A Ribbeting Story
November 6, 2004 9:32 PM Subscribe
Aww man...I swear I commented here before I saw Cory's take on Hopkin on Boing Boing.
*sigh*
posted by red cell at 10:30 PM on November 6, 2004
*sigh*
posted by red cell at 10:30 PM on November 6, 2004
i saw this last night and actually cried for about 15 minutes.
posted by luckyclone at 10:48 PM on November 6, 2004
posted by luckyclone at 10:48 PM on November 6, 2004
I didn't cry, but it's reassuring to know I'm not the only one who was oddly saddened by this. I had a fairly happy childhood, I swear.
posted by Hildago at 11:14 PM on November 6, 2004
posted by Hildago at 11:14 PM on November 6, 2004
Let me chime in before the snarkers ruin the thread. It is a pretty heartbreaking found image, Terry must have been really upset to lose his pal Hopkin. Young kids connect with animals; when my son was 2 or 3 we took him to Cape Cod, and he was quite sincere when he said with a smile to the contents of our bucket, "HI CRABS!" (We put 'em back BTW).
Poor kid. Poor Hopkin.
posted by Scoo at 12:22 AM on November 7, 2004
Poor kid. Poor Hopkin.
posted by Scoo at 12:22 AM on November 7, 2004
Scoo:
A similar sweet story from last Halloween...
The missus and sister-in-law were passing out candy as I was slumped up against a wall trying to teach them Mille Bournes.
This little boy peeks in the door, and sees our cat (who incidentally hates everyone except my wife, and only tolerates me)...
His face lights up, and he waves, happily enunciating -
"HI, KIT-TY!"
posted by Samizdata at 1:23 AM on November 7, 2004
A similar sweet story from last Halloween...
The missus and sister-in-law were passing out candy as I was slumped up against a wall trying to teach them Mille Bournes.
This little boy peeks in the door, and sees our cat (who incidentally hates everyone except my wife, and only tolerates me)...
His face lights up, and he waves, happily enunciating -
"HI, KIT-TY!"
posted by Samizdata at 1:23 AM on November 7, 2004
The Hopkin Frog tears me up inside. Really.
Just mentioning it.
posted by jokeefe at 1:25 AM on November 7, 2004
Just mentioning it.
posted by jokeefe at 1:25 AM on November 7, 2004
I'm oddly touched by this as well. I desperately want to read an update, a real one, where the kid is happily reunited with his pet. The chances are slim, I know, but the creator of that magnificent Lost Frog flyer deserves it.
posted by lychee at 1:40 AM on November 7, 2004
posted by lychee at 1:40 AM on November 7, 2004
I love to worship Satan and drink blood and everything, but really do tear up a little ever time I see the hopkin thing. And thanks for those other anecdotes, Scoo and Samizdata.
posted by sklero at 2:42 AM on November 7, 2004
posted by sklero at 2:42 AM on November 7, 2004
Also, it's interesting that the kid chose to portray hopkin visually in the style of a police mugshot.
posted by sklero at 2:44 AM on November 7, 2004
posted by sklero at 2:44 AM on November 7, 2004
The frog is free again with its own people.
I can't understand how you can be so unsympathetic to a poor imprisoned frog, living or dying by the will of a small child.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:49 AM on November 7, 2004
I can't understand how you can be so unsympathetic to a poor imprisoned frog, living or dying by the will of a small child.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:49 AM on November 7, 2004
I've cried multiple times over this Hopkin thing, and have even considered sending him money (the kid's full name is Terry Chen, according to other fliers on the 'net, and the address given in Seattle (other fliers have a 206 area code on the phone number) belongs to one David Chen). But get this - it turns out there's a McDonald's toy frog called 'Hopkin' that looks astonishingly like the picture Terry drew.
If it weren't for that, I'd have sent the kid $25 towards a new frog - but now my suspicion is some fucker stole his Hopkin frog-toy from McD's and he REALLY wants it back.
posted by Ryvar at 4:14 AM on November 7, 2004
If it weren't for that, I'd have sent the kid $25 towards a new frog - but now my suspicion is some fucker stole his Hopkin frog-toy from McD's and he REALLY wants it back.
posted by Ryvar at 4:14 AM on November 7, 2004
Hell, let me explain it properly:
Here is a photo of the McDonald's toy 'Hopkin'. I'm attempting to work up the nerve to cold-call the Chens and ask them whether it was a toy McDonald's frog or a real frog Terry lost. If the latter, I'm tempted to set up a donations site ala Ghyslain's - I can't be the only person who feels absolutely terrible about this (I lost a lot of pet frogs as a kid).
From here: "A poster next to the bus stop describes a lost pet, a frog named Hopkin. "Please call me at (206)... or call 911. My name is Terry Chen. My frog hopkin. I can't find my frog! Who stolen she or he." There are hand drawn pictures of both the profile and a front view."
So we have a name, and an area code in Seattle. Punching in the address from the flier on lostfrog.org into Mapquest, with the knowledge that it's in Seattle, we get this.
My wife ran it through an online phone directory, and the address belongs to one 'David Chen', but the phone number listed is different from the one Terry gives on lostfrog.org. I'm not sure what to make of this.
Anyways, that's all I've found out so far.
posted by Ryvar at 4:23 AM on November 7, 2004
Here is a photo of the McDonald's toy 'Hopkin'. I'm attempting to work up the nerve to cold-call the Chens and ask them whether it was a toy McDonald's frog or a real frog Terry lost. If the latter, I'm tempted to set up a donations site ala Ghyslain's - I can't be the only person who feels absolutely terrible about this (I lost a lot of pet frogs as a kid).
