BragFilter

May 23, 2008 1:16 AM

What's the best thing (post, comment, question, answer, song, whatever) you've posted to Metafilter?
posted by dersins to MetaFilter-Related at 1:16 AM (158 comments total)

Well, I guess for sheer weight of favourites it would have to be my very first AskMe. A wonderful array of answers it garnered, too.

Privately, though, pretty much everything I do is amazing on one level or another. I once did a backflip over one of those champagne fountains they have at Important Parties.
posted by turgid dahlia at 1:29 AM on May 23, 2008 [3 favorites]

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
posted by Rhaomi at 1:34 AM on May 23, 2008

Eye-gougin' in American history. I also like my Ricky Jay post, but Youtube killed a bunch of the links.
posted by Bookhouse at 1:35 AM on May 23, 2008

Also, a shout-out to the good people at Off-Planet Films. The post I made on them was the only one I've made that really felt like pure Mefi -- something quirky, obscure, and cool that I stumbled across on my own that wouldn't get much play otherwise. I think the way I formatted the post kind of killed it, though... the first two lines of the [more inside] should have been on the front page instead of that boring, contextless understatement of a sentence.
posted by Rhaomi at 1:43 AM on May 23, 2008

By weight of favourites, a bluegrass pig-fucker of a song. By personal pride, a Wodehouse pastiche. Make of that what you will.
posted by Jofus at 2:23 AM on May 23, 2008

Probably my post on maps of London public transport. Alas, some of the links are now broken.
posted by grouse at 2:27 AM on May 23, 2008

grouse - that post was teh awesome. i remember it well..
posted by Jofus at 2:38 AM on May 23, 2008

Your favourite thing by you sucks.
posted by nthdegx at 2:44 AM on May 23, 2008 [7 favorites]

That one time.
posted by jbickers at 2:51 AM on May 23, 2008

that thing they deleted that time. and that other thing.
posted by quonsar at 3:56 AM on May 23, 2008 [2 favorites]

The best thing I've done is to never post in a MeTa thread
posted by poppo at 4:06 AM on May 23, 2008

It was a double post, but it had some witty comments.
posted by fixedgear at 4:10 AM on May 23, 2008

This
posted by fire&wings at 4:14 AM on May 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

Goodbye to comics. It pretty much encompassed my love/hate of American comics, mixed with someone's personal story and the awesome phrase "broken vagina".
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:23 AM on May 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

Best thing I've posted (as another username): Fret Killr. I still listen to his stuff all the time. Kind of wish I'd written a better post though. Anyway, here's Mr Tambourine Man, and Let It Snow.
posted by tomcooke at 4:35 AM on May 23, 2008

My XKCD-internet-map MetaFilter rip-off.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:55 AM on May 23, 2008

By popular opinion: http://www.metafilter.com/activity/user#/favorited/popular

As for myself, I let the people speak.
posted by Eideteker at 5:00 AM on May 23, 2008

I guess I'll hit the green, grey, and blue.

The most fun I ever posted.

The best question I ever asked.

But, I'm still fond of that time I got sidebared.
posted by absalom at 5:11 AM on May 23, 2008

I took a cue from a few others around here and started listing them in my profile.
posted by allkindsoftime at 5:24 AM on May 23, 2008

But What About Us? Student Photographs from the Corridor of Shame. Pictures that students in the poorest schools in South Carolina took of the conditions that they try to receive an education in everyday, plus a documentary about the situation.

Best thing I ever did here. 28 comments and 3 favorites. Sigh.
posted by ND¢ at 5:43 AM on May 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

I've always been fond of this post - mostly for it's not-so-sublte references to William Demarest and Crazy Cow cereal.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 5:45 AM on May 23, 2008

I like oh oh oh this sweet comment of mine. Even though it's pretty darn crap.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 5:49 AM on May 23, 2008

So many Mefiers never, ever think about Metafilter Music.

That's because this is the object of the special MeFi rules of The Game. Thanks a lot, I just lost The Game.
posted by grouse at 5:50 AM on May 23, 2008

Dersins, I'd just like to thank you for even including the word "song" in this question. So many Mefiers never, ever think about Metafilter Music.

I don't know which of the songs I've posted to MeFiMu would be my personal favorite. So I'll go with the one that was the most favorited. It's called Some Kind of Superhero. Now, those favorites, that's a grand total of *ahem* nine, but, like I said, most Mefiers, etc. etc....

God bless you.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:50 AM on May 23, 2008

My scorn.
posted by blue_beetle at 5:53 AM on May 23, 2008

I posted detailed summary of an AskMe trainwreck in MeTa once.
posted by burnmp3s at 5:59 AM on May 23, 2008

Judging by favorites the comments winnar is this time I brought the harsh to an anonymous AskMe poster who thought living homeless on the streets was going to be awesome, the FPP winnar is A zillion John Bonham drum samples (still available for your Memorial Day DJing needs), and the Projects winnar is this story I wrote last summer about watching an entire city block crumble into chaos and violence over the course of two weeks.
posted by The Straightener at 6:20 AM on May 23, 2008

I'm pretty proud of my fpp about how Ellsworth Kelly and Bill Blass (and others) won World War II.
posted by rtha at 6:20 AM on May 23, 2008

I don't know which of the songs I've posted to MeFiMu would be my personal favorite.
posted by flapjax at midnite

Don't know if it helps, but my own personal favorite of what you have posted to Metafilter Music is Half Remembrance. It's a tough call, though. If I stop to think about it I start thinking it might be Curious Little Smile. Or my former favorite before you posted those two: Bring Me The Head of Elmo.

