Some guy: How 'bout that Citi Field? Me: You mean the green?

June 26, 2009 8:20 PM

I wore my brand spankin' new Mets-style MetaFilter t-shirt out in the streets of New York yesterday. Hilarity ensued.

There were all sorts of conversations that went something like this:

Some guy: "So you like the Mets, huh?"
Me: "Not really. I'm a Red Sox fan, actually."
Some guy: "So why are you... oh."
[awkward pause]
Some guy: "What the hell does THAT mean."

The alternate (and less common) conversation was a little more awkward.

Some guy: [stares at my boobs]

But I'm used to that one anyway.

posted by ocherdraco to MetaFilter-Related at 8:20 PM (68 comments total)

Well you were wearing words on your breasts.
posted by longsleeves at 9:08 PM on June 26, 2009

Really? I hadn't noticed.
posted by ocherdraco at 9:19 PM on June 26, 2009 [2 favorites]

You left out the part about the hilarity.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:23 PM on June 26, 2009 [12 favorites]

Oh God. I hate myself in advance for saying this, but... shouldn't it say METATA? Eh?!!*

*I'm a girl, so I can get away with that.
posted by katillathehun at 9:29 PM on June 26, 2009 [3 favorites]

!sdrawkcab ti gniraew erew uoY
posted by not_on_display at 9:36 PM on June 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

Yay, MeTa infomercials.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:48 PM on June 26, 2009 [2 favorites]

I really wish I knew how to make animated gifs. I'd reverse your couple frames there and make it look like you were windmilling your arm like a windup.
posted by klangklangston at 9:54 PM on June 26, 2009

Yay, MeTa infomercials.

indeed.
posted by auntbunny at 10:07 PM on June 26, 2009

im in my t shrt, spankin ur brandz
posted by pracowity at 10:15 PM on June 26, 2009

Uh.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:45 PM on June 26, 2009

TTIUWOP
posted by Eideteker at 11:45 PM on June 26, 2009

I have a shirt that says "My other computer is a Cray" and only cool people know what it means.
posted by hellojed at 12:07 AM on June 27, 2009 [2 favorites]

I have a shirt that says "My other penis is made of meat". I'm the only one that knows what it means. I'm the only cool person, anyway.
posted by zerokey at 12:10 AM on June 27, 2009 [3 favorites]

I have a shirt that says 'My other shirt doesn't have any words on.' I've no idea what it means, but it's cool in summer and in winter because it wicks the sweat away from my skin.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:24 AM on June 27, 2009 [1 favorite]

I have a (22-year-old) t-shirt with a picture of Shatner on it, and next to his mug is some badly-kerned text that says "BEAM ME UP, SCOTTY" and whenever my wife sees it she says "Please don't tell me what you were like before I met you".
posted by bunglin jones at 12:37 AM on June 27, 2009 [14 favorites]

None of my shirts say anything. Where do you get these talking shirts, anyway?
posted by allkindsoftime at 12:38 AM on June 27, 2009 [6 favorites]

I have a shirt that has a drawing of a guy on it who is wearing a shirt that says "DEATH" on it in big letters. I don't even really know what it means, but people give me funny looks when I wear it through a security checkpoint at the airport.
posted by burnmp3s at 1:06 AM on June 27, 2009

What? No Three Wolf Moon shirts? We are all such losers around here.

I do have the long-since discontinued "I'm Very Macho by Broccoli Standards" and "Lollypop Guild REPRESENT" shirts (I look good in green), and a "How's My Blogging? Call 1-888-STFU-LOL" that r.stevens had to change because that turned out to be a real phone number. And TWO Monkeyfilter.com "USBanana" shirts... I could've sworn I only bought one.
posted by wendell at 1:22 AM on June 27, 2009

I have a shirt made of the life-force qi that, as if it were iron, makes me impervious to attack. Doesn't stop people ogling me tits though, unfortunately.
posted by Abiezer at 1:23 AM on June 27, 2009 [2 favorites]

I don't have shirts
posted by edgeways at 1:26 AM on June 27, 2009

Yay, MeTa infomercials.

