124: Happy New Year Call-In Show

It's a new year, and good riddance to the old; jessamyn and I do a shorter-than-usual version of our usual MeFi roundup podcast chatter, but the real star of this episode is the dozens of MeFites who called in to the podcast voicemail with greetings, memories of 2016, wishes for 2017, quotes, songs, baby and pet noises, and more. The episode alternates between chatter and strings of voicemail; it covers December 1st through January 2nd and runs about 90 minutes total.

• play
• pause
• stop
• min volume
• max volume

Helpful Links

Podcast Feed
Subscribe with iTunes
Direct mp3 download

Misc.
- 124 is a boring number and nobody cares.
- Although now that look at it the digits are a sequence of powers of 2 and that's kinda cool.
- Still, though.

Jobs
- Okay, fine:
- librarian thing
- math pal for dad

Projects
- 1958 Rambler Super Station Wagon Rebuild by hilaryjade
- Hocus Growcus by brecc
- Travels With Brindle by pxe2000
- xn--qeiaa.ws: Emoji Domain Registration by ph00dz
- Jingle Rock Bell music video by nickmark

MetaFilter
- Weather forecasts, uncensored by beagle
- Hopefully Fox Won't Take This One Down by BiggerJ
- The Gay Blade: An Independent Publication Serving the Gay Community by waninggibbon
- Musical Chord Progression Arpeggiator by Foci for Analysis
- Bhangra for the shoveling season by mandolin conspiracy
- My God, it's full of cake! by Uncle Ira
- Bee movie but by Etrigan (in which, cortex's regrets)
- but then: (this feels like the future I was promised) by MCMikeNamara
- here's my number (6.02210^23) so call me tasty by not_on_display
- Knots on Mars by dhruva

Ask MeFi
- What does "next weekend" mean? by Automocar
- To the Cross Stitch-ery! by forkisbetter
- How do I find the old BBC documentary The Mind Traveller? by just.good.enough
- usonian found their barber!
- What are some small things you can do to help service people? by amicamentis
- Gift ideas for a dude who likes weird things by banjo_and_the_pork
- Things to "collect" in a neighbourhood or place? Non-internet edition. by solarion
- Duvet sets, amirite? by orrnyereg

MetaTalk
- Fuckin' duvet covers: how do they work? by whimsicalnymph
- SSL Issues by restless_nomad

A big thanks to everyone who called in, whether for the podcast or just a private note: Wordshore, Eyebrow McGee's son, frenetic, eamondaly, hippybear, Johnny Wallflower, infinitewindow, rabbitrabbit, phunniemee, jazon, emelenjr, agatha_magatha, Fizz, carsonb, duffell and CatastropheWaitress and their baby Mabel, LobsterMitten and her nephews, valentinepig, not_on_display, jinjo, h00py, bookmammal, wheelieman, Samizdata, deludingmyself, Afroblanco, ellieBOA, jouke, yes I said yes I will yes, Devil's Advocate, JanetLand, Elly Vortex, jonmc, Stanczyk, grumpybear69, key_of_z, _Mona_, plinth, Fig, 80 cats in a dog suit, kimberussell, teponaztli, bondcliff, Ivan Fyodorovich, EM's son Isaac, my mother in law, mygothlaundry, 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a, yhbc, Hermione Granger, chococat, the wrong kind of cheese, dw, wallabear, Mike Mongo, Greg Nog, ocherdraco, a mysterious Virginian, Weeping_angel, Mrs. Pterodactyl and her anti-giggling baby, MonkeyToes and her pet sow, nickmark, insectosaurus and her pre-recorded baby, SillyShepard, mandolin conspiracy, Mchelly, EmpressCallipygos, knuckle tattoos, tracert, restless_nomad and her cat, mysterious kid saying butthead and poop poop poop, vespabelle, a surprise appearance by Monty Python's Flying Circus, It's Raining Florence Henderson, valetta, apartment dweller, MCMikeNamara, Songdog, and languagehat.

It was a bit of a zoo to work with all that audio, so I did my best to include y'all but big apologies if anything fell through the cracks. Lemme know and we can fix it up in the next one!

posted by cortex (staff) to MeFi Podcast at 5:35 PM (124 comments total)

You lied about editing that stuff out!
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 5:56 PM on January 3, 2017 [11 favorites]

I literally cannot tell if you didn't get that I was doing a bit or if I can't tell that you're still doing the bit.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:00 PM on January 3, 2017 [17 favorites]

922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a

I have to know: When 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a called, did they say "Hi, this is nine two two two five seven oh three three cee four a oh eff three cee ee cee dee bee dee eight one nine a four six dee six two six nine nine nine dee one a eff four a"?
posted by mudpuppie at 6:02 PM on January 3, 2017 [8 favorites]

When 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a called, did they say "Hi, this is nine two two

Yes. So so worth it.

I literally cannot tell if you didn't get that I was doing a bit or if I can't tell that you're still doing the bit.

I am often confused. And confusing! I did not know you were doing a bit, but now that I know that is what you were doing, well played.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 6:05 PM on January 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

Oooh! Wordshore! When you come to the eclipse we can meetup! I have reservations in Southern Illinois but an HOUR outside the eclipse area because I booked a year in advance and the eclipse area was already booked up, so annoying.

HOWWWWW did I miss knots on Mars the first time? Micro McGee will be SO happy.

Infinite high fives to 80 cats in a dog suit for the Spoon River Anthology shout out!

