Comments on 10821

When you read comments, in your mind's ear, what voice do you imagine particular MeFites speaking? Likewise, in what voice would you have your own comments read?
posted by StickyCarpet to MetaFilter-related at 11:56 AM (88 comments total)

I've got dibbs on John Gielgud.
posted by StickyCarpet at 11:57 AM on December 17, 2005

Churchill.
posted by ParisParamus at 12:00 PM on December 17, 2005

Sorry, ParisParamus, we've already got you down as an 18 year old asian girl.
posted by StickyCarpet at 12:02 PM on December 17, 2005

With Asperger's syndrome.
posted by y2karl at 12:06 PM on December 17, 2005

I heard this post with a drippy, obsequious-sounding, high-pitched mix of Homer Simpson's mocking tone and the comic book guy.
posted by scarabic at 12:07 PM on December 17, 2005

...18 year old asian girl...with Asperger's.

Woot! I'd hit it.
posted by Haruspex at 12:15 PM on December 17, 2005

Sam Kinison, all of you.
posted by Emperor Yamamoto's Eggs at 12:18 PM on December 17, 2005

Or the guy from Police Academy who made all those noises with his mouth.
posted by Emperor Yamamoto's Eggs at 12:20 PM on December 17, 2005

Barry White with a lisp speaking underwater through a tin can. Every. Single. Time.
posted by starman at 12:22 PM on December 17, 2005

I'd sound like Bugs Bunny.
posted by konolia at 12:31 PM on December 17, 2005

Paris sounds like Fran Drescher. ; >
posted by amberglow at 12:35 PM on December 17, 2005

I sound like John Madden.
posted by panoptican at 12:37 PM on December 17, 2005

I always imagine jonmc sounding like Papa Smurf.

I still haven't found a good match for Michael Rispoli.
posted by Captaintripps at 12:49 PM on December 17, 2005

there are some real-life voices of members here. Maybe we should do it here too?
posted by amberglow at 12:57 PM on December 17, 2005

I wish they all sounded like Johnny Novak.
posted by sjvilla79 at 1:10 PM on December 17, 2005

Miguel?
posted by blue_beetle at 1:35 PM on December 17, 2005

They all sound like mice, with high, squeaky voices.
posted by jpburns at 1:44 PM on December 17, 2005

quonsar, like the Voice of God.

Certain others, like those hollow scratchy voices on the Nixon Oval Office tapes, when Dick and his cronies would speculate, in strange, discursive, pause-filled conversations, on whether some particular enemy was "a Jew".
posted by orthogonality at 1:56 PM on December 17, 2005

Nixon: I hope to God - he's not Jewish is he?

Ziegler: [Laughing] I'm sure he is - Ellsberg?

Nixon: I hope not, I hope not.

Haldeman: [unclear] is Jewish. Why the hell wouldn't he be?

Nixon: Oh yeah, I know, I know, I know, but it's, it's, it's, it's a bad thing for us. It's a bad thing for us. It's a bad thing. Maybe we'll be lucky for once. Many Jews in the Communist conspiracy. . . . Chambers and Hiss were the only non-Jews. . . . Many thought that Hiss was. He could have been a half. . . . Every other one was a Jew - and it raised hell for us. But in this case, I hope to God he's not a Jew.

Haldeman: [Laughing] Well, I suspect he is.

Nixon: You can't tell by the name.

Haldeman: Or Halperin. . . . Gelb is -

Nixon: Gelb's a Jew.

posted by orthogonality at 1:58 PM on December 17, 2005

If wish I could figure out how to record ME on my new Powerbook. Is it possible without additional software? Then I could upload the file to my iDisc, and you could hear my voice--women generally love it.
posted by ParisParamus at 2:13 PM on December 17, 2005