Now, I know this post wasn't about stating which was our favorite song by flapjax, but I'm sure if people click on any of those three songs, they'll forgive me.
posted by micayetoca at 6:24 AM on May 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

Metamusic: Faded Afternoon. The Music Gods were smiling upon us when we (my band Miracle Beard) recorded this one.

Ask Metafilter: Classic Investment Books. This question seems to have helped others discover... you guessed it: classic investment books.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 6:33 AM on May 23, 2008

By favourites, it is apparently my post about Photo Albums from Nazi Soldiers. My favourite post was my one about rangefinders and broken ass cameras. That was back in the days where I would link to more than one thing in my posts. Silly boy I was.
posted by chunking express at 6:42 AM on May 23, 2008

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.
posted by boo_radley at 6:48 AM on May 23, 2008 [2 favorites]

Dammit grouse! I hadn't lost The Game in months. I guess since I last saw content by that person whose username is You Just Lost the Game. Ooh, that guy makes me so mad.
posted by sugarfish at 6:50 AM on May 23, 2008

Most favorited.

Most useful.

Personal favorite.

In hindsight, I've contributed very little to this wonderful site.
posted by saladin at 6:52 AM on May 23, 2008

Going by favorites, this. But my recent serpent-handling FPP has is the coolest thing I've stumbled across on my own in a while. Having recently moved to NC, I was interested in tracking down the location of some Appalachian snake-handling churches to visit, out of anthropological and theological interest. When I came across that site after several hours of surfing, I was really amazed. I didn't expect any of those churches to have that much of a web presence.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 7:01 AM on May 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

People seemed to like it that time that I wrote that song that was about that thing that happened on metafilter.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:02 AM on May 23, 2008

Well, I want to say my best is that post about the old dude sexing the corpse, but my question about Tom Waits is probably a better choice. And it introduced me to a lot of wonderful artists I might never have heard of otherwise!
posted by katillathehun at 7:06 AM on May 23, 2008

With your help, I was able to free my Vodka, which also included an hour of fun with tools. It wasn't the most popular thing I've posted, but I look back on the memories fondly (the parts I remember at least).
posted by iamkimiam at 7:11 AM on May 23, 2008

My best work was pre-favorites damnit.


From a purely useful point of view, I think this question about moving advice and mistakes to avoid is my best contribution to humanity. I learned a lot.
And this question about Chinese chicken dishes taught me an amazing new cooking technique: "velveting."
This question about the ethics of stealing wireless internet was a fascinating discussion and ended up giving me the rationale I've used ever since.

My fave mefi post was this one about cute widdle puppies getting sent to jail. This one got the most comments, but that's because it's about a weird sex contract.

To offset the bragging, I present this thread, in which nearly every goddamn commenter attacked my post as lame and bullshit. Fuckers.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:12 AM on May 23, 2008

I'm still really pleased with this particular limerick.

Um, that's all I got.
posted by h00py at 7:13 AM on May 23, 2008

I really like the post on the Ossian Hoax, which was actually by me, using another username.
posted by vacapinta at 7:14 AM on May 23, 2008

Terry Waite's Clogs. 2 people considered it the best thing on the internet, praise indeed. I've never come close to anything as good since.
posted by jontyjago at 7:28 AM on May 23, 2008

Can someone ask "which post you sucked the most at" - I can participate in that one :(
posted by strawberryviagra at 7:33 AM on May 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

I was fond of my comment on the Horton "Pollock," but no one seemed to care.

Everyone seemed to like my Wayne White post and I did too.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 7:39 AM on May 23, 2008

I'm most proud of this one.

Not the thing that garnered the most favorites, or generated the most discussion, or anything like that...just a post I liked making that some others seemed to really enjoy as well.
posted by never used baby shoes at 7:43 AM on May 23, 2008

Dirty Jokes for Grandma. RIP. \m/
posted by sciurus at 7:48 AM on May 23, 2008

fire&wings you took my idea.

Stop reading my mind.

GetoutofmyheadgetoutofmyheadlalalalalalaOUTDEMONS!
posted by gauchodaspampas at 7:48 AM on May 23, 2008

BraggFilter. I win!
posted by maudlin at 7:48 AM on May 23, 2008

Dirty Jokes for Grandma was one of the best threads ever.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:08 AM on May 23, 2008

Most Favorites: Story about Clooney shitting in a kitty litter box

My Favorite: The Decay of Manners (which, ironically, started a few arguments)

(and one that still makes me angry when I read the comments: Katrina Every Day, about the failure of New Orleans to return to (relative) normalcy)
posted by ColdChef at 8:10 AM on May 23, 2008

My favorite answer was this one, which earned me beer and hookers and blow. (I check my mailbox every day....)
posted by Floydd at 8:12 AM on May 23, 2008

9622 v.2

My later explanation of the whole 9622 and subsequent longboating phenomena.
posted by yhbc at 8:13 AM on May 23, 2008

I could say that I liked this octopus story of mine, (though this octopus naming theory was ok as well). And my wife liked my cave religion comment.

