That’s not meant for anyone here. In fact I’d like to interrupt myself to say, how much I’m enjoying all our contributors, new & old. You’re a reasonable, informed, funny, and — dare I say it? good-looking bunch.
(however — Marcoe, Rich — you’re not getting pics until I get some good jewelry. The real kind; not that plastic bubblegum crap Rufus got me for my last birthday.)
But we’re a bitty playground. The bigger the site, the more likely it is to attract losers. Big Hollywood, for example. In one week, two different posters (that I read) called fellow female comment-ers four-letter words that are crass synonyms for, you know, vagina.
Now, I’m one of those rare x-chromos who doesn’t mind either of those words.
Oh, I used to hate ‘em. Then one day I woke up to the realization that “bitch” just…wasn’t…mean enough.
However. These are loaded pieces of vocab, meant for last-resort, full-on, spit-in-your-eye, knee-to-the-groin, fights. And you gotta have the stones to use them in person. Typed by an anonymous donor, it’s just bringing a howitzer to a nail clipper fight. It says more about the writer than the recipient.
And what it says about the recipient? that all previous arguments, however reasoned, mean diddly. Mean less than diddly. Mean diddly’s third cousin, squat.
If you gotta use the word? you’re not gettin’ any of it.
Until next time!
I don’t do the Big Hollywood comments section too much. Unless you get a something posted early in the conversation, it’s going to get drowned out by the sheer deluge of comments–pedantic, redundant, idiotic, flame-bait, troll droppings, and the rest. The comments just become a string of people squawking out, without much in the way of real conversation.
And one thing that annoys me are two or three dozen people posting their banal thoughts, as if that blank dialogue box was required by law to be filled out with text. It’s a waste of time to wade through non-sequiturs and half-formed thoughts to get into anything substantive. I know that probably sounds horribly arrogant, but not every thought that goes through a person’s head on a related topic needs to be transcribed.
Ya know, I was just saying the other day that internet fights seem to be getting like that more often. It used to be: exchange, exchange, exchange, heated exchange, heated exchange, cuss words, insults, BOOM. Now it’s just exchange, exchange, BOOM. We (internet society) seem to have lost the ability to reason, to have a logical respectful exchange of ideas.
This is the reason why I pick my neighborhood carefully. I stake it out for a while-peeking in windows and doing a little wire-taping before I settle in. I read BigHollywood-but like David, I avoid the comments. Here, I avoid the post and read the comments (oh, c’mon… I am just kidding you. Sheesh)
Threedonia is my one-stop shop, I get in, I get out and I have everything I need…
sniff. I love you guys. sniff.
Oh, and if any of the mother f***ers call me a bitch, well then you better put a “Thank you” before it.
I don’t mind being called a bitch but if you drop the C Bomb on me be prepared for your funeral and ya better have your life insurance paid up because when they find your body parts your family is gonna need the cash. As far as the trolls, I just had to bitch slap one down at BH. Look if you want to call people names can we have an 18 and younger comment thread so the adults don’t have to worry about it. Sighhhhhhh
june cleaver
February 18th, 2009 at 6:55 am
june cleaver
February 18th, 2009 at 6:55 am
June, we heard you the first time…
oh, c’mon… I am just kidding you. Sheesh.
“The comments just become a string of people squawking out, without much in the way of real conversation.”
See me previous post.
“Now it’s just exchange, exchange, BOOM.”
Enter Stephanie (in a good way).
/end banal thoughts
Timmy… I know, but I don’t have a key to the vault so I couldn’t go in and delete one… and when I tried the alarm went off and told me I was posting too quickly. It actually told me to slow down.
I always get in trouble for moving too fast.
I always get in trouble for moving too fast.
I never quite sure if you’re making a serious comment, or a sexual innuendo. I have the sense you’re doing both.
oh David… just sit back and enjoy
David, just imagine June Cleaver after a six-pack. That should give you your answer.
I’m conflicted as to how to respond to trolls or to just ignore them. I usually ignore them, but at BH I tried to piss them off. I did, what I thought were funny and clever post to get under their skin useing irony as my major tool. It seemed to work. I soon had numerous potty mouthed nicnames. Then BH stated dening my posts, I suppose thinking I was a troll. So I stopped posting comments on BH. I guess the real trolls won.
I miss the Dirty Harry Days. I’m sure BH is still finding itself, but I’m going there less and less. The libtards are like roving gangs of new york sized rats, attacking everyone who has wandered off the plantation. Like The Soros funded Red Pioneers in the Cultural Revolution.
I’m getting reeeaaaaaall tired of the constant shell game the liberals use. Like they all went to the same Revolutionary Skool or something. ‘
Conservative: Make a point
Liberal: I didn’t know you hated children!
(Change of topic. Now conservative has to explain and grab the reins and drag the conservation back to original point.)
rinse repeat. Never get to point. Always remain on defensive.
