Slog - Comments on Two Horrible Things at Once

Comment by Jubilation T. Cornball

Jubilation T. Cornball — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:25:33 -0800

It sounds like a dumb article, but are you being honest with yourself that you don't like it cuz it's bad writing, or because it is slightly (or more) critical of the Whiz Kid?

Comment by Papayas

Papayas — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:43:33 -0800

Will you tell us the twist? I'm kinda hoping that it is that Homeland Security screwed the guy and contaminated the plastic and duct tape in his home, so he is the one that dies in a government experiment, while his wife lives.

Comment by Paul Constant

Paul Constant — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:54:23 -0800

@1: I'm not sure if it's critical of him or not, honestly. And I don't mind reading critical assessments of Obama. I prefer them, because I'm not into hagiography. This piece violates like every rule of good writing, and not in an I'm-so-good-I'm-flaunting-the-rules kind of way, either.

Comment by Paul Constant

Paul Constant — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:57:11 -0800

@2: Okay.

SPOILER WARNING:

Duct-taping himself inside his own house made the evil bacteria multiply even faster inside his home. So he poisoned himself to death by following the urgings of Homeland Security. His wife lives and he dies.

Get it? By making himself safe, he totally killed himself? Because it's, like, a metaphor for post-9/11 America or some shit.

Comment by Mr. Poe

Mr. Poe — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:01:21 -0800

I love you, Paul.

Comment by Jubilation T. Cornball

Jubilation T. Cornball — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:12:52 -0800

@3 -- What about faghagiography? That would be the uncritical worship of zaftig chicks who want to fuck guys who fuck guys.

I appreciate your balanced response, BTW. I wasn't trying to be too big an asshole.

And I am happy that Mr. Poe loves you.

Comment by w7ngman

w7ngman — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:29:14 -0800

Thanks, I wanted to know the twist, too. It's not like any of us are watching that movie, right?

Comment by Mr. Poe

Mr. Poe — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:07:06 -0800

Jon, that movie was 96 miles of suck. Paul didn't spoil a thing. He told you what you need to know.

Word.

Comment by pox

pox — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:08:44 -0800

If these are the worst things that happened to you in a day, I think you're doing pretty well.

Comment by Sargon Bighorn

Sargon Bighorn — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:38:50 -0800

How pompous of you to want to read in a movie theater.

Comment by Papayas

Papayas — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:27:38 -0800

Wow, love the ending. That is so deep. Thanks for telling us THE TWIST. Instead of dying bc he was trying to protect himself, he should have died bc he was a greedy ass selfish bastard who really didn't love anyone but himself. I hope that the boy lived.

Comment by kid icarus

kid icarus — Fri, 16 May 2008 22:07:19 -0800

I've had those moments when you realize everything around you sucks. The best cure is usually to get up and out. It will distract you for awhile anyway. Happy weekend!

Comment by Catalina Vel-DuRay

Catalina Vel-DuRay — Fri, 16 May 2008 23:14:55 -0800

I don't think I'd want to survive a big kill-off, what with the smell, and the dead bodies, and all the unattended machines and all.

Unless it were like some sort of "Godspell"-esque kill-off, where there were no smelly bodies, everything still worked, and I could snoop around people's stuff. Then I'd be all over it. I'd move into the Presidential Suite at the Westin, raid the minibar, and live out my days in a place with bad soap-opera decor, and killer views.

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Fri, 16 May 2008 23:52:55 -0800

Your hint for the day, Paul: don't pick up any issue of Esquire printed after 1969 or thereabouts.

Comment by Matthew

Matthew — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:06:29 -0800

I actually dug that Esquire piece.

It had a perspective I hadn't heard: Before we can come together as a nation, like Obama (and many others before him...his "one nation" message is by no means original) has talked about, we need to have some kind of pathos, some sort of acknowledgement of what's transpired over the last 8 years.

There has to be some communal understanding of how fucked up things have become, what sort of bad decisions we've made. Not just our leaders...US. All of us. As a nation. To try and just blindly move on without that validating moment of understanding and recognition is to doom us all to repeating those same mistakes.

It's a valid point...or at least something to think about. Maybe the writing bothers you, but given your level of revulsion, I have to think your issue is not about the writing. It's about that sentiment he's talking about, of needing to recognize the truly bad decisions we've made as an electorate.

I think it's worth pointing out, and I'm glad Pierce did it.

Comment by erik

erik — Sat, 17 May 2008 05:17:54 -0800

my gf and i rented that a month or two ago. you should be thankful you had the esquire, no matter how bad you think it was.

fuck that movie.

Comment by Bauhaus

Bauhaus — Sat, 17 May 2008 07:50:12 -0800

Esquire was always sold as a men's magazine (without the girlie pictures except for Vargas and Petty in the 40s), but it also had an indisputable reputation as a magazine of literary noteworthiness. It featured new Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Tom Wolfe, and Norman Mailer, for instance. Capote's Answered Prayers first appeared in its pages.

I used to subscribe, but hadn't in years. I was at some airport newsstand a couple of years ago and picked up a copy. I was pretty shocked at what Esquire had become - another gum-popping slave to pop culture.

Comment by Sporting Fellow

Sporting Fellow — Sun, 18 May 2008 13:56:16 -0800

"unreadable and unskimmable", writers who drop their own names in every piece they write. apt descriptions of the stranger, don't you think? ah, esquire. not to worry, paul, you'll be there soon.