MetaTalk Holiday Queue December 23, 2011 11:33 AM   Subscribe

Happy holidays everyone. As we did around US Thanksgiving, we're implementing a queue for MetaTalk posts over the next few days and then again around the new year.

MetaTalk posts will be queued starting this evening through December 26th and then again from the evening of the 30th until late on New Year's Day. This gives the mods a chance to have some family and friends time without worrying about a MetaTalk thread gathering angst. If something posted to the queue can be handled with a message to the mods it will be handled through email. If it requires community input it will be approved when at least a moderator or two are around and able to respond. Thanks.
posted by pb (staff) to Uptime at 11:33 AM (104 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite

Are we going to have another grar honeypot again too?

Happy holidays, one and all.
posted by griphus at 11:36 AM on December 23, 2011


No grar honeypot, because I'll be at fauxscot's place over the holiday season keeping a close eye on him.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:40 AM on December 23, 2011 [5 favorites]


When they outlaw complaining about moderation, only the moderators will complain.
That doesn't quite work. Or does it.
posted by Stagger Lee at 11:49 AM on December 23, 2011


There is no CABAL, but if there were, they might ask you to save the dickish behavior for your own family.
posted by iamabot at 11:59 AM on December 23, 2011


Tis the season to not drink and post, fa la la &c.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:05 PM on December 23, 2011 [2 favorites]


A (sincere, no-hamburger) happy holiday to you all.
posted by joe lisboa at 12:16 PM on December 23, 2011


Tis the season to not drink and post, fa la la &c.

Yoiu=='re doing it ronge,
posted by cjorgensen at 12:29 PM on December 23, 2011 [2 favorites]


Good. Y'all deserve time to enjoy the holidays!

Out of curiosity, will the queue be in effect for any other holidays?
posted by zarq at 12:33 PM on December 23, 2011


No problem, I'll just switch the drinking and drug use to the 26th. See you then!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:41 PM on December 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


No grar honeypot, because I'll be at fauxscot's place over the holiday season keeping a close eye on him.

Now that's what I call moderation
posted by infini at 1:01 PM on December 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


I know how I feel coming home after dealing with family over the holiday and sifting through my school inbox... I can't imagine coming home and dealing with a MetaTalk thread.

Have a good one, mods. Deck the halls, and whatnot.
posted by SNWidget at 1:21 PM on December 23, 2011


Have a great time, mods, you sure deserve it!
posted by DreamerFi at 1:23 PM on December 23, 2011


Out of curiosity, will the queue be in effect for any other holidays?

Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Years are really the two big things I can think of; we haven't discussed other specific holidays but we might go there if there's the expectation of general lack of mod availability (maybe Valentines Day? maybe July 4th?) and if there's going to be a specific non-holiday-related dip in availability we'd consider it then too, like if everybody happens to be AWOL for a weekend for some bit of coincidence or if we're all at SXSW together.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:25 PM on December 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


maybe July 4th?

hdu oppress the potential for a drunken rambly birthday post from me. J'ACCUSE!
posted by elizardbits at 1:37 PM on December 23, 2011


if we're all at SXSW together.

Yeah the first time where I thought "Gee this could be really useful" was when we were all at SXSW two years ago. There are the rare times, usually known about in advance, when we're going to have spottier coverage. In these cases we feel like it's a good idea to make sure stuff doesn't get out of control, so we're usually hyperaware of this and try to check the queue by phone and that sort of thing, but it's nice to know that MeTa threads won't be blowing up in our absence, particularly ones that might be avoidable with an email or ones that are just total trainwrecks. We don't plan to roll this out for any other holidays other than the US Thanksgiving/Xmas/New Years (I can point to specific fuckery that has happened on all those days in the past) but it sure does give us peace of mind on those days.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:54 PM on December 23, 2011


Sometimes You Have to Work On Christmas.
posted by Sailormom at 2:57 PM on December 23, 2011


Let's all take this time to talk about what Metafilter has given us.

