It's just a hall of mirrors here. September 16, 2010 5:00 AM   Subscribe

I read Glenn Reynolds read Ann Althouse reads Metafilter!
posted by Joe in Australia to MetaFilter-Related at 5:00 AM (111 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite

Who are any of these people? Context?
posted by Eideteker at 5:21 AM on September 16, 2010 [4 favorites]


Second link seems broken.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:22 AM on September 16, 2010


...and I am outraged?
posted by .kobayashi. at 5:22 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


metagarbage?
posted by adamvasco at 5:23 AM on September 16, 2010


This is a poor use of Metatalk.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:26 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


Who are any of these people? Context?

I know Reynolds and Althouse, but who is this Metafilter? C'mon, we're not mindreaders!
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:34 AM on September 16, 2010


I was going to post saying that my mom also reads Metafilter but then I realized she doesn't.
posted by Memo at 5:35 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


MamaFilter?
posted by rtha at 5:39 AM on September 16, 2010


Horace Rumpole: "I know Reynolds and Althouse, but who is this Metafilter? C'mon, we're not mindreaders!"

From Wikipedia:
MetaFilter's name derives from the idea that weblogs "filter" the "best of the web", and MetaFilter posts would be the best of the best. Posters are presumed responsible for selecting only the most interesting or novel websites to link, and users' reputations are largely determined by overall posting quality.
posted by gman at 5:39 AM on September 16, 2010


Ann Althouse is a member, and her son is a very active member, of Metafilter.
posted by OmieWise at 5:42 AM on September 16, 2010




Oh, right. I was starting to wonder what on earth this has to do with Israel.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:56 AM on September 16, 2010


Some well known people read Metafilter.

Why is this news?
posted by dfriedman at 5:57 AM on September 16, 2010


Some well known people read Metafilter. Why is this news?

Historically, when a well-known person namedrops MetaFilter, it gets brought to MetaTalk. This is not at all a new thing.
posted by Gator at 6:04 AM on September 16, 2010


MetaFilter's name derives from the idea that weblogs "filter" the "best of the web"

THEN WHO WAS PHONE?
posted by Rhomboid at 6:09 AM on September 16, 2010


Hey look another opportunity to bash metafilter and muslims for Joe in Australia
posted by empath at 6:19 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


Thanks for that last link. There's lots of really interesting stuff there that I wouldn't have seen otherwise.
posted by Joe Beese at 6:37 AM on September 16, 2010 [3 favorites]


Do people still get excited when Instapundit links to them/us? Wow.

The man is to punditry what cheez whiz is to cheese.

Also, he's made enough money off his blog to afford a professional haircut by now. I'm just sayin'.
posted by MuffinMan at 6:38 AM on September 16, 2010


Cool! Now the rest of the internet knows about Metafilter!
posted by John Cohen at 6:39 AM on September 16, 2010


I vaguely know who Glenn Reynolds is. Who the fuck is Ann Althouse? This guy I know reads Metafilter too. Should I post him to metatalk too?
posted by Pastabagel at 6:48 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


Some well known people read Metafilter.

FTFY etc.
posted by Dr Dracator at 6:55 AM on September 16, 2010


Empath wrote: Hey look another opportunity to bash metafilter and muslims for Joe in Australia

?
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:56 AM on September 16, 2010 [3 favorites]


Who are any of these people? Context?

Glenn Reynolds is this dude who wants to be a robot and who uses his tenured position at a state-funded university to blog about how the dadburned government is driving him to Go Galt. Ann Althouse is this dudette who wants to be on American Idol and who uses her tenured position at a state-funded university to blog about box wine, boobies, and some weird vortex thing.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:11 AM on September 16, 2010 [5 favorites]


Some well known people read Metafilter.

I'm suddenly very paranoid.

I think we're being watched...
posted by quin at 7:22 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


OK, I had no idea this would get its own MeTa post -- I thought a quick link to the Instapundit link in the MeFi thread would be sufficient. But now that it's here and people are asking for clarification, I might as well clarify. I don't know if anyone will find this at all interesting. In fact, you'll probably find it quite boring.

