Are we all sheep grazing on Matt's grass? March 24, 2003 6:48 AM Subscribe
hincandenza's excellent post raises a good point. Are we all sheep grazing on Matt's grass?
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- Brandon Blatcher
heh. why does hincandenza hate metafilter so much?
HAD to. just had to.
posted by quonsar at 7:11 AM on March 24, 2003
HAD to. just had to.
posted by quonsar at 7:11 AM on March 24, 2003
Baaaaa!
Well, someone was gonna say it, no?
BleeeeeatFilter!
ed, could you explain the "...on MH's grass..." comment a little firther? I think I understand what you mean, but I don't see how it came out of Hincandenza's comment so readily...So we're getting off on mathowie's "celebrity," e.g. a thread like matt's Oscar-ribbon simple post gets 60+ comments because matt posted it..?
posted by Shane at 7:19 AM on March 24, 2003
Well, someone was gonna say it, no?
BleeeeeatFilter!
ed, could you explain the "...on MH's grass..." comment a little firther? I think I understand what you mean, but I don't see how it came out of Hincandenza's comment so readily...So we're getting off on mathowie's "celebrity," e.g. a thread like matt's Oscar-ribbon simple post gets 60+ comments because matt posted it..?
posted by Shane at 7:19 AM on March 24, 2003
To expand on my comment... All blogs are really benevolent dictatorships. Why is this not different?
I do disagree, rather strongly in fact, with a politically charged quote being highlighted on the sidebar without including the opposing view. But nobody can argue that Matt does not have the right to do it. If you don't like it, grow your own grass, and find your own sheep. I, for one, welcome our wooly overlords.
posted by PrinceValium at 7:20 AM on March 24, 2003
I do disagree, rather strongly in fact, with a politically charged quote being highlighted on the sidebar without including the opposing view. But nobody can argue that Matt does not have the right to do it. If you don't like it, grow your own grass, and find your own sheep. I, for one, welcome our wooly overlords.
posted by PrinceValium at 7:20 AM on March 24, 2003
hincandenza, translated for shane: matt is a 'celeb' of mefi, and took advantage of his rather large audience to post something that sneers at at 'celebs' for taking advantage of their rather large audiences. hincandenza predicted the post wouldn't be dragged into meta, so that wag ed dragged it into meta. and here we are!
posted by quonsar at 7:35 AM on March 24, 2003
posted by quonsar at 7:35 AM on March 24, 2003
I would have characterized his post as the egotistical grandstanding of someone who has an overblown sense of entitlement and the importance of his own opinion.
And it raises a self-evident point, not a good one. Of course we are all sheep grazing on Matt's grass. Who does all the work on this site? Who replaces hardrives when they fail? Who optimizes the code? Who puts up with all the frustration? Who takes all the shit from both sides when they don't like the tiniest little thing that he says, does or posts?
Here's a little hint - it isn't me, it isn't you, and it certainly isn't hincadenza.
I've never met either Matt or hincadenza, but based on what I've read here today, I know which one I respect. And it's certainly not the one slinging shit at the guy who created this site and continues to maintain it, for FREE, so that people like hincadenza can abuse him for it.
posted by Irontom at 7:36 AM on March 24, 2003
And it raises a self-evident point, not a good one. Of course we are all sheep grazing on Matt's grass. Who does all the work on this site? Who replaces hardrives when they fail? Who optimizes the code? Who puts up with all the frustration? Who takes all the shit from both sides when they don't like the tiniest little thing that he says, does or posts?
Here's a little hint - it isn't me, it isn't you, and it certainly isn't hincadenza.
I've never met either Matt or hincadenza, but based on what I've read here today, I know which one I respect. And it's certainly not the one slinging shit at the guy who created this site and continues to maintain it, for FREE, so that people like hincadenza can abuse him for it.
posted by Irontom at 7:36 AM on March 24, 2003
We like Matt, We really really like him.
I am sure some people are trying to suck up to him, but who cares? I would imagine Matt's unhappy job would make him impervious to flattery (and insults too prolly),and that he can see what is not genuine from a long way off by now.
posted by thirteen at 7:38 AM on March 24, 2003
I am sure some people are trying to suck up to him, but who cares? I would imagine Matt's unhappy job would make him impervious to flattery (and insults too prolly),and that he can see what is not genuine from a long way off by now.
posted by thirteen at 7:38 AM on March 24, 2003
Yes, this is matt's grass and we're all playing on it. But that is the nature of the blog. Would Mefi be preferable with only mathowie posting? It certainly wouldn't be the same beast. *wonders: did I even address the right question? What IS the question?*
quonsar: well, I guess ed proved hincandenza wrong! Heh! Um... *scratches head*
hincazendle, get a damn username that's easier to spell for fecksake.
posted by Shane at 7:43 AM on March 24, 2003
quonsar: well, I guess ed proved hincandenza wrong! Heh! Um... *scratches head*
hincazendle, get a damn username that's easier to spell for fecksake.
posted by Shane at 7:43 AM on March 24, 2003
quonsar, post a funny picture of sheep already. You're slipping. Time was you wouldn't even have to be told.
Somebody else: Start complaining about Mefi threads devolving into stupid jokes. This thread is about to take a turn in that direction...
*runs away bleeeting madly*
"My relationship to sheep is a bit ambivalent now. I like them, but not when they come flying through the air," Hagen told The Associated Press Monday from his hospital room. He is expected to recover.
posted by Shane at 7:57 AM on March 24, 2003
Somebody else: Start complaining about Mefi threads devolving into stupid jokes. This thread is about to take a turn in that direction...
*runs away bleeeting madly*
"My relationship to sheep is a bit ambivalent now. I like them, but not when they come flying through the air," Hagen told The Associated Press Monday from his hospital room. He is expected to recover.
posted by Shane at 7:57 AM on March 24, 2003
What tosh! User mathowie made a lighthearted post which allowed us to discuss the Oscars ceremony - big deal. The tone was well-judged too, as it prevented the predictable rampant Iraquisation.
While it's merely unfair to hold mathowie to a higher standard than the rest of us, it's stupid and insulting to hold him to a lower standard, according to the usual banalities about it being his playground.
Besides, I think hincandenza was just exercising his ironical hamstrings and standing on tiptoe as a result, as is his wont and right.
And don't begrudge The Man his sideblog, you neurotic, inferiority-complex-riddled little fusspots!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 8:01 AM on March 24, 2003
While it's merely unfair to hold mathowie to a higher standard than the rest of us, it's stupid and insulting to hold him to a lower standard, according to the usual banalities about it being his playground.
Besides, I think hincandenza was just exercising his ironical hamstrings and standing on tiptoe as a result, as is his wont and right.
And don't begrudge The Man his sideblog, you neurotic, inferiority-complex-riddled little fusspots!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 8:01 AM on March 24, 2003
I see a little fusspot calling a kettle black!
(Okay, now I'll run away.)
posted by Shane at 8:07 AM on March 24, 2003
(Okay, now I'll run away.)
posted by Shane at 8:07 AM on March 24, 2003
irontom, i don't attribute hincandenza's comment to malice or disrespect, i thought it was a bit of clever humor. but then, *i* think almost everything
is a bit of clever humor.
*takes advantage of rather large audience*
except duhbya. i find nothing at all funny about duhbya.
on preview shane, what goes good with sheep?
posted by quonsar at 8:28 AM on March 24, 2003
is a bit of clever humor.
*takes advantage of rather large audience*
except duhbya. i find nothing at all funny about duhbya.
on preview shane, what goes good with sheep?
posted by quonsar at 8:28 AM on March 24, 2003
Jesus. I'm a celebrity with a pulpit? On what planet?
I thought the ribbon campaign was funny, and after sitting through the oscars thought it was easy to link the joke on that page with the night's festivities.
I highlighted the link in the sidebar because I thought it was a refreshing intelligent post in an otherwise frivolous thread.
I'll highlight as many well-written posts as I can find, feel free to email me when you see particularly good ones.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:46 AM on March 24, 2003
I thought the ribbon campaign was funny, and after sitting through the oscars thought it was easy to link the joke on that page with the night's festivities.
I highlighted the link in the sidebar because I thought it was a refreshing intelligent post in an otherwise frivolous thread.
I'll highlight as many well-written posts as I can find, feel free to email me when you see particularly good ones.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:46 AM on March 24, 2003
Just my observation, but metafilter must look very good on a cv indeed and it would be pretty hard to answer why it had been closed down in a job interview.
posted by sgt.serenity at 3:42 PM on March 25, 2003
Yes. matt is 100% celebrity. I'm totally serious. Reluctant, charming, likeable, organically grown -- whatever. Pure USDA celeb.
posted by victors at 3:46 PM on March 25, 2003
posted by victors at 3:46 PM on March 25, 2003
Oh, come on, hincandenza's comment wasn't "excellent" nor was it "clever humor."
The guy thought he had some easy point on which to skewer mathowie. He was off base. The post was about an interesting site which was clever. The post was certainly within the guidelines. It doesn't matter who posted it.
As for mathowie's alleged "celebrity." I'd like to see a list of people who joined Metafilter lately because they wanted to bask in Matt's glow. I'd bet most people who casually read the site probably think MiguelCardoso or hama7 live here.
In any case, MetaFilter isn't a blog. It doesn't reflect the glow of Matt's personal genius or madness. Metafilter is more a garden whose beauty lies in the flowers who post and comment. Matt is simply the gardener who trims a bit here and drops a bit of fertilizer there.
So there you have it. We're all a bunch of roses, posies, snap dragons and weeds. And hincandenza is just a troll stomping on all the pretty things.
posted by ?! at 4:27 PM on March 25, 2003
The guy thought he had some easy point on which to skewer mathowie. He was off base. The post was about an interesting site which was clever. The post was certainly within the guidelines. It doesn't matter who posted it.
As for mathowie's alleged "celebrity." I'd like to see a list of people who joined Metafilter lately because they wanted to bask in Matt's glow. I'd bet most people who casually read the site probably think MiguelCardoso or hama7 live here.
