Bring to our attention that which we may have glossed over. January 6, 2010 2:04 PM   Subscribe

The flip-side of "Most favorited posts of the year": Last year, I typed up a little list of comments I particularly liked that I thought were overlooked. It was fun! I just went through my favorites from 2009, and did so again. I would like this to be a thread where you share comments that you liked, but which you feel may have gotten little notice from others.

For my list below, I stuck to comments that had less than twelve favorites, as that's the default amount that causes a comment to pop up on a contact's sidebar. The only order is roughly-chronological. Certainly, you, the reader, will think some of mine are underwhelming or straight-up stupid; I may think the same about yours. But let's share! Funny, insightful, touching, strange, whatevs.

1) The boring truth about the Fool's Gold Loaf
2) Older Girls are so badass
3) The casual cruelty of Facebook
4) lovely metaphor for total confusion
5) The subtle charms of a quiet little New Yorker story
6) awesomely unsettling advice for your penis
7) an interesting rundown of a Gifted Children study
8) On the difficulties of asking mothers for advice
9) unsolved mystery about a prejudiced robot clown
10) Sesame seeds at McDonald's
11) On Smashing Barriers
12) mefi: generally pretty high-brow
13) I dearly hope someone does post this list to Digg
14) This is the most delightfully wacky description of lesbians I've ever heard
15) robocop is bleeding links to a Green Lantern treatment he wrote
16) On the usefulness of censorship
17) I quite enjoy this aphorism, and also would love to know where it originated
18) The hetero upside to gays devaluing marriage
19) Best Kanye West blogpost title of all time
20) story of a high-school production of King Lear
21) "I never even knew this world existed"
22) Astro Zombie on cortex's "Brubekujah"
23) I did not know this about Brian Eno
24) resolution to an ask.mefi mystery about "pelbin"
25) on effort and reward
26) advice for comforting the bereaved
27) puzzling yet strangely compelling conspiracy-theory comment in a thread about LSD
28) anecdote about a Weird Al concert
29) Pick your mefi name carefully
30) In response to a "zine" being "published" on Twitter
31) On whether to use the N-word
32) How events become stories
33) This word is simultaneously hilarious and horrifying
34) A collection of links about flanerie and the internet that really should have been an FPP
35) metafilter is nice people
36) What is maturity?
37) utterly bizarre middle-aged-male frenzy
38) a call for epistemological humility
39) This comment is an enlightening sort of prequel to the epic rape/gendered-experiences threads
40) In response to the woman who got fired for writing all-caps e-mails
41) International relations with Beavis and Butthead
42) My favorite observation about the imaginary interview Charlie Sheen conducted with Obama
43) how pre-modern paranoia is adjusted to new technology
44) well I liked this mini-story about Patrick Swayze's mother
45) favorites are to be used only for power trips
46) My favorite authentic Scottish recipe
47) XKCD, short version
48) The early days of netpr0n
49) The Marine Corps, on the value of boldness and failure
50) small oral history about material changes in stoner culture
51) The story of Bear Rex and his big gay christian website (scroll up a bit for the gif)
52) Looking through Playboy, awarding a superlative
53) The effect of fatty food consumption on mental agility
54) I can't see beetroot in the supermarket now without immediately thinking of this comment
55) Holocaust joke I was unfamiliar with (WARNING:THREAD POTENTIALLY OFFENSIVE)
56) BEST CAPS LOCK DAY COMMENT OF THE YAER
57) Good magical phrase to know
58) Anecdote about meeting Mitch Hedberg in a Wendy's
59) In the FPP about the boy with the overdeveloped muscular arm for arm-wrestling
60) The first time was fantastic
61) I will also admit to being this childish
62) On Sandra Lee's infamous Kwanzaa cake
63) New Year's Tin - a tradition I was not aware of
64) Developing a new strain
65) On why we should fund prison education
66) The utility of polling ask.metafilter to help your business
67) William T. Riker's favorite pose
68) ...and an awesomely pedantic rejoinder to confusion over Geordi LaForge's ethnicity
69) On height and male attractiveness
70) Tower Records ad in Japan
71) Obscure operating systems, like a Norwegian Opera Mini on a rooted Grey Market Android
72) Misspellings about where one uses one's moniker
73) On the appeal of Anne McCaffrey's novels
74) On posting ASCII images in MetaTalk
posted by Greg Nog to MetaFilter-Related at 2:04 PM (98 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- frimble



