I’ve been a bad maintainer of the Molly Awards


I have been reminded that I neglected the last round of nominations for the Molly. Forgive me! I have gone back and quickly tallied the last set of votes, and the Molly for the month of February goes to…AJ Milne. Belated fireworks and applause and hugs and kisses!

Now it’s time to leave your nominations for the best of the month of March right here in the comments.

Comments

  1. 'Tis Himself, OM says

    Congratulations to AJ Milne for a well-deserved honor.

    I’m going to recycle my nominations from the last two months:

    Aquaria should be recognized for her intelligence, good writing, and “come at me, world, I’ll kick your ass” attitude.

    a_ray_in_dilbert_space is one of those people whose posts I always read.

  2. strange gods before me ॐ says

    Yay for AJ Milne!

    Next:
    Caine
    Cerberus
    Josh, Official Spokesgay

  3. Shala says

    Definitely has to be Josh, Official SpokesGay or Caine, Fleur du mal. Both of them are extremely good at arguing their points and making discussions interesting.

  4. Caine, Fleur du mal says

    Congrats, AJ!

    My nomination for March is Josh, OfficialSpokesGay. When he’s serious, he’s brilliant in his ferocity and always on point. When he’s not so serious, his humour brings smiles and lifts spirits, and he is unfailingly compassionate.

  5. pcarini says

    Congrats AJ Milne, it’s about damn time!

    I’ll pass on nominating because I haven’t been paying enough attention this past month.

  6. Jadehawk, OM says

    congrats AJ Milne!

    this month’s votes go to Cerberus and a_ray_in_dilbert_space

  7. OurDeadSelves says

    Josh, Josh, JOSH!

    I’ve been banging this drum for a couple of months now, but our Official Spokes Gay definitely deserves recognition for his awesome-sauce.

  8. truebutnotuseful says

    My vote is for Meyrick Kirby

    I am SO kidding.

    Definitely voting for Caine, Fleur du mal. I dig what I’ve seen from him/her lately.

  9. Bill Dauphin, OM says

    Congrats, AJ!

    My votes are for:

    Josh, OSG

    Caine, Extra Bitchy All the Time ;^)

    Cerberus

  10. Caine, Fleur du mal says

    truebutnotuseful:

    I dig what I’ve seen from him/her lately.

    I’m one of those her types. ;D And Bill Dauphin, thanks for the laugh.

  11. Celtic_Evolution says

    Congrats to AJ Milne… long overdue.

    My vote this month goes to Josh, OSG…

  12. badgersdaughter says

    Cerberus, I thought of before I even SAW this thread. And looking at the other posts, I absolutely thought Josh, OSG was already a Molly (oops, sorry).

  13. Nerd of Redhead, OM says

    Congratulations to AJ Milne. Another long time name crossed off.

    This month, Aquaria and Pygmy Loris, two other names that have been my on lists for a long time. And A_Ray_In_Dilbert_Space for his yeoman work with the climate deniers. My sincere apologies to those on my lists who I didn’t nominate this month. Too many names, too little space. Keep posting and your name will eventually be here.

  14. Dust says

    Josh! Josh!
    He’s our man! (and Offical Spokes Gay)
    He can get it!
    If anyone can!

    (or something)

  15. Dust says

    Kudos AJMilne!

    Well done, even if Commander PoppieHead ‘Little’ Sleazy Peazy made you wait sooooooo long!

  16. Ol'Greg says

    I thought Aquaria was male? And I thought Aquaria also already had an OM.

    My votes go to Cerebus or Caine… or Josh.

  17. Bride of Shrek OM says

    Rorschach,

    Because it well, well overdue and he deserves it for sheer long termed effort.

    .. and also because I like adding to the disproportional amount of Antipodeans that have Mollies (yes, Rorschach, I know, but you LIVE here and that counts- same as how we instantly claimed Ichthyic as one of ours when he hit NZ)

  18. aratina cage says

    AJ? That’s excellent! (OK, that removes one (highly deserving) person from my list of choices for March.)

