July 12, 2004

Dizzy retrospective I wanted to start this with Dizzy's profile, but Google cache caught up with his deleting his account. Anway, here's his first post. As time went on, I (maybe an all-inclusive we) was so impressed with his exceptional ability to improvise and with his wonderful humor, thoughtfulness and wit, that I thought it only meet to remind us of some of his best stuff.

So: Here Dizzy does catering and gets into pop tarts. Then, he ignores question about intern, but struggles with pop tart addiction, and combines John Davidson and Oompa Loompa in a spectacular performance. And throws a party. Some of these links require you to scroll through earnest conversation while Dizzy serves canapes, so don't give up after the first comment. For anyone who wasn't around while he graced us with his presence, sorry, but I won't tell you what happened to persuade him to delete his account. It was too distressing. I'm also sorry I didn't get this up sooner. Blame my fear of html.

  • I miss the Diz. 'Twas he who got me addicted to the Hot Fudge Sundae Pop Tarts.
  • Dizzy's profile. I once fished pete_best's profile out of the google cache too, but accidently deleted it (ironically enough).
  • I should have explained that the account deletion changed his user name on all his posts to "Anonymous." And, that he had a really cool profile, but, sadly, what I mostly remeber about it is that he really liked meatloaf. Ah, yes, Dizzy, we hardly knew yea.
  • dng - you're my hero!
  • Oh, no! I forgot that he and gave condiment advice.
  • [banana pop tart] I liked the guy. Simple as that.
  • the blog equivalent of putting a stuffed teddy bear and drawing at the site of a car wreck.
  • I once, drunkenly, stumbled and fell into a floral tribute for a seven-year old girl who'd been shot dead. It was just round a corner, I was looking over my shoulder, I didn't see it... a large teddy bear broke my fall. I felt really rather guilty. Oh, and last night me and some frinds, drunkenly, went paddling and swearing in the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. No guilt there, though. /off-topic ramble.
  • No, boo, it isn't. Your conjecture assumes that I'm an overly sentimental stranger who thinks that teddy bears and flower mean something, and that, just maybe, they make me more important because I lit a candle or something. That isn't my reason. It's just to remind us that Dizzy's a great guy. And many of us miss him. I wouldn't do a respective for someone I don't admire based on the contact I had with them, or never knew anything about. There are no teddy bears here.
  • * a moment of quiet thought for our Dizzy Path, I understand your motives. Dizzy made me think and question myself several times. But even if you were a teddy bear leaving/candle-lighting sentimental stranger, I think that would be ok. I am NOT one to do that--actually it gives me the heebee-jeebees (do NOT leave a damn cross and flowers if I die on the interstate or I will come back from the grave and kick your ass!) I've just never understood why anyone would do it. BUT, in talking to a friend the other day that wanted to leave flowers at the entry lane to a house where a teenage girl was murdered a few weeks ago, I learned something. Her reasons for wanting to do so were multiple. Her daughter died a pointless death also, and in leaving flowers for another teenager, she honored her daughter as well. She felt a connection with the parents that possibly only another parent who had lost a child could ever feel. There were a lot of wild rumors before it was ascertained that the killing was totally random--she wanted to let the parents know that she believed them when they said the girl was blameless in the evil that enveloped her. Later the parents came out and thanked the community for their support. God knows, you'd NEED as much support as you could get if something like that happened. No man is an island .... So, it's not my style, but I've got to honor it. Shoot, used to be the whole community pitched in to take a covered dish or attended a wake. Now we have few of those traditions left to us. What's the great quote? Only connect.
  • Well, that was certainly depressing.
  • Flashboy: next time don't pee in the pool
  • Jesus, Bluehorse. That story sounds unnervingly like a recent event here... A girl was assaulted and left for dead at a lake near my house. Your anecdote is really, really unnerving.
  • Er, path, I think this post rather questionable. No matter how wonderful a poster is, don't you think it's a little self-serving to eulogise them on the front page? This does not seem to be the best of the web. This could have been something you might have asked tracicle to post or host on her blog, which serves as our community discussion area - and it would have stayed on the front page longer, to boot. I would have happily joined in and contributed there. As it is, it is a non-sequitur and you're not even going into why he deleted the account. Which is extremely confusing for newbies. Only those 'in the know' will 'get it'. And in a couple of years, it will mean even less than that. Lovely thought, but ...
  • As I don't visit MoFi as often as I could, can I ask what happened with Dizzy? Was it recent? Can someone help out a curious monkey? If it's not kosher to speak of it in the lavender, my email address is in my profile. I hope someone will be kind enough to enlighten me. On preview, Nostrildamus is correct, 'cause I'm confused!
  • Hey, folks. I truly don't think its relevent, for this post, why Dizzy disappeared. And, he's not dead, so we don't need to get into teddy bears. And it may not be the best of the web, but it was some of the best of Mofi. Just a little nostalgia. Is that so wrong?
  • /Pours out a l'il 40 for the missing homie...
  • Did not mean to beat up on path, apologizes, offers banana pudding pops.
  • perhaps we could lay out a trail of pop-tarts and )))'s
  • I think it's okay this one time, because I know how much Dizzy was respected. We'll call it some sort of Curious, George-thing-but-not.
  • because lordy, it's hot.
  • No, to me it's not okay. Dizzy flamed out. When called on his poor behavior he couldn't take the heat. Then he threw a temper tantrum across several threads, took his ball, went home and deleted his account. There are plenty of respected members of MoFi and this just smacks of cliquishness. Nostalgia? For something that happened a few weeks ago? I know it's not a popular stance, and I don't mean to pick on path or even on Dizzy, but the other parties of that infamous thread are still here and contributing and I think it's in poor taste to 'celebrate' Dizzy in this way.
