theories - Gawker

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Maybe That Washington Post Newsroom Face Punch Was a Gay Insecurity Thing
Gourmet's Dead. Don't Blame The Internet.
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Freddie Mac Wanted Suicide CFO To Relax

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ms_priestypants
11/05/09

In reply to Maybe That Washington Post Newsroom Face Punch Was a Gay Insecurity Thing
All I got from that video was that the older guy seemed a bit burnt out on this whole industry he's devoted his life to which is now self immolating.

Also the lady with the short hair is pretty. #washingtonpost
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Lizawithazee
11/05/09

In reply to Maybe That Washington Post Newsroom Face Punch Was a Gay Insecurity Thing
This makes me miss Al Swearengen and Mr. Woo. #washingtonpost
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themediatrix
11/05/09

In reply to Maybe That Washington Post Newsroom Face Punch Was a Gay Insecurity Thing
It occurs to me that this was a hoax perpetrated by WAPO to convince folks that print is still exciting. #washingtonpost
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MissNormaDesmond
11/05/09

In reply to Maybe That Washington Post Newsroom Face Punch Was a Gay Insecurity Thing
As Ham pointed out, someone calls someone else a cocksucker and we're discussing the homophobia of the callee and not the caller? That's pretty stupid. Why not assume Allen was outraged by Roig-Franzia's use of hate speech? There's just as much reason to do that. Steuver comes off as something of a twit who's trying to attach himself to some drama he has nothing to do with. #washingtonpost
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ms_priestypants
11/05/09

@MissNormaDesmond: Based solely on the photos of the two men involved and the reported interactions leading up to the fight, I'm sticking with this theory: the guy who got punched was a dick. #washingtonpost
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ms_priestypants
11/05/09

@ms_priestypants: And violence is never the answer! #washingtonpost
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MissNormaDesmond
11/05/09

@ms_priestypants: True, and I actually don't condone Allen's having used his fists. Letting an asshole get your goat that badly is for mugs. But it seems pretty clear that Roig-Franzia is the kind of person who, in the brilliant assessment of an earlier post, has a mouth that writes checks which his ass is incapable of cashing, and counted on others' restraint to keep this from becoming apparent. Ooops. #washingtonpost
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ms_priestypants
11/05/09

@MissNormaDesmond: I felt obligated to say the nonviolent thing, and I believe it, but if the punchee really did and said the things he was rumored to have done and said, Gandhi would have knocked that smirk off his face. #washingtonpost
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Hands
11/05/09

In reply to Maybe That Washington Post Newsroom Face Punch Was a Gay Insecurity Thing
Growing up in NYC we heard that curse all the time. So much, in fact, that we never considered the gay aspect of it. It was just another word in the insult repertoire. #washingtonpost
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Spirit Fingers
11/05/09

In reply to Maybe That Washington Post Newsroom Face Punch Was a Gay Insecurity Thing
It's all about tone, more so than implication. Think about it. People say "Fuck you" as a huge insult. But what is really being said? "I want to have sex with you?" "Someone, certainly not me, fucks you?" "You, may indeed, fuck, or be fucked, repeatedly?"

So you see, you can utter complete simple nonsense and with the right oomphitude make someone want to punch their hand through the back of your skull. Next time try it with, "Snuggie Owner!" "Phillies Fan!" "President Palin!" #washingtonpost
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themediatrix
11/05/09

@Spirit Fingers: Exactly! I think he was pissed that kids these days have no regard for their elders. He was going all Ms. Manners on the guy, but instead of calling him gentle reader, he just punched him in the face! #washingtonpost
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ms_priestypants
11/05/09

@themediatrix: I think you just discovered the secret to making Ms. Manners relevant to the younger generations! #washingtonpost
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TheologicalSong
11/05/09

In reply to Maybe That Washington Post Newsroom Face Punch Was a Gay Insecurity Thing
funny, that's what usually comes to mind when I see (as was the case in this instance) commenters and writers cheer or embrace the idea of punching somebody in the face. definitely requires a certain discomfort with one's own empathy, and a yearning to be more aggressive than one is (otherwise you wouldn't have to talk about it), which pretty much intrinsically captures the troubling and jejune tendencies of Internet forums. cowardice mixed with boorishness is something cringeworthy indeed. one would expect better at Gawker. #washingtonpost
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Pesti-Esti
11/05/09

@TheologicalSong: Why I oughta... #washingtonpost
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braak
11/05/09

@TheologicalSong: one would expect better at Gawker

Really? Why?

Oh...oh, wait, you didn't mean that. You were just being condescending.

Good show, old chum! #washingtonpost
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MissNormaDesmond
11/05/09

@TheologicalSong: One would not have been paying very good attention, then. One would also be something of a twit. #washingtonpost
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valet_of_the_dolls
11/05/09

@braak: You are not only jejune, but insouciant and cavalier.