You all have such nice voices, I loved listening to everyone.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 6:39 PM on January 3, 2017 [4 favorites]

Hearing Wordshore, who sounds exactly like he is supposed to, relieves me of a weight I didn't know I was carrying.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 6:51 PM on January 3, 2017 [7 favorites]

*CRINGE*
posted by h00py at 6:55 PM on January 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

mysterious kid saying butthead and poop poop poop

Do we need another mod? Because I'd like to submit my vote...
posted by phunniemee at 7:07 PM on January 3, 2017 [12 favorites]

can we still call that number when we're lonely?
posted by AFABulous at 7:45 PM on January 3, 2017 [7 favorites]

h00py, don't cringe! I was coming in expressly to comment that I really loved hearing you sing that song.
posted by ocherdraco at 8:01 PM on January 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

So I asked Mini McGee, "Do you want to say something on Mr. Josh's podcast?" and he was like, "Yes! But what's a podcast?" I told him it was like a radio show but on the computer, like Netflix is for TV. But all he heard was "radio show" and now he's all, "Will Mr. Josh's radio show be on Mix 106.9?" which is the only radio station he knows because it's what his bus driver listens to on the bus. To compound matters, he built a homebrew FM radio after Christmas and is super-convinced he can find MetaFilter on Mix 106.9, which takes 20 excruciating minutes of scanning the Christian radio wasteland that is Peoria radio before you get the All-Taylor-Swift* station he prefers, and his homebrew radio DOES NOT tune in specific stations but just scans pretty randomly until it finds a signal.

Anyway it's making me glad that Micro McGee thinks I work for Amazon because the only two websites he knows are Netflix ("with the TV shows!") and Amazon ("Where you shop!") and he sorts all websites into one of those two categories, which are "video" and "not video"; obviously MetaFilter falls into the Amazon bucket as it is not video.

*I 100% approve of an All-Taylor-Swift station and may or may not have an iTunes playlist to that effect.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 8:06 PM on January 3, 2017 [17 favorites]

Just finished worked, will be listening to this as soon as I get home. Huzzah. <3
posted by Fizz at 8:08 PM on January 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

125 is a cube. DONE.
posted by maryr at 8:14 PM on January 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

I am really prepared for me to admit, publically, that I hate the way my voice sounds when recorded.

Yup it is that time.
posted by Samizdata at 8:34 PM on January 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

What a treat to hear so many MeeFytes! Wordshore needs to work on that accent—it's not quite all-American yet. Also, SillyShepard is listed but her message is missing?
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:36 PM on January 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

Having now finished the whole thing: I still love you all. ❤
posted by ocherdraco at 8:47 PM on January 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

(But I might love the kid saying poop the most. You got genuine belly laughs from me, kid!)
posted by ocherdraco at 8:48 PM on January 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

I cannot believe that I'm saying this, because I hate crowds and am afraid of people, but if anyone wants to plan a meet-Wordshore-at-the-Iowa-state-fair meetup, I might be in.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:53 PM on January 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

Poems: Good Bones by Maggie Smith & Poem 64 George Gray by Edgar Lee Masters.

Also, SillyShepard is listed but her message is missing?

Also mandolin conspiracy and ellie vortex called in but they're not listed.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 9:03 PM on January 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

Elly Vortex is listed, but I'm not seeing Mandolin Conspiracy. Also, I have been mispronouncing EllieBOA in my head and presumably incorrectly assuming that she had something to do with the Bank of America.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 9:08 PM on January 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

ar-PAY-gee-oh

hehehe
posted by in278s at 9:11 PM on January 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

Me and my pre-recorded baby didn't make it, but due to the magic of pre-recording, you can still enjoy his wee voice hailing "Metafiwter."
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 9:33 PM on January 3, 2017 [7 favorites]

can we still call that number when we're lonely?

You totally can, it doesn't cost me anything to keep the voicemail operating.

h00py, don't cringe! I was coming in expressly to comment that I really loved hearing you sing that song.

Ditto, it was one of my favorite bits. Couldn't resist repeating a bit at the end, I liked it that much. (I also really liked on the goofier end of things Elly Vortex's mid-song lyrical abandonment of Auld Lang Syne.)

Also, SillyShepard is listed but her message is missing?

Ah, that was one of a couple nice but-please-don't-podcast-this messages. And yeah, looks like I missed getting mando in the list there, will fix. It was a bit of a mess sorting everything out.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:37 PM on January 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

(Also I should note that that list is probably roughly in order but is almost certainly not exactly so because I moved a few things around during import and editing.)
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:39 PM on January 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

What a fun podcast! Really a delight to hear everyone's voices.

Next year I'll be sure to have the young 'uns throw a bunch of swears into the greeting :)
posted by wallabear at 9:43 PM on January 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

It was a bit of a mess sorting everything out

You've done a mod's job, sir.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:46 PM on January 3, 2017

Also, yes, having the list in order was helpful. Sometimes difficult to hear usernames due to audio variances & whatnot. Thanks.
posted by wallabear at 9:50 PM on January 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

This reminds me: is Mefites Choice a thing that's happening this year?
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 9:52 PM on January 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

"because I hate crowds and am afraid of people, but if anyone wants to plan a meet-Wordshore-at-the-Iowa-state-fair meetup, I might be in."

I say we make him come to a dive bar in the Quad Cities, because I too hate crowds and people!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 9:59 PM on January 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

My voice was not as horrible as I envisioned it being.
posted by Fizz at 10:06 PM on January 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

This reminds me: is Mefites Choice a thing that's happening this year?