    For March Molly Madness, I’d like to vote for…

    Celtic_Evolution. C_E is a favorite of some believers and it isn’t hard to see why: thorough explanations to their questions about atheism and a deep, abiding willingness to help them learn.

    Caine, Fleur du mal. Because I love her evil ways and because Caine knows how to dish it out to self-serving idiots.

    nigelTheBold. NigelTheBold is particularly good at bringing stodgy old Bible characters to life in sacrilegious ways that always bring a smile to my face and a tear to my eye.

  19. Ol'Greg says

    Oh wait Celtic_Evolution doesn’t already have one?

    Oh hard decisions… I’m terribly fond of CE and his unbelievably salient points.

  20. Ol'Greg says

    Ah so it’s Josh that already has one. Well strike him and add Celtic then to mine!

  21. Caine, Fleur du mal says

    I’ll add nigelTheBold to my nomination for Josh, OfficialSpokesGay. I’ve nominated Nigel before, he’s a most excellent storyteller and superb with characterization and cutting wit.

  22. Caine, Fleur du mal says

    Ol’Greg, Josh, OfficialSpokesGay does not have a Molly. Josh the Geologist has one.

  23. Dust says

    Celtic_Evolution! Celtic_Evolution!
    S/He’s our wo/man! (and not the Offical Spokes Gay)
    S/He can get it!
    If anyone can!

    (yeah, that’s it)

  24. badgersdaughter says

    why oh why are all the cool ones gay

    Because all the gay ones are cool? (No, no, “all X are Y” is not equivalent to “all Y are X”, but it sounded good, anyway.)

    I’m a straight nerd chick. That’s sometimes cool.

    Right?

  25. Ol'Greg says

    Ol’Greg, Josh, OfficialSpokesGay does not have a Molly. Josh the Geologist has one.

    Oh, hehe… too many wonderful Josh’s in the world.

    I already promised my main vote for cerebrus this time around though, because of her amazingly passionate but completely solid posts regarding gender, feminism, and human rights.

    But I adore the others too!!

  26. monado says

    I’m going to jump on the bandwagon and vote for Josh, Official SpokesGay. But I think Brownian, OM, should get a tentacle cluster or Fig-Newton bar.

  27. otrame says

    I’m a straight nerd chick. That’s sometimes cool.

    It’s frequently cool. But being straight and a chick myself the coolness of it has limited utility.

  28. Zeno says

    Belated fireworks and applause and hugs and kisses!

    While I congratulate AJ Milne with enthusiasm, I’m curious about this “hugs and kisses” business. Just who exactly is dispensing them?

  29. bullofthewoods says

    Josh, OfficialSpokesGay also gets my vote this time around.Caine, Fleur du mal is also on my short list. Kudos to AJ Milne as well,long overdue.

  30. AJ Milne says

    Just who exactly is dispensing them?

    … what? You really figure I’m especially picky?

    Anyway, I’d like to thank my mom, the lord Jesus Christ, my agent, the guy me and my agent scored the blow from that night the tests came back negative and… and… Aaaand I see I’m getting the blinking light now…

    Funny. That didn’t seem like 45 seconds (menacing, armed stagehands appear, approach podium…) ‘Kay… Ummm… Going now, then…

    ‘Kay. You know that was mandatory, right? Anyway: more seriously, thanks all, very much. And I have to say it eased my mind a little, seeing this post… I was starting to think, as it started getting a little later in the month, that mebbe there was after all something written into the universal laws that I was to be randomly and improbably nominated for these things until the heat death without ever actually winning one, and that by actually having bizarrely led the vote last month something horrible and perverse and utterly counter to the laws of physics had been made to happen by the amassed might and whimsy of the Pharynguhorde, and now, in similar fashion as was rumoured to be happening at the LHC, every time PZ tried to post about this, his Mac died…

    (Eventually, in this imagined reality, he just stopped trying, for which I really couldn’t blame him. Laptops don’t grow on trees, after all.)

    Anyway. Beyond this, I have to chime in for Josh, Official Spokesgay because he knows how to mix the funny and the serious and for Celtic Evolution for taking the right things seriously and somehow knowing how to talk to people I get a headache just thinking about talking to.