Glenn Reynolds and Ann Althouse are both law professors (at the University of Tennessee and University of Wisconsin, respectively). Reynolds has been writing a blog called Instapundit since 2001, and Althouse has been writing a blog called Althouse since 2004. Instapundit gets hundreds of thousands of readers a day, and Althouse gets around 25,000 readers a day. They link to each other on an almost daily basis. Althouse has been linking to Metafilter for years, so we have surely gotten a huge amount of traffic thanks to her. Althouse is my mom. She and I have been regular Metafilter readers for the past 10 years or so. As noted, she's on MeFi though not a regular participant. Just about every day, she and I will send each other links to interesting stuff we've seen on the internet, and naturally some of these things end up on her blog. I emailed her the MeFi thread and she blogged it, and then Instapundit blogged her blog post.
posted by John Cohen at 7:27 AM on September 16, 2010 [6 favorites]


And I immortalised the Instapundit reference in a MetaTalk thread, thus completing the great self-referential cycle of the Internet.
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:38 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


Yeah, and one time I saw a famous person in the street.
posted by Decani at 7:43 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


I once stood in a coffee line at a Dean & Deluca with Bette Midler. She's really short. It wasn't clear whether she reads Metafilter, but next time I run into her, I'll be sure to ask her.
posted by OneMonkeysUncle at 7:58 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


Hi John Cohen. I meant no offense in my comment. It was more that I was lashing out against the frame of the post which to me implied that these people are (or should be) widely known.
posted by Pastabagel at 7:59 AM on September 16, 2010


For a few seconds I thought 'Hey, Jaltcoh has a brother and he posts here too!'.
posted by Memo at 7:59 AM on September 16, 2010 [2 favorites]


Hi John Cohen. I meant no offense in my comment.

No problem -- none taken (from anyone)!
posted by John Cohen at 8:02 AM on September 16, 2010


I think Ann Althouse is a reasonable person. The comments section is on her blog is a total nightmare, though.
posted by josher71 at 8:03 AM on September 16, 2010


Well, now I'm tempted to link to this, but maybe that would require more intensely intra-Meta talking, and who knows where the echo would end. Chez Althouse, we call that the vortex. Please be careful.
posted by Alizaria at 8:09 AM on September 16, 2010 [2 favorites]


That echo you hear is the echo, echoing.
posted by tommasz at 8:14 AM on September 16, 2010 [3 favorites]


Yeah, but is it REED or RED?

It's totally REED.
posted by phunniemee at 8:17 AM on September 16, 2010


It is widely known that I am a person. Though maybe not on the internet. Can we get some sheeple on that?

[not sasquach-ist]
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:21 AM on September 16, 2010


I'm just here to provide ambiance.
posted by The Whelk at 8:25 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


I'm just here to provide ambivalence.

sorry back to work i go
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:29 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


Glenn Reynolds lives in my town, but I don't know what he looks like. I probably wouldn't be nice to him if I saw him in Kroger, so I haven't bothered finding out.
posted by workerant at 8:30 AM on September 16, 2010


Hi John Cohen. I meant no offense in my comment.

No problem -- none taken (from anyone)!


This sort of reasonableness has no place in MetaTalk. I demand flameouts!
posted by burnmp3s at 8:30 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


I once stood in a coffee line at a Dean & Deluca with Bette Midler.

One time I was standing in line at a deli in Western Mass. Lots of the sandwiches were named for actors who did or had done summer stock in the area. I was contemplating ordering the Blythe Danner. She was standing behind me in line. I am not making this up.

But this was before MetaFilter was invented, so I couldn't ask her if she knew about it.
posted by rtha at 8:33 AM on September 16, 2010 [2 favorites]


Iggy Pop came to a rehearsal of my high school punk band in San Francisco in 1977, and sang a couple songs. Iggy Pop is widely known to be a person on the internet, so extrapolate from there.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:09 AM on September 16, 2010


He's only a person on the internet. In real life he's more of a feral wolf thing.
posted by The Whelk at 9:10 AM on September 16, 2010 [3 favorites]


Are there any victims around here that we could blame for something?

I'm feeling that pent-up fear and I don't want to do anything about the thing that's scaring me (other than blaming a victim, of course).
posted by jasper411 at 9:10 AM on September 16, 2010


Instapundit gets hundreds of thousands of readers a day, and Althouse gets around 25,000 readers a day.