Hi, it's ocherdraco with ShamMets! You'll be saying WTF every time you wear this t-shirt. It's like a Mets T-shirt, but with an ironic twist. A regular Mets T-shirt might have guys coming up and asking 'How about those Mets?', but the conversation ends there. It's for the street, the night club, blogging in front of your computer or engaging in cyber-sex. ShamMets holds twenty times its volume in titties. It doesn't rip. It's cooler than a dress. It's made by Mefites, and you know Mefites always make good stuff. And it isn't just a t-shirt. You can use it as a bath mat, drain your dishes with it, use it as a towel. Put some wet titties in it, roll it on and look -- dry titties! Here's some jism, wine, dog poop, lolcat hair. That is gonna smell. It's gonna have mildew, but ShamMets just soaks it all up. It's like a vaccuum. Then you can pop it back on and you're good to go. It's a t-shirt and it's a domestic servant all in one. No other t-shirt is gonna do that. See what I'm tellin' ya? ShamMets. You're going to be saying WTF every time!
posted by PeterMcDermott at 3:15 AM on June 27, 2009 [7 favorites]

I have
posted by From Bklyn at 3:23 AM on June 27, 2009

Is this the shirt matthowie is putting together for the 10th? I remember that he was going to do that, but then didn't see a follow-up post. Could someone point me to it? How do you get the shirt?
posted by Houstonian at 3:34 AM on June 27, 2009

Meta: words on your breasts
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:30 AM on June 27, 2009

If I had been wearing the headset that Vince the Shamwow guy does, this would have gone a lot weirder...

But for serious, I just liked the shirt, okay?
posted by ocherdraco at 5:36 AM on June 27, 2009

I have 750 T-shirts. Brevity being the soul of wit, I will not describe them in detail, here. Right now I am wearing one with a print on it that reads "Jesus Hates The Yankees." Despite my doubts about the divinity of The Nazarene, I believe that statement to be true.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:04 AM on June 27, 2009 [2 favorites]

My favorite t-shirt was produced by Warner Bros. as a promotion for Watchmen, using the Watchmen bloody smiley face... but was never distributed 'cuz the idiot that owns the smiley face logo wanted too much money... so the kid gave me a couple before they destroyed them (not like everybody and their brother doesn't use the logo without paying, but WB wouldn't do that...).

why are we talking about t-shirts?
posted by HuronBob at 6:18 AM on June 27, 2009

I wear my MonkeyFilter Shirt all the time and have only been approached once (by a marketing person "Can I ask you about your shirt" using it as a possible selling point), otherwise I'm unbothered.
My family and friends on the other hand greeted their first viewing of it with a puzzled "What the hell is that all about?"
I have a lot of shirts with monkeys on them (not their food though). In fact I'm wearing one right now [sorry nanosaxur] it bears the message 'SANGEH HOLLY MONKEY FOREST BALI' and I love it.
posted by tellurian at 6:33 AM on June 27, 2009

> [sorry nanosaxur]

You borked both the link and the name!

I miss naxosaxur.
posted by languagehat at 6:33 AM on June 27, 2009

I really wish I knew how to make animated gifs.

I make animated GIF tee shirts. Are you a CRT or LCD type of person?
posted by mattoxic at 6:35 AM on June 27, 2009 [1 favorite]

edit
posted by tellurian at 6:35 AM on June 27, 2009

name yes, tmi example link no
posted by tellurian at 6:45 AM on June 27, 2009

Matt - When do we get real MetaFilter t-shirts again?
posted by y6y6y6 at 7:28 AM on June 27, 2009

I have a 20 year old Errol Flynn Fan Club t-shirt with holes in it that I don't wear outside of the house anymore. It's my Favourite Shirt Evah!
posted by h00py at 7:39 AM on June 27, 2009

The alternate (and even less less common) conversation was a little more awkward.

Some metafilter person: [walks up, flags you, and moved on.]
posted by cjorgensen at 7:39 AM on June 27, 2009 [1 favorite]

I have a tshirt with the contents of this thread printed on it. Not the full thread, but right up to "posted by h00py at 5:39 PM on June 27 [+] [!]". I am still working on a production process that will allow me to have the shirt updated in real time.
posted by Meatbomb at 7:54 AM on June 27, 2009 [1 favorite]

I am wearing a shirt that has greasemonkey script set to ignore all of Meatbomb's posts when it updates in realtime.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:37 AM on June 27, 2009

I've been stopped on the street thanks to my Bruce Schneier tshirt.
posted by Skorgu at 9:46 AM on June 27, 2009

Are these the shirts Matt nicely asked to not sell?
posted by Pants! at 10:04 AM on June 27, 2009

Is this the shirt matthowie is putting together for the 10th? I remember that he was going to do that, but then didn't see a follow-up post. Could someone point me to it? How do you get the shirt?

