Good morning, everyone. Who's got two thumbs and is feeling less suicidal than yesterday morning? Okay, one thumb. Let's move on.
I feel like things have slowed down here and elsewhere of late. I'm hoping that's temporary, at least as to Deadspin. There have actually been some really good comments lately, I made two excellent jokes that went almost entirely unappreciated yesterday, for example. But, overall, commenting seems less ... energetic. That's just my impression, but I don't feel like there's the energy we all had even a month or so back, where there was just winner after winner, everyone was feeding off each other, and +1s were flowing like the Salmon of Capistrano.
I think I know just the thing that will change this: a Youtube clip to get you started.
You of all people should know today's the 5th.
ReplyDeleteThe only day IMG cares about is the FIRST OF DA MONNNNNNNTH
DeletePoor, poor Lionel. Check his comment in the Francona post, if you're wondering what I mean.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem just following up these types of things with "+1" is just not getting the point across.
DeleteLive long enough you're bound to find
ReplyDeletemoonshine'll make a man go blind
Never can tell what the brew will do
but there's times you'll wind up feelin' so fine
Relevant: the first day of the year that I realize how much I hate being a Cubs fan when I see ~9325 new pieces of Cubs apparel being worn by sorority girls from the suburbs who couldn't identify Ernie Banks if he came up and introduced himself as "Mr. Cub."
ReplyDeleteThis is the 97th day of the year that I realize how much I hate being a Cubs fan, because we (yes "we", FIGHT ME!) are going to suck horribly this year. I'll still be watching whenever possible, however. Because I love pain.
DeletePink comment of the year. Where can this bro get a Dwight Howard Jersey?
ReplyDeleteAre you happy now, link nazis?!?!?
You know what sucks? I have a ton of nice Dwight Howard jerseys and theres virtually no market for me to unload them on the cheap.
ReplyDeletePoor Same Sad Echo. Guy left a frigging hilarious Perfect Strangers joke in that umpire thread, only to get no love because BBAM selfishly dropped a much better joke immediately afterward.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about Echo though. Luckily he has grace, dignity and aplomb that comes with having an enormous penis to see him through.
...that was no joke.
DeleteSo Will and his buddy are just going to review movies from any fucking time in the history of cinema whenever they feel like it? That's like the purest definition of self gratification ever. Masturbate away, fellas!
ReplyDeleteNo shit. Maybe tomorrow they'll review No Country For Old Men. Can you believe its been FIVE years already???!!
DeleteYeah I complained about this on here last week, it is fucking lame and completely unreadable.
Delete"20 Years Ago, Hollywood Became Self-Aware; Or, How A Robert Altman Movie Helped Create TMZ" Nothing about that sounds interesting in the least bit.
2+ hours after going up, no comments on the Grierson post. Take a hint guys.
DeleteSign me up for this newsletter please
ReplyDeleteI know some of you enjoy my work over at Jezebel, so here's a link to today's work, which was one of my better attempts.
ReplyDeletehttp://jezebel.com/5899319/stop-using-cavemen-as-an-excuse-for-your-fad-diet?comment=48616813#comments
I know I fucked up that link -- sorry moderator who isn't IMG
DeleteI dunno...I've enjoyed some of your stuff over there thoroughly, but that one came across kind of like lazy Jezebel-trolling.
DeleteI don't know. That kind of comes off as something my brother would do. He the kind of guy who thinks deliberately pissing people off is a virtue. Not that I don't like your stuff, it's always pretty good. But bragging about riling up the Jezzies is kind of chickenshit.
DeleteI can't tell if SbV8 is being serious, but I thought this was funny and horrifying. Ray might have been trolling a little bit, but it was no more overwrought than the typical Jezebel comment - didn't seem out of place to me. I'm really worried about the guy calling him a cheetah and "Situation", though. That was something to behold.
DeleteI was being serious but didn't mean to say it was out-of-place or inappropriate. I'm just not a fan of trolling (anywhere) without a joke and just am not really feeling that one.
DeleteFor the record, I don't think of myself by any means as a obesity-apologist. Just didn't get that one.
I thought you actually made some good points, Ray. Up to the whole top 10 law school thing. I double-checked, and there are no top 10 law schools within several states of Florida, and the most successful law school grad in the state is still Tony La Russa.
DeleteRay, your points were much tighter and on point than those who "debated" you, but this feels eerily like my infamous dalliance over at Gawker last month. I don't know if the ninja wrote to you like he did to me, but let me paraphrase his sanctimonious advice - "it just isn't worth it."
ReplyDeleteEvery Gawker site has a subculture which takes itself far too seriously (I include Deadspin in that list - witness the thread above complaining because one of the best new unstarred commenters attempted to make a joke in response to another joke). Attempting to row upstream against that culture is a fool's endeavour, and no amount of logic or dissection of others' arguments will convince the local illuminati to take up your side of the argument.
