Comments on: Mefi - burnouts?

Question: Mefi - burnouts?

graventy — Fri, 14 May 2004 18:15:42 -0800

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.)

By: Frasermoo

Frasermoo — Fri, 14 May 2004 18:38:43 -0800

go home and watch tv or serve your time

By: Frasermoo

Frasermoo — Fri, 14 May 2004 18:39:36 -0800

and vote for Rick coz he's just dishy.

By: Frasermoo

Frasermoo — Fri, 14 May 2004 18:43:39 -0800

asshole

By: graventy

graventy — Fri, 14 May 2004 18:46:33 -0800

Hmm...well, that's one. ;) Thanks Frasermoo! Any others?

By: nicwolff

nicwolff — Fri, 14 May 2004 18:48:35 -0800

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.

By: SpaceCadet

SpaceCadet — Fri, 14 May 2004 19:00:30 -0800

What's a burn-out? How can one lose their marbles on Metafilter?

By: Frasermoo

Frasermoo — Fri, 14 May 2004 19:07:27 -0800

OOPS. beer>water

still.... asshole

By: konolia

konolia — Fri, 14 May 2004 19:09:52 -0800

Aw, somebody just send him a link to the Bunnyfire thread and get it over with . That should occupy him for awhile.

By: Vidiot

Vidiot — Fri, 14 May 2004 19:17:46 -0800

What's the link, konolia?

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Fri, 14 May 2004 19:34:36 -0800

The thread that got me a six week vacation.

By: i_cola

i_cola — Fri, 14 May 2004 19:39:01 -0800

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 ;-)

By: Kwantsar

Kwantsar — Fri, 14 May 2004 19:47:01 -0800

This post belongs in the grey.

You got six weeks for that? Haughey is a vengeful god.

By: Johnny Assay

Johnny Assay — Fri, 14 May 2004 19:49:06 -0800

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...

By: Yelling At Nothing

Yelling At Nothing — Fri, 14 May 2004 19:49:15 -0800

I really enjoyed neo's flameout thread in metatalk, way back when. It's gone now, though.

By: Yelling At Nothing

Yelling At Nothing — Fri, 14 May 2004 19:49:42 -0800

jinx, johnny.

By: Vidiot

Vidiot — Fri, 14 May 2004 19:51:46 -0800

I like Sarge Serenity a lot now, but ya gotta love his multi-thread flipout a while back.

By: i_cola

i_cola — Fri, 14 May 2004 20:06:23 -0800

Anyone remember aaron?!

By: crunchburger

crunchburger — Fri, 14 May 2004 20:07:14 -0800

I thought the neo breakdown was a lot of things, but fun was not one of them.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Fri, 14 May 2004 20:10:46 -0800

My vacation was self-imposed. And much needed.

By: jmd82

jmd82 — Fri, 14 May 2004 20:23:23 -0800

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.

By: jmd82

jmd82 — Fri, 14 May 2004 20:24:44 -0800

Er, I downloaded it after I learned Matt pulled it and before I tried to visit the killed-thread page.

By: jmd82

jmd82 — Fri, 14 May 2004 20:27:07 -0800

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

By: keswick

keswick — Fri, 14 May 2004 20:38:22 -0800

You like me, you really

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Fri, 14 May 2004 20:49:54 -0800

I got banned for a few days for indulging in excessive hijinks with iceberg73. Don't remember which thread though. Was probably deleted.

By: PrinceValium

PrinceValium — Fri, 14 May 2004 21:12:08 -0800

...

By: PrinceValium

PrinceValium — Fri, 14 May 2004 21:15:18 -0800

jmd82, pretty please?

By: interrobang

interrobang — Fri, 14 May 2004 21:29:00 -0800

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.

By: jmd82

jmd82 — Fri, 14 May 2004 21:35:15 -0800

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.

By: milovoo

milovoo — Fri, 14 May 2004 21:39:47 -0800

Bad Commie was entertaining. New user, joined on april fools day and lasted, what, a 2 days?

By: philfromhavelock

philfromhavelock — Fri, 14 May 2004 21:42:13 -0800

I liked this one, although it mightn't be exactly what you're looking for.

By: jammer

jammer — Fri, 14 May 2004 22:07:16 -0800

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.

By: Grod

Grod — Fri, 14 May 2004 22:16:32 -0800

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.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Fri, 14 May 2004 22:29:36 -0800

I think jammer meant to say that:

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

I'm just guessing, though.

By: furiousthought

furiousthought — Fri, 14 May 2004 22:37:04 -0800

That would be Settle, Grod. Settle was awesome.

By: Electric Elf

Electric Elf — Fri, 14 May 2004 22:51:13 -0800

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.)

By: malphigian

malphigian — Fri, 14 May 2004 22:59:08 -0800

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.

By: malphigian

malphigian — Fri, 14 May 2004 23:00:50 -0800

Ahh, I see the neu thread was already mentioned (several times!), not sure how I missed that.

By: Danelope

Danelope — Sat, 15 May 2004 00:13:50 -0800

I don't know if I would call it a burnout, per se, but the Billy Maulana fiasco has always been a favorite.

By: riffola

riffola — Sat, 15 May 2004 01:30:34 -0800

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.

By: Hildago

Hildago — Sat, 15 May 2004 01:42:38 -0800

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.

By: Ethereal Bligh

Ethereal Bligh — Sat, 15 May 2004 03:08:39 -0800

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.

By: th3ph17

th3ph17 — Sat, 15 May 2004 03:27:34 -0800

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.

By: Ethereal Bligh

Ethereal Bligh — Sat, 15 May 2004 03:30:53 -0800

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.

By: Ethereal Bligh

Ethereal Bligh — Sat, 15 May 2004 03:50:47 -0800

Oh, maybe not.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sat, 15 May 2004 04:42:21 -0800

Bunnyfire's just fine now. We love her lots.

By: bonaldi

bonaldi — Sat, 15 May 2004 06:30:24 -0800

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!

By: troutfishing

troutfishing — Sat, 15 May 2004 06:51:30 -0800

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.

By: konolia

konolia — Sat, 15 May 2004 06:54:10 -0800

I remember Aaron. Him, I worry about.

I love Bunnyfire too. :-)

By: Gyan

Gyan — Sat, 15 May 2004 08:20:05 -0800

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

Is this the one?

By: jmd82

jmd82 — Sat, 15 May 2004 09:18:12 -0800

Gyan: mad skills, yo!

By: Kwantsar

Kwantsar — Sat, 15 May 2004 10:21:37 -0800

Where is the thread where SDB said goodbye? Can't seem to find it.

By: Yelling At Nothing

Yelling At Nothing — Sat, 15 May 2004 11:59:25 -0800

Ahhh, neu's profile is blocked.

By: th3ph17

th3ph17 — Sat, 15 May 2004 13:52:24 -0800

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.

By: FidelDonson

FidelDonson — Sat, 15 May 2004 13:57:17 -0800

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.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Sat, 15 May 2004 14:54:34 -0800

graventy: A million thanks for this thread. So many memories, so many laughs! I just hope it doesn't get deleted...

By: headless

headless — Sat, 15 May 2004 15:16:00 -0800

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?

By: Hackworth

Hackworth — Sat, 15 May 2004 18:37:01 -0800

oh, the cross-over posts that could come from FP...

By: mcsweetie

mcsweetie — Sat, 15 May 2004 23:00:34 -0800

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!

By: Lynsey

Lynsey — Sat, 15 May 2004 23:38:14 -0800

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.

By: Mars Saxman

Mars Saxman — Sun, 16 May 2004 01:35:54 -0800

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.

By: konolia

konolia — Sun, 16 May 2004 11:53:29 -0800

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.

By: dg

dg — Sun, 16 May 2004 20:12:36 -0800

Ahhh, those were the days.

By: interrobang

interrobang — Wed, 19 May 2004 21:47:42 -0800

It'll all happen again soon enough, when the weather gets hot.