I have found my way home, weary and worn, and now I go to sleepeth, to winnow with giant arms the slumbering green, battening upon huge seaworms in my sleep.
(Episode CCCXLV: Nerds, geeks, dweebs.)
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
PZ,
Welcome back. While the boss has been away, the horde has been busy stomping trolls. I’m sure that you will have fun once you’ve gotten some rest.
Non-existent saints be unpraised! The Keeper of the Mighty BanHammer has returned! May his noodly appendages slither forth and touch all who need his “blessings”.
I think troll faked his IP address in the e-mail he sent, but not tech savvy enough to know for sure. He’s faking.
Portcullis’d I was. Ouch.
There are srs-bidness (aka, not “light”) and not gratuitously or overly disturbing Aussie films worth checking out as well: Picnic at Hanging Rock; Lantana; Storm Boy; The Bank; Two Hands; ok, Two Hands is pushing it a little ummm …. Romper Stomper, nope, … um, I’m sure I’ll think of some others.
Hilarious: The Man Who Sued God.
Nutmeg @347:
Was this river a white water rafting type (I’ve done this exactly once in my life and would luuuuuuuuuuuuuv to do it again and again)?
It sounds like you enjoyed yourself quite a bit. Good for you!
(from your link to Manigotagan River)
All those gorgeous images of the falls and the canoes almost won me over. Until I clicked on the ‘local ecosystem’ link. Ugh. Biting Insects…
~~
codobus:
Welcome!
~~
chiptuneist:
Welcome to the lounge!
~~
John @419:
and gosh, they don’t seem to mind the environment. I still want to hear from these large numbers of people who don’t like Pharyngula because of the tone.
~~
learninglate:
I took the poll. 37% of respondees (including me) say teach religion at home or at church.
At first I was inclined to go with option one (keeping religion out of public schools), but then I realized that would prevent religious studies (such as history of religion) from being taught.
~~
Audley:
If that was surprising, I won’t reveal the secret of the Brownian motion lotion.
~~
aprilcomeshewill:
It came out during a time when Hollywood was producing a lot of torture porn films. I did see the first SAW, which was intense, but not unbearable. I read about Wolf Creek and it didn’t appeal to me. Same with the Hostel movies. In fact, I came home one night to find my roommate E, watching Hostel. I got to a scene with a flame thrower and a human face and I had to turn away. That right there just grossed me out. I *like* horror movies. I’m a big fan of John Carpenter’s Halloween. That’s still a scary movie, decades after I first saw it.
it has no blood .
You know Michael Myers is a deadly menace (I want to say sadistic psychopath, but I’m not certain if either word is the proper descriptor for his character and I’d rather not misspeak. If someone knows better, I’m all ears.) by the number of people he kills (as well as the manner with which he makes his kills). But you don’t see gore. You don’t see blood everywhere. You don’t even see the penetration shots when he stabs someone.
I would rather watch horror movies involving a bit more psychological horror and less torture gore/porn. I’m not against it. I still like A Nightmare On Elm Street-the original, natch and there’s more than a bit of gore. I wouldn’t call for censoring *any* films because I don’t like them (though that was pushed to the test when I read about The Human Centipede)
Banhammer goes BOOM.
[deadpan]And boom goes the Banhammer.
Walkabout? Oh, yeah, except for the grotesque racism. And the spearing scene.
/scratches chin
Angel Baby? Oh. Yeah, no. No no no no no.
Hmm. You’re right, Rev BigDumbChimp. We are fucked. up.
The human centipede is a hilarious failure. It’s one casting decision and a sound track switch away from being a Monty Python skit.
BOOM goes the banhammer.
Sorry, Owlmirror.
Tony: Both those who have personally warned me off seeing Wolf Creek and those who praise it critically in the media say it combines the best of both psychological nail-biting suspense and mind-games and sickening, realistic goreporn.
So yeah, I take their word for it that I would not deal.
The latest SF novel by John Scalzi. As you know from watching Star Trek, if you have a red shirt and is part of the Away team, you are toast.
“Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas” http://www.amazon.com/Redshirts-A-Novel-Three-Codas/dp/0765316994/ref=la_B001IGJOCA_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341794701&sr=1-1
Reposted plus extra:
And on an earlier topic, there are of course non-horrible Australian films, though the humour doesn’t always travel well. Some lighter ones that I liked are: Muriel’s Wedding; The Castle; Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; The Rage in Placid Lake; The Dish; Bran Nue Day; He Died with a Felafel in his Hand; Ten Canoes.
Extra: yes, drbunsen, there are srs Aussie films that are not gory. How could you forget Rabbit Proof Fence? Also, there’s The Year My Voice Broke. Racism in Walkabout? Yes, but it was 1971, and it starred David Gulpilil, so worth it as long as you have your history-glasses on.
That right there is an awesome YouTube link.
Tony,
I will make you mojitos all night long. :)
Caine,
The gerbils stick their noses in the bowl of ice water, then their little feets, then the lick some, and then fall asleep with their backs pressed against the bowl. SO CUTE!
Pretty ‘rupt, but hi to codobus, chiptunist, aprilcomeshewill and anyone I’ve missed. I mostly have no tolerance for horror movies, even the ones with minimal gorn. The inevitable screaming sets my teeth on edge. I can appreciate some of the more psychological ones, due to a minimum of screaming, usually.
I despise torture porn movies and I hated Hostel so much I was furious with my friend for recommending it. The delight it took in sadistic depravity with no redemption possible made me sick and upset for days.
drbunsen (last thread):
^^^This. Totally.
I’m the same way.
Just reading the synopsis/review of the aforementioned movie, The Human Centipede disgusted me. I felt nauseous. I wanted to bleach my brain.
Alethea, gore is not the only kind of dark. I did think of Rabbit Proof Fence; I left it off deliberately. It’s an honest and powerful telling of a dark part of our history, and uplifting in its own way. But two of the people I saw it with ran from the cinema in tears at the end.
The Year My Voice Broke is adorbs <3
Josh:
One thing I can’t understand about these torture porn movies is what is the point?
I haven’t watched them, so I can’t comment on the quality, but the nature of these movies makes me wonder what the creators were trying to say. Some theme or central idea that they’re trying to get across. So many of these movies sound so grotesque that I can’t stretch my brain far enough to comprehend the why.
@Tony
If it’s Hostel the gore itself is cartoonish and ridiculous. It’s basically controversy bait. Saw annoys me more for the irritating villain sue it had.
“hi to codobus, chiptunist, aprilcomeshewill and anyone I’ve missed”
Seconded :-)
Anyone interested in commenting on a science comment thread? A news item about the surprisingly low cost of adressing CO2 rise has attracted a swarm of Libertarian True Believers. U-ulp.
.
“Price to address rising carbon dioxide levels, save coral reefs is “one year of GDP growth” http://phys.org/news/2012-07-price-coral-reefs-year-gdp.html
Horror movies: Never really got the point, but I only truly hate Torture porn.
If anyone wants a truly “special” horror movie. “House” from Japan.
Hah, yeah :) For a film that totally sounds like a slasher flick from the title, it’s a really sweet quirky coming of age story about a guy who was named Placid Lake by his irritatingly well-meaning hippy parents.
I guess my point is Aus cinema has tended in the past to have two speeds: light, twee and hilarious (though I would contend that Muriel’s Wedding is dark as fuck under the surface); and holy shit what the fuck did I just watch.
There have always been exceptions. And we do a nice line in crime/heist caper films, too, I’ve noticed.
I personally saw Saw III, and it was just annoying. It wasn’t scary, and as Ing says, the villain is just annoying. It’s like nothing ever goes wrong for Jigsaw.
No it’s worse than that. Jigsaw is omnipotent. His plans literally hinge on things that are 100% random. The one movie I saw required the one person to get to the end of the abusement park alone. iT was full of people who had slighted him so he had to decide to spare them or not. He spared one guy…who wound up killed randomly trying to help the other guy get through a puzzle. But his whole plan required on getting original guy to the end, so Jigsaw can be killed by him and make him his apprentice or some shit. he literally had a good chance of killing the person he needed to get through to the end. BULLSHIT
Audley:
that sounds so freakin’ adorable!!!
Plus I still can’t figure out his fuckimg motivation for his mission that the writers fap themselves over trying to make him look like an anti-hero (he teaches people to appreciate life…bull SHIT).
I got cancer and lost my wife therefore I’m going to kill people horribly with bear traps to teach them to love life?
He’s one of those shitty super villains from the 90s when everything was dark and edgy only with no hero to actually make any conflict interesting.
G’night, all. Sorry I couldn’t be of more use with the troll. I am just so fucking tired.
drbunsen, yes, quite a few of our comedies are a bit dark in places.
I cannot stand torture porn. I’m not even a fan of horror in general, though there are exceptions.
Speaking of misleading titles, the worst chilled to the bone, shocked into silence for a few hours, nightmare fuel movie I’ve ever seen is not in fact a ghost story about the US Civil War, but a low budget claustrophobia/paranoia-fest about privatized prisons.
Ghosts Of The Civil Dead.
Always name names! ;)
FYI, James Croft (of Harvard Humanists) claims his “account is banned” from Pharyngula, but he isn’t listed in the Dungeon. Assuming this is true, does anyone recall what thread prompted the ban?
He’s not banned. There’s also no entry for him in the blacklist.
People do tremble in fear of the banhammer, usually needlessly.
He says he can’t log in…? Does that make sense? Afaik, there’s one login across FTB.
Is that what happens when one is banned?
Wot, no Aussie has mentioned Strictly Ballroom yet?
And I’m very much concurring with Alethea’s and drbunsen’s recommendations.
Also as a NZer, Once Were Warriors is awful because it’s true. Not representative of an entire population, obviously, but NZ does have more that its fair share of violent, (especially intra-family) crime.
Lying about being banned is an old ploy for dishonest scumbags, mostly notable the odious Anthony ‘the envy of the hagfish’ McCarthy, who went so far as to claim that PZ banned him and deleted his comments but didn’t list him in the dungeon – and then, when informed that he hadn’t been banned and that his comments were still visible, insisted that PZ had reinstated his comments to try and make him look like a liar.
James Croft is just another liar who knows the real reason his posts don’t appear here is because he’s a cowardly intellectuall lightweight who knows he’d get shredded in seconds.
Maybe he just mistyped his password.
On the topic of horror movies, I actually liked The Blair Witch Project. Not because it was scary, but more because it wasn’t.
Actually, I didn’t see it as so much horror movie, but more psychological test or something. A test of your critical thinking skills, maybe. The only way to be frightened or think anything supernatural is going on is to take that bunch of disjointed, clearly apocryphal ghost/witch stories you hear in the opening scenes, assume there is a coherent narrative somewhere in there, and proceed to assign supernatural meaning to a bunch of random, ambiguous stuff they find.
A process that might sound vaguely familiar.
Me, I kept trying to see what stuff actually was. I got halfway through and decided there wasn’t anything really threatening out there, it was just some kids who got lost in the woods, probably went hypothermic, and, because their heads were filled with ghost stories, started seeing everything they found as part of that narrative. And, as people often do when they get lost in the woods, they ran around madly until they fell over.
—-SPOILER ALERT——
And to make any sense of the ending requires a nice bit of confirmation bias: out of all the mystical stuff in the legends of the ghost/witch/whatever, none of it actually comes into play out in the woods, with one ambiguous exception. There is no old woman whose feet never touch the ground, no mist rising from the creek, no bodies with entrails strung about.
No damn cat and no damn cradle.
There is, however, a guy standing in the corner at the end, not moving. This is the one damn thing tied in with legends, and it’s about as ambiguous as you can get. But if you forget all the stuff from the stories that doesn’t happen, and remember that one thing that sort of does, it “ties it all together.”
Not frightening at all. I liked it.
And speaking of small rodents, as we often do, Ernest Borgnine has died. Best Actor Oscar winner in 1955, he became a fave of mine in 1971’s Willard, in which he played the cruel boss who gets eaten by rats.
“No, Willard, no!”
Regarding horror movies…
I generally don’t like them, but every now and again there is one I like. Insiduous was okay, if a bit cheesy (which made it kind of fun).
Cabin In The Woods was fucking awesome, though.
Like many others, I can’t handle torture porn horror, either. Bleh!
Insidious, this time spelled correctly!
feralboy12, many years ago I was friends of a friend with members of a then-popular band who used a lot of found imagery in their videos. Because of this, fans were always sending them stuff.
One day, a messenger shows up with an unmarked video tape. Tape sits around for a few days and finally gets played for shits and giggles. Except that it’s a first person snuff film about these kids in the woods. Band member is freaking out for days wondering if he should call the cops or what. Wouldn’t let anyone else watch it because he was worried that might be illegal or something.
Finally gets a phone call from a filmmaker he met at some event a few weeks back. They had spoken very briefly about band member doing a soundtrack for his film and he was wondering if band member had received it yet. It’s going to be called the The Blair Witch Project but right now everything is pretty hush-hush because they’re working on an underground buzz.
I was hearing about this in real time. When I finally saw the The Blair Witch Project in theaters I kept giggling at really inappropriate moments.
Ernest Borgnine, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Hi, new peoples!
I registered with Pharyngula first and can comment on SOME other blogs. For others, I have to log in with my blogging ID. Sometimes my logged in ‘nym is showing and I have to log out and try again because the system insists I need to fill in the text fields that aren’t showing because I’m logged in. Computers! Gotta love ’em.
This is the most niftiest thing evah! Fitzgerald, Georgia, has a population of feral chickens that flourishes because they can fly well and aren’t afraid to hang around where there are people, so they avoid wild predators. The secret is that the U.S. Fish & Game service released the chickens’ ancestral species, red jungle fowl, thinking that they would make good game birds, but they were heavily preyed upon by animals unlike those in their home environment. However, they cross-bred with domestic chickens, giving them flying capability to avoid predators.
Key West has feral chickens but they don’t fly well–they are protected instead by their island’s lack of predators.
A while back, someone pointed to an old post from 2006 on Sb Pharyngula, and noticed that the comments had come back. When I looked then, there weren’t much more comments than about June/July of 2006.
Just now, I see that posts up to about April 17, 2008, appear to have all comments.
So: progress.
Huh as a kid we raised free reign chickens that roosted in trees and flew well.
….oh crap.
To no one’s surprise Reasonablefellow was from the slimepit seeking to get banned out of solidarity.
[knock knock]
“How does this thing work?”
Oh… Okay. Ahem! Hi. Am I in the Endless Thread? Dear me.
Oh. Yes. See, there is this British blogger, a very well-known and well-respected skeptic blogger. She is currently in dire straits and needs all the help she can get.
