Bob Smith USA

June 18, 2005 2:18 PM

There are approximately 81,000 Robert Smiths residing in the United States. Bob Smith USA appeared at the AFI SilverDOCS film festival yesterday to a sold out crowd.

Bob Smith (New York City) dons his Satan costume to preach the virtues of atheism; Bob Smith (Pennsylvania) puts on his red nose and teaches as part of a Christian clown ministry; Bob Smith (Syracuse) spends his retirement transforming his yard into an oasis of junk; and Bob Smith (Texas) runs for county sheriff.

posted by clgregor (19 comments total)

Bob Smith (Texas) runs for county sheriff.

What, habitually?
posted by kenko at 2:28 PM on June 18, 2005

Someone got lucky in getting the domain!
posted by ericb at 2:32 PM on June 18, 2005

I am not Robert Smith.
posted by mischief at 2:54 PM on June 18, 2005

Also: Welcome to JimWilson.com This site is devoted to all our brethren who go by the name of Jim Wilson
posted by growabrain at 3:12 PM on June 18, 2005

Before he devoted his life to googlewhacking, Dave Gorman went around places trying to find over 50 other Dave Gormans. This month in Esquire, writer Mike Sager does exactly the same thing, but with only 20% the number of Sagers. [only the first paragraphs of the last are available for free]
posted by LeLiLo at 3:31 PM on June 18, 2005

I recall reading about a similar sort of doc about people named John Wayne, but I can't recall the name of it...
posted by bobo123 at 3:57 PM on June 18, 2005

Robert Smith?
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:21 PM on June 18, 2005

Finally, a film worth seeing.
posted by fatbobsmith at 6:13 PM on June 18, 2005

What about the Bob White's?
posted by mk1gti at 6:23 PM on June 18, 2005

I have one of those names, and I was lucky enough to get not only "johnsmith.com" but also "johnsmith.net" back in the bad old days.
The fact that this is such a comon name is part of our stalker defense system. We live in a small town, and the local doc has about 8 johnsmiths, and my bank has maybe 2 or 3 dozen johnsmiths. It's amazing how many of us have the same name.

I apologize that the site domain name is not attached to my username, I don't want anyone who goes to the site to be able to find out any personal info about me. I want anyone who goes to the site to decide whether they want what I am offering based on what I am offering, not my personal details. (it's just free files.) This allows me the fredom to be more open here. I suspect there are others who do not mention their domain for the same reasons.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 6:30 PM on June 18, 2005

Pah, The Kids in the Hall did this eons ago, about all the Daves out there.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:59 PM on June 18, 2005

Bob Smith? Eh...

I follow Bob Dobbs, and so should you.
posted by telstar at 7:04 PM on June 18, 2005

Bob Smith? What, no love for the stories of the John Smiths of the world?
posted by deanc at 7:05 PM on June 18, 2005

I saw it at SilverDocs. Good stuff.
posted by scrim at 8:50 PM on June 18, 2005

yeah, what FoB said. there's only one robert smith to me :)

Isn't there a convention for one of these groups? In a town of the same name, as I recall... Now I don't remember what the name was, though.
posted by mdn at 8:53 PM on June 18, 2005

Everyone's happy, they're finally all the same...
posted by shunpiker at 1:03 AM on June 19, 2005

bobo123: You might be thinking of Infinite Jest.
posted by obvious at 7:17 AM on June 19, 2005

Didn't a writer named Phil Campbell invite every Phil Campbell in America to a town in Alabama named Phil Campbell to throw a Phil Campbell convention?

Pretty sure I read about it in the Might Magazine compilation.

Mr. Smith's got a ways to go...
posted by herc at 10:21 AM on June 19, 2005

The Bob Smith (New York City) who dresses up in a Satan costume isn't actually named Bob Smith; it's an Internet pseudonym.
posted by pterodactyler at 8:16 PM on June 19, 2005