The Mother of All Threads

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I'm getting a little tired of having the same topics show up time after time after time. Some folks seem to think that the fact I've deleted a thread (or that a thread has popped to the top of the queue and expired) is an invitation to start it all over again, and it's getting old. We don't cover any new ground in these threads, and they eventually devolve into stupid banterings involving random people going around and around in circles.

In the hopes that maybe we can move on to more interesting things, I've decided to start The Mother of All Threads. This thread will cover every single point made in more than 95% of all threads on this bboard. If we get it all out here, we'll never have to have any other discussions on any of these subjects ever again.

Join in.

What else have I forgotten?

-- Mike Sugimoto (phloem@fumbling.com), February 23, 2001

Answers

I hate to even bring this up, but my personal favorite is:

What was the name of that song _____?

-- Laura (ulaks@goldengate.net), February 23, 2001.

Here's a good one. Will (insert favorite departed character's name) ever come back on the show?

-- Cammie (rmaelhorn@home.com), February 23, 2001.
how could you have missed the rants against "rocket romano" and how we love to hate him!?

-- (dstopczynski@hotmail.com), February 23, 2001.
I swear, Mike, if I wasn't married... :)

By the way, if anyone thinks he's kidding around, I'm pretty sure he ain't. Hint, hint.

-- Cecelia (evilstoat@hotmail.com), February 23, 2001.

And let's not forget the everpopular tunes:

"We Want More Randi"

and

"What Ever Happened to Jerry"

and, finally

"What is Your Favorite __________________ Moment" (each verse use a different character's name)

-- Sharon (my3sonsand_done@hotmail.com), February 23, 2001.

I was going to ask what the possibility was that William H. Macy might someday return as Morgenstern, but now I think I won't.

-- Dan (d_garrett001@hotmail.com), February 23, 2001.
Well hell, Mike, you covered it all! May as well shut down the board! ;)

-- Maureen (shepcaff@ix.netcom.com), February 23, 2001.
Great, now I can't get the old Sesame Street song out of my head... Laladida, laladida, what's the name of that song?

-- Ruthie Davis (ruthie_davis@hotmail.com), February 23, 2001.
I think you are incredibly undendingly cranky. Settle down and take a breath. We are talking about a television show and your opinion is just as inane as anyone elses.

-- Barbara Parker (riverrd@totalnetnh.net), February 23, 2001.
Quote: "your opinion is just as inane as anyone elses"

1. You obviously haven't spent much time reading some of the threads here if you think that!

2. Mike can be as cranky, opinionated, irritated or frustrated as he likes. It's his board, and he's the poor bastard who has to remain vigilant to protect it against the kind of crap that is listed above and that clutters every other ER board I've seen. Most of the folks who post here appreciate his efforts. If you don't, then by all means, post elsewhere!

-- Beth (bsmith@internet-95.com), February 24, 2001.

Don't forget to mention how much we dislike Abby's hair.

-- Marie (Momba@mariesmail.com), February 24, 2001.
Looks like the only thing we are not conflicted on it that 'Weaver is a lonely slut' and 'Cleo sucks ass'.

:) Jenna

-- Jenna (JennaLunt@aol.com), February 24, 2001.

Dear Mike, thanks for the reminder. Had to laugh and agree. Just curious, though: Does that include a general thread discussing the current episode(assuming it doesn't degenerate into ones like the above mentioned)? Should we stick exclusively to spoilers and pertinent questions? I've read what you have to say about good topics but would like clarification. Perhaps also if you're so inclined, now that you've given some examples of topics you hate, you could look over some of the recently-posted topics and point out a few that epitomize what you consider a good worthy topic. Thanks

-- why? (tkjjd@yahoo.com), February 24, 2001.
i should make my request for all tapes from Season two, three, and the first half of season four.

Does anyone have them??????????

Please????????

:)

-- Eric Marks (mrwhite702@earthlink.net), February 24, 2001.

Does the "er" County General have any security?

-- Chris (LansdaalFamily@home.com), February 25, 2001.
"...please, please everyone - jls is not obligated to tell us where she gets her spoiler information, and we should be courteous enough not to ask. we should all just be grateful that she shares at all..."

