Thursday, January 20, 2005
ROTFLMAO
I guess I'm not too hip to the kids' parlance these days, and if you don't know what the title stands for, well, I hate to break it to you, but neither do you. I just recently learned that this means "Rolling on the floor, laughing my ass off", and it's commonly used in IM'ing or text messaging, when a simple "ha ha" will not suffice. I think there's some sort of humor hierarchy here, where something moderately funny warrants a "heh". Then comes "heh heh", and afterwards is "ha ha", and "ha ha ha ha". After that, you get "HAHAHAHAHAH", and then, "LMAO", which is obviously "Laughing my ass off". Beyond that is the aforementioned "ROTFLMAO", which is impressive because I've met very few typists that are nimble enough to type while actually rolling around on the floor, nevermind using one hand to keep their ass from falling off. I recommend velcro. I'm not sure if anything can top that, maybe something like "LSHICBCMBTTTY", meaning, of course, "Laughing so hard I can barely catch my breath to type this to you."
At any rate, last night I found something that was AT LEAST ROTFLMAO status, and I would like to share it with you. First of all, sometime in the past few years, reviewing merchandise on Amazon changed from something only extremely earnest or pissed off people did to a form of humor writing. Believe me, I was as shocked as you to learn this.
I actually discovered this originally on Monzy.com, a site that used to be a favorite of mine in college. Monzy is approximately my age, and seems to have stopped updating his website nearly as often as he used to while he was an undergrad. I urge you to take a look at his archives when you get a chance. At any rate, one of the most recent entries he made (11/30/03, at the bottom of the front page as of this post) talks about people posting Amazon reviews as a form of self-expression. He links to a couple of his own reviews, which are moderately amusing, and then to this site, which features a couple of Epinions reviews by "Leon". Leon is brilliant, and you really should read his reviews, while being careful to keep your ass firmly attached to your body. I even urge you to go here, Epinions, and read some more of his reviews. They are very, very entertaining.
I discovered Leon from Monzy a long time ago, and forgot about product reviews as entertainment. That was until I recently read an chat summary in the Washington Post that recommended I go to Amazon.com and look for reviews of the Family Circus books. I remember to do so, and soon found myself ROTFLMAO. Now, almost everyone I know of is familiar with the Family Circus, one of the most insipid, cloying comics ever written. I'm sure the intended audience is for people that are very much unlike me, but I still find it hard to believe that many of these people exist. If you don't believe me, or need a refresher, go to Family Circus, but I recommend you take a Pepto-Bismol first.
So, I searched on Amazon for "Bil Keane", the author, and found a bunch of his books. The reviews are fantastic, and quite subversive. In particular, I recommend this one, for starters, especially the one titled "The socio-political Rorschach of the late 20th century!". Click on the link to see even more reviews, and marvel at how long people have been doing this for. It's quite impressive - there's like a whole cult of Family Circus reviewers.
I'd love to know what other amusing reviews are out there. Please let me know if you find some. I might write some myself, if I get inspired. At any rate, the Family Circus reviews were funny, maybe "HAHAHAHAH" funny. But I can do you one better. For a similar review of a different Family Circus book, go to this Amazon page, and read the review. Pretty good. Now, make sure to lay some mats down on the floor and fasten your ass to your body, and go look at the "Customers who viewed this book also viewed" section. Check out the second entry. Don't say I didn't warn you.
At any rate, last night I found something that was AT LEAST ROTFLMAO status, and I would like to share it with you. First of all, sometime in the past few years, reviewing merchandise on Amazon changed from something only extremely earnest or pissed off people did to a form of humor writing. Believe me, I was as shocked as you to learn this.
I actually discovered this originally on Monzy.com, a site that used to be a favorite of mine in college. Monzy is approximately my age, and seems to have stopped updating his website nearly as often as he used to while he was an undergrad. I urge you to take a look at his archives when you get a chance. At any rate, one of the most recent entries he made (11/30/03, at the bottom of the front page as of this post) talks about people posting Amazon reviews as a form of self-expression. He links to a couple of his own reviews, which are moderately amusing, and then to this site, which features a couple of Epinions reviews by "Leon". Leon is brilliant, and you really should read his reviews, while being careful to keep your ass firmly attached to your body. I even urge you to go here, Epinions, and read some more of his reviews. They are very, very entertaining.
I discovered Leon from Monzy a long time ago, and forgot about product reviews as entertainment. That was until I recently read an chat summary in the Washington Post that recommended I go to Amazon.com and look for reviews of the Family Circus books. I remember to do so, and soon found myself ROTFLMAO. Now, almost everyone I know of is familiar with the Family Circus, one of the most insipid, cloying comics ever written. I'm sure the intended audience is for people that are very much unlike me, but I still find it hard to believe that many of these people exist. If you don't believe me, or need a refresher, go to Family Circus, but I recommend you take a Pepto-Bismol first.
So, I searched on Amazon for "Bil Keane", the author, and found a bunch of his books. The reviews are fantastic, and quite subversive. In particular, I recommend this one, for starters, especially the one titled "The socio-political Rorschach of the late 20th century!". Click on the link to see even more reviews, and marvel at how long people have been doing this for. It's quite impressive - there's like a whole cult of Family Circus reviewers.
I'd love to know what other amusing reviews are out there. Please let me know if you find some. I might write some myself, if I get inspired. At any rate, the Family Circus reviews were funny, maybe "HAHAHAHAH" funny. But I can do you one better. For a similar review of a different Family Circus book, go to this Amazon page, and read the review. Pretty good. Now, make sure to lay some mats down on the floor and fasten your ass to your body, and go look at the "Customers who viewed this book also viewed" section. Check out the second entry. Don't say I didn't warn you.
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