The one good thing on our side is that the liberals are consistent. Like toaster ovens. After listening to them for the last 8 years (Or 20+ if you count in the Reagan years) you can get a pretty good idea what their “take” on events will be, and can meet them in the field of battle.
Part of Robert E. Lee’s genius as a general was that he could read his opponents minds. He could gauge what they would do, and anticipate their attacks. We need to get all “Marsh Robert” on them.
Mr. Sideous,
It’s not the mind reading part that fascinates me. It’s knowing how to counter-attack based on what you assume. The folks who can do that are very successful. Mark Steyn is very good at that verbally. He knows what the argument against his statements will be, but rather than picking them apart, he does an end around and completely cuts off the attack. There are so many great examples but I always go back to his “What Rocks is Capitalism” piece in the Telegraph. Any writer/thinker can mock these huge Rock concerts to save the world; they generate tons of trash, they consume a lot of electricity and fuel, they feature millionaires chastising working class folks. But Steyn’s focus on the tax angle and real, money involved completely deflates any attempt at debate.
Good coaches do this to. They know what play the other team will run, and more importantly, they know what counterattack will exploit it. True genius.
Sean: A troll recently wrote “Correct me if I’m wrong…” , and proceeded to be wrongwrongwrong about something that a visit to Wikipedia prolly woulda cured. (I needed no such visit. The Wanks has superior film knowledge.)
I had to wipe the drool off my keyboard before I could start typing my response. How often do you get a chance like that — someone bending over & handing you the paddle? *
*all together now: “That’s what she said!”
I agree Rufus. I remember this column. This is exactly what I’m talking about.
I don’t mind the trolls. They are entertaining. They aren’t as prominent at least as I have seen. I am wondering if our old friend Cornell from Libertas days has shown up there..heh.
Fun little thread at BH from some guy called “Wrestler”…it’s about going all Tony Soprano on the liberal whackos in your life and…uh…whacking them.
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mrwrestler/2009/02/18/whacking-my-friends/#more-52930
Regarding trolls, I really appreciate the commenters we have here. I learn a bunch from you folks, and I have a lot to learn. I sincerely enjoy contrarian views and comments that go against the grain of a post. I like a good debate. I don’t appreciate unintelligent debate; name calling, etc. But I don’t mind any sincere opinion, no matter how different or contrary to mine, as long as both sides are interested in furthering understanding on the topic.
Oh, and you ladies know us guys do not get this “c-word” thing at all, right? We know it’s a fact, and we know it’s the nuclear option when arguing with a woman, but we don’t get it at all.
Darling Rufus,
Knowing that you have little Fireflies, I won’t take your last comment to be literally meant.
Other than that, what don’t you get? the physiology? the psychology? the reason the word is controversial?
(p.s. I second Rufus’ comment on our commenters. Love you guys.)
Wankette,
I’m blushing. No, I did not mean it literally and I should have picked up on that entendre before I hit submit (“that’s what she said…”)
What guys do get is why that one word said in anger makes every human with two xx chromosomes absolutely psycho. Guys call each other all kinds of foul names; heck I only use d*ckhead with my bestest of friends. Why is the corollary verboten with females? I think with a guy the only language that could really set him off is if you got specifically, graphically foul about his mother, but otherwise guys tend to have more of a “sticks and stones” attitude about language.
Just to be clear, we are talking about the “c” word that rhymes with “cunt,” right?
Sorry, bad joke I learned from my youngest brother, who with said joke makes it painfully aware why he’s only had one serious girlfriend in the 16 years since his ‘nads dropped.
That’s funny, Eric. I will steal that in the future. Awhile back Threedonia’s own trzupr retold the famous Chicago joke based on this theme:
Q: What 3 Chicago streets rhyme with “vagina?”
A: Medina, Paulina and Lunt.
Well I know in the UK that the C word is used a lot. But its the nuclear bomb here in the US. I hate that word. I hate people of both sexes when they use it and trust me I have heard women use it to.
We love you guys back Wankette and all.
Rufus,
It’s because women are genetically predisposed to be ashamed/embarrassed about that particular area (see: my first posting here about “Twilight”). We just don’t like to think about “below the waist”. With you guys, well..it’s a joke & a matter of pride & a thing that you grab every day (sorry to be graphic, but)
.
..With many women, it’s “Eeeyyeeuuww!” and we don’t really have to ever touch it bare-handed if we don’t want to and commercials playing on that “smell” fear (douches and sprays and creams)..so when a woman hears the C or T word, it strikes a shame chord. And thus: the Meltdown. You’re wading into dark Freudian territory.
Does Mrs Firefly have a theory?
p.s. Stephanie, *smooch*!
Wankette,
That makes a lot of sense. I had never even thought about that psychological difference until your “Twilight” post, which I really enjoyed, by the way.
“Well I know in the UK that the C word is used a lot.”
