Malicious AskMe

May 2, 2012 9:00 PM

This question seems to be asking us to come up with the most malicious gossip we can think up about somebody the OP doesn't really know very well. I don't think this is something we should be aiding and abetting.

To point out a couple of things that should be obvious:

If the OP was actually a friend of the person in question and had any real interest in finding out the actual reason, they could ask them.

The OP has made it clear in their responses in thread that they're not interested in reasonable or non-judgmental possible explanations.

I was friends with a couple who kept their relationship secret from the woman's parents for decades because this was the only way she could maintain the relationship and maintain a relationship with her family. (Yes, messed up situation, and other people might have handled it differently, but ...) I would hate to think of them being targeted by somebody like the OP.

I realize I'm not by any means the first person to be morally conflicted by a question on AskMe, and usually it comes with the territory. But I think it's reasonable to ask where we draw a line on questions that are so clearly 'help me harm someone'.

posted by nangar to Etiquette/Policy at 9:00 PM (131 comments total)

I think it's a leap to get from "sketchy seeming question" to "malicious" and I don't at all think that it's clear that the OP is looking to harm someone, at all.

I didn't like the question, it was a pain to moderate and the OP didn't really seem like they were looking for answers per se as opposed to justification for whatever their beliefs about the situation were. Their other question makes it really look like either this situation is somehow theirs or they are a not-disinterested third party (i.e. a current or potential girlfriend of the OP) or they have a strikingly similar thing going on in their own life.

That said, we've been keeping a pretty close eye on it and I see it as a valid, if flawed, question the became visibly much more flawed after a few comments by the OP (and a few more we removed).
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:06 PM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

It's chatfilter, asking what opinion you (the reader) hold about the person described in the question. There's nothing factual to answer.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:09 PM on May 2, 2012 [3 favorites]

It seemed to me that the OP has some angle that they are concealing, and that aspect makes me deeply uncomfortable with the question. I don't think malicious gossip is the issue. My concern when answering is that the OP might read approval of what he is doing/thinking/planning based on the responses that aren't answering whatever his real question is.
posted by J. Wilson at 9:14 PM on May 2, 2012

Wow, and seeing the OP's previous question really makes me uncomfortable.
posted by two lights above the sea at 9:18 PM on May 2, 2012 [5 favorites]

Somebody's getting played here, that's for sure.
posted by angrycat at 9:20 PM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

You think this is bad, I caught some of the OP's further comments.

No question, no answers possible. Chatty.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:22 PM on May 2, 2012

I took the question in good faith to be "Does this seem odd to you, based on the longtime but unmarried couples you know who use Facebook?" and answered it on that basis, but now I feel a bit used or something.
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:36 PM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

I can't even read that shit.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:37 PM on May 2, 2012 [4 favorites]

Wow. If I were a professional question taxonomist, I'd classify that midway between Chat and Clusterfuck. I'm sorry for the moderators on this one.
posted by Forktine at 9:39 PM on May 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

Yeah, this feels like even more egregious chatfilter than the "why does the number 7 exist" or whatever that mishegoss was last week.
posted by elizardbits at 9:40 PM on May 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

Yeah, discussing this just now on the mod list, and as it has developed in the discussion it really doesn't seem like anything Ask Metafilter can help with... we're essentially a third party twice removed, with no way to address either of the principals involved – so hypotheticalfilter, confusionfilter, chatfilter, yourguessisasgoodasminefilter. Nixed.
posted by taz (staff) at 9:42 PM on May 2, 2012 [3 favorites]

If I were a professional question taxonomist, I'd classify that midway between Chat and Clusterfuck.

What's in the middle, clusterchats or fucks? Some pro you would be.
posted by michaelh at 9:44 PM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Jessamyn comments in the original ask thread and here. Then Taz shows up with

hypotheticalfilter, confusionfilter, chatfilter, yourguessisasgoodasminefilter. Nixed.

Twist!
posted by andoatnp at 9:45 PM on May 2, 2012

Thanks, taz and other mods, happy to hear that.
posted by nangar at 9:46 PM on May 2, 2012

People are weird.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 9:48 PM on May 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

> Then Taz shows up with

hypotheticalfilter, confusionfilter, chatfilter, yourguessisasgoodasminefilter. Nixed.