I wrote a post asking for help on her behalf. Would y’all mind giving it a quick look? There are links and all in the post. Please read and help if you can.
Thank you for your time.
And then the summoned shagons eat your brains.
(Dying of WANT!!! for The Apocalypse Codex; its tentacles have wrapped and locked.)
–
–
Gah. Fratboy/gang initiation rituals for the lose.
feralboy:
I was mad I paid to see that movie. I was expecting a horror movie based on a true story, and instead I got a pathetic group of whiners who get stuck in a forest and freak out when they see stick figures??!!
I remember watching the movie and shouting* ooh arts and crafts** when they awoke and saw little spooky stick figures.
*I don’t recommend this, and I haven’t done it since.
**The entire audience laughed out loud.
@Ing
Heh, the way you describe Jigsaw perfectly describes another villain from the crappy, horribly paced anime Bleach. I don’t know if you have seen it, but in it, the villain is a guy named Aizen Sousuke, and it seems like a lot of his plans depends on him seeing the future. At one point, I joked that everything that happened to the protagonist was part of his plan. Except that joke became a reality. Plus, his ability is so broken that to defeat him, that as far as I see it, the author would have to do some sort of asspull.
Ing: Linky RE: RF?
Does anyone have a link to the extremely moving post PZ did explaining why he wouldn’t take a human life?
Hey y’all, Kausik Datta (who just passed along a request for help above) also put together a massive referenced summary of Elevatorgate:
http://ohthehumanityofitall.blogspot.com/2012/07/deep-rifts-or-humanity-of-it-all-part-1.html
As far as I know, no such detailed summary has existed till this.
Tony, do you mean Shades of Gray?
Ohh!! Thank you, Pteryxx! You’re too kind.
Tony @5:
It was a canoeing trip, with some minor whitewater. The river has a variety of whitewater, from small swifts to Class IV rapids to waterfalls. No one in our group had whitewater training, so we only ran ~8 swifts and minor Class I rapids. We portaged a whole bunch of larger rapids and waterfalls.
I was terrified of any fast water at the beginning of the trip, but by the time we did the last set of rapids I was sad that it was over. I definitely want to get some whitewater training next spring so that I can run bigger rapids. I’ll probably post some thoughts on rapids in the next couple of days.
Where did you go whitewater rafting? I’d love to do that someday.
Yeah, there were TONS of bugs. Mostly mosquitoes, but quite a few blackflies and horseflies too. And wood ticks. I’m Manitoba-born and -raised, so I’m pretty used to bugs, but I’ve never seen so many mosquitoes in my life. Even with bug spray and a bug jacket, I have mosquito bites in unmentionable places…
Movies: I’m part of the twitchy crowd. I have trouble with action movies where there are car crashes and/or explosions, so that rules out a lot of blockbusters. My overactive imagination makes horror movies completely out of the question. It’s awkward explaining this to people. Lately I’ve been going with the “Do you really want to sit next to me in the theatre while I twitch and scream and fall out of my seat?” angle. Seems to be working okay.
Aussie movies: I loved Rabbit-Proof Fence. It was one of the few movies that I’ve liked more than the book.
Kausik Datta, not at all, I hoard resources. ~;>
I also linked your Egate roundup in Jason Thibeault’s timeline thread comments; I bet you know where that is, since your response to Paula Kirby links just about every post I’ve ever heard of!
My thought there was “coathangers.”
Once I caught on that there was maybe nothing really out there, I started to enjoy the sort of artfully vague nature of that shit, particularly the package–what the hell was her name, Beth?–finds outside her tent. I read reviews online where people thought it was intestines, or the one guy’s tongue, or some shit, I don’t know. I’ve looked at it freeze-frame, and I still can’t tell what it is. I understand it was made out of fur and false teeth and I forget what else.
And I came to enjoy it for that sort of ambiguity, and giggle at the idea that anyone could find anything there to be frightened of.
Anyway, I did some storyboards and wrote about it last Halloween.
As for “reasonable fellow,” I think the worst abuse I gave him was accusing him of having turds in his pocket. Wow, just crazy shit, you know; I get carried away with the hivemind. In real life, I only say that to somebody once a month or so.
{warning, some of these photos are deeply dumb}
One of my biggest issues with Superman Returns is having Superman, the saintly, morally pure, iconic symbol flee Earth after he has sex with Lois Lane. She gets pregnant and he disappears. That’s shitty when humans do it. It’s completely out of character for a fictional god-like hero that was raised with a strong moral core (of course he doesn’t have to make too many hard choices since he’s so damned powerful).
Tony:
Yeah. And then stalking her by floating outside her window?
CREEEEEEPppppyyyy.
Pteryxx @61:
That’s awesome. Thank you so much. I spent about 20 hours continuously reading through those posts and their comments. I almost tore my hair out of frustration when I kept encountering instances of her sophistry and gross misrepresentation of the facts.
Cipher:
Yes, it was Shades of Gray. Thank you!
~~
Nutmeg:
It was about 15 years ago, so I’m not completely certain but I think I went on the Ocoee River in Tennessee. It was a Class I or II and was an immensely enjoyable experience.
That and skydiving are two of the best outdoors experiences I’ve had.
Kausik that’s a top drawer analysis. I can’t believe the amount of careful work you put into that. You must be ready to kill someone.
Nigel:
You’re right. That was creepy. Deadbeat parent and stalker? What happened to truth, justice and the American way (I could do without the latter part; as if this “way” is unique to the USA)? What happened to the guy who wouldn’t take another life?
Another thing I don’t understand is what memories Lois had about the pregnancy. Superman mindwipe kissed her at the end of Superman II. Did he wipe her memory of his identity, or of all her memories from the revelation?* What memories does she have about any of that time? Is there a big gap in her memory? Who does she think the father is? Why would her new boyfriend think the child was his when he didn’t come into the picture for several months after Lois was pregnant? Too many questions about a situation that didn’t even bring forth a desirable end.
*I’ve always loved Superman II in a cheesy kind of way. I’m not certain I can any longer. I didn’t realize it until now, but Superman’s actions at the end of the movie-forcibly wiping Lois’ memories (he didn’t ask her; he made a unilateral decision)-is a reprehensible act
Kausik, that was a great roundup of info about elevatorgate. Thanks for the link, pteryxx!
Regarding horror films. I’ve already mentioned that I cannot bear the torture/pointlessly violent ones.
But I do (or at least I did) enjoy thrillers like Hitchcock’s Rear Window, North By Northwest and even The Man Who Knew Too Much.
Kausik: Quite a nice analysis. It will be filled away in the TZT Praecursitori archives.
…And what was the one with Gregory Peck where he keeps having scary flashbacks whenever he sees parallel lines? Horrible! Yet not unwatchable (for me)
Kausik;
Not being familiar with the elevatorgate mess, I read your summary(despite misgivings about whether I really wanted to get familiar with the elevatorgate mess). Wow. That’s… that’s actually really depressing.
Horror films: I like thrillers, but I’m not a fan of torture porn at all. Hostel especially stands out as for me as a movie that was disgusting and pointless. I generally have a pretty high tolerance for gore, but pointlessness is a sin I can’t forgive. I’ll happily watch gore as long as it’s part of the plot, but there has to be a plot. I’m not interested in watching violence for its own sake.
Thank you Josh, NiftyAtheist, A.R.
Josh, I’m a fan of your posts in different blogs.
On Superman, this reminds me of an analysis I read l-o-n-g back somewhere – how Superman could actually impregnate Lois Lane. The logic was that Superman’s ejaculate would travel at super speed (‘Super Seed at Super Speed’, I think it said) and would possibly rupture Lois’ reproductive organs, as well as her abdomen. Using any of the kryptonites was not a good solution, because their possible effects on the Super sperm would be unknown. So the author had concluded that the only safe way this could happen was if Superman took Lois to the Bottled City of Kandor inside his Fortress of Solitude.
I have always wondered about that. It would, of course, mean that Superman would have to take Lois to BCK (and do the whole shrinking down bit) every time they wanted to have sex… What with his saving the world and the universe, they may not have had too much time. Perhaps they had sex only once and that too for procreation? Poor couple.
Yay, I’m home as well!
Does anyone else follow Surviving the World?
There are several times where the topic of the comics are similar/coincide with the topic we talk about here. I think the author is one of the Horde or a reader but I don’t know.
Anyone else notice this or know about it?
It might just be my brain making connections where there isn’t one.
Bleach IMHO was too horribly paced to keep my interset. Was that the mardigras mad scientist?
@Datta
I would be more worried about superman physically breaking her while having sex.
It’s from the essay “Man of Steel Women of Kleenex”
It’s also horribly wrong. Just because Superman CAN exert considerable force doesn’t mean he does, just like how technically many average people could rip a wooden door of its hinges but don’t casually go around doing it. If this was the case Superman would shatter urinals daily.
Remember that in most of his daily life the character exerts exactly the same level of force in every day tasks as a average human does.
This is pre new-52 obviously. I didn’t follow the new reboot.
That went out the window in Superman 2 when Clark and Lois casually execute Zod and Company.
Kausik:
I recall reading that as well. I think it was back in the 8th grade. I thought it was amusing back then and believed it. Now I’m not so sure. Superman has the motor control to shake a man’s hand while holding an ocean liner. I think controlling the strength of his orgasm would be easy for him.
BTW, it’s called Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex by Larry Niven:
http://www.rawbw.com/~svw/superman.html
Another interesting bit from that article:
Pre-New 52 the story was that they couldn’t have children because Kryptonian genetics isn’t double helixed.
Ing, ibyea, Tony … You folks are srsly awesome! How do you even remember these details?!
Ing:
I know it looks that way, but it was actually a prison of some sort. The boxed set of all 5 Superman movies has a deleted scenes disk that shows the PZ criminals (sorry PZ)) being carted away by authorities.
@Ing
No. Looks like you didn’t get too far. He is the captain with glasses that has this charming look, and flowing brunette hair. He looks like the nicest guy ever. Until *gasp* plot twist. Then he takes off his glasses and makes his hairstyle all cool. And everything that happened in that arc was all part of his plan.
Oh, and if you thought that was already horribly paced, it actually gets worse during the later parts of the series. I tried to keep watching, in part because I am partly obsessive, and in other parts, hoping it would kind of pay off. No such luck. It was asspull after asspull, boring slow sequences after boring slow sequences, interspaced with boring fillers. I gave up some 250 episodes in. The sad part is, the first season urban fantasy style story was pretty fun and respectable, and the opening intros themselves are actually more exciting than the actual anime.
Partner is in lit/english and we had a 30 hour drive to honeymoon….it was brought up.
*rushes into the room, gasping, beard only half braided, but with the poodle circle skirt immaculate*
It’s … this is …!
I step away from the computer for a few minutes, barely 780 and when I return, the troll is banned!!!
Gosh darn!
On the other hand, I like some scary style movies myself. I really like the Alien series, even though there are moments of serious stupidity. Over all, I like the approach. Haven’t seen Prometheus and don’t intend to. Serenity has scary parts IMO, but I like it too.
As for torture porn, too much like my old case load. That whole ooo hurt people it’s cool thing is, to me, essence de bully, avec fart.
To be honest, I havn’t yet seen a torture porn that actually moved me and frightened me as much as the torture plot of ST:TNG. The ending of that episode remains more frightening IMHO than any of the torture porn movies
@Tony
I don’t know about that. I mean, orgasm is not something you exactly control.
@ Ing No. 89
You’re right, particularly when the child walks in. There’s the whole societal support for torture cycle laid out in seconds.
@Ing
What episode was it?
@Ibyea
Unless you wind up punching through the head board when you cum I think Lois is safe. Besides not like there aren’t work around (one reason why Twilight is fucking unbearable to me)
On a lesser scale that always bugged me with Rogue in X-men…FFS her power should not be this big problem that keeps her from having a relationship like they always make it out to be, has no one in Xavier School For the Gifted ever heard of latex!?
@Ibyea
Chain of Command pt 2. It’s the source of the memetic “THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS”
Picard is captured by Cardassians and we follow almost the entire episode with him being tortured for information he doesn’t have.
I won’t even give the spoiler because the ending to that episode is wonderful IMHO. Loius before was complaining about Taken…that episode takes everything of the mach action hero tropes like in Taken and just throws it out the window.
Also, I thought Doctor Who’s Empty Child episode was the creepiest thing I have watched in my life. It was the first time a visual medium has made me feel that paranoid.
Kausik:
Until I was fired last year, I had read comics religiously :) from the age of 15. For nearly 20 years, I was at my local comic book store every Wednesday (Tuesdays back in the day) for new arrivals. 1/4 of my garage is taken up in comic boxes. I’ve read a lot and have retained a lot of useless comic book information.
Ing:
Once I heard about the reboot and read all the information, I decided to stop buying DC. I’d read comics through the horrible speculator’s crash of the 90s. Through Marvel’s bankruptcy. Through DC’s several line wide reboots and mini reboots. I appreciate and enjoy the sense of continuity provided by ongoing serialized stories. I’m invested in the characters to a degree, and I don’t like hitting the reset button. In addition, I really didn’t like how DC rebooted *most* of the universe, but saved Batman and Green Lantern’s histories relatively intact. They had virtually the same situation happen after Crisis on Infinite Earths back in the 80s (with Legion of Super-Heroes and Hawkman) and that ended horribly (Hawkman is *still* recovering). I was really against returning Barbara Gordon back to Batgirl. As Oracle-yes her legs were paralyzed-she served as hope and inspiration for many of those with disabilities. I’m also not a fan of this condensed history into a 5 year period. I don’t like replacing Wally West with Barry Allen. I don’t like Superman not having his parents (or at least one of them) alive as an adult. I don’t like the revised Justice League origin (nor the inclusion of Cyborg among the teams’ founders). I don’t like the destruction of Wolfman/Perez’s New Teen Titans. Ugh. Even though I stopped reading comics last September, I still keep up with them and haven’t changed my mind about not buying their books.
Some Slenderman stuff has done that for me more than many Hollywood movies. The added paranoia fuel that Slenderman targets people who know about him…and the more you know the more he is likely to come after you and he might be right behind you as you read this slowly reaching out his hand from across the room and GAAAAH LOOK BEHIND YOU NOW!
@Ing
Heh, the only thing I know of that episode is that meme. Anyways, looks like I will watch it.
Ing:
Rogue’s power was uncontrollable though. It also manifested from any point of her body. She couldn’t touch any part of her bare skin to anyone else’s. I’m think a full body latex wrap would look rather odd.
Full of spoilers, but insightful:
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2009/05/there_are_four_lights.html
@Tony
Anyone who read Denny O’Neils wonderful Question series from the 80s (which really more than Ditko established the character) and Morrison and Co’s 52 should hate the New 52 for what they did to Question.
