I’ve counted the nominations for the Molly Award, and the winner for January 2009 is…Wowbagger! I don’t know why, he just wanders around insulting everybody, and of course there was no hurry, since he is immortal. I think you all just fell for the ploy of favoring the guy riding Douglas Adam’s coattails.*
Now you can leave comments here congratulating the Infinitely Prolonged, and you can also nominate other fabulous posters for the Molly for February. Now don’t you be handing them out to Princess Hooli and Max Quordlepleen just because you like their names!
*OK, so there probably were some other good reasons, too.
Congrats wowbagger, you deserve it.
My vote is for Josh
Congratulations, Wowbagger[, OM]!
I wasn’t here for most of the comment threading, so I’m going to abstain from voting since I don’t have a good idea of who deserves it or who doesn’t for February.
Congratulations, Wowbagger!
For Feb.:
Bill Dauphin
Janine
I would like to nominate Ed Brayton of the “Dispatches Of The Culture Wars” blog.
Congratulations, Wowbagger!
My vote goes to Sven DeMilo, for exemplary service in the war against trolls.
Cheers, Wowbagger!
I second Sven DiMilo for steadfastly trying to explain science to people who hate it.
Oh yes, congratulations, Wowbagger.
I tried to vote for Sven a few months ago and he said he didn’t want it. If he changes his mind, then please consider added to the above:
Sven DiMilo
I wasn’t gonna vote for Sven this time but then he went and got all Molly worthy. The ode to OK was spot on, and deserves a vote.
AnthonyK iz teh awsum. can haz molly?
Congratulations to Wowbagger. About time.
I agree Sven DeMilo is Molly worthy and overdue. If he declines to run, Kel and John Morales.
Feynmaniac and Josh.
I vote for Sven DeMilo as well. He previously begged off, on the grounds that he didn’t add much beyond snark to the discussion. On the contrary, a quick search of his comments reveals an impressive collection of informative, science-based contributions, from which I invariably learn something, and this alone should keep him in the running. Moreover, on such a high traffic blog, Sven’s ample selection of one-line zingers are no less impressive or important. Some days I just don’t have the time or the inclination to slog through hundreds of what I’m sure are very well thought out and compelling 500 word discourses. But I’ll skim through the short, sharp comments and get a sense of the conversation before I have to move on. Sven’s short, snappy responses help keep me anchored to the Pharyngula community, and I deeply appreciate that.
Previous demurrals notwithstanding, Sven is due for the Molly.
Congratulations Wowbagger – very well deserved!
For February I’ll nominate ‘Tis Himself – for services to “libertarian”-squashing, and valiant attempts to explain economics! AnthonyK is carving out a nice niche as a parodist, and he’s my second choice.
Congrats Wowbaggger! (Them Oz people are gonna take over, y’know…)
Sven, Josh, Iain, Kel, John M, AnthonyK. -all of these guys are deserving for recent contributions.
Which reminds me; I miss you Jadehawk.
Oh, & Tis Himself too
Congratulations Wowbagger!
Well, I think last month every other thread turned into a discussion on Libertarianism, Walton, or Walton’s Libertarianism. Also, the flame war on the correct usage of the term crescendo was beneath the commenters here.
Nonetheless, the threads were still informative and entertaining, which is why I keep coming back. My vote goes to Sven and Janine of many names.
Yay! Wowbagger! I guess persistence pays off – I have been mentioning you for four months in a row. And, closing on the inside is ——Anthony K.
Also, the flame war on the correct usage of the term crescendo was beneath the commenters here.
You know what, Feynmaniac? I’m trying to grade all of my midterms so I can get back home because I just found out my wonderful dog is very sick and probably dying. Thanks for sharing, but at the moment I really don’t give a flying fuck what you think is beneath anyone.
I’ll add another for Josh.
And Sven if he’ll take it.
Sorry for posting that on your celebration thread, Wowbagger. I’m emotional right now, and probably shouldn’t be commenting at all. Anyway, congratulations again – you’ve long deserved it.
:( I’m very sorry to hear the sad news, SC; my condolences. /virtualhug
SC, OM,
Very sorry to hear about your poor dog – hope (s)he recovers.
SC, Sorry to hear about your dog. If you need to rant, we are here for you.
Shit. Thanks, guys. I really didn’t mean to hijack a Molly thread with this – it just came spilling out. Sorry again, Wowbagger. I appreciate the sympathy messages from such thoughtful people.
Congratulations Wowbagger, well done! Always good comments.
My votes to Janine and Sven.
Tis Himself and AnthonyK are certainly getting gruesome as well.