But that's the past. This link here, right now, is probably the best thing I'll ever post. Though this could be a close second.
posted by quin at 8:16 AM on May 23, 2008

This link here, right now, is probably the best thing I'll ever post.

I disagree. I think that is actually the best thing that anybody is going to post, anywhere, ever.
posted by turgid dahlia at 8:20 AM on May 23, 2008

I enjoy long, rambling, free-association MetaTalk threads, like this one, in which I got to tell funny stories about things my dog ate.
posted by Mister_A at 8:22 AM on May 23, 2008

Should have read "this" one...
posted by Mister_A at 8:23 AM on May 23, 2008

strawberryviagra: "43Can someone ask "which post you sucked the most at" - I can participate in that one :("

I think that's a great idea! I've learned just as much from my sucky posts as my good ones. Sharing these could help us all write better posts. I can easily think of my worst—a good example of pre-derailing your own thread by using an exaggerated false claim in the orig question, being too invested in your topic which leads to overmoderation of your thread, and then being combative with your responders. My shining moment.
posted by iamkimiam at 8:24 AM on May 23, 2008

Well, people seemed to really like this, but I really enjoyed torturing people with this post. The link in that post is a deadlink, but you can still play the game here. I'm also proud of this best answer.

I also have a little ongoing comment fable-y thing about instructions and commands from the Cabal (like so) that I seem to enjoy far more than anyone else.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:37 AM on May 23, 2008

Well it wasn't a cheap pun, I'll tell you that.
posted by tkolar at 8:37 AM on May 23, 2008

My post announcing last year's Eurovision webcast (pure, unadultered chatfilter). Speaking of which - TOMORROW is the finale (2100 CET)!!! Should we do it again?
posted by jasper411 at 8:39 AM on May 23, 2008

In the recent thread about YouTube comments, the user "porn in the woods" came across what I believe is the single most hilarious YouTube comment of all time: "shut the fuck up you fucking albanian". The nakedly idiotic dead-eyed stare of that line made me laugh harder than anything else I've ever read on metafilter.

If I was more of a dick, I would've followed my initial impulse: to post nothing but that line all over the site. Every answer to every ask.me question, every response to an FPP: nothing but
"shut the fuck up you fucking albanian"

Instead, I just posted a series of three comments in that thread, which, taken together, represent what I think is the nadir of my contributions to this site.
posted by Greg Nog at 8:40 AM on May 23, 2008 [2 favorites]

Although others might disagree, the best thing I ever did for Metafilter was to write a tutorial on my method for coming up with content for the front page, and posting it in my old user profile.
posted by Dave Faris at 8:41 AM on May 23, 2008 [2 favorites]

...

....

.....

..........................

shut the fuck up you fucking albanian
posted by kittens for breakfast at 8:44 AM on May 23, 2008

I won anastasiav's Best Post of August 1st, 2005 contest with a couple of Angry Penguins, for which I am still very proud.
posted by steef at 8:47 AM on May 23, 2008

I reckon the best link I've posted, though it's not the most favourited, is this one, which links to a lovely website about bit-part actors.

Other than that, nothing to report.
posted by jack_mo at 9:05 AM on May 23, 2008

The best song I posted to music got the fewest favorites. I'm so indie like that.
posted by ludwig_van at 9:07 AM on May 23, 2008

Give us all your money
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:08 AM on May 23, 2008

Well, people seemed to really like this,

I knew I was forgetting something...
posted by Rock Steady at 9:09 AM on May 23, 2008

shut the fuck up you fucking albanian

They may just be quoting Tune In Tomorrow for comedic effect.

Kinda wasted if you haven't seen the movie though.
posted by tkolar at 9:17 AM on May 23, 2008

I'm still proud of coining the phrase "gets my pedanties all in a bunch", though it probably would have been funnier if I hadn't expressed how proud I was of it in the comment.

By sheer number of favorites, the winner is an answer I almost wish I hadn't posted. I'm pretty sure it only got favorites because it expressed a slightly marginalized viewpoint on which some people have very strong opinions.
posted by ErWenn at 9:19 AM on May 23, 2008

The post I think about most often is my first-ever AskMe question. It's still unanswered. It still haunts me: When I was a kid in the late 70s and early 80s, I used to hear this strange, eerie tune on the radio late at night. What WAS it?

This callout for my NSFW post taught me a lesson about this community's values and changed my posting habits.
posted by grumblebee at 9:19 AM on May 23, 2008

I'm pretty fond of this AskMe answer of mine.
posted by booksherpa at 9:21 AM on May 23, 2008

My best has yet to come.
posted by iguanapolitico at 9:37 AM on May 23, 2008

I know I'm a frequent commenter on AskMe, and I hope I've helped some people out, but mostly what I take away from the site is a feeling of inadequacy.

