It seems we can't Memail disabled accounts, so... January 18, 2011 1:14 PM   Subscribe

Another one bites the dust?

...so at the risk of misusing the grey, does anyone know why Mayor Curley, who is one of my all-time Mefi heroes, disabled his account? Did I miss something?
posted by Decani to MetaFilter-Related at 1:14 PM (191 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite

Mayor Curley. :(
posted by Lutoslawski at 1:21 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


He got into an ongoing fight in a thread where we had deleted a few of his comments and suggested he go to MetaTalk. Instead he decided to take some time off. Doesn't seem likely that he'll be back, but who knows.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:25 PM on January 18, 2011


Was found with a live spammer and a triple post.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:33 PM on January 18, 2011


Ah, spit. That sucks. Oh well, good to know it was just a rumble and nothing dreadful in RL.
posted by Decani at 1:33 PM on January 18, 2011


I also missed Mayor Curley leaving. Still, Mayor Peace Love and Unity is still live so we might hear something from him. Post something about Cuba. That always seemed to work.
posted by longbaugh at 1:34 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


And as to why, hints here in his last (nondeleted) MeFi comment.
posted by bearwife at 1:46 PM on January 18, 2011


I walk by where Giles Corey was crushed to death every day.

Of course, today he would have drowned long before being crushed.

"Glurb gleat," he'd burble.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 1:55 PM on January 18, 2011 [4 favorites]


Still, Mayor Peace Love and Unity is still live

One outta three ain't good.
posted by yerfatma at 1:57 PM on January 18, 2011


Still, Mayor Peace Love and Unity is still live

Somehow - not sure why - that just ain't the same.
posted by Decani at 2:04 PM on January 18, 2011


wha sup with Crash
posted by clavdivs at 2:20 PM on January 18, 2011


What, no more Mayor Curley? He'll be missed.

Anyone remember his site about Maine, featuring Pelletier's Clam-Flavored Brandy? I discovered that one before I got on Metafilter, although the site (aeroflot.tk) just redirects to .ru now.
posted by dunkadunc at 2:22 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


Post something about Cuba. That always seemed to work.

Overproduction has caused a reduction in the quality of Cuban cigars. Discuss.
posted by fixedgear at 2:23 PM on January 18, 2011


Can I just say how much I miss tkchrist's stories? (one, two) Because I do. Y'know, while we're missing people and stuff.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 2:26 PM on January 18, 2011 [10 favorites]


Putting up the Mayor Curley-signal...

MAINE SUCKS

No, really, it does. I'm up here right now, can't find work, the neighbors just knocked down our mailbox while doing donuts in the middle of the road, AND our elected governor just told the NAACP to "kiss his butt".

Discuss.
posted by dunkadunc at 2:29 PM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]


I like your blueberries!
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:32 PM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]


Yeah! Maine, when you're in the middle of a blueberry field at peak season and don't have to be working, is about as close to any definition of paradise as you're going to get.
posted by dunkadunc at 2:35 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


1. Suppress interesting topics (Palin/Blood Libel; Steve Jobs).

2. Drive away interesting though difficult people (Mayor Curley; Optimus Chyme).

3. Profit?
posted by jamjam at 2:39 PM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]


If tkchrist went to Maine, he'd punch some blueberries for you, and perhaps render them unconscious.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 2:49 PM on January 18, 2011


1. Suppress interesting topics (Palin/Blood Libel; Steve Jobs).

"Suppress" is not a great choice of words. If you're under the impression that those topics have been forbidden from the site, you have not been paying any sort of clear-eyed attention.

2. Drive away interesting though difficult people (Mayor Curley; Optimus Chyme).

People have the right to leave if they want to, whenever they want to; there is no expectation that site culture will be altered specifically to make a given individual happy. MC and OC are both smart, incisive dudes; they're both dudes with a penchant for taking a combative approach to their interactions with folks here; they've both dudes that we've had to talk to on multiple occasions over the years about that sort of thing when it was representing a problem; and yet, notably, neither of them are dudes that we banned, because we're more interested in making it work even with difficult users than with giving them the boot.

So, honestly, fuck that noise. If someone decides to walk, they can, but that's their call and that's about the end of it. My job would be much, much simpler if "driving away" anyone who was problematic was the general plan, and that's saying nothing of the tons of people here who manage to be both interesting and not a recurring pain in the ass.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:58 PM on January 18, 2011 [46 favorites]


3. Profit?

We'd be profiting a hell of a lot more if we just went the "Hey whatever works to get more clickthroughs and eyeballs!" route, which would mean a ton of posts about fighty political and hot button topics and a lot of people who make their home here calling other people assholes and retards (possibly ironically).

We've made some conscious affirmative choices to not go that route, a decision that some people like and some people don't like, but we're not pretending we're one sort of site [perhaps a legitimate news site] while actually administrating it like we're another [yet another SEO linkwhoring site with shoddy security practices and staff who only continue to get paid if their articles get enough pageviews].

If it's not the sort of site you like with the sort of people you like, that's your prerogative. We worked intensively with MC and OC to try to help them get along here with the guidelines of the site the way they were. Both of them left of their own accord because they were at odds with the way this site works. I wish we could have worked it out, but not at the expense of running the site the way the users generally want it. Sorry.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:59 PM on January 18, 2011 [9 favorites]


That thread, and Mayor Curley's departure, are clear indicators that we need to do away with gendered pronouns in favour of "zhe" and "zher".

Too many people have fallen on the hill of gendered pronouns and I've had enough!

If Mayor Curley falling on zher sword is what was required to usher in neutral pronouns, then zhe will have done a great & noble thing.
posted by UbuRoivas at 3:07 PM on January 18, 2011


1. Suppress
2. Drive away
3. Profit
jamjam

Eponysterical.
posted by bru at 3:13 PM on January 18, 2011


jamjam, are you suggesting that being a prolific and interesting poster should give one a free pass for getting inappropriate comments deleted? Because, fuck, I want in on that if it's going (at least I should qualify in the "prolific" part).