I think this is the shirt that mathowie asked mattdidthat not to sell.
posted by jayder at 10:09 AM on June 27, 2009

[I should have previewed]
posted by jayder at 10:10 AM on June 27, 2009

I don't like t-shirts. Not enough buttons. Harder to dramatically tear one's self out of (while drunk, for effect). Also: no collar for tie-wearing. Polo shirts suck, too.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 11:18 AM on June 27, 2009 [1 favorite]

Once I was wearing my awesomely nerdy OSNAP BHATCH t-shirt (CAD nerds represent!) out in public and I wound up standing in line for the bathroom behind Doug Stanhope. He turned around and looked at my shirt, utterly baffled. I explained that it was a big computer nerd joke and there was no conceivable reason why he should get it.

He slurred back, "I wasn't looking for the joke. I was looking for your tits."

True story.
posted by Thin Lizzy at 11:20 AM on June 27, 2009 [3 favorites]

I want a monogrammed MetaFilter blazer.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 11:21 AM on June 27, 2009

Some guy: "What the hell does THAT mean."

So, um, what did you tell him?
posted by brain_drain at 11:35 AM on June 27, 2009

My fave nerd t-shirt is the"There's No Place Like 127.0.0.1" one with the ruby slippers from ThinkGeek. It's like an intelligence test - exactly 2 people who've commented on it, out of maybe 30, knew what it meant and I was so stoked that one of them was a fellow nerd girl! Nerd girls reprasent!!!
posted by Lynsey at 11:39 AM on June 27, 2009

I think this is the shirt that mathowie asked mattdidthat not to sell.

Yeah, awkward. Matt asked him not to sell them. So this is the second metatalk post about these t-shirts.
posted by iconomy at 12:00 PM on June 27, 2009

My "butts lol" shirt is still pretty much my favorite shirt ever because people never ask about it, they just laugh and compulsively say "butts lol" to themselves.

It's also useful for figuring out who says "lowell" and who says "lahl" and who says "ell oh ell". My admittedly very small and self-selecting sample set suggests that the folks who spell it out are, roughly speaking, the folks least likely to order a custom t-shirt on the internet in the first place.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:01 PM on June 27, 2009

In mattdidthat's defense, I didn't take mathowie's comment to mean don't sell any shirts. mattdidthat was asking the community for a slogan to put on a 10th anniversary shirt, and matthowie said he wanted to make his own shirts for the 10th. So mattdidn'tdothat. This shirt was a pre-existing design.
posted by team lowkey at 12:29 PM on June 27, 2009

Beauts lull.
posted by not_on_display at 12:39 PM on June 27, 2009

I have a t-shirt that says /dev/null on the front, which comes from my days on a computer science department intramural volleyball team with that name.
posted by A dead Quaker at 1:54 PM on June 27, 2009

Thin Lizzy, please tell me your OSNAP BHATCH t-shirt came from somewhere that still sells them! Otherwise, I'm making my own first thing tomorrow. I giggle every time I toggle OSNAP, but my nerdiest t-shirt is one with a box filled with glass hatch on it, and I can only wear that in public if I'm running, when the general lack of grace takes the focus off the shirt.
posted by carbide at 2:52 PM on June 27, 2009

Carbide- it was a custom job from Neighborhoodies. They have an appropriate bitmapped font that I used with a CADtastic blue and grey color scheme. You should totally get/make one.
posted by Thin Lizzy at 3:42 PM on June 27, 2009 [1 favorite]

"I miss naxosaxur."

Me too. Although I miss her as naxosaur which probably still irritates her.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 7:22 PM on June 27, 2009

Matt posted in the last thread today.
Probably no shirts before the 10th.
posted by bystander at 8:14 PM on June 27, 2009

My admittedly very small and self-selecting sample set suggests that the folks who spell it out are, roughly speaking, the folks least likely to order a custom t-shirt on the internet in the first place.

