The Scum Also Rises

When I put this blog on hiatus back at the end of 2009, I thought it was the end of the lunacy from the M.A.L.ady. Imagine my surprise to find out this evening that he crawled out from under his rock (not to mention his parents' basement...maybe he finally finished watching his Buffy the Vampire Slayer set for the tenth time?) last December, beginning a "2.0" version of the same old same old, complete with the same substance-free mudslinging, the same attacks on anyone who dares -- gasp! -- like Marc Adamus' photos, and, of course, the same refusal to show even a frame of his own work.

Well, if the M.A.L.ady is back again, so am I!

Frankly, I haven't had the time to do more than skim a handful of his rants, but I think it's worth pointing out several things that amuse me no end:

• The 2.0 blog has been up for almost a year, but this is the first time I ever heard of it, despite being on many photography and photographic industry venues on a daily basis. I'd say this speaks volumes about the impact the psychotic clown has had this time around -- in other words, even less than before. But, then again, sequels rarely live up to the original.
• Also, M.A.L.ady promised a new "MarcAdamusLies.net" website to accompany his blog. Well, it appears that new website has come...and gone. Now, it only leads to a CenturyLink "landing page." Whether this is because CenturyLink disconnected him (telephone company humor there) after seeing the contents of his site, or if his parents cut off his hosting allowance once again, remains to be seen.
• Finally, the funniest thing I've seen so far is the M.A.L.ady's claim that he is, in fact, a completely different person who "rescued" the venture after the "original owner" backed out (due to fears of being murdered by an Adamus supporter...I kid you not!). Strangely enough, this "new" owner just happens to write with the exact same style, cliches, and invective as M.A.L.ady 1.0. Meet the new clown, same as the old clown... (Incidentally, this was the final confirmation for me that it isn't a matter of "M.A.L.adies" but of "M.A.L.ady," since everything is written in the same voice, even when trying to convince people he's a different individual.)

I swear, you just can't make this sort of stuff up!

A couple of days ago, the M.A.L.adies offered yet another "proof" of Marc Adamus's supposed lies: This one is such a classic, you really need to go through it bit by bit.

They begin by claiming:

First, Marc starts off his post with an epic amount of bullshit, making this relatively easy hike sound like some epic Himalayan trek. He even throws in gratuitous lies about having a lot of experience hiking "off-trail" in the North Cascades (laughter).

Then a concerned Photosig member calls out some of his shit, and Marc goes into the familiar defensive pattern we're all familiar with (ie, I don't remember what I've said in the past, I do what I want, etc etc). You can clearly tell that Marc is bristling at having been exposed, and he's stomping all over this fellow.

The M.A.L.adies provide a link to this thread, as have I. I strongly recommend you read it, as the actual thread bears absolutely no resemblance to the M.A.L.ady account above. Adamus gives a straightforward account of the taking of the photograph, another member (Tomas Kaspar, by the looks of it) calls it a "beautiful shot," but qualifies that it's not really "wilderness," whereupon Adamus replies that, although a popular hike, it is technically in the Mt. Baker Wilderness area. Then the conversation moves on to other matters. Only in M.A.L.adyland could this civil, mutually-supportive discussion be retold as a near-apocalyptic battle between the forces of light and darkness. But, wait, the best is yet to come!

More importantly, he added another LIE in his little "tirade". He stated that the hike was "about 5 miles in". This is a RIDICULOUSLY transparent lie! The official hike distance is 4.1 miles (USFS, Lake Ann trail).

Yep, you've got that right: In M.A.L.adyland, calling a 4.1-mile hike "about 5 miles" is a grave and unforgivable lie. Most people, of course, would recognize the "about" as meaning it was an approximation, and figure "about 5 miles" was to distinguish between it and, say, a one-mile hike on one hand, and a ten-miler on the other. But not the M.A.L.adies!

