Got the shaft
February 3, 2009 3:19 PM   Subscribe

 
The internet has arrived!

(Isn't the verb "twittering"?)
posted by WPW at 3:21 PM on February 3, 2009


Who is Stephen Fry?
posted by niles at 3:21 PM on February 3, 2009 [1 favorite]


@stephenfry: remember, animals go in the corner.
posted by boo_radley at 3:21 PM on February 3, 2009


::camera pans to Hugh Laurie, hand on a comical power toggle switch labeled "ELEVATOR", giggling::
posted by Damn That Television at 3:21 PM on February 3, 2009 [30 favorites]


There can be no better use for Twitter than repeatedly checking that Stephen Fry is okay.

Someone get him out of there!
posted by terpsichoria at 3:23 PM on February 3, 2009 [13 favorites]


Finally, a decent use for Twitter. As soon as he gets out of there, it will be stupid again.
posted by chillmost at 3:23 PM on February 3, 2009 [1 favorite]


This may become the first live twittering of cannibalism, folks. Stay tuned for a moment in history.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:24 PM on February 3, 2009 [8 favorites]


oh..that Stephen Fry. The "Dancer, couturier, superheavyweight boxer, neo-plasticist and rapper" but threw me for a loop.

Well, glad we have the internet, I guess. My day's complete.
posted by niles at 3:25 PM on February 3, 2009


I believe that in the future this moment will be considered the apex of Western Civilization. Yup, it's all downhill from here.
posted by Kattullus at 3:27 PM on February 3, 2009 [4 favorites]


Damn, it's crowded in there. The one time I was stuck, it was under pretty optimal conditions - no other occupants and I had a fresh bagel and coffee with me. Freed in about 15 minutes.
posted by exogenous at 3:27 PM on February 3, 2009


Before we proceed to the formality of sentencing the deceased, I mean the defendant, (laughs) I think we'd all rather enjoy the case of the prosecution. Captain Darling, if you please.
posted by Dumsnill at 3:28 PM on February 3, 2009 [2 favorites]


Huh?
posted by dios at 3:28 PM on February 3, 2009


Ha! He's only a few blocks away from where I am right now. Maybe a bunch of internet geeks should go stand in front of Centre Point

Update: He's free now.

# #frylift We're free! Nice men from Thyssen freed us. Paramount Club had champagne for us at the bottom. I'm allergic, but nice thought x less than 10 seconds ago from Tweetie

posted by vacapinta at 3:28 PM on February 3, 2009


"Twit" is a much better verb for this habit than "tweet."
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 3:29 PM on February 3, 2009 [9 favorites]


Huh? Why?
posted by dios at 3:29 PM on February 3, 2009


He's free! Yay!

Maybe he should use this life altering experience as a reason to convince Rowan Atkinson to stop making shitty movies and just make a new Blackadder series already.
posted by Effigy2000 at 3:30 PM on February 3, 2009 [2 favorites]




I have visions of Alan Davies calling him up and saying "And Stephen's buzzer goes BZZZT!"

(where BZZZT is the sound of a stuck elevator alarm).
posted by quin at 3:32 PM on February 3, 2009 [11 favorites]


He seems like a nice guy, but his twitstream or whatever isn't all that entertaining and he posts way too much. I really like twitter, but most of the celebs and pseudo-celebs on there don't really live up to the billing.
posted by drjimmy11 at 3:38 PM on February 3, 2009


Wait... what? Stephen Fry gets stuck in an elevator, and gets out a little bit later. And... what?
posted by bjrn at 3:38 PM on February 3, 2009


Champagne was offered and declined.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:41 PM on February 3, 2009 [1 favorite]


I sincerely hope that he kept the other people in the elevator entertained by telling them the story of how he lost his virginity.