It is also of course removing the fan favorite new Question in order to bring back the white het male version. I love Vic Sage as Question but his ending in 52 was so good that revoking it is a betrayal.
For those curious, his original origin was that he started out as a vigilianti objetivist, until Batman called him an asshole and sent him to philosophy camp.
Cloths+latex+gloves. This isn’t the unsolvable problem it’s made out to be.
Standard issue in some fetish scenes; latex or leather? *meaningful look*
to be less strange, how about thin satin sheets?
Out of curiosity, what do you think Rogue wears when superheroing!?
If the X-men are going to poo poo Rogue’s sex life on the grounds that the OUTFIT would look silly they should have thought of that before they made the harry blue guy wear a thong.
Also the New 52 reboot somehow is more 90s than the actual 90s.
Agreed. One of my favorite episodes of the entire franchise. certain people in government should be forced to watch it.
@AR
The entire Bush administration?
ibyea: Yep, and most of the Obama administration at that.
So as of late my roommate and his girlfriend finally broke up, but the now-ex-girlfriend still lives here. That being said, of late she’s been going out, saying she’ll be gone for x amount of time/days, and then doesn’t come home for much longer (usually days). Always with the same friend, too.
Yesterday, she stole a 64GB Ipad from someone who was staying at her grandparents’ place while travelling, sold it*, and then stopped answering her phone when her mother or my roommate called. My roommate decided to bail her out and pay back the ~$700 (which I think is stupid).
Today, she got my roommate to go over to wherever she was, trying to get him to give her $180 with the excuse that it was somehow to pay back for the Ipad.
I came homw from visiting the nearest co-operative supermarket to learn that he’d basically dragged her home instead, and that she was apparently high on heroin (which, for this house — not to mention for her because she used to be addicted — is way the fuck against the rules).
…so here I’ve been, messing with my comp and listening to music ever since I got home…how are you all tonight?
* – The kicker was how this got discovered: she called one of my roommate’s friends asking him how to change the language (it was set to Mandarin). Stupid, much…
I’m sorry Setar that situation sucks. =(
I don’t know what else to say. I hope she gets the help she needs and that it works out for everyone. I wish I could say something helpful.
JAL, she’s had ample opportunity to get the help she needs. I’ve been living with them since this past August, and hung out with them before that…well…-sigh-, let’s just say that the amount of times I’ve been woken up by them fighting is significant. What it mostly boils down to is her being a spoiled brat because her parents divorced when she was young and her dad basically tried to buy her off (until she started getting into drugs, at which point he turned her out), and him dealing with it in a way that is not even remotely close to ‘well’, including privilege.
No, I don’t like it. And neither of my landlords did either, having also dealt with her before she moved in (It’s a long and complicated story…let’s just say that while I’ve only lived at this house since August I’ve been hanging out at it since over a year before that, and a lot of shit has happened, quite a bit of which I’m not proud of).
Ing:
I think the problem with Rogue is that the need for actual, human contact would get wearying after some time. She can’t touch on the cheek. She can’t kiss. Clothes are well and good, but what about those times when you don’t *want* clothes. The beach? Showering with someone? A nice massage? Then there’s the frustration she has to feel with all the strange looks. Hearing “Mommy, mommy, why is that strange woman all covered up and wearing gloves in 100 degree weather?” or seeing the look of disdain (this would be the crowd that thinks she has a hickey and it’s gross and she’s hiding it). Also don’t forget that her powers manifested as a teenager. Of the myriad things teens have to deal with already (I wonder if her powers were intended as some sort of metaphor for menstruation), having emotions and being horny, but not being able to touch another human being without hurting them could easily cause someone to refuse to risk touching another person. Why risk getting emotionally close to someone if you can’t ever enjoy physically being with them?
Also, what the fuck? I still have an outline on my skin from belly-flopping off the 3m high dive when I was ten, though it’s moved up slightly due to growth.
Setar:
Damn.
Sorry you’re having to deal with that.
Drug addiction affects so many people. It pisses me off how massively flawed the approach to drug abuse is.
On a random, amusing note:
I was over at Love, Joy, Feminism on patheos when I noticed a banner ad at the top. It made me stop and blink, because what I read was “I am a moron.” After a couple seconds, I realised that what it really said was “I am a mormon.” Frankly, I think the first one is slightly more honest.
Good morning
Sooo, babies everywhere. My friend is pregnant. My friend is also the daughter of my BFF (BFF is 16 years older than me, her daughter 9 years younger than me and since they are very, very close, we’re all really good friends).
I’m not only super-happy for her, I’m also very glad that I’ll get rid of all the baby-stuff we still have :)
My BFF is very, very happy to become a grandma, but she hates that she’ll be 50 next year *gg*
Aforementioned friend named hers “parasite” :)
My weekend was the greatest time ever (well, almost), spending time with sooo many good friends I only see once a year. It’s amazing how long that community has been going now. There are people there whom I’ve known when they were just obnoxious teenagers and who have grown into almost reasonable adults(not fellows) in the meantime :)
Setar
Shit that’s bad. The sad thing is that you can’t help her unless she wants it. Bailing her out will not help her the least, it just helps her to get going that way.
Ing:
Oh, I so agree with you here.
Did you ever watch Justice League Unlimited? If so, what did you think of the final seasons’ use of Vic?
On another note, I only have two regrets not buying any DC Comics.
1-Grant Morrison on Action Comics
2-J.H. Williams on Batwoman (the artwork is stellar; phenomenal, amazing, senasational and more)
For those unfamiliar with J.H. Williams’ art:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0h-fFKd8sO8/T-SBLYlPmyI/AAAAAAAADNc/wccunGQKXic/s1600/batwoman.jpg
and
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq2cw7YJv31qkdez7o1_500.jpg
ibyea,
Isn’t that what that guy in Deathnote does as well? Not that I’m really familiar with it, but I thought it was about ridiculously well-planned schemes as well. (Even if the murders are trivial.)
@Baboonella is currently attempting to bother me on Twitter.
It’s cool. I’ve got rum and I’m watching The Walking Dead. I’m content.
Again not overly familiar with X-Men (“Men”?), but if Rogue’s power is stealing other people powers, what happens with ordinary powerless people?
Or is dating outside of the tribe just not the thing to do?
She drains their life force. It’s instant death, or close to it.
Her first kiss was a very traumatic event for her. Fatal for the dude.
Funny how people who don’t share your values will attempt to point to instances where you failed to live up to them. “Hypocrisy!”
But why should they care?
@Sili
Yup. Light’s plan for shaking suspicion off of him by giving up the Death Note and giving it to the corrupt corporate guy was extremely convoluted. But Death Note is so much fun that you don’t care as much. Besides, Light actually has a rival who can match his abilities. Which means he can mess up, and it keeps the tension high. Because of that, it never feels like he is invincible.
That Blair Witch storyboard is awesome.
I loathe and detest horror movies and a lot of suspense as well (The Dark Knight completely traumatized me), so I was pretty dubious when I was roped into watching Blair Witch shortly after it came out on DVD. However, I already knew I would be watching complete fiction, which as it transpired was the thing that made the film absolutely not scary at all.
I mean, I remember very vividly sitting there and thinking “Oh so this is why the studio maintained the fiction that it’s is actual found footage — because without that idea the entire thing is COMPLETELY POINTLESS.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAb8SZUE8Eo
Lyrics:
Atheist Girls and atheist Guys
We’ll always bow in supplication
We’ll always recognize
That all men are rape-supporters
And there’s nothin’ we can do
Cuz you’re a rape supporter
Just for thinking about boobs
That bastard asked me out for coffee
I was almost raped
But by the grace of reason goddess
My butthole was saved
My first world problems, these things are so important to me
Although I embody privilege
It’s a victim I will be
Now these blogs that I love
Are falling under attack
A mighty thunderf00t voiced his dissent
From somewhere in the back
Soon as we could stand up
In our butthurt state
Man, we banned that British wanker
Like greens on PZ’s plate
Hey PZ Myers
Put your name at the top of his list
And Saint Rebecca Watson
Started shakin’ her fist
And careers will die
Man, it’s gonna be hard
When the atheist community
Goes full retard
And your friends have cut you off, man, it feels so rough
It’s your own damn fault, Your thoughts weren’t free enough
Comments will be posted
And the bloggers will rage
This white knight will fight
For Myers the Sage
And you’ll be sorry you disagreed with
The majority’s say
`Cause we`ll banhammer your ass
It`s the rational way
Hey PZ Myers
Put your name at the top of his list
And Saint Rebecca Watson
Started shakin’ her fist
And Dawkins will pay
For thinkin’ different from me
Fuck all his contributions to
Biology
And your friends have cut you off, man, it feels so rough
It’s your own damn fault, Your thoughts weren’t free enough
Oh my freethoughtblogs
Oh my atheistkult
For reasons no longer clear to me I’ve started my Monday morning by watching Don Rickles get roasted on Youtube (I didn’t know who Rickles was, but I loves me some Dean Martin and Foster Brooks). Of course other no-names were included, and, boy, do impressions not age well.
Important news (not that it will change anyone’s mind)
“HPV vaccine reduces infection, even in unvaccinated” http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-hpv-vaccine-infection-unvaccinated.html
Canadian scientists are going to protest the Republican Nord’s war on science (that disagrees with their ideology) via muzzling and budget cuts with a funeral procession tomorrow/today.
…I’m going to go listen to some Stan Rogers and chug back a few beers now.
*eyeroll*
Well, I guess that follows. Assholes don’t have the free will to not be ableists.
Troll detected in comment #127.
In other news, the sun rose today. Experts are unsure if this phenomenon of sun-risings, which has continued since before recorded history, will continue tomorrow.
I was all prepared to ignore your troll post until this part. You need to shut your damn mouth. You don’t come into our area of relaxation spouting bullshit like this. You’re not going to use someone’s mental condition as an insult to anyone else. Maybe the slimepit tolerates that, but you’re sure as fuck not going to get away with that here.
@ Sili:
Don Rickles was (and is) a comedian. He’s probably best known for being an insult comic. He also played one of the American soldiers in Kelly’s Heroes. People have said he’s actually a nice person.
Just watched the Walking Dead season Finale. Am now officially freaked out.
Curse stupid Strange-Ex and his passion for horror! It’s infected me… like… like a zombie virus! AAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaa…
Haha, bullshit. Free from Thought RETARDS love to use mental health epithets against their opponents. It’s only wrong when someone who isn’t in the in-group is doing it.
Nope, it’s just wrong.
You agree, right? That it’s wrong regardless?
Obvious sockpuppet is obvious.
Then tell that to PeeZus et al.
Nope. It’s a trivial non-issue. Doesn’t even begin to register.
For fuck’s sake, there’s an infestation in the fucking lounge. Really not cool.
Listen trolls, there’s a dedicated free speech venue for your bullshit. Take it to The Zombie Thread. (Appropriately enough, since I’m totes freaked out about zombies right now.)
Nah, I just happen to know the guy who made the video.
The images of parched earth in India around the mention of “first-world problems” were my idea btw. As were the Krispy Kreme donuts around “Man, we banned that British wanker / Like greens on PZ’s plate”.
You’re welcome.
Obvious (ableist) liar is lying.
I’ll need at least two more coffees to become coherent, it’s already hot as hell and there is a troll in TET?!
Urgh
Well, maybe the elite supergeniuses here can get my IP traced and come and kick my ass.
Do something, since you can’t call for air support from PeeZus right now.
Really? Are you gonna tell me that PeeZus has never used epithets like “crazy” against people he doesn’t like? Haha.
Wow, that is impressive, that you came up with those ideas all by yourself.
Have a cookie, you must have exhausted yourself.
Still not going to watch it.
Also, I did not say, “thank you”.
(sorry Caine, if you’re around), but where are the livecam kitties? The box is empty *shock, horror*
To an asshole troll, everything is a trivial non-issue except for being an asshole.
Sure, because nothing registers except trolling.
So, you’re one of those pathetic people who are too cool for ideals, ethics, and morals then? You just like to point and laugh at people who try to do the right thing?
Yeah, we don’t always get it right. Which is why we call each other out all the time about this shit.
Difference between decent human beings and you: when someone points out that a decent human being is hurting someone else accidentally, they stop doing the thing that was causing the hurt.
Assholes crow about how little they care.
Yeah, I’m calling you an asshole. I’m bullying you. We weren’t talking to you or about you, and you came into our space and starting flinging shit. That’s why I get to call you a pathetic, obsessed, asshole. Because it’s fucking accurate. Now go away. Or stick around and get abused, if that sort of thing is what gets you off. It won’t last long though. You’ll either stop or you’ll get banned.
PZ also said some really stupid, discriminatory shit about Pakistanis this one time. I said so, several times, in comments. I don’t think he ever walked it back, or apologized. I still think he was wrong.
Heyo! News flash: nobody’s perfect. Some people, thought, at least try to do better. Unlike you.
Ha. Hail Tpyos! I have made my offering, with the blessings of Bacchus.
No I just think that if your stated goal is improving the welfare of humanity as a whole (FfTB dimwits love to toot their own horn about inter alia what cosmopolitans they are), you’re better off focusing on things like, uh, people starving in the Sahel and the dire water crisis in embittered, nuclear South Asia.
But it seems you’d rather focus on mild first-world inconveniences instead.
And don’t trot out “you can care about more than one thing”. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and time and other resources are in fact limited.
I personally don’t care about that stuff and think that ship has sailed but, Jesus, even the Folding@Home process I have running here does more good for society than this pathetic circlejerk.
Silly question. Why are you assuming that any of us want to ? Any evidence?
Or is sneering all you got?
One more thing. It is the middle of the night/early morning in the US right now. Most of the regulars will not know if this for a while.
Play for a while. Perhaps you will say something that brings the banhammer down. Or that you are a sockpuppet. Or you show that you have nothing of worth to offer.
No one will be upset. You are just an other self centered little drip who thinks that you are involved in an epic battle again all feminist evil. In other words, a nobody.
But a nobody who wants to think it is loud and threatening.
*yawn*
Pharyngula: where people puff themselves up like blowfish over the many non-accomplishments they have achieved for the greater good.
If Greg Laden is “one of you”, then his recent threat of violence against someone else (“I’ll kick your fucking ass”) is Evidence™.
Oh, one of those “you should care about these things but I do not” nihilists.
Please, do not take it personality if I state that I do not care what you have to say. You have nothing that you stand for.
Now disappear into your own ass.
That’s mighty big talk from people who just agree with each other loudly and think it achieves something.
As I mentioned I am fighting cancer from the comfort of my own home, just by donating CPU time to Stanford. No effort on my part.
