Surly Horns State of Things End 2023

[CHAD BRISCOE 372]

can't believe most of yall Havent been murder yet 

[thunderlounge 7939]

5 hours ago, CHAD BRISCOE said:

can't believe most of yall Havent been murder yet 

Don’t worry, Nicole will have them on Rainy fore long man. 

[SDG 3319]

Given the current political climate you really thought posting this was a good idea?   
 

[immamac 43112]

2 minutes ago, SDG said:

Given the current political climate you really thought posting this was a good idea?   
 

That I objectively funny. 

[SDG 3319]

20 minutes ago, immamac said:

That I objectively funny. 

And yet you “objectively” posted a thread about loss of traffic and membership around here.  I’m just posting feedback, you may not like it, but it’s feedback nonetheless.  Carry on.   

[immamac 43112]

1 minute ago, SDG said:

And yet you “objectively” posted a thread about loss of traffic and membership around here.  I’m just posting feedback, you may not like it, but it’s feedback nonetheless.  Carry on.   

Idk what exactly you are reading into here. 

[InkaUtexas 26132]

Um, it is a major way for celebrations in the Middle East. Also in lots of other places. I think @immamac is just showing we understand global cultures.

[Hate 20146]

BRING BACK CHAT!

[dcbc 14511]

I just signed up for Burnt Ends.  I have saved Surly.  Hopefully, with Jr. likely heading to the Forty this fall, I can make it to a tailgate.

[thunderlounge 7939]

Bout fuckin time!

[Guest]

I would love a way to delete posts. Whenever I run for president, my hot F1 takes are going to sink the campaign. /noCRsincethatseemstobeahotbuttonissueatthemoment

Edited January 7 by FirstTimeCaller

[YGIFS 19452]

Believe me, we are going to have to delete a significant portion of this website within 12 months time.  And not just guestLobo shit.  

I know there was a proper rationale for it, but I don't remember---why can't do the comments thing with rep again?  I always thought it was funny.  It'd be funny to me to read the rationale from random neg rants from certain posters.  Plus it was cool to put a little mustard on some pos rep for somebody that made an obscure reference or callback that only a few of us got.  

Speaking of 2024, health and lawsuits permitting...we're getting John Oates to a baseball tailgate and have him throw out first pitch versus UW.  Stay tuned, gonna need some help from some of y'all but I got most of the key personnel in line already.  

[Captainant 27791]

28 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Speaking of 2024, health and lawsuits permitting...we're getting John Oates to a baseball tailgate and have him throw out first pitch versus UW.  Stay tuned, gonna need some help from some of y'all but I got most of the key personnel in line already.  

Don't let your memes be dreams

[YGIFS 19452]

1 minute ago, Captainant said:

Don't let your memes be dreams

Dammit Darryl, now is not the time for your old shit! 

[Gatorubet 30317]

7 hours ago, YGIFS said:

Dammit Darryl, now is not the time for your old shit! 

Darrell? I thought that was his other brother Darrell.

[YGIFS 19452]

So there’s two Halls?

[thunderlounge 7939]

Three if you count Larry. 

[cactusflinthead 27604]

Slorch mentioned Penelope's engagement on a thread based on whether or not she replied to it. This is not a good gauge of participation. As evidenced by the lurkers that spoke up on this thread can probably attest there are a lot more readers than commenters. 

I'd also like to point out that the Mental Health thread has nearly 89000 views and not more than 2000 replies. 

[YGIFS 19452]

Good observation.  Yet another lagging indicator that even on predominantly anonymous message boards, there’s still a stigma around admitting you’re having a mental issue and want help.  I lurked on a similar board for months before actively posting and asking for some direction.  
 

for all of our flaws, I’ve personally offered and personally received help to/from numerous folks on here IRL.  Like most relationships in the real world, I could take or leave the majority of them.  But there’s really good people on here.  And others hiding in the shadows who need help but don’t know where to begin. 

[Pam Cummings 9673]

17 hours ago, cactusflinthead said:

Slorch mentioned Penelope's engagement on a thread based on whether or not she replied to it. This is not a good gauge of participation. As evidenced by the lurkers that spoke up on this thread can probably attest there are a lot more readers than commenters. 

