Re: About a Boy

1

"Ben Wolfson is a little bitch committed to correcting your grammar. Also, he looks like Cornel West."

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2

He listens to and promulgates noise that can only be loosely described as music while working towards a degree in something you're not likely to understand. His left testicle is exceedingly droopy.

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3

Ben Wolfson, he was a desp'rate little man,

He carried two guns ev'ry day.

He shot a man on the West Virginia line,

An' you ought seen Ben Wolfson getting away.

Ben Wolfson, he got to the Keystone Bridge,

He thought that he would be free.

And up stepped the sheriff and took him by his arm,

Says, "Benjy, won't you walk along with me."

He sent for his poppy and his mommy, too,

To come and go his bail.

But money won't go a murdering case;

They locked Ben Wolfson back in jail.

Ben Wolfson, he had a pretty little girl,

That dress that she wore was blue

As she came skipping through the old jail hall,

Saying, "Poppy, I've been true to you."

Ben Wolfson, he had another little girl,

That dress that she wore was red.

She followed Ben Wolfson to his hanging ground,

Saying, "Poppy, I would rather be dead."

I been to the East and I been to the West,

I been this wide world around.

I been to the river and I been baptized,

And now I'm on my hanging ground.

Ben Wolfson walked out on his scaffold high,

With his loving little wife by his side.

And the last words she heard poor Benjy say,

"I'll meet you in that sweet bye-and-bye."

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4

Sorry -- actually I just mostly wanted to say, "Ben Wolfson was a desperate little man" but somehow the whole rest of the song got dragged along with it. It's like potato chips I tell you!

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5

I believe the vision he has of himself has been made clear, with all the references to the emotion-smiting logical dinosaur.

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6

We need to standardize.

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7

Noted, Weiner. I updated the post.

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8

Is the suggestion in 7 that Wolfson's about page should describe him as a "Noted weiner"?

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9

Ben Wolfson continues his awkward public love affair with failure, so it seems.

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10

Ben Wolfson has a mild distaste for humanity.

He enjoys correcting people and non sequitors.

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11

Ben Wolfson is so gay, he ain't that gay.

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12

His reign of little bitchhood was tragically cut short when he was brutally pwned by Tia.

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13

Is it Ben Wolfson that is the pre-eminent cock theorist of our time? Also, he is the proud creator of the Wolfson Indiscretion Error (WIE).

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14

sequitors.

"Sequiturs". Also, Chopper, I just checked and they're about the same.

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15

I know most of the "About" pages don't have graphics, but I think Wolfson's should definitely bear his image.

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16

Nicely trolled, text!

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17

"Ben Wolfson" is an elaborate in joke at Unfogged, as opposed to Ben Wolfson, who is an actual real person. The latter makes very rare appearances, but is generally doing something else, whereas the former is ubiquitous and can, really, be described as the mascot and soul of Unfogged. When you have tired of him, you have tired of Unfogged, and you may ascend to a higher plane.

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18

4 is great, regardless of Jeremy's implication to the contrary in 5.

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19

Um, 5 was posted by ac, not me.

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20

But if you meant "3 was great", then thanks!

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21

off by one error :)

(but not a fencepost error)

Yes, 3 is great, claims to the contrary made in 4 notwithstanding.

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22

Various Unfogged readers email to say that Ben Wolfson is not the authentic face of Unfogged.

I wish I agreed with that. But, sadly, he is its very image today.

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23

There was a time when Unfogged opposed shaggy-dog indulgences and supported keen-eyed storytelling, when it wasn't a seething and ever-bloating mass of puns and catchphrases. That day is long past, and the artistic and intellectual decay of Unfogged is far gone.

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24

it was all my fault.

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25

[redacted]

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26

So, Standpipe, what you're saying is that the sidebar should read...

Ben Wolfson is a seething and ever-bloating mass of puns and catchphrases.
Append #1 and call it definitive!

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27

The catchphrase complaint doesn't really adhere to Ben, though. Unlike—his mom.

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28

6 and 7: What's the linguistic justification for using unfoggetariat rather than unfoggedariat? I have written "unfoggedariat" in the past, at least once (well it was three times, because I posted the comment thrice).

Reading it in the comment box, "unfoggedariat" makes more sense to me, but it may be that people pronounce it unfoggedariat. I want an explanation. I need to hear words like glottal stop and elision.

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29

Yeah, and I might owe an apology to Cornel West. Strike that suggestion.