You zits aren’t getting anything done.
Hey look, the asshole who made the “Punch Anita Sarkeesian” video game has been identified. And had his Twitter account suspended.
http://storify.com/WiTOpoli/why-is-this-conversation-necessary-ben-spurr
Raising the social cost of misogyny for the win!
Wow! The simple fact that he was kicked out means nothing to you.
Wait, nothing means anything to you.
Good bye.
Ugh. Why does the rather bland troll have to be using the name of a really awesome soda?
Nonsense. I stand for humor. And there will be much humor to be found in people like you who realize, come 2025, 2030 or so, that they let a global disaster unfold on their watch while they were engrossed in FOX News-grade petty bullshit like ALL THE MEAN NAMES PEOPLE CALL US.
Poor thing.
Dental dams?
Hee hee
This pop has gone flat so I poured it down the drain.
By Ed Brayton, who isn’t a total jagoff.
Meanwhile, all the self-appointed harassment ombudspeople here have had little, if anything to say against him.
LULZERS are responsible for the coming global cataclysm, in other words. You saw it coming, but instead of doing something about it, you preferred to harass and troll people who were focused on other, less pressing issues.
Sounds hilarious!
Ooh! Ooh!
Are you wiping out breastcancer by wearing a pink bow as well?
OK.
No, doofus, I’m contributing to distributed ab initio protein folding research.
It’s sort of amusing though that you talk about token efforts that people make to feel good about themselves condescendingly while failing to realize this entire blog is such an effort.
Gingerale, you’re really not going to get anything done by being here. Your time would probably be better spent elsewhere unless all you want to do is insult people over the Internet and/or be a troll.
Personally, I’d recommend either watching YouTube videos or reading webcomics you’ve never read before. Here and here are a couple sites that may help you find a webcomic you’ll like. As for YT, music is a good idea. Look up a favorite group/solo musician and have fun!
More proof that you are talking shit. Most of us know that there is an oncoming disaster coming but it is the cause of the Koch brothers, the DuPont family, the oil companies and all of the other superrich who are gaming the political system for their own short term gain.
Laugh all you want chucklehead. Your aim is not true.
Yes I will. I’ll get lulz done, at your expense. Just like I have many times before.
Aw, gingerale’s nihilism is just a front, guys. They’re just trying to goad us into matching our online concerns with real life activism. It’s sweet, really.
Gingerale, it’s okay to care about the world and the future. I know it’s not really “edgy” or “cool” but trust me, you’ll feel better when you stop trying to pretend you’re above it all.
So this DOESN’T include self-righteous first-world atheist wankers who aren’t willing to compromise their lavish standard of living which is several times what the Earth can actually support?
Are you saying you aren’t part of the problem? How the hell did you swing that?
Since when am I a nihilist? I have values. They’re just not your values.
gingerale :
Why not? It’s quite apparently true that you can.
Idiomfail
You’re sharing CPU time for folding proteins- which is supposed to be your defence against hypocrisy and
commentingtrolling on a blog which “gets nothing done”.Hell, you could be sharing CPU time for protein folding and, oh I dunno, be in sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia working with Oxfam. Cuz, ya know,
So, whats your reason for not you doing that?
You can but you can’t DO an infinite number of things, and you’re going to learn that the hard way.
It’s a hell of a lot more than you retards are doing.
I don’t want to. To be clear, I’m only contributing to the protein folding because I, or someone I know, might get cancer or a degenerative disease one day.
Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are both fucked in any case.
Ah, trying to us empathy as a tool to mock others. Hilarious.
I find it strangely appropriate that our musical troll opted to recycle the melody from a bellicose Toby Keith song about the glories of war and American nationalism. (The original song is nearly as offensive as the troll’s version.) There’s not much difference between jingoists and sexists, really.
(I quite like country music; it’s a shame Toby Keith is such a right-wing idiot.)
SamStrange, seeing that the two latest trolls have shown that they either have a huge disconnect with reality or are knowingly telling lies about this network of blogs and Rebecca Watson, I feel no need to disclose anything about me or anyone else about activities that have benefits for others.
They do not deserve it.
I am just wondering if they are at all connected with RF.
I don’t think so. “4 the LULZ” is not actually “values”.
Got anything else?
Shit, Walton, why did you bother? The first brainstem left “lyrics”. That should have been enough to tell you it was not worth a click.
@gingerale
So, you trolling this place helps the world cause how?
Oh, clearly. Not only do they not deserve it, they don’t care. Their only values are LULZ. They’re just here to score points.
It does seem like a similar modus operandi. How long until Gingerale also begs to be banned? I swear, it’s like some sort of silly fetish.
@ gingerale
Fuck you too!
I wouldn’t be surprised if they just noticed that PZ is away because of RF’s comments and decided that now was a good time to show up in TET.
Either way, they have the timing down. *sigh*
Yeah, because Morrakiu thinks that stuff is stupid. Look at his other parody songs.
You asspees can’t ever seem to understand irony, sarcasm, etc….
Now, anyway, what great accomplishments do you zilches have under your belts to merit this holy image you want for yourselves? Let me guess: loudly agreeing with people who already agree with you on a blog?
gingerale:
Your libertarianism is noted.
Hmm, interesting that you should admonish people who don’t quite share your cynicism with this:
using a tone that suggests you care, when you don’t, in fact, care about these issues yourself.
Samstrange was saying something about this kind of hypocrisy upthread IIRC.
TROLL sez:
Newflash you piece of excrement, you don’t get to determine how anyone spends their time. People don’t exist to follow your simple minded view of achieving goals. If that’s how you want to clean up the world, go for it. I’m guessing it’s not since you chose to come into our social forum and be the world’s biggest ass.
The hell is wrong with you?
Yes it is. My utility function values lulz.
It doesn’t but because I don’t make myself out to be some great holy knight, there isn’t any onus on me to “help the world” is there?
Well, some people have speculated that getting banned is an initiation. But I have no way of knowing. And I really do not care enough about them to find out.
Shit, I do not even want to do a song parody and post it online.
Alright. Spend your time how you want. Just don’t get angry should I come back and needle you for your poor choices when the shit hits the fan.
That’s it.
You need to leave you piece of shit.
I haven’t exactly been trying to hide that, have I?
Uh-huh.
And if someone working on providing food to people in the Sahel told you: “Hey, don’t be an asshole troll”, you’d carry on being an asshole troll because hey, she’s not also working in South Asia. And vice-versa. And if people working in both places told you not to be an asshole troll . . . you’d ignore them because you really don’t give a shit anyway.
Assholism at any cost, right?
And you’d rather focus on things that inconvenience you. Like not having enough trolling done.
Right?
Because you don’t care about anything at all. Got it.
So, your time and resources are far too limited for you to even bother trying not to be an asshole troll.
Right. You don’t care about anything but trolling.
======
Why would you think he was ever a commentator on this thread? Besides you being stupid and lazy?
The threat of violence that got him removed from the blog network entirely is evidence . . . for what, exactly? That you can’t think?
======
Exactly. No effort on your part at all.
Because effort is hard.
You’re only getting trolling done. Good job!
======
You don’t stand for anything except being an asshole. Maybe you’re laughing. I suppose, to an asshole, that’s all that matters.
Global disaster? Like, your asshole will grow so large by then that it will engulf the Earth? Huh.
======
Against who?
Against Ed Brayton? Why?
Against Greg Laden? He was removed from the blog network. What are we supposed to say against him? “Gosh, he should be punished for that . . . oh wait.”
Something else just occurred to me:
How is that the elite, superintelligent masters of social interaction here on FfTB and other leftist blogs keep losing elections and political ground to stupid, socially inept wingnuts?
Your competition is Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly and you can’t ever seem to win?
That’s fucking pathetic!
Oh look, more ableism.
I have better things to do with my morning than participate in your banal exercise in internet-penis-measuring.
No … the food crisis, the water crisis, the energy crisis, the phosphate crisis, the minerals crisis, you know stuff that will make you feel silly when you realized how stupid your priorities were back in 2012.
So, that dude who made the “Punch Anita Sarkeesian in the face” game is named Ben Spurr, apparently, and he has a series of artistic renderings of Sonic the Hedgehog characters which are amusingly deconstructed and “psychoanalyzed” here.
Also, if you enjoy ACTUAL humor (rather than sadistic nihilist posturing), check out the Indifferent Cats in Amateur Porn Tumblr. NSFW, obviously.
Good night all. Try not to get troll brains on the upholstery, okay? We just got this place cleaned up.
It’s pigeon chess, they are just taking turns. One tosses over the pieces, craps on the board and flutters home to brag about their victory, the next one is encouraged to try… Rinse, lather, repeat.
People who puff themselves up about things all the great feats they haven’t achieved, getting mad at someone they think is doing the same thing.
Interesting.
Troll sez:
Even if I knew you I wouldn’t care if you think my choices are poor.
I think your choice to come into our relaxed area and start shitting all over the place is a pathetic cry for attention. It worked in my case b/c I’m pissed off at how you toss around the word ‘retard’ like it’s a valid insult. If you want to insult us, the use of gendered/ableist/sexist/homophobic insults is out of the question. It’s fucked up that you think it’s ok to use another person’s unchangeable physical attributes as an insult. Why else would you use the word ‘retard’ if you didn’t associate some negative trait to those with learning disabilities? They are no less worth of decency and compassion than anyone else. They are not inferior. Sacks of shit like you are part of this world’s problems. Take your entitled, ableist, sexist ass somewhere else. Try TZT. Fuck off.
Hey, social anhedonia. Maybe I just have a compassion disability, and you’re an ableist for talking about me like that.
WHY ARE YOU PICKEN ON ME?
SamStrange, there is no evidence of a significant amount of brain within that head. It is mostly skull there. More upholstery will be damaged by the skull hitting it than will be stained by troll brain.
DASS ABLEIST
TAKE IT BACK
So basically you’re just saying “retard” in more words.
This place is so parody-proof, ahahahahaha
SamStrange, there is no link to Ben Spurr.
On that note, I’ve had enough vileness from trolls for the night. Can’t believe I’m worked up at 3:28 in the morning. Come here to have casual conversations with like minded individuals and can’t do that because of a troll skunking up the room. Fuckin’ A.
Since I’ve been doing the Walking Dead marathon, I have images of rotting brains splattering pretty much embedded in my consciousness. And that’s the image I get when I imagine how this place will look in the morning when the Banhammer gets reactivated.
:(
Part of the reason I’m not yet asleep.
“Trolling” is a value?
Your trolling is indeed very large but not infinite.
What was that about not being a nihilist?
Right; you’re just a troll who only cares about trolling.
Lovely. More ableism and lies.
I’m accomplishing not being an asshole troll. That’s something better than you, at least.
Sure you are. You make yourself out as the Great Holy Knight of Asshole Trolls.
Do you want a medal, maybe?
Remember, people are all born with equal intellectual potential and IQ doesn’t mean anything. To say otherwise would be against Equality™.
However, anyone who disagrees with me is incorrigibly stupid.
gingerale:
Okay, I grant that you’re a total shitstain and have never hidden that, my mistake.
Man, you are a funny one. You sir, stand for humour. That is all.
I DON’T USE TEH BAD WORDS
GIVE ME A MEDAL
No, he wants a cookie.
So are you telling me you won’t regret spending all your “social activism” (if I can call it that time) on the latest drama in the Free from Thought world?
Ben Spurr’s artistic renderings of Sonic characters, deconstructed.
Sorry about the broken link.
Will a soggy biscuit do?
Still lolling at people who are probably all intellectual non-hereditarians getting all buttmad at my saying “retard” then saying the same to me in so many words re: brain volume.
So is it NOT “ableist” to say that someone has no brain?
Clear that up for me please.
You mean, the stuff you don’t care about and aren’t doing anything about either?
Get a diagnosis and treatment, then.
Why are you an asshole?
Shorter gingerale: BE SILENT!
Silencing is the actual goal here, LULZ is just one tactic.
I think your brains are rotten, gingerale. Putrid and decaying.
Not absent.
Yes, I’m “bullying” you now. Oh dear oh dear.
Yeah. That’s not inconsistent with me laughing at you wasting time, by your own standards.
Make me. And in the meantime, stop being so ABLEISS.
Why are you a narcisisst?
I couldn’t exactly have lulz at your expense if you didn’t talk to me.
This makes no sense.
gingerale:
No, cuz I’ve been donating CPU time all along to porcupine-insertion-in-troll-hindside research at MIT.
So it looks to me like you’ve found a roundabout way to be ABLEISS while preserving your self-righteousness.
As long as you don’t say the R-word, it’s fine. Or?
Obvious tell is obvious.
Oh so in other words you just loudly agree with other people who share your views, feel so so good about yourself, and basically do nothing for society otherwise, and you’re now sidestepping this.
I’ll bet by year’s end none of you will have sent so much as a Goddamn penny to those people starving in the Sahel belt.
You’ll still feel extremely holy though.
People who actually, really, in point of fact, have no brains are not discriminated against, because they’re dead.
Or are you agitating for zombie rights now?
BAN HEADSHOTS
UNDEAD YES, UNPERSON, NO.
Contents of an ashtray fire that’s been put out with stale beer would make a nice cookie for this one. And even then I’d pick out the green bits just to be a bully.
It makes all the sense.
But your brains are a fetid soup of decomposing organic matter. So you wouldn’t be able to tell anyway.
Go empty your head into a compost heap and make the world a better place.
@gingerale
Exactly. Priority. So how about you shut up and save the world with those very important issues, while we focus on the less important stuff? Come on, put your money where your mouth is.
I see your deflection and raise you another one. Since you’re mindless servants of Lord PeeZus I can say anything I want against you because you’re just automata.
DASS ABLEISS
Y U SO ABLEISS?
Because hounding you with your utter failure to act would be so much funnier.
Is the flat soda already complaining about being bullied?
The flat soda should realize that this is mockery. But the flat soda is neither intelligent nor honest.
And the flat soda is not funny. Such a failure at what the flat soda claims as a strength?
Because you have no standards, except asshole troll standards.
Not seriously. Asspees like you take everything so literally.
Funny is in the eye of the beholder.
So you’re not disputing the fact that you’re an ineffectual pissant who is neither willing nor able to achieve goals you think are worthwhile?
On that note, I think I’ll bump this:
“How is that the elite, superintelligent masters of social interaction here on FfTB and other leftist blogs keep losing elections and political ground to stupid, socially inept wingnuts?
Your competition is Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly and you can’t ever seem to win?
That’s fucking pathetic!”
gingerale:
Again, what do you care about people starving in the Sahel belt? Why’re you concerned about why others aren’t concerned about what you aren’t concerned about, yourself, in the first place?
