Chicago MMXII

Boo. I'm sorry, jvc. I hope the break is helpful.

Ugh, sorry dude. I've been getting worse feelings from ILX for a while now and I've been limiting participation mostly to ChILX and some 77 threads. I'll be sure to give you a heads-up about pub quiz next time b/c it'd be cool to meet you and plan that race war.

:( bye jon
it's been fun, see you around maybe?

i don't know how to find jon on twitter. i guess it's too late now.

eeeeeeeearrrrly friiiiiiiiiiiiiiday! kinda ridiculous to come in for 3 hours of work but i'm not complaining.

I know how to find jon on twitter.

...she said ominously.

i'm halfway through my work day!

i'm feeling surprisingly good considering we forgot to replace our city sticker and so had to pay $85 for the sticker + the $60 late fee + a $200 ticket

Yikes.

ugh that just reminds me of the time I had my windshield replaced, forgot to ask the shop to cut the sticker off, then came back to chicago and a month later got the ticket/fee/new sticker screwjob

srs question: do you think there is a 'party line' on certain ilx threads where groups of posters will gang up and bully anyone who does not conform?

not much on threads i have anything to do with, but i'm sure crazy shit goes down elsewhere and i wouldn't know about it

I think so, even if it's unspoken. But I know that there are cases in which it is or has been spoken.

dan m what is your opinion on the matter?

srs question: do you think there is a 'party line' on certain ilx threads where groups of posters will gang up and bully anyone who does not conform?

Yes.

What Jesse said, essentially. I'll say only that I think there have been a few well-meaning, possibly misguided posters who've been chased away because they didn't quite sync up with the consensus, or they expressed their views in an unorthodox manner.

dan m what is your opinion on the matter?

I think there is and I'm not sure what can be done about it. The same behavior has existed on just about every message board I've ever used.

I also think that, for better or worse, certain posters get tarred for expressing an unpopular opinion and are then dismissed out of hand forever more.

Regardless of what else they might post, that is.

To some extent I think it's about the standards of the community, but sometimes that gets stretched into bullying.

btw I have no idea what jvc's situation was but the notion that he was advocating a race war seems preposterous

I think ilx's bully/asshole-ism is kind of just human nature. Which is why I am a misanthrope.

people are the most terrible. it's why i like the company of plants and animals.

I did some reading up on this last night after j/v/c left. I think this is a fair summary of events:

1. Someone on the U.S. election thread linked to a delusional and racist National Review Online article.

2. iatee said "it basically reads like the suburbs thread."

3. j/v/c said "Really? I missed the part with the open racism and predictions of a race war." (That is, j/v/c claimed that the suburbs thread contains no such ugly racism.)

4. iatee responded "maybe you should go reread it I distinctly remember you declaring a race war the same day you wished cancer on all of us."

5. (Backstory: About a year ago, j/v/c complained on the suburbs thread about other posters' crass stereotyping of suburbanites. This led to some tweaks and zings directed at j/v/c, to which he responded by saying "I hope you all die of cancer.")

6. (However, he did not, in fact, "declare a race war" either in jest or in earnest.)

7. j/v/c did not take kindly to iatee's post on the election thread and started a thread on the Moderator Request Board to express concern about what he characterized as "wildly untrue accusations."

8. On that thread, moderators decided that, while aggravating, iatee's post wasn't "actionable." Other posters, while not necessarily taking iatee's side, argued that he was clearly being hyperbolic and that j/v/c should shrug it off.

9. At that point, Roberto Spiralli, in an attempt at a joke, posted:

1-2-3-4 i declare a race war
― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, August 2, 2012 5:20 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

pretty hard to misinterpret this post tbh

― Roberto Spiralli, Thursday, August 2, 2012 7:30 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

10. j/v/c strenuously objected to this false attribution. Some people pointed out that RS's post was a joke, but nonetheless, it appears to have been the last straw for j/v/c.

that's a good summation!

I must admit, and this may make me a bad person, that I lol'd at the fake "1-2-3-4, I declare a race war" quote. In fact, I am loling just thinking about it right now.

what a mess

wild

srs question: do you think there is a 'party line' on certain ilx threads where groups of posters will gang up and bully anyone who does not conform?

