Bloom County. The middle years were awesome, but the final two or three years were vile. Sloppy art, lame jokes, characters not acting like themselves...yuck.
Lost. Loved Season One, but I thought Season Two was toxically bad, especially *n* L*c**, and the show never recovered.
Strawberries. Loved them until fairly recently, now they make me sick.
Posted by cleome45 on :
The Democratic Party.
Tori Amos. Liked her first CD, but then I made the mistake of reading one of her interviews. That ruined everything for me that came afterward. (These days, I try like mad never to read the opinions of artists whose work I admire. It's so much better being ignorant.) Also, I met so many of her fans on the 'net (and a couple IRL) that turned out to be mega-pretentious, astoundingly self-important wankers.
Posted by Fanfic Lady on :
Yeah, as a rule, I avoid fansites for pop stars. I got burned really badly by a few. The saddest part is that the few nice fans get drowned out by all the incessant brouhaha.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
Guns and Roses. Their first album was a refreshing slap in the face from all the hair metal that had been happening in the 80's (not that all of that was terrible mind you.)
Then...they turned into a parody of themselves, and then it got worse from there.
CAnnot really listen to anything outside that first album, and even that makes me cringe.
Posted by cleome45 on :
quote:Originally posted by Fanfic Lady: Yeah, as a rule, I avoid fansites for pop stars. I got burned really badly by a few. The saddest part is that the few nice fans get drowned out by all the incessant brouhaha.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I love jazz but in general I don't love jazz fansites. Too much egotistical wankery, and too many hopeless snobs who want to save their precious toys from the unwashed masses and their grubby plebian paws. (Sort of like some comics sites, sad to say.)
Carrying that further, sometimes in the internet age, I've found out things I would have rather not known about the politics of jazz critics, some of whom were my indispensable guides when I was discovering the music in a big way. There are some who have amazingly Neanderthal views on things other than music. Now I wince when I see their names on the liner notes in my collection.
[ April 30, 2012, 07:58 PM: Message edited by: cleome45 ]
Posted by Fanfic Lady on :
quote:Originally posted by Dev - Em: Guns and Roses. Their first album was a refreshing slap in the face from all the hair metal that had been happening in the 80's (not that all of that was terrible mind you.)
Then...they turned into a parody of themselves, and then it got worse from there.
CAnnot really listen to anything outside that first album, and even that makes me cringe.
Yeah, I loved (most) hair metal, but I loved GnR, too...at first.
I do think the good bits of their all-covers album "The Spaghetti Incident" are almost as great as the first album, though. For that matter, I'd also rate their Wings and Dylan covers from the "Illusion" albums. But their original material...yeesh.
Posted by Fanfic Lady on :
quote:Originally posted by cleome45:
quote:Originally posted by Fanfic Lady: Yeah, as a rule, I avoid fansites for pop stars. I got burned really badly by a few. The saddest part is that the few nice fans get drowned out by all the incessant brouhaha.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I love jazz but in general I don't love jazz fansites. Too much egotistical wankery, and too many hopeless snobs who want to save their precious toys from the unwashed masses and their grubby plebian paws. (Sort of like some comics sites, sad to say.)
Carrying that further, sometimes in the internet age, I've found out things I would have rather not known about the politics of jazz critics, some of whom were my indispensable guides when I was discovering the music in a big way. There are some who have amazingly Neanderthal views on things other than music. Now I wince when I see their names on the liner notes in my collection.
Oh, entertainment journalism is definitely something I went from loving to hating. Most critics are just in it for the perks, IMO. And even some of the ones who genuinely love what they write about have an apalling sense of self-importance. About the only living one I can still tolerate is Nick Kent, whose recent "Apathy for the Devil" memoirs showed a refreshingly mature view of his youthful bad behavior.
Posted by Dev - Em on :
quote:Originally posted by Fanfic Lady:
quote:Originally posted by Dev - Em: Guns and Roses. Their first album was a refreshing slap in the face from all the hair metal that had been happening in the 80's (not that all of that was terrible mind you.)
Then...they turned into a parody of themselves, and then it got worse from there.
CAnnot really listen to anything outside that first album, and even that makes me cringe.
Yeah, I loved (most) hair metal, but I loved GnR, too...at first.
I do think the good bits of their all-covers album "The Spaghetti Incident" are almost as great as the first album, though. For that matter, I'd also rate their Wings and Dylan covers from the "Illusion" albums. But their original material...yeesh.