I will miss Mayor Curley if he doesn't come back (come back! come back!) but I also know first-hand the whole experience of misjudging how far off one is coloring outside the lines, and the right end to that little rage spiral that comes of having a bunch of posts deleted is always to take a breather, not a flounce. I have never come back from my own breathers to decide that I was right and the mods were wrong.
posted by Sidhedevil at 3:20 PM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]


1. Suppress interesting topics (Palin/Blood Libel; Steve Jobs).

hahahah, they neither get "suppressed" nor are they "interesting".
posted by edgeways at 3:22 PM on January 18, 2011 [11 favorites]


::pours out a 40 for his homey::
posted by briank at 3:26 PM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]


Look, is it so hard to not act like a jerk? I'm not saying MC was a jerk; I'm saying that users shouldn't act like jerks, and if admonishments reminding us of that is enough to force a voluntary time out then c'est la vie.

Come back soon.
posted by norm at 3:58 PM on January 18, 2011


Sidhedevil: " I have never come back from my own breathers to decide that I was right and the mods were wrong."

QFT.
posted by zarq at 4:05 PM on January 18, 2011


Also, add me to the chorus of folks who hope that MC comes back very, very quickly.

I also miss Optimus.
posted by zarq at 4:07 PM on January 18, 2011


I feel bad that I didn't notice that tkchrist has been gone a whole year.
posted by redfisch at 4:20 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


tkchrist left? I must have missed that episode. Such great stories too.
posted by panboi at 4:22 PM on January 18, 2011


I come not to praise Curley, but to bury him. To bury him before the creeping masses of mediocrity and me-too-ism can give him a wake that would kill him all over again. Men like hizzoner are but heroes for the working day; if we cannot stomach the Molotov cocktail of contrarianism, the trebuchet of trollery while encouraging a hundred comments saying the same insipid thing that we've all agreed to pretend to believe lest we stop conforming, then men yet abed in England should hold their memberships cheap.

The truth is he has not quit you. You have lost him. He believed what you believed, only he knew why he believed it. What made you so uncomfortable were the comments born of his own personal test of faith. When he asked you, "Why?" he was demanding more of himself. Finally, he asked why you had forsaken him. But you had another call.

Ask not what Curley could do for you. He has. That single set of footprints that troubles you so was when he got spectacularly hammered at Old Orchard Beach and wandered off into the water. You should try it sometime. Try it as a counterpoint to pretending your thoughts are new and outrageous and cutting-edge. Like Cú Chulainn, wander off into the frothy surf, churning with dangerously high parts per million of coffee brandy and fight! Fight until the waves roll backward. Because damnit, he tried that here, but the teeming mass of shitty sameness killed him. Every goddamn period in an obit thread, even if it were about his highest hero, is a statement of conformity. Every post that seeks to laugh at people different from the community norms (yet again) is an assurance that this lunch table is full. The truth is that you may graduate high school, but you will never leave. Never leave it when there's still a softer back to be stepped on in your ascension to a lonely nowhere. He won't keep you from it any longer.
posted by yerfatma at 4:27 PM on January 18, 2011 [7 favorites]


{claps?}
posted by clavdivs at 4:38 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


You can close this up now, email's in the profile.
posted by gman at 4:58 PM on January 18, 2011


Maybe next time I'll actually read other people's comments before posting what I think is a revelation. Who knows.
posted by gman at 5:13 PM on January 18, 2011


Don't do that - it's breaking the prime unwritten law of the site.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:16 PM on January 18, 2011


He was one hell of a Mayor and I would vote for him again if only he would come back.
posted by Sailormom at 5:32 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]




I tend to react to people disabling their account in much the same way as someone storming out of a room, with an eyeroll.
posted by knapah at 5:47 PM on January 18, 2011 [3 favorites]


Boy, when you've disabled your account, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do disable my account somebody has sense enough to just delete my account to make space on the server or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam Metatalk thread. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody.
posted by octobersurprise at 6:05 PM on January 18, 2011 [6 favorites]


They make a good entree for the worms.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:31 PM on January 18, 2011


I've never quite understood the point of "quitting" a web-site. I don't actually see that this accomplishes anything at all. If your car starts misfiring, what makes the most sense? Replacing the spark plugs, or tossing the keys into a sewer and burning the pink-slip?
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 6:36 PM on January 18, 2011


Replacing the spark plugs, or tossing the keys into a sewer and burning the pink-slip?

A gallon of gas, a file and a match usually does the trick and is more satisfying.
posted by edgeways at 6:49 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


get the commish in here...
posted by clavdivs at 7:09 PM on January 18, 2011


Remember when ParisParamus started trolling here again using a new handle, got caught, and then insisted it was actually his room-mate who spontaneously became interested in Metafilter and he had nothing to do with it?

That was awesome.

And by awesome, I mean fuckwittery of the highest order.
posted by bardic at 7:13 PM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]


If your car starts misfiring, what makes the most sense? Replacing the spark plugs, or tossing the keys into a sewer and burning the pink-slip

first: is it the plugs? could be the wires or a fuel problem, convertor even.

second: apply occums razor: alot of people drive the bloody thing until it quits with no chucking of the keys or flaming of the title (some people do not have either; see: "drive til it quits")
some take it to the shop or do the work themselves in the hopes of not getting taken the metaphorical cleaners.

parisParamus proceeded to plunge the paraphets and peek?
wolly thats commitment
posted by clavdivs at 7:26 PM on January 18, 2011


At some point in the misty past I was under the impression that Mayor Curley and Optimus Chyme were the same dude, and I think I'd lumped Pope Guilty in there too. I'm sad the first two aren't around anymore but I've taken breaks too and it can't help but be a good thing.

All the same I hope they come back.
posted by jtron at 7:32 PM on January 18, 2011


You know how sometimes you just don't think you like someone you "meet" or take notice of online, because of the abrasiveness of their demeanor or just their generally fighty, condescending, and overbearing persona? And then you have an opportunity to really meet the person behind the screen name in real life, and you come away with an entirely different opinion of the person?

Well, Mayor Curley wasn't like that.
posted by Curious Artificer at 7:45 PM on January 18, 2011 [7 favorites]


Curious Artificer: " Well, Mayor Curley wasn't like that."

