Photos
What a week it has been! Obviously the big news this week is Kirstie Alley’s disgusting Oprah soup recipe our redesign! I mean, it’s not news anywhere other than here, and obviously there are more important things going on in the world, probably. Maybe. But for us it has been one of those things that really takes up all of your attention and mental space to the point where you barely even have time to think about what the assassination attempt on Jon Cryer even MEANS. Does he have to give his Emmy back? I don’t know! I can’t think about it right now, I can only hope about it.
Obviously, there are still plenty of bugs to work out of the site, but I think that things are going pretty good, all things considered. And just wait until you see your ballroom’s new look! But of course please continue to send us emails at admin@stereogum.com if/when you encounter problems or concerns.
After the jump, the five Highest Rated Comments, as voted on by you, the Lowest Rated Comment, the winner of the Oprah Chocolate Caption Contest, and the Editor’s Choice.
This Week’s Highest Rated Comments
| #5 |  |
Noam Noam Noam | Feb 23rd | Score:60 |
| Oh.
Dear. God. Double posts, and two of them! A festival of new nightmares. |
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| Posted in: My Little Ponies Perform Showtunes And/Or Two Tickets To Nightmare Town | |||
| #4 |  |
Buttercup | Feb 25th | Score:65 |
| It seems his rage was so large it had to buy 3 extra posts. | |||
| Posted in: Duh Aficionado Magazine: Kevin Smith Needs To Shut Up | |||
| #3 |  |
Bookface | Feb 19th | Score:72 |
 |
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| Posted in: EXCLUSIVE: Leaked Footage From Spider-Man 4 | |||
| #2 |  |
holy smokes! | Feb 22nd | Score:72 |
| I get it! Not Safe for Watermelons | |||
| Posted in: This Is The Real NSFW | |||
| #1 |  |
Notsewfast | Feb 22nd | Score:78 |
| Careful Gabe, you may get a cease & desist letter from Arbor Mist as soon as they find out you’ve posted video of their patented wine making process. | |||
| Posted in: This Is The Real NSFW | |||
Ed. note: There was some minor concern in Videogum Headquarters right before the site relaunch that the disruption would bottom out our beloved community, because as everyone knows, change is the worst, it is the opposite of free rootbeer floats, and it makes people RUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN. But if anything the effect was the opposite. Everyone was very engaged this week, very chatty. It was great. Welcome back even though you never left, everybody.
This Week’s Lowest Rated Comment
| #1 |  |
bearface | Feb 19th | Score:-21 |
| i was thinking the same thing. one millionaire losing his job (and gaining $35 million) to another millionaire because millions of (stupid) people prefer one over the other is much like a group of people losing everything they own and love to a natural disaster and not getting any help from the government because they are minorities.
seriously. so much the same. |
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| Posted in: Go Fuck Yourself, Mr. Leno | |||
Ed. note: I don’t know why you got downvoted so much, bearface. Isn’t what you’re saying kind of just obvious and correct and agreed upon all around? We all love Conan O’Brien but we all know that he has millions of dollars and what happened with the Tonight Show was not an ACTUAL genuine human tragedy, right? Does everyone know that? Let’s just make sure everyone knows that.
This Week’s Caption Contest Winner
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Spice Weasel | Feb 22nd | Score:91 | |
| To donate to the Red Cross, Text HAITI to 90999. | |||
| Posted in: The Videogum Why Don’t YOU Caption It? Contest: Oprah’s Chocolate Set | |||
Ed. note: Congratulations, Spice Weasel. You earned it!
This Week’s Editors Choice
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jlkrekel | Feb 23rd | Score:8 | |
| I’m commenting! On videogum! For the first time! | |||
| Posted in: Welcome To The New Videogum | |||
Ed. Note: We are all trying new things this week! Cats and dogs, living together! Welcome to Videogum, jlkrekel.
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Do you like videogames? Monster’s Ball? Topher Grace? Well then, come join the party at: http://www.videogum.com/chat
Everyone loves Topher Grace! (New show on Fox this Fall.)
Agreed, Gabroll!
Ignition, this is SOOOO like you to agree with someone without an opinion, but who wouldn’t agree with Balki Bartokomous, right?
Yay! Have a great weekend Monsters and Gabe!
I’m actually so surprised I didn’t get Lowest-Rated Comment, I mean, I bashed the new Videogum layout on a post that didn’t have anything to do with the new Videogum! So, thanks bear face!
I’ll help you get into the ball next week Pepper Ann
“And this has to do with Videogum, how? Shut up I Like A Skinny Tie.”
- someone who downvoted you, probably
Whoops! I saw you had two downvotes and I was all “whaaa?”, so I upvoted you without looking at Ian’s post. I’m sorry I hurt your chances at getting to the ball!
Wow! I just thought getting on Monster’s Ball by upvoting, but downvoting’s much smarter!
God hates: Lost, Topher Grace, Gabe, and the new Videogum layout.
Now I’m so confused about whether to upvote or downvote this.
I just upvoted everybody.
Sorry, can’t downvote, love Pepper Ann and Canada too much.
Don’t forget about BRICK. Brickheads.
I had a -32 on the RIP Rick Roll post, but I guess there are new rules to Monsters Ball (i.e. there is no way Gabe going to look through all the comments and there is no other way to find the highest and lowest comment in Videogum 2.0)
Now I’m really confused because bearface’s comment on the Jay Leno thread says +43 (?). It must be the French judges. I want the humiliation I deserve!
I know how you feel. Once, I got like -50 on a post where I said Queen sucks and I was so excited about getting into the ball and then there was no Monster’s Ball because Thanksgiving.
WAHHHHHHHHHHH
We pull the comments at noon on Friday, which means there are five or six hours during which voting continues but the “official” scores are already determined. Thus the occasional (frequent?) discrepancy.
Wait back up, did you just say Queen sucks? The lady with the crown or the band? If the second, how dare you sir! You clearly have no taste*
*Alright I’m not that mad, but you can’t really be: “I gently disagree with with your opinion, but still respect it” on the internet. I’m pretty sure that one’s a law
Yay, Monster’s Ball!! Makes it feel like old Videogum
I’ll just go back to repeating “Change is good” now.
Your icon and name is everything that is right with this world.
Hey Videogum Team,
I’m unsure about sending you an e-mail, because there is no definite problem and my concerns are not technical. Everything is working fine. So please forgive me if this is the wrong place for this, but I was to talk about the redesign (some more). I’ve given it a few days and I’ve come up with some specific and constructive criticisms regarding the new look (and why I’m not a big fan).
First of all, let me say that I absolutely appreciate the new functionality that VGum2.0 is bringing to the table. I understand it is both easier for you and awesome-er for us and that there is plenty more to come. No gripes there. I also understand that you may have very limited flexibility in terms of what you can do, given that you are working within the confines of a blog software, a tandem redesign with Stereogum, and the dreams of the people over at Buzzmedia. (Hi, Buzzmedia!)
Despite all of this, here are some of my grievances, which I hope may serve as helpful feedback.
1) The color scheme is grossly underwhelming. It is plain vanilla, my friends. It lacks any kind of contrast, causing the site to lose its grounding. It does not reflect the content of the website, the tone of the writing, or the spirit of the community. It is possible to use purple and beige in a much more interesting fashion. Please experiment with this.
2) The margins are almost non-existent, causing the site to look cramped and dated. White space is your friend and it allows elements to breathe. Please widen the margins between the edge of the white column and the text.
3) The main column is simply too wide. I understand this allows the bonus of huge videos, but the readability of your site suffers. Optimal reading line length is approximately 12 words. Videogum’s new design has a line length almost double that: approximately 22 words. This makes is tedious to read.
4) Type contrast is weak. Headlines are not much bigger than the body text. The right column is a total mess. The hierarchy of the website is not as clear as it could be, which means it takes more effort to sift through content.
As someone who earns their living through web design, I seriously call into question the work of the team who produced this template. I have been visiting Videogum daily for two years, and I will continue to visit, but I feel like we’ve been on a bad episode of Trading Spaces where we got stuck with the overconfident designer who ruined our home. (Analogy School is now accepting late registrations for the winter semester.)
Do what you can. This design can be easily refined to allow for dramatic visual improvements. I believe in you, team! Thanks for hearing me out.
I really like the new format, but here’s my problem. It always logs me in using facebook connect, but I don’t want FACEBOOK CONNECT. I want to use my anonymous user name so no one really knows me, but noooooo, I’ve given up. It’s simply not worth logging out of my facebook anymore. So here you go monsters and Gabe, this is the real me. Love me for who I am, not who I was.