I said good day, sir! #washingtonpost
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TheologicalSong
11/05/09

@braak: no, I was being serious. one demonstrates respect through one's expectations. condescension is not my style.
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Edited by TheologicalSong at 11/05/09 11:50 AM TheologicalSong was starred TheologicalSong was unstarred

TheologicalSong
11/05/09

@MissNormaDesmond: oh, my attention is unflagging.

that's awfully twittish of you. #washingtonpost
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TheologicalSong
11/05/09

@valet_of_the_dolls: whether I'm jejune or not is in the eye of the beholder, of course. not something I'm often accused of, though.

I certainly hope I'm insouciant.

we all have our moments. if I'm ever cavalier, it comes in an instant of utter distraction.

I'm really not this precious. I just take people seriously. sue me. #washingtonpost
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Novaload
11/05/09

@TheologicalSong: You could learn to start sentences with capital letters. That would make you seem less, oh, I don't know, less ignorant? No, actually it wouldn't. Let's find some other nice words in the thesaurus: Pompous. Poseur. Pretentious. #washingtonpost
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freedc
11/05/09

@Novaload: Sorry, can't even follow this dumb fight you've all started on a post about a fight, but no, use of correct grammar and punctuation does not equal less ignorance. Anyone who thinks so is a god-damned fucking ignorant idiot. #washingtonpost
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adiam7
11/05/09

@freedc: I think the comment is more about the language used and then the total disregard to basic grammar. It comes off a bit -let me look at the thesaurus -sententious and supercilious. #washingtonpost
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TheologicalSong
11/05/09

@adiam7: being sententious is hardly something to be ashamed of. it's a classic virtue, really. #washingtonpost
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TheologicalSong
11/05/09

@Novaload: I'm not really sure why someone with a capacious vocabulary irks you (and many others, generally projecting some of the qualities I noted in my initial comment) so, but don't worry, it's not everything. I have a lot of other impressive qualities, too! I'd tread lightly. you'd probably really like me in person. ask around. #washingtonpost
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Novaload
11/05/09

@freedc: They do about writing and language skills. #washingtonpost
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Novaload
11/05/09

@TheologicalSong: I'm not scared of your vocabulary. There's a deficiency, though, when people think an obscure or fancy word impresses people. Especially on the interwebz. #washingtonpost
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TheologicalSong
11/05/09

@Novaload: you're the one who felt the need to comment on it. I really hadn't given it a second thought. it comes naturally. currying your favor is hardly at the top of my agenda. call me overeducated if you will. just don't tell me how to be, or presume you know anything about me, and I promise to show you the same respect. #washingtonpost
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braak
11/05/09

@TheologicalSong: Hah, do you really promise? Because it seems to me that showing your respect by holding expectations at direct odds with observable experience, and then commenting on it in a--jejune or not, sententious or not, pompous or not--certainly vaguely insulting way...why that makes it seem like you're trying specifically to exert pressure regarding the behavior of your fellow commenters.

It is, if you'll pardon my saying so, a little disingenuous to begin your discussion by judging the mind and behavior of your fellows, and then ending it by asking not to be so similarly judged.
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Edited by braak at 11/05/09 5:36 PM braak was starred braak was unstarred

TheologicalSong
11/05/09

@braak: an incisively lucid response. thanks for that. though I maintain: a man can dream (about a certain measure of dignity in the way conversations are held), and I don't feel ashamed or disingenuous about taking the peanut gallery's gleeful revelry/adulation on the occasion of a man with whom they're surely unacquainted being punched in the face at, well, face value. I think that sort of indulgence says volumes about a person's character. words have impact, words should be used responsibly. I really don't care how Gawkerites normally talk, there are numerous distinct voices and styles of communication represented herein, I have many cohorts and kindred spirits here, for all those who diverge (rather pettily) from my point of view/manner/mode. and that's certainly a wonderful thing. but the crass juvenilia is occasionally beyond the pale, and I feel the need to speak up. if everyone expressed themselves as eloquently as you, I wouldn't. so you're right, there is a form of pressure, of judgement, a looking askance. but I certainly have noble intentions, misguided though they may be to some. it feels more moral to me than the lot of the armchair pugilist, body fascist, pox wisher, etc. #washingtonpost
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adiam7
11/05/09

In reply to Maybe That Washington Post Newsroom Face Punch Was a Gay Insecurity Thing
So, since people mainly fathers fuck mothers should I take motherfucker as a term of endearment as well? Even though I am a woman and not a mother fucker? I am so confused #washingtonpost
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Pope John Peeps II
11/05/09

@adiam7: Yes. Also you have to accept "bitch", now since everyone loves accurately nomenclated female dogs. #washingtonpost
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adiam7
11/05/09

@Pope John Peeps II: I guess fuck you is also fair game. I also possess an asshole so that shouldn't be nay more offensive as someone telling me I am being a giant arm or leg. #washingtonpost
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If_I_Had_a_Poodle
11/05/09

In reply to Maybe That Washington Post Newsroom Face Punch Was a Gay Insecurity Thing
George Carlin had a bit in his 7 Dirty Words routine about the uses of cocksucker, and how it should be one of the English language's greatest compliments, not an insult.

