riddlemay wrote:If this is an April Fool's joke, it is a superb one

I wish it was.

dicksond wrote:If I sold out for something, it was just the right to no longer have listen to you primadonnas whine.

You know, I've studiously avoided this thread all day long and just couldn't stop myself. Glad to come back to find that you think my words have value, D.

IMO, this has to be the most tedious and aggressively unfunny Apil Fools Day gag ever posted here. No, wait - strike the words 'posted here.'

Why is this thread a sticky? The deal is done, and comments are appropriate, but the sticky only produces ad nauseum in finitim.

I don't have time for endless treatises, as the former czar did, but the quality of the ZAGAT/gnr's will in no way be reduced while the visibility will be improved. Next round I won't have to pay for my own copy paper, or my own lunch bag. And neither will any of you.

Please be patient, and you will be pleasantly surprised by the very utility of the work we create, together.

-ramon

It was meant to be a simple announcement, with everyone having been informed and involved ahead of time, but it seems people held their true feelings & thoughts to themselves until now - guess that is how this forum works, and always has worked. As I said earlier, I wish the mods had taken more control of this thread from the beginning, rather than leaving us hanging out to dry.

Thanks to those of you who have expressed support, and for those of you who have voiced reasonable concerns. I am well aware that the new direction for the GNRs, and LTHForum to a lesser degree, is not without challenges, but the rewards are commensurate with the risks. All I can say to you all is be vigilant, demand that the values that have defined LTForum and the GNRs continue to be respected, and this will be a very good thing. Or you can turn your backs, walk away in disgust and LTHForum will continue on as something much less than it is today, even if traffic and activity hold up well.

Josephine, your post was particularly hurtful to me personally, but I guess I understand. Part of the role of a pioneer is to take arrows in his back. I only hope that tomorrow, when the sun comes up, people eat and cook and post as always, you come to see at least that while this seems like a big deal, nothing much has changed.

That's it for me.

d

What kind of an organization is LTHForum? Is it just a "free board" to post on, run by volunteers? Maybe its not an organization at all. (nevertheless I like it)

Is it a not for profit organization? Is it run by a board? Who makes decisions?

I'm under the impression that Zagat is a for profit enterprise. The name Zagat appears to be trademarked or copywrited. Then why is its name on the top of this screen at the left hand corner? Is Zagat taking over the LTHForum? Did LTHForum sell the rights to the GNR to Zagat?

I am clueless. I've just come to this board to post about food so I am not trying to stick my nose into anything but this was a good board here and I find it helpful and interesting and I hope it does not change or go away!!!!!!!

toria wrote:Is it just a "free board" to post on, run by volunteers?

TANSTAAFL

You get what you pay for.

trpt2345 wrote:You get what you pay for.

We'll give you your money back.

stevez wrote:

riddlemay wrote:If this is an April Fool's joke, it is a superb one

I wish it was.

That is, you wish it were.

I can tolerate an April Fool's Day joke(just barely), but not a disregard for the appropriate place of the subjunctive mood.

sundevilpeg wrote:IMO, this has to be the most tedious and aggressively unfunny Apil Fools Day gag ever posted here. No, wait - strike the words 'posted here.'

I have to raise my hand to that too.

The Internet.

Making it impossible to separate false indignation from genuine indignation since 1988.

April Fools... Thanks to all who played along. Yes, this is how LTHForum could be, and in some ways it is not that different from how LTHForum is, as many of us just played ourselves (or at least an exaggerated part of ourselves) in this drama, and there is more than a little fact mixed in with the fantasy. But it is not how LTHForum is and it also is not how any of us wish for it to be. Eat well, and post. I hope we amused you, just a little, because we had fun.

d

I just want you to know that I don't think I took a full breath though this whole posting.

Jean Blanchard wrote:I just want you to know that I don't think I took a full breath though this whole posting.

Phew.... Thank goodness.

.

Amen. I was shaking. And almost crapped out my subpar Blackie's burger I had for lunch.

I didn't stumble across this thread until 23h15 on Tuesday ( or mardi as they say it around here) the 7th avril. So I read it from top to bottom, and almost got sucked in. But then I thought, 'nah, dicksond is too cold and gwiv is too, so, either it's a whole Brave New LTH world or hey! erste april, poisson d'avril, April Fool, etc.'

Funny how that worked out.

But I'm with Katie: it's freakin' CRIMINAL to misuse the language like that: "were" "were" "were"--subjunctive, y'know!

(so how much did Zagat offer, eh?? enough??)

Geo

I didn't see this post until today, but as soon as I got to the word "Zagat" in the original post, I checked the date. Ha ha.

It would have been funny to list some of the recommended restaurants that the Zagat spider gleaned from the site, like The Olive Garden, Subway, ...etc. You might have even gotten some people's heads to explode.

Geo wrote:I didn't stumble across this thread until 23h15 on Tuesday ( or mardi as they say it around here) the 7th avril. So I read it from top to bottom, and almost got sucked in. But then I thought, 'nah, dicksond is too cold and gwiv is too, so, either it's a whole Brave New LTH world or hey! erste april, poisson d'avril, April Fool, etc.'

Geo

I am not sure how to take that, Geo, but then a lot of this was, um, less than flattering, so you are in good company.

Lest anyone missed it, here is Zagat's response.

d

I just meant that, in your replies, you and Gary were so terse and cold as to be quite unlike your usual happy selves. So I figured finally that you were biting your tongues to keep a straight 'face'.

Horribly well done, eh?!


Geo

To anyone who criticizes LTH for being primarily there for a group of friends who view themselves as the be-all and end-all of Chicago culinary commentators, I would direct them to this string to see just how wrong they are.