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October 21, 2009 9:50 AM Subscribe

What was the problem with this post? Seriously?

The links were interesting and informative. It could have developed into a nice thread. The moderators appear to have come to the conclusion that it was merely a congratulatory stunt directed at some particular Andrew. So what? Should good posts be nuked merely because of the perceived motivation behind them, apart from blatant PepsiBlue cases of commercial motivation?
Moreover, cortex's comment about "your personal FB status update" is unnecessarily sarcastic. FB status updates aren't generally link-laden. Shouldn't moderators show a bit more restraint before wielding the scissors?

posted by Skeptic to Etiquette/Policy at 9:50 AM (126 comments total)

(NotAndrew, BTW)
posted by Skeptic at 9:52 AM on October 21, 2009

It was a stunt post related to this birthday MeTa.
posted by Plutor at 9:53 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

So it's not your birthday?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:53 AM on October 21, 2009

For stunt posts? No, we're not going to show a bit more restraint.

Making a post for reasons other than being motivated to share what you think are genuinely interesting links is not okay, and they are routinely deleted. It's fine that nax wanted to wish someone happy birthday, it was not at all fine to do that by throwing a bunch of random links together on the front page.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:53 AM on October 21, 2009 [3 favorites]

Also, it wasn't a good post. It was the results for a Google search for "andrew".
posted by Plutor at 9:55 AM on October 21, 2009 [5 favorites]

Post to Metatalk. Get's closed. Ask for it to be deleted too. Post to the blue. Get's deleted.

Bravo. That's almost a full set. Eagerly awaiting "Why is Andrew such an awesome name?" question.
posted by smackfu at 9:55 AM on October 21, 2009 [3 favorites]

So, who's birthday is it?
posted by fuq at 9:55 AM on October 21, 2009

...er, was I grammatically correct?

Or is it "whose birthday is it?"

Or, "it is the birthday of whom?"

or maybe even "who birthday it be at?"
posted by fuq at 9:58 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Why?

Why not?
posted by orange swan at 9:58 AM on October 21, 2009

hb andrew. I hope you're birthday is full of surprises
posted by Damn That Television at 10:01 AM on October 21, 2009

IT IS ANDREWS BIRTHDAY, I POOP ALL OVER METAFILTER. WHY NO?
posted by rollbiz at 10:01 AM on October 21, 2009 [14 favorites]

An odd hill on which to plant a flag, Skeptic.
posted by Bookhouse at 10:03 AM on October 21, 2009 [3 favorites]

Someone needs to make a Hitler 'Downfall' video about the closing of Metafilter posts.
posted by xmutex at 10:04 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Dearest Andrew Whoever,

Please, for the love of God, tell nax that it's okay to tell us who the fuck you are, because this desperate need of his to tell everyone about your birthday without telling us who you are is obnoxious.

That, or tell him to fucking stop.

Regards,

shmegegge
posted by shmegegge at 10:05 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

excuse me. hers. not his.
posted by shmegegge at 10:06 AM on October 21, 2009

Is it Andrew Sullivan? Because I hate him.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:07 AM on October 21, 2009 [2 favorites]

*KaffKoof*
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:09 AM on October 21, 2009 [3 favorites]

It was a stunt post related to this birthday MeTa.

OK, that explains it. Pretty dumb move of nax's. My apologies to cortex. You can now close down this thread, if you want.
posted by Skeptic at 10:10 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Is it a Jeopardy question?
posted by Artw at 10:10 AM on October 21, 2009

So a stunt post isn't when you're posting on Metafilter (using a laptop) while simultaneously riding a bicycle off a roof?
posted by anniecat at 10:11 AM on October 21, 2009 [4 favorites]

I was looking forward to Project Andrew and the musical cover medley of Andrew Lloyd Webber, though.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:11 AM on October 21, 2009

So, who's birthday is it?