Remember, gingerale: brains are high in protein and can attract vermin, so be sure to cover the contents of your now empty skull with a sprinkling of lime and a layer of sawdust or grass clippings.
I don’t. I care about laughing at you for failing to live up to the noble knight-errant image you want everyone else to take seriously for some reason.
Oy, Gingerpiss, get the fuck out of our lounge, you horrible piece of shit.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
ITT: saying “retard” without really saying “retard”.
LOL you people are such hypocrites about that PC language.
I don’t think gingerale realizes that nobody’s disputing anything at all with him. Because he’s not “disputing” anything, just throwing a bunch of trite, predictable troll-speak cliches at the wall to see what sticks.
Since LULZ are his only values, if he provides us with more amusement than we provide him, does that mean we win, in his weird little world?
I’ll note you didn’t answer my question.
Well, since you have no free will to not be an asshole, I suppose you can’t help lying.
You’re just trying to get in the way. Got it.
Yeah? Who’s gonna be laughing when the climate change cauldron boils over?
Between his first comment at 137 and ending at 241, the flat soda has thirty seven comments, over one third. The flat soda is a busy little thick skull troll.
You people are effectively no better than I am.
I’m not self-righteous because I have nothing to be self-righteous about.
(Nor do you.)
And you just keep feeding me.
I’m certainly not disputing the fact that you have no standards and no goals that you are willing or able to achieve except for being an asshole troll.
I realize that’s a low bar you’ve set for yourself, but there it is.
Gonna bump this AGAIN since people seem to be avoiding it:
How is that the elite, superintelligent masters of social interaction here on FfTB and other leftist blogs keep losing elections and political ground to stupid, socially inept wingnuts?
Your competition is Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly and you can’t ever seem to win?
That’s fucking pathetic!
I win! That way way funnier than anything I could possibly say to you.
Oh dear, what happened in the lounge?
Oh, I see, an asshole full of shit exploded. This is going to take time to clean up.
I killfiled the flat soda after the third statement and have been riffing on others and what has been cut and pasted.
And I checked out SamStrange’s link to that asshole. And took a look at the art work depicting Anita after she has been beaten up.
I hate Ben Spurr.
Gosh, it’s kind of like you care about something. That’s hilarious.
I think I’ll just keep bumping this until I get a reply:
How is that the elite, superintelligent masters of social interaction here on FfTB and other leftist blogs keep losing elections and political ground to stupid, socially inept wingnuts?
Your competition is Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly and you can’t ever seem to win?
That’s fucking pathetic!
Why would you be laughing, and not, say, sweating?
You’ve been extremely self-righteous about how self-righteous you’re not.
His brain cells. That will do more harm than good.
Derpity derp
I think I’ll just keep bumping this until I get a reply:
How is that the elite, superintelligent masters of social interaction here on FfTB and other leftist blogs keep losing elections and political ground to stupid, socially inept wingnuts?
Your competition is Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly and you can’t ever seem to win?
That’s fucking pathetic!
“Your competition is Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly and you can’t ever seem to win?”
Quoted for truth.
See, when your trolling schtick is “I care so much less than you,” then trying persistently to get an answer to a particular question kind of negates the whole approach.
So, in other words, you’re admitting that you’re losing political ground to wingnuts, who are stupid and socially retarded, and somehow you’re still elite geniuses who are reshaping society with the mere wave of their hand?
There ya go, gingerpiss:
Woops, emeddimification thingy. Sorry, forgot about that!
@gingerale
Yes, cause propagandas have never been an effective political tool.
And Freethoughtblogs is totally as big and available to audiences as Fox News is. Totally.
*rolls eyes*
Wingnuts aren’t stupid. They’re just very authoritarian-minded.
“Elite genius reshaping society with the mere wave of a hand” is a bit long to fit into my ‘nym. I’ll have to work on that.
“Elite society-reshaping genius” maybe?
It’s a drastic change from “bottom-feeding, work-shy peasant.” My, how far I’ve come in a few short days!
Ahem, that would be embeddimification. Me need coffee.
@Pentatomid
I think, in this case, it was entirely necessary.
Ah, see, this is why I’ve come to love Pharyngula (I’m not a frequent poster, but I read as much as I can). The intelligence and wit seen here is a thing to behold. Going to other websites after reading here is like hopping back a couple of decades in a time machine, back to a time when things like equal rights were still argued against in some quarters. “Did people really used to think that, Grandpa?” “Yes, Billy, I’m afraid they did.”
Over the weekend, with the drop in posts here, I went to another website to discuss current affairs. The bigotry out there is not just sickening; it’s scary.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/0707/1224319602519.html (if you’re interested / can stomach it). And that was the website of what’s considered to be my country’s most left-leaning broadsheet.
The degree to which you people avoided my repeated point that you can’t beat (admittedly) stupid and (allegedly) socially inept right-wingers despite having a combined IQ of over one billion and knowing everything there is to know about society and social interaction (being the good-hearted, noble humanists you are) makes me think I’ve tapped into a RICH vein here in the Buttmad Mine.
I’ll remember that.
And on that note Morning Edition is on. Later, retards!
You do realise this isn’t 4chan, right? There’s no rising to the top for the most recent comment.
What’s next? Combos?
Last word:
And you’re not authoritarian.
Ho-ho-ho-holee shit.
Et voila. Sniny new ‘nym!
Since I’m such an elite genius and all.
Happy Monday y’all.
@gingerale
As far as I am aware, I don’t think any of us have claimed that we would magically change the minds of tens of millions of people in an instant.
SamStrange, that is what happens when you go from being a woman to being a man; you get super powers.
Yeah, the word “authoritarian” has a meaning, but, since your brains are all rotted like a 3-week-old zombie, it’s so surprise you’re not familiar.
@Sam
It is kind of hilarious that he thinks we are elite. I wish!
It is pretty awesome. I think I’ll wave my dick around a bit today.
SamStrange: Elite Femi-Fascist Genius
Are you finally going to able to catch that road runner?
Except off course that we don’t claim to be superintelligent or even much more intelligent than right-wingers. Hey, indoctrination and propaganda can make smart people do stupid shit. That’s what makes it effective.
By the way, have Thunderf00t and the others in Team Asshole beaten the American Right Wing yet? Because I forgot to check this morning?
Sorry, it’s NO surprise you’re not familiar, with the actual meaning of the word “authoritarian,” I mean.
Hail Tpyos!
@ gingerail
Kindly click here for the answer you seek: TZT
Kindly click here for the answer you seek: TZT
….
Sunny skies in Shenzhen.
Is it as spectacular as your breasts were?
(Should I stop now?)
gingerale:
Most everyone here, AFAIK, recognizes worthwhile goals.
That is the first step.
From then on people prioritize which goals they can work towards achieving directly, by activism and volunteering for instance, and which goals they can help achieve by raising consciousness about them, by talking and supporting those goals however they are able to.
Note that these aren’t mutually exclusive. Nobody here disputes this, nobody here claims knight-erranthood.
You, OTOH, fail at the first step. And then you come here to berate people about how they aren’t doing enough “real work”, while freely admitting your lack of empathy about goals which don’t serve your and yours’ needs, and also not doing any kind of work either. Selfish hypocrite, aren’t you?
Oh wait, you’re here for teh LULZ…
He doesn’t actually think that, ibyea. He doesn’t actually think anything at all–rotted brains, you know. He just has a script.
Janine – afraid I don’t get the roadrunner reference. Am I like Wile E. Coyote?
Drop dead, asshole.
SamStrange, you are forgetting Wile E Coyote’s calling card. His job is Super Genius.
Yes, I watched a lot of Loony Tunes when I was young.
I don’t think any penis could live up to that level of amazingness.
And no, you shouldn’t stop on my account, but I do need to sleep…
Same here. About needing sleep.
Ohhh. Well, I never watched much TV at all as a kid, on account of not having one. So not very many Loony Tunes for me.
Time for a refresher on how-to-killfile for the new folks?
Man, gingerale…. Something is not right with you. Or people who get their jollies off on trolling for hours for no reason except for the “lulz”.
That was kind of sad!
Why am I still awake?! I SHOULD BE ASLEEP.
I am tempted to read some Game of Thrones instead but it’s already almost 2:30am. That’s probably a stupid idea…
The killfile script is only available on the Mozilla browser. Google Greasemonkey. Download it as an add-on. When Greasemonkey is installed, drop down the menu and hit “Manage User Script”. This will open a new page. Search for FtB killfile. Install.
As an added bonus, search for secret comic sans.
Remind me, why are we engaging any random pissant troll here ? Just let them hang dry, FFS.
Wow, the amount of straw in all those strawman arguments must have used up quite a few haystacks.
Thank you for putting the Thank you Hater earworm back in my head. :)
I’m also not a fan of horror movies. Adrenaline does not do nice things to me.
I don’t think Rogue’s kiss actually killed the first boy, I think it put him in a coma for weeks. But of course since this is comics the backstory could have been rewritten a dozen times I guess.
Took me forever to find the last one.
That reminds me.
I should inquire what happened to my boob-job commission.
Heh.
Stupid troll stupidly trolling invests many resources, in the endless fucking thread.
(Such futility!)
—
Better than even odds that PZ, when he awakens, presses the magic button and erases all the crap.
(I think it’s kinda funny (in a sad way) that someone thinks it’s worth spending a chunk of their life pointlessly trolling for the lulz, but some have to be at the bottom, of course)
Glad to be of service!
Re. Horror movies.
Meh, not a fan. I like horror movies which play with suggestion rather than throw a load of blood and intestines at the audience. Gore porn: no thank you. I can’t even read the description o ‘the human centipede’ without feeling slightly sick.
What is this human centipede you all seem to mention every now and aga… *starts reading wiki page*
mommy
I’m not even going to look it up, this centipede business. No. Nope. No way. I have considerably less than zero desire to become acquainted.
Right, back to work.
Of course, part of my problem is the fact that my work has to be conducted at this self-same keyboard and monitor.
At least the kittens are go-
Oh, look. They’re back.
I don’t usually link to Kylie Sturgess, but she did a very funny post on this a while ago.
One of my favourite thriller/horror movies is Jacob’s Ladder. There’s little outright violence or gore, but it’s all fear, uncertainty and doubt. It’s not a film I want to see every year because it can be quite unsettling, but I still love it.
This is what REAL persecution looks like:
“Rio bay fisherfolk in deadly feud over oil complex” http://phys.org/news/2012-07-rio-bay-fisherfolk-deadly-feud.html
Fisherman Alexandre Anderson vows that despite six attempts on his life he will keep fighting against the oil project he believes is threatening fishing in Rio’s polluted Guanabara Bay.
Blood and gore make me nauseated, humiliation is even worse. That means that most recent horror movies are out of the picture.
I liked The Shining, but I last saw it some years ago. I’m not sure how I would like it now.
gingerale #142:
HA HA HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA get out.
(Oh, it looks like the chewtoy has already…)
in Reverse order of appearance:
The weaksauce excuse for a troll. Really. pissant insults are the best you got ? come back when you actually figure this whole “Trolling” thing out.
Superman : I was more of a batman fan. or spiderman.
haven’t looked at “new 52” much yet, but Natalie Reed did.
PZ and the whole “Hive Mind” bullshit. – said it all there — Bullshit.
I’m off. bon nuit.
@gingerale
your shitposting is bad and you should feel bad
Fuck, it seems like everyone on Youtube has gone insane. Even people I normally respect (like Concordance and Wildwoodclaire) seem to be siding with Tf00T. God, I’m so fucking sick of this. I did find this rather amusing. (Okay, sorry for bringing this up again. I’ll stop now.)
pentatomid
Didn’t see what Concordance did, heard Claire and was a bit disappointed. Who ever said that calling the network Freethoughblogs was a mistake because most people have no clue that “Freethought” has a certain meaning was right.
++++
Something completely different:
My mum tried to dishonestly outsmart me.
Some time ago she asked me if #1 could have a sleep over at hers again. (just for the record, I have two children…). This was while we wre actually in the process of leaving, so I said “Yes, probably, but we have to talk about it agian later”.
During the last week, #1 told me she was so happy she could sleep over at grandma’s on Saturday (last Saturday, while I was away). I was a bit skeptical, asked her if grandma had really said Saturday, if she wasn’t just overenthusiastic? No, grandma had said Saturday, absolutely sure. I informed Mr. about this and told him that I had not agreed on a sleepover on Saturday.
So, on Thursday, #1’s birthday, while like everybody was in the room except for me she asked Mr. “Oh did Giliell inform you about the sleepover on Saturday?”
To jadehawk and SUIRAUQA,
I have linked to your blog posts, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how to comment on your blogs without linking to my twitter/FB etc accounts. So I didn’t.
I see I missed our latest troll, ah well, glad y’all had some fun.
I enjoyed the projection in Gingerale’s posts, and also taking credit for having a BOINC (or similar) subscription? That’s nearly as pathetic as being claiming not to have a “pubmed subscription”.
Seriously, it’s such an obvious tell. It’s abundantly clear these bozos have never stepped foot in even the meanest undergrad programme at a fake bible college, let alone something approaching a decent science degree course somewhere worthwhile.
Yeah I’m an elitist, so what? So’s Usain Bolt, no one complains about his elitism do they?
Oh and if parochial little trolls like Gingerale bothered to look outside their borders they might note that this thing called “the rest of the civilised world” is progressing, in the usual ratcheting, reversing/advancing way, quite nicely thanks. As indeed is the USA, but just pretend it isn’t eh? That’ll keep you warm at night.
Not winning? Keep telling yourself that, trolls. I don’t think you even know what my goals are.
Bah, silly folks pissing about for lulz on the web. It got old a long time ago.
Louis
Well,to be fair, Concordance doesn’t defend TF00t’s bullshit. He just thinks kicking him out of FTB was a ‘dodgy move’ and says that ‘both sides’ weren’t behaving as they should.
link
He hasn’t gone completely batshit, but it’s a weak response to the situation in any case.
?
you don’t need to log in to post on my blog at all, plus you should be able to just post with your wordpress account. you know, the one you use for your blog.
Blargh. I’m with rorschach – somebody who is scraping the bottom of the barrel the way gingerale did isn’t even worth batting around. Just spatters rot everywhere. It appears as though it really is the case that we’ve become a hazing ritual for the slimepitters, in which case we ought to figure out some kind of good shunning technique to deny them the satisfaction.
