Why is that Eurotrash in my fashion mag?
August 11th, 2008Ok. I read women’s fashions magazines. No, I’m not gay (not that there’s anything wrong with it), but I think some of the models are hot, especially the ones for Bebe, Guess, and a few others, names escape me right now but I’ll think of them.
Some of the girls at work have them laying around and while I got some automated crap going on, I get up and walk around the building and talk to the girls and read their fashion mags. It’s just something I do.
I am getting sick of seeing the Beckhams. I can’t stand David or Posh Spice. They annoy the hell out of me. Why? I don’t know. I don’t care. It’s maybe because I see them too much and they look like both of them need a real good poo poo. Posh Spice is a talentless ass clown, almost as bad as Michael Bolton, and David, well, he looks like a zombie already. The only thing worse than an annoying celebrity is an annoying celebrity couple.
So, from the other blog, I’m bringing something back. It’s 2008 now, 3 years later. Which celebrities would you most like to see eaten by zombies?
Me - David and Victoria Beckham, the Olson Twins, Paris Hilton, Bono (I’m really getting sick of Bono), Jessica Simpson, Jessica Simpson’s father, and Kobe Bryant.
There’s my list. What’s yours?
Aw, Bono has done some real good in the world. I think he should be exempt just for his humanitarian work. Unlike celebs who contribute nothing to the world like Paris and Britney, he at least tries to give something back. You’ve got to give him credit for that.
I think I’d also throw the Hoff at the Zombies too. I have to say I have a hard time with a list because I just don’t pay attention to celebrities, but I think Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes should go too.
Paris for sure!! Susan Sarandon,Tim Robbins, Jane Fonda, most any of the rappers.
Laura -
Yeah, I know. he’s just annoying and his head is so big it can’t fit in most doors.
I don’t know who the Hoff is, but someone with a name like that, sure, throw him in. And Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes fo shizzle. Zombie food, both of them. Actually, throw in anyone associated with Scientology.
Sage - You forgot a few. How about Sean Penn too while we’re at it?
Who ARE these people you are on about?
Quit reading the fashion mags. Quit watching TV. It just pollutes your mind and makes you unfit for Heaven. (Heaven= Sex with the Right Person.)
Cheers, ZS, glad you’re back!
The Wallflower
Ok, Ok. I know who some of those people are - Bono for instances. Sure he’s done some ‘great work’ in the world, and I don’t care that it is because of his Liberal Guilt. But damn, he’s sitting on a whole pile of money. I bet I give more (on a percentage basis) to my care-abouts.
Some praise The Gates for the same kind of ‘giving’. But the bugger only gives a few tawdry million, maybe as much as a billion. He’s got hundreds of billions and a lot more ability to ‘do good’ than he does.
Not that I think anyone shouldn’t try to make their piece of the pie as big as they can. As Thomas Sowell (was it Sowell?? wel someone I respect, anyway. Was it you??)
“Get as much of the pie as you want! We live in the place where they MAKE pies!!!”
Anyway. Paris Hilton first for the talentless nobody that she is. Some of those folks actually have talent, so we should just ban them from speaking in public. ;->
If *I* was dictator.
Wallflower
Who had her Wheaties for breakfast, so she’s ready to take on the world. Or at least some of it.
Ohmigosh, where to start…
Nicolas Cage, Brad and Angelina, Ann Coulter, Leonardo DiCaprio, Madonna (yeah, I said it!), Tom and Katie, no actually, not Katie, just Tom. Who else? Oprah, Celine Dion, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, the entire American Idol crew, Mischa Barton… OK, OK, I could go on and on. But I wouldn’t just let the zombies have these folks, I’d push them into the masses.
The Hoff… David Hasselhoff. Come on, you know that… What’s with all the hatred of celebs who actually try to use their money & fame to make the world better (Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Angelina Jolie). I’d MUCH rather see celebs use their money and fame for causes they believe in than sit around wasting oxygen.
Here’s the acid test Laura:
If you took away the tax write-off would they still ‘contribute’ the pittance they hold out as their Stars and Crown? (They set up ‘corporations’ to dump money into and then sit on the board of the ‘nonprofit’ taking a fairly sizable hunk of the action.
If they still donate WITHOUT a tax write off, or the ability to set up non-profits (which I find detestable!), they get to stay, if not. Zombie Snacks!