Of course, this could be held up as yet another example of the M.A.L.adies making a mountain out of a molehill (except, in this case, it's more like Mt. Everest out of a grain of sand), but I think I've figured out their "logic." You see, you need to ask the question: what sort of person would think the difference between 4.1 and "about 5" miles a huge discrepancy? The only answer I can come up with is "an 'outdoorsman' for whom a 4.1-mile hike is just barely doable, but a 5-mile hike utterly impossible." In other words, someone pretty seriously out of shape, unable to get to locations where much of the best photography can be found. Hmmmm...do you get the feeling we just found out something new about the M.A.L.adies?

Quotes that (almost) don't need comment

Over the past several weeks, the THUGS & MORONS came dangerously close to outing one of our privileged sources. They tried all sorts of disgusting and despicable tactics to paint this person as some sort of lunatic.

Yes, in M.A.L.adyland, I'm sure that telling the truth falls under the category of "disgusting and despicable tactics," since it's something they avoid at all costs.

Here's how the M.A.L.adies rack up a hundred posts

This evening, the M.A.L.adies posted five "oldies but goodies" to their blog. In other words, exact word-for-word copies of entries from weeks or months before (and, to top it all off, one of these was one of their "PSA"s, and another was the "text version" of the same post).

And these psychotic clown(s) expect people to be impressed by their having more than one hundred entries in their blog??? It's simple, just post the same entries over and over. Unfortunately for my post count, I have this thing called "ethical standards." I know...I don't expect the M.A.L.adies to know what I'm talking about, either.

100 bags of manure = A whole lot of B.S.

Today, "Sam Forman" (another one of the alter egos living in the M.A.L.ady's head) announced proudly that the M.A.L. blog had reached the milestone of 100 posts.

In a related story from Central Park in New York City, "Crazy Bartholomew the Prophet" celebrated his ten-year anniversary of preaching that the world will end tomorrow, but I digress...

Anyway, the fictitious Mr. Forman declared that, although they had been "defamed on multiple venues" (much as Rev. Jim Jones undoubtedly told his followers while mixing the kool-aid), "our mission is true" (much as Rev. David Koresh undoubtedly told his followers while pouring the gasoline) and "just" (much as the "Heaven's Gate" leaders undoubtedly told their followers while passing out the pills and vodka).

By the way, in case you're wondering, here's the M.A.L.ady scorecard for the last four months:

Number of lying, mudslinging posts: 100
Number of photographs good enough to show the public: 0

That just about says it all, doesn't it?

Hoisting yourself with your own petard, the M.A.L.ady way

Another classic post from the M.A.L.adies, in which they accuse Adamus of pathological lying for saying that the water in Eagle Creek in early March was "30-something" degrees. Nonsense, snort the M.A.L.adies, for everyone knows that snowmelt water "usually" only reaches the "low forties." Yeah, Marc...being off at estimating water temperature (without a thermometer) by five degrees or so is proof-positive of utter dishonesty and depravity!

Unfortunately for the M.A.L.adies, they provide a link to the post in question. And, if you bother to look at it (and I recommend it), you'll see why Marc Adamus is gaining a reputation as one of America's leading landscape photographers, for it includes four of his latest images, each of them utterly stunning. When you contrast the excellence of Adamus's work versus the total absence of any photographs from the gutless M.A.L.adies, you are left with one unavoidable conclusion: the real reason for their (?) crusade against Marc is jealousy for not being able to figure out how to make photographs that look even half as good as his.

P.S.: And, to top it all off, the M.A.L.adies don't even stop at criticizing Adamus for not knowing the exact water temperature of Eagle Creek; they also claim he wasn't there at all!

...we seriously doubt Marc even waded out in the stream. The water is quite deep there, up to the neck in places, and the current strong, especially with a lot of runoff.

Oh? Then would you care to explain the first of his photos at the link above, taken at the very spot where you claim he never was in the first place?

Keep it up, M.A.L.adies. In this world of war, poverty, and despair, we need all the comic relief we can find...even if that comedy comes from laughing at the ravings of people with obviously diminished mental capacity like you.

M.A.L.adies...have I got a job for you!

Dear M.A.L.adies:

As you may have heard, I've managed to get myself in a tight spot with my attempts to "engineer" my re-election, and now half of Iran is calling for my head.

My Ministry of Propaganda has been of no help to me. In fact, some of them have complained that "no one in the world could lie so thoroughly as to justify your position."

