PEACE IN OUR TIME June 15, 2010 4:25 PM   Subscribe

It's time for a peace mission to London, England.

I'm concerned that perhaps Scots mefites and English mefites havent been getting along as well as we should lately. Perhaps if I visited London and performed a morris dance with you all, then perhaps we could link arms and have some sort of peaceful understanding. I'm down for the free range exhibition july 1st .So, either then or in the days before, 29th, 30th june - perhaps we could have some sort of meetup/peace conference? I will consume jellied eels if that is what is necessary.
posted by sgt.serenity to MetaFilter Gatherings at 4:25 PM (51 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite

although i hear they do a mean curry on brick lane : )
posted by sgt.serenity at 4:27 PM on June 15, 2010


Considering that nthdegx closed his account as a result of the weird shit talking that was happening in the "anyone but England" World Cup thread, this seems poorly timed.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:29 PM on June 15, 2010 [2 favorites]


If i closed my account now, would you be responsible ?
posted by sgt.serenity at 4:37 PM on June 15, 2010


Did I make this post?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:38 PM on June 15, 2010


I would also mention that he can come to the meetup, have a nice time and sort things out.
posted by sgt.serenity at 4:39 PM on June 15, 2010


but really, jumping in and holding me responsible for a man who left metafilter because someone said the england goalie wasnt very good is a bit off.
posted by sgt.serenity at 4:42 PM on June 15, 2010


Nothing wrong with a Scottish/English reconciliation, but I suspect if any Americans* show up at the meetup, it will not be good**.
*or USians, as I recently hamburgerly referred to them
**'be good' is not intended as an acronym for MeFi user 'Ed Bogo'

posted by oneswellfoop at 4:56 PM on June 15, 2010


hey, remember when you intimated England was full of genocidal thugs?
posted by boo_radley at 4:58 PM on June 15, 2010


I was about to post something really snarky about how Jessamyn is overacting and being too much of a board mommy and all that, but then I went to look at that thread.

And now I kinda think that she has a point. If this is a peace offering it seems kind of odd.
posted by SLC Mom at 5:05 PM on June 15, 2010


This is off to an interesting start.
posted by WPW at 5:07 PM on June 15, 2010


It's safe to say I haven't seen a meetup thread like this one before.
posted by brundlefly at 5:10 PM on June 15, 2010 [5 favorites]


hey, remember when you intimated England was full of genocidal thugs?
posted by boo_radley at 12:58 AM on June 16 [+] [!]


Er, no actually, I was responding to an accusation that my post encouraged violence and that scottish people, upon reading the thread would immediately run out and start attacking children and cripples, which it most certainly did not.

However, if this has upset the good people of Colorado (where you live) I am willing to undertake a peace mission there to buy you a drink.

If nthdegx would like to email me, I am perfectly willing and able to sort things out.
posted by sgt.serenity at 5:11 PM on June 15, 2010


I'd eat jellied eels with you if I were in England! Which I am not!
posted by Justinian at 5:17 PM on June 15, 2010


This is off to an interesting start.
posted by WPW at 1:07 AM on June 16 [+] [!]


A less codependent thread I have not seen, but if ian paisley and martin mcguinness can sit down together, then perhaps there is the slight glimmer of a possibility that even we, who have been rent asunder (tunbridge wells is on fire as we speak) by this very important football match can maybe, just maybe get together and forge a peace that could inspire generations of mefites to come. Especially if I-cola turns up.
posted by sgt.serenity at 5:26 PM on June 15, 2010


jessamyn: “Considering that nthdegx closed his account as a result of the weird shit talking that was happening in the "anyone but England" World Cup thread, this seems poorly timed.”

That whole thing made me sad and left a bad taste in my mouth. Particularly because I feel like I seem to have contributed to the shit-talking without really realizing it was going to get as serious as it apparently did. The whole point of the World Cup is that it's supposed to bring people together, and that thread was weird in several ways. I somehow managed to miss seeing the reference to genocide – it apparently was not up for very long, which is clearly a good thing – but even though I assume it was quite offensive, it's sad to me that the swiftly-deleted comment of a lone agitator could be so offensive as to cause a longtime member with a really good relationship with the site and a lot of great input over the years to want to walk away. And I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a little selfish bitterness at having lost nthdegx so suddenly here, because I valued what she (he?) had to say a hell of a lot.

sgt.serenity: “If nthdegx would like to email me, I am perfectly willing and able to sort things out.”

