How to Write Memorable Comments (Ginzo's 3-Year Anniversary W/O) Mar 08 '03 (Updated Mar 11 '03)    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Books Rick Bragg - Somebody Told Me: The Newspaper Stories of Rick Bragg From $6 260 Drum Machine Patterns From $8 The Bottom Line Congrats on three years, ginzo! My, this is a self-indulgent write-off, isn't it? In honor of ginzo's third anniversary at Epinions, we were to think back on memorable comments that people have made over the years. In order to make this task less daunting, I have limited myself to comments left on my own reviews. I, too, have been around for over three years, but the number of comments on my reviews has increased a lot in recent months, so I really didn't have that many reviews to go through. I've arranged my memorable comments in reverse chronological order. Also, to be fair, each person can be in the list only once. What makes a comment memorable? Well, it has to be specific, funny, controversial, or incredibly complimentary. Comments that just say "Great review!" are pretty useless to me. What did you like or not like about the review? Comments are crucial. If it weren't for your feedback, I wouldn't be writing on Epinions. Below are a few exemplary comments. But before I begin, I must say that I'm rather surprised that no one has ever written a comment on my review of Me and the Weirdos. Hello, it was written by my mom! I think that's comment-worthy. When I wrote a review of my dad's book Who Says You Can't Teach Science, it caused a bit of an uproar by certain folks who said I was too biased. It's just Epinions, so I didn't really see what all the fuss was about. Check it out to see what you think. And, of course, I WORKED FOR THE RED SOX , so people should comment on that. :-) Also, I'm surprised that not very many people wrote comments on my Amsterdam review since it was mostly about smoking pot. I even titled it, "Where Were You While We Were Getting High?" 1) But here's one: Changing Travel Plans (Reply to this comment) by siddy Hey Beckytcy This is the best review I read on Amsterdam! I'm planning to go next Thanksgiving for the Cannibis Cup and boy, it sure is confusing to even try to pronounce those place names. It will sure top the panic/frustration I felt while trying to drive to the hotel in London. Originally I was going to stay in Amsterdam for a week but I guess about four days would be more than enough time spent on sex, smoke and Van Gogh. I guess I could hold on to the hunger and get something from Paris afterwords...although the fries on mayo does sound edible-I'm packing the Tabasco. Excellent review! I like this comment because it makes specific references to things I mentioned in the review. Plus, it seems as if I have actually influenced someone's travel plans! 2) My RyanAir review. I was also surprised more people didn't comment on this one since it talks about me and my friend Katy fighting over who gets to sit next to the cute guys on planes. RyanAir is so budget that it doesn't assign seats. And why didn't anyone comment about the "one legged man who slaughtered Christmas geese for a living"?!? However, this review did provide a memorable comment from alawston, who is, as of this moment, the only Epinions person I've ever met. My brother, my mom, and a few of my friends belong to the site, but none of these "real people" ever write anything. I'm lazy and can't be bothered going home. by ALawston I've not got access to my e-mail right now (I'm in the library, impressive huh?), so I shall cryptically say that 6:15 will be absolutely perfect. Andrew I read this and knew that there was a plan to meet him. I remember walking quickly down Tottenham Court Road muttering to myself, "I've met him before, I've met him before." I hadn't, of course, but saying that somehow convinced me that I had and made me less nervous. Check out his latest controversial review. 3) Pulp Different Class. Well, I started a bit of a controversy here when I wrote that I wished I were British. I was writing this review in a "cluster room" (computer lab) at University College London where I was "studying" for a semester, so I couldn't help it. Anyway, someone got offended, and divine_cheese (alawston's brother) jumped in to defend me, and, along the way, said I could be an honorary Brit... or at least that's how I interpreted his comment. Great review! by Divine_Cheese And it's glad to see someone from the States wishing they were British! I personally wish I was Welsh or Australian... These webs we weave... And I can explain the Es and the Wizz - Sorted For Es And Wizz is a parody of the early 90s rave scene which revolved around getting mashed in a field whilst listening to dodgy dance music. Es are the drug ecstacy and Wizz is Amphetamine. Suffice it to say, the Daily Mail (/Hate) attacked it when they released it as a single, despite the strong anti-drugs sentiments. Had something to do with the instructions on how to prepare a wrap of ecstacy on the front... Anyway! You got a pretty darned good grasp of Pulp with this review - it's not hard to be British really - repress your emotions and complain about the weather all the time is the best way to get into it! The Cheese Andrew wrote that the original comment by "the nutter" explained why I wanted to stay on "this sceptred isle." Yes, he understood completely, and even titled his comment "la la la la la la," my favorite aspect of Pulp songs. Other controversial reviews: My rant on the Pledge of Allegiance Bowling for Columbine 4) Continuing the BritPop trend is my review of Blur's Best Of Blur that I stole from my brother and listened to constantly for about a month over the summer when I was in denial that I was back in America. I think this contributed to the fact that I kept looking right when I was crossing the street and almost got hit by cars several times. After days of trying to convince Charlie to read and rate my review, he finally wrote this comment: I am "THE BROTHER" by charl11 Although Becky has repeatedly stolen items from my personal collection, she will not, I repeat, not take away my dignity. She will not. I am Charl11, by the way. I think it's cute because, even though he's a teenager, I still think of him as six-years-old. 5) As my BritPop obsession continues, we have my review of the AOL Instant Messenger, a major form of communication for us college students. I mentioned that it reminded me of Jarvis