Sep. 23rd, 2006 03:38 pm
recent media consumption
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toastykittenYesterday we watched Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which is based on a book of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson, the guy who coined the term gonzo journalism. I haven't read Thompson's work, so I have no opinion on that, but the movie I just didn't get. It seemed like one introspective trip that is, because of the drugs' effects, taken outside. It's weird. Mark likes it because it reminds him of his experiences in high school and college.
I finished John Hodgman's Areas of My Expertise, which should be read in Hodgman's voice for the best effect. He's my favorite of the recent crop of Daily Show correspondents, and every time the Mac commercial comes on I have to rewind and watch it again.
I recently bought San Francisco magazine, because I was desperate for something to read on the train ride home. You would think that I would learn my lesson sometime about buying magazines, but no, you'd be wrong. They redesigned their magazine from a normal format to an oversize format - kind of like W, the fashion magazine. The most recent issue has a good, long, thoughtful investigative article about why black people are leaving San Francisco (for Oakland! and Stockton!), the effect of which is totally ruined by the next twenty pages of its special advertising section for new real estate for SOMA and South Beach. The investigative article makes good points about how the only way black people in San Francisco can make any decent money is by selling their property to move somewhere cheaper, right? The advertising section starts out with the following sentences: "Who is moving to SOMA? In a word, everyone."
Anyway, I work in the area in where the advertisers are selling their condos, and if people are dumb enough to spend close to $1 million for a two-bedroom condo atop Safeway, and right next to the 280 freeway, and across from the train station that runs every day until 1am, then they totally deserve those condos.
I realize that magazines are beholden to advertisers, but they really couldn't have put that special advertising somewhere else? Who are these people writing for anyway?
I started Can't Stop Won't Stop, but I think I'm going to have to start over. There's just way too much information for me to process at once. And I suspect I'm going to go on a music buying spree afterwards.
I finished John Hodgman's Areas of My Expertise, which should be read in Hodgman's voice for the best effect. He's my favorite of the recent crop of Daily Show correspondents, and every time the Mac commercial comes on I have to rewind and watch it again.
I recently bought San Francisco magazine, because I was desperate for something to read on the train ride home. You would think that I would learn my lesson sometime about buying magazines, but no, you'd be wrong. They redesigned their magazine from a normal format to an oversize format - kind of like W, the fashion magazine. The most recent issue has a good, long, thoughtful investigative article about why black people are leaving San Francisco (for Oakland! and Stockton!), the effect of which is totally ruined by the next twenty pages of its special advertising section for new real estate for SOMA and South Beach. The investigative article makes good points about how the only way black people in San Francisco can make any decent money is by selling their property to move somewhere cheaper, right? The advertising section starts out with the following sentences: "Who is moving to SOMA? In a word, everyone."
Anyway, I work in the area in where the advertisers are selling their condos, and if people are dumb enough to spend close to $1 million for a two-bedroom condo atop Safeway, and right next to the 280 freeway, and across from the train station that runs every day until 1am, then they totally deserve those condos.
I realize that magazines are beholden to advertisers, but they really couldn't have put that special advertising somewhere else? Who are these people writing for anyway?
I started Can't Stop Won't Stop, but I think I'm going to have to start over. There's just way too much information for me to process at once. And I suspect I'm going to go on a music buying spree afterwards.
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