I'd also like to point out that the Mental Health thread has nearly 89000 views and not more than 2000 replies. 

If we ran off the crack pots and conspiracy theorists i think more intelligent people would join and feel more encouraged to post.

[Gatorubet 30317]

18 minutes ago, Pam Cummings said:

If we ran off the crack pots and conspiracy theorists i think more intelligent people would join and feel more encouraged to post.

That’s just the contrails talking. The Reptillians get at people like you. 

[chainsaw 9873]

what is the discord link

[Celery Man 21001]

4 hours ago, chainsaw said:

what is the discord link

https://discord.com/invite/surlyhorns

Edited January 9 by Celery Man

[Bevo&Pevo 5221]

Thanks, Imma for site and the effort it takes to deal with it.  I'll say with an embarrassed heart it took me way too long to sign up for Burnt Ends.  Like most I really enjoy the wittiness, comradery, and sports info I find here.  A digital swear jar for foul mouthed posters should put the bottom line in the black by the end of next week.  My other brainstorm is we get @Nicole44 to set up an Only Fans page and pillage the proceeds. 

In all seriousness, if I had the solution, I'd be glad to share.  I keep listening, reading and thinking about it.  For all that we are (good and bad), at least we aren't aggy.  

[Brian Fantana 6690]

 I want to thank imma for all his hard work, too, and the rest of the team. We might not agree all the time, but y'all make this an enjoyable place to hang out.

[MrBig 5442]

On 1/7/2024 at 2:07 PM, YGIFS said:

I know there was a proper rationale for it, but I don't remember---why can't do the comments thing with rep again?  I always thought it was funny.  It'd be funny to me to read the rationale from random neg rants from certain posters.  Plus it was cool to put a little mustard on some pos rep for somebody that made an obscure reference or callback that only a few of us got.

This was a great part of Shaggy. It was cool to see the comments with the rep. It made the site feel more interactive. 

[MissingInAction 25195]

On 12/23/2023 at 3:09 PM, Dbeasy said:

The young people’s aversion to the written word continues to surprise me. It’s videos or nothing for them it seems. I don’t get it. With videos you have to just watch the whole thing because you don’t know what’s coming. With written content you can skim quickly. So I do both, optimizing on video I know will be good, and written content when I’m not sure. If I did all video, I’d waste enormous amounts of time. 

Can you imagine if YGIFS' posts were videos instead of text? It would break the internets. 

[YGIFS 19452]

Most of my posts are less than a few sentences.  If you don't like the longer ones, scrolls past 'em, put me on ignore, report 'em, etc.  For every long post I make, there's a dozen bitching and moaning posts about them by you guys.  Your incessant, aggregate whining takes up just as much server room as the individual posts of mine to which you refer.

I wish to god we had that option in real life, where you just speed past somebody talking or skip it altogether.  That's why I don't talk in real life unless it's for work.  So yes, you poor bastards have to suffer the consequences of that as I pour out my soul in diatribe-format.       Why I love this place.  

Real life breaks down into two categories of people.  Those that annoyingly begin every verbal rant with, "You know, I just say it like it is.  I call it like I see it, if people don't like it...that's on them."  Or the adorable Catherine Scorsese, "Shut up, you're always talking..."  

[Covri 6253]

TL;DR

 

 

[RDCanecutter 26474]

Thanks @immamac.

I don't think we should walk down the school hallway with a skateboard on our shoulder trying to get the youngs. There are millions of unknown 40+ types who would enjoy this place if they ever saw it. 

One thing I noticed in the switchover is that a few psychotic fucks could murder unpopular members. I liked the unpopular members even when I disagreed with them. There would be no Old Shaggy atmosphere without Rocko's yawns and paystubs, yet these psychotic fucks obliterated him here. There would have been no glorious I-just-bring-doughnuts Roy Moore Epic Thread without Tahoe, who got waylaid here by the psychotic fucks. I am talking psychotic fucks who scroll down random posts by a member they don't like, dropping negs like they're popping bubble-wrap.