Yeah. And with file extensions turned off, too.
posted by de at 9:50 PM on May 2, 2012

we discussed it, andoatnp. We try to squint at Ask Metafilter posts and see if there's an answerable question in there. When we're not sure, we sometimes wait and see how the thread pans out, if there are significant updates that clarify things, or if it resolves into a better question along the way, and whenever possible, discuss it among ourselves. All those things happened here.
posted by taz (staff) at 9:52 PM on May 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

Hey, won't you play, another, somebody done somebody wrong song.
posted by dirtdirt at 10:02 PM on May 2, 2012

The writing in those questions was exactly like that of a Nigerian spammer. Which is not to say that the poster is a scammer, just that maybe s/he could take a class at the Learning Annex.
posted by brina at 10:03 PM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

The username "whatrightdoihave2happiness," or something like that, gave the question an added weird dimension, When someone's fuckin' username sounds like a woe-is-me whinefest, and all their questions revolve around people with loooong relationships of dubious devotion and commitment, the whole thing just adds up to a freak show. Even if the question is ostensibly "not about them." Weird.
posted by jayder at 10:07 PM on May 2, 2012 [9 favorites]

Oh, I remember that (first, now only) question of the OP's. Yeesh.
posted by rtha at 10:09 PM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Relationship questions are what stopped me reading Ask MeFi. I know, I could just skip them, but I am... easily irritated, I guess, and drawn like a traffic-accident rubbernecker into paying attention to the very thing that irritates me.

Ah well. My loss, but I do find myself wishing sometimes that the relationships questions could just be toggled off wholesale or something.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:19 PM on May 2, 2012 [3 favorites]

I also realize that a lot of other people seem to love those kinds of questions immensely.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:21 PM on May 2, 2012

Wow. I'm torn between thinking that someone needs to stop trolling MeFi and feeling sad that someone so obviously in need of help is so incapable of expressing themselves that they can't even explain the problem in any coherent way.

stavros, can you configure MyAsk to sufficiently filter out the relationship questions? Personally, I read them avidly and give lots of advice to cover up the fact that I'm incapable of dealing with my own personal issues.
posted by dg at 10:23 PM on May 2, 2012 [9 favorites]

Eh, maybe, but it's all good. I spend too much damn time floating around here anyway. Heh.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:27 PM on May 2, 2012

dirtdirt: "Hey, won't you play, another, somebody done somebody wrong song."

Thanks for the freakin' earworm.
posted by deborah at 10:42 PM on May 2, 2012 [5 favorites]

deborah: " Thanks for the freakin' earworm."

Hush, my darling. Don't fear, my darling....
posted by zarq at 11:03 PM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Wow, out of context that inadvertently sounds really condescending. Sorry.
posted by zarq at 11:04 PM on May 2, 2012

I don't think that I can take it.






'Cause it took so long to make it.
posted by Sidhedevil at 11:12 PM on May 2, 2012 [4 favorites]

deborah: "dirtdirt: "Hey, won't you play, another, somebody done somebody wrong song."

Thanks for the freakin' earworm"

Especially since it's the Chipmunks Version that won't leave my head now arrrrgh
posted by barnacles at 11:13 PM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

aaaargh! Sidhedevil got me with that one. In retaliation, I'll just leave this here.

Sorry to go nuclear on your ass, but I'm afraid you deserve it.
posted by taz (staff) at 11:21 PM on May 2, 2012 [2 favorites]

" I also realize that a lot of other people seem to love those kinds of questions immensely."

Human relations AskMes and advice columns are my guilty pleasure. I am equally fascinated by the problems and solutions. Other things I like for the same reason include estate law (its the Dear Annual of the legal world!) , student discipline files, long and involved stories about my friends' crazy families ("I'm afraid I'm boring you ..." "NO YOU MUST TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED NEXT!"), working as a reporter on human interest stories, and novels. Basically I am the nosiest person on the planet about what goes on in other people's heads and I am constantly seeking socially acceptable outlets for my nosy voyeurism about other people's interior lives and close relationships, as I am too polite to ask most questions during normal social discourse.

That specific question made me uncomfortable, although like others I wasn't sure if I was irate it wasn't in good faith, or if it just was a sad situation.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:22 PM on May 2, 2012 [30 favorites]

and i'll never have the recipe agaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain great at least now i don't have "brandy" by looking glass stuck in my stupid head anymore
posted by palomar at 12:32 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Jesus, it got really evil in here really fast.

