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This Week’s Highest Rated Comments
| #5 |  |
the narrator | Dec 13th | Score:82 |
| Posted in: The Hunt For The Worst Movie Of All Time: Christmas With The Kranks | |||
| #4 |  |
thekelburrows | Dec 10th | Score:87 |
| Posted in: Monsters’ Ball: The Week’s Best Comments | |||
| #3 |  |
Frank Lloyd Wrong | Dec 16th | Score:98 |
| Posted in: Now Imagine Thor Was White… | |||
| #2 |  |
kingmaker | Dec 10th | Score:103 |
| Posted in: Thursday Night TV Open Thread: Christmas Specials Edition | |||
| #1 |  |
That Clever Guy | Dec 10th | Score:104 |
| Posted in: Thursday Night TV Open Thread: Christmas Specials Edition | |||
[Ed. note: We momentarily lift the Monsters' Ball ban on animated GIFs as befits the spirit of the holidays. We did it, you guys. We ARE doing it!]
This Week’s Lowest Rated Comments
| #1 |  |
Steve Winwood | Dec 14th | Score:-31 |
| In the second sentence you wrote “The two years he had spend…” HA ha ha you meant “spent” not “spend” idiot better go take some remedial english courses before you embarrass yourself in these parts again, friendo | |||
| Posted in: The Videogum Why Don’t YOU Caption It? Contest: Ye Olde Spidere-Mane | |||
[Ed. note: This is a bit much. Incidentally, this comment was left in response to this week's Caption Contest Winner (see below) making it even more of a bit much and it was already, as mentioned, a bit much.]
This Week’s Caption Contest Winner
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teacherman | Dec 14th | Score:73 | |
|
Of course, Susan was overjoyed to have Frank home again. The two years he had spend oversees had been almost unbearable. With no children in the house, Susan would often sit for hours listening to the ticking grandfather clock, wanting so desperately to know where he was, if he was unharmed. Friends would come by on Saturdays, equipped with half-smiles and covered dishes, assuring her that he would be home soon. She would nod and say that she knew, but that was a great lie. Strangely, laundry became almost torturous, for there were no shirts to iron. But now he was home and the house was different because of his return. There was his weight on the floor, his smell in the bed. Still, Susan could sense he was different somehow. War had changed him. When she asked him any question about the past two years, his voice became distorted like a weak radio signal and he physically wilted. He told her everything was fine, but that was a greater lie. Also, there was the whole thing where he refused to take off the spiderman mask. |
|||
| Posted in: The Videogum Why Don’t YOU Caption It? Contest: Ye Olde Spidere-Mane | |||
[Ed. note: Congratulations, teacherman. You earned it!]
This Week’s Editor’s Choice
[Ed. note: This week's winner is the comments in general. This is one of the two or three times a year where I take a moment to let you guys know how much I appreciate the community: very much! The comments are so good! You guys are so smart and funny and thoughtful. It is just a treat for me, a REAL TREAT, to be a part of it and to watch it grow and evolve and yet still through all of that continue to just be super solid and awesome. Good work. Thank you. Happy holidays.]
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I made it just in time for Monster’s Ball guys! I’ve missed you all week! Happy weekend!
I keep trying to see what the Dad is holding, but my eyes are too slow!
BEST COMMERCIAL EVER:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEQCMPLatwA
that commercial was hilarious. when that kids third arm popped out i was like “oh, he has one too, haha!” (<—good story)
Hey Monsters!
Check out our cool Monster website at: http://mobfd.blogspot.com
We have a ton of Monster related lists to check out like:
Twitter
Words With Friends
Monster Marketplace
PS3/XBOX usernames
Tumblrs and blogs
and lots more!!!!
Plus information on upcoming meet ups and great posts from Monsters!
Ain’t no website like a Monster website because a Monster website is MANDATORY!
(I just really like this gif)
And make sure to read Lawblog’s gripping and hilarious Monster soap opera, “Gums of Our Lives” at thelawblog.tumblr.com.
I’ve moved my tally of Monsters’ Ball stats to mobfd as well:
http://mobfd.blogspot.com/2010/11/httpwerttrewtumblrcompost270476062compl.html
I think a runnerup for the week should be the Community christmas special because wow. so good.
Congratulations to all my good friends in the Ball this week! Especially my IRL huz! YAY!
And a special shout out to ALL MONSTERS for Editor’s Choice!
Now Let’s Party:
Does the Editor’s Choice count towards our EGOTs? Werttrew?
No. :-/
oh boy…does anybody have video of this??
anybody got any pictures of natalie portman for me to look at?
Steve, because I liked your comment so much, I’m going to overcome my Portman hate. Happy holidays, this is your gift:
Seriously, when did this happen? My sleuthing skills have it narrowed down to 8:23 ET but I hit a brick wall then.
Gabe was on Fox before his Videogum days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VpEoFqNMxk
Indeed lets get this party started.
Damn, by the time I made and posted my dancing GIF, this thread had already started.
I will post it again for good measure.
DONE
BEST. GIF. EVER.
I love my eBFFs! See you in Vegas, ladies!
I just realized who thekelburrows would be…
At first I was resistant to being the mom, but then I realized hey, she’s a cool mom, not like a regular mom. I’m teaching you ladies the way it’s done.
I love this. Too much.
What the?
This is so stinkin’ cute!
Is it dance party time yet? Whatever Im going to dance
Adventure Time!!! Thanks Slothdrop!!!
PAAARTY PEEEOPLE! YEEEEEEEAAAAAHHH!
TAG TEAM BACK AGAIN!
Oooh –– these are both my favourite all-time gifs.
Guys, this weekend SHAKE THAT THING.
What is this gif? Is that the guy from Big Bang Theory?
I have no idea but it REALLY looks like Karl from Underworld. Pretty sure it’s him.
That is from this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-R2eqF5m9Y
Also, I wish I had a gif of this, but just imagine we’re all in the Matrix:
You dance your way, I’ll dance mine:
Well, it’s tiny, but I still managed to successfully post a .gif my first time trying. So I’ll give myself an upvote in my mind.
And we’ll give you upvotes with our thumbs!
Keep going, keep going!
This is going to sound really strange, but does anyone else feel that these .gifs must get tired? I always think of them running non-stop and that when I return to them in a couple of days, the people or creatures in them will look really worn out and dishevelled. So I feel a bit sorry for them, as though they’re trapped in here, doomed to repeat the same thing over and over, groundhog-day-style, forever more.
This is odd, I know. I just felt like sharing it.
Yeesh, okay so you gave me the worst commentator title yet again (is that 11 times now, Wertrew?). Seriously? I didn’t write some boring long manifesto about how great the videogum commentator section used to be and how its not as good like some people stated earlier on another thread, I think it was the thread about the open letter to the surveillance tape. So stupid. Give those people worst comment of the week (weak? get it?) title and leave me be. Leave me be!
I actually agree with Steve on this one. But no surprise there. Of course, apparently a lot of people disagreed with me and agreed with the people saying it used to be great and now it sucks, hence the downvotes/upvotes. So whatever. I’ll take 900,000 of Steve’s grammar corrections over crap like that.
Congrats to all of the winners of the Monsters’ Ball! Especially Teach!
I love you, Sister Wife!
I left that thread early cause it was a wicked busy day and because wow it was terrible and my options were snarky insult v essay, but I just revisited, and what the hell happened over there? I mean, shit, where did you earn all those downvotes Baby Friday? I always have this feeling there are lots of lurkers who do nothing but downvote.
And this it totally too late and such, but I’m going to try to make sense of an insult that was thrown at you and some others. Videogum does have its “cool kids” who get more upvotes than other people would with the same comment, who get more people responding to them, whatever, but that shit doesn’t matter that much, and really, that stuff exists in any group of friends. So, yeah, you’re one of the cool kids, but none of the cool kids at Videogum walk around stealing lunch money, and the non-cool kids are allowed to sit at whatever fucking table they want. So, did that make sense, I’ve no idea.
I’m Southern, so when I’m baited my blood gets “angried up” and I can’t NOT respond. So I brought some of it on myself by not shutting up when I should have. But still, I appreciate your sentiments and support. Want to sit with me at lunch?
Relax, Baby Friday. It’s Internettown.
I am a lurker who only upvotes, if it makes up for anything?
