Lefty guilty pleasures

Yes, choco chip waffles are a must for any freezer and smothered in maple syrup. And some on your waffles is nice, too. What I wanna know is, why are canned tomatoes without salt added more expensive by a dollar or more than those cans of tomatoes laced with salt? It's a capitalist plot I swear.

Knots Landing? Wasnt that popular around the same time as Dallas, which I never watched either?

I sometimes like watching Turner classics on week ends. Or kung fus, or Clint Eastwood dusters. Absolutely no John Wayners though.

I don't get how things qualify as "guilty pleasures". Why feel guilt in something you genuinely enjoy? Is it because you could be using your time in better ways? I do watch the occasional shitty tv show or read a trashy magazine but it's not like I would otherwise be spending my time checking back issues of the economist for factual errors or re-mapping the human genome.

Just about every sappy uber-cheerful traditional christmas thing you can think of.  I draw the line at Boney M though.

Is it wrong that I watched a bunch of crappy self-improvement reality TV shows on Slice network yesterday?

jrose, if your Grey's Anatomy DVD is calling you a stunted, feminist misandrist, I think you should turn off the Director's Commentary.

I have countless guilty pleasures. The first ones I would name are film noir movies, football (aka soccer), and Beyoncé. But really, where do you draw the line? The insidious tyranny of capitalism makes us complicit in countless crimes by virtue of our natural pleasures and desires. Chocolate, computers, cell phones, clothing--most are probably involved in some form of slave labour, oppression or war. If you try to keep a tally of ethics, you're fucked.

Pot's probably the only pleasure of which you can partake with a clear conscience. But there might be more than one reason for that...

They don't qualify as guilty pleasures unless you feel a modicum of guilt, Stargazer...

Mine are more of the snobbish, hautain variety. I hate pop culture. Guilty pleasure would be reading about fashions I couldn't possibly afford and that I'd never look like the models in anyway (no, not American mags; glossy Italian and French ones), reading Gourmet and travel magazines, that sort of thing. And the sort of decorating/architecture magazine that transports one to a lovely dwelling in the heart of Paris or a charming Italian hilltown.

If you guys saw my book shelf, I think I'd be banned! Me and my Edmund Burke...and Leo Strauss...and so on...I also have a few issues of The American Interest, a subscription to The Economist, etc.

Oh, ha ha, I forgot my collection of de Sade.   I tend to think some of the left might not approve.

 "Guilty pleasure would be reading about fashions I couldn't possibly afford and that I'd never look like the models in anyway ..."

And that reminds me of the guilty pleasure I take in looking at women in pencil skirts and bound to be bad for the feet and back stilleto heels.

What is it about Italian fashion, lagatta, which is so flattering to the female form, without being trashy?  Is it all really just in the tailoring?

Oh, Italian fashion is every bit as much or more about flattering the male form - young and old - as the female. In Italy, I've listened to long exchanges between two young-middle-aged heterosexual men about ironing and keeping their shoes properly shined. And it seemed perfectly normal.

The tailoring, the colours, the styling, the whole shebang. And the background of a nice piazza to stroll across.

And trade unionists get into that too, over there. You wouldn't believe how some of the fellows I know in the FIOM (that would be your union, in Italy) are turned out.

As for pop culture, the only version I have to be "conversant" in here is the homegrown Québécois type. Just as quétaine (it is in other countries too) but at least it isn't USian...

We should have a "post a picture of your book shelf" thread!

Guilty pleasures? The Rolling Stones. And yes, I know that their lyrics are incrediby sexist, hence the guilty.

al-Qa'bong wrote:

 As for Clint Eastwood, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is one of the five greatest pictures ever made, just ask former babbler Arch Stanton. 

Right, Tuco, Arch Stanton. And the gold is buried...?

There are two kinds of people in this world, those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig

Quote:

 Now if you want an argument about any of this, do you feel lucky...punk?

Not me, Harry.

Living on a prayer? Who says you cant go home?

jrose - yes, you should be banned for Bon Jovi...  :)

As for me, here are my guilty pleasures:

- NFL football, fast food, metal \m/

 
Edit:  what a great topic!

Tommy used to work on the docks ... Hey Wings are up 2-1 woohoo!

A friennd of mine turned me on to people watching at Walmart. I don't buy anything but even walking in the doors make me feel guilty. But the conversations that happen in Walmart make it sooo worth the guilt.