Wallflower
Nonprofits are my particular hobby horse this week. I’m sick of ‘not for profit’ hospitals (not to mention churches) that rake in huge profits, but don’t pay a dime in taxes! Many of them pay their CEO’s in the 8 figures (yes, , like in Obama’s boss getting over 26 million last year… She’s only small potatoes, so far, as she only got 45k for defending his enormous salary. True statement.)
Wallflower: Well there’s really no way to know who would or would not donate how much without tax writeoffs. So to condemn someone for such an unknown is unfair.
You can also look at the types of things they do that are more than simply cutting a check. Robbins and Sarandon work and speak on behalf of Heiffer International, peace, and human rights organizations. From the way they speak about those things, you can tell they care about the subject and the work. Angelina Jolie working as a goodwill ambassador for the UN is another example. You can tell she really cares about refugees and human rights if you watch her speak about it.
Sure, not all non profit organizations are worthwhile, and there is a lot of exploitation. You have to judge on a case-by-case basis. To make blanket assumptions or condemnations like that is a bit too cynical.
Sean Hannity, Limbaugh, Coulter, the Bush clan down to fourth cousins from old Prescott Bush, Cheney clan down to the same, and anyone who involved with Entertainment Tonight.
What great lists! OK here are mine: Paris H, Madonna (throw her in several tmes please), the Hoff, the Spice couple yeah, our entire Parliament, all of the candidates for Prez down your way, all the Bushes, Katie and Tom (more than once), and whoever made up that commercial for skin care products that has all the acned kids on it with ‘That’s Just The Way It Is’ playing in the background. Oh yah, Rod Stewart and A. Jolie too.
ZS, I understand why you read women’s mags. They’re actually written for men—women gawking at women and worrying only about his orgasm?? Yah right.
Don’t insult the clowns!!! Posh Spice is nowhere nearly as talented a clown, but she is indeed talentless. I was happy she’d moved to the US because I thought the UK would remove this trash from local magazine but we’re not that fortunate, because now that she hangs out with very pretty Mrs. Cruise, we see her twice as much.
About the natural bridge, I am not familiar with the US (never been further than Florida), but I always imagine the Ardeche as a tiny scaled Grand Canyon. I saw somewhere that Utah also has interesting natural places with red stone arches.
Hey… go easy on David Hasselhoff… my kids grew up watching Knight Rider. He still has a place in my heart… of course, I know nothing about him since that show. It sounds, by the comments, as if he’s been a bit pretentious or annoying since the mid ’80s. Nes pas?
I’m not big on fashion magazines, but must confess to a serious periodical addiction… please don’t spread this around… Metropolitan Home, Dwell, Cottage Living, House Beautiful, Atomic Ranch and Martha Stewart. There, I’m out now and I hope you’re satisfied and I don’t care if you think I’m gay.
Most of the people on my list have already been named. But you have to throw in Justin Timberlake. And Joan Rivers can go for having the most useless job in the universe. I’d feed her to gay zombies so they can criticize her clothes as they devour her.
I am not cynical, Laura. I am realistic. And quit using that politically correct (strawman) netploy: “You evil person, you are stereotyping!”. yeeech.
Most non-profits squander a very large percentage (40%? 60%??) of the money they bring in on gimmicks to bring in even more money. That’s called churning. The bigger the organization the bigger the salaries of the CEO’s and their minions. Anyone who donates to a ‘large charity organization’ is, by my definition, not doing their police-work.
You may be right, and there may be ‘caring, compassionate’ celebrities. But every damned one of them uses their celebrity to garner more celebrity FOR THEMSELVES. You say, and again you may be correct, that this is because they have a ‘voice’ that they want to use for that cause. Sometimes, you may be right.
But do you really believe that someone with millions who gives thousands is worthy of idolization? Is even worthy of being listened to? Perhaps they shouldn’t be used as Zombie treats, but they are nothing special.
Natalie Maines (Dixie Chicks singer). Beautiful voice, I used to love their albums, now all I can think of when I hear one of the songs is the stupidity of a publicity seeker… It was very clear that all she wanted to do was ingratiate the band to a ‘foreign audience’ by criticizing her own country. IN A FOREIGN LAND YOU DON’T DO THAT!