Andre'ws.
posted by dersins at 10:11 AM on October 21, 2009 [7 favorites]

A pretty good standard of determining if this is good behavior is to universalize it and ask if we want everyone making posts like this. I'm guessing probably not. If it's rare, it seems tolerable to some people. If it's given the green light, it won't be rare.
posted by SpacemanStix at 10:12 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Well, if this is OK, then can I post about my favorite apostle? I doubt it.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:16 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Is it Ghostbusters 2?
posted by misha at 10:17 AM on October 21, 2009 [9 favorites]

Is it Landru?
posted by Joe Beese at 10:23 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Oh, and your favorite apostle sucks.
posted by Joe Beese at 10:23 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left is:

a) this
b) this (Happy Eventual Birthday, Andrew Bird!)
c) what cortex is displaying right now
posted by maudlin at 10:24 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Wait until my FPP about how I just bought a tractor in Farmville!
posted by GuyZero at 10:25 AM on October 21, 2009 [4 favorites]

Oh, and your favorite apostle sucks.

Ha! In your dreams!.
posted by GuyZero at 10:27 AM on October 21, 2009

Looking at contacts solves this question. So here goes:

Dear Kronos_to_Earth,

Happy Birthday. We got you three different threads, but then they mostly got closed and deleted. Don't thank us, thank your sister, it was all her idea.

Sincerely,

Metafilter

posted by Partial Law at 10:29 AM on October 21, 2009 [2 favorites]

cortex's comment about "your personal FB status update" is unnecessarily sarcastic

Sometimes cortex's sarcasm is the only bright shining nugget of what's true and good in this dour grey world.
posted by tula at 10:29 AM on October 21, 2009 [6 favorites]

"We all thought you'd make a shitty mother anyway so I guess the late-term miscarriage was for the best" is unnecessary sarcasm. cortex's deletion comments are like bullet of wisdom shot through your forehead.
posted by GuyZero at 10:31 AM on October 21, 2009 [2 favorites]

Happy birthday, Kronos_to_Earth!
posted by ignignokt at 10:42 AM on October 21, 2009

If I wasn't terribly lazy or unmotivated, I'd be highly tempted to use this as a jumping off point to start a "WHO IS ANDREW???" ARG. It starts off with a lone birthday wish on random community sites. To get to the bottom of who Andrew is and why his birthday is so important, you have to find his his brother, a certain Simon Petros (the initial birthday wisher). You try to track him down by following clues all over the internet and by making contact with the mysterious Matthew, Mark, Luke and John who claim to be his friends.

You find on them by going through Deviantart, LiveJournal, Gaia and fanfiction postings where they respectively use alter egos in a variety of "13-year-old emo scenester anime fan writes crappy fanfiction" as an angel (a VAMPIRE angel), lion (half lion, half dragon, lol), ox (more like OX CENTAUR AMIRITE?) and eagle (sort of similar to the angel except he can transform between human, human with eagle wings, and full-on eagle. You can tell by how his eye colors change. His mother was the Queen of Venus and sent him to earth when he was a baby and he had no real knowledge of us true identity until one day he came upon a mysterious sword thought to be an ancient samurai sword...).

Once you finally get access to Simon, you need to prove yourself trusthworthy through conversation and helping him get his birthday wish to his brother. Once you do so you find out that Simon Petros died 10 years ago, and the person(s) you were conversing with online throughout the game are various AI/Turing tests based on his personality. The birthday wish was the initiation sequence of the code, and due to you successfully unlocking a succession of seven "Seals" during the conversation, you have now awaken ANDREW, that is actually a Doomsday device.

The last email you receive is from ANDREW, and all it says is, "I am the fisher of men." And your harddrive crashes. Fuck, yea.
posted by kkokkodalk at 10:44 AM on October 21, 2009 [18 favorites]

Hrm....so this will throw suspicion on any future posts revolving around a name.

Alas, at least we'll always have surnames...
posted by Atreides at 10:44 AM on October 21, 2009

His name is a killing word!
posted by Artw at 10:48 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Sometimes cortex's sarcasm is the only bright shining nugget of what's true and good in this dour grey world.

I'd definitely subscribe to mefimodsfilter -- a site that featured the mods reasons for deleting posts without any boring fpp filler to distract me.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:49 AM on October 21, 2009

Also, Alexandra as a name is very far from being very unusual.
posted by Grither at 10:50 AM on October 21, 2009

Peter, Deleted Thread is calling your name.