I will admit to still liking Live and Let Die.
Posted by Fanfic Lady on :
quote:Originally posted by Dev-Em: I will admit to still liking Live and Let Die.
Oh, yeah.
"YA GOTTA GIVE THE OTHER FELLA HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLL!!!!!!"
Posted by Dev - Em on :
They're funny the first time you see them, and then it gets boring. Chappelle, Seinfeld, Mencia, and many many more.
The one MAJOR exception for me is Steven Wright. He get's funnier all the time, and he can do the same set (or I can watch the old HBO special) over and over and it never gets old to me.
Posted by Legion Tracker on :
^ Yep, still like Steven Wright.
Posted by Dave Hackett on :
Geoff Johns. His original JSA and the first part of his Flash runs were great, but then he went off the rails. I honestly think he got too big and at some point his editors failed to hold him in check, and suddenly half-baked ideas and ultra-violence proliferated. I also think he took on too many titles and the quality substantially dropped (compare an early book to his current output in regards to splash pages/ word count, etc).
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
quote:Originally posted by Dave Hackett: Geoff Johns. His original JSA and the first part of his Flash runs were great, but then he went off the rails. I honestly think he got too big and at some point his editors failed to hold him in check, and suddenly half-baked ideas and ultra-violence proliferated. I also think he took on too many titles and the quality substantially dropped (compare an early book to his current output in regards to splash pages/ word count, etc).
100% agree.
Posted by cleome45 on :
This could just as easily go in Quislet's thread about dropping religion, but... quite a few aspects of the faith I was born to. In particular that whole "The Chosen People of God" thing has some seriously problematic applications in the real world.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
"Bones."
At first, I enjoyed the interplay between Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz and their investigations into gruesome crimes, as well as the the supporting cast, but it all wore thin very quickly.
Posted by Dave Hackett on :
quote:Originally posted by cleome45: This could just as easily go in Quislet's thread about dropping religion,
I cannot find said thread, where is it located?
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
It's called "Coming Out," Dave. I just posted/bumped it.
Posted by Dave Hackett on :
Ah thanks. I erroneously assumed it was about "Coming Out" . (It's also in MMB, where I rarely go).
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
Tina Fey's humor.
While I still like Tina the person & even as an actress, I have to say that she just isn't really funny at all. She has moments of brilliance--the Sarah Palin parody comes to mind--but overall, she's really only just okay. It doesn't help that she's so predictable in her political leanings and tendency to promote all things 'PC'.
I still like her though; there's no getting around that. But she rarely makes me laugh.
Posted by cleome45 on :
And I'd much rather watch Fey as the repressed, overthinking nerd on 30 Rock than watch yet another parody on SNL. The latter is definitely one of those things that I used to love and now can't get into at all. Even if I don't actively hate it, for the most part I find it overhyped, padded, and stale.
Maybe I just outgrew parody-related humor as a whole, and I'd rather watch comedy that's a study of how weird and bereft of sense an individual comes across to just about anyone other than herself.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
I can't watch more than five minutes of "30 Rock" at a time. Fey, Baldwin and the rest are so over the top as caricatures I find it hard to believe they represent real people.
For that matter, series television in general is something I used to love (read: was addicted to) but now have virtually zero patience for. Every show seems like every other show of its type (crime show, sitcom, etc.) with sophomoric humor, one-dimensional characters, and story lines that passed their expiration date 30 years ago. Worse, the remote makes it unlikely that I will sit through commercials and remember what I was watching when it's time to flip back.
Dang, it's hard being crotchety and old . . . or great, I'm not sure which.
Posted by Quislet, Esq on :
Giffen's BWA-HA-HA Justice League. I initially enjoyed the little silly bits that were thrown in. But then the silly bits became the focal point. I got so tired of it that I didn't like it when it was brought back years later as specials. Between this, his later Legion art, and "killing" Karate Kid just because he didn't like the character has really turned me off of everything he does now.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
quote:Originally posted by cleome45:
And I'd much rather watch Fey as the repressed, overthinking nerd on 30 Rock than watch yet another parody on SNL. The latter is definitely one of those things that I used to love and now can't get into at all. Even if I don't actively hate it, for the most part I find it overhyped, padded, and stale.
Maybe I just outgrew parody-related humor as a whole, and I'd rather watch comedy that's a study of how weird and bereft of sense an individual comes across to just about anyone other than herself.