    Now I’ll be taking the standard OM winner sabbatical.

    (/There is one of those, right? I’m sorta mildly envirused right now.)

  31. JeffreyD says

    AJ Milne, congratulations. I can provide you with the official OM seal for a mere $99.99 plus S&H. Yeah, I know the price seems high, but PZ takes a monster cut.

    I am torn on recommendations this time around. I think Josh, OSG deserves one for long term and high quality posting. However, both Ol’Greg and Caine, Fleur du mal (both the original and the extra bitchy) are worthy due to their thought provoking posts.

    Hell, lots of people deserve one. Always next month.

  32. jcmartz.myopenid.com says

    Perhaps I should comment more often so I can get nominated and eventually win the Molly.

  33. Caine, Fleur du mal says

    JeffreyD:

    Hell, lots of people deserve one. Always next month.

    So true and there is always next month. Which reminds me, you go on my Molly Nomination list for your posts on the damn this seems endless war thread. Your posts were calm, well reasoned, thoughtful and touching. You’re a class act.

  34. JeffreyD says

    Caine, you will make me blush, my dear. I have never had any remote idea about joining the OM-hood. Just posted on the endless thread again about the Sunday thread comments (is that convoluted enough?). You confirmed my recommendation for a Molly for you.

    OK, work to do, off the internet. Soon (grin)

  35. ambulocetacean says

    Congrats to AJ Milne. In this day and age of the “citizen journalist” it’s good to see a professional journo being recognised by his (her?) civilian peers.

    It’s absolutely wonderful that blogs have enabled non-journos to share their expertise and opinions with the world (journalists, as much as anyone else, have benefited from this). There should be no gatekeepers for news. But in no way does that devalue the work of professional journos or diminish the knowledge they have accumulated or the critical faculties they have honed over years or decades of reporting.

    (Did I mention that I’m a journalist, albeit one who has made approximately zero impact on the world? For the past few years I’ve been writing TV reviews when I really should have been in Thailand reporting on the misery of the Hmong refugees who’ve managed to get out of Laos).

    Of course, there’s no shortage of journalists who are simply scum.

    Re: the Molly. I’m in awe of the erudution, eloquence and passion of many people here. Of those who don’t already have Mollies, I particularly like the work of Celtic Evolution. Caine and Josh have also taught me a thing or two. There are plenty more, but maybe I’ll mention them next time around.

  36. John Morales says

    I knew AJ Milne was a shoo-in. :)

    About time, too.

    All the above-nominated commenters are worthy and I endorse their candidacy, but I’m probably going to surprise annoy bemuse many by nominating Walton as my primary choice.

    He’s impressed me recently with his sense of humor (I wish I’d bookmarked a couple of extremely clever and droll comments to link to here!), without losing his endearing earnestness.
    He’s smart, articulate, very knowledgeable (for his age), committed to justice (as he sees it) and, I think, an asset to the comment base.

  37. David Marjanović says

    <sigh> So many choices… :-)

    Caine, Fleur du mal for both the quality and the quantity.

    Celtic_EvolutionCerberus… I better stop here, lest I spend half an hour typing names :-)

  38. Andreas Johansson says

    I gotta admit that till he started talking of schoolwork, I had Walton flagged as an old guy.

    For the March Molly, I nominate Josh, the Official Spokes-Gay. Not terribly original, it’s true.

  39. Sili, The Unknown Virgin says

    Congrats to Christopher Robin and Winnie Jer Pooh!

    Which reminds me, you go on my Molly Nomination list for your posts on the damn this seems endless war thread. Your posts were calm, well reasoned, thoughtful and touching. You’re a class act.

    This.

    But that’s April.

    For March I made notes(!):
    raven

    And – please don’t hit me – Walton – Though as always he subsequently goes and sez stuff that annoys me afterwards.

    But I’ve never seen a bandwagon I didn’t like, so I’ll cast a lot for Josh, Official SpokesGeologistGay as well.