Taz, I am afraid my warhead is bigger than yours.
posted by gingerest at 12:45 AM on May 3, 2012

*Fumes; unloads both barrels.*
posted by taz (staff) at 1:02 AM on May 3, 2012

I've never heard that honey song. I'm enjoying it.
posted by BurnChao at 1:40 AM on May 3, 2012

That second Patches ... isn't ... bad. Is it just the comparison to the first one, do you think, or is it actually ... not bad?

Ye gods, though, Dickey Lee songs should be a controlled substance.
posted by gingerest at 2:00 AM on May 3, 2012

The second Patches is a classic, and definitely not bad... but it Will Worm Your Ear. That's the one at this point that I've got stuck on replay in my head. Someone needs to do something.
posted by taz (staff) at 2:36 AM on May 3, 2012

ok, you asked for it
posted by pyramid termite at 2:41 AM on May 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

i'll defend patches by clarence carter - i'll even defend macarthur park - but that bobby goldsboro song is an abomination

like this one

you're fortunate i have to go to work soon - my knowledge of godawful 60s and 70s pop should be regulated by the u n
posted by pyramid termite at 2:46 AM on May 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

After listening to some of your stuff on Mefi Music, Pyramid Termite, and then the "I've never been to me" above, I am now suffering massive cognative dissonance.
posted by marienbad at 3:09 AM on May 3, 2012

hypotheticalfilter

OMG that sounds like the coolest idea in ever! Can it be a new section of the site? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE?
posted by Chekhovian at 3:24 AM on May 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

Okay pyramid termite, you win the Worms... for now. for now.

Checkhovian, cortex actually did a blog like that for a while, though it's now gone to internet heaven where it plays and gambols in hypothetical lush fields and feasts on hypothetical manna.
posted by taz (staff) at 3:44 AM on May 3, 2012

I'll be MeFi elitist-sniffy and say, any question that's trying to parse relationships via Facebook taxonomy (or should I say physiognomy) is not even worth the screen it's typed on. That slice is not life.
posted by thinkpiece at 4:03 AM on May 3, 2012

I'm pretty sure I've voiced this opinion on Metafilter before, but this is the best version of Patches to me. It's also the first version I heard, thanks to my mother's bizarre obsession with records where country singers cover non-country songs. Seriously, who needs an entire album of country covers of Eagles songs?
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 4:03 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

The mashups have potential, tho.

"Oh, I'm proud to be an American,
Where at least I know I'm free.
'Cept at the Hotel California,
Where you can never leave.
And I won't forget the men who died
After they rang the maitre'd.
posted by zarq at 4:27 AM on May 3, 2012 [12 favorites]

*clears throat, takes breath*

"IIIIIIIIIII'm Henry the 8th I am,
Henry the 8th I am, I am,
I got married to the widow next door,
She's been married seven times before...."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:17 AM on May 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

I guess pyramid termite wins, because I clicked on one of his links and my computer crashed. True story.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:45 AM on May 3, 2012

stavrosthewonderchicken writes "Ah well. My loss, but I do find myself wishing sometimes that the relationships questions could just be toggled off wholesale or something."

I've thought about grooming this pony too. It's an inversion however you can use myAsk and just check everything but human relations.
posted by Mitheral at 5:55 AM on May 3, 2012

Haha, you fools. This was the last song I listened to before I left the house, I am immune to your earworming ways. Nothing's going to dislodge this fucker.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 6:22 AM on May 3, 2012

Knowing there are earworm links make me feel the same way I'd feel in a thread about goatse. Trading *very* carefully...
posted by jasper411 at 6:23 AM on May 3, 2012

I'm glad that questions like this one are nixed but I would probably really enjoy reading
hypotheticalfilter, confusionfilter, chatfilter, yourguessisasgoodasminefilter if anyone wants to start them up.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 6:23 AM on May 3, 2012 [5 favorites]

Good morning, America.
posted by griphus at 6:25 AM on May 3, 2012

I've never heard that honey song. I'm enjoying it.

Seek immediate medical attention for any Bobby Goldsboro enjoyment lasting more than . . . well, any of it.
posted by yerfatma at 6:30 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

I REGRET NOTHING
posted by elizardbits at 6:31 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

hypotheticalfilter might cease to exist if it were created. (paradoxfilter?)
posted by beryllium at 6:32 AM on May 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

Both the deleted and preceding question from WhatrightdoIhave2happiness use a really tortured 'hypothetical you' construction that makes it harder to parse and answer. It's perfectly reasonable to ask "what would you do in this situation" without writing the whole question in the second person.

