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Post by pfrsue on Apr 12, 2007 10:03:57 GMT -5
(Man, that subject line was just too tempting to pass up!)
Ahhh, the joy of those subtly frozen smiles when new acquaintences (and my dad) find out exactly which website I work for. I know this well. In fact, not to sound like a total wuss, but I usually ratchet it down into a less horrifying "mutantreviewers.com" these days.
I mean, there's no way to really explain that I, a middle-aged, church-going, faith-on-my-sleeve, can play "Kum Ba Ya", "Awesome God" and "Pass It On" on the guitar, president of the local writers' club and Mommy 'o Two, am a mutant from Aitch-Ee-Double-Toothpicks. I can only imagine the awkwardness for you, Justin!
But being from Hell isn't the end of the world - metaphorically speaking. It was actually pretty neat when my Dad told me (just a few months ago) that he'd finally gotten around to looking at that site, and lo, found it good! He was rather amazed really.
Terrific article! Definitely struck a chord with me. (A7, actually.)
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Post by Head Mutant on Apr 12, 2007 10:52:11 GMT -5
Heh... well, at least we refrained from putting the M-F word in the title.
I fondly remember that quiz question at my wedding that someone (Drew? Pooly?) asked about my MRFH nickname. Frozen, blank looks everywhere. You could almost see the thought bubbles, "...What website?"
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Post by TheLuckyOne on Apr 12, 2007 12:03:42 GMT -5
It was Poolie. I remember him asking "What nickname does Justin go by on the movie review website he runs?" and just standing there with a smile plastered onto my face, thinking "Dear God, please tell me he's not going to say 'Big Banana.' Because that... that might not be so good."
-D
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Post by PoolMan on Apr 12, 2007 13:19:47 GMT -5
Yeah, that honour did indeed belong to me.
You have to understand, my ONLY connection to this wedding was a friendship forged in the fires of telling strangers on the interweb exactly what I think of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. And I was surrounded by a crowd of similarly-connected people. So surely SOMEBODY in Justin's family has read the site, right? Right?
Oh no. Crickets. Seriously the most awkward thing that's ever happened to me at a public speaking event. EVER. Justin leans in and quietly murmurs in my ear, "Sean, nobody here reads the site. They don't know about it."
The funny bit was I remember someone finally DID say "Big Banana" in the crowd, and I more or less said that was right and got the hell out of the way. Fun!
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Post by Spiderdancer on Apr 12, 2007 13:27:29 GMT -5
Zounds. The ads are multiplying down the page. Curse you, Google, I don't WANT a package of free buffalo meat!
I haven't had to be embarrassed by the site name, since I go to a conservative enough church that I mostly don't try to communicate with anyone there other than God. Enough of them stare at my hair that I'm pretty sure they don't need to know about my hobbies. ;)Besides, if they found out about the Oblivion modding, the writing for a site with "Hell" in the title would be the least of my worries. Computer games are the root of all evil, I tell you.
This is a church that has a motorcycle group and console gaming group - for men. Guess what they have for women? Conferences with names like "Tea and Flowers: Falling in Love With Jesus."
As it is, my parents are STILL deeply suspicious about Justin being a "real" youth pastor. :lol:
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Post by TheLuckyOne on Apr 12, 2007 14:38:19 GMT -5
Oh no. Crickets. Seriously the most awkward thing that's ever happened to me at a public speaking event. EVER. Is that why I had to finish the rest of the questions? After hearing these horror stories, I can only thank God I come from a family of nice, normal Christians who only attend church once a year. When I explained I'd be writing for a cult movie website called "Mutant Reviewers From Hell," the looks of discomfort stemmed less from "Oh no, our son has fallen in with Satanists," but rather "Oh no, our son has fallen in with the nerds." -D |
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Post by Al on Apr 12, 2007 15:06:05 GMT -5
Yeah, I found my enthusiasm about being hired here rather dampened by the reactions of everyone I told.
"Wow, that's so cool! What's it called? ... ... ... Uh huh. Still, I mean, it's pretty cool you're getting paid to write movie reviews. ... ... Uh huh. No, wow, I, uh, that's still pretty cool. Good job, Al. I, uh, I'll have to check that out sometime..."
Then the conversation would stop dead and we'd awkwardly avoid each other's gaze until someone else showed up to change the topic.
EDIT: That being said, I am still mighty proud to work somewhere with a name people don't forget easily.
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Post by Head Mutant on Apr 12, 2007 15:19:38 GMT -5
To be fair, both my mom and my brother (who is a senior pastor) regularly read the site and like it quite a lot. Jared's even contributed a number of movie suggestions my way. But yeah, the site isn't for everyone, the same as many of the movies we cover.
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Post by Head Mutant on Apr 12, 2007 15:20:20 GMT -5
Oh no. Crickets. Seriously the most awkward thing that's ever happened to me at a public speaking event. EVER. Is that why I had to finish the rest of the questions? After hearing these horror stories, I can only thank God I come from a family of nice, normal Christians who only attend church once a year. When I explained I'd be writing for a cult movie website called "Mutant Reviewers From Hell," the looks of discomfort stemmed less from "Oh no, our son has fallen in with Satanists," but rather "Oh no, our son has fallen in with the nerds." -D |
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Post by blinkfan on Apr 12, 2007 23:50:48 GMT -5
Fantastic Artical Justin, 2000 and 1 Kudos to you.
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Big T
Ghostbuster
yo
Posts: 323
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Post by Big T on Apr 13, 2007 9:25:15 GMT -5
I feel compelled to tell you about my trip to the town of Hell on Grand Cayman Island. The fiancee and I were on vacation (how we managed to save the money is another, very uninteresting story) and one of our stops was Grand Cayman. We went on a tour of the sites; the Tortuga Rum Factory ("why's the rum gone?"), the sea turtle farm, and the little town of Hell. It's pretty much a post office/gift shop situated right beside a small field covered with jagged rock formations made from and old coral bed long ago. There were lots of signs and the clerk in the store wore a devil costume but sadly it did not snow. Snow in Grand Cayman might herald some "Day After Tommorrow" happenings...
Good article there Head Mutant! Long live Mutant Reviewers from H-E-double hockey sticks
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Post by StarOpal on Apr 13, 2007 11:13:22 GMT -5
Great article, Justin. Loved the photos. I've always wanted to go to Hell, Michigan just so I could say, "I've been to Hell and back... Wanna see some pictures?"
I, for one, have always loved the site name and got the joke right from the start.
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