August 15, 2007
Day Around the Bay
-- Verified Identity Pass. Scary. But kind of cool. [Chron]
-- Mark Leno, the scribe. [SFBG]
-- After yesterday's fire in the Castro -- or as the Examiner still calls it, "Eureka Valley" -- seven are hospitalized. [Examiner]
-- Our new vodka buddy/birthday mate, Beth Spotswood, calls Daly and Gonzalez bitches, annihilates your SF mayoral candidates. [Chron]
-- "Senior of the Year" Jose Morales wants to keep his rent-controlled Mission pad that he's had for 42 years. Jesus Christ. Wonder what he pays? [BeyondChron]
-- Braves beat Giants, 6-3. [Chron]
-- SF's most garish bathroom and bedroom decor. Ever. Well, created without the aid of meth, anyway. [Curbed SF]
-- Although not posted today, but always important: "Why I Hate The Simpsons" -- at last! [Techsploitation]
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Beth has lost her edge. She used to be witty and smart... now she is just spiteful. Maybe it's because Gavo still hasn't called?
Eviction is a rite of passage in San Francisco.
You are not a true San Francisco until you have been evicted at least once before they learn what it is really like to live here.
If they are lucky they will find another apartment for only a couple hundred dollars a month more. If not they leave the city.
You haven't lived in San Francisco long enough I can tell, so you don't really 'get' what all the fuss is about, but it will happen to you. It generally takes a year or two. When it happens you will really really really hate it. It will change you.
Instead of saying "oh well gee if they can't afford to buy a house in SF they should move" you will be saying "kill my landlord."
That is why Jose Morales is a hero to a lot of people in san franciso.
that annalee newitz Simpsons piece is like a classic gen-x-style 'everything sucks commentary' cover. Check it out:
1. author establishes authority by claiming to enjoy the 'underground' (to them) and less watered-down ancestor of popularized material ('I’d been reading Groening’s stuff in alt.weeklies for years, and was into the idea of an indie cartoonist making it big on what passed for an indie network at that time.').
2. Makes obvious observation, then tosses in a (ironically, rather popularized) literary reference to convey intellectual engagement ("On The Simpsons, however, the characters are nothing but stereotype. They’re practically Pyncheonesque in their emptiness — not people, but objects who get driven through various pastiches in order to become the butt of the audience’s arch, ironic jokes.")
3. Make a dubious interpretation in order to be able to take the moral high ground ("The only way I could enjoy these characters was to say, “Haha look at the funny dumb poor people who are so incredibly stupid that they actually work at nuclear power plants.” Problem is, I actually don’t find that funny.)
4. Everybody but me sucks and doesn't get it ("The Simpsons feels like an early 1970s show wrapped up in a form of Gen X knee-jerk irony that was hip 17 years ago and hasn’t been funny since The Daily Show rewrote the rules for U.S. TV satire. So now there’s nothing left about The Simpsons that’s interesting anymore: not only do we have the same old recycled “blue collar idiot” jokes that mainstream comedy has provided for at least 100 years, but they’re told in a satirical style that’s about as fresh as a Sonic Youth album.")
Sure, anyone who has followed the show (and, uh, probably more capable of judging it) knows that its writing went downhill a year or so after Conan left, and that yeah, its current incarnation no longer has satirical teeth, but without the simpsons, you probably wouldn't have a lot of shows on Adult Swim that you and your dork friends (you know, the ones who do the stuff you pretend to know about?) get boners over.
stick to stealing articles from slashdot. leave the social commentary to people with actual insights. although, if you want, you could pull the old Gina Arnold "Everything sucks since Nirvana -- kids don't know anything about music these days" -- that's one i haven't heard in awhile).
Anyone who completely hates The Simpsons is wrong.
They're not stupid. They're not bad people. They're just wrong.
Beth is, inarguably, awesome in every way.
The Ex. is wrong for using the term "Eureka Valley". NO ONE uses that except realtors.
Or are breeders starting to use it to de-fagify the Castro?