Countdown to Oblivion

This attracted quite a bit of attention (relatively speaking), but I only found out about it today, once it was revealed to be a hoax. It was a Countdown-to-Suicide Journal on LiveJournal:

My name is Jerry Romero, and I am 23 years old. If you have found this journal, it is through your own actions. I will not comment on other entries in an attempt to make friends. I am leaving this in the hands of Fate and no-one else. This journal was created solely for the purpose of providing one last lifeline in a vast sea of hopelessness.
On January 13th, I am going to kill myself.

Death

Posted on Fri Jan 14, 2005


Comments

His initial post got quite a few comments. Most of them appear to be either Christians trying to talk about God or other people shouting down the Christians, but how about this response to one such...

"Oh, yes. The man is about to kill himself, and you tell him to seek the counsel of a vengeful sky spirit that once kicked people out of a garden for eating an apple. Good plan, Cheeves."

Sheer genius. Great site here by the way, new daily read for me.
Posted by Daniel  on  Fri Jan 14, 2005  at  12:41 PM
The next blog hoax might be a transgender homeless hooker living with AIDS, who's planning to kill themselves as part of a cult mass suicide, who by day works in a sweatshop operated by dwarfs.
Posted by sbnature  on  Fri Jan 14, 2005  at  04:04 PM
Oh, yeah, I care about this idiot. Hey, where'd the Dusty T-shirt girl go??
Posted by stork  on  Fri Jan 14, 2005  at  09:19 PM
Lest we forget, let's all welcome 'Daniel' to the site, who is announced as a daily reader, and now, a new poster. (Hey, Alex, aren't you supposed to do this?) Hope it's not your real first name, Daniel. If it is, not a good idea anywhere on the web. Go back and change your registration - make something up. You already sound like you do have some brains, though. Welcome to the forum of MOH fans, guy (girl?).
Posted by stork  on  Fri Jan 14, 2005  at  09:30 PM
I believe this wave of fake bloggers is seriously getting out of hand. I understand a healthy need to have a "pretend" private life (believe it or not, some psychology studies have proved this to be true at some degree with most adults), as long as it's kept private.
Posted by Tom Edison  on  Sat Jan 15, 2005  at  12:24 AM
Yeah where did the Dusty lady go!

it gave me something to look at when the page was loading...
Posted by davetolomy  on  Sat Jan 15, 2005  at  11:06 AM
The Dusty ad contract was only for 1 month. I guess not enough people bought t-shirts from here for them to renew it. Or maybe they only advertise for the christmas season.
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Sat Jan 15, 2005  at  12:43 PM
stork, how do you change your registration, to change the user name? I don't see a place to do it, thanks!
Posted by Lina  on  Sat Jan 15, 2005  at  05:01 PM
When I click on the LiveJournal site it says: "Down due to massive power failure". Looks like Jerry took himself and the power company out at the same time. Bummer.
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Sat Jan 15, 2005  at  06:23 PM
Btw; one family complained that their vacation had been TOTALLY RUINED, and that their cell phones had been damaged by the water!

Life can be tough sometimes...
Posted by Anders Svenneby  on  Sat Jan 15, 2005  at  07:45 PM
The above post was NOT supposed to go here!
Posted by Anders Svenneby  on  Sat Jan 15, 2005  at  07:46 PM
Lina, good question. As a registered member for about 6 months, I can't find a way to link back to the original registration process, either. I can say that Alex, himself, was very helpful to me when I first wanted to post, and had a problem. Give him a little time, and he will personally help you thru email. P.S.-This site has a HUGE bandwidth, courtesy Alex, but I wouldn't try using it for too many personal communications; it does cost him money, probably a lot.
Posted by stork  on  Sun Jan 16, 2005  at  11:15 PM
Hi Lina, Sorry I didn't respond to your question earlier. To change your registration you click on the 'Login' link in the top menu. Then in the next screen you click on the 'My Account' link in the top menu.
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Mon Jan 17, 2005  at  11:45 AM
SO is he dead?

Some band was going to let a guy commit suicide on stage, b/c of some disease he had. It never happened. Either someone chickened out or the gov't stepped in.
Posted by Maegan  on  Mon Jan 17, 2005  at  02:06 PM
...
UPDATED 01 / 14 / 05: Team LivingCorpse's newest member, Jerry Romero just wrapped up an outstanding run on LJ, counting down to his eventual suicide! Well, to anyone wondering if he really went through with it or not, the answer is yes and no. Yes, a little bit of Jerry died yesterday, but no, he's still very much alive and breathing. You see, he killed his former self, and has since been reanimated to be LC's newest member, and first ever columnist! His first assignment? To write an informative article on the ways the living can profit off the living dead!
Posted by Maegan  on  Mon Jan 17, 2005  at  02:07 PM
Ah, so the "true" Jerry finally came out to the surface, and he is too, a whining douche bag! Our friend unmasked his bullshit artistry (which would have been far more effective had anyone believed him) and can be currently found replying to the comments in his livejournal, with the smug sense of pride of a class clown that just told an old joke that makes no one laugh. It is not in my general nature to encourage suicide, but se̱or Jerry certainly warrants a momentary lapse in compassion. I suggest we all kill him the way it'll hurt him the most -- ignoring his blog.
Posted by Tom Edison  on  Mon Jan 17, 2005  at  05:20 PM
This sounds remarkably similair to a musical skit by an English comedian/satirist called Chris Morris (Brasseye, the day today) in his Sony award winning radio series 'Blue Jam'.
It's actually called 'suicide journalist' and involves a tosserish journalist who announces he will kill himself. All his posh friends love him for it but he ends up spending his remaining weeks stuffing drugs up himself. The lead character (a duck) then recommends a man at the local hardware store who cuts rope to length for when people wanna exit by the old Rope/lamppost/neck/fast moving vehicle trick.
ah.
Posted by Dave Swithenbank  on  Mon Feb 13, 2006  at  08:41 AM
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