OMG MARTIN SCORSESE COMMENTS ON VIDEOGUM I AM FREAKING OUT!!!
Actually if it isn’t too late you can go to your Facebook Application Settings under the Accounts tab and simply click the X next to Videogum.com on the list of applications you’ve recently used. We can all pretend we don’t know who you are, JJ “Marty” Bersch. Either way, I just want you to be happy.
Professor Email, you are. Well, anyway, I really miss when we rolled over our icons and they embiggened. Otherwise, I am adjusting with catlike grace.
I believe you mean ENHANCE!
Embiggen up yourself.
And another thing. Can we see the up-/downvotes of our comments when we view them at our profile page? That is a handy way to feel popular or dismayed without having to fish for it.
(And personally I would paraphrase Funtastik’s comments like so: This site used to look like it was about to bring the funny. Now it looks like my SAP timesheet at work but with amazing gifs.)
Now, please allow me to add a Thanks For All The Hard Work Gabe. VG has been and will remain my main website to visit, no matter what.
Seconded on most points.
It’s a perfectly cromulent word.
I’m still having log-in problems (can’t change password, don’t stay logged in). Anyone else, or is it just me?
It doesn’t keep me logged in either…
I also like when you can roll over the avatars to enhance. Some of them are hard to make out at this size.
Other than that, I’m cool with the new design. Oh – it would be cool if you could see a comment’s votes without being logged in, but then again, if it kept me logged in, that wouldn’t be an issue…
It doesn’t keep me logged in either, and I’ve tried on two different computers, a roll of toilet paper and the reliquary containing Topher Grace’s caul.
I can’t change my password either. It’s okay, we’ll make it through this tough time. Together.
Also, will we be able to have .gifs for our icons? CooGaga is ok but I miss my old Tobias-GOB one. And ditto hotspur on the enlarged icons.
Really can you say no to this incredible catlike ability?
Ugh. Fine, don’t embed the gif, making my previous post vague and kind of creepy. Perfect
it’s impossible for me, now, to read one of your comments without thinking: “nerdfighter”.
Haha.
I looked at your profile (that’s not creepy is it?) and saw you’re a librarian. I’m going for my MLIS right now!
that’s awesome! i loved library school (kind of!)
yay library scientists!
this is in the wrong place. obviously failed cataloging.
The fact that we are talking about “optimal line length” here reaffirms my love for this place. Everything you mentioned is spot on.
Videogum needs to get out of the typographic yogurt cup.MLIOLL
What bothers me the most is the fact that once the comment section reaches a certain number, the older comments are moved to separate page. I usually don’t have time to read Videogum until later in the day, and it’s sort of irritating when I want to read comments on a particularly popular post. Also, when there are a lot of replies, it can be confusing as to who is replying to whom without the “so-and-so in response to whoever” that used to appear. (I hope I’m using the correct who/whom there.)
I feel like a grumpy old man confused by this shiny, new website. Which is not good considering my age and gender.
I find the reply thing a bit challenging too.
This week has been like when your girlfriend gets a bad haircut and you have to pretend to like it. Or like when she paints her apartment so white it hurts your eyes and then she makes it so you have to log in to see what’s getting upvoted. But you can’t say anything to her because she might suggest you download other people, but you don’t want to download other people, you want to download her!
Someone got their registration for Analogy School in early!
BruceGoose is in the early admittance Honors Analogy program, obviously.
I appreciate the feedback, you make lots of excellent points I will bring up with BUZZMEDIA’s product team.
I have a running list of dozens of bugs and tweaks we’ll be making over the next few weeks and months. Gabe, Amrit, and I have been discussing and re-prioritizing them every day.
The most important thing right now is that everyone can log in, change passwords, and sign in/out of Facebook Connect. That’s still buggy, but should be fixed very soon. Continue to e-mail admin@stereogum.com if you are experiencing account problems!
Things like displaying scores on profile pages, deeplinking to comments, serving full RSS, and altering unintuitive Read More/See Comments links will all be fixed next.
And then we’ll address cosmetic issues like the ones Funtastik hinted at.
I am super happy you guys are bearing with us!
My wife and I simultaneously made a “Relax Techno_____” joke at dinner tonight and then we had to explain it to everyone? And it was really hard to explain? You guys know!
A huge thanks for your acknowledgment of our concerns. It is fantastic to know that our voices are being heard, our opinions are being accounted for, and our suggestions are being noted. I will be sure to report any bugs or problems in the future, but I will no longer bring up aesthetic issues until you’ve had a chance to get through that list of priorities.
Thanks again for replying. I love Videogum so much that I want to take it into an alley and get it pregnant.
Somebody downvoted this?
Booooooooooo alleyway pregnancies I guess?
Well now I just look silly. Thanks phantom voter-upper!
Please note that I do not support alleyway pregnancies. I do, however, support 30 Rock references! I guess I should have double-checked, because the proper quote is “behind the middle school” and not “into an alley.” My apologies (for this inexcusable mistake).
You guys have been so incredibly helpful and open to suggestion. I haven’t really had any problems, but I frequent some blogs that literally respond with “tough shit” when you ask about a tech issue. So I guess I don’t really have anything to add other than a broad appreciation for your attentiveness, the redesign (which I am loving more and more – I feel like I should be wearing a tie in here), and what you guys do in general.
And Scott, I am loving the new design over at Stereogum. Seriously, it’s perfect. As an added bonus, I feel like I can start commenting there again!
A round of applause for you guys.
And paragraph breaks? Too much!
regina:)
Awww… it was working before. It was Gary Busey’s disturbingly frozen face superimposed on Charles Foster Kane’s body as the terrifying hybrid gives the most enthusiastic applause you’ll ever see. Sad face.
an oldie but goodie
he moves disturbingly well with techno.
In the same spirit of Funtastik, I would like to suggest if you could add the same accessibility of the “old-school” Videogum to the links in the upper frame (TV, Movies, Webjunk and Photos).
I think that it could be a easier way to navigate through previous posts (especially for the TV recaps) and it would help first-visitors to get more sense of all the content that Videogum offers.
Thanks to all the team in both here and Stereogum for all the great work and for being open to suggestions.
MLISFSGL
I hope you had FUN at DINNER, Scott!
Oh, what’s that? I’m fired? Ok well I guess I’ll start packing my things.
Long live Videogum! I for one appreciate our responsive and thoughtful overlords.
I’m glad you brought up the layout issues in such a way that, if they chose, they could adopt pretty easily (or at least try out some alternate layouts before they make it the final design) because I can’t believe that the current one was the best choice. The lack of color is really bumming me out out… and I never thought I’d miss the all CAPS headlines, but I do… A LOT–serifs just don’t work for the content. Anyway, everything you said +1, Funtastik –good feedback!
(Maybe when you are not busy being a professor of the internet, you could offer your services and help videogum get her groove back! We would all be extremely appreciative and we can pay you in upvotes!)
Consider yourself fist-bumped.
Shut up, spell-check, it’s a word!
I upvoted this on Videogum, but I downvoted the hell out of it in the theater.
Congrats Monster winners. Can I safely assume you’ll be keeping your Monsters’ Ball trophies in the bathroom?
I MADE MONSTER’S BALL, CONGRADULATIONS, ME!
CONGRATULATIONS! But, I personally would have loved to see you on here for your Bonnie Hunt comment.
Aww shucks, I didn’t mean that yours wasn’t funny, it certainly deserved to be there. I’m sorry.
For someone trying to get the lowest rated comment for the upcoming ball, you are doing a BAD JOB.
Guh, finally! Enjoy your Fri, Sat, Sun.
love it every time. also watch it over and over again
Also, congrats to all the Monstah Balla’s. Esp. those that benefit from my inverted DS effect.
It is a strange thing that my embarrassment over accidently overexposing myself lead to more exposure.
In fact, logic dictates that it should lead to more embarrassment!
But logic was invented by devil-people and dammit, I’m in monsters ball!
WHOOOOO! Thank goodness for posting catastrophes!
Jon Cryer is regularly stalked by maniacs. I was in NYC like 12 years ago (before TAAHM) and agreed to go to lunch with a mentally imbalanced coworker. We had just stepped out of the lobby when she screamed: “It’s him! From the movies!” Huh? She grabbed my arm in a python deathlock and took off down the crowded sidewalk. I bounced behind her saying “Who? What?” Half a block later, she came face to face with — literally inches away from — Mr Jon Cryer. He looked startled as all hell. She pointed at his face and yelled “I told you! I TOLD you! DUCKY.” And then calmly she turned away to head to the lunch place. True story.