You stole the lowest rated comment award from me again Winwood!!!!!!
which comment did you make that should have been worst?
I hated on Girl Talk again.
Girl talk is veddy veddy overrated.
Is it cute animal gif time?
Holy. Fucking. SHIT. A LADYBUG GIF?!?!
The internet =
I KNOW. THIS IS MY FAVORITE THING EVER.
I WANT A PET LADYBUG.
“This is the most magical thing I’ve ever seen. I want to watch it every day.” – My mom
Great week everyone. Great YEAR everyone. Please take this opportunity to sport some hair and go out on the town. We’ll see you in chat after hours.
Lets open our belts and get comfortable
My -24 isn’t enough to win lowest comment? Damn you, Winwood! You are truly the superior opponent.
Nuts. I’ve missed reading Videogum most of this week due to all my finals. At least I now have plenty of funny videos and witty comments to read in a lavish chair next to my fireplace next to my shelves of books.
I guess what I’m saying is this is my Washington Post.
Can I just say how much I love you all again? Even on days I don’t have the time to comment a lot, or properly, you’re always good for the soul.
No, but really.
Although Ryan Reynolds scares the shit out of me in this gif, I love myself some All 4 One. I need to check taht movie out! Now everyone get their drink on!
I don’t know what this says about me, but I think that movie is hilarious (mostly because of Reynolds and Ana Faris).
As a former fattie (LADIES), this movie hits a little close to home for me, but maybe the time has come to embrace this movie. I like Reynolds, Faris is too hit and miss for me, but I am going to give this a go.
i never think movies are funny and when i laughed throughout this one, i was like, is my radar off? do i just have terrible taste in humor?
Oh, wow. I’m honored, but I owe it all to Community for being the best comedy (and show, sometimes!) on television. Season’s greetings, Monsters!
Hey, so that comment- was it just showing that their reflections in the television were actually the actors and not the models? That’s a nice subtle easter egg and the only time the actors actually appear in that episode, but I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something.
Yep, exactly — the TV screen says “The End” and goes blank. It was beautiful. At least several of us were left with welled-up eyes. I AM NOT ASHAMED TO ADMIT IT!
First I win Time’s Person of the Year and now Editor’s Choice?
This is too much, guys.
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see
Oh, and Kel, I wanted to tell you that your video/.gif inspired one of Teacherman’s presents to me! It’s a FRIGGIN’ COFFEE MUG with our ELF SELVES on it. I almost cried. I’ll try to post a pic soon.
It’s official – this is the best day of my life.
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/Ku6cj16l7TMBmOGZ
You also inspired Birdie to learn how to dance
I love it more than I knew I could love:
Wait, I was featured on a real life mug?
Note that Mans is executing a perfect triple salchow.
AWWWWW! I want a Mean Girls one of us.
I got your back! No one puts Baby Friday in a corner!
We need to make shirts that say “No one puts Baby Friday in a corner”
Nightmare… allow me to present my Xmas gifs to you:
and
Assembled hastily and poorly, but with great esteem.
That. Is. Amazing.
Duh Afficiando update: that guy is a convicted sex offender, for realsies.
WOAH, I just read that thread went shit went down earlier this week and spit egg nog all over my gilded china (I am also an elitist). I’m a little late on the game with this, I know.
I similarly am an often avid reader and not so avid poster. What I reject most from Duke Nukem’s comments was when he said “…you can take something seriously without being condescending.” I probably found that the most condescending, asshole quip I’ve seen in a while. Most of the comments here are comedic, reactionary and a little inclusive. Especially here, writing is an obstinately unnatural effort. So when Mans posted something deeply sincere and someone else damned it as “condescending” and as taking something serious “too seriously,” I saw that as asking a monkey to dance. Yet we are not monkeys. As Lawblog would say, “we are monsters,” but this doesn’t mean that we have to forgo being human every once in a while.
Stay strong, Baby Friday, Videogum, and Monsters everywhere.
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see
See, this is how the Videogum cool kids act. They’re all, “Hey, wanna come over? I got sweet games, oh and I’m having a party this weekend, everyone’ll be there, you should come!”
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see
I ALSO just read all that bullshit and my only comment, besides the obvious “Who are these assholes who think you can downvote Baby FUCKIN Friday?!” is:
Is Briadru gonna have to choke a bitch?
How anyone can downvote a stirring support of friendship, a Dave Chappelle Wayne Brady Skit reference, and this adorable and sprightly penguin… is quite literally beyond me.
Now, IF YOU’LL EXCUSE ME, I have a 14-quart stockpot of mulled wine to consume.
VIDEOGUM FOR LIFE. BRIADRU OUT.
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see
I think it is appropriate to defend friends because 1) that’s what friends are for! and 2) its awesome that VG actually creates friendships, but I don’t think everyone should get so offended. Duke Nukem was obviously deteriorating as the thread continued and I felt no compulsion to engage or even defend against such riled-up-ness. Especially cause Baby Friday has no problem speaking her mind. (don’t hurt me! j/k)
Secondly, I want to say that the “cool crowd” thing is not unexpected or new really but I feel like it could possibly be more noticable lately due to the fact that many of the “cool” monsters are also “chat” monsters which actually facilitates real friendships (cause chat is great FYI!!). This has not been the case in the past. Before the “cool” monsters mainly made funny comments (notsewfast, werrtrew, godsauce ect.) and now the “cool” monsters are actually a friend group and therefore more like a clique. I say clique only here on the comments. In chat everyone just seems more equal. Or maybe the “cool” crowd is just really large? I don’t know exactly what the difference is. I’m just thinking on paper. This is simply an observation to maybe clarify things a bit.
The truth is, if you comment as much as the “cool” crowd does, you WILL be in it. It’s not that difficult. I really don’t want anyone to feel left out or “uncool” because you are definitely not! Being IN actually has nothing to do with being “cool” (though they are all great, funny people) it is a numbers game. Comment the shit of this place in a fairly respectful and periodically funny manner and you are golden.
But needless to say, kindness, thoughtfulness and inclusion should always be the order of the day. And I think on that we can all agree.
Yikes
Very insightful.
And now, we dance!
So this is the last Monster’s Ball of 2010 right? Since next week is Christmas Eve?
It’s been real pogs, remember 2011 is our last year on earth so let’s party like it’s 1999
No
I like to take a nice bath to relax.
Is there anything from that movie that can’t be made into a humourous gif? I say no.
Omg. Omg. That man. I can’t even.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THEKELBURROWS! WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!
Yay, Kel! I am so proud!!!!!!
Oh man, I don’t possess the words to express how I feel about this truly remarkable place filled with so many truly wonderful people. So gif.
Congrats Kel! Drinks on me!
To all Videogum ladies–ANNOUNCING:
*PinkGum*
A lady monster meetup in Las Vegas June 2011. There will be pool cabanas. There will be t-shirts. And we will be staying (where else?) at the Flamingo. Msg me on facebook or twitter if interested.
As a lady (!), and a monster, I beg you to consider that your monster link has no Facebook or twitter links for the simple people to look at…pleeze advise…
Corrected! Thanks. And I like you, too.
Imma be all up in da club like dis, y’all:
Awwwwwwwww, man. Make this January 5 & 6 and during CES and let guys join.
I think the guys are planning a parallel trip but (alas!) it is in June also. Send me Dog Lloyd Wrong and we can negotiate.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS, MONSTERS!
Also, thanks for the good times in 2010. This place is great, because just as I can’t get in front of a real computer all the time, you guys KILL IT on twitter and it makes my day. In 19 years, I’ll buy you all a round of drinks!
Happy Hollidays, folks. Thanks for making me laugh, like, all the time and a big thanks to Gabe who is so automatic with the laughs it worries me. Dude either works too hard or is a robot. Maybe both.
I’d just like to give a shout out to Briadru4
Me too! Me too! Group hug!
Also, it’s Friday… I’m ready for my booze booze time
I’m with ya.
Dear this week, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole you in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did *was* wrong. But we think you’re crazy to make an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us…
In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a teacherman
…and an thisismynightmare
…and a mans…
…a lawblog…
…and a Winwood…
Does that answer your question?… Sincerely yours, the Monsters’ Ball.
“I said Naaaaa. Na-na-na-naaaaaaaaa. Na-na-na-naaaaaaaaa.”
All of the upvotes I will ever have to give.
