PepsiBlue is bad for you! February 19, 2007 3:58 PM Subscribe
Not everything that tastes great is PepsiBlue! [more inside]
You know what would help your discomfort problem? Vagisil. All my friends use it. And you should, too.
posted by ColdChef at 4:11 PM on February 19, 2007 [4 favorites]
posted by ColdChef at 4:11 PM on February 19, 2007 [4 favorites]
Scrotum Blue!
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:14 PM on February 19, 2007
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:14 PM on February 19, 2007
I'm as big a fan of an inside joke as the next guy
I don't think "the next guy" has a vagina...
posted by juv3nal at 4:14 PM on February 19, 2007
I don't think "the next guy" has a vagina...
posted by juv3nal at 4:14 PM on February 19, 2007
What you need to understand is that, as if driven by a fevered dream, many people that frequent this site have a perverse, almost pathological desire to keep old jokes on life support, even those that weren't altogether funny to begin with.
Besides, if the favorites have taught us anything--and this may be the only thing they've taught us--it's that a few people will always favorite these comments: perhaps they find them truly funny, or perhaps they're applauding the Frankensteinian effort to breathe life into a very dead thing.
posted by The God Complex at 4:16 PM on February 19, 2007
Besides, if the favorites have taught us anything--and this may be the only thing they've taught us--it's that a few people will always favorite these comments: perhaps they find them truly funny, or perhaps they're applauding the Frankensteinian effort to breathe life into a very dead thing.
posted by The God Complex at 4:16 PM on February 19, 2007
I don't think "the next guy" has a vagina...
Well, not one of their own...
posted by tkolar at 4:17 PM on February 19, 2007
You know, now I have to follow you around and make a pepsi blue comment in every thread you make.
posted by bob sarabia at 4:19 PM on February 19, 2007
posted by bob sarabia at 4:19 PM on February 19, 2007
I accidentally favorited that comment when I tried to flag it as "noise." It was the ire from my fumble that caused me to lash out in MeTa as opposed to just flagging it and fuming silently.
Stupid favorites button.
Someone pass the Vagisil Blue!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 4:19 PM on February 19, 2007
Stupid favorites button.
Someone pass the Vagisil Blue!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 4:19 PM on February 19, 2007
bob sarabia: I think you'll often find that by the time you get there, someone beat you to it.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 4:20 PM on February 19, 2007
posted by grapefruitmoon at 4:20 PM on February 19, 2007
You could always unfavorite from your favorites page.
posted by The God Complex at 4:21 PM on February 19, 2007
posted by The God Complex at 4:21 PM on February 19, 2007
Hit preview before you
Post a 'Pepsi Blue!':
The comment just before it
Might have said so too.
BURMA SHAVE
posted by ardgedee at 4:22 PM on February 19, 2007 [10 favorites]
Post a 'Pepsi Blue!':
The comment just before it
Might have said so too.
BURMA SHAVE
posted by ardgedee at 4:22 PM on February 19, 2007 [10 favorites]
I can't believe this Daimler Chrysler thread is still up.
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:26 PM on February 19, 2007
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:26 PM on February 19, 2007
Thanks, The God Complex. I didn't realize such a thing was possible. Perhaps my irritation was not for naught...
Well, yeah, it probably was.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 4:28 PM on February 19, 2007
Well, yeah, it probably was.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 4:28 PM on February 19, 2007
Pepsi Blue is a registered Trademark of PepsiCo, Inc, who should never be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel or otherwise, any license or right to use any of its' Trademarks, or any license or right to use any other trademark owned by any other third party. In the event that you misuse any Trademark in violation of these Terms and Conditions, Pepsi-Cola will aggressively enforce its intellectual property rights to the fullest extent of the law, including the seeking of criminal prosecution.
For this alone, the laughter must indubitably cease.
posted by 31d1 at 4:30 PM on February 19, 2007
For this alone, the laughter must indubitably cease.
posted by 31d1 at 4:30 PM on February 19, 2007
Yeah, PepsiBlue! comments generally suck.
But not as much as the Black & Decker® 2 Gallon Wet/Dry Vac.
posted by Cyrano at 4:44 PM on February 19, 2007 [2 favorites]
But not as much as the Black & Decker® 2 Gallon Wet/Dry Vac.
posted by Cyrano at 4:44 PM on February 19, 2007 [2 favorites]
Single link to a product, not the best of the web. Smells like Pepsi Blue, even if it isn't precisely analogous. I have no regrets.
posted by solid-one-love at 4:45 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by solid-one-love at 4:45 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
How else will old timers assert their old-timeyness?
posted by Falconetti at 4:57 PM on February 19, 2007
posted by Falconetti at 4:57 PM on February 19, 2007
Down with inside jokes! Down with all jokes! No more laughing or smlling! What is this, Fark?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:59 PM on February 19, 2007 [3 favorites]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:59 PM on February 19, 2007 [3 favorites]
this is lame, grapefruitmoon. arent you actually whining because the guy didnt like your post? he thought your single link post to a pillow company was crap and said it. so deal with it. if everyone came and whined here whenever someone was a wiseass or questioned the worthiness of their post..
posted by petsounds at 5:12 PM on February 19, 2007
posted by petsounds at 5:12 PM on February 19, 2007
How does it "smell" like Pepsi Blue? It seems to you that because I find plush meat toys amusing that I am shilling for plush meats?
The problem with "best of the web" is one person's HOLY COW THIS IS AWESOME is another person's "meh." I realize that there's a high snark ratio around here to keep people from getting to excited about ever finding anything cool, but this sort of "Pepsi Blue" comment isn't even really snarky, mostly because it makes no sense!
I realize a third of MetaFilter sits around waiting to lay a turd on something, and there hasn't been a decent flame out in a while, but can't you think of something funnier/more original than "Pepsi Blue?"
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:12 PM on February 19, 2007
The problem with "best of the web" is one person's HOLY COW THIS IS AWESOME is another person's "meh." I realize that there's a high snark ratio around here to keep people from getting to excited about ever finding anything cool, but this sort of "Pepsi Blue" comment isn't even really snarky, mostly because it makes no sense!
I realize a third of MetaFilter sits around waiting to lay a turd on something, and there hasn't been a decent flame out in a while, but can't you think of something funnier/more original than "Pepsi Blue?"
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:12 PM on February 19, 2007
Ok, a bit more serious now:
The reason I dislike PepsiBlue! comments is that I find them, well, just a wee bit condescending. Oh, you mean that FPP is a link to something I can buy!!!
No fucking shit.
Sometimes things that you can buy can make interesting posts. However, the mere appearance of a "Buy Now!" or Shopping Cart button on a website isn't going to, believe it or not, send me scrabbling for my credit card (although I did spend a few days suffering from "exhaustion" at the hospital courtesy of some leather restraints the first time I saw Cthulhu plushies.)
We've got our things here. Metafilter: [Insert Tagline], The Overlords, fluffy breakfast foods. That's all well and good and probably a big part of why most of us like hanging out here. I guess "PepsiBlue!" is one our things but, please PepsiBlue!-er's, don't get Nader-esque delusions of grandeur.
You're pretty much on the same level as pants with sea creatures in them.
