Post by Akbar Le Grey on Aug 6, 2006 5:00:44 GMT -5
August 6th - August 13th
Editor-in-Chief: Akbar Le Grey.
Sub-editor: Linda , Robert*.
Columnists: Une femme auteur anonyme, Jemima, Sixteen*, Betsy, Libitina, Amanda*, Snicket.
Reporters: J.*, Descartes.
Published by 667er Publications, ltd.
A subsidiary of the 667er Group.
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Kate and Ann continued to create scandal in MM this week. Earlier, of course, they fought with Erik in the ‘Who Should Be Aborted’ thread, which seems a thinly-veiled excuse to create 667drama. That eventually simmered down, but not until Dupin, ever their arch-rival, jumped into the fray. Instigated by Dupin, Kate and Ann decided to do something else. Something much worse. And that’s how it started.
After George rallied against them when they come back for the anniversary, Kate and Ann have seemed to hold a grudge against him, and the feeling is assuredly mutual. Small spats and bouts of fighting between them have broken out all over the forum, or, more specifically, MM. In early July, George even left for a while. However, he soon returned, and their light-hearted joshing continued. That’s what it remained for a while, light-hearted teasing with a few small fights. But then it became something much bigger, and much, much worse.
On August 4th, replying to something Ann had said about George, Kate posted ‘Dupin? Do you mean George [last name]?’ And that is when, and how, they revealed George’s real last name.
Soon more teasing ensued, with Char getting involved as well. Luckily, though, after receiving numerous complains, Tragedy cleverly censored George’s last name to Dupin, and the teasing died down. But the memory didn’t. As George told this reporter, it made him feel threatened and shocked. He said that he sees them as ‘bullies’.
Still, most of the forum doesn’t think that. And, to be fair, they have been moderate, and even funny, in their earlier assaults on George. However, this assault has just crossed all imaginable boundaries, and just leaves us wondering: when, and where, will they stop? Earlier, they were just teasing him in a funny, serious way. But the real names of people you meet on the internet are serious. Dead serious. And it is high time that they realized that.
BANNTASTIC?[/u]
Replying to George’s complaint, tragedy told him that Ann already has three strikes and is only one strike from being banned.
Though wrongly assuming that George can strike them in MM both Kate and Ann have their fair share of strikes and warnings. And, of course, they are well-deserved. But, if they apologize, it doesn’t seem serious enough to ban them. They are, after all, quite popular, and have injected an element of fun and wittiness into a forum that many thought was on its deathbed.
It remains to be seen, however, what the end result of all this will be. For now, we can just try to explain restraint to Kate and Ann, comfort George and rejoice at Trag’s efficiency.
-Akbar Le Grey.
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What with the recent uproar karma has caused at 667, and the inability of a forum-wide poll to solve the problem, Tragedy has decided that 667 will have a debate. Last Sunday, he posted his plans for the debate, including a time schedule and a description of each position in the debate. He also urged everyone with strong opinions for either group 1 (anti-karma) or group 2 (pro-karma, pro-punishment) to participate. He chose one neutral member to host the debate.
A new board just under Foreboding Feedback was made especially for the debate, and each side was given a couple of days to prepare their arguments. And then the debate began. The following is a description of what has happened so far:
Wednesday: Debate officially begins. Host Descartes welcomes the debaters.
Thursday: One person from each side gives their opening statement. Charlotte represents group 1, and Twistedbrain represents group 2.
Friday: Arguments for each side are made. Both have valid points. Willis represents group 1, and Sora represents group 2. In addition, an otherwise uninvolved member named dtel7154 speaks out briefly against karma.
Saturday: Rebuttals are made, each challenging what the other side’s arguments said. Kyle speaks for group 1, and Dupin for group 2.
Although cross-examinations were scheduled for Saturday night, it has come to this reporter’s attention that no steps toward cross examination have been taken. Once the cross-examinations are done, only the closing statements and some last words from Descartes remain before the final decision is made.
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Betsy’s Rant.