Look, I know you felt like it was all in good fun, and from your perspective this happened when you least expected it, but it seems like it shouldn't be too hard for you to apologize at this point. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I know if I were in your position I'd want to track nthdegx down and say something. I have a feeling that's sort of what you were trying to do here, but it seems like you're going to have to do it elsewise. And the repeated protests about this not being fair and not being your fault aren't really helping. Let it go, man.
posted by koeselitz at 5:32 PM on June 15, 2010 [2 favorites]


I was very surprised by that outcome also koeslitz, if i was going to make a post that would have people leaving, it would be a lot better than that.

This kind of strange intervention by a mod and a couple of people from colorado in a thread about a london meetup, talking about an issue they have absolutely no grasp of whatsoever and issuing advice and opinions to people they've never met is really quite interesting.
posted by sgt.serenity at 5:43 PM on June 15, 2010


You don't owe me anything, sgt. I'm sorry if I've disrupted your meetup planning party. I'll show myself out of here and into a thread that's oriented toward my hemisphere of the globe.
posted by koeselitz at 5:48 PM on June 15, 2010


I'll show myself out of here and into a thread that's oriented toward my hemisphere of the globe.

No, just a thread that where you're not going to be ragingly codependent is fine, mind and pick up your gold star on the way out mate.
posted by sgt.serenity at 5:56 PM on June 15, 2010


I surmise we'll be having a meetup in Closed Threads very shortly here.
posted by mykescipark at 6:48 PM on June 15, 2010


I feel as though this post was made in bad faith. Flagged.
posted by StrikeTheViol at 6:52 PM on June 15, 2010


A curse upon you Oliver Cromwell
You who raped our Motherland
I hope you're rotting down in hell
For the horrors that you sent
To our misfortunate forefathers
Whom you robbed of their birthright
"To hell or Connaught" may you burn in hell tonight


Sorry, I'm actually more than fine on The Roastbeefs and more or less half a dilute paddy/american myself, but it's hard to resist. I don't give a shit who wins the world cup as long as you dumb greasy assholes stop vomiting up and down the street in my neighborhood. Nice skinny scarf by the way, Nigel.
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:03 PM on June 15, 2010


Did you just learn the word codependant, sgt. serenity?

P.S. Meetup threads aren't restricted by postal code. People from other locations post in them all the time.
posted by desuetude at 7:04 PM on June 15, 2010


I guess MetaTalk isn't free from deletions, so instead of calling nthdegx a rude word, I'll just say that this statement from the thread in question is ridiculous and either incredibly obtuse or disingenuous.

"Apparently the c word is offensive to Americans in ways in which I cannot understand."


And you, Sgt. Serenity, opposite of eponysterical, this is all pretty goddamn funny considering the last MetaTalk post you made.
posted by HopperFan at 7:11 PM on June 15, 2010


No, just a thread that where you're not going to be ragingly codependent is fine

This word you keep using, I do not think &c.
posted by Nothing... and like it at 7:31 PM on June 15, 2010


Man, that dustup really quelled. I was so looking forward to some witty taunting between the Brits and the Americans. Fought on the grass where it doesn't matter at all.

I enjoy your comments but the more this goes on it's seeming you are unhappy with how it turned out Sarge (if that is your actual rank) but can't quite figure a way out. Unfortunately I can't either.

A related aside: Of all the strangers I know on the internet I think if I died the quidnunc kid would be my choice for husband to my widow and son to my mother.
posted by vapidave at 7:32 PM on June 15, 2010


...
posted by Cold Lurkey at 7:34 PM on June 15, 2010 [1 favorite]


No, just a thread that where you're not going to be ragingly codependent is fine, mind and pick up your gold star on the way out mate.

To make peace you must wage war, apparently.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:23 PM on June 15, 2010


sgt.serenity: "performed a morris dance with you all"

oh, pictures, most definitely pictures
posted by mwhybark at 9:52 PM on June 15, 2010


No, just a thread that where you're not going to be ragingly codependent is fine, mind and pick up your gold star on the way out mate.

You sure as hell are stubbornly dislikable.