Self-linkers are and obvious an exception, etc., etc., etc. Cornholed for all eternity by Satan's thorny cock, blah, blah, blah...
posted by Cyrano at 5:14 PM on February 19, 2007
The reason I dislike PepsiBlue! comments is that I find them, well, just a wee bit condescending. Oh, you mean that FPP is a link to something I can buy!!!
No fucking shit.
Sometimes things that you can buy can make interesting posts. However, the mere appearance of a "Buy Now!" or Shopping Cart button on a website isn't going to, believe it or not, send me scrabbling for my credit card (although I did spend a few days suffering from "exhaustion" at the hospital courtesy of some leather restraints the first time I saw Cthulhu plushies.)
We've got our things here. Metafilter: [Insert Tagline], The Overlords, fluffy breakfast foods. That's all well and good and probably a big part of why most of us like hanging out here. I guess "PepsiBlue!" is one our things but, please PepsiBlue!-er's, don't get Nader-esque delusions of grandeur.
You're pretty much on the same level as pants with sea creatures in them.
Self-linkers are and obvious an exception, etc., etc., etc. Cornholed for all eternity by Satan's thorny cock, blah, blah, blah...
posted by Cyrano at 5:14 PM on February 19, 2007
petsounds: Actually, no. I don't care whether or not people think the post is crap. If you want to say "Meh, I don't like this" - fine, that's your prerogative. I'm just sick to death of the "Pepsi Blue" meme and how it's been applied to so many things that it no longer makes any sense. If we want the jokes to remain funny, beating them into the ground isn't going to do it.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:15 PM on February 19, 2007
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:15 PM on February 19, 2007
pants with sea creatures in them.
Now there's something that I would be tempted to purchase!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:18 PM on February 19, 2007
Now there's something that I would be tempted to purchase!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:18 PM on February 19, 2007
Unless I missed something, the implication of Pepsi Blue was that the poster was somehow benefiting from the shill of said product, especially when said product was of dubious quality.
You not missing something, per se, but I'm not sure the "Pepsi Blue" appellation was ever as restricted in usage as you suggest. Even the originating thread was innocent enough, and the FAQ puts it well:
If you do want to make a post recommending a product, it is a good idea that you shouldn't have a special interest, financial or otherwise, in the product. Even if you don't, you should still be prepared to face some probing questions in the thread.
References to Pepsi Blue, while arguably lazy and tired, are also among the gentlest probing on the continuum. It'd be great if people could lay off it a bit, but that's the trouble with a giant userbase—even if only one in ten feels the need to use the line, and then only once to get it off their chests, you're still looking at a lot of utterances.
In-jokes have life cycles. Pepsi Blue, too, shall pass.
posted by cortex at 5:20 PM on February 19, 2007
You not missing something, per se, but I'm not sure the "Pepsi Blue" appellation was ever as restricted in usage as you suggest. Even the originating thread was innocent enough, and the FAQ puts it well:
If you do want to make a post recommending a product, it is a good idea that you shouldn't have a special interest, financial or otherwise, in the product. Even if you don't, you should still be prepared to face some probing questions in the thread.
References to Pepsi Blue, while arguably lazy and tired, are also among the gentlest probing on the continuum. It'd be great if people could lay off it a bit, but that's the trouble with a giant userbase—even if only one in ten feels the need to use the line, and then only once to get it off their chests, you're still looking at a lot of utterances.
In-jokes have life cycles. Pepsi Blue, too, shall pass.
posted by cortex at 5:20 PM on February 19, 2007
"but can't you think of something funnier/more original than "Pepsi Blue?""
Noting the author of the comment, the answer is no.
And as you're on here enough, you should know that and realize that the vast majority of members here have confused third-rate sarcasm with wit, thus earning them a mental "Har har, moron."
posted by klangklangston at 5:21 PM on February 19, 2007
Noting the author of the comment, the answer is no.
And as you're on here enough, you should know that and realize that the vast majority of members here have confused third-rate sarcasm with wit, thus earning them a mental "Har har, moron."
posted by klangklangston at 5:21 PM on February 19, 2007
Or, Sturgeon's Revelation applies to comments too.
posted by klangklangston at 5:22 PM on February 19, 2007
posted by klangklangston at 5:22 PM on February 19, 2007
pepsi blue isn't about profiting from the link, it's about falling for a marketing premise and posting little more than advertising or a corporate page to the blue.
for instance, this is fine. It's something none of us would have heard of, and it's well presented.
on the other hand, if I were to post "I'm a huge fan of Gears of War, and think everyone should know about it." then I'd be the pepsiblue douchebag.
I'm not saying that you're wrong about the specific instances of your callout. I haven't even clicked your links. I'm just trying to clarify pepsiblue before people start believing your definition of it.
posted by shmegegge at 5:23 PM on February 19, 2007
for instance, this is fine. It's something none of us would have heard of, and it's well presented.
on the other hand, if I were to post "I'm a huge fan of Gears of War, and think everyone should know about it." then I'd be the pepsiblue douchebag.
I'm not saying that you're wrong about the specific instances of your callout. I haven't even clicked your links. I'm just trying to clarify pepsiblue before people start believing your definition of it.
posted by shmegegge at 5:23 PM on February 19, 2007
Also, faq.metafilter.com needs a favicon, dammit. Maybe #069 with a bold italic #CC0 verdana question mark? Or just the mefi favicon, I guess.
posted by cortex at 5:25 PM on February 19, 2007
posted by cortex at 5:25 PM on February 19, 2007
Thanks for the clarifications. I see I was too narrowly focused on my definition of "Pepsi-Blue."
So, I guess instead of thinking that it's incorrect, I just find it supremely annoying. A lot of the things that are on the web are for sale. Yes, if we posted each and every item, that would certainly not be "best of" the web. Still, sometimes we find those things that need to be shared, and sometimes, they come with price tags. I've just seen a lot of "Pepsi Blue" around lately and it sticks in my craw.
And yeah, I notice it more when it's on a post that I made but, uh, don't we all? EgoFilter?
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:34 PM on February 19, 2007
So, I guess instead of thinking that it's incorrect, I just find it supremely annoying. A lot of the things that are on the web are for sale. Yes, if we posted each and every item, that would certainly not be "best of" the web. Still, sometimes we find those things that need to be shared, and sometimes, they come with price tags. I've just seen a lot of "Pepsi Blue" around lately and it sticks in my craw.
And yeah, I notice it more when it's on a post that I made but, uh, don't we all? EgoFilter?
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:34 PM on February 19, 2007
I support this callout because I would support burnination of everyone who falls back on tired, insular, and uniformly unfunny inside jokes (which unfortunately includes the whole longboat shtick. Sorry.).
The goal ought to make more new people feel included. Inside jokes just make an unnecessary barrier to entry and encourage new people to regurgitate the inside jokes as a feckless means of showing they belong. It's icky and kind of lame, like secret handshakes in a fraternity.
posted by dios at 5:38 PM on February 19, 2007 [3 favorites]
The goal ought to make more new people feel included. Inside jokes just make an unnecessary barrier to entry and encourage new people to regurgitate the inside jokes as a feckless means of showing they belong. It's icky and kind of lame, like secret handshakes in a fraternity.
posted by dios at 5:38 PM on February 19, 2007 [3 favorites]
If we want the jokes to remain funny, beating them into the ground isn't going to do it.