I tell myself I'm a Renaissance man or a polymath. But really I'm a dilettante, a dabbler. I read widely. I'm curious about everything. But the down-side of that is that if you want to dip your toes into a hundred subjects, you only have time to skim. To master a craft, you have to narrow your field a little. Life is short.

"I was going to bring back all such things into my life and become again that most limited of all specialists, the 'well-rounded man.' This isn’t just an epigram—life is much more successfully looked at from a single window, after all." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Great Gatsby."

I've been around the block a few times. I've gazed at my navel. I'm passably good at understanding what makes people tick. So I answer a lot of RelationshipFilter questions, and I get a warm glow when I see my comment getting favorited. Because I've worked in these fields, I can also answer questions about art and teaching. But those fields are so nebulous, so subjective. What makes good art? What makes a good teacher? Your opinion is as valid as mine.

What fills me with awe and admiration -- and what brings me back here again and again -- are the legions of real experts that post. The craftsmen and craftswomen who nail down a step-by-step procedure or post an essay about the ins and outs of what they do. THIS is the sort of thing I'm talking about. I read a post like that, and I feel lucky to be allowed on the same site.

(Of course, all these excellent posts about so many varied activities tempts me further and further into dilettante-ism.)
posted by grumblebee at 9:38 AM on May 23, 2008 [3 favorites]

This throwaway single-link NY Times post received by far the most favorites of anything I've ever posted to Metafilterm, but I think my personal favorite is the one about Opal Whiteley.

As far as comments go, non-funny jokes have garnered me the most favorites, but this lengthy allegorical response to an "I'm-bored-and-I-don't-know-what-to-do" question from the other day is the one I had the most fun writing.
posted by dersins at 9:41 AM on May 23, 2008

Lemonade.
posted by Elsa at 9:53 AM on May 23, 2008

That time I said I'd like to fuck the president until his heart exploded.

Or maybe Jingle Rock Bell. One of those two.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 10:12 AM on May 23, 2008

Where can I find smart, theoretical writing about video games?
posted by danb at 10:15 AM on May 23, 2008

The post I think about most often is my first-ever AskMe question. It's still unanswered. It still haunts me: When I was a kid in the late 70s and early 80s, I used to hear this strange, eerie tune on the radio late at night. What WAS it?

Aw. The MP3's down.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 10:30 AM on May 23, 2008

Well, my Pee Wee fpp definitely took the most effort. I was pretty proud of that one.

Other than the Fogerty story, there is one comment that leaps to mind because just by thinking about it I had myself laughing for days. And of all places, this favorite joke of mine can be found in a depressing thread about 250 animal carcasses that were found dumped off of Spooky Hollow Road in Muncie, Indiana. Would you like to see it? Here you go.
posted by miss lynnster at 10:34 AM on May 23, 2008

In no particular order,
Dark Was The Night--Cold Was The Ground by Blind Willie Johnson
Gone to Croatan -- Hi, Iconomy!
Sappho: Poem of Jealousy (26 Translations)
The Minstrel Show 2.0: Why Postmodern Minstrelsy Studies Matter
y2karl's 78 RPM jukebox-o-rama
Ragtime, Cakewalks, Coon Songs and Vaudeville, Barbershop Quartets & etc.
Rilke, quintessential poet of love, and The History of Romantic Love. Yeah... that's the ticket!
y2karlTube - Simply Beautiful
Acoustic Jazz & Swing: Jug & String Band 101
and What Is Cynicism?
are among today's top ten in recollection.

They were, at least, among the most fun to make.
posted by y2karl at 11:05 AM on May 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

I am most proud of this comment. Close second-favorite was the excuse to post this image.
Folks seemed to dig the Shadowy Back Alleys MeTa post (kept up on the wiki now). I always liked the Follow nobody post too.
In AskMe I'm torn between the common household objects as standard measures query and the odd hilarity of cursing Combat Sudoku opponents in hindi.
As for MeFi, my first is still my favorite, so much so that I considered (then reconsidered) posting it again this year: The Mayday Mystery.
posted by carsonb at 11:08 AM on May 23, 2008

I'm proud that my one and only FPP didn't get deleted and, in fact, got favorited by Morrigan. It didn't get deleted, and somebody liked it. That is my small victory.
posted by Megafly at 11:35 AM on May 23, 2008

I'm still proud of my Volapük post even though using ^ to link to Wikipedia pages got me in a bit of hot water.
posted by graymouser at 11:43 AM on May 23, 2008

The time I flagged the self-congratulatory ChatFilter Meta thread.
posted by jtron at 11:44 AM on May 23, 2008

I think it was askme I posted about my really cool fedora, and its inability to get me strings-free sex.
posted by waraw at 11:50 AM on May 23, 2008

I really enjoyed writing about losing my gumbo virginity.

With all due thanks to the people who gave me advice in the thread, of course.
posted by Cyrano at 11:52 AM on May 23, 2008

The time I flagged the self-congratulatory ChatFilter Meta thread.

Oh jtron you're such a gadfly!
posted by dersins at 11:54 AM on May 23, 2008

I posted the perfect response to this thread. It was deleted, but you can see the original image on my profile or here. Sigh.
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:57 AM on May 23, 2008 [2 favorites]

I kid, I kid.