Speaking from personal experience: being attacked by people when you aren't around to defend yourself sucks.
posted by zarq at 7:52 PM on January 18, 2011 [9 favorites]


Just an opinion; not an attack.
posted by Curious Artificer at 7:53 PM on January 18, 2011


You know how sometimes you just don't think you like someone you "meet" or take notice of online, because of the abrasiveness of their demeanor or just their generally fighty, condescending, and overbearing persona?

It's happening right now, actually.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 7:58 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


Mayor Curley wasn't like that.

That wasn't my impression. I found him really friendly and nice in person. It was always sort of jarring afterwards when he'd be acting up on the site.

being attacked by people when you aren't around to defend yourself sucks.

zarq I know this may touch a nerve for you, but both you and Mayor Curley had/have the ability to come back at any time. We try to keep people from being completely nasty in MeTa but honestly there's going to be some of that "I don't miss him" talk going on here.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:00 PM on January 18, 2011


Okay, that may have been too much, especially since I'm a "brand new day" person myself. I'll try to nip this in the bud with an acknowledgment that he did add a lot to the site and I did enjoy and appreciate many of his contributions. While I may not have personally agreed with him in all instances or gotten along with him in person I can see how many others did.
posted by Curious Artificer at 8:08 PM on January 18, 2011


You know how sometimes there'll be a contributor who just blows you away with how insightful and funny they are, and then you meet them in person and they're even cooler in person?

Just about every MeFite I've met in person has been like that.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:23 PM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]


and then you meet them in person and they're even cooler in person?


I'm so cool in person I can remove warts.
posted by The Whelk at 8:24 PM on January 18, 2011 [2 favorites]


What's funny is that when I was writing that, I was actually thinking that it's a shame that I haven't met The Whelk in the flesh.

Seriously.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:34 PM on January 18, 2011


Hm, I must've contracted those warts from somebody else, then.
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:40 PM on January 18, 2011


in the flesh
posted by The Whelk at 8:40 PM on January 18, 2011


jessamyn: " zarq I know this may touch a nerve for you, but both you and Mayor Curley had/have the ability to come back at any time.

The three times I've hit the button, my intention has been to stop myself from completely losing my temper and starting a flamewar which I knew I would regret and hate myself for later. It seems likely to me that if I had reactivated my account too soon and started responding, you and cortex would have stepped in and tried to stop me -- either by sending me memails, deleting comments and/or publicly telling me to cut it out. I do think this is a good thing.

But having the ability to come back at any time doesn't necessarily mean that the person who does so will then be able to respond to their critics. This time around, I put a note in my profile. which struck me as more constructive than continuing the argument in MeTa.

We try to keep people from being completely nasty in MeTa but honestly there's going to be some of that "I don't miss him" talk going on here."

I understand that. I am very, very appreciative of and grateful for your tireless efforts to keep things civil around here. I truly am. My comment was simply intended to mention to Curious Artificer that it's not exactly pleasant for the target to come back to MeTa and find that people were flinging shit at them, especially if they feel unable to respond.
posted by zarq at 8:45 PM on January 18, 2011


Speaking from personal experience: being attacked by people when you aren't around to defend yourself sucks.

Speaking from personal observation: leaving in an explosive manner seems to breed snark and attacks.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:12 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


Aw, I was just starting to warm up to him and his crazy ways. Au revoir, crazy-way guy. We'll always have Frontline.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:15 PM on January 18, 2011


seems to breed snark and attacks.

I have checked the guidelines, Metafilter has no beachfront or territorial waters. Though a gripping performance by Robert Shaw is central to the plotline.
posted by clavdivs at 9:48 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


Speaking from personal observation: leaving in an explosive manner seems to breed snark and attacks.

Assumes facts not in evidence - MC nor zarq left in an explosive manner.
posted by mlis at 10:00 PM on January 18, 2011 [3 favorites]




zarq: "But having the ability to come back at any time doesn't necessarily mean that the person who does so will then be able to respond to their critics. This time around, I put a note in my profile. which struck me as more constructive than continuing the argument in MeTa."

Heh, I spent a few minutes thinking you had decided to become my own personal davey_darling before realizing that you were simply restoring your favorites after a long break.

Reading the note in your profile, I just wanted to say -- I might be misreading your tone, but I wouldn't take it personally that "no one noticed, no one cared," etc., when you deleted a bunch of favorites last year. I mean, unless one keeps obsessive track of their total favorite count, it's hard to notice losing some -- there's no Recent Activity for deleted favorites. And even if anyone did notice (it's happened before), no one would know who was removing their favorites unless they were keeping obsessive track of your total favorit(ed) count. So don't take it too hard.

I guess you could take issue with people not noticing your lack of activity, but that happens depressingly often. There are just so many interesting personalities here that it takes awhile to register that one of them has stopped contributing. In fact, if there weren't a "this account is disabled" note on closed accounts, I'd wager that missing voices would get noted even less often than they already are. Sad but true.

--

Speaking more broadly, I have a hard time understanding how people who have spent years on a site like this can just up and quit because of a heated argument on a hot-button topic or because of a few deleted comments. Maybe I just lack passion, but I can't imagine any situation involving perceived pile-ons or heavy-handed moderation that would convince me to walk away from this excellent community entirely. I guess some people just process high-tension situations like that differently, or place less value on long-term involvement in a given space. I mean, I haven't even deleted my old Digg account, and that's after a massive upheaval that showed tremendous disrespect to the userbase and pretty much destroyed all previous contributions to the site. About the only time I've actually abandoned a web community was after my account was deleted rather capriciously after an unintended rules violation -- then again, it's pretty easy to sever ties when they've been severed for you. :/

But who knows, maybe someday cortex will say exactly the wrong thing about zucchini and I'll decide that's the last straw. Let's hope not, though. Zucchini is pretty cool.
posted by Rhaomi at 10:30 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


zucchini sucks
posted by philip-random at 10:36 PM on January 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


YOU RAT BASTARD
posted by Rhaomi at 10:43 PM on January 18, 2011


I quit
posted by philip-random at 10:44 PM on January 18, 2011


Rhaomi: " Heh, I spent a few minutes thinking you had decided to become my own personal davey_darling before realizing that you were simply restoring your favorites after a long break.

Heh. :)

Reading the note in your profile, I just wanted to say -- I might be misreading your tone, but I wouldn't take it personally that "no one noticed, no one cared," etc., when you deleted a bunch of favorites last year.

