tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269645828546245860.post6466157518108005792..comments2024-03-26T19:49:12.341-04:00Comments on Workshop Heretic: How my last post signals the death of readingJacob Weberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17591038654403487222noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269645828546245860.post-57193973321301915642017-05-19T04:28:34.969-04:002017-05-19T04:28:34.969-04:00I agree a lot of TV is excellent. Which may be why...I agree a lot of TV is excellent. Which may be why it's an even greater threat to reading--if you can get from Mad Men what you used to have to get from Pulitzer Prize winners, that means TV is even pushing in on intellectual turf. It certainly makes it a lot easier to justify watching 30 hours of a show in a row. In any event, books will certainly continue to live a troubled existence for a while longer, but their vitality in the culture is pretty anemic right now. When was the last time time a novel played a big role in public discourse on an issue?<br /><br />I wasn't following you in the day when you did TV, but your approach sounds interesting. It's also good for the blogger, I've found, to write about things that don't tax me as much once in a while.<br /><br />I get bots, too. 134 people from Russia all accessed my blog in five minutes? Probably not. It's depressing to think how many of the few hits I get are probably from bots.<br /><br />I thought I knew who my anonymous commenter was, but he's such a protean intellect, I'm not sure anymore...Jacob Weberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17591038654403487222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269645828546245860.post-64690266391623732732017-05-18T22:04:16.922-04:002017-05-18T22:04:16.922-04:00When I stopped blogging competitive reality shows ...When I stopped blogging competitive reality shows (most significantly Top Chef and Project Runway), my hits took a nosedive. In my defense, I evolved from straight recaps to doing research on side issues to writing about how the shows constructed a narrative using various tropes (the loser edit, the shock boot, the ugly duckling). <br /><br />These days I get mostly students, I suspect (and people looking for African girls sex - god I loved the search terms list, before increased privacy gutted it - thanks to Taiye Selasie's magnificent story "The Sex Lives of African Girls") (and bots, lots of bots, I can tell because they come in sequence over a period of days). I can tell when some teacher assigns a particular story. My #1 all time viewed post is about a yogurt commercial. Again in my defense, it featured a pretty cool poem, and was actually a great commercial; I still watch it from time to time. <br /><br />I don't really think it's the death of reading - that's been the claim for decades, but look at kids going crazy for fantasy trilogies. Then again, I've always been a major TV watcher, so I guess I again am defending myself :) I've never understood the problem so many people have with tv. Bad tv, sure (I come from the days of Petticoat Junction and Hogan's Heroes, I know whence I speak). But there's some great TV too. And talk about a way to see what's on people's minds - teenage suicide, I guess. I haven't seen the show, but when I finish my current re-watch of Mad Men, I'm going to give it a shot. Then I'll bump your post count up even more! <br /><br />btw, I always assumed you knew who your "anonymous commenter" was. I'm surprised to find you don't. Karen Carlsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18148246613451246487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269645828546245860.post-29520869055537368932017-05-18T20:07:05.627-04:002017-05-18T20:07:05.627-04:00Perhaps you should wait for a sequel to the Brown ...Perhaps you should wait for a sequel to the Brown Bunny to ask Mrs. Anonymous out on a date. Jacob Weberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17591038654403487222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269645828546245860.post-24864058289598305392017-05-18T17:33:16.476-04:002017-05-18T17:33:16.476-04:00Men generally don't read novels. I found this...Men generally don't read novels. I found this when I worked at Barnes & Noble. Women went for novels (and came to book clubs), men read that brand of self-help that promises to make one rich, or about 'history.' Video killed the radio star. And radio and video killed the novel. You don't even shed a tear, I guess, for the death of the epic poem!<br /><br />I love film as an opportunity to experience something together, Now that we're long married, Mrs. Anonymous doesn't often watch films with me, except accidentally. I don't get that because I have a decent collection of Murnau and Lang and Eisenstein.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com