We've mostly done it in December the last few years but we were pretty snowed under this time what with, well, everything. We're thinking about rebooting it as maybe a February or March event.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:13 PM on January 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

Also, I mentioned in the thread where we asked for calls in the first place that the transcription is pretty rough, and boy is it ever. Seems to have significant problems parsing all sorts of stuff, but of course usernames were sort of a special high-difficulty place to start each message transcription off.

But also it doesn't know what the hell to do with the site name. MetaFilter was transcribed variously as any of the following:

Maddie filter
Mary, filter
my filter
Meadow filter
Melissa, Hilton
Mendel filter
Minesh
Menna. Filter
matter filter
meadow felder
Mr. Fessler
Nephi
Ameet
better filter
met a filter
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:15 PM on January 3, 2017 [16 favorites]

My voice was not as horrible as I envisioned it being.

What's the audible imagining equivalent of envisioning something?

And I was thinking the same thing (outside of the cringing embarrassment of just blurting out the dumbest junk I could think of while cracked out on Mucinex) about my voice before realizing that my sinuses are still all gunked up and I am not hearing true-to-sound just like I wasn't using my real voice on the recording. Still think I should have gone with the Precious Roy pitch. =\
posted by carsonb at 10:29 PM on January 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

BUY MY VINTAGE CD-ROMS!
posted by carsonb at 10:30 PM on January 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

Oh my god, you guys! Even though I knew you are all pretty much American, you all have NZ accents when I read your comments in my head. And now it turns out you don't. This is super weird.
posted by lollusc at 10:31 PM on January 3, 2017 [23 favorites]

> Mr. Fessler

Someone please use this for a sockpuppet account!
posted by gingerbeer at 10:44 PM on January 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

Damn, lollusc, now I want a New Zealand accent!
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 10:46 PM on January 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

I'll just state here for the record, the folks here in the PNW of the US have no accent. None. Which makes listening to folk from elsewhere utterly charming.

Keep up the good work, you charming folk from elsewhere.
posted by wallabear at 10:49 PM on January 3, 2017 [4 favorites]

Even though I knew you are all pretty much American, you all have NZ accents when I read your comments in my head.

A dream fulfilled.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:56 PM on January 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

Cortex, now I want someone to start a rival site and call it BetterFilter.
posted by lollusc at 11:27 PM on January 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

I love that Mini McGee calls cortex "Mr. Josh."

h00py and Elly Vortex, I hope you'll consider posting on MeFi Music. And Elly Vortex, I once had to learn some (not all) of the words to Auld Lang Syne and one of my favorite phrases is "We'll take a cup of kindness, yet."

I'm super impressed by the quick turnaround on this, cortex. Listening made me smile, laugh, and even choke up at times. Heartfelt wishes, poems, songs, sighs, cheers, jokes... thanks to everyone for calling in. I know I'm in the right place when you're singing The Smiths, and quoting Edgar Lee Masters, and getting your pet sow to leave a voicemail, and of course, sharing love and gratitude for MeFi.
posted by rangefinder 1.4 at 11:45 PM on January 3, 2017 [4 favorites]

Well Mr. Cortex would just be silly!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 12:21 AM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

I pronounce carsonb, "cars, on B".

It never struck me that the B was silent.

But, "Car-son"? It's like you suddenly started speaking ufo language or something. "Car. Son." Get in the car, son! ha, ha.

No. Cars, on "B".

SUCKERS!!!!
posted by not_on_display at 12:30 AM on January 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

Is there another member by the name of Stan Chin? I think you meant to include Stańczyk instead, renowned poetry lover, and arguably the greatest fool of the 15th century. It's okay. People confuse me for Stan all the time. Like that time when the dry cleaner accidentally gave him my cap and bells and marotte and I got his cumberbund, collar, and cuffs. It happens.
posted by Stanczyk at 2:21 AM on January 4, 2017 [4 favorites]

{listens to podcast}
Oh heck, I am going to get such a phone bill for repeatedly drunk-dialing Los Alamos.
{lies in darkened room, listening to soothing music}
posted by Wordshore at 3:14 AM on January 4, 2017

It was really good to listen to the wide variety of MeFites, and their wide variety of viewpoints, hopes and literature (and collective agreement on 2016) in the podcast. Going to have a slower listen later on and put names - or, MeFite user names - to voices. I hope this becomes an annual thing.

Also, sorry for my long and rambling opening. Listening to it, about a third the way through I was hoping it would finish then. But it didn't.
posted by Wordshore at 4:17 AM on January 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

That was really fun. And I only misgendered a couple of you!
posted by Mchelly at 6:16 AM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

now I kind of want to set up a GV number and use it like PostSecrets but 1. surely that's been done and 2. that would get really depressing/disturbing very quickly
posted by AFABulous at 6:45 AM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

Oh lord. Yeah. Still sorry I teared up. In my defense I was in a huge room of three hundred cubicles completely alone on New Years Eve because life is hard, and my best friend is moving to Texas in January. But every one else is awesome. Especially the babies.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 6:46 AM on January 4, 2017 [9 favorites]

Halfway through listening to this. Great stuff! I love the mix of serious and jokey voice mails. I actually struggled for like a day trying to think of something interesting/witty to say (half my rejected ideas were about butt wiping... you're welcome) and eventually just said "screw it" and called without knowing what I was going to say.