I'm wearing a leather jacket and just finished my last meeting of the year, GET READY FOR THE HUGS PEOPLE
posted by The Whelk at 3:00 PM on December 23, 2011


Yeah, let's wait til the mods are asleep and then turn this into an unlikely heartwarming longboat schmoopy thread!
posted by Mngo at 3:11 PM on December 23, 2011


*****hhhhhhhhhuuuuuugggggggssssssssss*****
posted by The Whelk at 3:14 PM on December 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


My arms they are open
posted by Sailormom at 3:15 PM on December 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


With arms wiiiiide open
posted by The Whelk at 3:20 PM on December 23, 2011


I know I'm in the wrong thread, but the one I wanted to post in is closed:

I may be in the minority, but I REALLY like this evabraunstein person. That thread was the most fun I've had all week.
posted by coolguymichael at 3:27 PM on December 23, 2011


She's not banned or anything. Send her a note. Maybe you can be friends.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:29 PM on December 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


MODS ARE ASLEEP.

BE LIKE PONIES.
posted by mccarty.tim at 3:34 PM on December 23, 2011 [2 favorites]


Sing

Sing

SIIIIIIING

posted by The Whelk at 3:39 PM on December 23, 2011


What if all just promise to be good and not create mischief whilst the mods celebrate the holidays? We could all just sit around singing "Deck the Hall Monitors."







I kid. Happy holidays.
posted by 4ster at 4:22 PM on December 23, 2011


Metafilter: I can point to specific fuckery
posted by epersonae at 4:57 PM on December 23, 2011 [2 favorites]


But we need a metatalk thread for the kerst wishes!
posted by joost de vries at 5:36 PM on December 23, 2011


If the CABAL doesn't exist, then only the CABAL exists.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 5:48 PM on December 23, 2011


maybe Valentines Day?

If you need Valentines day off, we're doing something wrong.
posted by Meta Filter at 5:53 PM on December 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


Speaking of Valentine's Day
posted by Sailormom at 6:02 PM on December 23, 2011


You can find me on cabal.metafilter.com
posted by joost de vries at 6:07 PM on December 23, 2011


I mean, not find me.
Haha. Silly me.
posted by joost de vries at 6:08 PM on December 23, 2011


I thought that wasn't you
posted by Sailormom at 6:10 PM on December 23, 2011


I work in retail. These are not fucking holidays to me, thankyouverymuch. and fuck alla you customers.
posted by jonmc at 6:15 PM on December 23, 2011 [5 favorites]


On the other hand, COBOL is still used widely because a lot of institutions won't upgrade to more modern systems.
posted by hippybear at 6:18 PM on December 23, 2011


So, is this the part where we talk about what we're doing re: the holidays?

After checking in on my hydroponic garden (herbs are growing, basil smells like basil, catnip sprouted but has yet to attract any cats etc), I seem to have all the stuff in order to set up a smoker for making a turkey breast using a hotplate, two terra cotta pots, and a pan of apple woodchips, per Alton Brown. I'm going to see if it gets up to temp tomorrow. If it can do it properly, I'll smoke the turkey breast. Otherwise, I'll do it with charcoal or bake it. Leaning towards baking being Plan B.

One thing I'm worried about is that there are plastic bits on the hotplate that probably are better off not removed, but I'll do it outdoors over asphalt, so if it catches fire, it won't be a hazard to the house. I've heard of other people using this model just fine.

Also, for my birthday/Christmas cake (I got the Bogart birthday), I am having a Pink Lady cake. Shortly before going to a convention about ponies.
posted by mccarty.tim at 6:26 PM on December 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


I promise not to post while I'm drinking. No promises about commenting ... :)
posted by zomg at 6:35 PM on December 23, 2011


hydroponic garden? herbs growing? smoker? bake it? Bogart?

I sense a hidden message here.
posted by hippybear at 6:39 PM on December 23, 2011 [6 favorites]


I love that you guys have finally decided to do this. Should have been done years ago.

Speaking of years, my 10 year mefite anniversary is Monday! Where's LionIndex? I know s/he shares it with me too.
posted by chiababe at 6:42 PM on December 23, 2011


(actually some guy shopping in my store today smelled so strongly of weed, that I got cottonmouth just whiffing him as I passed. I was wearing this shirt today, too. I'm glad he didn't try to fucking devour me or I'd've had to kick some ass.
posted by jonmc at 6:44 PM on December 23, 2011


I sense a hidden message here.

