And most importantly what have he and quinn been doing lately?

Frankly, Calvin creeps me out way more than TheJakes, who I agree is out of his ever loving mind. TheJakes does love his Britney and comes in with some wacked out defensives, but at least you could say that it makes sense to be obsessed about something you like. Calvin posts about Britney ENDLESSLY (the guy has over a 1000 posts, most of them Britney related) and the 'snark' is usually the same tired spiel he's been shoveling for something like 4 years. now It stopped being funny a long time ago and has veered into crazy territory. How long can you possibly 'snark' about Britney, post after post, before it grows tired?

I might also add, that while perusing Princess WTF occasionally, that the only other threads I see him post in are the other teeny bopper girl celebs like Ashlee Simpson or Lindsay Lohan, or girls of that ilk. There's something very creepy about a man that is that bothered about what the 'tweens' are listening to. Who cares? Teenage girls like stupid shit, what's there to get into such a condescending lather about?

Whew, I've been waiting to vent that for awhile. Calvin just gets on my last nerve. Condescending gasbag with an inexplicably huge following at WTF. I really don't get it.

Just stumbled upon this old Fametracker alum's article that bashes the little internet phenomenon Stuff White People Like.

A legitimate piece of criticism, or is he "jus jellus"? You decide.

White people do like internet battles in comments sections, I know that much.

I'm not criticizing legitimate social commentary, and Sternbergh's article did make a lot of good points, but I don't know...the piece just reeked not only of gasbaggery, but of insincerity. I just don't believe that he's that offended by "Stuff White People Like." Plus, as many, many commenters pointed out, his ending line:



applies just as much to himself and his article as it does to SWPL and its readers.

That's an interesting article, JDF. I think the author comes off as trying really hard to convince me of something, but I'm not really sure of what exactly. It reminds me of when your seventh grade teacher tried to show everyone how to write a persuasive essay, except he completely fails and just comes across as a douche. He seems bitter and cannot stop talking about or referencing himself throughout the article.

I love stuffwhitepeoplelike.com and I got the book for my birthday (you can save money and just read the site, it's basically the same thing). I think the author is jealous and resentful that Christian Lander has such a well-written, consistently funny site that quickly turned into a huge success with a book deal and publishing in about a six month period.

Also, the poster in the article's comments section has it right when they say people should stop writing about what's funny and what's not funny.

polenta, what's better than getting the SWPL book as a birthday gift? Winning it in an online contest from The Onion, like me. (White people like The Onion. And winning contests. And the superiority that comes with one-upmanship.)


<br>
<br>Yeah that fermented fruit juice smell you might detect from the New Republic piece could be sour grapes. Dunno, maybe it hasn't been entirely easy watching his old TWoP friends score the big payday from NBCU and then this dude getting a six-figure advance for a different brand of snark.

His main criticism is that the satire isn't potent or funny enough. But obviously it's struck a nerve; and if it's only served to allow people to laugh at themselves, rather than convincing them to stop shopping at Whole Foods (#48) or enjoying hard wood floors (#142), then so what. (I do think the book successfully manages to mock the mindset that suggests what we consume and choose to listen to/view is the totality of what defines us and our importance as people.)

I enjoyed reading a bit at lunchtime. My verdict was…funny. Not cover-to-cover, surely, but what is? Funny enough to enjoy with my rice pudding, for an extra creamy consistency of whiteness. (I did add cinnamon for flavor.)

Anyway polenta and salty dog, maybe we can meet later over soy lattes (#1) after yoga class (#15) and enjoy one of my criterion collection dvds (#106), maybe something by Wes Anderson (#10) or Michel Gondry (#68). If this plan is not acceptable, please accept my apologies (#55).

Only if I can bring my Hip Friend of Indeterminate Ethnicity (#34).

I'll be there is you all want to meet up for an expensive sandwich (#63). I'll probably have on my typical Outdoor Performance Clothes (#87) and New Balance Sneakers (#94). I'm usually surrounded by my plethora of gay friends (#88) and black friends (#14) as I'm really into showing off my Diversity (#7).

Cool! But how am I going to bring my hardwood floor (#142) so we can eat on it outside(#137)?

I had started mid-book today and chewed my way nearly to the end over dinner.

For the New Republic writer (Adam Sternbergh) to say the satire is not barbed enough, makes me wonder if he made it that far (ETA: to be fair, perhaps the more potent entries were written after the march date of the article). While reading one entry provides a playful little tweak, the build-up over many entries is a stinging portrait of a status-obsessed weenie who has built his/her entire identity around carefully gauging, harboring and triumphantly expressing the right opinions over everything consumed, lest he/she lose face in front of his/her hyper-culturally aware friends (and strangers). It's entertaining to read, and the light-hearted could laugh at the particular items or tendencies we identify with -- but I wouldn't say that it lacks punch. It's possible that Sternbergh simply finds the writing to be lazy or without much humor, but I'd venture to guess it equally possible he's in a little too deep to acknowledge the many layers of bullshit the writer is successfully excavating here.

Also the comments section of the article had this curious bit that I missed earlier: