On I Have Thoughts About Commenting Systems!
@BobbyJim *checks to see if PeeWeeHermanSlashFic.com actually exists* (it doesn't, phew. But maybe it should? [arrgh now I can't stop with the tonal uptick questionmarks])
1
On I Have Thoughts About Commenting Systems!
If you go with Disqus, do I have to use the same username/account for all Disqus-powered sites?
'Cause I'm different people at different blogs, and I don't want Awl-commenter Me to be associated with CatFancy-commenter Me or PeeWeeHermanSlashFic.com-commenter Me or whatever.
My vote is keep the existing commenting system. It's straightforward and it does the job, plus the numbers are sorta cheeky-elitist in a fun way. Which, very Awl-appropriate? (see what I did there?)
4
On Atheists Not Inhuman Monsters: Study
@Matt Maybe we're not talking about atheism enough, given how many @Jeremy_Mesiano-Crookstons there are out there. The I'm-an-atheist-BUT-I-think-everyone-should-shut-up-about-it pose is exactly what religious assholes want us to adopt, so let's not give them what they want for once.
0
On What's Your Most Played Song?
@Choire Electrelane "On Parade" is my most-played song in the last few months, too. I'm surprised!
(PJ Harvey "The Words That Maketh Murder" is my most-played for all of 2011, and Fred Neil "Everybody's Talkin'" is my all-time most-played.)
0
On Dumb Word Game on Twitter That Cracks Me Up
Should I give him a DVD of that Forest Whitaker movie about Idi Amin? Last King for a friend.
1
On "Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart"
Are you really suggesting that "aggressive" atheists don't sympathize with the people who've been conned by Harold Camping? Give me a fucking break. People gave up their homes, their life-savings, their jobs—even their lives, in some cases. In a fit of apocalyptic terror, one woman slashed her daughters' throats with a boxcutter before turning the blade on herself.
With your glib, self-satisfied tone, you pat your congregation on the back for being "gentle" with the apocalypse-believers and you tut-tut us for loudly, angrily mocking Harold Camping? You criticize disbelievers when you're forced to look at the destructive results of too much belief? I find that deeply, deeply insulting.
The louder we all mock this apocalyptic prediction, the less victims there will be when the next one comes around—this October, as it happens.
There are true believers who are already too far gone, who are not going to change their minds one way or another. Of course they have our sympathy. But their beliefs should be mocked—loudly—lest other people get the idea that their dangerous, destructive ideas are legitimate and credible.
I despise Harold Camping and I openly mock the apocalypse in the same way that I despise and mock, say, pyschics. And I sympathize deeply with the people who psychics take advantage of—people who have lost loved ones and given all their money to those con-artists in desperation. And you know what? Loudly, aggressively mocking psychics and mocking belief in psychics is a great way to delegitimize the "craft" and prevent more victims. But I suppose you'd be tut-tutting me for being so uncaring to psychics' victims. No mockery, please! That "belittles" the victims.
Perhaps we should write more self-satisfied little articles that gently ponder (and not-so-subtly glorify) the tragic beauty of their victims' tenacity of faith. Because that's not "belitting" at all.
Oh fucking brother!
0
On Woody Allen Movies, In Order Of The Likelihood That Their Titles Will Be Used As Titles For Wu-Tang Clan Songs
Two Scoops!
0
On Eds, In Order
Toronto Eds, in order:
3. the Sock
2. Burtynsky
1. Honest
0
On PJ Harvey, "The Last Living Rose"
Now I'll have "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" in my head for the rest of the day.
Also: is it just me or does her black feather outfit look like something out of Dr. Seuss's The 5000 Fingers of Doctor T?
0
On I Have Thoughts About Commenting Systems!
@s. Yes! The pros of Disqus: indented replies and sortable comments. Good things, absolutely! But the cons are severe: lack of privacy (Disqus is well on its way to becoming the new facebook; see my privacy concerns upthread) and terrible load times (my browser spazzes when Disqus comments load).
Choire, Balk, "business" guys/gals: if you can solve your problems by updating the in-house comment system instead of selling out to a third-party monster, by any means do it! Disqus is not worthy of The Awl.