I'm not sure "passive aggressive" is the exact term to describe this behavior, but it does make me feel that the OP is avoiding taking responsibility for his or her own actions.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 6:32 AM on May 3, 2012 [8 favorites]

Come on now - everyone know's the world's best (worst?) earworm is known as Dr. Worm (at least, when somebody else besides him calls him by his stage name).
posted by namewithoutwords at 6:38 AM on May 3, 2012 [6 favorites]

I dunno, guys, I'm listening to Space Station right now and the instant any of these putative worms shuts off I'm right back into smooth mid-tempo & ambient electronica and I am floating along in a sailplane just above the cloud deck and the sun is shining and it's sooooo pretty.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:44 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Can't we all just get along??
posted by dirtdirt at 6:50 AM on May 3, 2012

The second Patches is a classic

I thought you said Peaches and I was surprised people had gone in that particular direction since I'd never really thought of "Fuck The Pain Away" as an earworm exactly.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:52 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh, and: I love you so, I always will.
posted by dirtdirt at 6:54 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

This Peaches is something of an earworm.
posted by SpiffyRob at 6:57 AM on May 3, 2012

Malicious YouTube link, Maker of a Thousand Goths, Defender of Eternal Virginity.
posted by maudlin at 7:00 AM on May 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

I think this thread needs to be not only closed but quarantined, for the continuing survival of the MeTa posters. If too many more earworm links are posted, we are headed toward Ringu territory....
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:05 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

I've lived a life where I don't know most of these songs. I'm not sure if you should envy or pity me.
posted by cjorgensen at 7:21 AM on May 3, 2012

> What's in the middle, clusterchats or fucks?

chat
|            chat-chat-clusterfuck
|          +
|         +
|        +
|       +              ++ chat-clusterfuck
|      +            ++
|     +          ++
|    +        ++              
|   +      ++              ++++ clusterfuck-chat-clusterfuck
|  +    ++          +++++
|    ++      +++++
|      +++++
+---------------------------- clusterfuck

Like north-east.
posted by jfuller at 7:28 AM on May 3, 2012 [9 favorites]

Hence the classic Hitchcock thriller Chat By Chatclusterfuck.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:36 AM on May 3, 2012 [14 favorites]

And the nerd gathering, cluster by cluster-chat.
posted by subbes at 7:44 AM on May 3, 2012

And there's a climactic scene on a giant carved stone rage-face?
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:49 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

I dunno, guys, I'm listening to Space Station right now and the instant any of these putative worms shuts off I'm right back into smooth mid-tempo & ambient electronica and I am floating along in a sailplane just above the cloud deck and the sun is shining and it's sooooo pretty.

I've spent half the morning seeking out this happy land. I think I have found it, but in the interest of confirmation I am now admiring the Omega Station under the aegis of the Space Lounge Syndicate.
posted by winna at 7:59 AM on May 3, 2012

SpiffyRob: "This Peaches is something of an earworm."

As is this one.
posted by namewithoutwords at 8:18 AM on May 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'm listening to Esquivel right now, but my brain is insisting on a MacArthur Park mashup. Stupid brain.
posted by catlet at 8:21 AM on May 3, 2012

Also, you guys are talking about Peaches, right?
posted by catlet at 8:22 AM on May 3, 2012

winna, that's lovely. To be super specific, I was referring to this, which is what I listen to most of the time when I'm madly writing code like a mad thing like today.
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:30 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

I didn't see the deleted comments, but after reading the deleted question it sounds like he's fantasizing about creating a Facebook page that would show to the world he's not involved with his girlfriend, the one from his existing question, whom he still doesn't want to marry. All the details match ("he was your first and only boyfriend since high school, and you were neigbours so your parents knew him through the years growing up.", etc.).

It's amazing the hoops people will jump through just to avoid having one difficult conversation.
posted by Melismata at 8:31 AM on May 3, 2012 [15 favorites]

Dropped in to make the Stranglers comment myself, namewithoutwords. Well played.
posted by joe lisboa at 8:31 AM on May 3, 2012

Now I have three different songs vying for attention inside my brain.


