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25 new of 170 responses total.
anderyn
response 69 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 20:03 UTC 2004

I don't like being parodied. And I resent being used as fodder. This is a
personal preference, and maybe it's not very understandable to those who are
comfortable with it. I wouldn't have minded one bit if the only people
parodied were those who were okay with having it done to/with/for them. I
wasn't and am not comfortable with it, and I don't think Valerie is either.
gull
response 70 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 20:16 UTC 2004

Re resp:68: I think it's odd that you'd claim Grex is cliquey and 
rejects outside ideas.  This whole item, and the previous one, came 
about because an "outsider" brought up something a long-time Grexer did 
that they didn't like.  There have been over a hundred responses 
discussing this, most of them supporting the "outsider's" objections.  
That doesn't look like a rejection of outside ideas to me.
cross
response 71 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 20:22 UTC 2004

In a free society, you don't get to choose who parodies you.  Perhaps
some people will read #69 and agree not to do it, simply out of respect
for your feelings.  But other's won't.  That doesn't make it nice, but
it doesn't make it wrong, either.  The only way to escape it is not to
post something that's parodyable, or ignore it.

On mnet, Jan has said that that leads to a decay in the ability to form
a cohesive community.  I don't think that's true.  It may lead to a decay
in the ability to create the kind of community Jan would like to see, but
that's different.
other
response 72 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 20:30 UTC 2004

We live in an environment in which people cannot be expected to 
behave as if they understood the consequences of their actions.  
That means that we cannot simultaneously preserve individual liberty 
within the context of polite society.  People are free to not be 
polite, and we are free to ignore them but not to restrict their 
ability to display the extent of their sociopathy for all the world 
to see.  Those are the parameters we established, and Grex grew up 
in an environment which, merely by means of its relative obscurity, 
was somewhat protected from that reality.

We no longer have the cozy shelter or our obscurity, and the rain is 
made of excrement.  We can either plug our noses and go about our 
business, or change the way we exist, or cease to exist.  It looks 
more like we're going down the latter path than either of the 
former, but this is all happening so fast it is hard to draw long 
term conclusions.
anderyn
response 73 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 20:39 UTC 2004

In which case (my not being able to choose dah dah dah... ) I can freely tell
the people who did it that they suck. Which is pretty much how I feel about
it. It was a cruel thing, and it wasn't necessary for anyone to do. It wasn't
wrong in any sense but the fact that a person who respected others wouldn't
do it. IMHO, of course.
gelinas
response 74 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 20:56 UTC 2004

mynxcat, this one paragraph from your response illustrates my point about
you being annoying:

}  Do I apologise for being a parodier. No. I'm sorry that feelings were
}  hurt. I would still parody someone if I got the oppurtunity, though I
}  don't think I'm very good at it. I see my flaws, and heck I've parodied
}  them too. And I've been parodied. I happened to stumble across a parody
}  on me, and I didn't have the knee-jerk reaction that Valerie had. I
}  thought it was pretty funny. (I don't remember what it was exactly,
}  but I remember thinking - wow! that's pretty much on mark)

Note especially:

        I'm sorry that feelings were hurt. I would still parody someone
        if I got the oppurtunity,

That basic lack of concern for the feelings of others is what I find
annoying.

Am I annoyed that you disagree with me?  Nope.  Lots of people do.
when they can support their positions, I learn from them, and sometimes,
change my opinion.  I'm fairly certain you could find instances of that
happening here on grex.

If you are interested, I'll be glad to go back through this conference and
isolate the specific responses that led me to my original comment above.
I'll send you the list in e-mail or post it here; your choice.  I'll even
apologise if, after that review, I find I agree with you.
jp2
response 75 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 21:00 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

other
response 76 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 21:06 UTC 2004

Jamie, if you had the wherewithal to actually call me stupid to my face, I
would laugh at you.  Of course, despite the bullshit and all your
troublemaking, you're probably someone whose company I would find entertaining
in the real world, possibly because of and possibly despite our difference
in political (and other) opinion.  That doesn't mean I don't sometimes have
the urge to slap you sillier than you already are, but thats all just part
of the world we're in.
scott
response 77 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 21:06 UTC 2004

Freedom does not preclude civility.
jp2
response 78 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 21:10 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

other
response 79 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 21:18 UTC 2004

When I mention Grex growing up, I was referring to the period from its
inception to about 1993 or 1994, by which time it had pretty well established
itself in terms of style and character.  The obscurity which shielded people
here from the incivility of the rest of the world was primarily evidenced by
the reluctance of people who did not share the Grex values of the time to 
stay and invest themselves and their time in the community.

