Mefi - burnouts?

May 14, 2004 6:15 PM

I find the burn-outs of MeFi-past absolutely fascinating. Is there a good way to find/read the threads involved, or do you have links to excellent examples of MeFites losing their marbles?

Granted, it's probably a stupid use for AskMe, but I've only been a member/lurker for a little over a year and a half. I know there have been some fascinating burn-outs/bannings in that time, and there probably were some before that.

Is there any good way to find them? (Heck, I'd reread the ones I've witnessed. They're good fun.)

posted by graventy to human relations (63 comments total)

go home and watch tv or serve your time
posted by Frasermoo at 6:38 PM on May 14, 2004

and vote for Rick coz he's just dishy.
posted by Frasermoo at 6:39 PM on May 14, 2004

asshole
posted by Frasermoo at 6:43 PM on May 14, 2004

Hmm...well, that's one. ;) Thanks Frasermoo! Any others?
posted by graventy at 6:46 PM on May 14, 2004

Man, remember that time graventy posted a real dumb question to AskMe and then Frasermoo totally went off on him? That was fucking great! I could read that thread over and over again.
posted by nicwolff at 6:48 PM on May 14, 2004

What's a burn-out? How can one lose their marbles on Metafilter?
posted by SpaceCadet at 7:00 PM on May 14, 2004

OOPS. beer>water

still.... asshole
posted by Frasermoo at 7:07 PM on May 14, 2004

Aw, somebody just send him a link to the Bunnyfire thread and get it over with . That should occupy him for awhile.
posted by konolia at 7:09 PM on May 14, 2004

What's the link, konolia?
posted by Vidiot at 7:17 PM on May 14, 2004

The thread that got me a six week vacation.
posted by ColdChef at 7:34 PM on May 14, 2004

Wasn't it keswick that recently flipped out with an AskMe along the lines of 'Where can I go to get away from you fuckers?' But s/he stayed.

Maybe someone should get a 'Famous Flipouts' page going on the MeFi Wiki...

[on preview] I always wonder what happened to bunnyfire ;-)
posted by i_cola at 7:39 PM on May 14, 2004

This post belongs in the grey.

You got six weeks for that? Haughey is a vengeful god.
posted by Kwantsar at 7:47 PM on May 14, 2004

You haven't seen a MeFi flameout until you've seen neu piss Miguel off. Unfortunately, the main MetaTalk thread containing that particular flameout has gone down the memory hole...
posted by Johnny Assay at 7:49 PM on May 14, 2004

I really enjoyed neo's flameout thread in metatalk, way back when. It's gone now, though.
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 7:49 PM on May 14, 2004

jinx, johnny.
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 7:49 PM on May 14, 2004

I like Sarge Serenity a lot now, but ya gotta love his multi-thread flipout a while back.
posted by Vidiot at 7:51 PM on May 14, 2004

Anyone remember aaron?!
posted by i_cola at 8:06 PM on May 14, 2004

I thought the neo breakdown was a lot of things, but fun was not one of them.
posted by crunchburger at 8:07 PM on May 14, 2004

My vacation was self-imposed. And much needed.
posted by ColdChef at 8:10 PM on May 14, 2004

Man, I recall that Neu thread all-too-well. I even downloaded a version from cache before I learned Matt pulled it via #mefi. Alas, for better of for worse, I lost it when my HD crashed.
posted by jmd82 at 8:23 PM on May 14, 2004

Er, I downloaded it after I learned Matt pulled it and before I tried to visit the killed-thread page.
posted by jmd82 at 8:24 PM on May 14, 2004

Holy crap, I still do have that thread! MWAHAHAhahaha (and, no, I'm not posting it online)
posted by jmd82 at 8:27 PM on May 14, 2004

You like me, you really
posted by keswick at 8:38 PM on May 14, 2004

I got banned for a few days for indulging in excessive hijinks with iceberg73. Don't remember which thread though. Was probably deleted.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:49 PM on May 14, 2004

...
posted by PrinceValium at 9:12 PM on May 14, 2004

jmd82, pretty please?
posted by PrinceValium at 9:15 PM on May 14, 2004

This was the first meltdown I ever actually followed, and I thought it was pretty fascinating. And a little disturbing.