The problem is the effectiveness of the neg system. The old one, where it took 2 or 3 negs to equal 1 positive, let unpopular people hang around a little, say what they wanted, riled up the others and made it fun to watch, like a greased midget fight. The 1 neg = 1 positive system is like giving a pistol to a chimp.

----

If you want more Thujone-ish art, I'd say don't turn to artists, find more lawyers who are going batshit crazy in their real jobs who sketch funny stuff while they are supposedly working. Maybe run some contests? Same thing for original gifs and whatnot.

[safe sex 11773]

2 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Thanks @immamac.

I don't think we should walk down the school hallway with a skateboard on our shoulder trying to get the youngs. There are millions of unknown 40+ types who would enjoy this place if they ever saw it. 

One thing I noticed in the switchover is that a few psychotic fucks could murder unpopular members. I liked the unpopular members even when I disagreed with them. There would be no Old Shaggy atmosphere without Rocko's yawns and paystubs, yet these psychotic fucks obliterated him here. There would have been no glorious I-just-bring-doughnuts Roy Moore Epic Thread without Tahoe, who got waylaid here by the psychotic fucks. I am talking psychotic fucks who scroll down random posts by a member they don't like, dropping negs like they're popping bubble-wrap.

The problem is the effectiveness of the neg system. The old one, where it took 2 or 3 negs to equal 1 positive, let unpopular people hang around a little, say what they wanted, riled up the others and made it fun to watch, like a greased midget fight. The 1 neg = 1 positive system is like giving a pistol to a chimp.

----

If you want more Thujone-ish art, I'd say don't turn to artists, find more lawyers who are going batshit crazy in their real jobs who sketch funny stuff while they are supposedly working. Maybe run some contests? Same thing for original gifs and whatnot.

The psycho fucks aren't as funny as they used to be and they really shouldn't be entertained imo.

[Brian Fantana 6690]

6 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Thanks @immamac.

I don't think we should walk down the school hallway with a skateboard on our shoulder trying to get the youngs. There are millions of unknown 40+ types who would enjoy this place if they ever saw it. 

One thing I noticed in the switchover is that a few psychotic fucks could murder unpopular members. I liked the unpopular members even when I disagreed with them. There would be no Old Shaggy atmosphere without Rocko's yawns and paystubs, yet these psychotic fucks obliterated him here. There would have been no glorious I-just-bring-doughnuts Roy Moore Epic Thread without Tahoe, who got waylaid here by the psychotic fucks. I am talking psychotic fucks who scroll down random posts by a member they don't like, dropping negs like they're popping bubble-wrap.

The problem is the effectiveness of the neg system. The old one, where it took 2 or 3 negs to equal 1 positive, let unpopular people hang around a little, say what they wanted, riled up the others and made it fun to watch, like a greased midget fight. The 1 neg = 1 positive system is like giving a pistol to a chimp.

----

If you want more Thujone-ish art, I'd say don't turn to artists, find more lawyers who are going batshit crazy in their real jobs who sketch funny stuff while they are supposedly working. Maybe run some contests? Same thing for original gifs and whatnot.

Oh ok so we're back to bitching about rep.

I would venture to guess that the number of unique posters (not individual handles themselves) that have gotten themselves crowdsourced is not a very long one. I would also venture the guess that the number of people who have simply moved to new usernames to try and [unsuccessfully] escape their reputations (Johnny Sack, Icono, etc) is much longer, especially if you add in the snowflakes that rage quit the board like that guy who pantsed himself celebrating Trump's 2020 "victory" way too early, and it gets even longer.

Did Rocko even get sourced? Didn't he just quit? Or am I remembering that wrong. As far as Tahoe getting "waylaid by psychos", yeah no. I'm not sure if you're lying or just misinformed, but straight up repeatedly making eugenics arguments against black people in the CR is a good way to get yourself sourced.

The reality is it's super easy to not get crowd sourced on this board: Just don't be a steaming pile of shit.

[RDCanecutter 26474]

1 hour ago, Brian Fantana said:

I'm not sure if you're lying

I'd appreciate it if you'd walk that bit back.

[Brian Fantana 6690]

23 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

I'd appreciate it if you'd walk that bit back.

Done. My bad.

