Vanity Bonfire
As I noted in the post directly below, while out here in the desert this weekend -- and after the surprise resignation of Sarah Palin -- I was REALLY looking forward to basking in the pool and reading the lonnnggg piece on the Alaskan Governor in Vanity Fair.
Hey. Graydon Carter, gimme back my 7 bucks, please. I could have bought another mojito instead.
The worst part of slogging through Todd Purdhum's bloated prose was the bothersome notion that afterward I would actually have to blog about what a let-down the piece was.
Felicitously, Alex Balk already did it for me! And how! What a relief.
VF can be a truly disgusting rag. This month's edition not only features Purdhum's under-reported sludge but also thrusts upon us an obnoxious "Depression Chic" photo spread with a bunch of millionaire celebs dressed up as dust bowl refugees. Haha.
July 6th, 2009 at 5:02 am
Sounds like the issue of whether or not to read a Bob Woodward book, i.e. are you so disconnected from other sources of information that you won’t get the handful of semi-interesting tidbits – floating in a sea of stupid – that will be dutifully re-reported by others ? Thanks for sparing me…
July 6th, 2009 at 6:27 am
Re that photo spread of celebritis in depression garb. By an ASTONISHING coincidence, I was reading Ray Bradbury’s collection _The Cat’s Pajamas_. In his introduction, Bradbury says that one of the stories was inspired by a fashion photo spread, where the models were garbed and staged to replicate famous photos of the Dust Bowl. Bradbury was incensed by this, and saw it as a kind of sacrilege. The story he wrote… well, it’s RAY BRADBURY, and really, how much more reason do you need to read it?
July 6th, 2009 at 6:27 am
Marc, why do you read that shit? Why is it worth whining about?
July 6th, 2009 at 6:31 am
Oh, one thing: The _VF_ website has a photo spread where the celebrities recreate scenes from Hollywood movies about the Depression– not exactly as dust bowl refugees.
July 6th, 2009 at 6:35 am
By the way. Not long ago was an actually very poignant article on the woman who was the daughter of the woman in the iconic Dorthea Lange photo. The daughter’s life, today, is hard. And her mother felt exploited by the photograph.
Here is the Wiki background.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Owens_Thompson
July 6th, 2009 at 8:02 am
I would add just one other reason one may want to read Todd Purdhum’s VF piece.
If you are feeling out of sorts lately. Unusually grumpy, irritable, disagreeable and well….mean, but don’t know why and don’t have a minister, can’t afford a psychiatrist, and have no close friends left to talk to.
I think you will find Todd Purdhum is the psychiatrist you can’t afford. He has identified the malaise and irritability symptoms that has turned you into an unhappy, lonely and pathetic shadow of yourself with nothing left that can satisfy you except spending valuable time on blogs with fellow travelers afflicted with condition.
You have SPDS, and you must help yourself. Drugs, alcohol, lashing out at your wife, kids and cat won’t help. Lashing out on blogs, where no one knows who this unhappy and perennially upset person really is, offer only temporary relief. You must help yourself.
The first step is to understand your condition by reading Todd Purdhum’s article in Vanity Fair.
July 6th, 2009 at 8:30 am
I guess what made this all evden more disappointing is that you bought two issues, for yourself and Natasha! Do we really need an expose type feature to tell us what we already know, that Palin is a vacuous, self promoting fraud? As for VF, I hardly ever read it although, they have Wolcott, a good writer, and seem to do a good job putting themselves out there as a magazine which mixes nicely the superficial with the serious, all wrapped of course in some nice aesthetics. I still commend them for breaking the story of the Dahlan orchestrated coup in Gaza
July 6th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Just caught this on MJ:
Michael Jackson fans are convinced that his ghost has been captured on a video shot at his Neverland home.
A shadowy figure was caught on camera passing the end of a corridor by a news cameraman filming from the singer’s bedroom.
The cameraman and a news reporter who was with him at the time failed to spot the “ghostly figure” during filming.
The apparent sighting is the latest in a number of strange rumours to emerge following the King of Pop’s death nearly two weeks ago.
There’s the one about Jacko being buried without his brain in a solid gold coffin.
And that he will go ahead with his world tour as a hologram.
July 6th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Purdum’s style, which is clearer perhaps with 5 internet page breaks, is interesting. He will start each segment with some balanced, smart-sounding analysis. A couple of paragraphs later, though, he is back to the gossip and snark.
