Friday, March 9, 2012

MKM Open Thread (Mar 9, 2012)

Welcome to your MKM Blog open thread for March 9, 2012, the day that a single photo wiped out three years of admittedly aspirational but nevertheless extremely happy memories from the early 2000s.  Seriously, what is going on there?  It looks like she has a Mini Cooper in there.  

Hey everyone, and a happy Friday to you.  So I just saw an unintentionally hilarious Terminix commercial in which the tag line was, seriously, "Termites are Monsters."  This got me thinking, if advertisers can equate termites to monsters, what other minor inconveniences can be villainized to that extent?   You be the judge:

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Anyway, chat it up. And here's a Youtube clip to get you started.



55 comments:

  1. Been enjoying the Toronto Maple Beef a lot lately, and think he's in line for promotion sometime soon.

    But man, you probably shouldn't misspell the name of a coach of the team you name-check in YOUR commenter name, no? (This is MY problem, isn't it?)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Guy Who Wandered Over From Yahoo!March 9, 2012 at 10:42 AM

    WHY ISN'T OBUMMER ON THAT LIST?!?!1!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. He was bitching about stars and having his taken away and people being overly-critical the other day or something, wasn't he? I don't remember, exactly.

      Delete
    2. That's his M.O. I just flipped through his last 25 pages worth of comments (slow day at work, by choice), which contained exactly one "+1" without his own joke added, or play on the system. (He does a lot of "-2 technically" type things)

      Then I found this.

      http://deadspin.com/5834218/report-mike-flanagan-killed-himself-over-prolonged-failure-of-the-baltimore-orioles-updated?comment=42147373#comments

      I really wish MKMITUB was around in August.

      Delete
    3. Forgot to add the link in the last post.

      Also, I am referring to Dandy Koufax's joke here. Not his novel.

      Delete
    4. Jesus, what's wrong with direct comment links these days? They don't work right.

      @STF Here's what you were talking about:

      http://deadspin.com/youwatchedtelevisiononce/forum?comment=47647984

      He just doesn't get it. If anybody has found even one of those dozens of great comments, I'd love to see it.

      Delete
    5. When I read that, I lost it at his "dozens" line. He used to go by Telecomic, and I've always disliked him.

      Also, goddamn I wish Dandy Koufax commented more often.

      Delete
  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    3. Touché

      Delete
    4. A Top Ten CommenterMarch 9, 2012 at 1:44 PM

      This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    5. How many screen names are you gonna use, Dad?

      Delete
    6. @fat-i

      +1

      Delete
  5. Guy Who Is Happy The Unofficial 1-Day Moratorium on Comment Bashing Is OverMarch 9, 2012 at 1:15 PM

    So now that Drew writes for Gawker, I can't even tell if shit like this is just general Big Daddy Drew lurkers or Gawker Cross-post people.

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    1. Guy Who Totally Agrees With YouMarch 9, 2012 at 1:20 PM

      GOD DAMMIT!!!! Where do they come from?

      Delete
    2. I came here just to point that out. The fact that batista_thumbs_up thought that the comment section of Deadspin was a good place to see it is indicative of the quality of most of his own comments.

      Delete
  6. A Guy Who Can Dream, Right?March 9, 2012 at 1:36 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. Wow, somehow I missed Vancoq's exit. He was really the worst commenter on the site, but truthfully now I feel a little bad. Very little.

      Delete
    2. A Guy Who Can Dream, Right?March 9, 2012 at 1:52 PM

      Yeah, that was a little awkward.

      Delete
    3. I feel bad about Vancoq's exit and I said nothing bad about the guy. No one comments great all the time and maybe there are some that never comment great, but for fuck's sake give 'em a break.

      Delete
    4. Vancoq quit? When did this happen? That's a LITTLE sad.

      /Returns to Twitter-harrassing Jose Canseco into a motel-room-hanging

      Delete
  7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  8. Oh, come on, Sean. IMG wasn't that mean to Jessica Simpson.

