busy (they're not being elitist if they ignore your mail, they probably just get 200-500 messages a day and let some slip), they'll email you back. And that's why I say there's no elitist vibe. When I was a wee web lad, I got email from all sorts of "web celebs" by just asking them thoughtful questions. I never got shrugged off. I never got told my site sucked or I was doing something wrong.

As for someone stopping their site after two years of running it, only because they weren't getting hits, well that's not why I ever did a site, and probably why I haven't retired yet. No one I know with a popular website gives a crap about how many hits they get. I do my sites for fun, as an outlet, and if no one visited, I really wouldn't care, I'd still feel better for having done them.

I check stats on this server, just to know the ratio of how many people lurk to how many people post, but I rarely check stats at haughey.com. They're a pain to get to and analyze so I don't do it very often, and I'm always surprised that people find any of it worth reading.

Popularity isn't at all what the web's about.
posted by mathowie at 3:35 PM on March 29, 2000

Plus Ça Change, Plus C'est La Même Chose
posted by brig at 3:44 PM on March 29, 2000

Everything is everything. It's all good. Talk to the hand. I'm out.
posted by chaz at 3:57 PM on March 29, 2000

One more thing: just like everything in weblogging, often it's not really the message but the messenger. Neale and BenBrown both have a... unique... way way of making their points, which is bound to rile some folks, which is their intention in the first place. so again it's all good.
posted by chaz at 3:59 PM on March 29, 2000

The whole elitism thing is captured quite nicely in Sally's little reply to Kevin's e-mail and adam's poking (it's all good! and all via brig).
In a community, people will always feel some sort of elitist divide going on; it's not helped in the weblog community with things like the Hot List and Beebo Ratings as ever present indicators of "how well your blog is doing".
Now, thanks to Anthony, i'm fairly obsessed with my stats, but i'm trying to phase them back out of the way I view my blog (i didn't even have stats until i change hosting services). I'll say it feels nice to get lots of hits - i'd be a big fat liar if I said it didn't - but I like the e-mail I get from people a lot more, and the little corner of the web I can call mine that I can pump into all the creativity that's stifled each day at work.
The 3000+ meme is a worrying one to me (maybe it's not All Good). But maybe it's a misleading name, or one that's been run with, without people thinking about where they're running to.
All this is tied up in how people perceive themselves, and how other people perceive them, and how other people perceive how other people perceive themselves, and how people perceive how other people perceive how they perceive themselves (that does make sense).
I don't know what people think of me, except for the rude e-mails I get and the death threats I find slipped under the door. I don't want to be part of anyone's elite, but the more popular wetlog get's the harder it is to remove myself, in some webloggers eyes, that i'm become part of the weblog cabal (hey, that doesn't give you a good excuse to stop reading, you faithful 12 readers each day [six more than last month]).
I do think it's great that, in the blog community, there are forums like metafilter that people can voice these types of concerns, and that there are people willing to say, "hey, swollen heads, get back down to earth". You all sure as hell have permission to tell me that any time you like (those that don't already).
So. It's All Good. Talk It Out. Don't Hear, Listen. And other such rot.
posted by Neale at 4:27 PM on March 29, 2000

Ben said he worried about:

"a volcano like eruption of bad journals"

ha! it's too late, that happened along with the eruption of good journals, in 1996. , you know.

Thanks for pointing to me, stef!

re: the elitist thing, the heartburning over this in the online world is as nothing compared to the lindy hop dancers. But it exists in every social group. It's all in your point of view. "We are a pleasant group. *they* are a snobby click [sic]!" The fish doesn't notice the water.

Anita of Anita's BOD and Anita's LOL




posted by anitar at 4:44 PM on March 29, 2000

D'oh! we (I mean me) really need the edit your post function.

Ben said he worried about:

"a volcano like eruption of bad journals"

ha! it's too late, that happened along with the eruption of good journals, in 1996. , you know.

Thanks for pointing to me, stef!

re: the elitist thing, the heartburning over this in the online world is as nothing compared to the lindy hop dancers. But it exists in every social group. It's all in your point of view. "We are a pleasant group. *they* are a snobby click [sic]!" The fish doesn't notice the water.

Anita of Anita's BOD and Anita's LOL


posted by anitar at 4:47 PM on March 29, 2000

re: benbrown is an elitist asshole and this comes through in his writing style.

this is kinda off topic, but in reference to whoever it was that said that I was obviously genuinely an ass based on my writing -- Lately, I've been writing in a kinda first person, present tense, internal dialogue kinda way, and so if I think, even passingly, "this guy is a jerk, I am the most beautiful person alive," I write that down. I find it amusing because it is so obviously not true. You've seen pictures of me, right? It is an act of self parody.

Anyways. I feel icky justifying my writing style so I'm going to stop.

Re the 3000+ Meme: Barf. I really wish that would go away. heh. I mean, write something long, sure. But when we get into categorizing things as diverse as webpages, you get into retarded conversations like this and everyone just gets pissed off at everyone else because we can't tell who is being serious and who is just joking around.


In a completely unrelated topic, I was at this horribly boring XML conference today, and one of the weblogging masses, the guy from Whump recognized me and we had a nice little chat and he's a really nice guy. And I'm really glad he did that because we're doing the same shit, you know? And I love meeting people and talking to people in the same biz. Even webloggers. :)


posted by benbrown at 5:13 PM on March 29, 2000

Well, THIS page is certainly 3000+.
1000+ of them repetitions of the phrase "It's all good".
I just hope this discussion ends pretty soon by itself or I'm going to have to bring up Hitler.


posted by wendell at 5:14 PM on March 29, 2000

You can only do that because I already posted an old link from usenet. (2 more posts, max.)
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 5:30 PM on March 29, 2000

ass
posted by benbrown at 5:42 PM on March 29, 2000

Uh, oh. Looks like somebody's taking this weblog thing a little too seriously. Somebody's cruising to become the next Scamworld...
posted by wendell at 6:18 PM on March 29, 2000

One day there's gonna be a knock at my door. I'll answer it to find four burly men with baseball bats in the landing. Goon 1 is going to look me in the eye and say,
"This is a little message from the weblog community - SHUT the FUCK UP".
And then I will be hurt. A lot.
posted by Neale at 7:02 PM on March 29, 2000

Who told?
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 7:10 PM on March 29, 2000

matt - the old softie.
posted by Neale at 7:24 PM on March 29, 2000

Ha, you know I love ya don't ya Neale?

If Brig gives you a kick in the pants when she sees you in a few days, it wasn't from me. I swear. :)
posted by mathowie at 9:37 PM on March 29, 2000

oh, how easily we forget:

mathowie: No one I know with a popular website gives a crap about how many hits they get

think of this in terms of money, a rich man doesn't care how much money he has because at some point it becomes a non-issue. but a poor man...

As for the supposed 'elite', I don't think they really exist. Sure, there is a group of bloggers who are more popular, but thats unavoidable. And tagging somebody with an 'elitist' tag just because they are popular isn't very fair.

Not sure, but maybe the people who think of some bloggers as elitist think that way because of the appearance of constant name-dropping - when its really just friends talking about friends.
posted by schlyer at 9:42 PM on March 29, 2000

dammnit. i wanted to surprise neale with the baseball bat (the one with the blogger logo stamped on it, right next to "this is a message from the weblog community..."). it's no fun if he's waiting for it.
posted by brig at 9:57 PM on March 29, 2000

yawn, i come home and there are 24365236452570183576548 posts and i am way too lazy to read them, that and i have homework.

so, i think everyone is right... to each his own yes?
posted by red scare at 11:19 PM on March 29, 2000

the funny thing about the whole thing is that there's a lot of love in the room right now, isn't there? We all love this weblogging thing! BenBrown may have been a lil' slow to catch on but can you blame him? He seems like a fairly busy guy and all. In the end we're all just amazed that we can just type out a few thoughts, maybe throw in a link, throw it up and ten seconds later and people actually READ it! Holy shit what a concept. We're all sitting on an intellectual goldmine here and we're sitting around arguing about what's the better way to do it because we care about it so much and.... it's all good. everything is everything.
posted by chaz at 11:23 PM on March 29, 2000

btw does anyone else want the next metafilter feature to be spell check? or am i just anal
posted by chaz at 11:27 PM on March 29, 2000

Jeeeeeeeezuz!
Calm down folks...do what you want to do.
To quote the MetaFilter motto, "It's your web, log it".

'Nuff said.
posted by tomcosgrave at 11:35 AM on March 30, 2000

Brad, don't start getting serious on us NOW!
I'm enjoying the show and enjoying being part of the show, partly as an entertainment in itself, partly as an education in how a self-defining community evolves and how a subset of a subset of a communications media evolves, only occuring at a hyperspeed that makes heads spin and necks ache.
Maybe the Medium is the Message, maybe the Messenger is the Message, maybe Content is King, maybe Content is Crap, maybe I DON'T HAVE THE FOGGIEST IDEA WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!
I'll just say it is NOT all good, but IT IS ALL BETTER THAN LATE-NIGHT INFOMERCIALS ON CHANNEL 12.
posted by wendell at 12:23 PM on March 30, 2000

The realdeal's frontcover sez, "The Medium is the Massage".
posted by EngineBeak at 12:43 PM on March 30, 2000

Now this is just silly...does anyone see the irony in the length of this thread?
posted by cedar at 12:48 PM on March 30, 2000

irony? what's that?

posted by chaz at 2:55 PM on March 30, 2000

From the Naive Optimism Department:

In a web that is trying its best to become the world's largest mail-order catalog, I'm glad to see so many people worked up over writing. Really. I had half become convinced that writers were going to be replaced by the thousand monkeys project. All this passion over mere words just makes me feel better about the future of the Internet.
posted by mrmorgan at 2:56 PM on March 30, 2000

It's the Energizer Bunny of MetaFilter strings. It was 17 postings ago that I pointed out that we'd gone well past 3000+ words. How do we stop this out-of-control rhetorical train? Maybe if Mathowie moved it to the MetaTalk page...
posted by wendell at 2:57 PM on March 30, 2000

Oh you wacky weblogger folks - you're all growed up now! Infighting, accusations of elitism and popularity. By god, you're ready to play with the big boys.

JournalCon, baby. Can you handle it?

http://www.journalcon.com
posted by gsh at 6:32 PM on March 30, 2000

Since when is 637 words long? As a semi-professional writer, my publisher would [pardon the expression] bitch-slap me if I tried to submit something that short.
posted by August at 7:29 PM on March 30, 2000

Yay August! If you look at putdownthekeyboard compared to the other articles I write, you'll notice is was a lot shorter. I knew the word length would eventually come up, and was tempted to make it 666 words long, but how much of a wanker can one be? Bitch-slap away!
posted by Neale at 9:22 PM on March 30, 2000

But Brad, you're more useful than the JenniCan.

that's kind of like getting the Miss Congeniality award...
posted by mathowie at 9:46 PM on March 30, 2000

Hmmm...talk about damning with faint praise. Incidentally, that call to meme above should have read "< Fe >" is the emoticon for irony.
posted by bradlands at 10:17 PM on March 30, 2000

Yeah, and though he's just as fast, he's not as easy.

Sorry, Brad, had to.
posted by jason at 10:18 PM on March 30, 2000

Word.
posted by sixfoot6 at 12:31 AM on March 31, 2000

i'm sorry, but the phrase 'it's all good' gets to me when people talk about web stuff.

because you know what? it's NOT all good. that phrase steamrolls the idea of critical thought, both on the part of those producing and on the part of those consuming. and in today's overglutted age of information, the ability to discern what is 'all good' from what is not is crucial. sure, go into things with an open mind, don't hate things on their face because of the form of expression of what-have-you, that's fine, but allow the post-consumption thought-process to, you know, kick (your head) in from time to time.
posted by maura at 7:42 AM on March 31, 2000

(trust me Maura, I hate hearing that phrase more than anything, even though I've had to use it more often in the past month than my entire life combined)

I guess the phrase "it's all good" is being used from the perspective of authors and not readers. This all started with Ben and Neale, joking or not, suggesting that people *not* write someting a certain way. And the backlash to that is the idea that anyone who feels like writing anything should, regardless of what anyone might think.

If you write with that in mind, sure it might be crap, but someone else might find it worthy of reading, or even if we can all agree it's crap, writing crap might help you develop into a better writer, or at least better than if you never tried.

I guess I don't like the idea of anyone saying someone shouldn't do something like write a personal page. And I get pissed when I think of someone reading Ben or Neale or anyone else's articles about the wrong or right way to do things and getting discouraged from doing something on the web.

The web, like life, is already 90% crap and wading through that is a chore, but that's what we do everyday, that's how we've developed our critical thinking skills all our life - finding the gold among all the crap. I guess I'd prefer my 90% of crap if it were personal, created by real people with stories and dreams, instead of a web chock full of e-commerce sites.
posted by mathowie at 8:39 AM on March 31, 2000

Maura,
I think (at least from my perspective) that "it's all good" refers to the form, not the product. Long form as a valid mode of expression == good. Short form == good. Medium form with pictures==good. That doesn't mean that every journal out there is good, or that every weblog is good - not at all. Most of it, from a critical standpoint, isn't "good". My stuff isn't good from a technical standpoint (although I hope that it's at least passable from an entertainment standpoint), but that doesn't mean that the format is bad. It means that I didn't pay attention in my writing classes.
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 8:55 AM on March 31, 2000

Uh... I guess Matt said what I was trying to say while I was trying to say it. Nothing to see here folks, move along.
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 8:56 AM on March 31, 2000

Go thread, go!! (Next week, more filter, less meta, or your next visit's free.)
posted by bradlands at 11:38 AM on March 31, 2000

I'd sure like to see what happens when this thread reaches 100 comments...
posted by wendell at 12:39 PM on March 31, 2000

...and I'm willing to do my part...
posted by wendell at 12:40 PM on March 31, 2000

...to help make it happen.
posted by wendell at 12:40 PM on March 31, 2000

At 100 post I think Matt grows a third eye or something
posted by dangerman at 12:55 PM on March 31, 2000

Good lord! This makes me very anxious about entering into the fray with my new weblog. Maybe I'll just keep it a secret...and write mile-long posts!
posted by Awol at 1:23 PM on March 31, 2000

Growing a 3rd eye? Will there be pictures if/when 100 posts happens? Where is this going? I liked the short version but then it became funnier as posts grew longer. It at least made me laugh as people continue to write in.
posted by brent at 1:49 PM on March 31, 2000

Does this mean we're a couple links short of a full weblog? And wouldn't that take the discussion full circle back to what constitutes a full weblog? Or have I just put the keyboard down and back away from the MetaFilter? (Yep, definately having too much fun... too much fun...)
posted by wendell at 2:19 PM on March 31, 2000

TAKE TWO: Does this mean we're a couple links short of a full weblog? And wouldn't that take the discussion full circle back to what constitutes a full weblog? Or have I just fallen off the end of the end of the internet? (Warning: blatant self-promotion) Or should I just put the keyboard down and back away from the MetaFilter? (yep, definately time to go outside and play in traffic)
posted by wendell at 2:21 PM on March 31, 2000

Ah, yes. Topic drift. We're definitely getting into Usenet/listserv territory. Steve will be so proud. Giggle.
posted by bradlands at 2:27 PM on March 31, 2000

Back on the "It's all good" meme, and the idea of preventing critical thinking...
As the term "weblog" is still in the definition phase it makes it very hard (and probably intentionally so) to say, "hey, that's a weblog" or "hey, that's not a weblog". What I have in my mind about weblog is commentary about the outside world, usually in short format, which includes links to the topics being talked about, updated at ir/regular intervals.
Now, weblogs are starting to point inwards, (though some, eg. Jack have been doing that for yonks - unwadded the undies, thanks), which starts to tear down the inward/outward arguement; but when you go for a definition of something, you tend towards the norm, rather than the exceptions (eg... there may be a green cat, but you would never define cats as being green).
Now the "idea" of what a weblog is will always stay fairly general; but you know one when you see one. Just like you know a journal when you see one. And there is a difference between the two. Length and subject matter are the main differentiators. We might start seeing blournals, or jogs, which are a mixture between the two. They might work, they might not.
But blogging, in it's present form, is working, and working well. Some of the longest running site I can think of (eg. Kumite.com, which has been running a virus blog loooong before the word started cropping up).
There shouldn't been a huge problem with accepting that certain styles of writing work for certain media. You wouldn't write for a newspaper the same way you write for an online scientific journal. It may be a fantastic statement, or revolutionary piece of artwork, but it won't become the norm. It won't work.
Now, I don't know if jogs will work. They may well turn out to be fantastic. But, if they don't, only one or two truly talented people will be able to pull them off with any kind of success.
So. There. IT'S ALL GOOD!

If this thread gets to 100 comments, I'll consider it my April's Fools Day Joke, through lack of anything better.

posted by Neale at 6:39 PM on March 31, 2000

Why stop at 100? Make this thread its own weblog. Oh, wait, it already is.
posted by jason at 7:55 PM on March 31, 2000

Approximately 9700 words. "it's all good" appears 13 times. "meme" appears 7 times. Make that 14 & 8, respectively.
posted by EngineBeak at 7:57 PM on March 31, 2000

That's it. We're pushing this puppy to 10k.
It's like that seinfeld episode, where Kramer and the car-salesman (i think) are driving a car for as long as they can with the gas slowly dwindling, driving for the pure experience of reaching the bottom of the tank.
I was thinking about seinfeld as a comparison to weblogging (and there's the whole e/n scene). I was thinking that journals point outward, weblogs inward. I still think that webloggers may sometimes speak about themselves on their blog, but there are very rarely any true moments of introspection; about as often as their are on seinfeld. Sometimes I think that weblogs don't even have the "everything" advantage that the e/n community does, and that weblogs talk a lot about nothing.
Now, I know that's not true. And I'm probably suffering from weblog overload; i've only been doing it for 6 months, and i'm wondering where the hell i'm gonna go with it.
I've been watching a documentary series about modern art over the past few weeks, and find myself associating the weblog community with the modern art world; one artist, name instantly forgotten, painted a thirty foot long canvas filled with names of other modern artists - sort of a "hot list" (actually called the "hip list") for modern art, as modern art. If that doesn't come close as an analogy to bloat or the blogbloggers, i don't know what does. has the entire weblog community entered the realm of self parody? Have I?
I find myself associating with Dali, in the realm of modern-artists-as-webloggers. Shamelessly self promoting, stirring trouble, infatuated with sex, and popularity, and yet bizarrely incapable of normality at home, or at work...
I like this place. I've settled down here. But, like ben has said (and I can no longer recall if it's here, or in the page i haven't put online yet), too many creative minds have abandoned great websites for blogs. As did i... i haven't updated my first site since the turn of the century, and may never do so (i'm thinking of porting it all to wwgb.com, archiving it and putting it down).
Six months. Seems weird, and now I get e-mails from complete strangers who read the site and hate what I say... hmm... and I wonder, does it matter? I didn't know the blog community until a blogger introduced me to it. Is it that insular, or has the recent press stirred up enough outside knowledge to make it open?
Aaaack. Too much thought process. And now that I'm going to have to devote time to a meatspace book, will I still find time to blog, or enough creative energy to fuck things up around here?
Ah well. I only post this here, as opposed to wetlog, because I know noone is going to check this thread anymore, and that it will soon drop off the end of the metafilter main page.

posted by Neale at 5:11 AM on April 1, 2000

Well, that pushed it well beyond 10k. And after this post, there's only another five posts needed. Wendell? Unky J? Adam, you've got my back... right?
posted by Neale at 5:17 AM on April 1, 2000

But since Mathowie put up his April 1st format, you can't see how many comments there are! And, hey, how can you do a DaveClone without adding exclamation points?
It's all good! barf
posted by wendell at 7:38 AM on April 1, 2000

What? Nobody's spoofing Ben Brown for April Fool's Day? I was planning on going medieval on his site, but it's a real drag to write a parody of 3000+ words.
posted by wendell at 11:00 AM on April 1, 2000

Alas, if RL-intrusions on my spare time and FTP woes hadn't come to pass, you might have been treated to "8888 Words About 44 Webloggers" (with props to The Nails) for my All Fool's Day homage to Ben. But, prithee, is it not all Much Ado About Nothing?
posted by bradlands at 1:22 PM on April 1, 2000

Even without the 8888 Words, BRAD NAILS IT.
posted by wendell at 2:03 PM on April 1, 2000

Whoops! Looks like the 100th post didn't give mathowie an extra eyes. In fact, in the new site design, his head has disappeared completely. Aieeeee!
posted by bradlands at 2:59 PM on April 1, 2000

The 'us vs. them','insider vs. outsider' weblog circle jerk never fails to amuse me. Not to be too harsh, but most of you people bore the hell out of me, what with your whining and name dropping. What you're doing ain't that important or earth shattering! In fact it reminds me of the high school bullshit that I ran from screaming. As far as weblogs go, do what you like: everything else is bullshit!

Enough already, I've got my own weblogs to work on. . .
posted by spacecoyote at 10:47 AM on April 2, 2000

Looks like Coyote summed it up....but I got the last post ;-)
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:08 PM on April 4, 2000

No you didn't.
posted by Neale at 5:34 PM on April 4, 2000

Nope, not even close.
posted by wendell at 6:33 PM on April 4, 2000

Incidentally, can we move the 'us vs. them','insider vs. outsider' weblog circle jerk to Friday this week? I have a conflict on Thursday.
posted by bradlands at 7:02 PM on April 4, 2000

Well for good humor, you may wish to run this chain through the dialectizer,
shredder, or
Valley Girl.



posted by brent at 7:06 PM on April 4, 2000

I still want the last word. And wendell, I won't let you get there. Call me petty. Call me immature. You know I'll go through with it.
Remember the meta?
posted by Neale at 5:26 PM on May 25, 2000

I mean it. I really do.
posted by Neale at 5:30 PM on May 25, 2000

It's a challenge I can't ignore. "Yes, it would be meaningless, but what of that?". I quite agree. It would be meaningless. Quite. And immature and selfish for me to try and prevent it. Especially when there are so many against but one.
Ah well. I'm in it for the long haul.
posted by Neale at 7:18 PM on May 25, 2000

It's a challenge I can't ignore. "Yes, it would be meaningless, but what of that?". I quite agree. It would be meaningless. Quite. And immature and selfish for me to try and prevent it. Especially when there are so many against but one.
Ah well. I'm in it for the long haul.
posted by Neale at 7:19 PM on May 25, 2000

Whoops, double posted that last one. Oh well.
posted by Neale at 7:20 PM on May 25, 2000

In this moment of quiet reflection, I wonder if I have too much time on my hands. dangerman claims the new mf thread is a chance to build something meaningful on the web. Is that possible? Could it be that the web is ultimately meaningless, a waste of space by people with too much time on their hands. Is anyone really making money. Does anybody really make art here? Does anyone really care?
posted by Neale at 7:22 PM on May 25, 2000

Why am I talking to myself. Oh, that's right.
Vanity.
posted by Neale at 7:23 PM on May 25, 2000

Maybe I should just shut down wetlog (note gratioutous plug only I will ever read - how vain is that?) and only post here from now on. It has it's own url.
That's a fucking brilliant idea. MF - home of wetlog.
posted by Neale at 7:25 PM on May 25, 2000

I wonder if Matt will mind this little coup. It's only part of the MF whole; maybe my charm and sofistication will add to the ambience around here.
Ah well. Time to start blogging for wetlog.
posted by Neale at 7:28 PM on May 25, 2000

wetlog

- insane, inane.
posted by Neale at 7:29 PM on May 25, 2000

Quoth
posted by Neale at 7:30 PM on May 25, 2000

Should of got a better lawyer.
posted by Neale at 7:30 PM on May 25, 2000

Scary shit. They couldn't give me a call first? Actually, I now have a redesign idea coming on... [via ZZZXYZ]
posted by Neale at 7:32 PM on May 25, 2000

Scary shit. They couldn't give me a call first? Actually, I now have a redesign idea coming on... [via ZZZXYZ]
posted by Neale at 7:33 PM on May 25, 2000

ROD: Australian online church, replete with 8 webcams.
posted by Neale at 7:33 PM on May 25, 2000

Jason, those ads are not Australian. They are from New Zealand. You couldn't type in the Butch URL to find that out?
posted by Neale at 7:34 PM on May 25, 2000

Who won? I was sick yesterday... somebody please fill me in.
posted by Neale at 7:34 PM on May 25, 2000

From the referrer logs:

#reqs: URL
-----: ---
8: http://www.snottke.org/

#reqs: browser
-----: -------
8: I have photos of Neale with a shampoo bottle in his arse...

An interesting correlation.
posted by Neale at 7:37 PM on May 25, 2000

________________

24.5.00

posted by Neale at 7:50 PM on May 25, 2000

Round 3, "Alcohol", begins.
posted by Neale at 7:52 PM on May 25, 2000

Jason K. has plans for an automated content system for kottke.org (check the source and search for the post for May 24 if it's not been posted yet). It's sounds much like part of the random blog that Jason S., Matt K. and I are developing. The race is on!
posted by Neale at 7:56 PM on May 25, 2000

Oh shit, they noticed. Damnit. Oh well.

I'll see you all in hell.
posted by Neale at 7:58 PM on May 25, 2000

I'll have a need for her soon. [via metafilter, easily the best blog around at the moment]
posted by Neale at 7:59 PM on May 25, 2000

The third round in The Great Blog-Off is ready to go off tonight. Tracy will be pitting her wits against James. The topic will be announced same bat time, same bat place on IRC.
In related news, the 7th contestant can be named... Jon "Twernt" Litfin. Who will he be up against..? I'm not sure, actually. There have be so many applicants for the final spot. I'll be sending out an e-mail to those that have applied, so if you haven't heard from me yet, stay tuned.
posted by Neale at 8:02 PM on May 25, 2000

Finally, after many moons, someone has created a Sim "Blair Witch" Movie. Yer my hero, JMH (he also contributed a lot to Sims: The Challenged).
posted by Neale at 8:03 PM on May 25, 2000

100 was a challenge. 200 will be a walkover.
posted by Neale at 8:03 PM on May 25, 2000

Nick suggested that I replace my hurting brain with a new one. [luckily this didn't update after the Amazon redesign]
posted by Neale at 8:05 PM on May 25, 2000

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
posted by wendell at 8:06 PM on May 25, 2000

Then you can get close enough to REALLY beat the crap out of 'em.
posted by wendellseviltwin at 8:09 PM on May 25, 2000

Woohoo! You go, Wendell!
posted by Neale at 8:10 PM on May 25, 2000

That should probably be Wendell.
posted by Neale at 8:10 PM on May 25, 2000

But not Wilbur
posted by Neale at 8:12 PM on May 25, 2000

________________

23.5.00

posted by Neale at 8:13 PM on May 25, 2000

All right, that's enough kids, break it up, break it up. Do your parents know where you are right now? How about if I give them a call, have 'em come down to the station and pick you u... is that alcohol on your breath Neale? How about you Wendell twins? You been buying hooch for little Neale here? You know you're contributing to the deliquency of a minor in doing that, I can run you all in on that....
posted by mathowie at 8:16 PM on May 25, 2000

posted by Neale at 8:16 PM on May 25, 2000

My brain hurts.
posted by Neale at 8:17 PM on May 25, 2000

If you've read HST's "Hell's Angels", then you might want to chat with Sonny.
posted by Neale at 8:18 PM on May 25, 2000

86% of consumers disapprove of animal blood being fed to other animals. Not including humans.
posted by Neale at 8:19 PM on May 25, 2000

Post previous comments.... what an ingenious idea.
posted by Neale at 8:20 PM on May 25, 2000

(trust me Maura, I hate hearing that phrase more than anything, even though I've had to use it more often in the past month than my entire life combined)

I guess the phrase "it's all good" is being used from the perspective of authors and not readers. This all started with Ben and Neale, joking or not, suggesting that people *not* write someting a certain way. And the backlash to that is the idea that anyone who feels like writing anything should, regardless of what anyone might think.

If you write with that in mind, sure it might be crap, but someone else might find it worthy of reading, or even if we can all agree it's crap, writing crap might help you develop into a better writer, or at least better than if you never tried.

I guess I don't like the idea of anyone saying someone shouldn't do something like write a personal page. And I get pissed when I think of someone reading Ben or Neale or anyone else's articles about the wrong or right way to do things and getting discouraged from doing something on the web.

The web, like life, is already 90% crap and wading through that is a chore, but that's what we do everyday, that's how we've developed our critical thinking skills all our life - finding the gold among all the crap. I guess I'd prefer my 90% of crap if it were personal, created by real people with stories and dreams, instead of a web chock full of e-commerce sites.
posted by mathowie at 8:39 AM PST on March 31 | permalink

posted by Neale at 8:21 PM on May 25, 2000

(trust me Maura, I hate hearing that phrase more than anything, even though I've had to use it more often in the past month than my entire life combined)

I guess the phrase "it's all good" is being used from the perspective of authors and not readers. This all started with Ben and Neale, joking or not, suggesting that people *not* write someting a certain way. And the backlash to that is the idea that anyone who feels like writing anything should, regardless of what anyone might think.

If you write with that in mind, sure it might be crap, but someone else might find it worthy of reading, or even if we can all agree it's crap, writing crap might help you develop into a better writer, or at least better than if you never tried.

I guess I don't like the idea of anyone saying someone shouldn't do something like write a personal page. And I get pissed when I think of someone reading Ben or Neale or anyone else's articles about the wrong or right way to do things and getting discouraged from doing something on the web.

The web, like life, is already 90% crap and wading through that is a chore, but that's what we do everyday, that's how we've developed our critical thinking skills all our life - finding the gold among all the crap. I guess I'd prefer my 90% of crap if it were personal, created by real people with stories and dreams, instead of a web chock full of e-commerce sites.
posted by mathowie at 8:39 AM PST on March 31 | permalink

why do i get the feeling i'm going to break MF?
First Vox Pop, then MF. Is there no community-based tool I won't destroy (apologies in advance, matt).
posted by Neale at 8:23 PM on May 25, 2000

Hey, I just noticed that there are only 23 more people needed for there to be an even 1000 MF users.
23. Sign of the illuminati. Beware, Beware.
posted by Neale at 8:24 PM on May 25, 2000

Well, I'll have cracked 150 next post. Only 50 more to go after that. And it's just little 'ol me. Unless I encourage people to join in back on wetlog.
Now there's an idea. I seem to be full of them.
posted by Neale at 8:26 PM on May 25, 2000

See, this is why I never volunteered myself for the blog-off. I didn't want to make anyone feel embarrassed.
posted by Neale at 8:29 PM on May 25, 2000

151
posted by sylloge at 8:31 PM on May 25, 2000

Sorry matt. It's just the enevitable playing itself out early in the life of MF. Better now than when there are 2000 odd members.
2000 members. I know a porno by the same name...
posted by Neale at 8:35 PM on May 25, 2000

Hey Sylloge, are you blind? It's there, in all it's glory. Oh wait, you noticed. Fuck you too?
posted by Neale at 8:37 PM on May 25, 2000

This is why there needs to be a comments limit on MF. For idiots like me.
posted by Neale at 8:40 PM on May 25, 2000

I need to get some lunch. La-dee-da. Ho-hum.

I'm so ashamed.
posted by Neale at 8:42 PM on May 25, 2000

Is he gone? Can the rest of us come out now?
posted by wendell at 8:43 PM on May 25, 2000

That's just one of the many possible endings to this scenario.
posted by Neale at 9:06 PM on May 25, 2000

So the big Z is starting to post his junk mail. That's a dirty, rotten thing to do. It'll work, but, by gum, you'll never take our freedom.
CHAAAAAAARGE!

Right, now I'm making no sense at all.
posted by Neale at 9:11 PM on May 25, 2000

Awful.netIs not up and running yet. But I bet I know who'd be their main attraction.
Me.
posted by Neale at 9:13 PM on May 25, 2000

**********************************************
** THIS IS A WARNING MESSAGE ONLY **
** YOU DO NOT NEED TO RESEND YOUR MESSAGE **
**********************************************

The original message was received at Tue, 23 May 2000 19:27:46 -0700 (PDT)
from webring@localhost

----- The following addresses had transient non-fatal errors -----
[e-mail]

----- Transcript of session follows -----
[e-mail]... Deferred: Connection refused by mail.cjb.net.
Warning: message still undelivered after 4 hours
Will keep trying until message is 5 days old
posted by Neale at 9:15 PM on May 25, 2000

Well that's pretty boring. No need for commentary with that kind of crap abounding on the web.
You know what I like about junkmail? Frequent use of the word 'cum'.
posted by Neale at 9:16 PM on May 25, 2000

Yet another e-mail service. I wonder if I could use it to spam others.
Hi, my name is Neale, and I would like you to come to my Hot Horny Web Site...

posted by Neale at 9:17 PM on May 25, 2000

Get a stick up ya.

Now that's just plain rude. Bad neale, bad! I think it's time for a spanking.
And then...
THE ORAL SEX! (in hushed wispers - 'the oral sex, the oral sex')
posted by Neale at 9:25 PM on May 25, 2000

Dear Neale Talbot,

WHY NOT PUT YOURSELF ON THE WEB?
Create a personal site with register.comTM -- www.NealeTalbot.com or www.aboutNealeTalbot.com are especially unique ways to share information about yourself and your hobbies, interests, and ideas. Set up a website with your bio and resume, display photos in your own online gallery, publish your opinions... the possibilities are endless and it takes only a few minutes!
http://register1.m0.net/m/s.asp?H1408572299X721816
posted by Neale at 9:26 PM on May 25, 2000

Could I make a weblog? I've always wanted a weblog.
posted by Neale at 9:29 PM on May 25, 2000

A stream of conciousness weblog would be cool. I've always wanted to know how to spell consioucneses. I've never been any good at spelling. I used to spell 'there' as 'vere', as I spell things like I pronounce them. that makes life a little difficult, but i've always been a little difficult too, so who's to say otherwise?
posted by Neale at 9:34 PM on May 25, 2000

Gotta keep on moving, no time to stop. Post no 168 gone and done.
One day I'll reach 1000. Are you prepared for that, Matt?
(That's a joke, right?)
posted by Neale at 9:42 PM on May 25, 2000

One day there's gonna be a knock at my door. I'll answer it to find four burly men with baseball bats in the landing. Goon 1 is going to look me in the eye and say,

"This is a little message from the weblog community - SHUT the FUCK UP".

And then I will be hurt. A lot.
posted by Neale at 7:02 PM PST on March 29 | permalink


posted by wendellseviltwin at 10:25 PM on May 25, 2000

So this is the new wetlog, eh? Glad that bloody red thing is gone - what the hell is that, anyway? And blue - very soothing. Yes, it looks pretty comfy around here. But you're going to have to change the name. Hmm... WetaFilter. Nice.
posted by rory at 10:37 PM on May 25, 2000

Yeah, the whole red-thing was just holding me back. I need to be able to blog in the quiet and serenity.
Now, I fully expect the other effort going on by some jackasses (wilbur?) will overtake this thread sometime while I sleep tonight, but reast assured I will be back with a vengence tomorrow. Until then, I rely on those that come here to post something.
You know you want to.
posted by Neale at 10:56 PM on May 25, 2000

The WetaFilter is only found in Australia and is sooooo old, it has outlived the dinosaurs!
WetaFilters are large by weblog standards but some of the giant WetaFilters are ENORMOUS and include the heaviest weblogs in the world
The WetaFilter is sometimes known as the dinosaur of the weblog world
The WetaFilter is more primitive than the wetlog
The WetaFilter has changed very little in the past 100 MILLION YEARS!

posted by rory at 11:20 PM on May 25, 2000

i would just like to publically declare my love of neale.
posted by adam at 2:50 AM on May 26, 2000

Hmm. If long posts are bad, I'm the devil's sidekick. I tend to ramble on and on when I blog, hopping from subject to subject like an ape on a mescaline/methamphetamine cocktail, resisting all urges to behave myself.

I know few read me, and yet I continue. I suspect that even few understand what I write, and yet that doesn't slow me down. I just go on and on like a Viking at a buffet.

Well, not this time. But usually.
posted by Ezrael at 7:46 AM on May 26, 2000

adam, haven't you already publicly declared your love of neale... several times?
(not that I disapprove)
posted by rabi at 3:16 PM on May 26, 2000

Well, we made it through the torrid evening, and despite the best efforts of the opposition, and the mighty avalanche of e-mail telling me what a dickhead I am, this thread has come out victorious; still 20 posts ahead. Maybe it'll make it to 200. Maybe it won't. Wendell had it nailed though; to silence me would mean to silence Zeldman as well... and who's gonna do that? (I know matt actually does have the balls to do that, but I gotta say, it's good that all this plays out in the wonder years of MeFi's life; besides, think of all the attention MeFi's been getting over the past days or two).
So. Let's slouch towards Bethlehem. Or something.
posted by Neale at 4:04 PM on May 26, 2000

It's Memorial Day weekend... I'm slouching toward San Diego, myself.
posted by wendell at 4:32 PM on May 26, 2000

Neale, what the hell are you up to now? And are psychological exams going to be involved? Because my constitution just isn't up to handling that sort of event structure.
posted by jason at 10:08 AM on May 28, 2000

I'm depressed.
posted by Neale at 2:34 PM on May 29, 2000

I'm impressed.
He's repressed.
They're compressed.
We're all hard-pressed to do better.
posted by wendell at 8:27 PM on May 30, 2000

Well, it's not like I need the encouragement, do I? I mean, really? Do I?
posted by Neale at 4:30 PM on September 27, 2000

To Do List: make thread closer for MetaFilter.
posted by mathowie at 5:39 PM on September 27, 2000

I've got a staplegun you can borrow...
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 11:56 PM on September 27, 2000

Man, that's close. Personally, I don't like those odds. You can take my life, but you can never take my freedom to make excessively long metafilter threads! Aaarrrrrrrrggggghh!
posted by Neale at 3:50 PM on February 11, 2001

This tool is now a weapon of extremism. I shall not be beaten! There can be only one (or have I used that one already?)!
posted by Neale at 4:08 PM on February 11, 2001

Neale's silly.
posted by cCranium at 6:45 AM on February 12, 2001

Neale's silly.
What, you've just figured that out?
posted by Avogadro at 11:11 AM on February 12, 2001

no, I figured it out over a day ago now!
posted by cCranium at 5:07 PM on February 13, 2001

That makes three of us.
posted by Neale at 7:31 PM on February 14, 2001

whoa neale what made you pick this post up again after 5 months? Still smarting?
posted by chaz at 10:19 PM on February 14, 2001

It was actually this MetaTalk thread. His title's in jeopardy.
posted by cCranium at 3:05 PM on February 15, 2001

By the way, if you're looking for me here after the dissolution of wetlog you are an A-GRADE LOSER. I love you!
posted by Neale at 10:40 PM on February 22, 2001

You're a bad man, Neale...
posted by Avogadro at 8:20 AM on February 23, 2001

They say that Neale is a bad mutha
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 10:56 AM on February 23, 2001

...SHUT YOUR MOUTH!
posted by Avogadro at 10:15 AM on February 26, 2001

Aww.. I knew all the cool kids were hanging out somewhere without me. A pox on you all!
posted by jess at 11:46 PM on February 27, 2001

shhhhhhh! keep it down...

and close the door, you're letting smoke go in the hallway...
posted by Avogadro at 4:49 PM on March 1, 2001

Holy shit! That's some powerful commenting going on. 146 comments in 3 hours? Jeeeebus! I've gotta get cracking!
posted by Neale at 3:32 PM on March 29, 2001

Did you know that I've sold out to EA and started an "official" weblog of Majestic? Signed a contract and everything. I can tell you about it now, even though it's not finished. And, in the spirit of the game, I'm announcing it here.
posted by Neale at 3:37 PM on March 29, 2001

At this point I fear interest in this thread might spring up. Younger members of the MeFi tradition might wonder why I do this.

Well it's a matter of pride. Of devotion. Of stupidity. Of ensuring that the longest thread on MeFi is (a) started by Matt and (b) about me in some way. Now, that might sound like self-important grandeur to you, and that's because it is. But, and let's be straight here kids, it's hard work. Especially with 4500 bloody members posting silly comments about their flame-emails in another thread. But I will prevail. You may have the might, but time is on my side baby.

Hail to the king.
posted by Neale at 3:42 PM on March 29, 2001

Besides, what's the big deal. My design is fucking everywhere at the moment (and I admit it, I got help from outside my brain on it, but still)... as a newly-found authority (*cough cough*) on web design, I say....

Make the bastards pay!

I mean...

Let design be free!

I mean...

Ah fuck it. Why the hell are you even reading this?
posted by Neale at 3:48 PM on March 29, 2001

Must post, must post. Gotta get that count up.

This posts counts too you know. It's petty... but so am I.
posted by Neale at 3:49 PM on March 29, 2001

Has this thread reached the magical 200 posts yet?
posted by Neale at 3:50 PM on March 29, 2001

What about now?
posted by Neale at 3:51 PM on March 29, 2001

Of course, even if I'm overtaken by the we-love-you-matt we're-so-offended-we-might-die thread, I won't give up.

Live a pheonix from the ashes, I will rise again.
posted by Neale at 3:52 PM on March 29, 2001

And again.
posted by Neale at 3:53 PM on March 29, 2001

You get the picture.
posted by Neale at 3:55 PM on March 29, 2001

You don't? Well let me explain.

See, every post I do only adds to the number of comments, thus re-enforcing my level of determination about this particular quest.

Also, it creates a level of comic irony to the situation; how can I rise again, if I refuse to die in the first place? Even this explaination is a meta-level of irony, in that it, too, will add to the number of comments. And so on and so forth.
posted by Neale at 3:58 PM on March 29, 2001

I am *such* a loser.
posted by Neale at 4:04 PM on March 29, 2001

Winner! I meant winner...

Jeebus.
posted by Neale at 4:04 PM on March 29, 2001

Still no MeFi edit posts/comments ability. Ah well, probably for the best.
posted by Neale at 4:05 PM on March 29, 2001

They still haven't noticed. When, oh when? Gotta... stay... ahead.
posted by Neale at 4:08 PM on March 29, 2001

One man against an army of fools. I shall prevail!
posted by Neale at 4:09 PM on March 29, 2001

Never, in the course of history, have so few owed so many to so much.

I got that all wrong. Damnit.
posted by Neale at 4:11 PM on March 29, 2001

Can't fight the reaper.

I won't give up they want me dead.

This monkey's gone to heaven.
posted by Neale at 4:12 PM on March 29, 2001

Can't touch this.

Woooh-oh-oh-ooh

Wooh-oooh

Can't touch this.

Woooh-oh-oh-ooh

Wooh-oooh

Comment time.
posted by Neale at 4:13 PM on March 29, 2001

Won't anyone aid my unworthy cause? 300 posts isn't that many.
posted by Neale at 4:14 PM on March 29, 2001

Some might comment that this borders on Obsessive Compulsive Behaviour. I'd like to say it's more along the lines of Total Fucking Psychosis.
posted by Neale at 4:15 PM on March 29, 2001

I'm just gonna step out for a second. Someone mind the door while I'm gone?
posted by Neale at 4:16 PM on March 29, 2001

Guess not.
posted by Neale at 4:39 PM on March 29, 2001

I'm getting a weird sense of Deja Vu.
posted by Neale at 4:40 PM on March 29, 2001

I'm getting a weird sense of Deja Vu.
posted by Neale at 4:48 PM on March 29, 2001

I wonder - will Wetafilter survive longer than Wetlog did? Will I still be doing this a year from now, fighting against a 200,000 user base?

I hope so.
posted by Neale at 4:49 PM on March 29, 2001

I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot. I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot. I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot. I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot. I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot. I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot. I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot. I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot. I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot I'm a teapot.
posted by Neale at 5:22 PM on March 29, 2001

180 posts. It took me months to do that, and it got cracked in a matter of hours. Fuckity fuck fuck. I'm losing hope.
posted by Neale at 5:26 PM on March 29, 2001

[que paino riff]

At first I was afraid, I was petrified,
Thinking I could never live with this thread alive
Now I know another thread
is creeping up behind
But I am strong,
And though this thread is long...

I'll not quit
I need the hits
I'm not giving up upon this thread
a single bit
I won't change my mind at all
I won't be taking down my scrawl
I won't give up on 1 1 4 2 though my
back's against the wall...

I
I will survive
I'll keeping posting here, keeping
Hoping my fame revives.
I spent so many nights
Typing at these keys
I will survive
I will survive
Oh yeah...
posted by Neale at 5:32 PM on March 29, 2001

I rule.
posted by Neale at 5:33 PM on March 29, 2001

The jester is my nero.
posted by Neale at 5:33 PM on March 29, 2001

I'm such a sellout. I'm getting paid to do this by ... the UFO people! It's true! They want market inroads into Earth, and believe a viral web campaign is the best way to go about it.
posted by Neale at 6:03 PM on March 29, 2001

I'm picking up good vibrations.

Maybe I should turn my vibrator off.
posted by Neale at 6:14 PM on March 29, 2001

I wonder... is there a point where the weight of this digital commentory becomes so great it turns in on itself to become a digital "black hole", sucking in all the digital information around it?
posted by Neale at 6:19 PM on March 29, 2001

I hope so. I truly do. Let the sucking begin!
posted by Neale at 6:32 PM on March 29, 2001

Wait... it already has!

Bada-boom-bada-bing!
posted by Neale at 6:34 PM on March 29, 2001

I need to make up at least another 20 posts to pull away again. And to do that, I need more material. Waaay more material.

So...

I just flew in from Seattle, and boy are my arms tired.

[cue laugh track]

Thanks you, thank you, you're wonderful, really.
posted by Neale at 6:36 PM on March 29, 2001

You're not wonderful. You suck. Boy does it suck around here.

My god! It really is a black hole! A black hole of suckdom! Where you can't see hear light escaping for the sucking noise.

Aaaaauuuuuuggggghhhhh!
posted by Neale at 6:43 PM on March 29, 2001

I need to make enough comments to last the night when I finally fall asleep and the US catches up with me.

That's a lot of posts. I estimate roughly 70. I need to pull that far ahead to survive. Not bloody likely... but I'll have my fingers bleed on the keyboard trying.
posted by Neale at 6:45 PM on March 29, 2001

C'mon, Uncle Joe. Where the hell are you?
posted by Neale at 6:55 PM on March 29, 2001

I'm trying to work out how often I've said the word "Aaaauuuuggggghhh" and variations ("Aaarrrgh, Auuurrrgh", etc) on this thread.

My answer: not enough.
posted by Neale at 6:59 PM on March 29, 2001

Aaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!
posted by Neale at 7:01 PM on March 29, 2001

Almost up to 250 posts. I'm guessing 10 more will do. When I started today I was on 197. I've done about 43 since then. Ah well.

Onward me! To battle! To victory! To the bathroom (i'll be right back, I swear!)
posted by Neale at 7:03 PM on March 29, 2001

"longest ever MeFi thread" my ass.
posted by Neale at 7:51 PM on March 29, 2001

Gotta keep on trucking. Do it for the children! Who's thinking about the children?
posted by Neale at 7:53 PM on March 29, 2001

I hope this thread doesn't come back to bite me on the arse when I run for president.

"Look - he wrote an absurdly long comment thread on MeFi."

"In that case, I sentence Neale to life on Monster Island!"
posted by Neale at 7:57 PM on March 29, 2001

Why doesn't World New York get more readers, damnit! It's fucking fantastic.
posted by Neale at 8:01 PM on March 29, 2001

Hi David.
posted by Neale at 8:02 PM on March 29, 2001

I'm getting a weird sense of Deja Vu.
posted by Neale at 8:11 PM on March 29, 2001

Aaaahahahahahaha. That never gets old.

'Til now.
posted by Neale at 8:13 PM on March 29, 2001

If I was a wanker (more so than I am now) I'd call this performance art. But then I'd leaving myself open to criticism. That would be bad. Oh so bad.

I have such thin skin. I get so cold at night.
posted by Neale at 8:21 PM on March 29, 2001

And with that, I bid you... hello! That's right. I'm still sticking around. Goddamn it, I'm cold... so cold... Ginger, fetch me a blanket! Milo, get your goddamn eggs of my plane! Number 1, on my mark! Get set! Go!
posted by Neale at 8:25 PM on March 29, 2001

250. I need lunch. This is hard work.
posted by Neale at 8:28 PM on March 29, 2001

Jeez, I went a little queer back there. Tom Cruise, to be precise.
posted by Neale at 8:34 PM on March 29, 2001

I'm going home soon. That'll give the other thread about 20 hours to catch up. I'm mincemeat.

I must say, though, that this thread is pretty much more informative, entertaining and all-round wonderful.

At least, according to me it is.
posted by Neale at 9:01 PM on March 29, 2001

Someday people are gonna look at this and say, "That Neale guy!"

And they'd be right.
posted by Neale at 9:02 PM on March 29, 2001

My mother so ashamed I got caught up in this. I'm been pruned from the family tree.
posted by Neale at 9:06 PM on March 29, 2001

I used to eat mayonaise straight from the jar until I found out Bob Dole does it to. Damned if I'm EVER having ANYTHING in common with that man. Besides the love-child.
posted by Neale at 9:08 PM on March 29, 2001

Well that answers that. Next!
posted by Neale at 9:17 PM on March 29, 2001

Wow. Cafepress refused business from psycho-ex. I don't who this is a victory for. The ex, perhaps?
posted by Neale at 9:21 PM on March 29, 2001

It's almost time to go off-line, at which point this thread will be engulphed by 6647. Damnit! Why, God why?
posted by Neale at 9:22 PM on March 29, 2001

Wow, I've posted over 250 comments to MeFi. I'd say they're mostly on this thread. Natch.
posted by Neale at 9:24 PM on March 29, 2001

260 comments on this thread. 60 more than the other. Now that it's slid from the top of the thread, I might just hold out overnight. Doubtful, but possible. After all, it's basically run dry. No-one's arguing. The evil-site has gone. It's just "isn't this thread long" comments from here on in. And we all know how boring that can get.

If you are reading this, for the sake of my sanity, support the cause and post something. Keep the bastard's Hondas. That's what I say.
posted by Neale at 9:26 PM on March 29, 2001

Fight the power, Neale
posted by Avogadro at 7:18 AM on March 30, 2001

You called?
posted by Aaaugh! at 2:12 PM on March 30, 2001

Aww, crap - messed up the anchor tag. Oh well.
posted by Aaaugh! at 2:15 PM on March 30, 2001

Oh neale...
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 2:27 PM on March 30, 2001

I won! Thank the lord. Survived for another day. 13 posts ahead and all day to stretch out the lead!

You know, I really must get a life sometime soon.
posted by Neale at 2:49 PM on March 30, 2001

I'd like to thank Avogadro, Unky Her... er.. Joe, and Aaaugh! For their continued support. Now just hand me the goddamn award, will you?
posted by Neale at 2:51 PM on March 30, 2001

I'm getting a weird sense of Deja Vu.

Deja vu. Ha - ha - haaaaa!

Okay, Letterman does it better.
posted by Neale at 2:59 PM on March 30, 2001

Deja vu.

[waits for scattered laughter]
posted by Neale at 3:04 PM on March 30, 2001

Ah, forget it. Nevermind. Let us let our relationship progress a little, mature, grow. Like a great oak from a tiny ant.
posted by Neale at 3:09 PM on March 30, 2001

A lot of people think this thread doesn't count as the longest because half the posts come from me.

Well I'd like to point out that on other long threads half the posts come from other people. So there!
posted by Neale at 3:12 PM on March 30, 2001

You're just jealous of my staggeringly good looks. Don't worry, being an ugly troll isn't the worst thing in the world.
posted by Neale at 3:18 PM on March 30, 2001

The mob hath spoken, and in meta-tradition, is being spoken about.

Mob rules!
posted by Neale at 3:28 PM on March 30, 2001

You know, now that I think about it, 300 isn't that far away.

I'm gonna post all night.
Baby giveya something to hold on to
I'm gonna post all niiii-yiiiiiiaght
By the time I'm finished most of the posts
will be poo

All night
All night
All night
Gonna post gonna post
All night
All night

Ah crap.
posted by Neale at 3:34 PM on March 30, 2001

The joke died 150 posts ago, and I'm still going.

Letterman, eat your heart out.
posted by Neale at 3:45 PM on March 30, 2001

This is the 275 post benchmark. So I don't loose count.
posted by Neale at 3:50 PM on March 30, 2001

Godwin's law! It's all over now on 6647. And another one bites the dust!
posted by Neale at 3:54 PM on March 30, 2001

But they're getting might close, so a couple more posts wouldn't hurt.
posted by Neale at 3:47 PM on March 31, 2001

I'd really like the title "Phantom of the MetaFilter". As an early Christmas present.
posted by Neale at 4:22 PM on March 31, 2001

Great... another site perpetuating a lie. 6647 is NOT the longest thread ever. This is!

You put your heart and soul into something, and they spit in your face! Gar!
posted by Neale at 4:28 PM on March 31, 2001

280. Twenty more 'til 300. Will MeFi implode at that point? Will the digital black-hole arrive?

I'm getting a weird sense of Deja Vu.

Deja vu. Ha - ha - haaaaa!


Nevermind
posted by Neale at 4:35 PM on March 31, 2001

I think I'll print this out and give it to my psycho-analyst. Maybe then she'll want to screw me.
posted by Neale at 4:41 PM on March 31, 2001

I wonder if they'd let me get away with this on plastic.

Only one way to find out.
posted by Neale at 4:42 PM on March 31, 2001

Just defending my honour. Like a knight of the round table. A very drunken, stupid knight.
posted by Neale at 8:02 PM on April 1, 2001

Y'know, I think that reminding us about this thread is a pretty cheap way to get some extra posts. I'm not a pretty man, I don't cost much.
posted by cCranium at 9:15 PM on April 1, 2001

Also, from now on when you point us here, it'd be nice if you'd toss in one of them thar anchor thingamagics, so I can keep following the link without having to scroll.
posted by cCranium at 2:44 PM on April 2, 2001

I mean, here I am, proactively buffering this thread for the next time someone steals a design or finds a broken contest server, and I have to scroll, every time I follow the link.
posted by cCranium at 2:45 PM on April 2, 2001

If you think your fingers are raw and bloody from typing, you should see my middle finger from all the wheel-rolling going on!

/me waves middle finger at Neale as proof.
posted by cCranium at 2:46 PM on April 2, 2001

Oh, and while I'm inching this thread that much closer to 300, I figure I'd inject some validity here by pointing out that this thread contains an interesting history of MetaFilter. It can't be closed, it's archival value is far too high for that.
posted by cCranium at 2:47 PM on April 2, 2001

Agreed. When future generations of MeFitites want a quick rundown on the sites venerable history, they will be pointed towards 1142.

"Look! Thats the day the pyra people got fired. That's when Tivo had that competition! That's when MeFi was copied!"

