Just how international are we?

July 14, 2002 6:13 AM

Just how international are we?

It seems to me all the other well-known and popular American and European community weblogs and websites are far more parochial and North America-centred than MetaFilter. Not so with us. This makes, I think, all the difference. We have (off the top of my head and as far as I know) members from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Holland, india, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, The Philippines, Portugal, Scotland, Wales, Spain...and who knows what other countries?

So just how widely cast is the MetaFilter users' web?[Lurkers: Please break your vow of silence, just this once, if you possibly can!] Me, I suspect it spans the whole beautiful Planet...
posted by MiguelCardoso to MetaFilter-related at 6:13 AM (64 comments total)

i live here.
posted by quonsar at 7:02 AM on July 14, 2002

Poland.
posted by pracowity at 7:02 AM on July 14, 2002

Dallas, TX, U.S., N. America, Earth, Sol, Western Spiral Arm, Milky Way Galaxy

Why, when I read Miguel's intro to this thread, do I get the sinking feeling that this is a veiled mIRC-ish request for a/s/l? ..*shrug*
posted by ZachsMind at 7:06 AM on July 14, 2002

30/f/chicago's south side.
posted by macadamiaranch at 7:20 AM on July 14, 2002

Amstelveen, the Netherlands.
posted by rjs at 7:25 AM on July 14, 2002

Why do I get the sinking feeling that this is a veiled mIRC-ish request for a/s/l?

Oh come on, Zach! No age, no sex - in fact no U.S. or Canadian locations need apply. This is one thread for those of us who live abroad/overseas/not in the U.S.A or Canada. We all know how popular MetaFilter is in North America, thank you very much. ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:35 AM on July 14, 2002

You should have asked this question about six hours ago, Miguel. Now all the dang Platyrrhini are waking up.
posted by pracowity at 7:43 AM on July 14, 2002

Why do I get the sinking feeling that this is a veiled mIRC-ish request for a/s/l?

Because that's exactly what it is. I suspect Miguel must gauge his self-esteem based on the number of replies his messages receive. (And he wouldn't be alone in that failing.)
posted by crunchland at 8:04 AM on July 14, 2002

Tokyo. I don't care about Miguel's motives. It's an okay question to ask.
posted by dydecker at 8:46 AM on July 14, 2002

I'll speak up for the Russian blokes who apparently entered their usernames in some wonky charset: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 . . . and that barely scratches the surface.

They're all rather quiet, though.
posted by whatnotever at 9:14 AM on July 14, 2002

I'll be interested to read the responses.

I'm from British Columbia, part of the great future republic of Cascadia.
posted by timeistight at 9:46 AM on July 14, 2002

Wow, timistight. I heard a lot of talk about Acadia when my parents lived in Nova Scotia. But they're a bit behind you, by the looks of things. In sum *rubber stamp noise*: approved as a MeFi furriner!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:00 AM on July 14, 2002

PBC. Polish Born Canadian.
posted by mkn at 10:20 AM on July 14, 2002

whatnotever,
how do you say Pancakes in Russian?

posted by matteo at 10:33 AM on July 14, 2002

Well, at PROMT's online English/Russian translator, I get * for "pancake".

Not very helpful, is it?

*Apologies for in-lining an image, but I figured not everyone would have Cyrillic fonts installed.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:08 AM on July 14, 2002

I'm in Luxembourg, Europe.
posted by ckemp at 11:16 AM on July 14, 2002

I know there's a brit living in Chile also. Can't remember who exactly right now, and a search is little help. Just FYI.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:22 AM on July 14, 2002

Who cares why Miguel asks?
San Francisco
posted by emptyage at 11:53 AM on July 14, 2002

mr. crash davis, i give you:

kitties 'n pancakes!
posted by quonsar at 12:02 PM on July 14, 2002

Someone truly industrious could set up a database site for this. Call it MeFiUsers.com, or something more catchy and clever. Place a fair number of ads in the Textads on the front of Metafilter and then let people slowly enter geographic information about themselves.