Well, I actually like Liz Lemon, the character, when she's being played as the strait-woman.
When Tina hosts SNL...ugh. The funny is sucked right out of the room.
Posted by cleome45 on :
Adding to HWW's comments about TV: I used to love cop shows, but I turned cold to them in the last ten years or so. The overexposure of things like the L&O franchise, combined with too much RL exposure to really terrible cops in my own city... well, that kind of killed it for me. As a whole I neither like nor trust the police in day to day life, and I'm pretty fed up with them being held up as heroes constantly in pop entertainment.
If anything, it feels like pop culture marketers are pushing cops as heroes harder and harder, in response to the phenomenon of more "average citizens" becoming distrustful and disenchanted with police conduct. I know that the recent issue of Daredevil had a heartfelt rah-rah from the title character about the glory of protecting and serving the public while in uniform. But having seen the way police behave as a rule in this town, (if they are not supposed "bad apples" they seem unable and disinterested in doing anything but protecting those "bad apples" from taking any responsibility for their actions) it just made me roll my eyes.
Posted by Eryk Davis Ester on :
One I've noticed is that the preponderance of cop shows seems to have come at the expense of private detective shows, which seem almost completely absent from the air these days.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
The only great cop show I've seen on TV in years and years was the Shield. And it addresses exactly what Cleome is talking about, and pulls absolutely no punches.
My favorite private detective show was Veronica Mars which unfortunately got cancelled. Incredibly clever and with one of the best leads ever!
Posted by Power Boy on :
quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: One I've noticed is that the preponderance of cop shows seems to have come at the expense of private detective shows, which seem almost completely absent from the air these days.
what about Cheaters?!?!
seriously though, I was just going to suggest Veronica Mars.
Click Here For A SpoilerI love it in the later episodes where she would tazer people and/or have her adorable pitbull attack people haha!
I was really starting to get into Prime Suspect ... which was a horrible imitation of the british show at first ... then they changed it up and it was more funny and about camaraderie ... and now it's gone. Posted by Power Boy on :
by the way:
the British Prime Suspect ... is so amazing there needs to be a new less used word that means amazing to describe it.
It has a lot of grizzly killings but ... what the show is really about ... is how messed up the cops are ... but not in a sensationalist way ... they're not corrupt, they're just a bit broken by their lives and work.
It is must watching. and Helen Mirren ! yes!
Posted by cleome45 on :
Yeah, PS was a good show, for that and other reasons. Posted by Tempest on :
Peanuts
Taste so yummy...then my pants don't fit.
Posted by KidChaos on :
re: the whole "cops" thing, yeah bad experiences with them has lead me to kinda hate that whole institution which I used to respect.
A situation where I forgot to renew the tags on my car resulted in me getting pulled over. And then I didn't take care of *that* ticket which resulted in me actually getting pulled over and *arrested* while driving to work. (even though I had since gotten new tags). I realize I should have taken care of business, but I was still, like, Really? Aren't there any real crimes being committed?
Kinda ruined cop shows for me.
And working in the medical field has ruined shows like ER for me. I hate how doctors are shown to do everything when everyone knows nurses do 99.9% of all the actual bedside care. And I swear to God, if I see one more show where they use a defibrillator to "restart" a stopped heart I will throw something at the TV....
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by KidChaos: A situation where I forgot to renew the tags on my car resulted in me getting pulled over. And then I didn't take care of *that* ticket which resulted in me actually getting pulled over and *arrested* while driving to work. (even though I had since gotten new tags). I realize I should have taken care of business, but I was still, like, Really? Aren't there any real crimes being committed?
Full disclosure: My brother is a cop, so what I have to say is biased . . . but, yeah, you should have taken care of business, KidC.
Two months ago, I was pulled over twice by police officers who thought my tags were expired. They were not: The cheapo tags my state uses fade after awhile and look expired (and my tags were due to be renewed within a few weeks). Both cops ran my license (which they are required to do) and let me go.
Cops don't make the laws; they merely enforce them.
Yes, cops who abuse their authority exist.
And yes, cops go after "real" criminals, too. They are the ones who go after drugged-up men who take axes to their girlfriends' apartments and wrestle them to the ground when they resist arrest, and who respond to reports of women jumping off bridges (which my brother did, both on Easter Sunday, no less)! They are the ones who deal with torn uniforms, bruised knees, and emotional trauma, not to mention insults from people who think the concept of personal responsibility doesn't apply to them.