This one was good, too.
posted by interrobang at 9:29 PM on May 14, 2004

The reason I don't want to post it online is because I recall Matt taking it down because he didn't want neu using it or something (well, that and the massive clusterfuck it was). I don't think he wants to relive that episode and thus don't feel it right to re-post it, unless Matt says otherwise.
posted by jmd82 at 9:35 PM on May 14, 2004

Bad Commie was entertaining. New user, joined on april fools day and lasted, what, a 2 days?
posted by milovoo at 9:39 PM on May 14, 2004

I liked this one, although it mightn't be exactly what you're looking for.
posted by philfromhavelock at 9:42 PM on May 14, 2004

For further investigation on your part, you should know that both James Lileks and Steven den Beste posted here regularly before they got sick of what is seen in some quarters as the over-politicalization and over-liberalization of MeFi. ISTR one of them, at least, may have left in a blowout, but my memory is hazy.

Our loss.
posted by jammer at 10:07 PM on May 14, 2004

I seem to remember a user named seatle (?it was a city, anyway) getting in a lot of trouble for a few months, then disapearing. I was a lurker at the time, and it was at least a two years ago.
posted by Grod at 10:16 PM on May 14, 2004

I think jammer meant to say that:

"...both James Lileks and Steven den Beste... [are] ...blow[hards].

I'm just guessing, though.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:29 PM on May 14, 2004

That would be Settle, Grod. Settle was awesome.
posted by furiousthought at 10:37 PM on May 14, 2004

I don't know about Lileks leaving (heck, I didn't even know he was here...tells you how long I was away) but I seem to recall that the main issue with Steven den Beste had something to do with people complaining in MetaTalk that he did too many FPPs. Probably not why he quit, but I do remember the complaining. (It's been 3 years? Eeep.)
posted by Electric Elf at 10:51 PM on May 14, 2004

Bunnyfire meltdown

My favorite was that neuroscience sociopath who posted several self-links on the blue. When called on it, lost it in a metatalk thread. She was then banned, and proceeded to spam that Matt was a "racist and a drug addict" on every web log she could find.

My friend who had briefly worked with this woman in the real world gave me the cryptic warning "I know GG. She no longer works for _____. I would strongly advise you to avoid interactions with her. " (place of his employment blocked because this woman is a major stalker).

Unfortunately, although understandably, the completely batshit insane metatalk thread was deleted.
posted by malphigian at 10:59 PM on May 14, 2004

Ahh, I see the neu thread was already mentioned (several times!), not sure how I missed that.
posted by malphigian at 11:00 PM on May 14, 2004

I don't know if I would call it a burnout, per se, but the Billy Maulana fiasco has always been a favorite.
posted by Danelope at 12:13 AM on May 15, 2004

If I'm not badly mistaken I think Private Parts might be one of the first to get banned, and re-banned a few times from MeFi.
posted by riffola at 1:30 AM on May 15, 2004

The last thing I remember Steven Den Beste doing before he left was bitching about how nobody would accept his challenge to have a big old debate with him one-on-one about something or other. I remember at the time how it reminded me of how, when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, I would try to get in arguments with the teacher after class because I thought she was pretty and I wanted her to know how smart I was.
posted by Hildago at 1:42 AM on May 15, 2004

I thought of son_of_minya. His profile page is fun. Really, though, I felt a little bad for him. Bunnyfire's kinda sad, too. I Googled "Connie Reagan", but nothing obvious came up. She stopped blogging only months after she left MeFi.

It's hard to believe that I've been lurking long enough for some of these to seem as if they happened just yesterday.

This is a real bummer of a thing to say, but bunnyfire reminds me that I was thinking the other day that there is almost without question some MeFi personality who's committed suicide. Whether it was someone loved or hated, or both, it's very sad to me that we likely would never know.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 3:08 AM on May 15, 2004

i see dead people!

Ethereal Bligh, don't worry about bunnyfire. she ascended and then came back to us with a new name. You will feel silly once you figure it out.

i'm sure she isn't the only one.

i think the 'i'm burnt out and i'm gone!' threads are hella lame. Every one of them. Like someone standing in front of the TV while they complain and announce they are leaving.

yeah, uh huh. great. Could you, uh, move?

the REAL burn-out threads? those are the ones that just never come back.
posted by th3ph17 at 3:27 AM on May 15, 2004

Oh, yeah! That's right! That came up in a MeTa thread a few months back! Now, lessee if I can remember who it is...Konolia? Hmm. I'll have to look it up.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 3:30 AM on May 15, 2004

Oh, maybe not.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 3:50 AM on May 15, 2004

Bunnyfire's just fine now. We love her lots.
posted by ColdChef at 4:42 AM on May 15, 2004

Not really a blowout, but good ol' goliche intrigues me endlessly.