this is me making scuttling motions with my fingers, alternating with SURPRISE Jazz Hands

As descriptions of people not liking spiders because of the way they move goes, this one continues to be one of my very favorites because it perfectly describes what someone does with their hands when explaining the phobia to someone else.
posted by quin at 2:24 PM on January 6, 2010 [4 favorites]


We need to come up with a name for the Bourbon & Moxie cocktail my bartender and I made after you left.
posted by jonmc at 2:34 PM on January 6, 2010


Thanks Greg this is fantastic. FYI, I could post 74 of your fantabulnormous comments that have entertained me all year, too. Also, the runner's group pines for your steely touch.
posted by smoke at 2:37 PM on January 6, 2010


I had missed muddgirl's comment about the Riker pose, but reading it made me so glad I wasn't the only one thinking that. My husband and I are big trekkies, and whenever we watch an episode of Next Gen and he does that we both say, "... and here are my BALLS!!!"
posted by Kimberly at 2:41 PM on January 6, 2010 [3 favorites]




SkylitDrawl's tale of using words to fight back against a mean girl

EvaDestruction's version of "use it up, wear it out"

Ruby Stevens on the logic of kid love
posted by MonkeyToes at 2:59 PM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]


I just looked through mine, ignoring everything in the two digits or higher basically. This makes for a weird, personal list—some of these are self-evidently funny at some level, but others are things that made me laugh out loud but require a certain amount of context (sometimes the text of post itself, sometimes stuff prior to or external to the thread).

A lot of it is stuff that was funny to me largely because it functioned as a kind of shared moment of recognition of some aspect of ongoing site history or of shared experience in heavily digesting the stuff moving through the community at the time the comment was made. I feel like I often laugh loudest at the things that I'm one of only a couple people laughing at, and this list has a number of things that (for the rough, rough metric of favorites-as-laughs) fall into that territory.

Enough with the caveats. In chronological order:

1) New Yorker cartoon demonstrated to be correct
2) pb sasses back
3) best possible name for a dictator dog
4) proposed scrabble variant
5) a loving reemvowelment
6) memetic juxtapositions make me laugh...
7) ...but that doesn't mean memes don't get old
8) wisdom of a long-thread veteran
9) bomb milk, motherfuckers
10) IPA also makes me laugh
11) a bit of nice antedating
12) Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Missing Letters
13) much love to #mefi
14) on applied Sabermeftrics
15) i'm in the second category, i guess
16) I guess I just have a thing for fascist dogs
17) yes he is still dead
18) Matt solves a mystery / with some 5K history
19) The Will To Slash
20) a very helpful pie chart
21) oh snap

posted by cortex (staff) at 2:59 PM on January 6, 2010




I happen to think a lot of my comments were funny, but unfortunately I didn't favorite any of them.
posted by Eideteker at 3:01 PM on January 6, 2010




Most of my low-favorited but still awesome comments are links to other things. But the best one has to be clearlydemon's AskMe Answer dice.
posted by sarahnade at 3:17 PM on January 6, 2010




Just have to say, Number 38 of Greg's list of links is fucking fantastic, and not only deserves more than the paltry few favorites it has, it should have been sidebarred. (Not to criticize anyone for not sidebarring it, I missed it too when it was fresh.) Now I'm going to go back to going through the list and then I'll read this thread. Way to keep me from being productive in any way today, Greg.
posted by Caduceus at 4:19 PM on January 6, 2010












Good idea! Mine are all from AskMe. I didn't bother capping the number of favorites -- these are just my favorite comments, period.

