Wow, I’d love to see a link to that thread.
Seconded.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=374301&highlight=harry+potter
share and enjoy, post 42.
Thanks the the link. Almost makes me want to read the books, just so I could effectively rebut posts like that.
Why read the books when you can rent the DVDs? 
Erunh? It didn’t, and doesn’t, upset me. Just stuck in my mind as unadulterated crazyness. I have never before, nor since, seen an apology cast as an attack; that sort of paranoia is rare, you should feel proud.
It takes some balls to lie when I’ve already cited the posts. Gotta admire that, at least.
Does it feel weird when reality starts squirming away from you like that? I did, indeed, mean every word of it. That it was minor, that it was petty, that I didn’t even remember what the meat of the dispute was at the time. All true. The fact that you reacted to an honest request to bury the hatchet by claiming you were under attack showed, quite clearly, the content of your charcter. And while I normally have nothing against the mentally ill, if their mental illness makes them act like jerks, then I have a problem.
After you decided to pretend that peacemaking was actually picking a fight, I then decided that your behavior in the other thread was not an aberation, but typified your behavior when you feel like picking a fight. But like I said, I don’t think you’re trolling, just mildly insane.
I couldn’t possibly care less what an anonymous cluster of electrons says on the internet. Nor have I ever taken issue as to whether or not you like me, frankly I never even considered it. The point is that you are so pugnacious in your detatchment from reality that even an attempt to bury the hatchet must, simply must be an attack on you. The fact that you choose to recast this to fit your personal fantasty doesn’t really mean all that much to me.
Wounded. Sobbing.
Seen 'em. That’s the reason I don’t read the books. The movies have some nice eye candy, but storywise, they’re about the dumbest things I’ve ever seen. Even the third one, which had the most going for it of the lot, had a pretty stupid ending.
Without making any comment on the literary or film quality of the books or films ( OK, I will comment - which I agree are not worth reading or watching, from what I understand), not reading a book simply because the movie sucked is a stance that could be reconsidered. Many good books have been made into crummy movies.
I’ve been going back and forth on whether or not to post to this thread, but this comment kind of crystallized for me what I think, so hopefully I’ll be able to put it into words now. I think the problem with this metaphor is that it’s not your room. You don’t get to decide who is smart enough or informed enough or whatever enough to participate in threads here. To me, common courtesy dictates that you respond to the people you want to respond to and ignore the rest unless they’re deliberately attacking you or spreading false information. If they’re just making dumb comments, just let it alone.
When I first noticed Excalibre, to be honest I thought he was a troll. (I can say that now!) We don’t really hang out in the same circles here, and all I really ever saw him do was hang out in the anti-mod threads, fanning the flames of the outrage du jour. I’ve changed my mind since then, as I’ve seen him participating in more varied topics and with more intelligence, but I think it’s fair to say that he thrives on conflict. There’s certainly a place for that here, and he’s far from the only one here that does. I think the problem comes when his thirst for a good fight derails an otherwise enjoyable thread. Again, he’s far from the most egregious offender here, but it does happen. All too often, when I see his name pop up, I know the thread is about to degenerate into a shouting match about some tangentially related topic.
Case in point, starting around page four and going into page five. A guest started an unusually dumb Pit thread, and everyone was having a fine old time making bad puns and mocking the OP, until What Exit made a comment about becoming the next injoke, and Excalibre jumped on him for it and turned the thread into a nasty fight until they were shouted down. And it was What Exit that backed off. Personally, I suspect Excalibre would have kept it up as long as What Exit did, no matter how many people complained.
Again, there’s plenty of room for fighting and conflict and violent nitpickery here, and there are a lot of people who are as bad or worse at this than Excalibre is. I would just request that Excalibre think about exercising a bit more restraint and confining the knock-down drag-out fights to the threads where they’re relevant. That’s all.