We all make mistakes, and sometimes we have to pay the price for them. But don't blame the messenger.
Posted by KidChaos on :
Yeah, you're right. I understand they were just doing their jobs. I think some people (like me) develop negative feelings because all we have are bad experiences.
Which really isn't fair to cops cause I bet most people's experiences with them are bad ones... for obvious reasons, none of which are really their fault.
My "they should go after real crimes" remark wasn't fair, I know. But I'm thinking that's how lots of otherwise law abiding, tax paying citizens feel when their lives seriously disrupted by stupid mistakes. Again, on an intellectual level, I know the police are in the right, but on an emotional level I often feel differently....
Posted by cleome45 on :
[snip]
quote:Originally posted by KidChaos: re: the whole "cops" thing, yeah bad experiences with them has lead me to kinda hate that whole institution which I used to respect...
KC, (and HWW) I'm talking more about the kind of thing described in the links here.
For me, it's not that cops "should go after real criminals," but rather that far too many of them have incredibly distorted ideas of what "real criminal" behavior actually is. And that too often they aren't held accountable for their wrongdoing.
It's a constant refrain that "most cops are good people," but even if that's true, nobody can find out in advance of calling the cops whether a "good one" will show up or not.
Posted by KidChaos on :
I regret using the word "hate" there...
I think I used it due to the title of this thread, more than anything else...
My apologies if I offended anyone.
Posted by Fanfic Lady on :
quote:Originally posted by Quislet, Esq: Giffen's BWA-HA-HA Justice League. I initially enjoyed the little silly bits that were thrown in. But then the silly bits became the focal point. I got so tired of it that I didn't like it when it was brought back years later as specials. Between this, his later Legion art, and "killing" Karate Kid just because he didn't like the character has really turned me off of everything he does now.
Well said, Quis. I came into the DCU just as that era of Justice League was winding down, and I didn't like it at all. When my library got the first four trades, I tried reading them with the most open mind I was capable of, and I felt exactly the way that you do -- strong start, but then it got way too self-amused and overreliant on silliness.
Posted by cleome45 on :
quote:Originally posted by KidChaos: I regret using the word "hate" there...
I think I used it due to the title of this thread, more than anything else...
My apologies if I offended anyone.
KC, I'm not personally offended. I just figured we were talking about two very different types of situations.
[ May 03, 2012, 06:07 PM: Message edited by: cleome45 ]
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by cleome45: It's a constant refrain that "most cops are good people," but even if that's true, nobody can find out in advance of calling the cops whether a "good one" will show up or not.
If you were being threatened by someone with a knife, would you really hesitate to call the police just because the officer who answers might not be a "good" cop?
I've had to call the police for situations in which I've felt threatened exactly twice in my life. The first time I was working the graveyard shift at a gas station and was being harassed by a young man who couldn't understand why I wouldn't sell him alcohol after hours. Let me tell you, there is nothing more satisfying than seeing those red and blue lights enter the parking lot.
The second time I called the police was when a strange man was hanging around my apartment complex. He even banged on my door. (I happened to be in my car at the time.) Though he got away (as did the drunk young man in the gas station*), I was delighted to see the flashlights of police officers outside, in the snow, looking for clues. It is great to know that someone has the training to investigate such situations and the bravery to do it, not knowing if the person they are looking for has a weapon.
As I said above, corrupt cops do exist, and this is truly unfortunate. They undermine the very trust we are supposed to place in police officers. But reports online or in the news do not undermine the very real experiences I've had with police, which, all things considered, have been positive.
*This was my fault. In my nervousness, I gave an incomplete address.
Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by KidChaos: I regret using the word "hate" there...
I think I used it due to the title of this thread, more than anything else...
My apologies if I offended anyone.
I was not offended by your comments, KidC, though I think they reflect an all-too-common and unfair attitude toward the police: Someone gets a ticket for something they did wrong, and, somehow, the police are to blame.
Posted by cleome45 on :
[snip]
quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders:
quote:Originally posted by cleome45: It's a constant refrain that "most cops are good people," but even if that's true, nobody can find out in advance of calling the cops whether a "good one" will show up or not.
If you were being threatened by someone with a knife, would you really hesitate to call the police just because the officer who answers might not be a "good" cop?...
Given what I've learned about the way the police and their bosses operate in this town, I'd have to say "yes."
