newcritics - Latest Comments in Confession of a Hater

Re: Confession of a Hater

Mike Hawkins — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:06:51 -0000

Have you ever watched the Penn and Teller Show Bullshit? Basically what you described but in concentrated form - I bet you would hate that as well. On that show they attack all kind of con artists, but somehow their own arguments tend to contain quite a lot of b-s as well ;-)

Personally I find them quite amusing but as far as magicians go they certainly aren't my favorites.

Re: Confession of a Hater

Dan Leo — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 18:12:55 -0000

Damn, and here I thought I was a happy guy...except I forgot to mention the shaved-head craze. Anybody else tired of seeing all these Lex Luthor-wannabees?

Re: Confession of a Hater

travy — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 17:58:27 -0000

you're not a happy person are you?

Re: Confession of a Hater

Dan Leo — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 23:19:01 -0000

Two words, dear Brutus: Bally's gym. The music there's enough to make a guy just give up and get fat. Although I must say I never get tired of hearing Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak".

"Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in this town..."

I definitely did not hate Phil Lynott, the one and only African-Irish rock star gawd.

Re: Confession of a Hater

Brutus — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:09:57 -0000

I can really get behind this post, which is pretty uncharacteristic for me (my support of your sentiment, that is -- it's fully characteristic of me to disdain and disapprove). However, I have to note that you appear to have more than a passing familiarity to things you hate. When I don't like (or indeed hate) something, I stop watching, reading, or listening. Are you being force-fed this stuff or something?

Re: Confession of a Hater

Tom Watson — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:12:54 -0000

I always thought it was "Reefer comes to the Zimbabwe..."

Re: Confession of a Hater

Dan Leo — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:16:41 -0000

Welcome, aboard, Tom. And, hey, wait a minute -- I just realized I actually dig that Zimbabwe song! Ah well..nothing to do but quote one of my favorite Morrissey songs:

And now my heart is full
Now my heart is full
And I just can't explain
So I won't even try to

Re: Confession of a Hater

Tom K. — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:43:39 -0000

Here I am, just to remind y'all that "Peace has come to Zimbabwe."

Guess that's just one more demonstration that even talented artists can be . . . errr . . . can fail to perceive political realities.

Re: Confession of a Hater

Dan Leo — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:33:38 -0000

Dear Sean, well, as I said in my comment above, I don't really hate any of the above-mentioned, but what are ya gonna do, write a piece entitled "Confession of a Mildly-Annoyed Fart?" And I guess I didn't want to jump all over less mainstream objects of hatred (or annoyance-causation) if only because their relative obscurity makes them less annoying to me (if I know about them at all, which I probably donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t because IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m so nearly completely out of it). Although I do work with this guy who plays the most God-awful obscure (to me) dance music or club music or whatever the fuck it is. I think that stuff I actually might really hate, but I don't even know who the "artists" are because I just leave the room when he plays it.

But getting back to Billy Joel for a minute.

When Twyla Tharp put on that stage show based on Billy Joel songs all I could think of (as someone who has worked in his own share of low-rent shows), was, Ã¢â‚¬Å“Those poor fucking singers and dancers. They not only have to go through weeks of rehearsal working out the moves and music to these awful songs, but then they have to go up on stage and actually perform this crap, and not only that, there's always the chance that the show will be a hit, and they'll have to go on doing seven or eight shows a week of this nonsense for a whole fucking year.Ã¢â‚¬Â And then the show ran for three years. Now that's some rough shit. That's reason enough to get out of show biz right there. I don't hate Twyla Tharp, but she's out of her fucking mind.

But then it gets weirder if you think about actually being Billy Joel. I mean, thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s all he does, all his fucking life, sing and play Billy Joel songs. No wonder he gets drunk and cracks his car up every once in a while. ThatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s too much of a cross for any man to bear.

Hey, whereÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Tom K anyway?

Re: Confession of a Hater

Sean — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:39:59 -0000

Funny post Dan but most of your targets (Joel, Eagles, The Police, Bruce Willis, Jonathan Franzen) are fish in a barrel, way too easy. Thing is as much as I dislike all the above I doubt I could work up much HATE for any of them. Joel is utterly innocuous, sure, the Eagles a combination of genteel melancholy and fast last schmaltz, and Franzen merely the most annoying prestige novelist around. Still, I doubt they are worth the bile. Criticism sure, but hate? Nah. Way over the top. Sting? Possibly, (his self-importance makes Bono's look quaint) if I spent any time thinking about him.
Also: Rick Moody was Dale Peck's whipping boy, but Peck moved on to bigger targets: Joyce, DeLillo, Stanley Crouch (who slapped him in the face in an encounter in a restaurant)in his book "Hatchet Jobs"

Re: Confession of a Hater

Tony Alva — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:57:39 -0000

BG,

I love when those "singers" audition for American Idol. I couldn't agree with you more, that ssssss . I know you want to say it:-)

Re: Confession of a Hater

jackson — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:29:23 -0000

A breath of fresh air.