Of course, these are merely my perceptions.

And that whitefish thing, THAT's what I'm talking about.  I actually saw a
live performance of that Monty Python skit by some local folks here in Ann
Arbor (students at UM, actually) and I nearly lost control of bodily
functions, I laughed so hard.
jp2
response 80 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 21:22 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

other
response 81 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 21:24 UTC 2004

They'll love that at the post office.  Unless those things come in really
small packages.  I only have a little PO Box.  
other
response 82 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 21:26 UTC 2004

(The funniest parts were the reactions of the people who sat closest to the
performance area, later in the skit when it became screamingly apparent that
the fish being employed were not made of something with durable structural
integrity like rubber, but were actually real.)
mynxcat
response 83 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 21:37 UTC 2004

Re 74> I think I know where this is coming from. I can be insensitive, 
and I can be a jerk, true. And that sentence didn't come out right. 
Yes, I'd still parody someone. I'd be careful to choose my subjects 
though. Slynne's game, Twila isn't. Valerie's off limits. Iggy's ok to 
parody. Then there are some people who I don't care if they care to be 
parodied or not. They haven't tried to be nice to people. They're self-
righteous and pompous, and rude. Some of them are self-centered and 
vain. Are they going to be hurt when they read the stuff? Have they 
considered other people's feelings? 

I'd be interested in seeing which posts you thought were particularly 
annoying, and why. Feel free to post them on grex.
gelinas
response 84 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 21:40 UTC 2004

Will do.  Thanks. :)
willcome
response 85 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 21:58 UTC 2004

Gelinas, you're a weirdo.
flem
response 86 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 22:05 UTC 2004

> Jan has said that [something] leads to a decay in the ability to form
> a cohesive community.

Here's what I think leads to inability to form a cohesive community:
knowing that your contribution to the community may be erased at any
time on the whim of some other person with an axe to grind.
jep
response 87 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 22:40 UTC 2004

I'm surprised to see anyone singling out mynxcat as annoying or as a 
problem on Grex.
cross
response 88 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 22:50 UTC 2004

Regarding #77; True, but freedom demands we tolerate some incivility to
preserve liberty.
scott
response 89 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 22:57 UTC 2004

I've never had a problem with mynxcat on Grex, aside from disagreeing on
whether Grex is a clique or not.

But it was rather a shock to see that she'd basically taken stuff from Grex
over to M-Net, for the purpose of a very long-term and rather mean parody.
And that apparently she felt no need to inform the principal subject of that
parody that it was going on all this time.  Which tends to disprove the 
claim that it was all a friendly joke, since what would be the point if
the subject (who presumably should find it funny) doesn't find out at all?

I suppose it's possible that everybody expected Valerie to somehow know
about the parody.  Still, it's been pretty common for a long time that 
M-Netters seem more fascinated with Grex than Grexers with M-Net, hence
no M-Net parody conference (or even items I can recall).

Yes, I'll agree that the baby diaries told a lot of extremely personal detail.
So when somebody gives you too much personal info, is the accepted polite
response to go make fun that person behind their back?
naftee
response 90 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 23:00 UTC 2004

re 87 Yeah, it'd be like someone disagreeing with GreX policy.  Shocking.
cross
response 91 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 23:10 UTC 2004

Regarding #89; Actually, there *is* an M-Net parody conference on grex,
called ``mnut''.  One of the more prolific posters there was Jan, but
it has since fallen into obscurity and only rarely used.

I must say, as a reader of the mnet agora conference (and only a rare
poster there), I always just assumed Valerie knew about the parody and
ignored it for the juvenille rambling it was.  Actually, it wasn't one
of the better parodies there; I usually found it boring.  There was
exactly one time I read something funny; a quote of something someone
(not Valerie) wrote about poo terminology.
krj
response 92 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 23:12 UTC 2004

There aren't too many abuse targets left on M-net.
 
naftee
response 93 of 170: Mark Unseen   Jan 8 23:14 UTC 2004

How would you know?  You're never there.
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