Spy - Gawker

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It's No Coincidence that Spy and Ferris Bueller's Day Off Both Came Out in 1986
Kurt Andersen Gives Up New York Column
Spy Founder Joins Twitter
Three Magazines I Actually Miss
Mike Tyson To Siphon Off Of Jamie Foxx's Gravitas
Kurt Andersen To Be Embalmed In L.A.
Remember the Golden Years?

David Kamp Invents Entire New Form Of Writing!

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lobstr
08/07/09

In reply to It's No Coincidence that Spy and Ferris Bueller's Day Off Both Came Out in 1986
Ah, Spy's Separated at Birth .. I see what you did there.
I more enjoyed their Celebrity Math.. for
(Kurt Andersen - Harry Anderson) x k.d. lang = John Hughes
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valhalla_i_am_coming
08/07/09

@lobstr: I think my all time fave was when they went through celebrity garbage and then had it analyzed by a nutritionist, a psychologist, and others...they never said whose trash it was, just gave you clues..*awesome*
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lobstr
08/07/09

@valhalla_i_am_coming: They had a lot of brilliant classics, my favorite being how they made a fake Tiger-Beat-type teen giggle mag called Republican Beat and got Newt Gingrich to pose with a tshirt..
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raincoaster
08/08/09

@lobstr: I still miss Walter Monheit (TM).
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redqueenmeg
08/07/09

In reply to It's No Coincidence that Spy and Ferris Bueller's Day Off Both Came Out in 1986
They both kind of remind me of the head vampire from The Lost Boys.
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BlinkyMcChuck
01/15/09

In reply to Kurt Andersen Gives Up New York Column
I find putting aside my serious material for matters of lesser consequence to be the winning career move, basically.
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MincnglyWhrdL'mer
01/15/09

In reply to Kurt Andersen Gives Up New York Column
so, does anyone else here know what an undergrad at artscenter LA costs?

about 145K, just for tuition. yeah, he better be good. or something.
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Hydroceph
01/14/09

In reply to Kurt Andersen Gives Up New York Column
Being a professional visionary at an art school sounds exhausting. Maybe that's why looks like an emaciated George Will (minus the bow tie).
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ian spiegelman
01/14/09

In reply to Kurt Andersen Gives Up New York Column
Wow, there's a place at the LA Art Center for "Guys who ripped off Mad Magazine and said they were inventing something"? I'm just waiting for jolly ol' Willian Gaines to crawl our the ground and straight up murder this liar. Him and Graydon Carter.

If there had ever been anything special about Spy, it would have lived. But it was nothing but privileged children ripping off MAD with other people's money. Please. It existed for, maybe, five years. National Lampoon was better, so was MAD. Spy never had a following and the fossils who worked there are still claiming that they influenced the writers who were reading National Lampoon and MAD.

NO ONE read Spy. Just accept it, Graydon and Kurt. No one bought your Spy book. No one cared. Period. How dare you come back and whine that you meant something. Let's compare your numbers to Lampoon or MAD. Would you like to?

Spy never mattered, and neither did any of you.
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BookishLookish
01/14/09

@ian spiegelman: Ian, you have shamefully neglected Crack in this monologue and I find that rather shocking.

How's this order?:

Mad

Spy

Cracked
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ian spiegelman
01/14/09

@BookishLookish: Well, you're right. Cracked was marginal, but it was still more influential than Spy. Any true ranking would look like this:

MAD

National Lampoon

Cracked

Spy
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BookishLookish
01/14/09

@ian spiegelman: MAD had more mojo in one of its Frink Fonebone-curving pinkies, so true.
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wholenuther
01/14/09

@ian spiegelman: Oh the hostility. Have you had a few drinks tonight, sir? And if the answer's no, wanna' meet-up for a drink?
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ShanghaiLil
01/15/09

@ian spiegelman: I read Spy. And liked it very much.
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Carol Gardens
01/15/09

@ShanghaiLil: I completely disagree with you. As a Mad subscriber until the age of 12 when I discovered Nat Lamp (amazed that they sold it to me!) I found SPY equally innovative and (to use the overused word) smart. (Disclosure: I wrote a total of 2 articles for SPY.) It started to sink when the initial team left, not before. Lots of people cared then and I find your rant very amusing, since Gawker is one of those media phenomenon heavily influenced by the SPY attitude.

That said, who the hell read that huge novel Kurt wrote? I've seen multiple copies sitting at Housing Works priced at a buck or two and no one ever takes it home.
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ian spiegelman
01/15/09

@wholenuther: It's late, but yes!
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kitkatsplash
01/15/09

@ian spiegelman: National Lampoon was also great because I was regularly photographed for it during the early-mid 80s. My aunt was a photo stylist and writer for the Lampoon. I gotta dig those old issues out.

Also, like everyone else in the 80s, they were all sleeping with each other (and cheating on their wives/husbands) and snorting coke to get through the day and make it to the next bender.
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MisterHippity
01/14/09

In reply to Kurt Andersen Gives Up New York Column
OK, so here's how the TYSOL Contest will work: When you post a comment that's a contest entry, type the word "tysol:" at the beginning of the comment. (You don't have to use all caps -- lower-case is easier.)

Here's an example:

tysol: "Does I look like a veterinarian to you? Then why did you bring me this animal stool sample?"
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MisterHippity
01/14/09

@MisterHippity: Oops. Meant to post that comment over on the Top Chef thread.

Wondering what I'm talking aobut? Wanna know what a "TYSOL" is? Go read the Top Chef post. And then join us in the live blog!
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MisterHippity
01/14/09

In reply to Kurt Andersen Gives Up New York Column
Hey folks. If you're looking for the Top Chef live-blog post, it should be up soon. Stand by ...
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Pop Socket
01/05/09

In reply to Spy Founder Joins Twitter
If Spy were still around, I imagine them running a Fine Print feature of Twitter posts by celebutards.
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hortense
01/05/09

In reply to Spy Founder Joins Twitter
Twitter me this, twitter me that. Hello to all my twittereans, This is the shaq Love u guys 1:10 PM Jan 1st from txt

It truly is the greatest Twitter of all time.
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jrhys
01/05/09

@hortense: Also " Its so cold in porland the sun just sent me a text, yo shaq ill c u n may Schwwwwwww"

I'm so in love.
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Tara Incognita
12/15/08

In reply to Three Magazines I Actually Miss
I read Cottage Living. Everyone around me wants a McMansion, and CL made me feel like I wasn't weird for not wanting that.
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Edward Lionheart
12/15/08

In reply to Three Magazines I Actually Miss
Yeah, Spy, great mag. All those "fearless" pseudonymous writers attacking the people they'd soon be sucking up to--along with people who couldn't fight back. The reverence people have for this magazine is just weird... nonstop cheap shots... OK, this Gawker, but no one claims Gawker contributes anything to society.
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Carol Gardens
12/15/08

@Edward Lionheart: Huh? Hardly anyone used a pseudonym at SPY. Only a few of the front-of-book columns had one. But it IS awfully funny where Graydon Carter ended up.
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AuntPenny
12/15/08

In reply to Three Magazines I Actually Miss
I miss The New Yorker circa Tina Brown. It fufilled the dark part of my soul that is constantly drowning in schadenfreude.
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AuntPenny
12/15/08

In reply to Three Magazines I Actually Miss
Not only do I miss Sassy, but I miss Phil Hartman's "Sassy" sketch on SNL. I just stepped in a big PILE of Sassy!
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Cheap Shot
12/15/08

In reply to Three Magazines I Actually Miss
I miss Raygun and for David Carson's crazy design sense as well as The Utne Reader.
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