Now, I’m sure Excalibre will be able to come back with all sorts of counterexamples and arguments and explanations as to why none of it is ever his fault, and I’ll say right now I’m not really interested. I’m just offering my opinion - a general impression of your style based on what you’ve posted. Well, actually, the small subset of what you’ve posted that I’ve noticed enough for it to contribute to my impression. I don’t think I’m being close minded here - it’s just that my opinion of people is built up over months of posting, not from a list of links and arguments. You can decide for yourself what my impression is worth - I’m guessing it will be not much - but I thought I’d at least offer the view of one guy with whom you’ve never had a serious conflict as to how you come across on the boards. I really don’t have a problem with you. Do with it what you will.
I agree in general, but in this specific case, my objection to the films are specific plot elements that are, from what I have heard from friends who have read the books, entirely faithful to the source material. I can accept a certain amount of poor plotting if the prose and characterization are exceptional, but I’m not sure anyone could write well enough for me to forgive the plot to Goblet of Fire.
If not that, then just incredibly whiney, as that thread happened nine months ago and you’re still going on about it.
It’s interesting that you chose to link individual posts, and out of order. It almost makes one wonder if you were attempting to hide this, the first insult exchanged between us: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6555566&postcount=45
See, what happened in that thread was this: a woman posted a complaint with her spouse - a spouse whom she called “a wonderful man”, and a lot of people responded with what I saw as far too much seriousness. The thread specifically concerned the use of SSRIs in the treatment of postpartum depression. I made a lame joke about people needing “mood stabilizers” (funny that FinnAgain didn’t mention that it was a joke when he mentioned the post - despite the fact that it had a smiley right afterwards and I explicitly said so later in the thread. One wonders whether FinnAgain lies like this in his daily life, or only on the internet where he feels he can get away with it.) And specifically, I made a joke about asking Qadgop for a prescription for Xanax in exchange for cash.
It was a lame joke. And it’s a subject that Qadgop felt far more seriously about than I realized - although that, too, is my fault. It’s not hard to imagine that a prison doctor and recovering addict might take giving out prescriptions fraudulently more seriously than I do, and he felt insulted. I apologized profusely, and made an off-hand remark that the thread was being taken way too seriously - partially in reference to people’s perceptions of the OP, and partially in reference to my stupid joke being blown out of propertion.
Thus we reach the post I linked above, in which FinnAgain snarks at me - out of nowhere: "Luckily we have a voice of reason telling us how foolish we’ve been. :rolleyes: " Because I had the tenacity to express an opinion different from most people’s in the thread. Prior to this point, I’m not sure if I ever had any particular contact with FinnAgain, and I certainly had not insulted him in that thread, which meant his snark and accompanying rolleyes came completely out of the blue.
So yeah, in response to that insult as well as his selective quoting, I called him an asswipe. It’s, like, a major assault on his soul! Well, if responding to an insult in kind (and with such a vicious response indeed!) is wrong, well, FinnyPoo, as the saying goes, I don’t wanna be right. You threw the first insult, one that was totally unwarranted. If you think being called an “asswipe” is an unreasonable response to rolleyesing someone, then it just shows that there’s something wrong with you.
I’m not sure if if you’re lying deliberately about what happened, or if you honestly feel your behavior was appropriate. All I know is that it wasn’t, and given the entirely unwarranted insult you slung my way, I didn’t (and don’t) feel any particular need to forgive you, especially given that you have lied about the matter on every occasion that it’s been discussed since then.
Which is a lot of occasions; you seem to feel the need to talk about this matter a lot more times than I particularly think worthwhile. I did sort of like you once upon a time, Finny. Sure, you melt down more than your share of times, but often, you’re a reasonable poster who contributes something valuable to discussion. But insulting me out of nowhere the way you did for having the wrong opinion? That’s not something I feel any need to forgive you for. I’m not sure why you’re lying about the sequence of events now, since I’m perfectly capable of going back myself. Surely your reading impairment doesn’t stop you from knowing what you yourself wrote, which in my opinion means your lies are deliberate.
And the fact that you keep bringing this up suggests that you were pretty deeply hurt by it. Well, I’m sorry you were hurt. I don’t feel much need to apologize for my own behavior, though, because frankly, I was a bit hurt when you insulted me for no reason.
P.S.: Next time you feel the need to offer an ungenuine apology, at least look at the original argument and see who actually owes the apology. “Let’s put all this behind us” is not a very good apology - not when it’s you who started the matter in the first place.