It was a perfectly satisfactory experience. It was not as I had imagined from that horribly misogynist scene in Ken Russell's The Music Lovers, which seemed to suggest that because Tchaikovsky was attracted to men, he must also have vomited at the touch of women. I could not, afterwards, deny that the design features of the vagina, so far as texture and enclosing elasticity were concerned, seemed absolutely made for the job — ideally suited, in fact. We remained friends and tried it again once or twice, in a field and in a car. My heart was never in it, but my loins were very grateful indeed for the outing and the exercise.
posted by shmegegge at 3:41 PM on February 3, 2009 [17 favorites]


Seriously though, being stuck in an elevator with Stephen Fry would probably be entertaining.

***

Someone somewhere just started a paper:

Are we so connected all the time that we can't really connect with each other... in a stuck elevator?
posted by defenestration at 3:44 PM on February 3, 2009


I got on an elevator on the 32nd floor one time, and it was really scary because I was so high up, right?

And then the doors closed and the thing started shuddering violently and I realized, CRAP! I'm trapped. The damn thing's trapped me. I'm gonna be stuck here forever, assuming the cables don't break and I plummet to my untimely demise.

About two minutes later the doors opened again, and things looked different. First I thought that I might have hallucinated or something due to the terror, but then I realized it was the elevator lobby and so I left out the front door of the building. But man, that was a frightening experience.
posted by ardgedee at 3:45 PM on February 3, 2009


If Stephen Fry was there to talk me down, I'm sure I would have been alright, is what I'm saying.
posted by ardgedee at 3:46 PM on February 3, 2009 [1 favorite]


I'm ashamed to say that I was much more excited by this than that lame "WTF, my ferry's late" hmeep.
posted by steef at 3:53 PM on February 3, 2009 [1 favorite]


Hey, guys, it's talk about Stephen Fry time!
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 3:53 PM on February 3, 2009


I asked my girlfriend just the other day, "Who's Stephen Fry?" She said, "Some British actor." I can remember thinking, "Ah, I'm glad he's famous for more than just being some guy who'll follow anyone on twitter."

Now Rowan Atkinson's work I know and like. And yes, he needs to quit the movies.
posted by cjorgensen at 4:21 PM on February 3, 2009


I'm jealous of all those dudes for now having a "stuck in the elevator with Stephen Fry" story.
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 4:25 PM on February 3, 2009 [2 favorites]


Seriously though, being stuck in an elevator with Stephen Fry would probably be entertaining

Especially for the vagina.
posted by rokusan at 4:26 PM on February 3, 2009


He seems like a nice guy, but his twitstream or whatever isn't all that entertaining and he posts way too much. I really like twitter, but most of the celebs and pseudo-celebs on there don't really live up to the billing.

Stephen Fry's twitter stream is essentially undifferentiable from 99% of other twitter users, which is what makes it good. He's just twittering. Oh yeah, he's kinda famous too. He's not twittering to be "entertaining" or a celebrity, he's just using it like everyone else does. Which is as it should be.
posted by Jimbob at 4:36 PM on February 3, 2009 [1 favorite]


Trapped in an elevator with Stephen Fry?

Looks like someone's been reading my dream journal again.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 4:40 PM on February 3, 2009 [2 favorites]


no worries, there is enough air in there to last even the biggest bubblehead another twenty minutes.
posted by krautland at 5:00 PM on February 3, 2009


Unfortunately, there's been less publicity for Graham Linehan's ordeal with the stairs.
posted by subbes at 5:02 PM on February 3, 2009 [7 favorites]




Heh, I just found Graham Linehan's blog from his Twitterpage. Apparently he's been "locked out of making any new comments on an anti-Chavez post on Boing Boing." Glad to see that there are certainties in this world and that one of them is that BB is moderated by people who wouldn't be up to moderating a kindergarten discussion on Goodnight Moon.
posted by Kattullus at 5:30 PM on February 3, 2009 [2 favorites]


That's funny; someone was stuck in the elevator over here at Aperture today.

Didn't end nearly as well.
posted by Weighted Companion Cube at 6:34 PM on February 3, 2009 [5 favorites]


This is very bad because I am not stuck in an elevator with him. Twitter just reminds me of that fact. Fuck Twitter.
posted by The Whelk at 6:49 PM on February 3, 2009 [1 favorite]


Unfortunately, there's been less publicity for Graham Linehan's ordeal with the stairs.

