This is a really sad day.
Jonathan Franzen may finally get his wish to destroy experimental fiction fulfilled.
One can only hope this is some sort of a horrible joke, which is definitely a possibility since David Foster Wallace has been known to be quite an eccentric.
A men’s room at a Tim Horton’s in one of those yucky Vancouver satellite cities that smell like fertilizer: it’s the kind that just has one sink and one toilet and locks from the inside.
As I was washing my hands, I noticed the following:
Pretty disturbing, no?
Remember The New Republic? The (formerly) left-of-centre, Washington, D.C.-based magazine that used to be the most relevant forum for American liberal ideas in early to mid-90’s until it got totally fucked over by that motherfucker Stephen Glass in 1998? The magazine whose hiring Bareback Andy as its editor (pre-Stephen Glass debacle, of course) shot him to his current level of fame? The magazine whose current irrational support of any action that would end up fucking over Muslims in the Middle East (read “Zionist agenda”) that continues to rapidly erode the little relevance it has left after pretty much everyone stopped reading it in 1998?
Well, The New Republic is about to become even less relevant (as if that was even possible) thanks to its new owner: CanWest Global Communications Corporation. Can-fucking-West. If you didn’t know already, the Asper family, which controls CanWest, are fucking bat-shit crazy conservative Zionists. And, they like to use their media holdings to present their insane perception of the world as “reality.” Just watch Global National on the day something happens in Israel if you are not convinced.
Obviously, it is in the Aspers’ personal interests to prop up a dying Zionist rag, especially the one based out of Washington, D.C. But, this exercise in throwing shovels of cash into a bottomless well, an arrangement strikingly resemblant to the one between the Moonies and The Washington Times/UPI, is definitely not in the interest of the parties who actually own CanWest, which are not the Aspers1. And, guess what? If you’re Canadian, every time you watch Family Guy (which is syndicated on GlobalTV), The New Republic is going to get a penny.
1. The Asper family has a majority of votes in CanWest Global despite having a minority stake in the company thanks to the company’s multi-class share system. Most of the shares owned by the Aspers belong to the class that grants multiple votes to each share while shares issued to non-Aspers have one vote each or none at all. To be fair, it’s not just CanWest that has this multi-class system. Rogers, Shaw, CHUM (before it was acquired by CTVglobemedia), and The New York Times Co. have (or, in case of CHUM, had) multi-class system, granting founding families with minority interests in the companies the majority of votes. It should however be noted that the families that control Rogers, Shaw, and NYT are not insane.
Ty Pennington is seen here shilling for Adderall XR, an amphetamine-based ADHD treatment from the British pharmaceutical giant Shire PLC.
Here, Ty Pennington is pushing Aspirin from Bayer Consumer Care, a unit of Bayer AG.
It appears Ty Pennington, the carpenter who has gained a C-list celebrity status recently through appearances on home improvement-themed reality shows and the male prostitute-inspired attires he dons regularly, has been quite busy recently hawking pharmaceuticals. This is quite understandable really since 1) fronting the interests of pharmaceutical giants is the most time-effective way to cash in on his quickly evaporating semi-celebrity status, and 2) people who watch his show are probably dumb enough to buy medications just because the television tells them to.
Nonetheless, I find it rather morbid that T.P. is pushing Adderall XR, a drug that can cause adverse heart events, including sudden death, while also promoting Aspirin as a “wonder drug” for heart disease risk reduction.
Jimmy Fallon Said to Be in NBC’s Late-Night Plans [NYT]
The worst news ever.
In addition to having their single and video pre-loaded on Zune, Cansei de Ser Sexy is featured on the front page of Zune’s web site.
Hot Chip’s video for “Over & Over” comes pre-loaded with Zune. It is also prominently featured on the official press photo of the brown Zune.
Thanks to Microsoft’s let’s-attach-it-to-cool-bands-and-hope-some-of-their-coolness-will-wear-off line of wishful thinking, come November 14, the works of Cansei de Ser Sexy and Hot Chip (among those of others - the full damage list is here) will be unleashed upon the filthy, unwashed masses known as “the mainstream.”
These uncultured simpletons will most likely fall in love with the bands. Not only is their music excellent, some of the members of the two bands (Lovefoxx and the drummer in CSS; the three non-original members in Hot Chip) are very good looking. It is a matter of time before one wouldn’t be able to mention either of the two bands without being showered with gloating but annoyingly uninformed opinions about them.
As much as I hope CSS and Hot Chip be rewarded for their talents (I really wish Lovefoxx become ultra-famous and start touring the world with a children’s choir and two American homosexuals), I just can’t bear the concept of clicking their names on Facebook and being bombarded with an endless list of known campus retards.
