Blue Pants goes to Wolff's
Sometimes a gnome should know his limits.
Blue Pants -- Albany's very own traveling garden gnome -- has been very busy lately. After Margie found him on UAlbany's uptown campus, he went on quite the eating and drinking spree (result: overindulgence -- see above). Here's the whole whirlwind trip. Then Margie helped him find a new hiding spot.
But now we've heard that Blue Pants has already been found! And he's off on new adventures! We're looking forward to BP's next round of hijinks.
Earlier on AOA: Have you seen these gnomes?
(Thanks, Sebastien and Kim!)
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Comments
We still don't know where Red Pants is?
... said Katherine on May 4, 2009 at 12:24 PM | link
at this point it's pretty safe to say that red pants met some kind of doom, whether it be destruction or just some kind of kidnapping incident. he was never heard from again. :(
... said Kim on May 4, 2009 at 12:38 PM | link
Nope, no news from Red Pants. A little ironical considering it was the one Kim was the most concerned nobody would find :) We even went back to the park a few days later to make sure he would poke his head a tad more. Sure enough, he was found a few days later. Possible it was destroyed by a begrudged squirrel, Kim's very own foot fetishist, or my local archenemies :)
... said -S on May 4, 2009 at 1:08 PM | link
No one cares about gnomes. This blog was once good and is becoming unreadable with this gnome crap.
... said Mr. Albany on May 4, 2009 at 1:08 PM | link
That is so sad. He will be missed.
... said Katherine on May 4, 2009 at 1:09 PM | link
Those were great pics; it looks like he had quite a day! It's a shame I didn't see him, as I was at the Biergarten on Saturday.
... said Summer on May 4, 2009 at 1:27 PM | link
I think it is time for some signs posted all over Washington Park and Lark St. Let's find Red Pants!!
... said Bob F. on May 4, 2009 at 1:33 PM | link
Funny, he looks like me the last time I was at Wolff's.
... said LB on May 4, 2009 at 1:55 PM | link
@Mr. Albany I'm so sorry the site is not tailored to your exquisite taste. If you don't like a post, don't read it. AOA is a community of diverse people with diverse tastes and the editors do a fantastic job of covering a variety of topics. This is something fun that the AOA community can participate in and enjoy. It's brought a lot of commenters together in a non-traditional way. Not every post will appeal to every person.
Negative comments do nothing to progress the site or the discussion on a post. Constructive criticism is one thing but comments that call content "crap" are just that...crap.
... said Emma on May 4, 2009 at 2:00 PM | link
Because I have absolutely nothing better to do, I'm now following you on Twitter.
... said Roger green on May 4, 2009 at 2:13 PM | link
EVERYBODY STOP HAVING FUN IMMEDIATELY. It is ruining my enjoyment of this site.
... said Kevin on May 4, 2009 at 2:21 PM | link
I happen to love the gnome "crap." It's refreshing and fun, and makes me feel like a kid again.
... said Summer on May 4, 2009 at 2:25 PM | link
Emma - well said.
... said TM on May 4, 2009 at 2:45 PM | link
Please don't dismiss Mr. Albany's comment out of hand just because he failed to offer his criticism politely or frame it "constructively." I don't mind this gnome stuff, but it doesn't float my boat either.
All Over Albany aims to be the "smart, savvy friend with the inside line on what's happening around the Capital Region ... You know, the kind of stuff that makes your life just a little bit better."
It's done a hell of a job doing that, but it can't fulfill that mission if it chooses to cater to a clique of readers who all agree with each other and reject all criticism as coming from "outsiders." First of all, that'll get boring. And if you limit your audience, you limit your advertisers.
Anyway, keep up the good work, AOA, and never get too big for your virtual britches.
... said Mark on May 4, 2009 at 2:55 PM | link
@Mark I don't disagree and I'm not dismissing it just because it's not constructive. I take issue with the fact that he started with "No one cares about gnomes" and ends by calling it "crap." Obviously people care about the gnomes or there wouldn't be so many comments about them. And calling something "crap" does nothing to further a conversation. It's dismissive in of itself. If you don't like it, great, but don't try and speak for everyone and don't be nasty about it. IMHO it's in very poor taste to do so.
... said Emma on May 4, 2009 at 3:11 PM | link
@Mark - I see your point and agree with the sentiment behind it. However, I really don't think the dismissal of the commenter is due in any part to exclusionary efforts on the from the regular readership/commentators on this site.
I don't normally pay attention to the Gnome thing either, but you don't see me complaining about it, let alone being incredibly rude and off-putting in the process. That's because it's not something that detracts from the other content on the site - today alone also saw a post about pick-up soccer games in the area, a link to a restaurant review, the morning round-up of notable news items, etc. In other words, I was able to go "eh, I'll just skip this" and look at the next item. Stuff like the Gnome thing is done in addition to, not at the expense of, the site's primary content.
It's like complaining about the existence of a food item that isn't to your particular tastes and demanding the grocery store take it off the shelf. A lot of other people happen to like asparagus, so isn't it sort of silly to yell "this store sucks for selling asparagus!" when one can just as easily walk past it?
Web content isn't a zero-sum game. A complaint could be made about over-saturation, but even then you can only expect a site to remain so small and so limited for so long.
The very nature of this site doesn't cater to anonymous internet trolling and outright rude behavior. If you're the type of passive-aggressive person who needs to blow off steam by posting negative comments online, this probably isn't the site for you.
I'd take the criticism at face value if I felt that there was anything valid behind it, but I strongly suspect there wasn't. I don't want to appear to be yet another person ganging up on someone we perceive to be an outsider, but there has to be a line drawn between what can be considered a valid criticism and straight-up trolling. And I feel preventing that sort of behavior is the sort of thing that keeps attracting people to this site, rather than driving anyone away.
In other words, I don't think you're likely to see a "STFU n00b" comment in one of these threads.
... said Kevin Marshall on May 4, 2009 at 3:40 PM | link
Mark is right, and I have no problem with a difference in opinion; it's just the inflammatory comments that ruffle my feathers. But then again, that's what they're designed for.
... said Summer on May 4, 2009 at 3:41 PM | link
"clique of readers who all agree with each other "
what clique? why wasn't I invited?
... said Barold on May 4, 2009 at 7:25 PM | link
You're my boy, Blue!
... said Margie T on May 4, 2009 at 7:46 PM | link
Barold, your introduction and application package are the mail; dues are to be paid on the 1th of every month. I'll add you to the email list immediately.
... said B on May 4, 2009 at 9:08 PM | link
all of this gnome hubbub and no one commented on -S's non-ironic use of "ironical"?!
... said english major on May 6, 2009 at 12:11 PM | link
Timothy the "Supervisor Gnome" does not look impressed by some of the comments. Although now that this thread is complete with a gnome advert(if you done see it, you're missing out)....I think its reached its potential.
... said JVG on May 11, 2009 at 4:26 PM | link