Oh. Noted.
posted by joe lisboa at 5:40 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
Oh. Noted.
posted by joe lisboa at 5:40 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
grapefruitmoon, I understand what you're saying and agree. I've said as much before whenever I've posted links to interesting products (even as a side mention in a bigger post), someone invariably makes the lame go-to joke of "pepsi blue". It's crapping in the thread and it has only made sense on a couple of occasions when something blatantly commercial and uninteresting was posted.
A lot of things lose their nuance over time as new people come in and don't quite understand the history behind something and start extending it to other things. Heck, we have people these days calling things a self-link when they're not even close. So the label has gotten slapped on anything remotely commercial, far from the original meaning of "hey, this is a really crap post that reads like a press release."
posted by mathowie (staff) at 5:48 PM on February 19, 2007
A lot of things lose their nuance over time as new people come in and don't quite understand the history behind something and start extending it to other things. Heck, we have people these days calling things a self-link when they're not even close. So the label has gotten slapped on anything remotely commercial, far from the original meaning of "hey, this is a really crap post that reads like a press release."
posted by mathowie (staff) at 5:48 PM on February 19, 2007
Heck, we have people these days calling things a self-link when they're not even close.
This is known colloquially as a "reverse tsarfan".
posted by cortex at 5:50 PM on February 19, 2007
This is known colloquially as a "reverse tsarfan".
posted by cortex at 5:50 PM on February 19, 2007
" I support this callout because I would support burnination of everyone who falls back on tired, insular, and uniformly unfunny inside jokes"
Like, for example, using made-up words from a web comic?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:57 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
Like, for example, using made-up words from a web comic?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:57 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
Metafilter: A lot of things lose their nuance over time as new people come in and don't quite understand the history behind something and start extending it to other things
posted by found missing at 6:02 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by found missing at 6:02 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
Bingo, crash! I defer to you on what makes The Funny because you are an expert on that, as well as on cars.
And big boobies.
posted by dios at 6:02 PM on February 19, 2007
And big boobies.
posted by dios at 6:02 PM on February 19, 2007
No, that's Postroad on the boobies.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 6:08 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by mathowie (staff) at 6:08 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
On the one hand a phrase can encapsulate the consensus after a complicated discussion. Which is good.
On the other hand a phrase becomes a substitute for wit. It's probably the typical human behaviour of aping as bonding.
Typical fo online communities but it can get a bit suffocating.
Memes that are ripe for retirement are f.i. the "." in an obit and the *pulls up chair, puts popcorn in the microwave*
posted by jouke at 6:49 PM on February 19, 2007
On the other hand a phrase becomes a substitute for wit. It's probably the typical human behaviour of aping as bonding.
Typical fo online communities but it can get a bit suffocating.
Memes that are ripe for retirement are f.i. the "." in an obit and the *pulls up chair, puts popcorn in the microwave*
posted by jouke at 6:49 PM on February 19, 2007
Inside jokes just make an unnecessary barrier to entry and encourage new people to regurgitate the inside jokes as a feckless means of showing they belong. It's icky and kind of lame, like secret handshakes in a fraternity.
But we have cameras! Portabello mushrooms! Kaycee Nicole! Pissing elephants! Pancakes on the head of a bunny!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:51 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
But we have cameras! Portabello mushrooms! Kaycee Nicole! Pissing elephants! Pancakes on the head of a bunny!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:51 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
I would support burnination of everyone who falls back on tired, insular, and uniformly unfunny inside jokes
Well, then you'd be more than a little wrong.
"Community Weblog," is still on the top-left of the Front Page, right? No one drinks a Bloody Mary because they really, really like tomato juice. There's a lot of other shit going on.
And I think it's the same drill here. I did honestly-and-for-true first find this place when I could still scroll up the page and see that for some reason people were scanning their cats. I didn't sign up for an account because I had this pre-concieved notion about people who got emotionally invested in chatting with people they've never met online. Back then, they were pretty much losers, right? Back in the days when "blog" was the last sound you might expect to make before you slipped under the quicksand? I didn't even read the comments for the first few months until I realized that cool links would pop-up there as well.
Community is a lot of things. It's the inside jokes, the "." threads, the meet-ups, 9622, the Epic Flame-outs, the dhyot interesting-ness, the 9/11 thread.
But we have cameras! Portabello mushrooms! Kaycee Nicole! Pissing elephants! Pancakes on the head of a bunny!
And all that stuff, too!
If you don't like it here, go somewhere else. But if you want to hang: The last initiation goat ate through the fence behind the Mefi-Talka frathouse, so you lucked out.
posted by Cyrano at 7:00 PM on February 19, 2007
Well, then you'd be more than a little wrong.
"Community Weblog," is still on the top-left of the Front Page, right? No one drinks a Bloody Mary because they really, really like tomato juice. There's a lot of other shit going on.
And I think it's the same drill here. I did honestly-and-for-true first find this place when I could still scroll up the page and see that for some reason people were scanning their cats. I didn't sign up for an account because I had this pre-concieved notion about people who got emotionally invested in chatting with people they've never met online. Back then, they were pretty much losers, right? Back in the days when "blog" was the last sound you might expect to make before you slipped under the quicksand? I didn't even read the comments for the first few months until I realized that cool links would pop-up there as well.
Community is a lot of things. It's the inside jokes, the "." threads, the meet-ups, 9622, the Epic Flame-outs, the dhyot interesting-ness, the 9/11 thread.
But we have cameras! Portabello mushrooms! Kaycee Nicole! Pissing elephants! Pancakes on the head of a bunny!
And all that stuff, too!
If you don't like it here, go somewhere else. But if you want to hang: The last initiation goat ate through the fence behind the Mefi-Talka frathouse, so you lucked out.
posted by Cyrano at 7:00 PM on February 19, 2007
Vagisil. All my friends use it. And you should, too.
yes, but most of your friends use it as cooking shorteng.
posted by jonmc at 7:05 PM on February 19, 2007
yes, but most of your friends use it as cooking shorteng.
posted by jonmc at 7:05 PM on February 19, 2007
i mean shortening. No, I mean shorteng. That's a Chinese dish. from China.
posted by jonmc at 7:06 PM on February 19, 2007
posted by jonmc at 7:06 PM on February 19, 2007
Is this the part where I drool on my forehead?
posted by found dog one eye at 7:09 PM on February 19, 2007
posted by found dog one eye at 7:09 PM on February 19, 2007
grapefruitmoon - you should contact quonsar about this, of course.
/inside joke
posted by zoinks at 7:10 PM on February 19, 2007
/inside joke
posted by zoinks at 7:10 PM on February 19, 2007
No see, what would be kinda cool is if there was a script that hunted out particular catch prases and replaced them with Folger's crys... some humiliating bit of random generated text strings.
posted by edgeways at 7:12 PM on February 19, 2007
posted by edgeways at 7:12 PM on February 19, 2007
Where would we be without Soda-pop Pete and the stallion they called Longboat Johnny? From near to far, as far as I know, his hand has left a legacy deep in the rutted earth we call home. No child can sleep, no man or woman can face the day, without knowing that somewhere deep in the land of memory and time, neighing softly into the feedbag of loving-kindness, old Johnny waits to hear the hand of his good friend Soda-pop on the gate-latch of time.
