Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 03:47:35 -0500 From: Jeff Huo Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan Subject: Re: TAN: "Go west, young rabbit." In article <20000505213224.15692.00000880@ng-cv1.aol.com>, flaviusx@aol.com says... > >From: bunnythor bunnythor@uswest.net > [Thor moves to Portland, OR ] > >This thread will now proceed on-topic for two threads before it > >inexplicably mutates into a discussion of the persecution of Quakers in > >Colonial America. > > Not before going through an abortion, gun control, school vouchers, and > antitrust phase. > ---- RASFWR-J THREAD CHECKLIST ---- Score one point for each positive answer. Section 1: The thread topics, they are a changing... [ ] The topic has changed from the declared title. [ ] More than once. [ ] More than three times. [ ] But the title of the thread hasn't changed. [ ] But the title, while not originally including TAN:, now has had it added post fact. [ ] The title has two more more "(was, Re:)" in it. And has drifted into a discussion of [ ] Abortion [ ] Gun Control [ ] Nazis [ ] and Godwin's Law [ ] Education [ ] School Vouchers [ ] How badly our public schools suck [ ] The stupidity of local government [ ] Stories of rasfwr-jian's kids [ ] Stories of rasfwr-jians as kids [ ] Somebody notes how the discussion makes them feel old [ ] Teachers get critisized [ ] and the Teachers fire back [ ] and how bad it is for teachers these days gets detailed [ ] people trade notes on what they did as TAs [ ] and we get stories of Novak the TA crushing the unfit and the unworthy [ ] Religion [ ] We get an anecdote from Novak's high school days [ ] Fundamentalists get bashed [ ] Sex and sexuality [ ] Strict Constitutionalism [ ] Tax policy and economics [ ] The role of Unions [ ] Jim Coleman gets involved [ ] Wealth redistribution [ ] the Stock Market [ ] stock options [ ] relative salaries and costs of living [ ] Someone notes how poor they are [ ] Pam makes a note of the poverty of Graduate Students [ ] Republicans vs. Democrats [ ] and Libertarians [ ] and Communists [ ] Historical and current Geo-politics [ ] why the United States sucks [ ] and the thread is started by ANZACers [ ] and the Americans heap scorn on the attackers [ ] and what a bunch of arrogant pricks the Europeans are comes up [ ] and somebody is accused of being an ungreatful bastard [ ] and Alternate WW II histories get discussed [ ] and somebody proposes turning someone else's country into a glass factory [ ] Computer Science [ ] Microsoft [ ] vs. Linux [ ] vs. Apple [ ] vs. Netscape [ ] vs. the DOJ [ ] Sysadmins begin bitching about users [ ] and violence against clueless lusers enters the discussion [ ] and Alistair's perpetrating it [ ] The sheer suckage of certain software and or hardware systems [ ] We get into a technical discussion that loses 90% of the group [ ] We get into a text editor fight [ ] Topics in Science and Engineering [ ] And we get into a arcane discussion that loses 90% of the group [ ] on Physics [ ] on Electrical Engineering [ ] on Biology/Medicine [ ] The discussion involves scientific notation [ ] The article involves citations of scientific articles [ ] Somebody with utterly no clue expounds on the subject [ ] We get into a dick-size war between different branches of science / engineering [ ] specifically, CS vs. EE [ ] and relative salaries become involved [ ] and someone notes they entered a particular field to pick up babes [ ] and the humanities get bashed [ ] McDonalds gets discussed as a career option [ ] The Weather [ ] and how residents of certain regions are too wimpy to handle the weather in other regions [ ] Culture and Entertainment [ ] Recent TV shows or movies [ ] Spoiler spaces or warnings are employed [ ] We get into a discussion of the best way to do this [ ] Points are offered [ ] and awarded [ ] someone comments too many points were offered [ ] Chad reconfirms his Pop culture prowess [ ] Off-topic Fantasy and Science fiction [ ] how much certain authors suck [ ] someone asks for recommendations [ ] we get into a discussion on methods of procurement (Amazon, book stores, etc.) [ ] Neil Gaiman [ ] Lois McMaster Bujold [ ] Computer games [ ] Food and Drink [ ] And someone gets told they have no