Can’t decide who wins the most annoying git, to wrap in chains and drop over the side award, Walton or Facillis.
Congratulations to wowbagger.
And very sorry to hear about the dog, SC. I do hope shehe recovers.
Sven DiMilo is also my vote.
SC, OM
Well as a dog lover myself my sympathies are with you. I could understand your frustration.
The comment was mostly an attempt at humor. However, my point was that the quality of comments here are generally high so you wouldn’t expect a flame war over something so trivial. Even though I thought your position was correct I also think the argument got a little too heated.
Again, my condolences.
Congratulations Wowbagger! Well-deserved.
For February, Kel.
Very sorry to hear about your dog SC. That’s a tough thing to go through.
I vote Facilis for “The Most Gratuitously Ignorant Use of the Word ‘Proven’ in a Serious Screenplay”
Supposedly, “if a fool persist in his folly, he should become wise”, but I think the heat death of the universe will get here first.
Oh, and Josh for the Molly. Geology is hawt.
And condolences to SC.
May there be a recovery.
Wow, he bagged one!
“Wowbagger, OM” sounds almost as good as “President Obama”. Go, you! Go, (us) Aussies!
For February, I nominate AnthonyK, of the amazing, straightfaced snark. I’m not worthy!
Congratulationes to Wowbagger!
(I didn’t know there was anything to the name – I assumed it had something to do with WoW and carpetbaggers. I guess not, then.)
I’m soooooo far behind on reading (as always) that I shouldn’t vote.
But it sounds like Sven doesn’t want to be Mollified, so I pretty much have to vote for Sven de Milo (and since he has no arms, he can’t beat me for it).
(My dog is a she, and she really is awesome. She’s supposed to turn 14 next month, and she’s been there with me through a lot. I have her picture in my wallet, and thanked her prominently in my dissertation acknowledgments.)
Thanks, Feynmaniac.
However, my point was that the quality of comments here are generally high so you wouldn’t expect a flame war over something so trivial.
Trivial?! If I were up to it, I would argue with you now over whether or not it was too trivial. I would even argue over whether or not it’s too trivial to argue over whether it was too trivial. I’m that argumentative.
No, I’m not proud.
Wow, wow, Wowbagger!
Congrats to Wowbagger. So frequently, after I read one of Wowbagger’s posts, I think, “Yeah. What he said.”
In the still-growing megathread (1600 posts when I last checked): How to Respond to Requests to Debate Creationists, several posters have distinguished themselves with Molly-worthy posts including Kel and AnthonyK. But if I have to pick one Molly nominee from those who don’t already have an OM, I pick Josh for his learned, reasoned, and astoundingly patient responses to Nat’s many rambling and wordy posts which pack more inanity and basic wrongness into a single comment than my brain can withstand and still function.
Wowbagger
Aww crap, how could I have forgotten Wowbagger insulting Arthur Dent? I really must slap myself with a french jelly meat now and then to see if I’m conscious.
I have to go with Josh also, even if he was mean enough to correct one of my many mistakes. (No, I am not getting over that!)
SC, good luck with your dog. Sadly, seeing that she is old, well, nothing more to say there. But I hope she is comfortable.
Thank you for mentioning my name, especially in bold! I would be lying if I denied feeling flattered. You guys are testing the adamance* of my lifetime commitment to Marxism. I guess I did briefly join a political party once, and I pay my Union dues.
I will repeat my usual nomination of Bill Dauphin.
(SC, so sorry to hear about your dog.)
(And, of course, and in an entirely different ballpark of “sorry,” your midterms.)
*just learned that one
SC I feel your pain. Went through the same type of thin in October with my 12 year old lab.
Hardest thing I’ve ever been through.
Congrats to Wowbagger.
Excellent another Aussie OM. Congrats Wowbagger. If we keep this up PZ will have to move here and we will have succesfully Auspharyngulated the blog.
This month there have been so many good posts I can’t chose. So I don’t offend anyone I am therefore going to base my vote on consistency and general overdueness, therefore: Janine of Various Forms, Clinteas and Sven DiMilo.
Oh, wait, The Vile Bitch doesn’t have an OM either yet.
Well, if the deärmed Sven does accept the nomination, then he’s no fun to vote for and in that case my ballot must be cast for Janine.
(Oh — it’s DiMilo. Ooops.)
I know I have already voted but one of the things I love about this site is all of the different people of various backgrounds who add so much texture here. I feel like I am slightly different people here by not naming them. Ken Cope, ‘Tis Himself and Libby and too many more.