My favorite MetaFilter contribution was one I had my girlfriend post for me 'cause I wasn't near an Internets.
posted by jtron at 12:02 PM on May 23, 2008

Probably this. Because it is weird.
posted by juv3nal at 12:07 PM on May 23, 2008

Well, my most popular post was Neighborhood of Make-Believe, but I don't feel like that had much to do with me, other than I liked it and posted it (with a glaring typo). It was really just a matter of timing, to be frank; I'm sure someone else would have posted it had they seen it. I'm glad other people enjoyed it, of course, but I added nothing to it, so I don't feel I really deserve any credit for it. My personal favorite is Mom always liked you best, because it was a joy to put together and is the kind of thing I like when other people post. Easy, fun and interesting without being too labored or overstuffed. I think both posts generated comments that are far better than anything I've ever written, so that's gratifying as well.
posted by oneirodynia at 12:26 PM on May 23, 2008

I am probably prouder of it than I should be.

Two words that strike fear into the hearts of men: Comic Sans.
posted by GuyZero at 12:56 PM on May 23, 2008

Others' favorite.
My favorite.
posted by owhydididoit at 12:57 PM on May 23, 2008

The responses I received from this question truly changed my life in innumerable ways, and the question also helped me to connect, even just temporarily, with a few amazing people (jasper411 and filmgeek, to name just two). It sounds corny but most of the answers blew me away with their thoughtfulness, courage and support. I wasn't then (nor am I now) a very active or well-known member of the site, but yet people still stepped up to help me be brave enough to make what was a momentous decision for me. I'm still touched to this day.
posted by justonegirl at 1:00 PM on May 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

This is a secret society? Why wasn't I told?
posted by Cranberry at 11:43 PM on January 30 [1 favorite +] [!]

AS you can see, only one tasteful person liked it as well as I did.
posted by Cranberry at 1:04 PM on May 23, 2008

People really liked this comment of mine.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:06 PM on May 23, 2008

Is AskMe allowed? Cause my best post ever was actually an anonymous question.

It happens.
posted by matty at 1:19 PM on May 23, 2008

justonegirl, what ended up happening?
posted by dersins at 1:31 PM on May 23, 2008

My most favorited AskMe answer. Dunno if it qualifies as my "best" but other people liked it.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 1:39 PM on May 23, 2008

Self-promotion time, eh? Well - my favorite post is still the Eater of Meaning one from - eesh, five years ago. The link there is dead, though; it's been moved here.
posted by wanderingmind at 1:44 PM on May 23, 2008

I doubt (and hope) these aren't my "best," but I had a lot of fun creating these images in the infamous Pretty Flowers pile-on. (This was before Ceiling Cat jumped the shark; the thread was actually the first time I ever saw the Cat.)
posted by brain_drain at 1:49 PM on May 23, 2008

I.e., I doubt these are, and hope these aren't
posted by brain_drain at 1:50 PM on May 23, 2008

Wait a minute... are you collecting items for a possible future Weezer video?
posted by wendell at 1:54 PM on May 23, 2008

My best thingy I ever did in my whole life was posting this cover of Bob Dylan's "Visions of Johanna" to MeFiMu. It might not seem like much here and now, but in the centuries to come higher beings will travel light years, at incredible expense and effort, to build zigguarats on this planet in my honor. Aliens tuning in from distant stars don't yet have the ability to favourite posts here, but wait and see - this will be big big big.
posted by Meatbomb at 2:07 PM on May 23, 2008

I posted this ask.mefi question looking for books that would scare the hell out of me and I got more books than I could ever read.

I posted an answer about how to get rich according to one of my old professors.

I posted a question trying to get rid of my bad mood and it worked!

I posted another ask.mefi about reality shattering literature and I got 99 responses.

I posted this song which I LOVE even though I can play it a ton better now.

But my favorite question yet asked how different people think.
posted by pwally at 2:22 PM on May 23, 2008

Gonna be lazy here & link to my most favourited comment.

However, the best things were the tasteless jokes I somehow managed to hold back from posting in hundreds of threads about genocide, abortion, rape, torture, circumcision & similar matters.
posted by UbuRoivas at 2:24 PM on May 23, 2008

Posts on The Last Waltz, The Concert in Central Park, the Warner Brothers Censored Eleven, "We're an American Bund", the story of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," The Four Freedoms, 50 works of art you should see before you die, The Boys in the Bank, In Cold Blood, and two posts about Joe Kittinger.

Infamy: originating [?] the "I, for one, welcome our new [whatever] overlords" meme. In my defense it was a prefect Simpsons reference.
posted by kirkaracha at 2:43 PM on May 23, 2008

Seven years later, I am proudest of this post and I still feel the same way about the issue. Also, hats off to my boy RDJR, who has re-energized his movie career with Iron Man.
posted by Lynsey at 2:49 PM on May 23, 2008

This comment.
posted by empath at 3:09 PM on May 23, 2008

Way back on the first anniversary of 9/11, Miguel posted a thread in which he encouraged everyone to comment with a link, and for the most part people cooperated. A lot of the links are dead now of course, but it's still one of my favorite MeFi threads. Anyway, my contribution was this comment. It was my way of trying to put things in perspective. I didn't think of it as particularly great, but someone liked it enough to e-mail me his appreciation, and that made my day.
posted by Silune at 3:17 PM on May 23, 2008

I'd say either The Thousand-hand Bodhisattva dance or Edison's Conquest of Mars.
posted by brundlefly at 3:26 PM on May 23, 2008

Oof, from Lynsey's link, this comment in May 2001 is scarily into "be careful what you wish for" territory.