I have called the police maybe three times in the last twenty-plus years. In all cases, it was over minor incidents, and only for the second two were there any other people involved. Frankly, I was at least as concerned for the safety of the other people involved as I was for my own.
Nobody should have to choose between their own safety and putting another human being at risk of deadly force because an officer himself/herself has severe anger management issues, is a racist or a bigot, or has been badly trained by the people in charge. And all of these situations cause ongoing problems where I live, unfortunately.
[ May 04, 2012, 07:30 PM: Message edited by: cleome45 ]
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
He Who, I tend to take it on an individual basis, but some things can't be taken in stride. Carol got stopped late at night on the way home in Lake City from work for a bad taillight. They ran a check, and she was arrested for Driving under Suspension.
Turns out, the reason the DUS was issued was because the cash she paid a year before for a minor speeding ticket was embezzled by the town clerk in a different town. Carol had no idea about it until she was handcuffed and locked up.
Then, she was transferred from town to county lockup on a cold november night with the transport cop driving with the windows down... and wasn't allowed to get her coat. Even the crackhead in transport was asking the cop to role up the window. He refused.
These are the same town cops that ran the DARE program and were taking the confiscated drugs down to Myrtle Beach and reselling them. The same town that had the mayor arrested for harboring a fugitive and counterfeiting.
Not all cops are bad by any means, but where I'm from, a little distrust is a natural thing. And I've got a cousin that's a cop and one that's married to one.
I'll say that I have met good ones, but there's some bad ones out there too, and they tend to stand out.
Posted by Invisible Brainiac on :
There are certain songs that I add to my playlist, and after maybe the 20th time playing them I can't bear to listen to them anymore.
Posted by Harbinger on :
Sweet and Sour food. Used to love it but now can't even stand the smell of it. And apples, can't eat them anymore as they turn my stomach!
Maybe sweet and sour apples are the answer? Posted by He Who Wanders on :
quote:Originally posted by rickshaw1: He Who, I tend to take it on an individual basis, but some things can't be taken in stride. Carol got stopped late at night on the way home in Lake City from work for a bad taillight. They ran a check, and she was arrested for Driving under Suspension.
Turns out, the reason the DUS was issued was because the cash she paid a year before for a minor speeding ticket was embezzled by the town clerk in a different town. Carol had no idea about it until she was handcuffed and locked up.
Then, she was transferred from town to county lockup on a cold november night with the transport cop driving with the windows down... and wasn't allowed to get her coat. Even the crackhead in transport was asking the cop to role up the window. He refused.
These are the same town cops that ran the DARE program and were taking the confiscated drugs down to Myrtle Beach and reselling them. The same town that had the mayor arrested for harboring a fugitive and counterfeiting.
Not all cops are bad by any means, but where I'm from, a little distrust is a natural thing. And I've got a cousin that's a cop and one that's married to one.
I'll say that I have met good ones, but there's some bad ones out there too, and they tend to stand out.
I'm sorry Carol had to go through all that, but it sounds like it was the town clerk's fault, not the cops'.
However, the guy who wouldn't roll up the window was being a d__k!
Posted by rickshaw1 on :
Big time. That's the problem with this town. The police chief left for whatever reason, and they hired a guy away from SLED to run the police department.
He stayed a weak, resigned, and went back to SLED. Cops in this town as a whole haven't earned respect, so it isn't given. They are great at writing speeding tickets and pulling people over for seat belts ( a big thing here since it's a $25 fine that doesn't go on your record or insurance, the town keeps the money, and no one fights because it isn't economically worth it.) but let something real happen and they are nowhere to be seen. Not to mention our local cracktown or gamblin' dens.
Posted by cleome46 on :
Goodwill.
They were good back in the Nineties and Oughts, but now...? Jacked-up prices, a decimated book selection (their book section used to be a favorite of mine, because there were so many mega-old gems at bargain prices). Bleah.
Plus, I have a buddy whose worked there for eons, and he's told me some stories about Management that curl my hair.
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That ruined everything for me that came afterward. (These days, I try like mad never to read the opinions of artists whose work I admire. It's so much better being ignorant.) Also, I met so many of her fans on the 'net (and a couple IRL) that turned out to be mega-pretentious, astoundingly self-important wankers.
![[sigh]](graemlins/sigh.gif)
![[Yes]](graemlins/nod.gif)
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. (It's also in MMB, where I rarely go).
![[LOL]](graemlins/lol.gif)
![[Hmmm?]](graemlins/hmmm.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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