Install a few nifty map and chart perl scripts that will display a world map with dots for every user, etc... and voila you'd have a much a better idea of just "international" MeFi is than to post a question on MetaTalk that could never, ever result in a satisfactory answer.
posted by stevis at 12:26 PM on July 14, 2002

The State of Jefferson which you really must visit one of these days.
posted by Mack Twain at 12:58 PM on July 14, 2002

51°30 N 2°30 W, give or take a minute. If you can't be bothered to look it up in the atlas, see my profile.
posted by rbrwr at 1:00 PM on July 14, 2002

It's Bristol, innit? Also the make of one of England's great, unaffordable motor cars.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 1:10 PM on July 14, 2002

Milwaukee, the one that's spelled correctly. It's just like Canada but farther south, and with very large festivals all summer long. You may remember it from such scandals as the All Star Game 2002 or Archbishop Gate.
posted by drezdn at 1:23 PM on July 14, 2002

Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
posted by dg at 6:53 PM on July 15, 2002

Oxford, UK (of 100% Irish extraction, but that's another post - eh, Miguel?)
(",)
posted by dash_slot- at 6:54 PM on July 15, 2002

It would take a far braver man than I am to launch an extraction post, dash_slot. Never mind the plea for exact percentages. This is clearly a job for a hundred-percenter, not for a 50/50 Anglo-Portuguese mutt like myself. ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:03 PM on July 15, 2002

mr. crash davis, i give you:

kitties 'n pancakes!


I'm not too sure about the "kitties" one (koshka is the only word I know for cat), but pancakes is pronounced "blinee" (that vowel is hard to explain in transliteration, it's a long "e" sound that's rolled in the throat).

I didn't know there were so many Russians here, though! It gives me hope! :)
posted by somethingotherthan at 7:20 PM on July 15, 2002

Graz, Austria.
posted by c3o at 7:27 PM on July 15, 2002

Does a Londoner with Scottish roots living in sunny Eastern WA count as international for the purposes of this exercise? *indecisively hovering over the map with my pin*
posted by normy at 7:32 PM on July 15, 2002

I am a lemur living untouched by time these many years in Madagascar. For those of you with a Risk board, that's part of Africa.
posted by Kafkaesque at 7:43 PM on July 15, 2002

sydney, orstrahleeah. [drop-ins welcome] :)
posted by elphTeq at 8:12 PM on July 15, 2002

Lemuria, until told otherwise.
posted by Dagobert at 8:49 PM on July 15, 2002

South Louisiana is like another country, or we like to think so... sometimes.
posted by mblandi at 8:50 PM on July 15, 2002

"...no U.S. or Canadian locations need apply." That's not very neighborly of you! Quick shout-out to all Ohioans.
posted by sadie01221975 at 9:12 PM on July 15, 2002

I live in a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind...
posted by jonmc at 9:12 PM on July 15, 2002

*in best almost-recently-assassinated Chirac accent*

Must you Yanks and Canucks dominate everything? You're but local colour. That's all. Deal with it. And please back away from this thread forthwith. You're not welcome here. :)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 9:28 PM on July 15, 2002

I live in a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind...

He is a MeFite from a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:47 PM on July 15, 2002

Same as Normy except for the climate and State
posted by Tarrama at 11:27 PM on July 15, 2002

Los Angeles via London, and impressed at just how cosmopolitan mefi is.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 12:10 AM on July 16, 2002

finland, where polar bears do not roam the streets.
posted by hannala at 12:44 AM on July 16, 2002

Sydney, Oz.
posted by cyniczny at 1:59 AM on July 16, 2002

chicago, north logan square. it's all about the corn on a stick slathered in mayo over here. don't ask.
posted by patricking at 2:37 AM on July 16, 2002