[www.lyricsbox.com]

[en.wikipedia.org] #washingtonpost
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Pope John Peeps II
11/05/09

@If_I_Had_a_Poodle: Who is this George Carlin person? Should I have heard of him? Thanks for linking me to this obscure, unknown comedian!

Also, what is "wikipedia"? Is it like an encyclopedia? But someone seems to have stuck some sort of pompous hawaiian word onto the front of it. Well, anyhow. Thanks for linking me to these two totally unknown things. #washingtonpost
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Pesti-Esti
11/05/09

@Pope John Peeps II: Someone woke up on the snarky side of the bed this morning. #washingtonpost
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pony_express
10/08/09

In reply to Gourmet's Dead. Don't Blame The Internet.
I love looking up recipes online and I enjoy reading the comments of how other people altered the recipe to make it work. Usually, if three or four people mention adding basil or cream etc. I will believe their "expertise." I like the everyman appeal of the internets, especially when it comes to something like the domestic arts of cooking or craft. I never follow a recipe to the exact amounts anyway and only read them for ideas. But Gourmet did have pretty pictures...
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MessiahsHandle
10/08/09

In reply to Gourmet's Dead. Don't Blame The Internet.
I'd take Saveur over Gourmet any day. Saveur was really game changing. I hope it never dies.
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meerkat
10/08/09

@MessiahsHandle: I've made a couple of recipes from Saveur that were disasters (whereas the ones from Gourmet and Bon App have always been good). You can keep Saveur.
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MessiahsHandle
10/08/09

@meerkat: For me its about the pictorials and the graphic design. Smiling monks from Thailand in glorious saffron robes, lace hat adorned woman in Brittany making kouign amann, sheep frolicking contently in New Zealand pastures. It's like food and travel porn combined into one well endowed package. As far as spot on recipes I think that the prize has to go to Cooks Illustrated...
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Richard Blakeley
10/08/09

In reply to Gourmet's Dead. Don't Blame The Internet.
Who needs Gourmet in a world of This Is Why You're Fat?
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Conchie Birdie
10/08/09

In reply to Gourmet's Dead. Don't Blame The Internet.
I think he makes a valid point about opinions, though. This world (the internet, if you will) is full of too many opinions - such as this one - which blur the line between experienced ideas and casual "two cents".
That being said, I do agree that the blood of Gourmet won't be found on any tweets, but rather a huge conglomerate publishing company incapable of changing their business model... even though, without any change, they face imminent death.
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superfuture
10/08/09

In reply to Gourmet's Dead. Don't Blame The Internet.
Gourmet was a great brand (and magazine) that could have done very well on the web. Unfortunately, the strategy at Condé Nast wasn't in place to support it. I'm kind of surprised that the didn't just pop a Gourmet logo on Epicurious.com and call it a day.
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Cynical Media Bitch
10/08/09

In reply to Gourmet's Dead. Don't Blame The Internet.
The Internet loves short sentences. And drama. And controversy. As long at it fits. On the screen of an iPhone. Or in a tweet. Thoughtful, considered editorial. Takes too long to read. Maybe every opinion. Can be heard. But the problem is. Finding one expert's voice. In the braying of a million idiots.

(God, that hurt to even do as a joke.)

Seriously, folks, Kimball's point is a vaild one. How does one find the time for thoughtful nuance, when the object of the game is to be first, and with the largest number of rabid followers?

The "ship of fools" that Kimball refers to is partly crewed by the unwashed masses of the web, but it is captained by people who insisted on pulling out 20-30% profits year after year without reinvesting in their publications' intellectual capital.

Kimball view (backed up by my experience) is that the industry is losing its gatekeepers, the institutions and people with expertise who validated the credentials of the next generation of experts. Today, "expertise" is all about how many idiots you can get to follow you on Facebook or Twitter, and less about technical details such as topic-specific skills and the ability to teach them.

I don't blame the Internet, but I utterly deplore what it's leading us to consider as "good content."
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thepictureradio
10/08/09

@Cynical Media Bitch: Yeah, maybe it hurts but that first paragraph made my day. Been going crazy to the braying of idiots all morning and some enlightened, poetic commentary is just what the doctor ordered. That or bourbon.
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Cynical Media Bitch
10/08/09

@thepictureradio: They mix well, you know.
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