Tim is our Helio, the bestest most honest person in the world.
posted by The Whelk at 6:45 PM on December 23, 2011


I have a real hard time recognizing the smell of weed. I'm like some sort of inverse drug-sniffer dog.
posted by subbes at 6:48 PM on December 23, 2011


<img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-2phCfA0bqU/TAKcL4R72dI/AAAAAAAABIQ/WQAhjQiT6do/s1600/winners_dont_use_drugs.png" />

But seriously, it's really a kitchen herb garden. When God said I couldn't grow herbs in the fall, I followed an Instructable to prove him wrong.
posted by mccarty.tim at 6:51 PM on December 23, 2011


So, is this the part where we talk about what we're doing re: the holidays?

We put pictures on ALL THE THINGS. Then, we shipped ALL THE THINGS. I intend to lie on my back for about four days, since that exceeds the number of days off I've had since thanksgiving. I would like an IV drip of nutrients and a freshly charged iPad every 12 hours so that I can play Solitaire or Angry Birds until the horror subsides and sleep finally comes.

I pray everyone's grievances are met with respect and requited with swift aplomb, and may all your Festivus poles stand tall.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:52 PM on December 23, 2011


But seriously, it's really a kitchen herb garden.

Yes, we'll keep that cover going for you. Whatever you need, man, we've got your back.
posted by hippybear at 7:01 PM on December 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


Dude you are so stoned you can't even post a pic properly. Let me help you out.
posted by Sailormom at 7:09 PM on December 23, 2011 [2 favorites]


You know you've been doing too many Sudukos when you're starting to have grudges against individual numbers.

Fucking fours.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:30 PM on December 23, 2011 [8 favorites]


1. I am my own father. And mother. My parents don't talk to each other.
2. My house has many mansions. All of the windows are painted shut.
3. I invented the ferris wheel. Then some genius attached those struts that hold it up in one place all the time. Jerk.
4. I'm a bird. I'm a bird. I'm a bird. I'm a bird.
5. I experience time backwards. That's why I can't remember your name.
6. Excessive flatulence gives me tasty baked beans.
7. My face no longer stops clocks. At least not the digital ones.
8. I invented a type of lawn dart with a rocket assist to be used on concrete pavement. They never really caught on.
9. I talk to animals. They understand me perfectly. But only my parrot replies. He won't tell me what's up with all the others, though.
10. I often do not take things seriously.

Blatant repost. Sue me.
posted by Splunge at 7:46 PM on December 23, 2011


11. I go 'round to the homes of children and stand on their lawns SEE HOW THEY LIKE IT
posted by subbes at 7:51 PM on December 23, 2011 [2 favorites]


Happy Holidays, everybody! Time to pour another joy to the world and tonic.
posted by It's Snowing Katey Sagal at 8:36 PM on December 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


Snow is better than rain any day. Welcome back, dude.
posted by gman at 8:45 PM on December 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


I'm bored, maybe I'll have a drink? I don't even want to really, that is how bored I am.
posted by Ad hominem at 8:48 PM on December 23, 2011


If you drink, I'll drink too. Just to keep you company, you understand.
posted by subbes at 8:55 PM on December 23, 2011


Well as long as it is a friendly drink, it would be rude to say no. Just a quick one though.
posted by Ad hominem at 8:59 PM on December 23, 2011


oh uh sorry i didn't hear you say when so i've poured you a yard of scotch
posted by subbes at 9:06 PM on December 23, 2011


Dammit I poured a water glass full of black label so I guess I'm going to be double fisting.
posted by Ad hominem at 9:08 PM on December 23, 2011


are we doing ten things you might not know cause I got a copy pasta ready
posted by The Whelk at 9:13 PM on December 23, 2011


So, okay the ten things repost

1.I, on the point of honor and for being stubborn, refused to have my teeth "corrected" as a child, crooked teeth pride.
2. I have however, seriously considered two minor plastic surgeries.
3. My father is quasi famous, but we've never talked.
4. In High school I excelled at two sports: Archery and fencing
5. Growing up, my dream was to be a Director. My life's goal is to finish at least one feature length film.
6. I have 4 uncles and 4 aunts.
7. I was a child actor but never broke into anything past local commercials and regional theater
8. I was kicked out of my dorm for knocking down a door by kicking it.
9. I have kneejerk antagonistic reactions to authority (see above)
10. The very first movie I ever saw was The Little Mermaid and it's my first clear memory.
posted by The Whelk at 9:14 PM on December 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


Ms. M & I just finished wrapping prezzies and we are about to eat cupcakes with struffoli on top.

Everyone have a great sandwich. xoxo.
posted by mintcake! at 9:31 PM on December 23, 2011


Thanks guys it's been fun, I got um.... another party to go to.

