Our favorite reader comments of 2011, part 1

Dear readers,

Echo wants to show you some year-end gratitude. Your comments, photos and re-tweets tell us our stories don’t get lost in the internet abyss and float away like lost lures and beach toys.

To commemorate your participation over the year, we’ve collected our favorite reader comments of 2011. They were judged on a strict set of criteria including scientific accuracy, readability and relevance.

Just kidding! We thought these were funny.

But seriously, we appreciate the comments. You encourage us to strive for great journalism by adding information, correcting our spelling and laying into the “repugs” and their anti-Great Lakes agenda.

Enjoy a look back at our favorite comments of 2011.

 

Story: Save a lake, eat an invasive

Jim said:
How about we just mail them back to the country of origin postage due?

 

 

Story: VIDEO: Seeing is believing — cougar caught on camera in Michigan

Teh Matrix said:
Young boy: If you look closely enough you will understand the truth about the cougars.
Neo: What truth?
Young boy: There are no cougars.

 

Story: Land use key to protecting Muskegon River from effects of climate change

The Climate said:
I’m changing. Beware!!
Nostral-damus said:
I’m not worried about climate change because change is something I believe in.

 

Story: Echo catches up with a quick-witted Asian carp

Tom Matych said:
Here we come swimming up the creek, get the funnyest looks from everyone we meet…. HeY! Hey! we’re asian carp, people say we’re carping around. we’re too busy feeding and breeding, to care about your stupid jokes! It’s too easy to make fun, we should focus on keeping them from taking over. We know they’re coming, we know we have native predators for juvenile asian carp. If we let them take over we have no excuse. We don’t have a threat of having too many native fish! We do have a threat of losing it all.

 

Story: Is Minnesota the new hipster hub of the U.S.?

Stephanie A. said:
I don’t know that search terms are the best way to determine hipster-ness. In fact, searching for meaning on being a hipster is decidedly un-hipster-esque. Though, as a former Minneapolitan, I feel I can anecdotally confirm that Minnesota is indeed a magnet for those of the ironic Christmas sweaters and all-things vintage. My friends and I even had a drinking game devised around spotting different categories of hipsters — like meepers or gutter punx. Wait! Does that make us hipsters too? I admit to spending many an hour in Cheapo Records and I did try to ride a tall bike once before denouncing them as stupid.
Ahhh!! Suddenly, all I can picture is a snake-like pair of skinny jeans eating itself in an infinite cycle of hipsteralia. Believe it or not, most of the heppest of hipsters in Minneapolis/St. P. are from North Dakota. But then, you probably haven’t heard of that yet.

 

Story: Nice try, Wisconsin – Michigan is still the mitten

Ellen said:
Coming from a true Michigander, the was to make the UP with your hand, is take your left hand, and do like you were as a little kid and make a gun with your thumb and first finger, only stick your second finger out too. Yep….. that’s the UP.

 

Check back for more favorite comments!