OK, you can stop now: new 'stupid things' thread

[peacocks]

oh snap

[dieblucasdie]

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6241/designer_rodarte_and_makeup_mogul_m.a.c._sell_luxury_goods_inspired_by/

They say nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public. If that maxim holds, high fashion designer Rodarte and trendy makeup manufacturer M.A.C. should do very well with their $4,000 dresses and $20 bottles of nail polish inspired by the "dreamy," "ghostly," "romantic" lifestyles of the maquiladora workers of Juarez.

Rodarte's designers, Laura and Kate Mulleavy, say their collection was inspired by the sight of women factory workers trudging to work at four o'clock in the morning. "At Rodarte, the designers were inspired by the idea of workers in Mexican maquiladoras walking half-asleep to the factories in Juarez, after dressing in the dark," explained the LA Times' fashion blog.

[Antero]

Oh god.  Oh god no. 

[Aglaya]

Jesus christ.  Yea, the life of an underpaid Mexican factory worker is so totally romantic.

[G.C.R]

Jesus, is that real? That is beyond offensive.

[Thermofusion]

How does a product like that make it past the conception stage, then subsequently into development and manufacture and release without someone saying, "wait, hold on--this is incredibly fucking offensive."

[G.C.R]

But Thermo, it's "edgy"! it's "in-your-face"! it's "not pandering to the politically correct"! Hell maybe its even "drawing attention to the plight of these poor women"! There are any amount of millions of ways that the appalling, appalling stupidness of this campaign could be spun as something other, or something just shy of, simply offensive.

[elpollodiablo]

I think it's being overly charitable to presume that anyone involved thought about it that deeply.

[Antero]

What's really amazing is it seems like they didn't even try any of those.

[alex]

I was just looking into whether there was any academic writing on the 'God particle' nickname for the Higgs boson. Couldn't really find much, but at least I came across a bunch of entertaining articles in various Christian magazines. My favourite is this expression of moral outrage, found in an issue of the Journal of Creation:

"When men refuse to acknowledge God as Creator and believe the lie of evolution, they find themselves looking for God in all the wrong places, even in particle accelerators! "

the author:
Mary Beth De Repentigny has a Bachelor of Science in
Theoretical Physics from Concordia University in Montreal,
Canada.  After being accepted into the Master’s Program in
Astrophysics at the University of Vermont, she has paused her
own educational pursuits in order to raise and homeschool a
family of four children.  Desiring to help others know and love
God’s Word, she has taught Bible clubs for several years.

sigh.

[RavingLunatic]

That nickname has always struck me as ridiculous. I suppose it originated as a way to sell books.

[alex]

It is and it did. I came across an interview with Peter Higgs somewhere in which he says that Lederman (the dude who wrote The God Particle) originally wanted to call it the "goddamn particle" but his editor wouldn't let him. (edit: actually, that reasoning is right there in the book.) Would've been marginally better, at least.

It seems extremely popular with most of the popular science press, but also seems to (understandably) make most physicists cringe. I wish I could just get some more reputable sources on this.

[jm]

I do find it kind of interesting that dude went from "the goddamn particle" to "the God particle".  The two names have some letters in common but entirely different tenors.

[alex]

I'm pretty sure that it's a joke.

[jm]

Oh.  Well then.

[YojimboMonkey]

Just discovered that some beer person I follow(ed) on twitter has a separate twitter feed for her dog, which she uses to tweet in the dog's voice, stuff like "i had fun at the dog park today WOOF!"  Unfollowed.  Twitter is stupid enough without that kind of shit.

[JamesSchneider]

I follow Matt and Kelly Sue Fraction's babies and Beth from Best Coast's cat.

[cold before sunrise]

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6241/designer_rodarte_and_makeup_mogul_m.a.c._sell_luxury_goods_inspired_by/

They say nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public. If that maxim holds, high fashion designer Rodarte and trendy makeup manufacturer M.A.C. should do very well with their $4,000 dresses and $20 bottles of nail polish inspired by the "dreamy," "ghostly," "romantic" lifestyles of the maquiladora workers of Juarez.

Rodarte's designers, Laura and Kate Mulleavy, say their collection was inspired by the sight of women factory workers trudging to work at four o'clock in the morning. "At Rodarte, the designers were inspired by the idea of workers in Mexican maquiladoras walking half-asleep to the factories in Juarez, after dressing in the dark," explained the LA Times' fashion blog.

tragically transcendent. isn't the purpose of artistic spirit to find beauty in less obvious places? suffering doesn't have to omit loveliness! jack kerouac had endless fun made of him for 'on the road' but he found heaven in the poverty of mexico and i'm reading that book for the second time now.

it might sound dumb but i've been struggling with getting everything done before picking up friends on the coast, was supposed to leave in the morning. as i was weighing out whether i could take another day i strangely happened to notice two thumbtacks on the ground - one black and one white - so i shook them like dice, asking "should i leave monday?" and picked one. it was black. so i'm not leaving tomorrow and that's my 'stupid thing' for the day, a small celebration.

[jebreject]

Seems to me there's a world of difference between "finding beauty in less obvious places" and disgusting exploitative bullshit.

[G.C.R]

FTR, I think Kerouac's dilletante slumming in the "heaven" of impoverished Mexico is pretty fucking problematic too.

[cold before sunrise]

Admittedly! It did involve underage prostitutes and ingesting so many drugs that he almost died, but the writing carries weight and makes a brave effort to be spiritual. Profiteering aside, there's money in things worth paying for, I welcome seeing world problems in a softer light. Like recognizing beyond the obvious suffering of those in poverty that they might even have something we don't.

[jebreject]

Who writes this shit

[jm]

I wish I could say it is me.

[jm]

http://www.theawl.com/2010/08/in-defense-of-having-children

How fuckingly precious.  Suddenly, having children needs to be defended.  Har de fucking har.

[davy]

What an annoying fucking article. Did she write it like that on purpose?