Why, I was just a youngster then, not much taller than you and your sister, out every morning at the crack of whimsy, dodging chores and hiding in the hayloft from mean-man Bixby and his twin rotters, the Brothers Bill. Never a crueller pair ever walked the land, full of spit and moonshine, tearing around slashing tires and choking chickens; why, they were so mean they turned tomatoes red (before the Brothers Bill came along, tomatoes were a bluish purple on the bottom, fading to the lemoniest yellow on top -- they smelled like shoe polish, but tasted just like the juiciest circus peanuts you could imagine). And that was on a good day, when they weren't all liquored up on firewater their pa Bixby made out of molten lava and them little black chili peppers like you sometimes swallow when you eat the food over at Hunnan Jack's. Now there's a story for some other day, how Hunnan Jack got his lightning, or more to the point, how Mrs. Jack won her husband in a crooked game of mah-jongg.
Now, Pete set out one day (he wasn't always Soda-pop, once he was a youngster like you; hell, once your grandpa was a youngster, too. Don't tell your grandma I said hell, neither. Oh, hell, why not. Hell, HELL, HELL! Hush now, can't tell a story with you making all that fuss. Where was I?). Pete walked down to the river, just to skip a few stones and maybe tease the fish a little bit. And he was just goofing off, like you kids do, and whistling to himself, when over the hill came the Brothers Bill, cussing and shooting off their guns and setting fire to the wildestry, you name it! They were just bad. Well, they spied Pete, and started chasing him, firing their guns off and lurching left and right and left again. But Pete was a wily one, and had the benefit of not being drunk as an otter in a vat of whiskey like the Bills were, and he kept himself between the Bills and the sun, so every time they sighted down their rifles, old Mr. Sun burned them one, two, right in the peepers. But eventually Pete got tired from all his scampering about, and the Bills got a hold of his leg and threw him in a patch of sticky cabbages, and try as he might he couldn't shake free.
Well, at the same time as all this was coming to pass, Longboat Johnny, the most beautifullest, sun-dappledest, heaven-blessedest horse the world ever saw was out for a swim on the river, with two houses and an extended family of pioneer people on his back. You see, Longboat Johnny was no ordinary horse. As a matter of fact, his sire was rumored to be none other than the Angel Gabriel, and his dame, Robert Fulton's groundbreaking steamship, the Clermont. I don't know how an angel mates with a paddlewheeler to produce a giant horse, but it's right there in the history books; you can look it up tomorrow. Being a gentle and goodhearted seventy-ton horse, Longboat Johnny took to plying the waters of the mighty Mississippi, ferrying folks and wagons and livestock, and yes, sometimes houses, back and forth but mostly forth across the river to our manifest destiny. And it just so happened he was ferrying back on this particular day, when the Brothers Bill had young Pete cornered in a cabbage patch.
Well, if there was one thing bigger than Longboat Johnny's heart, it was his memory; he remembered some fifteen years back, when he was ferrying Pete's pa and ma back from Sioux City along with a hundred-five crates of sarsaparilla soda for the markets back East. Now, Pete's pa and ma were pioneer folk just like your grandpa, but Pete's ma was about to have a baby (can you guess who that baby is going to be?), and they decided to head back across the river to civility, where Pete's grandparents could help raise the boy right. But wouldn't you know it, halfway between back and forth, plumb in the middle of the river, baby Pete gave the heave-ho and splashed into existence, right there in the middle of a hundred-five crates of sioux-city sarsaparilla, on the back of a seventy-ton horse ferry in the middle of the hallelujah river!
So when Longboat Johnny saw the boy belabored by two ne'er-do-wells like the Bixby boys, he swum fast as lightning to the shore, carefully dropping off the houses and the extended family nestled across his broad shoulders, and trotted over to help his young friend. "Why, Soda-pop Pete!" he said. "Are those two ne'er-do-wells fixing to blow you hither and yon with them infernal machines, or am I mistaken?"
"Oh, it's you, Longboat Johnny!" cried Pete. Pete, never one to forget the niceties of polite conversement, said, "Boy, howdy, it's sure been a stretch since I've seen you, fellow! I reckon these bad sorts here are trying to kill me with them irons, I do. Can you help me out of a pinch?"
And without answering, for Longboat Johnny was a horse of action, not words, he put his feet down, clop, clop, and the Brothers Bill were no more.
Well, that sealed it. From that day forth, those two were inseparabler than feet and toes. And since Longboat Johnny always was particular about giving a man his proper title, everybody started calling the boy Soda-pop Pete, too. Funny how nick-names work, isn't it? And do you know, because of that nickname, young Pete developed a taste for soda-pop the likes of which this nation has never seen, and I daresay will never see again.
Well, one day, the inevitable happened. Old man Bixby came off his hill pickled green from his igneous mash, looking to pick a fight with anyone, but especially Soda-pop Pete, who was down in the flats, losing at kick-the-can to his seventy-ton pal.
Mean-man Bixby staggered up to Soda-pop Pete and shouted, "You and that damn giant angelic horse of yours killed my boys, and I'm fixing to get even with you! I, right here and now, being that here is where we are and now is when we is, challenge you to a drinking contest. You drink your soda-pop, and I'll drink corn lightning! Whoever drops dead from drink first, well, the other one's still alive!"
Well, Soda-pop Pete didn't have to think long on that. "I'll take your bet, you sonovabitch, 'cuz I'm the best that's ever been," he said, or maybe he was more polite, but your grandma's surely sleeping by now, so I can say whatever the hell I damn want!
So the two started drinking, right there. Old Bixby had rigged up a tap from his kettle up on the hill all the way down to the flats, and lava-fired hot-chili liquor poured ou of it, cup after cup. And Longboat Pete was on the run, just back and forth from distributor to distributor, bottling plant to bottling plant, ferrying every drop of soda-pop in the country for his pal Pete to drink. But Bixby had a leather liver, and just grinned after every drink, shouting curses and hollering, while Soda-pop Pete just felt bloateder and bloateder as time went on.
Pete drank so much soda-pop that even the venerable Pepsi company ran out of caramel color and had to start bottling it clear until they could steal more from the Caramel Indians of faraway Sarawak. Then when they ran out again, some fellow at Pepsi came up with the genius idea of blue food coloring. Someone said it looked just exactly the same as regular Pepsi at night, in a cave. I guess they were right.
Well, that blue Pepsi turned the tide right there. Maybe there was something in it that made Pete less gassy, or maybe old Bixby's leather liver finally turned to clay, but that mean old man stood up and howled like a porcupine stung him on the ass, once, twice, and then died right there on the spot, standing up, all green and hulking, veins popping out, full of hot firewater.
"Why, Longboat Johnny, as a commemorationary gesture to this auspicious day," said Soda-pop Pete, "I swear by the splendor of God that I will drink one and only one bottle of Pepsi Blue every day for the rest of my life." Everybody cheered, for he was a true hero, and nobody missed old Bixby and his no-good ways.