Did we ever decide who won the rap battle for Quarantine Rapper’s heart? Because if it’s a tie, DIBS!
It was a tie. a SKINNY Tie! Bam.
You win.
Oh skinny tie! How could anyone EVER downvote you?
As official* Videogum archivist, I’d like to note that we have two firsts in today’s Monsters’ Ball!
Notsewfast has now had the number 1 comment three times, a new record! Congrats Notsewfast! That’s also five times in one month on the top five for Notsewfast, which is the most ever! You’re on fire, Notsewfast!
Secondly, Spice Weasel has now gotten Caption Winner, Lowest Voted, and Editor’s Choice. While he wasn’t technically on the Top Five this week, he did have the highest vote total, so as far as I’m concerned he’s the first person to have hit all four categories of Monsters’ Ball! Gotta catch them all, Spice Weasel! …which you did. Woohoo!
Complete list of Monsters’ Ball commenters: http://werttrew.tumblr.com/post/270476062/complete-list-of-videogums-monsters-ball-commenters
*not official
My Babylon 5 message board is never going to believe this!
Also, thanks for the upvotes everyone. I just instinctively type whatever the first thing that comes to mind that makes me laugh, so its good to know that the voices in my head aren’t the only ones who laugh at my jokes occasionally.
As an archivist and official* Videogum lover, this warms my dusty, dusty heart.
*Totally official!
So Spice Weasel has the first Videogum EGOT?
And I guess Notsewfast is our Jack Nicholson?
I apologize if this pisses onyone off but anything goes in Monsters Ball and I think this is a pretty interesting series of pictures…
http://i45.tinypic.com/10zz4mc.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/8xlq81.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/15y2bs.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/2lwpz0g.jpg
I’m so glad we’ve been able to come together and speak our minds in order to make this place better rather than just trashing the new design and changes.
LIKE A FAMILY.
Yeah, the “Welcome To The New Videogum” post was basically Gabe calling for a family meeting… and we met monster-siblings we never knew we had because they had been living under the stairs silently observing us this whole time! All I know, is those new monsters had better add their name to the chore wheel!
first off, thanks for the upvotes everyone. as a first time Monsters Ball-er, it’s awesome to feel all the love in the room. sticking with that thought, big time ups to Scott and Gabe for helping us Monsters feel like our voices are being heard through the redesign process…. it’s obviously not easy going through a major renovation but you guys are doing awesome. keep up the good work.
I know I am not a daily poster but I am disappointed with myself this week. I just can’t get into the new design, maybe it is the gray background? Who knows and who cares? My new year’s resolution is to post more next week. Also I have had to reset my password twice this week because my password doesn’t work even though it has been my password for a little less than a year.*
*I joined last year after the Oscar chatroom, so I am almost up to my 1 year anniversary. I know I am like 40 years younger than you but I love you and when we go out you look the same age as me, so there is no is that your father and we can have fun in between your periodic Ensure shakes.
I will miss Tobey Macguire.
longtime lurker first time monster. if nothing else, the redesign forced me to finally create an account so I can see the up votes. so how do you add gifs to these comments?
oh, that’s how
GAH! What a week.
De ja vue anyone?
WHOA.
this shit is trippin me out, son.
HAHA, if you go to the main page and hit the comments link it will send you to the right page
Now it doesn’t work. Weird, that way worked a min ago
huh?
Look at how young and foolish we were a week ago, we’re much better than that now
comments link takes me right back here. WHAT IS THE SECRET THAT EVERYONE HAS BUT ME???
Who fell asleep on the reset button?
I..umm…whaaa…uhh…welll…letsee…gosh…err….I am sick and just woke up from feverish dreams…and now i am freaking out even more…what just happened?
Was this whole week one long fever dream? was there no Clinton and orange Pivan Caption Contest? Did I really have a fabulous dream that Zack Galifianakis is hosting SNL with Vampire Weekend??
And did my fevered mind really trick me into thinking Sarah Palin is getting her own Reality show?
Whew, I am glad it was all one 103 degree dream…
Now’s our chance. Let’s KILL HITLER!