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Improbable Lobster posted:http://www.somethingawful.com/news/thomas-friedman-metaphors/3/ Even more so. He is one of those writers who it is hard to satirize because the satire can barely match the grandeur of the original. http://thomasfriedmanopedgenerator.com/about.php
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Oct 12, 2013 05:44
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That Friedman article is amazeballs, Zack.
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Oct 13, 2013 02:49
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glowing-fish posted:Even more so. He is one of those writers who it is hard to satirize because the satire can barely match the grandeur of the original.
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Oct 14, 2013 04:15
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http://www.somethingawful.com/news/broke-slavoj-girls/1/ I don't know who the writer is nor do I have an inkling of the philosphies of the mentioned intellectuals though I get the joke of over-analyzing a simple thing like a sit-com. What I've always wondered is how much of these philosphies and academic subjects do you know Zach because you come off as incredibly smart if not just very well-read.
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Oct 27, 2013 15:11
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I'm a big dummy. I only need basic understanding of a subject to parody it. Someone like Zizek has done most of the hard work already and I just take his own references and use them in a different context. Zizek drops Hegel, Lacan, Marx, Kierkegaard and likes to over analyze pop culture. Someone like Friedman uses grotesquely mixed metaphors and references CEOs, far-flung locations, and poor people he uses as props to make bland neoliberal observations.
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Oct 27, 2013 18:13
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I wouldn't say Zizek over-analyzes pop culture, but the dude references other philosophers like a nerd referencing Star Trej. There's a weird double vision when reading him because pop culture by design discourages deep analysis. If you ever read a Super Mecha Godzilla post you've read a tiny snippet of Zizek style writing.
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Oct 27, 2013 22:48
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New article up http://www.somethingawful.com/news/vonnegut-sears-random/1/
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Nov 5, 2013 02:22
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Just want to say that the "w" made me hoot and howl like nothing else has in months. Haven't finished yet, but it's great just for the first page.
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Nov 6, 2013 06:12
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Thank you for doing Vonnegut. The Sears catalog was a perfect match for him.
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Nov 9, 2013 03:03
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http://www.somethingawful.com/news/dawkins-honey-twitter/ Well now I'll never be able to imagine Richard Dawkins without thinking of him carrying a jar of honey everywhere, dipping his fingers into it and then licking them clean as he speaks.
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Nov 11, 2013 23:39
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bewilderment posted:http://www.somethingawful.com/news/dawkins-honey-twitter/
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Nov 11, 2013 23:48
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I don't think Richard Dawkins is this clever, is he? Even the parody Dawkins is smarter than the real Dawkins. ETA: I had no idea this was a real news item at all, I was wondering where the joke came from. Maybe Real Dawkins is stranger than Parody Dawkins. glowing-fish fucked around with this message at 00:49 on Nov 12, 2013 |
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Nov 12, 2013 00:46
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I can't get enough of this series. Every single one is amazing, and the mental image of Dawkins silently cursing D.B. Cooper as he mournfully pours a jar of honey into a helipad garbage can completely made my day.
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Nov 12, 2013 11:08
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http://www.somethingawful.com/news/frank-herbert-beer/ As a big Dune nerd, I loved this article.
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Jan 10, 2014 18:04
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The concept of a "beardman" completely cracked me up. I also loved the appendices.
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Jan 11, 2014 06:17
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Was enjoying it, and then loving lost it when I got to the appendices.
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Jan 11, 2014 17:42
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Poor Esther  http://www.somethingawful.com/news/sleep-number-poe/
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Jan 20, 2014 15:22
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I really love this series but this the first one where I felt the parody was so exaggerated that it didn't read as well as something Poe would write. I did really like the last line though.
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Jan 20, 2014 18:18
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http://www.somethingawful.com/news/hunter-thompson-bazinga/ The URL is a nice touch.
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Feb 1, 2014 01:14
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Improbable Lobster posted:http://www.somethingawful.com/news/hunter-thompson-bazinga/ Enjoyed this one a lot, as it reflects my seething hatred for that godawful show in a very creative ways.
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Feb 1, 2014 01:48
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Yeah, it really shows. Undoubtedly my favourite of the series, both because of the excellent imitation of Thompson's style and his likely take on the Big Bang Theory (which is, indeed, the worst). For some reason, the image of Sheldon happily embracing fascism if it became resurgent particularly stands out.
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Feb 1, 2014 05:43
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quote:Math Idiot
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Feb 1, 2014 10:12
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These just keep on getting better! I have to say that the William Gibson one works on two levels, because it both parodies Gibson's writing style and fascination with globalization perfectly, and also because it works effectively as a comment on the type of thing that Gibson wrote about: the way that an idealized view of style and individuality exists alongside a total monetization and exploitation of those things by corporate interests.