I expect still the I gave in which be able customize the price... of another way I followed austere should be on T-shirts.

Please hope me!
posted by bonaldi at 6:30 AM on May 15, 2004

Can I join please! ~

I respectfully submit my earnest gift of three Fair Trade, shade-grown, free-ranging organic grapefruits that are only a little overipe and not in the least bit moldy.

I ate one only last week, and I am still substantially the same.
posted by troutfishing at 6:51 AM on May 15, 2004

I remember Aaron. Him, I worry about.

I love Bunnyfire too. :-)
posted by konolia at 6:54 AM on May 15, 2004

jmd82: Holy crap, I still do have that thread! MWAHAHAhahaha (and, no, I'm not posting it online)

Is this the one?
posted by Gyan at 8:20 AM on May 15, 2004

Gyan: mad skills, yo!
posted by jmd82 at 9:18 AM on May 15, 2004

Where is the thread where SDB said goodbye? Can't seem to find it.
posted by Kwantsar at 10:21 AM on May 15, 2004

Ahhh, neu's profile is blocked.
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 11:59 AM on May 15, 2004

I remember Aaron. Him, I worry about.

Aaron single-handedly took on the Liberal Cabal many times, usually with class, and if not, at least in a way that was heart-felt and sincere and not the muck some others throw about--more than i manage most of the time, more than i managed towards him usually.

interesting thing...compare the unofficial burn-out and formerly active poster list with--say--the blogdex 100 or whatever, and look at all the talent that cut their teeth at metafilter. or at least stopped by for a bit. For good or evil, its impressive.
posted by th3ph17 at 1:52 PM on May 15, 2004

The swallow may fly south with the sun, or the house martin or the plover seek warmer hot lands in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land.
posted by FidelDonson at 1:57 PM on May 15, 2004

graventy: A million thanks for this thread. So many memories, so many laughs! I just hope it doesn't get deleted...
posted by languagehat at 2:54 PM on May 15, 2004

good lord i've been reading links from this thread for like 3 hours now. (cause im just a noob and tend to ignore threads with over 50 comments) No exception - there's always someone willing to slam their head against the wall in frustration.

Metafilter: a Psychiatric Case Study of the Interweb

now, who's going to write it?
posted by headless at 3:16 PM on May 15, 2004

oh, the cross-over posts that could come from FP...
posted by Hackworth at 6:37 PM on May 15, 2004

I was checking out the bunnyfire thread when I found what I had to offer. in your face! jonmc takes potshots at me every now and then so maybe we are overdue for a psychobillyfreakout. all I have to say to that is mission accomplished, a thousand points of light, read my lips, BRING IT ON!
posted by mcsweetie at 11:00 PM on May 15, 2004

Does anyone remember rodii? I still miss rodii. He did not flame out exactly, he was chased away by someone who was stalking him via email. Carol Anne was chased away by some ill-thought-out comments by another user here. IIRC, SDB not only liked mixing it up with the liberal cabal on many occasions but posted more than a few MeFi threads that may have been his idea of "pr0n lite" at first. Then his links seemed to grow increasingly misogynistic as his posting history went on, to the point where I shuddered everytime I saw his username pop up. I was very glad when he decided to flame out. Evanizer had a famous MeFi flameout also, and came back as Sir Walsingham for a while, then kind of faded away.
posted by Lynsey at 11:38 PM on May 15, 2004

I've been fantasizing about leaving Metafilter in a giant flameout for months now, but I can't quite bring myself to do it. Instead I am just getting crankier and posting shorter, snippier comments. Maybe I will recover.
posted by Mars Saxman at 1:35 AM on May 16, 2004

Actually, at the time that was pretty hurtful, mcsweetie-but going back and reading it now, it just looks like normal Mefi snark.

I have gone back and read some of those threads a year or so later, and it totally boggles my mind that I could have been that person. I go back now and react to "bunnyfire" precisely the same way as the rest of you. Moral of the story-never take your sanity for granted.
posted by konolia at 11:53 AM on May 16, 2004

Ahhh, those were the days.
posted by dg at 8:12 PM on May 16, 2004

It'll all happen again soon enough, when the weather gets hot.
posted by interrobang at 9:47 PM on May 19, 2004