How pathetic is that, nominating people makes me feel guilty.
:-D
:-D :-D
You make that sound as if it were some sort of surprise. But Nat simply copies & pastes from AIG… without attribution, the little plagiator.
A huge congratulations to Wowbagger — and well deserved!
This month, off the top of the list:
1.) Kel
2.) Josh
3.) Iain Walker
All are consistent, persistent, eloquent, and informative — and they have all been pretty active recently, at least in the threads I’ve been reading.
Thanks again, everyone.
I know. I’ve also enjoyed the posts of Ken Cope, Eric Saveau, Stephen Wells, Iain Walker, Rey Fox, ‘Tis Himself, and many others who aren’t coming to mind right now so now I feel guilty about having mentioned anyone at all.
(I wish people would move off of that “How to Respond…” thread, which is too much for my computer at this point so I’m missing out.)
I’ll accept full responsibility for that. -Thanks.
You guys are testing the adamance* of my lifetime commitment to Marxism. – Sven de Milo
One of my favourite 1968 graffiti, from Paris (reportedly – I didn’t see it personally):
“Je suis Marxist, de tendence Groucho.”
Janine, Vile Insulting Bitch Sinner (I always had a soft spot for the ladies)
Sven
You forgot Gruesome. *smirk*
Yeah, thanks for dragging me down into the gutter with you, E.V.
;)
Bloody hell. I don’t think mornings get much better than this – it’s a public holiday so I don’t have to go to work, it’s looking like a beautiful day outside (it’s morning here), there’s a small flock of corellas perched in a tree two houses down (I can see them from where I sit at my PC), and this afternoon I’m off to see Watchmen and then to my tenth show of the Fringe festival.
As we say in South Australia, heaps good! Thanks everyone for their congratulations. This month my votes are for Josh and Kel for dealing with February’s onslaught of droning creationist loons.
SC, I totally understand – and if I thought that forgoing the Molly would help your four-legged friend then I’d do it in an instant.
Someone upthread mentioned Jadehawk’s recent absence – I noticed that, too. Do we know if she’s okay?
OK, that made me cry again. That was just…well, that was just incredibly sweet, Wowbagger. What an extraordinarily kind thought to have.
Enjoy your day!
(I’ve also been wondering where mayhempix disappeared to…)
Actually, I’ve wondered why I seem so compelled to comment on Pharyngula and rarely elsewhere, especially with my profoundly non-scientific background/outsider status. I think I’ll step back and lurk since those capable of better snark than I have come to the forefront (Yeah I’m talking to you Josh, AnthonyK, Wowbagger & Tis.)
Business concerns have grown ominously dark. The art world has stagnated (duh) and let’s just say another major newspaper is about to go lemmingward, panic-driven to bottom-line to the point of decimating the workforce – those who actually produce the product versus the redundant legions of VP club members who are worried about McMansion payments. Bus wheel wells have become clogged with the fourth tier management and the beatings will continue until morale is restored for the plebes. (Decimating is an incorrect descriptor since the actual numbers are closer to 60 out of every 100. March 20 is the rumored D-Day) With quality no longer a consideration, outsourcing is the top floor’s idea of a panacea. It has become the survival of the
fittestfattest bank accounts.Their analysis sounds like the classic case of the Aggie who conducts an experiment on a frog. He tells the frog to jump, the frog jumps and then the Aggie amputates a limb from the frog. Again he tells the frog to jump, and the frog jumps. This is repeated until the frog is completely limbless. The Aggie commands the frog to jump but obviously the frog does not jump. The Aggie’s findings: A frog with no legs… is deaf.
Weird times.
Congrats Wowbagger.
My 1st vote goes to Kel – he seems to be everywhere fighting the good fight.
Janine, the snark slut is also a favourite. Just the right level of smarts, sneer and insult. :) But she has to keep the rolling names, not just replace them with a static “OM”
AnthonyK honourable mention, and his one-liners can be pretty funny. Also like to say new posters like Raven (and many others) are worth a big welcome and their great early showing is encouraging. The diversity of backgrounds, expertise and opinion on phyrangula is amazing.
Congratulations Wowbagger, you’re one of the names I always look for in the comments. People like you are a big part of what makes this place great.
I’d also like to jump on the Sven DiMilo bandwagon because he says so many things I wish I could have said.
SC, I’m so sorry to hear about your dog. Do what you can to spend as many good days together as possible. I wish there was more to say or do, but I hope it helps a teeny bit to know that so many are thinking of you and wishing you well.
I nominate Eric Saveau for February.