Well, that's not really what I meant. The reason I mentioned June in my note is I wanted to explain that this latest unfavoriting was not some sort of gesture to the community. I was accused of that in the Cannibal thread.

I didn't think my dumping of 6000 favorites last June was something worth noticing. And my memory of the time Blazecock dumped his in 2008 was that ultimately no one really had given a damn. (He even created a greasemonkey script so people could autoclear all their favorites. BTW, BP if you're reading this? It doesn't work. Or at least I couldn't get it to work.)

So I naively didn't think anyone would notice this time around, or if they did that they wouldn't care.

Unfortunately, because I timed this one badly folks did notice. Whoo boy, did they notice. They took it as a personal affront. I don't treat my favorites as a mark of popularity, but I should have kept in mind that some people do. So, some people complained in the Cannibal thread and/or declared that I was making some sort of dramatic gesture to the community.

A few people sent me emails or tweets and complained directly. I apologized to just about all of them. The fact that I'd cleared my favorites around Christmas also apparently struck a nerve and I find that particularly ironic for a bunch of reasons which just aren't worth getting into.

Oh, and I also lost some friends as a result of this incident. Or to be more accurate, I discovered that they weren't my friends after all. Which I think is good to know.

But yeah, I'd have been happier if no one had noticed.
posted by zarq at 11:48 PM on January 18, 2011


there is no expectation that site culture will be altered specifically to make a given individual happy.

Perhaps we can all remember that next time some "given individual" starts a big grey whine because someone used a word that hurt them to their frangible crystal soul, and which looks a bit politically-insensitive if you squint at it through 10-diopter glasses after having been on bad acid for three weeks' straight.
posted by Decani at 1:34 AM on January 19, 2011


I'm offended by your use of that apostrophe on weeks.
posted by UbuRoivas at 1:50 AM on January 19, 2011 [2 favorites]


Sometimes I think I just can't take another "someone left Metafilter" thread. This is one of those days.

Zarq, despite what happened with you here only shortly after we began our friendship, I am honored and very grateful to have you as a friend.

/schmoopy
posted by IndigoRain at 2:26 AM on January 19, 2011 [2 favorites]


you know what fuck all you guys, i'm leaving too
posted by secret about box at 3:15 AM on January 19, 2011


okay i'm back i guess.

it was hard being away from everyone. i hope we're still cool.
posted by secret about box at 3:16 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


*Looks at contacts, sees 6 blacked out names*

sucks.
posted by clearly at 4:21 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


I'm just happy that he world is round so you can always get back to from where you came.
posted by Sailormom at 4:21 AM on January 19, 2011


And then you have an opportunity to really meet the person behind the screen name in real life, and you come away with an entirely different opinion of the person?

Well, Mayor Curley wasn't like that.


I'm baffled by this comment. Do you mean you never met him? Admittedly I met him in person first (and am fully responsible for him signing up here), but I can't think of a sweeter, less-abrasive person face-to-face. If you did meet him and came away with such a different opinion, my biased reaction is that the fault is in you, and your comment suggests the same.

Some people play themselves online and some people do not. As best I can tell, I am the exact same ass I am in real life. But it's by no means a requirement to site membership to thine own self be true.
posted by yerfatma at 5:57 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


*stops biting tongue*

zarq - you know what, dude? You need to leave that werid ass shit alone at this point. I don't really think very many people around here appreciate your underhanded jabs about that incident. "Favourites as a mark of popularity"? That has absolutely fuck all to do with anything. And do you think it's cool to just drop a turd like "I find that particularly ironic for a bunch of reasons which just aren't worth getting into", without elaborating? Did you lose some friends over this, as you claim? Or are those who rightfully saw and called out what you did for what it was, automatically taken off your friends list?

There's never an excuse for a dramatic exit which includes going out of your way to have your account reactivated just so you can remove thousands and thousands of favourites, not to mention specific contacts you "de-friended". At the point where you're so angry that you don't wanna be here anymore, ya just leave. Perhaps you close your account, perhaps you don't. Now, having read your profile note, I realize that you can't seem to acknowledge what you did was dramatic, but drama queens usually can't. The first step is admitting it.
posted by gman at 6:15 AM on January 19, 2011 [2 favorites]


gman, you are being a drama queen right now by haranguing zarq. Just let it go.
posted by futz at 6:23 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


I'll miss the Mayor. He could be a bit abrasive but I think we need that here. He said stuff that needed to be said. Sorry I was never able to buy him a beer.

Also, reading this thread reminds me why I stay away from internet forum drama. People sure are silly.
posted by bondcliff at 6:41 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


Wow, let's close this, no?
posted by SpiffyRob at 6:46 AM on January 19, 2011


zarq was the one who, predictably, brought it up. If you truly want to leave something in the past, whether it's leaving MeFi or putting a stupid drama scene behind you, the way to do it is to actually leave it behind you and not draw attention to it by talking about it, putting it in your profile, and lurking around to see what people are saying about you and feeling "attacked" by it.
posted by Gator at 6:47 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


Gator, how did I know that you would be one of the next people to comment?
posted by futz at 6:52 AM on January 19, 2011


This has probably been discussed before, but if there are people who feel the need to tie off their association with the site to the extent of deleting favorites and removing links to other users, shouldn't there be an option to delete your account rather than just disable it? Your posts and suchlike would stay, but clicking your username would lead to a a page which said only that that user had deleted their account.
posted by Ritchie at 6:55 AM on January 19, 2011


Just trying to fit in.
posted by futz at 7:05 AM on January 19, 2011 [5 favorites]


shouldn't there be an option to delete your account rather than just disable it?

Not from our perspective, no. The big red button is basically either for users who need a break or users who are leaving and, for whatever reason, can't just walk away. The whole point is that people can always come back. This is ingrained in the site philosophy: if you leave of your own accord you can come back. So, we don't want anything too drastic happening on a user's profile page and we don't want to start a big "How do I delete all my contributions to the site?" discusison because the answer, in short, is that you can't.