Hit me up on facebook and we'll grab a drink after the holidays when it is not so crazy.
posted by Ad hominem at 9:54 PM on December 23, 2011


Today would have been perfect for a ritual airing of grievances.
posted by Dr. Zira at 10:09 PM on December 23, 2011


Merry Christmas, everyone!

Especially to jonmc and anyone else in retail. I just got home.
posted by Curious Artificer at 11:17 PM on December 23, 2011


*raises 3 fingers of Laphroig with exactly 4 ice cubes*
posted by infini at 11:22 PM on December 23, 2011


I made a personal pact with myself that every time I had to go out into world this week, I would do my best to meet every human encounter with graciousness, patience, and kindness, and to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Really. Because it costs me nothing and means that I come home from Christmas gift and grocery shopping merely tired, and not actively furious at the world. I also thank retail employees for dealing with the madding crowds this week, because god damn am I happy they're open when I discover that nobody carries those little jellied fruit slices that I suddenly got a wild hair up my ass about having around on Christmas, and also we're out of tape.

I've been pretty good at holding to that. Even last night when I was at Toys Ya Us at 1 in the morning. But today, at the grocery store. . . man. I managed, but it was real work. It was like everyone in the whole store wanted to kill and eat everyone else in the place. It was SAVAGE up in there.

Tomorrow I make the oxtail stew that is the Christmas Eve Dinner of my People, and the onion and tomato confit and the cherry mustard for the charcuterie board (featuring home-cured meats this year!), and start the bagels for Christmas morning, and try to do as much as the prep for the turkey as possible since I have to leave my house at 10 in the morning and take everything to my friend's house to get the turkey in the oven there. Because she has the big table, you see. It'll be like Christmas always is around here, a little awkward and a little hyperactive and a lot of heartwarming and awesome. (And a lot of hard work, but let's push that under the mat for now.)
posted by KathrynT at 12:05 AM on December 24, 2011 [3 favorites]


I have a great idea for a brand of chips called "scurrilous snackusations."
posted by Rinku at 2:16 AM on December 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


Metatalk: Maybe you can be friends
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:01 AM on December 24, 2011


Silenced all my...oh hey, turkey!
posted by arcticseal at 3:03 AM on December 24, 2011


Happy holidays & hugs, peoples of the Blue.

Peace & Peace

Shmoop power!

Over and out.

posted by Skygazer at 3:14 AM on December 24, 2011


KatherynT, if I might ask, what sort of home cured meats? I'm smoking some salmon tomorrow, as well as seeing if my first attempt at curing my own ham has worked out or not.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:36 AM on December 24, 2011


Damn guys, sorry for puking in your crisper. Too much scotch.

I have a somewhat unintelligible yet charming story about smoked fish

My grandfather had a smokehouse. It was a wooden shack, looked like an outhouse. He used a hotplate and a couple of old frying pans filled with wood chips. After a few hours it would smoke so much people driving down the road would stop to see what was burning. One year we set it up in the middle of the backyard, hung some fish in there, set up some frying pans full of wood chips, ran a few 50 foot extension cords to the house and turned it on. We stood around for about 20 minutes until smoke started pouring from the smoker. Soon enough I hear my grandmother yell out the window "you better turn that off , it is going to catch on fire". My grandfather, never one to be challenged turned around and yelled back "no it won't, mind your own business". We stood there a few minutes regarding the smoker, smoke pouring from between the boards and figured all was good so we went in to watch his beloved Toronto blue jays on the tv.

I slept on the floor of the living room. During the night I woke up, hearing a strange roaring sound and saw light dancing on the ceiling. The smoker had burned to the ground. My grandparents didn't speak for a week, my grandmother was mad about the burned grass in the backyard and my grandfather was mad because he was certain my grandmother set his smoker on fire just to prove him wrong.
posted by Ad hominem at 6:30 AM on December 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


And that's why we don't eat smoked meats at Christmas, thank you.
posted by The Whelk at 8:23 AM on December 24, 2011


Today I had a smoke after I ate meat, does that count?
posted by infini at 8:43 AM on December 24, 2011


KY Intense: Set his smoker on fire
posted by mintcake! at 8:43 AM on December 24, 2011


I feel like shmoopy shoves hugbucket down further
posted by infini at 8:46 AM on December 24, 2011


Hug bucket hug bucket hug bucket!
posted by The Whelk at 8:47 AM on December 24, 2011 [2 favorites]


Tonight you will be visited by three ghosts, the ghost of Threadshitting Past, the ghost of Users Not Yet Banned and the Ghost of Grar yet to be....
posted by The Whelk at 8:48 AM on December 24, 2011 [4 favorites]


Today I had a smoke after I ate meat, does that count?