They gasp and stare and love for the world will flow through them. Or something.
posted by Neale at 5:36 PM on April 2, 2001

290. Anchor links are now a must.
posted by Neale at 5:38 PM on April 2, 2001

Just peeking in the window to see Neale run about in this thread. Moving on...
posted by gluechunk at 7:29 PM on April 2, 2001

Zowie.
posted by redfoxtail at 7:43 PM on April 2, 2001

You know, at first while perusing this thread (and I'd read the top part before, a long long time ago) I thought "what a crazy fucker. He should let it drop." But now, I've read it all, and all I can think of is:

1. What a senseless waste of time that was and
2. You can have it, Neale. As long as you're willing to defend it from the next thread, which will hit 300, then the first 500, etc. etc. . .
posted by norm at 8:29 PM on April 2, 2001

Is this one of those postmodernist art thingies? If so, it's genius! Much better than Cats.
posted by snarkout at 8:33 PM on April 2, 2001

You know what is needed in a massive quantity to read this thread?

Drugs.

Lots of 'em.
posted by Jeremy at 9:31 PM on April 2, 2001

Neale: I've been looking for your 'about' page. Where's your 'about' page?
posted by holloway at 10:15 PM on April 2, 2001

I smite thee.

Well, strictly it isn't, but there's got to be some law I can smite you under. I'll keep looking.
posted by SelfPostGuy at 7:47 AM on April 3, 2001

I'm a slut
posted by sonofsamiam at 8:36 AM on April 3, 2001

I'm a slut
posted by sonofsamiam at 8:37 AM on April 3, 2001

I'm a
posted by sonofsamiam at 8:37 AM on April 3, 2001

slut
posted by sonofsamiam at 8:37 AM on April 3, 2001

slut
posted by sonofsamiam at 8:37 AM on April 3, 2001

slut
posted by sonofsamiam at 8:37 AM on April 3, 2001

slut
posted by sonofsamiam at 8:38 AM on April 3, 2001

slut
posted by sonofsamiam at 8:38 AM on April 3, 2001

(The above should be sung in your head while reading, preferably humming to yourself, as well.
If you feel up to it, feel free to add imaginary or-castration or even a chorus line.

The Rockettes!

The Mormon Ta-barnacle Choir!

Santa Claws!


You will feel a happier and better person.



And they will say, let go of me, you pervert.)
posted by sonofsamiam at 8:41 AM on April 3, 2001

This whole thing has me very, very concerned.
posted by anildash at 8:46 AM on April 3, 2001

Dammit sonof, whilst some of us were working on witty comments for post 300, you went ahead and wasted it on that?

grumble, grumble, grumble...
posted by Avogadro at 9:04 AM on April 3, 2001

I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I love you like a red-headed stepchild.
posted by Avogadro at 9:05 AM on April 3, 2001

Wow, this is the best thread ever!
posted by daveadams at 9:14 AM on April 3, 2001

Wow, Neale, I hope you haven't been doing this over a modem... the lag time for loading this page over the 15Mb line here at work is pretty bad.
posted by daveadams at 9:15 AM on April 3, 2001

Of course, you've probably written a little program to do the dirty work for you, haven't you? That's cheating, you know?
posted by daveadams at 9:16 AM on April 3, 2001

Got any beans?

Ha - haaaaaaaa!
posted by daveadams at 9:16 AM on April 3, 2001

Anyone up for a game of Cribbage? Or Canasta?
posted by daveadams at 9:19 AM on April 3, 2001

So is this the kind of thing where, if you discovered this thread through the Metatalk post, you're not quite as 1337 as the cool people who have known about it all along?

It's an interesting tidbit for the MeFi lore, anyway.
posted by daveadams at 9:22 AM on April 3, 2001

Bible Trivia from my youth:

Q Who was the father of the sons of Zebedee?
A Zebedee

It's a trick question, see? I missed this one.
posted by daveadams at 9:25 AM on April 3, 2001

Well, I've posted seven comments, so I've got to make it a nice round ten.

Right?
posted by daveadams at 9:25 AM on April 3, 2001

Right?

Right.
posted by daveadams at 9:26 AM on April 3, 2001

Okay, that's enough, Dave. Off to bed with you! Go!
posted by daveadams at 9:26 AM on April 3, 2001

You guys are totally screwing me up. I keep scrolling down the front page wondering how my count can be so off.

I will now add to the length of this thing by posting an interesting story I stole off a friends website.

Many stories about rangering. The most "dramatic" are probably rescue stories, climbing stories and firefighting stories.

Here's one for you:

Several years ago, Clinton was stumping prior to his re-election campaign. He visited Grand Teton National Park for a few photo ops and some golfing on a
swank course. Hillary and Chelsea engaged in more honorable activities. They went horseback riding and on one or two short hikes.

Watching a Presidential Entourage go by is an odd site, especially down a dirt road to a trailhead. 8-10 black Chevy Suburbans and a few unmarked cars...
Surreal.

As part of the event, I went to a dinner at the very bourgeois Jackson Hole Golf and Tennis, where Clinton announced from a podium, his dedication to National
Parks and the preservation of public lands. I walked through a metal detector on the way in and was patted down by Secret Service agents. The Secret Service
flanked Clinton on all sides, but didn't seem to be much of a deterrent, because they were so blatantly SECRET SERVICE. Dockers, casual shirts, etc.

On to the point, and my involvement in this story.

As the Clinton's stay near Grand Teton Nat. Park wound down, a C-130 cargo transport plane in Clinton's entourage took off from the airport to fly back to DC. For
some inexplicable reason, the pilot made a huge error. Minutes after taking off, the plane hit the side of Sheep (Sleeping Indian) Mountain.

A small group of rangers were hanging out on my porch talking and having a beer after dinner, when a climbing ranger named Andy Byerly ran over from his
nearby cabin. We stood on the top of a Park Suburban and watched a mushroom cloud/fireball erupting several miles away.

An all night search and rescue effort followed. The Grand Teton Climbing Rangers were the first to respond, but not the first to reach the "staging area"--a spot
off a dirt road near the base of Sheep Mountain. When we arrived at the staging area low-grade confusion and radio traffic filled the air. Four-wheel drive vehicles
and semi-frantic people milled around and geared up.

Eventually, two groups of between 8 and 12 people headed in approximately 4 miles to the crash site. One group of park rangers, one group of Teton County
Search and Rescue. A third group, on horseback, was to take a longer route and meet the two groups on foot. There was no trail. We took the most direct route,
which included a bunch of steep terrain and bushwhacking through heavy forest. The Park Rangers were dressed in standard firefighting gear--bright yellow
Nomex (fireproof) shirts, green Nomex pants and firefighting boots. The Teton County Rescue Team dropped behind after two miles. We (park rangers) never
saw them again that night.

When the group of eight of so park rangers reached the crash site, we methodically spread out, in order to canvas the area. Initially, we were looking for live
humans in need of medical attention. Our objective quickly shifted to counting bodies.

The smell of spent jet fuel was in the air. Urgency was also in the air. The temperature was slightly below freezing, but I was slightly chilled by sweat.

The only thing still flaming was one of the plane's huge landing gear tires. The only other intact part of the plane was the tail piece, which seemed oddly out of
place, like a hoof remaining from a horse obducted by aliens.

Rivulets of solid aluminum ran through the crash area. Minute pieces of debris were strewn about in a hundred yard radius. The cockpit was a slump of
smoldering mush.

A ranger named Gary found the first body. There were nine crew members aboard the plane, along with an armored Chevy Suburban. We found random pieces
of eight humans, there was no trace of the Suburban. I found at least two of the bodies. They didn't seem human. They seemed like charred props generated by
Hollywood.

I still have vivid images in my mind from that night. Mortal images.

The butt and thighs of what I guessed used to be a woman beneath the light of my headlamp. She had no torso. Her rump resembled a mannequin coated with
two inches of well-done bacon.

A pilot's flight suit still intact, but the pilot resembling little more than molded ash.

A curled leather boot with a foot still in it...

My thoughts were both hyper lucid and confused, vacillating between reverence, horror and awe. I was and still am oddly detached from the reality of what my
eyes took in that night.

After determining all the crew members were dead, we dispersed around the perimeter of the crash site to "secure the area." I assume the FAA wanted the flight
log secure and the Feds wanted any potentially classified material safegaurded. It was about four am. I pulled my down jacket, along with some gloves and
other warm gear out of my backpack. I was still cold. I laid down against my backpack, using it as insulation against the ground. I talked for a while with a ranger
named Chris Harder. He was sitting about 40 feet from me. After a while, we both tried to close our eyes and rest.

About two hours later, the first horse arrived on the scene. An hour after that, we were flown by helicopter back to the Park.

Later that day, local newspapers credited the "body recovery" to the Teton County Search and Rescue Team. In reality, the TCRT's out-of-shape gear-laden
group mostly drank hot chocolate and coffee all night by their idling vehicles in the staging area. The Park Service team wasn't mentioned at all in the local news.
Surprisingly enough, national news barely registered the event, even though Clinton flew out of Grand Teton Nat. Park a couple days later.

posted by Christian Arial 3:14 PM

So there!
posted by thirteen at 9:44 AM on April 3, 2001

Wow! This is one case where the noise level is so high that it's completely on topic :)
(btw, if someone already said that, I apologize...I have the attention span of a two-year-old as well)

Also, I knew about this well before the MeTa post...does that make me 1337 too?? Sweeet.
posted by samsara at 10:54 AM on April 3, 2001

You're much more 1337 than I am, samsara.

Cool story, thirteen.
posted by daveadams at 11:50 AM on April 3, 2001

Hey, 13, why not tip us off to where that story came from? It kicked ass.
posted by norm at 11:51 AM on April 3, 2001

I'm still waiting for a cribbage opponent.
posted by daveadams at 11:51 AM on April 3, 2001

Or canasta.
posted by daveadams at 11:51 AM on April 3, 2001

Or even Spades.
posted by daveadams at 11:52 AM on April 3, 2001

I'm flexible.
posted by daveadams at 11:52 AM on April 3, 2001

The story came from the page of Polish war bride Rob Sieracki. Look for the story about Polish sausage, it is good reading.
posted by thirteen at 12:09 PM on April 3, 2001

Wow. I can hardly hear Neale anymore.
posted by iceberg273 at 1:43 PM on April 3, 2001

That's the plan.
posted by daveadams at 1:52 PM on April 3, 2001

Okay, I'm obsessed with this thread!

NEED MORE POSTS.
posted by daveadams at 2:05 PM on April 3, 2001

Spades it is! Who wants to be partners?

No, not like THAT, silly.
posted by redfoxtail at 3:59 PM on April 3, 2001

Boy, this was Neale's personal sounding board, and we spoiled it. And he would have got away with it, if it weren't for you meddling kids.
posted by timothompson at 10:12 PM on April 3, 2001

31337 meddling kids :P
posted by samsara at 12:15 AM on April 4, 2001

Mind you.
posted by samsara at 12:35 AM on April 4, 2001

You young'uns! You're finally getting the MeFi picture.

It's far more addictive than you've EVER IMAGINED! And now you know this thread is here, over the next few months you'll come back and back and back again! Matt's gottcha hooked!

And yes, I do do this over a 56k modem.
posted by Neale at 2:17 AM on April 4, 2001

Being l337 is a valiant goal, but I'm alway l473.
posted by cCranium at 7:22 AM on April 4, 2001

Being l337 is a valiant goal, but I'm alway l473.

You need more l4773. Or less. I can never tell.
posted by iceberg273 at 9:22 AM on April 4, 2001

Sometime ago, I proposed a new unit of measure for weblogs, the ben, to indicate the "weight" of MeFi threads. (1 ben = ~3,000 words). Just checking in here to note that, at a little over 21,000 words, this thread now weighs 7.1 bens.
posted by bradlands at 9:54 AM on April 4, 2001

If I carefully count words - including the "posted by" line - I can post in nice, discrete centiben chunks, like this.
posted by youhas at 2:12 PM on April 4, 2001

Well, assuming that "2:12", "PM", and "PST" count as a total of three words, of course. Your mileage may vary.
posted by youhas at 2:14 PM on April 4, 2001

Youhas, your user number is the year of the Great Fire of London.
posted by norm at 7:02 PM on April 4, 2001

And your id, norm, is not only the end of the English Tudor Period (link not working. pout), it's also the year the French Confession of Faith was written, and the year Girolamo Priuli was born! (somewhere deep on this page)

Google so rocks.
posted by cCranium at 6:09 AM on April 5, 2001

And your ID, cCranium, marks the year that Charlemange finally defeated the Turkish Avar Empire, thus destroying it. It also marks the end of Offa's reign as King of Mercia. Oddly enough, Offa considered himself an equal to Charlemange. In addition, the Dassault Falcon 900 EX, a business jet, has a long distance cruising speed of your Id in km/h. The company that makes the Falcon also makes the Mirage jet fighter. The Mirage was developed by France in order to reduce reliance on foreign companies for military aircraft. Where did Charlemange's empire begin? You guessed it.
posted by iceberg273 at 7:48 AM on April 5, 2001

Speaking of Charlemagne, your i.d. (iceberg273) marks the year (803) that he captured the Northern Iberian region from the Muslims, thus bringing about the independance of Andorra. Also in that year, Emperor Nikiforos of Greece founded the first marine bank in history, Jabir Ibn Haiyan (Geber) died (he was the Father of Chemistry), and Irene of Athens, who was the first woman ever to hold the throne of the old Roman Empire, died.

In MeFi news, MetaFilter thread 803 was on the re-design of K10K.
posted by Avogadro at 8:54 AM on April 5, 2001

Ooh ooh, what about me? Huh? Huh?
posted by daveadams at 12:46 PM on April 5, 2001

What about me 161 AD was a pretty fucking rocking year, heh? Heh?

I thought this thread was about me. ME ME ME ME ME!
posted by Neale at 6:11 PM on April 5, 2001

The irony is, that this guy never realized his true potential....I wonder if matt would let me have it?
posted by samsara at 7:13 PM on April 5, 2001

Oh, and hi neale :)
posted by samsara at 7:13 PM on April 5, 2001

Cicero (106 BC - 43). his chief concern was to discover and make public the seditious intentions of his rival.
posted by samsara at 7:23 PM on April 5, 2001

Falling well short of the 161 mark...
posted by samsara at 7:24 PM on April 5, 2001

Dave, seems like The Venerable Bede was born in 673 AD, and Pope Eugene ended his popeship in death, as died Yan Liben, a Chinese Artist. Numa Pompilus began his rule of Rome in 673BC, after it's founder, Romulus.
posted by Neale at 11:31 PM on April 5, 2001

And matt refuses to change IDs. Trust me, I know. I tried to get 4 or 5, after I found they were departed.

My lameness has been re-enforced.
posted by Neale at 11:35 PM on April 5, 2001

stupidhead dave. cut in line to deny anyone discovering the wonder of year 1545. :-(

*pout*
posted by Avogadro at 6:06 AM on April 6, 2001

Heh, 1545 was the year that Luther published his famous bible. An excerpt from the story of Noah:

Aus allerlei reinem Vieh nimm zu dir je sieben und sieben, das Männlein und sein Fräulein; von dem unreinen Vieh aber je ein Paar, das Männlein und sein Fräulein.

Oh, and 673 is my street address.
posted by norm at 7:27 AM on April 6, 2001

Oh and my last post, neale, was my 161st
posted by samsara at 8:09 AM on April 6, 2001

When I'm 161, it will be the year 2138 and I'd damn well better have my jet pack.
posted by cCranium at 1:41 PM on April 6, 2001

In the year 2525, if man is still alive, if woman can survive they may find in the year 3535, ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies. Everything you think, do, and say is in the pill you took today.
posted by youhas at 3:32 AM on April 7, 2001

I'm really too distracted at this point (using a 56k connection for the first time in a year and trying to gnaw my mouse arm off...) I cannot fathom the patience 56kers have. Yet, I'd say it's more intense than what most monks would endure.
posted by samsara at 8:25 PM on April 7, 2001

Hey sam, although I only post to this thread from work behind our 30 meg line, I generally surf from home at 31.2k since Windows 2000 doesn't seem to realize that my modem can do 56k!

Okay, yes, I realize that I probably am doing something wrong. Surely there's some reconfiguration that would make my surfing faster. Anyone know the arcana of modem settings?
posted by daveadams at 2:11 PM on April 9, 2001

What I meant to say was... no, even 31.2k isn't bad if that's what you're used to. I make extensive use of multiple windows including the television in order to endure.

And how is this about Neale, you ask? It's obviously his fault, that's how.
posted by daveadams at 2:12 PM on April 9, 2001

Has anyone looked at Neale's Comments page? If you start at the top or the bottom, it looks like a reasonably normal Metafilistine's page, but right there in the middle is this huge garish list of "jump to the comment in this thread" that's really quite pathetic.

And since it's Neale, pathetic == amusing!
posted by cCranium at 12:20 PM on April 10, 2001

What do I have to do so that when I'm pathetic, it's amusing? (Don't worry, I know it's all about you, Neale. You! You! You!)
posted by redfoxtail at 7:20 PM on April 10, 2001

I initially parsed your nick as ReddFoxxTail, and the resulting image was both pathetic and amusing, as well as deeply, deeply disturbing.
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 9:09 PM on April 10, 2001

NEALE! NEALE! NEALE!
posted by Avogadro at 5:26 AM on April 11, 2001

I initially parsed your nick as ReddFoxxTail, and the resulting image was both pathetic and amusing, as well as deeply, deeply disturbing.

Aiiieeee! Excuse me while I take some time to recover from that thought.
posted by redfoxtail at 3:54 PM on April 11, 2001

Who is Redd Foxx? Someone with a typing stutter?

And it's not about me. It's about the love... of me.
posted by Neale at 4:21 PM on April 11, 2001

Is this thread dead?
posted by daveadams at 1:45 PM on April 16, 2001

Ha! Thread... dead... that rhymes! Funny!
posted by daveadams at 1:45 PM on April 16, 2001

In celebration of the Easter season and my newfound rhyming ability, I'd like to claim title of Funny Bunny for the purposes of this thread... But just for this week. I don't think that's the kind of nickname I want hanging around.
posted by daveadams at 1:56 PM on April 16, 2001

Redd Foxx? A St. Louisan, dontchaknow!

Redd Foxx
(One of) Redd Foxx's shows
Redd Foxx's most famous show
Redd Foxx's foil/nemesis-ter-in-law
Redd Foxx's ghost
Redd Foxx's grave
posted by bradlands at 10:52 PM on April 16, 2001

Bah. Redd Foxx was no Funny Bunny.
posted by daveadams at 5:59 AM on April 17, 2001

Oddly enough, Redd Foxx pretty much defined "working blue" ...
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 1:43 PM on April 17, 2001

One Foxx
Two Foxx
Redd Foxx
Bloo Foxx

I made a cake the day Redd Foxx died, I heard about his death as I was frosting it. I wrote on the cake "Red Fox burns in hell". I think I was the only one who ate the cake, because I used to use so much food coloring that it stained your digestive tract, and people get tired of that sort of thing (if they are not me).

Many years later my roomate played me a stag record that featured the woman who played Aunt Ester talking dirty and simulating orgasm. I have no idea who that record was marketed towards, as it was of puzzling entertainment value. It's only real reason for being was to say "Isn't that Aunt Ester grunting and moaning, wow I really don't like this take it off."

Sanford and son was based on the British comedy Steptoe and son.

I will never have a good night of sleep until the guy who played Lamont dies too. I believe his name is Desmond.

Other people whose deaths help me sleep are:

A. Lincoln
T. Edison
F.D.fucking R
and possibly Ghandi, as I am really grossed out by his urine drinking fetish

I wish Andy Warhol was still alive.

I counted up, and realized that 13 of my old classmates are dead.. Isn't that ironic?

6 murdered
3 traffic accidents
2 suicide
2 anorexia

Time for bed.
posted by thirteen at 11:00 PM on April 17, 2001

I don't know of a single dead classmate in my entire schooling history.
posted by Neale at 11:31 PM on April 17, 2001

One heroin overdose
Four suicide
One car wreck
One dropped dead of a burst blood vessel in his brain.

So, seven. Boy, that's depressing.
posted by norm at 6:57 AM on April 18, 2001

Hmmm, I don't know that I could even remember 13 of my old classmates. I do know of one who is dead though: motorcycle wreck. Oh wait! Another one died falling out of a truck while stoned or drunk, but he had transferred to another school. Does that count?
posted by daveadams at 11:50 AM on April 18, 2001

No.

Speaking of keeping count (cool segway there neale)... what # post is this?
posted by Neale at 5:29 PM on April 18, 2001

I'm taking a sounding now....

That's 378 comments deep, no wait, make that 379.
posted by lagado at 7:29 PM on April 18, 2001

Woo hoo, I always wanted to be #380.
posted by daveadams at 5:56 AM on April 19, 2001

Or was that 381?
posted by daveadams at 5:57 AM on April 19, 2001

Neale, did you mean "segue" or is this just another example of your irresistable charm?
posted by daveadams at 5:58 AM on April 19, 2001

Trois cent quatre-vingt trois!!!
posted by daveadams at 5:59 AM on April 19, 2001

My new posting quantum is five. Sorry folks.
posted by daveadams at 6:00 AM on April 19, 2001

I wonder if anything bad is going to happen tomorrow? Or the day after?
posted by thirteen at 9:14 AM on April 19, 2001

Something bad will doubtless happen somewhere.
posted by redfoxtail at 9:26 AM on April 19, 2001

So true. One of those terrible quirks of life -- you get in a routine, think it's your life, and then someday something awful happens and Real Life is staring you in the face. Boy, does that blow chunks.
posted by norm at 10:50 AM on April 19, 2001

Or you get in a routine, etc, etc, and then you have to do something way out of the ordinary like get your car inspected and licensed. That really sucks. That's the main reason I got rid of my car.
posted by daveadams at 1:27 PM on April 19, 2001

I'm serious.
posted by daveadams at 1:27 PM on April 19, 2001

I think I have my dates screwed up. I meant because of OK city and Waco anniversaries, and also Columbine.
posted by thirteen at 3:48 PM on April 19, 2001

Man... I had the funniest bit for post #380, and I forgot that the preview button didn't post. Damnit!

So instead, some keyboard improv:

wqetewt ewfspvp9 dsfmdsflkewtr zdn4ewtpd fads foewt
asdofhjewot dslfksdof23trlkdsz fjdsf o3q53218032
vlkmcxvlkjvp u3q5ua;slkjf 0- 32145wlkdjvnj cx0-q
posted by Neale at 9:30 PM on April 19, 2001

This week's special guest star: Florence Henderson.
posted by bradlands at 10:10 PM on April 19, 2001

I think DIV and SPAN would be good names for cartoon superheroes. Perhaps DIV is a winged centaur, SPAN a coalescent Jell-O being with an IQ of 1,405.
posted by bradlands at 10:13 PM on April 19, 2001

This, incidentally, is the reason I'm not getting any work done these days.
posted by bradlands at 10:13 PM on April 19, 2001

Well, that and all the beer-drinking and laying-about.
posted by bradlands at 10:14 PM on April 19, 2001

Once, I typed my address into google, and got horrifying results. First I found a document with my name, and the sellers name and the price I paid for the property, which seems pretty rude to me.

Then I found a some usenet looking discussion, where weirdos were lobbying for my house to be placed on a historic register for it use under the previous owner (which I will not get into here). It seemed pretty weak, and would have no chance of happening, but I would literally explode if I had to get permission to modify my home.

My friends and I have a running theme with cookies frosted to look like blue human eyes. We have refined it over the past year, and they are looking pretty damn swank. We have been pursuing it from a more or less 2-dimensional angle, and I want to kick it up a notch. I am unsure if I should try making a rum ball, that I would dust with powdered sugar, or if I should dip them in white chocolate and go to town with that. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
posted by thirteen at 10:19 AM on April 20, 2001

By "literally explode", I meant get really mad, and not actually explode.
posted by thirteen at 1:07 PM on April 20, 2001

Anybody have a favorite Simpson's quote?
posted by thirteen at 1:10 PM on April 20, 2001

Homer: Or what? You'll release the dogs, or the bees, or the dogs with
bees in their mouths and when they bark they shoot bees at you?
posted by thirteen at 1:17 PM on April 20, 2001

Remember when Matt got locked in Peterme's bathroom? I was not there, but it is coming up on a year since it happened. Whose bathroom should Matt be locked into next? I think Neal's bathroom would be the natural bathroom of choice, but Anil's would not surprise me either. I would bet serious money it will not be efader's bathroom, but I guess stranger things have happened. Lame choices would be Meg's bathroom, and his own, not because of who they are but rather because they are too easy. You probably are not more than 50' from your own bathroom when ever you are at home. How exciting would that be? Powazek's bathroom could be cool, but only if Derek went psycho, and Matt was in the bathroom to escape Derek's dangerousness. Especially cool would be if Matt escaped in some way that had him exiting through a window, or blowing out a wall McGuyver style (perhaps he could download toothpaste bomb making instructions off the internet with his Palm, That would be cool!) Matt could find a small engine cycle in the bathroom, and break through the wall and gun the throttle as soon as he hit pavement so that he would have a cool little fishtale effect.

The day is coming, I am sure it will be great no matter what happens.
posted by thirteen at 2:52 PM on April 20, 2001

I don't know any of the poeple whose name's I just casually threw about. I know ccraniumn's shoe size, but I don't really know him. The web is weird. I think I have slightly more Mercury sloshing around the center of my brain than the average person, and I am sorry for it.

Sean Meade has attractive symetrical children, but I have not met them.

I always imagine Baylink as a beard.

I was surprised to see what Holgate looks like. I thought he would have black hair and be much skinnier. He is kind of beefy for a vegetarian.

I am remarkably handsome, and terribly misunderstood.

For a while I thought Dave Adams did not like me, and have no mental picture of him. When I try to make one, I just see the words "Dave Adams" or the little stuffed dog picture.

I wonder if Sapphireblue has a southern accent.

Sudama said he looks a bit like Chris Elliot, and I will take him at his word.

I would have Ben Affleck play Derek Powazek in Metafilter: the Movie.

I would be played by a Krispy Kreme donut, and all my scenes would be cut.

Who do you think the ugliest Metafilterer is? I bet it is someone who does not post alot.

I like Solistrato a lot, his is our most passionate member. He prolly thinks i'm an idiot.

I wrote Rat Bastard a paranoid letter at 4a.m on time asking him if he disabled part of his website because I was using it regularly. It turns out the answer was no, and I thought he was swell to respond to my insane sounding letter so thoughtfully.

I am currently listening to Glenn Branca's Symphony no.6.

Whenever someone talks about how Metafilter sucks now, I always take it personal, because I think they are implying it was me who ruined it. Unless their ID is higher than mine, at which point I figure they are talking about Hal_55.

I think Metafilter is still good.

METAFILTER: the movie
Noah Wiley as Matt H
Skeet Ulrich as Jason Kottke
Phillip Seymore Hoffman as John B.
a donught as John 13
another doughnut as Capt. Crackpipe
That chick from Chocolat as Heather Champ
and introducing the rock as ccranium.

I am posting on one machine, while rebuilding another. This IS progress.

My wife has a secret Metafilter account, and has only posted once.

More later.
posted by thirteen at 3:25 PM on April 20, 2001

"I always imagine Baylink as a beard." should have been "I always imagine Baylink has a beard."
posted by thirteen at 3:32 PM on April 20, 2001

Re: thirteen's cookies frosted to look like eyes -- you'll get much better-looking results with the white chocolate, if you can get the hang of dipping 'em. I'd think the powdered sugar wouldn't hold up very well under the blue icing. Of course, they'll taste repulsive (white chocolate + rum balls = ick). Seems to me that if you'd also like them to taste good, you should consider using truffles as the base.
posted by redfoxtail at 9:57 PM on April 20, 2001

You know, folks, I think this discussion of eyeball cookies is really off-topic. Maybe you should take it to email.
posted by anildash at 10:46 PM on April 20, 2001

I just realised I have no conception of what Dave looks like either. Just a dog. Or an absent dog.

I don't think anyone should play Powazek. He won't be featuring in the Metafilter movie; he's got the Fray covered though. Covered like a FOX!

thirteen's cookies may look like eyes, but what's more disturbing is that his eyes look like cookies.
posted by Neale at 12:20 AM on April 21, 2001

Wow, you know my shoe size? Oh, right, from the Converse link. Truffle-covered rum balls. Redfoxtail, I think you've just described heaven.

The mental image I have of a bunch of angels sitting around eating eyeballs is both disturbing and amusing. I can see them gathering around a bowl of eyeballs and describing each person from which they came like a group of people dissecting the taste of wine.

Oh, and a rock, or The Rock. Do you smell what the cCranium's cooking? I'm not sure which is more flattering, although I'm leaning towards a chunk of granite over a professional wrestler.
posted by cCranium at 7:19 AM on April 21, 2001

How can you track eyeballs without cookies? Hm, tell me that, Mr. Smarty Man.

Does anyone else think that Crocodile Dundee in LA looks like a perfectly respectable Subaru Outback commercial ruined by gratuitous product placement for Paul Hogan's ailing career?

When I say literally get really angry, I meant actually explode. You know, high-speed gaseous expansion through combustion. I mean it this time. Stay back.
posted by dhartung at 11:54 AM on April 21, 2001

Afterwards, will there be cake?
posted by Lirp at 12:27 PM on April 21, 2001

There will be eyes!
posted by redfoxtail at 8:50 PM on April 21, 2001

[thirteen] lobbying for my house to be placed on a historic register for it use under the previous owner (which I will not get into here). It seemed pretty weak, and would have no chance of happening, but I would literally explode if I had to get permission to modify my home.

Thirteen, do you live in a city? I thought most cities required construction permits for any major external modifications. Maybe not. In any case, if it was the national historic registry, that doesn't change any rights you may or may not have to modify your home. State and local registries may not be as forgiving, however.
posted by daveadams at 11:19 PM on April 21, 2001

[thirteen] For a while I thought Dave Adams did not like me, and have no mental picture of him. When I try to make one, I just see the words "Dave Adams" or the little stuffed dog picture.



That is me. I live on a little white disc up in the mesosphere. I mean, gosh, they say on the Internet no one knows you're a dog, but I never believed them...
posted by daveadams at 11:26 PM on April 21, 2001

No, just teasing. Really, this is my picture:



Seriously.
posted by daveadams at 11:28 PM on April 21, 2001

[thirteen] For a while I thought Dave Adams did not like me

What makes you think that's not still the case? I remember: we were arguing over the death penalty (what? a death penalty thread with only 37 comments?!?), way back when (well, actually, it's way after this thread, isn't it... the fabric of spacetime is ripping, I'm sure of it). I don't hold grudges, but I make an exception in your case, thirteen.

No, I'm just teasing. I like thirteen a lot; but Neale: that's another story altogether.

<chorus>"I like thirteen a lot; but Neale: that's another story."</chorus>
posted by daveadams at 11:43 PM on April 21, 2001

[thirteen] "I always imagine Baylink as a beard." should have been "I always imagine Baylink has a beard."

I like the first way better.
posted by daveadams at 11:45 PM on April 21, 2001

[Neale] I just realised I have no conception of what Dave looks like either. Just a dog. Or an absent dog.

An absent dog? What the heck?
posted by daveadams at 11:50 PM on April 21, 2001

A few survey questions about my website:

1. Should I have a picture of me on the site?
2. If you could log in to the site, would you?
3. But would you log in if it meant you could see my picture?
4. Should I write a web survey component for my custom blog software?
5. What if you could use it yourself (assuming you answered yes to #2 or #3)?

I would appreciate your prompt, candid, and courteous responses below. Thanks.
posted by daveadams at 11:59 PM on April 21, 2001

Anyone here familiar with FreeBSD? I'm installing it on my old PC and it can't seem to find the network card. Or I skipped an installation step somewhere (I find the installation process to be far more confusing than it needs to be, FYI!).
posted by daveadams at 12:02 AM on April 22, 2001

1. Yes. If you want people to know how ugly you are, that is.
2. No.
3. Probably.
4. What, and join the gang? (e-mail Chrish of Chrish.org and ask to be put on "the list")
5. Maybe.

Absent. Abcent? Abcese? Obese?
posted by Neale at 1:24 AM on April 22, 2001

Um. Can I just have some cake? Eyeballs optional.
posted by lia at 4:20 AM on April 22, 2001

Dave, I'm barely familiar with FreeBSD, in that I managed to trip my way through an install once or twice.

From what I remember, the NIC setup gets presented as an option like "Do you want to set-up your network card [y]:" during the installer, but I've been wrong before.

The thing that always catches me up is the monitor setup for X. "Be absolutely sure of your refresh rate or you could be chewing monitor pieces for months after the explosion."

Try The FreeBSD Diary, it got me through everything.
posted by cCranium at 6:13 AM on April 22, 2001

1. Sure.
2. No.
3. No.
4. No.
5. No.
posted by redfoxtail at 8:50 AM on April 22, 2001

cCranium, thanks for the tip on that site. I'll check it out. When I was installing, I never got a direct prompt asking if I wanted to install my network card. What version were you installing? I've got 4.2. Maybe I should have tried to advanced install instead of the wimpy menu install. Maybe I'll try again... it's just so sloooow on my 486DX2. :)
posted by daveadams at 9:05 AM on April 22, 2001

Dave, check out /stand/sysinstall as well...
posted by samsara at 10:29 AM on April 22, 2001

Now that we've gotten the eyeball question out of the way, I have a question of my own: How do the cool kids attract an audience to their websites? I appreciate laboring in obscurity as much as anyone (well, perhaps not anyone), but, you know, not utter obscurity. Considering how widely scattered the likely aficionados of my obscure laborings must doubtless be, how can I garner their attention without being the kind of self-promoting ass that, surely, none of my potential audience could stomach? This comment, of course, does not count.
posted by redfoxtail at 11:28 AM on April 22, 2001

redfox,
I think the cool kids do it by having started their weblogs back in late 98, early 99 when having a weblog was a sign of just how 1337 you really were.

Then for a while, it was a good strategy to post comments blasting the concept of blogs, the top bloggers, the ruination caused by tools like Blogger, etc. etc. You'd immediately get links from all the cool kids, and thus a lot of traffic, and thus a few more repeat visitors.

Then there's the strategy of hosting a particularly odd or potentially-illegal item. Kottke's Simply Porn is a good example, but Kottke didn't need any more publicity. Having a URL similar enough to a big corporate entity to get sued is a good strategy, as well.

Yet another strategy is to be Zannah, who somehow miraculously gets mentioned in every mainstream-press weblog article ever. I mean, she's got a great site, but really, spread the wealth.

Since being Zannah is likely out of the question, and since it's not early 1999 anymore, I'd say your best bet is to bribe a big-name blogger or two with lots of street cred to endorse your site. Rebecca, Matt, Cam, Jason, Meg, Peter, Brig, and Dave Winer are all options, but I don't know how they'll respond to your offers of cash. I think most of them are doing pretty well.

Personally, I'll take bribes of any sort. I get about 140-150 hits a day (excluding bots) at The Stuffed Dog and I'd be glad to plug your site. My readers are well-known for their clickthrough rates, and my prices for shameless shilling are reasonable. Email me for a quote.
posted by daveadams at 6:20 PM on April 22, 2001

More FreeBSD madness:

Okay, FreeBSD still can't see my network card. I've re-installed, and when I get to the "do you want to set up a network interface?" I say yes, but ethernet is not an option, just slip and ppp.

Soooo, here's what happens when I start up a fresh install: After swapping the two boot disks, I get a menu asking if I want to skip kernel setup, do visual kernel setup, or do advanced kernel setup. So I go for the visual setup. Here, I get a list of all the possible drivers for disk, network, etc, etc, and their various IRQs and I/O ports. I go through and delete the drivers that don't apply, and just leave the simple NE2000 driver for my no-name NE2000 card. I set the IRQ and I/O port to the settings on my card (not plug-n-play, but I can configure it through software if I boot to DOS): in this case, IRQ 10 and I/O port 0x300. I've verified that, at least among the drivers listed, there are no conflicts.

So I go ahead and boot up, but I get nothing.

Just in case it matters: I get a bunch of complaints while booting that there are too many devices using IRQ 7 and that there are so many, in fact, that the kernel will not log any more. Running /stand/sysinstall doesn't get me back to the driver screen, just to the software installation portion.
posted by daveadams at 6:36 PM on April 22, 2001

You know, this thread has the feeling of a nice, friendly open-topic mailing list. If Matt ever shuts us down, anyone up for forming a mefi-1142-list?
posted by daveadams at 6:42 PM on April 22, 2001

[looks around]
Wow, I never really thought I was one of the in crowd, but this I never imagined.
posted by lbergstr at 7:09 PM on April 22, 2001

So, uh speaking of how we all look, you can choose for yourself how I look, check it out...

I'm going to extend the contest well past 100 votes, I didn't think I'd get 60 votes in just about one day so it might be around another week or so. So you can all decide exactly how to picture me...
posted by anildash at 7:46 PM on April 22, 2001

re: mailing list.

I'm hoping that technological advances in bandwidth progress fasted than posts on this thread. Otherwise I'm screwed.

As for an open, off-topic mailing list, you could do worse than the wrongwaygoback mailing list. It's spamalicious.

RE: Shaving: Anil, you're head don't stand a chance.

RE: Making it big. You could take Sally's advice, based on well documented methods of gaining fame and forture.
posted by Neale at 8:20 PM on April 22, 2001

Hi mom.
posted by sudama at 2:54 AM on April 23, 2001

Re: FreeBSD.

I have a deep hatred of no-name NE2000 NICs, you can guarantee that they will flat out fail to work with anything other than Windows.

The trouble I had trying to find two NICs that would happily co-exist in my firewall machine doesn't bear thinking about. In the end I gave up and installed a 3Com ISA and a Realtek PCI card.

Then the only problem was getting one of them to talk DHCP to the cable modem... ;)

I guess you're getting a screen much like this one. When I set up my webserver I just kept removing network drivers until there were zero conflicts in the top left corner.

If the kernel is complaining of too many devices at IRQ 7 then I would think that this would be flagged in the config screen. Don't know if any of this helps.
posted by gi_wrighty at 6:44 AM on April 23, 2001

Yay, one of my favoritist ranting topics has been breached! It's been a while since I got to say stuff like this.

The "secret" to drawing eyeballs (not cakes, mind you, I haven't yet figured out how to draw eyeball cakes closer to me, I'm reasonably certain that they know I'm Cake Death) isn't really much of a secret.

Look at your stereotypical-as-piss A-list types, then look what they had _before_ a blog.

Kottke has been doing Osil8 for years. (side note: I can NEVER remember the URL. I don't know why, but none of .com, .org., or .net are resolving into anything useful).

Matt has MetaFilter.

Zeldman did or play[ed|s] a major part in doing Dr. Web, the Ad Graveyard, A List Apart, the WaSP.

Meg and Ev started Pyra.

In other words, a 'blog, for the most part, isn't enough to draw attention. The obvious exceptions to this are Jorn, who Blogs every freakin' thing on the planet, and Rebecca, whom I read much more for her editorial/opinion pieces than her actual blog entries.

Powazek did Fray, Halcyon did Prehensile Tales. Heather did FOJM, Lance did Glassdog. I can go on, but I'm mildly disturbed about how long I've been reading many of these peoples' works)

What defines someone as "A-List" isn't some nebulous definition of "cool," it's almost always hard work and a serious contribution to the development of the personal web. So you want to be famous? Work on something other than a blog.

(insert standard "I'm not bashing blogs, I have a blog, I like blogs, blogs are good but they aren't the be all and end all of web presence" disclaimer here.)
posted by cCranium at 7:17 AM on April 23, 2001

(also note that, by talking about the point of blogs, I unintentionally derailled this thread by almost bringing it back on topic. Does that mean bonus or demerit points?)
posted by cCranium at 7:21 AM on April 23, 2001

You must surrender MetaFilter points certificates at the time of redemption. MetaFilter points and rewards may not be combined with other discounts or promotions and are not redeemable for cash. No additional points are earned for reward redemption. All rewards are subject to availability and such other restrictions as determined by Vail Resorts in its sole discretion. Additional terms and conditions may be contained on MetaFilter points certificates and in other MetaFilter informational brochures. mathowie reserves the right to change MetaFilter reward redemption levels, rewards and other matters.
posted by sonofsamiam at 10:00 AM on April 23, 2001

Does that mean bonus or demerit points?

I'm not sure . . . let's consult a random discipline code to answer that question . . . um . . . here's one . . . Columbus Boy Choir Statement of Discipline, I choose you!

According to the CBCSD, as this is the first occurrence of distracting others*, your name will be called with a warning.

CCRANIUM! Get back off topic! You've been warned!

(You may redeem yourself by earning bonus points for good posture.)

* distracting others from the *real* purpose of this thread, whatever that may be.
posted by iceberg273 at 10:04 AM on April 23, 2001

I have been scanning too much on Metafilter lately. There are so many posts I just buzz through them. I thought someone called Ralph Nader a "rabbi-rouser", and once that sunk in, I had to go back to the now closed thread to see what they meant by that. I should have realized I read it wrong, and it was the more common usage of "rabble".

My weblog gets 28 visits a day.

I am a superstar.
posted by thirteen at 10:05 AM on April 23, 2001

A large proportion of visitors to my weblog are looking for designer clothing. Boy, are they disappointed. Even though I've offered them t-shirts designed by me. Apparently I just don't have what it takes to get the youth of america to volunteer themselves as billboards for the iceberg273 brand.

I am stardust.
posted by iceberg273 at 10:29 AM on April 23, 2001

This just in, my weblog now gets a raised average of 29 hits per day. I knew detailed reports of all my meals would draw people to my website, I just never knew it would happen so so... or be so exciting.

I am feeling poorly today, I fell like I ate a handful of broken glass. One of my dogs woke up at 4am and wanted to go out, when I returned to bed I laid down and stared at my moonclock for the next hour. The creeps from Peoples gas came by at 8am to install a radio read gas meter in my basement that I have been trying to avoid. The wife does not have any problem with this tiny violation of my privacy regarding metered radio waves. Anybody who cares to look into it can drive up my street with a detector and know how much natural gas my house has consumed. I do not like this. It is my intention to experiment and make a detector, so that I can walk around my neighborhood and have something to talk about with my incredibly boring neighbors.

"I see you have used a cubic ton of natural gas you sloppy bastard, here is a nickel ?go buy some insulation."

My wife also took them up on the free gas appliance inspection, which I surely never would have allowed, but I guess it can't hurt much. I don't know why they are giving out "free" inspections when half the town can't afford their gas bills this winter, but good for me I guess. I hope all Illinois customers enjoyed footing the bill for my "free" inspection. I had no worries, my gas runs are short, in thick black pipe with few joints. I replaced all my couplings 2 years ago with bubbling flex hose that would show failure before anything serious happened, not to mention the gas detectors. I will also continue with my own "free" gas inspections.

If you have not noticed, I am concerned about natural gas explosions. I am trusting they did not spill any mercury from the meter when they removed it today, after the huge scandal such accidents caused this summer here in Chicago.

Thanks for the tips about the 3-D eye cookies, I will post pictures of the results.

I now hate political threads until further notice. I was able to stay out of the Quebec protest thread as it looked like everybody was blocking the streets, and therefore there was nobody for me to root for. My thoughts are with the inconvenienced people of Quebec.
posted by thirteen at 11:15 AM on April 23, 2001

My weblog would be closer to stardust
something for the greed in all of us
also, my weblog would be tons of fun
but alas,
I do not have one :(


posted by samsara at 11:36 AM on April 23, 2001

best internet radio you're not listening to: erika.net.
posted by sudama at 12:11 PM on April 23, 2001

Mr. 13, sir, I am one of those 29 hits/day. You are bookmarked along with a lot of the other weirdos happily polluting this thread. Mainly because I tend to prefer the off-kilterish blogs more than what I consider to be the rather generic "popular" blogs ("Saw Crouching Tiger today, it was really cool . . ."). You in particular have a deadpan tone to your writing that continually cracks me up, even when you're talking about something completely mundane.

I can't believe there's another Nader thread. I must have mugged a nun in a previous life to deserve this crappy karma.

I have no blog. My home computer is a hopeless relic, essentially a Speak 'N Spell on back-alley steroids, and even if it wasn't, I'm so technologically backwards that even something like wonderful, lovely Blogger would fill me with such nameless, Cthulhuan dread that I would surely expire right there at the keyboard.

Also, I can't believe you jerks have been frolicking over here for so long without telling me.
posted by Skot at 2:14 PM on April 23, 2001

[FreeBSD: The Saga Continues]

I have a deep hatred of no-name NE2000 NICs, you can guarantee that they will flat out fail to work with anything other than Windows.

Well, yes this one has given me fits, but I've never failed to get it to work on Linux, the only sticking point was the IRQ and I/O settings, which I've checked and double-checked with FreeBSD.

I guess you're getting a screen much like this one. When I set up my webserver I just kept removing network drivers until there were zero conflicts in the top left corner.

Yep, I get that screen and get rid of all the conflicts. Still no help. I would be curious to know if it's possible to get back to that screen without starting over completely.

If the kernel is complaining of too many devices at IRQ 7 then I would think that this would be flagged in the config screen.

Nope, it isn't. At the time (I'm away from the box right now), I can't recall what is listed on IRQ 7 on that screen, but it's only one thing. And the NIC is on IRQ 10. Ah well. Thanks for thinking about the problem anyway.
posted by daveadams at 3:45 PM on April 23, 2001

New problem:

Well, it's an old problem, but new to this thread. Okay, ever since I installed Windows 2000 on my PC at work, I've been unable to play RealAudio streams from NPR (e.g. archived All Things Considered). They'll start and maybe play for a few seconds or even a minute or two when I'm lucky. But at some point (and it's usually before any sound plays), I get an error complaining that Realplayer can't connect to the server. Blah blah blah. I've tried every configuration setting available (UDP, HTTP, auto-config), I'm not behind a firewall, and nearly every other Real stream seems to work great (I occasionally have the problem with Amazon music previews, but not nearly as often).

Any ideas?
posted by daveadams at 3:48 PM on April 23, 2001

This is fun. I'm preparing a page about web communities for my website and you're all proving what I was already writing. Net users are travellers - they'll move from page to page looking for something which interests them. Some are just looking for entertainment, like people flicking channels on their TV sets, they'll move from BuffyGuide to The Guardian fulfilling their information needs.

Some are actually looking for a place to belong. For some its a club or society - a newsgroup or fansite, some need the reassurance of a shared house, but some are looking for the city feeling - a place they can still be an individual but also be part of a wider community. This is what Metafilter has to offer.

But like a city, there are some things you're going to be interested in and something which will hold no interest. I find it very difficult to follow links about American politics (if someone could sit down and explain who Nadir is I'd really appreciate it). But I love the Flash links which appear from time to time. And the cultural links which draw my attention to things which I would otherwise consider. I especially like the fact that if I like someone's writing style or sense of humour, I can follow their nickname to their blog or favourite site and find out more about them - something you can't do so much in the real world (when was the last time you went up to someone you like the look of in the street and asked them what their favourite movie was?).

So perhaps everyone should be happy that Metafilter is getting more popular. Those of us who aren't interested in the more 'generic' should be able to tune these out and look at the more unusual stuff. And those for whom Metafilter is a primary news source can find that to. There is nothing which says it can't be all things for all people - and I can't wait for the time when I look at the members clock and see five figures . . . .
posted by feelinglistless at 3:53 PM on April 23, 2001

I'm being analyzed! I'm being analyzed! Come and see the violence inherent in the system!

:)

I can't wait for the time when I look at the members clock and see five figures . . . .

I can't wait for the time when I look at the number of comments in this thread and see five figures . . . .
posted by iceberg273 at 4:08 PM on April 23, 2001

I would like the Nader threads more if they weren't so repetitive. Same deal with the trade threads. I'll let the new blood plus the same old warriors hash it out, thanks. Although I have to say I was pleased to see johnb back here after so long away. Somehow it didn't seem right without him.

I think if I keep saying Nadir! Nadir! Nadir! it could be my official MeFi Tagline(©).
posted by norm at 5:06 PM on April 23, 2001

Travellers? I'm stuck here like stink on shit.

RE: Real Player - don't install it. Those people will track ya mind and force you to buy copies of Catcher in the Rye and moist towlettes.

RE: IRQ 7 - What devices are on it, fer gods sake? Why not remove all your hardware then put it back in piece by piece. I find that if you do that, nothing works, but at least you have a reason.

RE: 28 hits - I get slightly more than that, but not by much. My Sims page gets shitloads, maybe from search requests and a fortetous link from the EA website. But I sold my soul to them and now I'm EA's bitchboy.
posted by Neale at 7:07 PM on April 23, 2001

Eh, I just figured I needed some sort of representation in the longest thread ever. Thus I have now cemented my place in history. Yay for me.
posted by zempf at 7:18 PM on April 23, 2001

Neale:

RE Realplayer... generally I would agree with you, but I need my NPR!!!

RE IRQ 7 - It doesn't tell me what devices are on it, fer gods sake! Believe me, I'm all for full disclosure. And taking away the keyboard and system clock and such are kinda iffy as far as future functionality goes...
posted by daveadams at 7:45 PM on April 23, 2001

Ah, parallel port is IRQ 7... I deleted it, and am now attempting a new install... oh wait, on the error log virtual terminal (Shift-F2) I'm getting these messages... "stray irq 7" repeated five times, then "too many stray irq 7's; not logging any more."

I would just give up and go back to Linux if I didn't NEEEEED FreeBSD for something... unless one of you kind folks has access to a FreeBSD system with root-level access... Anyone?
posted by daveadams at 8:00 PM on April 23, 2001

BTW, has this thread suddenly gotten really noisy and off topic? I thought this was the FreeBSD/Realplayer assistance thread... Am I wrong??
posted by daveadams at 8:13 PM on April 23, 2001

...has this thread suddenly gotten really noisy...?

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posted by redfoxtail at 8:32 PM on April 23, 2001

zen koan: what is the sound of one modem negotiating?
posted by sudama at 9:21 PM on April 23, 2001

Classical internet radio
posted by stazen at 9:24 PM on April 23, 2001

[FreeBSD: The Final Chapter]

Wahoo! Hardware problems solved! I guess it was just a misconfiguration on the card. I ran the config utility a zillion times, setting it one way and the other, then trying to set up the OS the same way. I finally got it to work. So now I'm back to being shiny and happy again. Thanks for everyone's advice and words of encouragement. I'll go back to posting nonsense again.
posted by daveadams at 9:50 PM on April 23, 2001

Yes. Don't you dare let sensiblity and usefulness creep back into this thread again!
posted by Neale at 3:38 AM on April 24, 2001

Waaaay back in sixth grade, when I was but 11 years old, I happened to obtain a 4x6 yellow legal pad that looked perfectly suitable for drawing comics in. I had a real obsession with drawing comics back then. From Sun Wars to Axe Terrorism, I'd filled countless notebook with stories both silly and plagiarized.

But even with all my experience, I couldn't convincingly draw anything more realistic than stick figures. I was in a morbid-humor stage at the time, so I drew a comic called YIKES, the premise of which was that in each issue, within the space of one page, a stick-figure hero would win our hearts and then meet an untimely and often humorously ironic demise.

The first issue told the tale of an anonymous stick man and the cruel twist of fate which took his penciled life far too soon. You see, he was attempting to shoot a pistol, and when the gun didn't fire, he perhaps-not-so-wisely looked down the barrel to see what might be causing the problem. The gun then went off at this most inopportune time, and the final frame captured the moment of his death, when--bullet already behind his head, blood and brains splattering out in both directions--he uttered his final word in a primal scream to end all primal screams: "YIKES!"

After the success of YIKES #1, I went on to fill the forty remaining pages of that legal pad and about 40 in yet another pad with more and more stories of stick people, some innocent, some not, to whom fate dealt a mortal blow quite sooner than they expected.

My teacher one day came across these comics and was quite concerned, asking if my parents knew I drew comics like this. I said yes, even though I think at that point they hadn't seen the comics. She let me go with a worried glance, but that didn't dissuade me from drawing more and more.

When I think back to that time and consider the current attitude in schools across the country towards kids creating images and stories of violence, I wonder what would have happened to me in that new environment. Perhaps I would have been suspended for a few days, maybe even expelled. My name and my family's names would be all over the national news. Would they link my violent thoughts to all the Transformers, He-Man, and Robotech I watched? Maybe they would have linked it to the violent games like Burger Blaster or Legend of Zelda that surely desensitized my mind.

One thing's for sure: my life would have followed a different path. I would have had different friends at a different high school. I probably never would have gone to Arkansas Governor's School, an experience that changed my life and introduced me to a wider variety and deeper meaning to art music than I could ever have guessed existed. My life would be less rich, less valid without input from Paul Hindemith, Henryk Gorecki, John Adams, Arvo Part, John Cage, Darius Milhaud, William Walton, and the rest.

I probably wouldn't have gone to the same university, and I never would have met Mollie. I wouldn't be living in Springfield, Missouri, and I most likely wouldn't be here on Metafilter, typing this story. Or maybe I would, but just from a slightly different perspective.
posted by daveadams at 7:31 AM on April 24, 2001

When I was in elementary school, I used to draw complex... umm... what are they called, Rube Goldberg? machines that would start with a marble dropping, safes falling, candles burning, shoes on wheels running on treadmills, etc., etc., ultimately resulting in a weapon (gun, cannon, nuclear warhead) being discharged.

I don't really think anyone found those drawings. I didn't keep them secret, huddled against my chest or anything, but no one really ever paid attention to me in school.

That's not to say I was a loner or wasn't paid enough attention or anything like that. I was a solid B-student through most of my elementary and high school careers quite intentionally. I was picked on enough for being fat, I didn't need the heat from being smart, and by maintaining a b-average (with the occasional A in math and music and computers) I was doing well enough to keep my parents happy, yet under the radar of everyone else.

That's not as bad as it sounds, and I'm really not bitter anymore. There's just something about 1142 that makes the personal stories want to come out.

I'm still wondering which rock is portraying me in the MeFi Movie. :-)
posted by cCranium at 7:47 AM on April 24, 2001

I'm still wondering which rock is portraying me in the MeFi Movie. :-)
You want I should cast another doughnut? You have it good, the unholy corpse of Alexander Hamilton is playing our friend Dave.

The real question has been why did I pick P.S. Hoffman to play JohnB, as I have no clue what he looks like, other than I know he a vegetarian (holgate excepted) so he is prolly not so big as Mr. H. The reason is that before he confessed to the rather obvious condition of chronic vegetable eating, I pictured him thus. Dave Adam's gets words, JohnB turns into a hefty moviestar, and the universe become that much more magical. I am hoping for a larger budget so that I can be a CGI donut.

