Thursday, July 24, 2008

pandas to distract you from my secret shame

ooh, this is a good game - the telegraph of london asked authors which Great Books they were ashamed to admit they had never read. since that list would be MUCH too long, i'm going to present a less literary (and more new york magazine-y) version. at the risk of alienating the entire readership (i.e., c4ts), here is a list of Great Pop Cultural, uh, Things which i've not read/seen/heard:
  • the wire - yes, i admit it! bayrex, i'm sorry. i made it to episode 3 of season 1. i will have to return the DVDs to you.
  • sonic youth - pioneers, vanguard, forefather/mothers, etc. don't care.
  • none of the russians (y'know, tolstoy, dostoevsky, chekhov, etc.) - i said that to someone once and he asked, "not even nabokov?" i dunno, i tend to not include him. am i wrong on this?
  • big lebowski - everyone freaking fell all over themselves when this movie came out. i dunno, i don't get it. something about bowling or something.
anyway, if you have a Pop Cultural Shame, do let me know so that i don't feel so alone. and pedestrian.

10 comments:

cold4thestreets said...

i came home last night and saw 'pockets watching project runway. i sat for a couple of minutes, zoning out, and then took a look at the screen, and totally said out loud, "who are these people? what season is this?" i thought she was just watching a re-run, but apparently, season 5 is in full swing and i had no idea, and i'm, like, really into the show.

sugarpockets said...

I've never seen Top Gun--not a fan of the Tom Cruise.

AlexD said...

I HAVE A PREDICTION: THIS WILL BE THE MOST-COMMENTED ON POST ON THIS BLOG IN A LONG TIME.

As for me:

-- I have never seen an episode of Top Chef, and the only reason I know that's significant is that it's like all anyone talks about on all the fancy summer lunches.

Anonymous said...

i've never seen prison break or six feet under. anat

jk said...

e-

no one under the age of 32 really cares about sonic youth.

nabokov counts. but you should really read tolstoy.

i don't find this list embarrassing at all. i've never seen the wire, i have watched less than 4 episodes of the sopranos, and i stopped watching both the chappelle's show and arrested development on DVD within the first 4 episodes. i'm not embarrassed. i have no shame.

Rachel said...

for some reason i can't think of too many right now. I am sure there is more than this, as I tend to find myself the most clueless person in the room sometimes. Like at Pitchfork, where I had not heard of most of the bands.

anyway:

1. Yo La Tengo (E, I know you offered to remedy this.)
2. Gray's Anatomy
3. Indiana Jones movies
4. Steve Carrell version of the Office.
5. Ditto the Wire.
6. There's a new season of Project Runway? I've been too lax in my tv regimen this summer. too much to do outside. SHAME ON ME.

Mrs. Franklin said...

i don't have cable, so i think i miss a lot o' pop (but i go to a bar to watch top chef, alex. FANTASTIC show).

i guess i'm mildly chagrined that
i could count the # of times i've seen the colbert report on one, maybe two hands.

oooh i've never seen the paris hilton sex tape (or any celebrity sex tape, for that matter).

E said...

heidi, not sure if sex tapes count. i'll let the others be the judge of that. and colbert report is available online. no excuses there.

jk, i totally forgot about arrested development. i can't deal with that show. i do find chappelle highly entertaining, though.

Snow King said...

Well, the list of things i have seen is more embarassing, but here goes:

- I didn't watch the last season of Project Runway and I don't intend on watching this season. Take away my gay card.

- I fell asleep during The Dark Knight.

- I have no idea who Miley Montana is. Just kidding, I know too damn much about that tween multi-millionaire. Curses!

sarah said...

Ooo, I thought you guys were still on hiatus, now I see I've missed a lot of important discussion. Welcome back!

As for me:
-I think Project Runway is boring and have never made it through a whole episode.

-I only started watching the OC yesterday (but I love already so maybe that doesn't count) and I have never seen Gossip Girl

-I have never seen a Star Wars movie and only one Lord of the Rings

As for the Wire, I'm telling you, start with Season 4 if you can't get into Season 1. You will thank us in the end!