1) rotating toys

2) the extrovert

3) banjectification

4) vocab roast

5) ding training

6) why people have lots of sex partners

7) wacky interview questions

8) get a lawyer

9) finding the one

10) boys can't play with pink

11) the nicest response to "how are you?"
posted by Jaltcoh at 5:56 PM on January 6, 2010


Right off the top of my head, my favorite comment was one that was deleted from AskMe. In response to this question, "BathroomFilter: Is it appropriate to give dietary suggestions to the person in the next stall or not?", someone had responded, "I think the best way to handle this situation is by sending a company-wide email." A favorited that thing so hard.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 6:19 PM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]






OK, as for the non-deleted favorite comments - a sample of five that sprang to mind:

God, I hate those guys.

In response to the results of a study showing that most gamers are fat, depressed and 35 years of age.

Snarktastic! (duo-comment combo)

What's wrong with the post office?

Referencing one of my favorite Simpsons episodes is a sure way to get a favorite from me.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 6:36 PM on January 6, 2010










Even Fahrenheit vs. Celsius can get a laugh
MeTa commentary on 'Don't Bring a Gun to a Snowball Fight'
The best line in the best overall hilarious thread, 'Sitters vs. Standers' *
Parting Phrases
How to calm post-apocalypse Faint of Butt

* And nothing beats Overall Hilarious. Not even plaid pants.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 7:53 PM on January 6, 2010




I just want bumper stickers lauding crappy presidents past.
posted by that girl at 9:33 PM on January 6, 2010


oh god how'd I miss so much great stuff?
posted by klangklangston at 9:40 PM on January 6, 2010 [2 favorites]


i cant tell which of these are mine could you guys at least start putting in z͎̯a̤̪l̷̬̻̩̹̥͇g̟̣̩o̱͉ letters when you link to my comments thanks
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:55 PM on January 6, 2010


JESUS FUCKING CHRIST DON'T YOU PEOPLE REALIZE I HAVE WORK TO DO???
posted by ErikaB at 10:13 PM on January 6, 2010 [6 favorites]




> 56) BEST CAPS LOCK DAY COMMENT OF THE YAER

Christ, I know, right?! I favorited that shit so hard I clicked a hole in the monitor.

I know I'm not the only one who's mused on making this kind of metatalk post, but now I'm so glad I waited for someone with fifty times the passion and wherewithal to do it properly instead. Thanks for this awesome list.

Here's two 2009 <1>
[1] Between "Death Tax" and "Death Panels", the GOP has really shown how nuanced it is in rebranding hot-button topics...
[2] See, the thing with regular neckties...

posted by churl at 10:29 PM on January 6, 2010


"Here's two 2009 less-than-12-ers", I mean
posted by churl at 10:31 PM on January 6, 2010


Somehow you have tricked me into not only reading YOUR favorites, but in also going back and reading MY favorites too. Seriously I have to get back to work - it's one of those kinds of epic work days - but here's a few I picked out in haste:

Dushku bashing

OMG the same thing happened to me!

I totally have at least three of these YES.

Shot rings out... in a Memphis sky-hiyyyyyy

I have literally said this in email to at least three people since I read it

Catty vegetarian humor, the best kind there is!

I'm still waiting for my text message

I'm so glad I'm not the only person in the world who hates MS Groove so very very much

Is this one of those jokes you have to be old like me to get?

FYI to all interested parties, I will fave pretty much any Venture Bros reference, because I am just that big a fave slut

Probably out of scope, but seriously, I've used this pancake recipe A LOT and it is THE AWESOME.