Yesterday my site got 60 visits for some reason, I attribute it to Skot's kind words and the fact that my poor spelling is catching on with the kids. My wife set up our counter, and disabled the Java that collects referrer logs, but I can see entry pages. The largest entry point to my site other than the main page is the week where my wife and I started playing the Sims, and I posted a pic of my first self portrait skin. I was confused because other things are posted during that time, and I did not know what the focus was, but now Sims + Skins show up in my search reports all the time. I got bored with the Sims pretty quick, and never finished the other skins I was working on. Mine looks pretty close to me, but it is a weird way to draw, and I made my mouth a little too big. I am wearing the shirt pictured today, and look almost identical to what you see other than the fact that I have since killed the concrete colored Converse One Stars pictured. I also did not know how to modify the wireframe to give myself a bit more gut than is pictured there, otherwise the build is pretty good.

I thank Skot again, and urge him to consider a blogspot.

I went home and took a look at my new gas meter. I am somewhat confused. I expected an antenna, and an obvious radio area. I am now concerned that it is intentionally hidden to keep jerks like me from reverse working the system as I planned. Equally terrifying is the thought that the thing might be using all my gas pipes as a huge antenna and now my meter could be read from nearby planets. I am fairly handy, but I am not anxious to risk the felony or explosion that would surly take place if I start unbolting junk. People's Gas has won the day, but not the war.

I might snap a picture and send it to 2600, as I have always wanted to send them something, but seldom have anything they would not already be familiar with.

Who do you want to play you Rob?

I was really surprised by something Doug said in a Metatalk thread the other day. He said he had 25 years experience at PR, so unless he started when he was 9, he is older than me. Now Doug has probably been more sarcastic to me than anybody but he is consistent and I like him fine. I never would have guessed he could be my elder.

Axl Rose as Chaz
James Earl Jones as the voice of Neale
Joel H. Osmett as Young Sudama
Freddie Prinz Jr. as RatBastard
Liv Tyler as Sapphire Blue
David Hyde Pierce as Sean M
Bruce Campbell as Mpolo
the DelRubio Tripletts as Freespeech/privateparts/rightwinger
cCranium as cCranium

This is a lot of work, I deserve a cold cool Diet Coke.

I don't have people for Norm and RedFoxTail yet, but I love you both a totally awesome amount. TLF! have a great summer.

I really want to know who DoublePostGuy is.

Do you know what it means when your local phone provider runs your phone cable through someone else's conduit? That's right, it means I am going to have a very bad day.

I am going to a rock star surprise party at a roller rink tonight, anybody want to come along? There will be rock stars. And probably a band, last year it was the ever so suave Silkworm.
posted by thirteen at 10:08 AM on April 24, 2001

Just in time for the MeFi movie cast party, I've thrown together an '1142' shirt at cafepress. On the front is the number 1142 and the opening line to the longest thread in MeFi history. On the back is the 1142 theme song.

(No markup, of course.)

Enjoy.
posted by iceberg273 at 11:20 AM on April 24, 2001

I'm still wondering which rock is portraying me in the MeFi Movie.

cC, I've always pictured you as some kind of igneous rock, but a quartz might also work... or a river pebble.
posted by daveadams at 11:54 AM on April 24, 2001

I've a confession to make; while I found him confoundedly annoying at first, I now look up to Postroad as that grandfatherly figure I had but never appreciated, kinda akin to Elisabeth's bond with Kentucky Joe.

No, really. Besides the fact that "Postroad" sounds like something that you would have for breakfast such as everyone's favorite caffeine-free hot beverage "Postum", or a fuel additive distilled from sorghum by Post Cereals, Postroad's very essence exudes grandfatherly charm and the capability to kill you as soon as look at you. He's wacky, he's wild, non sequiturs abound, and you never know if his comments are due to real conviction or the "damn it all to hell" musings of advanced age.

Speaking of "damn it all to hell", I'd like to announce the discovery or a remarkable new painkiller called Damitoll.

And so, I would like to present:

Wilford Brimley as Postroad

or

Abe Simpson as Postroad

or

Phyllis Diller as FAB4GIRL.



"it's the right thing to do..."
posted by Avogadro at 12:05 PM on April 24, 2001

Of course, Avogadro should be played by Dr. Manhattan, as suggested by (go figure) Skot.
posted by iceberg273 at 12:15 PM on April 24, 2001

aw crap.
posted by cCranium at 12:28 PM on April 24, 2001

Quick and impolite thoughts:

Postroad chaps my ass too, let's put him in a home already. I'll kick in if Matt starts a Metafilter puts Postroad in a home fund.

Liv Probably is not right for Ms. Blue (whom I like all the time), but who is?

No gravel on my driveway Mr. Cranium, but I hope you enjoy that Canadian beer in your fridge.

Metafilter: The search for DouplepostGuy

William Shatner as DoublepostGuy

I misread the line I quoted cCranium on in my last post. I thought he said why instead of which. I'm not so smart.

Again SapphireBlue is a really classy dame, the RatBastard fella is lucky up to his teeth.

cCranium has a home computer, I know these things.

Avogadro will appear in a dream sequence, and be played by Ricky Martin.

Any of you people do any serious gardening? Mostly interested in food gardening, but decorative is worth discussing too.

I'm totaly making stuff up here, I don't know who should play iceburg, or Lia.

Jason Priestly as dhartung
posted by thirteen at 12:59 PM on April 24, 2001

Damn, I forgot to add the "I'm just kidding about Postroad" comment at the end. I notice he trolls for Bush supporters, and I think he had a bad divorce, but other than that I know nothing about the man.

I also would not support Metafilters right to commit it's members to nursing homes.
posted by thirteen at 1:06 PM on April 24, 2001

Matthew Broderick as aaron (with glasses, for some reason I've always picutred aaron as having glasses, although no other characteristics come to mind).

I think Wilford Brimley should play Dave Winer.

Tarrence and Philip as Brad Graham.

Matthew McConoghey (or however it's spelled) as Derek Powazek.

So who has the mad flash skillz necessary to produce this baby?
posted by daveadams at 1:19 PM on April 24, 2001

Actually, right now I only have Irish beer in my fridge.

I was going to recommend someone for Ms. Blue, but I forgot to. And then I forgot who. Umm.

I just had a mental image of William Shatner reciting reprimanding haikus. Teehee!

I think Matt is going to have to play himself for the movie. There isn't anyone else I've seen that blends that geek look with that athletic look so well.
posted by cCranium at 1:20 PM on April 24, 2001

SapphireBlue: Kate Winslet.

Postroad kills me sometimes. He also strikes me as that cool, crusty uncle who would buy you beer.
posted by Skot at 1:21 PM on April 24, 2001

I wonder if Postroad is sneezing a lot (a japanese superstition (you'll have to scroll down a little)).

---------------------------------------------

I don't know who should play iceberg

Maybe Ari Green could play me. Apparently he looks more East Indian than an East Indian. (Of course, I'm a West Indian-of-East Indian-descent-German-Dutch-Sri Lankan-Canadian from the prairies, but that's another story).

Which I may as well tell here.

See, on my mother's side, I have Dutch, German and Sri Lankan ancestry (my mother immigrated to Canada as a child in the 1950s). On my father's side, I have East Indian ancestry and a British colonial name (my father went from a small island in the Caribbean, to a slightly larger island in the North Sea, eventually ending up in North America in the 70s). My parents met in the United States and settled on the Canadian Prairies.

We did not live in a sod hut.

So, growing up I didn't have any really good East Indian role models.

Except for my pediatrician, who can do the macarena (this occurred at a New Year's Eve party a few years ago; I've been scarred ever since). And macarena dancing pediatricians don't necessarily make good role models.

Which is why I'm a small town Canadian from the prairies, trapped in a genome that bears the stamp of colonialism in both the east and west indies.

This does not explain why I love pasta so much.
posted by iceberg273 at 1:54 PM on April 24, 2001

Better do my duty then, and since 1142 should at least be a creative place I offer a poem I wrote once when I was in love . . .

A Smile

When her face moved –
her skin vibrated
in the wind.
His eyes
followed the edges
of her mouth
as they rose
and carried
her lips
into a smile.
It was
as though
he could
see each muscle
moving in
a well-rehearsed ballet,
where the silence
of captivation
was all
the music
that was
needed.
For a moment,
she was
the world
and all
within it ...

As to who I should be in the film version, since Erin Brockovich can get Julia Roberts (what music is that?), I'm going for Colin Farrell, assuming he can do an English accent. He doesn't look anything like me, but put Tom Hanks next to Jim Lovell.

Designing my website (no self promotion allowed here then) has been an absolute trial, not least finding a title I'm happy with. Let me explain. Basically for years I had an idea fixed in my head.

Years ago – in the early nineties, I moved into a flat across the park from Tris, a friend from school. Since we were so close geographically now, it seemed silly not to visit each other now and then, and we became good friends based upon our mutual interests in the films of Steve Martin and Woody Allen, American TV and both hating our A-level English Literature course.

Being creative people (well Tris is) there was an inevitability that we’d collaborate on some sort of project or other. Our second project was a short film about the last man on earth being locked in our school. Tris gave a startlingly good performance, and with the help of my vaguely literate script and the naturalistic camera work of our other friend Dave, created footage that evoked the Dogma Manifesto years before it’s time. Sadly, however, a freak exam revision disaster has meant this gem has not seen the light of day.

The first project was a television series. At the time, we were big fans of Northern Exposure and Thirtysomething was fresh in our minds. We conceived of an ensemble show about a group of twentysomethings living in an old Georgian terrace, three girls, three boys. Some shows would take place in the same locale or at an event, some would have overlapping storylines. It would be funny, dramatic and gorgeous to look at, the visuals evoking New York movies like ‘when harry met sally’. This was 1992. Trend setting as we were we could not have foreseen, Friends, This Life, Dawson’s Creek, Hollyoaks, My So-called Life, Metropolis, Cold Feet, Party of Five , , As If and the raft of other shows I’ve missed off this list which were all in some way similar our show which never got made. Even the title sequence, a leaf floating along the street and passing by our characters, became the opening title sequence for Forrest Gump.

What set our show apart from all these shadows, which would follow would be the strongly seasonal aspect. And there would be two series a year to take account of this – and a green leaf in the titles for the spring-summer series, a brown leaf for the autumn-winter series.

Then, one night, when we were trying to put a title to the shows, after we’d rejected the now lamented ‘Real Lives’, ‘Friends like these’ and ‘Marmion’ (the name of the road the show would be set in) in desperation we went to our A-Level English books, and came across the collected poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins. A Catholic priest, he concerned himself with nature, so if we were going to be looking for something seasonal, this was the place to be. ‘Pied Beauty’ said little and sounded like a classical music compilation. ‘God’s Grandeur’ is the sequel to Christian movie ‘The Omega Code’. But then I read out Spring and Fall. It fitted. Everything, all of it. It was the show.

That show would stay as scrawled pencil notes, lost in the rush for qualifications. Tris took his to America, and I went to Leeds for three years. But each time I sat down to watch ‘My So-called Life’, I’d be reminded of all the dream sequences we were going to have to explain why Toby was shy but could always offer the right advice; or Chrissy taking the perfect photographs.

But something about Spring and Fall wouldn’t die. So evocative. Spring. Fall. Granted the Fall was an Americanisation of Autumn, which I’d only use to annoy my best friend, Chris.

So when at University I was producing a video about my life in Leeds and I was looking for the name for a phoney production company, Spring and Fall fitted the bill. So Spring and Fall Productions was born. When I created something for my course or wherever, it would be a Spring and Fall Production. When I first started using the web, my handle, call sign, user ID, nickname, would be Springer (although not for long, what with its connotations). I even developed a poster campaign, with the tag-line ‘guaranteed to wake you up after a hard night’, something oblique and not saying much about the product, an idea repeated by manufacturers of trainers, suits and games consoles.

When university ended, and unemployment meant that whatever business Spring and Fall was going to be drifted into the distance, I still kept it around – as a kind of lucky charm. I even used it for a new idea I had for a television series. Not that it fitted – so in the second draft the title was the first thing I changed.

So then it became my e-mail address. Seemed the easiest thing to keep it around, other than turning it into a chain or a tattoo (but I have one and could do without the other). That way whenever people wanted to contact me it would still be there. When I got the internet at home, I automatically used it to set up my account.

Then I decided what my website would be about. And found out the address could only have my e-mail address in – and there it was Reality Check @ Spring and Fall.

[quick side bar - does everyone do this? Did Rebecca Blood always have the lovely title 'Rebecca's Pocket' in mind since she was a kid? Looking at Bradlands it seems that Weblog titles are like band names and there are probably some great stories behind them, maybe someone should set up a page about them . . . I wonder . . .]

The idea behind Reality Check was to collect stories about those times when people's lives took a turn for the strange, for example. Unfortunately I didn't plan the thing at all well, and it ended up look a touch pants and unreadable. Then I discovered weblogs, and realised that people were actually doing it themselves, so what was the point in them coming to me? So back to the drawing board . . .

The couple of things which did work were lists. A list of articles and in-jokes. So I thought perhaps I could build a new site around that idea. But as I worked on 'Listlessness', things were beginning to look a bit static. Which led me to combining the two. Creating 'feeling listless'. Which was a liberating experience, I can tell you . . .

So now I've a sort of weblog. There isn't a Blog as such. But there is writing about my life with related links (which I suppose blows open the definition of a Blog - does it have to be updated every day). These are long entries . . . and while short entries are fine most of the time, sometimes things happen which require more than seven or so lines. Sometimes you need a long, long, piece of writing.

The kind of thing mathowie was talking about. If you read the first few lines, and you don't want to go further, skip it. After all you probably skip most of your daily newspaper. It's OK. Whoever wrote it won't know you've been there anyway . . .
posted by feelinglistless at 2:02 PM on April 24, 2001

It seems appropriate that the longest post I've seen is in the longest thread.

Note also, listless, that (and this should be reasonably obvious from the progression this thread's taken) rules that apply to MeFi do not necessarily apply to 1142.

For instance, without fear of reprimand I can link to my blog and even to my perpetually coming soon project.

Hell, for no apparent reason whatsoever, I can even link to my non-resolving domain, which is oh-so-cool, but I just can't think of what to do with it.

Oh, and speaking of Matt, despite his explanation on how to pronounce his last name, I still think of him as a haufee.
posted by cCranium at 2:26 PM on April 24, 2001

It's bad enough that I'm lazy.

I have lots of ideas for sites and web projects that I'll never get done. Worse, I'm afraid of talking about them for fear that someone else will think it's a good idea, beat me to implementing it, and get all the credit.

Does that make me selfish, too?
posted by daveadams at 2:53 PM on April 24, 2001

Or maybe I'm just afraid that someone will tell me what a lame idea it is, and I'll have wasted all this time thinking about it, planning it.
posted by daveadams at 2:56 PM on April 24, 2001

I really should start riding my bike to work again. Not only is the weather warmer now (finally!), but I've run out of bus passes, and my wife's patience with me bumming rides is growing thin.
posted by daveadams at 3:03 PM on April 24, 2001

Dave's Recommended Art Music for Anyone (#1 in a series):

Symphony No. 3 by Henryk Mikolaj Górecki as performed by Dawn Upshaw (soprano) and the London Sinfonietta and conducted by David Zinman

Górecki's haunting tribute to his homeland of Poland is one of the most beautiful and mesmerizingly emotional musical works ever written. Dawn Upshaw's fantastic vocal performance adds more weight and power than any instrumentation alone could bring to this, or any piece.

Górecki avoids the atonalism and indirectness that have turned many casual listeners away from contemporary art music while retaining his artistic integrity and producing a powerful work that can bring even the most cynical listener to tears.

Even if you've never liked classical music in your life, Górecki's third symphony is the classical album to own. For die-hard music lovers, if you don't have this in your collection, you're either missing out or you just don't like good music. If you own just one CD, this should be it!

Yes, it really is that great. My only complaint about this album is that it refuses to rip cleanly to MP3, but that's probably because my disc is scratched from being handled so much.

Go buy this CD right now.
posted by daveadams at 3:27 PM on April 24, 2001

Ha, DRAMA.... I really didn't do that on purpose.
posted by daveadams at 3:29 PM on April 24, 2001

daveadams - you sound a bit like Marti McFly in 'Back to the Future' - "I just can't take that kinda rejection . . ." Grab a spoon. The worst that can happen is you'll get a link on here and suddenly your counter'll shoot up from 92 to the low 3000s (and counting) . . .
posted by feelinglistless at 3:30 PM on April 24, 2001

Okay, speaking of our weblogs, self-linking, and other fun party games, here's an audience-participation adventure for you: My weblog, Your Pocket Guide, comes in themed volumes. The themes (to which the entries always adhere, if loosely) come in commonly-associated pairs, such as Your Pocket Guide to Fits and Starts, Your Pocket Guide to Smoke and Mirrors, and so on. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to think of more, more, many more of these evocative pairs (cups and saucers, cuts and scrapes, death and taxes, fear and loathing, field and stream, fire and brimstone...). I can never have too many in reserve.
posted by redfoxtail at 3:59 PM on April 24, 2001

I want Colin Mochrie to play me in the MeFi movie. I would also like to point out that I am A-OK with the traffic that my humble blog gets, and only regret that I don't get paid to write it. Oh, wait, in a way I am...

Who else blogs from work?
posted by norm at 4:43 PM on April 24, 2001

How come Matt does not come and visit us anymore?
posted by thirteen at 4:48 PM on April 24, 2001

In the MeFi movie, I would like a brief, uncredited role as God.
posted by Lirp at 6:07 PM on April 24, 2001

Or, failing that, as Wilford Brimley.
posted by Lirp at 6:08 PM on April 24, 2001

RE: T-shirt. I would buy one, but the Pacific Pesos (ie Aus dollar) is so sunk now I'd have to get a second mortgage to afford one. Matt's coming to Oz though, so maybe you guys could send one with him.

RE: Blogging from work: I do so AAAAALLLL the time. Where else? Home life is to precious.

RE: Comics. I used to write a comic series called "psycho chicken", which i dearly loved. I filled whole books with the damn thing. With flash, perhaps, I can bring him back to life.

I remember I once in the fifth grade I drew a neked woman with her hands wrapped around her, on a beach with a sign saying "do not steal swimwear". My teacher found it and I got in shit for it. I blamed it all on a friend in Melbourne. I felt so guilty pinning it on him. Of course, he never found out, but still...
posted by Neale at 6:38 PM on April 24, 2001

hmmm©©©

bangers and mash, hit and run, fast and loose, shoots and scores, foot and mouth ¥feet and mouths? nevermind¤©
posted by Avogadro at 8:35 PM on April 24, 2001

Blog from work? Where else?

Oh, I used to spend a couple hours cruising the web each night for links, but that gets old fast. There's TV to watch here. At work, there's nothing to do really, so I can surf all day and blog what's interesting.

The only problem is when I run out of sites to visit. Then what am I supposed to do?
posted by daveadams at 8:38 PM on April 24, 2001

Avogadro, what's up with your ©s and such?
posted by daveadams at 8:49 PM on April 24, 2001

Do you guys realize this page is 285k in size? No wonder it takes so long over my modem... Pretty soon posting from home will no longer be an option.
posted by daveadams at 8:52 PM on April 24, 2001

Good gravy! I haven't the foggiest idea how that happened.

By the bye, I usually schedule my 1142 visits before doing some non-internet event, such as getting a beer or visits to the bathroom and such.

(however, the comment preview takes forever...)
posted by Avogadro at 9:15 PM on April 24, 2001

I'm sleepy. Time for bed!
posted by daveadams at 9:49 PM on April 24, 2001

Good night!
posted by daveadams at 9:53 PM on April 24, 2001

When you swim in the creek
And an eel bites your cheek
That's...a moray.
posted by bradlands at 11:23 PM on April 24, 2001

Well, thank providence for DSL! Hey, anyone else notice we're getting really close to 500 posts? I think this is 495.

(from work, natch)
posted by norm at 6:36 AM on April 25, 2001

(My at-work-blogging is directly proportional to the amount of work that I have to do.)

Iceberg 273's Recommended Science Tunes for Anyone (#1 in a series).

(the music is here, if you want to sing along [at work].)

Gregor Mendel had some peas!
A, 2Aa, a
And some of those peas had dominant genes!
A, 2Aa, a
So he cross-breeded them, and he cross-breeded them,
With some green peas here,
And some yellow peas there,
Here some peas! There some peas! Everywhere some peas! Peas!
Gregor Mendel ate those peas.
Yum-yum-yum-yum. Yum.
posted by iceberg273 at 6:54 AM on April 25, 2001

So this is 497?
posted by daveadams at 7:02 AM on April 25, 2001

And this, 498?
posted by daveadams at 7:03 AM on April 25, 2001

Yes. . .
posted by iceberg273 at 7:04 AM on April 25, 2001

Someone really should do something interesting and exciting for big ol' post 500. Who will it be? What will they do?
posted by daveadams at 7:04 AM on April 25, 2001

Oh, no!
posted by iceberg273 at 7:04 AM on April 25, 2001

DAMMIT, iceberg!!! I swear that post wasn't there when I previewed!!!

Actually, it's all the more amusing and ironic this way, I suppose.
posted by daveadams at 7:04 AM on April 25, 2001

I was trying to set up the 500th post for Dave, thinking that he had a great punchline ready to go. In the end, I unintentionally set up the 500th post for Dave, who had a great set up ready to go. What will happen now?
posted by iceberg273 at 7:09 AM on April 25, 2001

*weep*

well, there's always comment #1000
posted by Avogadro at 7:27 AM on April 25, 2001

And at this rate, we should hit that in about 6 weeks (give or take 2 days).
posted by Avogadro at 7:28 AM on April 25, 2001

But don't hold me to that (unless, of course, it proves correct).
posted by Avogadro at 7:30 AM on April 25, 2001

iceberg, thanks for trying... Matt, this is why we need a list of currently online members, and perhaps a chatroom for each individual thread. At least for 1142...
posted by daveadams at 7:50 AM on April 25, 2001

Not that Matt's reading...
posted by daveadams at 7:50 AM on April 25, 2001

Not that I blame him for not reading this thread...
posted by daveadams at 7:51 AM on April 25, 2001

Avogadro, I say we set up a pool. I think the 1000th post will be made on June 4 at 4:25am PST. Whaddya say?

Anyone have any neet web-based generic date-pool software?

Hey, that's a good idea...
posted by daveadams at 7:53 AM on April 25, 2001

Shhhh, forget I ever mentioned it. ;)
posted by daveadams at 7:53 AM on April 25, 2001

Hey guys, guess what? You know how I spent untold hours trying to get FreeBSD installed on my home PC so I could get a certain package to compile that just didn't seem to work on my shell account at pair? Well, guess what? I finally figured it out... on pair (well, at least the first part I was stuck on...). So all that work was for naught.

Well, not really, it's always nice to get some experience with yet-another operating system. I'll be exceedingly happy to go back to Linux, though... ;)
posted by daveadams at 7:59 AM on April 25, 2001

Woo hoo!

The SDRAM Fairy just brought me 128MB of memory. Apparently someone up the chain thought I asked for it for my PC and since it's so cheap these days (and also since we're nearing the end of a budget year and still have money left over), I guess he felt inclined to buy it. I already have 256MB along with dual 500MHz PIIIs, so I don't need the extra RAM, but I'm not complaining.

It's kind of silly really. They whine and complain when I ask for books to do my job because they cost $50 or $60 each; they refuse to get me a $200 CD burner or even a DVD-ROM drive; but then they go out and buy me a $100 memory chip that I don't need and didn't ask for.

Now my only difficulty is figuring out if I should be unethical and take it home to put it in my home PC instead... I guess I shouldn't. It's tempting though. They don't keep track of things like memory chips very well.
posted by daveadams at 8:24 AM on April 25, 2001

Terrence and Philip? TERRENCE AND PHILIP?!
posted by bradlands at 8:40 AM on April 25, 2001

There is something about RAM that makes you want to eat it by the handful. I have 50 of those 128mb chips sitting in a box behind me right now. I look at them, and get all Scrooge McDuck in my desire to roll around on them and swim through SIMMS and DIMMS. Upgrade time is coming, spring is in the air.

Somebody should have come to the party with me last night. Kim Deal nearly ran over my foot with a roller skate, and this amazing south side roller rink band played all the hard rock hits from the 70's, along with their own originals that also sounded like hard rock hits from the 70's!

I keep wanting to put ascii art on this page, but I am sure it would not appear right on most of your browsers.

Dave: You want a DVD-Rom drive, or a DVD-RAM drive? I have a RAM drive on my home cpu, and I have not been thrilled. Granted I have bought the world's cheapest RAM disc's, but I am also the only one I know who has one. If I get reliable media, I am sure it will be great archiving on the cheap, but I had larger dreams. When it does work it is a dream. Copying two gigs onto a disk as fast as a zip is astounding, especially when I think of how long it would take to burn all that.

What do all you people trust for cd-rw brands? I now think Maxell sucks. I have liked TDK and Kodak thus far, but still have an unacceptable failure rate.

Today I learned that the lyrics to Kraftwerk's Autobahn do not go "fun, fun, fun on the Autobahn" but rather "fahrn, fahrn, fahrn on the Autobahn". I don't know what "fahrn means, but those German's have a word for everything.

Metafilter hates libertarians.

Where is my damn bagel.

I filled up my digital camera before I went to the party last night, and I did not go home to download before I went, so I deleted redundant shots, and things I could easily reproduce. As the night went I deleted more, deciding the only real important things on the disk was some reference shots I took for some work I am doing. Somehow I managed to delete the most important one. Thank Odin for the Internet, I brought up a fuzzy picture that filled in the blank caused by the murdered photo.

Listening to: Kraftwerk/Endless Europe
posted by thirteen at 9:26 AM on April 25, 2001

"Fahrn" = "drive", I believe.
posted by redfoxtail at 9:55 AM on April 25, 2001

I think a pool for the 1000th post is a wonderful idea...
posted by Avogadro at 9:58 AM on April 25, 2001

except that unlike guessing the day we have x number of members...
posted by Avogadro at 10:00 AM on April 25, 2001

we have more control...
posted by Avogadro at 10:00 AM on April 25, 2001

over when...
posted by Avogadro at 10:01 AM on April 25, 2001

the 1000th...
posted by Avogadro at 10:02 AM on April 25, 2001

comment...
posted by Avogadro at 10:02 AM on April 25, 2001

takes...
posted by Avogadro at 10:03 AM on April 25, 2001

place.
posted by Avogadro at 10:03 AM on April 25, 2001

(I am so ashamed.)
posted by Avogadro at 10:04 AM on April 25, 2001

Drive, drive drive on the Autobahn!

Who will be be the 1000th poster? THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

(que Queen music theme from Highlander)
posted by thirteen at 10:25 AM on April 25, 2001

I take my libertarian leanings and hide with them, usually.
posted by norm at 11:26 AM on April 25, 2001

I'm still going to sing "fun," dammit. It's more, uh, fun that way
posted by cCranium at 11:32 AM on April 25, 2001

Consider yourself warned- the time when a prize is established for the 1000th post to this thread is the time when I crank out a Perl script to post a few hundred comments. What can I say, I'm a sucker for contests (& finding out ways to rig them in my favor). And thus my contribution to the thread rises to two comments out of 500+ (or less than .4% of the total for the statistically inclined of you out there). Speaking of statistics, where's waxpancake when you need him? This thread definitely seems like one that could use a bit of charting.. number of posts by Neale, number of posts that are just one word, number of posts speculating about the number of posts..
posted by zempf at 11:43 AM on April 25, 2001

as well as the number of posts specifically about this thread without mention of any other topic...
posted by Avogadro at 12:00 PM on April 25, 2001

Current approximate thread weight: 12.4 bens.
posted by bradlands at 12:07 PM on April 25, 2001

[bradlands] Terrence and Philip? TERRENCE AND PHILIP?!

Sure, why not? They're cute, and they must be gay. Fits your description perfectly. Okay, so I don't know about the farting thing.
posted by daveadams at 1:29 PM on April 25, 2001

[thirteen] I have 50 of those 128mb chips sitting in a box behind me right now.

Want to send me a couple? My home PC could use an upgrade...

[thirteen] Dave: You want a DVD-Rom drive, or a DVD-RAM drive?

Well, I'd take a good DVD-RAM drive, but at this point, what I need is a DVD-ROM/CD-R/CD-RW drive. All I have now is a lame CD-ROM drive. Oh, it's 40x, but does that help me read the MSDN Library DVD? Nooooooooooo.
posted by daveadams at 1:32 PM on April 25, 2001

Ugh. Don't read that horrid beast from CD. Find yourself a big-ol hdd to slap it on. Much much quicker.
posted by cCranium at 1:35 PM on April 25, 2001

zempf, what's to stop me from writing my own script to do the same thing? ;) I'm sure Matt would love us even more if we managed to spam this thread... although if the script was written properly, you could avoid the massive bandwidth hogging that might go along with such a bot.

Still, that's just unfair. The contest rules would have to specifically include anti-bot language both disqualifying participants known to be manipulating the results as well as providing a way to discount the obviously-bot-generated posts. I'm sure we could get around your lack of ethics. :)
posted by daveadams at 1:36 PM on April 25, 2001

Don't read that horrid beast from CD. Find yourself a big-ol hdd to slap it on. Much much quicker.

Well, that's a good point. Unfortunately, my HD is full of MP3s, and until I get a CD-writer, they're going to have to stay there, taking up the 1.5GB or so I need. ;)

Still, what if I want to watch a movie at work? I neeeeed a DVD drive!
posted by daveadams at 1:38 PM on April 25, 2001

Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!
posted by daveadams at 1:39 PM on April 25, 2001

Did anyone other than cCranium read my epic post or am I missing the point?

Someone should write a list . . . you know you're addicted to 1142 when . . .

Have any other Hitchhiker's Guide fans noticed the significance of this thread?
posted by feelinglistless at 1:54 PM on April 25, 2001

Mmm, DVD. I want one for my laptop, plus a super-mighty battery so I can watch my own movies all I want on long plane flights (as opposed to some other kind of flight...?). Then I want the means with which to go on trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific flights to my heart's content.

The non-laptop in my household does have a DVD player, and a lovely flatscreen monitor, so we use it quite a lot for movie-watching. This is especially nice as we have no TV. There's nothing quite so splendidly dorky as snuggling up in front of the computer for a classic silent movie. The Criterion Collection DVDs rock my world, by the way.
posted by redfoxtail at 2:07 PM on April 25, 2001

I watch DVD movies on my work Mac while I clean up, or work on other machines and it never fails, when ever some girl takes off her shirt so she can have sex with Ewan McGregor or whoever some woman comes walking into my office. The 20 seconds of nudity in a 2hour movie will always be seen by female eyes.

I have my heart set on a nice big Firewire drive, don't know when I will get around to buying one though.

Are we going to break Metafilter?

The number of Metafilterers is now so large that it is almost impossible that we don't have any members who have killed another human among us. I'm not saying murder per say, but somebody ran over somebody, or accidently stabbed a friend in the head.

I'm not ruling out murder either.

I've never killed, but I have seen a freaky number of people die in front of me. I am making a side feature for my website detailing the stuff I witnessed. This does not have anything to do with the 13 I mentioned earlier.

Of the 13 mentioned earlier, one might not count according to Neale's authoritaian guidelines. The girl in question was the sister of one of my direct classmates. She was in 8th grade when I was in 4th, and I saw her everyday, but she was not my friend. She worked at a McDonald's that was robbed one night, and she hesitated when commanded to move because she did not wish to get burned passing a sputtering frier. The robber (and that really does not sound like the right word for him) was apparently fidgety, and he killed her for not moving quick enough. He grabbed some cash and ran accross the street to a supermarket where he proceeded to hide in a Goodwill drop box, unaware that the patrons might be watching. The police caught him easily and I don't know anymore about what happened to him. Longtime readers will of course know that I would have no problem if he were executed, but this was the early 70's and we were not doing that yet. My whole class attended the funeral, and I remember I maintained excellent self control. Many of the other kids were crying, both boys and girls, and it freaked me out some. Oh, how I hated the killer. If I were to find out he was walking around free somewhere right now, I would be very unhappy indeed.

Hurray for technology!
posted by thirteen at 2:23 PM on April 25, 2001

They're cute, and they must be gay. Fits your description perfectly.

Ah, I see. By those criteria, then, may I counter-propose Matt Damon?
posted by bradlands at 2:30 PM on April 25, 2001

Although generally less beloved than ON THE TOWN -- which appeared four years later and has the admitted advantage of a zesty, sophisticated Comden & Green score -- ANCHORS AWEIGH (1945) has plenty to recommend it.

Kelly and Frank Sinatra are sailors on leave in Hollywood where, relentlessly in pursuit of dames, they become involved with a charming orphan and his beautiful aunt.

The main thing setting this Kelly/Sinatra sailor-suit musical apart from its New York-based followup is the famously irresistable extended dance duet between Kelly and Jerry the animated mouse (of TOM & JERRY fame).

Another famous rodent, Mickey Mouse, was originally meant to be Kelly's partner for the scene but Walt Disney refused to permit his star character to appear in an MGM film.

MGM turned to its own cartoon unit and the result is a thoroughly magical sequence. Combining live action with animation was a major innovation for the time, and the studio didn't skimp on details.

In fact, during an early screening someone noticed that Kelly's reflection shone on the floor as he danced while his tiny partner's did not. At great expense, the original animators were rehired to quickly add it before the film's theatrical release.

Look for young Dean Stockwell making his film debut as the orphan who melts Kelly's heart. Kathryn Grayson plays the lady love and famed pianist Jose Iturbi appears as himself.
posted by bradlands at 2:36 PM on April 25, 2001

Hey, cC, what happened to your weblog? After reading it the other day, I was so excited I added it to my Webcruiser list of sites I visit daily, but now I just get DNS errors.

Sniffle.
posted by daveadams at 2:39 PM on April 25, 2001

[feelinglistless] Did anyone other than cCranium read my epic post[?]

I did.
posted by daveadams at 2:40 PM on April 25, 2001

[redfoxtail] Mmm, DVD. I want one for my laptop, plus a super-mighty battery so I can watch my own movies all I want on long plane flights

No way, red, you need one of these!

Well, a laptop has a bigger screen (and you could buy a new laptop with a DVD drive for the same price), but you can't deny the great portability of such a device. They're so tempting every time I'm in Best Buy.

Speaking of DVDs on airplane flights. There are certain airports (can't remember which ones... except Atlanta) in the US where a company (can't remember the name) rents out both DVDs as well as these players. If your destination has the same service, you can drop your rentals off there or you can just return them where you got them originally. I think it's a great idea... I'd like nothing better on looooong airplane flights than to choose the movie I see. Then there's the added benefit of not paying five bucks to rent headphones.
posted by daveadams at 2:47 PM on April 25, 2001

Brad, fair enough. Matt Damon it is.
posted by daveadams at 2:48 PM on April 25, 2001

Terrance and Philip: Not Gay, Canadian.

This must mean I have to be played by Apu. Fucking Apu.
posted by anildash at 2:49 PM on April 25, 2001

Then all my typing wasn't in vain . . . can the t-shirts be bought internationally?

Criterion don't have a distribution deal in the UK, so we've got to endure the studios themselves releasing disks which mean the extras can be absolutely criminal. It is getting better, but Miramax are obvious offenders, their extra free edition of 'Rushmore' being an obvious example.

The only real innovation are budget ranges, in which back catalogue films are released for just under £13. Most films still clock in at £20 though, which is theft in comparisson to the US price.

(and yes I know about the region system. But only some UK DVD players can be hacked, and I wouldn't want to run the risk of messing up my pride and joy)
posted by feelinglistless at 2:55 PM on April 25, 2001

Dave, judging from the prodigious output of some people in this thread, I have my doubts that some posts aren't already the output of a script of some sort.. I mean, does anyone really believe Neale exists? My theory is that he's a 486 in someone's basement in Phoenix.
posted by zempf at 3:26 PM on April 25, 2001

Weird, Dave, cC's site comes up okay for me.

I love the random brain-dumping here. I think I'll follow suit.

So last night, my girlfriend and I decide to just hang out and chill. We scan cable and PPV, and it's just desolate. Acres and acres of crap (and I slept through the Ms/Yankees game, dammit). But we really felt like watching a movie (but not like actually leaving the apartment), so we picked one. "What the hell," we said.

"Let's watch Book of Shadows."

You know, the Blair Witch sequel. Yes, we had appropriately low expectations. Just not low enough.

Standard slasher movie horseshit: sassy 'n sexy Goth girl, sassy 'n sexy Wicca girl, and some other losers that the writers threw together after running out of steam thinking up the hot chicks. From there on out, it's strictly, to use Joe Bob Briggs' phrase, another Spam-in-a-can movie.

So. Fucking. Dumb.

And here's an interesting statistic!

Number of times the phrase, object or concept of a "Book of Shadows" is seen, referred to, or enters the plot in any way in the movie "Book of Shadows": 0

On the other hand, my girlfriend made me a simply spectacular pot roast.
posted by Skot at 3:27 PM on April 25, 2001

Acres and acres of crap (and I slept through the Ms/Yankees game, dammit).

You're not a Yankees fan, are you, Skot? I don't know that I can participate in this thread if there are Yankees fans reading. Those darn Yankees fans are everywhere! Stupid Yankees fans.

(Note to self: overuse of EM tag is irritating, but doesn't approach FONT COLOR in irritation factor; call it a demiblink.)
posted by snarkout at 3:46 PM on April 25, 2001

Death to the Yankees. Take them out with an open-faced lawnmower a la "Dead/Alive."
posted by Skot at 3:50 PM on April 25, 2001

Freaking A', that's a big long random list of articles.

I'm listening to NPR and have just heard that 50% of Americans support nuclear (or as we said back in Texas, "neuculer") power.

I bought a refurbished Compaq laptop with a DVD drive about nine months ago, and despite the long, drawn-out battles with their techs to get the computer to actually work (I sent this thing back so often that literally everything except for the screen and the shell have been replaced with brand new parts, including two motherboards), I am very pleased. I don't think that I'll ever go back to having a desktop.

The only quibble that I have is that the battery will only let you play a DVD for about half an hour, so that's probably why folks go for the portable DVD players.

About eight years ago I was in London for a semester of school, and remember those brilliant Creature Comfort commercials. Later, back on this side of the pond (heh, I just called the Atlantic Ocean "the pond"; please do not pummel me), I saw the Wallace and Gromit series. This relates to what I said earlier since my first DVD purchase was Chicken Run. Park and Lord are freaking geniuses.

Well, I gotta go now; my love and I are going to see some modern dance. I don't know anything about dance, but Julie absolutely loves it, and she humors my baseball needs (DIE YANKEES DIE; UK readers, I feel the same way about Man United). I'll let you know how it was.

Cheers.
posted by Avogadro at 3:55 PM on April 25, 2001

Dave are you using NS 4.x? If you are, cCranium smells what you are cooking, and will not let your sissy non-CSS compliant butt through the virtual door. He won't let me in either. Rob literally forces me to boot up Explorer, and while I hate to use Microsoft products, I find myself doing it.

I have been meaning to rent Book of Shadows, but I was so badly burned by Warlock 3 that I am unwilling to give panned horror much leeway these days.

Hurray for spectacular pot roast!

Where has Sean been lately?

"Apu fucking Apu" That is a neat trick if you can manage it.

I just counted, this is the 1000th post, sorry losers, I took the cake.

Why can't I spell? I am not exactly stupid, but I cannot master grammar or spelling. It really wierds me out.

Neale is posting less, have we driven him away?
posted by thirteen at 3:56 PM on April 25, 2001

Dave's Recommended Art Music for Anyone #2:

Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich

"Minimalism" isn't a term that composers of contemporary art music like very much. Either they're labelled as minimalists and they resent the inherent boxing-in such a label implies, or they're most-assuredly-not-minimalists and they hate the concept. Whatever you feel about so-called minimalist music, Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians is a shining example of the validity of "minimalist" composition, and at the same time it is a beautiful piece of art in its own right.

Minimalist composition tosses out the ideas of the serialists of the early 20th century and returns to tonality while relying on rhythm and subtle changes in chords and texture to provide musical interest. Philip Glass is one of the most well-known minimalist composers, and his style has remained more constant through the years than other "minimalists" including Reich and John Adams. But Reich's early work (including Music, composed in 1974) is a good example of a strict minimalist style that is quite different from Glass's.

A notoriously difficult piece to perform well, Music is a densely layered study in rhythm and tonality. Besides three clarinets, a cello, a violin, and two female voices, all of the parts are played on various mallet instruments and piano. Reich's (early-)characteristic use of phasing to achieve tension and resolution is novel but not disconcerting.

As parts fade in and out, layered more and more deeply, tension builds. Then bursting through the well-laid texture of sound come the rich, ringing tones of the metallophone (essentially a vibraphone without the "vibe") to lead the piece from one section to the next. The metallophone provides a touch of melody along with its transitional purpose, but it also provides some of the most powerful moments of the piece building into each successive section.

All told, the piece is split into 14 "movements" but they all blend together into one solid hour-long work. Because of its length, Music may be difficult to just sit and listen to, but the exercise will be well worth the effort. However, the piece may also serve as good background music as the volume doesn't vary as much as much art music can.

As with any art music, Music improves upon each listen, and it is well worth your time to listen to the full work some five or six times before you dismiss it as "boring." Much of the value in this piece--and in minimalist works generally--comes from the time spent building tension and developing themes. Be sure not to dismiss it too soon. You'll be missing out on something great.
posted by daveadams at 3:59 PM on April 25, 2001

Yeah, I think $1600 is a bit steep for a DVD-only device, though as a Mac user I could certainly not get a new laptop for that money. What I really want is one of these. This desire is somewhat ridiculous as I already have one of these, but hey, covetousness knows no restraint.

The Criterion Collection DVDs tend to be more in the £20 range, actually (£20 ~ $32, yes?) but they are so beautifully put together that I think the cost is well worth it. Miramax irks me in any number of ways, so it surprises me not at all to find that their DVD-production habits are irritating as well.

You know, 1142 really is like my favorite sort of open-topic mailing list (as Dave pointed out, except without the "redfox's favorite" bit). I wonder what it says about me that I feel infinitely more comfortable chatting away here than in Mefi threads in general? I already wondered why I was more interested in participating in MetaTalk than in MeFi proper, but this is really an interesting little wrinkle. I suspect I'm just a misfit.
posted by redfoxtail at 4:01 PM on April 25, 2001

back on this side of the pond

<pummel target="Avogadro" />
posted by daveadams at 4:03 PM on April 25, 2001

Dave are you using NS 4.x?

No, for the love of God, NO!!!!
posted by daveadams at 4:04 PM on April 25, 2001

I just counted, this is the 1000th post, sorry losers, I took the cake.

Thirteen, the game isn't to be the 1000th poster, rather the game is to guess when that will occur. Since I'm the only one who listed an exact time, I suppose I win the pool. I was thinking about taking the winner out to a yummy dinner of some spectacular Springfield-style Chinese food. The fact that I won just makes it easier.
posted by daveadams at 4:07 PM on April 25, 2001

Has anyone visited 1141? One post. One solitary post. Perhaps we should be using it as the 1142 chill out room.

Freaking A', that's a big long random list of articles.

You like me! You really like me!
posted by feelinglistless at 4:12 PM on April 25, 2001

That's the beauty of sports. Skot might think Kazu Sasaki is the best relief pitcher since Rollie Fingers, I might think Jason Giambi is the Barry Bonds of the 21st Century, but we can unite in our hatred of the Yankees. To quote John Sayles, "It's always heartwarming to see a prejudice defeated by a deeper prejudice."
posted by snarkout at 4:13 PM on April 25, 2001

I haven't visited 1141, but I remember 1042 fondly. Ah foop, where are thou?

I read *every* post, goddamnit.

RE: Statistics. I would love to see a set of mindnumblingly useless statistics based upon this thread, but unfortunately, I don't have the time. The geek in me is drooling though.

I confess I hardly read metafilter anymore, but go straight to metatalk.

The 1000th post will happen in May. May 21st.
posted by Neale at 5:59 PM on April 25, 2001

Eww, drooling geek!
posted by redfoxtail at 8:17 PM on April 25, 2001

Freaking A', that's a big long...list of articles.

"a, an, the, le, la, l', les, un, une, der, die, das, eine, ein... n-2, n-1, n"

Hey, you know, there's more than one kind of drooling geek.
posted by redfoxtail at 8:50 PM on April 25, 2001

I wonder how many other threads have been picked up waaaaaay later. I found one yesterday that irritated me so bad I had to add something else. Things in general have been bugging me around here. And I haven't even been able to keep up, really.
posted by norm at 9:24 PM on April 25, 2001

I see dead people.
posted by sudama at 11:56 PM on April 25, 2001

You're just adding to everyone's horrible confusion about the number of new comments listed on the front page, Norm. Tsk. Of course, thanks to our antics right here in 1142, all hope that the front page count would seem sane ever again has flown right out the window anyway, so carry on, carry on.
posted by redfoxtail at 6:44 AM on April 26, 2001

Ow!... quit it.

Can I change my prediction (asssuming that I made one in the first place)? May 14th, 5:30p MST

I love libertarianism, and by extension, libertarians. This doesn't of course mean that I particularly agree with the former or the latter.

Am I the only one who has a deep loathing of Chicago (the city and the group)? Brad, as a St. Louisian, would you agree with me? 13, you sir are not one of the loathed; in fact, given your longing for an island upon which you could raise honeybees, I think that you'd agree as well. Much of this came from my freshman year living with two obnoxious folks from the South Side, when I produced the sentiment that Chicago would be a great place if it weren't for Chicagoans. Age has of course moderated these views.

Dave, I don't get the metallophone; what good is a vibrophone without the good vibes?

The program last night was excellent. Being a dance neophyte, I haven't much to say except that I wish I could move like a dancer. Oh, and it was pretty damn funny (purposefully so).

I don't know if anyone is still reading the carbonated beverage thread, but we have done a taste test of Coke with and without corn syrup; the results will astound you (not really).
posted by Avogadro at 6:44 AM on April 26, 2001

If you are, cCranium smells what you are cooking, and will not let your sissy non-CSS compliant butt through the virtual door. He won't let me in either. Rob literally forces me to boot up Explorer, and while I hate to use Microsoft products, I find myself doing it.

Wait! No I don't! Well, it's not supposed to that is. What's supposed to happen is that you get a plain text version of the site with none of that fancy yellow I've plastered all over it.

I tested it in NN 4.x and it worked, dammit! It worked! I just loaded it in 4.03 and it's.. uhh... taking a really long time. Sonofabitch.

I'm flattered that anyone would take the time to load up their non-normal browser just to hit my site though, thanks thirteen!

Still loading. Something is going to have to be done about that. I tested it. I tested it!

Sonofabitch.

I already wondered why I was more interested in participating in MetaTalk than in MeFi proper, but this is really an interesting little wrinkle. I suspect I'm just a misfit.

Nah, I don't figure you are. It's casual, laid back here. I mean, MetaFilter proper, with a few thousand people reading what you're writing, and all this media blitz and stuff, it's sometimes hard to just type shit and not worry about looking like a fool.

There's plenty of times that I delete a ramble or a rant or a generally inane comment because, well, it's just not what you do there.

Here? No one cares about here. Matt lets us play here because we aren't breaking anything, we're not stepping on any toes, and we're not hurting anything. Either that or he keeps forgetting about the thread, which I'm reasonably certain isn't the case. :-)

Still trying to load the page in NN. This is bad. This is _very bad_.

AHA! Stupid fucking netscape 4.x can't load "index.asp".

Oh shit. I should make a default.asp to redirect to index.asp. Index.asp. Way to go, numbnuts, use a nonstandard default page and expect magic.

sigh.

That'll be repaired shortly, but in the meantime thirteen, hit rmd.cx/index.asp to see the site in all it's Times New Roman glory.

Oh no, wait. That doesn't work either. Now my day is ruined! RUINED!

norm: I sympathize.
posted by cCranium at 6:58 AM on April 26, 2001

[Avogadro] Dave, I don't get the metallophone; what good is a vibrophone without the good vibes?

Well.... you still get the fantastic clear, ringing tone, just without the mechanized vibrato. Vibrato is great for some purposes, but it really wouldn't fit in with Music for 18 Musicians, I don't think. And Steve Reich agrees with me, and I suppose he would know best. :)
posted by daveadams at 7:17 AM on April 26, 2001

cC, I can get to your site again today. Must have just been temporary net routing problems. Not a surprise, really.
posted by daveadams at 7:17 AM on April 26, 2001

Hey cC--or anyone else who'll admit to having Microsoft development experience--know anything about using ATL in Visual C++ to create COM objects for Transaction Server? Or really I suppose the MTS part doesn't really matter. Essentially, I'm having trouble returning a result of type BOOL. It always comes back as False to my VBScript test, even when I set it to TRUE explicitly. I dunno if my IDL is messed up or if I just have no clue what's going on or what...

Or is this just too obscure?
posted by daveadams at 7:23 AM on April 26, 2001

Avogadro, a big key to the metallophone/vibraphone sound that I neglected to mention is the sustain. Marimba, xylophone, and bells just can't come close. That sound will just keep going and going and going and going...

So if you want a bright, clear, bell-like sound with lots of sustain and no vibrato, metallophone is your instrument of choice!
posted by daveadams at 7:26 AM on April 26, 2001

we have done a taste test of Coke with and without corn syrup

Who is "we"?

the results will astound you

In what way???? I'm so curious!!!
posted by daveadams at 7:28 AM on April 26, 2001

Dammit Dave, go to the thread!

(Promises of astonishment are in no way, shape, or form based upon reality. Management reserves the right to change the questions and contestants at any time. No shirt, no shoes, no service.)
posted by Avogadro at 7:57 AM on April 26, 2001

As my dad would say:

Well, excyyyyyyyyyoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooose me!
posted by daveadams at 8:42 AM on April 26, 2001

Okay, so my dad doesn't quite draw it out that long, but he does say it in a silly voice like that sometimes.

In particular, I can think of one time (I wasn't there, but I've heard all about it, of course) when a disgruntled student at the community college my dad worked for came bursting into the administration building toting a gun. He rounded up everyone out in the common area, but my dad happened to be back in the computer room area and wasn't rounded up. Nor did he know what was going on. Anyway, at one point, my dad opened the door from they computer room to the room where the gunman had all his hostages and the gunman twirled around and pointed the gun at dad. Being the quick thinker he is, Dad said, "Oh, excuse me," and quickly shut the door and left the back way.

A few people did end up getting killed that day, so my dad was really, really lucky. I wonder if the shooter played too much Doom. Oh wait, no, it hadn't been invented yet.
posted by daveadams at 8:47 AM on April 26, 2001

What?!?!
posted by Avogadro at 9:08 AM on April 26, 2001

dave, if you want to shoot me an email at work I may be able to help you a smidge more, but it's reasonably unlikely. I haven't touched vc++ in over a year now, and suprisingly enough, I don't miss it one iota.

And, actually, when I was writing VC++ stuff, I never used ATL. And it wasn't really C++ code anyway, it was C with with occasional object tossed in for extra-special confusion.

Oh, it was baa-aa-aad.
posted by cCranium at 9:10 AM on April 26, 2001

What?!?!

What?
posted by daveadams at 9:19 AM on April 26, 2001

What?

That.
posted by Avogadro at 9:53 AM on April 26, 2001

That.

What about it?
posted by daveadams at 10:17 AM on April 26, 2001

Can't you guys see I'm trying to sleep over here!?!
posted by thirteen at 10:36 AM on April 26, 2001

Sorry thirteen, my bad.





<whisper>That's a pretty wild story, is it true?</whisper>
posted by Avogadro at 11:05 AM on April 26, 2001

Avogadro: it's absolutely true. If I were back in my hometown, I'd be able to dig up the relevant newspaper articles. Somehow I doubt they're online. [Update: no, they aren't... the Hot Springs paper has archives back to 1996, but this happened in the 80s.] Actually, my parents may still have the newspaper articles.

Although, I bet the SMSU library has Arkansas papers from that far back... I should check them out.
posted by daveadams at 11:20 AM on April 26, 2001

Oh man! I just lost a huge post with all sorts of questions about WWII that I was hoping one of you might be able to answer.

I followed up with an opinion that the death penalty is a deterant, insofar as I did not murder a bunch of kids I saw torturing some moss last night. I actually thought, "Don't do it, you will be put to death if you do"
posted by thirteen at 12:54 PM on April 26, 2001

How does one torture moss? (If it's Carrie-Anne Moss, the answer is "Cast her as the love interest of Keanu Reeves." HAW! HAW! Oh, just kill me.)

I'm either lucky or boring. I don't know anyone who has killed, been killed, or been tormented in some Doom-like way.

Great story, Dave.
posted by Skot at 3:45 PM on April 26, 2001

Dave, man, that freaks me out. How on the edge of death are we all?
posted by Neale at 4:43 PM on April 26, 2001

I haven't been here for a while . . .

Freaking A', that's a big long...list of articles.

"a, an, the, le, la, l', les, un, une, der, die, das, eine, ein... n-2, n-1, n"

Hey, you know, there's more than one kind of drooling geek.

*Blink*
[redfoxtail] whatever dost thou mean?

Since for me, its 1:30 in the morning I don't have much time for anything earthshattering (yeah!), and since I'm getting the feeling (listless feeling?) that anything goes at 1142 (CD reviews?), I want to be the first to publish actual theatre drama at Mefi. I wrote a few years ago and some of it still holds up. Enjoy (I think).

It's called . . .

SQUARE PEG. ROUND HOLE.

Bare stage. From stage left, a man appears in a dressing gown. Her looks around the stage, then simply stands there nervously. This is Mitch Clarke. From stage right, a second man appears; slightly older in another dressing gown towelling this time. This is Alex Richards.

He yawns.

ALEX: What time is it?

MITCH: (slightly uneasy) About half three.

ALEX: Fuck me.

Mitch smiles nervously.

A girl in purple jeans and a tie die blouse strays on from stage left. This is Clara Miller.

ALEX: You're dressed.

CLARA: I stayed up. I saw it coming.

ALEX: Of course you did.

Mitch sneezes. He gets out a handkerchief, his eyes streaming.

CLARA: Are you all right, Mitch?

MITCH: Allergies.

Alex, Mitch and Clara turn and look as three more people stray on, Michael Mitchell, Shelley Lawrence and David Gerard. All are fully clothed as well. Michael and David are carrying hands of cards. Alex hits the palm of his hand against his forehead. Mitch sneezes. Clara smiles. Michael and David are bickering with each other forcibly but Soto Voce; Shelley wears the look of a tolerant mother.

ALEX: You’re dressed as well.

SHELLEY: Late night Poker.

Above the general hum of an argument we hear . . .

MICHAEL: My two Kings beat your pair of Aces.

