In my column this week, read my Ode to Trans Fat, that miracle grease that doubles as a suppository for your aorta.And while you're at it, you won't want to miss this letter to the editor and the editor's response (see "Wiki Fit"). This rather stern complaint about Yours Truly was authored by one Mr. Daniel Case about my musings on Wikipedia. Do visit his Wiki page and read up on his feelings about New Coke and The Devil Wears Prada.
If you have something to say about any of it, please email the Free Times. Frank Lewis is the editor.
21 comments:
What. An. Ass. I was soooooooooooooooo tempted to "edit" lil' Mr. Case's Wiki page. Is he listed under "I-have-no-life-and-still-live-in-my-mom's-basement" in Wikipedia?
Wiki Fit, indeed. I think I'm in love with your editor. What a cool dude. Wikipedia is full of slop. I just ran into some more of it these last few days researching the inventor of the corn dog. I know. Small potatoes compared to what you are dealing with.
Now its the trans fat and after that hype it will be the carbohydrates again. Its like a circle, it goes round and round. People should eat what they want, but smaller sizes.
Great storie Erin.
Mr. Case has something up his ass, for sure.
That letters section is a blast. Not only do we have Daniel Case demanding that you be fired and the site nuked from orbit, we have some guy complaining that a security guard throwing him out of a mall for taking photographs is a symptom of troubling infringement on our personal freedoms.
Lisa, I intentionally didn't leave and subjective comments about Mr. Case. I thought his Wiki page spoke very well for itself.
Corn: I am very lucky to have Frank Lewis as an editor. As far as Wiki is concerned, the more time I spend with it, the more disgusted I become.
Mone: Amen sister. Nothing's good for you when you shovel it in by the bucketful.
Dean: I swear I love being part of a paper. It can be hard to look at the criticism, but that goes with the territory.
That really blows that you got delisted from Wiki. I used to think it was a very cool page, and often spent hours of valuable time looking up facts that nobody cares about Then I heard what bunguses they can be about what is "noteable," and got pissed.
That guy is a loser, and your editor rocks hard for publicly standing by you. You're lucky to be working for him.
Sleepy: I love your dots, baby. I dream of your dots. Why, at this very moment, I see dots before my eyes! They are sleepydog dots!
Hal: The more I learn about Wikipedia, the less I like it. I will write more about this topic, perhaps as a blog entry. But for now, all I can tell you is that I find error after error on the site's pages. I still use if for some things, but not many and I am careful to verify any facts I have gotten from wiki with another source.
Erin no picky Wiki!!
Notable note to self - Daniel Case is an ass.
As for "ode to trans fat," it's been said, but eveything in moderation is not a bad thing. I shivered the time my grandma told me her family would travel from LaCrosse, WI to somewhere straight south over the Illinois boarder to make the monthly purchase of margarine. I guess back in the day Wisconsin didn't or wouldn't sell the "store bought" yellow stuff because being the dairy state pushing real butter was priority. Her dad used to "run shine," actually beer, down that way too.
I was going to read it, but I decided that giving myself a brazillian wax with a pair of tweezers would be a better use of my time...
his wiki page that is...sorry!
Oh, the irony!
Not exaclty delicious, but it certainly leave a taste in your mouth.
Hey Toby: Whenever I write a column, I have to do 10 pounds of research, of which I end up using one ounce. I read about the butter/margarine wars and how the butter people wanted to outlaw the coloring so the margarine looked unpalatable. They were victorious, at least for a while, and margarine sales plummeted. But, baby, you can butter my bread anytime.
Alie: Good lordie, those tweezers sting! As for Mr. Case's page, pass me a New Coke, please.
Bug: That taste is from the two jiggers of rotgut whiskey I poured into your New Coke.
I bet he pines for the day Zoobas come back into style as well...
OK, crap! I got it!
Well, let me give a big ole Patrick Swayze 'DITTO' to what:
Corn Dog
Mone
Sleepy and
Toby
Some WELL made points, peeps!
Erin: Well, thank you. Rotgut or not, I could use a drink!
I never looked it up, I just took good ole grandma's word for it. It seemed truthful enough especially since we're the dairy state and all. I guess I know she isn't fibber. It's true too, her dad used to brew beer during prohibition and he would make a monthly run to just over the Ill. boarder to pawn it. The margarine thing was probably a cover. I wonder if he had any dealings with the Capone crowd.
Another interesting thing I found out not long ago is my great grandpa is/was full blooded Native American. That means of course I'm about 12.5% I wonder if I can join the tribe and start collecting casino royalties.
Wow. You can make a bagless hoover sound sexy, squeeze cheese sound palatable, and trans fat entertaining to read about.
I bet you are also one of those people that can read from the phone book and make it sound like poetry!
You are my hero!
I can totally feel you.
Dear Erin,
If you can't take blunt, honest criticism, you are in the wrong business.
Sincerely,
Simon Cowell
Erin,
The fact is that you lied. Lied like a rug with cement blocks on it.
Every Wikipedia page has a history section, which anyone can look at, which shows all the edits changed and saved. None of the pages you claimed to have edited showed any record of the edits you claimed you made.
Those history pages (required under the licensing scheme we use) are like phone bills. If you did it, it's there. If you didn't, it's not. It's right. You're wrong. End of discussion.
As for your editor standing by you, I hadn't intended that email for publication, but, since I didn't say so, that's on me. All I can say is that that sacrifice of integrity (I would speculate from it that he's sleeping or has slept with you at some point ... I hope it was good for you because he writes like a guy with a tadpole in his trousers) in favor of friendship is proof positive that the Free Times has indeed gone waaaaay downhill under its present ownership. Cf. New York Times, Jayson Blair.
Your blog speaks for itself. Your brother was a truly talented writer ... I'm sure part of the reason he drank so much was having a bitter hanger-on like you as a sister.
Wow. Daniel Case is just a shit-eating little troll, it seems. And, I know I shouldn't entertain the bleating little twit who's simply begging for attention, but sometimes, when a true cocksucker crosses a line, I'm all for pointing it out.
Mr. Case, I am certain no one is impressed with your iron-fisted control at that precious, yet comical, bastion of untruths at Wikipedia. It may make you feel important, but the truth is, you are just a simple, pathetic fool who values his illusions and misconceptions over a verifiable reality from a much more legitimate source than yourself.
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