Comments on: Comments on 6033

Post number 6033

ecvgi — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 03:51:37 -0800

The AYBABTU backlash continues. Is the blogging community (surely most responsible for perpetuating the meme) just a bunch of Nathan Barleys?

By: pracowity

pracowity — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 04:40:20 -0800

I am so bored with this topic. I am also bored with the word meme.

By: freakytrigger

freakytrigger — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 04:42:41 -0800

While Nathanism is plainly rife among the 'blogging community' I think the main thrust of the righteous abuse this week is against those who calibrate the meme and discuss its out-of-dateness...like...um...oops. Damn. Anyway real Nathans are much too thick-skinned to care about such things: I got sent an invite this week to a launch of a "retro-gaming" club at a place called the "Bluu Bar". It's beyond parody now, really.

By: harmful

harmful — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 06:10:40 -0800

I'm more bored with the alleged 'backlash' than I am with AYB...

By: jpoulos

jpoulos — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 06:37:28 -0800

i agree, harmful. "Backlash alerts" are self-fulfilling prophecies.

By: bytecode

bytecode — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 07:40:15 -0800

I think its rather nice to see people quoting some old video game rather then the latest assault on our brain from advertisers.

By: bclark

bclark — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 08:23:18 -0800

Guess now it's officially unhip since Fox started pushing the AYBABTU button.

By: geek of the week

geek of the week — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 09:35:06 -0800

I'm more bored with the alleged 'backlash' of the alleged 'backlash' than I am with AYB...

By: rodii

rodii — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 09:42:20 -0800

All your boredom are belong to us.

By: CrazyUncleJoe

CrazyUncleJoe — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 09:57:43 -0800

I'm so bored with the use of AYBisms to reference the boredom backlash of the backlash to the backlash of AYB - much too bored to say ALL YOUR BACKLASH ARE BELONG TO US! Much, much too bored. Oh wait, I'm not bored at all! I find memes, specifically recursive memes, infinitely humorous. ALL YOUR ALL YOUR BASE REFERENCES ARE BELONG TO US!

By: jennyb

jennyb — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 10:31:00 -0800

I am also bored with the word meme. Yes.

By: Optamystic

Optamystic — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 10:44:17 -0800

Exactly how far do you kids think the "peace" sign would have gotten, meme-wise, if, every time some hippie flashed it, a wannabe-hipper-hippie rolled his eyes and declared the symbol to be boring and unhip? Most of the people who know about AYBABTU (myself included) have known about it for about two weeks. Is that the maximum time that we're allowed to find something funny? Hell, I still laugh at Bugs Bunny cartoons I first saw twenty-five years ago. No wonder the youth of America (and the world) lack any sort of common culture. We're too busy trying to beat each other to the "I found (insert mildly fun thing here) boring before you did" button. This is not to say that we should deliberately run it into the ground. But when it does truly get old, it will do so organically. This will probably happen LONG before Sprite tries to gain artificial "hip-cred" by altering the graphic to read: "All Your Base Are Obey Your Thirst" (or something equally lame), an attempt that we will see right through, view with scorn, and mock them for. However, since they will, no doubt, premiere the ad during next years Super Bowl, WE will be in the minority. The majority of those seeing the ad will think that the Sprite campaign is edgy, and clever. They will then begin repeating the catchphrase around the water cooler, and on the telephone answering machines of their friends. Think you're sick of it now? Point is, we have a narrow window of time in which to appreciate this kooky little thing. I say we have a little fun with it, and when everyone's tired of it, it will die a natural death. We will bury it peacefully, bidding it a fond farewell. Shortly thereafter, of course, it will be dug up and skull-f*cked mercilessly by the writhing, drooling dogpile that is the advertising industry. Obey your thirst.

By: daveadams

daveadams — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 10:56:30 -0800

I am also bored with the word meme. I'm bored with posts that do nothing other than complain about how bored someone is with whatever is being discussed.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 11:05:48 -0800

AYBABTU eats my balls.

By: Optamystic

Optamystic — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 11:06:00 -0800

By: aaron

aaron — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 11:43:51 -0800

Pronounced Ver-uh-zawhn.

By: anildash

anildash — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 12:04:24 -0800

How I long for the simpler days when we could just rely on Mike Myers to give us our catchphrases every few years. Speaking of which, why didn't ...Axe Murderer do better than it did?

By: john

john — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 12:21:24 -0800

I love that this annoys people. Must suck to annoy so easily.