DAVID: This is Poker not Pontoon. Aces are essentially eleven. Higher than a king which are essentially ten. (he turns to Shelley) Whose idea was it to teach him Poker?

SHELLEY: Yours.

DAVID: We should have stuck with Chess. We were making progress with Chess.

Clara smiles.

CLARA: I like Chess.

DAVID: Clara? I mean, hello Clara.

CLARA: Hi David. You look tired.

DAVID: I feel tired (gives a not very convincing fake yawn).

Michael smiles at Shelley knowingly.

All turn again, as Carol Henrik and Fiona Smith appear. Carol is in her dressing gown and Fiona seems to be wearing nothing but a long T-shirt. Alex is obviously impressed. Mitch sneezes. Clara smiles at them. Shelley is trying to help Michael work out his Poker hand. He is moving the cards around his hand. David is smiling at Clara.

ALEX: Finally someone in a dressing gown.

CAROL: (German accent) Of all people.

ALEX: I didn’t mean anything.

FIONA: Of course you didn’t.

Everyone turns and stops what they are doing as Pete Armstrong and Sarah Leopold appear from stage left. Pete is dressed in a jumper and jeans and carrying a clipboard. Sarah is in a nightie.

FIONA: You choose a cold night to visit our dead planet.

Sarah goes to reply, but Pete cuts in.

PETE: Stop complaining. It’s not that cold.

Both Sarah and Fiona glare at him.

PETE: Let’s get down to it. I think we all know what to do by now. I call your name you tell me what you’ve been up to. Anyone want to own up to anything?

Everyone stands silent.

PETE: I was afraid of that.

SARAH: Just hold on a sec. Where is everyone?

PETE: They’ve all gone home for the weekend.

SARAH: Everyone?

PETE: ‘Cept the French group. Party.

ALEX: Party? And I wasn’t invited?

CLARA: You’re a xenophobe. You hate the French.

ALEX: I know. But – party?

SARAH: Why aren’t you there, Carol?

CAROL: Long story. Tell you later.

Fiona smiles knowingly. Everyone turns to look at her. Intimidated she stops and forces seriousness.

PETE: (sighing) Let's start. Randomly for a change. Alex Richards.

ALEX: Sleeping. Missing a party.

PETE: Mitch Clarke.

Mitch sneezes.

MITCH: Sorry.

PETE: That’s all right. What have you been doing.

MITCH: Insomnia. Listening to the radio.

PETE: Ok. Clara?

CLARA: I was trying a new meditation technique.

DAVID: What was that?

CLARA: Sleeping alone.

PETE: So it didn’t involve pushing things around like last time?

CLARA: No. No telekinesis. I got banned remember?

PETE: Just checking. Erm . . . Michael, David and Shelley.

MICHAEL: Being cheated in Poker.

DAVID: Winning at Poker.

SHELLEY: Beginning to hate the idea of poker.

PETE: Carol?

CAROL: I’m taking the Fifth Amendment.

PETE: This is Britain. We don’t have a Fifth Amendment.

CAROL: Well you should have.

PETE: What were you doing.

CAROL: I whisper.

Pete steps forward.

CAROL: Sarah.

Pete steps back. Carol approaches Sarah and whispers in her ear. Sarah gives the same knowing smile as Fiona did. Pete stares at her.

SARAH: She didn’t do it.

Mitch sneezes.

PETE: Whose left. Fiona?

FIONA: Err . . . I was sleeping.

PETE: Oh god. Is there any one we haven’t accounted for.

No one says anything. Mitch shrugs nervously.

PETE: Look. Some one has to own up to this. The fire engines will be here in (he looks at his watch) four minutes. If no one says ‘yes its me’ in the next three minutes fifty five seconds we all lose what’s left of our deposits. If someone owns up. They’ll get the warning and we all go back to bed. Three minutes 45.

ALEX: Can’t someone just own up even if they didn’t do it? Mitch?

Mitch sneezes.

CLARA: Stop picking on Mitch. Why don’t you do it?

ALEX: I’ve already got a warning. The glass door?
I get another one and I’m out.

CLARA: And that would be tragedy.

Pete cuts in.

PETE: No one is going to own up to something they didn’t do. This isn’t school. It doesn’t work that way.

SARAH: I know it’s tricky. But - one of you has to have done it.

FIONA: It could be a fault. You know in the system.

DAVID: That’s possible. It’s quite an old system. There might have been a pulse or something.

MICHAEL: Very scientific.

PETE: Nice idea, but no. They installed a new system last week with all kinds of safe guards. I just never got round to telling everyone.

ALEX: Hold on. How do we know it wasn’t you? You’re dressed.

PETE: I was doing course work when I heard the alarm.

ALEX: Course work? At half three in the morning?

SARAH: It’s his way.

ALEX: And what about you?

SARAH: I was dreaming thank you very much. Who appointed you Inspector Morse?

ALEX: Just making sure.

PETE: (urgently) Three minutes. Come on people. Explanations.

Mitch sneezes.

ALEX: Will you shush. You’re driving me up the wall.

CLARA: Will you leave him alone.

ALEX: And what are you going to do Miss ‘oh I can’t get a decent shag since everyone realised I was a wierdo.’ We didn’t exactly get a satisfactory explanation from you.

CLARA: I told you. I was meditating.

ALEX: Why couldn’t I get into Dickens Hall with me mates. Why did I end up here with the cast of ‘Friends’ crossed with fucking ‘Woodstock’. Shit.

MICHAEL: Calm down hot head. What is wrong with you tonight?

ALEX: I’m nervous. We’ve got an exam tomorrow.

CAROL: Its true. In Running.

MICHAEL: Running?

ALEX: (shrugging) It’s the stride patterns.

MICHAEL: Stride patterns?

CAROL: I know. (she turns to Alex) What are you worried about? Tripping?

ALEX: Why did you tell them?

CAROL: You started it.

PETE: (sighing) Two minutes thirty.

Mitch sneezes.

ALEX: So what have you been doing.

CAROL: It’s none of your business.

ALEX: It is if it means we all get fined.

CAROL: Its private!

ALEX: So private that we’re all standing here?

CAROL: It’s not my fault!

ALEX: THEN WHAT WERE YOU DOING?

CAROL: I WAS MASTURBATING ALRIGHT!

ALEX: What?

CAROL: I WAS THINKING OF CLARA HERE.

ALEX: Your. You’re a . . .hhhrr . . .

CAROL: Not completely.

CLARA: (to Alex) Where the hell have you been?

ALEX: YOU ALL KNOW?

There is dead silence. A pin drops. Everyone, especially Alex is faintly embarrassed. Everyone but Clara is smiling. Mitch sneezes.

MICHAEL: I didn’t.

Shelley hits him playfully.

MICHAEL: I never know.

CLARA: (to Carol) You fancy me?

Carol shrugs and throws her hands open.

CLARA: I mean it explains a lot. I have been off men lately . . .

David looks a bit hurt.

CLARA: . . . I suppose if . . .

She looks around and realises that there are about ten people listening.

CLARA: (to Carol) . . . we’ll talk tomorrow.

ALEX: Look, Carol. I’m sorry. To the depths of my heart I’m sorry.

FIONA: So you should be. And yes, before anyone asks I did knock at the wrong moment. When she was . . .

PETE: (resignedly) Two minutes to go. Bye-bye house deposit.

DAVID: Perhaps at this moment I should bring to everyone’s attention what Sherlock Homles said.

MICHAEL: Oh no.

DAVID: I’m paraphrasing . . . erm . . . when all evidence has been rejected, anything which remains, however improbable, must be the truth. I think that’s it.

SARAH: And that means?

DAVID: I know who did it.

PETE: What?!?

DAVID: I’ve actually known since we got down here.

FIONA: Then why didn’t you tell us?

DAVID: I liked watching you all trying to work it out. I’m a student of human nature.

MICHAEL: I thought you were a student of Electrical Engineering.

PETE: Were straying from the point. One minute.

ALEX: Wouldn’t the hall have burnt down by now?

DAVID: Whose missing?

PETE: No one.

DAVID: None of the students no.

PETE: So who else is there?

SARAH: (realising) Liam.

DAVID: (agreeing) Liam.

PETE: The Hall Master?

DAVID: Who else has access to fire alarms which can be set off accidentally. Who is probably too embarrassed to come down here?

ALEX: You mean he’d let us all lose our deposits so that he could save face.

DAVID: It’s not that simple. Is it Fiona?

All eyes turn to Fiona.

FIONA: What.

DAVID: Tell them. We have thirty seconds.

FIONA: I can’t say anything.

SARAH: FIONA!

FIONA: It was me! It was me.

DAVID: Thank you.

Mitch sneezes.

SARAH: How was it you.

DAVID: I flicked the button when I sat on it.

CLARA: Sat on it?

DAVID: I noticed Fiona slipping into Liam’s room earlier.

Everyone is looking at Fiona now.

FIONA: Sorry.

ALEX: You. And Liam?!?

FIONA: He’s nice if you get to know him. Ask Clara.

CLARA: FIONA!

ALEX: Is there anyone else?

Carol raises her hand slightly.

ALEX: I’m tired. I’m going back to bed.

Alex goes to walk off stage.

SHELLEY: Since no one else has mentioned it. Where are the fire engines?

Everyone looks around.

PETE: There aren’t any.

Everyone looks at Pete.

PETE: (swallowing) That’s why we were late down. I knew it was a fault and rang the station to cancel. They aren’t coming.

SHELLEY: So the last five minutes didn’t mean anything?

PETE: I had to go through the motions. It’s my job.

Michael boughs his head.

ALEX: Well fuck you all and good night.

Alex leaves the stage. A nervous silence pervades the group.

SHELLEY: So is Liam going to be putting in an appearance?

FIONA: He wouldn’t come out. He cut himself on a vase he knocked off the desk in shock when the alarm went off. I’d better going and check on him. Sorry. Sorry Carol.

Carol shrugs.

CAROL: I’m going back up to. I’ve still got to clean up after myself.

There are a few reactions to this, but everyone seems to accept it as an aspect of the evening, and Shelley and Fiona leave.

CLARA: Mitch. You’ve stopped sneezing.

Mitch smiles.

MITCH: I’m calmer.

CLARA: You sneeze when you’re nervous.

MITCH: I hate confrontations.

CLARA: Oh that’s so sweet.

Clara gestures off the stage and she leaves with Mitch. David shoots a worried glance after them.

SHELLEY: I’m sure it doesn’t mean anything. She’s just being nice.

DAVID: Hmmm.

MICHAEL: I’m going up and collecting my pennies.

DAVID: Your pennies?

Shelley shakes her head in disbelief, as she David and Michael leave the stage. Pete yawns.

PETE: Thank god for that.

SARAH: What?

PETE: No one asked us what we were doing . . .

Sarah approaches him, spin him around and after kissing him on the forehead, they embrace.

THE END
posted by feelinglistless at 5:35 PM on April 26, 2001 [1 favorite]

Maybe I should have checked it for typing errors. Oh well, too late now . . .
posted by feelinglistless at 5:39 PM on April 26, 2001

[redfoxtail] whatever dost thou mean?

"Article" is the name of a part of speech, like "noun" or "verb". From The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics: "A determiner whose basic role is to mark noun phrases as either definite or indefinite: e.g. definite the in the girl, indefinite a in a girl."
posted by redfoxtail at 7:05 PM on April 26, 2001

This is what I made for my Christmas dinner.

I feel bad I caused Rob such distress.

I don't read Riothero anymore.

She does not update anymore, but I love reading her.
posted by thirteen at 7:24 PM on April 26, 2001

Ah, poker (see play by feelinglistless). Just tonight, I lost quite a number of pennies playing poker. Goodbye, pennies, I hardly knew ye.

Most interesting thing I learned this week: How much fun (and how easy) it is to impress the undergraduates one is teaching by saying "piss" in lecture.
posted by redfoxtail at 8:24 PM on April 26, 2001

While we're suggesting blogs, do any of you read Illusions of Grandeur (sic)? It's a personal journal/blog that periodically includes pretty graphic details. I don't think I'd ever document any of the events she does, but hey.
posted by norm at 10:41 PM on April 26, 2001

I am going to try to recreate my earlier post. Please excuse my instinct to think of
all of you as my fellow Americans, as I lapse into "we" when it probably should be
"the US"

My main question being, What was Japan's motivation from bringing the US into
W.W.II? I know a couple of factoids, and have a few theories but I cannot remember
ever going very far into the Pacific war in school. It always seemed to be enough to
say the US was in the war because the Japanese attacked. No one ever went into
why they might have done so.

1. I know American pilots were flying American planes painted with Chinese colors,
so we were already fighting a secret war against Japan.

2. I am suspecting it might have something to do with the forced opening of
Japanese ports those many years before, but I don't know.

3. Did it have anything to do with Japan's becoming industrialized, but not having
much in the way of raw materials? Did the US impede this in anyway, were we
competing for colonies?

4. Were the Japanese just keeping a bargain with their allies to keep the US from
being too helpful to Europe?

5. If that is the case, (Here is where the change up kicks in) Why did Hitler leap at
the chance to declare war on the US after the attack? To divide our forces? Or to
legally sink our ships?

There was more, but I cannot remember it now. Anybody have any answers? I am
going to post this on Rob's list too, as I think SDB might be my best hope for an
answer. Please forgive me.

I know the Japanese were particularly brutal, and that Lia might have relatives who
were involved in that theater during the war, so I hope I have not made it seem like I
am trying to excuse Japan's actions. I am really surprised that everything I have
been taught has been so one sided. With Germany there is plenty of talk about the
events that lead up to what came to pass.
posted by thirteen at 11:18 PM on April 26, 2001

Kore wa juichi-shiju-ni desu ka?

Hai, juichi-shiju-ni desu.

My website has been getting greater than goju hits per day all week long. I though it was coming from here, but they are entering through random archives. I'm not sure, but I figure 50 hits has to make my site one of the most popular places on the internet. Where is my webby?

I don't know how to use irc, this embarrasses me. I have aim loaded, but have no gumption to search people out. I may have forgotten my password even. Eek, that NEVER happens to me.

It is 1:47 am (asa ichi-ji shiju nana-fun) I am going to take the dogs for a walk.
posted by thirteen at 11:56 PM on April 26, 2001

feelinglistless: do you type everything into the little comment box? I do, and then I copy the text into a word processor if I feel that it needs spell checking. Why is that?

A poker story: When I was in high school, I spent a bit of a summer camping in central Alberta. Well, not camping really, because I was staying in a cabin, which really takes the edge off roughing it. Some friends of mine were playing poker one night, and they invited me to join them.

I did not know how to play poker.

Somebody wrote down which bunches of card were better than which other bunches of cards. No one had any pennies, so it was decided that we would use sunflower seeds as counters (or chips or whatever they are called).

Sometime around 2:00 a.m., I got whatever bunch of cards was at the top of the list (I still cannot play poker. But I have a great poker face. It involves grinning with glee and acting nervous no matter what I'm dealt). I won a huge number of sunflower seeds. I cleaned everybody out. They had to open another bag of sunflower seeds (inflation was a huge problem in those days). A few rounds later, we went to sleep.

The next day we went canoeing.

That evening, the other guys decided that we should play poker again. So I went to get the huge stash of sunflower seeds that I had placed on a shelf the previous night. The walls of the cabin were rounded - they sloped up and in to the peak of the roof. I had placed the sunflower seeds on a shelf jutting out from the wall.

The mouse had these amazing little black eyes, and a terrible poker face.
posted by iceberg273 at 5:10 AM on April 27, 2001

You asked for it, Thirteen.

Then as now, Japan's industry wasn't sustainable with local resources. Then as now, Japan depended primarily on imports of raw materials, and there were important ones where the Japanese didn't control their sources of supply. The seeds of the conflict between Japan and the US stretch back a long way; in most accounts it begins with the visit by Commodore Perry in 1853.

Leaving out a lot of context, what you end up with by the 1920's is a government in Japan where the Army is aggressive and imperialistic and essentially in control. You also have an army where mid-level officers have far more influence than they really ought to. Japan already controls Korea by this point and is looking fondly at Manchuria, and some officers in that area manufacture an incident and go into full scale attack without permission of the civilian head of government. Before they know what is happening, the army has already invaded large parts of Manchuria and is moving forward. (Many historians actually date the beginning of WWII to this incident in 1931, instead of the more usual dating based on the invasion of Poland.)

This eventually lead to war with China. Now China then was an ally of the US, and though Roosevelt's military situation was weak his economic and diplomatic power was considerable. There were threats and counter threats, and the US started imposing trade sanctions against Japan.

The final straw was imposition by the US, UK and in particular the Dutch of an embargo on petroleum and scrap steel sales to Japan. This threatened to stop Japanese industry and also to immobilize Japan's fleet.

They had enough petroleum stockpiled for perhaps 18 months of operation and after that they would be stuck. They needed the Indonesian oil fields (the best source in that part of the world, at that time under Dutch control).

So here's the decision that Japan was facing. It had, in 90 years, moved from being a backwater which had been shamed by a handful of American steamships in 1853 to a fully modern industrialized country with a formidable navy, something no other third world nation had done in that time. It could back down, apologize, stop the war in China, and slink back home with its tail between its legs. Or it could shove all its chips into the center of the table and attack.

Retreat was impossible. If such an order had been sent to China it would have been ignored, and the likelihood is that leaders giving such orders would have been assassinated. (In the 1920's, Japan's government was known elsewhere as "government by assassination"; it was preposterously common for mid-level army officers to order the deaths of politicians they didn't like.)

There were cultural issues here, too; the Japanese had abolished the caste system but still believed that their men couldn't be defeated. They also believed that the US was soft, effete, bourgeois, and had no real stomach for war.

On the side of the balance favoring attack was the fact that the Japanese naval Air Force was the best in the world at that time (though no-one outside Japan knew it). The US is weak "as we all know" and won't be willing to take a lot of losses "as we all know" and if Japan could take a lot of territory fast and then reinforce it, the US would decide it wasn't worth the price to take it back. And "as we all know" the US would lose as many men in the fight as Japan would. So the US would bargain rather than fight "as we all know".

At Gettysburg Colonel Chamberlain defended Little Round Top and was faced at one point with either retreating or attacking -- and since the consequences of retreat (loss of the entire battle) were intolerable, he ordered an attack. It was a brilliant (and desperate) move and succeeded beyond his wildest hopes. Many consider that the single critical battlefield decision of the entire battle (and indeed of the entire war since that was the turning point).

The Japanese made the same decision. They did, I think, understand that it was risky but considered the risk acceptable given the intolerable consequences of not attacking. What they didn't perhaps understand is the degree of fury that a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor would raise in the US. And some leaders in Japan (particularly Admiral Yamamoto) understood the industrial capacity of the US but none really understood the degree to which it would be trained on Japan, like a cannon aimed at a flea. Ultimately the war in the Pacific wasn't US soldiers against Japanese soldiers, or US ships against Japanese ships, but rather US industry against Japanese industry -- and that wasn't a contest. Within two years, from scratch, the US already had created a more powerful fleet and a more powerful airforce in the Pacific than the Japanese had managed to create in the pre-war years. And it only got worse from there. By 1945 the US fleet and air power in the Pacific was frankly incredible.

Another major mistake the Japanese made was to massively underestimate the importance of signal security. They believed that the Japanese language itself was sufficiently obscure and difficult that the Americans would never be able to understand their code transmissions. Again, they underestimated both the US and UK, and in the course of the war I'm not aware of a single Japanese cipher which resisted attack. On the other hand, the Japanese attempts to break into US code were total futility, and such efforts were always badly understaffed. By the end of the war, the US had at least a thousand times as many men involved in signal intelligence as did the Japanese, and this was a major contributor to the conduct of the war. Midway is the example most people know about, but it was in fact not the most important. Vastly more important was that the US was reading the ciphers used by the Japanese to control their merchant shipping, and using that information to control its submarines to attack said shipping. After 18 months of truly embarassing torpedo malfunctions, by mid 1943 the US submarine force began to leave a bloody swath through the Japanese merchant marine. The US succeeded in doing to Japan what the Germans failed to do to the UK: starve it out by submarine blockade.

The Flying Tigers never were an issue, by the way. The final straw which lead to war was the embargo on oil and scrap steel, which the Japanese took as an aggressive act. To this day you'll find Japanese who think that Japan really had no choice but to attack, and honestly think of Pearl Harbor as a defensive move forced on them by the US.

Also, there was never really an issue relating to obligations to Germany. That "alliance" was never really an alliance in the sense that the ones between the US, UK and USSR were, where each made sacrifices for the other and where they coordinated their efforts (such as the USSR's offensive launched in June 1944 to coincide with the Normandy invasion).

A demonstration of the fundamental unimportance of the Japanese/German alliance is that at the time of Pearl Harbor and for the rest of the war, Germany was locked in a death struggle with the USSR. Hitler hoped that the Japanese would attack the USSR in Siberia, draining away resources from the German front. Yet Japan never attacked the USSR, maintaining an uneasy truce at the border of Manchukuo and Siberia. (This was shattered in July 1945 when the USSR attacked.) This is because the Japanese had gotten their asses kicked by the USSR in 1939 in a brief war there. After Pearl Harbor, Germany (and then Italy) declared war on the US (much to the relief of both Churchill and Roosevelt, who wanted the US to fight Germany and had to figure out a way to convince the US public that an attack by Japan should result in a US war against Germany). A lot of people have wondered why Hitler did this; it turns out that he did so because he was hoping that Japan would in turn declare war on the USSR -- which never happened.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 6:05 AM on April 27, 2001 [1 favorite]

Does this mean I can join the A-list?
posted by Steven Den Beste at 6:06 AM on April 27, 2001

anything goes at 1142 (CD reviews?)

Well, FWIW, I'm trying to focus more on the particular works. That the first two works I chose happened to be long enough to occupy entire CDs was just a happy coincidence. I chose the CDs I did to link to because they are recordings I'm familiar with. In general the quality of various recordings of a particular work can vary quite a bit, so when I discuss the piece, it's helpful to give a reference that will relate to my description.

If you have any interest at all in contemporary art music, but you don't know where to start, I hope you'll try the works I've recommended because I think they're very accessible for a casual listener in addition to being great and important works in their own rights. If you're already a "classical" music fan, and you're familiar with my selections, I wonder what you think of my picks. I'm presenting DRAMA with the utmost sincerity, and I hope you'll take something with you after reading it.
posted by daveadams at 6:49 AM on April 27, 2001

Does this mean I can join the A-list?

Sorry Steven, but this is a strictly C-list thread.

That was a great summary, btw, I'm constantly impressed by your knowledge of military history.
posted by daveadams at 6:58 AM on April 27, 2001

I'm particularly fascinated by the Pacific war, and by Japan in general. By far the two best books I've found are this and this. The first one explains how the Japanese army (and government, because by 1930 they were the same thing) became what it was, and the second explains indirectly how the US defeated the Japanese through what amounted to an industrial war of attrition. If you really want to understand the roots of WWII and understand things like the Kamikazes and the Rape of Nanking, "Soldiers of the Sun" will make it all clear. (Note that understanding doesn't lead to forgiveness.)

C-list? Hell, I'm already C-list. Sheesh.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 7:37 AM on April 27, 2001

thirteen, you aren't causing me actual distress, just "Aw crap why didn't I check that and make sure it works, I'm such a fool" insecurities.

Nothing I'm unfamiliar with. :-)

Steven, wow, I think I just learned more about Japanese involvement in the war in the 5 or 10 minutes I spent digesting that then in my entire 10th grade history course. Thank you!
posted by cCranium at 8:05 AM on April 27, 2001

Steven, you are at the top of my A-list. Thanks for taking the time to write all that, I knew you were my best shot for getting an answer. I will be checking out that "Soldiers of the Sun" book very soon, thanks for the tip.

cC: I am glad you have not opened a vein over this slight hiccup.

Do any of you ever wonder if there are other eternal threads floating around? Metafilter gnomes discussing mathematics in 666, or a hidden troll room where Hal_55 and Rightwinger plot to disrupt the peaceful and everchanging world of "Metafilter current"? It is a large sever, there may be other intelligent life out there somewhere.

I am coining the word "Link'n log" for my web page, as it is more journal than blog, but there are a fair number of links. What do you think? I think it is catchy if you are old enough to get the reference, and hopefully I will be credited for it's mass usage in Wired one day.
posted by thirteen at 9:36 AM on April 27, 2001

Neat play, feelinglistless.

Obscure Hitchhiker's Guide references are always appreciated - which reminds me, did anyone catch Kindall's fun comment the other day?
posted by Aaaugh! at 9:53 AM on April 27, 2001

Does this mean I can join the A-list?

My impression was that at least some people in 1142-land were beyond lists, to the point of being list-less.

Sorry. :)
posted by iceberg273 at 10:50 AM on April 27, 2001

I am coining the word "Link'n log" for my web page

I'm pretty sure Wendell used that term a while back for the blog part in the last iteration of his One Swell Foop site. Actually, I believe it was "Linkin Log" but whatever.
posted by daveadams at 11:11 AM on April 27, 2001

C-list? Hell, I'm already C-list. Sheesh.

Yeah, but what's cool about this thread is that it's reserved only for C-listers such as ourselves. No A-Listers allowed! HUZZAH!!
posted by daveadams at 11:12 AM on April 27, 2001

re: Link'n Log

Lance (aka honkzilla has had Linkinlog2000 for a while. Although it hasn't been updated in quite some time.

Wasn't Neale an A-lister at one point or another? Before he up and decided to become a novelist?

I find it very amusing that the first comment I've seen from Baylink in quite some time was about breast measurement.

Sean is quite possibly the coolest person in existance.
posted by cCranium at 11:18 AM on April 27, 2001

I am shamed.

Skot wrote my wife a letter, and I was surprised. (but not displeased)

I tried to post to the rmd_cx message board and my post was... lost.

I just had a bar-b-cue on the roof, and now am full.

My coworkers put ketchup on hotdogs, and they are wrong.

I wondered where Baylink was, and he has returned.

The Link'n log is stillborn, long live the blog.
posted by thirteen at 11:35 AM on April 27, 2001

[Aaaaagh!] Glad you like the play. I like to get an obscure quote in everything I wrote. Usually they're more subtle. Have you noticed a certain number in your address bar?

[Iceberg] I usually do the word processing spell check thing, but I posted the play late the other night (after the glee of finding it - I thought I'd lost it in a freak hard drive accident), and figured I'd already done it. I shall attempt to use my own personal on-line dictionary more curfully in the future.

[daveadams] I like your CD reviews, and your taste. The Goreki was one of the first classical CDs I bought and got me onto that whole big ride. Lately I've been a bit R&B (have you tried the Sugababes?) but I still get goosepimples at Beathoven.

While I'm hear, if anyone's got any questions about British culture...
posted by feelinglistless at 12:12 PM on April 27, 2001

May 6th will be my Metafilter birthday. After months of lurking, I was prompted to join up because of a hot discussion about the Spanish iMac. From tiny seeds, mighty trees grow.
posted by thirteen at 12:12 PM on April 27, 2001

13, why the shame? It certainly wasn't my intent. (Mostly, it was the irresistible desire to type the phrase "Ms. 13.")

I am capable of eating hot dogs only with mustard and melted cheese. In fact, my salivary glands just now started spasming and twitching like a herd of collies hooked up to car batteries.

I worry about this thread sometimes. Does Matt occasionally turn a gimlet eye over here, and mutter, "Those goddam little shits."? I am forever worried about giving Matt offense, but that's mainly because I'm pretty neurotic (this, I'm sure, is big news).

Does anyone remember the song "Switching To Glide" by The Kings? I'm completely obsessed with finding an old copy of this somewhere. I found a hinky-looking 80s mix that included it on some German site, but there's gotta be a better way. "Switching to GLIIIIIIDE!" There's bubblegum, and there's great bubblegum. My little lowbrow contribution to the music discussion, I suppose.

BattleBots tomorrow. I'll have a Bloody Mary in my hand (I make terrifyingly good Bloody Marys, I am told--I want to find a competition for such things and enter it), and shall toast 1142.
posted by Skot at 12:16 PM on April 27, 2001

I was shamed by the "Linkinlog(s)", not by you Skot. Never by you.

I forgot to reply to Avogadro a few days back. To paraphrase the evil English king from Braveheart, the only thing wrong with Chicago, is that it is full of Chicagoans. (pause, wait for laughter to die down)

I am so over city life, but as bigger cities go it is not so bad. I hate my politicians, but it does provide for virtually cultural fix I may want. As I am older now, my need for really late night pizza has waned, and I find myself wanting quiet, space, and a non-light polluted night sky. I am going to take a daylong beekeeping class in Indiana this summer to see if I can hold to my imaginings when I am covered with a swarm. If I can, I am going to try to assist an older beekeeper who operates within Chicago's city limits, in preparation for my island paradise of the semi near future. John 13, wind farmer, beekeeper, Nova Scotian ex pat American
It is frustrating to me, that my environmental beliefs group me in with people whose political beliefs are so perpendicular to mine. Is there no place I can fit in?
posted by thirteen at 12:49 PM on April 27, 2001

but I still get goosepimples at Beathoven.

I assume you mean Beethoven, although Beathoven would be a good name for a Drum and Bass group...
posted by daveadams at 1:09 PM on April 27, 2001

[Skot] I am forever worried about giving Matt offense, but that's mainly because I'm pretty neurotic (this, I'm sure, is big news).

I hear neurosis is a common symptom of Cranky Bastard disease.
posted by daveadams at 1:12 PM on April 27, 2001

I am capable of eating hot dogs only with mustard and melted cheese

Melted cheese is good, but not required. The only thing needed to make a great hot dog IMO is yellow mustard. And a great hot dog of course. A mostly acceptable substitute for mustard is mayonnaise. And you can always add cheese (preferably melted) and chili. Mmmmmm....
posted by daveadams at 1:14 PM on April 27, 2001

Speaking of hot dogs, we're having a cookout tonight and hot dogs are on the menu. Awww yeah.
posted by daveadams at 1:17 PM on April 27, 2001

Can you guys hear me all right? I'm kinda losing my voice...
posted by daveadams at 1:28 PM on April 27, 2001

Okay, so I'm too lazy to make that look any better.
posted by daveadams at 1:29 PM on April 27, 2001

A mostly acceptable substitute for mustard is mayonnaise.

My God. Now, I know I'm a vegetarian and therefore fair game for scorn from the likes of you, Dave, but the idea of mayo as a substitute for mustard on a hot dog is horrifying. A roast beef sandwich, maybe, but a hot dog What, do you put mayo on pretzels at the ballpark?

Mustard and pickle relish belong on a hot dog. Mayo does not.
posted by snarkout at 1:36 PM on April 27, 2001

Wolfgang Flür from Kraftwerk has a beat band called "the Beathovens".

A cupcake would be good right now.
posted by thirteen at 2:06 PM on April 27, 2001

had, had a band.
posted by thirteen at 2:14 PM on April 27, 2001

What, do you put mayo on pretzels at the ballpark?

Mmmmm, that doesn't sound too bad... thanks for the suggestion.

I luuuuuv mayo, it goes well on most any sandwich-related food (including hot dogs). But mustard is still better on hot dogs. Relish is for losers, though. ;)
posted by daveadams at 2:32 PM on April 27, 2001

Um, well ... I guess Matthew Broderick isn't so bad. I do wear glasses, too.

I was right!! Hey, don't worry about the Matthew Broderick thing. He was the only actor I could think of at the time that I've seen wearing glasses regularly who isn't old. Do you want to be thought of as old?
posted by daveadams at 2:34 PM on April 27, 2001

Review in which I was compared to Matthew Broderick. Not to steal any of aaron's thunder.
posted by Skot at 3:01 PM on April 27, 2001

This list is the very subtle B-List. It's for people who would like to think they're too much of a rebel for the a-list, but who secretly deep-in-their-heart want to join it.

I was never an A-lister. If one remembers this, they'll recall I was labelled and enemy of the a-list.

All through high-school I was compared with hollywood types depending on my hair - I have a face that sort of is defined by the hair. I've been compared to Matthew Broderick (in the Ferris days), but also the two leads in the first Ewan McGregor flick (you know, the one with the house and the couch and the dead guy), robert downey jnr... and a bunch of others I wont go into...

I hate dodgeball. Who invented that shit?
posted by Neale at 4:35 PM on April 27, 2001

alt.society.generation-x was a great place to lurk.

Speaking of vegetarian hot dogs, does anyone know the difference between Smart Dogs and Tofu Pups? All I know is that one is lighter than the other (color not weight).

Also, my phone doesn't work most of the time. Instead of a dial tone, there's a loud electric hum like when you get too close to a bug zapper.
posted by sudama at 6:35 PM on April 27, 2001

I've been told I look like Tim Ransom. Well, a pudgy version Tim Ransom playing the role of Bashir's friend Jack the Genetically Souped-Up Guy from one of the later Deep Space Nine epsiodes, anyway. I'm ever-so-proud. Yeah.

What's wrong with putting ketchup on hot dogs?
posted by youhas at 6:40 PM on April 27, 2001

You know, I've always thought veggie hot dogs were just a step too far in the mock-meat direction. Veggie burgers, resembling meat not at all as they do, seem okay to me as a food in their own right, but vegetarian hot dogs just strike me as wrong. Of course, I was never particularly enamored of hot dogs back when I wasn't a vegetarian, either, so perhaps that's the real problem.

Ketchup on hot dogs is unappealing, but not nearly as yucky as mayo. But then, once again, I have some general feelings about the food in question that come into play. Mayonnaise in potato salad, pasta salad, etc: fine. On sandwiches: not fine, unless it's aioli. So perhaps I'm not the best source of information on this subject.
posted by redfoxtail at 12:05 AM on April 28, 2001

Smart Dogs are fat-free and supposedly are more "meaty" than Tofu Pups (which aren't fat-free).

Smart Dogs:

Ingredients: Water, soy protein isolate, wheat gluten, evaporated cane juice, salt, yeast extract, soy sauce (water, soybeans, wheat, salt), granulated garlic, carageenan, spice extract, natural flavors from vegetable sources, vegetable gum, natural smoke flavor.

Tofu Pups:

Ingredients: Water, tofu (organically grown soybeans, water, magnesium chloride), Soy protein isolate, soy oil, spices, salt, beet powder, natural vegetable flavors, paprika oil, vegetable gum.

Keep in mind that there are also Wonderdogs and Smart Deli Jumbos. All of these are made by the same company.

As far as mock-meat stuff, check out Veat sometime (I recommend the nuggets). It's chewy and a bit freaky to consume.
posted by gluechunk at 12:47 AM on April 28, 2001

What's wrong with putting ketchup on hot dogs?

Other than everything? I am under the impression that the origins of this have to do with Chicago having once been a giant slaughter house. The legend goes, that we had access to very fresh meat, and thus ketchup was not needed to disguise the flavor of rot that had set in by the time the dogs reached the coasts. I don't know if this is true, but I have read "the Jungle", and immediately crossed spice loaf off my shopping list.

They really do taste better if you leave the ketchup off, the just do. I seldom get to say this anymore as my wife used the fruit paste on her dogs, and it is now considered picking a fight if I open my mouth in front of her.

I prefer Tofu pups when eating that sort of thing, as the texture is nice, and there is no clovey aftertaste.

My bun of choice is the potato bun. diced tomatoes, onions and celery salt. When possible, I write thirteen with the mustard (now in katakana).

Rogue tomatoes are begining to grow out of my compost pile, spring is here.
posted by thirteen at 1:10 PM on April 28, 2001

I'm sorry - how can it be wrong to put tomato sauce on Hot Dogs? Go to any Hot Dog veneder in the UK and next to the brown sauce will be the red stuff. In fact, a good way for venders to lose their livelihoods is not to have it there . . .

Anyone but Aaaaaaaaagh and redfoxtail read my play? I actually just bothered to re-read it and was amazed to find it's actually quite good (that's not ego - it's amazing it's readable at all considering some of my other epics). Some of the characters are in my latest opus - so I suppose thats actually a bit of a Pilot or preview (depending on your media). Wadya think? Comments (clean comments).

If you thought Book of Shadows was madness you try renting Titan AE and getting - to - the - end . . . luckily it was the thrid part of a triple bill with Gossip (The Usual Suspects meets Threesome - pretty good, although lacked focus) and Return to Me (which couldn't decide what story it was meant to be telling, making it Wresting Earnest Hemmingway meets Sleepless in Seattle, which is probably no place to be).

To return to the earlier DVD discussion, not much mention made of audio commentaries. For some reason these are more entertaining depending on how young the participants are.

Good examples:
The Usual Suspects (Brian Singer's second movie),
Idlehands (everybody's first film),
American Pie (everyone's first film),
The Opposite of Sex (directorial debut of a writer).

Awful commentaries (usually so bad your hard pushed to get to the end even if the movie itself is any good):
The Thomas Crown Affair (John McTiernan),
anything by Rob Reiner (who seems to think that silence speaks a thousand words),
any of the James Bond technical commentaries (which always seem to consist of - 'I really like that effect.' 'That's a good effect.' 'That's a very effective effect.')
American Beauty (although it's nice to hear and English accent for a change, what's the point in having the writer there is he isn't going to say anything?)

Special mentions for:
Practical Magic (the talky bits with Sandra Bullock and Denise De Nova are actually more entertaining than the film),
Out of Sight (for reason I find this film difficult to watch now without the commentary on - aaaaaaaah!)
Pleasantville (in which the director spends two hours droning on about the theological significance of his work, punctuated with 'that's my wife/brother/husbad')
Return to Me (for proving how incestuous the film industry can be by pointing out what feel like five generations of a family on screen).

And while I remember - yes I know it's Beethoven - I was referencing Bill & Ted. Catch you later . . .
posted by feelinglistless at 1:48 PM on April 28, 2001

I read the play.
I think the Fight Club commentory is the best so far I've heard.
posted by Neale at 4:01 PM on April 28, 2001

Pleasantville (in which the director spends two hours droning on about the theological significance of his work, punctuated with 'that's my wife/brother/husbad')

Wow. I would not have thought that movie could get any worse.
posted by sudama at 11:08 PM on April 28, 2001

Where did everyone go?

I am talking to myself again.
Asia is rising against me.
I haven't got a chinaman's chance.
I'd better consider my national resources.
My national resources consist of two joints of marijuana millions of genitals an unpublishable private literature that goes 1400 miles an hour and twenty-five-thousand mental institutions.
I say nothing about my prisons nor the millions of underprivileged who live in my flowerpots under the light of five hundred suns.
I have abolished the whorehouses of France, Tangiers is the next to go.
My ambition is to be President despite the fact that I'm a Catholic.

America how can I write a holy litany in your silly mood?
I will continue like Henry Ford my strophes are as individual as his automobiles more so they're all different sexes.
America I will sell you strophes $2500 a piece $500 down on your old strophe
America free Tom Mooney
America save the Spanish Loyalists
American Sacco & Vanzetti must not die
America I am the Scottsboro boys.
America when I was seven momma took me to Communist Cell meetings they sold us garbanzos a handful per ticket a ticket costs a nickel and the speeches were free everybody was angelic and sentimental about the workers it was all so sincere you have no idea what a good thing the party was in 1835 Scott Nearing was a grand old man a real mensch Mother Bloor made me cry I once saw Israel Amter plain. Everybody must have been a spy.
America you don't really want to go to war.
posted by sudama at 2:10 AM on April 29, 2001

Hey there, Mr. Ginsberg, America wants classical strophes. Where's your Greek chorus? We don't hold with these new-fangled modern strophe things.
posted by redfoxtail at 9:06 AM on April 29, 2001

I got called a troll.
posted by thirteen at 8:29 PM on April 29, 2001

Are you saying you aren't a troll?

And all this time I thought...
posted by daveadams at 8:51 PM on April 29, 2001

America wants to go to war. Very Dead Kennedys.

I'm a troll, but the only person who rises to the bait is me.

I don't eat any meat that claims to be otherwise.
posted by Neale at 10:58 PM on April 29, 2001

Some statistics for the interested:

Neale - 178 posts
daveadams - 110 posts
thirteen - 35 posts
Avagadro - 32 posts
cCranium - 27 posts

When will daveadams overtake Neale as 1142's top poster? Is anyone else even in the running?

This should be more fun to bet on that the 1000th post question.
posted by lagado at 12:37 AM on April 30, 2001

A contribution to the discussion re: vegetarianism to expected body size.

1. vegetarian -- one who eats no meat or fish or (often) any animal products

2. vegetarian -- one who eschews mains in favor of dessert.
posted by lagado at 12:51 AM on April 30, 2001

I'M #3! I'M #3!

Anybody know where I rank in Bens?

I am so damn tired, I ended up with a poor 3 hours of sleep last night.
posted by thirteen at 7:16 AM on April 30, 2001

You are a troll, Thirteen; in fact, you're a greater troll. You are a chaotic evil creature with 6 to 8 hit dice, an armor class of 4, and 3 HP regeneration per round. Only a mighty warrior (or magic-user, or cleric) can defeat you!
posted by snarkout at 7:24 AM on April 30, 2001

If she had called me Drow I probably would not have been ruffled.

I want you all to know, that I am really Lawful Neutral, armor class 10 + 1 dex bonus +2 leather jacket (d20 system), with 29 Hit points.
posted by thirteen at 7:41 AM on April 30, 2001

Ladies and Gentlemen, that last post, was my 1000th post to Metafilter. In honor of the event I will be rerunning the best of Thirteen here in 1142 over the next few days. I hope you will enjoy reading them, as much as I enjoyed bringing them to you.

Here is a post where I go toe to toe with my arch enemy Dodgypunk:

Trying to define punk is a futile gesture. There was too much of it happening in too many places for a single definition to stand without contradicting some other equally valid form. The trick is to pick a definition you can live with and properly argue at parties. In my as yet unwritten treatise "Who is the Candy Rocker?" I will lay out the Platonian view that will put an end to the what is punk question once and for all.

If I can change just one mind on Metafilter, then it has all been worth it
posted by thirteen at 8:06 AM on April 30, 2001

Now that you've revealed your true stats, Thirteen, everyone will know just how to destroy you! Was that wise?
posted by redfoxtail at 8:12 AM on April 30, 2001

If I can end just one blockquote...
posted by redfoxtail at 8:23 AM on April 30, 2001

Arrgh! That blockquote was closed, check the source! It looks fine in my unpopular browser, but I saw breakdown when I launched Cranium Explorer! Truely we live in disasterious times.
posted by thirteen at 8:48 AM on April 30, 2001

Oh, I closed the tags in the wrong order. Still looks fine on my screen grumble grumble.
posted by thirteen at 8:57 AM on April 30, 2001

You have moved into a dark place. It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
posted by bradlands at 9:00 AM on April 30, 2001

Sigh. Always number 5. I'm probably number 5 in regular MeFi posts, too. Well, probably not so much anymore, but for a while the only people I knew of that out-posted me were baylink and Steven Den Beste.

I have no idea when my thousandth post occured, but in the interests of furthering my "follower" role, I'll provide the following summary of everything I've said at Mefi:

"People are inherently good/smart/curious, dammit!"
"Aw crap."
"Standards, yay!"
"Napster, boo."
"Free Information, yay!"
posted by cCranium at 9:05 AM on April 30, 2001

>turn on lantern

(Dagnabbit, cC, why'd you have to go and get in the way? Hmph.)
posted by redfoxtail at 9:09 AM on April 30, 2001

Oh, and Matt of course, he far outranks me in number of posts, but I don't count him, since he had a head start. Baylink, SDB and I joined within a 2 month period.

Although I've apparenly recent passed SDB in postings. (1320 to his 1302.

Baylink has over 1400, but his recent posting lag due to apparent "real life" has given me a chance to catch up and surpass!

Hey, it looks like I've passed Matt as well.

Daveadams is catching up to me.

Tiaka appears to have multiple accounts.

I wonder how hard it would be do write a script that hits every user.mefi page and rank posters according to number of posts.
posted by cCranium at 9:13 AM on April 30, 2001

About a month ago I made some people get together to play AD&D with the express purpose of bringing back all the great monsters you never see anymore. I mean, whatever happened to the hordes of goblins, kobolds, and orcs that used to populate our dungeons? For that matter, what of the slimy things, like the Green Slimes and the Gelatinous Cubes and the Gray Ochre?

So I did and now the party is too beefy to even deal with such things again. Anyone have any good ideas of some massive creatures to toss at the party? (They've been locked in a death struggle with a lich the last two sessions, but that's getting old.)
posted by norm at 9:16 AM on April 30, 2001

Norm: My wife just painted 16 new goblins and they look great. If the part is too tough, just have them stumble into nests of the old timers and they can flank your guys left and right. This will only work as long as none of your party are set up with the great cleave feat, and then one guy can be a one-man conga line of death.

Also, I recommend Displacer Beasts, and Mind Flayers, not to mention the Drow. Hell, even the Trolls just mentioned still pack a lot of trouble. Displacer beasts are really damn hard to hit and kill.

Me painting a Mummy. Me fearing a Mummy. I like games with lots of undead, and Night of the living dead senarios ie: the party is locked in a barn, and there are 75 miniatures waiting outside.
posted by thirteen at 9:35 AM on April 30, 2001

All of you 1k clubbers are very impressive. If you've been around here a year, and you have 1300+ comments, then you must average four comments a day. That's amazing! I only average one comment a day, so it's going to take me another two years to get to the 1k level. That or I'll have to purposefully increase my posting, which is tough because I really don't have that strong of an opinion about 98% of the subjects discussed here.

Which reminds me, the subject of the "SDB posts too much" thread was brought up somewhere around here recently, and I have to say that I've festered in guilt for quite awhile about that one. You see, I STARTED that thread but did it as a congratulations, not a "I hate SDB" thing. Had I realized just what an atomic poster Baylink was at the time, or other 1k clubbers, I wouldn't have even started that.

Finally, does anyone know if Metatalk comments count towards our stats? I don't think they do, which is a shame because it would probably pump up my comments by 50 or so.

ps: thanks for the tips, 13. I've already tossed some Drow at them, but the Displacer Beasts will work ok, I think. Undead hordes, huh. Yeah, that could theoretically cut it. Who wants some Mummy Rot? (I do, I do!)
posted by norm at 9:39 AM on April 30, 2001

This is an old entry from my weblog, I found it while looking for the mummy pictures:

I spent some quality time with the Blade Runner book last night. I did not wish to ding it up, so I did not take it with on my trip. It was kind of strange to pick it up again, as I am currently reading another Phillip Dick book that dovetails with the Blade runer story in a way I cannot finger yet. Dick dedicates the book to his daughters, and I was thinking, those poor girls, saddled with that last name, and I notice that one of the is named Isa. ISA! What were they thinking? Is a dick. Poor girl, I bet she did not hyphenate her last name when she married.

no blockquotes here, no siree.

Post as true today, as the day it was written.
posted by thirteen at 9:40 AM on April 30, 2001

Metatalk is your gift to the world, and it does not keep score.
posted by thirteen at 9:44 AM on April 30, 2001

Hey! cCranium! ROB! ROOOOOOOOOOOB! What the hell is this all about from your weblog?!?

Hello. Your browser, for whatever reason, cannot handle the W3C standards for HTML 4.01, CSS-1, and/or DOM-1.

On IE5? [Whimper] You've never loved me. I know this now.
posted by Skot at 9:56 AM on April 30, 2001

>turn on lantern

You switch the brass lantern on.

Sloping E/W Canyon

You are in an awkward sloping east/west canyon.
posted by bradlands at 10:05 AM on April 30, 2001

I wish you people would remember to close the tags when you leave! Do you think I'm made of electricity?! I don't want to pay for the whole neighborhood to be italicised, Dammit!

Aw, shit, Skot, tell me it isn't so...

Sonofabitch.

Or rather, Aw crap.

Hey thirteen, when/where did you get called a troll? I missed that completely.

norm: Getting 1k posts is like watching a pot of water boil. It'll happen in the same amount of time as it would've if you weren't paying attention, but it's much easier to get distracted and not notice time pass if you're fucking around on MetaFilter.

redfoxtail: I was going to light the torch, but I forgot to pick it up, and I didn't even know we had a lantern.

> i
posted by cCranium at 10:58 AM on April 30, 2001

>i

You are carrying:
a wicker cage (which is open but empty)
a small bottle (which is empty)
a brass lantern (providing light)
some tasty food
a set of keys

>
posted by bradlands at 11:08 AM on April 30, 2001

I forgot to close a tag just now. Thus, the sole purpose of this post was to close the tag. I blame my 56K modem.

But cCranium beat me to it. So now this post has no purpose.

But I'll post it anyways.

Also, I was hunting for fossils in Ohio this weekend, and so I missed the First Annual 1142 Vegetarian Hot Dog Discussion. This makes me sad, but in an eclectic way.

It's hard to find flowering plants that like to grow in the shade.

close wicker cage
posted by iceberg273 at 11:21 AM on April 30, 2001

cCranium, that would be in 7307: A thread that will live in infamy.
posted by thirteen at 11:44 AM on April 30, 2001

>close wicker cage

You close the wicker cage.

>
posted by bradlands at 11:49 AM on April 30, 2001

>e
posted by redfoxtail at 11:56 AM on April 30, 2001

Damn, it's an absolutely gorgeous day, and I just don't want to do my work. Don't wanna! Don't!

Perhaps I will go sequester myself somewhere dark and dank, then not let myself out until I've achieved something of substance. Ugh.
posted by redfoxtail at 12:02 PM on April 30, 2001

>e

In Debris Room

You are in a debris room filled with stuff washed in from the surface. A low wide passage with cobbles becomes plugged with mud and debris here, but an awkward canyon leads upward and west.

A note on the wall says, "Magic word XYZZY."

A three foot black rod with a rusty star on one end lies nearby.
posted by bradlands at 12:04 PM on April 30, 2001

Oh, if only young Brad had known, on that fateful day, that his wish ("When I grow up, I wanna be a text-based adventure parser!") would come horribly, tragically true.
posted by anildash at 12:17 PM on April 30, 2001

I love adventures! Pick up the rod.

I hope we don't have to fight any trolls, like, say, thirteen.
posted by Skot at 12:25 PM on April 30, 2001

>take rod

I don't seem to be taking my own advice about the dank work-hole, do I? Drats.
posted by redfoxtail at 12:31 PM on April 30, 2001

>Pick up the rod.

Taken.

>
posted by bradlands at 12:37 PM on April 30, 2001

Man, all the good infighting happens in the threads about train stations.

I figure Brad's Zork knowledge is going to run out after about three more posts. I think we should play Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Heads Nor Tales Out of It, the one and only Infocom "game" I finished in one sitting.

> I love adventures! Pick up the rod.

I don't understand "love".

I hate it when Brad ruins my fun. Except that he does it in such a fun way!
posted by cCranium at 12:38 PM on April 30, 2001

>take rod

You already have that.

>
posted by bradlands at 12:40 PM on April 30, 2001

>gesture vigorously at note with rod
posted by iceberg273 at 12:43 PM on April 30, 2001

>gesture vigorously at note with rod

That's not a verb I recognize.

>
posted by bradlands at 12:47 PM on April 30, 2001

This always happens. I took those lessons in thrid grade about using more specific verbs seriously. And look where it got me.

>hit note with rod
posted by iceberg273 at 12:52 PM on April 30, 2001

"XYZZY" should be a slam-dunk to decipher--not a common pattern--but I'll be damned if I can think of it.

>Say "Walla Walla, Washington"
posted by Skot at 12:54 PM on April 30, 2001

>Say "Walla Walla, Washington"

I bought my car in Walla Walla, Washington! How about that!
posted by iceberg273 at 12:57 PM on April 30, 2001

>hit note with rod

I only understood you as far as wanting to hit the note.

>Say "Walla Walla, Washington"

You can only do that to something animate.

>
posted by bradlands at 1:00 PM on April 30, 2001

XYZZY might be GAMMA or MOTTO or MANNA or JESSE.
posted by iceberg273 at 1:02 PM on April 30, 2001

But it isn't; it's just magic. So there.
posted by redfoxtail at 1:08 PM on April 30, 2001

Wait! Does this mean that brad passes the turing test?

>w
posted by iceberg273 at 1:09 PM on April 30, 2001

Yeah, I thought of manna and gamma (though not the others), but they just didn't seem, y'know, fraught with meaning. Not that Brad isn't willfully perverse enough to pick any of those.

>Take note.
posted by Skot at 1:11 PM on April 30, 2001

>w

Sloping E/W Canyon

>
posted by bradlands at 1:11 PM on April 30, 2001

>take note

You can't see any such thing.

>
posted by bradlands at 1:13 PM on April 30, 2001

Oops, left without the note.

>e
>take note
>w
posted by iceberg273 at 1:13 PM on April 30, 2001

You sillies! XYZZY (spoiler, of sorts).
posted by redfoxtail at 1:17 PM on April 30, 2001

>e

In Debris Room

>take note

That's hardly portable.

>w

Sloping E/W Canyon

>
posted by bradlands at 1:22 PM on April 30, 2001

You sillies! XYZZY (spoiler, of sorts).

<slap forehead>Of course!</slaps forehead>

>w
posted by iceberg273 at 1:23 PM on April 30, 2001

> say XYZZY
posted by cCranium at 1:25 PM on April 30, 2001

>w

Orange River Chamber

You are in a splendid chamber thirty feet high. The walls aare frozen rivers of orange stone. An awkward canyon and a good passage exit from east and west sides of the chamber.

A cheerful little bird is sitting here singing.

>say XYZZY

(to the little bird)
Cheep! Chirp!

>
posted by bradlands at 1:31 PM on April 30, 2001

Christ, I am so not getting anything done today.

>open wicker cage
>take bird
posted by Skot at 1:36 PM on April 30, 2001

I hope this adventure doesn't have a forest. I always got lost in forests. And industrial parks (listless suddenly gets wistful about 'Hampstead'. Tries to get on bicycle without clips. Falls off).
posted by feelinglistless at 1:38 PM on April 30, 2001

>open wicker cage

You open the wicker cage.

>take bird

The bird was unafraid when you entered, but as you approach it becomes disturbed and you cannot catch it.

>
posted by bradlands at 1:39 PM on April 30, 2001

we've got some tasty food . . .

>put food in cage
posted by iceberg273 at 1:45 PM on April 30, 2001

>put food in cage

You put the tasty food into the wicker cage.

>
posted by bradlands at 1:47 PM on April 30, 2001

Goddamn bird.

>Put cage on floor
posted by Skot at 2:12 PM on April 30, 2001

>put cage on floor

Dropped.

>
posted by bradlands at 2:23 PM on April 30, 2001

When will daveadams overtake Neale as 1142's top poster?