For a moment, I thought I was sunk. Then, I remembered your site! Truly, you have a talent for unashamed, bald-faced lying that is unequaled anywhere in my country, if not the entire world. I could certainly use the skills of men like you in fighting off this inconvenient "democracy" movement.

So, how about joining my team? I mean, it's not like you've got anything else (like, you know, photography) going on right now.

Sincerely,
Dr. Mahmood Ahmadinejad
President, Islamic Republic of Iran

P.S.: Can I call Mousavi an "unemployed homosexual loser" too?

The M.A.L.ady Way: When caught it a lie...

...lie some more.

To wit, their trumpeting of the "scandal" that Adamus's photos haven't sold at the Capture Gallery, despite the fact, as I pointed out before, that they were purchased as part of Capture's permanent collection -- in other words, not for sale. But such inconvenient facts won't deter the M.A.L.adies; no, they simply respond to having this pointed out by plugging their ears (can't you just hear them shouting "nyah-nyah-nyah, we can't heeeeeear you"..?) and repeating their disproved lies yet again.

Sorry, M.A.L.adies. While one of the most notorious and evil propagandists the world has ever known is famous for his quote "a lie repeated often enough becomes the truth," in the real world, truth counts for something. Too bad you can't seem to recognize it.

Wrong again, M.A.L.adies!

It looks like the psychotic clown(s) have woken up from their mental haze long enough to denounce the campaign of "lies and intimidation" supposedly being spread against them by Bryan Swan. The thing is, since I haven't seen Bryan post a single comment about the M.A.L.adies in months (and, of course, the M.A.L.adies stay true to form and refuse to cite any examples for their charges, but merely sling mud without evidence), and virtually every photo site I'm aware of has chosen, after an initial burst of ridicule, to ignore the M.A.L.adies and refuse to dignify their lunacy by acknowledging their existence, I can only assume that the clowns are referring to this site.

Wrong, as usual!

Aside from my pleasure at knowing that "the truth hurts" even psychotic clown(s), I have to point out, once again, that Bryan Swan has nothing to do with this blog. I am the one person running this place, and I have had, at most, a very few e-mail or message-board exchanges with Swan over the past few years. I've never met him (nor any of the other Adamus supporters you single out for attack on your sites, for that matter).

M.A.L.adies, I suggest that you grow up, adjust your attitude, and stop making statements that can be proven false in a court of law; that way lies pretty hefty libel judgments, particularly when you make up lies about a private citizen's sexual orientation to boot.

Meanwhile, it's worth noting that it has been twenty-one days since the issuance of the M.A.L. Challenge, with no sign that the gutless wonders will respond by showing us their own photographs.

M.A.L.adies: try reading lessons

The latest from the psychotic clown(s) is their "discovery" that Adamus "admits" to taking an hour to edit each photo. Where did they get that impression? Supposedly, from this quote:

I almost never spend more than an hour on an image either (usually around 5-20 minutes on average).

So, five to twenty minutes per image (and practically never more than an hour no matter what the circumstances of the particular image) suddenly translates to "an hour per image?"

M.A.L.adies, I suggest you look into basic reading lessons. Illiteracy is such a handicap in today's world. While you're at it, better look at basic math as well; in particular, counting.

Why "the M.A.L.adies"...?

When I first started this blog, I tried to fit my text both to the psychotic clown(s)'s insistence that there was more than one of them, and my near-certain conviction that the site was the work of one deranged loser. (Although, if you count the voices in his head, you may well see why he claims that there is more than one of him.) But, in the long run, it became way too complex to have to continually refer to "his/their" and the like. It was only when I hit upon the "M.A.L." acronym for that website that the path became clear. Although I'm still sure that M.A.L. is run by one person, I will grant him and his imaginary friends the right to be thought of as plural...and "M.A.L.adies" had such a nice ring to it, both for its intrinsic meaning and what it says about the, uh, testicular fortitude of the anonymous coward (or, less likely, cowards) behind the monstrosity.

Meanwhile, it's worth noting that it has been six days since the issuance of the M.A.L. Challenge, with no sign that the gutless wonders will respond by showing us their own photographs.