taste [ ] And specific recommendations get made [ ] And someone gets accused of being a something-snob [ ] And it involves Maggie and Chocolate [ ] and the thread originated as a PARASHA thread [ ] and somebody asks for expert opinion [ ] from a Physicist [ ] from a Lawyer [ ] from a Historian [ ] the experts get into an argument Section 2: Crossposters and Trolls and Newbies, oh my! [ ] Someone delurks for the first time [ ] and identifies themselves as doing so [ ] and asks for mercy from the group [ ] and St. Chucky issues a welcoming statement [ ] that involves a swipe at or a warning about the regulars [ ] and Chucky gets smacked around for it [ ] A regular returns from a six month or more hiatus [ ] and identifies herself/himself as doing so [ ] Someone asks for a FAQ pointer [ ] gets it more than twice in the same thread [ ] gets mocked for it [ ] the mocker gets smacked down [ ] Someone complains about how meen the group is to newbies [ ] and the standard bonehead reply form is invoked [ ] who has serious deficiences in their command of English and/or logic [ ] can't spell [ ] can't punctuate [ ] USES ALL CAPS [ ] doesn't capitalize [ ] contradicts himself/herself and gets called on it [ ] who attempts to defend their inability to use English as a deliberate stylistic choice [ ] and invokes freedom, the first ammendment, or some variant therof [ ] who hasn't read the FAQ [ ] who attacks the FAQ [ ] and invokes some variant of the "RJ said it's only partially right" argument [ ] is using a book name [ ] writes a laundry list of percieved slights [ ] attacks the Cabal and/or the groupmind [ ] And a regular makes a comment about how there _is_ a secret Cabal, pfffttt [ ] compares afrj favorably to rasfwr-j [ ] declares they are leaving rasfwr-j permanently [ ] and there is much rejoicing [ ] comes back again later to bitch about how meen we still are [ ] Someone complains there is too much off-topic discussion on the group [ ] Someone invokes the TAN convention or the time delay between books [ ] Someone gets publically killfiled [ ] by more than three other rasfwr-jians [ ] there is a mutual plonking [ ] Alistair's List gets invoked [ ] rasfwr-j becomes the target of a cross-post [ ] from afrj [ ] from another group involved in a hot-button topic (see section 1) [ ] we become the subject of a deliberate invasion [ ] from afrj [ ] and the invasion is pretty much ignored [ ] the post is spam [ ] and it triggers a discussion on the relative merits of ways of dealing with spam Section 3: Sigs, quotes, flames and other froup occurences [ ] Someone's .sig includes a quote from another rasfwr-j poster [ ] Someone publically declares they're .siging something someone else said [ ] the person being quoted is Novak [ ] we get a whole .sig archive [ ] Someone loses points to Novak's .sig [ ] Someone gets flamed by name [ ] for insulting another user [ ] for acts of gross stupidity (see Section 2) [ ] the person being flamed is a regular [ ] Somebody writes a 50+ line piece of humor [ ] and it's a parody from RandLand [ ] and it's set to music [ ] and it's someone writing humor for the first time [ ] and someone notes how it made them spit up their drink/food with laughter [ ] Mark Loy writes a 50+ line piece of humor [ ] and it's NC-17 rated [ ] A post causes people to invoke the rasfwr-j diet plan [ ] Someone calls for and/or organizes a DFS [ ] We get DFS Reports [ ] Someone gets called to a courtesy phone [ ] Canada gets mocked or annexed to the US [ ] We get a deep philisophical insight from Mark Loy on the nature of life and family [ ] It features Deb [ ] It features Eric [ ] A warder is Bonded [ ] Someone makes a double-entende or offers sex to someone else [ ] A regular announces a dramatic change in personal circumstances [ ] Someone asks for advice [ ] Someone gets groupies [ ] That someone isn't Novak [ ] Somebody gets a vanity thread [ ] "Bite me, Weasel Boy" is invoked ---- So what have I missed? -Jeff (Killing time before flying out to Washington DC.) -- Jeff Huo | jeff@starfall.com.nospam (remove nospam) U. Michigan Med | http://www.starfall.com/~jeff New to the group? Welcome! Please read http://www.landfield.com/faqs/sf/robert-jordan-faq/ http://www.starfall.com/~jeff/rasfwrjians2.html