Whatlike most about this post is that it reminds me of me.

I hate that.

Re: Confession of a Hater

the shamus — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:15:46 -0000

Dear Dan Leo,

Ha!

Signed (sealed, delivered)
The Shamus.

P.S. In the immortal words of Stevie Wonder: "When you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer." Sounds sort of, uh, Morrissey-esque, eh? Cheers.

Re: Confession of a Hater

Dan Leo — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:13:43 -0000

Blue Girl, teenage boys just gotta feel da noyze.

Tony, that's a good choice for a live Dead from Jason. If you can't get into that then they're probably just not your cup of hash-infused tea.

Well, this has been fun. (I'm only waiting for Tom K to drop in and bring up Ronnie Reagan.) If I may expand just a little on my post, I'd have to say I don't really hate any of the crap I mentioned; I'd just prefer not to be exposed to it. And I realize now that I mentioned only very famous and lauded (and, yes, talented) practitioners of their various arts. Of course Stevie Wonder is an excellent musician; his stuff's just not for me because it's too sappy. I wouldn't even have mentioned him if he wasn't so, um, all-pervasive and inescapable.

I remember a few years back a writer named Dale Peck created a tempest in the tiny teapot of the literary world by beginning a review of Rick Moody's latest book by saying, "Rick Moody is the worst writer of his generation." Now I'm sure Mr. Peck knew that there were plenty of worse writers even than Moody of his generation, but what he was really saying was that he considered Moody to be the worst writer of his generation who was critically acclaimed and who sold lots of books.

We writer folk sometimes make our points by slight exaggeration.

I shall now take my bow and go write a poem about pretty flowers.

Re: Confession of a Hater

blue girl — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 23:24:02 -0000

Yeah, estiv, I get all that. Still doesn't mean I don't hate that screaming...

...with a passion that burns fiery hot.

Re: Confession of a Hater

estiv — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 22:53:07 -0000

Is this singing, I ask you?!

Is it?! Is it?!!

Oh God. How I hate it!

Well, some of it is singing, and the rest of it is in a style that's actually been pretty common since the birth of punk thirty years ago. But how old is your son? If he's a teenager, part of the appeal is probably that you hate it.

Re: Confession of a Hater

blue girl — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:43:17 -0000

There ya go, Tony. Now was that so hard? (I'd "LOL" but I don't want Dan to um, hate me.)

I agree with Jason. I'm inspired or interested in most anything someone creates. Doesn't mean I like everything, but I hate very little.

Being the sap that I am, I always think of this Vonnegut quote:

Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae.

Most things to me are hot fudge sundaes.

Except that damn band my son listens to where the singer doesn't sing, he screams, cranked up to 11.

Is this singing, I ask you?!

Is it?! Is it?!!

Oh God. How I hate it!

Re: Confession of a Hater

The Viscount — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:14:47 -0000

I've used this joke a hundred times on the blogs, but never here - so apologies to those who've already read it a hundred times:

What does a Deadhead say when he runs out of dope?

"Turn this shit off!"

Re: Confession of a Hater

Jason Chervokas — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:02:11 -0000

TA, I toldja, Dick's Picks Vol 4, selections from the FIllmore East Feb 1970, just before they recorded Workingman's Dead. Might not sell you but you'll have the right context to evaluate the group.

Re: Confession of a Hater

Tony Alva — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:53:48 -0000

Don't worry Blue Girl, I've grown up and normally refrain from using that word except on rare instances nowadays, but Dan's post was a chance to air it out. I've been a good boy for so long that a hate/sucks rant was overdue. Com'on BG it's one post, whadoya hate?

Dan,

Terrapin Station on my main man Jackson's recommendation. Opening track was so good it didn't even sound like'em. Went downhill for the next four. Many more to come so the verdict's still out.

Man, is that Jeff Lynn a poopyhead:-)

Re: Confession of a Hater

Jason Chervokas — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:14:33 -0000

It's funny, the older I get the more I find I don't have these passionate hatreds.

I pretty much give the benefit of the doubt to anyone trying to do something creative. I think that's a difficult lifestyle choice and god bless the folks who succeed at making a living at it, or just succeed at continuing to do it. I learn something from every creative act I witness and frankly I cherish the experience of witnessing it. There I go, in touch w/ my inner hippie again.

What I hate is stuff I perceive as hack work...cynical, made for market, devoid of any shred of effort at creative individuality or insight, pure creation by focus group. The Devil Wears Prada, for example, remains my example of the worst kind of movie anyone could ever make (didn't read the book). That, I hated. (Which is not to say I hate commercial, made-for-market stuff...just the stuff that feels empty of any creative spark, driven exclusively by market consideration.)