Yikes, it looks like if I don't start posting I'll be overtaken by these damn text-adventure-seekers.
posted by daveadams at 2:38 PM on April 30, 2001

>wait
posted by redfoxtail at 2:38 PM on April 30, 2001

I will overtake Neale, though. Just you wait and see. I'm the king of being annoying and posting far more than I should.
posted by daveadams at 2:39 PM on April 30, 2001

I hate text adventure games.
posted by daveadams at 2:40 PM on April 30, 2001

Mostly because I suck at them.
posted by daveadams at 2:40 PM on April 30, 2001

Is it cheating to post one-sentence posts like this just to keep my lead?
posted by daveadams at 2:41 PM on April 30, 2001

Yes I know I'm not really in the lead just yet. But I will be. I... WILL... BE.
posted by daveadams at 2:42 PM on April 30, 2001

When I was in sixth grade I was much more creative than I am now. Not only did I pen my infamous YIKES! comics, but I also wrote a series of sci-fi adventures entitled Star Burgers. It was a big hit at the time as I recall, but looking back I wonder if I really was that poor of a writer in sixth grade. You can read Star Burgers on my website and tell me what you think. Is that typical 11-year-old writing or was I dumber than I thought?
posted by daveadams at 2:46 PM on April 30, 2001

By the way, my online alter ego user ID that I occasionally employ when I want to be anonymous comes from Star Burgers. I've always been enamored with that particular creation of mine for some reason. It seems to be pretty unique, however. The only place I've been unable to get an account with that name has been on AIM. Everywhere else it seems to be available.

No, I'm not going to tell you what it is, but if you're smart you'll figure it out.
posted by daveadams at 2:48 PM on April 30, 2001

>wait

Time passes.

>
posted by bradlands at 2:50 PM on April 30, 2001

Am I crazy? I'm re-writing my custom blogging software, generalizing it for multiple weblogs of a variety of types. I hope to include discussion capability and an extensive selection of inline macros, plus rule sets for a standard weblog, a discussion blog, an online diary, and a webzine. All that and I'm not even sure I want to provide a service or software to anyone. Am I crazy?

Don't answer that.
posted by daveadams at 2:51 PM on April 30, 2001

Of course, all the templating will be handled with XSLT, although that may not be the interface I present to the user. But if the only user is me, do I care about such things?
posted by daveadams at 2:52 PM on April 30, 2001

Community band rehearsal is tonight... we're playing a couple of decent songs this time around. One in particular has a rawkin' horn part: American Overture for Band by Joseph Wilcox Jenkins.

We're also playing an Ellington medley, a My Fair Lady medley, and a South Pacific medley. What's with the medleys in concert band? Gack.

I guess all the good stuff is written for top-level wind ensembles, which we are not. It's hard to get high quality out of a once-a-week band of anyone-who-wants-to-come.

Still, why can't we play Hindemith's Symphony in B flat just once?
posted by daveadams at 2:56 PM on April 30, 2001

Actually there's lots of good stuff out there for concert band/wind ensemble. Even stuff at our average skill level. But we don't play enough of it. We had Schumann's Be Glad Then, America in our folders, but I think it's been dropped. It had potential if we could have cleaned it up. A lot.

Grainger wrote a ton of great band pieces, but noooo, we have to play medleys and marches. They're the crowd pleasers supposedly. My wife, in the crowd, hates marches. Myself, a horn player, I also hate marches.

Well, some aren't so bad, but when 80-90% of your part consists of offbeats it gets kinda tiresome. But you'll find that the only section in a band that can play offbeats well is the horn section.
posted by daveadams at 2:58 PM on April 30, 2001

The word 'the' has appeared in this thread 2681 times (prior to this post).
The letter 'z' has appeared 197 times.
On average, Neale posts at 6:03 PM PST.
The number 1142 appears in this thread 32 times.
The word 'wrong' appears 40 times.
The standard deviation of thirteen's posts is 4 hours and 5 minutes.
There have been 503 questions asked. Some of them were rhetorical.
This is my 26th post.
posted by iceberg273 at 3:01 PM on April 30, 2001

Urban sprawl: it's a problem. If you've read my weblog over the past couple of years, you'll know how much I hate the sprawling, auto-centric development that has taken over our cities. Blech.

It's bad enough when all new construction is built in such a way and in such a location that no sane person would even attempt to approach outside of an automobile, the bigger the better.

It's even worse when city governments, county governments, state governments, and the federal government come in and exacerbate the problem. Post offices in strip malls, anchor libraries on the very edge of town, turning vast swaths of center cities from vibrant (or at least potentially vibrant) neighborhoods to parking lots, using powers of imminent domain to drive out what viable businesses and residents do remain to create half-assed and misguided "urban renewal" that usually ends up sucking what life is left in such an area right out. All of this happened in the 50s, the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, and it's still happening.

And it's so frustrating. Surely there's a better solution? Surely all that money going to building more roads, more sewers, extending infrastructure out at exponentially larger and larger costs isn't worth it. Couldn't we use that money to subsidize sane, human-scale, pedestrian-oriented development instead of the kind of junk we throw up nowadays?

Sure, society has changed. Mostly because of the way we choose to subsidize development. It feeds on itself, but that doesn't mean we can't go back.

But do you think the government's going to be able to fix it? I don't. Forcing people to develop things one way is only going to cause a different set of problems.

Is it hopeless?
posted by daveadams at 3:08 PM on April 30, 2001

I admit it. I watch Survivor. And I like it. And I'm sooo looking forward to seeing the final episode this Thursday. I think Colby's got it wrapped up unless Tina can somehow win immunity.
posted by daveadams at 3:10 PM on April 30, 2001

daveadams, I used to write weird, "humorous" stuff just like that at that age. I was also fascinated with Andy Capp, for some odd reason, and filled many notebooks trying to duplicate his visage.

You're about to find out why I was terrible at these text games: frustration.

>hit bird with rod
posted by Skot at 3:12 PM on April 30, 2001

I've been playing a lot of Debussy lately. I have this book that I got way back like eight years ago, called The Joy of Debussy. Cute title, but it's got a lot of good stuff. I wish Estampes and the Etudes were included, but there is Children's Corner and most of Suite Bergamasque.

Particularly, I've been working on Prelude from Suite Bergamasque the last few days. It's a lot easier than it looks, but there's still a lot of great moments. And plenty of challenges for the ill-trained but determined pianist.

If only I had more motivation to practice, I could probably be a pretty decent pianist. But just when I start to get good I slack off, lose interest in the pieces I'm playing, and start focusing on something else.
posted by daveadams at 3:15 PM on April 30, 2001

However, the word redundant has only appeared once. Until now.
posted by iceberg273 at 3:16 PM on April 30, 2001

Clair de Lune, though, is one of my favorites. It's the reason I got the book. My mom inspired me to learn it by playing the first bit of the piece from memory. My mom is amazing: she was recalling a piece she had learned 30 years prior when she was in high school.

She couldn't make it all the way through, but she did get past the intro, which everyone has heard a thousand times probably, to the second section. I fell in love with those arpeggios the moment I heard them, and I knew I had to learn that piece.

I still haven't mastered Clair de Lune, but I've got those arpeggios down cold.
posted by daveadams at 3:20 PM on April 30, 2001

I know why the bird won't come out of the cage, but I'm not tellin'. (And it has nothing to do with Maya Angelou.)

Surely all that money going to building more roads, more sewers, extending infrastructure out at exponentially larger and larger costs isn't worth it. Couldn't we use that money to subsidize sane, human-scale, pedestrian-oriented development instead of the kind of junk we throw up nowadays?

Who is "we"? Local governments tend not to discourage growth because it makes real estate developers unhappy. In Maryland, the governor has been making a rhetorical shift towards "smart growth", but it remains to be seen whether there's a sufficient desire on the part of the American general public to live closer to urban centers to make it work. And if there isn't, you're screwed -- if you do everything you can to make cities affordable and liveable for middle-class America, and they still don't come, you're out of luck.

The ring city approach is fine in some ways, but when the ring expands, you get dead areas that used to be suburbs -- when the property value drops, the schools go to hell, there's less pent-up desire to move there, and property values drop. It's a vicious cycle, and there's almost nothing you can do to resucitate an area that, when you get down to it, had very little other than affordable homes and decent schools to recommend it. I grew up in an early planned community (Columbia, Maryland, as discussed in some previous MeFi threads), and the solution that seems to be working there is attracting middle-class immigrants and retirees, but that can't work everywhere, can it? I was reading about rundown L.A. suburbs about a year ago, and they just sounded like a horrible place to live.
posted by snarkout at 3:22 PM on April 30, 2001

the word redundant has only appeared once. Until now.

Let me screw up your stats: redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant.
posted by daveadams at 3:22 PM on April 30, 2001

Who is "we"?

Society. Builders. Developers. Whoever is responsible for allowing all that junk to be built. And that's all of us.

Local governments tend not to discourage growth because it makes real estate developers unhappy.

I know why they do it. But anyway it's not about discouraging growth. And I hate to use this line of reasoning because it's so close to the "smart growth" propaganda, but it's about how you grow. Auto-centric development is not the only option. It's just the only option we have built into our zoning codes, government regulations, collective mind, or what-have-you. It's the only way we can even imagine growing.

Just try to open up a restaurant, an apartment complex, or an office building in an older, urban area in a mostly-suburban city without providing the "right" amount of parking. It doesn't matter if you can succeed at such a business or not. The existing rules do not allow you to take that risk, and potentially change just a little bit how things currently work. And big-city bureaucracy is so thick and slow and painful that most people are not willing or able to take the necessary steps to get around the regulations in order to take that risk.

if you do everything you can to make cities affordable and liveable for middle-class America, and they still don't come, you're out of luck.

True, but we haven't done everything we can. Until recently, most cities certainly didn't encourage making cities affordable and liveable. In fact it seemed as if they were doing everything in their power to destroy the urban-ness of themselves.

It's always easier to build anew, start from scratch. Entropy forces us to constantly work just to keep up the same standards. But my question is, is the easy way the best way?

Or a better question is, who's going to change this, anyway? I've already stated I don't trust the government to do so. Developers seem to love to stick to what they know, and most of them know auto-centric suburban development. I dunno what the answer is.
posted by daveadams at 3:37 PM on April 30, 2001

Well, that's enough for now, folks. But I'll be back. Count on it.
posted by daveadams at 3:37 PM on April 30, 2001

True, but we haven't done everything we can. Until recently, most cities certainly didn't encourage making cities affordable and liveable. In fact it seemed as if they were doing everything in their power to destroy the urban-ness of themselves.

Well, that sure as hell is true.

Developers seem to love to stick to what they know, and most of them know auto-centric suburban development. I dunno what the answer is.

If there's a profit to be made, someone's going to jump into this. I'm down with the left, but building homes that people will buy is one of the things that capitalism takes care of very well. (See also "providing me with many delicious flavors of salty snack food." Do not see "providing health care to all Americans.") The problem is establishing a successful model, as the Rouse Co. did for (feh) urban shopping/entertainment destinations. What government should be doing is dinging developers for the real costs of development and using tax credits to encourage affordable urban and existing-suburban housing re-development, but "we're making your new house in the 'burbs more expensive" isn't a proposition that's going to fly in most states. (Maryland is an exception, but it's one of the most liberal states in the nation, and people are sick to death of the overstrained infrastructure during rush hour.)
posted by snarkout at 3:50 PM on April 30, 2001

>hit bird with rod

I only understood you as far as wanting to hit the little bird.

>
posted by bradlands at 3:51 PM on April 30, 2001

Dammit Dave, not only had I been the only person to use "redundant" in this thread, but I had also been the person to use it the most in all of MeFi history, and with one post you took that away from me. I accuse you of sprawling redundant sprawl!

redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant
redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant
redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant
redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant redundant


redundant

Back off my word.
posted by thirteen at 4:08 PM on April 30, 2001

That looks way meaner than I intended it too.

I am very sleepy.

I heart Dave.
posted by thirteen at 4:12 PM on April 30, 2001

put fish in ear
posted by zempf at 7:06 PM on April 30, 2001

formerly unrecognized contender:

bradlands - 38 posts
posted by lagado at 7:11 PM on April 30, 2001

Oops, I appear to be in the wrong text adventure. Anyway, I would love to be a participant in this thread, but I don't have the time or motivation to reload it every hour and keep up with the conversations.. which is really too bad, because it's very interesting in here, what with the history of WWII, plays, CD reviews, and Dave's epic quest to beat Neale as the top poster.

My suggestion is that someone who is less lazy than I should write up a script that will take note of the changes to the thread between 12am & 11:59pm from day to day & then email them in a daily digest form to those who wish to subscribe. That way us D-listers won't feel so left out of your little C-list get-together here. Actually, having made the suggestion, maybe I'll just write it myself. Anyone else interested in subscribing to 1142list?
posted by zempf at 7:13 PM on April 30, 2001

zempf - 6 posts (including this one, how very meta)

Go me!
posted by zempf at 7:16 PM on April 30, 2001

>take basket
>e
>drop rod
>w
>take bird
posted by redfoxtail at 7:43 PM on April 30, 2001

Dave, you know about the (too lazy to link) MeFi projects announcement link, right? Do me a favor in my laziness, and email me about your weblog software, I'll send you some cool stuff.

This reminds me of a Usenet newsgroup I frequent, where people will often post messages to a particular regular asking him to email them. I don't understand this behavior, so I'm trying to mimick it in an effort to comprehend.
posted by anildash at 7:53 PM on April 30, 2001

>take basket

You can't see any such thing.

>e

Sloping E/W Canyon

>drop rod

Dropped.

>w

Orange River Chamber

A cheerful little bird is sitting here singing.

You can also see a wicker cage (in which there is some tasty food) here.

>take bird

You can catch the bird, but you cannot carry it.

>
posted by bradlands at 9:05 PM on April 30, 2001

Take Wicker Cage.
Take Food from wicker Cage
Open Wicker Cage
Take Bird
Put Bird in Cage
Close Cage
Do the happy dance.

What the hell goes on in here when I'm away? I'm never sleeping again.
posted by Neale at 5:18 AM on May 1, 2001

zempf, you don't need to update hourly to keep up, although it's much more fun.

Hell, you don't even need to respond to anything in this thread to keep up, or even read anything in this thread!

You don't even have to visit the thread to keep up, but it's a much more interesting way of doing things.
posted by cCranium at 6:52 AM on May 1, 2001

I've been noticing little sub-communities among the bloggers for a long time, and this thread is definitely creating one. It's all about C-listers, and then there's a couple of B-listers trying to boost their indie cred. Of course I always thought Brad was an A lister, but we know damn well none of them would be caught dead amongst riff-raff like us, so I guess he ain't. And Neale is a lapsed B-lister, but now is back up to C-list just based on contributions here. I am now officially waiting for 1142 spillover. I'll check "recent comments" starting today...

Oh, and this was my 15th 1142 post. Yee freaking haw.
posted by norm at 7:39 AM on May 1, 2001

i'm here and i'm reading, but i don't have anything to say, and i really should work...

(and, dang, the preview's a beast in here w/o broadband.)
posted by Sean Meade at 8:12 AM on May 1, 2001

This whole B-lister thing is kind of weird, because.. dude, you're blisters. That's awful. I think we should skip B-lister in the list hierarchy and go straight to C-listers, moving all the other list-dwellers down a letter. Of course, this would leave the Z-listers without a list to call their own, but.. hell, they're Z-listers. Screw 'em.
posted by zempf at 8:21 AM on May 1, 2001

>take wicker cage

Taken.

>take food from wicker cage.

Removed.

>open wicker cage

It's already open.

>take bird

You catch the bird in the wicker cage.

>put bird in cage

You can't see any such thing.

>close cage

You close the wicker cage.

>do the happy dance

That's not a verb I recognize.

>
posted by bradlands at 8:59 AM on May 1, 2001

What if you're not a blogger at all? I guess I'm a [null set]-lister. On the other hand, this place is starting to feel like a default blog.

Can I just say? I bought a CD yesterday purely on word of mouth (finding out later that a song off of it is featured in a Gap ad), and it's really, really wonderful. At least on first listen.

I'm not so highbrow as daveadams, and I probably will never be. I very much identify with Rob in High Fidelity (a great book and lovely movie--fans should not miss Mr. Hornby's followup novel About A Boy, which is somehow even better). I'm pretty much a slave to pop music (good pop, y'know, rock [including punk and hair metal and bubblegum and Beach Boys-style-harmonies and all, yeah, the gamut] and pretty much everything except fucking reggae, which drives me fucking nuts. I once made a mixed tape where I shoved Hanson's "Mmmmbop" [brilliant bubblegum!] next to Lou Reed/John Cale's "Trouble With Classicists," and everyone gave me hard, flinty, weird stares, except for this one horrifically pretty girl, who now lives with me--woo!)

13 (or anyone else in the neighborhood), work is likely sending me Chicago-way this fall. Care to have a beer on yours truly?
posted by Skot at 9:02 AM on May 1, 2001

I'm feeling much better today

This thing is starting to run slow even with a fast conection. Maybe Matt does not have to chase us away, eventually this thing will tower of Babble down on our heads, and we will not be able to go any further with it.

I know Neale has been guarding this place with an iron fist leaking blood, but I feel like turning up the speakers and letting the noise rule for a bit. I love when 1142 gets mentioned in Metatalk, and people stumble into this kooky thread.

I would be mighty happy to meet up with you Mr. Skot. I share your love of unbalanced mix tapes.

I finally saw some of that IBM sidwalk graffitti today. I am not so keen on graffitti, but it is hard to get mad at the little Linux penguin. That said, I flew into a rage. What were they thinking?
posted by thirteen at 9:10 AM on May 1, 2001

I'm glad it got mentioned in some MetaTalk thread, cause it did help me find it.. I like reading this place, although I don't know that mentioning it elsewhere would necessarily do much. I mean, 1000+ posts would probably be somewhat intimidating to someone who hasn't looked at this thread at all before (not me, of course, but I have lots of free time).

Any denizens of 1142 care to stop by Columbus & buy me a milk or something? (I don't drink)

I think Napster is taking its toll on me.. I haven't bought a CD in quite a while, preferring to instead just leech the tracks in MP3 form. I know this is bad, cause a lot of the artists I listen to could probably use the money, but it's there and it doesn't cost me $15+. Am I evil?
posted by zempf at 9:26 AM on May 1, 2001

I'm desperately trying not to type "eat bird"

>w
posted by Skot at 9:32 AM on May 1, 2001

>w

At Top of Small Pit

At your feet is a small pit breathing traces of white mist. A west passage ends here except for a small crack leading on.

Rough stone steps lead down the pit.

>
posted by bradlands at 9:42 AM on May 1, 2001

Good lord, I'm the link for blister. (Insert requisite "I'd like to thank the Academy..." joke here.) And, fellas, (yeah, it's gotta be an all-boys club in here....) I've seen Brad soaking wet, and let me tell you:

Brad is an a-lister.
posted by anildash at 9:44 AM on May 1, 2001

Oh I forgot, I don't drink either, but I am sure to be able to get a Diet Coke or something.

I have this text game, but I have not been able to learn the commands. That means I am dumb.

I cannot tell you the number of times I have thought "If I could only make friends with anildash, he would bring me into his world of weblog superstardom"

anildash: Will you be my friend?
posted by thirteen at 9:52 AM on May 1, 2001

>fuck
posted by werty at 10:01 AM on May 1, 2001

If anil rejects you, I'll be your friend. We can go out to bars together & make fun of the drunks. I may not be a B-lister (and I think I'm still working on attaining C-lister status), but what the hell?
posted by zempf at 10:07 AM on May 1, 2001

Diet Coke, salad, meat-on-a-stick, Necco wafers, whatever. I'm easy.

I don't mind if you make fun of me when I'm drunk.

[giggle]

>examine crack
posted by Skot at 10:09 AM on May 1, 2001

If there's a profit to be made, someone's going to jump into this. ...building homes that people will buy is one of the things that capitalism takes care of very well. The problem is establishing a successful model...

Right right right.

What government should be doing is dinging developers for the real costs of development and using tax credits to encourage affordable urban and existing-suburban housing re-development

Very true. Even without the tax credits, assessing the "real costs" of new development would go a long way to righting the balance.

but "we're making your new house in the 'burbs more expensive" isn't a proposition that's going to fly in most states.

Unfortunately true.

Sigh.
posted by daveadams at 10:11 AM on May 1, 2001

This thing is starting to run slow even with a fast conection. Maybe Matt does not have to chase us away, eventually this thing will tower of Babble down on our heads, and we will not be able to go any further with it.

Noted without comment, but with the hope that someone with a few hours to kill and access to a server will do something about it: 1142.org is available.

I am not so good with the art music -- I like the Shostakovich I've heard, and I like Phillip Glass, but that's about it for my knowledge of 20th century composers. I'm listening to X right now, and I bet John Doe and Exene Cervenka could deliver a whupping to a Glass/Shostakovich tag-team, especially since Shostakovich is dead. Later I will listen to some Velvet Underground, then American Music Club, then Public Enemy. Then I'll begin my afternoon marathon of instrumentals (Mouse on Mars, the Dirty Three, Man or Astroman, DJ Spooky, the Replikants, Labradford).

I need to start bringing some different CDs to work.
posted by snarkout at 10:11 AM on May 1, 2001

Anyone here a member of Netflix? I know Matt Haughey is, and he seems to like it. $20/month gets you unlimited DVDs delivered to your door, four at a time, keep em as long as you want and return them in postage paid envelopes when you're done and you get the next DVDs in your queue. They seem to have just about every DVD ever made, it looks totally awesome.

Personally I would sign up for it in a second, but my wife is skeptical... so who has an idea on how to convince her it's worthwhile? :)
posted by daveadams at 10:16 AM on May 1, 2001

If you guys are enjoying the text adventure, might I recommend the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy java game. It's all the oldschool text-adventure goodness without having to go out to the garage & dig up your old Apple and your 5 & 1/4" disks. Plus it's faster than waiting for Brad to respond :)

A couple of friends of mine subscribe to Netflix & they seem to like it a lot. I think they pay a little extra ($25/month maybe?) to be allowed to get a few more DVDs at a time, but they appear to think it's well worth the money. Definitely better than Blockbuster, at least.
posted by zempf at 10:21 AM on May 1, 2001

I wanted to subscribe to Netflix, but Netflix doesn't like the Canucks yet.

Not that I can blame them, really, I mean, once you go international there's a serious load of annoying legalities involved, but dammit, I want to get DVDs mailed to me.

1142.org is no longer available. If anyone knows off-hand of a cheap host that provides some kind of database and server-side scripting, lemme know.

Actually, I'm rather suprised a 4-digit domain name was still available. Craziness!
posted by cCranium at 10:32 AM on May 1, 2001

123CheapHosting.com!

No, wait, wait...
posted by snarkout at 10:46 AM on May 1, 2001

I think I'm going to go with Conneticut Web. Even if they end up being super-sucky, it's $24. Well, that'll end up being like $40, but I'll keep pretending it's $24. And it's for the year, so screw it.

PHP and MySQL means, depending on my work load, there may be something there to pillage this afternoon!

But probably not.
posted by cCranium at 10:52 AM on May 1, 2001

Blugh. It's been, like, _MINUTES_, and I still haven't gotten a "Thanks for your money, sucker!" e-mail yet.
posted by cCranium at 11:02 AM on May 1, 2001

You really bought 1142 Rob? Why is it I cannot shake loose for my own domain, much less whimsical side projects?
Is this why I am not on the A-List?

I remember some prehistoric Wired hot/not list that said it was no longer enough to not have an aol e-mail address, it had to be a personal domain, and I thought "That is what millionaires do".

According to prehistoric me, and my uninformed math, Rob is a millionaire 3 times over.

I am so cheap.
posted by thirteen at 11:13 AM on May 1, 2001

I like the Shostakovich I've heard

Shostakovich is really interesting. To all appearances, he was a Soviet patriot and a great supporter of his homeland. But the purpose of the Soviet artist was to uplift and embolden the Worker and to pay tribute to the motherland and the government. All his life, Shostakovich walked a fine line between advancing the art of music and pleasing the Soviet government and the Soviet people. His works were often met with great acclaim, but more than once Stalin himself disparaged the works as "muddles" and "noise" that went against the Soviet ideal. Not-so-subtle threats ensured Shostakovich would try harder to walk the party line with his works.

There is no doubt that Shostakovich's creativity may have been stifled in some ways by the oppressive nature of the Soviet view of art, but at the same time, his patriotism and the constant struggle of the USSR in the early twentieth century also lent him great pride and passion that he poured into many of his works.

Shostakovich also expressed his creativity in more subtle ways. Rather than risk death by continuing to produce works unpleasing to Stalin's ears, he instead managed to write a number of pieces, including the monumental Fifth Symphony, which met with approval by less-experienced listeners in charge of the government, but deep within their structure tweaked cynically at the system that repressed his greater artistic freedom. Thus, Shostakovich managed to produce serious works of lasting artistic importance without risking his life by betraying the Soviet asthetic.

After another bout with Stalin in the late 40s, Shostakovich "retired" to a few years of composing bland film scores rather than risk angering the tyrant again. But after Stalin's death in 1953, artists were encouraged to be more open, and Shostakovich returned to composing more serious works.

He died in 1975, at the age of 69, while in the midst of composing his Sixteenth Symphony. Since his death much debate has ensued about the true level of his patriotism including lots of intrigue including a fradulent autobiography and more than a lot of rhetoric. Nevertheless, while Shostakovich may not have been one of the 20th century's most influential or innovative composers, he was certainly one of the greatest and most prolific.
posted by daveadams at 11:15 AM on May 1, 2001

... although I guess the smartest con-people wouldn't actually laugh in your face. Oh, a URL for the service, in case anyone cares. Which you don't, anyway.

Still no response.

13, all you need is $15 of room on your credit card and a little faith in Internet transactions. Well, decent hosting can be a little bit trickier to dig up.

And I own 4 domains now. :-) (rmd.cx, sell-out.com, thelecturn.org and 1142.org. Only one of which actually has anything resembling "interesting", but that's mostly just bitching and whining about computers, these days.)
posted by cCranium at 11:16 AM on May 1, 2001

cC, you're very quick on the draw. I was going to suggest Pair, or even suggesting hosting it myself on my Pair account, but very well. If you require any assistance on coding the site, I've got a bit of PHP/MySQL experience under my belt.
posted by daveadams at 11:18 AM on May 1, 2001

Why is it I cannot shake loose for my own domain, much less whimsical side projects? Is this why I am not on the A-List?

Well, it's certainly not the only reason.
posted by daveadams at 11:19 AM on May 1, 2001

This is cool, guys: A spell-checker with a cool DHTML interface (IE5 and Mozilla only, unfortunately), that calls a spell-checker using XML-RPC over the web.

It's even cooler that the spelling RPC service they used was Speller, courtesy of yours truly. Wahoo!
posted by daveadams at 11:22 AM on May 1, 2001

Skot, whether or not you actually have a blog, you're a blogger. I can just tell.

In the meantime, there's always the smart people Yahoo! group, which is sorta like a mini-1142, except no one posts there. Also, I am working on a half-assed 1142 primer for my page, which I'll make sure I link back if/when it gets done. As for the sheer size of this thread, I think the end is likely inevitable; but surely we can push it past 1000 before the plug gets pulled, right?

(if it does, I propose we colonize thread 1143, if only to designate another clubhouse to hang out at).
posted by norm at 11:22 AM on May 1, 2001

Man, I don't even want to go to MeFi's home page anymore. I think I'm burnt out.
posted by daveadams at 11:25 AM on May 1, 2001

Oh, I decided to check out 123cheaphosting.com just for kicks, and man, their packages aren't good. I just don't understand hosts that don't offer some kind of server-side scripting and a database. Even NT hosts should toss out ASP and Access on the cheap (which most don't) and there's no excuse for a Unix host not to offer PHP and mySQL for pennies.

daveadams, it's not so much that I'm quick on the draw as I am impatient and looking for something to waste time doing this afternoon.

norm: pimpin' the list. Awright!
posted by cCranium at 11:26 AM on May 1, 2001

Latest page size (before this comment): 482,532 bytes

Folks, we are approaching half a megabyte.

Half of a freakin' megabyte!
posted by daveadams at 11:26 AM on May 1, 2001

The first computer we had was a TI/99-4A. I think it had 16k of RAM? At the time, that was impressive. I'm not so impressed anymore. It would take 30 TI/99-4As to store this thread, not to mention the web browser and TCP/IP stack. Dang.
posted by daveadams at 11:29 AM on May 1, 2001

it's not so much that I'm quick on the draw as I am impatient and looking for something to waste time doing this afternoon

Ah, yes, well that's understandable. I'm with you there. If I didn't have 1142 to waste time on, I might find some programming project, too.
posted by daveadams at 11:30 AM on May 1, 2001

Did you know "re" is a legit English word? At least according to my friend's dictionary. We were playing Scrabble and I challenged "re" (it was the end of the game anyway), and it was in there. It's a freakin' preposition. I think that's a load of crap... oh well.
posted by daveadams at 11:36 AM on May 1, 2001

Just filling my five-post quantum.
posted by daveadams at 11:36 AM on May 1, 2001

Well, hell. You people are getting more prolific by the day -- I missed the previous eight posts or so while pondering my previous reply. So I guess the designated clubhouse has been bought.

BTW, 13, I am on your bandwagon. My biggest line I've so far crossed on my own personal blog odyssey is paying freeservers to remove the damn banner ads. I should have put the $5 towards just getting my own domain.

Anyways, does CT-web host, too, or are you hosting this yourself? I don't really understand, but that's why I'm the no-tech blogger.
posted by norm at 11:40 AM on May 1, 2001

I need to be prolific if I'm going to beat Neale.
posted by daveadams at 11:45 AM on May 1, 2001

norm: pimpin' the list. Awright!

I posted TWICE to the list today! I have lost 5 total posts to the list! The list does not like me!

Dave: I am starting to feel like you don't love me again.

Folks, we are approaching half a megabyte.

That is a whole lot of text.
posted by thirteen at 11:47 AM on May 1, 2001

If we have an 1142 domain, we should have an 1142 chat. How about tonight at the traditional #blogIRC location: irc.turlyming.net. Yeah yeah.
posted by daveadams at 11:52 AM on May 1, 2001

I do love you, thirteen. What can I do to make you feel better about our relationship?

How about some ice cream?
posted by daveadams at 11:54 AM on May 1, 2001

I know you like ice cream.
posted by daveadams at 11:56 AM on May 1, 2001

Dave, unlike this thread, I could play Tunnels of Doom on the TI/99-4A. If I remember correctly, $500 would buy you the memory peripheral with a whopping 64K RAM.

cC, thanks for your money, sucker. Why doncha put up a paypal link so we can chip in?

By the bye, I think that the revival of the $30 contest will create a thread that could give 1142 a run for it's money. Methinks we should prepare accordingly.
posted by Avogadro at 11:56 AM on May 1, 2001

Oooh, by my count I have 155 (now 156 comments in this thread). I'm catching up to you Neale! You'd better watch your back!
posted by daveadams at 11:59 AM on May 1, 2001

Oooops, I did those parens allll wrong.
posted by daveadams at 11:59 AM on May 1, 2001

I got my pay slip today.

Vacation Balance: 136.83 hours
Sick Balance: 180.00 hours
Personal Balance: 8 hours

What the--? Why don't I get sick more often?

On the other hand, I am taking a week off in May, and then in the fall, my lady and I are trying to get to Europe. Fly into Paris, then train to Italy. Travel/airfare tips are welcome. I have never been out of this goddamn country (save for Canada).

I just got done ordering a four-CD set from Amazon. It's an ALL-CANADIAN compilation. I know. But it's because I'm still going fucking nuts over that Kings song "Switching To Glide" (referenced way up there), and it's on there. This is the level of mania I operate on. Fortunately, there's other good stuff on there.

Unfortunately, there's also a lot of crap on there. I've gone to further lengths to obtain obscure music.

Next up: locating an old House of Love CD.
posted by Skot at 12:03 PM on May 1, 2001

>fuck

Real adventurers do not use such language.

>examine crack

The crack is very small -- far too small for you to follow.

>
posted by bradlands at 12:09 PM on May 1, 2001

Italy is a very overrated country. Pretty, but overrated. I'm a huge fan of Austria, though; go to Salzburg. My wife went on the Sound of Music tour and I went to the castle and saw the torture instruments and the armaments collection. Afterwards we ate at der Wildermann, which features dead things on the wall and real Wienerschnitzel. Very nice. Germany is extra-cool as well. Munich has the Kartoffelhaus, which is an old restaurant built awhile back to popularize the eating of potatoes. And then there's the beer. May I recommend the Hofbrauhaus? Very cliche, but there is a reason: the beer rules.

Never been to Paris, but I hear it's very pretty and full of snotty French people. Amsterdam is the best city on earth. Read into that what you will.
posted by norm at 12:14 PM on May 1, 2001

Thanks, norm (also for the nice words above, unless you meant blogger derogatively, which I doubt)! I spent two years studying Renaissance and Northern Renaissance art in college, so I have a motive for Italy. Also, we have a place to stay in Milan, and I'm relatively poor.

I must get to Germany. Mmmmm. Beer.

>d
posted by Skot at 12:19 PM on May 1, 2001

"Re" is a note on the scale. "Do re me fa so la ti do", you know? (According to the online Miriam Webster, the etymology is related to the notes to which the syllables were sung in a medieval hymn to John the Baptist. Fascinating! Even if I broke from my stated preference for the American Heritage Dictionary over at Bartleby.com.)

I used to be pretty good at Scrabble as the result of vicious Scrabble battles with my grandfather.

Dave, the Soviet discouragement of formalism in favor of socialist realism certainly doesn't rank up their with the butchery in the Ukraine or the state reaction to the supposed Doctor's Plot (maybe not even with the farce of Lysenkoism), but it was a crime nonetheless. There was some darn interesting art going on in Russia until Stalin squished it dead.

I have a weblog at snarkout.org, but that URL doesn't resolve because of XO issues (it's being hosted off a friend's machine, and XO is his ISP), and I don't feel like making people remember any address with a tilde.

Gandi.net makes it all happen, Thirteen. And hey, you like the punk rock. Who wins the four-way showdown of '70s punkers: the Clash, Wire, Television, or Iggy Pop? (The Sex Pistols and the Ramones have been disqualified.)
posted by snarkout at 12:23 PM on May 1, 2001

re: PayPal... recently they changed the way international accounts work. Like, the day I finally got everything setup so I could donate to MeFi, they went and changed everything. I haven't been back since, I should probably check out what's happening with it, but I'm really not terribly concerned about the $50 or so I'm putting towards this. Perhaps if 1142 does over 3gb/day (my transfer limit) I'll ask people to help out, but one-time fees I'm decidedly unconcerned with.

I think I have to figure out how to get PayPal talking to my bank account, and then everything will be okay. Perhaps? If I do figure it out, I'll toss up a PayPal box but again, I'm not especially hurt by the money.

Plus, I mean, it's credit. It doesn't actually _exist_ until I get the bill, and that's almost a whole month away at this point!

These people are taking way too long to tell me what's going on.

Thirteen: Yahoo Messenger's been fucking up on me a lot lately, and I mailed one thingy into the list and it took a number of hours to show up in my mail box. Actually, messenger still hasn't told me I've got new mail there for my Yahoo! account. I'm thinking of moving it to a real mail server somewhere, I just have to find one.
posted by cCranium at 12:27 PM on May 1, 2001

Skot: do you get compensated for unused sick days upon retirement? I think my employer does that... pretty cool.

Let's see... my payslip is similar but my employer breaks it down into days, not hours, so it's a little easier for my brain to comprehend:

Vacation leave: 9 days, 4 hours
Sick Leave: 7 days, 1 hour, 30 minutes
Your personal day has not been taken for 2001

Yes, our personal day policy is pretty wacky.
posted by daveadams at 12:27 PM on May 1, 2001

"Re" is a note on the scale. "Do re me fa so la ti do", you know?

Yes I know, but in my dictionary it was listed as Italian and more importantly, not as a particular part of speech, which is all-important in my interpretation of the Scrabble rules (it has to be a part of speech, not an abbreviation, no apostrophes or hyphens, and not capitalized). However, "re" was also listed as a preposition, meaning "in regards to" or "regarding." LAME!
posted by daveadams at 12:33 PM on May 1, 2001

>d

In Hall of Mists

You are at one end of a vast hall stretching forward out of sight to the west. There are openings to either side. Nearby, a wide stone staircase leads downward. The hall is filled with wisps of white mist swaying to and fro almost as if alive. A cold wind blows up the staircase. There is a passage at the top of dome behind you.

Rough cut stone steps lead up the dome.

[Your score has just gone up by twenty-five points. You have so far scored 61 out of a possible 350, in 24 turns, earning you the rank of Adventurer.]

>
posted by bradlands at 12:42 PM on May 1, 2001

Nice idea, but I doubt they'll give me unused sick leave when I shuffle off. It's a non-profit. Stupid cancer research.

We get two personal days a year. Hah! Trump!

I love Scrabble, but my friends won't play it with me any more after they challenged me to a game as a group (Skot vs. the World) and I whupped them. (That this is as close to a brag as I can come is probably very sad.) Have you guys ever played Guillotine? It's just fun as all hell.

I'm also trying to get people jazzed about Cosmic Encounter, but as they're not geeks at heart like me, they're crabbing about the learning curve. Mutter.
posted by Skot at 12:49 PM on May 1, 2001

Anyone going to the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis this weekend?
posted by daveadams at 12:54 PM on May 1, 2001

Hey, here's something that happened in 11/42.
posted by gluechunk at 1:06 PM on May 1, 2001

Man, this is the second time I've reloaded this page since Dave asked that, and no one else has posted anything! Where's the spirit of 1142 in that?

Ah, good, gluechunk posted while I previewed.
posted by cCranium at 1:18 PM on May 1, 2001

cC, I guess mentioning the "real world" brings up dismaying connotations to the more fragile readers of 1142, frightening them away from further posting. I promise I'll limit my future comments to more esoteric subjects.
posted by daveadams at 1:30 PM on May 1, 2001

Actually, I think everyone got distracted by the real world. Bastards with actual stuff to do that isn't frantically reloading 1142 to see if someone's said anything and frantically checking the mail server to figure out why the hell I haven't been able to setup a web site yet.

Stupid Conneticut Web, if I buy a _service_ online, I expect immediate access to said service.
posted by cCranium at 1:36 PM on May 1, 2001

Sorry, dave, but it's a bit of a commute. On the other hand, on my birthday, Radiohead and the Beta Band are playing an outdoor venue (the Gorge at George) near here. :::Palpitate:::

C'mon, you guys, help me out with this thing. I'll just screw it all up on my own. I get too impatient and miss things.

>w
posted by Skot at 1:37 PM on May 1, 2001

>w

On East Bank of Fissure

You are on the east bank of a fissure slicing clear across the hall. The mist is quite thick here, and the fissure is too wide to jump.

>
posted by bradlands at 2:11 PM on May 1, 2001

Maybe some of you adventure seekers need to attend this:

----------------------------------------------------------
Serious Dogs Productions presents:

CHOOZE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE: THE CAVERN OF TIME

A live parody of the classic literary series, Where you, the audience, get to choose your own adventure!

The Choose Your Own Adventure books were a pop culture phenomenon of the late 70's and early 80's where the reader was given the chance to decide what path the story would take next. They were simple yet exhilarating in their unique approach to fantasy and role-playing.

Serious Dogs Productions brings live to the stage their own take on the first of these marvelous books, "THE CAVE OF TIME" written by Edward Packard. Released in 1979 it tells the story of young Billy, who while on vacation for the summer discovers a cave that can take him to various epochs of time. Each adventure Billy embarks on becomes more exciting than the last.

Warning: Serious Dogs' approach to the tale is of an adult nature and is not recommended for children!

Join Billy as he slays dragons, fights pirates, battles with gladiators and saves the human race from crack-spores somewhere in the distant future.

The audience really will get to decide what happens next! We call it the ultimate in interactive entertainment!

The audience will get to vote throughout the evening as to which way the adventure will unfold. With over eighty possible story combinations, no two shows will be the same!

The show opens Friday, May 11th at the Union Garage, located at 1418 10th Avenue on Capitol Hill. It plays on Friday and Saturday nights at 11pm through Saturday, June 2nd. All seats are $7.

------------------------------------------------------
posted by gluechunk at 2:32 PM on May 1, 2001

Geez snarkout, disqualify the Ramones & the Sex Pistols? I don't know about that one. I guess I'd have to say the Clash, then, just cause I'm not up on my Wire or Television (& the Stooges were OK, but Iggy Pop weirds me out).
posted by zempf at 2:37 PM on May 1, 2001

gluechunk, I'm friends with the folks who are doing that! I've done a some shows with a number of them.

>open bottle
posted by Skot at 2:46 PM on May 1, 2001

Geez snarkout, disqualify the Ramones & the Sex Pistols? I don't know about that one.

Well, they're disqualified because they're the two obvious choices. Nobody wants to know who would win a fight between the Incredible Hulk and Bruce Banner. (I suppose one might disqualify the Clash as well...)
posted by snarkout at 2:49 PM on May 1, 2001

>open bottle

That's not something you can open.

A threatening little dwarf comes out of the shadows!

>
posted by bradlands at 2:59 PM on May 1, 2001

Snarkout: I don't know who would win but I would be at the Wire show, thinking about the Television (secret shame, my first aol signon was LJJ, which stood for Little Johnny Jewel) show. Wait, do I get to see all the bands play, or do I have to pick my favorite? I saw Television play a few times (past their prime, but amazing), but I never saw Wire, and I am sure those boys could remove a bone from my arm, and I would not notice due to the pleasure of being in the same room as them.

The Clash never did too much for me, but I would lend money to Gang of Four. The Ramones were good, but not as good as the bands they inspired. I am only interested in pulling Iggy offa Lou Reed so he could answer my trivia questions. I do pull out Raw Power every once in a while, but it does not rock me nearly as hard as it does other people.

Wire, Wire all the way.
posted by thirteen at 3:00 PM on May 1, 2001

To quote an old stoner friend, Rad!

Brad, I don't know why you're feeding my dumb needs, nor do I care. Bless you.

>kill dwarf

Might as well not get fancy. (See, now if I were smarter, I could probably turn him into an ally or something, but of course, no, I just go off like a rocket. This is why you wankers should be helping.)
posted by Skot at 3:04 PM on May 1, 2001

I used to love Choose Your Own Adventure books! I seem to recall one or two that were programming adventures, so that you had to write (okay, copy) programs out of the book to play games dealing with different challenges that you faced. Sometimes the program would determine your next move. I never typed those programs in because it was all a lot of DATA commands with a bunch of binary data that was meaningless to me. Boooorring.
posted by daveadams at 3:07 PM on May 1, 2001

Same with all the programs in Home Computing or any of those game program magazines. DATA statements are lame! That's not the interesting stuff.
posted by daveadams at 3:11 PM on May 1, 2001

But in general, Choose Your Own Adventure rocked. It was always fun to go through over and over and make sure you'd hit every option.
posted by daveadams at 3:12 PM on May 1, 2001

So are we chatting tonight?

irc.turlyming.net #1142 at 7pm CDT?
posted by daveadams at 3:14 PM on May 1, 2001

Skot and brad's game would go a lot faster over IRC at least.
posted by daveadams at 3:15 PM on May 1, 2001

Bah.
posted by daveadams at 3:50 PM on May 1, 2001

This is my 171st comment in this thread.
posted by daveadams at 3:52 PM on May 1, 2001

Thank goodness for pseudoephedrine.
posted by daveadams at 3:53 PM on May 1, 2001

Anyone know any good recipes for red velvet cake? I'm not talking about chocolate cake dyed red, I'm talking about real red velvet cake. I hear it requires much work including vinegar and baking soda. I'm a horrible cook.
posted by daveadams at 3:55 PM on May 1, 2001

One more post and then I'm gone for the day.

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
posted by daveadams at 3:56 PM on May 1, 2001

Dave! Red Velvet Cake is my offical cake. A google search brings up many hits, but I linked to a few that I liked for different reasons here.
posted by thirteen at 4:04 PM on May 1, 2001

>kill dwarf

Not with your bare hands. No way.

The dwarf throws a nasty little axe at you, misses, curses, and runs away.

>
posted by bradlands at 4:10 PM on May 1, 2001

>Open wicker cage.
>Put bird in wicker cage.
>Close Wicker cage.
>Take Axe

This place is getting so Matt might have to close it on bandwidth reasons alone.

I propose that 1142.org find hosting and quickly. Would make a very good community site. Sort of like a crap hackers site.... i'll chip in for hosting if we can find a cheap package.

Dave is going to overtake my comment count soon, and it won't really be my thread anymore. Luckily, Dave will loose interest in a couple of months and that's when I'll kick his doggy arse.

Isn't chat on on thursdays AUS, wednesday US?

I got an e-mail from random house today asking what my book is about. WOOOHOOOOOOO!
posted by Neale at 5:18 PM on May 1, 2001

Never count Neale out. 'Course he might need to invest in a new and faster modem.

Wow. I take off a measly 24 hours to write a couple of final exams (I support my 1142 habit with a graduate stipend) and blam!

And I'm leaving for Chicago tomorrow to present my research on language comprehsion, syntax, and the spontanteous speech filler "uh" at a conference, so I'm going to miss another gazillion posts.

*iceberg weeps softly*

At least we've reached Adventurer.

*iceberg goes back to his tear-stained final exams.*
posted by iceberg273 at 6:18 PM on May 1, 2001

Oh - I showed up for Dave's irc chat 1 hour and 35 minutes late. And no one was there.

*iceberg breaks into violent sobbing because it's been a hard day and he's still answering exam questions about the Case Filter and the Visibility Condition, and because he missed the chat, if it happened at all, and besides, if you're going to have some sort of emotional breakdown, it should be in some hidden part of a site that does get spidered by google so that some day somebody will find this and ask me a strange question in a job interview which I will answer all wrong, but get the job anyway and end up with a health care plan that almost good enough, but not quite.*

Don't worry about me. I've always been very sensitive.
posted by iceberg273 at 6:36 PM on May 1, 2001

"Uh" is nifty.

Lord, I had better get back to my own damn work and say something interesting about anaphora, frame shifting, and Mystery Science Theater 3000. I wish it were a final exam, because then there would be a natural and pre-determined end in sight, but instead I'm faced with the vast gaping pit of my own inability to come to any kind of useful conclusion about my research, and that unfortunate state of affairs can go on for freaking ever. Alas, it will also come to a head tomorrow in class, when I am supposed to present said research. Oops.
posted by redfoxtail at 6:53 PM on May 1, 2001

redfoxtail: good luck tomorrow. when in doubt, here's a dictionary of useful proof methods. I personally enjoy "proof by vigorous handwaving".
posted by iceberg273 at 7:27 PM on May 1, 2001

This is why you wankers should be helping.
Arggh. I always show up at the wrong time: Someone has issued commands, Brad hasn't answered.

On another topic, it we have to colonize another thread, I suggest we pick this one for numerical relevance. I think you know what I'm getting at.
posted by Lirp at 7:35 PM on May 1, 2001

Wow! All these academic types in here. I just put in my deposit for Hamline U law school today. The University of Minnesota had deferred my decision and I was risking losing the massive scholarship Hamline offered me to wait for the U of M. So the day I drop off this deposit I come home to find... that's right, my acceptance letter for the U of M. ARGGHH!! Now what do I do?
posted by norm at 7:44 PM on May 1, 2001

colonize another thread

When you think about it, this makes us sound positively parasitic. :) Some vignettes . . .

. . . *Yeah, the doctor says I've got this growth in the mid-1100's. It's probably benign, but I'm thinking of having it removed.* . . .

. . . That evening, as the shadows grew long, and the host grew sleepy, the parasites planned their next move.

*Has the host noticed us?*

*Dunno. He used to check out the growth every so often, but lately, nothing.*

*Well, should we start another colony? This one's getting pretty huge.*

*I wonder if we're slowing down the host?* . . .
-------------------------------

What should you do, norm? I'll tell you what!

>help norm pick a law school

(I'm sorry. It's late, and I'm not getting anything done on these exams. I don't suppose you can get the deposit back before the right (wrong) people see it. If this was a sitcom (and it may be), you and three young, healthy, twenty-something friends who have only free time although they pull in $30K a year would go break in to an important building to retrieve the deposit. Hilarity would ensue, and your problem would be solved in 30 mintues. There would also be some pretty funny outtakes. I'm sorry again. I'm really not being helpful at all. *iceberg 273 wanders off again, in a somewhat excitable manner*)
posted by iceberg273 at 8:10 PM on May 1, 2001

>open wicker cage

(releasing the little bird)
The little bird flies free.

>put bird in cage

You catch the bird in the wicker cage.

>close wicker cage

It's already closed.

>take axe

Taken.

>
posted by bradlands at 8:11 PM on May 1, 2001

>help norm pick a law school

I only understand you as far as wanting to help.

>
posted by bradlands at 8:16 PM on May 1, 2001

Well, at least you understand that I'm trying to help.

>e
>d
posted by iceberg273 at 8:21 PM on May 1, 2001

My dinner:
4 (four) pieces of toast - white served on eyeball colored oven glass plates.
2 (two) CherryJello servings in 3 oz pyrex glass bowls.
2 (two) Diet Cokes 16.9 oz. plastic bottles
1 (one) glass of water - large
1 (one) iced cube - orally inserted.

(((((((in stereo where available)))))))
posted by thirteen at 8:55 PM on May 1, 2001

Wow, I thought I ate like crap. I think I made myself a falafel pita for dinner with some chips & salsa. And then a midnight snack of PB&J on rye.

(you should just be happy to get me in mono)
posted by zempf at 10:00 PM on May 1, 2001

Dinner tonight was strawberry multi-grain pancakes, yum!
posted by sudama at 10:40 PM on May 1, 2001

>e

In Hall of Mists

You are one end of a vast hall stretching forward out of sight to the west. There are openings to either side. Nearby, a wide stone staircase leads downward. The hall is filled with wisps of white mist swaying to and fro almost as if alive. A cold wind blows up the staircase. There is a passage at the top of a dome behind you.

Rough stone steps lead up the dome.

>d

Hall of the Mountain King

You are in the hall of the mountain king, with passages off in all directions.

A huge green fierce snake bars the way!

>
posted by bradlands at 11:40 PM on May 1, 2001

Generally I do eat pretty good. My lunch was eaten @ 2 something, and it was not sitting very well. My wife suggested the items I wolfed as easily digestible foods that might waylay some of the evil I had going on. I think she was right, or at least did a fine psych number on me because I am now feeling pretty good, and inhaling another Diet Coke.

Those pancakes of Mr. Sudama sound pretty good right about now.

I am drawing my 34th and 35th bottles of wine this year, and watching Braveheart for the 7th time in the year 2001. I am the wine guy. It helps pay the bills, and nobody ever complains that the wine's nose is too big, but I could really use a nice editorial piece rightt about now.

Neale, what made you come up with the weblog jr. high piece, and were you peuding as Sally Tallpenny during her reign of terror?

I'm not loading OSX until I get native versions of the drawing and painting programs. I know this is gutless, but I don't want to run emulations.

Cinco De Mayo is coming, unless you are going to ground zero intentionally, stay the hell away from Humbolt Park. 2 years running I have gotten stuck on slow moving buses, that can take 1/2 an hour to travel 2 blocks. I used to love it when I was a kid, now it just gives me too much time to contemplate the hideous, poorly sculpted statue of Pero Albizo Campos in front of the Puerto Rican museum. It is only a matter of time before the FBI firebombs the building, and everytime I see the place I know I am in immediate danger. Thusly, alternate travel plans are a must.

Oil is wasted on cars.

My gerbils have stopped sleeping together, they have now set up seperate nests. I do not know what this means.

I saw a May Day parade today, I give it a 3 because they tried so hard and there were pink haired cheerleaders. Without the cheerleaders it would sink to a solid 1.5.

In Japanese 1.5 would be pronounced ichi ten go. 1/5 would be pronounced gobun no ichi.

kombunwa
posted by thirteen at 11:45 PM on May 1, 2001

What is it that you're doing with wine, thirteen?

>verbose
posted by sudama at 12:08 AM on May 2, 2001

I'm not sure I understand the question. I generally take reference photos of the bottles so I don't have to buy the wine I illustrate. A few bottles had to be bought, but I go to lots of parties, so I just bring it along and put it on the table for people to enjoy. I figure if it is good enough for someone to pay me to draw a picture of it, it should be enjoyable. I wear the X and have no use for alcohol. All the drawings are for a dining section of a magazine that has a wine column.

Or were you suggesting that I sound drunk?
posted by thirteen at 12:43 AM on May 2, 2001

Well, still no response from the unreliable web host, but once I do get one, it should only take me a few hours to get a rough system going.

I love the concept of rating via google search terms.

I had a thought this morning. We're going to want some kind of user authentication method at 1142, so we know who we are, but I'm mildly concerned about identity theft. I mean, I could quite easily create a user called "mathowie" and pretend to be Matt, and so could anyone else.

I think that what I'm going to have to do is ask people to send me an e-mail from their registered MeFi account to get their MeFi username. Does that sound fair to everyone, or can anyone think of a better way to do it?
posted by cCranium at 6:33 AM on May 2, 2001

Since I'm interested in fair play, I'll link to a hosting site with phenominal customer service.

I just sent an e-mail to the Conneticut Web people asking what was happening, and went out to have a smoke. By the time I returned, I'd received a personal response explaining the delay, with my account information.

Since I'm at work, it's going to take a little bit longer than a few hours to set the site up, but I'll hopefully be able to pound something out tonight.
posted by cCranium at 6:49 AM on May 2, 2001

Damn, I was going to ask for Verbose.

>i
posted by werty at 7:08 AM on May 2, 2001

[thirteen] Red Velvet Cake is my offical cake.

Awesome. Just more proof that we were meant for each other, thirteen... No... wait... that's not what I... huh?
posted by daveadams at 7:14 AM on May 2, 2001

I forgot about the X briefly and thought maybe "drawing the wine" was a term or euphimism for something I wasn't familiar with.
posted by sudama at 7:18 AM on May 2, 2001

[Neale] Dave is going to overtake my comment count soon, and it won't really be my thread anymore.

You're going down, sucka!!!

[Neale] Luckily, Dave will loose [sic] interest in a couple of months and that's when I'll kick his doggy arse.

You're probably right. You know me too well, Neale.

[Neale] Isn't chat on on thursdays AUS, wednesday US?

Who knows what day/time it is in Australia? Who even cares? Not me. I was talking about a new chat, just for 1337 1142ers. Alas, it didn't happen.
posted by daveadams at 7:19 AM on May 2, 2001

[iceberg] And I'm leaving for Chicago tomorrow to present my research on language comprehsion, syntax, and the spontanteous speech filler "uh" at a conference, so I'm going to miss another gazillion posts.

Coooool. Any interesting findings to share with this group?