I actually don't think you were trolling, any more than I was trolling back then, but it just doesn't do any good to stir up the prejudiced masses with anything approaching an alternate point of view. And, as I learned, inviting them over to compete on the much more difficult Deadspin commenting turf does nothing but spur allegations of elitism.
Um, crazy person? You weren't advocating "an alternate point of view." You were busting on people publicly because you thought their comments weren't very good. That's trolling. That's all it is.
DeleteYeah, I've got to agree with Anon here. It's not like you were making some well-reasoned alternate argument on a particular subject and getting shit on; you were straight up trolling, which serves no absolutely purpose. I think Ray was trolling here too, but probably to a lesser extent.
DeleteAlso, I'm pretty sure Uwe was lamenting the "Hershisher...didn't even know her" tack-on to Lionel's joke.
Anyway, I do agree that it just isn't worth it.
And no, I don't proof my comments before posting.
DeleteYou were busting on people publicly because you thought their comments weren't very good. That's trolling. That's all it is.
DeleteI'll take your word for it as the local anonymous expert.
Ah, so publicly busting on people because their comments aren't funny enough for your tastes is OK... but actually refuting someone's argument is bad bad baaaaaad if you do it anonymously?
DeleteThanks, Logic Man!
@Echo
DeleteIt really does depend on your definition of trolling. As I've said multiple times since then, both directly and as part of multiple apologies - I was drunk and ornery at the time and I went after a few idiotic posters.
But, by the standard definition of trolling ("saying something you don't actually believe just to get a rise out of others"), I wasn't trolling. I said exactly what I meant and I backed it up when challenged. But, it was a waste of everyone's time, which is why I apologized in the morning.
@anon
DeleteStarting a dialogue with "Um, crazy person?" and then retroactively characterizing your comment as "actually refuting someone's argument" is a pitch-perfect Gawker parody. Well done
(Adding a "Thanks, Logic Man" probably took your satire over the top.)
@Echo You are correct on my intentions in the above post.
Delete@Uwe @Echo
DeleteMy fault. Will Clark also made a tack-on joke in that thread, so I though you were referring to him.
(edit to my last comment)
ReplyDelete"One of the best new STARRED commenters" -- congrats "Triumph of the Will Clark"! Well deserved
GODDAMMIT. (Kidding.) That's actually excellent to hear - throw me a link?
Delete/whitlock'd
You know, this took a lot of shirking and avoiding responsibility. I'd really like to thank my boss for paying me despite my shoddy work, my girlfriend for tuning out my prolonged absences in the computer room and most of all myself, through whom all great things cum.
DeleteIn all seriousness, this is pretty cool. I've actually been gunning for one for a while now. I still don't quite understand how all this shit works or the etiquette but I will eventually figure it out. Maybe.
Oh yeah, and thanks to Dubai for steering me this direction.
BBAM:This was magnificent.
ReplyDeleteHey there, Captain Read The Threads Above You!
Delete[It was magnificent]
Touche.
DeleteWho you callin' a touche, tough guy?
DeleteAlso, I just wanted to mention that the money I've spent on the How To Over-React forum down at the Learning Annex has been very well spent.
@both:
DeleteThanks! I haven't been funny in about a week so I decided to try "weird, long-form David Hume" style.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWell, IMG, you're consistent - I'll give you that. Fair enough.
DeleteSorry for dropping the Jez link and then bailing for a few hours -- a few thoughts:
ReplyDelete-- I totally understand that few, if any of you, will enjoy this. No one should enjoy it, but I do. So no hard feelings if you don't like it.
-- Although what I am doing is certainly within some form of "trolling" category, in that I'm clearly looking for a reaction, I don't do it just to be funny or to make fun of people. I just occasionally drop sarcastic comments that in some form or fashion reflect my true beliefs, and then if someone responds irrationally, I play with them a little bit.
-- In no way do I think my comments fall outside the bounds of what is accepted at Jezebel. I've never been warned or had a thread moved, and I never make fun of people (well, directly, anyway). I enjoy that site and appreciate their culture, and in a lot of ways I embrace it (and, yes, exploit it for my own entertainment).
-- 9 times out of 10, the thread ends up with women jumping back in and defending me from the first-movers who are just blinded by rage. So I actually have a couple of fans over there.
-- And for IMG's benefit, neither I nor anyone in my office went to law school anywhere near Florida. They furlough the best of us for grad school.
-- Congrats to TOTWC -- well deserved!
Your argument was laid out concisely and coherently. Have you ever thought of becoming a lawyer?
DeleteThey're weird over there, bro. You should have told them to start running like you. You're definitely a "supremacist" and elitist in that arena.
DeleteAlso, I was hanging out at a Nike store. That place makes me want to run, but I hate running because it's just the worst. What's the secret to liking running?
Does anyone know where Always Winning has been? He hasn't been on Deadspin, or Twitter, but he'll always be in my heart.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I hope nothing happened to him.
Hey, Failbot's back!
ReplyDeleteIs that good?