John Fenley aka Pontifier

Hello, fellow fishies

I found a guy a couple months back and I've been obsessed with him. He's an "entrepreneur" who decided to buy the absolute shittiest commercial property in the US to restart a dying media business that he bought. It's in a town called Pine Bluff, AR and the locals absolutely hate him. He's been burgled constantly, and he keeps buying property in the area. The local town council refuses to approve any of his work permits, so he can't get power / water to his warehouses.

I can't tell if he's a legend or the biggest oaf
https://twitter.com/pontifier?lang=en

He bought a media company called Murphie which took user CDs DVDs and digitized them, and gave them a license to stream it online. So far he's digitized like 100 CDs out of thousands, and has had people complaining that they want their media back, and it's been like 5 years.

He tried to start a children's science museum at his property in Pine Bluff, only for thieves to steal all his shit.

He claims to have invented a fusion reactor and spent like $500k on an MRI magnet and other tools, only to have them promptly stolen like the next month.

He made a mobile uploading station (aka a tent in the back of a truck) to manually scan CDs and upload them on the limited free wifi hotspots around Pine Bluff

Anything else? Well in a video updating murphie users, he admits to not having been home for christmas for the past two years, even though he has a young family (!!!!)

Wow, it's amazing that you decided to register an account on the wetfish forums just to talk about this guy.

You must really like him!

Do you live in Arkansas too?

Have you considered asking him out on a date?

uwu

I admire his dedication, he wants to be a 20th century robber baron, or maybe he read The Fountainhead too many times

Whenever I think I might be overselling my skills / abilities, I just think about John and how he literally thinks that he invented a fusion reactor.

He still hasn't followed me back on twitter :(

So we're gangstalking a crazy person?

Lol.

Has he tried actually confronting any of these people who steal his shit? Why does he have all these security cameras? Does he even live in the town where the business is located?

Maybe he should buy a gun. Or maybe not, it sounds like he's crazy

Who the fuck is Tom and why are they trying to act like wetfish is kiwifarms?

Who the fuck is Tom and why are they trying to act like wetfish is kiwifarms?

umm he's this guy that I met at burning man lol

Who the fuck is Tom and why are they trying to act like wetfish is kiwifarms?

let me be clear, I fucking despise KF. Everything I'm posting is stuff that John has posted publicly, I find it fascinating that he's chosen to publicly double down continuously on what is very clearly a bad investment, in a dead end town where the locals hate him.

I don't have a personal connection to John, but I'm currently trying to get an interview with him. I'm largely sympathetic to his situation, since I also have a ton of different ideas, but no motivation to start / finish them. To me, it doesn't really matter if his fusion thing works or whether he ever revives his media company, it's the relentless pursuit of his passions that resonates with me. He's an inspirational, if not tragic figure to me

Quote from: tawd on September 22, 2022, 06:28:10 am

Who the fuck is Tom and why are they trying to act like wetfish is kiwifarms?

umm he's this guy that I met at burning man lol

also yes, if you want me to leave, I'll leave. I was just sharing something of a personal fascination with you all. I hope my tone is not coming off as rude

Quote from: rachel on September 22, 2022, 10:23:46 pm

Quote from: tawd on September 22, 2022, 06:28:10 am

Who the fuck is Tom and why are they trying to act like wetfish is kiwifarms?

umm he's this guy that I met at burning man lol

also yes, if you want me to leave, I'll leave. I was just sharing something of a personal fascination with you all. I hope my tone is not coming off as rude

I don't care I'm just being a topical smartass, this is shitposting central.  Live your truth.

Do you think hes got a secret agenda? 

I've met people similar to John.  An older fellow in one of my classes in school would audit and speak of his many advanced degrees and make statements like knowing the cure for aids, how to make people taller, all sorts of odd ones I can't remember as well.  He always wore lab gloves to classes and had some very heavy traumas.  Maybe this guy also has a son in a coma from a bicycle accident or something and its triggered all these large purchases and plans? 

Do thieves actually steal all of his shit or does he just make outrageous claims? I've also known people like this with severe mental illnesses claiming to have things that they do not physically posses or talking online about possessing things which they do not  and then complaining about it being stolen.   

I wonder if this is a case of an idiot with a lot of money who just doesn't know when to quit and won't give up, a crazy person,  or a combination with some shit luck of the draw.   Curious though.

He doesn't seem mentally unstable, maybe a bit unhinged but he doesn't seem to lie or make stuff up. Like whenever he gets burgled he usually posts pictures of the thief on his security system. He's actually had the entire security system stolen twice.

He even tried to start a vigilante website to catch the thiefs and offer cash payouts. He's definitely affected by it though, he's started carrying a gun to chase people off, even though he was fairly anti-gun before getting into this mess.

:(  Some areas are just shitholes that don't want people making them better or fixing anything.   Sounds like he's dealing with typical trash people/trash area shit.

idk, not like I haven't seemed a little crazy hiding in the bushes before wearing camo in the night and chasing off burglars/thieves with an axe/baseball bat/shotgun in a few situations.   Even more crazy would have been letting the theft and bullshit continue.   

Wow kate found this guy on hacker news

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33964105

His recent video of playing with a screwdriver inside an MRI machine is pretty cool

#1 content generator on wetfish Tom

as featured on hacker news today

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39802157

https://maxread.substack.com/p/the-man-who-bought-pine-bluff-arkansas

    My method sure hasn't worked very well... or has it? I was looking for cheap warehouse space to start a business in, and did a nation-wide search for the largest, cheapest building in the entire continental US.

    I found one that seemed too good to be true. a 220,000 sqft metal warehouse and office complex on 17 acres. I thought the price was a typo at $375k.The agent assured me that the price was correct, and I flew out to see the place.

    It was in a little town called Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

    I offered about 3/4 what they were asking, and they accepted the offer.

    Fast forward 2 1/2 years, and I've had nothing but problems. Break in after break in. Can't work through the red tape with the city so my warehouse sits empty. It feels like they are actively working against myself and other entrepreneurs I talk to. At least 2 others who bought buildings and tried to open businesses left after getting nowhere.

    Maybe I'm daft, but I ended up buying about 75 more properties here... all surprisingly cheap.

    The town is killing me though. I haven't seen my kids very much lately - I don't think it's safe enough for them. I'm probably going to be moving back to Utah in the next couple of months because it's just too much out here.