What’s ‘Selfish’? Is it some other fad or something?
Kim Kardashian’s book of selfies.
Hey no problem, no offence taken. On reflection “cultural orbit” sounds like a bit of a poncey term but I mean it in a neutral way. Couldn’t think of another way of putting it. The conversations I have cover a wide range of topics from the puerile to the fairly esoteric. Just today I’ve covered both fart jokes and Pythagoras, My job involves me speaking with all kinds of people but no, Kim Kardashian and her ilk just don’t ever come up.
At my house, we talk more about Charo than any K person.
We have known about Taylor Swift since her Tim McGraw song.
Reality TV somewhat annoys us, somewhat baffles, so it really just doesn’t come up too often.
We are not in a pop culture vacuum, but we do pick and choose what we want to interested in.
It seems pretty hard to escape at least a passing awareness of some of the bigger names in fluff tabloid news, tho, regardless of whether I want to or not.
Wait, what? The Kardashians were on NPR? I didn’t even think they could spell NPR.
hehehe I see what you’re doing, but I’ll play along anyway.
I haven’t overheard any of my co-workers discuss the Kardashians, at the microwave or anyplace else. Some of them do seem to be obsessed with Will Smith, though.
Is he famous?
You used social media to make this post. Social media isn’t just Facey-Space and twatter. It’s Youtube, Yelp, Pinterest, Flickr, message boards etc.
Well, no. You’ve been busy moving the goal posts from what you said in your OP. You said in the OP that everybody (who wasn’t living in a cave) must know “exactly” who the Kardashians are, and have more than a vague notion about them; and also must listen to Taylor Swift. In fact, as you say, 99% of the people posting in this thread do have at least a vague idea of who they are, and most people aren’t denying that.
Well, aside from my current location where the only thing anyone asks me about is Transformers and NBA basketball (neither of which I have any knowledge of or interest in), when I am in my home office, we’re a bunch of engineers, and in general we’re not interested in uninteresting shit, so I can kind of understand his point about “cultural orbits.” Within my particular epicycle we talked about The Prequels (you know which ones, or, maybe not), I learned about Digg (back when it was still a thing), and talked about Lost because the dynamics of the plane crash interested us enough to hook us into the rest of mystery.
I can’t say with certainty that they’re not talking about Kardashians or pop singers, but I would stake a lot of money on them not doing.
I worked with a woman who was always talking about people like Big Kim as if they were besties and their every move affected her deeply. We, as a group of telemarketers–Normals, not engineers or professors or other high-falutin’ people–thought she was odd.
Transformers… Are they electrical engineers?
Sorry, but we are strictly Copernican. 
I think I might have an extraordinary memory and ability to absorb information without trying. So, I understand why some people are not aware of things. Yet I do tend to side with the OP, especially when people cop to knowing some of the more obscure stuff about people yet pretend to know nothing else.
Did everyone who hasn’t heard about The Kardashians also completely avoid all media surrounding that football player guy from the movies and car rental commercials who was tried for the murder of some chick and a waiter? If so congratulations. I would never forget Robert Kardashian, though I’m sure I was less exposed to him in my entire life than the duration of Kim’s sex tape.
I have never seen the Kardashians show. I think I first heard of Kim in some online article about Paris Hilton or a picture of her and Paris Hilton. Or maybe it was from dating Nick Cannon when he was on TV a lot and actually had a hit single and headlined a movie. So, I guess to get there I have to admit to reading some gossipy of web sites. Or I had a tv in 2003. Or perhaps I was a little intrigued by celebrity sex or I have consumed porn at some point my life. I’m sure she was always introduced as the daughter of Robert kardashian and step daughter of Bruce Jenner. After Paris Hilton’s profile increased due to her porno, Kim Kardashian had a porno “leak.”
Kim Kardashian is famous for “having a big ass and a sex tape.” I think I am quoting Joel McHale from the Soup (show that continued after the run of Greg Kinnear, Hal Sparks, John Henson, and Aisha Tyler did “Talk Soup”) there. That’s the most succinct way to describe her.
She made the sex tape with a singer/actor that a lot of people also don’t know or pretend not to know. Some will just refer to him as Brandy’s (if you don’t know who anyone is, you might know who brandy is either) brother, Ray J. I knew he was because he starred on network tv shows. Since I didn’t have cable or internet around 1993 but I watched TV every night, I remember him on The Sinbad Show. It was short-lived, but it did last an entire season, so it was lived enough to be aware of. Then Ray J was on Moesha for 5 years. I never watched that show at all, but I was aware of it and could probably name a half dozen regular or semi-regular actors. So then he did a sex tape with Paris Hilton’s friend and daughter of OJ Simpsons lawyer/friend. Like all celebrity male sextape stars (except for Fred Durst) his penis size was exaggerated. T-Pain complimented him on his “meat.” Kim Kardashian, has a big ass and did a porno with a black celebrity. it made a lot of money for all involved, including Vivid. I think it may have broken Paris Hilton’s record. Yes, in the age of free porn a bunch of people paiud 50 bucks or whatever it was to see this big-asses friend of Paris Hilton fuck and suck Moesha’s little brother.