I always pictured mathowie's voice as exactly like Pee-Wee Herman's, quonsar sounds like The Dude, and amberglow like John Wayne, but more butch.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:26 PM on December 17, 2005

and amberglow like John Wayne, but more butch.
John "Marian" Wayne : >

audioblogger (you use your telephone)
posted by amberglow at 2:35 PM on December 17, 2005

oh, I was something of higher fidelity. I can already do that with AOL-By-Phone. Let me try it, and if I figure out how to public post to my idisk, I'll post the link.
posted by ParisParamus at 2:42 PM on December 17, 2005

amberglow - thanks for the MeCha link, it is bizarre but somehow very satisfying to put voices to names. I lurked for a year or so before joining and put together a mental picture of what some of the more prolific posters sounded like - jonmc sounds exactly like I thought he'd sound. As for others, well - jonson I imagine sounding like a surfer dude, partly because of that spate of excellent "woah! cool" videos he posted a while back. And for some reason I imagine dios sounding like Jessep in A Few Good Men.
posted by greycap at 2:51 PM on December 17, 2005

I call High Pitch Eric.
posted by darukaru at 2:57 PM on December 17, 2005

"Every other one was a Jew - and it raised hell for us. But in this case, I hope to God he's not a Jew"

posted by matteo at 2:57 PM on December 17, 2005

Well, if anyone really cares, e-mail for the file--don't want to invite the whole world to my iDisc.
posted by ParisParamus at 3:02 PM on December 17, 2005

Jews are so troublesome!!!!
posted by ParisParamus at 3:27 PM on December 17, 2005

ren from ren & stimpy
posted by ori at 3:34 PM on December 17, 2005

You're all welcome to imagine me sounding like Judy Tenuda.
posted by mkultra at 3:37 PM on December 17, 2005

My comments are meant to sound like Jeff Mangum.

Some of them are Stuart Murdoch, though.
posted by ludwig_van at 3:42 PM on December 17, 2005

I've set my system to play each comment in an unique voice for each member -- cobbled together from interviews with musicians since late 1960. I, of course, sound like Stan Ridgway after spending all night recording Call of the West.
posted by ?! at 4:08 PM on December 17, 2005

apropos of nothing
posted by sgt.serenity at 4:11 PM on December 17, 2005

Actualy I've never read in any voice beyond the 'standard' one I use for all my thinking.
posted by delmoi at 4:21 PM on December 17, 2005

When I'm reading posts/comments, it turns out... you all sound like me!

(not very creative)
posted by sbutler at 4:22 PM on December 17, 2005

apropos of nothing

Maybe not. Given that WWN story, to be safe, it might be a good idea to read all comments in your mother's voice.
posted by panoptican at 5:00 PM on December 17, 2005

and it may be a derail, but whenever I read y2karl's (excellent) Iraq posts I hear, in the background, the opening bars of "Eve of Destruction". so I guess y2karl sounds a bit like Barry McGuire to me
posted by matteo at 5:16 PM on December 17, 2005

Usually I dont' use a voice, but I have been reminded of Chomsky, Harvery Birdman, Beavis and Butthead, and Uncle Jesse.
posted by juiceCake at 5:29 PM on December 17, 2005

amberglow; from your early posts and the "blog" thing you used to have that is still listed on PLEP, I used to think you were an 18 year old female college freshman! Hahaha. Sorry, I don't mean to offend. Ofcourse that was years ago, but I thought you were a hot young chick! (Actually, take that as a compliment.)
posted by snsranch at 5:50 PM on December 17, 2005

Mayor Curley with W.C. Fields' voice: "M'yea, yer wife has a nice rack there, m'yea."
posted by snsranch at 5:53 PM on December 17, 2005

quonsar as the Dude? Mix in a little Belushi I think, having never met the man behind the curtain.

stavros on MetaChat Audio sounded not like the Dude, but more like the Stranger. I will forever see the big hat, cowboy boots and drawl far beyond the real thing.
posted by caddis at 6:03 PM on December 17, 2005

Steve Erwin.
posted by Jimbob at 6:17 PM on December 17, 2005

I sound like Wilford Brimley on helium.
posted by crunchland at 7:00 PM on December 17, 2005

Me? I sound a bit like John Cleese's and Johnny Rotten's lovechild. Hard to imagine, but true.
posted by dash_slot- at 7:23 PM on December 17, 2005

Abraham Lincoln for guys and Alfre Woodard for women.
posted by eighth_excerpt at 8:19 PM on December 17, 2005

James Earl Jones for all the women, post-accident Bob Dylan for jonmc, and Macintosh Pipe Organ for any and all comments in Iraq/Bush threads.
posted by kcm at 8:27 PM on December 17, 2005

snake oil salesmen are all i hear here.
posted by the aloha at 8:32 PM on December 17, 2005

Nah, Abraham Lincoln's voice was deeper. More like Tony Danza's.

