AskMe brings the cheese in

April 2, 2007 9:32 AM

"Long tailed awesomeness" - or AskMe brings the cheese in. In November 2005 I uploaded this question to Ask. In September 2006 I uploaded this song to Music. This morning I recieved this image and a nice note.
posted by Jofus to MetaFilter-Related at 9:32 AM (33 comments total)

The note reads: (mildly edited)

"Sorry to intrude on your work email address.

I saw your posting about your aunt's song. I am also researching this song. I found a postcard that seems to list its authors. I am sending it as an attachment.

Hope you find this useful.

I am doing a website on the novel "Ulysses" by James Joyce, illustrating the text with postcards. Since the book takes place in 1904, I am trying to find pictures from that era.

At some point in the book, the main hero Leopold Bloom orders a sandwich of gorgonzola with a glass of burgundy wine, so I was looking for postcards of "gorgonzola" on ebay for a while. This one came up from a seller in Australia. I tried to google it, mostly to find the words, see when it was written, and if it could have been known to Joyce. This is how I came upon your query. I was extremely happy to
find the full lyrics that you had posted!!! They are totally weird! So far, I found other songs by one or more of the authors that seem to be early 20c. but nothing specifically on the Gorgonzola yet. If I find anything more I will pass the info


[Name withheld]


Well. This is quite simply the best thing that's happened on the internet ever.

The trail is refreshed. The hunt is back on. The seeker after truth, for too long forced to wander aimless in the void, is reinvigorated and filled with fight once more.

Not only does this underline the "long-tailed awesomeness" that Ask does so well, it's also served to underline the fact that I've been mooching here for far too long. I have shelled out $5 for membership after nearly 7 years. You may refer to my sockpuppet as "dreadpiraterobots".
I intend to use him only on high holidays and when drunk.

I feel Cleansed, Validated. Aroused, even.

That is all.

If it's cool, I'll add the URL of the site she mentioned in her mail later.
posted by Jofus at 9:37 AM on April 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

The Cheese Stands Alone
posted by 29 at 9:38 AM on April 2, 2007

I love the Internet.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:40 AM on April 2, 2007

Don't forget, tomorrow is Cheese Weasel Day!
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:40 AM on April 2, 2007

This is Jofus' question that the email refers to.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:41 AM on April 2, 2007

El queso está viejo y podrido...
posted by dios at 9:44 AM on April 2, 2007

Ah. Nicely editted there Matt, but were the original three links not showing through?
posted by Jofus at 9:45 AM on April 2, 2007

I hope you post her site. I plugged it myself a few months ago -- it was announced on a Joyce mailing list so I should think to name it.
posted by peacay at 9:54 AM on April 2, 2007

...so I think it would be fine to name it...
posted by peacay at 9:55 AM on April 2, 2007

Excellent story. What's the Ulysses site?
posted by OmieWise at 10:04 AM on April 2, 2007

Awesome story! I've been intrigued by that question for months.
posted by marginaliana at 10:13 AM on April 2, 2007

cheeses christ, that's nice
posted by growabrain at 10:16 AM on April 2, 2007

Awesome!
posted by interrobang at 10:27 AM on April 2, 2007

mojnu_bosatsu: I call one of my cats the Cheese-Weasel, thinking it was a phrase I had made up. I didn't realize it was an actual thing worthy of its own day.
posted by divka at 10:29 AM on April 2, 2007

The site is Joyce Images.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:45 AM on April 2, 2007

Nice story! I too would like to see the Ulysses site.

On preview: Ask and it shall be given unto thee! Thanks, cortex.
posted by languagehat at 10:50 AM on April 2, 2007

An admin should edit Jofus's last comment on that Ask post to point to this thread as well.
posted by yeti at 10:56 AM on April 2, 2007

All things come to him who waits posts in AskMe.
posted by Cranberry at 11:14 AM on April 2, 2007

I don't think old folk have any room to bitch about music today if stuff like "Adventures of a Gorgonzola" used to be big hits. Seriously.
posted by Justinian at 12:30 PM on April 2, 2007 [1 favorite]

cortex writes "The site is Joyce Images."

Wow. That's quite impressive.
posted by mr_roboto at 3:11 PM on April 2, 2007

I can't wait until another mathematical meme comes along, I'm thinking of "stochastic matrices" to begin to describe things outside of the realm of mathematics.
posted by geoff. at 4:32 PM on April 2, 2007

The moose defenestrates at midnight, geoff.
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:38 PM on April 2, 2007

My A^C := {x ∈ U : x ∉ A} to you both.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:42 PM on April 2, 2007

My brain just broke.
posted by Phire at 5:18 PM on April 2, 2007

There are so many good things about this story.
posted by painquale at 5:40 PM on April 2, 2007

I cannot get over that Joyce postcards site. Seriously; one of us should make a FPP post on it. It's worth it just for these (1,2) condom joke postcards alone. The guy found contemporary illustrations of euphemisms for "condom" (in two languages) that Joyce referenced. Wow. Really great stuff.
posted by mr_roboto at 5:57 PM on April 2, 2007

mr_roboto writes "FPP post"

Or an FPP page post on the front page, even.
posted by mr_roboto at 6:01 PM on April 2, 2007

one of us should make a FPP

Agreed!
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:13 PM on April 2, 2007

I agree with Yeti - the original ask should link here so anyone else stumbling upon the question can find the denouement.
posted by poxuppit at 8:20 PM on April 2, 2007

I love the Internet.

Me too. And MetaFilter in particular. Huzzah!
posted by homunculus at 10:22 PM on April 2, 2007

Re-reading this thread (and, yes, I really should have FPP'd that Joyce site. It's a fantastic labour of love.) I feel like $5 dollars after all these years is really rather meagre. Is there an established way that MeFi's "go the extra mile" in showing their appreciation?

[Insert joke about handjobs for uptime here]
posted by Jofus at 1:12 AM on April 3, 2007

Cool!
posted by misozaki at 3:54 AM on April 3, 2007

Is there an established way that MeFi's "go the extra mile" in showing their appreciation?


from time to time some of us jerks have dropped money in the tip jar.

see the "Supporting Metafilter" section on the about page.
posted by fishfucker at 10:34 AM on April 3, 2007