And finally! I'm sure everyone's going to get sick of me referencing this eventually. But instead of a comment I'm going to list the lot of them because it was the collective assertion that Alan Carr's Easyway to Quit Smoking was magic that got me to read it. I quit smoking about 2 weeks after this post, and it stuck, and even though it took a long damn time for 20 years of smoking goop to be expelled from my body, life is GRAND.
posted by ErikaB at 10:44 PM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]


Oh fuck it this is too much fun and I'm back.

Lesson #2 in Creative writing: the importance of Thud Mollockle
First rule of anthropomorphism
Good advice for the children
Because I couldn't agree more
Imaginationland!
A year's worth of FBOW that we sadly never saw

In other news, I'm learning a lot about the depths of my own sense of humor.
posted by Navelgazer at 11:51 PM on January 6, 2010


I pretty much only like it when we talk about Alien.
posted by Jofus at 2:29 AM on January 7, 2010 [2 favorites]




No way! Rings are stupid.
posted by Eumachia L F at 5:19 AM on January 7, 2010


Woops, #9 in my list isn't from 2009. Sorry about that. Well, it was really close.
posted by Jaltcoh at 5:34 AM on January 7, 2010




My liver may not thank NolanRyanHatesMatches for pointing out that SIGG bottles are a great way to drink a few beers in public, but I certainly do.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:06 AM on January 7, 2010






Errent posts a link to a super-cute lady gaga cover.
posted by shothotbot at 8:16 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]


Pretty sure I forgot all the rules, but I have had a wonderful time laughing at 2009.

- 웙 I HAVE A SWORD FYI [the winner for this year, I have no idea why this didn't get a million favorites]
- My favorite one-favorite comment (from 2001)
- Why am I googling "ascii sword" at 12.15am goddammit.
- I have made some good friends in this place.
- I'm beginning to think it should go in the FAQ. "Is it about a creepy muppet?"
- my favorite owl photo doesn't have an owl in it. [don't hate it because it's popular!]
- librarian joke ASCII Art
- Why else would they be my favorite band?
- We ruin ArtW's rep: I am now pretty frequently asked to crawl around on all fours with a toddler riding on top of me being a "kitty bus"
- You done riled up my mind grapes.
- GOD HELP all of you ungrateful bastards if there's Windows Vista on any of the computers. [by Mr and Mrs MetaFilter]
- My father is actually a member, and has won Cloud of The Month.
- I would teach you, but I'm pretty much banned from even looking at the paint shaker at the Home Depot these days.
- I JUST SPENT 6:32 DRAWING A CAVEMAN DISCOVERING A TV MADE OF WOOD AND MEANT TO HIT "CLEAR LINE" BUT ACCIDENTALLY HIT "CLEAR ALL" AND NOW I AM GOING TO KILL MYSELF.
- If there's ever two words that can't go together better, it's donut and heyday.
- Why do they call them fingers? I've never seen them fing. Woah, there they go.
- "Why did you get banned?"
"They wanted me to stop saying 'cunt'."

Is this the hill you want to die on?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:49 AM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]


Argh! It's so hard to read some of these great threads I missed and not be able to comment!
posted by haveanicesummer at 8:52 AM on January 7, 2010


Aw, one of my favourite comments was yours in that same Owl thread, Jessamyn.
posted by Jofus at 8:55 AM on January 7, 2010


jessamyn: If you enjoy Riki tiki's mind grapes, you may also enjoy such television shows as 30 Rock (Tracy Morgan has the mind grapes line(s), not sure if he came up it or not, it does ring of his natural charasmatic insanity).
posted by haveanicesummer at 9:10 AM on January 7, 2010




Hwæt a lucky bugger!
posted by paduasoy at 9:47 AM on January 7, 2010


I miss amberglow
posted by infini at 12:58 PM on January 7, 2010 [5 favorites]




THIS IS AWESOME POST MORE NOW!
posted by klangklangston at 5:52 PM on January 7, 2010


Yeah I wish this wasn't already off of the MeTa front page. Can these things be sidebarred?
posted by Think_Long at 6:46 PM on January 7, 2010


sure!
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:54 PM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]


This is so very horrible. I can stem my desire to be on Metafilter constantly with the number of SLYTs that inevitably pop up because *gasp* I can't (and don't want) to watch Youtube at work. With just text on the screen, and my white background, I can always have MeFi open in the background without it being visual disruptive, or a flag for other people to see/make assumptions.