My most favorited comment immediately preceded jessamyn yelling at people for comments like mine, so that's a little bittersweet. So instead, I think my personal choice is this comment in which I took pity (with uncharacteristic kindness and patience) on a poor defenseless idiot, and simultaneously got a chance to itemize many of the things I love about this community.
posted by Riki tiki at 3:41 PM on May 23, 2008

My most-favorited thing was this creepypasta FPP.
posted by hjo3 at 3:50 PM on May 23, 2008

Apparently, I'm most enjoyed when I'm telling someone to die or offering to strip. Go figure.

I think my Richard Price FPP was good.
posted by jonmc at 5:27 PM on May 23, 2008

I liked the way To the Person Sitting in Darkness worked out.

And I posted the best single-link YouTube post in history.
posted by homunculus at 6:00 PM on May 23, 2008

Apparently I'm most popular when I'm explaining other people's beliefs. (Why sexual orientation is confusing. Why people say dumb things about harassment. Why people are afraid of vaccination.)

Ironically, though, I was at my all-time most popular when I explained how my wife and I quit fighting. She left me on Tuesday, so some of those favorites may have been a little premature.
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:17 PM on May 23, 2008

Silune, that link is mindblowing, and while I understand the intention, I think the abraham lincoln quote doesn't invite one to click on it. Thx for pointing it out today, it's really, really, really good stuff.
posted by micayetoca at 6:30 PM on May 23, 2008

dersins, you really want to know? :) I resigned from the job to make the trip to be with my grandmother, and the company ended up asking me to stay on and made a bunch of first-time-ever telecommuting arrangements, etc. I made the trip, accompanied on the drive down there by my best friend -- we visited Graceland, stayed in a couple of seedy motels, and drove through the mad northern rush on the heels of Hurricane Rita. I stayed in Texas for a couple of months. While there, my grandmother's health leveled out, though her dementia progressed steadily. I did get to make a side trip by myself to Navajo, NM to visit an ailing friend of my family, someone who was like a second father to me for a good portion of my childhood. I got to see some of the most beautiful landscapes I'd ever seen and experience life on a reservation. I also made the decision to be tested as a kidney donor for this person once I got back home.

After I'd been in Texas for about two months and was sure my grandmother's condition (physical or mental) wasn't going to be changing anytime soon, I made the decision to go home to my husband. I figured the benefit to my grandmother of my visiting had maxed out, and it was time to get back to what was waiting for me at home. So, I borrowed an old white bedsheet and a pair of scissors from the family members with whom I was staying, drove 13 hours a day for two days, and arrived at home at dusk on Halloween night. I crouched on the front steps, covered myself with the sheet, and rang the doorbell. When my husband opened the door, candy in hand, I shouted "trick or treat!" and thoroughly appreciated as the confusion on his face turned into shock and happiness. (At least, as much as I could see while peeking out through the crooked eye-holes.) It was the most joyful and spontaneous moment I think we'd had together since we married.

I learned so much on the trip; it was heartbreaking in a million different ways but it also was probably the most worthwhile thing I've ever done for myself. I showed myself I could travel alone (I had never so much as sat down in a coffee shop by myself before then), that I could negotiate with doctors and administrators and advocate for someone I loved, that I could completely redefine my priorities and values and goals.

(Oh...and to tie up loose ends, my grandmother is still alive and stable, I quit the job a few months after returning because I felt the company was crapping on me in retribution, took the leap into self-employment, and I couldn't donate my kidney because, surprise! I got unexpectedly pregnant with my beautiful, amazing son shortly after my return, after having tried unsuccessfully for a long time before my trip. But, my friend who needed the kidney has also stabilized for the time being, and the transplant isn't the necessity it seemed to be a few years ago. Life is funny.)
posted by justonegirl at 7:00 PM on May 23, 2008 [11 favorites]

Few things could be more thrilling — in MeFi terms — to me than the time long long ago when quonsar, no less, called one of my throwaway comments the Best. Ever.

(Such acclaim from a web superhero made me so self-conscious that I've avoided saying anything else worth noting in the subsequent seven years.)
posted by LeLiLo at 7:04 PM on May 23, 2008

Popular opinion says that this megapost on mashups is my best thing, but I feel that I could have prepared much more and linked to three times as many artists now.

My favorite posts of mine would be a tie between two interview posts: "George Clooney Meets The Internet" and "Rick Astley Talks About Being Internet Famous." I hate celebrity news usually, but both interviews really showed a great side of the interviewee.
posted by flatluigi at 7:15 PM on May 23, 2008

(Also, someone liked a throwaway comment of mine so much that he made it into an FPP. Sadly, his post grabbed over twice as many favorites than my comment. Ah, well.)
posted by flatluigi at 7:18 PM on May 23, 2008

I'm pretty sure my most favorited comment was unfortunately a frist post snark.

