# There might just be a reason that Lissener gets repeated pittings. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 10, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278 "2009-06-10T00:42:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/41 "2009-06-11T16:31:36Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > As in “The Grand Canyon little peoples any other tourist attraction in Arizona”? It just doesn’t flow the same way. Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/42 "2009-06-11T16:42:18Z")
I find it sad - I love geeking out over films and music, and I always like finding other obsessive nerds to talk about the stuff with; **lissener** seems like he’d be ideal for such purposes, except he’s such a judgmental prick in nearly every conversation that it would be pointless. I can count on 2 fingers the number of my close friends who think my all-time favorite band is awesome, but I don’t condemn the rest as ignorant fools for not feeling the same way I do. Neither is my default assumption of people that they’re homophobes/racists/misogynists/whatever when they make what are obviously jokes or use terms like “wuss rock”. Life must be difficult when nobody can ever live up to your crazy arbitrary standards and you’re disappointed by people all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Jester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jester/32/8223_2.png) [@Jester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jester)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/43 "2009-06-11T16:48:47Z")
I think people are missing a key event in this thread. Sure, **lissener’s** last post consists mainly of him moving the argument goalposts and harping on **woodstockybird** for a comment that she already, in this very thread, withdrew. This is all true, and certainly in keeping with standard lissener “Be judgmental and overreactionary about everything” practice. BUT, in that post, he also gives us this: > [@](#): > > So to recap: my initial statement in the linked thread, **while overstated and open to debate and even perhaps to correction** , was hardly threadshitting, and hardly pitworthyl. Is it me, or have we just witnessed the closest thing to an apology that lissener has issued in recent memory? Like, seriously. That’s almost downright gracious. He comes _this close_ to withdrawing the statement that precipitated this thread. This. Close. So, to recap, we now have: - **lissener** acknowledging that his original statement that caused this whole firestorm, and indicating that he’d be willing to discuss it. - **woodstockybird** cheerfully (and possibly unnecessarily) withdrawing the other point of contention. Could it be? Did a **lissener** Pit thread actually just accomplish its goal, before even getting off the first page? Have we averted a pileon? Truly, this day is a milestone. _Edited because I realized I needed to add a conclusion._ ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/44 "2009-06-11T16:58:01Z")
> [@Jester](#): > > I think people are missing a key event in this thread. Sure, **lissener’s** last post consists mainly of him moving the argument goalposts and harping on **woodstockybird** for a comment that she already, in this very thread, withdrew. Just to clarify, I’m a he. But I don’t think that mistake makes you homophobic. ---
**Author:** ![Jester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jester/32/8223_2.png) [@Jester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jester)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/45 "2009-06-11T16:59:41Z")
D’oh! I actually debated with myself about which I should put, and obviously came down on the wrong side of the gender fence. I guess that means I should go to sensitivity training, to get my latent homophobia out of my system. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/46 "2009-06-11T17:40:06Z")
> [@Jester](#): > > D’oh! I actually debated with myself about which I should put, and obviously came down on the wrong side of the gender fence. I guess that means I should go to sensitivity training, to get my latent homophobia out of my system. I bet you’re a dwarf. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/47 "2009-06-11T17:46:43Z")
> [@Jester](#): > > Is it me, or have we just witnessed the closest thing to an apology that lissener has issued in recent memory? Like, seriously. That’s almost downright gracious. He comes _this close_ to withdrawing the statement that precipitated this thread. This. Close. I think I see a loose thread in the fabric of space time. Let me go over here and pull on it… ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/48 "2009-06-11T19:21:57Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Life must be difficult when nobody can ever live up to your crazy arbitrary standards and you’re disappointed by people all the time. Such is the price of “genius.” ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/49 "2009-06-12T06:21:20Z")
Just to update [my post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10222580&postcount=111) from a previous thread, Lissener’s current Pittings Per Year rating is: Lissener: 13/9 = 1.444 PPY Up 0.3 from last year. Sell high! Sell high! ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/50 "2009-06-12T06:37:50Z")
A long time ago, someone wisely said something along the lines of “just imagine Lissener speaking as the Comic Book Guy” and since then, his posts simply don’t bother me. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/51 "2009-06-12T08:06:11Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > [You’ve obviously forgetten how **lissener** feels about Tori:](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=344983) Oh god, I missed that thread. Well, I think I’ll trust Neil Gaiman’s taste in friends rather than **lissener** ’s evaluation of art. Unless he has a “friend” who slept with Tori, which would totally make me change my mind:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/52 "2009-06-12T11:42:22Z")