Then Kim dated Reggie Bush and married Kris Humphries, both male athletes who are known to anyone who follow major US professional sports even if they aren’t all-stars. Many kardashian fans even said that Humphries was using Kim for money and fame, even though he was making around $8 million a year when they married. I have also recently read that sister Khloe needs to drop Lamar Odom for a guy with money, despite the fast he made over $100 million by his 30th birthday. I also am aware their other sister is actually married to some guy named Lord Dick or something, and it’s somewhat notable that he is white and the relationship has lasted more than 72 days and produced multiple children. i think Lord Dick has a reputation as a boozer and philanderer, though.
Taylor Swift, I saw her perform on the jay Leno Tonight Show when she was a teenager with a guitar. She sang a song called “Tim McGraw.” I noticed it because she was young and because of the name, just sort of things that stick out. I have never intentionally listened to her since. However, from just being alive and being a consumer and reader of music, regular news, and shopping at target and Papa Johns, it has been impossible to not notice her millions of records being sold, her CDs being massively marketed, being asked if I want to order her CD with a pizza, etc. I also am aware she has supposedly dated many famous guys (almost all ones with gay rumors, fwiw) and has written songs about them. I have never heard of any of them. I also heard she got really made at bob lefsetz and even wrote a song about him. From what I can tell, she hasn’t really been “country” since her first album or 2, and hasn’t even been pop/crossover country for close to 5 years (or more?) or 2-3 album cycles. I think a young girl with a guitar singing about Tim McGraw 10 years ago was country, but she is a pop artist now with no pretenses other than being a top pop artist played on top 40/pop and selling millions of albums. I’ve never intentionally listened to Adele, but I would find it impossible not to know who she is for the same reasons (though Adele does get play on alternative rock radio stations for some reason, maybe the same reason they play Amy Winehouse and The Beastie boys).
Oh yeah, I heard the song “We are Never Ever Ever (ever, ever, ever?) getting back together” at the pool last summer. I probably wouldn’t have known the difference between a Kelly Clarkson or somebody else singing it, but I knew it was Taylor Swift because I had heard so much about the song and recognized the title without ever having heard it.
It’s not about trying to know who Kim Kardashian is.
You don’t have to try. I’ve never seen her show, don’t have cable TV, I’m not on Facebook, I don’t like reality shows, and don’t follow entertainment news. I know who she is.
What many are implying in this thread is that the reason they don’t know about all this trashy, low brow, pop-culture is because all there info-getting time is spent on arts and science. Or all that valuable brain space is to chocked full of NASA space probes. No. You’re just out of touch.
Also, if you’re into playing drinking games alone, in front of you’re computer, try reading this thread, and taking a sip every time you read “vague” or “vaguely”.
Or Thailand. I have only a vague idea of who the Kardashians are. Because I’ve been in the US only once in the past 10 years. (I was there April-May 2005, but that’s more than 10 years ago now.)
While you of course are fully in touch with the Kardashians and arts and science and NASA space probes. Not only that, but if we were to ask you for detail about NASA space probes, you would not once have to use the word “vaguely”.
Or perhaps you are “out of touch” with arts and science and NASA space probes, but since you don’t regard that as being meaningfully “out of touch” you’re OK with being as you are.
I’m not a sir, and honestly have no clue about the two you mention.
As for Kardashians, I would have been perfectly happy to never have heard of any of them. Attention-slutting is not endearing to me.
At least Taylor Swift is a competent singer, if not spectacular (mostly heard her on store background music), and by all accounts is a rather kind and thoughtful human being.
I love the way you phrase that, and that’s about how I feel. I also feel the same way about Paris Hilton or any member of the cast of “Jersey Shore”. When one’s sole talents consist of partying, making sex tapes, and attention-slutting, this is not someone contributing much to the world, and such entities IMO do not rate anywhere near the attention the media lavishes on them.
Hell, I hadn’t heard of Bruce Jenner until the “comes out” thread. I mean, maybe someone mentioned him on el Telediario when he won the decathlon, but I was 8 and as uninterested in sports as it’s possible to be. If he was mentioned, my reaction probably was along the lines of “what is ‘decathlon’?”
Do I know that there are a bunch of Kardashians? Yes, because they appear to compete with Belén Esteban and Olvido-I-don’t-know-her-lastname for cover space on Spanish glossy mags. Do I know their names? I know they all begin by K, including one that’s sometimes written Kloe and sometimes Khloe and sometimes Khloé, but I’m not sure which is which without a refresher. So? I don’t remember the demo to Bolzano’s theorem either and that’s something which actually had an impact on my professional life!
Taylor Swift I know, from a music videos channel which actually plays - music videos! Well, when they’re not on shopatons…