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30

Ben Wolfson is the intact Cheerio in the otherwise steaming milieu of vomit that is Unfogged.

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31

I beg your pardon?

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32

"Ben Wolfson" is not Ben Wolfson, but a blogger of the same name.

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33

And can I just say I love this site and meant nothing by my suggestion for Mr. Wolfson's sidebar.

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34

Proletariat, commentariat, secretariat.

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35

The spelling I prefer is Unfoggedtariat.

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36

And, as Labs doesn't believe in 'em, link.

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37

There was a time when Unfogged opposed shaggy-dog indulgences and supported keen-eyed storytelling

Like this?

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38

The Unfoggedlodytes?

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39

I kinda like just "The Unfogged." But then Unfoggedonauts has some appeal.

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40

Were Unfogged a city, its residents might be called Unfoggedians. Were is a middle eastern or central asian country, perhaps they would be Unfoggedis. I prefer to think of myself as an Unfo. More irregular!

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41

The Cocksucking Wizards of Unfoggedia?

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42

Since we already have the domain name and the discussion forum, once we figure out what to call ourselves we can pretty much IPO.

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43

I thought we called ourselves the Mineshaft?

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44

Next person to rechristen the comments gets an Aeron chair.

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45

thebestestcommentsintheworld!

where's my chair?

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46

43: I thought the mineshaft was where we were, not who we are.

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47

Hold on, Tia. Your chair is under a pile of Nerf gadgets ten years deep. This could take a while.

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48

Ben Wolfson is a charming fellow. He is kwashiorkor-negative and "kwashiorkor"-positive. He enjoys King Crimson, pie, and aesthetics.

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49

Ben Wolfson is.

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50

Ben Wolfson is a charming fellow.

Let me get my hands on your mammary glands!

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51

"Ben Wolfson" is a deliberate corruption of "BHWH", known as the bentagrammaton. Do not utter it lightly.

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52

Ben Wolfson is a perv. "King Crimson" is the name he gave his penis. He is an occasional consumer of protein.

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53

"King Crimson" is the name he gave his penis.

My tumescent, incandescent, rubescent, sweet-scented, fertile crescent!

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54

How adolescent.

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55

You should be more quiescent, woman.

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56

Your ideas are obsolescent.

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57

So Ben, is an About page in the works or are you opting to remain aloofly mysterious?

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58

An about page consisting of a link to this thread might be in the works.

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59

It is my belief no man ever understands quite his own artful dodges to escape from the grim shadow of self-knowledge.

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60

"Man?" I thought Ben was barely pubescent.

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61

I suppose I could have changed "man" to "one", but that's not how it appears in the original.

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62

I am no mere adolescent, b.

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63

Disqualified. I've already used that one.

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64

Pathescent.

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65

No, m'dear, effervescent.

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66

And so begins Unfogged's descent.

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67

Too much more of this, and I'll long to be convalescent.

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68

Perhaps I can indicate my maturity in another way, by saying I have proof I am the opposite of glabrescent.

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69

This is getting to be incessant.

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70

My tumescent, incandescent, rubescent, sweet-scented, fertile crescent!

Crescent?

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71

Not to mention "fertile"?

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72

Not just the soil but also the seed is fertile.

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73

Yes, that's right. Soil. I said it.

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74

Ben Wolfson fertilizes his own ass.

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75

I am in thrall to the stinking rose, after all.

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76

And its opalescent beauty.

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77

Its iridescent shine and pearlescent luster.

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78

Positively luminescent.

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79

74: That would be mixing the two dirts, I believe.

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80

Your link is convalescent.

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81

Disqualified, B. Already used.

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82

But the pleasure in B's comment remained, and wasn't lessened.

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83

Don't be such a little bitch, Ben.

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84

Ben's ass? Incandescent.

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85

We're in a rut so deep, we could hang posters. Time for a new rhyme.

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86

I often find off-rhymes not a little pleasant.

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87

We're in a rut so deep, we could hang posters

You know, I heard you say something like this last night. Where was it? Oh yeah, The Mineshaft.

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88

Oh, don't be a pissant.

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89

I find feminine rhymes opalescent.

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90

Apo, ATM, I'm going to take your pawn en passant.

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91

"ATM" will suffice, Tia.

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92

ben please do about page misery put out of us thank you

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93

anybody got a peanut?

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94

Now is the winter of Standpipe's discontent.

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95

text is the hero! and I mean it.