Do any of you older members remember the games section? If you remember, you know what I’m talking about. The games section from back when the games section was fun. I first got to know people from posting in the games section. These days, all the games in the games section suck. It used to be that at some points in the day if you weren’t quick enough, by the time you posted someone else had already posted ahead of you. My beloved “Arrow Game” was still hot. I’ve tried to revive this joyous part of my past several times in the games section but it’s never caught on. I don’t see why not, Ann and Kate even started playing recently in a MM thread. I can’t say how happy that made me.
The “True or False” game, “This or That” game, and the “Last Time You” game were also big parts of my toddler days here. Though these are still alive today, they just don’t have the same fun attitude that they used to. I think the main reason the current games section is so unappealing to majority of members is because it’s ridden with games that just plainly suck. “Throw an Item at the Next Poster?” What type of lame thread is that? I don’t think that can actually qualify as a game. “The Relentless Counting Game?” …those aren’t games. What joy does one get in listing the two numbers sequencing after the poster before them? Seriously, the games section is for games, not increasing post count in painfully dumb threads. I can’t believe the arrow game dies while the game where all you do is COUNT is at 33 pages. You can argue that all the games are dumb, but at least people used to put a bit of humor in them. Some of the funniest things I ever read on 667 were in that “Continue the Story” thread.
Yeah, that was a pretty abrupt ending. Sorry. It’s 4:44 am. I just felt like announcing that. I have work in three hours. I haven’t slept, by the way. Plus, I’m full of Mountain Dew. Or, at least, a liter of Mountain Dew. I had a swim meet today and I got sunburned on my face. It kind of hurts. I wish I would tan. I’m the whitest person I know, except for the people paler than I am. No derogatory racial references intended there. Yeah. It’s late. Or early. I’m sorry this rant is pretty sucky, but I’m tired and hyper at the same time and it’s a little difficult to handle. I love you all. That’s a pretty bad ending for a rant, isn’t it. Oh well. I’m happy. <3
-Betsy.
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SOLVING A DEBATE WITH... ANOTHER DEBATE
That is Tragedy's plan, more or less, for dealing with the tricky matter of the karma system. He made an announcement asking opinionating people to volunteer for the two sides of the debate, as well as a neutral individual(or someone too afraid to have an opinion) to host the thing. Personally, I am too ambivalent to have a real opinion, or even a definite lack of one. A new board was made for this-- nice to have a new section that's not password-protected(even if the sub-boards are), nor does its title look like someone fainted on the numeric row of their keyboard.
I fear I missed a lot of this debate, or at least the preliminary planning, what with the sub-boards being locked up. But in the main board, Tragedy reminded us that overuse of the karma system with multiple accounts can be considered against the rules, even to exalt rather than to smite. I wonder what shall happen to whomever has exalted the shouting, rather dim newbie Eye of the Count into the triple digits. Anyhow, arguments were eventually put forth where I could read them. They seemed comprehensive enough, though parts of at least one seemed to have been recycled from earlier posts.
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THERE'S AN IN-JOKE IN THIS PART IF YOU LOOK HARD ENOUGH, REALLY THERE IS
The whole matter of in-jokes and cliques is brought up again and again. For instance, Libby and Jemima, and possibly others, seem to have exclusive knowledge that they reference in posts to each other-- namely, the word "cheexy", and its meaning. (I Googled it, and it appears to have several meanings; according to Urban Dictionary it can describe a stupid person or a talented long-haired man.) Of course, several others whined, possibly sarcastically, about being left out of a clique. Some fighting went on between Libby and friends and the members of the other alleged clique, who seem to want everyone to think they're petty and obnoxious.
Just about everyone, even people not really involved with the original flamewars, chipped in with extensive and furious posts. I'd say that the so-called Plastics have been behaving the worst in this matter, continuing to mock and flame their detractors, who have largely remained quiet or at least polite. Linda was correct in saying that their actions of mockery-- and the amount of time they apparently take to carry them out-- are rather worrying, more so than the efforts of those who wanted to lower Dupin's karma ridiculously. These accusations of time-wasting, of course, sparked some more accusations that people were wasting their time by accusing others of wasting their time. But this all might be over soon, as the mockers accumulate strikes that seem fair enough.