  • You're missed, old friend -- all the best to you, Diz, wherever you are.
  • So, path, if it doesn't matter why he disappeared, I guess this post is only for those are in the know about why he went away. We newbies/semi-newbies should then ignore the post and not be curious because we don't know, and don't deserve to know, why Dizzy merits a front page eulogy. Maybe you could've said that in the post so the special people would know the post was only meant for them. Or am I misunderstanding? FWIW, I didn't ask for a thorough overview of a huge debacle - one sentence would do. And the two from Ignorant Slut have sufficed.
  • But, IgnorantSlut, it does seen to be a popular stance, which really surprised me. If you had a real life friend who freaked out over some perceived insult, would you decide to not remember the good things that person had done? I didn't intend to point out that he took his ball and went home. Or, that he flamed out. But, this was a tough one to explain. What happened, happened, and I still don't understand why. Can't we just enjoy the Dizzy we knew? Well, maybe this should be sent to the post graveyard. Though I'm not sure why. And peoplefilter. Read the links. If they don't explain why I posted this, I'm sorry, but they are funny. And that's the point.
  • My post got deleted. Does that mean I'm cool and edgy?
  • IgSlu, I can understand what you're saying, but I think path's desire to put up a FPP on Dizzy is not a vindication of his actions. Despite his failings, Dizzy was an active and colorful member of Mofi. So this tribute should be seen as a separate issue from what caused his leaving. I won't point fingers and blame. I think in a way, all of us (including me) had a part to play in it, even if it was through our silence when the whole event played out. Many may feel that Dizzy should shoulder most of the blame, but that's a moot point now. So let's throw that away. What path is doing now is starting a thread on someone who participated in the growing up of Mofi, someone who contributed his fair share of posts, humor and style to make this place special. This thread is not about saying that Dizzy was right, or that anyone else was wrong. I hope that the other monkeys won't feel that this is some kind of backhanded reprimand or insult to them. It's not. *HUG*
  • I think I'm gonna go away for a little while. This whole thing is affecting me more than I thought. Y'all take care now....
  • Again, the purpose of my post was not to place blame, but to recognize that we lost a valuable monkey. I love all of you, but each has a different character. If nostrildamus defected, I'd feel tempted to remind us all of his innate good sense and wonderful grumpiness, which I do appeciate. If homunculus left, I'd want to point out that he followed up every issue by updating old posts, and how valuable that was, as well as his great links and comments. And, it wouldn't depend on how bad the flameout was when they exited. I could do a complete roll call here, but you know what I mean. So tell me why it's wrong to point out that a guy who flamed out was valuable before the Big Event. This Big Event was distubing, but does it obviate everything that went before? I think that's what you're saying here. Well, please put it in the FAQ that we need to send flameouts to Coventry if that's the consensus. But, you all need to explain to me what harm this has caused. Sorry, my frustration built up in that last paragraph.
  • I think it all boiled/boils down to These Guys, Those Guys, and people like Path and I who straddle fences (ouch!) and really get a kick out of all the Monkeys on the Farm. Ever since the Big Event, we've been working hard to keep our happy bananas, but it's been tougher. Polarization occurred thanks to that snake Daisy_Mae invading our happy Monkey Eden. I like This Filter because we DISCUSS, and then agree to disagree if necessary, as opposed to That Other Filter, where they'd rather get into a 14780 word pissing contest rather then say just their piece and hit the go-away button. Meh, who needs aggravation? Bananas for some; Cockpunch for all! Break out the Pop Tarts and let's all enjoy being on a different page.
  • Having been gone for a short while, on vacation, this is all news to me!!! I had no idea he was gone! I am very sad to hear this and I hope that he comes back under another pyseudonym. I have to say, I do remember some rough threads where people seemed a bit out of kilter, it happens to the best of us at times, but I surly didn't expect this. Hopefully, he will reconsider and come back into our monkeylovin' arms.
  • just a technical note here, he won't be able to re-register as Dizzy if he does want to come back. *purses lips, folds arms, rocks on heels, raises eyebrow at MonkeyBashi . .*
  • Best of monkeyfilter is now accepting requests, if anyone is interested.
  • I'm with IgnorantSlut and Nostril on this one. I'm glad this is the dead links section because a FPP is definitely not the place for this. Most of Dizzy's pre-nuclear freak out posts were a while ago and I don't think I'm exaggerating by saying that most of the members have no idea who he is or why he's an issue at all. And honestly, by deleting his account rather than having Tracy change the password, he's consigned his legacy to "Anonymous".
  • *hands Kimberly a ginger snap*
  • I like this post. Thanks, path.
  • Thank you, languagehat.
  • MmMmmmm Crunchy.
  • A few years back, when I saw Marsalis at the Vanguard, Wynton called Max at home from onstage, and led the audience in singing "Happy Birthday". It could have been Max's 80th, I forget. A very special moment, regardless. Thanks, Max.
  • (Different Dizzy) But, all the same: .
  • Didn't even check, r88. Obviously. My bad.
  • *drops the bomb for Max* x!
  • Re-listened to Birth of the Cool on my commute home last night. Good thing it just happened to be in the in-vehicle rotation this week. I didn't even realize Max was in those sessions until I read yesterday's bios.
  • Why Max Roach was jazz's greatest drummer. If you want to hear an underappreciated living drummer, check out Clarence Penn. Not innovative like Roach, but definitely plays with drive and tasty energy.