Now? This single Metatalk page will make me lose days of work and my eyesight because the text is what I want.

Thank you for feeding my addiction
posted by namewithhe1d at 8:50 PM on January 7, 2010 [1 favorite]




First, excellent thread idea. Second, I am proud to be in your list, Greg. Third, I really want to dig through my faves right now but I've got a goddamned non-sleeping newborn in my arms and am typing/mousing left-handed as it is. Tomorrow, hopefully.
posted by middleclasstool at 10:40 PM on January 7, 2010








I already favorite too many things, why are you doing this to me :(
posted by flatluigi at 2:01 AM on January 8, 2010 [1 favorite]




Oh christ, starzero - I hadn't seen this thread at all - the whole thing is AWESOME

(Datapoint: She's due on March 11th.)
posted by Jofus at 2:28 AM on January 8, 2010


Yeah, it's one of my favorite AskMes of the last year.

Datapoint: March 11th is my birthday, so I do approve of this due date. Meandering won't be tolerated.
posted by starzero at 2:50 AM on January 8, 2010 [1 favorite]




Starzero. I shall call her Starzero.

I totally won't call her Starzero.
posted by Jofus at 3:00 AM on January 8, 2010 [1 favorite]




Thanks for this thread.

What the fuck was that apropos of?

I've never heard this term for flatulence before, but it really is the perfect term to follow "Her Majesty."

not_on_display brings back a memory from my childhood. A memory, I should add, that always creeped me out for some reason.
posted by bondcliff at 7:24 AM on January 8, 2010




Greg Nog is my favorite Nog.

And I esteem that Ferengi Ensign very highly so that's saying something.

I love that monster dance he does at jadzia's bachelorette party.
posted by cowbellemoo at 8:21 AM on January 8, 2010 [1 favorite]


we should always have a thread like this open.

Indeed! I really enjoy giving well-deserved praise to other MeFites for their contributions, and I love the way it enhances the community when others do the same. I think it brings out the best in people when they receive appreciation for their efforts. Whenever I start feeling disheartened after reading threads full of vitriolic outbursts or flameouts, I refer to threads like this one to remind myself once again why I love this place so much.

I'm honored that some of my comments are included here. Being recognized by MeFites whom I greatly respect, and whose contributions have consistently impressed me as well, totally rocks!

Now I gotta go through my favorites and come up with my own list...
posted by velvet winter at 11:22 AM on January 8, 2010






I can't wait for the weekend when I can lose myself in this. Thanks!
posted by jokeefe at 1:32 PM on January 8, 2010


Basically, we should always have a thread like this open.

I like the every-so-often reappearance. If it were always open, comments in still-living threads would be linked and would twist the natural flow of time and space the discussion in-thread. Plus, it's fun to get random favorites well after the thread has faded from current memory.

Personally, I'd like a compendium of parody songs, so I can get them printed and bound, and bring them to a meet-up with some quantity of alcohol. I'd start humming well-known songs, sort of singing the revised words every now and again, hoping someone would pick up. Or maybe I'd get belligerent, shove a pamphlet into someone's hand and demand they sing something. Either way, we'd sing over the music playing in the restaurant, and someone would be booted out (possibly me).

On second thought, maybe this isn't the best idea.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:25 PM on January 8, 2010


On third thought, it's a fantastic idea (as long as getting thrown out of the bar happens at that point in the evening where not that much more drinking was going to happen, anyway).
posted by EvaDestruction at 2:37 PM on January 8, 2010


I want to play but I can't figure out how to link to the exact comment I like from the Favorites on My Profile page.