Speaking of Mans do we have any confirmation that Hunter S. Thompson did not fake his own death and that Mans is not actually him?
My wife went to the same high school as Hunter S. Thompson, so there is no way that I am him.
Okay, literal goose bumps. I fuckin’ love you, FLW, and I don’t care who knows it.
BEST. COMMENT. EVER.
THE BEST. x10^23
Dammit! I thought I totally had it this week! Rats! Oh well, I’ll have to settle for a blanket Editor’s Choice. Hooray! Celebrate with tea!
I seriously don’t understand how you haven’t made the ball yet, DSN. I find myself upvoting your comments pretty much constantly.
I’m right there with you , DSN. But we gotta keep hope alive. One day… One day…
So first of all, YAY!!! The Monster’s Ball nod never gets old. Now, where did I put that tuxedo?
Second of all, and this is already being said here, but I would just like to reiterate that this place is the best. I consider many of you guys my actual friends (there I said it!) and I really can’t imagine that there are many other places on the interwebs that have this high of a level of community solidarity and intelligence. We pat ourselves on the back a lot around here, and you know what? WE SHOULD! BECAUSE WE ARE GREAT! I mean, have you guys been out there? It’s dark and cold and people are mean. I say we stay in and build a fire.
I hope you all have an amazing weekend and a beautiful holiday season.
Aw shucks, Teach. You really are awesome.
You’re not so bad youself, Teach. I’ll see you in drunk chat tonight!
oh, shut up.
hahaha…beautiful.
Oh, man. I was sure Editor’s Choice was going to go to Mark Zuckerberg.
Hahahahahahahahahaha. Oh, Patrick M. You are funny. You are really funny. For real.
Fun times you guys! Let me wish all of you a Merry Christmas (unless you reject this on theological, scientific, or antisocial grounds). I will be traveling around our great nation (well, mostly flying over it) and so I will not be checking in much next week (unless I get super bored at my parents’ house — er, I may be checking in a lot) and so hereby I give you my Ho Ho Hos now.
In RELATED news, if any monsters in the Baltimore-New Jersey-New York area (that’s an area, right?) would like to throw pies at me or put spiders in my hair (you guys!), next week’s your chance! (No BIG spiders please.) Any planned monster meetups on the books? Let me know here, I will invite myself (if time & space allow).
Have the best Christmas since National Lampoon’s Christmas, you guys, you’re all my favorite person. And teacherman, seriously: awesome caption.
Fashionably tardy to the dance party?
http://imgur.com/ZFpdc
ugh
not to be a negative nellie around the holidays but i’m going to say that after reading thru this thread and the clay duke surveillance tape thread, i can’t help but be sorta disappointed by the way things go on around here. sure, i’m old guard and rarely post anymore so forgive me for sounding like when i was a kid i had to walk to school uphill in the snow both ways etc., but i’d be lying if the one-upsmanship circle jerk for corny one-liners and perpetual cheerleading is not beyond tired. i understand that a lot of us here are friends and that’s really nice but it wouldn’t kill us to actually RESPOND TO THE CONTENT gabe posts. at this point, it’s like gabe could post a video of a farting dog (actually, he probably has and this is the worst example because if there ever was “webjunk,” it would be a video of a farting dog) BUT MY POINT IS THAT these comments seem to exist totally separate from the content of the website. it makes the whole community aspect sort of a drag and certainly does not beg for commenters to make even remotely relevant and interesting comments. we need to get it together, shitbirds.
If only you had a catchy phrase you could use as a hash tag on twitter to help organize your call to arms.
THIS isn’t THAT. <3
For one, a Holiday Monster’s Ball and the Clay Duke thread aren’t exactly the litmus test of what the website, and its commenters (or commentators, Winwood) are truly capable of. Chiefly, funny and jovial commentary on the post at hand. Look, I’m not going to get in an argument with you, that’s not my aim at all. But for you to speak in generalities like that is a disservice to the people who contribute to this site on a regular basis. I’m proud of many of the people here. I would hardly call them lazy, not that it matters a great deal, it’s still just a website. Not life or death stuff over here. But I still feel the majority of content in the comments is rich and your criticism, while holding some weight, is mostly off the mark.
we can agree to disagree.i do believe the majority of the comments have little do with what is posted. they are instead one enormous circle jerk of internet ego massage. it’s boring and uninspired.
I agree with JD. I also think that if anything, the comments here are mostly inspired. Maybe not entirely by the post they follow, but certainly by the collective vibe and core sensibilities of the blog. This is Videogum! Love or hate the tangential repartee to Gabe’s posts, but isn’t it great that a forum such as this one exists for you to voice your opinions (before making fart jokes)?
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see
there aren’t enough shades in the world that will let me deal with this. also, i don’t have to agree with Gabe?
Good point! You don’t have to agree with Gabe. Please don’t ban me.
Lastly, I respect dissenting viewpoints on VG. How else would we have conversations? Maybe perhaps you’re saying there aren’t ENOUGH dissenters around as of late?
All I know is, I haven’t been around these parts as long as you, and so I don’t really have anything to compare the current face of VG comment threads to. And… I like BNPG games. It keeps my mind active and alert and helps to ward off dementia.
Recently, when I’ve been trying to read posts, I feel as though I have to wave through a sea of back-slaps to each other or .gifs that have NOTHING to do with the content. I mean, .gif parties are fine on Fridays and Monster’s Balls, but it seems like we have BNPG’s or .gif parties ALMOST EVERYDAY NOW.
Maybe I’m just an old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn, but I do think that it’s getting excessive. I mean, werttrew and notsewfast are masters at well-placed, meaningful .gifs. But the posting of one just to post it seems kinda old. Also, I mean I enjoy being i-nice to my e-friends too, but the saccharine qualities of late have made me nauseous. Let’s have DISCUSSIONS, y’all. Sheeeiiittt, let’s argue. We can’t be all nice to each other all the time. The comments seem to be dominated by a small group of people, and it would be great if more people would actually TALK about shit instead of just using Videogum as our own personal Twitter feeds.
Make it work people! – Tim Gunn, probably. I’ve never seen that show.
I wanted to say what you just said, but it’s Friday night and I’m tired, so let me just say that I wholly agree with you, garbage_face.
You know what, this is how you dissent. Well said, garbage face.
On the other hand, I would say that I came to videogum when it already was cat farts and recaps, so nothing has really changed for me. I feel for the old guard, I really do. It must suck to see a website you love become something different. But speaking from a new crop (ugh, gross teacherman!) I like the site and the comments section the way it is. Do you have to slog through gifs every once in a while? Yes. But are there some crazy good, funny and intelligent comments within? Yes.
And you know what, this is healthy. This is good. Garbage face and Grace bring up fine points and express them well and thank you for doing so. I would probably agree that we could cool it with the gifs and the go-to jokes (2012, classic ______, very ______ very _______ ). But at the same time, collectively our heart is good.
In the end, I would say that I hear what you guys are saying and think you have a fair point. I would like to think that dialogue makes this site great, so please, feel free to disagree and call me a troll. I hope its okay if I still dig everyone here….well, almost.
I’ve decided to finally add myself into the discussion because of this line in your post:
“The comments seem to be dominated by a small group of people”
If I am not mistaken, there are no limits set to the amount of comments that are allowed for posts. If that is the case, I don’t see how the comments can be dominated. No matter how hard one might try. Your comment is posted and it has the same validity as any other comment that might post. It will always be there. Whether you are FIRST!!! or 478 it is still there. If your comment is being pushed down due to .gifs and pics then the only thing that would affect is your score on the votes system. And that shouldn’t be an issue because you want a discussion not votes.
And I like a good discussion, but I love me some votes. It’s sick really. You should have seen how bummed out I was when no one liked my 2/4 of an acre joke on the 50 cent post. But thats me. I’m a whore.
<3 this. mostly because of the word Shitbirds.
Shitbirds is the new Fuckstick.
Shit always gets intense around here when I go on vacation. Who in the what happened?
I’m not going to go back and find the thread(s) everyone’s referring to, but yeah, I feel this way sometimes, grace…but eh, what’re you gonna do. I tend to scroll right over gifs because they make me dizzy, and the ones I do see typically aren’t that germaine to the post, so I agree that they can be kind of annoying. But I think the comments are still great, probably better than ever. If I don’t comment as much as I used to, it’s only because the site has grown so much that by the time I read a post, someone has already made a comment like the one I was going to make or a much better one–or there are so many comments already that it feels pointless.