I am such a nerd.
posted by Johnny Assay at 9:03 PM on December 17, 2005

Macintosh Pipe Organ for any and all comments in Iraq/Bush threads

At the risk of running a joke into the ground, the politics threads usually sound like Charlie Brown's parents to me.
posted by Johnny Assay at 9:15 PM on December 17, 2005

I would like to think of myself sounding like Liv Tyler's voice of Arwen in Lord of the Rings. The reality is probably not as interesting, however.
posted by Lynsey at 9:38 PM on December 17, 2005

Hannibal Lecter, please. Preferrably pre-escape.
posted by gsteff at 9:55 PM on December 17, 2005

Frank Nelson
posted by krinklyfig at 10:57 PM on December 17, 2005

If wish I could figure out how to record ME on my new Powerbook. Is it possible without additional software? Then I could upload the file to my iDisc, and you could hear my voice--women generally love it.

I know. That whole small, annoying, yipping dog thing you've got going gets them every time.
posted by loquacious at 11:11 PM on December 17, 2005

Ditto delmoi.
posted by Afroblanco at 12:06 AM on December 18, 2005

It's weird, but people who have met me say I sound an awful lot like Wesley Snipes in Money Train.
posted by cmonkey at 12:06 AM on December 18, 2005

Since I agree with delmoi and sbutler I'll throw these associations out for fun.

mathowie sounds like Abe Vigoda. Tired.
jessamyn is sort of a Tina Fey.
quonsar is Clippy with the voice of Gilbert Gottfried.
Miguel? Ricardo Montalban.
ParisParamus is James Spader in Pretty in Pink.
scody sounds like Marla Singer.
scarabic sounds like Sayid from Lost.
wendell sounds like a guy named Wendell I used to work with. Go figure.
jonmc is Richard Belzer.
Rothko is M*A*S*H's Frank Burns
MiHail gets Peg Bundy.

I've been told that I sound like Edward Norton
posted by geekyguy at 12:16 AM on December 18, 2005

Well, if nobody is going to claim Arnold Schwarzenegger, I've got dibbs.

Look out.
posted by allen.spaulding at 1:44 AM on December 18, 2005

I sound like this. (Or like this.) All of you sound like frat boys. Except the women, who sound like Ann Curry from the Today Show. But mainly, MeFite=Mental Frat Boy.
posted by Dreama at 1:46 AM on December 18, 2005

Flashback (mp3, from here)
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:57 AM on December 18, 2005

You're all welcome to imagine me sounding like Judy Tenuda.

Yes, but can you play the accordion?

I guess y2karl sounds a bit like Barry McGuire to me

he may just shoot you for that.

jonmc is Richard Belzer.

Thank you. Me and the Belz share a birthplace.
posted by jonmc at 8:09 AM on December 18, 2005

Oh, and:

amberglow - David Sedaris
ParisParamus - an American version of Harry Enfield's Tory Boy
languagehat - an American version of Stephen Fry

I have no idea why.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:16 AM on December 18, 2005

and even though he calls himself davy, in my head, he sounds like Goliath.
posted by jonmc at 8:40 AM on December 18, 2005

Nah, Abraham Lincoln's voice was deeper. More like Tony Danza's.

Sorry:

"Lincoln's voice was, when he first began speaking, shrill, squeaking, piping, unpleasant..."

"...or even his high keyed, unpleasant voice..."

"...the ringing and somewhat shrill tones of Lincoln's voice..."

languagehat - an American version of Stephen Fry

Sir, you flatter me outrageously!
posted by languagehat at 8:41 AM on December 18, 2005

Actually, hat, before I met you, I heard your posts in the voice of John Houseman. Not sure why. Quonsar I imagine sounding like Mongo in Blazing Saddles and looking like Burt Young in Rocky.
posted by jonmc at 8:43 AM on December 18, 2005

and I call dibs on Wolfman Jack. Failing that-Cousin Brucie.
posted by jonmc at 8:44 AM on December 18, 2005

and even though he calls himself davy, in my head, he sounds like Goliath.
oohhhhh, davvvvyyyyyy....

what does David Sedaris sound like? I've never been to see him, sadly.
posted by amberglow at 9:09 AM on December 18, 2005

I guess y2karl sounds a bit like Barry McGuire to me

he may just shoot you for that.