And Jessamyn fucking called me out for not turning my Twitter account into a project. Does a Twitter account even count as a project? I thought projects had to be, you know, actual things that take effort.

This should totally be an annual thing. Or maybe there could be some sort of MeFi hotline where we could call and leave messages for any Mefites to listen to. I dunno. It was a successful experiment, in any event.
posted by bondcliff at 6:54 AM on January 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

I feel personally attacked by carsonb's admonishment. In retaliation, I say we pronounce his name with a silent 'c'. ARSE-one
posted by DigDoug at 7:07 AM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

Everyone who's feeling bad/embarrassed/disappointed by the message you left: please don't! Truly, they are all delightful. Wordshore: your rambliness is endearing and delightful (made all the more so by your addenda regarding aluminium and milk/tea order). 80 cats in a dog suit: you need not defend yourself for tearing up; it was what you were genuinely feeling at the time, and it reflects what many of us have been feeling in this most difficult of years.

Seriously, y'all, every single message was a joy to listen to.
posted by ocherdraco at 7:07 AM on January 4, 2017 [13 favorites]

Cortex and Jessamyn's reactions to the Jingle Rock Bell video were exactly what I was hoping people would get out of it when I posted it. I feel fulfilled.

half my rejected ideas were about butt wiping

I also considered discussing butt wiping and decided against it. Whether that was the right decision, only the future can tell.
posted by nickmark at 7:28 AM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

Damn, lollusc, now I want a New Zealand accent!

Repeat after me: "fush and chups."
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:31 AM on January 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

80 cats in a dog suit, your message was one of the highlights of the show. Thank you for your honesty and excellent taste in literature!
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:34 AM on January 4, 2017 [6 favorites]

Seriously, that was a lovely poem and I think a lot of us feel very very similar.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 7:40 AM on January 4, 2017 [6 favorites]

Spoon River Anthology is my favorite volume of poems, and I've given it as a gift for years. Highly recommend it.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 7:45 AM on January 4, 2017 [6 favorites]

Yeah, I think the mix of calls we got ranging from ebullient to commiserative to reflective to downright struggling to keep it together as the year finally ended was one of the best things about this. And I liked it all, but as parts mixed in with the whole the emotive stuff really stuck out for me: 80 cats in a dog suit, I thought your message was lovely and moving in its rawness; I mentioned already I loved the singing from h00py and Elly; tracert, yours really kinda got me in the gut, and I'm glad you're here and the site was here for you; bookmammal, I thought your summary of the value of this place during a hard year was especially nice even among the several excellent thoughts folks shared on that subject.

I like this place so much because y'all make me laugh, and make me think, but also because sometimes you make me feel as someone who's not always great at accessing his feelings. So don't apologize for a minute.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:08 AM on January 4, 2017 [9 favorites]

And yeah, looks like I missed getting mando in the list there, will fix.

Heh. My dropping of the phone between my last words and my attempt at a musical punchline for 2016 isn't as loud and clunky as I thought it was going to be.

It was awesome hearing from people!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:34 AM on January 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

80 cats in a dog suit, your message was one of the highlights of the show. Thank you for your honesty and excellent taste in literature!

Echoing that. They were all good/interesting (am working through a second listen), but 80 cats in a dog suit's was the one I applauded, and 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a's was the one I laughed loud enough to annoy the neighbor.
posted by Wordshore at 8:42 AM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

80 Cats in a Dog Suit, I also kept breaking into tears when I tried to read Maggie Smith's Good Bones. I actually practiced getting through it so I wouldn't do it on air, but I had so little faith in my ability to make it through without choking up that I recorded my contribution resulting in an almost inaudible recording of a recording. You couldn't hear my inner feelings but you also couldn't hear the words. I love the fact that poetry makes us feel so fucking hard that sometimes the feelings just burst right out of us like some endoparasitoid after the crew's final meal before re-entering stasis chambers. I do not, however, like showing anyone that inside my hard candy shell is a soft and gooey middle that's more prone to emotion than would fit in the delicate and finely-tuned mix of my professional and personal affectations. So I had no guts and you can't hear my poem and no one had to feel anything, and clearly my solution was the wrong one. You served poetry and the listeners much better than I did. Thanks.
posted by Stanczyk at 8:48 AM on January 4, 2017 [7 favorites]

MaryFilter revolves heavily around cats, stickers, molecular biology, and I don't know, sarcasm?
posted by maryr at 8:56 AM on January 4, 2017 [4 favorites]

Is there another member by the name of Stan Chin?

Oh my gosh, there is! And here's the peril of voicemail, trying to parse out usernames from with wide wide namespace of MeFi username possibilities, via dodgy audio and while ignoring the terrible false leads that the transcriptions were priming me with. I was surprised Stan Chin was calling (pleasantly! Call in some time, Stan!), and confused that he sorta choked on his own name, but I didn't have a better guess and so there it was!

Except it wasn't! Thanks for clarifying, and I'll amend the post accordingly.

Also, to give folks a glance at the transcription difficulties I keep going on about, here's how Google Voice transcribed your greeting and recitation. No line breaks in the original but I've added them to make it easier to diff against the actual poem as linked in your comment.

Hello Patrick here long time reader first time caller trying to returning at the end of the year after a bit of an extended absence glad to be back. I think I need you guys. I just wanted to share a quick phone a friend of mine up this year, and it helped me get through. What was by any measure it difficult year. I hope you find it is helpful advice.