Didn’t work, I tried that.
that’s fucking weird. i just did a round of test-posts just using a random e-mail and a random name (in chrome and in firefox), and it got stuck in moderation, but otherwise posted just fine
and in opera, too…
Unfortunately for you, gingerfail, I’ve got a bad case of insomnia and a worse case of SIASFANAOTI*. So brace yourself, fuckwicket.
gingerale wrote:
Ooh, how clever! It’s funny because the blog is “FreeThought” but you added a ‘from’ to suggest that the bloggers don’t think! Is funny becuz true! I think you’re the first person to have ever made that joke!
Mental ability != mental health. You might have known that if you weren’t a willfully ignorant wankstain.
Links, or it didn’t happen. In my years reading here I can’t think of a single instance where ableism wasn’t called out, regardless of who wrote it.
*yawn* Can’t you unimaginative colon-smears think of something new? This fat-phobic body-shaming obsession is getting a tad tedious.
So, for those keeping track, the gingerale hierarchy of priorities ranked from most to least important goes:
1. Help buddies write unclever lyrics to laughably stupid songs
2. Troll Pharyngula, as feebly and unsubtly as possible
3. Donate processor cycles to help calculate the three-dimensional structure of proteins
4. Express a callous lack of empathy toward the hungry and impoverished.
I’m not exactly sure why you think bringing up a blogger who was kicked out of FtB for making threats of violence is support for your assertion that FtBers tolerate or promote violence. Self-refuting argument for the win!
But if you don’t care about global disaster, whence cometh the humor? Besides, you’ll probably be too busy curing cancer with your computer to notice any global disasters.
*sigh* I was going to continue DDMFMing the ignorant troll’s alphanumeric diarrhea, but my insomnia is being overtaken by outsomnia. Ah, well. It was fun for a while.
* Someone is a Stupid Fucking Ableist Nihilistic Asshole on the Internet
Huh ? What’s AtheistFeedz ? Never heard of that before…
Ignoring troll for now. Though it does warm my heart to see that we apparently fucked up all the other tactics so well that they’re falling back on just lulz, the crudest and most simple of trolling tactics.
JLU generally was good use. the character was a good interpretation and took a lot from both Ditko and O’neil’s run (as well as obviously Mulder from X-files…only likeable)
Thirded. Is it possible to just instant spam comments from someone who reaches the site after being on Slymepit? It won’t stop it but it will be one more annoyance.
carlie
theophontes suggests
which seems to be a pretty sensible passepartout response?
It boggles me how some people go on and on about Pharyngula being a place where the slightest disagreement is met with foulmouthed abuse….
…and then some of them come over to Pharyngula. To hurl foulmouthed abuse. At people who don’t agree with them.
Damn, missed another troll. I was up late last night, too– needed a midnight snack.
Anyway. Hello, everyone!
Abbie Smith promoted a culture that fetishizes cyber abuse, harassment, and trolling against her colleagues.
It baffles me how anyone could be so pig headed and unprofessional (cough cough Laden cough cough). I wish she tried to keep Slime on her own SB. She really really should not be given a platform. That’s a slot that could be taken up by someone more empathetic and less childish from her field.
pentatomid
I think that it’s partly due to the fact that vloggers actually didn’t pay any attention to what has been going on.
Sofia Rune has a good (although a bit boring) video about Freedom of Thought vs. Freethought.
We need to put a fucking ban on fence sitting for a few years. It’s become a fall back for simple minds.
@ pentatomid:
Oh, right. Another one who couldn’t be bothered to look up what it was all about but wouldn’t refrain commenting on it. Bleh. Concordance could use a clue or five!
So, troll aside.
I just spent a lot of time over the weekend with one who is yet to be termed my boyfriend (yay) went to a movie, went to the baseball game, went to dinner at his friends’ house. It was lovely. Won’t be much able to see him over the next… month or so since of work and other things, but we’ll make time.
He’s cool with my atheism (he’s Christian himself,) my pansexuality, and I’m not altogether sure about the transgenderism, which may turn out to be a bit of a problem in the future, but we’ll have to see about that. Also (even though it’s not as big a deal) I’m not sure how old he is.
@ rorschach, carlie, Ing, opposablethumbs, theophontes:
Sixthed!
(Or is that a word?)
Let’s quickly point those trollclones to the sandbox, er, TZT, and be done with it.
Good morning thread. Well, not really. Just found out a friend has stage IV pancreatic cancer. There might be worse cancers to have, but it’s hard to think of any.
Giliell,
Ok, thanks.I’ll look into that later.
Ing and irenedelse,
Agreed! Concordance attempts to ‘look at the psychology’ of the matter. But the fact is Thunderf00t was not only flat out wrong, he was also dishonest and acting like a 15 year old on 4chan. The crappy adolescent writing was enough to kick Tf00T out.Nothing ‘dodgy’ about it.
Katherine,
Yay you! Hope it all works out.
Dianne,
So sorry to hear about your friend.
Kitty, that sounds like a great weekend. Hope one who is yet to be termed my boyfriend turns out to be really cool!
I … um … spent
most ofthe whole of the weekend working and alternately laughing at and being revolted by trolls, and also working (sigh) (except for the bits spent ferrying SonSpawn And the Ridiculously Heavy Instruments to various rehearsals). But I might get a day off tomorrow instead! Or … well, sometime this week. I hope.@ dianne:
Sorry to hear that, you’re right that it looks pretty grim :(
No stage 5, and all that. It sucks.
congrats, Kat, hope it goes well for you.
dianne, fuck. That’s … fuck. So horrible. I’m sorry for your friend :(
@ pentatomid:
Another thing that bugs me, it’s the clueless types who act like all the internet was 4chan, and all 4chan was /b/.
(Wikipedia, because I’m not going to link to *that* pit!)
Excuse me, Katherine. I was channeling an old friend from meat space.
If no one minds, is there a tutorial for greasemonkey? My search shows no ftb killfile, and the one killfile I did install doesn’t seem to run.
Just noticed – there’s a new one (or at least, a new nym) trying to troll on the I get email thread again. Anyone fancy trying the theophontes take-it-to-TZT method on ’em?
@ diane,
catching up here. What distressing news. I’m so sorry about your friend.
I, for one, am relieved.
While a silicone penis is perfectly fine, one made of silicon is quite a different matter.
(I once cut myself quite deeply on a piece of silicon, literally, not metaphorically)
@opposablethumbs
That thread has a pituitary problem.
Dianne, I am very sorry to hear it.
— — — — — — — —
Man Befriends Girlfriend’s Rapist To Get Video Proof, Cops Say
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/08/elric-shawn-millner_n_1657208.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
It is useful to have a boyfriend with a past as a military police. The perp actually saved a rape video implicating himself (and another perpetrator) for two years.
Dianne
I’m so sorry to hear. Cancer sucks and pancreatic cancer double-sucks
@ birgerjohansson
Oh, those boys do save their pics. I had a case where the “man” saved a highly incriminating video for way over a year, then when he was in jail on related charges had his ex-girlfriend clear out his apartment for him. She had stuff there he never let her take before, so she did. She found the relevant tape, watched enough to figure it out and brought it in. Made very good evidence, indeed.
The boyfriend story is pretty cool.
@ LynM:
What, engaging in ableist insults here on Pharyngula? Shame on you, sir or madam!
/sarcasm
But… but… I meant only to encourage PZ to consider getting it medical help!
Actually, abelist insults are something I can do if I don’t think about it carefully. It has been a big help getting instruction here. I did think about the abelist implications, but thought the remark overall should be OK.
And I thought your remark very funny, and a relief.
Thanks, all. Associated weirdness: I feel guilty about focusing on hematology instead of oncology. Yeah, it’s not like I would have discovered a cure for pancreatic cancer if I hadn’t or anything, but who says feelings are reasonable? It sounds like they’re going with FOLFIRINOX (aka every drug we have that does anything in GI cancers, combined), which has the best chance of doing something good, but…one year survivals are low. Also, two small children and a husband who is disabled are involved. Just…crap.
Its growth is deformed, and/or it has a problem with hormone-ridden adolescents (no insult intended to the many intelligent and mature actual teenagers around here) and/or it has issues with the physiological factors influencing sexual development?
@ LynM:
Thank you. I was just having fun with one of our latests trolls’ rhetoric, after all the brouhaha, because hanging around here has been an education for me too in this regard.
:-)
Ah, I see. (should have refreshed before posting!)
OK, with all the robes belles and caniché fachés, here, I want to have some fun with it too!
@ diane
If ever one’s thinking waivered and god seemed possible, this kind of situation is a swift re-assertion of very sad reality.
I’m sorry you feel conflicted about your career choices over this. Sounds as if you have a kind heart that is hunting for something to do to help.
Dianne
Argh fuck. But I know how this feels, standing next to your friend and not being able to do shit.
*hugs*
@ diane:
Ouch.
I’ll send virtual hugs, for what it’s worth. Life’s unfair, and biology too.
Best story about the Higgs Boson
I don’t know if is the humidity or the thunderstorms rolling through, but I have to call it a day as a migraine is moving in on me.
I will return in my tomorrow, secure in the knowledge that there will be trolls and even better, you guys.
Night now.
dianne,
Sorry to hear about your friend.
SamStrange: Elite Femi-Fascist Genius,
Sniny ‘nym indeed :)
Oh, I’m so sorry, Dianne.
I’m editing the English translation of my friend’s thesis summary.
Is “Troughout the paper, we have….” an acceptable construction?
She has a tendency to translate word for word, so I have my job cut out for me, but I don’t want to screw it up by making the text sound too… pompous, I guess. Like the author is trying too hard (with ridiculous results (which I think I occasionally do)).
Aurora with volcano in Iceland. (Too bad I missed it yesterday, it’s simply gorgeous.)
Aie, la pauvre française langue! Comme elle est souffrante! Mais ça fait mal, ça fait si mal …
irenedelse, qui aussi veut massacrer la française langue, ah mais,
I’d say “qui aussi veut massacrer la langue francaise”
shouldn’t “ah mais” have something following?
If ever one’s thinking waivered and god seemed possible, this kind of situation is a swift re-assertion of very sad reality.
I think the religious answer is that this is a test or something. Though why a very nice and kind woman who is supporting her family needs more testing is not clear to me. Randomness of the universe makes much more sense.
@ opposablethumbs:
Beware, I’ll go all pedant on your ass! ^^°
Disclaimer : My french isn’t very good
You’re french, aren’t you and I made myself look really stupid correcting you?
Is “Troughout the paper, we have….” an acceptable construction?
Acceptable, if kind of awkward. Assuming we’re talking about a scientific paper. It might be completely wrong in humanities or social science.
@ Beatrice:
It’s even worse than that. It should be: “qui veut aussi massacrer la langue française, ah mais !”
(In common usage, you can say “ah mais” as an expletive in the end of a sentence, to express indignation or emphasis. And in writing, always put a space before any punctuation sign made with two dots and/or strokes, like “!”, “?”, “;”, “:”, etc.)
Sorry, I love pedantifying! ^^°
dianne,
Mathematics
Throughout the paper, we have….
.
.
Yes, absolutely fine imo if used sparingly. Not to be used all the time.
irenedelse,
And I want to learn french, so I love that you love pedantifying :)
opposablethumbs,
Just in one sentence in the whole section
@ Beatrice #373:
Yeah, I am, but it’s all right. I’m just having fun with making my own language look really weird (and it can be).
And in writing, always put a space before any punctuation sign made with two dots and/or strokes, like “!”, “?”, “;”, “:”
I – I just can’t bring myself to do it ! It feels so uncomfortable !
Why yes, I haz an irrrrrational streak a mile wide, why do you ask ? :-D
@ opposablethumbs:
Nature abhors emptiness! ;^)
Ah hello.
Dianne: Ouch, cancer.
Wicked threadrupt. I was away for the weekend, and I got a chance to meet up with the fabulous Mr. and Mrs. Darkheart on my way home.
So…..I understand that there was some excitement around here over the last few days?
A prezzie for the Horde: Trolling Chris Brown, a collection of the finest Tweets aimed at reminding Chris Brown what the music industry is only too happy to forget: that he’s a woman-beating shitbag.
I’ve never gotten the whole “God makes us suffer to test us” thing. If he’s omnipotent, why would he need to test anything? Wouldn’t he already know?
Any excuse to keep the belief going, I guess.
Dianne, so sorry about your friend.
Dianne, I am so very sorry about your friend.
Daisy:
Sort of. Turns out Horace was trolling as ‘reasonable fellow’ and went on a (pages worth) jag of slagging on transpeoples in the I get email thread. He reported back to the slimepit that he managed to get hisself banned, for solidarity, yo.
Oh how they do unwittingly reveal themselves. Here’s a quote from one of the guests attending a Romney fundraiser in the Hamptons:
“We’ve got the message,” she added. “But my college kid, the baby sitters, the nails ladies — everybody who’s got the right to vote — they don’t understand what’s going on. I just think if you’re lower income — one, you’re not as educated, two, they don’t understand how it works, they don’t understand how the systems work, they don’t understand the impact.”
Link to LA Times article.
Horace? Have I forgotten a troll AGAIN? There’s so many I really don’t pay that much attention.* Or is it, as you intimate Caine, a Slimepit denizen who came just to get banned?
Louis
* Clearly I have a problem, I’m a serial troll-mockermist. I just meet them, mock them and misremember them!
How I would love to see this anonymous rich person come discuss the economy on TZT. Let’s see how much she REALLY understands the impact of Romney’s policies…
On a note not involving death or economics (often related), whoever mentioned the webcomic Digger on the last TET, thanks. I didn’t need that weekend anyway. The Saturday spent reading the entire story feels well spent.
And, back to death and economics: Texas ranks worst in US on health care Does this surprise anyone? Texas is an ultra-low tax state. You get what you pay for.
dianne:
I guess that in Anonymous Rich Person world, it’s All About Her (and her rich cronies) and that less rich voters don’t *really* count anyway, so why bother with them? Why even trouble them with the right to vote, it’d only make them restless when they should devote their energies to work day and night on behalf of the owners of the world, a.k.a. the Really Important People™.
/snark
(Yeah, sometimes, I wonder about the humanity.)
Louis:
Yeah, although Horace wasn’t ever much of one. He specialised in being a Net Nanny.
Caine,
Resonable fellow was Horace? Damn. There’s nothing more pathetic than a banned troll coming back for more.
dianne: *offers anklehugs*
Re Texas healthcare article:
Aaaand there’s the race elephant in the room again. *headdesk*
Via Boingboing, following up on the reprehensible beat-up-Sarkeesian game: the game’s creator has been responding on Twitter, and he says he just wanted her to pay attention to him.
http://sodisarmingdarling.tumblr.com/post/26700327003/man-disagrees-with-woman-makes-game-about-punching
*headdesk*
BB link: http://boingboing.net/2012/07/09/amateur-game-invites-player-to.html
BB’s comments section has not been a bastion of enlightenment, so be warned.