But it’s good that Videogum is growing! And things evolve–they just do. I just try not to get overinvested in things like this, and maybe it’s easier for me because I’m a little older than most of you guys and I’ve figured out how not to get overinvested in this kind of thing. But I think this place is here for people to have fun, without too many rules, and if it’s not fun for you anymore maybe it’s time to move on. It’s a big world out there, probably.
Whoops, this is actually supposed to be a response to garbage_face, not grace6697.
I want to apologize to everyone here. Not because I made comments about my emotions or spoke my mind about what I think is wrong with the world or because of my ridiculous purple prose or my dumb jokes. No, I want to apologize for being less than generous this week.
It will come as no surprise to hear this: but I take everything really seriously. I have a hard time letting a joke just be a joke and I am quick to spout off, at great length, about what I see as wrong. But I never want to be unkind or ungenerous or mean.
Like many of us, I am trying to make my way through this world and have a good time with people that I like. I feel like I made this journey a little less fun this week. If I come across as condescending, I am sorry. I am just trying to be a good person. If I come across as a loudmouth, forgive me. I am just trying to find others in this world that agree with me so I don’t feel alone.
I like it here because everyone is nice and I feel like maybe I made it less nice on a few occasions. I try not to hold on to being mad at people and I hope that those that I pissed off this week don’t hold being mad at me. I think we are looking for the same thing and there are many ways to get there.
My goal is to be thoughtful and funny and make people happier and not sadder. I think maybe I failed a little in that this week. I feel sort of bad. But there is always next week–at least until the Sun blows up.
I hardly ever log in except to respond to Ricky/Karl/Steve related posts, but I want you to know how appreciated you are, Mans. I’ll never forget that story about your high school band in the Final Placement post. Or how you could relate to the katana guy. One can only gather so much from internet comments, but you seriously seem like one of the funniest and nicest dudes in the world.
mans, you remain the best.
you truly are a monster and a gentleman
Show me a Mans who has failed and gotten back up again, and I will show you a Mans who has succeeded.
Mans, I feel like I creepily tell you this all the time, but you are the greatest, and it’s not just ’cause your avatar is Thomas Mann and you like German literature. I’m reading me some DFW right now and trying to learn from him, and trying to pay more attention to my friends who are so good they don’t need the lessons he tried to teach, so yeah.
I’m with Ning (welcome Ning!). I’m sorry you had a tough week Mans. You like poetry though, so I will leave you with this poem. It is not my favorite Billy Collins; it is not even really uplifting. I just thought you would like it. For some reason, it reminds me of you. Feel better, friend:
On Turning Ten
The whole idea of it makes me feel
like I’m coming down with something,
something worse than any stomach ache
or the headaches I get from reading in bad light–
a kind of measles of the spirit,
a mumps of the psyche,
a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.
You tell me it is too early to be looking back,
but that is because you have forgotten
the perfect simplicity of being one
and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.
But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.
At four I was an Arabian wizard.
I could make myself invisible
by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.
At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.
But now I am mostly at the window
watching the late afternoon light.
Back then it never fell so solemnly
against the side of my tree house,
and my bicycle never leaned against the garage
as it does today,
all the dark blue speed drained out of it.
This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself,
as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.
It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,
time to turn the first big number.
It seems only yesterday I used to believe
there was nothing under my skin but light.
If you cut me I could shine.
But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,
I skin my knees. I bleed.
Agh! This is my favorite Billy Collins poem (perhaps one of the only ones worth its snuff? Discuss!). I LOVE LOVE LOVE that this was posted here, and I wish had something better to say than that!
Okay, I know I don’t post here regularly because my boss is crazy (but I read a lot), and I have really little insight into what is going on, I’m just a super nerd and thought I’d like to reply to a poem with another poem, a la .gif parties. So here we go, an only mildly-relevant poem that this makes me think of:
Men At Forty
Men at forty
Learn to close softly
The doors to rooms they will not be
Coming back to.
At rest on a stair landing,
They feel it
Moving beneath them now like the deck of a ship,
Though the swell is gentle.
And deep in mirrors
They rediscover
The face of the boy as he practices tying
His father’s tie there in secret
And the face of that father,
Still warm with the mystery of lather.
They are more fathers than sons themselves now.
Something is filling them, something
That is like the twilight sound
Of the crickets, immense,
Filling the woods at the foot of the slope
Behind their mortgaged houses.
Ages! They never stop having meaning!
This is my second favorite Billy Collins poem
I don’t think I read whatever it is you wrote that you think tilted more towards gloom than joy, but whatever it was, you on a bad day is still better than most people on a good day.
Can I just say, that I am a nerd. And like all nerds I have a variety of very focused interests, so I’ve been in a few web communities. And every single one of them think “there is no other place on the internet where people are this inteligent and level headed and funny.”
PREACH.
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Not trying to be a jerk, but how is this NOT contributing in the “cirkle jerk”?
ALSO I still love you. Just trying to wrap my head around all of this?
Just join us, cause, uh, no one’s gonna really be free until nerd persecution ends.
Don’t know if anyone will read this since by the time I click ‘Submit Comment’ this will be at the bottom of the page, but I really like you guys. You make my life better. Don’t want to emotionally spew all over you, but life is pretty hard for me these days and it’s nice to take a break from macabre thoughts and dark corners and read your jokes and laugh at all your sweet comments and cute gifs.
You guys are great. Love you all.
It gets better. I was going to quote some lyrics from that Byrds’ song, Turn Turn Turn, because it’s sort of about the circularity of things and how there’s a natural rhythm in which everything finds its place, which is the long way of saying that it gets better. But in the process of looking up the lyrics in question because I couldn’t remember them verbatim, I came across this informational nugget: it’s almost a line by line adaptation of a passage from the book of Ecclesiastes! I didn’t know that. What makes it interesting is that the song itself is kind of a hippy-dippy lovefest thing, peace and love and all that, whereas the original Biblical stuff is much more resistant to such an interpretation. Just as there is a place for love, there is also a place for hate, which is a bit extreme. It sounds more like a hymn to Shiva the Creator/Destroyer than something you’d find in the Bible. I dunno. I thought it was cool. And now that I’ve gone on and on about it in what was meant to be a short “here is something interesting, maybe” comment, I might as well show you what I’m talking about.
1. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;
3. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5. A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6. A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
This is probably not at all comforting. Oh well. It is at least mildly interesting! And that, by any method of measurement utilized by man, is better than a stubbed toe.
Gabe is the master of the manor and you all are snickering and joking in a way that shows how you all will never be the masters of the manor. In order to become a master, you must learn tact, succinctness, and have a mild understanding of how the web works. All the gags being thrown around are meta and tired. The posts however are great. Chat is one of the better things about videogum as it’s an extension of funniness instead of a “hey let’s all go post some GIF’s again like we do in the comments section. lol” One has to actually THINK instead of write a terrible pun and post. It’s like a rubber chicken at a stand up comedy event. Right now, you’re all posting your shiniest, stretchiest, and noisiest rubber chickens.
What I’m really saying here, is that Videogum comments have become the Carrot Top of the internet.
[dealwithit.gif]
^ You see how annoying that is? Exactly.
[IMG]http://i35.tinypic.com/73nvys.jpg[/IMG]
Um…I’d forgotten this myself, but my avatar #literally has a carrot atop it’s head.
I don’t read the comments or comment myself very often anymore because my computer (cheap netbook) can’t handle the gif parties on most threads. This post took longer to load than my Joaquin Phoenix Geocities fan site. I miss being excited to comment on Videogum.
I don’t have intimate knowledge of the argument at hand, but I’d like to put my vote in the COOL IT WITH THE GIFS column. I feel nasty saying that. I remember being weirdly offended during the old V for Vgum uproar of early 2010.
I have no interest in getting involved in any of the politics going on here, because that’s really not why I come to Videogum, but I definitely have to agree with this. I usually comment from work, and my work computer has a hell of a time loading the comment threads once they (inevitably) start to fill with gifs. Not to say that I’ve never posted a gif before, or don’t appreciate the ocassional dancing hotdog or whatever. But I do agree it can get a bit much sometimes.