That's nothing. I get ~3 million readers a day. I also use MetaFilter for content. WITHOUT ATTRIBUTION.

I once stood in a coffee line at a Dean & Deluca with Bette Midler.

I once saw Nicolas Cage outside a nightclub he temporarily owned. He was with Tino Martinez and for some reason, a bouncer, in a very loud voice, boomed, "LADIES & GENTLEMAN, MR. TINO MARTINEZ." I guess he must have been a Yankees fan.

I once saw Sandra Bernhardt in the produce section of Whole Foods, comparing greens.

And, to this very day, I will swear on my life that I saw Bill Byrge at a Value City in Evansville, Indiana, but none of my friends believe me.

I'm nearly positive none of them read MetaFilter.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:10 AM on September 16, 2010


I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's.

His hair was perfect.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:14 AM on September 16, 2010 [14 favorites]


Chez Althouse, we call that the vortex.

Called it, didn't I?
posted by octobersurprise at 9:17 AM on September 16, 2010


I saw Saw, so I saw Saw II too.
posted by heyho at 9:19 AM on September 16, 2010


Pardon me while I indulge my weird compulsion:

Glennnnnnnnnn Reynnnnnnnnnnnnnolds

Sorry, I have to do that when his name comes up. Not sure why anymore.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 9:21 AM on September 16, 2010


Chez Althouse, we call that the vortex

Chez Metafilter, we have the cortex.
posted by MuffinMan at 9:25 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


Pass me the speech center of the brain
posted by The Whelk at 9:35 AM on September 16, 2010


Oh look! The ticks have discovered the great blood-filled sac that is MetaFilter.

This should be interesting.
posted by felix betachat at 9:36 AM on September 16, 2010


Oh look! The ticks have discovered the great blood-filled sac that is MetaFilter.

This should be interesting.


It will confuse them. All that bloatedness, so little actual blood.
posted by philip-random at 10:01 AM on September 16, 2010


Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo.
posted by not_on_display at 10:08 AM on September 16, 2010


buffalo think they can just roam on in here.
posted by The Whelk at 10:11 AM on September 16, 2010


Thanks to MetaTalk, I now know someone's mom reads MetaFilter. I'm just glad it's not *my* mom.
posted by Eideteker at 10:15 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


Well I just hope the deer and the antelope don't get any high-minded ideas. Thinkin' they be playin' in our backyard.
posted by Gator at 10:17 AM on September 16, 2010


Think of it this way, everyone is somebody's kid, therefore someone's kid reads Metafilter. All of them.
posted by The Whelk at 10:18 AM on September 16, 2010


Hey look another opportunity to bash metafilter...

Awesome! /runs into thread

....and muslims

/immediately turns around and runs back out
posted by Ian A.T. at 10:34 AM on September 16, 2010


Metafilter: Where often is heard a discouraging word.
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:36 AM on September 16, 2010


I was contemplating ordering the Blythe Danner. She was standing behind me in line.

I'll bet Gwynneth Paltrow reads MetaFilter. She's young and fashionable and married a rock star. But her mother? Not so much.
posted by OneMonkeysUncle at 10:39 AM on September 16, 2010


he's made enough money off his blog to afford a professional haircut by now. I'm just sayin'.

But it isn't the blog that's made him such a rich man, it's being a walking ad for the Flowbee® Haircutting System.
posted by octobersurprise at 10:50 AM on September 16, 2010 [2 favorites]


"I'll bet Gwynneth Paltrow reads MetaFilter. She's young and fashionable and married a rock star. But her mother? Not so much."

Her mother's hotter. Yes, even now. GP is kinda not at all pretty. Ms. Danner, if you're reading this, call me. *extends thumb and pinky, lifts hand to ear*
posted by Eideteker at 11:01 AM on September 16, 2010




Oh my god, some of the tens of thousands of MeFi readers have blogs! Who knew?

I'm thinking we probably don't need a MeTa thread every time someone links to MetaFilter.
posted by Sys Rq at 12:54 PM on September 16, 2010


I once kicked 7-Mary-3 out of a strip bar I was working at in Daytona Beach... it was closing time, and the owner hated them. True story. So now you have another brush with greatness by proxy to brag about, Mefi! You're welcome.
posted by Slap*Happy at 12:55 PM on September 16, 2010


Had they become cumbersome?
posted by BitterOldPunk at 1:11 PM on September 16, 2010 [4 favorites]


which to me implied that these people are (or should be) widely known.