I'm pretty sure she goes by Xan, Grither, which is unusual.
posted by ocherdraco at 10:51 AM on October 21, 2009

Just so we're clear on this, it was a shitty post and deserved deletion even without the stupid stunt aspect.
posted by languagehat at 10:52 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Just so we're clear on this, it was a shitty post and deserved deletion even without the stupid stunt aspect.

Well, it was no photo gallery of toenail removal surgery, that's for sure.
posted by dersins at 10:56 AM on October 21, 2009

Oh, and your favorite apostle sucks.

Your favorite in-joke sucks, too.
posted by Caduceus at 11:00 AM on October 21, 2009

This deletion reason made me unreasonably happy.

ack! xo!
posted by juliplease at 11:03 AM on October 21, 2009 [4 favorites]

Yeah, I guess it might be unusual to use Xan as your real name as a female, but I'm pretty sure it's not uncommon for people named Alexander to use that as a nickname, too, ocherdraco.

So I guess if she wants to feel like a special snowflake, and show indignation for people using "her" name as their login on the internets in her profile, then she's welcome to!
posted by Grither at 11:14 AM on October 21, 2009

Your favorite Andrew's birthday sucks.
posted by Dr-Baa at 11:15 AM on October 21, 2009

It was a good post and should not have been deleted.
posted by chillmost at 11:17 AM on October 21, 2009

Someone needs to make a Hitler 'Downfall' video about the closing of Metafilter posts.

Shit yes. I'll give a dollar (U.S.) to anyone who does a good one.
posted by marxchivist at 11:18 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

My favorite apostle is Ringo.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 11:18 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

This seems like as good a place as any to mention that I went to high school with a kid named Andrew Shane who, yes really, instead went by "Drewcifer Pain."

I don't think it's his birthday, though.
posted by Captain Cardanthian! at 11:19 AM on October 21, 2009

It was a good post and should not have been deleted.

How/why so?

(Sounds to me like someone has a b-day comin' up!)
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:19 AM on October 21, 2009

Myself and all other Andrews take offense to this.

One more transgression and we shall be forced to dispatch our Andforcers, Andrew Dice Clay and Andy Rooney, to drive the very sanity from your mind.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:25 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

I AM OUTRAGED AT NATAL DAY SALUTATIONS!
posted by JeffK at 11:28 AM on October 21, 2009

I'll give a dollar (U.S.) to anyone who does a good one.

I'll refund that dollar to anyone who can give me a quick and easy primer on nicely subtitling a video thus.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:29 AM on October 21, 2009

It may be Andrew's birthday. But I'm not going to party like it's Andrew's birthday.
posted by Joe Beese at 11:30 AM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Also, a big "happy birsuday" to Kronos_to_Earth. I got you a catchy ditty.
posted by Captain Cardanthian! at 11:30 AM on October 21, 2009

My favorite apostle is Ringo.

Mine is Sneezy. 'Cause he's the one I always forget.
posted by marsha56 at 11:34 AM on October 21, 2009

Ooops. Catchy ditty here instead. OW WOW WOW YEAH YEAH
posted by Captain Cardanthian! at 11:34 AM on October 21, 2009

and Andy Rooney

Whose metatalk post, when properly trimmed according to the dictates of The Andy Rooney Game, will look like this:

"There's a lot of people out there with the same first name as me, and it can get pretty confusing at times. [more inside]

-----------------------------------------------------------

So the way I see it, Hitler didn't know how good he had it."
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:36 AM on October 21, 2009 [5 favorites]

Now I want to see a Downfall video about the inability to find or conveniently make a Downfall video about Metafilter deletions and closings.

It would prominently feature Hitler, who's decided to do it himself, shouting "Can no one give me a quick and easy primer on nicely subtitling a video thus?"
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:37 AM on October 21, 2009

I wish Bruno Ganz got a royalty on those. I've always liked him.
posted by Joe Beese at 11:38 AM on October 21, 2009

Heh. My buddy Andrew, who's not a member ("I get bored correcting people."), his birthday is on Saturday. I know that because I misremembered the date and wished him a happy birthday yesterday.
posted by klangklangston at 11:40 AM on October 21, 2009

You know who likes Birthday Shoutouts?????