The contributions I am most proud of are in the limerick thread. Most people preferred the red wheelbarrow, but I really loved the mostly ignored snail haiku. The entire poem is in the last line!
posted by team lowkey at 7:19 PM on May 23, 2008

This, I suppose. Mainly because it insired this.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 7:57 PM on May 23, 2008

This is absolutely the funniest and cleverest and best thing I have ever posted. The fact that it got only 1 favorite - the one I gave it - dismays me to no end.
posted by ikkyu2 at 8:58 PM on May 23, 2008

My FPP about Brig Gen Paul Tibbets, and his role in history, elicited some amazing discussion -- it really was eye-opening to me to discover that some people really didn't know that he was much more than "just" a pilot who pushed a button.
posted by davidmsc at 9:36 PM on May 23, 2008

--I borrowed an old white bedsheet and a pair of scissors from the family members with whom I was staying, drove 13 hours a day for two days--
I was sure that was a NASA joke unfolding.

Probably Kircher because it was essentially the final catalyst for converting my OCD into my own site, but I really enjoyed putting Dellschau together and Tirrocchi netted me some contest $Mefi.
I am most proud of the many comments that I wrote and never sent for which we all should be thankful.
posted by peacay at 9:49 PM on May 23, 2008

My few FPPs have generally fallen flat, but I liked the one about Vinko Bogataj.

People enjoyed this comment exploring how someone might consult askme whenever their relationship reached a critical point...
posted by maxwelton at 10:41 PM on May 23, 2008

Ikkyu2, that's because favoriting doesn't give a drop-down menu with the option "clicked link and groaned."
posted by 517 at 10:48 PM on May 23, 2008

I have always been fond of this answer in a "Should I eat this?" thread.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 11:50 PM on May 23, 2008

> In the recent thread about YouTube comments, the user "porn in the woods" came across what I believe is the single most hilarious YouTube comment of all time: "shut the fuck up you fucking albanian". [...] I just posted a series of three comments in that thread, which, taken together, represent what I think is the nadir of my contributions to this site.

If you are using "nadir" to mean "absolute zenith," then Fucking-A-Right. I remember stumbling across that hat trick and laughing about it for days afterward.

Thank you, Mr Nog.
posted by churl at 1:05 AM on May 24, 2008

This comment.

I'm not very good at posting.
posted by davejay at 1:17 AM on May 24, 2008

I'm not very good at posting

True. Like this time, for example: empath beat you to the joke.

Keep trying, though :)
posted by flapjax at midnite at 1:28 AM on May 24, 2008

I'll drag these two out in a shameless attempt at further long-tail fave-whoring.
posted by flabdablet at 2:35 AM on May 24, 2008

But this recent thread and this old one would be the ones I've spent the most time on helping with, and the ones I'm still most pleased by.
posted by flabdablet at 3:30 AM on May 24, 2008

Well, I hastened the arrival of anonymous questions on Ask Metafilter, this post about superman is my favourite & I really liked asking people to tell me different words for women.
posted by seanyboy at 3:45 AM on May 24, 2008

When I first signed up for MetaFilter, I was too intimidated to make comments because I worried I wouldn't be contributing anything worthwhile, and that I would be wasting other people's time. I only finally posted much of anything when the FPP for Obama's speech on racism came up, where I talked about how my mother is one of the kinds of people -- a different kind of racist -- that he referred to in his speech. It got 135 favorites, and some people bothered to send me MeFi mail, both of which shocked the hell out of me. (Ugh, this really does feel like bragging!) Anyway, I loosened up some after that.

A comment I made detailing my journey from not obsessing over appearance, to obsessing over appearance, and back again got 55 favorites. (The TL;DNR version: people didn't take me seriously when I made an effort to be prettier, and I actually don't blame them. I worry that girls who have always obsessed about their appearance misunderstand why other people sometimes dislike them.)

Favorites don't necessarily mean "best" but both of those times I felt like I might have said something that might be meaningful or at least interesting to someone -- I probably can't come up with anything "better" than those comments. I think I have given good AskMeFi advice, but the majority of AskMeFi advice is great.

I'm still too terrified to attempt an FPP. Maybe one day, if I find something really interesting...
posted by Nattie at 4:42 AM on May 24, 2008

Big Red Noses (A Clown Song).
posted by JtJ at 4:51 AM on May 24, 2008

I could swear there was already a MetaTalk thread for essentially this question; anyone else know what I'm talking about? It had a ton of good answers in it.
posted by louigi at 7:41 AM on May 24, 2008

It takes a woman....
posted by adamvasco at 8:23 AM on May 24, 2008

My favorite post is the one I did on Claude Degler, a particularly weird SF fan who walked the US in the 40's trying to build support for his vision of science fiction fandom evolving into a new species of humans, cosmen.
posted by Kattullus at 9:22 AM on May 24, 2008

I rarely comment on Metafilter or Metatalk because I have a fear of getting flamed, so I usually stick to AskMe. And even there I always try to word everything as neutrally as possible so I don't get snarked at by a later answerer. In my effort to avoid snark, during heated discussions on the blue or the gray I'll often favorite somebody who basically said what I would have said. But even just favoriting has gotten me MeMail snark from some guy who was mad that I favorited somebody who was disagreeing with him. How fucking bizarre is that?