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HITLER WAS NEARLY ABORTED, YOU KNOW
This fact is one I sometimes see tossed around in Hitler and abortion-related threads, and I was reminded of it by a few things on 667 this week. Namely, the rather large thread about who should have been aborted, and some anti-Semitic sentiments from J and Robert. The former has stirred up some objections because of its tastelessness, although I suppose its actual content isn't much worse than many things posted here, and mostly not attacks on other members. The mention of abortion, however, seems like a shameless attempt to wave around a controversial issue and press people's hot buttons. As does all the Nazi stuff. Unless, as I believe some have speculated, all of the Hitler fandom is a subconscious attempt to make the Fuhrer fade from the collective unconscious by reducing him to something as silly and transient as an Internet humor meme(even a very, very persistent one).
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THE RETURN OF STEPHEN COLBERT WITH MY HAT ON
Because Stephen Colbert tends to be a popular occasional feature of this newspaper, I bring you The Word: Flamewar!
667, I have a modest proposal. No, I'm not suggesting that we eat zero-post accounts, although I'm sure they're delicious with steak sauce.
[Gag accounts have little taste, however]
Rather, my suggestion relates to the vast amounts of arguing around here. A lot of members are being very immature; for the staff-- the more mature ones, anyway-- watching over this forum must be like... supervising a little kids' nursery.
As I'm sure everyone agrees, we need to take all of this fighting elsewhere. I think the solution to our current infighting is to invade UE.com, a forum with whom many believe we have a very long-standing conflict; indeed, that we've always been fighting them.
[Except when we were always at war with The Quiet World]
Let's all come up with some clever taunts to hurl against this enemy forum. Here's one I've come up with: "U-E? Yoo-EEE? Isn't that the sound that farmers make to inform their pigs that it's time for some slop?"
[So that's where that spammer really came from]
By attacking UE.com, we can put our belligerent instincts to good use without taking them out on each other. We'll all be united in this battle against those who are truly stupid.
[Like anyone who takes this proposal seriously]
A common enemy will bring us together, except for those who decide to side with the enemy, I suppose. We'll all be like one big, happy... incestuous... family.
[World's Most Happiest]
And that's the Word.
- Une femme auteur anonyme.
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[Ed’s Note: Due to popular demand, I have decided against editing BSam’s column. So, here is his first, in ure unadulterated BSam-form. Bon appetit.]
Starting off with a mexican meal fit for a customer, along with 2 jugs of margaritas, (Guava, Strawberry&Banana) and then getting nowhere near enough sleep, we caught a bus at 5am to the airport, less than 2 hours flying got us from Hobart to Sydney, where we waited for our next flight. Being Sydney I kept an eye out for any characters who may have been PJ, but we were safe, no sign of the bugger. We had some beers, and a delicious Pie and then caught the plane for 15ish hours to SanFran, we had a handful of beers on that flight, but it was otherwise long boring and uneventful.
as opposed to the next flight, SanFran to O'Hare, Chicago.
a 4 hour flight it was not. weather trouble extended our flight, almost doubling that trip time. our flight path above the airport, while we waited for them to be able to open a runway for us to land on looked like a drunk man operating an Etch-A-Sketch thing.
plus the unexpected detour to Minneapolis, to refuel as we didn't have enough fuel for all the circling in the air.
we finally get to chicago, and step outside, it was so hot and wet i thought i stepped into a giant dishwasher. a bus we accidally found took us to our motel and we finally got sleep good sleep
the next day we spent a day wandering around chicago, going to all sorts of wacky places, i had my first wendy burger, and a large coke, judging by the size of it it's no wonder every single american is fat.
apart from the homeless men who like to sell people postcards and give crap directions, and eat chicken and have not very healthy legs.