Whether you agree with her statements or not (and I agree that the invasion of Iraq SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED), what she did was moronic. It backfired on them, as they lost their core audience. Sure Streisand, et al, thought they were great, but banjos and ‘country’ doesn’t play well in that set and most stations won’t play their music. A thoroughly musically talented group of women shot themselves in the mouth.
Oh yeah, the real cooker for that was when one of them said they didn’t want the same fans that Reba McIntyre and Toby Keith have. Just nasty.
Zombie food.
Wallflower.
Sorry Zombie-Slayer, this is YOUR forum, and I need to keep my rants under control. (But you hit a great big purple nerve!)
bono doesn’t bother me but the rest on you rlist i am fine with being eaten.
to that list i will include a great many disney stars because if i have to live through one more episode of any of them i may scream.
miley cyrus and her father (could someone please tell him he does not look young and hip with his soul patch and highlighted hair. he just looks absurd)
drake and josh
zack and cody
the entire cast of every high school musical and sequel.
I never said I Idolize celebrities that use their money to promote worthy causes, I said that many of them deserve more respect for trying to make a difference than you’re willing to give them. Sure, Bill Gates could give a hell of a lot more money to charity than he does, percentage wise, but the money he does give makes a HUGE impact on the lives of the people he helps.
As for being politically correct - where is that rant coming from? All I said is that making a blanket statement that nobody gives time and money to causes for other than selfish reasons (tax breaks, publicity) is cynical. And it is. The traditional definition of cynicism is “An attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others.”
As for the Dixie Chicks - what’s wrong with criticizing your government (at home or in a foreign land) if you disagree with your government?? Dissent is at the core of democracy.
Lime, NOOOOO, not Drake and Josh! Can we keep them? Er, wait, I just admitted I watch Drake and Josh… Nevermind, nothing to see here. Move along.
There has to be a whole lot of them but cant think of any right this minute..
I think it would be a much shorter list if we chose the very few celebrities that we’d want IN the compound.
Courtney, I’m sending Z over to your place so he has somebody to watch Drake and Josh with. They annoy the hell outta me.
I am laughing so hard - I got my husband a subscription to Oprah for Christmas. Some women’s mags are the best of the best - who would want porn when they can look at a classy, voluptuous Guess model in Vogue - or curvy Oprah - and the women in her mag? Who? I think you have class.
tshsmom, does he watch iCarly, too? If he does then it’s a deal!
Sorry Courtney, he loathes iCarly.
I’m going to plead the 5th because I cannot say who it is.
Bummer…
Talk about it!!
Nways i really see nothing special about these people except that they have good amount of dough but what does that matter once you have enough to sustain yourself and ur family if you happen to have one.
Media idolising some people for being thin, etc… is really unnecessary.
its not only the European Mag. but a culture everywhere.
However here is different. Last time when CD (the tall girl from Charles Angel…lol) came here, she was like putting a partician in a place where she was eating, when the people really didn’t care who she was or is (for that stupid show for MTV which i though was pretty hypocratical for her to host it).
Most stars get lost here, i guess people aren’t really bothered even if they know who they are. We bhutanese have too much pride for what we do and who we are… anything that fashion mag sa ys won’t convince us easily.
I know I didn’t take this post too seriously at first, but many of the comments have given me food for thought. I have a few questions:
1. When the annoying celebrity exhibitionists are being eaten, will they be eaten alive, will they be semi-conscious or dead? The answer to that question would cause me to prioritize my list.
2. Will tickets be sold and would we be eligible to witness justice being served? Will their just desserts be captured on film?
3. Do we get to choose the venue and the music?
4. Since so many politicians, celebs and pop singers are, in fact zombies, do we have a say in which zombies will eat deserving victims?
Thanks
OK, can we just cut to the chase and say, IF you are of the ‘celebrity’ class when the zombie plague strikes, you automatically become fodder because your life was meaningless, deceitful, self-indulgent and you allowed yourself to be used to confuse, enslave and control the population of impressionable youth?
Sounds like a plan to me.
I am anti-celebrity worship because it’s making America dumb. Sure, a handful of celebrities do good things, but they completely PALE in comparison to the things ordinary people do on a day to day basis. Why should these stupid celebrities get all the credit? because they can cry on cue?
Yesterday, four aid workers were killed by the Taliban. These people dedicated their lives to helping people they never met in a country where poverty is on a whole new level to what we’ve seen. Now they’re dead.
How many firefighters each year, with names we’ll never know, die saving peoples’ lives. Celebrities get nothing in my book because they taken NO risk. It’s a photo op for them, and money is nothing to them because they have it all.
You’re not going to catch me defending celebrities, no matter what they do.
Now to my original point, how many Americans can tell you everything about Paris Hilton or American Idol? Now, how many Americans can name just one Nobel Prize winner from last year? Dumb. And dumber. And in time, even dumber. Most Americans can rattle off their favorite actors but can they list the Bill of Rights?
Clothosfate - See what I’m about to say to Bo.
Bo - Just like in the Romero films, alive. Tickets won’t be sold because we’ll be defending ourselves as well. The thing is, celebrities are used to having bodyguards everywhere they go, but when the plague starts, those bodyguards have families too and will immediately realize their families are in danger. So much for the celebrities.
And unfortunately, there won’t be a soundtrack.
In a perfect world there would be though.
Tchoden - Awesome. Another reason to appreciate Bhutan.
Courtney - We all have our guilty pleasures. Mine are fashion mags.
Kate - I bet I know who you’d say.
Tshsmom - Let’s see, someone who is HANDY. That would probably be three or four of them tops.
Gardenia - The funny thing is, I’d rather have Vogue or Vanity Fair than porn now.
Tweety - Well, when you do…
Laura - See my initial reply.
Lime - Aaaargh! I hate that Achy Brakey Heart guy. Yes. He NEEDS to be eaten by zombies. The sad thing is there are so many more talented girls than his daughter at that age. I guess he knew one of the big wigs.
Wallflower - See my initial reply.
Skeletor - Joan Rivers may already be a zombie. I wouldn’t let her anywhere close to your skin.
(by the way, Bo, I do like Cottage Living too).
Helen - Yes, Utah has them, but so does the West Coast (on some of the beaches). One of these days I’ll try to find pictures I took.
Bridget - Yes, we need to have Obama and McCain (and the whole Bush clan) fed to zombies. I think the IQ of America will immediately go up a point or two.
Beach - Good ones. They defend Bush like a battered wife.
And did I forget Celine Dion? Thanks for reminding me, Courtney. Whoops. Tom Cruise is missing from my list. He should be up there.
clothosfate is absolutely right. I never relished class envy… until now. Picture it… a celebrity roundup, herding the beautiful people into a zombie managed feedlot!
Celebrity steak and sushi… Pitt on a spit… Jolie beans… Jack Black snacks… Bolton bolognese.
thanks for calling attention to the aid workers and to firefighters. these are the people worthy of lauding.
also, allow me to add angelina jolie and brad pitt to the list of people who need to be eaten by zombies.
I forgot the most important one, I loathe her so much I blocked her name from memory — Rachael Ray. If I heard, “EVOO, Extra Virgin Olive Oil,” one. more. time. :X
You know, it is weird, this celebrity thing. I’ve been thinking about Laura’s comment about me being a cynic (bad old me, I guess I am).
Well. OK, here goes a brief explanation of what I mean. I hope.
Celebrity is ‘for a reason’. Someone is good at something and thus a lot of people want to rub up against them and ‘get some of the glory’. (THAT IS ALL IT IS FOLKS.) Not everyone. Some of us like to go to a concert and listen to a really fine performer, or watch the ballet (yeech, but I am an equal opportunity entertainment type, I just don’t go to the ballet, YOU can, if you have no taste. Ahem.). But ‘us’ don’t ever really feel like they want to go crash the stage door just to ‘touch’ and as they say (4 letter word that indicates carnal knowledge) fame. (Am I allowed to say that?)
I love movies with Robert De Niro. He is one of my favorite actors and I haunt Netflix looking for his stuff. But I have NO desire to meet him, other than to maybe say “Hey, your movies are terrific”. But not really, because he gets that junk all the time from his hanger’s on and other sycophants. He makes great movies, but he probably gives lousy stock advice, and I don’t give a dang about his politics. He’s an actor. He has no special knowledge outside of that venue.
Neither does Streisand (who should be an hors devours at the Zombie Fest). But she feels it is her god-given right to hop on any stage and start spewing her muddle-headed nonsense.
Sure they have a ‘right’ to say what they want to say, and I applaud that right. What we should be is smart enough to tune out the blather.
But when it comes to someone like Richard Dawkins, him I will listen to. Not only do I agree with him on most social issues, I believe the guy is one of the true living geniuses. (But I still won’t take advice about the stock market from him!). I would like to meet him, just to shake his hand, so I DO, in fact, know something about wanting to ‘rub up against’ fame. I admire him. Immensely. Although I think he is a nut-job to write a book like the God Delusion. It is going to get him killed, and that will break my heart.
Most people can’t tell the difference between an actual genius, who has particular knowledge of which they speak, and someone who can play the guitar and feels they have something ’special’ to say about politics. There is a world of difference.
If a celebrity is smart enough to keep their mouth shut about things that they know nothing about, even if they are annoying, let’s let ‘em stay around. We need things to do of a Saturday night…
Into the Zombie pit with any religious group that would invoke an evil act against Dawkins (they can pray for evil to befall him all they want, as that will keep them busy and out of our hair). All ‘em. Every stinkin’ one of them. Are Zombie’s religious zealots? Is that what happens to religious zealots when they die? Then they can become cannibal zombies until the last one is consumed by the last one… Klein bottle problem that that is.
Had to check out a site called Zombieslayer- hey - I read GQ so I understand you reading fashion mags.
We don’t like the Beckhams either - guess that’s why they are now over there…
A few from my list:
Parish Hilton
Brittany Spears
Obama - nothing against his politics but as the UK is not voting in your election why the hell do I need to see the shenanigans 12 hours each day?
George Bush - see above
There’s a few others too but thankfully for you they’re over here and not bugging you so I wont go into it
Wishing Mrs Z, Jnr and yourself have a fantastic weekend
Miladysa - Yes, Obama has become a celebrity.
Bush, I’ll be happy to see him get eaten by zombies. Hilton and Spears, the same.
Yoga - Heh. So you see where I’m coming from then.
Wallflower - Completely agreed. Zealots drive me nuts.
I have yet to read Dawkins, just know about him. DeNiro is someone my father and I disagree about. I think he’s great, Pops thinks he’s overrated. Although Streisand is talented, I’m sick of celebrities voicing their opinions. They’re stupid, the whole lot of them. I’m sick of them getting more a voice than regular people.
Courtney - My boss is in love with her. I see her books all over Barnes and Noodle, but have yet to see her on person or pop open one of her books. Heard about the EVOO thing, and that would probably drive me nuts too.
Lime - By all means, add ‘em both. I won’t miss either of them.
Bo -
:lol:
I’ll bring a camera.
I hate to argue with wallflower.. no wait, no I don’t..
Celebrity may have been ‘for a reason’ at some point in history, but it is not anymore. People do not have to be good at anything other then selling themselves to be a celebrity, and the only reason that other people want to rub some of it off on themselves is because of the image that if you are a celebrity you will get these important things; dates (aka sex) and money. Being poor sucks, and so does being lonely.
If there are celebrities who are famous because they REALLY are great at something, then they are NEVER superstars and don’t generally submit themselves or their ‘fans’ to the fashion circus, and hence are not a part of this celebrity ’round-up’.
Well, clothosfate (even though this is the Emminent ZS’s blog, I’ll take that on…):
Celebrity IS for a reason. Alpha members of all primate groups get a lot of toadying from submissive members. We aren’t wolves, but wolves get it too. The alpha pair are constantly pandered to by their other pack members.
I know a lot more about wolves than primates, but I do know this: We are primates. We share a lot of the inherent traits of our hairy relatives. CELEBRITY STATUS IS PART OF IT. And you state the reasons clearly. Sex. High status members of the group (celebrities to you and me) get more sex, thus their genes get to move forward into the next generation. Read Dawkins’ the Selfish Gene. That’s all that needs to be said to justify it.
Part of it is building alliances. If you are part of the ‘in group’ (meaning you are part of the group that worships the Right People) you will be accepted. If you go counter to that, likely you are an outlier, and could face becoming a pariah.
Plenty of extremely talented celebrities play the ’superstar’ game. Who can blame them for wanting the ‘most’ adoration, the most money and the most publicity (thus adoration, thus money).
Look at Lance Armstrong. He rides a freaking BICYCLE. So does my 4 year old. He just goes faster. So what. Big Deal. (As the Black Lectroid’s said at the end of Buckaroo Banzai!)
People who idolize bicycle riders are fools. Being interested in watching, being interested in the race itself, may not be foolish. But giving a s**t what the guy THINKS about anything other than riding a bike is looney tunes in my view. But there you go. People do. He lives in a freaking mansion here in the Central Texas area. For riding a bike. And doing ‘product endorsements’.
So, my dear, whether you like it or not, we are hard-wired to turn toward and worship celebrity. Some of us were born a little bit more objective, I guess.
You forgot Gwenyth Paltrow and the pansy husband singer of hers. She thinks the British are the master race, he releases lame music on us, and together, they named their child “Apple.” Let the zombies have them.
Skeletor - Yes, Paltrow needs to leave the USA. For good. If you hate it so much, leave. Seriously. Go. Just go.
Also, stop collecting checks from Americans. Give us back our money. Yeah, both of them need to be zombie food.
Wallflower - I have got to read that book then.
Clothosfate - I don’t know if it’s a round up per se, it’s more that we have learned to have real skills in life, while celebrities, well, they’re really good at smiling and/or crying on cue. In other words, pretending to be people they are not.
Once the zombie plague starts, well, their bodyguards will realize that they care more about their own families than the celebrities they’re paid to protect. Plus, money becomes worthless once the zombies start biting.
Wallflower said: “Most people can’t tell the difference between an actual genius, who has particular knowledge of which they speak, and someone who can play the guitar and feels they have something ’special’ to say about politics. There is a world of difference.”
Is there? There are musical geniuses and artistic geniuses, just as there are philosophical and scientific geniuses. That’s the thing about genius - it takes many forms. What would humans be without art and creativity? Pretty fucking boring, I’d say. So to say that Dawkins genius (yes, I agree, he is) is more important or more valuable to society than, say, DaVinci’s or Mozart or Robert Downey Jr’s or Trent Reznor’s genius, is a very shallow point of view. They’re all genius in their own way. Those are the types of arguments used to cut funding to the arts in schools - because they’re not as materialistically “useful” as other subjects.
Zombie is right too - most geniuses whether they be scientists, actors, musicians, or anyone else - usually try as best they can to not get caught up in their fame.
Wallflower said “If a celebrity is smart enough to keep their mouth shut about things that they know nothing about, even if they are annoying, let’s let ‘em stay around.”
So what makes celebrities different than the rest of us on this forum, constantly spouting opinions about politics, economics, and other things “we know nothing about?” Do you distinguish between a celebrity who has actually informed his/herself about a topic and give them extra leeway? Or are you simply assuming (again) that all celebrities simply run their mouths without giving any critical thought to what they’re saying? I have a feeling Angelina Jolie has a much better understanding of the issues facing refugees than you or I. So maybe we should just shut up too.
Laura, Laura, Laura…
READ WHAT I SAID!
I did NOT say that intellectual genius was more valuable than ‘artistic or musical’ genius. Although I will say that NOW, human kind does not ‘advance’ because someone drew a picture or played some notes or made a poem. That is the fallacy put forth by the Durants (et al). Humankind advances because some engineering ‘genius’ comes up with the idea of a wheel, how to make fire, how to stack one thing on top of another thing without them all falling down, figuring out ‘germ theory’ and displacing the theory of the ‘humours’, how analyze rhetoric, determine fallacious arguments, recognize faulty ‘logic’, and in fact, develop Formal Logic for analyzing language. Period.
You can’t make a decent case at all that artistic or musical genius advances ‘civilization’ one iota further. If the Durant’s can’t, I doubt you can.
However, delight yourself and try. If it works, I eat crow and back down.
I love some forms of art, some not. Music thrills me to the core when it is of a type I am accustomed to and it is well played.
However, Dawkins genius IS more important than even, dare I say it? Stevie Ray Vaughan. Even Beethoven. Don’t you DARE lump da Vinci in with simple paint daubers or marble chippers. da Vinci was a lot more than the painter of the Sistine Chapel or the carver of the Piata. His engineering, mathematical, botanical, architectural and anatomical brilliance, along with Dawkins insightful development of the field of Evolutionary Biology, and his arguments against ‘god’, are the ideas of human knowledge. Without the Sistine chapel da Vinci could not have painted the ceiling. However, da Vinci could have very well designed and had built that very chapel. But in fact it was designed by Pontelli. But you didn’t know that, did you? Why? Because they don’t teach in public schools. Pretty pictures and nice sculptures are ‘easy’, they have visual clues to help students get ‘good test scores’. Memorizing, learning, thinking and understanding is a lot harder.
You may think it is shallow to separate entertainers from thinkers and doers, I bet you learned that in public school, too. Or in teachers kollege.
Here’s the difference: Celebrities have a stage, thus a forum and they have an audience maybe half of whom will take their every word as ‘gospel’ (don’t get me started on religious ‘leaders’). They say buy gold on the rise, when it has already hit a benchmark top, and there will be a stampede. Even though they have no knowledge at all in that arena.
Sorry Zombie Slayer, tshsmom is right, I need my own blog so I can let you get on with yours ;-> You can feel free to delete this somewhat ‘off topic’ reply. But I had fun writing it.
Oh yeah, you really should read the Selfish Gene. It is not easy reading, but it will reward you immeasurably. You’ll ‘get it’. Then move on to Stephen Pinker’s “The Blank Slate”, that will absorb you and have you smacking your head saying “Yeah! NOW I get it!” over and over and over….
“Here’s the difference: Celebrities have a stage, thus a forum and they have an audience maybe half of whom will take their every word as ‘gospel’ ”
OK. But whose fault is that? theirs? Or the stupid people who take their word as gospel? Smart people would simply listen, consider the merits and faults of what they have heard, and move on with their lives.
My point is that they have every right to express their opinions about issues as much as everyone else. They should be damned for speaking their minds because our stupid society can’t think for itself? Hardly.
And seriously… All I’m doing is stating my opinion about an issue. What is the purpose of your attempt to try and demean my educational experiences (”I bet you learned that in public school, too. Or in teachers kollege.”)? Talk about spouting your mouth off about things you know nothing about…
Personal attacks have no place in a discussion such as this. If those are your true colors, take your marbles and go play in another sandbox.
One more thought on the subject at hand… using our ‘hard-wires’ of worship and reproduction to sell useless shit, and encourage self-indulgent and mindless behavior in impressionable youth is detestable and it can not be denied that the celebrity status symbol is quite possibly the biggest contributer to the careless consumption that plagues our culture.
To Wallflower, please please please, start your OWN blog, so that you can continue your lengthy discussions on your own page where people who want your thorough opinions can go to find them, instead of on the Zombieslayers comment page. I come here mainly to read and discuss his writing.
Oh, and for the record. Yes, I do think it’s a travesty that more people care about voting for American Idol than the Presidency and that more people know who Britney Spears is than who their congressional representatives are. I also think it’s sick that our society cares more about seeing pictures of Angelina Jolie’s twins than about what she has to say about human rights abuses in refugee camps.
What I’m saying is you can’t put ALL the blame on celebrities and ignore the fact that our self-absorbed, infotainment obsessed, and attention-spanless society has played a large part in creating this dilemma. Blame the people who gave Jerry Springer and Entertainment Tonight top ratings.
I’m out of here!
I would comment here, but I would rather sit this one out. Celebrites are at the bottom of my list of people I like, along with politicians and lobbyists. Feed them all to the zombies and this country would be a whole lot better.
Wallflower - Please do start your own blog and let me know when you do. I’d love to read it.
Laura - I should do a post on how celebrities are making us stupid. Yes, I blame the celebrities themselves.
Clothosfate - Agreed.
Neal - Yes, that’s why the long running joke of feeding them to the zombies. It would make the world a better place.
ROFL @ the collective IQ going up once the Trees and Juice are gone!! Zombieslayer, this post has generated more comments than I’ve seen anywhere in a while!
I am so pleased not to be a celebrity.
Be cautious you dont promote yourself to celebrity status; whether by wealth or your stealth within the hierarchy of bloggers, whereby promoting yourself to target status.
I have my beady eyes on a few of you wannabe celebs.
Oh I forgot to mention something important, Um er wot happens when we run out of conventional celebrities, will former generals of the Zombie slayers corps elite become the neocelebs and become the meat in the sandwich. Like a la Robespierre syndrome. Not nice to think about it, makes ones neck itch dunnit.