Metachat, of course.
posted by theora55 at 12:01 PM on October 21, 2009

the day after my birthday is not my birthday, mom
posted by Think_Long at 12:01 PM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

I'm working on Project Andrew, but I'm not ready to post it yet.
posted by box at 12:09 PM on October 21, 2009

I had a spinach salad for lunch, along with a scoop of homemade-in-a-chain-grocery marconi and cheese.

What did Andrew have for lunch?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:12 PM on October 21, 2009

Moreover, cortex's comment about "your personal FB status update" is unnecessarily sarcastic.

No it wasn't, it was some a-hole yelling "Baba Booey" on Metafilter.
Kind of. If Cortex was Larry King.

Why couldn't it have been Xenu's birthday?
posted by ActingTheGoat at 12:12 PM on October 21, 2009

I turned 30 this year and you people didn't do shit for me.
posted by hermitosis at 12:14 PM on October 21, 2009

cortex and I did talk about this a little bit before the post got deleted. I had already closed and then deleted a similar MeTa thread earlier in the day. Part of the problem is that, as well-meaning as something like that is, and how great it would be on a smaller site, it's a combination of something that doesn't scale and something that attracts lulz in a way that might not be good. So while I'm all for "happy birthday whoever" in sort of a spirit-of-the-thing sense, waking up to a MeTa thread where I was worried someone was going to go after the OP for making a sort of personal-interest-only post [didn't know who her brother was and she didn't seem to want to indicate] is sort of an extra helping of "um this might not be such a good idea"

That it was followed by the MeFi post [after we'd swapped emails, not "don't do that" emails but definitely messages where the "is this a good idea, do you think?" question could have been broached] sort of made me all "um..." and then this.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:23 PM on October 21, 2009

> It may be Andrew's birthday. But I'm not going to party like it's Andrew's birthday.

What if it were Andrew W.K.'s birthday?
posted by needled at 12:24 PM on October 21, 2009

I am having a hard time grokking "unneccesarily sarcastic".
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 12:40 PM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Spelling it, too.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 12:41 PM on October 21, 2009

Question!

What is necessary sarcasm, and what are the conditions under which it is necessary.

Discuss.
posted by ocherdraco at 12:42 PM on October 21, 2009

In preparation for Andrew W.K.'s birthday, I'm getting the party started now.
posted by beerbajay at 12:45 PM on October 21, 2009

What is necessary sarcasm, and what are the conditions under which it is necessary.

"Necessary sarcasm" is speaking from a position of arrogance. It is necessary under the conditions in which I am the one speaking.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:46 PM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

I turned 30 this year and you people didn't do shit for me.

Liar. I got you those pink underpants.
posted by The Whelk at 12:47 PM on October 21, 2009

If this sort of thing happens again I hope it's timeout time. Nax seems to think she's a rather special snowflake.
posted by Justinian at 12:49 PM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

What is necessary sarcasm, and what are the conditions under which it is necessary.

Discuss.

And if anyone says anything about hamburgers, I'm punching you in the dick.
posted by dersins at 12:50 PM on October 21, 2009

Question!

What is necessary sarcasm, and what are the conditions under which it is necessary.

Discuss.

Where's the question?
posted by Durin's Bane at 12:52 PM on October 21, 2009

Peter, Deleted Thread is calling your name.

Bookmarked. Thanks.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 1:30 PM on October 21, 2009

What is necessary sarcasm, and what are "the conditions" under which it is "necessary"?
posted by zennie at 1:34 PM on October 21, 2009

Today is not my birthday. Can I make a stunt post about me?
posted by qvantamon at 1:55 PM on October 21, 2009

Only if you hate the mods.
posted by GuyZero at 2:08 PM on October 21, 2009

Also, it wasn't a good post. It was the results for a Google search for "andrew".

Yeah, well, how do you find stuff on the internet?
posted by turgid dahlia at 2:20 PM on October 21, 2009

My favorite pub celebrates St. Andrew's Day. Any shit-ass bar can celebrate St. Patrick's Day. From their web site:

St. Andrew's Day - 30 November

On 30 November, we celebrate St. Andrew Day. St. Andrew had nothing to do with beer, but he is the patron saint of Scotland, and the Scottish have a lot to do with beer and whisky. His feast is a national holiday there, so what better way to celebrate here than with a lot of Scottish beers and Scotch whiskys (what better way is there to celebrate anything?).