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96

"pissant" does not rhyme at all with "pleasant", not even femininely, on account of the stresses. Now, this is a good example of feminine rhyme.

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97

I actually don't get the "peanut" comment.

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98

tomorrow is m'last day at work! and I'm a little tipsy! and I'll be quite drunk tomorrow!

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99

Anybody want a peanut?

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100

Before a baby can eat solid foods, you have to wean it.

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101

Dammit, text.

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102

If you'd seen The Princess Bride, the meaning might not be immediately obvious, but you'd be able to glean it.

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103

Congrats, text! And I mean it.

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104

If you want to know what the seed of the French Revolution was, you have to glean it.

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105

hooray!

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106

No good, Ben, already used.

I have seen it.

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107

when I lie on my side, I have to lean it.

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108

thanks, b.

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109

text, I'm at a loss for what's up with your decision to leave your job, would you care to elaborate in a way that I might glean it?

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110

dammit, wolfson.

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111

It hadn't been used when I composed my comment, b. Curse this slow site response! Utterly disappointing's how I deem it.

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112

And, previously, Tia: dammit.

All good thoughts have been thunk and expressed before I get there. You guys are hogging the hive mind.

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113

Utterly disappointing

Just what I said when you tried to ream it.

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114

'Twas used when I seen it.

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115

the comments are too slow, putting Chops in a live bind.

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116

Apo: hold still, I'm about to cream it.

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117

once in a while, in the eighties, I used to charlie sheen it.

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118

it wasn't that bad.

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119

You know, that's pretty sad.

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120

Is that related to Porky Piggin' it?

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121

More obscure sexual metaphors: figgin' it.

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122

do I want to know what that means, ben?

I was going to follow the charlie sheen line with another about weaning myself off the charlie sheening, but that would have pwned me. awful.

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123

Should be unlawful.

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124

if you do it standing up, you're john riggin' it.

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125

Bye all. Have fun.

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126

B, Remember the scene? It

Was on the boat, after the kidnapping, before the ravine; It had Vizzini, full of spleen; it

Was a show of wit so keen; it

Reminded one of Dowd, Maureen; it

Rhymed every word; Fezzik and Inigo'd drunk too much caffeine; it

Contained the line "Anybody want a peanut?"

Which completed, "No more rhyming now, I mean it."

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127

No, no, Standpipe! Don't run!

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128

Tom and Val, behind the scenes, were upside-down-mig-ing it.

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129

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaane!

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130

Why is it Porky Piggin' it? Why not Donald Duckin' it? I would think that would lend to better rhymes.

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131

Insane Shane McKane?

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132

It must just be apostropher's fondness for all things porky.

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133

Tia, I remembered after Chopper privately proclaimed it.

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134

I don't think I expected to find the answer at the Washington Monthly.

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135

Kevin Drum, doin' the Humpty.

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136

Have we really lost Standpipe?

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137

Only from this thread.

I can't say I blame Standpipe.

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138

I am tired of all this leaving. so the chips are down. so we aren't very funny tonight. real men don't leave.

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139

Whether or not SB is any kind of man at all is an open question, you know.

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140

I'm tired of all this ambiguity. We should just put it to a vote, and assign SB a nominal gender. Let's create some reality. With enough votes, it could be 64.6% masculing, 33.2% feminine, 2.2% don't know/no opinion/don't care

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141

No, Standpipe is Standpipe. There is no reason to put people in boxes. We love Standpipe for Standpipe's own Standpipeselfness.

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142

Would we love Standpipe less, if Standpipe had an assigned gender? Are we genderists? And we'd be putting SB 56% in one box and 33% in another box, perhaps.

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143

Some people just can't handle ambiguity, can they.

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144

139: which is why standpipe, although real, has had no difficulty in leaving.

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145

And, although Standpipe has said goodbye from this thread, I must say that I smile all of the time walking through NYC seeing all of the "standpipe" signs. I must walk past 20 of them just on the way to work. There's one right outside the door of my apartment, even. Someday, if I get really ambitious, I should take a picture of every standpipe sign I pass in a day. I suppose that would be either really cute or really creepy but I haven't quite figured out which.

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146

I don't know if we'd be putting standpipe in a box, or if we'd be. I'll stop.

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147

For a second I thought 134 was going to lead to a compromising picture of Kevin D.

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148

I was afraid.

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149

It was by association to actual standpipes that I mistakenly assumed SB was masculine. Somehow I'd have expected a woman to be Standpipette.