I am very unlikely to order custom t-shirts on the internet, because I don't like wearing words. I also would be inclined to spell out L O L, because what the fuck else would you do, amirite? So I actually and in fact fit with your predicted outcome, but perhaps not for the reasons you might expect, about which I am uncertain to begin with.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 2:12 AM on June 28, 2009

I have a T shirt with Che Guevara wearing a Che Guevara wearing a Che Guevara T shirt on it on it.
My name is Che Guevara, and I approved this message.
posted by crazylegs at 4:35 AM on June 28, 2009

Oh yeah?! I have a shirt that says STFU!

No, really, I do.
posted by sunshinesky at 6:38 AM on June 28, 2009

I have a T shirt with Che Guevara wearing a Che Guevara wearing a Che Guevara T shirt on it on it.
My name is Che Guevara, and I approved this message.

If you bought it from the Onion, then I printed that T-shirt. It's one of the few that still gets a lol (pronounced lawl) out of me every time I set it up, which is a lot. Those are mad popular.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:54 AM on June 28, 2009

Why have I never thought of posting a thread to the grey about all the cool t-shirts I wear? What an opportunity missed this has been. I have a Cortex tiger head, "Flag it and move on, bitches!" shirt that mattdidthis also made, and here I could have written it up and yet it never occurred to me that ya'll would be interested.

otherdraco, can we switch egos?
posted by misha at 10:45 AM on June 28, 2009

When I turned 35 last year, I gave away all of my shirts with "wacky" or "in-joke" comments on them. It was then I became a man.*


* I still keep a few wacky shirts for costume/gardening/fishing purposes.
posted by ColdChef at 2:09 PM on June 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

My admittedly very small and self-selecting sample set suggests that the folks who spell it out are, roughly speaking, the folks least likely to order a custom t-shirt on the internet in the first place.

I prefer ell oh ell to "lawl" (unless as portmanteau like "lollerskates," which I don't actually say out loud), because it strikes me as way funnier. I'm not exactly sure why this is, but there's something much more Playskool's My First Snark about it that ads more self-deprecating flavor.
posted by middleclasstool at 2:22 PM on June 28, 2009

I find MDT's perpetual self-promotion on this site, using MeFi branding that doesn't belong to him in any sense, enormously distasteful, and I wish he'd knock it off. There are dozens of very talented designers on MeFi who manage not to use MeFi as a revenue stream, and I would hope he can try to follow their example.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 5:29 PM on June 28, 2009 [11 favorites]

Optimus Chyme, who are you to stifle the invisible hand of supply and demand? Or is that the ghost of dreams fulfilled? Either way, people want MeFi shirts, but some lack the skill to create them on their own.

Maybe MetaFilter should get a cut of it, or maybe there could be an official shop.mefi or something like that. Maybe a tad shady, but I figure someone would contact MTD if it was an issue.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:55 PM on June 28, 2009

Probably the most obscure geek shirt I still have in the bottom of my closet somewhere is a blue tshirt with Boris the cat from After Dark on it.
posted by mikepop at 6:10 AM on June 29, 2009

My favorite T-shirts are mostly from drinking festivals for bike messengers. I point this out so you can know how rad I am: THIS RAD!
*extends arms to the sides fully*
posted by Mister_A at 8:31 AM on June 29, 2009

One of our jewish mefites, during his rebellious high school years, would wear one of my Jesus Died For My Sins and all I got was this lousy t-shirt shirts to temple. His rabbi found it interesting.

I'm still trying to remember if he ever wore the other shirt, the one with a picture of Christ getting a blowjob on the cross, as well. Cafepress refuses to let me sell re-prints of that shirt, in part because another mefite's mom found it linked thru her son's website, and complained to them that it was "the most offensive thing I've ever seen".

I was once forced to turn my "Fuck Art / Let's Kill" t-shirt inside out at the art museum in St Louis. In the hour I'd been in the museum prior to that, no one had commented on the shirt; in the 10 mins after, I got a dozen comments from people reading it backwards thru the thin fabric.
posted by nomisxid at 3:01 PM on June 29, 2009

nomisxid, do you have clean art of the especially offensive shirt? I'm learning to screenprint...
posted by jtron at 5:37 PM on June 30, 2009