This bit in Vulture macking on T/Swift and eating out is one of the best pieces of cultural observation I’ve read in years. It is po-faced hilarious from start to finish and flat-out brilliant writing. I die with envy. Taylor Swift does not “need” to “go out to dinner.” “Going out to dinner” is a bourgeois construct that has no obvious draw for her. Civilians with expendable cash go out to dinner to break up the monotony of being alive. Celebrities go out to dinner to be photographed so that these cash-flush civilians remember they exist. Taylor Swift is neither a civilian nor a run-of-the-mill celebrity. She has rarely known middle-class tedium and she has never risked exiting the collective imagination for even a brief moment.
So you remember at least one of her tunes? That's better than I could manage. If I ever venture to NYC again I guess I'd better actually listen to one and try to remember it, just in case! :-)
I strolled, with studied insouciance, past the coach of the Brisbane Broncos while he was walking his dog yesterday so I just totally connect with this article on many levels.
No, but our interaction was limited to an exchanged nod and a g’day. I didn’t want an extended chat as I suspected the great man would soon be babbling on about your new Axis of Time novel and I didn’t want any spoilers.
Back in my DnD days (which is code for once a nerd always a nerd but just a bit more active in it) there was a cyberpunk based version. One of the character attributes was something along the lines of a celebrity, usually a musician, and you could influence crowds depending on your level of fame. I guess like a charisma attribute or something (there's been a few years between so i'm a bit vague on details).
But TS sounds like she would fit the bill and can sway people with her celebrity alone. My other wild theory is that she is from out of space and converts people into her mindless minions by active pheromones (listening to her music also does this, but its less permanent, especially on adults). Each time she goes out in public in the elite of society she converts them to her will and eventually there will be a take over of the world - she's almost there and converts 10's of thousands each time she does a concert.
Rocker Boyz and/or Girlz from Cyberpunk 2020. Convenient for starting concert/riots that distracted corp filth while the solos were kicking in the back doors and running a break and steal, escorting the netrunners to the hack point.
Meanwhile your heavy metal is waiting in the back of your getaway van in case the fast response are faster than you timed in the dummy run.
As a certified member of the Great Unwashed Masses ©, I'm not sure how I would react to being graced by the presence of T-Swift. Would I pee my pants? Start humming one of her tunes? Gibber for an autograph in Sharpie marker on one of my two unstained shirts? I'll have to think about this and prepare accordingly for when She surely turns up at my lonely book stand next 'con I go to.
So you remember at least one of her tunes? That's better than I could manage. If I ever venture to NYC again I guess I'd better actually listen to one and try to remember it, just in case! :-)
I strolled, with studied insouciance, past the coach of the Brisbane Broncos while he was walking his dog yesterday so I just totally connect with this article on many levels.
Ooh, did he mention my name?
No, but our interaction was limited to an exchanged nod and a g’day. I didn’t want an extended chat as I suspected the great man would soon be babbling on about your new Axis of Time novel and I didn’t want any spoilers.
"So what motivates her to risk life and limb to eat slightly elevated antipasti? Does she even eat the elevated antipasti?" *chef's kiss*
I knew you would like this
Back in my DnD days (which is code for once a nerd always a nerd but just a bit more active in it) there was a cyberpunk based version. One of the character attributes was something along the lines of a celebrity, usually a musician, and you could influence crowds depending on your level of fame. I guess like a charisma attribute or something (there's been a few years between so i'm a bit vague on details).
But TS sounds like she would fit the bill and can sway people with her celebrity alone. My other wild theory is that she is from out of space and converts people into her mindless minions by active pheromones (listening to her music also does this, but its less permanent, especially on adults). Each time she goes out in public in the elite of society she converts them to her will and eventually there will be a take over of the world - she's almost there and converts 10's of thousands each time she does a concert.
Rocker Boyz and/or Girlz from Cyberpunk 2020. Convenient for starting concert/riots that distracted corp filth while the solos were kicking in the back doors and running a break and steal, escorting the netrunners to the hack point.
Meanwhile your heavy metal is waiting in the back of your getaway van in case the fast response are faster than you timed in the dummy run.
Cyberpunk 2020 was a wild time and a lot of fun.
But who doesn't Eat - Pay - Leave?
What I think the author is attempting is to posit the eternal question of how does one deal with the existential ennui in a post scarcity world.