Brighton, UK

Draw a line directly south from London & Brighton is where it hits the sea. Words cannot do justice to how much fun it is to live here...
posted by i_cola at 2:39 AM on July 16, 2002

dublin, ireland. Words cannot do justice to how expensive it is to live here...
posted by kev23f at 2:58 AM on July 16, 2002

Rural New South Wales. I've just spent the day working in the garden under the beautiful winter sun.
posted by emf at 4:01 AM on July 16, 2002

I'm from the only country without a capital letter, why, miguel, why...? ;)
posted by bittennails at 5:37 AM on July 16, 2002

kev23f. talk to us new yorkers. I come to dublin several times a year. Can we have a get together?
posted by goneill at 7:07 AM on July 16, 2002

I'm from the Palliser Triangle, but now I live in the only county in the United States that contains a state capitol that is not the county seat.
posted by iceberg273 at 7:55 AM on July 16, 2002

(thinks to himself....what a wonderful world)
posted by clavdivs at 8:30 AM on July 16, 2002

West London.
Ealing.

and I don't - I say DO NOT wear Reebok Classics and gel my fringe down.
posted by Frasermoo at 9:10 AM on July 16, 2002

South West London.
Wimbledon.

and I do not run around in a pair of tiny khaki shorts wiggling my hyper-inflated breasts trying to take out members of the illuminati. Well, not often.
posted by Summer at 9:26 AM on July 16, 2002

Just down the road a piece from Poland. A short drive from Norway, and a bit farther yet from Paris.
posted by SteveInMaine at 10:32 AM on July 16, 2002

I'm from here, its near Newcastle UK.
posted by john_son at 11:35 AM on July 16, 2002

What a prize, what bliss it would be, to be able to offer Matt and his wife an open first-class ticket and six months free from work in order to call on all MetaFilter members and explore the best of their respective locations all around the world. Well, perhaps without actually having to meet us. ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 11:59 AM on July 16, 2002

I live in a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind...

Tubbs... listen to yourself!  You cannot trust this boy!  His mind has been corrupted by... colours and sounds and shapes.*

Oh, and it's Edinburgh, Scotland for me. I did Bristol, England for a while but this is where I hang my boots for the now.

*Very near bottom of page
posted by MUD at 12:01 PM on July 16, 2002

That's all very well, MUD, but are you local? [Thanks for the brilliant League of Gentleman script I have promptly stolen!]
posted by MiguelCardoso at 12:13 PM on July 16, 2002

I always imagine it's all about North Wales, from a Southern English perspective.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 12:15 PM on July 16, 2002

Santiago, Chile, though currently living in the Bay Area.
posted by signal at 12:43 PM on July 16, 2002

From a southern English perspective, I always imagined it as some in-bred enclave from North Lancashire, cut off from the modern world by the Pennines, and the revolting practices of the inhabitants.


No, that's Blackburn.


I'll get me coat.

(I love it really, and have all 3 LoG DVD's.)
posted by dash_slot- at 12:51 PM on July 16, 2002

It's basically any isolated little shithole with a British flavour, isn't it? Change the accent and the whole thing would work anywhere in the UK, though filming is done in Hadfield, Derbyshire.

Anyone who has seen the show but not heard the original radio version should track it down, as it contains some glorious sketches that wouldn't really have worked so well on the TV.

Anyway, weren't we having a meet-and-greet? Hi, my name's MUD and my interests are obscure and mighty. How do you do?
posted by MUD at 1:03 PM on July 16, 2002

There's an original radio version?

*gets down on his knees and thanks the day*
posted by MiguelCardoso at 1:30 PM on July 16, 2002

Born/raised in The One True Nation's Capital (Ottawa, ON), and currently living (for another month at least) in Waterloo, ON, home of the second-biggest Oktoberfest celebration in the world, and home of umm...the RIM Blackberry. That's about it.
posted by Succa at 1:53 PM on July 16, 2002

Chillin' in the Sandwich Isles.
posted by scottymac at 8:54 AM on July 17, 2002