Current Happenings 2003

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Year 2003

Nov. 26

People Say the Strangest Things...

Okay, so it's the day before Thanksgiving, and I still have some time before going out to a movie, so I decided to do a Google search on my name, to see what's there.  Here's one of the things I found on someone's blog from 2001:

[20:14]
Matthew
 
Matthew Weathers De tijd is aangebroken om de aandacht te vestigen op Matthew. Al een behoorlijke tijd pronkt zijn foto in de linker kantlijn, zonder noemenswaardige uitleg. Ongeveer twee en een half jaar geleden stuitte ik toevallig op een online fotoalbum waarvan ik niet meer bijkwam van het lachen. Met pareltjes van fotografie als deze en deze. Let vooral op de kiekjes waar Matthew tussen zijn vrienden staat. Ik weet niet precies wat het is, maar ik krijg er altijd een erg vreemd gevoel bij. Zal wel een fiepje van mij zijn.

This is from this archive page of Tom's niche ( http://www.xs4all.nl/~tkoelman/ ). It's in Dutch.  I translated it with the WorldLingo online translator ( http://www.worldlingo.com/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html ). Here is the translation it gave:

The time has come establish the attention on Matthew. Already a considerable time flaunts its photograph in the linker margin, without considerable explanation. Approximately two and a half year suffered I ran up accidentally against an online photograph album of which I no longer recovered of laughing. With pareltjes of fotografie such as these and these. Pay attention especially to the kiekjes where Matthew between its friends stand. I weet not exact what it is, but I always get a terrible strange feeling. , however, fiepje of me will be

I don't know exactly what he's making fun of.  Also, I'm not sure where that picture of me came from.  I vaguely recognize it, and it must be on my web page somewhere, but I have so many old pictures there, that I don't know where it's from.

Odd Comments

You'll notice that there's a place to write me a comment at the bottom of all my web pages. It makes writing to me just a little bit easier: no need to copy & paste an email address, open up an email program, etc.  It works.  I end up getting a lot more of these comments than emails.  I probably get 1 or 2 a day.  Some of them are pretty funny.  Or just odd.  Here's a small sample.

From: rachit****@yahoo.co.in ( year2001/downtown_library_area.htm)
Message: sir
i went through ur presentation by the way can u tell me about the SKY CITY building which is under planning to be const. on tokyo.....which will be 1000 m heigh....
and the building name typan 2 of tiban which is under const. which is 500m heigh,,,,,
RACHIT SAURABH

Frequently people assume that just because I have a little information about some particular subject on my web page, I know everything about that subject, and I am willing to answer their questions about it. They're wrong on both accounts.		 > Date: Fri Sep 26 4:46:12 2003
> From: natasha Hawes

> can you help me find pictures of a weather map

She entered this comment five times. Maybe she thought it was a search engine?  First of all: NO, I won't help you find a weather map.  Second, even if I wanted to, I have no way to write back since there's no return address.

Actually, it's not always true that I refuse to help people.  Sometimes people have reasonable questions that I do know the answer to, so I write back.
> From: anonymous

> Beautiful family. Best wishes from Miami!!

Thanks!  I like this kind of comment.

 > Date: Tue Nov  4  2:34:53 2003 (year2001/downtown_library_area.htm)
> From:

> what is high the library tower?

Huh?  Obviously a non-native English speaker wants to know the height of the Library Tower in downtown.  Again, no return address, so I couldn't answer.
 
> Date: Fri Oct 10 19:39:14 2003 (year2003/la_mirada_movie_7.htm)
> From:

> No one f****** cares u lame mother f*****

Of course, I frequently get rude messages like this one for no apparent reason. I don't quite understand where this guy's rage comes from.  He did a search for this specific theater, and found the only page that has information about it.

 > Date: Wed Oct 1 17:16:30 2003 (year2003/la_mirada_movie_7.htm)
> From: lbrtylvrs

> the mgr with gray hair is very rude and she wears glasses and she
worked last sunday . doesnt now how to do her job . and yelling at
her emp. please get back to me matthew

I guess because my site is the only one that shows up in a search for this theater, people assume that it's the official site.

The other problem with this comment is that she did not leave her email address, so of course I cannot respond.  I assume the lbrtylvrs is some kind of screen name, maybe AOL.
> Date: Sun Oct 12 18:25:47 2003 (year2001/downtown_subway.htm)

hello

My anme is Paul and i am a dj from Toronto Canada I was wondering if I could use some of your images for a personal website I am building

looking forward in hearing from you take care
Paul K**** (Last name removed by request)

Every month or two, I get a request like this.  I always write back and say that I'm okay with anyone using my pictures.

 > Date: Tue Oct 14 15:30:04 2003 (year2002/biggest_cities.htm)
> From: A Girl

on the cities part don't you think it should be the city and the
state. Like it says Newyork and usa shouldn't it be Newyork and
whatever the biggest city is!!!!!!
Sometimes people are apparently looking for something very specific, and when they can't find it, they get angry. Like this girl. I suspect she was doing some kind of school project. I checked my log, she did a search for What are the biggest cities in all the states. Well, I'm sorry it doesn't have exactly that specific chart, princess.

Update 4-Dec-2003: Ah yes, I almost forgot...

> From: Raymond (pppoe2727.rb.gh.centurytel.net)
>
> out of all the weird things people said, the coolest and funiest
> things were from us!!!! admit it dumb head!!!!!!
>
>
> Love your pal Raymond

He's referring to this whole section of my web page. Yes, they did have some of the funniest quotes.  It all started when Raymond made fun of one of my old pages, so I made fun of his incessant misspellings.  (Notice, he even misspelled "funniest", above).


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Created and maintained by Matthew Weathers. Last updated Apr 20, 2006.