My theory is that all of Scottish cuisine is based on a dare. - Mike Myers.

Researching Scottish dishes for our first St. Andrew's Day, we have to agree. Our kitchen was up to the challange and our customers were up the dare. For 2009 we plan to have Scotch Eggs, Haddock Fish and Chips, and maybe more.
posted by fixedgear at 2:25 PM on October 21, 2009

That dare sounds delicious.
posted by subbes at 2:44 PM on October 21, 2009

I believe you meant to say "Scotch Eggs, Haddock Fish and Chips, and Deep Fried Mars Bars."
posted by DarlingBri at 3:06 PM on October 21, 2009

I can't believe we're not discussing the bigger problem with this post: Andrew Johnson was not disgraced. Racist? yes. Southern Unionist? yes. Set the country back? yes. Off-putting? yes. Impeached? yes. Survived Impeachment, including being re-elected to the Senate after he left the White House? yes. Politically semi-savvy but hamfisted? yes. Learned to read and add and as an adult? yes. Last President to be neither a Republican or a Democrat? yes. Disembowled reconstruction and set the second class status of black people into law and custom? yes. Big fan of pecan pie? yes. but disgraced? no.

hmph!
posted by julen at 3:09 PM on October 21, 2009 [7 favorites]

Andrew Johnson was not disgraced.

I don't buy into that fantasy of killing History's Greatest Monsters with my time machine. I mean, you never know what side is writing the history and the chain-of-events-butterfly-in-brazil thing means you're never sure if by offing Hilter you're not accidentally creating a newer, more horrifying future.

But Andrew Jackson? Andrew Fucking Jackson, the real Imperialist, the man who defied the Supreme Court cause he had the army on his side so he could better imperil the people desperately trying to please his government? King Andrew the Terrible who was saved from impeachment by ONE VOTE?

Fuck that guy. Two shots to the back of the head the instant the first TARDIS comes off the factory line. Motherfucker doesn't deserve shit, let alone the 20 dollar bill.
posted by The Whelk at 3:28 PM on October 21, 2009 [5 favorites]

*hopes that Time-agents from the Secret Service of the Year 3000 don't grab The Welk.*
posted by Bookhouse at 3:46 PM on October 21, 2009

*or The Whelk*
posted by Bookhouse at 3:47 PM on October 21, 2009

He was a horrible president, and rightfully is tagged as one of the if not the worst president ever, but he managed to live happily ever after. He never felt the shame. This is partially because he stopped being so outraged and more-union-than-thou and "traitors should feel the pain" the moment he became President and had the power to feather his own comfortable nest and unconditionally pardon all confederates and try to preserve the southern tradition and structures. But even as he has been rightfully discredited since his death, he died thinking he was hunky-dory, and so did a lot of the people around him. So he should have been disgraced, but he wasn't.

If Hamburger is the new sarcasm tag, can hot dog be the new facetious tag, which is what I was trying for in my previous post?
posted by julen at 3:49 PM on October 21, 2009

*hopes that Time-agents from the Secret Service of the Year 3000 don't grab The Welk.*

Mmmmm, me too.
posted by heyho at 3:56 PM on October 21, 2009

The Whelk: Andrew Fucking Jackson, the real Imperialist, the man who defied the Supreme Court cause he had the army on his side so he could better imperil the people desperately trying to please his government?

To be fair, the Supreme Court wasn't nearly as important then as it became later. Andrew Jackson was a prick, but his prickishness happened more years before when he was a goddamned Indian-fighter.

julen: Disembowled reconstruction and set the second class status of black people into law and custom? yes.