Well, you may as well know the rest of the story. Pepsi stopped making Pepsi Blue, saying there wasn't enough demand for it anymore. Soda-pop Pete would've been able to single-handedly create enough demand for it, but he'd limited his consumption to a bottle a day, sworn by the splendor of God, a sort of swearing no man goes back on.
For a while, Longboat Johnny searched far and wide for the few remaining cases of Pepsi Blue, until even they ran out, and one day, feeling the burden he had become for his angelic equine paddlewheel of a friend, Soda-pop Pete slipped away into the night, never to return.
Some say that fizzy sound you hear when you open a soda-pop is an echo of Longboat Johnny, whickering in the night. Some say it's Soda-pop Pete tramping by, sighing for his lost Pepsi product. I say, well, I say it's bedtime.
Goodnight, little ones. Time for grandpa to rest his voice. Think I'll sit out on the porch a bit, maybe pop an ice cold Coca-Cola, sure.
posted by breezeway at 7:27 PM on February 19, 2007
Why, I was just a youngster then, not much taller than you and your sister, out every morning at the crack of whimsy, dodging chores and hiding in the hayloft from mean-man Bixby and his twin rotters, the Brothers Bill. Never a crueller pair ever walked the land, full of spit and moonshine, tearing around slashing tires and choking chickens; why, they were so mean they turned tomatoes red (before the Brothers Bill came along, tomatoes were a bluish purple on the bottom, fading to the lemoniest yellow on top -- they smelled like shoe polish, but tasted just like the juiciest circus peanuts you could imagine). And that was on a good day, when they weren't all liquored up on firewater their pa Bixby made out of molten lava and them little black chili peppers like you sometimes swallow when you eat the food over at Hunnan Jack's. Now there's a story for some other day, how Hunnan Jack got his lightning, or more to the point, how Mrs. Jack won her husband in a crooked game of mah-jongg.
Now, Pete set out one day (he wasn't always Soda-pop, once he was a youngster like you; hell, once your grandpa was a youngster, too. Don't tell your grandma I said hell, neither. Oh, hell, why not. Hell, HELL, HELL! Hush now, can't tell a story with you making all that fuss. Where was I?). Pete walked down to the river, just to skip a few stones and maybe tease the fish a little bit. And he was just goofing off, like you kids do, and whistling to himself, when over the hill came the Brothers Bill, cussing and shooting off their guns and setting fire to the wildestry, you name it! They were just bad. Well, they spied Pete, and started chasing him, firing their guns off and lurching left and right and left again. But Pete was a wily one, and had the benefit of not being drunk as an otter in a vat of whiskey like the Bills were, and he kept himself between the Bills and the sun, so every time they sighted down their rifles, old Mr. Sun burned them one, two, right in the peepers. But eventually Pete got tired from all his scampering about, and the Bills got a hold of his leg and threw him in a patch of sticky cabbages, and try as he might he couldn't shake free.
Well, at the same time as all this was coming to pass, Longboat Johnny, the most beautifullest, sun-dappledest, heaven-blessedest horse the world ever saw was out for a swim on the river, with two houses and an extended family of pioneer people on his back. You see, Longboat Johnny was no ordinary horse. As a matter of fact, his sire was rumored to be none other than the Angel Gabriel, and his dame, Robert Fulton's groundbreaking steamship, the Clermont. I don't know how an angel mates with a paddlewheeler to produce a giant horse, but it's right there in the history books; you can look it up tomorrow. Being a gentle and goodhearted seventy-ton horse, Longboat Johnny took to plying the waters of the mighty Mississippi, ferrying folks and wagons and livestock, and yes, sometimes houses, back and forth but mostly forth across the river to our manifest destiny. And it just so happened he was ferrying back on this particular day, when the Brothers Bill had young Pete cornered in a cabbage patch.
Well, if there was one thing bigger than Longboat Johnny's heart, it was his memory; he remembered some fifteen years back, when he was ferrying Pete's pa and ma back from Sioux City along with a hundred-five crates of sarsaparilla soda for the markets back East. Now, Pete's pa and ma were pioneer folk just like your grandpa, but Pete's ma was about to have a baby (can you guess who that baby is going to be?), and they decided to head back across the river to civility, where Pete's grandparents could help raise the boy right. But wouldn't you know it, halfway between back and forth, plumb in the middle of the river, baby Pete gave the heave-ho and splashed into existence, right there in the middle of a hundred-five crates of sioux-city sarsaparilla, on the back of a seventy-ton horse ferry in the middle of the hallelujah river!
So when Longboat Johnny saw the boy belabored by two ne'er-do-wells like the Bixby boys, he swum fast as lightning to the shore, carefully dropping off the houses and the extended family nestled across his broad shoulders, and trotted over to help his young friend. "Why, Soda-pop Pete!" he said. "Are those two ne'er-do-wells fixing to blow you hither and yon with them infernal machines, or am I mistaken?"
"Oh, it's you, Longboat Johnny!" cried Pete. Pete, never one to forget the niceties of polite conversement, said, "Boy, howdy, it's sure been a stretch since I've seen you, fellow! I reckon these bad sorts here are trying to kill me with them irons, I do. Can you help me out of a pinch?"
And without answering, for Longboat Johnny was a horse of action, not words, he put his feet down, clop, clop, and the Brothers Bill were no more.
Well, that sealed it. From that day forth, those two were inseparabler than feet and toes. And since Longboat Johnny always was particular about giving a man his proper title, everybody started calling the boy Soda-pop Pete, too. Funny how nick-names work, isn't it? And do you know, because of that nickname, young Pete developed a taste for soda-pop the likes of which this nation has never seen, and I daresay will never see again.
Well, one day, the inevitable happened. Old man Bixby came off his hill pickled green from his igneous mash, looking to pick a fight with anyone, but especially Soda-pop Pete, who was down in the flats, losing at kick-the-can to his seventy-ton pal.
Mean-man Bixby staggered up to Soda-pop Pete and shouted, "You and that damn giant angelic horse of yours killed my boys, and I'm fixing to get even with you! I, right here and now, being that here is where we are and now is when we is, challenge you to a drinking contest. You drink your soda-pop, and I'll drink corn lightning! Whoever drops dead from drink first, well, the other one's still alive!"
Well, Soda-pop Pete didn't have to think long on that. "I'll take your bet, you sonovabitch, 'cuz I'm the best that's ever been," he said, or maybe he was more polite, but your grandma's surely sleeping by now, so I can say whatever the hell I damn want!
So the two started drinking, right there. Old Bixby had rigged up a tap from his kettle up on the hill all the way down to the flats, and lava-fired hot-chili liquor poured ou of it, cup after cup. And Longboat Pete was on the run, just back and forth from distributor to distributor, bottling plant to bottling plant, ferrying every drop of soda-pop in the country for his pal Pete to drink. But Bixby had a leather liver, and just grinned after every drink, shouting curses and hollering, while Soda-pop Pete just felt bloateder and bloateder as time went on.
Pete drank so much soda-pop that even the venerable Pepsi company ran out of caramel color and had to start bottling it clear until they could steal more from the Caramel Indians of faraway Sarawak. Then when they ran out again, some fellow at Pepsi came up with the genius idea of blue food coloring. Someone said it looked just exactly the same as regular Pepsi at night, in a cave. I guess they were right.