Well, factually speaking, they are widely known. Reynolds particularly. Whether they should be or deserve to be is a different question. But Reynolds has historically been the most well-known blogger on the internet.
posted by Justinian at 1:13 PM on September 16, 2010


I once had dinner with Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias, Erik Satie, and Anaïs Nin.

I told them about metafilter, but being dead they didn't much care.
posted by winna at 1:19 PM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


I've given the ghosts of several notable historical figures Metafilter accounts, try to guess who's who!
posted by The Whelk at 1:22 PM on September 16, 2010




paphnuty?
posted by chinston at 1:33 PM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


The ghost of Ken Lay?
posted by UbuRoivas at 1:34 PM on September 16, 2010


Speaking of dead people, I also met Joey Ramone in SF around the same time. Might have been early '78. He was sitting slouchways on the couch in the living room of the guy who (supposedly) ran the Iggy Pop fan club at the time, and he was so smacked out, all he seemed to be able to do was slowly say "I cut my hand, and I can't snap my fingers." over and over again, while making these slow-motion half-hearted, failing attempts at snapping, to illustrate.

Over and over. I'll be damned if I'm buying that dead guy an account.
posted by Devils Rancher at 1:40 PM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


Iggy Pop, however, is a really nice, normal guy. We loaned him a left-handed guitar because he wanted to write some songs, and when we went by his hotel to pick it up, he played us some cassettes of some ideas he worked up. He was all on this "Modern Guy" kick. He was even thinking about changing the name of his band to The Modern Guys.
posted by Devils Rancher at 1:45 PM on September 16, 2010


I once met Alan Ginsburg after a poetry reading. I always tell people that he made a lewd pass at me, but the truth is he was looking at the guy behind me in line.

I did actually urinate next to Al Gore during intermission at "The Producers", however, so I've got that going for me.
posted by norm at 2:37 PM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


I don't read Metafilter. Instead, I lose myself in the exquisite rapture of Metafilter.
posted by blue_beetle at 3:24 PM on September 16, 2010


"I've given the ghosts of several notable historical figures Metafilter accounts..."

Good god, man. This sounds like the perfect opening line from an "A Lesson Is Learned..." strip. And in the end, the ghosts would actually fuck off to the disco, because when you're dead, who wants to sit in front of a computer all day?

Discos are wasted on the living.
posted by Eideteker at 6:45 PM on September 16, 2010


But disco is dead. Thank God.
posted by jonmc at 6:50 PM on September 16, 2010


Yeah, thankfully they play other music at them nowadays. But I know the "A Lesson..." guys would not have passed up the chance to say, "discothèque."

DISCOTHÈQUE.
posted by Eideteker at 7:01 PM on September 16, 2010




DEATHCOTHEQUE
posted by The Whelk at 7:13 PM on September 16, 2010


Fuck, I forgot who Glenn Reynolds was and then I read Instapundit by mistake.

On the other hand, I had time to forget who Glenn Reynolds was. That's kind of nice.
posted by moss at 7:50 PM on September 16, 2010


But disco is dead. Thank God

No, you uptight white boys are just afraid to dance. I'm pretty sure Glenn Reynolds burned disco records, too.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:57 PM on September 16, 2010


Club kids are undead.
posted by The Whelk at 7:59 PM on September 16, 2010


My mom reads Metafilter. So does my dad. My brother was asking what my screen name was so that he could read my comments, which means that I should probably write fewer comments about how my brother is a wuss and how he thought he was taller than I was but that his doctor confirmed that no, I am taller, I've always been taller, and always will be taller. And better looking.
posted by klangklangston at 8:00 PM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


THE TALLEST
posted by The Whelk at 8:03 PM on September 16, 2010


Once in NYC I passed Dustin Hoffman in the street, walking next to someone named Dustin, who was named after him.
posted by waraw at 9:27 PM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


I once saw Dylan (the guy who played the pervy dad in Happiness) Baker reading the label on a bag of pretzel sticks.

They're flour and salt, dude.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:44 PM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


Althouse is my mom.

I wanted to do a Yo' Mama joke here, but I got nothin'.