Oh, I would if I could.

Besides, I already said who I was channeling yesterday. But that was yesterday. Today I am Roy Batty. The other guy is languagehat.
posted by y2karl at 9:28 AM on December 18, 2005

I just remembered: it's only 11 years until Roy's incept date of Jan 8, 2016. Man, how time flies.

Hey! I thought replicants got 4 years. He died in 2017--his was truly an early death.
posted by y2karl at 9:37 AM on December 18, 2005

Actually, karl, since I first encountered you when you were doing the radio thing, I hear you in a DJ voice, but not a manic top 40 Cousin Brucie/Wolfman one like me. More a FM Tom Donahue mellow baritone.
posted by jonmc at 9:37 AM on December 18, 2005

I sound like Melanie Griffith on steroids.
posted by leftcoastbob at 10:21 AM on December 18, 2005

Bonus virtual cookies for the Mefite who tells us what celebrities my Voices sound most like.
posted by davy at 10:45 AM on December 18, 2005

amberglow- David Sedaris sounds exactly what you'd expect a stereotypical small, Jewish, neurotic, gay New Yorker to sound like. I don't know how to put it any other way, other than maybe Woody Allen with less rasp.
posted by mkultra at 11:02 AM on December 18, 2005

Oh, you can check out a clip here on iTMS.

(Great audiobook, btw- his stuff is even more hilarious when he reads it)
posted by mkultra at 11:03 AM on December 18, 2005

Sedaris has done stuff on npr.
posted by brujita at 11:06 AM on December 18, 2005

afroblanca is one of Donald Duck's nephews
cunninglinguist is Mae West and Dorothy Parker
dame is Sakakawea
naxosaxur is tinkerbell
posted by StickyCarpet at 11:07 AM on December 18, 2005

I take the voice of Gollum.
posted by Balisong at 12:22 PM on December 18, 2005

Imagine me as an Orthodox rabbi attempting a French accent. And Freen sounds like my mother.
posted by Football Bat at 3:11 PM on December 18, 2005

Everyone has the same monotone in my head. I actually like it when people read in a quiet monotone; I find over-enunciation and emphasis (and all the other crap they teach you in speech class) mildly annoying. So yeah...monotones all around.
posted by Devils Slide at 8:11 PM on December 18, 2005

What do you THINK I sound like?
posted by squirrel at 8:24 PM on December 18, 2005

Scarabic now has an MP3 of my voice...waiting for him to post it...
posted by ParisParamus at 8:53 PM on December 18, 2005

I imagine when you're angry, you let out a series of chirps followed by high-pitched barks. I hand feed all the neighborhood squirrels and that's the sound they make when they're alarmed. Btw, among squirrels' list of vocalizations is a sound indicating 'laughter". How did they figure that? I'm assuming you're an authority on squirrels.

And I have a particularly retarded monotone this evening.
posted by Devils Slide at 8:59 PM on December 18, 2005

I'd never thought about this, but I've been testing myself for a few minutes and it seems that you all sound like me. Even the women.
posted by The Monkey at 9:57 PM on December 18, 2005

Los Angeles, 2019, y2K
posted by Joeforking at 5:24 AM on December 19, 2005

I always imagine jonmc sounding like Steve Urkel.
posted by solid-one-love at 11:22 AM on December 19, 2005

I sound like a southern Kathleen Turner. It's true.
posted by dejah420 at 11:51 AM on December 19, 2005

http://www.scarabic.net/MP3/ParisParamusHolidayMessage.mp3
posted by scarabic at 2:35 PM on December 19, 2005

Los Angeles, 2019, y2K

Well, 2016--2019 is three years. Where'd Roy's fourth year go, hmm ? So my nit pick still stands. O Superman *bip bip bip* & etc.
posted by y2karl at 7:01 PM on December 19, 2005

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December 17, 2005
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