All due respek, Shell, and of course you’re very aware of this, but you having a slow computer isn’t much of an incentive for cooling it with the gifs. Lord knows (oh boy does He know) that I have a bad connection but I wouldn’t sacrafice the gifs. In, fact, I wouldn’t bother at all trying to influence direction the comments take on this POP CULTURE BLOG. It’s pointless.
Why can’t we all just
get alongrelax? Sheesh, is that so hard? I apperciate that people take this place quite serious and I suppose we witnessed the downside to that (not me personally, I’m just playing catch up on the hoopla myself) this week. But (and, oh yeah, it’s gonna be one of those comments where someone says “I’ve been commenting/visiting here for blah blah blah”) I’ve been commenting/visiting here for almost two years, though not prolifically, and these same grievances/dramas over slipping standards in the commenting seem to pop on a regular basis. I guess what I’m saying is that I haven’t seen that vast of a change round here. Different faces, different voices, probably more commenting too.And I’m sorry Shell because clearly the majority of this bares no relation to your original comment and has gone in a different direction (I’m defo not having a go at you), but what I guess I’m saying, in what is probably my longest comment EVAR, is that I don’t give a care and we all should son’t give a care. Everything will be just fine, until this website ends in a year or two. Relax and enjoy the ride?
WHOOPSI’ll try that again…
All due respek, Shell, and of course you’re very aware of this, but you having a slow computer isn’t much of an incentive for cooling it with the gifs. Lord knows (oh boy does He know) that I have a bad connection but I wouldn’t sacrafice the gifs. In, fact, I wouldn’t bother at all trying to influence direction the comments take on this POP CULTURE BLOG. It’s pointless.
Why can’t we all just
get alongrelax? Sheesh, is that so hard? I apperciate that people take this place quite serious and I suppose we witnessed the downside to that (not me personally, I’m just playing catch up on the hoopla myself) this week. But (and, oh yeah, it’s gonna be one of those comments where someone says “I’ve been commenting/visiting here for blah blah blah”) I’ve been commenting/visiting here for almost two years, though not prolifically, and these same grievances/dramas over slipping standards in the commenting seem to pop on a regular basis. I guess what I’m saying is that I haven’t seen that vast of a change round here. Different faces, different voices, probably more commenting too.And I’m sorry Shell because clearly the majority of this bares no relation to your original comment and has gone in a different direction (I’m defo not having a go at you), but what I guess I’m saying, in what is probably my longest comment EVAR, is that I don’t give a care and we all should don’t give a care. Everything will be just fine, until this website ends in a year or two. Relax and enjoy the ride?
Did you guys ever notice that videogum is only two letters away from Bidengum, because my incredibly clumsy fingers just did.
I’d say “yes, exactly. I agree.” but I don’t want to be accused of bringing the level of commenting down around here.
tl;dr
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Why should that matter Teacherman?
This speaks to the larger issue many monsters have brought up above. We need to be more level headed and HAVE A DISCUSSION WITH THE COMMENTS PRESENTED INSTEAD OF LOOKING AT WHO IS SAYING THEM.
This isn’t aimed at teacherman, I’m not coming at you, nor anyone here in specific.
Monsters – I am going to issue some general statements, take them how you will.
I have long said this… Back in the day when I first got here, people thought I was a troll. It was because I was responding to comments, often had dissenting ideas, and honestly, Didn’t understand much of what I was reading. The voting schemes confused me, and I noticed the popularity contest aspects and it bothered me. Over time, I became a Frequent (OVER) Commenter, Understood the jokes (Thanks To WerttreW, the Professor I call Teach (AGAIN NO OFFENSE I LOVE YOU TEACHERMAN)) and started a facebook Dave Delahaye (HAHA) fan site which spawned the first Chicago meet up, etc.
People Probably Get Annoyed With some of the Chicago twitter/Facebook/Monster Adventure Meetups, which is basically us finding excuses to hang out and get drunk with like minded individuals. I can see that, and we try not to rub it in on the boards, we do what we will with our twits, follow or don’t. (Many have Unfollowed. I know, surprising.)
But heres my thing –
It’s just annoying, clicquishness is back along with dickishness
Cool It with the Gifs – USE SPARINGLY IN ONLY CERTAIN INSTANCES
Let’s talk to each other like adult grown fuckin monster kids
and lets stop acting like we dont all have our faves and friends and shit
we all know twitter monsters- some have met in real life
and we all know the chat fiends up on that shit all late at night
Others on the boards make comments, some other monsters lurk
others sit and wait to downvote winwood when he plays the jerk
I used to get downvoted for my gifs, Random misunderstandings
And then VforVgum Came with new Tandem Misunderstandings
And then New Monsters Came and then there were more misunderstandings
CAN YOU TELL I SHOULD NOT TRY TO RHYME THE WORD MISUNDERSTANDING?
No reason we can’t all be great, Like Gabey Baby Said
Tired of playing out these multi-psycho-dramas in my head
We all can find a niche, our own reason to be here
all our voices can be heard, we all have much to share
I feel like I wanna pull some hair, yank it right out of my head,
with the callous or annoying comments posted in some threads
but then I take a pause and think, Why the hell am I still here?
is it the conversation or perfect utopian atmosphere?
We can have dissenting thoughts, IT IS OK to disagree,
we can still be bros and sisses in this monster family
some can have dueling thoughts within a single mind
we cant argue and be friends both at the same time?
What’s The Point?
I’ve been away, tryna make moves towards a brighter day
in my absence, I must say,
my things they have changed,
And It’s Ok
I won’t come here and say it should be All that I think.
(Even Though I listed all that shit off the head in this thing)
it is what you make of it-we can surely agree
just look at the chi monsters and you can see what I mean
Do Big Things Erry Month, Probly Gon Do Shit Soon
Like Monsters Comin Out Hard Erry F_#@$N Full Moon
Now I know this may be TL:DR
So I’ll sit back
Blaze this shit
and watch Winwood get more votes than me
DS3M, just in reference to the top of your piece, I think it matters who it was in this case (because I’m THE BEST!!! J/K!) because I posted a dismissive comment, which is a good a reason as any to receive a downvote but it so happened to be in reply to my own comment.
Me and Teacherman aren’t part of any particular clique. I wouldn’t be part of any clique that would have me, well, I don’t know about that…I’ve never been asked
lol
That was a great post for so many reasons, not the least of which is your coining the term “Tandem Misunderstandings”. If I owned a pro wrestling franchise, that’s totally the stage name I’d give my featured twin brawlers.
I agree with you pretty much 100% DS3M. Voice of reason here.
whoa, -17 in a monster’s ball in which I was caption contest winner. I like it.
Your former comment was at -16 when I read your latter comment so I downvoted your former comment so that your latter comment would make sense. I have your back. Friends? Or Best Friends?
I hope that this comes across as funny rather than trolling. I am honestly trying to mend fences and build bridges here.
If everyone doesn’t cool it soon I’ll be forced to make you all listen to me read Glenn Beck’s ‘The Christmas Sweater’ aloud, cover to cover. Yeah. I went there, Kaufman-style.
We’ll be good! We swear!
My mom is rather liberal but also rather clueless when it comes to pop culture. A couple of years ago she bought my grandma that book without having any idea who Glenn Beck is. She thought the story looked sweet and wholesome or something. Every time I see it on grandma’s bookshelf I want to off myself.
Well here’s what I think…
I agree that’d it’d be nice to have more topical discussions, because I have found the people here to be very thoughtful and I am interested in their opinions.
ALSO. There isn’t must to say about a lot of things and so witty call backs, gif parties, and senseless word games that are actually harder than they look, all have a place.
And you know what? It’s really nice to have people tell people they enjoy spending etime with one another. I think it’s super neat that a lot of us like to come together each day just to talk because they enjoy each other’s company.
Anyway. As you were.
Big ups FC.
FLW i love the Marmaduke posts but you are making it harder for me to live with Atole.
Oh The Narrator, when there was only one set of footprints…..that is when I carried you.
Well, since everyone is clamoring for my opinion, 200 comments deep: There is definitely a clique and the vibe has changed since the site began, but I still read the comments under every post because this is still the best site on the internet (I’ve read the entire internet). DukeNukem’s anger seemed a little bit, um, ya know, crazypants. But since I just called a stranger crazy I’ll share some things that no one needs to know: I have a physical response to being downvoted and I think the amount of anxiety I get over comments is probably unhealthy. I want to join chat but I feel like everything is all established, and I didn’t join Book Club (join?) until a few days ago when I happened to finish Never Let Me Go for the same reason.
