quiddities and agonies of the ruling class - a rolling new york times thread

That was like a sort of almost-interesting blog post. That is a terrible opening sentence.

Which is more annoying? The school or the author's strange fixation on what everybody is wearing?

― Jenny, Tuesday, 24 August 2010 19:07 (2 weeks ago)

This is one of my major writing pet peeves -- sentences that go "I spoke with Carla, a ____, _____ woman wearing a _____ and carrying a ______ handbag" -- as though the author thinks detail per se makes for good writing.

That reminds me of descriptions I've heard of the Sookie Stackhouse books, with details about Sookie's 80s fashions.

a few years old but i think it belongs on this thread...

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/02/06/060206ta_talk_mcgrath

I think the authors of a lot of trade paperback popular fiction do that clothing descriptor thing, in just that same annoying way. I particularly hate when news/feature writers employ that device for woman, but fail to provide any details about the appearance of men.

Like, a remember many years ago I was reading a Popular Mystery Novel (I have no idea who the author was, but he was prolific and wrote contemporary cop stories targeted towards male readers) and he described every woman who appeared in the book by going into fine detail about her clothing, and then by comparing her body to some type of animal, usually a horse. As in, "Her thoroughbred legs were encased in sharply creased, white wool-blend trousers that hugged the curve of her firm flank, and tapered to her tiny waist, set off by a fine leather belt that he longed to grab onto like a bridle."

That Frequent Flier guy is really funny, but not in the way he is trying for.

Jenny, I respect any writer who can unsubtly hint about his urge to put a saddle on a woman and still get published.

"He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sugar cube. She shook her long blond mane in anticipation rippling the fine fabric of her light blue, Chanel silk blouse. She reached towards him, taking the sugar cube in her perfectly manicured hoof encircled in a thin, gold bangle. He stroked her withers and asked, 'Would you like to go for a ride?' 'Nay,' she responded, 'I already have plans with my groom.'"

hahaha ew ew ew

eponysterical

I particularly hate when news/feature writers employ that device for woman, but fail to provide any details about the appearance of men.

Probably a better thread for this, and I know getting wound up by local music reviewers is just not a good way to spend time, but the "editor" of the local music website introduces every woman with an appearance-based adjective, and it drives me crazy.

When there aren't any women in the bands he starts looking elsewhere, too - other classics include:
Inevitably, the mind and eye wandered from band to audience, and I realised that my German friend had been right all along: ninety five percent of English girls dress like prostitutes.
and
Looking out (of the gig venue's window), you are confronted with the ugly antics of drunk, overweight women who have seen too many winters. Rather in here than out there.

I left a sarky comment once (well, one sarky one, and one a little too narked - time of the month amirite guys, ho ho) but all you ever get in reply is "lol women, can't take a joke", sigh.

the right response is "lol writers, can't come up with anything better than misogyny for filler"

the "editor" of the local music website introduces every woman with an appearance-based adjective, and it drives me crazy.

Which gets into an even deeper pet peeve of mine, in which bands are invariably referred to as "all-female" or "all-women," but never as "all male." And a band with one woman in it is "mixed gender," but a band with one man in it is "mostly female."

Wait, that came out as a "why is there no WHITE history month" thing. Which is not what I meant.

No, I got what you were going for.

good piece of reporting but the attitudes of some of the people on display here are pretty lol

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/business/13partner.html

“Being partner at Goldman is the pinnacle of Wall Street; if you make it, you are considered set for life,” said Michael Driscoll, a visiting professor at Adelphi University and a senior managing director at Bear Stearns before that firm collapsed in 2008. “To have it taken away would just be devastating to an individual. There is just no other word for it.”

boo-fucking-hoo

there is just no other word for it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/fashion/10Spin.html

Ms. Brue, the blogger, frequents both studios. “I think it speaks to what a great brand SoulCycle has created that just like the restaurant of the moment, it feels like the place to be, much more than Flywheel,” she said. “Flywheel has created an experience that may be athletically superior,” but it “doesn’t have that same scene-y feel.”

Wow, a friend was talking about scheduling SoulCycle classes on FB - I had no idea she was spending $100 a week for spinning classes. Daaaaaamn.

Okay NO:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/goodbye-new-york-thanks-for-breaking-my-heart/

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/10/12/12newyork-cityroom/12newyork-cityroom-blogSpan.jpghttp://worldsfamousphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/tourist_guy_e-mail_hoax_september_11th_2001_new_york_city.jpg

not really ruling class tbh

xpost -- Okay I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one to think of that.

True, iatee, and yet, it seemed to fit.

comments section pretty unbearable

6. October 13, 2010
3:00 pm
Link
The only real New Yorkers are the ones born and raised here. The rest of you are, always and forever, poseurs.

that is seriously the worst writing ever

i fucking hate people who write like this

if only pitchfork reviews reviews guy would gtfo too

I don't hate them I just don't get why someone associated w/ the nytimes thought that that guy should be putting his thoughts on their website instead of, I dunno, blogspot

Author, I hate this style of writing, Author. It was you, Author, that made my dog piss on today's copy of the New York times, Author.

I mean this reads like a facebook note and probably should be a facebook note

I can just see this guy typing it all out while listening to a certain LCD Soundsystem song on his iPod on repeat...

yeah, i have a friend who occasionally send emoails that crib from the same playbook. it's fucking embarrassing

127. October 13, 2010
4:40 pm
Link
There are eight million stories, in the Naked City. This has been one of them.

— Hardball Howie

You’ve always been a forward-looker, a destroyer and reassembler, the Great What’s Next.

honestly one of the worst things i've read all year

winner:

128. October 13, 2010
4:42 pm
Link
2 years hardly even counts as living here. I’ve been here for 3 and I still feel like a newcomer (and I still fall in love with this city every day). I guess some of us are made for it. Others, clearly, are not.

— S

a window grilled with bars

this sounds delicious, what is your recipe

comments are so hilarious

love how this guy who was so poor that he could only afford one lightbulb also takes pictures from the empire state building (or w/e) with his DSLR

comments def break down into two camps
1. 'I'm going to talk about how much of a new yorker I am'
2. 'I'm going to argue w/ other people about where the subway grates are on 3rd avenue'

i would expect nothing less

group 2 really just a subset of group 1 I guess

i really still can't get over how anyone would think this is good writing

I miss you standing listlessly with the homosexuals in their tube tops outside dark-windowed clubs as they waited for rescue from their boredom.

yeah, that is also inexcusable