Lou Malnatis was the pizza place we ate at that night, along with a group of people from the lollapalooza forum
then we went back to our Super8 motel, met up with a couple of people from the pointlesswasteoftime forum, went back to our rooms, i ended up getting very drunk at 6AM and tried to0 eat an american breakfast of donuts, i thinjk i failed and we checked out of our room full of donuts, ready to hyead towards grant park for the festival
stopping by our Best Western hotel to drop off bags and half check in we then headed towards the lollapalooza festival itself,
getting there in time to enjoy eels(Almak, if for some reason this gets edited, eels does not get capitalised((i think)), nor does it have a 'the', i'm not as anal as some about such matters, but if you are "correcting" things, then correcting that will give the opposite effect.)
i also met up with trish but she hates me so we didn't talk much
we saw Ryan Adams who was alright but nothing special, i had two smoothies, and we bough band merch, which is always good, a eels live album, a ween album "God Ween Satan. the Oneness), and the dvd 5.1 surround version of Yoshimi Battles the pink robots, which we are going to get signed today
plus 2 ween t-shirts, and a ween hat
we won a Mindfield shirt by playing the mindfield game, which at that point involved finding a fake mexican who gave us all spoons, we had to play spoons, the winner, best player, won a backstage pass, we didn't win but everyone got a t-shirt, which was cool
during this time i had a number of beers, but not too many
we also had a slice of pizza which was nice,
making our way towards the ween stage for good placing we caugh some of the violent femmes set, which wasn't too bad
but ween were fantastic, they played a new song, which i recorded most of on my camera, and a whole bunch of other favorites, after that we went hotelwards, to properly check in and get keys, and i headed off to meet up with random person from lollapalooza forum who said they had tickets to A Silver Mt. Zion, who were an offshoot band from Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
it was in a small pub called The Empty Bottle, and it was a sensational atmostphere, thougholy enjoyed it.
got back to hotel and slept for about 4 hours, woke up, had the breakfast i mentioned in my thread with toast but it was way too sweet, so we went to a supermarket, and i bought a roll, two tomatoes, some cheese ham and chicken, and created heaven in bread, there is so much to love about me.
at the time of writing this it is 11:10 and we are about to head towards the festival again, flaming lips ahoy
i'm going now, it's beer o'clock and i'm having a great time
And charlotte is straightxedge. just like me
BSam
P.S. we have interacted with a number of homeless men, one who sold us a postcard and gave rubbish directions, one who just gave rubbish directions, and who who ate my friends chicken and hugged him. there may have been others but i think that's all i remember.
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Interview Of The Week.[/u]
This week, we interviewed Erik, as Betsy was still unavailable. Betsy, please contact me if you still wish to be interviewed.
The 667er: Welcome, Erik/PearyHershet/Sean/whatever you may be calling youself. Thank you for joining us.
Erik: I'm glad to be here.
The 667er: How long have you been a member of 667 Dark Avenue?
Erik: Since February of 2005, so that's one year and about 5 months.
The 667er: You don't log on very often, despite the fact that you've been here a while. Do you feel that most people know you?
Erik: I believe that the true 667ers realize my presence, however, I'm not sure.
The 667er: Is there any truth to the rumour that you are part girl?
Erik: Despite popular belief, I am not part girl. I'm 100% male.
The 667er: Wow. That's awfully surprising. What do you like to do outside of 667?
Erik: I like to play piano and draw. Oh, and I like to go to the movies, considering that's the only thing there is to do in Rhode Island.
The 667er: I know what you mean. Not that I go to the movies often. Is it true that you ditched the person who introduced you to 667 at the Masked Ball?
Erik: Yes. I was abducted by killer aliens and fought a battle against evil Martians in a very War of the Worlds-type way.
The 667er: Liar! I just wanted to bring that up to make you feel bad. Sorry. What types of books do you enjoy reading?
Erik: I enjoy reading Harry Potter most of all, and I also enjoy aSoUE! *cough*
The 667er: You've only read three books in ASOUE.
Erik: Shh. Don't put that in the interview!
The 667er: Don't worry, I will.
Erik: Nooo.
The 667er: When do you think you'll read the rest of the books?
Erik: When I get the time. And when I'm not being held hostage by school.
The 667er: It's summer.
Erik: I have to do summer work, love.
The 667er: All summer long? If you can take time out to come on 667, you can take the time to read. Shame on you. Anyway, moving on...
The 667er: If you could have tea with anyone in the world, who would it be?
Erik: Hrm. Probably Rudy Guiliani.
The 667er: Why is that?
Erik: Because he's incredibly awesome, and is my hero.