That said, for many people the community aspect here means simultaneously that people feel someone's absence at the same time as they may not have a "real world" way of getting ahold of them. So when someone leaves it can seem abrupt for any number of reasons. And MetaTalk or emailing us is the only way to figure out what happened if you missed the actual departure.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:10 AM on January 19, 2011


gman: " zarq - you know what, dude? You need to leave that werid ass shit alone at this point. I don't really think very many people around here appreciate your underhanded jabs about that incident. "Favourites as a mark of popularity"? That has absolutely fuck all to do with anything. And do you think it's cool to just drop a turd like "I find that particularly ironic for a bunch of reasons which just aren't worth getting into", without elaborating? Did you lose some friends over this, as you claim? Or are those who rightfully saw and called out what you did for what it was, automatically taken off your friends list?"

I'm going to say this, then walk away from the thread:

They're my favorites. No one else's.

They're my contacts. No one else's.

It's my account.

If I favorite or unfavorite someone's comment or post, that's my business.

If I add or subtract someone as a contact, that's also my business.

If someone ever wants an explanation for anything I do, then they can ask me via MeMail. Of course, they are free to accept or not accept what I have to say. Many people did ask this time, and I explained and apologized to them as politely and respectfully as possible.

A request was made that I leave an email address of some kind if this happens again. I don't expect it will, if it does I will do so.

If I deactivate or reactivate my account, that's between me and the mods. The way I do it is also between me and the mods. I made a mistake in the timing of the removal of my favorites. But my own history proves to me that if I'd waited a month and then done it, it's extremely likely that no one would have noticed or complained.

The statements you call "underhanded jabs" I made in the previous comment are not intended as such. They're certainly not some sort of subtle or overt attack on anyone. Since reactivating my account, I have tried my best to take the high road as much as possible and not launch personal attacks on anyone. I mentioned no one by name on purpose. I don't want to argue with anyone about what happened. I've simply tried to explain my feelings on the matter without starting an argument.

I don't believe that since I returned I've spoken to anyone on the site (until this comment) who complained in the Cannibal thread. I haven't mentioned them by name. I haven't tried to engage them in any way. On purpose.

Feel free not to believe me. Other folks probably won't either. C'est la vie.

Burhanistan: " One thing that you may want to understand, and that you didn't seem to acknowledge, was that you removed all but a select few of your contacts. That seemed like a big middle finger, whether or not you meant it. "

It honestly didn't occur to me that people would feel that way. If they did, I'm truly sorry.
posted by zarq at 7:12 AM on January 19, 2011 [2 favorites]


Oh, and IndigoRain, thank you. The feeling is, as I hope you know, entirely mutual.
posted by zarq at 7:15 AM on January 19, 2011


I don't believe that since I returned I've spoken to anyone on the site (until this comment) who complained in the Cannibal thread. I haven't mentioned them by name. I haven't tried to engage them in any way. On purpose.

Isn't that exhausting? How do you even remember who said what, are you keeping a list? It seems to me like a lot of work for something most people aren't even going to notice. Brings to mind the statement "Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die." Might your energy be better spent in positive ways?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:23 AM on January 19, 2011 [3 favorites]


Perhaps we can all remember that next time some "given individual" starts a big grey whine because someone used a word that hurt them

If a given individual broaches the subject in metatalk and everybody thinks it's kind of an unworkable or unreasonable request, folks pretty much say so. This goes for vocabulary as much as it does for feature requests or declarations of moratoria or nattering on about supercensorship. "We can all remember" the general idea pretty well, since that's how metatalk has worked pretty much forever.

If you're angling for some sort of ban on metatalk posts where members of the community ask for something to be considered or even for something to change—whether in general or only where vocabulary is concerned—then you're pretty much out of luck. Nobody gets a guaranteed thumbs-up on a random requests (and I'd say the odds actually go hard in the other direction), but people can absolutely have those discussions here. You are welcome to not read them.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:23 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


...MC nor zarq left in an explosive manner.

zarq most certainly did and his characterization of that episode as "oh, I just left and then people attacked me" is a narrative that doesn't need to repeated as the truth, especially sicne leaving was his choice, a choice he's made several times before, so lamenting that he couldn't defend himself seems odd.

Oh, Optimus Chyme still reads the site and comments about stuff on Twitter from time to time.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:33 AM on January 19, 2011


If I deactivate or reactivate my account, that's between me and the mods. The way I do it is also between me and the mods.

I do not want to belabor this, but it's worth mentioning that things that attract community attention wind up being not just between you and the mods.

We answer a great deal of "What is going on?" types of email from members when people leave, act oddly, come back, come back with a different username, leave notes on their profile pages &c. There is very little that is against the rules here. At the same time, how people act here has ripple-effects through the community. This is true. How you manage and deal with this truth is up to you.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:36 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


Indeed. It's kind of sad frightening.
posted by rollbiz at 7:53 AM on January 19, 2011


The Mayor may have chosen to take a break. He has progeny, so it's not such a bad thing; baby mayors need time and attention. Meanwhile, I'll pick up some slack by reminding everyone that Allen's Coffee Brandy is the state drink, and with our new Gov., we're gonna need plenty of it.
posted by theora55 at 8:08 AM on January 19, 2011


Uck, that's fucked up. Either play in the sandbox everyone else is playing in, or move on and shut up.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:08 AM on January 19, 2011 [2 favorites]


Oh my God, he's watching us right now.
posted by norm at 8:25 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


Someone please hold me, I'm terrified and slightly aroused.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:28 AM on January 19, 2011


Uck, that's fucked up. Either play in the sandbox everyone else is playing in, or move on and shut up.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:08 AM on January 19 [+] [!]