That reminds me of a story I heard on NPR one time about how people pronounce "the." And the researchers found that despite the myth(?) that people pronounce it "thee" before vowel-sound-starting words and "thuh" before consonant-sound-starting words, the most significant indicator was instead whether they were going to pause after saying "the." So if you were going to say "the" and then pause for a moment to think of the next work or for dramatic effect, you would pronounce it "thee" but if you were just talking smoothly, you would pronounce it "thuh."

I find it impossible to examine my own speech for these patterns, however, without thinking about it too much for the results to be relevant. And I'm far too lazy to tape myself speaking just to find out how I say it.
posted by daveadams at 7:23 AM on May 2, 2001

I showed up for Dave's irc chat 1 hour and 35 minutes late. And no one was there.

That's okay, I wasn't actually around at 7pm anyway... I had to run an errand after work and it took MUCH LONGER than it ever should have. I hope I didn't trick anyone into coming to chat with me. I couldn't live with that kind of guilt.
posted by daveadams at 7:32 AM on May 2, 2001

Alas, it didn't happen.

I'm sorry, Dave. I was 1473 instead of 1337. But only by an hour and 35 minutes.

cC: The email idea sounds good. I'm sending one now. And I have to be away for the next couple days. Of all the luck. :(

I had Wheaties for breakfast because that was the only cereal in the store giving something away in the box last time I bought cereal, so I had to buy Wheaties on principle (when I was young, there were always prizes in the cereal box, none of this sending away for stuff, and I'm of the opinion that there still should be, choking hazards or not).
posted by iceberg273 at 7:33 AM on May 2, 2001

I had a thought this morning. We're going to want some kind of user authentication method at 1142

How does the joint username setup work between MeFi and the5k? Could the same be employed in this case?
posted by Lirp at 7:34 AM on May 2, 2001

Hey, that wasn't there when I previewed.
posted by iceberg273 at 7:34 AM on May 2, 2001

Again! Everybody's talking at once!
posted by iceberg273 at 7:35 AM on May 2, 2001

>verbose

ADVENTURE is now in its "verbose" mode, which always gives long descriptions of locations (even if you've been there before).

There are faint rustling noises from the darkness behind you. As you turn toward them, you spot a bearded pirate. He is carrying a large chest.

"Shiver me timbers!" he cries. "I've been spotted! I'd best hie meself off to the maze to hide me chest!"

With that, he vanishes into the gloom.

>i

You are carrying:
a dwarvish axe
a wicker cage (which is closed)
a little bird
a small bottle (which is empty)
a brass lantern (providing light)
some tasty food
a set of keys

A threatening little dwarf coems out of the shadows!

>
posted by bradlands at 7:40 AM on May 2, 2001

So I went to cC's user profile to get his email address - and look what I found!

>give dwarf some food
posted by iceberg273 at 7:43 AM on May 2, 2001

[cC] I love the concept of rating via google search terms.

Huh??

[cC] user authentication method at 1142[.org]..... ask people to send me an e-mail from their registered MeFi account to get their MeFi username. Does that sound fair to everyone, or can anyone think of a better way to do it?

Would it be possible (maybe more work than you're willing to put in), to have someone come to the site for the first time, click on "register" and there be an option to "grab my MeFi username" which would then grab the email address from the MeFi profile page and send an authentication email to that address with a URL to a validation page and a unique code that would identify everything correctly? Actually that wouldn't be too difficult.

Then, if other people wanted to sign up who didn't have MeFi IDs or who didn't want to use their MeFi ID, you could run a check against the Mefi profiles for the requested username so that you wouldn't have any overlap.

OR, you could just require everyone to be a MeFi member. You could even restrict it by date (if you're checking the profile page), so only us 1337 old-skoolers could get in. ;)
posted by daveadams at 7:44 AM on May 2, 2001

Frontpage Server Extensions SUCK. They're essentially a hack around using real server extensions. Why Microsoft has gone this long without just writing some reasonable ISAPI plug-in that does the same thing, but stores all the meta-information somewhere out of the users' reach where they can't delete it and sabotage themselves is beyond me. Frontpage SEs are totally antithetical to the Microsoft way of doing things, yet here they are. Oh well.
posted by daveadams at 7:53 AM on May 2, 2001

>give dwarf some food

You can't see any such thing.

>
posted by bradlands at 8:07 AM on May 2, 2001

>look south
>look north
>look up
posted by iceberg273 at 8:10 AM on May 2, 2001

>look south

I only understood you as far as wanting to look.

>look north

I only understood you as far as wanting to look.

>look up

I only understood you as far as wanting to look.

>
posted by bradlands at 8:18 AM on May 2, 2001

Yay! The cavalry is here and helping me out with Adventure! Praise Allah. Where the hell did that Dwarvish Axe come from?

I was beginning to worry that you had abandoned us, iceberg.

cCranium is my hero. What a cool idea this is.

I'm going to see the Mariners game tonight; I'm trying to get over my snitty attitude about their recent losses. Sports fans are such dinks--here the Ms set a record for wins in April, and I sink into a funk over two dropped games (one a 14-inning battle of attrition and the other against the most terrifying pitcher in baseball). And yet I cannot help but feel blue. WIN! WIN, YOU BASTARDS!

daveadams frequently mocks me for being a cranky bastard. I deserve it.

I know in my heart I should trust iceberg's altruistic instincts. I realize this. But I am helpless against my urge to type:

>kill dwarf with axe

Which, I am reasonably certain, will produce some sort of boggle reaction from computer-Brad because I no longer remember the Zorkish phrasing one is supposed to use.
posted by Skot at 8:23 AM on May 2, 2001

Cranky bastard...
posted by daveadams at 8:36 AM on May 2, 2001

I only understood you as far as wanting to look. X 3

And this is why I never could get off the ship in the Swiss Family Robinson text based adventure. (It was on our computer when I was a kid. Don't ask me where it came from. My father installed a lot of weird stuff. He still does. He used to build Apple computers in the 80s. Don't ask me why. He's an educational psychologist.)

I was beginning to worry that you had abandoned us, iceberg.

Nah. I'm just stuck with deadlines and such. Eventually the real world finds out that you're hanging out in 1142 and comes looking for you. Well, the real world caught me and is demanding that I get certain things done by 6 p.m. tonight (the time I leave for Chicago). Stupid real world. (You'll notice that my posting rate has gone way up as a result of having a lot of work to do. I'm in denial or some such thing.)
posted by iceberg273 at 8:37 AM on May 2, 2001

Where the hell did that Dwarvish Axe come from?

Neale picked it up last night.
posted by iceberg273 at 8:44 AM on May 2, 2001

>kill dwarf with axe

I only understood you as far as wanting to kill the threatening little dwarf.

Tiring of this, the dwarf slips away.

>
posted by bradlands at 8:47 AM on May 2, 2001

Skot: I'm going to see the Mariners game tonight; I'm trying to get over my snitty attitude about their recent losses. Sports fans are such dinks--here the Ms set a record for wins in April, and I sink into a funk over two dropped games (one a 14-inning battle of attrition and the other against the most terrifying pitcher in baseball). And yet I cannot help but feel blue. WIN! WIN, YOU BASTARDS!

Oh, man, you should see what it's like in Boston. The Red Sox are tied for first in the division and Sox fans are ready to lynch Jimy Williams because he brought in Derek Lowe one time too many.

One more thing: Nomo is going to kick Red Sox-reject Sele's butt tonight. GO SOX!
posted by MarkAnd at 8:48 AM on May 2, 2001

I think we may be okay on bandwith here. Dhartung has 842k invested in his threads commented on page! 842k! He has over 2000 comments posted here! 1500 of em' telling me that my ideas about government will leave us in a world without roads. He's a freaking iron man.
posted by thirteen at 8:49 AM on May 2, 2001

Shit. That's right. Sele is pitching tonight. *heavy sigh* Against Nomo. I see that I will have to drink many beers.


>kill dwarf with axe

I only understood you as far as wanting to kill the threatening little dwarf.

See? I'm a bafflewit.
posted by Skot at 8:52 AM on May 2, 2001

Man, this post will officially kill my 1337 status. At least that gif will maintain the posterity. Heh.

re: Authentication

I don't want to do the joint authentication like the5k.org has setup, because the5k.org uses the MeFi database for that, which is why our membership skyrocketed when the entries were made public.

Basically, Matt would have to add in a (or let me know about an existing) hook, and I don't want to trouble him for our stupidity.

Dave, that script's a pretty cool idea, but too much work right now. There's a good chance I'll continue to tweak 1142, but to start it's going to be a list of comments and an input box. Perhaps some colour, though I'm not guaranteeing anything.

My only concern is that I won't be able to get peoples' e-mails while I'm at work, so I may point everyone to my yahoo account or something. But even then there'll be lag between wanting to register and being able to post.

> wield axe
> wait
posted by cCranium at 9:10 AM on May 2, 2001

thirteen, Dan may have more data taken up in his comments page, but as far as I know there aren't a dozen or so fools constantly reloading his page pretending to be witty. :-)
posted by cCranium at 9:11 AM on May 2, 2001

Oh, also, even if I wanted to fuck around with 1142 this afternoon, I can't because of the stupid firewall here. I can't ftp and I can't use the control panel because it uses port 8431 or something like that. Bah.

Oer, I almost forgot this:

[cC] I love the concept of rating via google search terms.

[DA] Huh??

Google ranks it's returns (in part) based on how many links to a given site match the search text. So if I were to link to MeFi with Cool Community Site then that'd be one point to metafilter.com when someone searches for "cool community site" for instance.

Of course, since I'm doing that link from MeFi itself, it's probably invalidated, but oh well.

So by linking to a site with "reliable" or "unreliable" or whatever, you can impact the way Google does search returns. One link from one person probably doesn't do too much, and there's a whole lot of other algorithms Google uses to weigh it's returns, but it's fun to think I'm changing the way a company is perceived.

If a meme is spread enough, it could have some pretty nifty culture jamming effects. For instance, Adam Mathes, an a Uber article from a while back tried to get everyone who read it to link to Andy Pressman with Talentless Hack.
posted by cCranium at 9:19 AM on May 2, 2001

>wield axe

That's not a verb I recognize.

>wait

Time passes.

>
posted by bradlands at 9:28 AM on May 2, 2001

You don't recognize 'wield'?! What kind of a piss-poor parser are you using? Jeez.
posted by cCranium at 9:38 AM on May 2, 2001

Crap. Which way did that pirate go? Will THIS work?

>follow pirate
posted by Skot at 9:43 AM on May 2, 2001

>throw axe
posted by thirteen at 9:49 AM on May 2, 2001

>follow pirate

That's not a verb I recognize.

A booming voice echoes through the hall: "Do not insult the parser."

>
posted by bradlands at 9:50 AM on May 2, 2001

>throw axe

Dropped.

>
posted by bradlands at 9:55 AM on May 2, 2001

[DA] Coooool. Any interesting findings to share with this group?

In two three a bunch of sentences: uh can affect the syntactic parser in two ways (that I've found so far). In spontaneous speech, listeners may encounter an temporarily ambiguous structure that is resolved later in the sentence (e.g. Sandra bumped into the busboy and the waiter . . . (1) . . . last night (preferred structure) (2) . . . told her to be careful (less preferred structure)). Of course, listeners are building a syntactic structure online as they are listening. In the cases of the temporarily ambiguous structures, the listener may begin building the wrong structure and then have to revise (this often occurs with less preferred structures). My research is looking at how the presence of an uh in these temporarily ambiguous sentences might affect the ability of the listener to properly analyze/reanalyze the structure of a sentence. Here's what turned up:
(1) If an uh occurs after an incorrect structure has been built, but before the listener has any information as to what the correct structure is, the listener eventually fails to correctly analyze/renanalyze the sentence more often than if the uh wasn't there, or if it was somewhere else in the sentence.
(2) Speakers are really likely to produce an uh near the beginning of a clause. If listeners hear an uh in a place that could be the beginning of a clause, they seem more likely to assume that a new clause is beginning. That's cool, because it means that listeners are sensitive to the frequency of a non-word paralinguistic thing.

So in English instead of psycholinguist-speak: if a listener hears an uh at the beginning of a clause, they will have an easier time analyzing the sentence, even if the sentence is temporarily ambiguous. However, if an uh increases the time that a listener 'holds onto' an incorrect analysis, they will have a harder time analyzing the sentence. So saying uh isn't necessarily bad - it just depends when you say it.

There's a bunch more stuff that falls out of this project, but that's the most important/interesting stuff. Right now I'm really hyped because there's a conference being held this summer in Edinburgh that's solely about disfluencies (the class of phenomena that uh is a part of).

(By the way, telling a researcher that his research topic is 'coooool' is a good way to (1) make his day, if not his month, and (2) get more jargon than you asked for. :)That's what happened to a reporter from the student paper here at State when he was interviewing my advisor about this research and she sent him to talk to me (since it's my thesis). The result, edited way down from what I actually said.)
posted by iceberg273 at 9:55 AM on May 2, 2001

Oh, hey, if you want me to auto-create you when I finish setting everything up, shoot me an e-mail with your Mefi username, and I'll letcha know when everything's ready.

note also that you don't have to use your MeFi username or anything stupid like that, I'm just hoping to prevent conflict.
posted by cCranium at 10:26 AM on May 2, 2001

I'm just going to wander around.

>take axe
>n
posted by iceberg273 at 10:53 AM on May 2, 2001

[iceberg] So saying uh isn't necessarily bad - it just depends when you say it.

Cooooooool. ;)

[iceberg] By the way, telling a researcher that his research topic is 'coooool' is a good way to (1) make his day, if not his month, and (2) get more jargon than you asked for

I'm fascinated by linguistics, even though I know almost nothing about the field. So any of that jargon you want to pass this way is plenty welcome. And I'm glad I made your day, if not your month. :)
posted by daveadams at 11:03 AM on May 2, 2001

If we really compress this thread, could it be submitted as an entry in the next 5K?
posted by gluechunk at 11:17 AM on May 2, 2001

Hoping to fit in with everyone else, I figured I'd post from work too, just to prove that my job is really this easy. Unfortunately, every time I read this thing I'm about 20 more messages in the whole & whole conversations seem to pass me by without my being able to comment on them (as well as the occasional move in adventure). Anyway, all I have to say about baseball is go Tribe & screw those damn Red Sox. Stole our freakin' Manny Ramirez.. bastards.

I can't even begin to imagine the amount of compression that would be required to get this thread below 5k.. maybe remove all the vowels? Dnt knw, myb thts nt gd d. h wll. Bck t wrk fr m.
posted by zempf at 11:27 AM on May 2, 2001

>take axe

Taken.

>n

You can't get by the snake.

>
posted by bradlands at 11:28 AM on May 2, 2001

C'mon people!

>kill snake
posted by daveadams at 11:36 AM on May 2, 2001

Oh yeah. The snake.

>say "go away, please"
>hit snake with axe
>hit snake with rod
posted by iceberg273 at 11:36 AM on May 2, 2001

zempf, zempf, it's okay. Look, this will cheer you up:
Manny vs. Juan

There, isn't that better? Besides, with Marty Cordova finding his Rookie of the Year stroke, all is well in Tribeland (well, at least with my fantasy team). In any case, at least I can walk up to the stadium and actually get in without too much planning.

And inasmuch as I don't remember Zork very well:
>eat snake
posted by Avogadro at 11:47 AM on May 2, 2001

>eat snake

No! No! I didn't mean that! I saw that "kill snake" was already taken (as I previewed) and I panicked! Arrrgh!
posted by Avogadro at 11:51 AM on May 2, 2001

>kill snake

Attacking the snake both doesn't work and is very dangerous.

>say "go away please"

Whom do you want to say that to?

>hit snake with axe

I only understood you as far as wanting to hit the snake.

>hit snake with rod

I only understood you as far as wanting to hit the snake.

A threatening little dwarf comes out of the shadows!

>
posted by bradlands at 11:59 AM on May 2, 2001

>help
posted by cCranium at 12:01 PM on May 2, 2001

The second time I saw Man or Astroman play was in 93 at the Empty Bottle. Halfway through the set, a huge portion of the audience started chanting "Hang Neal Armstrong!" and I got so upset I nearly cried. I have no idea why anyone would say such a thing.

I like Neal Armstrong.

Coco ended up getting his head forcibly shaved that night on stage.

I had some bitterness towards MOAM for awhile after that, even though it was not their fault. Coco is a friend of a friend, and I got to hang out with the band before a show at the Metro. I left thinking Coco was the coolest guy I had ever met. We talked about Tesla Coils, and his other band O.R.I. He gave me a free O.R.I cd, and I have tried to repay the favor by buying it for anyone I think might appreciate it. I am going to post a ORI link to the main page now, as they have mighty cool shareware.
posted by thirteen at 12:03 PM on May 2, 2001

>eat snake

I don't suppose the snake would care for that.

Tiring of this, the dwarf slips away.

>
posted by bradlands at 12:05 PM on May 2, 2001

zempf, zempf, it's okay. Look, this will cheer you up:
Manny vs. Juan

Oh, c'mon, they're totally different: Manny has MUCH more money.

(Why must you ruin my day?)
posted by MarkAnd at 12:11 PM on May 2, 2001

>help

A booming voice announces: "Welcome to the Colossal Cave!"

I know of places, actions, and things. You can guide me using commands that are complete sentences. To move, try commands like "enter," "east," "west," "north," "south," "up," "down," "enter building," "climb pole," etc.

I know about a few special objects, like a black rod hidden in the cave. These objects can be manipulated using some of the action words that I know. Usually you will need to give a verb followed by an object (along with descriptive adjectives if desired), but sometimes I can infer the object from the verb alone. Some objects also imply verbs; in particular, "inventory" implies "take inventory", which causes me to give you a list of what you're carrying. The objects have side effects; for instance, the rod scares the bird.

Many commands have abbreviations. For example, you can type "i" in place of "inventory," "x object" instead of "examine object," etc.

Usually people having trouble moving just need to try a few more words. Usually people trying unsuccessfully to manipulate an object are attempting something beyond their (or my!) capabilities and should try a completely different tack.

Note that cave passages turn a lot, and that leaving a room to the north does not guarantee entering the next room from the south.

If you want to end your adventure early, type "quit". To see how well you're doing, type "score". To get full credit for a treasure, you must have left it safely in the building, though you get partial credit just for locating it. You lose points for getting killed, for foolhardy actions, or for quitting, although dying costs you more. There are also points based on how much (if any) of the cave you've managed to explore; in particular, there is a large bonus just for getting in (to distinguish the beginners from the rest of the pack), and there are other ways to determine whether you've been through some of the more harrowing sections.

If you think you've found all the treasures, just keep exploring for a while. If nothing interesting happens, you haven't found them all yet. If something interesting *does* happen, it means you're getting a bonus and have an opportunity to gather many more points in the master's section.

Good luck, adventurer!

>
posted by bradlands at 12:31 PM on May 2, 2001

If we really compress this thread, could it be submitted as an entry in the next 5K?

yeah! how about this:

1142: 5ks of content, 550ks of fun (and growing!)
posted by Sean Meade at 12:32 PM on May 2, 2001

Turns out PayPal can hook into Canadian bank accounts, so I'll probably do that once I dig up my cheques.
posted by cCranium at 12:36 PM on May 2, 2001

I think I'm stealing that tagline for 1142.org, Sean.
posted by cCranium at 12:38 PM on May 2, 2001

Wow, as if this couldn't get more esoteric... Hey, only about 100 posts before 1000. I can't believe dhartung has over 2k posts here! Let's see, he's been here since March last year, so a little more than 13 months, that means like SIX POSTS A DAY! My God, that's amazing. I've picked up the pace, primarily in here (what's this for me now, like 17-18? something like that) in my quest to hit 1k by the end of the year. Although I have to say, I used to be bummed that I lurked for a couple of months so I couldn't get a really low number, but now that there are so many people number 1559 looks pretty cool. Are there going to be member numbers at 1142.org?
posted by norm at 12:41 PM on May 2, 2001

Yeah, probably. Perhaps I'll place some amusing importance on them.

Any suggestions or other random thoughts for 1142 are more than welcome.

I'm not sure when the DNS entries will propogate through, but it should start resolving sometime within 24 hours of 10am (Eastern time) this morning when I updated the nameserver records. I should be able to get a rough system in place tonight.
posted by cCranium at 12:45 PM on May 2, 2001

(note: if you're e-mailing me for pre registration, that will carry some weight to your cabal [there is no cabal] position since you'll get a lower number. I'll be going by the date stamps, and not bother to actually look at the headers, so spoof away! Also: bribes and flattery work. Perhaps I'll reserve everything under 100 just for those I truly love. Mwahaaaha! The power! The power! Everyone shall bow down to my supreme mastery! )
posted by cCranium at 12:48 PM on May 2, 2001

Were you looking at my entry, Gluechunk? (I'm mortified by the factual errors I introduced through a lack of sufficient editing. Damn it to hell. It's reminiscent of my job in the publishing industry, when I was reading an introduction to a book and griping to myself about the crummy job "whoever edited this" did, then flipped to the copyright page and saw myself listed as the copyeditor. Crimminy.)

By the way, telling a researcher that his research topic is 'coooool' is a good way to...get more jargon than you asked for

Arrgh. I get more than enough talking to Redfox. (No more wire hangers frame shifting! It's often quite interesting but usually more thinking about the process of language use than I care to engage in on a day-to-day basis.)

cC, if I don't get a user ID with distinct numerological significance, I will not be responsible for the Bad Juju that follows. I'd prefer 777, please.
posted by snarkout at 12:51 PM on May 2, 2001

I just lost a nice long post. It was mostly about my despair over trying to find a damn pair of jeans and some summer shorts. Perhaps it's for the best that it went away, as I am filled with such numbing boredom over even the idea of reading such a thing now.

I also remember commending cC for being an evil genius in typing "help."

>open cage
>feed snake
posted by Skot at 1:04 PM on May 2, 2001

Skot: feed snake with what?

>feed tasty food to snake

re: evil genius. I even own the book!

Hrm. Pick your own User number...

(#1 is already taken, vultures. I'm gonna give it to Matt in honour of facilitating this heaping waste of bandwidth and time. :-)

Also, I plan on storing as much stupid data as possible and having many statistics based on said data available for general perusal.

Other thoughts for 1142:
A store of keywords + URLs. When you post, every word (or every x words) is passed through and linked. Mostly just because I've always wanted to do something like that.
posted by cCranium at 1:11 PM on May 2, 2001

I was going for the bird, but whatever the snake feels like, I guess.

Common sense dictates who should get user number 13.

Could I have user number Pi? Or eleventeen? Or does it have to be an actual number/integer?
posted by Skot at 1:15 PM on May 2, 2001

Thirteeen: When I saw ORI opening for Man or Astroman, MoA did their ORI impression. "Hi, we're Operation Re-Information, and we're going to replace your whole band with the press of a single key." Hee hee. I hear from someone in Pittsburgh that ORI used to be called "Revo," which I think is actually a better name.

Right now, I'm listening to Unrest's "Isabel Bishop." Were this 1993, I'd be the coolest kid in the whole office.

If Skot can be pi, I want to be User #Sqrt(-2). I was a math major. I deserve it.
posted by snarkout at 1:19 PM on May 2, 2001

[exiting HELP]

Hall of the Mountain King

You are in the hall of the mountain king, with passages off in all directions.

A huge green fierce snake bars the way.

>open cage

[releasing the little bird]
The little bird attacks the green snake, and in an astounding flurry drives the snake away.

>feed snake

You can't see any such thing.

>feed tasty food to snake

You can only do that to something animate.

>
posted by bradlands at 1:33 PM on May 2, 2001

cCranium, I would like to be user #6 (the first perfect number!) please.
posted by daveadams at 1:34 PM on May 2, 2001

>n
posted by daveadams at 1:35 PM on May 2, 2001

Harry Nilsson's "Spaceman" just played on my webradio, and it made me very happy. Wooo! Now I want to hear "Jump Into the Fire." But no, it's--holy shit! Traffic's "Hole in My Shoe!" I can't remember the last time I heard this! Wow.

Gee. This makes me sound like an old fart. I'm not . . . I just cut my musical teeth on Maw and Paw's vinyl collection.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's release date is still over a month away, but it's #1 on Amazon's DVD sales cchart. No word yet on shipping my monstrous all-Canadian-acts CD compilation so I can hear "Switching to Glide."

Cool idea about the keywords, cC. May I request the keyword boner be employed? This word has enjoyed a renaissance in my personal usage as of late, mainly because I still think it's a funny word.
posted by Skot at 1:44 PM on May 2, 2001

Could I have user number Pi? Or eleventeen? Or does it have to be an actual number/integer?

I don't see why it would have to be, other than for quicker functioning. We do want uniqueness though, right?

Note: there's no guarantees on user numbers if you don't e-mail me at home. My memory is a freakin' seive, and if I give it away then I can't take it back, that's just mean. Stupid work, getting in the way of my fun...

the keywords will likely be an eventual functionality. They're certainly not needed. Also, I'll probably make it a checkbox beside the post button "Superlink my post!" or something. Plus there'll be an interface to enter keywords, etc... More than one URL can be used for a keyword, it'll pick a random one. I've been thinking about this one for while, but could never find an excuse to play with it.

What webradio station?
posted by cCranium at 1:48 PM on May 2, 2001

>n

Low N/S Passage

You are in a low N/S passage at a hole in the floor. The hole goes down to an E/W passage.

There are bars of silver here!

>
posted by bradlands at 1:55 PM on May 2, 2001

Why not assign the numbers according to amount of contribution to thread as of time x and then first come first serve thereafter?

I love stupid data.
posted by iceberg273 at 1:56 PM on May 2, 2001

It's SonicNet. (Someone will probably yell at me because they're big and evil in some way I didn't know about.) I like them because I can weight artist picks and skip songs I don't wanna hear. The algorithm is firing on all cylinders lately: previous song was "Last Night" by Lush, now playing "Take Ecstasy With Me" by Magnetic Fields.

Bitchin' Camaro!

>take silver
>n
posted by Skot at 2:02 PM on May 2, 2001

>examine bars of silver
posted by sudama at 2:11 PM on May 2, 2001

Why not assign the numbers according to amount of contribution to thread as of time x and then first come first serve thereafter?

So, in other words, I'd better make sure I have more posts than Neale?
posted by daveadams at 2:14 PM on May 2, 2001

This makes 187.... and by my count Neale only has 180.

WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
posted by daveadams at 2:17 PM on May 2, 2001

>take silver

Taken!

[Your score has just gone up by seven points.]

>n

At "Y2"

You are in a large room, with a passage to the south, a passage to the west, and a wall of broken rock to the east. There is a large "Y2" on a rock in the room's center.

>
posted by bradlands at 2:19 PM on May 2, 2001

>examine bars of silver

They're probably worth a fortune!

A threatening little dwarf comes out of the shadows!

>
posted by bradlands at 2:24 PM on May 2, 2001

>kill dwarf
posted by daveadams at 2:30 PM on May 2, 2001

Why not assign the numbers according to amount of contribution to thread as of time x and then first come first serve thereafter?

Because then I'd have to like, count and stuff. Besides, meaningless user ids are so much more fun than anything useful. :-)
posted by cCranium at 2:45 PM on May 2, 2001

Blugh. Now I'm pissed off, and I was having a really good day.

See, we've got a Survivor II pool here at work, and there's like, $150 in the pot right now. I picked Tina to walk away with the million 8 weeks ago, but have been summarily been made ineligible because a sudden decision was made on how to resolve the winner.

Made by 3 people who, conveniently enough, are the 3 people who are now eligible to win the pot. Is it really that difficult to organize a vote from 15 people?

So I sent a mildly snarky e-mail to the organizer. I feel a little bit better now though, because one of my coworkers sent an even snarkier e-mail to everyone in the pool, so I end up looking slightly less the ass, because I kept it private.

Well, private except for blabbing it all over a public web site that is...
posted by cCranium at 3:05 PM on May 2, 2001

>kill dwarf

Not with your bare hands. No way.

The dwarf throws a nasty little knife at you, but misses.

>
posted by bradlands at 3:06 PM on May 2, 2001

>throw axe at dwarf
posted by cCranium at 3:12 PM on May 2, 2001

>throw axe
posted by thirteen at 3:13 PM on May 2, 2001

I'm away for two days and suddenly I have to wait five minutes for a re-load.

This is my 12th post here. Quality not quantity.

How come Matt hasn't shut 1142 down - surely he would have noticed a thread this big by now - unless there are threads out there that are even bigger . . .

> ask dwarf for change for telephone
posted by feelinglistless at 3:15 PM on May 2, 2001

but we don't have the axe anymore!

>get knife
>get axe
posted by cCranium at 3:15 PM on May 2, 2001

feelinglistless: Why would he notice? Okay, there's the occasional link or reference made, but Matt's a busy guy. He's got bigger fish to fry.

What I'm worried about is when he posts the next Monthly Stats and sees the gig of data we've been sucking from the server.

>i
posted by cCranium at 3:21 PM on May 2, 2001

And besides, that sideblog entry for today's "funniest post"... he's obviously not paying attention here!

(do we say anything funny here, or do we just amuse ourselves?)
posted by cCranium at 3:27 PM on May 2, 2001

I was twice_posted_lad. There I have said it. I thought Doublepostguy would track me down and offer to tell me who he was, but it never happened. Hisssss hisssss *BAMPH*
posted by thirteen at 3:28 PM on May 2, 2001

I going to do something a little crazy here, and link to Ben's post SxSW 2000 comments because I'm the last one in the office, waiting for my girlfriend to get out of work and get me and I was bored so I started reading all the crap linked to at the start of this thread.

And, from the preceeding paragraph, you can tell I was reading a Ben Brown piece. Well, you can if you read a lot of Ben's writing, because he's got this amazing knack to write a story like he's standing there in front of you smoking a cigarette wait too fast with a can of beer in his hand and these big eyes and this expressive face and the spittle's practically leaping from his lips because he's so excited to share all these cool tidbits of typitytypity with us. But then, I've never met him so I don't know what he's like when he's telling a story.

But man, I _so_ want in. Getting to meet everyone I like talking to and just hanging out and partying and talking and stuff. That would be fun.
posted by cCranium at 3:46 PM on May 2, 2001

Any chance of hitting 1000 posts by the end of the day? Do your duty and post.
posted by gluechunk at 3:46 PM on May 2, 2001

Plus, I mean, it's almost 7 o'freakin'clock, which should've meant that I'm at home working on 1142.org, but I'm freakin' not because Jen's job blows donkey ass.

I'm not in a bad mood anymore though, it was just a phase.

twice_posted_lad was a good thought to get DPG to hunt you down and share secret identities, but it didn't go on long enough. Plus tpl was just mean.
posted by cCranium at 3:48 PM on May 2, 2001

I'm rivaling daveadams for number of posts in one live session.

Neale's going to hold that title for a really long time though.

Are you people manually counting all the posts or are you using some secret method I'm not aware of? 'cause manually counting the posts, that'd just be freakin' sick.
posted by cCranium at 3:49 PM on May 2, 2001

1142 has caused me so much guilt. I think I've made two donations since I discovered it.

Does ANYONE know who DPG is? This has also been a source of curiosity for me.

I'm so tired of looking at charts featuring whimsical things like bone marrow transplants, platinum resistance, and (today's winner) toxic megacolon.

On the other hand, one is occasionally treated to the inadvertantly hilarious, such as a flow note reading, "Physical exam unremarkable except for patient having no testicles."

Maybe the patient might find it worth a few remarks.
posted by Skot at 3:50 PM on May 2, 2001

Yay, I just got the e-mail that indicates I shall soon be free, and a little bit later be home, and some time after that be fed, and possibly later but possibly before just a wee bit high and working on 1142 and always twirling.
posted by cCranium at 3:52 PM on May 2, 2001

cC, use the "my comments" setting on the main page to get the counts.
posted by Skot at 3:52 PM on May 2, 2001

Doing my duty.. plus I'm bored. How are you guys counting the number of posts in here, anyway? I was thinking a word count on "posted" or something, but that wouldn't be accurate (cause I just said it, so..).
posted by zempf at 4:00 PM on May 2, 2001

Is this thing on?
posted by Skot at 4:01 PM on May 2, 2001

This is my 1039th post. When did I hit 1000? Yesterday? I am posting faster and faster, soon time will go backwards.

Twice_posted_lad was not mean, he was troubled. I had a whole backstory in place, but the opportunity never came up for me to spill his guts.

I think DPG is Neale.
posted by thirteen at 4:02 PM on May 2, 2001

>throw axe at dwarf

You killed a little dwarf! The body vanishes in a cloud of greasy black smoke.

>throw axe

Already on the floor.

>ask dwarf for change for telephone

You can't see any such thing.

>get knife

Taken.

>get axe

Taken.

>i

You are carrying:
a dwarvish axe
a small knife
some bars of silver
a wicker cage (which is open but empty)
a small bottle (which is empty)
a brass lantern (providing light)
some tasty food
a set of keys

>
posted by bradlands at 4:19 PM on May 2, 2001

I am not DPG. I am not Sally TENpenny.

I will vanquish Dave yet.
posted by Neale at 4:22 PM on May 2, 2001

Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express-Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express- Tran-Europe-Express -Tran-Europe-Express

Tenpenny. Got it. Who was Sally Tenpenny then? Where did he or she go? Maybe Sylloge is DPG. Maybe DPG is just DPG, and has no other login!

You don't have to vanquish Dave, we can all sit dow together and eat some Red Velvet Cake, and you can tell us what it is like to not be DPG.

Tran-Europe-Express
posted by thirteen at 4:44 PM on May 2, 2001

Will there be categories on 1142.org? i.e. Will I be able to follow the freakin adventure game without having to scroll all over the place looking for it? Also, will there be a new color scheme, or are we sticking with MeFi blue? And will all current comments be archived? And another thing, where can I get some tang 'round here? Perhaps irrational numbers should be reserved for those who have posted to MeFi/1142 prior to 1142.org? And has anyone claimed #1142 itself yet?

>examine rock
posted by Lirp at 4:56 PM on May 2, 2001

Incidentally, has anyone ever wanted to make your own toothpaste? (Please note that this toothpaste does not contain fluoride, which many dental care experts state is an important part of dental health.)
posted by Lirp at 5:07 PM on May 2, 2001

>examine rock

There is a large "Y2" painted on the rock.

>
posted by bradlands at 5:11 PM on May 2, 2001

Before I begin, I'll just say that you people are freaky nutbar good. Also, an old friend of mine's been lurking here and never said "hi" to me.

And the interface for this hosting is odd. After 20 minutes or so of browsing around the control panel I have no idea how to access the database, which is usually not a good thing.

Also, the name is Connecticut-Web.com, not Conneticut-web.com, so if you followed the above links, you're wondering what the hell I'm talking about.

(why does no one tell me this shit, anyway? :-)

Will there be categories on 1142.org? i.e. Will I be able to follow the freakin adventure game without having to scroll all over the place looking for it?

Not initially, but I could see them being added. I've put a little bit of thought into categories, and what I figured I'm going to do is allow classification into x categories, where x is some number that will display well in a drop-down (ie, < 20) and then allow for filtering on it. But basically the interface is going to be a page with y comments on it, where y is some number that makes for less than half a meg of data.

Also, will there be a new color scheme, or are we sticking with MeFi blue?

Initially it's going to be black text in your browser's default font on white background. I haven't planned much beyond that.

And will all current comments be archived?

Yes. Right here.

And another thing, where can I get some tang 'round here?

Second cupboard to the left of the fridge, middle shelf. It's a big container from Price Club/Costco, you can't miss it. The water's in the Brita in the fridge, or if you're feeling lucky you can use the tap.

Perhaps irrational numbers should be reserved for those who have posted to MeFi/1142 prior to 1142.org?

Nah, that's no fun.

And has anyone claimed #1142 itself yet?

I don't think so, but I didn't really look too deeply at the claimed ids. Most of the ones were ones people posted here.

I need to find some food.
posted by cCranium at 5:30 PM on May 2, 2001

Oh, and if someone starts an IRC session tonight I'll hang out there while I hack away.
posted by cCranium at 5:33 PM on May 2, 2001

I know who DPG is. I'm not tellin' tho.
posted by anildash at 5:40 PM on May 2, 2001

Connected to irc.turlyming.net, went to #1142, &.. I was the only one there. Being impatient I figured it'd be better to do some studying than to idle there till someone showed up, so..

I always thought DPG might just be Matt, cause.. I don't know, it just made sense.
posted by zempf at 5:42 PM on May 2, 2001

Fuck. One of the features of their Advanced Unix Hosting options is "Excellent Online Manual."

Why charge for the freakin' manual? The only thing you're doing is causing your own sorry-ass self headaches when annoying fucks like me write you an e-mail every day saying "How do I do this?"

Zempf, I'll wander in shortly, but right now I'm in the middle of crashing.
posted by cCranium at 5:47 PM on May 2, 2001

ORI used to be called "Revo," which I think is actually a better name

I dunno about that -- it's awfully fun to say "OP-eration RE-information!"
posted by redfoxtail at 5:52 PM on May 2, 2001

I don't even know how to access an IRC chat. What does Tran-Europe-Express mean? And dammit, there's Anildash again, too good for us C-listers, showing off his superiority yet failing to let us bask in his shared glory. Poop.
posted by norm at 5:58 PM on May 2, 2001

IRC is accessible with mIRC.

(If someone hasn't already answered after I previewed...)
posted by Lirp at 6:11 PM on May 2, 2001

I thought about Matt being DPG but was convinced otherwise by something I don't remember. Maybe DPG posted during SXSW? I think that was it.
posted by norm at 6:22 PM on May 2, 2001

Matt's said he only figured out who DPG was via the IP address.

And did anyone else find it intrinsically amusing that, during an interactive festival celebration the world wide web, most people didn't update their websites until they got back?
posted by cCranium at 6:24 PM on May 2, 2001

Anildash basically just admitted to being DPG (Be my friend Anildash).
posted by thirteen at 6:46 PM on May 2, 2001

I just went to the bathroom while this page loaded.
Maybe I will go again while my post Previews.
posted by gluechunk at 7:32 PM on May 2, 2001

Does it have to be a user number or can it be a counter?
I want to be Three Ringy-Dingies if it can be a counter.
posted by Mahogne at 7:44 PM on May 2, 2001

Be - have, almost same diff.... I want to be/am Mahogne, and have user number/counter three ringy-dingies.
posted by Mahogne at 7:47 PM on May 2, 2001

> Take dwarf
posted by Mahogne at 7:49 PM on May 2, 2001

Has anyone googled 1142 yet? The results aren't particularly spectacular, but I did find this (a cached copy because, oddly, the original has been taken down) and these, which I'd love to put up in the MetaFilter $30(or more!) Giveaway if it weren't so expensive. Ah well, I think I'll just set the image as a desktop background at school, like I did with the titanium spork when I learned about it. And, the oddest one, a game which I am not at all familiar with.
posted by Lirp at 8:09 PM on May 2, 2001

> Shield -> mahogne

A glimmering shield appears in front of mahogne
posted by Mahogne at 8:12 PM on May 2, 2001

hey, does this work? testing testing
posted by gluechunk at 8:27 PM on May 2, 2001

please ignore this
posted by gluechunk at 8:32 PM on May 2, 2001

lets
posted by gluechunk at 8:35 PM on May 2, 2001

here
posted by gluechunk at 8:35 PM on May 2, 2001

er, hear
posted by gluechunk at 8:35 PM on May 2, 2001

it
posted by gluechunk at 8:35 PM on May 2, 2001

for
posted by gluechunk at 8:35 PM on May 2, 2001

rapid
posted by gluechunk at 8:36 PM on May 2, 2001

posting
posted by gluechunk at 8:36 PM on May 2, 2001

1000 by midnight pst!
posted by gluechunk at 8:36 PM on May 2, 2001

user ID# 1142 has never posted a comment!
posted by gluechunk at 8:48 PM on May 2, 2001

Thirteen, I'm not DPG. I'm just not that cool. Also, I don't have the short-term memory and attention span that would be necessary.

Norm, I am not cooler than c-list. I've got the server logs to prove it. Also, Brad can attest how pathetically low my self-esteem is, whereas the a-list is clearly in love with themselves, no?

But more interestingly, gluechunk makes me wonder how many MeFi members are pure lurkers. Or, even more compellingly, how many sub-1k MeFites are pure lurkers.

The mind reels!
posted by anildash at 9:01 PM on May 2, 2001

>take dwarf

Oh, come on! The dwarf is gone. Deal with it.

>
posted by bradlands at 9:03 PM on May 2, 2001

Also, I think it's kinda cool and also kinda disconcerting that i'm referred to as Anildash. Not that it's inappropriate at all, because, hell, it is my member ID. But it's just my first and last name mashed together and feels weird to me, i've never seen that done before.

Anildash. Anil Dash. cC is cool, though, I love Rob's abbreviation.

Speaking of Rob, I thought I answered your objection before: We were too goddamn busy at SXSW to post! We were interacting with each other!

In all seriousness, though, the only time I used my laptop on the entire trip was on the flight there and the flight back. I think maybe Jish or I used one of our machines for directions on the first day. There just weren't enough hours in the day to get to blogging.

Now, on the other hand, I have nothing to do at all. Somebody give me a job.
posted by anildash at 9:06 PM on May 2, 2001

Holy moly! I was sitting here, waiting for 1142 to fully load via my 56K modem when I realized how to fix my broken powerbook 100. Thank you slow load time.
posted by gluechunk at 9:11 PM on May 2, 2001

Back in the old BBS days, I went by Deathpuppy, and would sign my posts dP. There's a user here that does that (I think it's Darkpony). How interesting. However, the four letter 'norm' needs no abbrev., which is v.g. OTOH, I still want to know who DPG is.

What's the # on the posts? I'm at home now, and I have not been able to make the "recent comments" thing work on IE. At work, running NN 4.5, it works like a charm.
posted by norm at 10:11 PM on May 2, 2001

While I was poking around in the archives, I found this MeTa thread that proves I learned my very first HTML from cC. Wow! I had forgotten who clued me in. To think; only two months later I had a blog (and not many more coding skills, I assure you). Thanks cC and MeTa!
posted by norm at 10:14 PM on May 2, 2001

Why doesn't it show you the number of comments? Don't you see the following if you sort by My Comments?

posted by mathowie at 8:45 PM PST on Mar 28 - 979 comments (2 new) - Post a Comment
posted by gluechunk at 10:33 PM on May 2, 2001

Here is the drawing I mentioned last night. It is not terribly exciting, but I can crank these out like sausage.

I'm going to bed.
posted by thirteen at 10:57 PM on May 2, 2001

Don't you see the following if you sort by My Comments?

*smacks self in forehead*
posted by redfoxtail at 5:34 AM on May 3, 2001

I was doing some math during my morning shower, and kind of scared myself.

Each time the thread is hit, we request > .5megs of data. To visit the thread, preview a comment and post the comment, we use 1.5 megs of data.

Yesterday there were approximately 142 messages posted. (Which is an interesting number in itself) I say approximately because there's a good chance I missed a few and added a few extra (it's still early :-).

142 * 1.5 = 213.

That's 213 megs of data we transferred yesterday, just posting the messages.

True, it doesn't always require 1.5 megs to post a message because we're not always starting from scratch, but 213 doesn't take into account the times I reloaded the page, or came to the thread and didn't post anything, so I'm guessing we're doing even more than that.

That's a lot of fucking bandwidth. Do this 4 days in a row and we've sucked up a gig of data. While I don't know if Matt has to pay for bandwidth usage, Ev probably does. If we make Ev have to shell out cash to keep supporting MetaFilter, he may say screw it.

I'm loving this thread, but we may screw over our free ride. So, until I get 142.org (which is now resolving for me) up and running, I really really think we should move to 1143.

There's an ice cream freezer over there and everything.

I would be very happy to see this as the last post in this thread until the site gets up and running. I'm sure the last thing any of us want to do is piss Matt off.
posted by cCranium at 5:37 AM on May 3, 2001

Okay, I'm up for driving this puppy to a thousand posts.

Do you think a thousand posts is like a thousand plateaus? If you're at all familiar with A Thousand Plateaus, by the way, you will share my amazement that it appears on a business site under "biographies and primers."
posted by redfoxtail at 7:54 AM on May 3, 2001

Oops, I really have no idea where that mistyped URL on "a thousand plateaus" came from. Try this instead. Or, you know, don't.
posted by redfoxtail at 8:05 AM on May 3, 2001

Well, I must say I'm glad this will finally happen. I'm going to leave on an impromptu Bizness Trip in a few moments, so I guess I'll just check back in a few hours and see what happened. Surely Matt's been monitoring the progress...?
posted by norm at 8:08 AM on May 3, 2001

[cC] what I figured I'm going to do is allow classification into x categories, where x is some number that will display well in a drop-down

Or you could do it like Bill Humpries's More Like This, and just have a really long list of categories as check boxes so that each post could be in multiple categories (a feature that my own blogging software sorely lacks). However, again, that's probably more trouble than it's worth.
posted by daveadams at 10:04 AM on May 3, 2001

Just 13(12) posts left till 1000.
posted by daveadams at 10:07 AM on May 3, 2001

I guess we must now find a new milestone. 1142 perhaps? But we'll get there by tomorrow at this rate.
posted by daveadams at 10:08 AM on May 3, 2001

Actually, someone needs to think of something really cooool to post as post #1000 to commemorate the moment and avoid a fiasco.
posted by daveadams at 10:10 AM on May 3, 2001

[cC] That's 213 megs of data we transferred yesterday, just posting the messages.

Well, that number may be a bit high (because often we post in bunches, so each successive post only consumes one more meg, although it's probably upped by the ever-increasing size of the thread and reloads like you mentioned). But 213MB in a day isn't really all that much. My pair webmaster account allows for 400MB/day in traffic. But I think Metafilter is housed in Pyra's offices, which are probably on a T1-class line at least. So... (1.5Mb/s x 60s/min x 60min/hr x 24hr/day) / (8b/B) = 1.62GB(ytes!)/day. So yes, we are consuming quite a bit of that, but there's plenty left for expansion to post 2000 and beyond!!!!
posted by daveadams at 10:16 AM on May 3, 2001

I'm not ashamed: I'm allergic to chocolate.
posted by daveadams at 10:18 AM on May 3, 2001

Not that I can't eat it. The first couple of bytes usually make me sneeze. Then I'm okay for a while.

But if I eat too much at once... well... back when I was six or seven or so, I went trick-or-treating and got a HUUUGE bag of candy. I was so excited... there were tons of candy bars, so I ate and ate and ate and ate until I was sick to my stomach. I went to bed and in the middle of the night I woke up screaming. My mom came in and my entire back was covered in big ol' blistering hives. I don't remember much about it except that it hurt really really bad. But I've tried to avoid eating quite that much chocolate all at once ever since.
posted by daveadams at 10:23 AM on May 3, 2001

HA! I typed "bytes" instead of "bites" in that last comment. I guess I had bandwidth on the brain.
posted by daveadams at 10:24 AM on May 3, 2001

I usually bring a lunch to work, but I always end up eating it before noon. I have no self-control.
posted by daveadams at 10:26 AM on May 3, 2001

Folks, since this whole thread has been Neale's baby from the start (and believe me, I could go into long, drawn out metaphors about how his article provided the genetic material for Matt's post, but we don't really want to get into sperm and egg discussions, not to mention giving Neale the opportunity to shout "Who's yer daddy?!?!, do we?), with Neale nurturing the thread during its adolescence when he was the only one who loved it, witnessing 1142's first trouble with the law, and watching it grow up to be the slightly dysfunctional adult that it now is, Neale must make the 1000th and last post before officially retiring this thread and giving birth to the community that is the 1142. Somebody, please wake up Neale so that he can do the honors.

(this is comment 996)
posted by Avogadro at 10:27 AM on May 3, 2001

Four more!
posted by gluechunk at 10:27 AM on May 3, 2001

I have a very devious plan. You will all hate me for it.
posted by daveadams at 10:28 AM on May 3, 2001

Three more!
posted by gluechunk at 10:28 AM on May 3, 2001

Two more?!
posted by gluechunk at 10:28 AM on May 3, 2001

Mr. 1142!
posted by gluechunk at 10:28 AM on May 3, 2001

"Two more?!" as the 1000th post?!
posted by daveadams at 10:30 AM on May 3, 2001

[daveadams] I have a very devious plan. You will all hate me for it.

Well, I had a very devious plan, and you would have all hated me for it.
posted by daveadams at 10:32 AM on May 3, 2001

Dammit gluechunk, that was comment 1001!!!
posted by Avogadro at 10:32 AM on May 3, 2001

Allright, this thread must end at comment 1142.

(However, I love the absurd way we hit 1000.)
posted by Avogadro at 10:36 AM on May 3, 2001

Ok, I messed that up. Sorry.
In any case, I guess we now know that MeFi doesn't break if a thread hits 1000. I will now be able to sleep better at night. A big hand I saw come out of the sky last night.
posted by gluechunk at 11:27 AM on May 3, 2001

I know the screen name of an Active Buddy but you'll have to come over here and ask me nicely to get it.
posted by sudama at 12:23 PM on May 3, 2001

I think comment #1142 -- so long, farewell and amen -- should include this thread's final weight in bens.
posted by bradlands at 3:50 PM on May 3, 2001

This thread will officially close at post 1142. I reserve the right to that post.

cC is right. This is sucking way too much bandwith. A wholehearted move to 1142.org, which I'm going to use as a free-form web experimental art shelf, will be made.

I heardby sound the death knell of 1142.
posted by Neale at 5:58 PM on May 3, 2001 [1 favorite]

Of course, I may not have permission to use it as a free-form web experimental art shelf, but that won't stop me.
posted by Neale at 10:58 PM on May 3, 2001

I added a comment counter right below the thread starter, just for you guys. You still have a way to go to acheive 1142, but I'll close it when it hits.
posted by mathowie at 4:08 PM on May 4, 2001

Well, as long as I know what I'm doing (thanks Matt!) I'll do my part to run up the counter. I'll be stopping aroung 1130, though. I'd hate to ruin anyones (anyone's?) fun.

>take rock
posted by Lirp at 4:22 PM on May 4, 2001

Thanks Matt!

When I was little, we would sometimes go to a large hill in the winter time where there was some organized sledding going on. On one particularly frigid day, I saw a woman jokingly pull at her boyfriend's mustache (this was the 70's) which was all icy. She pulled away a good hunk of the skin beneath the hair by accident. He howled in incredible pain, and his violent gesture upset me lots. There was blood, think and dark, but mostly I remember the floppy half mustache dangling below his nose.

I wonder how often stuff like this happens?

>chop snake
posted by thirteen at 4:32 PM on May 4, 2001

That is incredibly horrid. Thanks, Thirteen!
posted by redfoxtail at 5:07 PM on May 4, 2001

I am just completely in love with Matt tonight. You totally fucking rock, man.
posted by cCranium at 9:25 PM on May 4, 2001

Ms are falling behind the Jays tonight.
Go Jays!!
posted by Mahogne at 9:44 PM on May 4, 2001

1016 says "counters are cool."
posted by sudama at 9:45 PM on May 4, 2001

The end is nigh, eh? Damn. Makes me wish I had some pithy and non-lame thing to say right now.

...

Ah, well, I'll work on it. I've still got 100+ posts to work with. Should give me 'til at least mid-afternoon, knowing this bunch. :-)
posted by youhas at 9:23 AM on May 5, 2001

Better leave something before we close for business. But what? I have five minutes before I have to go out . . .

I was at the cinema today killing time (by the way 'The Hole' is really, really poor). As usual in the outer-hebridian screen 10, no one was there. I sat trying to work my way through a vitriolic article about the actors strike, when I hear, in a gruff old voice:
'Hello mate.'
I ignore it. Surely he's not speaking to me.
'Hello mate, errr'
I turn. An old man is standing on my shoulder in a dirty brown coat, his face a mess, wracked with too many wars.
I nod and continue reading.
'The Hole?' He says.
'Pardon?'
'The Hole?'
'Oh.' I say. 'Yes.'
'Whensitfinish.' He says his lips loosing the power to speak.
I shrug. I think he's asked when it starts.
'Half and hour.'
'Ten past three.' He says, answering his own question.
'Yes.' I nod. I carry on reading.
'Don't go see 4.'
I'm caught off guard.
'What?'
'The film. In 4. Don't see it. It's shit.'
'Right. OK'
Then there is a deathly silence.
'Right.' He says and turns and goes to sit three rows behind me. For the next ten minutes I can feel his eyes in the back of my head. Every time I turn around, he's looking at me and smiling.
I slink back down in my seat. My bladder starts to hurt.
I grab my magazine and head for the exit.
'Where are you going?' Asks Travis Brickles granddad.
I nod at him. I'm good at nodding. It answers some questions.

When I return from the toilet, a few more people have arrived. But as the film starts I can still here him. Coughing. Spluttering. Getting uncomfortable. Talking to himself.

But you can't say anything. You just sit there. If you says something, you're actually afraid of what's going to happen. He's old and odd, but there might a madness in there as well. What are you supposed to do? Has anyone else been there?
posted by feelinglistless at 9:44 AM on May 5, 2001

So anyway, for my few postings it's been a bit fun . . . see you (maybe) at 1142.org) . . .

Zagra-boor-astra-gaaa - hootrimanshion-bantriatooo
posted by feelinglistless at 10:03 AM on May 5, 2001

So anyway, for my few postings it's been a bit fun . . . see you (maybe) at 1142.org . . .

Zagra-boor-astra-gaaa - hootrimanshion-bantriatooo
posted by feelinglistless at 10:04 AM on May 5, 2001

I've been archiving 1142 as an Excel database for the last 500 comments (that's how I get counts for each person who posts). Once the thread is closed, I'll make the final database available somewhere (If I can find someplace to store the gigantic thing). I'm glad I got back from Chicago before 1142 reached 1142.

It's nice to see that we bungled post 1000 as badly as we bungled post #500. I'm staying away after posting this so that I don't mess up post 1142.

When I was in Chicago, our hotel ran out of rooms for normal people and so we were bumped up to the executive tower. This made the people who actually booked a room in the executive tower kinda mad (imagine if you had shelled out extra cash in order to be pampered and then your hall was over run by graduate students exclaiming over all of the free stuff (food, drink, sewing kits, etc.)). Best of all, us executive tower folks had a private elevator that allowed us to bypass all of the floor full of riff-raff.

I bought a soccer ball last night.