Good bones
by Maggie Smith

life is short and keep this early trouble.
Life is short, and I'm short
9000 wishes. It would biased waves
doesn't deliciously ill advised ways
okay too much trouble. World is at least
50% terrible Manson conservative
estimate? So I'll keep this from my children.
For every bird there is a don't remembered.
Reverie Love child child broken that
second awake This is short notice
at least half terrible. Driving time
stranger as when is breaking.
And keep this from my children. Trying
to tell them the world. Any decent realtor
walking you through a real s*** hole trips on
about wooden boats? Place could be beautiful
alright. You can make this place beautiful.

So here's to making a more beautiful 27th.

posted by cortex (staff) at 9:16 AM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

Here's the poet herself reading (most of) it. Please note, she is indeed short.
posted by Stanczyk at 9:21 AM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

Is there another member by the name of Stan Chin?

How quickly the glories of yesteryear fade. ⭐
posted by briank at 9:38 AM on January 4, 2017 [8 favorites]

- 124 is a boring number and nobody cares.
- Although now that look at it the digits are a sequence of powers of 2 and that's kinda cool.
- Still, though.

The powers-of-2 thing will be more impressive and interesting when you bring it up in podcast #1248.*

*(in July 2110)
posted by Spathe Cadet at 9:46 AM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

Correction: September 2110.
posted by Spathe Cadet at 9:57 AM on January 4, 2017

Life is short, and I'm short

A common lament
posted by Going To Maine at 10:41 AM on January 4, 2017

Thanks for doing this; I don't usually listen to the podcasts, but I wanted to hear what my fellow MeFites sounded like, and it's a feast of varied voices. I also learned I was saying EmpressCallipygos wrong in my head (the accent is on "lip"), and the same goes for Ivan Fyodorovich (EYE-vun Fee-odo-ROW-vich), who says MeFite the right way, as does ocherdraco. Congrats to jinjo on a great new job and life looking up, JanetLand should make risotto for dinner (one pot, and you get to have arancini the next day), it was great to hear the gravelly voice of jonmc, I'm sorry Greg Nog got hit by a chevy, I learned about the username orrnyereg (it means "bridge of the nose" in Hungarian: orr 'bridge' + nyereg 'saddle'), and (to put on my editor's hat) mandolin conspiracy and tracert are out of order in the list and "Mrs. Pterodacytl" is misspelled.

I hadn't been planning to call in, but Songdog alerted me that the window was closing, so I thought "Why not?" and made the call, and there I am at the end of the podcast, followed only by a reprise of h00py's lovely song. Let's do it again next year!
posted by languagehat at 11:09 AM on January 4, 2017 [8 favorites]

Wow 80 cats in a dog suit just did me in. My heart is bigger and more present and filling with love. And I am crying and happy at the same time. We can do it. Keep up the good work.
posted by Mike Mongo at 11:12 AM on January 4, 2017 [5 favorites]

Is the Preggyfilter link kind of dangling without any content in the podcast that refers to it? (It was kind of a rough metatalk, so totally understandable if so...) Maybe it was earlier in the podcast & not between the duvet discussion & the SSL issues & you’ve just sorted the links by subsite rather than by running order? Possibly I missed it, which is totally possible due to not paying 100% attention at all times during the podcast...
posted by pharm at 12:37 PM on January 4, 2017

iirc, I dropped it into our Skype chat and said something like "There is no way I am mentioning THIS" over chat. I do not think we mentioned it out loud at all.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 1:01 PM on January 4, 2017

Heh, yeah, I declined to mention that thread as well since it was kind of a thing. I didn't notice Jess had pasted the link, so didn't look to delete it from the raw url dump that I use these day (god bless pb) to mostly auto-generate the link roundup during post assembly. Obviously it's on MetaTalk so it's not a secret or anything, but in the interest of not blindly leading people down an odd path I'll pull it out of the writeup.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:27 PM on January 4, 2017

> orr 'bridge'

Argh, I meant orr 'nose'! To any Hungarians out there: nagyon sajnálom!
posted by languagehat at 2:03 PM on January 4, 2017

> I'll pull it out of the writeup.

I notice you didn't fix "Mrs. Pterodacytl." What have you got against Mrs. Pterodactyl?
posted by languagehat at 2:06 PM on January 4, 2017

It's so much fun to hear everyone! It's such a nice thing to be able to put voices to usernames. I'm gutted now that I was too shy and chickened out. cortex if it's free to keep the vm running, could I suggest that we can ring it when the fancy takes us and each podcast you randomly select a few messages to include, the way you have snippets of MeFi music tracks? I'd love this to be a regular thing but maybe it's too much extra work?
posted by billiebee at 2:42 PM on January 4, 2017 [9 favorites]

"I'm pretty good with the real world, but I wanna do better." You and me both, jessamyn.
posted by limeonaire at 3:06 PM on January 4, 2017 [6 favorites]

I have yet to listen to the podcast, but keep in mind that I have a motherfucker of a sore throat that's been at me for almost a week, making me sound like death.
posted by jonmc at 3:13 PM on January 4, 2017

Following on billiebee's comment above - what if there was a voicemail option every month for people to call in and comment on their favourite thread of the month and why they thought it was great or interesting?

This would allow some user voices to be included in the discussion on the podcast on a regular basis.

This could look like, say, two or three comments from users on their fave Metafilter thread in each podcast, with some brief guidelines (e.g., keep it under three minutes, make sure you cite the date/thread title/user name of the person who made the FPP, and what you liked or thought was interesting about the topic and/or points that came up in the thread).