Yes. Not insofar as opinions about a particular thing are concerned (although maybe that's the case on threads that I avoid) but there is definitely a "party line" on how people should act/express themselves and deviation from that norm definitely results in group mockery.

I've said it before but I'll say it again, threads like the zing thread and the posts very much in character thread tend to be repositories for this kind of attitude policing and I think they are shitty. I'm thinking of one controversial poster in particular who can post something as innocent as "Raining again," get quoted in the posts very much in character thread, and then it's a thinly veiled shitpile on that poster for however many posts it takes people to get it out of their system.

After reading the modreq thread I am basically more convinced than ever of my position on posters ganging up on other people.

Yeah, I'm a little disappointed in some of them. It's like zingsharks sensing LOLblood in the water.

http://www.cnt.org/news/2012/08/03/igo-carsharing-to-pilot-a-carsharing-peer-to-peer-program/

That's neat! One of the things I liked about owning a car is that I felt like when the economy completely collapsed, it would be a valuable asset as I could hire myself out as a gypsy cab. This would probably be better, though.

I wonder if the lake is what's giving me GI distress.

That car sharing thing is really cool. I am finally getting over my compulsion to have a car, but if I ever did, that program would be really interesting.

There is already a p2p car sharing program in town. Idk anything about it except the bit I read in the Red Eye. I'm eager to see how this turns out - will owners be cool about having strangers using their cars? Will there be hurt butts? Will everyone honor the schedule the same as with regular IGo cars?

IMO the next big thing should be a hitchhiking program. I can't tell you how many times I've been desperate for a cab and wished that one of the hundreds of cars going by could just give me a fucking ride. Or vice versa, thought that I'd be happy to give a distressed looking person a ride.

Wow, so yesterday's storm. There was a huge thunder clap around 5 and ... our power went out. Didn't come back until around 3 AM.

Kind of a bummer b/c Kr was at a dinner party all night, and I was looking forward to a night in with a movie.

I ended up walking around the neighborhood listening to This American Life, sat at Julius Meinl for a couple of hours with a book, and then came home and played a game on my charged iPad.

that's crazy! Especially because our power didn't go out at all. Though, tbh, it sounds like you kind of had an awesome night anyway.

Yeah, from what I could tell, it was just our block and only one side of the street.

I just waved at Jeff from my bike like a crazy person while he was jogging.

This is the third big storm this summer that happened without my realizing it had even so much as rained. I slept through two and I was in the mall when this one hit Schaumburg. Such a waste.

I didn't see you. There were like a million bikers. Where did you see me?

It was near a harbor, I smiled and waved but you seemed like you were in a zone and I just wanted to signal hiiiiiii. I was southbound, you were northbound. Belmont maybe?

It was a pretty good run. Best long one I've had in awhile.

I had a great bike ride too. Went to the plant conservatory to visit my plants, visited the 8 newborn piglets in the petting zoo and the sad rhino, had a sandwich and a beer in the shade while reading, stopped at the bird sanctuary on the way back north, walked out on the pier, had a quick and painless ride home. It felt really really really good to be outside and be comfortable instead of boiling.

Agree.

What's with all the loud helicopters? They been buzzing the area since mid-morning, and they've been especially active the past 20 minutes or so.

They're coming to get you, Barbra.

Good morning. I'm a pudu.

http://www.zooborns.com/.a/6a010535647bf3970b016768a57f5a970b-500wi

one of my three childhood favorites!
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6160/6202706246_3b1f1e7ba3_z.jpg

pudu pudu pudu pudu pudu pudu pudu pudu pudu pudu pudu pudu pudu pudu pudu pudu

Ok - I know I should probably post this on some ILM thread (and I probably will - new thread 'oversold shows,' maybe), but Metro this weekend for Afghan Whigs was CRAZY! Joe Shanahan can suck donkey balls for all the times he oversells that venue.
And seriously ... why go to a show if your going to yack the whole time and play with your phone. I was seriously considering decking some dickwads who would not SHUT.THE.FUCK.UP. Afghan Whigs put on a great show for not playing for 13+ years. Good thing I didn't try to record it - would've been covered up by blabbing ... grrr.