Well, that blue Pepsi turned the tide right there. Maybe there was something in it that made Pete less gassy, or maybe old Bixby's leather liver finally turned to clay, but that mean old man stood up and howled like a porcupine stung him on the ass, once, twice, and then died right there on the spot, standing up, all green and hulking, veins popping out, full of hot firewater.
"Why, Longboat Johnny, as a commemorationary gesture to this auspicious day," said Soda-pop Pete, "I swear by the splendor of God that I will drink one and only one bottle of Pepsi Blue every day for the rest of my life." Everybody cheered, for he was a true hero, and nobody missed old Bixby and his no-good ways.
Well, you may as well know the rest of the story. Pepsi stopped making Pepsi Blue, saying there wasn't enough demand for it anymore. Soda-pop Pete would've been able to single-handedly create enough demand for it, but he'd limited his consumption to a bottle a day, sworn by the splendor of God, a sort of swearing no man goes back on.
For a while, Longboat Johnny searched far and wide for the few remaining cases of Pepsi Blue, until even they ran out, and one day, feeling the burden he had become for his angelic equine paddlewheel of a friend, Soda-pop Pete slipped away into the night, never to return.
Some say that fizzy sound you hear when you open a soda-pop is an echo of Longboat Johnny, whickering in the night. Some say it's Soda-pop Pete tramping by, sighing for his lost Pepsi product. I say, well, I say it's bedtime.
Goodnight, little ones. Time for grandpa to rest his voice. Think I'll sit out on the porch a bit, maybe pop an ice cold Coca-Cola, sure.
posted by breezeway at 7:27 PM on February 19, 2007
I wrote a short fictional novel in response to this, but now it seems like it would just be overkill.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:38 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:38 PM on February 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
Man, I was totally ready to read breezeway's treatise and favorite it a la robocop is bleeding, but I'm just too tired and inattentive to make it through. Looked like a winner, though.
Also:
Metafilter: Vagisil.
posted by shmegegge at 8:37 PM on February 19, 2007
Also:
Metafilter: Vagisil.
posted by shmegegge at 8:37 PM on February 19, 2007
VagiFilter.
(I kid. VagiSil is a fine product. for humans. If you're a Sim however, you should stick to VagiSim, SimPax and Simmer's Eve.)
posted by jonmc at 8:56 PM on February 19, 2007
(I kid. VagiSil is a fine product. for humans. If you're a Sim however, you should stick to VagiSim, SimPax and Simmer's Eve.)
posted by jonmc at 8:56 PM on February 19, 2007
Are you sure it's not centipedes?
posted by boo_radley at 9:03 PM on February 19, 2007
posted by boo_radley at 9:03 PM on February 19, 2007
Memes that are ripe for retirement are f.i. the "." in an obit
What really got on my nerve, until I stopped to think about it, was people posting "." and then going on to spout a paragraph or two about the deceased. (And I'm sure I was one of those guilty of this.) The "." originally meant "I am speechless. Literally. Nothing to say. No words here. Just this dot." In that sense, following it up with "And Longboat Johnny was a heck of a cards player!" made no sense. You just had words. You said them. You're not speechless! Put the dot away!
Then I realized that people had shifted from using the dot to represent speechlessness towards having it represent a moment of cyber-silence. And of course, after their moment had passed, they were free to add whatever else they felt necessary on the life of the deceased. The dot became much less annoying when I started viewing it as a mark of the commenter's respect for the deceased and less as a stand in for "I have nothing to say" (especially when it was then followed by quite a lot that was said).
posted by grapefruitmoon at 9:36 PM on February 19, 2007 [2 favorites]
What really got on my nerve, until I stopped to think about it, was people posting "." and then going on to spout a paragraph or two about the deceased. (And I'm sure I was one of those guilty of this.) The "." originally meant "I am speechless. Literally. Nothing to say. No words here. Just this dot." In that sense, following it up with "And Longboat Johnny was a heck of a cards player!" made no sense. You just had words. You said them. You're not speechless! Put the dot away!
Then I realized that people had shifted from using the dot to represent speechlessness towards having it represent a moment of cyber-silence. And of course, after their moment had passed, they were free to add whatever else they felt necessary on the life of the deceased. The dot became much less annoying when I started viewing it as a mark of the commenter's respect for the deceased and less as a stand in for "I have nothing to say" (especially when it was then followed by quite a lot that was said).
posted by grapefruitmoon at 9:36 PM on February 19, 2007 [2 favorites]
I'd make a snarky comment here, but I'm too depressed to tears that someone actually used an AskMe question to figure out what those "arm like things" are on a turntable.
Sigh.
posted by Dave Faris at 9:36 PM on February 19, 2007
Sigh.
posted by Dave Faris at 9:36 PM on February 19, 2007
"What a drag it is getting old."
I'm glad I'm not the only one who found that question depressing.
posted by timeistight at 10:19 PM on February 19, 2007
I'm glad I'm not the only one who found that question depressing.
posted by timeistight at 10:19 PM on February 19, 2007
What is "turntable"?
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:20 PM on February 19, 2007
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:20 PM on February 19, 2007
Dave Faris: "I'd make a snarky comment here, but I'm too depressed to tears that someone actually used an AskMe question to figure out what those "arm like things" are on a turntable."
The second you mentioned that, I was going to go over and post:
"Those 'arm like things?' Those are the things I beat you to death with if you don't get off my lawn in the next thirty seconds."
But then I went over and discovered: they just wanted to know about the autoplay arm. That's a good question, I figure; those useless things have been out of commission for years.
Way to bring me up and let me down, guy.
posted by koeselitz at 10:31 PM on February 19, 2007
The second you mentioned that, I was going to go over and post:
"Those 'arm like things?' Those are the things I beat you to death with if you don't get off my lawn in the next thirty seconds."
But then I went over and discovered: they just wanted to know about the autoplay arm. That's a good question, I figure; those useless things have been out of commission for years.
Way to bring me up and let me down, guy.
posted by koeselitz at 10:31 PM on February 19, 2007
I always thought "Pepsi Blue" to be a callout of bias towards a product because of some kind of personal fandom. Something with limited appeal or interest to a mass audience, that only seems cool to the poster because, well, they're really into it. Like posts on the latest Apple widget.
Indeed, tsarfan's infamous post is, in a way, "Pepsi Blue", self-link and newsfilter all in one; he linked to his own material because he mistakenly thought we'd all be interested in the news about some celebrity engagement. That post should be respected for it's raw anarchic beauty; it should be put behind glass in a prominent position in a museum.
The other side of the coin, of course, is that some people who really really don't care about the latest Apple widget might call "Pepsi Blue", following an underestimation of how much interest there really is in the community.
As to why anyone would think you were seriously trying to "promote" stuffed meats based on personal bias; I have no answer.
You're right about the .'s, though. Maybe someone needs to ask about them on Metatalk again, just for final clarification.
posted by Jimbob at 10:55 PM on February 19, 2007
Indeed, tsarfan's infamous post is, in a way, "Pepsi Blue", self-link and newsfilter all in one; he linked to his own material because he mistakenly thought we'd all be interested in the news about some celebrity engagement. That post should be respected for it's raw anarchic beauty; it should be put behind glass in a prominent position in a museum.