This should include an email option for that commentary to be submitted in writing to be read on the podcast. This would be for people who don't have the money to spend on the long distance, who have difficulty speaking or are Deaf, or who would prefer not to have their voice recorded.

To avoid too much material to sift through each month, maybe open this up for three or four days at a logical point in the month preceding the production of the podcast.

And/or - based on Projects, contact those users and have them give a brief spiel about their project and what they're up to using the methods described above.

These are just my thoughts on that, and I do realize there's a lot of behind-the-scenes work collecting the content that would go into something like this, editorial decisions, avoiding the perception that someone was excluded even though they submitted something, etc.

I'm just thinking out loud on how to get more user interaction on the podcast. There are certainly folks who are infrequent posters or who mainly just lurk and like reading stuff on the site, and it would be interesting to hear their take on stuff too.

Anyway, just throwing this out there.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:10 PM on January 4, 2017 [7 favorites]

jonmc, I just assumed the bathroom at the Strand had, uh, interesting acoustics.
posted by ocherdraco at 4:12 PM on January 4, 2017

This was great, so good to hear everyone's voices, and you all left such nice messages!

I'm impatient, and if anyone else is like me, here are approximate times of the user message sections and I think, the people who appear:

0:12 - 0:15
Wordshore, one of the little McGees, frenetic/bradsucks, eamondaly, Johnny Wallflower, infinitewindow, rabbitrabbit, Wordshore, phunniemee, jazon, emelenjr, agathamagatha

0:23 - 0:32
Fizz, carsonb, duffell and CatastropheWaitress and baby, LM's nephews (and their Chewbacca jammies), valentinepig, not on display, jingo, h00py, bookmammal, wheelieman, Samizdata, h00py sings!

0:47 - 0:54
little child!, deludingmyself, Afroblanco, ellieBOA, jouke, Wordshore, [please hold the line], yes I said yes I will yes, Devil's Advocate, JanetLand, jonmc, Elly Vortex, Stanczyk (poem!), mandolin conspiracy, grumpybear69, key_of_z, Elly Vortex sings!

1:03 - 1:14
_Mona_, plinth, Fig, 80 cats in a dog suit (poem!), kimberussell, teponaztli, bondcliff, Ivan Fyodorovich, little McGee 2, amil (Josh's mil), mygothlaundry, 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a, yhbc, Hermione Granger, chococat, the wrong kind of cheese, dw, wallabear, Mike Mongo, Greg Nog

1:23 - end (1:36)
ocherdraco, [readings and quotes and a positive comment about my profile! thanks!] from a mysterious Virginian, Weeping_angel, Mrs. Pterodactyl and Bulgaroktonos and anti-giggling baby, MonkeyToes and her pet sow, nickmark, insectosaurus and her pre-recorded baby, Mchelly, EmpressCallipygos, knuckle tattoos, restless_nomad and her cat, tracert, vespabelle, mysterious kid saying butthead, a surprise appearance by Monty Python's Flying Circus, It's Raining Florence Henderson, valetta, that kid saying poop poop poop, apartment dweller, MCMikeNamara, Songdog, languagehat, h00py encore!


Here's a transcript of my bit since it's hard to hear (it was really loud in the room, but apparently that didn't come through in the recording):

Q: Ok I want you to say, really loud, can you tell me what Chewbacca says?
A: WAAWRWWH!
A: CHEWBACCA!
Q: And what do people say *about* Chewbacca?
A: WHAT A WOOKIEE!
A: CHEWBACCA!

I should've included a Happy New Year, Mefi! message in there but I hope it's implicit -- may we all find reasons for joy in this new year like the joy of little children with Star Wars jammies.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 4:15 PM on January 4, 2017 [18 favorites]

Ahhh carsonb, as regards your message: Whatever man. I've been keeping the MeFiSwap spirit alive over in ye olde quonsmas thread, so there. I even made a new mix a month ago! Can't keep me down. <3

Also, not_on_display, my goal is to actually post some more nonsense to MeFi Music this year, and I'd love it if you'd comment once I do. <3

"Don't give up now. There'll be plenty of time to give up later." Amen.

But whoa, 80 Cats in a Dog Suit! What...even...what.... "George Gray"! Did you read that after the quonsmas thread? Or is that just what you most wanted to tell the world? Because...yes. That's what I sent out into the world. Dry your tears! I'll dry mine! The feeling is <3!

I think I gotta pause listening to this podcast for a bit after that. Wow.
posted by limeonaire at 5:01 PM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

[read the back scroll] Wow. Such synchronicity, 80 Cats in a Dog Suit. I hadn't even noticed above where you were talking about buying Spoon River Anthology for people too, and jessamyn linked to "George Gray." So it was just such an amazing surprise.
posted by limeonaire at 5:17 PM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

And so, several hours after I started listening to this, while doing laundry and ripping CDs, I've finished listening. You all are so lovely.
posted by limeonaire at 6:46 PM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

My listening experience: laid down in bed last night and listened to it. 80 Cats in a Dog Suit made me cry. Then I was lulled off to bed by the lovely h00py outro.

I felt like those were all the words I needed to face the next day.

Thanks all!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:53 PM on January 4, 2017 [4 favorites]

Mr. Mitten is aghast at the idea that there's nothing interesting about 124; "but it's (5-1) x ((2^5)-1)!" he protests.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 7:31 PM on January 4, 2017 [5 favorites]

And 1+2+4 = 7, which is lovely too.
posted by limeonaire at 7:33 PM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

Jessamyn talking about her car not being inspected reminded me of once when I got pulled over. I knew I'd been doing the speed limit (for once), so I had no idea why I'd been stopped.