> [@ZebraShaSha](#): > > A long time ago, someone wisely said something along the lines of “just imagine Lissener speaking as the Comic Book Guy” and since then, his posts simply don’t bother me. Worst Analogy Evar. Not 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/53 "2009-06-12T17:48:45Z")
He’s right about Tori Amos, though. Credit where it’s due. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/54 "2009-06-12T18:03:08Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > You know how I know you are gay? Because you started a Pit thread over some argument about Jeff Buckley in a Coldplay thread.😃 _giggling_ ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/55 "2009-06-12T18:06:42Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > He’s right about Tori Amos, though. > > Credit where it’s due. Really? I can’t stand Tori, but I don’t think I would call her a sellout. She seems one of the more sincere artists from what I’ve heard. Assuming of course, we are talking about a sellout in the strict “I deliberately changed/picked my style based on market research as opposed to staying true to myself and my craft” sense. Now Erykah Badu - THERE’S a sellout in my book. Her stage name alone pisses me off. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/56 "2009-06-12T18:26:26Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > Really? I can’t stand Tori, but I don’t think I would call her a sellout. She seems one of the more sincere artists from what I’ve heard. Assuming of course, we are talking about a sellout in the strict “I deliberately changed/picked my style based on market research as opposed to staying true to myself and my craft” sense. Now Erykah Badu - THERE’S a sellout in my book. Her stage name alone pisses me off. Well, Amos did start out in Y Kant Tori Read… ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/57 "2009-06-12T18:30:48Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > Now Erykah Badu - THERE’S a sellout in my book. Her stage name alone pisses me off. I was under the impression that she changed her name as a personal preference, not just for professional reasons. But even so, how is it different from any other person who has adopted a false name for a public persona – Jennifer Aniston, Bob Dylan, George Michael, Anne Bancroft, Frankie Avalon, Fred Astaire, Tony Curtis, Kirk Douglas, Jack Palance. They changed their names at least partly so that people would think of them as regular old Anglo-Saxons (or at least not think that they weren’t). Assuming the worst about Badu’s name change, it’s the same thing only in reverse. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/58 "2009-06-12T19:00:05Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I was under the impression that she changed her name as a personal preference, not just for professional reasons. But even so, how is it different from any other person who has adopted a false name for a public persona – Jennifer Aniston, Bob Dylan, George Michael, Anne Bancroft, Frankie Avalon, Fred Astaire, Tony Curtis, Kirk Douglas, Jack Palance. They changed their names at least partly so that people would think of them as regular old Anglo-Saxons (or at least not think that they weren’t). Assuming the worst about Badu’s name change, it’s the same thing only in reverse. It isn’t that she chose a stage name, its what she chose. It really feels to me like she sat there thinking “Hmm, Erica will never sell, but if I change the spelling and add a surname to some vaguely african looking thing, wear some weird shit on my head, THEN I’ll have street cred!” I can handle changing your name for aesthetic reasons - Jennifer Aniston just SOUNDS better than Yannis Anastassakis - but it bugs me when its done for marketing reasons. Yes I understand that there is overlap between the two. I can’t totally articulate why hers bugs me so much, it just seems so nakedly phony. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/59 "2009-06-12T19:11:10Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > I can handle changing your name for aesthetic reasons - Jennifer Aniston just SOUNDS better than Yannis Anastassakis - but it bugs me when its done for marketing reasons. Yes I understand that there is overlap between the two. I can’t totally articulate why hers bugs me so much, it just seems so nakedly phony. Jennifer Aniston sounds aesthetically better to the general public exactly because it’s a nakedly phony non-ethnic name (foreign-sounding names generally are less aesthetic to the hearer). This “aesthetic” is 100 percent marketing. All of these people changed their names because they thought a foreign/ethnic/Jewish sounding name wouldn’t sell as well as a Waspy name. Erykah Badu is a nakedly phony ethnic name. Same diff. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278/60 "2009-06-12T19:31:02Z")
I disagree - I think Jennifer Aniston flows better, regardless of language. There are plenty of foreign names that sound just fine and shouldn’t change - Goran Bregovic, Utada Hikaru, etc. - but in some cases I think it makes sense to change. For example, how many people can spell Aniston’s real name without looking it up? Anyways, I did concede that there is some overlap and your point is valid, but I still say badu is pandering of the worst kind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-might-just-be-a-reason-that-lissener-gets-repeated-pittings/499278.md?page=4)