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150

93: _

Also, does this mean you're about to move to Nashville? Congratulations.

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151

not until April. 2 months!

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152

Ben Wolfson is the son of the wolf's son.

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153

I have compromising pictures of Kevin D! Insofar as you agree that his posing in a USC sweatshirt next to a guy wearing a Texas sweatshirt is compromising.

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154

Somehow I'd have expected a woman to be Standpipette.

I'd suck on that pipette.

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155

Also, posing in a USC sweatshirt is compromising simpliciter.

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156

Ben Wolfson is the son of the wolf's son.

Or, grandson of the wolf.

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157

156 -- You've got to watch your friends play golf,

Beatniks are learning how to rolf, yeah,

Wo-oh, must be the grandson of the wolf.

When I look...

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158

I'd suck on that pipette.

That's the most romantic thing anyone's ever said to me, Ben.

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159

Hmm, if I would be Standpipe Bridgeplate but for disliking Sufjan Stevens, and Ben would be Standpipe Bridgeplate but for some unknown quality, is it possible that I am Ben Wolfson?

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160

There's a little Standpipe Bridgeplate in all of us, Tia -- Jeremy was heard to make this remark as he put on his jacket after the 4th annual Unfo Feast, where the entree was Standpipe Bridgeplate.

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161

Doh! Forgot you are vegan. Sorry, did not intend to offend.

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162

Osner, you're worred Tia was offended at your cannibalism joke because she's vegan? That just seems a little...off.

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163

We have not yet determined whether Standpipe Bridgeplate is made of meat.

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164

Tia—probably not.

(Warning: Link to Innocence.)

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165

Metal, I'd think.

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166

I thought we solemnly passed out little pieces of Standpipe like communion wafers?

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167

162 -- Well it seems like a wider gulf separates the vegans and the meat eaters, than separates the non-cannibalistic meat eaters and the cannibals, doesn't it?

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168

Nevertheless the appetizers were amazing, attendees raved, and in particular the cocktail Weiners.

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169

(That link, BTW, not so easy to find due to our Muslim friend calling them "crackers". Betcha can't eat just one!)

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170

All the numbered interreferences in the "Innocence" thread are off by one. I suspect someone approved a quarantined comment.

The secret of happiness may have been snuch by in that quarantined comment. But which one is it?

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171

167 seems highly debatable to me.

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172

170: Oops - that would be my bad. It was this comment of mine that contained five links.

I will let you get the secret of happiness and then delete it shortly, since (like so much else on that thread) it was a throwaway.

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173

171 -- so go 'head. See I am figuring, the difference between vegans and meat eaters is that one eats animal flesh, the other does not. Pretty categorical. But the difference between non-cannibal meat-eaters and cannibals is much more subtle -- one abstains from a particular species of animal flesh while the other will eat that species in addition to the others that they eat in common.

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174

It was this comment of mine that contained five links.

If they were pork-sausage links, then that would be the secret of happiness.

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175

Damn, but that would be a stupid debate, mainly because its resolution would require agreeing on some relevant vector of similarity/difference.

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176

Veganism and cannibalism: natural bedfellows.

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177

Happiness! I like those links. Perhaps you could preserve them for posterity somewhere?

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178

173--It's just that I think that the taboo against eating other humans would break down for vegans maybe just a little bit more slowly than for standard (non-culturally cannibalistic) meat-eaters.

This discussion reminds me of the most inappropriate exchange I witnessed in a grad seminar full of 'em. We were discussing the shipwreck scene in B's Don Juan, and for some reason the crazy old coot of a professor thought it necessary to go around the room and ask each of us: "Would you eat the tutor?" Most of us understood the point--that civilized sensibilities aren't worth much compared to death--and answered yes after a second or two. And then this one girl, quite offended, answered "No." The professor asked: "Why?" And when she answered, "Because I keep kosher," he just erupted in laughter. (As he had unusually long, blackened, and snaggly teeth, his laughter was really something to behold.)

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179

Perhaps you could preserve them for posterity somewhere?

Problem solved. The comment has been magically moved from #85 to #1354 and the original numbering has been restored. Man, dealing with that post from the MT control panel is sloooow going.

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180

Ben Wolfson is so gay, he ain't that gay.

ogged said it first, and better.

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181

Hey, lookit.

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182

Yeah, I noticed that. He forgot to add that Ben Wolfson is a hoagie-munching loner.

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