Can we have nthdegx back?
posted by Anything at 12:12 AM on June 16, 2010 [3 favorites]


Here's another football outrage to get all fussed up about. Someone leaving a website because someone else called his team shite not so much.
posted by adamvasco at 12:57 AM on June 16, 2010


Of all the strangers I know on the internet I think if I died the quidnunc kid would be my choice for husband to my widow and son to my mother

OK but let's meet up and have a beer first, you can show me some pictures.

... And I'd love to have a beer with you sgt. s.; any of those dates are good for me.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 1:43 AM on June 16, 2010


Quid! When we met for beers in London I thought that meant I was special but no, you'll sup with any old hairy-arsed Scots interloper. As would I, but won't be back in the country for the sgt.'s southern jaunt.
posted by Abiezer at 2:40 AM on June 16, 2010


...you can show me some pictures.

The last batch I sent were laminated, are you masturbating with solvents again?
posted by vapidave at 2:59 AM on June 16, 2010 [2 favorites]


Hmmm. I'm an English person living in Scotland, and yeah, I can see a lot of that thread being totally out of order. But, for nthdegx to quit Metafilter over it? Really? Were they actually totally unaware that this sort of sentiment occurred in Scotland? I don't want to defend sgt.serenity, but a leaving-Metafilter reaction implies to me that this was unexpected and not-dealable with. Did they not know that the lyrics to 'Flower of Scotland' are basically a celebration of killing English people?

So yes, this is totally not nice, totally out of order; but to find it shocking you have to be a fairly unaware English person.

To lighten the mood a wee bit, real Scots are aligning themselves with Brazil.
posted by Coobeastie at 3:27 AM on June 16, 2010


You sure as hell are stubbornly dislikable.

The news that a computer student from helsinki doesnt like me is a real hammer blow.

You do look surprisingly similar to Jackmo though, so perhaps theres hope for you yet.

To lighten the mood a wee bit, real Scots are aligning themselves with Brazil.

May this be another branch of the great campaign to one day win scotland the world cup.

The quidnunc kid is in london ?

GREATEST MEETUP EVER !!!!

I'd also like to relate how, when lovely englishperson I-cola went to new york, it was me that saved his life when he decided to provide a display of morris dancing in Harlem.

to find it shocking you have to be a fairly unaware English person.

You would have needed to have been brought up in a walled off convent somewhere south of a Jane Austen novel - probably just trying to game the mods really.
posted by sgt.serenity at 4:27 AM on June 16, 2010


Jessamyn: Considering that nthdegx closed his account as a result of the weird shit talking that was happening in the "anyone but England" World Cup thread, this seems poorly timed.

That wasn't a great thread, but I think that nthdegx's reaction was kinda weird and over-the-top, like he was really looking to be offended by stuff. For example, he didn't even know what ABE meant, but decided in advance that it must be something offensive. Whereas really - it seems like fairly harmless ribbing to me. It's pretty common to see NZ'ers wearing t-shirts saying 'I support two teams: New Zealand and anyone playing Australia'. In American contexts, I know my friends in Philadelphia would support anyone against a New York team. Even the English would support any team against Germany (except maybe Australia...)

It's something that IMO reflects more on the Scots and NZ'ers (in my example) than the English and Aussies: it's saying that the speaker is small-time and jealous, taking more satisfaction from another team losing than their own team winning. Something flagged up by the first people who actually used the expression: 1; 2: neither is complementary to Sgt Serenity. [The second is basically saying 'you're jealous', a point made earlier in the thread as well]

Then nthdegx decides it's racism, I explain the term, badly, and understatedly (I was busy watching the game by then...), he got more angry, other people responded, he got mroe angry again, and left.

I just re-read the thread, there doesn't seem to be many problematic posts in there, unless I'm missing something and they were all deleted.

TL;DR: I don't think Sgt Serenity's post, or the discussion in that thread, was really enough reason for someone to close their account. I'm sorry he's gone, but I don't think anyone's at fault.
posted by Infinite Jest at 4:57 AM on June 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


The news that a computer student from helsinki doesnt like me is a real hammer blow.

Well, it's not my opinion I was talking about. Compare this to pretty much any other meetup proposal thread and draw your own conclusions.
posted by Anything at 5:53 AM on June 16, 2010


nthdegx@gmail.com.