The other side of the coin, of course, is that some people who really really don't care about the latest Apple widget might call "Pepsi Blue", following an underestimation of how much interest there really is in the community.
As to why anyone would think you were seriously trying to "promote" stuffed meats based on personal bias; I have no answer.
You're right about the .'s, though. Maybe someone needs to ask about them on Metatalk again, just for final clarification.
posted by Jimbob at 10:55 PM on February 19, 2007
Well, I do try to promote meats as much as I can. I'm always trying to get vegans to eat cheeseburgers. Stuffed meat was only the next logical step.
Curses, the cabal was on to me again! My plans have all been foiled by your Pepsi-Blue ways!
(Not really, but I do like cheeseburgers.)
(I also get what you're saying. It's hard to be an effective wiseass this close to bedtime. *sigh*)
posted by grapefruitmoon at 12:21 AM on February 20, 2007
Curses, the cabal was on to me again! My plans have all been foiled by your Pepsi-Blue ways!
(Not really, but I do like cheeseburgers.)
(I also get what you're saying. It's hard to be an effective wiseass this close to bedtime. *sigh*)
posted by grapefruitmoon at 12:21 AM on February 20, 2007
Dear grapefruitmoon,
I am so sorry if I upset you and caused you to lash out at Pepsi Blue and ".". Of course I did not mean to imply that YOU were an unwashed lurker! Only that the wave of 11-18-04 noobs was not greeted with unmixed hospitality.
Without doubt you were unfailingly generous even to the point of lending your longboat.
*gives secret handshake, polishes tiara*
posted by Cranberry at 1:05 AM on February 20, 2007
I am so sorry if I upset you and caused you to lash out at Pepsi Blue and ".". Of course I did not mean to imply that YOU were an unwashed lurker! Only that the wave of 11-18-04 noobs was not greeted with unmixed hospitality.
Without doubt you were unfailingly generous even to the point of lending your longboat.
*gives secret handshake, polishes tiara*
posted by Cranberry at 1:05 AM on February 20, 2007
Those who characterize other members or their comments or posts as "retarded" or "morons" should be forced to drink a full case of Pepsi Blue.
Believe it or not, name-calling does not advance your arguments.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:34 AM on February 20, 2007
Believe it or not, name-calling does not advance your arguments.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:34 AM on February 20, 2007
Cran!
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:20 AM on February 20, 2007
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:20 AM on February 20, 2007
MetaFilter: I am shilling for plush meats?
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 6:26 AM on February 20, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 6:26 AM on February 20, 2007 [1 favorite]
I support the TPS no smiles or laughs initiative.
posted by Kwine at 7:49 AM on February 20, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by Kwine at 7:49 AM on February 20, 2007 [1 favorite]
The Pepsi Blue appellation probably is being completely overused, especially based on the attributes people are giving it in this thread. It really only applies to posts that are obvious (or not so obvious) shill posts ... like the original Pepsi Blue post, word about the new product was spread through blogs, but not because any of the bloggers actually tried and liked the product, but because they received a press release about it. It popped up on dozens of blogs all about the same time, including Metafilter. And renumeration wasn't even a factor, that I know of ... I don't think any of them did it for any other reason than they were parroting some marketing schlock for the sake of parroting it. If they received compensation for it, then it was even more heinous.
Posts about someone's consumer joy for a product, though suspect, really aren't the same thing, but there's nothing wrong with questioning the motives of the person pushing a product when they post about it on Metafilter -- though, as I've been considering very recently, it's probably better to attribute just plain ignorance instead of outright malice or deceit when it comes to someone's actions on Metafilter.
posted by Dave Faris at 7:50 AM on February 20, 2007
Posts about someone's consumer joy for a product, though suspect, really aren't the same thing, but there's nothing wrong with questioning the motives of the person pushing a product when they post about it on Metafilter -- though, as I've been considering very recently, it's probably better to attribute just plain ignorance instead of outright malice or deceit when it comes to someone's actions on Metafilter.
posted by Dave Faris at 7:50 AM on February 20, 2007
as I've been considering very recently, it's probably better to attribute just plain ignorance instead of outright malice or deceit when it comes to someone's actions on Metafilter.
I'm glad to hear this.
Also, sorry, dios, but insider jokes are both inevitable and fun. Think of it as the price you pay for being part of a community.
Zippity-BOP!
posted by languagehat at 8:06 AM on February 20, 2007
I'm glad to hear this.
Also, sorry, dios, but insider jokes are both inevitable and fun. Think of it as the price you pay for being part of a community.
Zippity-BOP!
posted by languagehat at 8:06 AM on February 20, 2007
Did you know that Roger Daltrey caught pneumonia from sitting in a bathtub full of Heinz baked beans? Just something to think about.
posted by Otis at 8:26 AM on February 20, 2007
posted by Otis at 8:26 AM on February 20, 2007
You can't dust for vomit.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:41 AM on February 20, 2007
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:41 AM on February 20, 2007
Also, sorry, dios, but insider jokes are both inevitable and fun. Think of it as the price you pay for being part of a community.
posted by languagehat at 10:06 AM CST on February 20
I might concede to the inevitability of a degree of them, but I'm not so sure of the fun part. I'm sure there are times when they were well played and good for a laugh, but my rough calculation is that 90-95% of the time they are forced, tired and unfunny. If you watch the American version of The Office, the boss Michael Scott always forces in that lame "that's what she said" joke. In the context of the television show, its funny in the sense that he is so tone deaf and unfunny to everyone within the show. So we are laughing at him, not with him. The comments are never funny to laugh with.
Forced and contrived humor wears thin quickly. Some of the most popular inside jokes are so tired that it is almost painful to see people toss them out. They often have no degree of humor involved and exist solely as a forced way for people to show they are part of the inside-group. And I'm thinking here of the inside jokes like sayings "mushrooms" or "pancakes"--basically things that have no humor element and are only references back to some isolated thread of yore. Are they an inevitable feature of a community? Yeah, most likely. But I'd guess I'd say it was an unfortunate feature. I just get an icky feeling about them serving as a barrier to entry at times. I feel embarrassed for the site when I think about someone seeing a particular thread as one's first glimpse of Metafilter and the thread looking like people are talking in some sort of code about vibrating pancakes.
I'd say a possible exception to this it the tagline injoke. That one maintains a degree of freshness due to the fact that the substance of it is always new and changing. But even that is overused (and misused at times).
posted by dios at 9:41 AM on February 20, 2007
posted by languagehat at 10:06 AM CST on February 20
I might concede to the inevitability of a degree of them, but I'm not so sure of the fun part. I'm sure there are times when they were well played and good for a laugh, but my rough calculation is that 90-95% of the time they are forced, tired and unfunny. If you watch the American version of The Office, the boss Michael Scott always forces in that lame "that's what she said" joke. In the context of the television show, its funny in the sense that he is so tone deaf and unfunny to everyone within the show. So we are laughing at him, not with him. The comments are never funny to laugh with.