[RDCanecutter 26474]

Just now, Brian Fantana said:

Done. My bad.

No prob, my friend.

It's possible I was wrong. I knew a little about Tahoe IRL, and while I seldom agreed with his takes, they were what you'd expect from an older dude who may not have grown up around people different from himself.

[Brian Fantana 6690]

3 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

No prob, my friend.

It's possible I was wrong. I knew a little about Tahoe IRL, and while I seldom agreed with his takes, they were what you'd expect from an older dude who may not have grown up around people different from himself.

Yeah of course. His issue was a completely unwillingness to self assess and instead continue to do the Principal Skinner meme while saying awful shit until he got sourced.

[RDCanecutter 26474]

1 minute ago, Brian Fantana said:

Yeah of course. His issue was a completely unwillingness to self assess and instead continue to do the Principal Skinner meme while saying awful shit until he got sourced.

We agree on why he didn't fit in, we disagree about the solution.

[Guest]

Light The Tower is a cunty Hall of Famer.

One poster alone is why I laughed so many times at rep comments.

[Brian Fantana 6690]

11 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

We agree on why he didn't fit in, we disagree about the solution.

But you're claiming everyone that sourced Tahoe is psychotic or something. My point is, the guy that starts a new thread every few days trying to stir up discussion on why black people are genetically inferior is actually the psychotic one. What's the solution to that besides banning?

[RDCanecutter 26474]

4 minutes ago, Brian Fantana said:

But you're claiming everyone that sourced Tahoe is psychotic or something. My point is, the guy that starts a new thread every few days trying to stir up discussion on why black people are genetically inferior is actually the psychotic one. What's the solution to that besides banning?

Easy. Keep somebody doing that around for entertainment, they beclown themselves constantly, you can use their own words as a lasso to rope them and flip them. Maybe they want to be Principal Skinner, as you mentioned above. Skinner was a recurring character because his cluelessness was funny.

Even if you don't enjoy any of the above, the site still has that member. Keeping/adding members = life. Plus lurkers (whom you may want to influence even if you don't know they're there) don't see a shut-up-go-away scene, they see actual ideas put up and defended or shredded.

Imagine a show where somebody like Gavin Newsom shredded Hannity on a regular basis. I'd watch that show every day.

[safe sex 11773]

Tolerating racists and bigots is how they are normalized

[Neonmoon 38130]

2 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Easy. Keep somebody doing that around for entertainment, they beclown themselves constantly, you can use their own words as a lasso to rope them and flip them. Maybe they want to be Principal Skinner, as you mentioned above. Skinner was a recurring character because his cluelessness was funny.

Even if you don't enjoy any of the above, the site still has that member. Keeping/adding members = life. Plus lurkers (whom you may want to influence even if you don't know they're there) don't see a shut-up-go-away scene, they see actual ideas put up and defended or shredded.

Imagine a show where somebody like Gavin Newsom shredded Hannity on a regular basis. I'd watch that show every day.

Maybe others don’t find racism entertaining? If you need good old boy racists to sustain life, maybe it’s time to smother the damn thing and reassess. 
 

 

[thunderlounge 7939]

Or go read taxags, but whatev. 

[RDCanecutter 26474]

4 hours ago, safe sex said:

Tolerating racists and bigots is how they are normalized

I thought I typed my intention that you take their own arguments and shred them.

 

2 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

Maybe others don’t find racism entertaining? If you need good old boy racists to sustain life, maybe it’s time to smother the damn thing and reassess. 
 

 

So where did this come from? Just sorta had an idea and ran with it?

 

1 hour ago, thunderlounge said:

Or go read taxags, but whatev. 

Jesus, Johnny.

[safe sex 11773]

"Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past." - Sartre

This applies to bigotries of almost all kinds

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

2 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

Maybe others don’t find racism entertaining?

This is a perspective that perhaps needs further discussion with respect to the topic. To step away from that for just a second, though, some other thoughts...