I generally agree with this, however, if we were to take it on its face, it would mean that instead of posts on MeFi, we should all be participating in the comments sections of the links posted here. As such, it's a bit rich for users of a website that exists to allow people to comment on things elsewhere on the web to take umbrage at people elsewhere on the web commenting on things that happen here.
posted by proj at 8:39 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


Sorry to see Mayor Curley gone; I just unearthed my Mayor of the Poor poster yesterday and wondered if MC had one.
posted by catlet at 9:06 AM on January 19, 2011


I miss The Straightener.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:13 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


Indeed. It's kind of sad frightening amusing.
posted by Sailormom at 10:18 AM on January 19, 2011


jesus stan
posted by clavdivs at 10:39 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


Or in that why so serious kind of way. But then again, this is the internet and we all know that means serious business.

dicktard? really? I personally think anyone using tard as a suffix is engaging in adolescent behavior.
posted by Sailormom at 10:41 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


Why is being a dick designated as a negative, you got something against the patriarchy?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:46 AM on January 19, 2011


I'm not sure that qualifies as a huff. Unless of course you are huffing something.
posted by Sailormom at 10:56 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


adolescent dicktard

Don't do this please.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:06 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


Wow, MetaFilter has a creepy stalker.
posted by neroli at 11:25 AM on January 19, 2011 [3 favorites]


jamjam wrote "2. Drive away interesting though difficult people (Mayor Curley; Optimus Chyme)."

Interesting.

Mayor Curley was one of the first (if not THE first) people on the site to piss me off with a shitty throwaway comment. Which is funny, because although at the time it seemed mean-spirited it doesn't read nearly as poorly now as it did to me then. But, funny thing, some of the stuff he posted in the years since kept me from disliking the guy, because not everything he said seemed aimed at being a dick simply for the sake of being a dick.

Optimus on the other hand seemed to get a kick out of being an ass. There's a place for that, now and again, but it's my only persistent impression of the guy. If there was signal behind the noise, it wasn't enough to get through. The whole 'I'm leaving but here I sit watching and judging you for my own amusement' thing? Just weird, man. Let it go already. Get a different hobby.

I know I can be obnoxious from time to time, have in the past and will in the future, and certainly I will annoy or tick off some of you for some reason or other. But I do hope that there is enough constructive evidence left behind that when and if I do drop out of sight, people will say "Darn, he's gone?" or at least think "Oh yeah that guy, I remember him with no ill-will" rather than "Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, you prick."
posted by caution live frogs at 11:30 AM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


By which I mean to say (in case it got lost in my meandering) - "Mayor Curley left? That stinks. The old guard seems to be slowly dwindling, doesn't it?"
posted by caution live frogs at 11:31 AM on January 19, 2011


Eh, Cortex and Jessamyn are still here.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:42 AM on January 19, 2011


The whole 'I'm leaving but here I sit watching and judging you for my own amusement' thing? Just weird, man.

I don't think I'd devote my time to watching Metafilter from a distance (♫"Chyme is watching us from a distance."♫), but, let's be honest, it isn't any weirder than about 9/10ths of the things people do on the internet. This is a public forum. Short of harassment and incitement to harass, there's nothing wrong with writing about what people do or say here. That's pretty much what blogging is, isn't it?

Whether it's time well-spent is another kettle of fish; but, well, I'm not his partner or his employer, so what the hell, man?
posted by octobersurprise at 12:31 PM on January 19, 2011


being attacked by people when you aren't around to defend yourself sucks.

I favorited that comment simply because I thought it was funny. It sounds like a cliched line where you just insert X name. I've never met mayor curley, and wasn't even sure if Curious Artificer had.

Mayor Curley is obviously a smart guy, and I thought his comments were often quite insightful. But his opinions could also be pretty hateful, especially when it came to any thread with the South as a topic. I'm not talking about edgy, I'm talking about being upset that Sherman's March didn't go further.

So hateful that I would first be mad at his comment, then mad at the the mods for turning a blind eye to his open hate while having multiple metatalk threads on sexism.

Eventually I just skipped his name in any thread regarding the south and was better able to appreciate his other comments, while no longer being upset with the mods. But I wouldn't worry about his being 'attacked'. He hardly came across as a shrinking violet.
posted by justgary at 1:16 PM on January 19, 2011


mad at the the mods for turning a blind eye to his open hate while having multiple metatalk threads on sexism.

Just to be crystal clear, we are not and were not turning a blind eye to any of it. However, starting a MeTa thread to call out a user is pretty much not something the mods ever do. Users have to do that and for whatever reason people didn't do it to Mayor Curley and he declined to do it on the things that were making him so pissed off.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:57 PM on January 19, 2011


Eventually I just skipped his name in any thread regarding the south and was better able to appreciate his other comments...

Worked for me too.
posted by marxchivist at 3:50 PM on January 19, 2011


I'm offended by your use of that apostrophe on weeks.
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:50 AM on January 19


That, sir, is a very fair comment. My only excuse - and I'd be the first to admit it isn't a good one - is that I'd been on bad acid for three weeks straight when I wrote that. No apostrophe. No period. No pause. No let-up. Oh Lord.
posted by Decani at 4:24 PM on January 19, 2011


Mayor Curley is obviously a smart guy, and I thought his comments were often quite insightful. But his opinions could also be pretty hateful

Oh, cry me a fucking tsunami, Mr. Sensitive. Curley was at least ten times the man you are, and I don't even know you.
posted by Decani at 4:26 PM on January 19, 2011


One man's opinion, Decani? You're not much of a man to be judging other men.
posted by Rory Marinich at 4:30 PM on January 19, 2011


Oh, cry me a fucking tsunami, Mr. Sensitive. Curley was at least ten times the man you are, and I don't even know you.

Oh cut it the fuck out.
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:31 PM on January 19, 2011 [8 favorites]


Curley was at least ten times the man you are, and I don't even know you.

Seriously, what? Are you confused and think you're in Usenet circa 1993?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:33 PM on January 19, 2011 [7 favorites]


*Transmit schmoopy at 14.4k*
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:47 PM on January 19, 2011


Just to be crystal clear, we are not and were not turning a blind eye to any of it.

I didn't say I was rightfully upset with the mods. And metafilter, for the most part, has gotten much better in that area.

Users have to do that and for whatever reason people didn't do it to Mayor Curley and he declined to do it on the things that were making him so pissed off.

Water under the bridge, but I think metafilter has/had more members in NYC than the entire South (not counting texas/florida) so I'm not surprised there was little outcry. But i decided to simply ignore his over the top comments on those topics and those topics only. Worked better, for me, than angrily flagging them.
posted by justgary at 4:49 PM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


I think what some members might maybe try is to imagine that they have applied for a much-needed job, and then ask themselves if they would be comfortable if the search committee was automatically forwarded their comments about the other users here.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 4:55 PM on January 19, 2011


In the trade this is refered to as GREYMAIL, PareidoliaticBoy. Care to expand or is that just a thin denuntiatio.
posted by clavdivs at 5:06 PM on January 19, 2011


Seriously, what? Are you confused and think you're in Usenet circa 1993?