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Feb 11, 2014 02:29
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This was more Gibson than Gibson. Absolute perfection, and the twist ending rivals Gibson at his Gibsonest. I seriously consider Zack to be the Chesterton, Twain or Bierce of our time. Have been a fan of his since Geistmag.
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Feb 11, 2014 06:35
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The URL for lazypeople like me: http://www.somethingawful.com/news/williamsburg-gibson/ I can only agree with the previous posters. The fact that Zack can so perfectly create a Gibson text which is even talking about fake craftsmen, is so loving meta  . I don't even know if there's any need for a "real" Gibson book anymore at this point.
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Feb 11, 2014 12:04
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I'll add my voice to the choir. This was scarily on-point. It is absolutely pitch-perfect parody of Gibson's later work.
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Feb 11, 2014 19:35
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Grim Up North posted:The fact that Zack can so perfectly create a Gibson text which is even talking about fake craftsmen, is so loving meta That part actually flew over my head...
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Feb 11, 2014 22:38
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Supraluminal posted:It is absolutely pitch-perfect parody of Gibson's later work. I'm halfway through his most recent trilogy. I'm not sure if I'll be able to take it seriously and finish it up, because the Gibsonisms get kinda predictable after a while. Everyone has bizarrely niche fashion styles, obscure art fetishes, and semi-mystical powers.
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Feb 11, 2014 23:14
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Sax posted:I'm halfway through his most recent trilogy. I'm not sure if I'll be able to take it seriously and finish it up, because the Gibsonisms get kinda predictable after a while. Everyone has bizarrely niche fashion styles, obscure art fetishes, and semi-mystical powers. I actually quite enjoyed them, though it might have helped that I read them as they came out and hence spaced apart by a few years each. I imagine shotgunning them (if you're doing that) might get tiring. Also, I found that the last one, Zero History, was surprisingly funny. I found the first two to be more classic Gibson in tone, even if the setting and themes were somewhat different from his earlier work. But with Zero History it seemed like he might finally have gotten bored with being so serious, I think to the book's benefit. So maybe that can motivate you to keep going!
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Feb 12, 2014 01:00
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Supraluminal posted:I actually quite enjoyed them, though it might have helped that I read them as they came out and hence spaced apart by a few years each. I imagine shotgunning them (if you're doing that) might get tiring. Agreed! At first, the new trilogy seemed a bit lackluster (WTF, hotmail hacking and no holographic idoru?), but then I remembered feeling the same about the Bridge trilogy when it came out (WTF, bike messengers and no orbiting cyborg ninjas?). Now the Blue Ant trilogy is my favourite one. His style, which I would describe as inimitable if it wasn't for Zack, is still what draws me in. They are even better at the second and third re-read, as you pick up on all the Gibsonian trilogy-wide connections you might have missed on the first go. I remember Gibson being ashamed of inventing Cyberpunk. I can't even imagine how he must feel browsing Etsy's "steampunk" section.
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Feb 12, 2014 19:22
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bewilderment posted:http://www.somethingawful.com/news/dawkins-honey-twitter/ This is still my favorite. I giggle just thinking about it
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Feb 27, 2014 21:37
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http://www.somethingawful.com/news/lovecraft-star-wars/ I never really thought about it before, but Gungans and the Deep Ones do have some shocking similarities.
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Mar 3, 2014 16:34
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Isn't it kind of cheating to have a David Brooks article AND a Thomas Friedman article?
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Mar 17, 2014 20:09
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glowing-fish posted:Isn't it kind of cheating to have a David Brooks article AND a Thomas Friedman article?
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Mar 18, 2014 00:17
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Y-Hat posted:How so? Their writing styles are different even though they're both NY Times employees and both have rather despicable views of the world. Oh, I wasn't actually complaining about the article and thought it was funny. I was more just pointing out that Friedman and Brooks were the same basic genre of "fatuous pundits". Although, I have to say I think the articles kind of work better when it is a good writer being parodied. Gibson and Vonnegut's styles are good enough that even a parody of them has some value in its own right, we can't say the same for Friedman or Brooks.
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Mar 18, 2014 02:12
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I felt my brain atrophying while reading the latest one, so you nailed it! edit: Lmao at the Dante one, so many phrases I hadn't seen since college that I had to remember the meaning of. got any sevens fucked around with this message at 16:11 on May 11, 2014 |
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Mar 18, 2014 22:57
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http://www.somethingawful.com/news/dantes-kickin-inferno/ This one made me laugh before even clicking the link. Every time I think the premise might be getting old, something unexpected happens.
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May 9, 2014 22:48
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That is some first class fleshlight copy.
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Jun 2, 2014 09:01
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http://www.somethingawful.com/news/kennedy-curved-television/ This was good, but it can't compare with Michael Bay's enlightening CES talk about curved televisions. That one really tells you everything you need to know about "the curve."
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Jun 2, 2014 15:33
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I think this one went a little over the line 
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Jun 22, 2014 03:23
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