July 6th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Pretty great!!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/06/fox-news-contributor-rips_n_226370.html
July 6th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
“In a recent Pew poll, 44 percent of Americans regarded Palin unfavorably. But slightly more had a favorable impression of her. That number included 46 percent of independents, and 48 percent of Americans without a college education.”
“That last statistic is a crucial one. Palin’s popularity has as much to do with class as it does with ideology. In this sense, she really is the perfect foil for Barack Obama. Our president represents the meritocratic ideal — that anyone, from any background, can grow up to attend Columbia and Harvard Law School and become a great American success story. But Sarah Palin represents the democratic ideal — that anyone can grow up to be a great success story without graduating from Columbia and Harvard.”
“This ideal has had a tough 10 months. It’s been tarnished by Palin herself, obviously. With her missteps, scandals, dreadful interviews and self-pitying monologues, she’s botched an essential democratic role — the ordinary citizen who takes on the elites, the up-by-your-bootstraps role embodied by politicians from Andrew Jackson down to Harry Truman.”
“But it’s also been tarnished by the elites themselves, in the way that the media and political establishments have treated her.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/06/opinion/06ross.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
July 6th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
No national health care.
No end to bankrupt wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But lots and lots of internet bullshit.
July 6th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Jim R is of course right, and the tacky armchair psychology of the piece stinks to high heaven. What he DOSEN”T say is that such hackery is a staple of the profession, and when the same hack pulled the same crap with Clinton it was fine and dandy round these parts. So Coop can only say it’s yesterday’s news. Anyway, Somersby takes him (and those who indulge such tripe) to the woodshed, as if there’s a point………
July 6th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
I’m with you Sergio
July 6th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
And the nihilistic little turd has done exactly what to remedy no national health insurance ? Oh, yeah. He got Mike Davis’ autograph….
Talk about bullshit !
July 6th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
But Sarah Palin represents the democratic ideal — that anyone can grow up to be a great success story without graduating from Columbia and Harvard.”
Then fold like a lawn chair and wallow in her own incoherence.
July 6th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
One less day till wheezing irrelevant internet assfuck reg dies a miserable lonely death.
And Obama will do nothing.
July 6th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Sergio —
C’mon dude. You @ 6:57pm, not your best line of thought here.
One eighth of the way into Obama’s first term and you’re going terminal grumpy. Go head if you want, but can the death notices, if you don’t mind.
All meant w/ 0% snark and shit like, just saying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tex8KU_JNLw
July 6th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Sergio
NO death wishes allowed.
Also, I agree with Rob. You expect a revolution in American politics? How about waiting a year or two before succumbing to absolute pessimism?
July 7th, 2009 at 1:36 am
It’s the best The Surge has got. Frankly, like a lot of irrational lashing out, it probably speaks to his own fears…
“Sarah Palin represents the democratic ideal — that anyone can grow up to be a great success story without graduating from Columbia and Harvard.”
Exactly what is Sarah Palin a great success at ?
“It’s been tarnished by Palin herself, obviously. With her missteps, scandals, dreadful interviews and self-pitying monologues, she’s botched an essential democratic role — the ordinary citizen who takes on the elites, the up-by-your-bootstraps role embodied by politicians from Andrew Jackson down to Harry Truman.
“But it’s also been tarnished by the elites themselves, in the way that the media and political establishments have treated her.”
Palin actually has gotten soft treatment from the media -she’s had the entire Murdoch news operation behind her. One “correspondent” – Van Susteren, who owes her job to OJ – acts as a press agent. Idiots like Mika Brezinski provide cover for Palin’s vacuousness and dishonesty. Sure there’s some snark, but most of her “bad press” is self-generated – she’s got a sense of entitlement a mile wide. The truth about the Letterman joke is that it’s one of the best things that ever happened to Palin, because her entire strategy is to generate celebrity and ride it. Seeing some conservative weenie comparing Palin to Harry Truman and Andrew Jackson is evidence of ideological and political desperation in those parts. Is it conceivable that either would have acted out like this shallow shell of a pol ? As for sexism, a male politician would have been savaged even worse if he paraded his family quite as blatantly as Palin has and did shit like wink at the camera. Give me a break – she’s been getting a ride.
July 8th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
I agree with your take on the VF story; there was absolutely nothing new except one or two blind quotes, and it was completely underwhelming. The really fun Palin story of the week was CBS’s, which got a hold of her whiny (and lie-y) emails to Steve Schmidt, and his stinging retorts.