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  9. Guy With An Irrational Conviction To Uphold Etiquette Standards On A Meta-Blog That Blogs About Comments On A BlogMarch 9, 2012 at 2:14 PM

    God I am so fed up with the negativity here. I remember the warm & fuzzy good old days when we never made fun of anyone for anything and never called anyone out.

    We read glowing tributes about our best commenters, tributes that didn't poke any fun at them in the least.

    But then it went and got ruined by a bunch of assholes who took the blog in a completely new direction. They started poking fun at commenters and calling out bad comments, which is totally not what was happening when this blog started in January.

    I will not be checking this blog out anymore. I will be going to the seething pits of positivity, like ... uhh ... I'll get back to you.

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  10. People shitting on each other??? Sign me up!

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  11. Oh, fucking burn, IMG. How does it feel to have people fleeing?

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  12. General Ambrose BurnsideMarch 9, 2012 at 3:12 PM

    Relax, Sean.

    We're just busting chops over here.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Can someone explain the JeebusCribesSupercar situation to me? Sean, if you're still around I would greatly appreciate some enlightenment.

    http://deadspin.com/5891977/david-ortiz-you-are-not-the-father

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I think his star was a holdover from the old days. He posted the "not a father dance" from that famous Maury episode in .gif form. Quickest way to lose a star.

      Delete
    2. I think PARS is asking why he suddenly has his star back, right? Surprised me, too.

      Delete
    3. Yes, BH. I'm perplexed, and only on my fourth beer. Perhaps I'll figure it out after 10 more.

      Delete
    4. Ahhh. Sometimes it seems like star additions/removals come and go for a brief time period while Nibbles figures out the new status quo.

      It's also possible he just messaged the ninja, apologized for a gif, and got it back.

      I'm not sure if the ninja ever shows mercy...but it seems like a possibility.

      Delete
  14. Hypocrisy is in this yearMarch 9, 2012 at 5:24 PM

    I'm sure that Charlie Weiss's FUPA will be excited to hear about your newly enlightened stance against random hostility.

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  15. There's poking fun at someone. There's criticizing someone's comment while putting your name on the criticism. And then there's anonymously throwing shit around.

    I personally think constructive criticism, or even just mentioning a comment simply didn't work, is great if you put your name to it. I make some truly terrible jokes and welcome criticism/advice from anyone who will coherently and reasonably explain why they don't like what I did.

    But this anonymously throwing shit at the wall has got to stop. You're ruining this place, and if Vancoq left due to shit over here than you're also ruining Deadspin for some. If people had been openly mocking my commenting attempts a few years ago I probably would have left and never looked back.

    And if you do think something sucked. Say why. If it's self-evident...then just post the comment and call it a dud. I don't there's any need for us to be going back through a commenter's history and critiquing their entire body of work. And if someone calls a comment of mine a dude and suggests I "get fucked with a circular-saw" (sorry Uwe), there's no chance I take any of their criticism and apply it to commenting.

    Anyway. That's what I've got to say. Have at it douchebags.

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    1. Thanks for this. +1

      Speaking of circular saws...

      [makes chainsaw noise to self]

      Delete
    2. V8, couldn't agree more. I saw someone was criticizing me on here awhile ago, and didn't even respond. Because what's the point of having a battle with someone who doesn't have the balls to identify him/herself, and gives no examples of said criticism? I may have jousted with someone like that when I was in high school, but those days are long gone.

      I don't know how much work it is to run a b(a)log, and I certainly appreciate all the work IMG puts in to this, but my two cents for our fine host would be to require some kind of "identity" before commenting here. I completely understand that this is a blog of a blog, and most of its commentariat are an alias of an AOL account, but everyone's name in this corner of the internet carries some kind of identity. There's a reason why Deadspin has the most articulate, humorous and intelligent commentariat on the internet, and it's because of civil discourse.*

      *Except for Gamboa

      Delete
  16. Okay, did a little house cleaning. Definitely nothing personal to anyone who got a comment deleted, I'm actually big fans of all of your work, but I agree with Sean and SV8 that we can do better. Criticize comments, please. But constructively. Name calling can be amusing but it isn't what we do on a website that's devoted to worshipping a guy who thinks Wicked is the cat's pajamas (his words).