The cop came up to my window and asked me if I knew my registration was out of date. I started arguing - respectfully-ish - that no it wasn't, it was good until the end of the month...until he pointed out that it was already a few days into the FOLLOWING month. At that point I looked straight into the cop's eyes and said, "I am an idiot. How much is this going to cost me?" He laughed, told me to just take care of it soon and to have a good evening.

Needless to say I took care of it the next day.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:35 PM on January 4, 2017 [7 favorites]

JanetLand, I enjoy this soy dijon pork loin with roasted root vegetables.
posted by Secretariat at 7:37 PM on January 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

Metafilter: What. Are. You. Doing. Why are you so weird?

(Inspired by Mrs. Pterodactyl, whose name is still misspelled in the post)
posted by Secretariat at 7:51 PM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

Fixed!
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:02 PM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

I'll nth the sentiments above for everyone who read a poem or a quotation: I'm really glad you did.

I do not, however, like showing anyone that inside my hard candy shell is a soft and gooey middle

Stanczyk, I am glad you called in with your reading. Whenever poetry (and art in general) genuinely moves us in a way that affects us deeply, e.g. it helps us get through something, or helps us understand something a little better, or helps us feel not so alone, I think it is a gift. So thanks to everyone for sharing those gifts with us.

80 Cats in a Dog Suit, references to Spoon River Anthology always catch my eye because I was first introduced to it via The Hill, which is a great album from Richard Buckner (one of my favorite singer/songwriters); the entire album is devoted to selected poems from the anthology, set to his music (alas George Gray isn't one of them).

And tracert, thanks for telling your story. FWIW I think your username is cool because a long time ago when I started to work with dev teams, I was fortunate to work with a wonderful sysadmin who (among many other useful things) taught me the tracert command, which I still use today. So seeing your username reminds me of fond memories.
posted by rangefinder 1.4 at 9:11 PM on January 4, 2017 [4 favorites]

I literally cannot tell if you didn't get that I was doing a bit or if I can't tell that you're still doing the bit.

This is why I love the podcast so much.
posted by fomhar at 10:20 PM on January 4, 2017 [3 favorites]

Whoa, made the podcast! Achievement unlocked!
posted by dhruva at 10:22 PM on January 4, 2017 [7 favorites]

I live not too far from the Spoon River (Peoria is mentioned in the poems several times!) and I have always thought if I was going to buy apocalypse property it'd be along the Spoon River. It's good farmland, good hunting land, good water that's unlikely to dry up, and it'd please me to spend the apocalypse on a farm with literary connections. Because WHY NOT spend your apocalypse in literary style?
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 11:05 PM on January 4, 2017 [6 favorites]

Metafilter, dear Metafilter, what the world needs now ... is people like you.

All these voices and messages were like the beginnings of conversations I would have liked to continue. I listened twice, at 2am this morning (when I was about to go to bed but then I noticed the podcast-of-dozens was up and I couldn't not play it) and again this afternoon. Got me brimming with affection and bonhomie both times. It's been a good day. In between listens some friends from long ago and far away called in on their way home from somewhere else and it was all glorious catch-up and reminisce.

Shoutout to ocherdraco, the one voice here that I have heard before, at that Sydney meetup some time ago - hi, good to hear you're doing ok.
posted by valetta at 11:35 PM on January 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

Even if cd swaps are over forever, surely we can have ( npm http-server / python -m SimpleHTTPServer ) + ngrok directory swaps. It’s practically the same thing!

Or maybe USB key swaps?
posted by Going To Maine at 12:11 AM on January 5, 2017 [3 favorites]

I'm sad I couldn't get myself together to say something, you lovely people are all holding me together. It's nice to hear so many of you!
posted by ChuraChura at 5:50 AM on January 5, 2017 [3 favorites]

Or maybe USB key swaps?

I see what you did there.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:20 PM on January 5, 2017

OMG, the voicemails! They are the best.
posted by mochapickle at 3:34 PM on January 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

Just stepping in to thank you for this. It was a nice end to a weirdly good-bad couple of weeks.

Also I am here for all Quad City dive bars and Spoon River Anthology meetups or discussions because MY ROOTS SHOULD BE ACKNOWLEDGED AND CELEBRATED.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:59 PM on January 5, 2017 [5 favorites]

I started recording a message four different times and then finally just ran out of time. Oh well.

Super cool to listen to this episode, so wonderful to hear all the various voices and accents. I am shocked and dismayed by how many people were gendered other than my assumption based on their username. I'd say this is a fault of the patriarchy, but I was wrong both ways for completely unconscious reasons, so at least I wasn't doing that "well, anyone who can use a computer MUST be a guy thing" which is still prevalent in other internet spaces.

I hope the voice line becomes a thing that gets used more often in ways that were suggested upthread and in ways we haven't imagined yet. This was excellent.
posted by hippybear at 9:59 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]

*buys some feeding plant stakes to put near MCMikeNamara's roots, perhaps he'll blossom and fruit this year*
posted by hippybear at 10:01 AM on January 6, 2017 [1 favorite]

Ok so I have finally finished listening to the whole podcast and as someone who listens to all the podcasts I am overjoyed to hear my message!