Or 8th grade study hall, circa whenever.
posted by jonmc at 5:11 PM on January 19, 2011


Oh cut it the fuck out.

Give the man a break - he's obviously coming down hard.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:12 PM on January 19, 2011


Sweet Jesus, I am so tired of this thinly disguised high-school level clique warfare bullshit.
posted by jonmc at 5:21 PM on January 19, 2011


and jonmc's hung over.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:27 PM on January 19, 2011


*gotta run, okonomiyake & seaweed salad await...
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:30 PM on January 19, 2011


the what now?

Everyone just dance it out
posted by The Whelk at 5:30 PM on January 19, 2011


You know who else was named Curly?
posted by Sailormom at 5:50 PM on January 19, 2011


delicious fries!

Wait no.
posted by The Whelk at 5:53 PM on January 19, 2011


I'd bet there are more members in the entire Southern Hemisphere than in NYC anyway.
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:03 PM on January 19, 2011


The solution would be to make any NYC-NYC favourites worth only 0.1
posted by UbuRoivas at 7:19 PM on January 19, 2011 [2 favorites]


get evanizer in here...
posted by clavdivs at 7:36 PM on January 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


on second thought...no, oh no.
oh god no.
posted by clavdivs at 7:40 PM on January 19, 2011


to make any NYC-NYC favourites worth only 0.1

I"M MELTING!

MELTING

MELTING

MELTING

OH

WHATA WORLD

WORLD

WORLD

posted by The Whelk at 7:41 PM on January 19, 2011


clav, I ran into ev not too long ago. he's doing ok.
posted by jonmc at 7:43 PM on January 19, 2011


YEAH, tell him i love him.
posted by clavdivs at 7:51 PM on January 19, 2011


That's weird. A guy I have never met tells another guy I have never met that he ran into a third guy I never met, and I am inexplicably happy at hearing that the third guy is doing ok.
posted by Curious Artificer at 8:11 PM on January 19, 2011 [7 favorites]


funny that.
;)
posted by clavdivs at 8:42 PM on January 19, 2011


If you can't play nice in the sandbox, get out of the sandbox and go sit in the corner for a while and think about what you did.

As for how they are in in real life? Most of us will never meet each other IRL. All we have to go on is what you choose to share here. If that makes you look like an ass, it isn't our fault.
posted by Cyrano at 9:02 PM on January 19, 2011 [2 favorites]


I miss The Straightener

Nooo I totally missed that!! When did he go? I'm missing him retroactively.
posted by sweetkid at 9:03 PM on January 19, 2011


When I air drum-total Vinny Appice mode.
I blame those Marimba lessons in 5th grade.
posted by clavdivs at 9:52 PM on January 19, 2011


define "our" here.
posted by clavdivs at 9:53 PM on January 19, 2011


I Imagine The Whelk 'air guitaring' in a lanky, yet cool Jimmy Page dragon shirt.
posted by clavdivs at 9:55 PM on January 19, 2011


{hand gesticulation}
by all means/the floor is yours.
posted by clavdivs at 10:25 PM on January 19, 2011


Seriously, what? Are you confused and think you're in Usenet circa 1993?

We could only wish it were so.

But don't worry. Kibo isn't dead, he only sleeps under the mountain until our hour of greatest need.
posted by Justinian at 11:46 PM on January 19, 2011


Back in 1993 I had a circa, she was nice to kids and circumspect around other of her species though most circa were mean or bullies around that time.
posted by vapidave at 12:49 AM on January 20, 2011


But the great thing about the preponderance of NYC people is that if you make fun of NYC you get an avalanche of freak-out.
posted by XMLicious at 3:09 AM on January 20, 2011


I miss The Straightener

Shit, me too. I was reading some thread the other day and wondering where he was.
posted by marxchivist at 4:22 AM on January 20, 2011


I miss Spencer For Hire.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 4:46 AM on January 20, 2011


XMLicious: "But the great thing about the preponderance of NYC people is that if you make fun of NYC you get an avalanche of freak-out"

What the fuck do you mean by THAT?
posted by Splunge at 4:58 AM on January 20, 2011 [2 favorites]


I miss The Gong Show.
posted by Sailormom at 5:30 AM on January 20, 2011 [1 favorite]


I miss Spencer For Hire.

That's "Spenser" with an "s."
posted by octobersurprise at 5:56 AM on January 20, 2011 [1 favorite]


Real S:FH fans identify themselves by spelling it with a C.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 6:20 AM on January 20, 2011


Meh, real fans just copy Avery Brooks' "SPENSAAH!"
posted by yerfatma at 7:30 AM on January 20, 2011 [2 favorites]


There is really no such thing as "leaving Metafilter." Removing your favorites, starting a Metatalk flameout thread, deactivating your account, writing what you perceive as a vitriolic parting shot on your profile page... none of these acts are as definitive as the people doing them want them to be.

You can't remove your comments, and you can't walk away from an argument in a way that's somehow so indignant as to be truly distinguishable from the actions of someone who just didn't have any more time to spend on the computer that day.

To purposely flame out, or to leave in such a way that someone will notice and cause others to notice, is a kind of play-suicide where you get to attend your own funeral, judge the eulogies, and decide whether or not you're going to grace the mourners with a resurrection.
posted by bingo at 8:00 AM on January 20, 2011 [10 favorites]


But the great thing about the preponderance of NYC people is that if you make fun of NYC you get an avalanche of freak-out.

Conversely, I will only freak out on you if you say Chicago-style pizza "isn't pizza".
posted by adamdschneider at 8:10 AM on January 20, 2011 [1 favorite]


But the great thing about the preponderance of NYC people is that if you make fun of NYC you get an avalanche of freak-out.

You don't even have to make fun of it, all you have to do is suggest that something in some other city is just as good as it is in NYC.