The 667er: What would you do if Hillary Clinton came to your school as an inspirational speaker?
Erik: Take the tea and pour it on her.
The 667er: Good plan. If you could have tea with any dead person, who would it be?
Erik: Ronald Reagan.
The 667er: Would you bring his chimp along? The chimp he acted with, rather.
Erik: No. I read a story about how chimps mauled some man who was, in fact, having tea with his pet chimp. They also tore apart his chimp, because he was defending the man with the tea.
The 667er: Oh. Fine, then. If you were Fiyero, would you cheat on your wife, Sarima, with Elphaba?
Erik: Yes, because I believe Elphaba needs a hug.
The 667er: I do too, but I wouldn't cheat on my wife. If I had one. Which I wouldn't, so never mind. What kind of music do you like?
Erik: Pretty much everything except rap. Rap is annoying and pointless.
The 667er: I agree. Going back to Wicked, now, Elphaba or Glinda?
Erik: Glinda. Sorry, Elphie, but being green isn't attractive.
The 667er: You shallow fool. I didn't ask who was more attractive. Shame on you. Is there anything you'd like to say to the general public of 667?
Erik: You are all lovely people, at least for the most part, and I am very glad to be in your company.
The 667er: Thanks for your time, madame.
Erik: Any time, sir.
-Libitina.
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Dear Jemima,
I was supposed to meet-up with a friend the other day, and it didn't happen, and my Dad didn't want to go to where my friend was. And now I'm very sad because we planned this forever and it didn't work. What do I have to do to make me myself again? And how do I plan another meet-up so we can meet?
-A Sad Samreen
Dear Samreen,
That's too bad! Oh, such a downer! I hope you're not too upset about it, because I'm very sure the person you were supposed to meet is upset about it too, and I'm sure they're very very sorry they let you down.
Don't worry about it too much. It's not your fault. Basically, it's probably the other person's fault, if they've worked it out with you. Just continue being friends with her (or him) and stay in touch.
Keep trying to schedule a meet-up. If it's a problem with your family, set something up with someone you can trust, and make sure your friend does the same. Set up a time when you or she will be passing through, and organize for it! Remember, you might want to share the experience with people, so take pictures and all that to remember the day.
Stay in touch, and don't feel down,
Jemima.
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Dear Jemima,
School is coming! Not for a while, but I'm starting to get paranoid. Are there any ways to make the first day back something mildly pleasant?
Signed,
Zav0rz (Wow, I'm never using THAT title again...)
Dear Zav0rz,
Aw, school's not that bad. Don't worry 'bout it. But if you're majorly depressed about it, here are some tippies for ya:
-- Wear your favorite outfit. Nothing feels nicer than wearing your most comfortable and jazzy clothes you like. Plus, it's a snappy way to get good attention and make a statement on your first day.
-- Remember people from last year and study them. See how they might've changed and get used to it. Or if they haven't changed, just be like you were last year with them.
-- Make more friends. Be friendly. Kind. Outgoing. The way you usually are.
-- Bring your favorite lunch or a little snackiepoo for lunch. Sweet stuff makes you feel nice.
-- Have something to look forward at the end of the day. That way you can make it through.
Ring ring goes the darn school bell!
-Jemmy
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If you don't send Jemima some problems soon she'll threaten to quit doing this darn column and finally leave The 667er.
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This week on Jemima's How To!:
How To Watch TV!
Step 1: Buy a television or go to someone's house where they have a television with cable.
Step 2: Turn it on with the remote control (the thing that comes with the TV and it's long and rectangular) or press the "On" button on the TV.
Step 3: Turn to a station hitting the up arrow button (^ or Channel Up) or the down arrow button (v or Channel Down).
Step 4: Sit down and pay attention to what it playing.
Step 5: If it's a commercial, you can switch channels to see what else is on. If it's another commercial, then switch to another channel. Repeat if repeated.
Step 6: If you happen to fall asleep while watching it, either you're very, very tired, or what you're watching is putting you to sleep. So, you should turn to another show/channel that will keep your interest for a long time so you don't fall asleep.
-Jemima.
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Amanda had computer problems and was unable to submit her article this week.