By: Dane

Dane — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 12:33:15 -0800

Right on, Optamystic. The thing I enjoy most about AYBABTU is its current purity from advertising shenanigans... well, the fact that I find it funny helps too. AYB is a silly little thread between people that didn't originate out of a need to sell something... an entelechy that seems all too prominant in society. Unlike ads, AYB doesn't ask anything of us; it doesn't even request that we enjoy it. AYB has an appealing passivity that will no doubt get brutally beaten out of it once Sprite (or whoever) gets their hands on it. Your description of this action was altogether more vivid and creative, and did bring a joyful tear to my eye.

By: hijinx

hijinx — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 12:34:44 -0800

AYB has an appealing passivity that will no doubt get brutally beaten out of it once Sprite (or whoever) gets their hands on it. Interesting idea - what if this gets taken over by some corporate entity? You know it's gonna. "All your thirst are belong to us"?

By: CrazyUncleJoe

CrazyUncleJoe — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 12:58:31 -0800

I'd just like to say that I've been trying to push the term skull-fucked as an epithetic meme, and I'm thrilled to see it here.

By: dithered

dithered — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 13:15:26 -0800

I'm so hip that I'm bored of all future memes. Whatever they might be.

By: bradlands

bradlands — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 14:57:36 -0800

When Memes Collide: "Am I All Your Base Are Belong to Us or Not?

By: rodii

rodii — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 15:11:19 -0800

Ahem.

By: bradlands

bradlands — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 15:32:17 -0800

Frankly, I'm just surprised Rod's prescient parody didn't come to pass sooner. Six days? That's a lifetime these days.

By: youhas

youhas — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 16:22:19 -0800

More wacky intermeme happenings here.

By: rodii

rodii — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 16:26:50 -0800

Yeah, it's almost impossible *not* to think of these things.

By: daveadams

daveadams — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 19:27:47 -0800

In my defense, I thought of the Am I AYBABTU or Not? thing but I'm far too lazy to have done anything about it.

By: Optamystic

Optamystic — Tue, 27 Feb 2001 00:24:22 -0800

All your skull-fuck are belong to CrazyUncleJoe

By: pikachulolita

pikachulolita — Tue, 27 Feb 2001 01:43:41 -0800

marry me, optamystic? ^_^

By: pracowity

pracowity — Tue, 27 Feb 2001 02:00:53 -0800

> Most of the people who know about AYBABTU (myself > included) have known about it for about two weeks. Is > that the maximum time that we're allowed to find > something funny? You are allowed to be amused by it if I am allowed to be unamused by it. Two weeks is a long time to be laughing at the same joke. About a week and six days too long. > No wonder the youth of America (and the world) lack > any sort of common culture. I am corrupting the youth of the world by not laughing at AYBABTU week after week? I will have to be much more careful with my super powers. Maybe the world will explode if I say that everyone who likes Friends is a mouthbreather.

By: Optamystic

Optamystic — Tue, 27 Feb 2001 02:36:58 -0800

You are allowed to be amused by it if I am allowed to be unamused by it. Ok, but do you have to be so conspicuously unamused by it?

By: Optamystic

Optamystic — Tue, 27 Feb 2001 02:50:04 -0800

marry me, optamystic? ^_^ Monsieur Humbert, please pick up the white courtesy phone....Monsieur Humbert, please pick up the white courtesy phone....

By: pracowity

pracowity — Tue, 27 Feb 2001 03:16:20 -0800

> Ok, but do you have to be so conspicuously > unamused by it? Yes, as conspicuously unamused as you are conspicuously amused.

By: Steven Den Beste

Steven Den Beste — Tue, 27 Feb 2001 05:29:20 -0800

Here's one take on it by "Dissonance" of The Tech Report.

By: Steven Den Beste

Steven Den Beste — Tue, 27 Feb 2001 07:08:36 -0800

It showed up in a slide at an NVidia tech preview last week about the new GeForce 3.

By: cCranium

cCranium — Tue, 27 Feb 2001 08:38:53 -0800

Heh. I like how they're discussing Tarket Markets on the same slide. It appears that nVidia's marketers do indeed know their target audience.

By: stew560

stew560 — Wed, 28 Feb 2001 04:57:33 -0800

Looks like Illiad is getting in on the AYBABTU as well...

By: Aaaugh!

Aaaugh! — Wed, 28 Feb 2001 07:12:48 -0800

Looks like AYBABTU has become one of the most popular search engine requests. Quick, everyone change your meta tags!

By: rodii

rodii — Wed, 28 Feb 2001 09:16:36 -0800

Digression: on Nathan Barley.