Only if the meal included a double-entreƩ.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:34 AM on December 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


Lamb chops with mash

*ponders deeper meanings*
posted by infini at 9:40 AM on December 24, 2011


*Squeezes Christmas out of The Whelk*
posted by hugbucket at 9:42 AM on December 24, 2011


*Passes more around in great dripping globs before disappearing back into the night*

*on a sleigh*

*pulled by raindear*
posted by hugbucket at 9:43 AM on December 24, 2011


oh dear
posted by subbes at 9:44 AM on December 24, 2011


*Squeezes Christmas out of The Whelk*

Thank goodness I have a short refractionary period.
posted by The Whelk at 9:57 AM on December 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


Ghidorah, I made salami and pepperoni about three weeks ago, and it's been curing in the pantry ever since. The pepperoni was actually ready a week ago, but the salami took longer to cure. The pepperoni at least was fucking delicious, I was really impressed with myself.
posted by KathrynT at 10:08 AM on December 24, 2011


That sounds awesome, KathrynT. I've been getting a great amount of use out of my smoker, but where we live in Japan is either crazy humid and hot, or cold but too dry, so I've been hesitant to try to do any dry curing. Some day, though, I really want to make a nice Spanish chorizo.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:13 PM on December 24, 2011


griphus

I just hope you understand that no *true* Scot would have written a call-out like that.
posted by The Confessor at 3:39 PM on December 24, 2011


There's enough culinary antics (and otherwise) here to justify a new sub-site...introducing SmokeMe.
posted by arcticseal at 4:23 PM on December 24, 2011


Not BiteMe?
posted by ctmf at 6:22 PM on December 24, 2011


This was settled ages ago. The site will be called EatMe.

Pretty please? Can we have it? I promise we'll be good! We could, y'know, even tithe to the mods for an okay. Imagine little boxes of whatever we make arriving at your doorstep!
posted by Ghidorah at 9:05 PM on December 24, 2011


EATME
posted by The Whelk at 9:15 PM on December 24, 2011


Eat Me!
posted by cmyk at 10:43 PM on December 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


What colour should it be?
posted by infini at 11:20 PM on December 24, 2011


Carmelized, of course.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:53 AM on December 25, 2011


The hotplate's thermostat's messing it up so for today I'm using the kettlegrill to smoke the turkey.

No big deal.

But I will make smoked bacon in the terra cotta smoker, probably.
posted by mccarty.tim at 7:25 AM on December 25, 2011


{{{{{{{{{Everyone!}}}}}}}}}
posted by Lynsey at 2:42 PM on December 25, 2011


I love you sick fucks very, very much.
posted by Pallas Athena at 10:14 PM on December 25, 2011


terra cotta smoker, no idea if there's bacon in there
posted by infini at 10:47 PM on December 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


Aloha, Chjababe, Monday will also be my 10th Metafilter birthday!
posted by scottymac at 12:07 AM on December 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


So, what happened with the queue in the end? MetaTalk had only one post each day and they were very white-bread. Did you defuse the other ones, or did no one post?
posted by smackfu at 10:40 AM on December 27, 2011


Nothing that didn't get approved, just a pretty sleepy holiday weekend.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:34 AM on December 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


I wonder if there was a chilling effect.

As in "I don't get to make an immediate Scene, so I might as well chill out."
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:59 AM on December 27, 2011


Lets start making plans for New Year's weekend
posted by infini at 4:51 PM on December 27, 2011


The trick is to get something long lasting and ugly started before they turn on the queuing system. Sure they can kill the thread, but the resulting "you-know-who-else-censored-threads-the-mods-at-hitlerfilter" should last half of January.

I propose that we resurrect a series of old controversial users and have them all flame out IN THE SAME THREAD. It will be like the third movie in a superhero franchise.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 5:04 PM on December 27, 2011


Lets have a shortlist ready by Friday
posted by infini at 5:11 PM on December 27, 2011


« Older A "staff" indicator for taz   |   Everyone's favorite band sucks. Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments