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Post by berkley on Feb 14, 2024 18:36:04 GMT -5
It is irrational in a purely objective sense but at the same time it seems to be a long-standing facet of human psychology. An evolutionary biologist could probably trace it back to our nature as pack animals in which even the most trivial actions and attitudes of higher-status members are of importance . As Confessor pointed out in the books thread a while back, before there was pop music recording stars and film stars, it was aristocrats and the super-rich that were scrutinised in this way.
I think it's good to be aware of the ultimate meaninglessness of these people's lives to us personally but at the same time, if I feel interest or curiosity about anyone I don't try too hard to fight it. For me, it's mostly long dead literary figures, the pop music stars of my 1960s/70s childhood, and old Hollywood film stars. For whatever reason, the personal lives of contemporary celebrities don't interest me as much, even favourites like actors De Niro or Pacino.
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Post by commond on Feb 14, 2024 18:41:20 GMT -5
I was talking to my mother on the phone tonight and she asked me if I watched "that big game" - she didn't know what game or even what sport it was, but she knows that I watch some sports and that something big was going on. She even knew about Taylor Swift's friend on one of the teams who pushed his coach. I did see the Super Bowl this year, though not in real time: I found a torrent online and watched the first half last night and the rest earlier today, having managed to avoid hearing the result beforehand. I'm a casual NFL viewer at best and thus definitely no expert but my feeling was, not one of the better ones I've seen. Very much dominated by defence for the first three quarters. On the other hand, it was close all the way so at least there was some suspense as to the final outcome - much like the France-Scotland 6-Nations game this past weekend, which was also not a great one to watch but still at least went down to the final play before it was decided. But as the Taylor Swift furor highlighted this year in particular, the Super Bowl is more of interest as a cultural phenomenon than as a sporting contest. I got a game pass for 140 yen to watch the game. I don't watch any regular season football, but I check in from time to time on the standings. I've watched the Super Bowl sporadically every since I was a kid and we first got satellite television. The only gripe I have with the sport is how long it takes to finish a game. The game started around 8:30 am Japan time and was still going four hours later. At least it was a close overtime game. A blowout going that long would have been tough going. We were in the middle of the Taylor Swift storm as she played Tokyo Dome on Sat and rushed to Vegas in her private jet. |
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Post by berkley on Feb 14, 2024 19:16:02 GMT -5
I was talking to my mother on the phone tonight and she asked me if I watched "that big game" - she didn't know what game or even what sport it was, but she knows that I watch some sports and that something big was going on. She even knew about Taylor Swift's friend on one of the teams who pushed his coach. I did see the Super Bowl this year, though not in real time: I found a torrent online and watched the first half last night and the rest earlier today, having managed to avoid hearing the result beforehand. I'm a casual NFL viewer at best and thus definitely no expert but my feeling was, not one of the better ones I've seen. Very much dominated by defence for the first three quarters. On the other hand, it was close all the way so at least there was some suspense as to the final outcome - much like the France-Scotland 6-Nations game this past weekend, which was also not a great one to watch but still at least went down to the final play before it was decided. But as the Taylor Swift furor highlighted this year in particular, the Super Bowl is more of interest as a cultural phenomenon than as a sporting contest. I got a game pass for 140 yen to watch the game. I don't watch any regular season football, but I check in from time to time on the standings. I've watched the Super Bowl sporadically every since I was a kid and we first got satellite television. The only gripe I have with the sport is how long it takes to finish a game. The game started around 8:30 am Japan time and was still going four hours later. At least it was a close overtime game. A blowout going that long would have been tough going. We were in the middle of the Taylor Swift storm as she played Tokyo Dome on Sat and rushed to Vegas in her private jet.
I always say, it's almost as if a bunch of tv executives had sat around a table with pencil and paper and tried to design the perfect sport for advertisers to capture tv audiences : there's about 3x as much time between plays as there is actual game action and even then, if you miss something there's replays. Viewers can get up, grab a beer or a sandwich, come back and not have missed much.
I'm much the same as you: we first had access to NFL games in the late '70s, so I've been around for roughly 45 Super Bowls. I would guess that I've seen maybe 15 or 20 of them. Looking up the list, my first would have been one of the Steelers' wins in 1979 or 1980 and the most recent before this year was 2021 when Tampa Bay won, which had a good storyline with Brady winning at his age and with a new team.
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Post by Cei-U! on Feb 15, 2024 5:38:13 GMT -5
I'm about to turn 66 and in all those years I think I've watched maybe half a dozen Super Bowls from beginning to end. Of those, I only actually cared about the outcome when the Seahawks played. It's just not one of those things our culture seems to value that I can get either emotionally or intellectually invested in. Now the introduction of New Coke, that wound me up...
Cei-U!
I know my priorities!
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Post by Icctrombone on Feb 15, 2024 5:41:54 GMT -5
I'm about to turn 66 and in all those years I think I've watched maybe half a dozen Super Bowls from beginning to end. Of those, I only actually cared about the outcome when the Seahawks played. It's just not one of those things our culture seems to value that I can get either emotionally or intellectually invested in. Now the introduction of New Coke, that wound me up... Cei-U! I know my priorities! I'm still surprised how much Russell Wilson has fallen since that win. |
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Post by impulse on Feb 15, 2024 9:10:57 GMT -5
I should probably say this in one of the "There, I said it!" threads, but here goes...
I actually liked New Coke. It tastes good*.
*But 1,000% should have never been intended to replace the real deal. That was madness.
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Post by impulse on Feb 15, 2024 9:17:31 GMT -5
How about if writer x did something to your favorite character I might argue about it online a bit (which is half the fun) and then drop the book if I no longer enjoy it. Is that an actual thing or a made-up example? I can see a certain segment actually getting mad about something like that, and it sounds like an interesting story. |
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Feb 15, 2024 9:26:26 GMT -5
How about if writer x did something to your favorite character I might argue about it online a bit (which is half the fun) and then drop the book if I no longer enjoy it. Is that an actual thing or a made-up example? I can see a certain segment actually getting mad about something like that, and it sounds like an interesting story. No it was a real thing, a reaction by a certain segment of fandom I absolutely loathe and won't mention the name of, but yeah they nearly broke the internet when a group of female editors and creators went out for milkshakes and posted about it. -M |
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Post by impulse on Feb 15, 2024 9:35:14 GMT -5
All righty then. That's stupid, too.
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Post by Batflunkie on Feb 15, 2024 10:09:23 GMT -5
I should probably say this in one of the "There, I said it!: threads, but here goes... I actually liked New Coke. It tastes good*. *But 1,000% should have never been intended to replace the real deal. That was madness. They actually kept it around for a lot longer than people think, even rebranding it as "Coke II". But yeah, that was a big mistake and honestly I think they got rid of the original purely for publicity reasons, regardless of what anyone says |
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 15, 2024 19:32:00 GMT -5
I should probably say this in one of the "There, I said it!: threads, but here goes... I actually liked New Coke. It tastes good*. *But 1,000% should have never been intended to replace the real deal. That was madness. They actually kept it around for a lot longer than people think, even rebranding it as "Coke II". But yeah, that was a big mistake and honestly I think they got rid of the original purely for publicity reasons, regardless of what anyone says I don't think they got rid of it; just stopped calling it that and put it in regular Coke bottles and cans, after the furor had died down and no one noticed, unless you knew the difference. No matter what they say, modern Coke tastes nothing like it did before they introduced New Coke and what we have now tastes like New Coke, to me. However, I don't drink the sugar stuff, except when given the wrong drink, at the drive-thru and actually prefer Diet 7-Up, if I have a soda choice, or a caffeine free diet, if I have a cola choice. In restaurants, I drink iced tea, as well as at home. That or just cold tap water. |
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Post by berkley on Feb 16, 2024 12:07:07 GMT -5
with Coke, I had already stopped drinking it by the time New Coke came out so I never experienced the contrast. However, I do remember the big change when the tins and, later, plastic bottles were introduced: that seemed to make a huge difference in taste to me as a kid, from how it had been with the glass bottles.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Feb 16, 2024 15:32:11 GMT -5
with Coke, I had already stopped drinking it by the time New Coke came out so I never experienced the contrast. However, I do remember the big change when the tins and, later, plastic bottles were introduced: that seemed to make a huge difference in taste to me as a kid, from how it had been with the glass bottles. My wife and I agree: the best Coke is the one that comes from a glass bottle bought from a sarcophagus-shaped vending machine in a car repair shop. For 25 cents. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Feb 16, 2024 17:51:32 GMT -5
I should probably say this in one of the "There, I said it!: threads, but here goes... I actually liked New Coke. It tastes good*. *But 1,000% should have never been intended to replace the real deal. That was madness. They actually kept it around for a lot longer than people think, even rebranding it as "Coke II". But yeah, that was a big mistake and honestly I think they got rid of the original purely for publicity reasons, regardless of what anyone says I've always maintained it was actually a somewhat clever bait-and-switch. New Coke was never meant to be permanent. It was a distraction to hide the change in the original's formula from sucrose (a sweetener derived from sugar cane or sugar beets) to the much cheaper fructose a.k.a. corn syrup. This changed the taste, eliminating that exhilarating crispness that made an ice cold Coke such a treat. Some bottlers in other countries such as Mexico still use sucrose in their Coke and you can immediately tell the difference.
These days I only drink Diet Coke, which doesn't taste like any of the three versions mentioned above, so I don't have a dog in that fight anymore.
Cei-U! I summon the straw!
EDIT: I originally wrote "glucose" instead of the correct "fructose." Mea culpa.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Feb 16, 2024 17:57:46 GMT -5
I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of sodas I drink in a year. So...I got nothin'.
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