My (real) Irish friend uses it a lot. When I was staying at his parents’ on vacation in Dublin, I did a double take as he used the word casually in front of his mother. A God-fearing woman mind you, and she never flinched. The thing is, they don’t use it just for women. They use it mainly for men, or any idiot; when they bang their thumb with a hammer, or just in place of saying, “shite.” And that’s the context in which they consider it. Not related to the female part.
“… which I really enjoyed, by the way.”
That’s what he said.
Oh Wankette … I just noticed that while you’re pointing out people using crass synonyms for vaginas, you show a picture of a woman holding/throwing pie. Freudian slip?
Wankette, that there are no really derogatory words for women’s breasts supports your thesis re: the word cunt.
And Mark Steyn is my type, BTW.
Matt Helm:
Perhaps a “slip,” unless it’s a banana cream.
texacalirose:
Anything involving a banana would be a “split” not “slip.”
Matt Helm:
YOU are “splitting’ hairs! I stand by “slip.”
And yet, women never use those words, either. It’s always either “breasts” or “boobs.”
Why have I never heard a woman refer to her hooters, ta-tas, or bazongas? Am I just hanging out with the wrong crowd?
I know what you mean.
Nobody goes there anymore: it’s too crowded.
Great Yogi reference, Mike! And very true. I am very impressed with Big Hollywood. Because I was working on John’s DH’s Place blog I had some inside information that Big Hollywood was coming a few months before it was announced. I thought it would be good, and for John’s sake I wanted it to be good, but it far exceeded anything I imagined. He and Mr. Breitbart are doing a great job!
I don’t see myself posting there either, and your Yogi quote nails it. It’s so popular I’ve got nothing to add. My thoughts are echoed ten-fold by others in the comments by the time I read a post. Actually, aside from Threedonia and an occassional comment at June’s place John Nolte is the only weblogger to ever draw a comment out of me. He had a real knack for writing his posts in such a way that he drew people out. As evidenced here, I don’t even know much about movies, but John is such a good writer he had me following his posts at Libertas and commenting like a fiend. As good as Big Hollywood is, I think the main thing missing is John’s writing. I know he’s very busy as Editor, but it’s a shame he can’t post more.
You’re right, Rufus. I’m not a big movie fan, either, but I followed John from Libertas to Dirty Harry’s Place because his passion for and knowledge about movies—especially older movies, about which I know nothing—is magnetic.
And I know you get this, but I wanted to make it clear I wasn’t dissing Big Hollywood. I subscribe to the feed and read maybe half of their posts. It’s good stuff.
I like Threedonia a lot, too. One thing I miss—and I shudder to type this—is a MovieBob. Someone who can get my temper up without being a complete troll. But I guess I should be careful what I wish for.
That is very funny you say that, Mike. If you read any of my stuff at DH’s place you know that John had me teamed with Rich (a different Rich, not trzupr). John gave us both about three months notice that Big Hollywood was coming so we could move on if we desired. Rich decided to drop out of the blogosphere and I knew I didn’t have time to carry a site on my own. John was unemployed and has no kids and could do this full time. It was a bear for me to keep up. Floyd was a frequent commenter to my and Rich’s posts at DH’s place so I asked John if he was alright with me grabbing Floyd and one other commenter from his site. If I couldn’t get two others I was also going to hang it up. Floyd said “yes,” and my first pick for a third was MovieBob for the exact reason you mention. I wanted a contrarian view. MovieBob had something else in the fire and declined the offer. I haven’t been to his site for a few months, so I don’t know if his other deal came to fruition, but as much as he often gave me fits at Libertas I always admired his sincerity and intelligence. We have almost nothing in common, but that never bothered me. I actually appreciated that about MovieBob.
Very funny you had the same thought!
Mattt: Eeeyyeeeuuuwww. I gotta say, though, that “slit” isn’t that big a deal to us.
I promise a RadioThreedonia of dirtywords. Last person left standing gets a gift bag. It’ll be me — I know ‘em in Arabic & Farsi.
I know ‘em in Arabic & Farsi.
But do you know them in Swahili, Sanskrit, and Cantonese?
No, but Robbie the barista’s a quick study. I am unafraid!
JohnFN tipped me off to a good feature at BH: you can follow specific commenters. So, if you spot someone who’s generally making good points, you can click on the name and follow them.
Now, I haven’t seen how this works in practice yet, but it seems in theory to be a good way to cut through the trollish comments and see where the good debates are taking place relatively quickly. And then the threaded comment format could be taken advantage of for a “blog-within-a-blog” reasonable—but hopefully contentious—discussion.
I don’t know if I’ll follow MovieBob. I know I said I miss him, but when push comes to shove maybe I don’t miss him that much. I know it takes a grain of sand to make a pearl but—as anyone who’s gotten it in his sneakers can tell you—a little sand goes a long way.
Mike,
The same thing holds for Threedonia. You can click on a commenter’s name and see his or her comments. However, everyone here is so awesome there’s no reason to do that.