Sorry.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:24 PM on September 16, 2010


I said "hi, Mark" and he just kind of stared at me for a moment.

Not very friendly. Pity the door wasn't freshly painted. You could've pushed him into it & said "Hey Mark - you're spoiling all the paintwork!"
posted by UbuRoivas at 10:25 PM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]


I saw Elvis Costello and Woody Harrelson in Wheatsville Co-op. Not both at the same time though.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 10:40 PM on September 16, 2010


Once in NYC I passed Dustin Hoffman in the street, walking next to someone named Dustin, who was named after him."

My brother's named Dustin. YOURE FREAKING ME OUT!
posted by klangklangston at 11:02 PM on September 16, 2010


Greg Nog: "SASQUATCH ISRAEL, SHEEPLE"


"Sasquatch Isreal Sheeple" will be the name of my grindcore emo klezmer band.
posted by ShawnStruck at 6:28 PM on September 17, 2010


when I was ten years old, I saw a Dustin Hoffman movie and it changed the fucking course of my life.


was this thread supposed to be about something?
posted by philip-random at 9:34 PM on September 17, 2010


Little Big Man.
posted by philip-random at 9:40 PM on September 17, 2010


I've ....

Peed next to Ewan McGregor

Seen Toby McGuire eat a sandwich under a portrait of me

Nearly knocked down Julianne Moore

Watched a friend get hit on by Calvin Klein

Stepped on Jon Hodgeman's foot.

and

Spilled a drink on Frank Miller
posted by The Whelk at 9:50 PM on September 17, 2010


I was part of a so-called free form avant-garde noise combo that managed to make Sean Penn cough with a flashpot that sort of caught fire.
posted by philip-random at 9:53 PM on September 17, 2010


OH and the best one, Alasdair Gray came to an event I was somewhat involved with.
posted by The Whelk at 9:54 PM on September 17, 2010


actually that's cheating. Like using backstage stuff. I've seen Louis C.K naked. Like twice, during the course of normal work . Does not Count
posted by The Whelk at 9:56 PM on September 17, 2010


I once almost puked on Jim Lee.

(It was in an elevator, at a hotel near a con. I'd woken up rather hung-over and staggered into the lift to go down to breakfast , hoping it would make me feel a bit less queasy.)
posted by Artw at 10:11 PM on September 17, 2010


Actually spilling a drink on Frank Miller kind of beats that though.
posted by Artw at 10:12 PM on September 17, 2010


Rob Liefeld has never drawn my feet, which puts me right up there with Captain America.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:43 PM on September 17, 2010 [2 favorites]


Billy Corgan once spit on me.
posted by empath at 2:57 AM on September 18, 2010


I once mistook Tim Burton for "some guy trying to look like Tim Burton".
posted by Artw at 3:07 AM on September 18, 2010 [1 favorite]


I was backstage at an Elvis Costello show, just shooting the breeze with a room full of people, when Elvis Costello walked in, looked at me -- ME! and then turned to his roadie and said "What are all these people doing in here?"
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:48 AM on September 18, 2010


I once mistook Tim Burton for "some guy trying to look like Tim Burton".

Judging by his last several movies, the same thing has happened to Tim Burton.
posted by klangklangston at 8:59 AM on September 18, 2010


Well, this would have been around about the time of the Planet of the Apes remake.

IIRC we saw him and Helena Bonham Carter a bunch of times around Belsize Park (where we had an appartment the size of a shoebox) after that.
posted by Artw at 9:35 AM on September 18, 2010


"Well, this would have been around about the time of the Planet of the Apes remake."

Oh, Gawd, I saw that in the theater (cheap theater, but still). I could not get high enough.
posted by klangklangston at 9:44 AM on September 18, 2010


The other cleb we would frequently run into was Jim Broadbent. He's ace. The first time we saw him on the tube Heather basically did this embarassing fan gushy thing where she all but declared her undying love, but he was cool with it, in a "please stop drawing attention to me on the tube, crazy possible stalker lady" type way.
posted by Artw at 10:26 AM on September 18, 2010


One of the things that I don't like about LA is that I can't imagine ever running into a celeb on public transit. I see them pretty regularly out and about, and at my old job they'd come to us, but I think they all drive.
posted by klangklangston at 10:32 AM on September 18, 2010


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