Evidently Metafilter Is a U.G.H.Z. November 18, 2022 11:03 PM Subscribe
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttgieg today: "Staff member trying to explain 'un-grammable hang zones' to me and I’ve never felt so old." Based on the description I think Metafilter may very well be such a "virtual place" ...
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- loup
This makes me think of this article i read in the Atlantic yesterday.
And also of what has happened to my former very favourite cafe here in Vienna, the Cafe Nil (old photos, before takeover) I used to spend so much time there between ca 1998 and 2009 that the (now retired) head waitress still recognises me 15 years on. The furniture was uncomfortable, rickety chairs and benches covered in red faux leather that stuck to you in summer and was cold in winter. The concrete floor cracked, icy in winter, the lighting dim, the loo a dirty place best avoided the music weird and i think they really only ever had two CDs in rotation and the owner occasionally rude to the point of assholish, but i came back everyday. Smoking indoors permitted. The food was lovely, north african dishes such as Foul (the owner was egyptian). Only one kind of dessert, semolina cake, under a cracked plastic hood, best eaten earlier in the week.
Then i moved a few streets over and had a baby, and moved again, and only went to Nil occasionally and until last saturday had not been at all for about 4 yrs. What a shock. Grumpy owner had sold to people who only kept the name and front. Communal tables with Roland Rainer chairs (local equivalent of Eames chairs), floor patched on purpose, and worst is the lighting: industrial metal bars wrapped in light bulbs on colourful fabric cords. Plus huge useless lighting on tripods, like from a 90s film set. The menu gentrified, artisanal French tea. Young bearded waiters who make me feel old and out of place, ignoring me... Etc. As i have no Instagram i cannot share photos.
Very disappointing.
posted by 15L06 at 4:16 AM on November 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
And also of what has happened to my former very favourite cafe here in Vienna, the Cafe Nil (old photos, before takeover) I used to spend so much time there between ca 1998 and 2009 that the (now retired) head waitress still recognises me 15 years on. The furniture was uncomfortable, rickety chairs and benches covered in red faux leather that stuck to you in summer and was cold in winter. The concrete floor cracked, icy in winter, the lighting dim, the loo a dirty place best avoided the music weird and i think they really only ever had two CDs in rotation and the owner occasionally rude to the point of assholish, but i came back everyday. Smoking indoors permitted. The food was lovely, north african dishes such as Foul (the owner was egyptian). Only one kind of dessert, semolina cake, under a cracked plastic hood, best eaten earlier in the week.
Then i moved a few streets over and had a baby, and moved again, and only went to Nil occasionally and until last saturday had not been at all for about 4 yrs. What a shock. Grumpy owner had sold to people who only kept the name and front. Communal tables with Roland Rainer chairs (local equivalent of Eames chairs), floor patched on purpose, and worst is the lighting: industrial metal bars wrapped in light bulbs on colourful fabric cords. Plus huge useless lighting on tripods, like from a 90s film set. The menu gentrified, artisanal French tea. Young bearded waiters who make me feel old and out of place, ignoring me... Etc. As i have no Instagram i cannot share photos.
Very disappointing.
posted by 15L06 at 4:16 AM on November 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
I think I would like the idea of Un-grammable 'spaces' a lot more, if they didn't quite seem to be so much were all thoughts of Accessibility go to Die..
posted by Faintdreams at 4:18 AM on November 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Faintdreams at 4:18 AM on November 19, 2022 [3 favorites]
This reminds me of a hot-springs business n the region that my wife and I used to go to. It used to be simple and idyllic. Now there are new owners, and they have changed it into an overblown and pretentious Disneyland mess. What once was two simple soaking pools with a quiet and relaxing vibe and limited simultaneous clients is now a party place with plastic gnomes scattered thrhoughout, etc., etc.
posted by NotLost at 5:20 AM on November 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by NotLost at 5:20 AM on November 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
If a place is inorganic, chilly, and polished--if it looks like it has parachuted in from corporate--that's when I know I can't stay. Give me the funky warmth of what's human and imperfect.
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:27 AM on November 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:27 AM on November 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
Navajo rugs each have a flaw on purpose.
posted by NotLost at 6:50 AM on November 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by NotLost at 6:50 AM on November 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
We have a disc golf course in town that is in a beautiful wooded area with some really complex and interesting (though not impossible) holes. However, for whatever reason it's hard to get good photos of most of it since it's kind of samey looking, no vistas, no shaded walkways with the sun beaming through just so, kind of dirty seeming. Very little moss. I love the place, it's great to play there or just walk through but yes, it has this exact UGHZ vibe.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:28 AM on November 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:28 AM on November 19, 2022 [5 favorites]
😬
posted by clavdivs at 5:40 PM on November 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by clavdivs at 5:40 PM on November 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Alas for my favourite pub near a previous workplace, somewhere you could sit quietly most nights of the week and enjoy really good craft beer whilst being steadily hypnotised by the flashing tail of the salvaged light-up peacock on the wall. It changed hands and became something much cooler, aimed at a younger crowd who are apparently more interested in shouting at each other over loud music whilst drinking cocktails. Farewell, peacock. I hope you went to a good home.
What's a jawn? I read the whole page and still hadn't worked it out by the end.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 6:03 AM on November 21, 2022
What's a jawn? I read the whole page and still hadn't worked it out by the end.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 6:03 AM on November 21, 2022
Jawn is Philly slang that can stand in for just about any noun, as I understand it. More info from the dictionary which seems to really think it's a nifty word.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:03 AM on November 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:03 AM on November 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
That's exactly what a jawn is, and it is *very* surprising for me to see it pop up in a non-Philly-specific context. It's hyperlocal and a lot of "I love being from Philly" clothes use it because of that.
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:01 AM on November 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:01 AM on November 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
If you're still on twitter, good opportunity to retweet with a link to metafilter, as low-key marketing.
posted by theora55 at 9:18 AM on November 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 9:18 AM on November 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
This applies to domestic spaces as well. I just returned from Thanksgiving weekend at the McMansion of an extended family member. Highly 'grammable, as the kids say. Color-coordinated rooms, professional mural in the formal parlor (which reminded me of Charles' murals in Brideshead Revisited, a story that did not end well for the family in question...), three separate indoor kitchens and one outdoor one, an infinity pool with a view over "Los Angeles" (aka the eternal SoCal sprawl). Not gonna lie, I did post to Instagram while poolside....
Still, I've never been happier to walk in my front door with its pile of kicked-off shoes, the mismatched dishes in my kitchen, the books piled on every horizontal surfaces and now edging toward the stairs.
posted by basalganglia at 8:50 AM on November 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Still, I've never been happier to walk in my front door with its pile of kicked-off shoes, the mismatched dishes in my kitchen, the books piled on every horizontal surfaces and now edging toward the stairs.
posted by basalganglia at 8:50 AM on November 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Reminds me of this classic comment:
it's called text you hapless gibbering app-fondling touchscreen cretin
posted by elizardbits at 2:46 PM on May 22, 2014 [629 favorites −] [!]
posted by she's not there at 2:45 PM on December 2, 2022
it's called text you hapless gibbering app-fondling touchscreen cretin
posted by elizardbits at 2:46 PM on May 22, 2014 [629 favorites −] [!]
posted by she's not there at 2:45 PM on December 2, 2022
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posted by taz (staff) at 2:10 AM on November 19, 2022 [5 favorites]