Audley:
Yep. I held my nose and went and looked. I don’t think Horace was ever banned, though. Not as Horace anyway.
What’s the evidence that “horace” and “reasonable fellow” are one and the same? Doesn’t PZ usually check IPs?
Violence as an icebreaker? Whoo boy.
hyperdeath:
Seems there have been two Horaces here, one banned, one not. As for checking IPs, Horace/RF chose to troll while PZ was away. The report from ‘Horace’ at the SP just came in a while ago, so there wouldn’t have been a reason to check IPs.
Oh, the Sarkeesian hatefest has brought out some excellent writings. Not just the Storify that SamStrange linked above, which follows and explains the move to publicize Ben Sturr, and the sodisarmingdarling blog I linked, which does an analysis of toxic entitlement using Sturr as an example.
This is the third must-save article so far:
http://johnmcgrath.ca/2012/07/08/gamerdoodz-and-the-sarkeesian-problem/
There were two Horaces! Okay, now things are starting to make sense to me.
There… are… four… lights!
Janine:
Yeah, but for a super genius, he had a hard time using his acme products correctly.
No, sorry, Wile E Coyote isn’t even in MacGuyver’s league…
Pteryxx:
Yes, please!
Beatrice @301:
I cringed when I saw your post. I wanted to jump through the computer and implore you not to read the synopsis.
You can’t press control/alt/delete on your brain and reboot to get rid of the mental images. You’re stuck with them for life :*(
Next time we get bullshit like horace we can just link to the reasonablefellow bullshit and his symepit victory lap. I call victory. He was exposed as an utterly pathetic slob and a disgraceful failure of a human being. Copting the mentally ill threatening suicide etc th is is what the trolls are really like how utterly fail they are.
Oh and getting yourself banned is fucking hillarious to treat as an acomplishment. In solidarity I screamed in the faces of patrons at 711 until they kicked me out. Guess the jokes on them
Tony: the killfile is a script utilized by Greasemonkey, which is a Firefox plugin. There’s a page with links on the Pharyngula wiki, which has the killfile script you’ll need:
http://tinyurl.com/7e6xqa2
but it doesn’t say how to actually install the thing. Greasemonkey’s own page might help:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/greasemonkey/
So, in order to prove that PZ silences reasonable disagreement they spew the vilest transphobia possible. Yeah.
Possible slimepit troll response template:
“Hello there, netizen! You seem to be seeking feedback on your uniquely piquant opinions. Luckily for you, there is a thread made exactly for such feedback! Kindly direct your opinion to the TZT thread, conveniently available on the right-hand side of the page in the Profile section. Please do not submit your comment multiple times, as that will invalidate your submission. Enjoy your stay, and may you receive exactly the kind of feedback you deserve.”
Aaaaaand we’re off again: Misoynistt troll invasion at Christina Rad’s place. Urgh.
Okay, hail Tpyos! Big time!
‘Misogynist’, obviously.
Weed Monkey:
It’s jarring to my brain to think of that movie (IIRC, it was quite good) and this
(NSFW:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Frenum_ladder.jpg/300px-Frenum_ladder.jpg )
sharing the same name.
~~
Giliell:
Do you plan on having a few words with your mother about that dishonesty?
~~
Ing:
Heeeeeeeeeeeeey I liked Mulder :)
~~
Audley:
You wouldn’t have enjoyed that meal. It was like eating stale popcorn and getting the kernels stuck in your teeth.
~~
Katherine:
Yahoo! Glad you enjoyed yourself this weekend. Were you worried about how he’d take your atheism?
I know that’s something I’m concerned about if/when I date again.
~~
Dianne:
I’m very sorry to hear about your friend. ::Hugs::
:/
—
Killfile is a beautiful piece of software, huh?
—
I had a rocky day so far today. It was only my third day back at work, first day working alone. I failed to sleep last night, got the really upsetting form of insomnia that I get sometimes where my thoughts race and become increasingly depressive, eventually becoming “suicidal ideations without intent” that I can’t distract myself from without getting out of bed. The reason I couldn’t sleep was because I was opening at work, but I forgot that Mondays are super busy and only gave myself half an hour to open. I was shaking uncontrollably almost the entire time. Then, it turns out a dog I really, really don’t get along with was there, and he proceeded to drain both time and mental energy just by being present. Sigh.
I forgot about how I need to do tasks in a particular order or other things go wrong; pretty much everything that could go wrong without someone getting hurt did go wrong, then suddenly it was time for me to go home and I had gotten almost none of my assigned work finished. Despite working completely nonstop the entire time, with absolutely no breaks, working as fast as I could. When I started to climb the steps when I got home, my knees gave out and I almost collapsed, and I barely dragged myself to the computer chair after I got inside. Oh, and surprise! apparently I’m fucking babysitting for the rest of the day!
*sigh*
At this point in the day I’m usually not even awake…
carlie #411:
Ooh, good one! Thanks.
*hugs* I’m so sorry to hear :(
I’m cleaning my oven :(
so we’re supposed to be grateful that he ‘just’ made a videogame instead of going full Hinckley?
Day 9: Whiskers and Fur, Oh My!
eeeee! Brown hoods! Black hoods! And one tannish-blond ratlet! SQUEEEEE oh, these oops pups couldn’t have come at a better time for these forums.
I placed the flat soda in my killfile after only three comments. He gave up his game that quickly. I was just riffing on other people’s reaction to what he was saying. Just an ill-informed internet nihilist who felt superior to a group that tries to uphold an ethical standard. Yet somehow, this group did not measure up to a standard that he does not believe in.
Must be nice to be able to exist in this way, not a concern to be had and laughing at those who do try to be ethical.
Tony, the points you mention up at 97 rank among the reasons that I no longer read DC or Marvel comics, either. These days the only one I read regularly is Knights of the Dinner Table.
–
Unstable molecule catsuit.
If unstable molecule fabric can accomodate the distortions Mr. Fantastic’s power allows, this shouldn’t be difficult.
–
Setar, that is a nasty situation. I’m sorry you’re proximate to it.
–
*smells the unmistakable scent of troll*
Okay, gang, who farted?
*scrolling past lingering stench*
–
dianne, I’m sorry to hear about your friend. *hug*
–
*moarhugs*
–
At least, a non-malevolent god. And then the fact that this is hardly an isolated incidence of Behavior Unbecoming A Deity…or even the only such currently-in-progress incidence….
–
It’s the whole Job gig; it’s not that your suffering is pointless, it’s that your faith is being tested…cause otherwise, where’s the point in your faith at all? You might stop with
supporting the priestly classthe sacrifices.–
*hugs* and *strong drink* for Cipher. Some days are neither diamonds nor pearls, but are high in fiber.
–
I have always found that telling people that I want to beat them senseless opens up deep dialogue.
Wait, that does not seem workable.
Caine
I’m sorry to say it but if you had a rattie-cam, I’d be watching ;)
irenedelse:
What is /b/ ?
~~
SteveV:
The real thing tastes so much better.
~~
opposablethumbs :
Really? Never heard of that. Granted I’ve been NOT in school since ’97 and haven’t really learned much about grammar, punctuation and the English language since (this thing with not putting a comma before ‘and‘ I don’t understand; I’m still unclear on where punctuation goes before and after a parenthesis; and I don’t understand Josh’s annoyance with ‘firstly’).
~~
carlie:
That response works I suppose.
After dealing with gingerfuck last night though, part of me wishes it was harsher in tone.
Caine:
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
(I passed the link on to Mr Darkheart so he can squee at work, too!)
Caine: Eeeeeeeeeeee! Ratlets! I was away and missed their arrival, but WOW!
Approaching squeeability.
:)
–
Caine,
Hehe they’re qyoot. Some of them seem to be lagging behind in furring/whiskering than others.
cicely:
DOH!
When Ing was suggesting latex for Rogue to wear, I wasn’t thinking along these lines. You’re both right. Although the tactile sensations probably wouldn’t be there as much as one would want. Still it would be a huge step for her.
Of course it’s moot now that she can control her abilities.
~~
Cipher:
Sorry to hear your day is going bad. Have an adorable piglet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IHvOSiyYMs
~~
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I’m caught up.
Caine — yeah, when I met Audley yesterday she gave me a brief rundown of what was going on. I was being facetious there. :)
Nigel, I disagree that the handle “” is ironic; it’s your typical pseudosopher handle.
Bats: Unbeknownst to me, until I sealed off the attic to keep out squirrels, I had bats hibernating up there. Last year I had to set a bat free on five separate occasions, which involved catching the poor frightened thing in a towel or shirt and releasing it out the door. The cat didn’t know what to make of them, which was to their benefit.
I had never seen a bat up close before. They’re kind of cute, like little teddy bears with big leathery wings. (Don’t worry, I didn’t try to pet them.)
Count me in with Josh, Cicely, etc. as another person who can’t stand torture porn, either in words or in visual media. OTOH, I’ve watched some clips from Riki-Oh! on YouTube, and the gore is SO phony and over the top that I couldn’t stop freaking laughing at it.
Ogvorbis: I once read an anecdote on Usenet by a man who had so much waxy buildup in one ear, he had to get it removed by a doctor. He said that the removal was so pleasurable that when the lump was sitting next to him on a tray, he considered offering it a cigarette.
Ing, congrats to Partner on the job offer.
Welcome, Aprilcomeshewill.
Hell yeah. If you can do so freely, get all up in the faces of the people who are throwing mindless pro-natalist crap at you. You deserve better people in your life.
Welcome also to Codobus, Chiptuneist, and Vilém Saptar.
Fossil Fishy/Caine: I like Guy Gavriel Kay, but he does have some issues w/r/t female characters. For example, using rape as a plot device (particularly in the Fionavar trilogy), and marrying off random people to one another at the end of his books (and all heterosexually). Some of his lead female characters are quite strong; other female characters exist as nothing more than repositories for male fantasies (Cordeliane in the Fionavar books; Rhiannon in Last Light of the Sun).
Ariaflame: I’ve read Connie Willis’s Bellwether, which is dryly amusing, and The Doomsday Book, which is heartbreaking. Very fond of Girl Genius too.
I myself recommend Maureen McHugh’s China Mountain Zhang. It’s a coming-of-age story, so the pacing might be a bit slow for the tastes of some s/f readers. The main character is gay, and he is half-Latino and half-Chinese (but has had his features modified to appear fully Chinese in order to avoid discrimination).
Also, and especially for this crowd, James Morrow’s Only Begotten Daughter.
Caine, regarding The Graveyard Book, did you hear about this incident?
Dr. Bunsen:
Gah. Sounds like Salo, the Pasolini film based on de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom. I’m sorry your ex was an asshole about your being triggered.
Kausik, great timeline, but the post by Lindsay Beyerstein (not “Linda Bayerstein”) is now 404, and I can’t bring it up via the Wayback Machine.
Dianne, I’m so sorry about your friend.
The rationale of so many stalkers.
Tony, /b/ is a 4chan board.
Ok, I lied, not caught up.
Caine:
Those ratlets are 110% adorable! I want to hug them and kiss them and… well not the last part of the Abominable Snowman’s catchphrase.
(is this Looney Tunes Monday?)
@ Tony:
/b/ is the free-for-all-trollfest (and most popular) part of 4chan. Among other things, it’s been characterized as “the asshole of the internet”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4chan#.2Fb.2F_imageboard
Tony, that wasn’t the Abominable Snowman; that was “Lenny” in the cartoon based on Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.
Oh, and let me be the hundredth person to squee over the RATLETS!!!
o.O
Oh dear … Caine, if you get rat-cam I may never get any work done ever again.
Tony aka The Psychic Octopus
Oh mea culpa – I’m usually good about remembering to blockquote properly, but I messed this one up: these are NOT my pearls of French punctuation, I’m afraid, but belong to irenedelse, who is an actual francophone, a few comments higher up the thread. I can’t take credit for them, as these are precisely (some of) the rules I keep forgetting!
Tony #426:
Er… Tony, opposablethumbs was quoting me, in fact, and this rule is only true in the French language. Don’t worry about your English! ;-)
Damn, Tony aka The Psychic Octopus again – sorry I didn’t catch this properly: these are the French punctuation rules that irenedelse was pointing out (and incidentally correcting me on, being as how I mucked up as usual! :) )
When you think about the substantial proportion of people around who are doing all this in their second (or third, or fourth etc.) language … chapeau, hein?
Re ratlets:
If you mean the white bodied ones where the pink shows through, the white fur just looks translucent longer than dark fur. They’ll grow up to be hooded adults:
http://spoiledratten.com/_uimages/hooded.jpg
http://www.miceandrats.com/images/rat_hoo.jpg
Oh, hey! Snap! :-)
I need some Suzanne Vega right now.
Caramel
Stockings
I’ll Never Be Your Maggie May
Fat Man And Dancing Girl
English grammar: If you get it wrong, just claim you’re being edgy and rebelling against outmoded grammatical forms. It’s a great excuse because it’s often true.
Pteryxx:
:D I am so pleased, they are all beautiful. Esme & Havelock make for the cute ratlets. Haven’t done formal sexing yet, but it looks to be a good mix of female/male. The one little black hoodie with a black ass streak is a girl.
Chigau:
There will be NO cam. I wouldn’t do that and Esme would never allow it.
Audley:
They are getting to be too cute. Very active, too. I’m hoping to get them out for a bit next week for a little exploratory and some more pics. Esme is still very much in ferocious mum mode and prepared to shred the holy shit out of anyone or anything she thinks is threatening her babes.
Nutmeg:
Thanks, Nutmeg. :)
Cicely:
Yes, they are. Rapidly. :)
Vilém:
They aren’t lagging behind, but it’s difficult to see the white or light fur on some of them.
Daisy:
Unfortunately, I did.
Tony:
Hahahahaha. Mister just got a look at them and was oohing and aahing and squueeeing. :D
Daisy:
Aaw, thanks! I wish I could spend more time with them, but Esme isn’t terribly tolerant at the moment.
Opposablethumbs:
There will be NO cam. Not now, not ever, so you’re safe. :)
Caine, if I may, how did the dog-thunderstorm situation work out?
Super Golden Friends
:-D
Pteryxx, LOL at spoiled ratten.
Pteryxx:
Oh, just fine. I put up my cutting board as divider, which seemed to do the trick. I ended up rearranging the entire studio yet again yesterday, so when the monster dogs are in here, they are on the opposite side of the rat condo. This was also to get the rat condo away from the windows, because of an incredibly inconsiderate neighbour was lighting off fireworks mere yards from the windows, the whistle bang kind, which was freaking the fuck out of Esme. The smell of smoke wasn’t helping, either.