That was hilarious! And you made me realize Graham Linehan is on Twitter! I am delighted by both, driven to exclamation points!
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:28 PM on February 3, 2009


Heh, I just found Graham Linehan's blog from his Twitterpage. Apparently he's been "locked out of making any new comments on an anti-Chavez post on Boing Boing." Glad to see that there are certainties in this world and that one of them is that BB is moderated by people who wouldn't be up to moderating a kindergarten discussion on Goodnight Moon.

That would be an ecumenical matter.
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:47 PM on February 3, 2009 [3 favorites]


DAMNIT.
I retained my Twitterless purity with absolute ease and and joyful snobbery... and now I know Stephen Fry is doing it and getting trapped in elevators, and resistance is futile.

Curses.
posted by Billegible at 8:22 PM on February 3, 2009


Stephen Fry is a massive geek (no pun intended in either direction), and has an excellent weblog and a sporadic but equally excellent podcastgram. That is all.

No, wait. Also: fuck Twitter.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:05 PM on February 3, 2009


Being stuck in an elevator with Stephen Fry must be one of the more interesting experiences one can have.
posted by Z1LCH at 12:49 AM on February 4, 2009


Stephen Fry's twitter stream is essentially undifferentiable from 99% of other twitter users, which is what makes it good.

Good enough? Opinions vary.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:19 AM on February 4, 2009


The fact that I can follow Stephen Fry's doings down to the near second, pictures included, infuses this whole internet thing -- and my addiction to it -- with a grand sense of purpose.

It drives me batty when other celebrities think we care, but he is so damn likable. Yes, yes! tell me what you had for lunch, Stephen!

Metafilter: 5$.
The chance to profess undying-stalker love: priceless.
posted by bluestocking at 6:58 AM on February 4, 2009 [1 favorite]


My tweet on the subject: @stephenfry I wonder if those engineers have any idea how many tweeple worldwide are timing them.

His tweets are entertaining, and a good insight to just how hard 'slebs' work. He's eternally travelling somewhere.

But, clearly, the best people to 'follow' are pro comics. The 140 character constraint seems to bring out the best in some people. The esteemed Mr Hodgman, for example, or the recently discussed Mr Brooker. Mr Gaiman's recent tweets give pithy insights into a gruelling marathon of film promotion. Mr Ross seems to be the nicest guy ever, responding to thousands of (probably stupid) questions whilst working round the clock.

Yes, I'm addicted. Problem?

@metafilter your favourite communication technology sucks
posted by chuckdarwin at 7:31 AM on February 4, 2009


Wow, I feel like such a slacker. I was caught in an elevator last week, and only managed to panic and make a cell phone call saying "DEAR GOD GET ME OUT" before almost passing out. (Time spent in elevator: 10 minutes, tops.)
posted by JoanArkham at 8:16 AM on February 4, 2009


I have visions of Alan Davies calling him up and saying "And Stephen's buzzer goes BZZZT!"

Heck, I'm imagining Bill Bailey and Phill Jupitus having a field day with this, and it's a pity they're not taping at this time.
posted by Spatch at 9:38 AM on February 4, 2009


Apparently he's been "locked out of making any new comments on an anti-Chavez post on Boing Boing." Glad to see that there are certainties in this world and that one of them is that BB is moderated by people who wouldn't be up to moderating a kindergarten discussion on Goodnight Moon.

Jesus, you're not kidding. That moderator "Antinous" starts off the thread calling "bullshit" on other commenters, then dominates the discussion, gets a bug in his/her butt about one commenter who sharply disagrees and bans his further participation. Despicable. I love how Xeni repeatedly announces it's all cool now between BB and Graham but there's nothing from Antinous about what went wrong and no promise from any mod that they understand they made a mistake and that it won't happen again.

Pathetic.
posted by mediareport at 7:41 PM on February 4, 2009


They're even still disemvoweling. I can't quite decide if it makes it better or worse that they disemvowel their own comments.
posted by Kattullus at 7:58 PM on February 4, 2009


The references to that mess on BoingBoig made this thread worthwhile.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:48 AM on February 5, 2009


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