I think people who are middle-of-the-road as far as comment frequency and Twitter/chat usage are the ones who are becoming disgruntled because it seems like the site’s growing pains are pushing people out. I think that Steve’s original suggestion about changing the interactive aspect of the site might make everyone feel a little more part of stuff. Again, like the Gawker site, if we had our own pages where there could be messages and inside jokes and all that, the comments might not be so cluttered with the fawning threads. Maybe we could even have a page where everyone can submit lolzy gifs. Ugh, I have no idea what I’m talking about. “Redesign the site so people don’t feel left out on the internet.” -Me
While I’m here, I’d like to suggest that we take donations for a new charity called “Whyareyouyelling is unemployed but would really like to go to Vegas.” Just $1 from every videogummer would get me at least a bus to Jersey. (I’ll hitch from there.)
I JUST wanted to SAY THAT I’m sorry IF YOU FELT left out CONCERNING Bookgum! IF YOU HAVE any suggestions as to how BETTER GET THE word out, I’d LOVE TO know!
Oh man. I’m the worst. Well, I knew about it from the beginning (because I’m obviously obsessed with Videogum. Have I mentioned it’s 4:30 AM?), but I just felt like I should stay out of it. (This is middle school all over again. When do pick kickball teams?) The point is, I read everything about Never Let Me Go and started the Chabon novel (but I’m, like, 30 pages in so I doubt I’ll be finishing in time). I enjoyed all of the topics very much and bookgum is great and I’ll stop being a child.
YOU AIN’T the worst. I JUST wanted TO MAKE sure it wasn’t FUCKIN ANYTHING on my part. IF PEOPLE ARE ALREADY feeling left OUT OF BOOKGUM then I NEED TO fuckin know so I can FIX IT!
and even if you finish late, you can still comment! i get emails on new posts and get REALLY excited about them.
How about this – if you make it to Jersey, I’ll wire you enough dough for a few rolls at the craps tables in Atlantic City. If you come out on top, I’ll match your winnings and fly us both to Vegas.
But I’m warning you, bub – your luck better hold.
Despite being from New York, I’ve never even been to Atlantic City. What I’m saying is: I’m not much of a gambler but I’m feeling lucky! (No, I’m not.) I hope you know that if we make it to Vegas, I’ll just be drinking the casino booze and eating at buffets. Also, please keep calling me bub because I’m a girl and I’ve never been called bub but I kind of like it.
(Why oh why didn’t I just reply to both responses in one comment?)
I’d like to back “whyareyouyelling”s comment up. Firstly, I think baby friday, nightmare, teacherman (and basically everyone) are all really witty people. I like the comments (I really really like the comments) up until I see a thread which is like “you guys, you’re all my internet husbands/sisters and we’re all just like the mean girls!” only because I feel like I’ve stumbled across a private conversation which I think should be kept to yourselves. Also, it takes a lot of time to scroll through 200 comments and I feel like, why am I wasting my comment-reading time with other people’s personal in-jokes?
But it is a lot to ask you to change your habits, so I guess just keep being yourselves? And sorry for being whiny but I just want to be honest here.
I totes agree. All that BFF sister/wives stuff is a bit much for me and I think it has changed some of the dynamic around here.
Also just being whiny and honest.
And happy festivus everyone, I have hated the airing of grievences part of the celebrations but am greatly looking forward to the feats of strength.
Oh and just to explain further before I quit this horrible discussion for life I think the BFF stuff is what has lead people to feel the cliquey vibe. But I realise how cliquey it is to gang up on those that do say that so I retract my previous statement.
And babyfriday im sorry you have been attacked so much this week. This whole thing makes me like this
Lizardo, I really appreciate that. So cool. (And I just want to pick up that poor baby! Little guy!)
Guys, this happens every so often. I’m not saying WHO I agree with (because IT MATTERS!) I’m just going to say chillax. We’ll promise to change and then change for awhile and then go back to the way it was but not quite as bad (has it ever been that bad? I mean, no one is getting bullied…if anything people are getting TOO MUCH PRAISE! “great .gif!” “awesome comment!” “I logged in just to upvote you.” and whatever, that is fine.
…where did my train of thought go? oh well. Take care, nerds!
Ugh. Whatever part I played in prolonging this stupid debate over the right and wrong way to commentate, I apologize for. I did not for one second think that anything I had to say would change the way things work around here. I just said what I had to say because everyone was getting so pissed off. I actually think it’s pretty cool that some of you have met up with each other in real life or are planning to do so. I am not an enemy to friendship. There, that’s what I want on my tombstone. “He was not an enemy to friendship. So there’s that, at least.” But anyway, I wasn’t trying to be malicious and I’m not butt-hurt about anything and I never was. I was just saying some stuff that I thought needed to be said.
And now I am consumed by regret (well, not really consumed, more like vaguely puzzled) because I feel like I made things worse. This thread is SUPER ANNOYING! And in so many ways. For one thing, all the “We are the greatest!” bullshit has returned but now with Super Powers. Which would be bad enough (for me) but on top of that there’s Baby Friday and Teacherman just not letting the whole stupid argument die. Let it die, please. As Mr. Hausfrau said, this shit happens occasionally and it has zero effect on anything. I don’t know why I think that you’re both teachers – I guess I must have read it somewhere in the comments – but I would hope that the people teaching my children would be grown up enough to let a stupid fucking argument they had on the internet die a natural death. Without resurrecting it Frankenstein-style so they could fuck it to death over and over and over again. It’s done. Move along, there’s nothing to see here.
Also, what makes Videogum monsters the greatest? The fact that we are mostly polite, usually respectful of each other, and in general not huge rageaholic assholes. These are not virtues. They are the absence of negatives, in my opinion, which is not the same thing. They are a baseline of courteous behaviour that you should expect from any fellow human being. Until a monster goes to an actual third world village and saves some children from starvation, we have nothing to pat ourselves on the back for. And even then, only that one monster has reason to pat him or herself on the back, not the community as a whole. If you want to share affection, sure. Go for it. But we are not the greatest. At our best, we are not that bad. “We were not that bad.” – Videogum’s tombstone.
I wasn’t going to say anything, and I’m not going to say anything about the internet argument, because it’s pointless and over, but you don’t know anything about me just because you know what I post anonymously on a website, so DO NOT insult my teaching or my work with the kids. I don’t even know what else to say except that you are way out of bounds with that one.
How am I out of bounds?
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I know that you probably won’t read this and if you do, you probably won’t accept my apology, but you’re right. That did cross the line. I was quite annoyed when I wrote all that. I’m not even sure what butt-hurt means because it’s not an expression used around here but if it means getting obsessed by something trivial – due to a lack of sleep lately – and allowing it to build into a jihad against imagined forces of evil, then yes, I was butt-hurt. I deserve the backlash. In fact, I’m surprised I have any upvotes. Not that I give a care (I discovered that I secretly give a care when I start to get upvotes, but then I stop caring when I don’t, because I’m too cool for school).
Even though there’s a point in my above post somewhere, I fully retract the second paragraph. Apart from the “this thread is super annoying” part. Because it is, to me, but if this place were always what I want it to be all the time, I would get bored with it. And, like I said, I’m partly responsible for prolonging the argument in the other thread and now again in this thread, so the super annoyingness is partly on me.
Apologies to Baby Friday and teacherman for being unnecessarily insulting and breaking the unspoken Monster’s Code. Totally not an okay thing for me to do. I will try to be more civil in the future, assuming that any commenting is in my future. If I do comment, it will not be in the form of a rant… unless I stop commenting for a while again and gradually discover wrongs needing to be righted as I read in silence, a silence which must be BROKEN! For I am Krakatoa the Righteous!
As I am wont to do.
I wanted to let you know that I saw this, and I accept and appreciate the apology.
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Do you really think that calling out specific monsters is a good way to get them to “move along”? I understand what you were trying to say, but personally attacking someones profession (someone YOU DON’T ACTUALLY KNOW) is not a good way to make your point.