[QUOTE=Excalibre]
Because I had the tenacity to express an opinion different from most people’s in the thread./QUOTE]
Tenacity? I mean “temerity”. Expressing an opinion obviously doesn’t require any particular tenacity.
With regards to the Harry Potter movies, they are very faithful the books with regards to some things, but they leave out most of the characterization and depth. As is most often the case, the books are much better than the movies.
I suppose I should say something on topic as I’d hate to hijack a servicable pitting into cafe society territory. Makes the mods way too happy when they get to kick a pit thread into that fluffy place.
I have much respect for Excalibre. He’s very intelligent,expresses himself well, and has a gift for invective that I envy. That said he can be a bit tenacious at times and a little fast on the aggression. As Smeghead noted, Excalibre can occasionally derail a thread. He does it in the pit though and that is the place to do it. It’s also hard not to like a person after they quote you from a thread a ways back.
That’s my two cents.
Is there a statute of limitations on pointing out paranoid wackyness?
Squirmy reality, eh? Or are you just stupid enough to deny what’s in plain black and white text? Do you think that your revisions of reality exist outside your head? I cited, in order: post 21, post 43, post 45, post 47, post 48, post 50, and post 55. In case your reality doesn’t include numerical notation, that’s what we call “in order”.
And, sugar-dumpling, if you think that me pointing out that your high and mighty bullshit was condescending and you were not, in fact, that Voice of Reason in that thread speaking down to people, your skin is obviously none too thick. I suggest crying me a river, followed by sobbing in your beer.
A coward as well as a crazy person? “It was only a joke!” has to be the lamest and slimiest bit of evasion out there. Whether or not you were ‘only joking’, you were setting yourself up one your own selfmade little pillar, and talking down to the hoi poloi. Hide behind it being a ‘joke’, but the condescension and arrogance were still there. Sorry.
Yes yes, when Reality doesn’t agree with your fantasy, that means someone else is playing fast and loose with the facts. Good show! Again, if pointing out that you were hardly the Voice of Reason in the thread, and that most people were calm is an ‘insult’, then you’re a wimp.
But yeah, that’s why I cited everything, in order, with a link to the entire thread if people wanted to read it… because I was lying! It’s a great trick, I’ll cite the posts and anticipate that nobody can read. You are so wise.
Mmm hmmm, waltzing into a thread and casting yourself as the only clear headed one certainly is neither arrogant nor condescending. And someone pointing out that other people have been calm and reasoned… that’s an attack on you, an insult! Just like an attempt to bury the hatchet is an attack! All our war! Ayieee!
Can I get a day trip to your reality, or do I have to own real estate there or something?
Riiiiight. Poor martyr exy and his bag of tricks, poorly, poorly put upon by evil Finn. Yeepers.
Again, evidently you can dish it out, but you sure as heck can’t take it. Wimp. Heavens forfend that someone point out your characterization of events is innacurate. If someone is snarky when refuting your points, that you made while puffing yourself up and trying to talk down to other people, it’s an insult, an attack! And you did nothing to deserve it, at all. How dare anybody contradcit you?
It’s funny, though, that you wine about all this and not being able to state opinions, when you called me an ‘asswipe’ for daring to state that your take on the situation was incorrect and that you were harldy the only reasonable person in the thread. Well, funny like a sword juggler stabbing himself, but still funny.
You’re letting your fantasy get away with you, again. Snark isn’t an insult, you think skinned whiner. And, as I already cited, you were the one engaging in selctive quoting, not me. I alredy cited the post, but evidently as you were busy forgetting the order numbers go in, you forget that one too. It’s okay, I forgive you. I’ll even cite it, yet again.
So shall we add hypocrisy in addition to your ability to make up your own reality? This sure is amusing, though.
Rolleyes are now an insult? Alert GD, it’s a direct personal insult! Oh, wait… either that, or you’re a whiney little wimp. Just how many microns thick is that skin you’ve got there?
Jeez, does the morning sun make you cry in your cornflakes too? Saying that you’re hardly the only reasonable person in a thread is an insult? Nobody can contradict your arrogant pretense of superiority without insulting you? Narcisistic in addition to a paranoid wimp? You’re as multilayered as an onion. Quite entertaining.