There's a load of creative stuff I don't get:

South Park.

Robert Altman (well, Gosford Park I hated because it felt like a vapid drawingroom/upstairs downstairs rehash, again, no creative spark).

Yes, Aerosmith (I hear the tightness, tho generally I favor looseness and improvisation; I love the bass playing. Joe Perry's good. The but songs barely qualify as songs--I need something a little more ambitious conceptually).

Deadwood.
Gilbert & Sullivan.
Nirvana.
Cat Power.
Reggeaton music in general.
Most 17th century English narrative poetry in rhyming couplets (I could never get through all of a Milton epic).

But the only thing in the arts I can confidently say I hate w/ blood in my eyes is camp. I'd rather eat broken glass than see a John Waters movie or a Charles Ludlam play. If I wind up in hell, my torture will be an eternal screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Re: Confession of a Hater

Dan Leo — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:39:50 -0000

It's so nice to see a humble late-night post on the subject of hating bringing out so much love.

Dear E. Glenn: actually I'm not on lithium but in fact I did run out of weed yesterday. Q.E.D.

Dear Marcus: as our Latin teacher Father Fahey at good old Cardinal Dougherty High used to say, when he wasn't whacking our wise asses raw with the heavy ribbed rubber soul of a boot, "De gustibus non est disputandum." But if you bring over some good weed I'll gladly sit down and listen to "Songs in the Key of Life" with you, which I believe I still have lying around here on vintage vinyl. (The fold-out sleeve is good for separating the seeds and stems.)

Tony: we tend to toss around the term "lol" a trifle liberally, but your comments really did make me laugh out fucking loud. As for the Dead, I wonder what album you're listening to? The only studio albums I ever listen to are "Workingman's" and "American Beauty", but what I really like is the live stuff, especially the Dick's Picks from around '69 to '73. I just can't get into '80s or 90s Dead although that era has its strange adherents. Maybe Jason Chervakis could recommend a good live concert for you, I think he's much better versed on the Dead discography than I.

Tom: I actually had a lot of really good times in the 80s on base physical levels, but, yeah, not too much of the music from that period is on my frequent-play list, with one notable exception, and, Kathleen, this begins to answer your comment: I am a complete and unapologetic fan of the Smiths. I just love Morrissey and Johnny Marr's songs, and I've never grown tired of them. In fact I'm listening to them right now.

The boy with the thorn in his side
Behind the hatred there lies
A murderous desire for love...

I hope that in some future pieces I can talk about some of my other loves. (And in fact in the "comments" to Tony Smith's piece above I have blatantly confessed to my love for Edith Piaf.)

Re: Confession of a Hater

Kathleen Maher — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:09:22 -0000

So Dan, whom do you LOVE? Who or what grabs you up and won't let go? So you know, your feet are off the ground whenever the musician, writer, actor, dancer puts it out there--and all just for you? What artists ring your bells every time? (What are politicians doing in your list anyway? If they don't merit LOVE, they don't merit HATE. Disdain is different.)
This really is a great post. But for me it stopped at Chapter One.
If you list your LOVES and what they do to how, every time? Half the time? Few are perfect. I'll list mine.
The Grateful Dead, as I've said here before, will send screaming into the unknown night. That might not be all-out hatred, but my aversion to them is intense and personal.
Here, I can't resist throwing in another example. I once worked with a woman, who was as level-headed and good natured as anyone I've known, but a few notes from Joni Mitchell and she'd start screaming, tear at her hair, and run around searching for the source so she could kill it.

Re: Confession of a Hater

blue girl — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 17:01:02 -0000

This post has had me laughing all day, hater!

...Sting still looks great and has the same voice he had back then. Really? That means I still hate them.

LOL...

Stop it!

And Tony Alva, stop saying "sucks." It's not a very nice word.

And now I'm off to listen to "Isn't She Lovely." I downloaded it after I read The Shamus's (I hate when I don't know if my possessive puncutation is correct! With all those "s's" and everything!) fine, fine post.

So there!

Isnt she lovely
Isnt she wonderfull
Isnt she precious

LOL.

Re: Confession of a Hater

Tom Watson — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 16:45:24 -0000

Ah what the hell:

Frampton
Hemingway
Audrey Hepburn
American Idol
Woolf and Pynchon (but not Joyce)
South Park (but not the Simpsons)
ELO, Boston, Foreigner, Styx et al
Jackson Pollock
ER (but not House)
Maureen Dowd
The Cars, The Knack, et al
Musicals of almost any kind...

I'm sure more will occur to me and to everyone else.