Forced and contrived humor wears thin quickly. Some of the most popular inside jokes are so tired that it is almost painful to see people toss them out. They often have no degree of humor involved and exist solely as a forced way for people to show they are part of the inside-group. And I'm thinking here of the inside jokes like sayings "mushrooms" or "pancakes"--basically things that have no humor element and are only references back to some isolated thread of yore. Are they an inevitable feature of a community? Yeah, most likely. But I'd guess I'd say it was an unfortunate feature. I just get an icky feeling about them serving as a barrier to entry at times. I feel embarrassed for the site when I think about someone seeing a particular thread as one's first glimpse of Metafilter and the thread looking like people are talking in some sort of code about vibrating pancakes.
I'd say a possible exception to this it the tagline injoke. That one maintains a degree of freshness due to the fact that the substance of it is always new and changing. But even that is overused (and misused at times).
posted by dios at 9:41 AM on February 20, 2007
I just get an icky feeling about them serving as a barrier to entry at times.
Yeah - that's what she said.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:54 AM on February 20, 2007
Yeah - that's what she said.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:54 AM on February 20, 2007
MetaFilter: The Substance of it is Always New and Changing.
posted by Mister_A at 9:54 AM on February 20, 2007
posted by Mister_A at 9:54 AM on February 20, 2007
MetaFilter: people are talking in some sort of code about vibrating pancakes.
Cranberry: Oooh, the tiara's looking lovely! Pancakes all around!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 10:00 AM on February 20, 2007
Cranberry: Oooh, the tiara's looking lovely! Pancakes all around!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 10:00 AM on February 20, 2007
a barrier to entry
I seriously doubt this. I (like many MeFites) lurked for quite a while before joining, and the injokes made me more, not less, eager to join.
posted by languagehat at 11:33 AM on February 20, 2007
I seriously doubt this. I (like many MeFites) lurked for quite a while before joining, and the injokes made me more, not less, eager to join.
posted by languagehat at 11:33 AM on February 20, 2007
Inside jokes just make an unnecessary barrier to entry
We need barriers to entry, lest we be overun by hordes of new users who don't give the rest of us the proper respect. Oh, wait, that already happened.
I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one saddened by the turntable arm question. Not because it was a stupid question, but because it made me realise that there is at least a whole generation who don't immediately know what it does.
posted by dg at 1:40 PM on February 20, 2007
We need barriers to entry, lest we be overun by hordes of new users who don't give the rest of us the proper respect. Oh, wait, that already happened.
I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one saddened by the turntable arm question. Not because it was a stupid question, but because it made me realise that there is at least a whole generation who don't immediately know what it does.
posted by dg at 1:40 PM on February 20, 2007
what is an "inside joke" is this a joke that is told inside? also what is a barrier?
posted by nola at 6:08 PM on February 20, 2007
posted by nola at 6:08 PM on February 20, 2007
And inside joke is where you say something like, "outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside a dog, it's too dark to read."
posted by cortex at 6:24 PM on February 20, 2007
posted by cortex at 6:24 PM on February 20, 2007
I seriously doubt this. I (like many MeFites) lurked for quite a while before joining, and the injokes made me more, not less, eager to join.
Seconded.
I lurked for like four years or something, and insiders were something I always wanted to be able to use.
I got a single "I, for one, welcome..." line out of the way once I joined and I'm fairly confident that I got the insider-bug out of my system.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 7:52 PM on February 20, 2007
Seconded.
I lurked for like four years or something, and insiders were something I always wanted to be able to use.
I got a single "I, for one, welcome..." line out of the way once I joined and I'm fairly confident that I got the insider-bug out of my system.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 7:52 PM on February 20, 2007
*logs out to see what the AdSense ads are*
Hm. "Adult Jokes", "The dangers of soda", "Diet Coke and Mentos". Not as diverse as I would have thought.
posted by A dead Quaker at 9:36 PM on February 20, 2007
Hm. "Adult Jokes", "The dangers of soda", "Diet Coke and Mentos". Not as diverse as I would have thought.
posted by A dead Quaker at 9:36 PM on February 20, 2007
I seriously doubt this. I (like many MeFites) lurked for quite a while before joining, and the injokes made me more, not less, eager to join.
Thirded.
My husband showed me MetaFilter and I had no real desire to join, but he badgered me into it. (It was my credit card, after all, it would only make sense for me to sign up too.) Even then, I had no real desire to devote any real amount of time beyond the occasional glance at the front page until one day when someone referenced the pancakes...
I think it was actually the fish in quonsar's pants that won my heart.
You come for the blue, you stay for the pants-fish.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 10:55 PM on February 20, 2007
Thirded.
My husband showed me MetaFilter and I had no real desire to join, but he badgered me into it. (It was my credit card, after all, it would only make sense for me to sign up too.) Even then, I had no real desire to devote any real amount of time beyond the occasional glance at the front page until one day when someone referenced the pancakes...
I think it was actually the fish in quonsar's pants that won my heart.
You come for the blue, you stay for the pants-fish.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 10:55 PM on February 20, 2007
dios writes "I'd say a possible exception to this it the tagline injoke. That one maintains a degree of freshness due to the fact that the substance of it is always new and changing. But even that is overused (and misused at times)."
I don't know how much of an inside joke taglines are, they seem to inhabit internet and other electronic text spaces like dander on a cat. Like puns the world is firmly divided into two camps on the humour value of them.
posted by Mitheral at 11:12 AM on February 21, 2007
I don't know how much of an inside joke taglines are, they seem to inhabit internet and other electronic text spaces like dander on a cat. Like puns the world is firmly divided into two camps on the humour value of them.
posted by Mitheral at 11:12 AM on February 21, 2007
Inside jokes are one of the glues that keep groups of people together. While it may seem like a barrier to outsiders, it's tradition to insiders. To be able to make the same (admittedly) tired joke that has been made over and over allows a newbie to become a participant in the group. The jokes have been told so often that they've lost any shred of humor that's attached to them, but, like it or not, repeating them is a mantra for acceptance into the tribe.
posted by Dave Faris at 1:03 PM on February 21, 2007
posted by Dave Faris at 1:03 PM on February 21, 2007
Well said. In-jokes happen. No one sticks around solely for the jokes, but without the jokes there wouldn't be as much of a sense of "around" to which to stick (or join in the first place).
And, excruciatingly:
Metafilter: the jokes have been told so often that they've lost any shred of humor that's attached to them, but, like it or not, repeating them is a mantra for acceptance into the tribe.
posted by cortex at 1:18 PM on February 21, 2007
And, excruciatingly:
Metafilter: the jokes have been told so often that they've lost any shred of humor that's attached to them, but, like it or not, repeating them is a mantra for acceptance into the tribe.
posted by cortex at 1:18 PM on February 21, 2007
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Sometimes, interesting things are sold! Sometimes, people like to post these things to the Blue! This does not mean that they are therefore PEPSI Blue. Unless I missed something, the implication of Pepsi Blue was that the poster was somehow benefiting from the shill of said product, especially when said product was of dubious quality. This doesn't apply when someone just posts something neat that happens to be for sale!
I'm getting really sick of seeing snark in any thread about a product being sold that it "Tastes great with Pepsi Blue!" And if you'll excuse me, I have some sand to remove from my vagina.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 3:58 PM on February 19, 2007