Of course speculation as to my reasons for disabling my account, or my emotional state at the time are all good fun. I'm happy to explain the actual reasons to anyone that really wants to know (presumably nobody), by email. I'd rather not make a permanent record of it on the web -- it's just not that big a deal. I warn you it's all very dull and that speculation is rather more fun.

It almost sounds from my apparently-batshitinsane reaction that I threw myself off a bridge. I didn't. I disabled an account on a website where people link to and talk about stuff. No biggy. People are free to think it's my issue -- I'd have thought disabling my account was a good solution to that problem.

I can't really be arsed to address some of the bollocks people are coming out with this thread, though. Apparently I have never so much been to Scotland, let alone lived there as I plainly stated in the thread in question, but did spend a considerable proportion of my upbringing riding horses and skinny-dipping on my not-insubstantial estate in Derbyshire (half-pounder with cheese and all the trimmings). To be fair, I perhaps I didn't make myself clear in the relevant comment but I absolutely did not assume "ABE" was a racist comment. My badly-worded comment was meant to say "is what you're calling ABE the same thing as what I'm calling casually racist?".

Apologies for poking my nose in to address a derail in a meet-up thread, but someone kindly emailed me a link to this discussion. I welcome the opportunity to apologise for my profound humourlessness on Saturday.

Oh, if anyone does ever discover the answer to my question about the relevance of the DH Lawrence quote, please please please let me know.
posted by 14429 at 6:14 AM on June 16, 2010 [2 favorites]


Considering that whole, horrible William Wallace deal, I'd say this is quite an admirable gesture.
posted by crunchland at 9:46 AM on June 16, 2010


nthdegx, I hope this means that you're planning on coming back/sticking around, and apologies for my part in the miscommunication between us: I get where you're coming from now. It still seems to me like a relatively minor reason to want to disable your account; but then I don't really have the right to say what's important, or not, to another user. [more via email]

And Sgt Serenity: while I didn't think that thread was terrible, you're not coming across great here, [IMO, etc.]
posted by Infinite Jest at 9:50 AM on June 16, 2010


I thought it was the East Village, not Harlem..?
;-)
posted by i_cola at 10:04 AM on June 16, 2010


I expected more morris dancers in this thread.
posted by nonane at 10:30 AM on June 16, 2010


So where are we meeting-up? And when? Thursday 1 July? Who among you has a favoured boozer? - my preference would be Notting Hill side but I can go anywhere.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 1:01 AM on June 17, 2010


Well this obviously isn't happening.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 10:47 PM on June 17, 2010


What now then?
posted by vapidave at 11:12 PM on June 17, 2010


No, no - of course it's happening - i'm just wondering if theres going to be a mass exodus of english mefites that renders a meetup impossible : ) im thinking last day in june - i'll be near shoreditch - anyone have any suggestions for near there ???
posted by sgt.serenity at 6:47 PM on June 18, 2010


Right then, 30th june, somewhere near shoreditch - and all the people from colorado are invited as well - nice to see nthdegx in the thread and of course completely absolving me from all blame - perhaps jessamyn and her disciples might like to say sorry for derailing this thread in a spirit of rampant vengeance also.
posted by sgt.serenity at 8:13 PM on June 22, 2010


Ok , now that the smoke has cleared and the wounded have been removed from the battlefield ....... the water poet, 30th june ? say about ..... 8pm ???
posted by sgt.serenity at 5:00 AM on June 23, 2010


OK, after all that is this also the grouse meet up?
Grouse sent me an invite via facebook and now I see he's not even here! Any way, sorry Grouse, and Sgt, I can't attend any Meet-up as my fav surgeon has inviyted me all expenses paid to Henley : the Regatta (is that spelt with an e?) Anyhow, seeing as I'm Irish and have been offerred an opportunity to observe the English in one of their socially significant rituals, I simply can't pass it up. And then I'm off to a major piss-up at the weekend in Cork. So really, kind a sorry but not if you know what I mean.

and as for football , one data point, many Irish are following the UK team. In my Irish/German household we were a bit disappointed in yesterday's match to be honest. Match seemed to be stretching it as a noun.
posted by Wilder at 2:29 AM on June 28, 2010


eek, wrong thread!
posted by Wilder at 2:31 AM on June 28, 2010


Yeah, there's another thread for this Saturday's meetup in Regent's Park.
posted by grouse at 10:16 AM on June 28, 2010


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