I know Festivus is still a ways off, so bear with me while I blow off some steam.
1. The Pointedly Oblivious: People in online forums responding to topics concerning celebrities/TV shows by saying "Who?" or "Never heard of him/her/it." Unless you just returned from a 12-year float down the Zambezi, you're lying. And if you're not lying, you have Google. I know we all wish we didn't know who Kim Kardashian was, but signing on merely to demonstrate how iconoclastic you are in your ignorance of pop culture only cements your douchebaggery.
2. "Mancation:" Why in the name of Lee Marvin is it suddenly suspect for dudes to hang out for a weekend? In fact, why are people so eager to dub the simple act of getting together for a few beers a "man date." Does my long-standing friendship with Seadogs count as a "bromance?"
We only kissed once.
3. Gambit: Seriously, he throws cards people. Add an old lady who knits radioactive tea cosies and an alien badminton player and you'd have the lamest superhero team since Power Pack.
I only bring #3 up because of the number of people shrieking in appreciation at his appearance in this footage from the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine trailer from ComicCon.
Blob was part of the Weapon X program?
EDIT: I knew they'd pull it. For the time being, it's available here.
Aww… the video has been pulled already. I’m not a big X-men follower, but I will admit that when I watched the cartoon in my youth I always liked Gambit. I mean now that you actually say it OUTLOUD about him throwing cards it sounds a little silly, but…
And I as for forums, I never understood people that came into a forum and said what you listed above, plus complaining about the topic, discussion, etc. If they don’t like it, they don’t have to hang out in that thread. People sure reveal themselves as impatient, ill informed, prigs sometimes.
And it was a damn fine kiss too. I don’t really get the “man date” thing either. I think I probably spent a good 15 years at least as a single man hanging out with my buds and never thought anything of it or got any grief for it. Now that I am married, when I go out for some harmless fun with another guy it is a “man date”. The ones that can sometimes be pretty bad are when my lovely bride and her friends arrange a “blind man date” for me, so they can hang out together and not feel guilty about leaving the guys home alone. Actually they just don’t want us around while they discuss “things”. Talk about awkward. Usually you can shoot the shit about sports or movies, but occassionally you get hooked up with someone with whom you have nothing in common and can bore the paint off walls. That’s when I usually start drinking or begin doing so more heavily. It’s not like I don’t important things to do around the house while sitting in my underwear: like playing video games, watching bad sci-fi movies, or simply staring at the living room wall and enjoying sweet blessed silence while the frau goes out on her “wo-man date”.
There are things that I enjoy doing with my fiancee and there are things that I enjoy doing with my male friends. She’s tolerant…and…I’m okay with that.” — Rob
And you forgot to mention that, with your buddies, there’s all that hot, hot cock.
…I will admit that when I watched the cartoon in my youth I always liked Gambit. I mean now that you actually say it OUTLOUD about him throwing cards it sounds a little silly, but… — laanba
His comic origins are even worse. He’s a cajun jewel thief who runs around through the South’s bayou cities in full battle armor, a turtleneck, and trenchcoat who doesn’t die of heat prostration.
For scientific evidence of Gambit’s lameness, I refer you to the definitive journal on the subject, written by the esteemed David Campbell: http://daveslongbox.blogspot.com/2006/05/why-gambit-sucks.html
…when I go out for some harmless fun with another guy it is a ‘man date’. The ones that can sometimes be pretty bad are…a ‘blind man date’ for me…. Talk about awkward. Usually you can shoot the shit about sports or movies, but occassionally you get hooked up with someone with whom you have nothing in common… — Seadogs
You should instead hang out in truckstop bathrooms and/or rest-stops. All that awkwardness just drains away….
I *heart* Gambit and am in a mixture of fear and excitement that he’s in the new movie. Fear that they’ll fuck him up, excited at the possibility that they’ll get him right. That he and Deadpool are in the same flick makes fangurly, X-Book reading self thorougly happy.
I don’t understand the excitement over Gambit, I didn’t care for the character when he showed up in the comics, and I’m not all that enthused that he’s going to be in the movie. I always thought he was just a far less interesting version of Longshot.
As for the Mancation, ManDate, or my personal favorite Hetero-Lifemate (which I’ve been accused of having not one, but three at this point), I don’t know. I’ve never understood what was strange about a couple of masculine heterosexual males spending free time together. There are things that I enjoy doing with my fiancee and there are things that I enjoy doing with my male friends. She’s tolerant of cigars and relatively fond of whiskey, but she certainly doesn’t approach the pair of them with quite the same enthusiasm as some of my buddies. And frankly, I’m okay with that.