Good sir or madam, I have tried to stay out of this, but you have implied and insinuated personal things about another monster based on their comments, which is so far out of bounds that it is in another sport. You have besmirched BabyFriday’s honor, and the honor of every other monster on here, and I demand satisfaction!
::glove slap::
I’m actually a pacifist? How about an intense game of crib.
Dude, you named names.
Everyone hates me here anyway, so I just tell it like it is. Every website has cycles. I think Videogum is in it’s “everyone agrees or gets downvoted” cycle.
Shit, I say I like one movie that Gabe hates and you all jump on me like I committed some sort of hate crime! It’s just done under the guise of being nice and circle jerky. Everyone’s cool outside of the comments section but sometimes I feel like this is how cults get started.
I think you might be in the wrong mini-thread. This is the one in which everyone is tearing ME a new asshole. Establish your own mini-thread in which others can tear you a new asshole, assuming that you are all consenting adults. But this one’s mine.
If you’re still reading the comments over 200 you are emotionally invested somehow in this debate. I would ask both sides to ease up. For those who want some more substantial commentary in this section, start being more clever. For the other side-commenting double digit times for any story could be seen as overkill-maybe edit a bit before posting everything.
Both “sides” are integral to Videogum and we’re all here for the same reason, because we think Gabe is a wonderfully talented elderly gentleman. There is no right or wrong. V-Gum is popular now and that’s awesome. That brings lots of comments and lots more disagreements.
Please listen to me. I am smart and I know things.
This thread is grueling
Hahaha…you and me, Bill, let’s hang out.
(I want to use this image again because it is my favorite. Thank you Chris.)
Why o Why did this have to happen? Internet Lords do you hear me?
I wish you would have listened to me. I consulted you, I trusted you
this wouldn’t have happened if you just listened instead of playing
minesweeper. I mean sure it’s a fun game and you guys are really
good at it but there were more pressing matters at hand. Keyboard
cat knew, he was with me, all the rest of you were blinded, fooled into
beleiving that the internet could continue but alas the damage is done.
How could you not know that when the internet climaxed with the greatest
comment ever its subsequent denouoment would be at hand! You know
what you have to do now internet lords!
(That won’t really happen I just wanted to construct a fanfiction around
the premise that there is a secret group of people that run the internet.
This post does not express the authors view and serves only as a written
execise. I love the internet. Have a great Christmas Everyone. May Santa
Claus bring you cookies and in return you leave him presents. Wait. Thats
not right… Oh yeah the reindeer give you presents and then you give them
cookies and Santa flies all of you to Steak and Shake! Merry Christmas!)
(Hi, it’s me again I’m back, I just wanted to pop in before
I went off to watch a movie and skip and frolic and
whatever else I have on my to do list for the weekend.
[ Well I was scanning in my todo list to put on here but
its taking too long and I'm going to miss my movie.
{No wait here it is.}]
Again this isn’t directed at anyone particular in this thread
I’m just being selfish and want to show off my meme-self
[ All the thank to Burgy])
Look at that! That’s me. Who am I telling to deal with it?
Myself? Porbably? You? Maybe? It doesn’t matter but
it’s funny. Or is it? I’m not sure. The internet lords wont tell
me. (They are jerks. Exept for keyboard cat, he’s a cool
guy.)
*SIGH*
Ok, here we go.
The Way It Ends…
The Christmas sweater sat on the top shelf of my closet for many years.
The sweater hadn’t fit me for decades, and if I hadn’t moved a lot in my early years, it would’ve never been touched. Still, I never considered giving it away. With each move I would gently fold it into a moving box and transport it to my next home, carefully placing it on another shelf, never to be worn.
No matter how much time passed, the mere sight of the sweater always invoked a powerful reaction in me. Captured in its yarn were fragments of my childhood innocence— my greatest regrets, fears, hopes, disappointments— and, in time, my greatest joy.
I began writing this story with the intention of sharing it with just my family. But something happened along the way: the story took over and wrote itself. There are things I spent years trying, and eventually succeeding, to forget that just spilled out of me— events I never intended to share with anyone. It’s almost as if my sweater wanted its story told. Perhaps it had sat silent on a shelf long enough.
It has taken me more than thirty years to feel comfortable enough to share this story. I suppose it will take the rest of my life to fully understand the complete meaning and power behind it. And while some of the events and names have been changed, what follows is, at its core, the story of the most important Christmas of my life.
In the spirit of this blessed season, I share this story as my gift to you. May it bring you and your loved ones the same joy it’s brought me. —Glenn
That was just the intro. Don’t make me read more, people!
Eddie’s Prayer
Lord, I know it’s been a while since I talked to you last and I’m sorry.
With all that’s happened it’s been hard to know what to say.
Mom keeps telling me you’re there watching over us, even during the bad times. I guess I believe her, but sometimes it’s hard to understand why you’ve let all this stuff happen to us.
I know that Mom is working hard and money is tight, but please, God, if I could just get a bike for Christmas then everything will be better. I’ll do whatever you want to prove that I’m worthy. I’ll go to church. I’ll study hard. I’ll be a good son to Mom.
I’ll earn it. I promise.
One
The wiper cut semicircles through the snow on the windshield. It’s good snow, I thought as I slid forward and rested my chin on the vinyl of the front seat.
“Sit back honey,” my mother, Mary, gently commanded. She was thirty-nine years old, but her tired eyes and the streaks of gray infiltrating her otherwise coal black hair made most people think she was much older. If your age was determined by what you’d been through in life, they would have been right.
Seriously, people. I’ll keep going. Like Jesus.
NOOOOOO!!! Let it end! From where the sun stands now I will fight no more forever!
It’s so terrible! I don’t want to transcribe it anymore! *sobs*
You’re free! Be free, dear friend! NO MORE BECK NO MORE BECK
State of the gum address
December 18, year of the Pepper Ann.
Gabe, Website Contributors, Monsters, Lurkers, Video Gum Readers and Trolls:
Video Gum was the 2nd website I have ever joined besides Gmail *. I care about it in a somewhat unhealthy way. After 2012 I will be typing VideoGum into a broken powerless PC in a post apocalyptic world*2. I know I am not the only one who feels this way. When Al Gore gave us the promise of the internet, we imagined a future in which you would be able to connect with cool people that you could connect in a meaningful way even though you wouldn’t know them in real life. Soon after the first youtube comment was posted, we realized that it wouldn’t quite work out that way. We’ve come a long way but I think we are slowly moving into a direction where we can do that and we don’t have to be afraid to be decapitated by a random stranger. The VideoGum community has evolved into a family/water cooler gang/irl community*3 It seems however that during the holidays we tend to fight just like a real family would.*4I hope to put this into perspective and if I am wrong, please tell me. *5
I joined this site in April after witnessing how level headed you guys were towards Steve Winwood. In any other community he would have been teased and trolled back. However the funny and light hearted way in which you answered to his asshole-ishness set you guys apart and streets ahead. I can’t properly express how that thread made me feel. At first I was hesitant to join because I had an odd sensation that I did not belong in the community*6 During my first week, I posted a picture of puppies eating a pig’s head, which I found hilarious-Hilarious I say! You guys responded to that by once again being hilarious and light hearted*7(I would have in fact been assigned the lowest voted comment that week if Gabe would not have taken the week off to go buy Birdie. ) A Week later, you guys understood where I was coming from and I was lucky enough to be awarded the silver at the monsters ball. At this point I did not fully appreciate what getting this made up, good for nothing award really meant. The recognition eased me into starting a facebook account, a twitter account, etc. I was surprised that not only were a lot of the monsters on the same wavelength as me but there were also very nice. They were the nicest people I’ve met. What started out as a moment of procrastination at work became a very positive development in my life.*8What I did not know because I was not a frequent reader was that there had recently been what the kids refer to as a flame war in VG right before I got there. Had I known about that I probably wouldn’t have joined.
What we like to refer to as the V is for VideoGum Flame War of ot-9 created some casualties and changed the way that we commentate as a nation. Like any war there were no real winners. Yes I think VG did change for the better afterwards but I think we could have reached the same results with a non-violent approach. Recently tensions have been escalating between the super frequent and very casual commentator camps. I believe this started when Duke Nukem and Baby Friday exchanged fire. The tension started because Duke took offense to the frequency in which Baby commentates.