Most collegiate sports message boards are +87% male. Among those males, a higher percentage are white, possess at minimum a bachelor's degree, and around 40% earn a higher than average salary of $100K/year.*

Considering that the applied, admitted, enrolled data for the University of Texas (Austin campus only) shows that since at least 2013 (as far back as their dashboard goes--they have more data but the dashboard is quick and easy), Texas has enrolled an average of 52.8% female students. Of those females going back the decade, they're an average of 40% Hispanic identified ethnicity. Whereas, the percentage of males enrolled since 2013 averages to 47.2%. Of those males, ~35% enrolled were Hispanic, 26% White, 18% Asian-American, 11% Black or African-American, 6% Intl, and Other had no figures/were identifiable.

Those numbers matter depending upon what you want your site to be and what your goals are. I enjoy the site and (most) of the posters, but it's not really welcoming to females and that's +50% of your graduates right there. That may not concern you and that's okay too. It's an observation based on the data from the UT campus. Focusing on males, there were 2,364 enrolled (freshmen) for 2023. Over the last decade, that number is 19,133. Presuming everyone graduates that enrolled, from 2013-2023, that is 21,404 females to 19,133 males.

Given some of those numbers and percentages, it might be that Neonmoon's comment is not out of line. What makes the culture of Surly appealing is its infinite capacity for debate, discussion, diatribes, and devil-may-care digs, but boundaries--should they exist? Or not? That may determine engagement among the lurkers you try and attract or repel. Edit: and @safe sex had a beautiful response that came as I was typing.

 

This is not meant as an attack on the site. I've gotten a lot of joy from hanging around here.

 

*This was taken from a paper in the Intl. Journal of Sports Communication

Edited January 31 by Mrs Whiggins

[RDCanecutter 26474]

12 minutes ago, safe sex said:

"Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past." - Sartre

This applies to bigotries of almost all kinds

Well said.

I either can't express myself clearly, or am just wrong. I'll let it go at that.

[Hate 20146]

1 hour ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

This is a perspective that perhaps needs further discussion with respect to the topic. To step away from that for just a second, though, some other thoughts...

Most collegiate sports message boards are +87% male. Among those males, a higher percentage are white, possess at minimum a bachelor's degree, and around 40% earn a higher than average salary of $100K/year.*

Considering that the applied, admitted, enrolled data for the University of Texas (Austin campus only) shows that since at least 2013 (as far back as their dashboard goes--they have more data but the dashboard is quick and easy), Texas has enrolled an average of 52.8% female students. Of those females going back the decade, they're an average of 40% Hispanic identified ethnicity. Whereas, the percentage of males enrolled since 2013 averages to 47.2%. Of those males, ~35% enrolled were Hispanic, 26% White, 18% Asian-American, 11% Black or African-American, 6% Intl, and Other had no figures/were identifiable.

Those numbers matter depending upon what you want your site to be and what your goals are. I enjoy the site and (most) of the posters, but it's not really welcoming to females and that's +50% of your graduates right there. That may not concern you and that's okay too. It's an observation based on the data from the UT campus. Focusing on males, there were 2,364 enrolled (freshmen) for 2023. Over the last decade, that number is 19,133. Presuming everyone graduates that enrolled, from 2013-2023, that is 21,404 females to 19,133 males.

Given some of those numbers and percentages, it might be that Neonmoon's comment is not out of line. What makes the culture of Surly appealing is its infinite capacity for debate, discussion, diatribes, and devil-may-care digs, but boundaries--should they exist? Or not? That may determine engagement among the lurkers you try and attract or repel. Edit: and @safe sex had a beautiful response that came as I was typing.

 

This is not meant as an attack on the site. I've gotten a lot of joy from hanging around here.

 

*This was taken from a paper in the Intl. Journal of Sports Communication

So are you suggesting a “I’d pee in his butt” forum for the ladies?

[Brian Fantana 6690]

1 hour ago, RDCanecutter said:

Well said.

I either can't express myself clearly, or am just wrong. I'll let it go at that.

I was going to say something along the lines of those people simply have no shame, or the ability to be shamed. What safe sex said summed it up way better though.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

1 hour ago, Hate said:

So are you suggesting a “I’d pee in his butt” forum for the ladies?

I hadn't given it any consideration at all, tbh. Getting a rough survey of the demographic the site is trying to attract might provide some insight as to what forums or issues work.