I hate you all.
posted by patheral at 9:00 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Adults should be able to have enough willpower to not let inane repetitious music infest their headspace.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:03 AM on May 3, 2012

Nice try, but you people have nothing.
posted by Maisie at 9:20 AM on May 3, 2012

you brought this on yourselves
posted by elizardbits at 9:25 AM on May 3, 2012

Salt the earth, so that nothing may grow there again.
posted by shmegegge at 9:34 AM on May 3, 2012

That was low, shmegegge. Now y'all leave me no choice. Warning! NSFW
posted by patheral at 9:39 AM on May 3, 2012

Sorry, wrong callout, that was low, elizardbits. Low I tell you, low.
posted by patheral at 9:40 AM on May 3, 2012

Now we are all sons of bitches.
posted by griphus at 9:42 AM on May 3, 2012

Who needs This Is My Jam when I can get a MeTa playlist?
posted by CancerMan at 9:43 AM on May 3, 2012

Anyone want to start a TIMJ-style Twitter app called "Go Fuck Yourself"?
posted by griphus at 9:50 AM on May 3, 2012

What a strange game. The only winning move is not to play.
posted by Blasdelb at 10:20 AM on May 3, 2012 [4 favorites]

What a strange game. The only winning move is not to play.
posted by Blasdelb at 12:20 PM on May 3 [1 favorite −] [!]

But that's no fun...
posted by patheral at 10:34 AM on May 3, 2012

You didn't see this coming. Blam!
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:51 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is the new.
posted by Bookhouse at 11:24 AM on May 3, 2012

Can it be a new section of the site?

It already exists... in your mind.
posted by drezdn at 1:04 PM on May 3, 2012

None of these earworms can get to me because I'm too busy putting the lime in the coconut and drinking them both up.
posted by drezdn at 1:05 PM on May 3, 2012 [4 favorites]

Speaking of war games...
posted by patheral at 1:14 PM on May 3, 2012

The more I think about it, the more the OP looks like they might be looking for justification for their facebook page lacking pictures of their significant other.
posted by drezdn at 1:27 PM on May 3, 2012

Alternatively, the significant other from the first question posted the second question. It's all very weird.
posted by drezdn at 1:27 PM on May 3, 2012

I hate you all so very much right now. Just look what you made me do.
posted by Space Kitty at 1:38 PM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

None of these earworms can get to me because I'm too busy putting the lime in the coconut and drinking them both up.
posted by drezdn at 4:05 PM on May 3 [2 favorites +] [!]

That's rude.
posted by Maisie at 1:40 PM on May 3, 2012

Does WhatrightdoIhave2happiness know that there is a metatalk post pertaining to him? I didn't see a link in the deleted thread.
posted by futz at 2:30 PM on May 3, 2012

None of these earworms can get to me because I'm too busy putting the lime in the coconut and drinking them both up.

Obligatory Muppet video (one of my favorites)!
posted by Melismata at 2:31 PM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Muppets, eh?

Two can play at that game.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 2:38 PM on May 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'm uncomfortable with how some people are treating a member of our community. I agree both questions are odd but i believe the OP has stated they are homebound, obsessively thinking about their relationship and paranoid that their SO's family has enacted a large criminal conspiracy against them. I think the problems the OP has are beyond the assurance AskMe can offer but at the same time we don't have to be mean about it.
posted by saucysault at 2:44 PM on May 3, 2012 [4 favorites]

Oh you suck, palmcorder_yajna.
posted by Melismata at 2:44 PM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

*assistance, not assurance. I was in meeting discussing case law for seven hours straight. I think I have lost some brain cells
posted by saucysault at 2:45 PM on May 3, 2012

Is he a "member of our community"? So far he (I believe) has posted two AskMes, unless there have been others deleted, and all of his comments have been in them. "Let's talk about me, vaguely" isn't much of a basis for community membership.

Being mean isn't good, though, I agree.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:48 PM on May 3, 2012

wow.
posted by futz at 2:56 PM on May 3, 2012

Muppets, eh?

Two can play at that game.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 4:38 PM on May 3 [1 favorite +] [!]

Well, if you're gonna play dirty...
posted by patheral at 3:07 PM on May 3, 2012

gingerest: "Jesus, it got really evil in here really fast."

The evil is always close in MeTa. While it may be covered by a thin veil of civilisation and often hidden behind pictures of kittehs and talk of rainbows and unicorns, it's always there, just below the surface. Waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

When the time comes, you'll see. All of you.
posted by dg at 3:43 PM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh, you want annoying, Muppets, and earworms, eh?

Take that.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:46 PM on May 3, 2012

Harsh, Empress. Harsh.