-- Lizmia (sweetliz141@aol.com), February 25, 2001.
Yeah, Cecelia, I'm sure he ain't kidding either. And thanks for the slap upside the head. Mike. I get amazed at the speculation on relationships between characters on the show, one of the main thread topics. These are CHARACTERS ON A SHOW. The kind of threads worth my while (I skip many) talk about how well (or poorly) written/ acted/directed a scene was, or an epi was or look at this spoiler won't this be cool, and I esp like being educated when people ask medical/legal/ethical questions. I'd like to start a thread now and again on not what awards the actors win, but on just how WE saw the scene, what we think. Not who is going to do what to whom. Time and again it's the acting (even if they're given nauseatingly written material) that blows me away. Make me believe it, er people (actors, writers, etc). I'll come back every week.

-- patti c (pmcponygrl@aol.com), February 25, 2001.
Right on, Mike! Hey, I'm single!

Patti C, I agree with your preference for the writing/acting/directing and the medical and ethical questions. Here are a couple of sites that have interesting and relevant material.

http://www.bioethics.net/ Bioethics.net covers a wide variety of ethics subjects in medicine and science, including a weekly essay on an ethical topic in the current episode of ER.

http://er.jhsph.edu/abouter.htm "Following ER" is a ... news segment that tells viewers how to prevent the type of accident or disease portrayed in ... ER, or explains a health issue portrayed in the show.

-- Driad (Driad@mailcity.com), February 25, 2001.

Oopa, "Following ER" is at http://er.jhsph.edu/

-- Driad (Driad@mailcity.com), February 25, 2001.
Mike - Right on! We need to keep questions interesting and STICK TO THE TOPIC! That's my biggest pet peeve when people completly digress from the topic and make the thread their own personal vendetta. It's irritating!! That happened on a thread I posted and it got deleted. I can't blame you for deleting it but I blame the people who had to use it as a personal forum. My only question - Why do you allow mundane threads about people needing tapes, characters ages, who was on what other show, etc.... things ilke that?? Thanks!

-- Robin (rkonger@hotmail.com), February 25, 2001.
Whoops! Typo! It should read things LIKE that! Sorry!

-- Robin (rkonger@hotmail.com), February 25, 2001.
Don't forget these: "Why hasn't this week's review been posted yet?" "What ever happened to [Bob / Jerry / Mark's hair]?" "Is it true that [Doug / Abby's mother / Lucy] is coming back?"

-- Driad (Driad@mailcity.com), February 25, 2001.
Driad, the sites you posted are terrific. Thanks for sharing them.

-- Beth (bsmith@interent-95.com), February 26, 2001.
hahahha!!!

I love it.......or as my homie Luka would say, "EE looov EET!!!"

-- Andreaux (andscott@email.com), February 26, 2001.

Well, you missed one of the old time favorites: "ER is getting too much like a soap opera/No it isnt" and lets not forget "If they do X I'll never never never watch the show again" (As if...) =)

-- jules (jsheldon@operamail.com), February 26, 2001.
Dang Mike, I love the way you write!! I've been wanting to say this for quite some time - you are the best! Thank you for all of your hard work, especially your phenomenal commentaries.

-- Stacy (kistro@yahoo.com), February 26, 2001.
Absolutely, Jules! I'm glad you posted these.

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), February 26, 2001.
Don't forget "Cleo had only ____ lines last night" !

Thanks Mike, for doing such a great job on this board and putting up with us all. :-)

-- Cindy (tailchasers51@hotmail.com), February 26, 2001.

Does 'Where was X last night?' rank among the classics, too?

-- Sara (sara@davish.org), February 26, 2001.
Just on the off chance people have been confused by what this thread is supposed to be about, it's a reference to those folks who feel compelled to start interminable threads on subjects where there can never be agreement. Specifically, I'm not particularly interested in being a bastion of character-based polemic -- I can understand why people have preferences, and how people can become attached to particular characters on the show but, as with the couplings, it is largely a matter of personal taste. There's no "discussion" involved, just a bunch of circular arguments going back and forth, occasionally degenerating into a loud explosion when someone says something controversial. (Usually along the lines of "I think X is a fuckhead" or something like that. It doesn't take much.)