Anyhow, despite all my snark-phobia, I managed to post a reasonably well-received FPP about the Soviet sci-fi film Kin-Dza-Dza. Still, given how FPPs like this one turned out I'm kind of wary about posting stuff around here. I could totally see myself wording an FPP like that guy did.
posted by pravit at 12:04 PM on May 24, 2008

I could swear there was already a MetaTalk thread for essentially this question; anyone else know what I'm talking about?

I made a reference to a similar MeTa post in the first link of my earlier comment. Highlight: cortex admits his pride in his work as 'quonsar'.
posted by carsonb at 2:31 PM on May 24, 2008

How to remove whores from craigslist.
posted by orthogonality at 2:55 PM on May 24, 2008

Some context about that.
posted by orthogonality at 3:07 PM on May 24, 2008

I like my post on the extension service, probably because it's been useful to refer to from time to time.
posted by Upton O'Good at 5:28 PM on May 24, 2008

My best MeFi post was about Gaelic Psalm Singing and Gospel Music

My best AskMe was about Schmucking in NYC

My best MetaTalk (judged by volume of snark) was an anti-Chelsea grip-ola.

I thank you.
posted by brautigan at 5:31 PM on May 24, 2008

I seem to have started the ball rolling for all Achewood memes on Mefi with my post on web-comics.

My claim to the Mefi hall of fame will rest on the fact that I authored the Life-altering experiences thread.

(In ask-mefi land my "Annoying player name" thread is a bit lighter to read and is the yin to the life-altering yang.)
posted by jeremias at 7:36 PM on May 24, 2008

Something I wrote here was totally brilliant.

not really. I had nothing to do with that thread. I just love it.
posted by Kwantsar at 11:03 PM on May 24, 2008

Meant to link this. Christ, what an asshole.
posted by Kwantsar at 11:04 PM on May 24, 2008

I like to craft jokey Askme answers that almost completely fail to address the original question in order to be deleted by jessamyn as quickly as possible—like a Buddhist mandala sandpainting, a metaphor for the impermanence of life.

I begin with a traditional opening ceremony, wherein I consecrate a particular site by calling forth the forces of good. This is done by means of vodka, scotch or bourbon. As the ceremony progresses, the limitations of judgement, taste and common courtesy lift from my shoulders; an unbridled sense of righteousness anoints my brow; a juvenile giggle swells within my chest; mainstream pop culture references pour from my metaphorical uterus; all grammar is lost!; lightning flows through my fingers until that last, final, gasping, sticky moment when I click Preview—to see if the little hearts show up correctly.
posted by stavrogin at 4:43 AM on May 26, 2008 [1 favorite]

Best thing I've posted to MetaFilter? Probably the $5.90 (AU dollars!) membership fee to mathowie.

Hold on, on second thoughts, I didn't even pay that sign up fee. My mate did because I didn't have PayPal, and I bought him a schooner in return. I really do suck.
posted by cholly at 5:00 AM on May 26, 2008

Probably that musical key thing (although I cringe a bit at it now).
posted by chrismear at 9:03 AM on May 26, 2008

I bought him a schooner in return

That's all? Come on, it's worth at least a pint! But only of Carlton Draught, not Cooper's or anything.
posted by turgid dahlia at 3:01 PM on May 26, 2008

I honestly don't remember most of the stuff I've written on MetaFilter in the last 6 (!) years, and so can't say what I think is best. But 30 minutes ago on Google, looking for something completely unrelated, I stumbled on a forgotten thread I trolled for a month that made me smile.

In November 2005, MeFi had a post on the new (at the time) Chuck Norris Fact website . After everyone else stopped commenting, and the post fell off the page, I stayed around for some reason and kept filling the page with new "facts" everyday until the thread closed. One of them became one of the most popular "voter approved" Chuck Norris facts, staying on their top 30 list for months:

Chuck Norris is 1/8th Cherokee. This has nothing to do with ancestry, the man ate a fucking Indian.

There are 10,000 hits to this on Google. It was included in most of the Norris fact lists that circulated the Internet.

None of the other ones became popular, as far as I know, but a few of them still make me laugh:

America officially won the Vietnam War after Chuck Norris choked every last dope-smoking campus protester to death with his Vietcong ear necklace.

In another ambitious but misguided attempt to unite the traditions of East and West, Chuck Norris will be playing the role of a 6 dicked werebeast in a hentai remake of Delta Force slated for 2008.

Dude, I just attended a screening, and the 3 year wait was totally worth it!
posted by dgaicun at 3:58 PM on May 26, 2008

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in the Momofuku Ando, inventor of ramen noodles, obituary thread

not mine, but this comment in the Evel Knievel thread was great
posted by Frank Grimes at 7:45 PM on May 26, 2008

Maybe this song.
posted by krisken at 4:33 PM on May 29, 2008

This was one of my self-styled favorites, now a little bittersweet that smedleyman is gone.
posted by slogger at 7:54 PM on May 29, 2008