David Foster Wallace dead at 46

[desertgrandma]

Great, based on Mr. Wood's review, now I have yet another book to put on my long long list of those that must be read.......and soon. 'sigh.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

just curious here........why is Will Ferrall and idiot? what did he say now?

Have you seen any of his movies? (Of course you have, so consider this a rhetorical question)

desertgrandma, it is an explicitly ignorant - see the "LALALALALALALA" - and therefore intentionally ironic (in the context of this thread) opinion. All of Will Ferrell's movies make my skin crawl, thus, and in league with my ignorance, I have seen almost none of them.

Just a little one-eyed bias I have.

Cheers,
Marc

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

Have you seen any of his movies? (Of course you have, so consider this a rhetorical question)

desertgrandma, it is an explicitly ignorant - see the "LALALALALALALA" - and therefore intentionally ironic (in the context of this thread) opinion. All of Will Ferrell's movies make my skin crawl, thus, and in league with my ignorance, I have seen almost none of them.

Just a little one-eyed bias I have.

Cheers,
Marc

Actually, I had to google him, and guess what. I have not seen even one of his movies.....but think I"ve seen him a couple of times on "Saturday Night Live" Not impressed.

And I just googled "Infinite Jest" Wiki. Dear Lord, this will be a tough one.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Well said, Ricky.....well, except the last sentence. I didn't mean to imply you weren't wise and certainly not old............

I didn't mean to imply it either .... I'm plain saying it .... I'm ooooold.

[Roy White]

I like Will Ferrell... And consider how the 'idiot' managed to tap into a rich societal vein of silly humour and milk it to the tune of millions of dollars and tons of laughs.

Would that I was such a brilliant idiot!!!

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by Roy White

I like Will Ferrell... And consider how the 'idiot' managed to tap into a rich societal vein of silly humour and milk it to the tune of millions of dollars and tons of laughs.

Would that I was such a brilliant idiot!!!

Okay, no worries, forget I ever mentioned Will Ferrell, and also let's pretend that I never wrote the above bit that explained the self-critical irony of my accusation of idiocy.

Move along, nothing to see here.

[desertgrandma]

Okay, I"ll start.

Anyone else here, beside Mr. Wood, read "Infinite Jest"? Opinions?

[digitalzen]

A friend of mine took his class at Pomona -- said he was a great mentor. This is saying something, given his popularity all over the world. It is sad that such a brilliant/successful person can be so unhappy--really puts things in perspective.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by digitalzen

A friend of mine took his class at Pomona -- said he was a great mentor. This is saying something, given his popularity all over the world. It is sad that such a brilliant/successful person can be so unhappy--really puts things in perspective.

Have you ever noticed how many 'brilliant/successful' people destroy themselves thru drink, drugs, etc? Its so sad. Its like God said "HEY! I"m gonna give you talent no one else has, let you use it, but you can't enjoy it.........."

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Have you ever noticed how many 'brilliant/successful' people destroy themselves thru drink, drugs, etc? Its so sad. Its like God said "HEY! I"m gonna give you talent no one else has, let you use it, but you can't enjoy it.........."

It's almost like when you have an unlimited amount of time and money with nothing interesting an productive to do, you do stupid things that affect your health. To many stories about these young basketball and football starts, kids really getting into so much trouble with drugs and other legal problems.

BOb

[digitalzen]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Have you ever noticed how many 'brilliant/successful' people destroy themselves thru drink, drugs, etc? Its so sad. Its like God said "HEY! I"m gonna give you talent no one else has, let you use it, but you can't enjoy it.........."

Well, I've thought a lot about this, especially with regard to artists. In fact I was thinking of writing my senior thesis on a related topic. While I never got started with it, the basic idea I had was that artistic success requires a the full spectrum of emotions (like a piano keyboard) -- unfortunately, this means that the lowest of the low will be felt, and regrettably, acted upon sometimes.

[digitalzen]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

It's almost like when you have an unlimited amount of time and money with nothing interesting an productive to do, you do stupid things that affect your health. To many stories about these young basketball and football starts, kids really getting into so much trouble with drugs and other legal problems.

BOb

I'm not sure David Foster Wallace can be compared to an NBA player...and in fact I'm sure he did not have much time on his hands as he was teaching too. But certainly, stardom does have a funny effect on people. Again, if only people could put things in perspective, the world would be a much happier place (well, i should say America would be).