Watch this:

One time I got a good bagel in Boston.
posted by bondcliff at 8:32 AM on January 20, 2011 [3 favorites]


Mexican food is better in Chicago than it is in NYC.
posted by heyho at 10:05 AM on January 20, 2011 [3 favorites]


bondcliff, you tryin' to start something?

Everyone knows the best bagels are in Brookline.
posted by catlet at 10:27 AM on January 20, 2011


catlet, this one time I had a great bagel IN CENTRAL MICHIGAN. How's that grab ya?

My friend flew in from NYC, and bought them there that morning before his flight out.
posted by caution live frogs at 10:57 AM on January 20, 2011


not Pumpernicks i hope.
posted by clavdivs at 11:48 AM on January 20, 2011


you people i am doing the rodger rabbit shave-and-hairccut twitch over here
posted by The Whelk at 11:52 AM on January 20, 2011


there is an opening for the role of Nils Lofgren...
posted by clavdivs at 11:57 AM on January 20, 2011


Fun fact: Chicago-style "pizza" is actually known elsewhere as "quiche."
posted by Navelgazer at 12:34 PM on January 20, 2011 [3 favorites]


Fun fact: Chicago-style "pizza" is actually known elsewhere as "quiche."

ಠ_ಠ
posted by adamdschneider at 12:58 PM on January 20, 2011


you people i am doing the rodger rabbit shave-and-hairccut twitch over here

Would you please shut the fuck up? You're 100% noise!
posted by interrobang at 1:43 PM on January 20, 2011 [3 favorites]


At first I thought you must be quoting something, but it seems you're just being harsh. I didn't realize MetaTalk was generally so rich with signal.
posted by adamdschneider at 2:01 PM on January 20, 2011 [1 favorite]


you people i am doing the rodger rabbit shave-and-hairccut twitch over here

like Metachat with a lot of me me nonsense

So true.
posted by rocketman at 2:08 PM on January 20, 2011


> clav, I ran into ev not too long ago. he's doing ok.

I'm very glad to hear that. He was at my first meetup, and I wish he were still around. Give him my best as well if you see him.
posted by languagehat at 2:17 PM on January 20, 2011


Ugh I also miss The Straightener.

I love the fact that this site hasn't become some crap slideshow format that gives me 2 sentences and a fucking arrow button for "MORE!" with giant stock photography images of happy people taking up most of the center.

For a garden to produce fruit, it can take a lot of tending and pruning, with a watchful eye out for predators - and that's why I'm grateful for the mods here, always. You guys do NOT have an easy job.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 3:36 PM on January 20, 2011


You are a complete . . . »
posted by yerfatma at 6:14 PM on January 20, 2011


Would you please shut the fuck up? You're 100% noise!

From one that is less than 100% signal and understands a precious few of his references I think The Whelk is ok. His quips provide a clean fracture that allows me to realign.
I wouldn't like two of him here but I wouldn't like two of me or you either.
posted by vapidave at 9:20 PM on January 20, 2011


they have applied for a much-needed job, and [...] the search committee was automatically forwarded their comments

That basically happened to me once. It worked out okay, though.
posted by tangerine at 11:58 PM on January 20, 2011


I miss amberglow. The fundamental kind-heartedness shone through in every post.
posted by NeonSurge at 4:09 PM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


One man's opinion, Decani? You're not much of a man to be judging other men.
posted by Rory Marinich at 12:30 AM on January 20


Ooooh, buuurn, dude!

Christ on a bike.
posted by Decani at 12:15 PM on January 22, 2011


Oh cut it the fuck out.
posted by cortex at 12:31 AM on January 20 [7 favorites +] [!]

Seriously, what? Are you confused and think you're in Usenet circa 1993?
posted by jessamyn ★ at 12:33 AM on January 20


Get a sense of humour. The pair of you.
posted by Decani at 12:17 PM on January 22, 2011


Christ on a bike.

Oh that definitely needed to be Googled.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:08 PM on January 22, 2011


'This modern fear of words is not only pathetic and irrational, it is actually counter-productive. You give words extra force, power and attractiveness if you censor them. This stuff is so basic even a child can understand it; that's why "swearwords" are so attractive to children. Why are so many people now less smart than children about this stuff?
posted by Decani at 8:30 AM on January 13

heh, decani is funny bluster and i doubt a boor... and you seem biased towards people older then 45
stan.
you also tend to go for the easy hit which revels oh so much about you, seemingly.
posted by clavdivs at 1:19 PM on January 22, 2011


decani is funny bluster and i doubt a boor

Ah, but he said decani's bluster, the funniness of which is debatable, was boorish, not decani himself.

biased towards people older then 45

Let's be honest. They mostly smell funny.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 1:46 PM on January 22, 2011


Crazy Train Pat Boone

for Decani

get off the cross you kids, we need the wood
posted by clavdivs at 2:02 PM on January 22, 2011


or
Tom Jones - Burning Hell

some nice slide action goin on there
posted by clavdivs at 2:06 PM on January 22, 2011


A broken lens can

be a problem esp. when spotting for mortars because bad refraction is horrid.
posted by clavdivs at 2:09 PM on January 22, 2011


enjoy your day stan
posted by clavdivs at 2:09 PM on January 22, 2011


biased towards people older then 45

Let's be honest. They mostly smell funny.


Don't forget that they also hear rainbows and can taste sound at a concentration of 2*10–9.
posted by vapidave at 4:27 PM on January 22, 2011 [2 favorites]


any depiction of reality.

Reality is a vicious circle upon which no angle can be found for the purpose of justification.
posted by Sailormom at 8:08 PM on January 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


Decani: " ...so at the risk of misusing the grey, does anyone know why Mayor Curley, who is one of my all-time Mefi heroes, disabled his account? Did I miss something? "

Update: his account is active again. Welcome back, MC.
posted by zarq at 7:46 AM on February 8, 2011


What a drama queen.
posted by yerfatma at 8:04 AM on February 8, 2011


What a drama queen.

I know you guys are friends so perhaps you can just email this to Mayor Curley instead of dragging up old MetaTalk feuds with your word choice?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:53 AM on February 8, 2011 [1 favorite]


Did I hear somebody say Queen?
posted by Sailormom at 9:59 AM on February 8, 2011


More like Queen of Japan.
posted by dunkadunc at 10:11 AM on February 8, 2011


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