No. You're thinking of that incessant fuckwad, the worst president this country has ever had: Ulysses S. Grant. Andrew Johnson may not have been disgraced, but he was at least repudiated before he had the chance to institutionalize anything. Andrew Johnson was president for a month, and while he did plenty of damage in that short time. it was the bastard US Grant who really destroyed this nation. Grant was always the conquering hero, two full terms of idiocy, and all the while he was dismantling piece by piece everything Lincoln had worked for. He was the first and greatest evidence of the generally-useful maxim: generals make shitty presidents. And look at his legacy: he ushered in the most corrupt era in US Governmental history, an era when organized crime ran this country. People don't realize the harm Grant did to this country, but think about it; if Grant hadn't been president, the Civil Rights movement could have happened in 1890 instead of 1960. Think about that – President Grant set this nation's race relations back seventy years! George W Bush was a mediocre shite, but he was even mediocre at evil, frankly; there's no way he could have ever been worse than US Grant, the walking, talking piece of human shit.
posted by koeselitz at 4:06 PM on October 21, 2009

And I'd like to say: if there's any reason Andrew Johnson wasn't disgraced, it's because people like US Grant, people who were more extreme in their viciousness by half at least, were in government for so many years after; Andrew Johnson was a dodgy saint in comparison to the people who were in power for the rest of his natural life.
posted by koeselitz at 4:11 PM on October 21, 2009

Andrew Johnson was president for just shy of four years. It's also kind of unrealistic to say the Civil Rights movement could have happened in 1890. Rights for African-Americans pretty much collapsed after the Southern states were redeemed, and with the Union troops out of their hair, turned on their black populace with a vengeance. That began under Grant, but it was the Compromise of 1877 that officially sealed the deal (Rutherford B. Hayes).
posted by Atreides at 4:16 PM on October 21, 2009

hmph!

You are Kate Beaton and I claim my five pounds.
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:53 PM on October 21, 2009

"Andrew Johnson was not disgraced."

I don't buy into that fantasy of killing History's Greatest Monsters with my time machine....
But Andrew Jackson? Andrew Fucking Jackson, the real Imperialist, ...

Jackson or Johnson? Who're we killing?
posted by LobsterMitten at 5:20 PM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

The Black codes were passed under Johnson. He started kicking out the supports of reconstruction that Lincoln had set/envisioned, vetoed renewals of the measures designed to help blacks transition from slavery to independent living, and catered to the middle class southern whites. He let the southern prewar leaders, confederate generals, and other folks return to running their local communities just like they ran them in the beginning of the war. Between exercising his bigotry and his poor management/governing technical skills, he created the field for Grant to finish stomping all over any proximity to equality for blacks and whites.

You are right - He couldn't stop the Reconstruction Act, and the congress got around him, but he returned power to the people who would help/push later presidents into dismantling it. He poisoned the well early, and made major contributions to the ugliness that would be the post-Reconstruction state of race relations.
posted by julen at 5:25 PM on October 21, 2009

Seriously, thank you, nax, but my name's not Andrew.
posted by The Confessor at 5:39 PM on October 21, 2009

Can I make a post about how I just saved a bundle on my car insurance?
posted by not_on_display at 5:42 PM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

cortex: "For stunt posts? No, we're not going to show a bit more restraint.

Making a post for reasons other than being motivated to share what you think are genuinely interesting links is not okay, and they are routinely deleted."

Does this same policy apply to yearly CAPS LOCK DAY posts?

I'm not trying to be smart here, and I like me those CLD posts as much as the next MeFite, but its essentially the same as a happy birthday stunt post with the same text and a lame obligatory link to this page thrown in, every goddamned year.
posted by Effigy2000 at 6:07 PM on October 21, 2009

its essentially the same as a happy birthday stunt post

EXCEPT IT'S HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVERYONE.

There is amnesty for that stupid day, I don't know why.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:10 PM on October 21, 2009

There is amnesty for that stupid day, I don't know why.