It hurts to be this stupid.
posted by jeoc at 4:48 PM on January 8, 2010


jeoc, click on the time stamp of a comment to get its individual link.
posted by starzero at 5:18 PM on January 8, 2010 [1 favorite]


Oh, how nice for me!

;) Thanks mgl!

You've got to get good and verklempt before you say it. Maybe a little quaffee down the wruong pipe.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 6:20 PM on January 8, 2010




(can't believe I'm doing this)

Metafilter : The genie is out of the bottle, except the "genie" is a slice of rat brain.
posted by Afroblanco at 1:56 AM on January 9, 2010


Not been here long enough to have any vaults to dig into, but I'm sure this will always remain as the funniest, most endearing image of happy drunks I could ever hope for, and bonus, it's holiday themed.
1 - meowry christmas and a happy new beers - brought to you by hermistosis.

And random shameless puns will win with me forever.
2 - rob511
3 - qvantamon
4 - an entire thread handily spanked by the late, great Bradlands.
posted by Juicy Avenger at 8:08 PM on January 9, 2010


A Longfellow quote from sweetmarie.
• Good post-dumped advice encapsulated in the last sentence of this Sassyfras comment.
• On kindness, a Philo quote posted by Forrest Greene, and a favorite quote from rocket88.
• And in getting the link for fleacircus's Jan Brady Thanksgiving comment I stumbled across his more verbose version of a Mos Eisley cantina smuggler-ship-rental back-and-forth.

posted by blueberry at 8:27 AM on January 10, 2010 [1 favorite]






Thank you so much for this, all of you. I'd decided mid-morning that I was not getting out of bed today (spending the day in bed is the ONLY way to properly mourn the demise of a love affair) and this one thread has enabled me to do just that while also cheering me up. Damn, I love MetaFilter.
posted by hapax_legomenon at 3:23 PM on January 10, 2010


This post and its ensuing thread are totally pelbin.
posted by not_on_display at 10:10 PM on January 10, 2010




yay english major jokes
I usually want to favorite everything DTT says, but this is the little non-sequitor made me laugh even while I wanted to Wicker Man anyone who crossed me in that thread
I like [Jersey Shore] because it was culled from Spike Lee's nightmares.
quin articulates my sad Scottish rationale while ordering at the bar
The Straightener is great
The things a man misses for being gay! Are there any vulva that move beyond the Baraoque and into the Rococo?
why I will never go to LA
Iridic awesomely explains virginity in Shakespearean terms
OC will always be the Salieri to six colors' Amadeus
Pope Guilty reminds me of myself after reading Das Kapital while filling my empty stomach with Maker's Mark
booyah
still a sucker for english major jokes
I Foodyy's tips on naming babies
Spoken like an expert, kathrineg
How to solve bigotry with press-on nails
I would pay Greg Nog to rewrite the entirety of the script for Twilight
This "I have love on my side" quote is like the Braveheart speech for gay civil rights
I always want to memail a high-five to oinopaponton

posted by zoomorphic at 6:34 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]


On the aphorism linked in #17: As far as I know, it originated with me. I'd be surprised if no one else has said something similar before, but I wasn't quoting anything in particular. Does that mean I get to name it Rusty's Baldfaced Assertion or something?
posted by rusty at 12:24 PM on January 12, 2010


holy fuck, that Jharris Pacman quote minifigs linked to is incredible.
posted by shmegegge at 8:14 AM on January 13, 2010


You know what you should probably go re-read? The tooth fairy thread.
posted by shothotbot at 8:43 AM on January 13, 2010


How could I forget? I have often quoted this since.

"Chivalry is the consolation prize awarded in a sexist society."
posted by ErikaB at 2:28 PM on January 15, 2010 [1 favorite]


I like emphasis. A lot. Because it's funny.

And robot voices.
posted by craven_morhead at 1:40 PM on January 20, 2010


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