  40. John Morales says

    … and Sili (yet another should-be nominee) links to one of the comments to which I referred @54.

  41. Cerberus says

    Wow, I’m all a-tingle that a large number of you apparently think I’m Molly worthy.

    But yeah, going to have to give props to those who deserve it far more, Caine, Fleur du Mal and Josh, Official SpokesGay. They are my nominations for March.

  42. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Congrats to AJ! Very well-deserved.

    (fluttering his eyelids coyly behind a silk fan). . I do declare! Seriously, at the risk of joining what looks like a cabal of mutual self-promotion, Caine, Fleur de Mal and Cerberus. They’ve been doing some extraordinary heavy-lifting on weighty topics, and often with some rather . . .difficult. . . conversational adversaries.

    Also, Celtic Evolution, and JeffreyD. Very hard to choose; lots of high-quality people here!

  43. Aquaria says

    I will vote for a ray in dilbert space until he has an OM.

    I thought Aquaria was male?

    You’re not the first to make that mistake, and I dare say you won’t be the last. Yes, I get that often enough that it neither bothers nor surprises me anymore.

  44. Janine, Mistress Of Foul Mouth Abuse, OM says

    I have to keep my votes within my fake family. So here is a vote for my fake hubby, Josh. (Strange how the other Josh got his OM at the same time I did.) The other is for my sister-wife, Caine. Just remember that I am and will remain first in stature.

    ‘raspberry’

    I am sorry, Aquaria. I have been voting for you and will do so again the next time around. And all of the other worthy commentators here.

    ‘sits in a corner and starts whimpering’

  45. Cerberus says

    Josh, my word, no, not a cabal at all. Everyone can be confident that there is nothing underhanded about these nominations. On a completely unrelated note, that thing you sent me had a lot of zeros on the end. It isn’t going to bounce, right? Oh, okay.

    Yes, nothing underhanded at all.

  46. Janine, Mistress Of Foul Mouth Abuse, OM says

    This is the dawning…

    Gack! I cannot finish that line!

  47. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    “When Jupiter aligns with Mars. .
    and peeeeeeaccceeee will rule the plaaa-aaa-net. . .
    and love. . ..”

    God damn it Janine. I want to love my fake-wife-among-many for her support, and then you give me that bastard ear-worm. Marilyn McCoo is a gateway drug to all manner of loathsome musical dreck.

  48. Brownian, OM says

    Marilyn McCoo is a gateway drug to all manner of loathsome musical dreck.

    For a moment I thought a browser misclick had brought me back to LeeLeeOne and “barter will save the planet” on the Hobby Lobby thread.

    Anyway, congratulations, AJ. Your Molly means my life’s work is complete and I can finally die in peace.

    Normally, I vote for whomever seems to be leading the poll, because like most members of award committees I’m coked to the gills and having sex with any number of prostitutes instead of evaluating nominations, but today I’m going to break away from the mould and cast a vote for Antiochus Epiphanes, because I like what I’ve seen as of late. Of course, all of the nominees thus far are deserving as well.

  49. Celtic_Evolution says

    Marilyn McCoo is a gateway drug to all manner of loathsome musical dreck.

    Hah! Especially if you get an earworm of her with the Fifth Dimension!

    “Up, up and away… in my beautiful balloooooon…”

    Go ahead and try to enjoy your day now…

  50. Form&Function says

    Another vote for Josh, Official Spokesgay. Been looking forward to the next Molly just so I could nominate him!

  51. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    “Up, up and away… in my beautiful balloooooon…”

    Go ahead and try to enjoy your day now…

    Oh, I so withdraw your Molly nomination. Penny Pingleton, you are permanently, positively punished.