Pretty much. We let people do this and we let people make a CASP LICK DOG post and there's not really a very formally satisfying explanation for why other than (a) it doesn't scale beyond the once-a-year thing and (b) it's essentially a whole-community transgression rather than a user-vs-the-site thing and (c) *puts on yarmulke* and (d) TRADITION!
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:16 PM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Fair enough. So basically a stunt-ish post is OK if it's fun for everyone?
posted by Effigy2000 at 6:28 PM on October 21, 2009

Mostly, this thread has just made me wish my brother would hang out on MetaFilter, too.
posted by hydropsyche at 6:29 PM on October 21, 2009

EFFIGY2000 DOES NOT COMPUTE FUN.
posted by Atreides at 6:30 PM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

I like me those CLD posts as much as the next MeFite

Could someone ask the court clerk to note that I hate the CLD posts more than the #$%^# Windows button?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:31 PM on October 21, 2009

The post sucked because the links were only slightly related and weren't any good anyhow. Good riddance bad post.
posted by Daddy-O at 6:49 PM on October 21, 2009

Fair enough. So basically a stunt-ish post is OK if it's fun for everyone?

That's sort of the guiding spirit of these exceptional cases, but it's probably too broad a statement of the issue.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:52 PM on October 21, 2009

So basically a stunt-ish post is OK if it's fun for everyone?

Basically a stunt-ish post is OK if it's FOR everyone, yes.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:16 PM on October 21, 2009

Andrew Johnson was a dodgy saint

Hmm, I am not familiar with any dodgy saints. Stodgy saints, yes. Edgy saints, sludgy saints, and lots of pudgy saints. Plenty of curmudgeonly saints. Possibly a fudgy saint, but no dodgy saints.

You type the word "saint" often enough and it starts looking damned peculiar.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:39 PM on October 21, 2009

IS THIS WHERE I TYPE IN CAPSLOCK?
posted by chunking express at 7:55 PM on October 21, 2009

A pretty good standard of determining if this is good behavior is to universalize it and ask if we want everyone making posts like this.

KantFilter
posted by jock@law at 8:09 PM on October 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

My first name is Andrew (though nobody outside of my family calls me that.) My birthday is Monday. Thank you, nax.

The Whelk seems to be conflating Jackson and Johnson. Both of them sucked, but Jackson was far more evil and aggressive in his suckage than Johnson. Jackson would easily top my "worst president ever" list.

In any case, Happy Birthday to all the other Andrews out there.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:14 PM on October 21, 2009

the wombats and i tried, but could not stop the CAPS LOCK DAY.

And Jackson or Johnson? Well, Michael Jackson had some good records, but it was Michael Johnson who sang "Bluer Than Blue"...
posted by wendell at 8:16 PM on October 21, 2009

cortex, I could've sworn that read "Caslicks Dogs"... *wince*
posted by po at 8:37 PM on October 21, 2009

I deal with enough people for whom every day is caps lock day.
posted by smackfu at 9:27 PM on October 21, 2009

Is caps lock day the one where people type "ARRRGH!" after everything?
posted by TedW at 4:46 AM on October 22, 2009

Can we go back to discussing which historical figures we would murder? I was gunning for Jackson but Grant .....that should be easy, he was like permanently drunk off his mind right?
posted by The Whelk at 6:49 AM on October 22, 2009

Whatevs about nax and the Kronos Quartet, but this non-sequated discussion of presidential history is why I <3 MetaFilter.
posted by slogger at 6:55 AM on October 22, 2009

Discussing what historical figures we would murder, or have murdered via time travel?

I've always had my suspicions about Ludwig II's "suicide" the day after he was deposed for being "insane" (which he possibly was, but the charge was political). Who goes out for a walk with a pal and then you both drown yourselves in murky water and circumstances? Even CSI-Bavaria says there was no water in his lungs.

So... which one of you castle-hating time-shifting assassins did it?
posted by julen at 7:30 AM on October 22, 2009

I shot Lincoln.

I didn't actually pull the trigger or anything, but I did put a lot of crazy ideas into Booth's already crazy-stuffed head. I don't have to explain my reasons, but lets just say a martyr is a stronger force than an unpopular 2nd term ..and if you think Johnson was bad..well.. just keep repeating the phrase "2nd War Of Independence" over and over.

Also, why on Earth would the Titantic go so dangerously fast in known bad water? Cause there are some things in Mr. Vanderbilt's luggage that really should remain at the bottom of the sea.
posted by The Whelk at 8:21 AM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

This is a stunt response.
posted by nax at 1:17 PM on October 23, 2009

Oh, and Happy Birthday, Andrew.
posted by nax at 1:17 PM on October 23, 2009

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