I don't get why Grey's Anatomy should induce guilt.

Here's one: I actually embarked on a mission to watch 'Friends' from season 1
through the end. Season 2 wasn't very good so I abandoned that, but
also got sidetracked by 'The Office' (US) which I rented from season 1
through 4 and devoured in short, short time.
Still like 'Friends' though, and will watch the reruns when they're on.
It was a very funny show for its market and time. Also 'Dick Van Dyke'
reruns (on DVD).

What else, without, of course, revealing it all: Nickelback,
certain Eminem tracks, Dr Dre. (I think Eminem could be so cool if he
would focus his anger on appropriate subjects)

Tommy_Paine wrote:

 

"I read the Redneck Manifesto and 120 Days of Sodom - still can't quite grasp that one though. "  

I think to grasp de Sade, I think Francine du Plessix- Gray's biography "At Home With the Marquis  de Sade" is a must.  Even if one is not disposed to reading any of de Sade's works, the du Plessix- Gray bio, in presenting us with a fuller picture of the man and his times, also provides us with a window on 18th century France in a factual manner that other works, perhaps specifically devoted to that subject, fail to do.

 

Excellent, thanks Tommy. I'll pick up the book as my Xmas present to myself. 

The new Pink video is hot, and her voice is amazing.

"Excellent, thanks Tommy. I'll pick up the book as my Xmas present to myself."

I meant also to mention a few the of graphic novels my eldest sent to me last year.  One is "100 Bullets".  by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso.   Not sure what to make of that one-- I hauled it out of the book case, and it strikes me now that it doesn't have much of a lasting impression on me. 

The other is the "Preacher" series by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon.   I like the premise, and the art.  But sometimes the minor characters and scenes are a tad one dimensional-- even for a graphic novel.   But, I'd give it a thumb and a half up.

Less of a graphic novel than a heavily illustrated short story, I have to depart from the usual death and destruction, murder and mayhem and highly recomend the book "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman.   If you haven't read it, but seen the movie, read it still. 

There's nothing in "Stardust" to make a lefty feel guilty, unless you are a big brutish factory lefty that wouldn't want his co-workers to know he read and enjoyed "Stardust".

 *ahem* 

But the other two, lefties should feel somewhat guilty about, I suppose.  Lots of violence, damsels in distress, macho heroes.   Although, the first one has as the central character a strong, if not slightly homicidal, female.

Here you go Farmpunk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwP_t07_j_0

No to the short hair. I have long black hair and have no problem getting sweaty. That's what the gym is for. 

"Hey, graphic novels. 'V For Vendetta' is good. But the best is, of course, 'Watchmen.'  That's a freaky book."

Indeed, but instead of being a source of guilt for lefties, they should be required reading for anyone who considers themselves on the left.    "Watchmen" is to be released as a movie shortly.  I've seen a trailer, it looks amazing.  However, the author is not so pleased, and release is being held up over some dispute with him-- last I heard.   

And of course, you know my favorite character is Roarchach.  Coolest comic book character ever.

 Since childhood, one of my minor sexual fixations has been long hair.  But, oddly enough, there are women with short hair, Pink for example, that I find remarkably attractive.    Ironically-- in context of my fixations, both women I have married (in turns-- I have broken no laws outside of Utah.) have short hair.   Although, my ex has long hair now.  She started growing it after we separated.  

Out of spite, I fancy.

Back to lefty guilty pleasures, I have to identify the affinity I have for Ted Nugent.  Ted's ultra right wing attachment to guns, and gun rights in the States is contrary to not just left wing people, but the generally sane also.

However, I think Ted's the king of the guitar hook.  Unfortunately, Nugent thinks a whole song should be the guitar hook.  Gets boring after the opening minute or so of a song, so I find myself surfing through his greatest hits CD, from song to song, just experiencing the thrill of the opening few bars before the repition makes me yawn.

I will say, however, that "Motor City Madhouse" is a bona fide artistic work that captures a moment in Detroit's history those of us who grew up watching Detroit T.V. news can appreciate.   And, his cover of "Baby Please Don't Go".  Passes musical muster. 

While I don't think it would be fair to single out Ted Nugent for mysogyny in song lyrics above and beyond what we can find from many other artists in many other genre's, his song "Stranglehold" is, perhaps,  a leading example of mysogyny in pop music.   I will admit that I love the slow grind guitar work in that song.  But the lyrics make it unlistenable for me.