You might wanna stop making stuff up long enough to, ya know, not do it while you’re claiming that I’m lying.
Crazy people rarely realize the extend of their lunacy. Not that surprsing, sweetheart.
Well, I’m sure we can let everybody judge for themselves whether disagreeing with you is, in fact, a personal insult. It is good that you have such a high opinion of yourself that to contradict you is (with the dreaded rolleyes!) is simply beyond the pale.
We can also let the Peanut Gallery decide whether or not you’ve been showing gobs o’ hypocrisy in whining about how someone disagreeing with you is an insult, when that’s what you were busy doing. It’s not really worth my time, as you’ve proven my point much better than I could without your response.
I’m sure you can go back, and find whatever you want. You can even see a numerical sequence as being out of order. You can see an effort at peacemaking as an attack on you. You can see someone disagreeing with you as a direct personal insult. That’s the benefit to having a very active imagination. I envy you, I have to live in the real world.
Or that I was shocked by your level of psychosis, which I have never seen before nor since. Either or, I suppose.
Trust me, I feel no need to apologize to a lunatic like you ever again. Nor am I troubled by your fantasy that I was disingenuous. But you sure are funny to read.
Ah yes, my cowardly little wimp, it’s all someone else’s fault. When you disagree with people and pretend that you’re the only calm one, then it’s okay. But if someone disagrees that you’re the only calm one, and ~gasp!~ uses the rolleyes, then you’re under attack! Sound the air raid sirens! It’s an attaaaaaaaaack!
In any case, I think I’m done with you. But if you feel the need to try to get out of the hole you’re in by digging even faster, I’ll be happy to read the rest of your posts.
Maybe you can even figure out what order numbers come in.
I’m pulling for you snuggle bunny.
Way off topic but I have to respond:
I certainly don’t think Harry Potter is the greatest literature in the world, but neither do I think it deserves the well - *vitriol *(:)) it’s getting. It’s entertaining. I’m not looking for more when I pick up children’s literature.
Remember when we talked about your crazy meltdowns, sugarplum? Because you seem to have lost your shit; please take it with you if you find it again.
I just don’t get why you keep bringing this up over and over; look - maybe you don’t feel that you were in the wrong about this whole thing, though you in fact were. Either way, I’m not sure why you feel the need to rehash this argument constantly. But this thread sure ain’t the first time you did.
Bottom line, I know you’re hurt. I know you don’t like to admit you’re wrong. But apple blossom, I just had one of these fights with lissener and I’m not interested in another. That one at least was in the context of an interesting discussion.
Look. You want to be a jerk and you don’t want to face the consequence of your behavior - people getting mad at you. Fine. That’s why I don’t bring this whole thing up every time I talk to you; in fact, I’ve tried to be at very least cordial to you since then, but you’re dwelling on it and dwelling on some bizarre notion that I victimized you in some way. For whatever hurt you suffered on my account, I’m sorry. I have to think this is not the best way of dealing with it, though.
I’m not discussing this with you again. You’ve had your say, I’ve had mine. I’m not interested in it anymore.
Meh. People have different tastes. I don’t think it’s great literature, but I enjoyed reading it. Four times by now, I think. (Hey, I need something simple and not taxing to read sometimes.) But Miller’s entitled to his opinion, and I too think the plots of the books have their problems.
Oh, god, of course the plots have horrible problems. Goblet of Fire was awful in places. But I just consider it what I call “candy reading” - entertaining and cute without much depth.
It’s for kiddies!! I love the Phantom Tollbooth, too, but not much depth there, either!
Yep. I’d definitely give them a try. No, they aren’t the greatest literature of their time, but I will say they’re VERY good stories, and definitely a page turner. Or, as Stephen King once said of Mercedes Lackey, “She’ll keep you up way past your bedtime.”
I don’t think Rowling is the next L. M. Montgomery, but I’d put her up there with say, Beverly Cleary. HP is a really fun read. Escapism. Not everything has to be great and profound lit.
I think PT is actually deeper than HP, personally. I’m a fan, but the stories are dumb. It’s the world and characters that are compelling, to me.