Duke Nukem is a commentator with whom I often agree with in theory but not in his approach. Baby Friday is a commentator who I consider my personal friend but whose comments I mostly glaze over. This is not to stay she is not funny*9, I find her hilarious and adorable, her and her husband Teacher-Man are the cutest couple ever! I am just not drawn in by the BNBG nature of her comments. However I cannot possibly imagine personal attacks on her because of her awesome non-trolly behavior. It seems that when she responded by attacking her detractors she might have lost some fans. *10 More often than not if you get mad at the down votes, you will get more down votes. I do not know why this happens nor do I care to know*11
Sometimes it’s hard to read tone on the internet*12 and it’s hard to know when we are kidding and when we are serious. But this is quickly escalating into a not light hearted territory. I have a self imposed rule of not getting mad at the website and I try to reach out to people who might be trolls or simply misunderstood. I assure you, Baby Friday is not a troll and you can’t blame her for being excited about a website that we all geek out about. Over the past year we’ve lost some great commentators I would hate for Baby Friday to be one of them.
I am at the moment writing a manifesto at 7:23 on a Saturday night & I’d like you to think I’m doing it for the benefit of the community, but I am really doing it for myself. I cannot go on ignoring a problem inside a community which means this much to me. God bless BabyFriday, God bless Duke Nukem & God bless The United States of Videogum. I love you all*13
PS. Katydid is my favorite chat monster
1. Hi DS
2. Sorry ILAST
2.1 The first Youtube comment does in fact belong to Steve Winwood, I’ll let you figure out what it was.
3. IRL!! OMG WTF!!
4. I forgot what this footnote was going to say
5. No, YOU suck!!!!
6. I also forgot this one, probably was just fishing for compliments. I love you guys, no homo
7. Werttrew, please give Tony B an honorary MB award
8. Seriously
9. In fact she was one of the first people I thought of when I thought of MOBFD
10. I’ll never quit you babyfriday
11. The only person I’ve ever downvoted was Steve Winwood & that guy who showed a pic of dead Chris Farley
12. Duh
13. Slighly homo
is this infinite jest?
Fact: IJ is the official book of Videogum.
PS. Thanks, for hosting the Chicago, Dallas & San Antonio Monsters last week. You Austin monsters are awesome.
as are you guys!
What does BNBG mean? i looked it up on google and it said big negro big gun, but i dont think thats what you meant..? Sorry for being dumb and new and not knowing.
Best New Party Game, yo. http://videogum.com/?s=best+new+party+game
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. You still can’t google what ))<>(( (sorry if that doesn’t work…) means. That’s why we have werttrew. Check his tumblr for all your random questions:
http://werttrew.tumblr.com/
Also try:
http://mobfd.blogspot.com/
And welcome!
BNPG-
Best
New
Party
Game.
Always
Be
Correcting typos
I appreciate that you actually read all that. and I need to confess that it was not a typo, I had someone type it as I read it. yes, I actually made a non reader listen to me rant for an hour.
I’ve always enjoyed your work, “Chris Trash,” but this… this is probably my favourite Videogum comment of all time. It says exactly what I would like to say and it’s also David Foster Wallace convoluted. I love you as much as anyone can love the characters C-H-R-I-S T-R-A-S-H, which is more than you’d think.
Man, Monday’s first thread is gonna be so awkward.
Nah. it will say: “RESET BUTTON.” and it will be done/glossed over.
Can we call this thread the commenter’s version of the Reset Button, rest our cases and all have some eggnog?
Lurker who never comments jumping in at the close:
1) Reading directly from Gabe’s Editor’s Choice to this entry’s comments = solid investment in my LOL(k)
2) Dudes, chill out! The whole reason this site is great is because it’s funny and laid back and doesn’t take itself so seriously. And not to be That Guy, but I’m totally going to be That Guy, and say It’s Just A Website! I mean, a few of these comments are calling for website redesigns so we have places for .gifs and whatever. We are all level-headed hilarious grownups right? So instead of deciding on some whatever big website change, because Gabe totally put that at the top of his 2011 New Year’s Resolutions list (**1. Redesign Videogum So Level-Headed Hilarious Grownups Stop Fighting With Each Other On The Internet), let’s just be grownups and cool it with the .gifs and the injokes and the personal asides.
We don’t need Gabe to come down from the mountain to sort this stuff out, and we don’t need to fight about it like gigantic Internet nerds. If we want to be gigantic Internet nerds and debate The Future of Our Community with the gnashing of teeth and the rending of garments, then we have just turned into literally every other gathering of humans on the Internet in the history of the Internet. Can’t Videogum just be one place where we all chill out and enjoy Salsa Dog together, as a family?
This is a website which prominently figured a 40 second video of a cat farting and sneezing at the same time. Let’s remember that before y’all start fighting again and bring on a case of the vapors. A cat, farting and sneezing. At the same time.
I think by “a few comments” you actually meant mine so I’ll say this: I suggested some other site options because a solution seemed better than pointing fingers. We may be grown adults but we are grown adults who really, really life our gifs. Obviously, Gabe is not going to be doing a site redesign over Christmas dinner, but since the site IS growing and will probably continue to change, I think it’s important to consider ways to help with the community aspect since that’s what keeps the site going (and, hypothetically, brings in new members). Not to mention, it would probably behoove Videogum to alter some aspects because they potentially lose page views/interest [obsession]/money when the community takes their discussions offsite. To be fair, I have also suggested a Videogum dating site as well as the ability to see comment replies so the point is: I just want Videogum to hire me…?
Also, I don’t really think we’re fighting. We just have a lot of people, and some of those people wanted to state their opinions about everything; most of the readers do that through votes. A couple of people got ugly, but for the most part, we’re all just discussing. I don’t think this ruined anyone’s weekend–I think we just have a lot of time on our hands, as nerds do.
WHAT THE FUCK??? ARE WE DISCUSSING THINGS LIKE ADULTS DOWN HERE??? I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU TWO!!!
Seriously though, this thread is like the office building at the end of Die Hard.
Happy Holidays, Monsters! (Holiday comes from hāligdæg, which means “Holy Day,” so if anyone on TV or real life says not to use Holiday during the biggest Holy Day season because it’s too secular or something, tell them to go fuck themselves and punch them in the face…or maybe just walk away)
I have the weirdest boner right now. Fun conversation!
Hey guys! I just got done with a couple of ridiculously stressful weeks. They were bad-busy (meetings, flight delays/cancellations, a fucking funeral). These last two weeks have been a nightmare, but in the midst of the chaos, the moments where I can retreat to the internet and ask it not disappoint me for one day… well, those are the moments that the busybody that lives somewhere deep inside of me thrives on.
So I had a couple of bad-busy weeks, whatever. I just had a good-busy weekend, so, YAY! Upon return from my un-internet-fueled day-to-day, Videogum is one of the first places I check. It’s usually personal mail, work mail, news, work blogs, friend blogs, and then Videogum.
The comment section on Videogum is a big reason of why I everyday hit refresh to a degree where I question my role in the world. That’s not a joke. I’m addicted to what this comment section brings to my life as a man who values humor, wit and intellect in the context of celebrities farting on trampolines. Gabe’s writing combined with your contributions help to make the Mundane Grand and the Grand Mundane.
I saw that people freaked out over, it seems, something that stemmed from the Clay Duke post. I’m glad everyone got over it and I just logged in and HOLY SHIT! 280 comments on Monsters’ Ball?! That’s so awesome! I haven’t had a chance to look at the comments since I last posted but I’m sure they’re not some sad self-reflective, pseudo-in-fighting diatribes on where we stand as an internet community in relation to all other internet communities
Again, I just logged in and I can’t wait to read the rest of the comments! eLove you iGuys.
Oh, son of a bitch.
Really, you guys?!
Jesus Christ. Goodnight.
The sun’ll come out… TOMORROW! Bet your bottom dollar that tomoorOW, there’ll be suUUun!
When I’m stuck in a DAY, that’s GREY and looonely, I just stick out my CHIN and GRIN and SAAAAAY!
EVERYBODY!
OOOOH!
The sun’ll come out… TOMORROW! So you gotta hang on til tomorrooOOW! Come what may!
TOMORROW! TOMORROW! I LOVE YA! TOMORROW!
You’re always a day awaaay…
I just like how you really committed to it and posted at different times. Very funny, That One!
First!