Marilyn Haggerty's amazing Olive Garden review and the subsequent viral shitstorm

bleatreader 8 hours ago

Is the city pages that is making fun of this person the same city pages that published a review of a new My Burger, a fast food burger joint, when it opened in calhoun-isles a couple of months ago?

Flag Like ReplyReply Joel 7 hours ago in reply to bleatreader

You mean the review with the stunning insight of: "The chicken sandwich was very well-seasoned; not overloaded with mayo like most chicken sandwiches you find. Even the French fries tasted fresh. Our only complaint was with the onion rings, which didn't really taste very oniony."

oh at first I thought he wrote that review. that would have been much better.

he's now trying to say they were "celebrating her wit" on twitter and not making fun of her

http://bluntcard.com/images/1243460812og.gif

When your badges are "Cleveland Scene" and "Missouri Lifestyle," there isn't much ground to stand on with the OG lady.

Photos I shot in Grand Forks last August:

http://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/198765_10150254678891596_681036595_8157387_113781_n.jpg

http://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/285496_10150254660526596_681036595_8157258_206086_n.jpg

http://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/184022_10150254654821596_681036595_8157181_2440973_n.jpg

the great thign about the original article is how coolly matter-of-fact it is.

something about it was kind of hypnotic.

like you are literally being hypnotized by her

"You watch the waiters in white shirts, ties, black trousers and aprons adorned with gold-colored towels. They are busy at midday, punching in orders and carrying out bread and pasta...."

*goes into trance*

i like her writing!

damn el roco and the bronze boot look way fucking cooler than most bars here in mpls

the great thign about the original article is how coolly matter-of-fact it is.

― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Friday, March 9, 2012 11:25 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

for real, i kept thinking "this isn't lolzy, this is some hemingway shit"

fuck the condescension, matter of fact small town old lady wins

They are busy at midday

^^this is the part of the line that really sells it for some reason, i can't quite put it in words

wkiw marilyn

sure but i still wish this was Neil Michael Haggerty's amazing Olive Garden review and the subsequent viral shitstorm

Antony Hegarty's Olive Garden Review
Julie Hagerty's etc.

it felt more proust than hemingway to me

i like her writing!

― art dealin' thru the west coast (tpp), Friday, March 9, 2012 3:29 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the great thign about the original article is how coolly matter-of-fact it is.

― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Friday, March 9, 2012 3:25 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

for real, i kept thinking "this isn't lolzy, this is some hemingway shit"

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, March 9, 2012 3:41 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this this this all this. she's a better writer than he is!

the great thign about the original article is how coolly matter-of-fact it is.

yeah, i'm missing the part where she's oohing and aahing about how great the olive garden is; she just basically says "yup, there's a new olive garden, the waiters wear uniforms, soup warms you up when it's cold."

"and yes - several black olives"

The chicken Alfredo ($10.95) was warm and comforting on a cold day. The portion was generous. My server was ready with Parmesan cheese.

As I ate, I noticed the vases and planters with permanent flower displays on the ledges. There are several dining areas with arched doorways.

she writes in a really self-aware and intentional version of that semi-autistic yelper's style we all made fun of on the yelp thread

Like Robbe-Grillet, but with more of an emotional payoff.

Here's the thing about that: When you write steadily for 40-plus years, you get good at it.

Clowning on the style/content of writing like this: totally cool
Clowning on this particular review with friends/on a message board: fine
Clowning on the review in a professional-level forum: douchey as fuck

It's just one of those core comedy rules: if you're picking on someone who's perceived as having less power than yourself, chances are good that it's gonna come off to a lot of people as bullying.

Possibly because it's bullying.

It is, but the fact that this shit is being published/posted indicates that some people aren't perceiving it as such or just don't care if they are.

Shee-it. I read that review. It seemed perfectly competant and suitable for the town where it took place and the audience it was aimed at. If you don't know anything about middling-small towns, then all that means is you've stumbled across your own ignorance, not that this review was anything odd or weird.

ppl being entertained by the most mundane things, even off the "all time" comedy films thread

I think the horse is dead, Morbs, you can put the stick down.

saw it move

Ta-da:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/for-a-professional-midwest-palate-a-first-taste-of-a-dirty-water-dog/?src=tp

She was flummoxed, though, by a bilingual sign on the cart in Arabic and English that said “Halal food.”

“I don’t know what that is,” she said.

The concept was explained.

“I’m Lutheran,” she said, “so that wouldn’t apply to me.”

Ms. Hagerty promised to revisit Mr. Abdelbaky’s cart on her next trip to New York. And she said she was looking forward to dinner at the Times Square location of the Olive Garden on Thursday.

“It will be, shall I say, interesting to see if it’s any different,” she said. “It’s pleasant to dine at the Olive Garden.”

Ok this woman has an awesome sense of humor.

Hell yes.

So now what, a book deal? A food network show? How does this shake out?

I would pay money to have her roast Guy Fieri et al over a slow fire. In her understated way.

i don't get why this is a thing but that kevin hoffman dude is a dick and i am gonna follow this story vaguely in the hope that he gets his comeuppance

yeah he kind of needs to be fired

It made the WSJ.

The highest honor:

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/HC-GQ603_Hagert_BV_20120312172702.jpg

i don't get why this is a thing but that kevin hoffman dude is a dick and i am gonna follow this story vaguely in the hope that he gets his comeuppance

I completely agree, he was so obnoxious and condescending.

His condescension strikes me a as narcissism of small differences kinda thing, tbh.

What I like about Marilyn: She appears to have managed to sustain a successful career in journalism without either being laid off or getting burned out, something which I gather is really at the heart of alt press's contempt. She also seems like she would be a lot of fun to eat with, provided the food doesn't get in the way.

What I don't like about her: The sense that a meal with her could turn out to be a live reenactment of this. In an article about the News Room (in Mpls.), she referred to some of the clientele as "swishy." Just like everyone else, I only tolerate homophobia in my own grandparents and no one else from their generation.

What I don't like about this thread: "Why is that it's always people from the midwest who seem most intent on making fun of rubes? It's like, dude, you're in Minneapolis." (Oh hey, check out the dateline on that Onion article!)

Also, playing attack dog on all other local media is sort of KH's beat.

(Not defending at all. Just explaining.)

he also seems like she would be a lot of fun to eat with, provided the dining room has a fireplace.

She appears to have managed to sustain a successful career in journalism without either being laid off or getting burned out, something which I gather is really at the heart of alt press's contempt.

??? huh ???

ya when i read that article and contemplated her long, persistent career, it just made me so fucking mad

Here's the thing about that: When you write steadily for 40-plus years, you get good at it.

there's a local writer around here who definitely proves that isn't true. i've read some pretty terrible 40+ year writers

places like Columbus, Ohio where chain establishments filled the year-end best-of lists without fail.

Just FYI, I've lived in Columbus for most of my life, and I don't think that this has ever been true. Maybe it doesn't matter, but it's not accurate.

lol