From here: "A poster next to the bus stop describes a lost pet, a frog named Hopkin. "Please call me at (206)... or call 911. My name is Terry Chen. My frog hopkin. I can't find my frog! Who stolen she or he." There are hand drawn pictures of both the profile and a front view."
So we have a name, and an area code in Seattle. Punching in the address from the flier on lostfrog.org into Mapquest, with the knowledge that it's in Seattle, we get this.
My wife ran it through an online phone directory, and the address belongs to one 'David Chen', but the phone number listed is different from the one Terry gives on lostfrog.org. I'm not sure what to make of this.
Anyways, that's all I've found out so far.
posted by Ryvar at 4:23 AM on November 7, 2004
Someone from "the site which shall not be named" has already called. Hopkin is indeed a toy frog.
posted by briank at 5:49 AM on November 7, 2004
posted by briank at 5:49 AM on November 7, 2004
Hopkin is indeed a toy frog.
Lies.
Hopkin is clearly a victim of the current administration's environmental policies.
posted by horsewithnoname at 6:30 AM on November 7, 2004
Lies.
Hopkin is clearly a victim of the current administration's environmental policies.
posted by horsewithnoname at 6:30 AM on November 7, 2004
Ryvar -- because that site is not open to the public, I can't link directly, but I'm sure other members can corroborate my statement. Here's a comment from the person who called:
I called about Terry's lost frog. Yes I'm a freak! (actually I drank too much wine tonight) I used Skype so it wouldn't be so traceable, hence the headset and I could barely hear Terry's sister.
It was a toy frog. And Terry has more frogs, he has a hand puppet frog and some other toy frogs.
She wanted to know if she could come pick up the frog.
I hope it was OK to give her the website.
Perhaps someone else from that site will be willing to host the .mov file so you can see it for yourself.
This whole thing has been a deliberate meme generation effort from "that site", so I do not feel like I am violating any sort of "First Rule" by divulging this.
posted by briank at 6:58 AM on November 7, 2004
I called about Terry's lost frog. Yes I'm a freak! (actually I drank too much wine tonight) I used Skype so it wouldn't be so traceable, hence the headset and I could barely hear Terry's sister.
It was a toy frog. And Terry has more frogs, he has a hand puppet frog and some other toy frogs.
She wanted to know if she could come pick up the frog.
I hope it was OK to give her the website.
Perhaps someone else from that site will be willing to host the .mov file so you can see it for yourself.
This whole thing has been a deliberate meme generation effort from "that site", so I do not feel like I am violating any sort of "First Rule" by divulging this.
posted by briank at 6:58 AM on November 7, 2004
WHAT FUCKING SITE? Out with it, gimp-lobster.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 7:11 AM on November 7, 2004
posted by Pretty_Generic at 7:11 AM on November 7, 2004
Briank, I thought the first rule of "that site" was not mentioning that it's filepile.org, which you haven't done anyway.
posted by kenko at 7:13 AM on November 7, 2004
posted by kenko at 7:13 AM on November 7, 2004
So did anyone from "that site" track down a Hopkin and send one to Terry? I see a couple on eBay... I might bid on one and see if I can't get it to him for Christmas even if it does duplicate efforts. He should have a whole colony of Hopkins.
posted by kittyb at 9:34 AM on November 7, 2004
posted by kittyb at 9:34 AM on November 7, 2004
Not a real frog, but a replaceable bulk item! Hooray!
posted by Pretty_Generic at 9:35 AM on November 7, 2004
posted by Pretty_Generic at 9:35 AM on November 7, 2004
Somethingawful is open to the public, you just need to part with $10.
posted by kenko at 11:04 AM on November 7, 2004
posted by kenko at 11:04 AM on November 7, 2004
Ok, maybe I was wrong. this photoshop meme is pretty lame too. Also, am I missing something here? How is this thread different from the last frog thread?
Good to know it was just a toy though, another mystery solved.
posted by bob sarabia at 12:14 PM on November 7, 2004
Good to know it was just a toy though, another mystery solved.
posted by bob sarabia at 12:14 PM on November 7, 2004
kenko -- yes, you're right, but lately there is too much about "that" site on this one, if you know what I mean.
posted by briank at 1:07 PM on November 7, 2004
posted by briank at 1:07 PM on November 7, 2004
I'm up for donating towards a new Hopkins for him. This has been an oasis of innocence during the whole election thing.
posted by amberglow at 2:11 PM on November 7, 2004
posted by amberglow at 2:11 PM on November 7, 2004
I might approach caring, briank, if I had a filepile login.
posted by kenko at 2:24 PM on November 7, 2004
posted by kenko at 2:24 PM on November 7, 2004
briank -- lately there's been too much of this site on that one.
Also, it's not really a manufactured meme as much as an isolated one. It just looks manufactured from the outside; but on the inside it was just natural and brave.
posted by mkn at 12:35 PM on November 8, 2004
Also, it's not really a manufactured meme as much as an isolated one. It just looks manufactured from the outside; but on the inside it was just natural and brave.
posted by mkn at 12:35 PM on November 8, 2004
lately there's been too much of this site on that one.
Ain't that the truth.
posted by briank at 2:00 PM on November 8, 2004
Ain't that the truth.
posted by briank at 2:00 PM on November 8, 2004
You should have seen the kid begging us to smuggle Brave Woman into Metafilter. I did it to shut him up :) And that's how memes spread.
posted by crunchburger at 6:30 PM on November 8, 2004
posted by crunchburger at 6:30 PM on November 8, 2004
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posted by Hackworth at 9:42 PM on November 6, 2004