# Watershed moments in SDMB history; or, the SDMB Anthology Project **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 5, 2002, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436 "2002-06-05T03:49:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/141 "2002-06-13T08:00:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shirley Ujest \* > \*\*I have searched for a bit on this and have come up dry, but when Aha _outed_ himself as a rock n roll star of days gone by, I was awestruck, nay, dare I say, Flabbergasted, to be in such presence. \*\* Well, [here it is](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=23995&highlight=five+americans)! Our resident rock star reveals himself. Well, reveals his _past_, anyway. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/142 "2002-06-13T10:21:43Z")
can someone help me out. There was a thread in which someone got set up by another poster as an advice giver extraordinaire. Except he was like Dear Abby written by the most sarcastic and acerbic person on the planet. I just laughed my ass off at that thread but can’t think of how to find it. ---
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/143 "2002-06-13T13:05:37Z")
I remember the _second_ group of moderators being selected, and the debate that ensued. Suddenly regular everyday posters became these sort of nebulous authority figures; the overwhelming sense of depressing duty from them, the leery trepidation over “power corrupting” from the masses. This being post-Melingate, IIRC, which was a very big deal at the time. Seems to have worked out OK, in general. Not that I’m excited about giving the guy any attention but I think that the banning of **Contestant #3** and his return to form - ever so slightly more well-behaved - as **Krispy Original** belongs on this list somewhere. Definitely a big deal for me as a SDMB poster was that shift when longtime posters started to change around their user names. It made it very hard for some of us to keep track over the longterm of who’s really who. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/144 "2002-06-13T13:17:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RTA \* > \*\*Definitely a big deal for me as a SDMB poster was that shift when longtime posters started to change around their user names. It made it very hard for some of us to keep track over the longterm of who’s really who. \*\* I can certainly agree with that! I don’t know half of you people anymore. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2002, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/145 "2002-06-13T13:44:31Z")
Serlin explaining himself, maybe 😕 [I’m Not The Troll You Think I Am.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44858) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/146 "2002-06-14T03:27:36Z")
Manny Peoples is a little more complicated than that. It started on the AOL board with one poster who would always start his questions “Manny peoples ask me and now I wonder…” Thus the joke that someone named Manny Peoples kept asking that guy stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/147 "2002-06-14T03:27:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by China Guy \* > \*\*can someone help me out. There was a thread in which someone got set up by another poster as an advice giver extraordinaire. Except he was like Dear Abby written by the most sarcastic and acerbic person on the planet. I just laughed my ass off at that thread but can’t think of how to find it. \*\* Sounds like the “Get bad advice from Milossarian!” thread. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=54643](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=54643) (paraphrased) q: What is this thing called “Life”? Can I install it on my computer? a: You can order it online by emailing the White House every day for 100 days. The secret phrase they’re looking for is “The voices are telling me I must kill him.” Before you know it, the prize patrol will be at your door and you’ll be soon be staring life in the face . ---
**Author:** ![bristlesage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@bristlesage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bristlesage)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/148 "2002-06-14T05:41:16Z")
One I love is **Crunchy Frog** ’s Welcome Wagon thread. There actually have been a couple of incarnations, and you can find them at the following links: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=f6de49f65e04f48b9d27f19208196&threadid=45294](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=f6de49f65e04f48b9d27f19208196&threadid=45294) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=68583](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=68583) **Crunchy** ’s replies to us new folks have been hilarious, and it actually is a pretty good breaking-in process for us as well. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/149 "2002-06-14T06:21:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mnemosyne \* > \*\*It was somewhat off the boards - and I don’t have the email to know how to link to it (I don’t even know if its still “public”, or if **beth** wants it shared), but one moment that I thought was really special was when **Euty** took it upon himself to make an SDMB guestbook for **evilbeth** , her husband, and **Emma Kate**. Euty managed to hide it, calling the thread a “special project” and requesting us to email him to find out what it was so that we could write a message in it. \*\* To find the thread you have to remember how he misspelled it. [Sekrit Projekt](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=103196). Sadly the project scared me and I stayed away. I believe the original was lost, this is the one where Euty revealed everything. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2002, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/150 "2002-06-24T05:51:14Z")
I will never forget the **FreakFreely** self-destruction. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/151 "2002-07-15T11:13:31Z")
Sorry to bump this, but dude! We forgot [bj0rn](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4755)! ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/152 "2002-07-15T18:00:39Z")
Arrgh. Somewhere in Iceland, an alarm is going off now, and **the bj0rn** awakens. You’ve triggered him, **jjtm**. That’s how it always goes. ---
**Author:** ![coosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@coosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coosa)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/153 "2002-11-26T12:10:51Z")
**ARG220** and The Great God Debates, Parts I thru IV? V? I can’t seem to find them, so maybe they were purged, but they were awesome! I think the official policy concerning the proper forum for “witnessing” was established at that time. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/154 "2002-11-26T12:29:30Z")
And speaking of bj0rn: [3. Don’t say or imply that someone is on your ignore list.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=140966) A classic example of Icelandic lunacy, being poorly translated by a team of quasi-diligent monkeys addicted to crack cocaine. Full of sound, fury, confusion, moose, and Monty Python references. Esteemed site of the first practical use for the ‘Euro’ symbol outside of economics. ---
**Author:** ![Reuben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@Reuben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reuben)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/155 "2002-11-26T13:51:22Z")
I’m surprised that no-one’s mentioned **The TMI Thread** … I’d give a link, but ‘TMI’ is less than 4 letters so the search page rejects it. And I scrubbed my brain of the thread’s actual content, so can’t search on any of that either! ---
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/156 "2002-11-26T14:04:16Z")
I just did some searching for the TMI Thread using words I remember from a few posts, and it appears to have been lost in the Diaspora. I’d like to say that’s a bad thing but… no, no it isn’t. Future generations have been spared its wrath. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/157 "2002-11-26T14:46:21Z")
Don’t [forget](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=111990) [Skewbald](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=116085)! And I’d say we’re having a watershed moment right now with **Justhink**. (Poor sod. I really feel sorry for him. **Justhink** , if you’re reading this, **please** get help. I think you’re good people; you just need to get focused.) ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/158 "2002-11-26T16:02:53Z")
Back on page one, **Rilchiam** mentioned the Ruda Duda thread, and **Opal** expanded upon it, but neither of them touched on how truly insane it was. Rilch guessed that it was 500+ posts, but she’s off by a long shot. At the time, I heard from **TubaDiva** that they’d needed to delete some of the archives because of that thread - it had reached _ten thousand posts_ and was taking up way too much bandwidth. It was supposedly about ageism, but became intertwined with a debate about basketball, of all things. It received _at least_ 200 posts a day for weeks on end. And I still have no idea who Mr. Ruda Duda is. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/159 "2002-11-26T16:18:47Z")
Fear not, The TMI thread was not lost, only locked (because of length. There was apparently too much too much information). [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44749](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44749) ---
**Author:** ![thinksnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thinksnow/32/2849_2.png) [@thinksnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thinksnow)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436/160 "2002-11-26T17:53:34Z")
The TMI thread, and so many, many more, were all referenced and link-to in my long-ago post which was referenced and linked to a few pages back. [To save you the trouble of a search](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1805394#post1805394) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watershed-moments-in-sdmb-history-or-the-sdmb-anthology-project/112436.md?page=9)