    XOXO

    IMG

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    Replies
    1. C'mon, any publicity is good publicity.

      Delete
  17. Taking SbV8's idea to heart, I'd like to do some critiquing, standing behind my own name.

    I saw this a few minutes ago. First of all, it's really unfocused. It's not grounded in anything, and I have absolutely no idea where it's coming from. I don't think anybody knows. It's almost like it's going off in two directions. I'm completely unfamiliar with the architect, so I can't say it's mean-spirited, but it definitely seems icier than it needs to be. It almost makes me angry, seeing it zipping around, undeservedly, among the stars.

    I am, of course, speaking about this commet.

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    1. Are you fucking kidding me BBAM? I made the goddamned comet-comment joke in yesterday's open thread and now you get a +1 and I get shit for spending the first 8 minutes of my morning everyday halfheartedly slapping this shit together???

      You're banned. Open season on BBAM, everyone.

      Delete
    2. Ugh. More like Bring Back Perry Mason, amirite?

      [calls Pew Research Center]

      Apparently I am wrong.

      Delete
    3. +1 BBAM

      -1 IMG

      Delete
  18. Sean Newell's Only FanMarch 9, 2012 at 6:23 PM

    Great call, Newell. Here are some sites that people can enjoy instead of this shit parade.

    http://the-worst-url.blogspot.com/

    http://redundantly-redundant.blogspot.com/

    http://selftitledproject.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  19. I'm not "Hypocrisy", but I am sympathetic to his argument. This blog IS elitist, snobbish, and can, at times, veer into inappropriate ad hominem attacks, among other things. That is exactly like the internet in general, and the comment ninja in particular.

    Scan through the ninja's posting history - there's plenty of stuff in there that would be very discouraging to a new commenter. That's fine. That's the way it works. At work, not everybody gets a promotion, and sometimes you and the boss get together and bag on the interns.

    This is a place to blow off some steam. There should probably be more celebration of good comments to balance it out, but hey we can do that on Deadspin.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hypocrisy is in this yearMarch 9, 2012 at 9:07 PM

    @ "Someone Who Laughed"

    That was terrific hostility - nice job. Unfortunately it was also a shitty comment.

    FUPA finally got promoted, and, in his excitement, proclaimed his desire to get a star. For that, he was banned by a starred commenter acting under an anonymous name and has become an eternal punchline. Why? Because he was off-topic or guilty of inside baseball? People make off-topic jokes/comments every day - they are moved or possibly warned, not banned unless they are repeat offenders (which FUPA was not). Or was it because he openly asked for a star? There are multiple people on this blog who have stars because they openly asked for them. We won't actually know why he was banned, because the ninja did not explain anything - he just anonymously smacked around a weak commenter.

    But we do agree on one thing - it was funny. I laughed at the time and have referenced it since. It was also petty, mean, elitist shit delivered anonymously for other long-time commenters' benefits. So for someone who directly participated in that affair to stomp his feet, puff his cheeks and tell everyone that he's taking his ball and going home is pure hypocrisy.

    Call me a fucking idiot all you want, but try to do it with some kind of argument besides "I laughed at the FUPA thing."

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  21. +1. Best comment of the day.

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  22. Bubbaprog Sounds Like a Redneck DildoMarch 9, 2012 at 9:17 PM

    We wouldn't want to needlessly call out anyone ... would we?

    http://deadspin.com/5892078/whatever-jenn-sterger-is-doing-at-the-daily-please-god-make-it-stop

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  23. The Girl That Biggie Shit On In That One SongMarch 9, 2012 at 11:49 PM

    What an appropriate day to use that metaphor, although I'm confused about the seemingly negative connotation.

    RIP Big Poppa

    ReplyDelete