What I'm really sick of are the coupling threads. I'm sorry, but I just don't see the point. I see it on the show, I go, "Hm, interesting," and then wonder where my pen went. I don't understand why couples are worthy of threads (particularly non-controversial threads, the ones that stay away from lesbianism and God) that suddenly end up at the top of the New Answers page sporting 38 follow- ups in 24 hours. What the hell is there to talk about? And for those viewers who can't stand the relationship.. oil and water, baby.

Essentially, I'm talking about recreations of the age-old Usenet tradition of meaningless advocacy: Mac versus Windows versus Unix versus VMS (Unix, of course), emacs versus vi (duh, pick emacs), Republican versus Democrat versus Libertarian (don't go there) -- all you get is a lot of hot air and no real agreement. No real agreement is possible, in the final analysis, so we might as well not go there in the first place. What you end up with is chatter, and this server wasn't supposed to be a chat server.

So that's what I don't like. As for what I do like..

I like things on which there can be some measure of consensus, where there is at least some objectivity possible. Threads that ask questions that can be definitively answered are good. Threads that ask what people like or don't like aren't as good as they should be. Two that stand out in my mind as being perfect examples of what I'm after are the one about Kovac's medical training, and the one about last rites for the Bishop -- both of these have real answers. Despite the hot air (and the presence of freeloading parasites (ha ha)), I liked the vaccination thread too, mostly for the same reasons.

Good threads express ideas; bad threads express preferences. You can sway people with ideas, and consensus is possible, but you never get anywhere with preference -- no matter how many times you pester me about it, I will never admit that creamed corn is real food. There is nothing anyone can do to change my mind on the subject; so it goes with characters and couplings..

-- Mike Sugimoto (phloem@fumbling.com), February 26, 2001.

So Mike, I appreciate what you are trying to do and want to be part of it. Please tell me, why did you delete my thread about A Walk in the Woods and Robert Frost? I thought it fit what you were looking for. I am not being defensive...I just want to know what I did wrong so I don't do it again... Thanks, Violet

-- violet (violet@pon.net), February 26, 2001.
Mike, your explanations are fine but must you always resort to profanity? I'm all for free speech but good grief. Besides, profanity is the crutch of an ignorant Mother F*@#er.

-- (princesslinda15b@netscape.net), February 27, 2001.
Violet, I didn't see your Frost thread unfortunately and would like to know the gist of it because I too thought I saw a relevant point there between the epi, its title, and the Frost poem (I almost posted about it myself). I want to play by the rules here too because I truly enjoy this site so I'm hoping Mike lets us know more about why that was an inappropriate thread (I can't even speculate on that since I didn't see it).

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), February 27, 2001.
There's always:

Carter and Chen should be a couple....they look sooooooooo cute together!

-- Cynthia C (petitecosette@yahoo.com), February 27, 2001.

Mike- I didn't see any measure of consensus on the vaccination thread (I think everyone just agreed to disagree- I guess that's *sort* of a consensus ;-)). It seemed to fall under the type you mentioned where no real agreement is possible, so why go there in the first place. But you said you liked that thread, so I'm still confused.

-- Maureen (shepcaff@ix.netcom.com), February 27, 2001.
Maureen, I can't speak for Mike but I thought that thread was good because it raised some real dialogue (until it got nasty and personal). So much more interesting than who should be with whom.

In the original thread Mike says: "If we get it all out here, we'll never have to have any other discussions on any of these subjects ever again." That's what I like about you, Mike, you're always so very optimistic! J/K. ;)

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), February 28, 2001.

...profanity is the crutch of an ignorant Mother F*@#er.

Not necessarily. Just the crutch of the succinct. I've often found the shortest distance between two points to be the f-word. This makes my mother unhappy, but people usually wake up and take my point.

-- S. Trelles (trelles@ix.netcom.com), March 02, 2001.

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