The way he demolished Walton’s claims on the Louisiana boycotts science; scientists boycott Louisiana post was awesome.
Hmmm. Well congratulations to Wowbagger, because the truth never sleeps, also EV, Josh, Kel, ‘Tis oh so many. And the Rev too.
But I would like to nominate Professor PZ Myers for the molly. He really dosen’t get enough mention on this blog, and is wonderful in every way (though I am currently involved in completely demolishing him on another thread)
A little praise for the boss!
But hop over to the second Brazilian Rape thread to finally read the whole truth about PZ Myers and why evolution is false. Oh yes. Can you bear the truth?
SC’OM,
Apologies for my “quality protein” comment. I didn’t know your dog was sick.
Hm. Wowbagger. at first I thought — he bags on WoW . . .
then I remembered Douglas Adams. May the ghost of Molly Ivins inhabit your keyboard. As for this month’s I like Sven Demilo.
I’d second Janine, but she’s an Ignorant Slut™.
Josh for this month
Aussie Aussie Aussie!!!
Oi oi oi!!!
Congrats Wowbagger, I always enjoy your posts.
I nominate Kel.
Sorry to hear about your dog SC,OM. I lost my beloved four legged friend in January. I still cry. Your dog knows she was loved and so were/are you.
I’m going with Kel this time around. Not because other people are doing it, but because he actually deserves it.
SC, OM
I hope the lady recovers. Regardless of the outcome take time to fuss over her more than usual. Dogs get scared and lonely when they’re sick, and reassurance does them wonders.
Congratulations, Wowbagger! Very well-deserved honor. I always look for your name in the comments.
Kel is so overdue for a Molly like Kate Winslet was for an Oscar,so get it over and done with already,PZ ! ;)
Also liked posts by feynmaniac and Josh,among so many others.
I would second the vote for Sven,but since he won’t accept it…..:-)
WTG Wowbagger!
As usual, in voting for one I have to spurn a dozen worthy candidates, but here goes:
My vote for the month goes to Josh, for many consistently thoughtful and informative posts that never fail to elevate and enrich even the most troll-infested threads. He’s been steadily piling up Pharyngu-cred for a couple of years now. (Remember that endless “debate” with a certain cdesign proponentsist named “Jim” a year or so ago? I think the thread title was something to do with the egregious lies of Jonathan Wells.)
Wow, well deserved wowbagger.
Josh or Kel and AnthonyK for an honourable mention for the snark :)
Congratulations to Wowbagger, it’s about time.
AnthonyK for February, he has consistently cracked me up.
Also Kel, Janine, ‘Tis Himself or Bill Dauphin because they are long over due.
I’m tardy again to the Molly thread; yesterday was devoted to the honeydo list.
I congratulate Wowbagger and agree with those calling for Sven to be dragged kicking and screaming into the Order of Molly.
Also, I nominate SC for a Tentacle Cluster (not a sympathy vote, but admittedly possibly a parochial one: I’m enthralled by how much I learn in my personal exchanges with SC here at Pharyngula, and by how she forces me to think through my own ideas).
SC, I’ve never been a dog person, but I do know what it’s like when a member of your family is fighting for life. My thoughts are with you.
I think I’ll have to suggest Janine, she of the varying tag line. Sharp, intelligent and caustic… just the way a woman ought to be. :)
..and SC: I’m sorry about your puppy. (They’ll always be puppies in our hearts, eh?) Just remember this: If you love her, and I think you do, just being with her can make it that much better… for both of you. If you can, take a personal day or two to stay home with her. I did when my 17 year old “baby” (King Shepherd/Black Lab mix) was ill and I have never regretted having the chance to hug him and pet him and help him be a little less scared.
Thank you again, everyone.
My sister just called, and the vet said she has a tumor that’s bleeding out and the bes tthing to do is…I can’t say it, but you know. I won’t be there for a few more hours and so won’t be able to see her one last time even. Thank you all for your care and concern.
Sorry for the sad news, SC. I wish I could fix it for you. Been there…
We just spend a few dollars having our cat attended to by an veterinary eye surgeon. He had a viral infection that was causing tissue necrosis on his cornea. Not strictly life-threatening, but painful. We couldn’t bring ourselves to put him down over a thing that wasn’t killing him already. I have mixed feelings about it, though. There are kids out there who need eye operations… My “penance” will be to create a family fund that will be donated to an appropriate charity each year.
Congratulations to Wowbagger for the Molly. Well done.
I’ll throw in for Josh this month. He’s been great.