Off to 1142.org . . .
posted by iceberg273 at 11:30 AM on May 6, 2001

This is post 1023 -- 113 posts to go! And as we've seen previously, Neale is perfectly capable of posting at least half of those in the next 24 hours.
posted by lia at 12:23 PM on May 6, 2001

Indeed I am.
posted by Neale at 6:06 PM on May 6, 2001

post 1025 (pre-preview. just to ease your accounting.)

speaking of 13, John got me 'Snow Crash' and it rocks. i've read 200 pages since lunch.

can you really call a book 'good' if it doesn't keep you up past your bedtime?

well, we had tornado sirens today, but no real action. since we're Tornado Alley they can pinpoint funnel clouds down to the intersection. it's pretty amazing. we're on watch until 1a. i, for one, will be sleeping soundly.

good night 1142. wonder what i'll find tomorrow...
posted by Sean Meade at 7:52 PM on May 6, 2001

1. One massive headache.
1. One class left of introductory Japanese.
2. Two unanswered questions that might screw up my Monday.
6. Six Day until I start stripping paint off my storm windows.

Sean bought me a book too. I liked Microserfs just as much as I liked Snowcrash, so I think it was an excellent exchange.

In the movie 2001, which part takes place in 2001? Is it 2001 when they find the slab on the moon? Or 18 months later when they find the other slab near Jupiter? Neale? Do you know Neale?

Neale?

NEALE!

Anil is supposed to be friends with me so that I can get on the A-list. What starts out as a relationship between unequals would settle into a situation where we become casual, and Anil's relative fame would no longer make a difference. I will name my first son Anil, he will name his 13, and we will buy houses next door to each other. Fabulous bar-b-q's would happen almost daily, and an offhand comment will spark a shared idea between us that will save the internet from ruin.

Neale might well be jealous, and will have to settle for watching water swirl counter clockwise down any draion he might come across.

OR,

I might be beaned on the head, and Neale will take my place in the cheery story above.

Today is my Metafilter birthday.
posted by thirteen at 8:35 PM on May 6, 2001

Happy MeFiBDay.

Anil Dash is my unborn love-child.
posted by Neale at 4:13 AM on May 7, 2001

This is pretty pathetic; I haven't a witty thing to say for one thread, much less 1143 and the ultra-groovy 1142.org. So I'll content myself with contentless tripe until I have two thoughts that could be strung together.
posted by Avogadro at 6:31 AM on May 7, 2001

I would like to change the second 1 in my previous post to a "0".
as in
0. Zero is the number of times I fact or spellcheck before posting.

I do use the spell checker, but it does not always load, and I am left terrifyingly alone with my own poorly keyboard pecked words.

I just realized that if you rearranged the letters in Anil, you can get Nial pronounced Neale. I don't know what this means, but DPG is out there somewhere. If he or she would just write me a letter and tell me who they are, I am sure I could figure out this whole Anil morphing into Neale problem.

I will be back later when I figure out what "avogadro" can be rearranged to spell out. It is sure to be sinister.
posted by thirteen at 8:44 AM on May 7, 2001

AVOGADRO:

do ova rag

Ragtime does not excite me, and there are no do overs.

a avg. odor

That one is okay, not evil as I believe most of us have average odor's.

a gov. road

Like the one that leads to area 51!!!! What are you trying to pull here Avogadro, or should that be Commander Avogadro? I am watching you.
posted by thirteen at 9:01 AM on May 7, 2001

Aaaaaaugh!

*hides under basket*
posted by Avogadro at 11:19 AM on May 7, 2001

hey...wait a minute...

*exits basket, squints eyes*

THIRTEEN:

the inert

Right, nothing to fear here; take your best shot.
posted by Avogadro at 11:22 AM on May 7, 2001

I have been claiming to be inert for years now.

>Put Avogadro in basket
>Close Basket
>wait
posted by thirteen at 12:34 PM on May 7, 2001

Wow, I was away for a few days and so much has happened. Well, not much in this thread, but elsewhere lots of interesting stuff is going on.

The music festival was great fun. Dave Matthews, Johnny Lang, Koko Taylor, and Bob Dylan all rocked my world. The walking and standing, however, didn't agree with my ankles all that well....
posted by daveadams at 9:44 PM on May 7, 2001

Someone, anyone, please buy me a book. I'm currently broke and have been reduced to borrowing books from my boyfriend (who has begun to buy books from my reading list for himself, the stinker).

Sean, here's a neat little coinkydink -- I read Snow Crash last night for the first time. And given that I'm half a day ahead of you, we were probably reading it at the same time. What are the odds on that?

(I finished it in two and a half hours, and went to sleep pissed at myself for not having read it when it first came out. Great book.)
posted by lia at 1:49 AM on May 8, 2001

Whoa, creepy further coincidence: I inherited a copy of Snow Crash from a coworker just last week and was on the precipice of reading it for the first time. I was mulling over how long it would take to read and whether it'd be worth the effort or not... and just like that, a MeFi opinion appears from the void. Keen!

The 1142 thread is magical, I tell ya.

Under other circumstances, I might buy you a book. However, my place of employment did the dot-com death dance just last Tuesday - I inherited the book during the ensuing desk-emptying rituals, truth be known - so I'd best be hoarding my pennies for the time being. Sorry.
posted by youhas at 4:29 AM on May 8, 2001

Just wanted to make my 200th comment in the most appropiate place. I almost want to /shout DING!, but then I realize I've been playing too much EverQuest when I should be working :)
posted by samsara at 10:25 AM on May 8, 2001

*quietly shakes fist from inside basket*
posted by Avogadro at 10:37 AM on May 8, 2001

Help is on the way, lia.
posted by Skot at 11:30 AM on May 8, 2001

>Open basket
>Put food in basket
>Close basket
posted by thirteen at 2:08 PM on May 8, 2001

Does Brad no longer visit?
posted by thirteen at 4:20 PM on May 8, 2001

Well, 100 comments to go. This is getting creepy.
posted by Neale at 4:42 PM on May 8, 2001

You have a rival. 631158 bytes here, 507257 there.
posted by southisup at 7:10 PM on May 8, 2001

Bugger. That's a suitably ignominious way to break a lurk here, I suppose. Here's the rival.

631467 here, 507257 there.
posted by southisup at 7:31 PM on May 8, 2001

We'll need about 20,000k per post to beat that if we wish to stay ahead.

BTW: I'm doing some minor upgrades on wwgb... any volunteers for testing? The changes should be obvious.
posted by Neale at 8:28 PM on May 8, 2001

Yeeesh, perhaps we should start a 1142 book club, ala randomwalks's randomBooks.

Skot! You da man! The shipping'll probably cost you as much or more than the book (but don't let that stop any of you from getting me something if you so desire).
posted by lia at 2:19 AM on May 9, 2001

I'll volunteer, Neale.
posted by cCranium at 6:14 AM on May 9, 2001

You know, the meaning of life is 42. I haven't figured out what 11 stands for other than the topic appears May 11th in this FAQ. Does anyone know what 1142 might mean in the Torah?
posted by samsara at 7:55 AM on May 9, 2001

5.1.11 (it's section...how did I get may 11th?) The topic must have overloaded my brain as I was also trying to find 1142 in pi....which I would not doubt existance. spooky
posted by samsara at 8:04 AM on May 9, 2001

The more I think about it, did I actually predict when this thread will reach 1142? May 11th?
posted by samsara at 8:12 AM on May 9, 2001

None of you will find this funny, but I did

As a Viking
(sung to "In the Navy" by the Village People)

Where can you find pleasure
Search the world for treasure
Learn the Norse Deities
Where can you begin to make your dreams all come true
On the land or on the sea
Where you learn how to fight
Play with swords and big knives
Study Norse Theology
Sign up for the big band
Or sit in the grandstand
When your team and others meet

As a Viking
Yes, you can sail the seven seas
As a Viking
Yes, your beard grows to your knees
As a Viking
Come on people, make stand
As a Viking, As a Viking
Can't you see Tyr needs a hand
As a Viking
Come on, protect your homeland
As a Viking
Come on people, make a stand
As a Viking, As a Viking, As a Viking(As a Viking)

They want you, they want you
They want you to plunder and loot

If you like adventure
Don't you wait and enter
The Chief's house fast
Don't you hesitate
There is no need to wait
They're signing up new oarsmen fast
You are never to young
To join up today
As long as you can lift a sword
For I'm sure there will be
Always a good Viking Horde
Protecting the land and sea

As a Viking
Yes, you can sail the seven seas
As a Viking
Yes, your beard grows to your knees
As a Viking
Come on people, make stand
As a Viking, As a Viking
Can't you see Tyr needs a hand
As a Viking
Come on, protect your homeland
As a Viking
Come on people, make a stand
As a Viking, As a Viking, As a Viking(As a Viking)


(Who me?)

They...Want...You...(As a Viking)
They...Want...You...(As a Viking)
They want you to plunder and loot (As a Viking)

But, but, but I'm afraid of water
Hey, hey look
Man, I get seasick even drinkin' it

They...Want...You...As a Viking

Oh my goodness
What am I gonna do on a Viking longboat

They...Want...YOU...AS A VIKING!!!

I like Vikings.
posted by thirteen at 8:59 AM on May 9, 2001

Yay, sleep! That's where I'm a Viking!
posted by redfoxtail at 9:29 AM on May 9, 2001 [1 favorite]

The shipping'll probably cost you as much or more than the book . . .

Not quite, but close. ;) Nothing makes me sadder than the idea of someone without a damn book to read. I'm a total junkie, so it strikes me as the equivalent of not having food.
posted by Skot at 10:06 AM on May 9, 2001

A box without hinges key or lid/ yet golden treasure inside is hid?

Lia, have you read Cryptonomicon? Does anybody want to talk about Cryptonomicon? It was the highlight of all the codebreaking books I read last summer, and there were a lot of codebreaking books last summer.

I have a pet hermit crab, and I have great affection for it. Possibly greater than I should, as it is very detached. I spritz it with a spray bottle dilligently, and constantly rearrange the cage to give it new climbing experiences.

1142
posted by thirteen at 9:31 PM on May 9, 2001

Haven't gotten my grubby little hands (actually clean and slender, but "grubby little" is the standard phrase) on Cryptonomicon yet (see posts above for reason why), but I'm looking forward to reading it when I do.
posted by lia at 3:55 AM on May 10, 2001

I would think Hobbit Pie would have hobbits in it. But then, chess pie doesn't have chess in it. And no Lady Baltimores were harmed in the making of Lady Baltimore cake. So perhaps not.
posted by redfoxtail at 5:46 AM on May 10, 2001

Does that mean there are no flies in "Shoo Fly Pie"?

Am I the only one that thinks the idea of mincemeat pie is repulsive?
posted by Avogadro at 5:58 AM on May 10, 2001

I'll talk about Cryptonomicon. I haven't gotten a copy of Snow Crash yet, so it's the only Stephenson stuff I've read other than that "In the beginning there was the command line" thing that's online somewhere.

I thought it was a good book.
posted by cCranium at 7:00 AM on May 10, 2001

I guess I was curious if you knew that a good hunk of it takes place in your part of the world.

I wish I knew how to spell Corriegadoor.

I wish I knew how to spell.

Anybody who reads Cryptonomicon and does not want to run Linux has no soul,
And anybody who reads it, and does not load up PGP has no brain.

I made a public key using the highest level of encryption, and had a 30 character password. I had the Public key posted on my website for 8 months, and I begged someone to send me a letter using it, just to try it out. Nobody ever did. I am still not really sure if I know how to use the program.

That just reminds me that I have been putting off servicing my home machine. I need to wipe the drive, and reload syste software. I hate the way they come from the factory, and it has never behaved entirely correct-like. The PGP write over open space feature fails, and I know I would be using that all the time.

Avogadro, how did you get out of the basket? Nevermind, I am glad you are here.

I go back and forth trying to decide if I like Snow Crash or Diamond Age better, they are both so satisfying for different reasons. They are also like dessert when compared to the fantasticness that is Cryptonomicon (which is like a rich, heavy meal).

I don't like that last sentence, but I will leave it in to help with Neale's byte count.

I would like to eat a fistfull of poppy seeds some time, it would be like edible black sand.
posted by thirteen at 8:06 AM on May 10, 2001

Actually, I'm still in the basket; it's really quite cozy in here, and due to its porous construction, I am able to breathe. I can also pretend to be a serpent, so I am waiting for some turbaned guy to play some funky tune, perhaps Anil. I myself would like to wear a turban on a daily basis, and I curse JFK for contributing to the downfall of men's millinery (I keep wanting to refer to hatters as haberdashers, but I realize that's incorrect).

As a child growing up in Texas, I used to spend much time in my closet (not that closet) because I feared wide open spaces. Now that I live in the middle of Cleveland, I find myself drawn back to open space.

I can never reach that middle ground.
posted by Avogadro at 8:50 AM on May 10, 2001

Don't eat the poppy seeds, 13, at least if you want to test clean on piss tests.

As for books; I work as the shipping manager here, and therefore I have access to all kinds of shipping systems. I was wondering if anyone wanted to do any book trading/loaning with me? I would send a box with an airbill, you would place your book inside the box, then send me the book. I would loan you fine books like Atlas Shrugged, which I own, being a 100% Randian (oh, no!). I could also loan you the Satanic Verses or my Molly Ivins book, which is impeccably well written, funny, and in many cases wrong (it's from the early 90s and contains many testable predictions). What is Snow Crash? Isn't that a computer game featuring Snowmobiles? I think I have it.

Upon reading this, it seems like my reading choices, although chosen to reflect a certain degree of whimsy and good humor, make me out to be the cranky libertarian. That's so inaccurate. I still think of myself as the pinko liberal, even though my politics aren't at all consistent with pinko liberals. What's my problem?
posted by norm at 9:25 AM on May 10, 2001

I would loan you fine books like Atlas Shrugged, which I own, being a 100% Randian (oh, no!).

I would be happy to take part in such an activity, Norm, but you would have to promise not to send me Atlas Shrugged, because I think it's an excretable book by an excretable novelist.

What sort of reading material would you be looking for?
posted by snarkout at 10:06 AM on May 10, 2001

And anybody who reads it, and does not load up PGP has no brain.

Whoops, I _KNEW_ my skull was missing something.

Actually, I've loaded PGP in the past, so I may be exempt. :-)
posted by cCranium at 10:33 AM on May 10, 2001

Oh, I don't know. SOmething good. I'm always on the lookout for good books. For my birthday six weeks ago or so, Sean Meade gave me an Amazon gift certificate, that I just now got around to redeeming this week. I saw so many praises for that Fast Food Nation book that I decided I should probably read it (especially considering how little I eat fast food, it will make good Smug reading for me. On the other hand, I worked at a Hardee's, too, so I bet I know most of this stuff anyway). But yeah, that's basically my position. Just want to learn stuff. And read good books. Actually, on the Rand thing; I've been trying to slog through the Fountainhead now for about a month and can't even break page 100. I mean, this is the most godawful tripe I've ever read; and boring too. Boooooooooooooooring.
posted by norm at 10:37 AM on May 10, 2001

I [heart] Neal Stephenson, and have read everything he's written save for Command Line, which, inexplicably, I can never find in bookstores. You guys know he also writes novels under a pen name, right? Stephen Bury, the titles are Interface and Cobweb, Interface being by far the superior.

13, I loved Cryptonomicon (though not as much as the incomparable Snow Crash and Diamond Age), but did not try out PGP, though I was tempted. The reason, as usual, is that I'm functionally too stupid. Technology, particularly computer technology, though I love it so, still weirds me out and makes me feel a priori dumb.

Did you also read The Code Book by Simon Singh? Excellent.

Can someone help me remove the image from my mind of snarkout excreting Ayn Rand? Did you mean execrable? (Says the fucking pedant. What a pain I am.)
posted by Skot at 10:40 AM on May 10, 2001

Oh, also, pace Mr. Stephenson, his first novel The Big U has been re-issued over the author's strenuous objections. Stephenson has long screamed, "No! It's a terrible novel! Never shall it see the light of day!" to which the publishing company replies, "Sorry, there's money to be had." So now it's out there.

It's . . . okay. Pretty clearly a first novel. You can see the germs of his later stuff, but who likes germs?
posted by Skot at 10:45 AM on May 10, 2001

What's wrong with mincemeat pie, Avogadro? You don't like suet-based foods? Mincemeat recipes fascinate me: I get so much more from reading them than I would from making or eating the mincemeat.
posted by anapestic at 11:31 AM on May 10, 2001

Suet just gives me the heebie-jeebies, yet I have no problem at all eating menudo (the mexican tripe-based stew, not the puerto-rican boy-band).

Kudos by the bye on your comments in this thread. That was very cool and enlightening.

What took you so long to find 1142?

*still in basket, weaving a sweater*
posted by Avogadro at 11:54 AM on May 10, 2001

The Code Book by Simon Singh was book two read during last year's CODE BOOK SUMMER extravaganza.

>Open basket
>put books in basket
>close basket
>phone Brad
>ring
>ring
>Brad is not home right now, please leave a message.
>Brad, I don't know what to do with Avogadro anymore, please help.


Sorry about the harsh PGP comments, I was trying to match it up with that Churchill quote.
posted by thirteen at 12:18 PM on May 10, 2001

What took you so long to find 1142?

I found 1142 a couple weeks back, but I didn't want to post until I was sure it would be around for a while. Heh. Actually, I thought I should read the whole thing before I posted, but then I realized that was just silly. Anybody got the executive summary handy?

You can use butter instead of suet. Just be careful not to spill any on your sweater.
posted by anapestic at 12:53 PM on May 10, 2001

I thought I should read the whole thing before I posted, but then I realized that was just silly.

We don't take kindly here to newbies just going wild and posting without having read the entire thread first. Ever hear of basic netiquette? Some people.

:) Just teasing.
posted by daveadams at 1:01 PM on May 10, 2001

Execrable. Yes. That's the one. Ha ha. Hrrm. I have a large vocabulary, I swear. [slinks back into corner]

It's . . . okay. Pretty clearly a first novel.

That's for rootin'-tootin' sure. Of his early work, I think Zodiac was by far the better book. (Haven't read the Bury.)

I actually didn't think Cryptonomicon was that hot; a lot of it seemed to be... I dunno... self-conscious. "I will write a Pynchonesque epic! With Sterlingesque everything-but-the-kitchen-sink engineering talk! And I will have an ass-kicking girl, because that's what my fans like!" Fine and dandy, but not something that I think I'll ever want to reread.
posted by snarkout at 1:30 PM on May 10, 2001

hey, anapestic, your presence has been officially requested over here.

49 comments after this one before that's our only choice.
posted by cCranium at 2:06 PM on May 10, 2001

But before you post over there make sure you read it all.
posted by thirteen at 2:22 PM on May 10, 2001

your presence has been officially requested

I feel like Pandora. You post a couple of messages to 1142 and your life is reduced to complete anarchy. Not that I had that far to go to begin with.

Please, please, please tell me there's no www.mandatoryreadinglist.1142.com. The last thing I need is to stay up all night rereading the Illuminati trilogy and Diary of a Mad Blogger.
posted by anapestic at 5:43 AM on May 11, 2001

I think that I will stay in this basket, just like Julia Butterfly Hill did with that tree, except that I am raising awareness of..., well..., um..., baskets...
posted by Avogadro at 11:58 AM on May 11, 2001

Brad moved next door.
posted by bradlands at 12:15 PM on May 11, 2001

I read the Illuminatus! trilogy. I am convinced I should have read it while on drugs; that seems to be how it was written. I liked it though. I read it around the same time I read Ishmael. I didn't like that book, however. I thought it was like reverse Ayn Rand; self serving pseudo logic to reach the preordained conclusion. Booooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggg.
posted by norm at 2:11 PM on May 11, 2001

This place is closing down. I feel sad, yet relieved. Like when you pull the plug on your comatose sister.
posted by Neale at 4:07 PM on May 11, 2001

I really found this as to be an odd coincidence.

He wrote some facinating stuff...Hitchiker's Guide being of my favorite books. While he will be sorely missed, at 49, he lived well past his 42.
posted by samsara at 11:36 AM on May 12, 2001

< snark >I believe that Mr Adams found out this thread was closing and just gave up after that.</ snark >

Incidently, I have a signed copy of Starship Titanic.
posted by Neale at 4:40 PM on May 12, 2001

I noticed that lil coincidence as well, samsara. I tell you, there's something evil going on in this thread...eeeevvviill!
posted by Ms Snit at 4:43 PM on May 12, 2001

this building is pretty empty on a sunday evening. on think there are just two people on this floor. and i keep sneezing.

where is the 1142 book club?
posted by gluechunk at 6:31 PM on May 13, 2001

Nice things are generally more expensive.
posted by thirteen at 6:37 PM on May 13, 2001

I don't think it's evil. Just odd. Like that one time I caught a cold and tried to take over the world. The result, unfortunately, is that all nice things are now more pricey (except for web development of course).

I'm really thinking no more predictions for me. I've deleted my moonmage character on DragonRealms as a precaution until this whole 1142 thread thing boils over.

Oh, btw, anyone think G. Bush is going to win the next election?
posted by samsara at 10:55 AM on May 14, 2001

I would just like to drop in and note that I've been watching this thread on and off yet due to neglect I am tremendously behind. I'm doing my homework: I'm up to April 25, 2001. I promise to read one week a day until I catch up with this post.
posted by dhartung at 6:27 PM on May 14, 2001

Well, I'm up to April 28. Some notes, which will amuse me when I catch up:

Jason Priestley? Jason Priestley? Does Jason Priestley resemble this? Plus, I can act halfway better than that. You haven't seen my King and I ship captain.

A play? How lovely, thirteen. I skimmed it disinterestedly until I accidentally got the joke, then I read it undisinterestedly. I still missed the H2G2 joke. R.I.P. DNA.

And the Japan WWII backgrounder, Steven, was a treat.
posted by dhartung at 8:29 PM on May 14, 2001

I think a 1142 bookclub over at 1142.org would be a fucking excellent idea. of course, I don't read anything I didn't write, so...
posted by Neale at 8:34 PM on May 14, 2001

dhartung, maybe you'd be interested in the cliff notes
posted by samsara at 7:37 AM on May 15, 2001

dhartung: You may want to step that up. As you'll no doubt discover soon, we've mostly moved, and there's already almost 2800 posts over there.

There is an 1142 bookclub at 1142.org, gluey requested it shortly after he (you are a he, right? I don't want to mispronoun.) mentioned it here.
posted by cCranium at 10:21 AM on May 15, 2001

Hmmm.. We've got 1091 posts here, and perhaps about fifty members. We've have a text-based adventure, a movie in the works, accounts of dead former classmates, several haikus, botched landmark comments, the birth of a new community, the assorted rantings and humor of Neale, and some actual conversation about the topic at hand (remember it?). But what we could really use is an honest-to-goodness troll. Yeah, a troll of our very own, to love and squeeze and pet and call "George".
posted by Avogadro at 1:09 PM on May 15, 2001

Much as I like eavesdropping on you guys, there's no way I'm plowing through the volume you're putting out over there at 1142.org. So here endeth a long and satisfying lurk. Thanks, kids.
posted by gleuschk at 1:29 PM on May 16, 2001

You know, gleuschk, I'm glad to hear you say that, if only to just make me feel more secure that not many people will dig enough to find... oh never mind.
posted by norm at 2:34 PM on May 16, 2001

Actually catching up really isn't necessary to figure out what's going on at 1142.org. In fact, with the exception of the text adventure, there's really no ongoing threads there. :-)
posted by cCranium at 6:33 AM on May 17, 2001

This is my 1142nd post.

> Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's.
>Let Avogadro out of the Basket.

This will be my final post to this thread, I am growing tired of waiting for it to load.
Neale, ride this thing home, and don't forget to remind Matt to lock the door when you get it there.
posted by thirteen at 12:12 PM on May 18, 2001

I'm taking this baby to Vegas.
posted by Neale at 12:21 AM on May 19, 2001

Hi, my name is Kathryn and I haven't slept in two days. I have a horrendous assignment that is due in negative 18 hours. 1142 has provided me with the strength to go on. Not to mention wondrous sources of procrastination. My faith in humanity has been restored.

It is 5:40 am on the West Coast. Every day at this time I hear a mysterious thump. I believe my upstairs neighbor is pushing his significant other out of bed. But every time I pass by his window, no one is inside. Should I be frightened?

Avogadro, when is your book coming out?

It's nice to see that we bungled post 1000 as badly as we bungled post #500. I'm staying away after posting this so that I don't mess up post 1142.

So what happens if we're all afraid to post and the thread hangs, forever, in limbo, at comment #1141? It's like when you're walking alone a narrow path and someone is coming in the opposite direction and you move left and he also moves in that direction so you move to the right and he also moves in that direction and you do the silly-trying-to-read-the-other-person's-mind game for a few seconds. Or when you're at a four way stop and for a brief moment all the other drivers think somebody else has the right of way.

He was at Mefi in 1106 and died in 1142.
posted by kathryn at 5:56 AM on May 19, 2001

That St William post is FREAKY. My GOD... it was all PRE-ORDAINED!

The time has come... the end hath come... there is no going back... and when the end of 11(42) comes about, the world will end with it.

BWAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
posted by Neale at 5:29 PM on May 19, 2001

I was in a Denny's walking alone the narrow path to the men's room when a big burly truck-driver type came out and for a moment it looked as if we were going to play the mirror game but he simply said, under his breath, "I ain't dancin' with ya," and the spell was broken.

All the nights I misspent at Denny's and that's probably the coolest thing that ever happened at one.
posted by sudama at 6:31 PM on May 19, 2001 [1 favorite]

Ooh! Ooh! The first person to contribute to 1142 in over a year! And even before it hit the "one year ago" link. Who wants to shoot for 2000 posts?
posted by dan_of_brainlog at 3:43 AM on May 20, 2001

(Or am I? Damned MeFi doesn't include the year next to the comment dates...)
posted by dan_of_brainlog at 3:45 AM on May 20, 2001

The first person to contribute to 1142 in over a year!...Or am I?

You are not. Most of the comments above are from the past month or so. 40 more comments to go....
posted by gluechunk at 12:46 PM on May 20, 2001

A new MetaFilter record?

kathryn, how can you pass your neighbor's window and see anything but the ceiling if your neighbor lives upstairs?
posted by register at 8:29 PM on May 20, 2001

Well, it just seems really odd to me that all the lights are on. And the window is open. And music is playing. But I can see the top of an empty chair. When I walk by, I'm not directly underneath his window because our building is built in the space of a U.

Maybe he's throwing dead bodies onto the floor after a murdering spree. But I also live on the dumpster side of the building and I haven't seen any blood dripping when I pass by.

Hmmrph.

Internet Explorer and the "end" key really hate this thread.
posted by kathryn at 8:35 PM on May 20, 2001

while you're looking at the dumpster at 6am, your neighbor is getting laid.

that Mefi link is eerie.
posted by register at 9:33 PM on May 20, 2001

If you add this and this you don't even come close to this. I feel secure.
posted by Neale at 9:36 PM on May 20, 2001

I stand corrected.

Here was a whole sub-community phenomenon and I wasn't even allowed to be in on it. I wonder how many people have participated in this thread...
posted by dan_of_brainlog at 11:10 PM on May 20, 2001

Damn my curiosity!

Out of 1107 posts, not including this one, there are 83 unique contributors.

Number of posts per contributor, sorted by activity:

Neale	193
daveadams	189
thirteen	78
cCranium	77
bradlands	70
Avogadro	47
iceberg273	44
redfoxtail	39
Skot	37
norm	29
gluechunk	27
CrazyUncleJoe	18
samsara	18
wendell	17
feelinglistless	15
snarkout	15
zempf	15
sudama	14
mathowie	11
anildash	10
Lirp	10
sonofsamiam	10
chaz	6
youhas	6
benbrown	5
lia	5
Mahogne	5
red scare	5
brig	4
lagado	4
Aaaugh!	3
adam	3
anapestic	3
dan_of_brainlog	3
dhartung	3
EngineBeak	3
jason	3
Sean Meade	3
Steven Den Beste	3
anitar	2
brent	2
dangerman	2
harmful	2
kathryn	2
MarkAnd	2
register	2
rory	2
schlyer	2
southisup	2
tomcosgrave	2
wendellseviltwin	2
werty	2
aaron	1
August	1
Awol	1
cedar	1
Ezrael	1
gi_wrighty	1
gleuschk	1
grestall	1
gsh	1
holloway	1
jacksaturn	1
Jeremy	1
jess	1
lbergstr	1
maura	1
mrmorgan	1
Ms Snit	1
precocious	1
prolific	1
r-boogie	1
rabi	1
rebeccablood	1
Sapphireblue	1
SelfPostGuy	1
sixfoot6	1
spacecoyote	1
stazen	1
stefnet	1
Succa	1
sylloge	1
timothompson	1

posted by dan_of_brainlog at 12:12 AM on May 21, 2001

I really hope you used a script to generate that.
posted by register at 2:17 PM on May 21, 2001

I r0x0r.
posted by Neale at 5:34 PM on May 21, 2001

My new sthuper-poster form will speed the finalisation of this up a little. Forget the rest of mefi, i'm a post-o-matic now baby.
posted by Neale at 5:52 PM on May 21, 2001

Did I ever mention how bandwidth friendly the post-o-matic is? You just put it on your desktop, name the ID of the thread you want to post to, and press post. No preview, having to look at the entire thread. It's soooo sexy. And ready to be abused.
posted by Neale at 5:53 PM on May 21, 2001

The post-o-matic is super delicious, and comes in various cup servings.
posted by Neale at 5:56 PM on May 21, 2001

The post-o-matic solves many bandwidth issues, and makes speedy recovery post-postage a breeze.
posted by Neale at 6:00 PM on May 21, 2001

The post-o-matic comes in 7 different colours, including yellow, lemon, sunshine, sunflower, post-it and purple.
posted by Neale at 6:53 PM on May 21, 2001

Wow! Post-o-matic is really getting you somewhere. I'm impressed. By my count, this is 1116, which means that only 26 comments remain before the mythic shutdown. If someone actually has the guts to post number 1142. Or, knowing us, someone will attempt to post the perfect setup for 1142 that will wind up as 1142. It would be fitting.
posted by norm at 8:37 PM on May 21, 2001

I'll go ahead and admit I'm curious about what will happen, so I may as well post again to push us closer to that eventuality.
posted by norm at 8:50 PM on May 21, 2001

Although it would be far easier to do this with a Post-o-matic of my own.
posted by norm at 8:51 PM on May 21, 2001

yes, but does the post-o-matic come in goldenrod?
posted by kathryn at 8:53 PM on May 21, 2001

I believe that Mr Adams found out this thread was closing and just gave up after that

I'll never give up! I think I can still pull this one out. I will not let Neale get the best of me. Not here, not anywhere!
posted by daveadams at 9:18 PM on May 21, 2001

POST-O-MATIC, baby! Now Mr. Adams has his own super-duper-posting machine. Awww yeah.
posted by daveadams at 9:19 PM on May 21, 2001

i used a post-o-matic earlier and was found out!
posted by gluechunk at 9:20 PM on May 21, 2001

i wonder if this will work though.
posted by gluechunk at 9:21 PM on May 21, 2001

i think 1142 is going to be reached tonight! woo.
posted by gluechunk at 9:21 PM on May 21, 2001

how about stats on how many 1142 contributors are 1142 members.
posted by gluechunk at 9:22 PM on May 21, 2001

bank nothing, WIN NOTHING!
posted by gluechunk at 9:23 PM on May 21, 2001

time
posted by gluechunk at 9:23 PM on May 21, 2001

I am the KING of 1142 and don't you forget it. I will not give up my title to a god-forsaken Aussie that's for certain.

Is it annoying when I waste the last few posts of this thread with crap like this?
posted by daveadams at 9:25 PM on May 21, 2001

But, Dave, can you make up another eight before the thread closes? I mean, every post here that you don't post is another one closer to the end. Sure, you can probably do it. But wouldn't it be more fun with a challenge?
posted by norm at 9:26 PM on May 21, 2001

No fair, gluechunk! I want to keep my top ten 1337 status! I will fight for it!
posted by norm at 9:27 PM on May 21, 2001

Hey Gluey, watch yourself. I want the comments title, you're going to give it to Neale!!!
posted by daveadams at 9:27 PM on May 21, 2001

And I won't let that happen, gosh durn it. Dag nab it. Pete wheat it. What?
posted by daveadams at 9:28 PM on May 21, 2001

I wrote a cool poem a few years ago called "Wallpaper in Hell." I'd post it here if I thought you guys would be interested. But I'm sure you wouldn't be.
posted by daveadams at 9:28 PM on May 21, 2001

Only twelve, err, eleven more to go. This is going to be tight.
posted by norm at 9:29 PM on May 21, 2001

Man, with all this 1142 activity, I just can't find time to update The Stuffed Dog anymore. Is something wrong with me?
posted by daveadams at 9:29 PM on May 21, 2001

Don't answer that.
posted by daveadams at 9:29 PM on May 21, 2001

Neale is my hero really, and that's the reason I act this way. I swear. So has everyone read Star Burgers? Any comments?
posted by daveadams at 9:30 PM on May 21, 2001

I meant six? I need that cushion on gluey!
posted by norm at 9:30 PM on May 21, 2001

My PC at home is nearly totally hosed. I installed a spare Win2k installation just so I could log on and regain my title. It probably wasn't worth the effort.
posted by daveadams at 9:30 PM on May 21, 2001

Just four posts left. What will the 1142nd post look like? When will it be posted? I'm betting on 9:35PM PST or PDT or whatever we're in right now.
posted by daveadams at 9:31 PM on May 21, 2001

Ooops, maybe I'm wrong. Will this be the last post?
posted by daveadams at 9:31 PM on May 21, 2001

ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!!!
posted by daveadams at 9:31 PM on May 21, 2001

This is going to be another train wreck, isn't it?
posted by norm at 9:32 PM on May 21, 2001

In a way, I really wanted mine to be number 1142.
posted by norm at 9:33 PM on May 21, 2001

wait, can anyone grab 1142?!
posted by gluechunk at 9:33 PM on May 21, 2001

what is the prize for 1142?!
posted by gluechunk at 9:34 PM on May 21, 2001

i think i better stop this because it's not easy to tell how many posts i have made and i'm going to waste 1142 on something stupid.
posted by gluechunk at 9:34 PM on May 21, 2001

WE HIT IT!


AND THE THREAD IS STILL OPEN!!
posted by gluechunk at 9:35 PM on May 21, 2001

I don't think Matt had an automatic thread killing device. Where did you come from, Gluey?
posted by norm at 10:05 PM on May 21, 2001

You fools! I'm asking Matt to kill the last posts and we'll try that dramatic ending again.

How can I work with these people? They're killing my artistic vision... bah!
posted by Neale at 10:59 PM on May 21, 2001

We must find Max Turner!

Do you know who Max Turner is?

He must be found!

Do you know why?

Where is Max Turner?
posted by dan_of_brainlog at 12:15 AM on May 22, 2001

so. what's going on?
posted by gluechunk at 12:06 PM on May 22, 2001

We're in 1142 limbo. Anyone still here can go find the Other 1142, if you know where to look.
posted by norm at 12:19 PM on May 22, 2001

1154? that's so not right
posted by sudama at 12:37 PM on May 22, 2001

Some of you may be interested in the Top 20 Charts that I just updated.
posted by waxpancake at 9:32 PM on June 1, 2001

Weird AL wrote a song in 1988.

(This Song's Just) Six Words Long.

This post is much longer.

That's all I have to say about that.
posted by john at 1:28 AM on June 2, 2001

This thread is still open? I'm disappointed. All the cool kids are over here. (NEALE!)
posted by daveadams at 10:20 AM on June 4, 2001

I was worried the top 20 posts would make people dig deeper. But then I saw that Dave was already inviting people.

THERE IS NO KEG AT 1142.ORG.
posted by norm at 11:11 PM on June 5, 2001

Dammit norm, we picked up a couple of kegs during the road-trip.

(oops! sorry!)

THERE IS NO KEG AT 1142.ORG.
posted by Avogadro at 8:02 AM on June 6, 2001

Nah, All the cool kids are now in both places.
posted by Cris_W at 7:03 PM on June 6, 2001

Cris! You've made it!
posted by Avogadro at 6:14 AM on June 7, 2001

1142: THERE IS NO KEG AT 1142.ORG.
posted by norm at 9:33 AM on June 11, 2001

I'm cool.
posted by daveadams at 12:43 PM on June 11, 2001

Zippity BOP!
posted by daveadams at 1:31 PM on June 15, 2001

I will have the last word in this thread, even if I have to use tin cans and string to connect.

DamnÓÓÓ
posted by Avogadro at 6:03 AM on June 17, 2001

Zippity BOP™!
posted by daveadams at 12:39 PM on June 20, 2001

Damn©©©


posted by Avogadro at 12:50 PM on June 20, 2001

Hey, take it to 1142talk.
posted by norm at 10:15 PM on June 20, 2001

Have I mentioned yet that you kids are nutty?
posted by cCranium at 8:08 AM on June 21, 2001

Take THAT, Dave Adams!
posted by MarkAnd at 11:53 AM on June 21, 2001

I wonder just how long this can continue to grow before Matt cuts us off? How many times have we wondered that?
posted by norm at 4:52 PM on June 21, 2001

<insert witty comment here>
posted by Avogadro at 7:53 AM on June 22, 2001

Sixy does not deserve the last word in here. Neale does.
posted by norm at 5:15 PM on June 25, 2001

Neale? Neale? NEALE??
posted by iceberg273 at 5:19 PM on June 25, 2001

<Balki>Well, of course I don't deserve the last word in here. Don't be ridiculous.

Cousin Neale! Cousin Neale! Where are you!?!</Balki>
posted by Avogadro at 5:43 AM on June 26, 2001

And if Neale won't take it, I'll make sure YOU don't.

Hee hee hee.
posted by norm at 8:59 AM on June 26, 2001

Get your hot dogs! Get your hot dogs! Ballpark hot dogs! Get 'em here!

(If there's gonna be a last post fight, there will be spectators. I figure I'll make some cash as a hot dog vendor.)
posted by iceberg273 at 9:17 AM on June 26, 2001

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE.
posted by norm at 1:23 PM on June 26, 2001

One hot dog, coming right up!
posted by iceberg273 at 1:48 PM on June 26, 2001

(sneaks behind Icy in dead of night)
posted by norm at 12:21 AM on June 27, 2001

Fools. I now have cable.
posted by Neale at 4:02 AM on June 27, 2001

[requisite post to mitigate disappointment in having only contributed twice to this thread thus far]
posted by werty at 7:01 AM on June 27, 2001

Ah, much better.
posted by werty at 7:02 AM on June 27, 2001

Norm! Wait! You forgot your hot dog! And it's getting cold!
posted by iceberg273 at 8:07 AM on June 27, 2001

You fools! That last comment was supposed to be Neale's!
posted by norm at 12:11 PM on June 27, 2001

He'll be back. He now has cable.
posted by iceberg273 at 1:07 PM on June 27, 2001

Even with my DSL, this still takes a little bit to load. I wonder how many Bens this weighs in at?
posted by norm at 5:32 PM on June 27, 2001

Going on 28 Bens. Oh yeh.
posted by Neale at 12:43 AM on July 1, 2001

And if Neale won't take it, I'll make sure YOU don't.

See norm, I would have happily let Neale take the last comment (I did propose many posts ago that Neale cap this thread at 1142), but I cannot allow your insolence to go unchecked.

*winkyface*
posted by Avogadro at 8:21 AM on July 3, 2001

*throws hot dog at norm*
posted by Avogadro at 8:24 AM on July 3, 2001

I'm only here for the hot dogs.
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 10:31 AM on July 3, 2001

Avo, you'll still need to pay for that hot dog.

norm, you'll need to get those ketchup and mustard stains out right away.

How many hot dogs can I get for you, CrazyUncle?
posted by iceberg273 at 11:49 AM on July 3, 2001

              ______________
           .-'              `-.
          (____________________)
           (                  )
          ( `----------------' )
           `------------------'

On the house. Happy Independence Eve.
posted by iceberg273 at 12:02 PM on July 3, 2001

If there's hot dog throwing going on, I wanna try catching a long pass in my mouth. Hang on, lemme run out there.
posted by cCranium at 2:30 PM on July 4, 2001

Here, catch! (IE only)


              ______________
           .-'              `-.
          (____________________)
           (                  )
          ( `----------------' )
           `------------------'
posted by iceberg273 at 2:56 PM on July 4, 2001 [2 favorites]

You could sell ad space on that thing.
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 11:50 PM on July 4, 2001

I know, I know, "If I had a dollar for every time someone said *that* to me..."
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 11:51 PM on July 4, 2001

This thread's too damn long to read.

[ducking]
posted by ZachsMind at 12:33 AM on July 5, 2001

Dammit, why didn't anyone tell me you guys were still here?
posted by lia at 10:34 AM on July 5, 2001

1200!
posted by iceberg273 at 11:32 AM on July 5, 2001

Zippity BOP!
posted by ZippityBOP at 11:40 AM on July 9, 2001

The Icy manipulator strikes again. I don't think in here counts for the Triple Dog Dare on the Marquee tag, though.
posted by norm at 11:40 AM on July 9, 2001

There is no cabal.™
posted by daveadams at 11:49 AM on July 9, 2001

Poseur.
posted by Zippity Bop™ at 11:51 AM on July 9, 2001

Zippity BOP!

STOP THAT YOU VILE HEATHEN!!
posted by Zippity BOT at 11:51 AM on July 9, 2001

Flaneur.
posted by ZippityBOP at 12:11 PM on July 9, 2001

Will everybody just shuddup!!!!!

geez this is a long thread...
posted by Zippity Bop™ at 12:16 PM on July 9, 2001

Snogg Boggen!
posted by Skot at 12:21 PM on July 9, 2001

I don't think in here counts for the Triple Dog Dare on the Marquee tag, though.

Does this?
posted by iceberg273 at 2:51 PM on July 9, 2001

Ohmyghods is this thing still on?
posted by jason at 5:03 PM on July 9, 2001

Is this other thing still on?

> wait for another dwarf
> say Hey, Warwick Davis! What was the big idea with all those Leprechaun movies, eh?

I'm so going to suffer for that.
posted by jason at 6:03 PM on July 9, 2001

Anyone know a good place to get pancakes around here? Or maybe some ice cream. Or how about pancakes with ice cream. Mmmmmm.
posted by dchase at 7:58 PM on July 9, 2001

Well Known Fact™ #1 (collect them all)





The ice cream cone was invented in St. Louis at its 1904 World's Fair. Waffles were used as the first cones, thus attesting the superiority of waffles.
posted by Avogadro at 5:30 AM on July 10, 2001

People! People! Enough already!

I'm thinking there needs to be a server just for this thread... remember 1142.org. Remember... remember... remember...
posted by Neale at 5:27 AM on July 12, 2001

I said I was not going to post here anymore, but you guys have trashed the conditions so badly that I return without guilt.
posted by thirteen at 7:43 AM on July 12, 2001

/me urinates in the corner
posted by Skot at 8:27 AM on July 12, 2001

/me urinates in Skot's corner.

Whoops, sorry Skot, didn't see you there.
posted by daveadams at 8:42 AM on July 12, 2001

This becomes more and more like a baseball stadium every day.
posted by iceberg273 at 8:54 AM on July 12, 2001

Ice Cream! Get your ice cream here!

Ice Cream!
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 10:02 AM on July 12, 2001

We want a pitcher, not a belly-itcher!
posted by kathryn at 10:56 AM on July 12, 2001

Hey ump, you couldn't call a cab!
posted by rorschach at 10:16 AM on July 13, 2001

Daaarrrrylllll......Daaarrrryllll.
posted by rorschach at 10:18 AM on July 13, 2001

Dear. Sweet. Jesus.
posted by holgate at 1:17 PM on July 13, 2001

"Some of these players have a bad attitude, Skip."
posted by sonofsamiam at 1:24 PM on July 13, 2001

Hey, peanuts!
posted by kathryn at 6:36 PM on July 13, 2001

"Coooooold BEER!...



Coooooold BEER!"
posted by Avogadro at 5:27 AM on July 16, 2001

Hey Clemens, take off your coat, you're inside!
posted by rorschach at 9:12 AM on July 16, 2001

Well Known Fact™ #2 (collect them all)





3' 7" 65 lb. dwarf Eddie Gaedel was the shortest player ever to play in a Major League baseball game, and he appeared on "Falstaff Day", celebrating 50 years of the American League and Falstaff Beer.
posted by Avogadro at 12:04 PM on July 16, 2001

That pitch appears to be well out of his strike zone.

His roughly baseball-sized strike zone.
posted by Skot at 12:28 PM on July 16, 2001

STEEEEEEEEEEE-RRRRRIIIIIIIIKKKKKE!!!!!!!
posted by iceberg273 at 11:25 AM on July 17, 2001

I am so close to giving up my nice guy act. Don't you people push on me!
posted by thirteen at 4:48 PM on July 17, 2001

Foucoult called, he wants his idea back.
posted by sixdifferentways at 7:26 PM on July 18, 2001

What was the first thing that made you say "wow, this isn't just a place for freaks after all?"
posted by fidelity at 7:50 PM on July 18, 2001

It isn't?
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 9:12 PM on July 18, 2001

No.
posted by Neale at 1:18 AM on July 19, 2001

Are you sure? I coulda sworn...
posted by lia at 5:16 AM on July 19, 2001

does Skot still smell like piss?
posted by lia at 5:20 AM on July 19, 2001

and why hasn't baby jesus been here yet?
posted by lia at 5:24 AM on July 19, 2001

I'm so confused... here I am doing nothing at work, trying to get a grip on the very essence of 1142, and something caught my eye... WHAT happened between May 30 and Sept 27 of 2000? How about then till Feb 11? My guess is black hole.
posted by MarkO at 7:07 AM on July 19, 2001

This post is to test the theory most of the other people post here only to prevent me from having the last post.
posted by Neale at 1:25 AM on July 24, 2001

No, I don't think that's why we post...

D'OH!
posted by norm at 8:53 AM on July 24, 2001

MINE!
posted by daveadams at 9:13 AM on July 24, 2001

There seems to ba a whole army of Mark_'s on MeFi. Do we yet have MarkA through MarkZ?
posted by thirteen at 9:25 AM on July 24, 2001

Inspired by this comment, I took it upon myself to run Word's autosummarizer over the contents of this thread as well. The results, at the 10-sentence summary level:

(2 more posts, max.)

posted by Neale at 7:28 PM PST on May 25

posted by Neale at 7:37 PM PST on May 25


________________
posted by Neale at 3:48 PM PST on March 29


Must post, must post.
posted by Neale at 5:22 PM PST on March 29


180 posts.
posted by Neale at 8:25 PM PST on March 29


250.
posted by Aaaugh! posted by Aaaugh! posted by Neale at 4:28 PM PST on March 31

280.
posted by Neale at 5:36 PM PST on April 2

290. NEED MORE POSTS.
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 9:09 PM PST on April 10


NEALE! One post. One solitary post.
posted by Aaaugh!

On average, Neale posts at 6:03 PM PST.

Allowing us to conclude that the two most important parts of this thread are (1) raw obsession over post quantities and (2) Neale. In short, nothing we really didn't know already.

I am thoroughly underwhelmed.
posted by youhas at 12:55 PM on July 24, 2001

Word is doing a poor job. How could I not be included in the summary?
posted by daveadams at 2:52 PM on July 25, 2001

There seems to ba a whole army of Mark_'s on MeFi.

On a tiny Pacific Atoll, far away from the prying eyes of world governments a lone scientist worked feverishly, creating near-perfect copies of himself using techniques previously seen only in science fiction novels.
As each clone was created, he was given a suffix denoting his place in the lineage of doom, when the suffix reached Z, the task was complete.
To train these harbingers of the apocolypse in the ways of the race they were destined to destroy, they were sent out under the anonymity of the world wide web. Their goal, to learn all they could about the human race and to assimilate themselves into communities, forging bonds which would, in time, allow them to go into the world and appear as one with the population.
Many of them came upon Metafilter, a collection of lost souls, feverishly trying to make sense of their world by arguing about Presidents and SUVs, speaking in a coded language only their more dedicated members could follow, where ponies, ice cream and pancakes took on new and fantastical meanings. And they saw that the race they were sent out to destroy could be intelligent, witty, incisive and on the whole, self governing. Mostly.
And so they slept. Until such day as the words Zippity Bop are uttered for the thousandth time, whereupon they shall rise up and smite the Zippity Boppers, those claiming to be the Baby Jesus, the McGroins and those whose posts are linkless.
Be afraid of that day, humans, for it is near.
posted by Markb at 2:39 AM on July 26, 2001

A loaf of bread, a loaf of bread ... gotta remember a loaf of bread.
posted by sudama at 2:14 PM on July 30, 2001

. . . a jug of wine, and thou.
posted by Skot at 3:53 PM on July 30, 2001

Here, I will run my own auto-summary feature on this page by randomly selecting sentences from anywhere in the thread:

You want I should cast another doughnut?

An absent dog? What the heck?

Does this mean I can join the A-list?

And I'm glad I made your day, if not your month. :)

"a volcano like eruption of bad journals"

You close the wicker cage.

Has this thread reached the magical 200 posts yet?

Can't fight the reaper.

You guys are totally screwing me up.

FIONA: Err . . . I was sleeping.


posted by donkeymon at 11:45 AM on August 3, 2001

Why summarize when you can just make more? Running 1142 through a travesty generator, I get:

"The ring city approach is fine in some hidden part of the parts are played on my website and tell me that, Mr. Smarty Man. Does anyone else who'll admit to having Microsoft development experience--know anything about dance, but Julie absolutely loves it, and she sent him to consider a blogspot. I went trick-or-treating and got me through everything."

This Means Something.
posted by webmutant at 1:46 PM on August 4, 2001

MeFi returns cold
the knives are sharpened and oiled
time for us to fight.
posted by thirteen at 4:14 PM on August 21, 2001

I'm not letting you have the last word, thirteen.
posted by daveadams at 10:19 AM on August 30, 2001

What, you think you earned the last word, Missouri-Boy?
posted by Avogadro at 11:38 AM on August 30, 2001

I don't think so, either of you.
posted by Neale at 7:05 AM on August 31, 2001

All I have to do is outlive you guys, and that should not be a problem.
posted by thirteen at 11:22 AM on September 4, 2001

It's no fair if you win by killing your competition. Afraid to go mano a mano with natural causes, number boy?

posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 8:43 PM on September 4, 2001

Careful, CUJoe, 13 has seen more people die than I've had sex with. Death does not scare him.
posted by norm at 10:08 PM on September 4, 2001

*cowers silently*
posted by iceberg273 at 7:33 AM on September 5, 2001

*gnaws on Iceberg's foot, gibbers fearfully*
posted by Skot at 10:22 AM on September 5, 2001

If I don't get the last word, I could see a certain database suddenly crashing unexpectidly, and managing to recover all users except the one who doesn't give me the last word.

That would indeed be tragic...

[posted by cCranium to Bald Faced Lies on September 5]
posted by cCranium at 10:26 AM on September 5, 2001

*gnaws on Iceberg's foot, gibbers fearfully*

Skot attack!! Skot attack!!!

*telephones and asks coast guard to search for abnormal Skot activity in coastal waters*
posted by iceberg273 at 10:47 AM on September 5, 2001

13 has seen more people die than I've had sex with.
Sadly, I have seen more people die that I have had sex with too.
posted by thirteen at 10:52 AM on September 5, 2001

13 has seen more people die than I've had sex with.

Sadly, I have seen more people die that I have had sex with too.

Sadly, I've had sex with more dead people than... er...
posted by Neale at 1:37 AM on September 11, 2001

13 has seen more people die than I've had sex with.

So 13 has seen at least one person die.

BTW, I can't connect to the daughtership. I'm mellllltinnnnngg.
posted by anapestic at 11:29 AM on September 14, 2001

I'm mellllltinnnnngg.

*mops frantically*
posted by iceberg273 at 9:29 AM on September 17, 2001

I loaded up 1142 and all I posted was this lousy joke!
posted by sudama at 9:59 AM on September 18, 2001

Sudammit!
posted by Skot at 11:43 AM on September 18, 2001

Look, this is a very silly thread, and I don't know what else to say.
posted by Avogadro at 12:02 PM on September 19, 2001

Would you guys give it a rest? It's no wonder MeFi's server is on its knees. (grumble)
posted by Steven Den Beste at 4:17 PM on September 19, 2001

Would you guys give it a rest? It's no wonder MeFi's server is on its knees. (grumble)

Okay. From now on there will be no more posts to 1142.
posted by Neale at 4:25 PM on September 19, 2001

But I've never posted here! Can't I have just one?

After all, Steven, I've bloody well (this is not to show I'm British, but rather just to suck up to any Brits in the room) given up on the rest of the site.
posted by frykitty at 1:28 PM on September 20, 2001

Would you guys give it a rest? It's no wonder MeFi's server is on its knees. (grumble)

Let's see now. Before 9/11, the server was pretty good. Now it's on its knees. And there have been fewer than ten posts here in that time and, I'm guessing, significantly more than ten posts on the rest of MeFi.

I think somebody's feeling a little left out of the cabal.
posted by anapestic at 1:43 PM on September 20, 2001

Don't mind me. What's up, kitty?

Pesty! Shhhhh! There is no Cabal!^tm
posted by J. R. Hughto at 1:45 PM on September 20, 2001

No, he's right. Anybody who's posting on this thread right now is just fucking thoughtless.
posted by anildash at 5:10 PM on September 20, 2001

My god this thread just lowered my IQ by about ten points.

What was the Jenny Ringley scandal last year (I admit being a paying viewer a few years ago.)

Just talkin to myself eh?
posted by DBAPaul at 4:03 PM on September 24, 2001

No, he's right. Anybody who's posting on this thread right now is just fucking thoughtless.

AND has no consideration to Matt, and the other 20 people on his server.

Shut it down!
posted by Neale at 5:13 PM on September 27, 2001

bling bling.
posted by J. R. Hughto at 10:11 AM on October 5, 2001

Now!
posted by Neale at 10:02 PM on October 8, 2001

I realy want the last post now. Don't mind me.
posted by thirteen at 2:39 PM on October 9, 2001

I exist only to torment Thirteen.
posted by Skot at 3:36 PM on October 9, 2001

And I trump both your asses.
posted by Neale at 11:38 PM on October 9, 2001

You know that we have competition, then? I fired a warning shot.
posted by iceberg273 at 9:58 AM on October 10, 2001

Will someone remind me this is here occasionally? I keep forgetting to post.
posted by frykitty at 1:37 PM on October 10, 2001

I still think that I deserve the last post, solely on the basis that I have TWO "c"s in my name. TWO!
posted by cCranium at 1:53 PM on October 10, 2001

You know that we have competition, then? I fired a warning shot.


Wake me up when they hit 1k.
posted by Avogadro at 2:00 PM on October 10, 2001

You know that we have competition, then? I fired a warning shot.