  52. AJ Milne says

    Re #52, just for clarity/precision here, I haven’t been a professional journalist in about (counts on fingers… takes off shoes… runs out of toes…)

    Okay, so I wouldn’t quite run out of toes. But anyway, my point is: I haven’t been one in quite a while now. Oddly enough, I’m now employed by the high tech industry to assist in the making of silicon that does cryptography and compression ‘n stuff like that…

    No, I have no idea how that happened. It was all a long time ago and a little hazy… But I’m pretty sure the last thing I remember of my old life is I was drinking with this nice Silicon Navy recruiting guy in this dive down by the docks…

    And then I woke up in the morning and the deck was rolling and my head was spinning and some guy with no neck was screaming something like: ‘Rearrange these algorithms and make them parallel so’s the silicon boys can pack ’em into a pipe, seaman, or we’re throwing you to the sharks! Or the venture capitalists! Whichever’s hungrier! Get TO IT, ye mangy bilge rat!’

    (/My point is: if I ever get off this tub, I’m staying out of that bar from now on. Words to the wise.)

  53. Celtic_Evolution says

    Oh, I so withdraw your Molly nomination.

    I knew the risks…

    Oh… and since there is at least one comment suggesting uncertainty of my gender… not that it really matters much, but for the sake of clarity and proper pronoun use, I am in fact of the male persuasion.

  54. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Celtic – thanks for the note about your, um, persuasion. Rest assured this:

    Penny Pingleton, you are permanently, positively punished.

    Is a movie quote, and I would have said it to anyone. :) I throw these particular lines in from time to time to provoke RickR into commenting. He knows why (and he’s also punished, btw).

    Oh, and also – I don’t care if you’re male, female, trans, or prefer not to say. I’m very likely to refer to you as “girl” at some unpredictable point in the future, as in:

    Girl! You can’t believe what this asshat said up on this other thread!

    or

    Girrrrl, I know that’s right!

    Just how I roll.

  55. AJ Milne says

    Just how I roll.

    Well, just as long as you stay away from ‘Girl you know it’s true…’

    (/Yeah, I went there. And did someone say they wanted an earworm brawl? ‘Cos I’m pretty sure someone said they wanted an earworm brawl…)

  56. Celtic_Evolution says

    Josh, OSG..

    Is a movie quote, and I would have said it to anyone. :)

    Oh, yeah, yeah… I got that… I know my Hairspray references, certainly.

    My gender-confirmation was more directed at Dust, #35.

    And again, for me, I don’t really care about a person’s gender, but it helps for the proper use of pronouns, as gender-neutral conversation can at times be cumbersome.

  57. Lynna, OM says

    Lines of conga rats to AJ Milne!
    Votes go to:
         a_ray_in_dilbert_space
         Josh, Official SpokesGay

  58. nigelTheBold says

    I’m gonna have to jump on the Josh, Official SpokesGay wagon. Many others are also deserving, but I have taken particular notice of Josh’s comments these past few weeks.

  59. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Oh, shoot, I just noticed Aquaria isn’t yet an OM (I thought she was). Therefore, I append her name to my earlier list of nominees.

  60. ambulocetacean says

    Hi AJ,

    I knew you’d got out of the fish-wrapper business, but I didn’t realise it was so long ago. I should also try to learn a trade that has more of a future. Silicons might be a bit complicated for me, though :(

  61. Antiochus Epiphanes says

    And then I woke up in the morning and the deck was rolling and my head was spinning and some guy with no neck was screaming something like: ‘Rearrange these algorithms and make them parallel so’s the silicon boys can pack ’em into a pipe, seaman, or we’re throwing you to the sharks! Or the venture capitalists! Whichever’s hungrier! Get TO IT, ye mangy bilge rat!’

    Too legit to quit.

    Nice work, homes.

  62. Sastra says

    I’ve been without computer for a few days, and so I’m late weighing in. Sometime last month, I jotted down

    Josh, Official Spokesgay

    on my little post-it note, because he had written something else very clever, insightful, or funny — and I see others have also been impressed. That’s my vote.

    Congrats to AJ Milne.

  63. Dust says

    Celtic_Evolution! Celtic_Evolution!
    He’s our man!
    If there is anyone who can give Josh OSG a gnawing throbing earworm,
    He sure can!

    (all better now?) :)

  64. Carlie says

    I see it looks like a landslide for my Josh, so I’ll just make sure that Caine and Cerberus get a mention.