Cocker, the creepy lead singer of Pulp, because of the fact that the program allows you to spy on people. The following comment made me laugh: Jarvis Cocker would be Proud by jackai and I'm sure his Away Message would be the same as mine: "Please come back later, I am currently downloading porn." Great overall review! Jack 6) I wrote a review on How to Budget in College and included some anecdotes about crashing a coming out day party to get free chicken wings, etc. Annecal commented that she and a friend once did the same thing! A kindred spirit! I also included a little Yiddish vocabulary lesson. Only gravitygirl commented on that bit, mentioning my parent's alma mater. Re: LOL! by GravityGirl At Brandeis, the biggest free food event is Yom Kippur break-the-fast. I only went one year and never again! There was so much food that my friends and I gorged and ended up with sore bellies. Thanks for bringing a positive spin to schnorring. Before this, the only schnorrer I knew was a kid who worked with me at summer camp and thought that he was permanently entitled to rides to Cracker Barrel/Wendy's/Walt Mart from my friend. I now know that he was an evil schnorrer and not at all what schnorring is all about. Thanks for reminding me of the true spirit of schnorring! Right on, sister! 7) Almost all of the Americans I met when I was abroad went through a period of depression when the came home. I honestly felt like my heart was breaking when I took a cab to Heathrow. I gathered up all the songs that reminded me of London and wrote them in a London Nostalgia Mix and emailed the review to the friends I'd met there. It was all part of the healing process. Ingysdayoff seemed to understand why I loved London so much and why the city and music are inextricably linked. Bollocks... by ingysdayoff A shame that I don't have a London mix, but when I went, I listened to "Rubber Soul" like it was going out of style...all I remember is listening to "Michelle" and glancing up and there was the ol' clock. One of the highlights of my life, for sure. You did a wonderful job, again. I might do a few mix reviews, granted I've become an addict in making mixes lately. Mike He loves London and uses the word "bollocks." Need I say more? 8) I, too, have been here for three years and held my own 3-Year Write Off for the occasion. There were many memorable comments on there, especially one by sparkless but my favorite was by sleeper54 because he used excessive flattery. Hey there... by sleeper54 . Lets see, 'three years' in internet years is...Oh, who knows...it's a long time...:-) you said... "men? Let's not even go there! It's been one disaster after another..." Ahhh, beauty, brains, loyal, and she loves the Red Sox...what is wrong with these losers...:-)? you said... "With the mysterious income share, no one in their right mind would now join Epinions for the money!" ! LOL ! Makes you wonder why someone would stay !! you said... "I highly approve, although I am not helping the problem with this rambling review." ! LOL !. . .somethings just take a few words...:-) (Thanks for the plug...:-) Here's to the next three...:-!! ...tom... "Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul." -Mark Twain Quoting people's words directly is always a good commenting technique lest they not understand what you are referring to. 9) OK, I have to cheat a little bit here because I can't choose just one memorable comment from my essay on Confronting Jeffrey Mayer. For those of you who don't remember or who aren't baseball fans, he's the one who reached out over the right field wall in Yankee Stadium and stole a homerun for the Yankess in the playoffs. He goes to my college now. Boo. Bringing up the Yankees always provokes strong reactions, and a lot of people had funny ideas for revenge. 10) Annecal held a Haiku Write-Off, which was loads of fun. My favorite comment on this was: ... by mfunk75 My favourite: It's Always Something... (this is so you, Beck; did you know you copped the title of Gilda Radner's autobiography?) becky-t-c-y Why? She's a poetess with a Tenenbaum family -mike (working on the thumbs up) Well, for one thing, that was my favorite haiku, as well, and he could tell. He's right that it is "so me." Secondly, he refers to something on my profile page, and, thirdly, refers to a comment I had made on one of his reviews. AND, he writes a haiku of his own. That comment couldn't BE any better! ;-) 11) I was going to limit myself to ten comments, but how could I not include one from my most commented upon Epinion ever? So many of you wrote hilarious comments on my So You Want to Hire a Stripper? op, but the funniest one, and the best Epinions comment of all time is by lemon_lime, or stripper_lime as he sometimes calls himself now. It's a legend and has been referred to many times over in other people's reviews. Particularly funny is a follow-up comment he made on my Lysistrata review. ... by lemon_lime As the male stripper in the story, I too remember that night. It was awkward for me as well - but there was no padding, I promise. It was all me women! And while I might have spent most of my day in a tanning bed, as you suggested, I don't like the implication that that necessarily makes me stupid. For your information, whenever tanning or waxing I can usually be found reading Dosteovsky or, on lighter days, Joyce's surreal masterpiece "Finnegan's Wake". Happy Birthday though - I'll be waiting by the phone for another strip call - yes, I'm still in the profession! - and this time I'll bring some music, including the entire C&C Music Factory collection (which, admittedly, is only two cd's). Things that make you go hmmm.... (happy birthday for reals though Becky :) This comment actually made me laugh out loud. Thank you, Chad! -- So, there you have it! I've received many other fantastic comments, but I had to stop this review sometime or I'd go over the word limit. Happy commenting!! And let me know if any of these links don't work. I'm kind of HTML ignorant. Read the following contributers to the write off! 29th_candidate amysmom artbyjude becytcy (Me!) DavidMac donnie013 drdevience e_commentor _haggis_ KcFoxy Lisa_J lorace misc_el popsrocks RedDiva sleeper54 small_batch stockholder Susie_34668 shoplmart thorbjore trust12345 unhappycarrie patiche jankp kristinafh lemon_lime and of course, host GINZO ! Congrats on three years, ginzo! Go Red Sox!

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