ArbitraryandCapricious my username comes from an old dance music forum called DontStayIn where our group was called Back Once Again!
posted by ellieBOA at 1:39 PM on January 6, 2017 [3 favorites]

well you people on this podcast made me cry on an airplane two goddamn times so good job all of you jerks

also I laughed on the airplane a bunch of times

me and this podcast brought a lot of emotions onto that fuckin airplane i guess in hindsight so sorry seatmates i am not always like this on the airplane
posted by churl at 10:20 PM on January 7, 2017 [7 favorites]

I can't ever participate in a call-in because half of my enjoyment of being mentioned on the podcast is hearing jessamyn working through how to pronounce "Etrigan" every time.
posted by Etrigan at 5:50 AM on January 8, 2017 [3 favorites]

Even if cd swaps are over forever, surely we can have ( npm http-server / python -m SimpleHTTPServer ) + ngrok directory swaps. It’s practically the same thing!

Dumb proof of concept: go to http://86596ab7.ngrok.io for a copy of a slightly-improved-Project-Gutenberg-ebook of Spoon River Anthology (for a little while at least).
posted by Going To Maine at 12:59 PM on January 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

Just finished listening to the podcast. It was delightful. I feel like I've been looking through a box of old postcards. Thanks everyone for making this place great.
posted by compartment at 4:39 PM on January 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

80 Cats in a Dog Suit, that was an incredible recital you did and I would have been a complete blubbering mess hearing it if I hadn't read the comments beforehand and known that something special was coming. What a poem. Thank you.
posted by Quilford at 3:25 AM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

It's shocking eh?

(Soary for the easy joke)

(It's all aboat love)
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:27 AM on January 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

Oh, speaking of Canada and this podcast - just noticed that the thread jessamyn and hurdy gurdy girl were going to post right when I did has another great comment: gusandrews posted a fantastic link to a sabar dancing video.

The Maritime Bhangra Group also put out Christmas Bhangra video.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:46 PM on January 9, 2017

Finally got to the part of the podcast where I could hear myself and phunniemee, you were right -- that doesn't sound like me at all. (I thought it was going to be because I was at work so was using my 'work voice' but that's not it at all.)

Thank you everyone for your contributions this month. It was very special in the best ways.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:28 AM on January 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

Finally got to listen to the end. I thought I couldn't love you people any more but I was wrong. Can someone please let me know when the great big MetaFilter house is going to be built so we can all live together forever and ever? Seriously, you all are just the best.
posted by billiebee at 10:30 AM on January 11, 2017 [6 favorites]

Did fanscribed go under?
posted by cjorgensen at 9:45 AM on January 13, 2017

No- it's just that the transcription for each podcast has to be manually initiated by Pronoiac. The transcript pages for 123 and 124 aren't up set yet, but I'm slowly working away on 122!
posted by Secretariat at 11:15 AM on January 13, 2017

Well, I ask because if you go to a transcription:

http://ep122.mefi.pronoiac.org:12345

And at the top it says:

MEFI PODCAST TRANSCRIPTS POWERED BY FANSCRIBED

And you click the Fanscribed link:

http://ww2.fanscribed.com/?folio=9POR7JU99

It says the domain is for sale.

Same with the "Fanscribed, the software we use" link under "Links."

Same for the links on the wiki:

http://mefiwiki.com/wiki/Fanscribed_notes

Previously I found a git repository and the link was there as well (but I can't refind that page). Thus my confusion.
posted by cjorgensen at 11:39 AM on January 13, 2017

Oh huh! Yeah, that's odd. whois on their domain says last update January 3 of this year, so I don't know what's what but the change seems to be very recent. Will drop pronoiac a line and see if he knows anything about what happened with them, but in any case we'll look into it and see whether we need to specifically take action to preserve the transcripts that currently exist. (I think that's all stored locally on pronoiac's side, but better to be sure.)
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:15 PM on January 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

Well, that seems troubling! Yeah, those links used to go somewhere.
posted by Secretariat at 12:28 PM on January 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

Well, as a head's up, the individual episode transcripts are still on the pronoiac site.
posted by cjorgensen at 12:55 PM on January 13, 2017

Yeah, checked in with pronoiac and it sounds like we'll be basically unaffected by this. He's traveling right now, will be able to touch base more in a couple days.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:24 PM on January 13, 2017

This was great! So many slices of life! The series of monologues gave it a very "independent documentary showing late at night on PBS" feel, which reminds of being a teenager up late at night. (I did not have an exciting teen experience.)
posted by ignignokt at 8:04 AM on January 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

I belatedly opened the transcript. The original Fanscribed site doesn't impact our transcripts, which are hosted on my server. I knew the Fanscribed creator was ceasing the hosted service, but I hadn't realized the site was going away. I *should* remove links to fanscribed.com, but it doesn't seem urgent right now. I should look into reducing the bus factor on this, by automation or enlisting someone else who can open a transcript.

This might be a hard one to manage, with all of the calls, but LobsterMitten's listed the callers, which should help. Instead of using j; for jessamyn, use wordshore; or the like for the callers.
posted by Pronoiac at 6:22 PM on January 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

I have to know: When 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a called

I did! I was a bit unsure on what to say and I can't recall if I was drinking when I did it, but there you go.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 8:10 PM on January 17, 2017 [1 favorite]

Just listened a couple of days ago -- it was awesome. Made me laugh and cry and laugh again.
The voicemail idea is soo good. Thanks to you all! x
posted by 8k at 2:40 PM on January 31, 2017