Just “fan-dom” in general. I don’t comrehend it. These are people, politicians, artists, etc. and some of their work is really useful/enjoyable. The whole deification thing just baffles me.
I’ve never eaten in a fine restaurant, so I can’t say if they’d be overrated or not. I’ve eaten in restaurants that try to make an appeal to be classy for us common folk, though, and I certainly can’t see what the fuss is about them. I mean, c’mon, the black folk dress up in their Sunday best to eat at a damned Red Lobster? :dubious: I guess I do genuinely like it as a second choice because the food is good, and it’s pretty inexpensive.
Banquet dinners are definitely fussed over more than they should be. Whenever I go to a conference or my professional society dinner parties, everyone absolutely raves about how fantastic the food is. I don’t see it. The beef dish must be overcooked, because it has to sit around for three hours with 200 of its mates until its serving time. What about the salmon? Same bloody thing! Oh, and who likes wilted, tender asparagus? That’s the kind of stuff that’s easier to make at home, quickly, and with much better quality (ironically, “going out” for me means Detroit-style pizza, hamburgers, wings, because that’s the type of stuff that’s easier to order than to make, and tastes better when out!). I’ve included this not because I genuinely like the dinner per se, but I do enjoy the conferences and the party part of dinner parties.
Fancy guitars.
I have a really nice Gibson semi hollow body jazz guitar that retails for about 3k these days. I also have a Mexican-made Stratocaster, cost about $350.
I like the Strat much better. Even for jazz, the Strat is better. It has smooth curves and fits me better. And I have checked out the exalted American Strats, at >$1k, and just can’t see why they cost so much more than mine. I can’t tell the difference.
truffles
Italian sports cars
Firearms that cost over $1000.00
Great huge breasts (on women)
Rock and roll music
Apple products
Tina Fey
Most sitcoms
Movies
Avatar. I saw it in 3D on an Imax screen and it blew me away, but I read an article where people were going multiple times and becoming seriously depressed that Pandora (the planet in the movie) was not a real place. They wanted it to exist so badly that they were let down by our own planet.
WTF?
I can’t believe I had to read all the way down to Bumbazine for someone to mention Apple products. I have an iTouch. I like it, but I really find many of the other products way too expensive and overrated.
I’m so glad to read others feel the same way I do about fancy restaurants. Yes, I can tell the difference between the steak at Black Angus and the steak at Ruth Chris, but it is worth three times the price? Not on this planet or any other. And I find the whole thing with having to pay extra for the vegetables and potatoes an insult.
I will add to the list…concerts. I don’t care how much I like a band, it is not worth it to haul my ass out to hear a band where you can’t even understand the lyrics due to bad acoustics, the seats suck and are located in a different zip code than the band, and I’m sorry, but I’m just not willing to sit through a crappy opening band, the band I like starting late and playing until midnight, fighting the traffic to go home and feeling like shit the next day at work because all this went down on a Tuesday night. Unless it’s a smaller band playing at a local venue on a Friday or Saturday night, I just couldn’t give a shit any more.
Beanie Babies. And any other collectible of that ilk. Beanie babies are cute, a nice size for little hands and different than stuffies. My son has been a Beanie guy since he was old enough to show a preference. And when I’ve bought him any- and it’s going to kill a kitten somewhere for me to say it— I take the tag right off. Yep, that’s right. No plastic tag protectors cause the tags go immediately. I remember people hoarding these things and needing to get every new one in triplicate as soon as they came out. And if you had a “rare” one, oh boy…hello, they’re cloth stuffed with beans. How rare can they get?
That trend seems to have passed, but it wasn’t the first or last trend of that type. I just can’t see the need to go so crazy over things like that.
Women becoming swoony over shoes and purses. Yeah, I really like nice shoes, especially if they are comfortable. Sometimes I’ll even buy a funky pair if it suits me and they are actually comfortable but what is the DEAL over them. And why the heck should I be willing to pay a fortune for a purse that has LV or C stamped all over it? It’s a purse. Sure, I’ve developed a favorite or two but a purse is really a tool, not a personality. Big deal.
You might be, but your partner isn’t.
I have. The problem is that some of them - a lot of them - confuse “expensive, pretty food with obscure ingredients and complicated preparation” with “exceptionally good food”. They are not the same thing, and mostly they’re just for the chef to show off.
There have been very rare occasions where I’ve eaten something where all the flavors and textures balance perfectly and you want to savor each mouthful for a long, long time. Those are exquisite occasions. But there is not a direct correlation with price or restaurant hype - while you won’t get that in Burger King, you won’t necesarily get it at The Ivy either. Often you can’t even get that from one meal to the next in the same restaurant.
I suspect the “sex” responses are the same - when the stars align and all conditions are perfect, it’s amazing. The rest of the time - less so.
I do it every year or two. Some are, some aren’t. About 50% of the time when I’ve fine-dined, it’s been a disappointment. Ramsay at Claridges - patchy and hugely overrated. The Fat Duck - breathtaking food and a superlative, exceptional experience.
I have to agree, sex and food are [to me] related. They are more art than science. When it is good, it is amazing, otherwise it is meh. It really is not true that any sex is good sex, at least from a female point of view. In general, men climax pretty much all the time, it takes attention and effort to get the woman to climax, and many men in the past pretty much did not bother trying. That is actually why I prefer men who are smaller than men who are hung, they figure the size will work every time. Smaller men try harder.
Same sort of goes with fine dining. I have had meals by 2 different guys at the same place and you could tell one of them knew how to get the best out of a steak, the other was just following directions.
To be perfectly honest, I have eaten at 3 star places in Europe, and to be perfectly honest, I would rather spend the $150 for dinner at Ruth’s Chris in Hartford and have the perfectly done wagyu NY strip than waste $200 at Alinea with all the little froufrou tasting menu crap that I probably wont like or cant eat. I know a basic steak, bake and creamed spinach is pedestrian, but I know it will be well prepared and all edible. [I wasn’t thrilled with the blood orange sorbet. Can’t have everything. Next time I’ll go for the pedestrian cheesecake.]
The Greatful Dead - yes, their music is nice folk rock. No, they are not worth entering into a nomadic existence, trading bootleg tapes of the same song played at different shows, etc. It can’t just be the drugs, can it?
Babies.
Exactly. Same with beer. I wonder how the connoisseurs at those beer-rating sites manage to perceive so many different flavors. And describe the brew in other terms than ‘damn fucking fine’, ‘passable’, ‘meh’ or ‘drink only to get smashed’.
In a way, it’s like audiophiles commenting on the wonders of some expensive cable on the sound they perceive.
Firefly. Fun little show, but get over it already.
Also:
Religion and politics. I have my own preferences and opinions. I’m not all that interested in yours or other people’s. I surely don’t see what good arguing about them does.
Damn straight. The older kids get, the cooler they are. About the only thing I miss about the baby stage is the portability, and I had a good one!
If The Bestest Boyfriend had been able to play the music tapes I gave him, instead of endless Metallica and Queen reruns (I do love Queen but Jesus dude, change tapes once in a blue moon… God, no, not Metallica again!), or if I’d been able to put my foot down and force him to listen to those tapes I gave him, we would have gotten married.
He wasn’t good at listening, I wasn’t good at forcing people I care for to listen (I’ve gotten better at this). Didn’t seem like a good foundation for marriage.
After we broke up, it took me years to be able to listen to Metallica. I like Queen, I like Metallica… but Jesus, dude, change tapes once in a blue moon!
…[N]o conclusions should be drawn from this because all tapes left in a car for more than about a fortnight metamorphose into Best of Queen albums. (From Good Omens)