After about 2 hours of that crap, I finally walked outside and yelled ENOUGH!, which stopped it for the night. Assholes.
(Note: I just got back from a canoe trip, and I have lots of thoughts about it. Here’s one of them.)
WARNING: CANOE STORY. Apologies for the long post – feel free to skip it.
Thoughts from canoeing, #2: Whitewater
The Manigotagan River has a wide variety of whitewater, from swifts that are little more than ripples on the surface to raging Class IV rapids and 15-foot waterfalls. There’s also a LOT of whitewater: something like 32 portage-able rapids, plus those with no portage route.
It’s considered to be a bit of a training river: just a few hours from Winnipeg, relatively well-travelled, road-access at start and finish. For me, though, it was still pretty intimidating.
Last summer, my dad and I, with some relatives, canoed part of the Grass River. We made the mistake of taking our 46-year-old, 125-pound fibreglass canoe. Since my dad doesn’t know the meaning of packing light, we came to the first set of mandatory-run rapids in an unmaneuverable canoe containing a mountain of gear, two relatively inexperienced paddlers, and a large dog. Of course, we hit a rock and capsized. I was never worried for my own safety, but my dad doesn’t swim well, and he had forgotten to tighten his life jacket before we entered the rapids. It was a bit dicey for a few minutes, and we lost some electronics, but we made it out.
This year, I was absolutely determined that no one would be going for any unplanned swims. We rented two beautiful 41-pound Royalex canoes. I was steering one with my uncle in the front, and my dad was steering the other with the dog and a bunch of gear in the front.
Water levels were high, and the current was really ripping at the start of each set of rapids. Several hundred metres before each portage, I would carefully bring the canoe to the correct side of the river so that I wouldn’t miss the take-out spot. Sometimes, we would have to paddle hard to keep from being pulled by the current and swept down the rapids. We made some rather ungraceful landings. My uncle, the adrenaline junkie who hadn’t canoed in 30 years, teased me for being so neurotic about staying out of rapids. I told him that he hadn’t capsized in the middle of nowhere last year, and why wasn’t he wearing his fucking life jacket?!
The first time we came to a set of rapids that we had to run, I was terrified. My dad looked at the rapids and said, “There’s a sweet spot right down the middle, we’ll be fine.” I tried to convince my uncle that we should line (use ropes to pull) the canoe along the side of the rapids, but he was having none of it. I couldn’t even convince him to tie the gear to the canoe, or put on his fucking life jacket.
We ran the rapids. There was a sweet spot right down the middle. We were fine.
We repeated this process several times over the next few days. We would come to a set of minor rapids, I would try and fail to find ways to avoid running them, we would run the rapids, we would be fine. My uncle would not wear a life jacket.
On the morning of the fourth day, we came to the set of rapids I had been dreading. Crooked Current Rapids is basically two Class I rapids on either side of a sharp corner, with a pool in the middle. There was a portage once, but it had become overgrown, and it would have taken us all day to find and use an alternate route.
We got out of our canoes and looked at the rapids. We would have to run them. We’d have to go over a half-metre ledge and ride the waves for 30 metres, then exit the current and turn sharply right to avoid being pushed into a rock face. Until we were in the pool, we wouldn’t be able to see the second half of the rapids. Hopefully it would be something we could handle.
I had a brief but intense argument with my uncle over his refusal to wear the fucking life jacket. He consented to put it on, but not to do it up. My dad and I did our life jackets up so tightly we could barely breathe. We bound all of our gear to our canoes, and my uncle and I paddled upstream to get a good run at the rapids.
We went over the ledge and into the current. As we neared the corner, we paddled hard on our left, trying to get ourselves across the current and around the corner. We paddled so hard that we nearly tipped. For a moment, it was the Grass River all over again. I was eerily calm, wondering if I’d be able to reach my uncle if he got into trouble, wishing I’d been able to persuade him to do up the life jacket. And then we righted ourselves and went around the corner into the pool.
For three agonizing minutes, we waited for my dad to come into view. I was sure that he had capsized at the spot where we had nearly tipped, and I had just waded onto land to go look for him when he came around the corner, completely okay.
The second half of the rapids was a (relative) non-event. We paddled through the sweet spot, bounced up and down on some waves, and cut left to avoid a log jam. We were fine.
When we talked about it later, my dad said, “I think the key is not to fight it too much.” My uncle said, “The current is trying to go downstream and around the rocks. It will take you there too.”
They were probably right. We only got into trouble because we were trying so hard to get out of the main current. We probably would have rounded the corner just fine if we had stayed in. But for control-freak me, this was too difficult a lesson to learn. Rivers had endangered me before, and I didn’t want to let this one be in charge.
We ran several more sets of rapids before the end of the trip. I started to enjoy rapids a little, but I always fought too hard and forced us out of the current as soon as possible.
When we finished the last set of rapids, I was sad. I was just starting to think about working with the current, and now I was out of opportunities to try.
Story of my life.
But next summer…
Someone asked a long time ago if Pharyngula is available in Turkey. I’m in Antalya and finding wifi has been nearly fruitless but now that I’ve found it, yes, Pharyngula is available. It was also available in Istanbul.
It was not available in Dubai nor in Abu Dhabi, though they have wifi everywhere. It could have been my connection so I’m an anecdote.
Once again I have to disappear into the non-wifi mists.
I’m only threadrupt when I’m forced to be. Like now.
My best to you, my English-speaking intelligent friends.
Irenedelse: ah. Ok.
____
To all:
I need advice. It sounds torturous to even consider, but I passed a CREATION store today. I was taking my friend T to work and saw the store. I’ve lived in Pensacola, FL for 11 years and I’ve never seen that store (it’s not far from my home and it is in an area I pass somewhat regularly). After my shock and horror T said it is just what I thought it was.
DO I DARE ENTER?
Waves to Krasnaya Koshka.
Krasnaya Koshka, hello! {hugses & ♥}
Tony:
YES! Report back!
We get little nutty bookstores like that around here occasionally, but they always seems to close before I can check them out. :( I need to live vicariously through you!
Tony @451,
Unless you’re thinking it might cause you to: (1) go amuck and scream at the cashier, (2) trash the joint, or worse, (3) convert, I don’t see why not.
@Tony:
Actually I’m more worried about him accepting my gender identity cause (TMI warning) he enjoys an aspect of me that I only marginally tolerate about 60-70% of the time, and that I actively despise the other 30-40% of the time. He and his friend were trying to talk to me about whether or not I intend to keep it – to the point where he basically said ‘I’ll teach you to love it’ which… I dunno if I’d be so happy about.
Plus he has more or less said he doesn’t like ‘chicks with dicks’ which, if I transition, I’ll have to live as for a year.
Working my way back through The Daily Show: Bassem Youssef is adorable.
Katherine Lorraine
Kitty, my warning buzzers are sounding.
Please be careful.
Chigau’s right, Kat.
This doesn’t sound good.
Katherine, mine too. My instinct as I read that, were I to be standing there with both of you, was to kick him in the groin and yell “Run!”
Kat Lorraine:
I’d kill this before it develops into a relationship. It ain’t good and it won’t get better. Ask yourself, do you really want a relationship with someone who will find value in constantly negging you?
I have found the hot spot for wifi at the Ozkaymak Falez Hotel so I’ll sit here for a bit.
chigau! Hello! I’m very fond of you.
Caine! I was able to look at your ratlet photos. Soooooo’s cute. I had rats when I lived in America but I have never found them in Russia. My girl, Meena, had eight kids and then I fixed both her and Alfred, her partner.
The sweetest beasties I ever had the pleasure of knowing. Alfred was so smart! So, of course, their children were brilliant. Alfred was bigger than my cat at that time.
Oooh. Lawrence Krauss wore the flaming red A on Colbert.
Pity about the childmolestation.
Hmmmmm….. yeah, take care of yourself Kitty. It does ring a bit of a warning bell I guess.
*waves* to Krasnaya Koshka.
–
*frown*
*thunderous frown*
–
Katherine Lorraine,
You are brilliant. You write such beautiful intensely-backgrounded stories. You’ve gone through so much already with your family. You’re above being treated on a percentage scale. You are worth 100%. Don’t settle.
Pteryxx and Caine,
Oh o.O . Hooded ratties are even qyooter.
Ms. Daisy Cutter,
Thanks!
Sili,
Yes he is! I watched that episode y’day meself.
Nutmeg,
Great story, hope you get to go the whole hog next time. I did a bit of rafting meself, so I know how it feels, esp. about the sweet spot.
A raft is less riskier than a canoe, but I’m guessing the kicks are the same :)
Tony,
Hey, sup! *waves*
Gave up bolding nyms, coz I’m too tired…
Krasnaya Koshka:
Aaaaaaaw. My Alfie (named after Alfred Russel Wallace) was a seriously smart one, too!
Katherine –
Mr. Beach is a very social person. I have a hard time in social situations. If I had come here and said that he would love me, but only if I made myself into a social person, you would tell me to run away.
If this guy wants you to be someone that you are not, to keep parts of you that you “marginally tolerate,” I’m thinking he’s not a keeper.
Kitty: You can do better. Much better. DTMFA.
Kat:
Is bothering me a lot. This dude is dismissing who you are for his own gratification.
I’m serious here: don’t persue this relationship. This guy is absolutely no good.
I’ll clarify tonight soon as I get back.
Audley:
Yeah. I’d deck that motherfucker. Kat Lorraine, you’ve found yourself a PUA. Run the fuck away.
Katherine:
From the other side of the aisle – yeah, no. This is an important part of who you are. It doesn’t necessarily make him bad that these are things he isn’t comfortable with or isn’t “into”, but it probably means he’s not an appropriate long-term consideration (or even mid-term). Sure, he might change, but that’s a bad basis for a relationship.
You deserve someone who wants you to be who you want to be, not who they want you to be.
Don’t it fell through. As did all my prospects. I’m checking but I think my last employer may be giving bad recommendations.
Browsing through the first few pages of the current “I get email” shitshow….
Avoiding a term like “retard” with very current baggage is understandable. “Moron,” “imbecile,” and “idiot,” not having been used as medical terms in decades, have lost such baggage.
In general, can we not go the route of the “Ableist Word Profile” from the late and unlamented Feminists With Disabilities, people? You can google it if you want; I don’t intend to link. Suffice it to say, I don’t take seriously anyone who has a hissyfit over the word “weak” or the phrase “I feel your pain.”
And I sure as shit am not going to stop using intelligence-based insults, not in this anti-intellectual culture where utterly stupid people can do quite well for themselves. Nor am I going to worry about splash damage when I use “sociopath” or “psychopath” to describe a person who displays a clear lack of empathy. There’s another trait our culture rewards richly — and I’ve had too many friends who were victimized by sociopaths.
Good thing you did.
What did Mr. say?
Ing: Ah, shit. :(
@465 – Cicely – Unfortunately, I love peas. I hope that will not diminish our relationship.
Don’t imagine I’m not ashamed. Also, I have nothing to do with horses.
Also was informed by a third party that a good job lead I had turned me down. They didn’t bother to tell me of course so now I have nothing.
Oh and to top it all off, after being told by everyone there’s no place for me in my field I get to find more of Chas calling me an idiot. Wonderfuckingjoy.
I’ve booked an appointment with my GP this Thursday. Now that I’m on holiday, it strikes me that my depression is or has gotten worse. I think I need to up my meds before going back to work.
Not least since I think I’m fast developing my parents’ drinking problem.
Bother.
Krasnya, I am willing to accept a certain amount of…imperfection…in my friends. Why, my best friend from high school (back in the Cretaceous) to this day is a Methodist minister’s wife; and her husband is my friend from college days.
I even let them use my bathroom.
Unsupervised.
*wink*
–
Katherine – I can understand in a way the “loving a part of you that you don’t love”; sometimes we have things about ourselves that it takes someone else showing us the good parts of to come to terms with. But this seems a lot beyond that, and trying to make you something he wants rather than it being about you and your well-being.
Sili – *hugs*. It’s great that you’re being so proactive.
My brother and I walked to the park today and saw a Great Golden Digger Wasp. It looked super scary so all my pictures are from too far off to be awesome, but now that we’ve learned they’re not aggressive, I may make an effort to get some better ones.
:)
Thanks, cicely! *hug*
Thanks for the ridiculously cute piglet, Tony ^.^
Good evening
Sili and Tony
He told her that he was enjoying all the time he was going to get with his girls. So, I talked to my sister and towards her my mum claimed that it was settled with me and that hejust cancelled it. So he’s the bad boy now. Yes, I think we’ll need to talk about it.
Katherine
The most charitable explenation would be that he’s clueless as hell and thinks that this is just a phase you’Re going through. In that case he should come back to you after he’s grown up. But the “chicks with dicks” comment sounds way worse.
Take care.
I’m sorry, Ing. That’s terrible. Are there resources that can help with how to deal with a bad reference? I would think there must be – there are a lot of shitty employers out there.
that’s a lie.
I called you a paranoid crybaby (and you’ve just provided more evidence for that one by running home to the Thread to tell on me), but I did not call you an idiot even indirectly.
But now I’m calling you a liar.
Betty Bowers on Abortion
Thanks, carlie.
I guess I should just be grateful that this is a quiet period so I notice that something’s wrong. We’ll see what he says. It may just be a matter of going back of the tetracyclics. I no longer recall how, but they did seem to help me the last time. I just hate the side effects they give me for the first month.
Ing. Chas.
Please, no fighting in the lounge.
Much though I love ms Bowers, what’s with the jab at Sarah Palin?
Giliell 489: Bookmarked for future use.
This would be a good time to fuck right off, Chas. If you want to persist with this shit, take it to TZT.
Hey, guess who got a package in the mail today?
Guess who got a package from Psych-Oh in the mail today?
Guess who got a package from Psych-Oh in the mail today that contained an octopus bib and matching booties?
Audley:
Oh, too cute! I love them.
Caine:
Me too! The little booties slay me. There’s just something about mini-shoes that I find ridiculously funny.
Giliell:
I am sharing that far and wide.
As much as I ♥ Betty Bowers, Deven Green looks a lot like one of my aunts and that kind of weirds me out.
ChasCPeterson #488:
PROTIP: when trying to not look like a bully, don’t use the language of a bully.
Full disclosure: I don’t know anything about what has gone on; that being said, last time I checked it’s not generally considered polite or decent to chase someone around and hound them over a disagreement. In fact, that’s the sort of shit that makes people want to leave, because they can’t even go rant to the bartender at their favourite bar without constantly looking over their shoulder.
As Caine said, take it
outsideto TZT.Yes Chas, I’m depressed ie a cry baby. Frankly I’m missing the point where you fucked off.
Audley #495: eee, those are positively adorable.