In any case, MetaFilter isn't a blog. It doesn't reflect the glow of Matt's personal genius or madness. Metafilter is more a garden whose beauty lies in the flowers who post and comment. Matt is simply the gardener who trims a bit here and drops a bit of fertilizer there.
So there you have it. We're all a bunch of roses, posies, snap dragons and weeds. And hincandenza is just a troll stomping on all the pretty things.
posted by ?! at 4:27 PM on March 25, 2003
drops a bit of fertilizer there.
Plenty of others, myself included, drop fertilizer all over the place...
posted by Shane at 4:44 PM on March 25, 2003
Plenty of others, myself included, drop fertilizer all over the place...
posted by Shane at 4:44 PM on March 25, 2003
I'm not saying mefi is a cult of personality (I think lgf is much closer to that) but this site most certainly does reflect matt to a huge degree and **cough**... the original post is **cough**... a kettle call **cough**....
posted by victors at 4:56 PM on March 25, 2003
posted by victors at 4:56 PM on March 25, 2003
If I may (would have replied earlier, but MeFi wasn't working):
Of course it was a joke! Man, I tell ya- people who know me (aaronscool for one) would tell ya I"m hee-larious in person. Guess my humor doesn't always write well. I did have a point, and wasn't trying to "skewer" matt- from what I can tell, he seems like a decent dude.
I was only (semi-tongue in cheek, and probably too verbosely) wanting to point out that:
1) We- all of us- will use whatever level of exposure we have. Whether it's lone protestor on the street, the average bloviator at Metafilter, Matt H. at Metafilter, or world-famous people who either are famous for other reasons, or who's fame is specifically in the area of political commentary (Rush or Sean Hannity or Ann Coulter count here). We always use the loudest platform we can; to do less would be bizarre, if we feel passionately about something.
2) While he's no A-lister, courtside seats at the Lakers and obligatory Oscar monologue joke type celebrity, Matt is semi-famous. Among the community of Metafilter, he is quite well known and has a certain cachet. Or to put it another way: he is far less likely to get chewed out or dragged into Metatalk (thanks for spoiling my joke, ed! :) ) than most anyone else here.
3) Noting in particular that, regardless of the merits of the ribbon thing (although I thought it was less interesting as a FPP than as an in-thread img src), there was a certain irony to Matt, of all people at Mefi, posting that here. He is the closest thing to a celebrity this site has. And in the larger blog community, people like he or Kottke etc have an even broader visibility.
Basically, if you consider the registered users and additional loyal readership of MeFi, this site is like a mid-size town/near city of ~50,000 people, and Matt is the well-known anchor of the 6 o'clock news, or that wacky guy who owns a chain of appliance stores and does the funny commercials. In that vein, yes- he is famous, he is a celebrity. Wired et al never ask me to comment on the state of the web, I know that much. :)
posted by hincandenza at 5:23 PM on March 25, 2003
Of course it was a joke! Man, I tell ya- people who know me (aaronscool for one) would tell ya I"m hee-larious in person. Guess my humor doesn't always write well. I did have a point, and wasn't trying to "skewer" matt- from what I can tell, he seems like a decent dude.
I was only (semi-tongue in cheek, and probably too verbosely) wanting to point out that:
1) We- all of us- will use whatever level of exposure we have. Whether it's lone protestor on the street, the average bloviator at Metafilter, Matt H. at Metafilter, or world-famous people who either are famous for other reasons, or who's fame is specifically in the area of political commentary (Rush or Sean Hannity or Ann Coulter count here). We always use the loudest platform we can; to do less would be bizarre, if we feel passionately about something.
2) While he's no A-lister, courtside seats at the Lakers and obligatory Oscar monologue joke type celebrity, Matt is semi-famous. Among the community of Metafilter, he is quite well known and has a certain cachet. Or to put it another way: he is far less likely to get chewed out or dragged into Metatalk (thanks for spoiling my joke, ed! :) ) than most anyone else here.
3) Noting in particular that, regardless of the merits of the ribbon thing (although I thought it was less interesting as a FPP than as an in-thread img src), there was a certain irony to Matt, of all people at Mefi, posting that here. He is the closest thing to a celebrity this site has. And in the larger blog community, people like he or Kottke etc have an even broader visibility.
Basically, if you consider the registered users and additional loyal readership of MeFi, this site is like a mid-size town/near city of ~50,000 people, and Matt is the well-known anchor of the 6 o'clock news, or that wacky guy who owns a chain of appliance stores and does the funny commercials. In that vein, yes- he is famous, he is a celebrity. Wired et al never ask me to comment on the state of the web, I know that much. :)
posted by hincandenza at 5:23 PM on March 25, 2003
Are we all sheep grazing on Matt's grass?
With the advent of the adverts, I'd say we're probably stock of some kind. Perhaps even live stock.
But heck, I'll be glad to cast an eyeball occasionally.
posted by namespan at 6:24 PM on March 25, 2003
With the advent of the adverts, I'd say we're probably stock of some kind. Perhaps even live stock.
But heck, I'll be glad to cast an eyeball occasionally.
posted by namespan at 6:24 PM on March 25, 2003
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And no.
posted by PrinceValium at 7:09 AM on March 24, 2003