A well-deserved Molly for Wowbagger. I’ll be unoriginal and nominate Janine (for having a great attitude) and Josh (for reminding me of why I once wanted to be a palaeontologist). And David Marjanović for a Tentacle Cluster (for the same reason as Josh), should the Tentacle Cluster ever be formally instituted.
SC, I am so sorry you cannot be there for the end. It is not worth much but you have my condolences. Be grateful for the happiness you were able to give each other.
I wonder how many folks outside Texas (and/or the old Southwest Conference) grok the grand tradition of the Aggie joke? Thanks for reminding me.
I recall a time in my childhood when my dad, who was an amateur furniture builder, came across a chunk of telephone pole — a cylinder of wood roughly as long as its diameter — in some scrap wood he was sorting through. He drilled three holes into the flat end, and called it an Aggie bowling ball! This, BTW, was a dig at our neighbor, two doors down, who sent her three sons (along with every teen she could get her claws on, as the junior-senior counselor at my high school) to College Station, and who drove a maroon-and-white Buick with TAMU vanity plates (in an era when vanity plates were still an expensive rarity).
For those of you not familiar with this mode of expression, think back to benighted earlier days when it was socially acceptable to tell jokes that identified certain immigrant populations as chronically intellectually challenged; Aggie jokes are those jokes, with “Aggies” replacing the name of the immigrant group’s national origin, along with some jokes of a similar type that are specific to college life:
Did you hear that the Aggie library burned to the ground? Both books were destroyed! And one of them hadn’t even been colored in yet!
I’ve often wondered if “A&M” universities in all states have the same sort of stigma (unfounded, I might add, in the case of Texas A&M, which is an excellent school and a national leader in several fields of study). It was not so in Florida, because FAMU is an historically Black university, and “Aggie jokes” about it would come off sounding horribly racist. That’s not to say there’s not plenty of racism in Florida, of course, but FAMU Aggie jokes would’ve been redundant to more traditional expressions of prejudice.
‘Tis and Sven stand out in my mind this month. I don’t remember seeing much from Bill Dauphin, but he’s my perennial vote because when he contributes I’m always impressed by his consistency of clarity and he’s long overdue.
As for SC’s situation — as someone who’s lost two dogs and a cat (all 13+ years old) in the last 8 months, I can understand how you feel. On the other hand there are, alas, always a huge number of shelter dogs (and cats) who need love and care and who will love you back. We’re back up to 2 cats and a dog.
Okay, the dog doesn’t love me … for some reason he’s scared of me — I don’t know what happened in his prior to our “fostering” (e.g. adopting) him. Well, he’ll probably get over it. It took “Spare Dog” a few years to accept being petted at all when “Doppler” (our first dog) adopted him into our family.
Congratulations, Wowbagger, OM — now I don’t feel so guilty about pipping you to the post a couple of months back :)
I think I should abstain this time around, since I haven’t been around for the last 5 weeks to notice who’s been particularly good. From the nominations above, though, I’ve no doubt the winner will be worthy, whoever it is.
Wow. I left that Louisiana thread way too early.
Firstly, to SC, my condolences as well. So sorry to hear about your friend.
I second Bill Dauphine, if only for his taste in beverages alcoholic.
Congrats, Wowbagger.
And finally, All Hail Marx and Lennon”
JC
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Sarah
http://www.lyricsdigs.com
Here are my (late) nominations:
Menyambal [for comments in the “We made them cry!” thread]
Josh and Kel [(among many others, BTW) for ass-handings to Nat in the “How to respond to requests to debate creationists” thread]
she’s ok. she was summoned home*, thus resulting in: 3 weeks without internet access, 6lbs more around the waist, and a new-found addiction to fancy saunas. but she’s back now :-p
*my mother has this strange thing about wanting to see her spawn regularly, and evidently my brothers daily visits to raid the fridge don’t make up for my permanent absence, so she bought me plane-tickets to Germany
also, belated congratulations on the Molly
Just saw this thread after SC linked to it.
Congrats Wowbagger!
So sorry to hear about your dog SC.
I’m voting for Sven DiMilo. Partly because I used an incorrect spelling of his name, but mostly due to his excellent poe on the Survivor thread.
Sven for Poe on Survivor. Most excellent humor.
And also Janine for takedown rant on nasty Barb. Dr. King’s sense of justice, but in a ‘roid rage manner that I found very appealing.
Let’s do two. Seriously, it’s been an exceptional month.
Ack! How did I miss this?
Congrats Wowbagger.
And I vote for Sven.
Congratulations Wowbagger!
I vote Sven once again :) for February (Sven is long overdue for one), and AJ Milne for March because of this post.