Why must it be a competition? Can't we all just get along?
posted by ColdChef at 9:29 PM on October 10, 2001

I do not deserve the last post.
posted by youhas at 3:18 AM on October 13, 2001

Then I shall take it from you.
posted by J. R. Hughto at 9:32 AM on October 13, 2001

Well I was going to wait till forever to comment on this post, But I might die first. So I have now commented.
posted by bjgeiger at 12:37 PM on October 15, 2001

At this point in the thread, you may be thinking to yourself:

"Is a volcano about to erupt in Alaska or on the Kamchatka penninsula?"

Well, my friend, question no longer.
posted by iceberg273 at 2:18 PM on October 15, 2001

Meta 1142. Almost like the other 1142, but not at all.

I just thought that should be mentioned before this thing dies.
posted by Neale at 8:11 PM on October 15, 2001

Sniff....sniff....what the hell is that smell in here?
posted by thewittyname at 9:33 AM on October 17, 2001

Have you guys seen this it's the funniest thing I've seen in ages.
posted by fullerine at 12:38 PM on October 19, 2001

Oh yeah! Operation: Enduring 1142 is in the house!
posted by smt at 11:08 PM on October 19, 2001

Ah, "Get your war on." The link that killed MetaFilter. You silly little clip art bastard.

How I wish I could hate you...
posted by ColdChef at 7:52 PM on October 21, 2001

I love you. Really. I do. I love you like the cheese loves the bread, like Ron Jeremy loves the head, I love you like the big things love the small. I love you more than 30, and I'm not just bein' flirty, I truly, really, love you all.

This is not entirely a lie.

I need another drink, dammit.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:07 AM on October 23, 2001

Everybody out!

*turns off lights*
posted by iceberg273 at 8:18 AM on October 23, 2001

Hey!

Turn on the fucking lights!

It's dark in here!

C'mon, dude! We got half a keg left and I was just getting ready to put on "Monty Pyton and the Holy Grail".

C'mon man. I still wanna party.

Hello?

Fine. You can all leave. I'm gonna stay and party. Par-tay. Whoo-hoo!

...

"Carry on my wayward son..."

...

Ah, crap! I just stepped in the guacamole!

Turn. On. The. Lights.

Hello?

I can't find the keg...

Dudes? This isn't funny. You pussies don't know how to par-tay.

posted by ColdChef at 9:37 AM on October 23, 2001

*sniff, sniff*

anybody seen my burrito?

...

hello?

"Damn it feels good to be a gangster!..."

Am I right?

Are you with me?

Can? You? Dig? It?

...

i'm so lonely...
posted by ColdChef at 12:09 PM on October 24, 2001

Can? You? Dig? It?

SHAFT!!!!

posted by thewittyname at 1:48 PM on October 24, 2001

witty? Can you reach the lights?

I'm...uh...

I'm a little afraid of the dark.

HEY! Was that your hand?

...

hello?
posted by ColdChef at 4:04 PM on October 24, 2001

if 9622 links to 1142 and 1142 links to 9622, would it trap us inside some kind of time loop? if i read both of them, would i stop existing??

damn, i guess i should have asked that BEFORE i linked to it.
<shrug>oh well</shrug>

er.. i saw a burrito lying in the corner next to skot.. you might not want it anymore
posted by smt at 4:05 PM on October 24, 2001

SMT: For god's sake...please turn the light on.

I had a bong around here somewhere...

...

hello?

...

"We're gonna rock down to Electric avenue/and then we'll take it higher..."

if someone would turn the lights on, i could put some other music on the stereo...

"Everybody Wang Chung tonight..."

ugh. I think I just stepped on a piss soaked burrito...

hello?

lights?

...
posted by ColdChef at 8:43 PM on October 24, 2001

....Wait....it must be one of these switches....lets see here...

*flip*
[merry-go-round starts up]

No..no...

*flip*
[Pancake-o-matic comes online]

dammit...

*flip*
[opens a portal into MiguelCardos's head]

cooooooooooooooooool.....

ah...yes

*flip*
[Light]

Party on!
posted by thewittyname at 9:07 AM on October 25, 2001

Woo Hoo! Let the celebration continue!

Hey, where'd all the ladies go?
posted by ColdChef at 10:02 AM on October 25, 2001

parties without ladies make Geshe Lakpha sad.
posted by smt at 10:37 AM on October 25, 2001

(maybe we should turn out the lights and let him have some privacy)

*flip*
posted by smt at 2:13 PM on October 25, 2001

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo..........







....

it's so dark in here.

hello?
posted by ColdChef at 3:00 PM on October 25, 2001

Dammit....

Ok...you know what....I'm putting a clapper on this damn light in here....

*clap clap*
[light]

The clapper.....god bless technology
posted by thewittyname at 9:24 AM on October 26, 2001

Dammit....

Ok...you know what....I'm putting a clapper on this damn light in here....

*clap clap*
[light]

The Clapper.....god bless technology
posted by thewittyname at 9:24 AM on October 26, 2001

Goddammit, Witty!

You clapped 'em on and then you clapped 'em right back off!

Damn you and damn your double posting hide.

If I could find the fucking door in this darkness, I'd leave this party and get on back to 9622.

...

hello?
posted by ColdChef at 11:37 AM on October 26, 2001

:(

*clap clap*

:)
posted by thewittyname at 11:54 AM on October 26, 2001

Fools.

Everyone knows I cannot be beaten. My power is inexoribly linked to 1142... the more you post here, the STRONGER I GROW!

The paradox is delightful.
posted by Neale at 3:25 AM on October 27, 2001

your new posting technique is unstoppable.
posted by lotsofno at 9:48 PM on October 30, 2001

Wow. This thread is still alive?
posted by dogmatic at 3:22 PM on October 31, 2001

Wow. This thread is still alive?

Going strong for 1.6 years.

Man, Matt should crash and burn this thread.
posted by Neale at 5:56 PM on October 31, 2001

The cab I came home in tonight was number 1142. Just thought I'd share that.
posted by feelinglistless at 3:20 PM on November 1, 2001

I'm confused... are the lights on or off?
posted by TacoConsumer at 11:19 AM on November 2, 2001

I can see.
posted by daveadams at 12:59 PM on November 2, 2001

Oooooh! Look at all the pretty colors!

#006699!!!
#CCCC00!!!
posted by TacoConsumer at 11:24 PM on November 2, 2001

WTF? I was posting to 1142.org and ended up here on refresh.

DRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!
posted by Neale at 5:56 AM on November 5, 2001

If anyone knows where Jessica is, I'd like to talk to her.
posted by TacoConsumer at 5:27 PM on November 7, 2001

No can help. Sorry.
posted by Neale at 9:33 PM on November 8, 2001

Hey guys! I got a great idea! I'll stand over here and turn the lightswitch on and off real fast like and y'all can dance to Lionel Richie music! It'll be like disco strobe lighting! It'll be really cool! Watch!

*starts flicking lightswitch off and on repeatedly*

Yeah! Whoohoo!! "All Night Long! ALL NIGHT!"

*fuse blows out*

..oops

BLACK. END OF SCENE. EXEUNT.
posted by ZachsMind at 11:51 PM on November 11, 2001

encore! encore!
posted by tj at 7:41 AM on November 12, 2001

oh god no encore.

PUT THE KEYBOARD DOWN AND BACK AWAY FROM THE METAFILTER!
posted by ZachsMind at 2:30 PM on November 12, 2001

Full circle again? NO LOOSE ENDS!
posted by j.edwards at 5:18 PM on November 12, 2001

The final loop of digression closes, and 1142 disappears up it's own...uhh...eye of the needle?

Neale, you're meant to die now, I think.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:09 AM on November 13, 2001

1142 is brought to you by Verizon Wireless!
posted by TacoConsumer at 7:49 PM on November 19, 2001

Matt! Please close the thread! Preferably with me getting the last word, but if not so be it.
posted by thirteen at 12:44 PM on November 20, 2001

Yeah, what thirteen said.
posted by ColdChef at 2:39 PM on November 20, 2001

Sweet 13. Neale must have the last word.

Neale?
posted by J. R. Hughto at 1:46 PM on November 26, 2001

No one will have the last word; 1142 will never die! Mwah-ha-HA-HA-HA!
posted by TacoConsumer at 4:36 PM on November 26, 2001

No one will?

Are you sure?
posted by ColdChef at 7:31 PM on November 26, 2001

Frankly, I'd be happy if Matt closed the thread... Right after a post of his own saying that this thread was something he just didn't get.
posted by j.edwards at 3:40 PM on November 27, 2001

Well you went and spoilt that joke. We had a secret pact never to mention that, so that Matt could think it up all by himself and it would appear fresh and funny. Now it's ruined. RUINED!

I had a fajita for lunch. What type of fajitas do you like?

Discuss.
posted by Neale at 11:53 AM on November 28, 2001

I like fajitas. I'm not fussy enough to have a preference amongst them, though.

More to the point: this is the 1337th comment in this thread. I am one 1337 k3wL r0x0r d00d now.
posted by youhas at 1:12 PM on November 28, 2001

I hereby declare Satan no longer has power over, or influence of, any of the posters to this thread!


posted by Neale at 7:54 AM on November 30, 2001

well, that's a relief.
posted by iceberg273 at 10:37 AM on November 30, 2001

Sure, it's EASY to get rid of Satan. The real question is: how do you keep Miguel out of your thread?
posted by ColdChef at 2:46 PM on November 30, 2001

"You got your Miguel* in my 1142! You got your 1142 in my Miguel!"



*Replace 'Miguel' with 'Satan' as necessary, depending on your disposition.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:57 PM on November 30, 2001

I refuse to let the last post of this thread be about anyone but me.
posted by Neale at 3:13 PM on December 2, 2001

You will all Neale before Zod.

(No, that didn't make sense even to me, now that I stop to think about it.)
posted by webmutant at 12:59 AM on December 3, 2001

Maybe we should start a pool on when Matt kills 1142. I've got March 28, 2010, the tenth anniversary of its creation.
posted by TacoConsumer at 8:58 PM on December 5, 2001

This is an experiment in Google skewering.

Terrorist.

Bomb.

FBI.
posted by Neale at 10:07 AM on December 8, 2001

July 14, 2005.
posted by fidelity at 7:36 PM on December 8, 2001

is there a world's record for longest active thread and if so, what'd the number to beat?
posted by juv3nal at 4:04 PM on December 9, 2001

what'd the number to beat?

200,000. Oddly enough.
posted by j.edwards at 9:27 PM on December 9, 2001

200,000. Oddly enough.

*calls the world record people*
posted by iceberg273 at 1:23 PM on December 10, 2001

I have just been sent here by way of a redirect. That's odd.
posted by jbushnell at 3:16 PM on December 11, 2001

Or... is it?
posted by jbushnell at 3:21 PM on December 11, 2001

The clouds of unknowing are thick here, child.
posted by Skot at 11:20 AM on December 13, 2001

Wow. Over five days since anyone posted a comment. I guess everyone just forgot about ol' 1142. Now I can sit back and bask in the glory of having the last word:

Crump
posted by MUD at 1:35 PM on December 18, 2001

Crump is a pretty crap last word. What about:

Moist.

No, my wife would kill me.
posted by Neale at 4:28 PM on December 18, 2001

Bombast?
posted by MUD at 2:01 PM on December 19, 2001

Please tell me this is not turning into a "Last Word" contest.


GIVE THE LAST WORD BACK TO NEALE!
posted by Avogadro at 2:23 PM on December 19, 2001

*waiting for Neale to come up with the last word, already*
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 2:57 AM on December 20, 2001

...
posted by corpse at 9:20 AM on December 21, 2001

(cricket chirp)
posted by TacoConsumer at 9:13 AM on December 23, 2001

Merry Christmas, 1142!

(OK, so it's a little late...But no one else got 1142 a present.)
posted by dogmatic at 9:06 AM on December 27, 2001

Well, it's almost 2002.

So I'm bringing wetlog back.

Tell your friends!
posted by Neale at 7:32 PM on December 27, 2001

Hey, friends!

You can see Neale's underwear at the wetlog!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:16 AM on December 29, 2001

Crap. Neale almost had the last word there. And I ruined it.

*cries*
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:18 AM on December 29, 2001

*cries*
posted by Neale at 3:56 PM on December 30, 2001

German Bold Italic
posted by riffola at 11:25 PM on January 3, 2002

Ou est le remorse? Ou est le?
posted by Succa at 8:47 PM on January 11, 2002

Le 'thread' a ses raisons, que le raison ne connait point.
posted by j.edwards at 11:35 PM on January 13, 2002

People, I need answers and I need them now. At what point, precisely mind, did this thread turn stale? I need succulence from my cult threads, damn it.

All answers must be in the form of a witty comment and should be on my desk in this thread by the end of term.
posted by MUD at 4:53 PM on January 14, 2002

May 21st. No, wait.

October 5th. No, wait.

January 14th. Yeah, that's the ticket.
posted by j.edwards at 11:20 PM on January 14, 2002

I swear by all that's holy, by the sweet unsucked nipples of the mother of jesus, by the small but nonetheless annoyingly itchy watery little bumpy things on the sides of my fingers, by the lords of the underworld and Timmy too, by gum, by gemorrah, by sodom and moloch, by the dirty diapers of the baby jesus, by Aunt Jemima and her god-blessed pancakes, by all the prime numbers up to and including 29, by land (one) by sea (two), by the funniest number that exists (fourteen), in the name of the whiskey and the beers and the holy smokes, by the SUVs and the Naderites, by Chimptacular presidents and semi-masticated pretzels, by the rubble and the crater, by the haiku and the goatsex, by the fat guy and the troll, by the pedant and the pederast, by the vegetarians, the vegans the omnicores the omnivores the omniwhores the carnivores and the single cry in the dark of a lone drunken chicken begging to be eaten, just a fucking nibble you bastards, by the Portuguese scribblers, the Australian nutjobs, the Yankee heroes and the dismemberment of thousand-headed Purusha, by the subtle, supersensuous spiritual essence which pervades all space, by the mythical tortoise which upholds the earth, by the shrimplike scent of my swinging dad-balls, by the sacred and inextinguishable fires of the Magi which alone remain to illumine the horizon, by the dirty little joke, the self-referential injoke, by the ineluctable modality of the fucking boneheaded, by the end of this comment it'll be time for another beer, by the oft-licked nuts of Cerberus, the three-headed watchdog at the gates of Hell, by good intentions, bad intentions, simple misdirection, sleight-of-hand and honest-to-goodness magic, by the great big ball of thread beside the chest of drawers, by the time I figure it out I'll be dead, by the sweet sweet liquor, by the weed and the hash, by the speed and the coke, by the dimethyl goddamn tryptamine, by the wind and the waves, by the quiet talks on the beach and the naked dancing on the rooftop, by the unreachable goal and the short-term workaround, by the self-obsession and the reaching out to a friend, by the pastoral scene and the urban hubbub, by the purple steaming mess that spills out onto the pavement as I die, by the husker and the du, by the #006699 and the #CCCC00, by the Math and the Owie, by the wife, the horse and the moustache, by all that's holy :


That was one nice looking plate of chicken, MUD.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:06 AM on January 15, 2002

...
posted by corpse at 1:36 PM on January 16, 2002

Utnapishtim
posted by lagado at 8:10 PM on January 16, 2002

Shantih shantih shantih.
posted by j.edwards at 8:38 PM on January 16, 2002

Anyone have any ideas what to do for the thread's second birthday party?
posted by Neale at 4:20 AM on January 18, 2002

Pony rides and pancakes?
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 9:44 AM on January 18, 2002

Pan rides and ponycakes?
posted by cashmein at 9:59 AM on January 18, 2002

Pin the pancake on the bunny!
posted by Avogadro at 2:20 PM on January 18, 2002

Pan rides can be scary.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:53 AM on January 19, 2002

I'm not sure I like the way 9622 has almost caught up.

This will call for some drastic action.

And I do mean drastic.
posted by Neale at 5:46 AM on January 19, 2002

Where's the postal crew when you need it?
posted by Neale at 5:47 AM on January 19, 2002

Okay, here goes.
posted by Neale at 5:47 AM on January 19, 2002

I will be performing beat poetry on the 15th of Feb. Details soon.
posted by Neale at 5:50 AM on January 19, 2002

The theme of the evening is "dead bird". therefore I have written the following poem.
posted by Neale at 5:51 AM on January 19, 2002

Dead bird.
Dead bird.
Dead bird.
Dead bird.
Dead bird.
Dead fucking bird.
Honey mustard sauce.

*rumours to the effect that I am the anti-Neale must cease immediatamente.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:33 AM on January 19, 2002

Details now on Chateau Talbeau.

Anti-Neale? What happens if we meet?
posted by Neale at 12:24 AM on January 21, 2002

Lots of empty Hahn Premium bottles?

Oh, and the annihiliation of the universe, of course.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:03 AM on January 21, 2002

I will be performing beat poetry on the 15th of Feb. Details soon.

BONGO TIME!
posted by j.edwards at 4:08 PM on January 24, 2002

Cha-cha cha-cha cha CHA
Cha-cha cha-cha cha CHA
Cha-cha cha-cha cha CHA
Cha-cha cha-cha cha CHA

Oh, that's not right, is it?
posted by Neale at 8:34 PM on January 24, 2002

posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:24 PM on January 24, 2002

That's it, better get cracking. Tonight I'll pull out the old post-o-matic, and that'll be it, baby.
posted by Neale at 7:04 PM on January 28, 2002

Tell us a story, Unca Neale!
posted by Skot at 1:57 PM on January 29, 2002

Once upon a time there was a little old lady called Margarie.
posted by Neale at 6:43 PM on January 29, 2002

Most of the time she seemed like a nice, quiet old lady.
posted by Neale at 6:44 PM on January 29, 2002

What people didn't know, however, was that when Margarie was in her late teens she had accidently killed Satan, and thereby assumed his ungodly throne.
posted by Neale at 6:44 PM on January 29, 2002

Margarie, however, didn't want the title of "Unholy bearer of plague, defiler of purity, destructor of the heavens and filth monger".
posted by Neale at 6:45 PM on January 29, 2002

So she went about making hell a kinder, friendlier place to be.
posted by Neale at 6:45 PM on January 29, 2002

The first thing she did was stop everyone being whipped by large demons from one torture to the next. Instead she placed them in orderly queues.
posted by Neale at 6:47 PM on January 29, 2002

Next she made everyone in hell fill out a form of their worst fears, most hated ideas, most painful places, so that people would stop being tortured randomly and start being tortured effectively.
posted by Neale at 6:48 PM on January 29, 2002

Finally she ordered muzac to be piped through the great halls of the living damned so that her demon workers would feel more relaxed.
posted by Neale at 6:49 PM on January 29, 2002

The result was infinitely worse than what had existed previously, and Margarie was hailed as the very best unholy master they'd ever had.
posted by Neale at 6:54 PM on January 29, 2002

Margarie's reign as blasphemous creature of the foulest darkness ended when she gave up the role to be a consultant to a major insurance company.

The End.
posted by Neale at 6:56 PM on January 29, 2002

Go, wetlogboy, go!

(The odd thing here is that I've just been offered a 'role to be a consultant to a major insurance company' in Sydney. No, really. Not gonna do it, though. Probably.)
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:26 PM on January 29, 2002

Blargh!
posted by Neale at 2:45 PM on February 2, 2002

What the...

Excuse me, can anyone point the way to 9622?
posted by mrbula at 9:13 PM on February 2, 2002

No.
posted by Neale at 6:38 PM on February 3, 2002

Excuse me, can anyone point the way to 9622?

No, but I do know the way to San Jose.

%I don't remember when you could put $100 down and buy a car.%
posted by Avogadro at 8:00 AM on February 4, 2002

and
posted by Neale at 6:11 PM on February 5, 2002

DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO 1142?

Do you know the way to 1142?
I've been away so long. I may go wrong and lose my way.
Do you know the way to 1142?
I'm going back to find some peace of mind in 1142.

L.A. is a great big freeway.
Put a hundred down and buy a car.
In a week, maybe two, they'll make you a star
Weeks turn into years. How quck they pass
And all the stars that never were
Are parking cars and pumping gas

Do you know the way to 1142?
They've got a lot of space. There'll be a place where I can stay
I was born and raised in 1142
I'm going back to find some peace of mind in 1142.

Fame and fortune is a magnet.
It can pull you far away from home
With a dream in your heart you're never alone.
Dreams turn into dust and blow away
And there you are without a friend
You pack your car and ride away

I've got lots of friends in 1142
Do you know the way to 1142?
Can't wait to get back to 1142.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:58 PM on February 5, 2002

*door creaks open*

Hello? Anybody here?

*echoes*

I *gulp* just moved in to M-Metafilter and, um... I was driving around, taking...taking a look around and my car ran out of *gulp* gas in front of this place. C-Can I use your phone and call a t-towtruck?

Sorry to d-disturb you.

Hello?

*silence*
posted by evanizer at 1:44 PM on February 6, 2002

Sorry, man - phone's out of order. Should be getting fixed next week. Why don't you stick around? Make yourself comfortable. It's good to see a new face around here. Always got time for new blood. You look particularly... ssssucculent. Don't mind my friend over there. He's already eaten.
posted by MUD at 3:19 PM on February 6, 2002

I'm waiting for the man.
posted by Neale at 7:27 PM on February 6, 2002

Hey, I just went over to that 9622 place and they said some really mean things to me and then said some really worrying things about monkeys and then chased me out!

Can I hang here with you guys till they go away?

I need a hug.

*waits for hug*

I'm famished! Can I have this burrito over here?
posted by evanizer at 10:10 AM on February 7, 2002

Neale, The Man (The Burning Man) can be seen August 26-September 2, 2002.

Evanizer, don't be polite. I just saw The Other Man (The Chile Man) take it and put his chile on it.
posted by jacobw at 5:57 PM on February 7, 2002

For God's sake, Evanizer! Put the burrito down!
posted by ColdChef at 6:44 PM on February 7, 2002

Eeek!

*drops burrito, which makes a wet thud on the floor*

Maybe I'll just order a pizza. What do we all want on it?
posted by evanizer at 8:22 PM on February 7, 2002

No ham, please. And let's lay off the anchovies.
posted by jacobw at 10:21 PM on February 7, 2002

I've got lots of friends in 1142
Do you know the way to 1142?
Can't wait to get back to 1142.

'Bout damn time, too. You nogoodnik, you.
posted by j.edwards at 11:27 PM on February 7, 2002

hey everybody - i was in the neighborhood, and i just thought i'd stop by with this square pie. it's just cheeze though..

hey j.edwards why are you all bent over evanizer like that... OH...

*sits down anyway on couch with rip through the middle of it. puts pizza on the floor...*
posted by goneill at 7:05 AM on February 8, 2002

'Bout damn time, too. You nogoodnik, you.

Seconded. Come back, Mr. Man.
posted by Avogadro at 8:55 AM on February 8, 2002

goneill: This party's deads-ville. Howzabout I take you to a place that's a lot livlier PLUS they gots monkeys? Monkeys, baby!

Follow me!

...and bring that pizza with you...

As you were, gentlemen!
posted by ColdChef at 9:48 AM on February 8, 2002

*turns around in chair*

Ah, Mr. ColdChef, I see you were planning on leaving. But, Mr. ColdChef, we are not yet finished with you.

*raises right hand Doktah-Claw-style; it is adorned with a Powerglove*

Please, sit down. *doors slam shut*
posted by j.edwards at 2:40 PM on February 8, 2002

Huh?
posted by Kafkaesque at 4:01 PM on February 8, 2002

H'ep me! H'ep me!

Someone send for Miguel!

Kafkaesque! Go for help!
posted by ColdChef at 5:01 PM on February 8, 2002

*shoves j.edwards aside*

That little Portugese meddler cannot save you now, you cretins! I may be new here, but not new enough not to know what you two have up your sleeves.

*bends down and grabs a slice of pizza. Tosses another slice to jacobw*

Sorry, jacobw, you'll have to pick the ham off.

So, fellow dwellers of the one true and everlasting MeFi thread, what shall we do with these....these MONKEYLOVERS? Maybe we should ask Neale. Where is that lad, anyway? He hasn't responded to my donationyet. Hmmm. NEALE?

*steps in pizza*

Fiddlesticks!
posted by evanizer at 5:33 PM on February 8, 2002

j.edwards, if you're going to use the power glove on one of the 9622ers (otherwise known as multiplatinum superstars Trolling For Fellatio), you're going to have to use the power glove on all of us.

I want mine set to monkey.

hmmmm.... it's that evanizer kid again, is it??? let's give HIM the chair and glove treatement.
posted by eyeballkid at 5:48 PM on February 8, 2002

pssst. Good work with that "special" pizza, goneill. they're sound asleep. Monkeylovers, come this way. * tears hole in the #006699 * It's a sort of wormhole back home.
posted by jpoulos at 6:16 PM on February 8, 2002

Later, Losers!

*Jumps through portal*
posted by ColdChef at 6:34 PM on February 8, 2002

Hey! Hey guys!

I'm still here! Hiding under a chair!





guys?
posted by Kafkaesque at 7:10 PM on February 8, 2002

um, cold chef wait up... *leaves and takes pizza that never had ham on it anyhow, minus the one piece that the evanizer ate with her*
posted by goneill at 8:51 PM on February 8, 2002

*stretches out in the luxury of the now-abandoned 1142*

Hey, they left a burrito.

*the powerglove slowly reaches out*
posted by j.edwards at 12:38 AM on February 9, 2002

Umm, I'm still here, j.edwards, baby...

*grins*
posted by evanizer at 3:40 PM on February 9, 2002

Don't let him near the syrup, ed.
posted by Kafkaesque at 7:54 PM on February 9, 2002

I don't care what his approval rating is, Bush is never going to be taken seriously as a leader until he gets that shit-eating smirk off his dumbass monogoloid face-

What the?

Hey! Which one of you left the spacetime continuum open like this?
I only frequent legitimate threads, where my go-nowhere, badly typed thread-derailing non-sequiturs piss off the tight asses.
I don't go for this cult shit. What, you all don't wate enough time on the main page? I'm audi 5000.
Later losers!

(thud)

Ow, fuck!

Stupid self-healing quantum singularity.

Uh... little help?
posted by dong_resin at 8:08 PM on February 9, 2002

Hey, Midge! Looks like we bagged another one. Go get my guttin' knife.
posted by jpoulos at 8:15 PM on February 9, 2002

*retreives ball gag*

Get the Gimp.
posted by j.edwards at 12:40 AM on February 10, 2002

*whimpers*
Okay! Who wants to see a magic trick?
*poses hands like Senior Wences, then fakes left and grabs the power glove*
Ha! You're in for it now, cult thread rubes! Suck it!
*glove emits bright green flash*

*dong_resin becomes 1/2 inch high.*

Crap!


Uh... little help, here?
posted by dong_resin at 10:32 AM on February 10, 2002

*scoops up tiny dong_resin*

Ah, my little friend, who's got the last laugh now? How could you come in here with those assless leather chaps on and think that you could escape....unscathed?

Mwha hahaha!

Now, who'd like an hors d'oeuvre?

*dangles tiny dong_resin over jpoulos' mouth*
posted by evanizer at 12:34 PM on February 10, 2002

I regret nothing! Not even the pants!
posted by dong_resin at 3:18 PM on February 10, 2002

Tcch. Can't a guy leave his powergloves anywhere these days without people abusing them? This is quite a situation you've all gotten yourselves into. I wonder how it turns out? Only one way to find out.

*Unpacks time machine and plugs it in*

Now lets see... Set for a couple of days in the future... Set for auto-retrieval after 30 seconds and...

*VWOOMPH*
posted by MUD at 6:54 PM on February 10, 2002

Well.

I wasn't expecting that.

I mean, assless trousers - fair enough - but crotchless?
posted by MUD at 6:54 PM PST on February 12


*VWOOMPH*

Man, that future sure is wacky.
posted by MUD at 6:56 PM on February 10, 2002

What? I shouldn't have brought back the crotchless pants with me?
posted by MUD at 6:58 PM PST on February 10


No.
posted by Neale at 11:40 PM on February 10, 2002

Contrary to all the rumours, Cold Chef and I have now pooled our resources and will be catering to all decent - heterosexual - cult threads. Prices for other threads available on demand, depending on the degree of otherness.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 9:18 AM on February 11, 2002

* kicks in door, carrying machine gun *

step away from the dong_resin. he's comin' with me...

get behind me dr. i'll take care of these...
posted by goneill at 9:52 AM on February 11, 2002

*comes through from kitchen, wiping crumbs from mouth*

no... please... no...

don't point that thing at me...






MUD, get those crotchless trousers OFF!

(and put something else on please, for the love of god)
posted by cashmein at 10:32 AM on February 11, 2002

I used to like this thread. This is sad.
posted by thirteen at 12:36 PM on February 11, 2002

The view from back here is simply fabulous, goneill. This tiny thing has it's advantages.
posted by dong_resin at 12:39 PM on February 11, 2002

I agree, thirteen.

*Everybody! Out of the pool!*
posted by Kafkaesque at 1:37 PM on February 11, 2002

dr - that was unnecessary.
but we aren't chatting anymore.

*jumps out of pool *
posted by goneill at 1:49 PM on February 11, 2002

Hey! Take it to MeFIRC...
posted by jpoulos at 2:59 PM on February 11, 2002

Geez. Willya look at this mess.

/pulls out dustpan, broom, and ShopVac







*boredom sets in*




I could use some entertainment again.

/searches for *Neale

/turns on Ashcroft








Ah, much better.

/begins cleaning
posted by Avogadro at 10:57 AM on February 12, 2002

Three days to Neale Beat Poetry!!!!

*waits, waits, and waits*
posted by iceberg273 at 12:30 PM on February 12, 2002

*whilst drying hair wonders if we are allowed to chat again?*
posted by goneill at 2:23 PM on February 12, 2002

Get out of here, goat!
posted by rorschach at 9:56 AM on February 13, 2002

Two days to Neale Beat Poetry!!!!!!!

*waits and waits*
posted by iceberg273 at 12:47 PM on February 13, 2002

I'm a bit confused. Where are the monkeys?
posted by eyeballkid at 5:42 PM on February 13, 2002

Again, I declare this thread officially over.

Please move along.
posted by Neale at 10:13 PM on February 13, 2002

It didn't work the first time you declared it over.

Why is this time different?

[immaturity]
Oh, and neener neener.
[/immaturity]
posted by ebarker at 6:29 AM on February 14, 2002

Get out! All of you! And me too!

Go!
posted by Neale at 2:41 PM on February 14, 2002

It would be nice to reach 1500 though.

*sigh*
posted by Neale at 2:47 PM on February 14, 2002

um, neale, it's beat poetry tomorrow. perhaps you should close after your performance?
posted by goneill at 3:24 PM on February 14, 2002

One day to Neale Beat Poetry!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*waits*
posted by iceberg273 at 5:59 PM on February 14, 2002

alright...
posted by goneill at 7:12 AM on February 15, 2002

You know, if you're gonna keep people waiting like this, you should at least provide some magazines...
posted by ColdChef at 9:57 AM on February 16, 2002

Here. Have a GRIT.
posted by Kafkaesque at 12:18 PM on February 16, 2002

Thanks. here's one for you.
posted by ColdChef at 8:38 AM on February 17, 2002

Hey, it was a weekend.

Have some poetry, nonetheless.
posted by Neale at 6:20 PM on February 17, 2002

And some more.
posted by Neale at 6:22 PM on February 17, 2002

*snaps fingers slowly and repeatedly*

Nice poems, daddy-o.
posted by Avogadro at 10:20 PM on February 17, 2002

hello friends
posted by corpse at 11:26 AM on February 19, 2002

Ack! The living dead! All I wanted was some neale beat poetry!

*gibbers skotfully*
posted by iceberg273 at 12:47 PM on February 19, 2002

Kill it! Burn it! Before it eats our brains!
posted by Neale at 3:02 PM on February 19, 2002

um, thought I'd ask ...

can I hang out here since someone's been peeing in the sandbox I usually play in?
posted by tj at 1:53 AM on February 20, 2002

there isn't much going on. we had to beg neale for a performance, what's your special talent tj?
posted by goneill at 7:59 AM on February 20, 2002

what's your special talent tj?

Yeah, besides leaving pizza boxes, ripping our sofas (it wasn't like that before), kicking down doors, threatening folks with machine guns, and jumping in our non-existent swimming pool whilst dripping water all over the place.


*sigh* This used to be such a quiet, artsy neighborhood.




/resumes cleaning, and considers moving
posted by Avogadro at 9:09 AM on February 20, 2002

This used to be such a quiet, artsy neighborhood.

*does a bit of performance art that harkens the viewer back to the days of yore*
posted by iceberg273 at 10:03 AM on February 20, 2002

my tenure has been brief, but exciting...
posted by goneill at 11:04 AM on February 20, 2002

That was pee?

Eeeeeyuck!


They told me it was apple juice.
posted by Kafkaesque at 11:31 AM on February 20, 2002

Well...it was once apple juice.
posted by ColdChef at 2:28 PM on February 20, 2002

I don't like drinking apple juice or pee. But apple juice tends to be the better option, once presented.
posted by Neale at 8:03 PM on February 20, 2002

This used to be such a quiet, artsy neighborhood.

Personally, I blame myself. Petting Zoo:Artsy::Neighborhood:Lesbians.
posted by j.edwards at 3:47 AM on February 21, 2002

There goes the petting zoo.
posted by Kafkaesque at 8:44 AM on February 21, 2002

*bitterly crumples detailed blueprints for 'WonderChicken Poultry-Petting World Of Fun Starring Your Pal Stavros'.

~Bastards.~
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:51 AM on February 22, 2002

*humming*

It's a fowl world, after all...

hey, it's the new WonderChicken World Of Fun theme, don't blame me
posted by ebarker at 3:18 PM on February 24, 2002

This thread is to remain 99% pun free.

And closed. CLOSED I SAY!
posted by Neale at 6:23 PM on February 24, 2002

That's a heavy yolk for us to carry, Neale.
posted by Kafkaesque at 11:32 AM on February 25, 2002

Why isn't this thread closed?
posted by daveadams at 12:57 PM on February 25, 2002

Why isn't this thread closed?

I'm hoping it's because Matt, knowing the natural order of things, is waiting for the stupid post on 1500 (probably "this it?") before he shuts us down.
posted by Neale at 4:35 PM on February 25, 2002

This post is unnatural thereby making the natural order of things null and void.
posted by jacobw at 6:44 PM on February 26, 2002

It never ends.

Oh sweet baby jesus, give me the last word.

Thank-you.
posted by Neale at 7:53 PM on February 26, 2002

~my secret plan is to end with a deja vu joke~
posted by Neale at 7:54 PM on February 26, 2002

DID YOU KNOW?

My university philosophy professor has posted to this thread.
posted by Neale at 7:55 PM on February 26, 2002

~I think it's sad that daveadams still checks here. sadder even than me continually posting~
posted by Neale at 7:58 PM on February 26, 2002

Great moments in 1142 history:

500: "Someone really should do something interesting and exciting for big ol' post 500. Who will it be? What will they do?"

1000: "Two more?!"
posted by Neale at 8:02 PM on February 26, 2002

Great moments in 1142 history:

May 25th (200x): "Hey, I just noticed that there are only 23 more people needed for there to be an even 1000 MF users."
posted by Neale at 8:04 PM on February 26, 2002

Adam: i would just like to publically declare my love of neale.

He's not the first, and won't be the last.
posted by Neale at 8:05 PM on February 26, 2002

You know, after posting to this thread lord knows how many times, I actually can't think of much else to say.














Still thinking.





































Still thinking
















































Still thinking...






















































Nope. The elipses didn't help.
posted by Neale at 8:06 PM on February 26, 2002

The sad thing is knowing that this thread will exist post-post 1500, and someone is bound to ruin the symetry of it all.

All I can do, at this point, is beg people not to.

PLEEEEEEEEEASE. PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE. PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE don't post anymore.
posted by Neale at 8:08 PM on February 26, 2002

Reading this thread again has given me a weird sense of deja vu.
posted by Neale at 8:09 PM on February 26, 2002

Haaaahahahahaaahahahahaahahahaaa ahahahahahaha ahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... ahem.
posted by Neale at 8:10 PM on February 26, 2002

Now this is something I just don't get.
Getting worked up because some people are posting longer entries? Can someone explain this to me? So Ben Brown mentioned that he prefers longer posts, and a few people responded to the idea favorably. But then there's backlash to this idea? Can someone please explain to me how someone writing long posts is somehow wrong? Is anyone holding a gun to your head making you read anything on the web? If Ben Brown's posts are too long, don't read them. If Jack's or Brig's are too long, don't read them. If I'm wrong here, please set me straight. I must not have read the weblog rulebook that states posts should be short and snarky, if anyone has a hyperlink to said rule book, please post that too.
posted by mathowie at 8:45 PM PST

neale, are you in here playing with yourself again. :-)
posted by jpoulos at 8:54 PM on February 26, 2002

if i post something will it be in a funny place?
posted by goneill at 12:28 PM on March 1, 2002

ah, i see it will.
posted by goneill at 12:29 PM on March 1, 2002

?
posted by eyeballkid at 3:52 PM on March 1, 2002

looks like Neale finally broke 1142.
posted by eyeballkid at 3:54 PM on March 1, 2002

A certain someone said we might be happier here but, for once, he foss rong.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 9:26 PM on March 1, 2002

Excuse me.
posted by rodii at 8:22 PM on March 2, 2002

As a wise (or at least, rich) man says:

You've got to get yourselves together
You got stuck in a moment,
And you can't get out of it...
posted by bingo at 10:05 PM on March 5, 2002

Ok, I'm gonna try and fix 1142. Cross your fingers<

posted by evanizer at 1:57 AM on March 6, 2002

Did it work?
posted by evanizer at 1:58 AM on March 6, 2002

No. *walks away sadly*
posted by evanizer at 2:20 AM on March 6, 2002

Hey, don't despair, it looked goof good for a while!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 4:02 AM on March 6, 2002

If you want your post to look normal, you have to type

at the beginning of each post.

As part of my independant study of CSS, I will attempt to figure out what happened:

Matt's tag closer script closes any open tag you type.. So when the evil Neale quoted mathowie, he cut and pasted the code from the source. Since matt's comment was the post's copy, it came under the div class for "copy". At the end of the post, Mefi closed the

with a

. Then Mefi opened the

and everything went along nicely for over a thousand posts...until Neale cut 'n pasted the code. The code still contained the

for the "copy" class, and the subsequent

for the comments class. But Mefi saw that open tag and closed it, thus defaulting all the text after Neale's comment to the . There is no way to reopen the

tag (which would make everything normal again) because Mefi automatically closes it. The only person to fix it is Mr. Haughey, but we can't tell him, or he'll know what we've been doing in here! *looks down at eyeballkid* (mmm thanks, eyeballkid, that was great)

It almost feels like we're the kids and Mattie is the parent and we've trashed the house while he was in the Poconos. It's almost like "Don't Tell Matt the Neale Broke 1142"! Can I be Christina Applegate?...Hey, David Duchovny was in that. I'm so renting it tonight.

posted by evanizer at 7:15 PM on March 6, 2002

for the comments class. But Mefi saw that open tag and closed it, thus defaulting all the text after Neale's comment to the . There is no way to reopen the

tag (which would make everything normal again) because Mefi automatically closes it. The only person to fix it is Mr. Haughey, but we can't tell him, or he'll know what we've been doing in here! *looks down at eyeballkid* (mmm thanks, eyeballkid, that was great)

It almost feels like we're the kids and Mattie is the parent and we've trashed the house while he was in the Poconos. It's almost like "Don't Tell Matt the Neale Broke 1142"! Can I be Christina Applegate?...Hey, David Duchovny was in that. I'm so renting it tonight.

Oh my God, I broke it even more!
posted by evanizer at 7:17 PM on March 6, 2002

I'm so ashamed! *runs from 1142 never to return again*
posted by evanizer at 7:18 PM on March 6, 2002

*runs back to 1142* OK, I'm gonna try to repost my brilliant CSS detective work one more time. *holds breath*
posted by evanizer at 7:21 PM on March 6, 2002

If you want your post to look normal, you have to type <div class="comments"> at the beginning of each post.

As part of my independant study of CSS, I will attempt to figure out what happened:

Matt's tag closer script closes any open tag you type.. So when the evil Neale quoted mathowie, he cut and pasted the code from the source. Since matt's comment was the post's copy, it came under the div class for "copy". At the end of the post, Mefi closed the <div class="copy"> with a </div>. Then Mefi opened the <div class="comments"> and everything went along nicely for over a thousand posts...until Neale cut 'n pasted the code. The code still contained the </div> for the "copy" class, and the subsequent <div class="comments"> for the comments class. But Mefi saw that open tag and closed it, thus defaulting all the text after Neale's comment to the <span class="smallcopy">. There is no way to reopen the <div class="comments"> tag (which would make everything normal again) because Mefi automatically closes it. The only person to fix it is Mr. Haughey, but we can't tell him, or he'll know what we've been doing in here! *looks down at eyeballkid* (mmm thanks, eyeballkid, that was great)

It almost feels like we're the kids and Mattie is the parent and we've trashed the house while he was in the Poconos. It's almost like "Don't Tell Matt the Neale Broke 1142"! Can I be Christina Applegate?...Hey, David Duchovny was in that. I'm so renting it tonight.

posted by evanizer at 7:23 PM on March 6, 2002

Phew. Now I can sleep.

posted by evanizer at 7:27 PM on March 6, 2002

closing

posted by jpoulos at 8:07 PM on March 6, 2002

Char. Char!
posted by aaron at 9:02 PM on March 6, 2002

What does that mean, aaron?

posted by evanizer at 9:58 PM on March 6, 2002

just testing... but eyeballkid, what were you doing that made evanizer so happy?

posted by goneill at 5:16 PM on March 7, 2002

Trying something

posted by riffola at 6:26 PM on March 7, 2002

oh dear - i'm not sure it worked. &lt/div&gt

posted by goneill at 6:44 PM on March 7, 2002

Uh oh...
posted by MiguelCardoso at 6:52 PM on March 7, 2002

Hmmm. Wonder why this never happened like it was supposed to? From the looks of this place now, it should have been killed months ago.

I am very disappointed in all of you.

And in myself.
posted by ColdChef at 7:27 PM on March 7, 2002

You'd think...you'd think the place had been overrun by...*whistles, case of Scotch teetering on his head*...monkeys!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 9:05 PM on March 7, 2002

now?
posted by tj at 9:44 PM on March 7, 2002

Bad men (and women) go away now!
posted by j.edwards at 12:55 AM on March 8, 2002

it might be just womAn... but i'm not sure.
posted by goneill at 6:51 AM on March 8, 2002

There are no monkeys here, Miguel. Only monkey-lovers.
posted by jpoulos at 7:55 AM on March 8, 2002

*sprays baseboards and shadowy corners*

That should hold off the infestation for another week or so, Mr. Neale. Don't know how they keep getting in here.
posted by Kafkaesque at 7:06 PM on March 8, 2002

but eyeballkid, what were you doing that made evanizer so happy?

i don't know. i was curious about that myself. maybe it was the soothing method with which i informed the folks at 1142 that the mother ship was self-destructing? evan?

posted by eyeballkid at 1:05 PM on March 11, 2002

You finally, really did it -- you maniacs! You blew it up! Damn you! Damn you all to hell!
posted by thewittyname at 1:53 PM on March 13, 2002

I don't know what you did, eyeballkid. But it sure felt good.

Maybe it was the way you stuck it to the man.

Maybe it meant nothing. I think 1142 contains mind-control rays that make me lose my mind. I do wear my tinfoil hat when in here, but maybe a few rays slipped through.

Do you guys mind if I put on this Rick Wakeman record I found in the basement?

posted by evanizer at 2:15 PM on March 13, 2002

evanizer, I think you are lying.

posted by goneill at 2:46 PM on March 13, 2002

I don't know you're away for months and someone ruins everything (funny though)
posted by feelinglistless at 3:55 PM on March 13, 2002

Gee, you guys I don't read this thing for awhile and you go and mess it up.

posted by bjgeiger at 6:32 PM on March 13, 2002

hey 1142 folks. long time reader, first time poster. anyone up for a tall stack?

i've got the maple...

posted by boogah at 11:29 PM on March 13, 2002

* Sigh *

posted by Neale at 6:56 PM on March 14, 2002

Thank you, thewittyname; that was sweet.

I think Neale is trying to create a great and powerful gale with his sighing to eject us all from here.

You! Obey the gale!
posted by j.edwards at 2:22 AM on March 15, 2002

Time passes.
posted by Neale at 9:30 PM on March 19, 2002

This is my last post. You all are cunts and you dial in on proxy. Ever since I started using metafilter, by dicks a-strinking six inches, I have got an error message on the last of domain. And every sincere fucko here, is got chalamium on his or her hide. Hide, hide, hide. Is metafilter going to shit, or what??? Things that bother me: of late: (it's mostly about Rory Wyatt): (wait a sec, I've got to go through the blogs & see what bothers me) ..............:
Okay, I'm back: dinking declaration: It's "what expurgated sousies have you graced," very obviously frivolous posts, frivolous government shit, my fruit smells like lemon, some people who use the internet as their "online haven" have user names similar to the user names of another, links to particular pieces of art, clocks, links to particular artists, I mean, WHAT'S THE POINT OF THIS SHIT MAN????? Lemon scents, systematic inquiries, I have a site that supports twenty-thousand users, and they all are sincere in bitching at me. September eleveth was quite the happening, I'm a cunt on wheels,
[cache].
[will be posted in metafilter >> metafilter-related]
posted by sylloge at 10:16 PM on March 19, 2002

sylloge...

*holding up picture postcard of Earth*

Having a great time, wish you were here.
posted by ebarker at 9:35 AM on March 20, 2002

.smallcopy { font-size : 12pt; font-family : Verdana, sans-serif; line-height : 130%;margin-left : 70px;margin-right : 70px;}

don't mind me, this style sheet problem is bugging the crap outta me...
posted by FreezBoy at 6:26 AM on March 21, 2002

If anyone ever researches the history of weblogs, they will come to realise that this thread contains the total sum of all weblog knowledge.

Really.

posted by Neale at 4:00 AM on March 24, 2002

Eek, a mouse!
and a keyboard,
and a monitor,
and a tower,
and the longest thread
I've ever seen.
posted by Lynsey at 9:55 PM on March 24, 2002

We need a new name
For a "thread" as long as this
Perhaps it's "a rope"? :-)
posted by jpoulos at 6:42 PM on March 25, 2002

Why do you want to make Neale sad?
posted by MarkAnd at 1:40 PM on March 26, 2002

Nobody wants to make Neale sad. That's not the 1142 way. But yank his thread a little? Well...

posted by MUD at 2:22 PM on March 27, 2002

Happy 2nd birthday, 1142.

Exits are N, S, W. There is an elf here.
posted by Markb at 5:25 AM on March 28, 2002

posted by TacoConsumer at 6:24 AM on March 28, 2002

Nicely done TacoConsumer.

Happy Birthday 1142, you are a legend amongst the other threads.
posted by riffola at 9:50 AM on March 28, 2002

That's lovely, TacoConsumer.
posted by Avogadro at 12:50 PM on March 28, 2002

That's so beautiful.
posted by annathea at 3:27 PM on March 28, 2002

I like the graphic. What's up with the HTML here?

This place used to be so cool, back in the day...
posted by daveadams at 5:04 PM on March 28, 2002

Why are we all crowded in the corner? It feels like a Metallica concert in here.

Lovely anniversary post.
posted by Skot at 11:24 AM on March 29, 2002

Gee, I almost forgot the birthday. Happy belated best wishes!!

posted by bjgeiger at 6:09 PM on March 30, 2002

well, spose i better get my name to this thread. better to arrive at a party late than not at all. at least i can say i was there.
posted by Frasermoo at 1:30 AM on April 1, 2002

Dude, Metallica's playing here tonight? Woot!

\m/ <-- devil sign
posted by starvingartist at 12:23 PM on April 1, 2002

This is bogus, man! I drove all the way from 9622 to see Metallica! Where the hell is Metallica?
posted by starvingartist at 11:38 AM on April 2, 2002

It's my party, and I'll drown Metallica in the bath if I want to.

posted by Neale at 6:55 PM on April 4, 2002

Eh, they were going downhill since "Justice..." anyway.



I got some beer left from the trip. And some beef jerky. Anyone?
posted by starvingartist at 7:25 AM on April 5, 2002

*is raptured to a better thread, along with all of the other 1142 saints*
posted by iceberg273 at 9:33 AM on April 5, 2002

So anyway, about this wacky Middle East situation, I think we should....hey, where did everybody go?
















Hello?
posted by ebarker at 12:52 PM on April 5, 2002

Oh, hi 'e'. (may I call you 'e'?)





errr..



do you come here often?
posted by dash_slot- at 4:34 PM on April 6, 2002

I just broke someone's brain. It felt good.

posted by Neale at 9:18 PM on April 8, 2002

I don't come here often, no.

But sometimes I am breathing hard.




okay, ew.
posted by ebarker at 12:44 PM on April 9, 2002

I just got a great deal on some 18th century furniture that I though might be just the thing 1142 needs- a redecoration.



Here's one of the chairs. What do you think? Silk upholstery, bears the label of Lord Leigh, French, about 1770... I think it looks great in here.

The truck's out front. Anyone wanna come help me unload?

posted by evanizer at 11:34 PM on April 11, 2002

Any Louis XV chaise lounges? tj seems to have ripped the sofa.
posted by starvingartist at 9:21 AM on April 12, 2002

*panting after lugging chaise lounge up stairs*

Guys, some help? I'm killing my back here.

posted by evanizer at 11:07 AM on April 12, 2002

finally somewhere worthy to sit.
posted by goneill at 11:31 AM on April 12, 2002

Worthy of Liberace?
posted by Kafkaesque at 3:17 PM on April 13, 2002

I think it's safe to return now.
posted by Neale at 6:37 PM on April 29, 2002

So that you can have the last word?
posted by ebarker at 6:38 AM on April 30, 2002

i was here.
posted by Sean Meade at 9:33 AM on April 30, 2002 [1 favorite]

Okay folks. Let me try and see if this fixes things . . .

posted by christian at 5:08 PM on April 30, 2002

Right. Now a test?
posted by christian at 5:10 PM on April 30, 2002

Alas. I have failed as well. *hangs head in shame*
posted by christian at 5:12 PM on April 30, 2002

Sudden idea. Does this do it?

posted by christian at 5:16 PM on April 30, 2002

Hm. It seems that the tags close automatically. I should have known.

I do hope that Neale or someone pops back in and says something so that me trying to fix a formatting error isn't the last thing 1142 sees.
posted by christian at 10:33 PM on April 30, 2002

SO... hello guys. Nice to see you're still here. Being in this thread is like getting photographed, it robs a little bit of your soul.

posted by chaz at 8:48 PM on May 3, 2002

Still haven't worked things out yet?

I wonder what happens if I do this ...

Any better?
posted by feelinglistless at 10:09 AM on May 5, 2002

Looks like I was wrong.

So very wrong.

I would like to apologise.

But I won't.
posted by Neale at 9:51 PM on May 5, 2002

For Mother's Day, we're planning:

Crab bisque.

Smoked chicken and fennel terrine with wasabe sourdough.

Grilled shrimp and fettucine.

Salads and fresh vegetables, depending on what's at the farm stands.

Dark chocolate pecan praline pie and ice cream.
posted by ebarker at 12:17 PM on May 7, 2002

If only I actually knew html.
posted by Apoch at 1:25 PM on May 14, 2002

Bah!
posted by Neale at 10:58 PM on May 20, 2002

Today's featured item was ice cream cones made out of chocolate chip cookie dough. For my 9-year-old goddaughter who does in fact have me wrapped around her little finger, thank you.

Any gaps in the cones (say, at the base) are easily sealed up with some tempered chocolate in a piping bag.
posted by ebarker at 2:12 PM on May 22, 2002

Matthew Broderick comes walking down the hall in his bathrobe.

"You're still here?" he says, looking quizically into the crowd. "It's over. Go home."

He walks away, then glances back, and waves his hand. "Go!"
posted by werty at 7:01 AM on May 29, 2002

"I miss Ferris Matthew. Broadway Matthew -- I find him cold."

Never miss a chance for a Buffy reference.
posted by ebarker at 12:09 PM on June 1, 2002

You don't bring me flowers... anymore.
posted by Neale at 7:29 AM on June 5, 2002

Speaking of flowers, and in my continuing effort to turn things to Matters of Pastry, the vanilla plant (vanilla planifolia) is the only species of orchid that produces something edible, namely vanilla beans pods.
posted by ebarker at 10:44 AM on June 7, 2002

My orchid's leaves smell like watermelon candy inside.
posted by mblandi at 1:45 PM on June 7, 2002

my cat's breath smells like catfood.
posted by jonah at 4:01 PM on June 12, 2002

I hate cult threads. I used to like them. But now I hate them. But I had to drop in here to make the 1600 comment. Here it is.

Now,

Goodnight everybody, enjoy the buffet.
posted by evanizer at 6:18 PM on June 12, 2002

1600? is that all?
posted by eyeballkid at 11:09 AM on June 16, 2002

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride...
posted by internal at 8:56 AM on June 17, 2002

I had no idea I was being discussed in here til just now. I just want to say that I'm all for being played by Kate Winslet. I'd never have to accomplish anything of my own, after that. I'd probably have it put on my gravestone.

sigh. swore I wouldn't ever post to this thread. as always, i blame thirteen.
posted by Sapphireblue at 4:19 PM on June 17, 2002

Losers.
posted by Neale at 7:43 PM on June 17, 2002

Yeah? So?
posted by dangerman at 8:38 PM on June 17, 2002

1st July!

Woot!
posted by Neale at 12:18 AM on July 1, 2002

Can the 2nd be far behind?
posted by ebarker at 9:51 AM on July 1, 2002

No, surely it can not.
posted by ljromanoff at 7:01 PM on July 2, 2002

hi!
posted by the_ill_gino at 6:35 PM on July 4, 2002

Well, that was fun.
posted by Neale at 6:50 PM on July 22, 2002

Hi folks, first-time caller, long time listener. Just wanted to say "hi" before it's too late.
posted by yhbc at 2:04 PM on July 24, 2002

There are way too many leaves on this sidewalk.
posted by lowkey at 3:44 PM on July 24, 2002

must add to longest thread ever!
posted by Iax at 5:15 PM on July 24, 2002

ummm ... Iax ... *
posted by yhbc at 9:17 PM on July 24, 2002

yes yes yes, we all know 9622 is the longest thread now.

But how many bens does it have? huh? huh?
posted by Neale at 9:36 PM on July 24, 2002

9622 just doesn't have the je ne sais quoi of 1142. Everyone knows it. Get in on it while you can.
posted by ljromanoff at 7:54 AM on July 25, 2002

tap... tap... tap... is this thing on?
posted by timewarp at 9:55 AM on September 20, 2002 [3 favorites]