After that, I think we all need a bit of a palette cleanser.

Cue epic keytar!
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 3:59 PM on May 3, 2012

The more I think about it, the more the OP looks like they might be looking for justification for their facebook page lacking pictures of their significant other.

My headcanon is that the OP is interested in the woman in this situation, and is looking for justifications for approaching her based on her partner's behavior on the Facebook.

I read the other question, and I am sad for the OP, but I was also a bit o_O that several months have passed and he still hasn't resolved the situation with his fiancee.

WhatrightdoIhavetohappiness, please get the help you need to move forward with your life so that your fiancee can move forward with hers! We wish you the best, but ultimately you're the only one who can find your own happiness.
posted by Sidhedevil at 4:13 PM on May 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

I just read the first question that WhatrightdoIhave2happiness posted.. WOW. However his second question relates to the first, I hope for the sake of the fiancée that he has already broken up with her. I am sorry for the everyone involved.

The way the question is phrased makes me uncomfortable as well.
posted by ichomp at 4:38 PM on May 3, 2012

My theory is that the OP is the guy, and wants us to say that of course his girlfriend is "on notice" based on his Facebook and therefore it's ok for him to cheat.

I don't like not taking people at their word, but he was clearly (I think even admittedly) hiding something.
posted by J. Wilson at 4:45 PM on May 3, 2012

After listening to some of your stuff on Mefi Music, Pyramid Termite, and then the "I've never been to me" above, I am now suffering massive cognative dissonance.

no one my age can help it - believe it or not, there was a time when you could listen to something like the who's "i can see for miles" and then have it followed up by something horrible like bobby goldsboro

yeah, the new hot record by eric clapton followed by paper lace

parliament's "flashlight" followed by charlene ...

if you wanted to listen to the good stuff, you also had to listen to CRAP

---

Oh, and: I love you so, I always will.

tsk - there's a better version of that, you know
posted by pyramid termite at 4:57 PM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

My theory is that the OP is the guy

I don't think so, because the guy in this question has a child, which doesn't seem to correspond to WhatrightdoIhavetohappiness's situation.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:03 PM on May 3, 2012

if you wanted to listen to the good stuff, you also had to listen to CRAP

I hear you, I hated sitting through Clapton and the Who just to hear the good stuff, but it did give me a more rounded musical background.
posted by bongo_x at 5:34 PM on May 3, 2012

well, bongo_x, i'll help you round out that musical background a bit more
posted by pyramid termite at 5:40 PM on May 3, 2012

Oh, you want your baby back, you say?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:44 PM on May 3, 2012

Oh, Empress, I hate you so much right now.
posted by davejay at 5:51 PM on May 3, 2012

no, she took off with the telephone man
posted by pyramid termite at 5:51 PM on May 3, 2012

Well, tell her to tell him there's something wrong with my line.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:04 PM on May 3, 2012

I know someone who can help you with that line, Empress.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 6:17 PM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Is it the operator?
posted by drinkyclown at 6:19 PM on May 3, 2012

I think I may need a smoother one, drinkyclown.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:25 PM on May 3, 2012

hello central, please give me 209
posted by pyramid termite at 6:44 PM on May 3, 2012

well, bongo_x, i'll help you round out that musical background a bit more

That was pretty amazing, and I can't believe I've never heard that before. It might even outshine the tale of a mine disaster I heard once
posted by bongo_x at 6:51 PM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Well, thanks everyone, for assembling the playlist for my first music swap. Enjoy!
posted by wallabear at 7:06 PM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

It might even outshine the tale of a mine disaster I heard once

ah, yes - did you know that was written by this guy?
posted by pyramid termite at 7:13 PM on May 3, 2012

Rupert Holmes, one of the most amazing songwriters ever? I did not.
posted by bongo_x at 7:20 PM on May 3, 2012

"Oh, I'm proud to be an American,
Where at least I know I'm free.
'Cept at the Hotel California,
Where you can never leave.
And I won't forget the men who died
After they rang the maitre'd.

I cannot be the only one who hears this:

"Oh, I'm proud to be an American,
Where at least I know I'm free.
To frolic in the autumn mists
In a land called Honah Lee..."
posted by biscotti at 12:29 PM on May 4, 2012 [7 favorites]

stop me if you think that you've heard this one before.

seriously, I'm on a phone and can't check all the earworm links
posted by zippy at 10:49 AM on May 5, 2012