Was there a Suck on Wired
Style? After a friend noticed
my unfortunate purchase (for
a class no less), he
mentioned the New Yorker
article and Suck in the same
breath. I wasn't able to
discern from titles in the
Barrel if this particular
publication had been singled
out for abuse.
selena
<selena@basil.uoregon.edu >
Are you sure he didn't say
"That New Yorker article
sucked"? Hmm ... on par with
The New Yorker. We must be
slipping.
I think the article to which
your friend refered is:
"Going in Style," by LeTeXan
Perhaps you could enlighten
me. What was the intended
purpose of your article?
Humor? Irony? Bringing to
light the dark hypocrisy of
the Girl Scouts?
I really would appreciate a
straightforward explanation
of the purpose behind your
incomprehensible (to me, at
least) editorial style. Who
reads this stuff and enjoys
it?
Thanks.
Michael Darby
<mdarby@cisco.com>
Hi, Michael -
Thanks for your note.
While I wouldn't try to explain
the purpose behind our
"incomprehensible editorial
style" or describe "who
enjoys it" any more than I'd
attempt a critique of the
connections between
Protestant solipsism and the
rise of petty capitalism, I
can say without equivocation
that our mission is to have
fun and make lots of
money.... Not unlike that of
Girl Scouts....
E.L. Skinner
Conspiracy Theory 101
Subject: Escaping The Man
I knew sooner or later the
suits would come to their
senses and try to stop you.
Congratulations on having the
guts and ingenuity to keep
one of the best sites on the
Web operating!
Walter Bauer
<wbauer@dyniet.com>
With courage and strength, we
shall prevail! You can keep
The Man down! The suits will
not be taking over the
asylum!
Thanks for your continuing
encouragement and support.
Didn't Have the Latin for It
What's "n.b.," stand for
please? Thanks again for the
continuing quality of Suck.
Are you fans of Might?
Rich
<Rich.Engel@prograph-inc.com>
That's "n.b." from nota bene, or "note well" for you
rustics out there. Usage: The
folks at Suck seem to like
Might a lot, n.b. the fact
that Might's parties tend to
involve large quantities of
free liquor. You can also use
it to call attention to
something your conversant may
have overlooked. Like, say:
Nice letter, Rich; n.b. the
carriage return key's utility
in creating space between
thoughts.
Gravity's Re-Deux
"Ambrose,"
I love the Pynchon references,
no matter how obscure or
obvious. Sorry to hear about
the crippling of Suck. Now if
you can only manage to put
Zoyd Wheeler and the
Thanatoids in there
somewhere....
Joe gobar
vineland@juno.com
CEO, Gravity's Rainbow, Inc.
A Company of One.
"I'm not unemployed, I'm a
consultant!"
Joe,
I'd love to include some
reference to Zoyd Wheeler and
the Thanatoids in a future
piece - although I really
think they went downhill
after Steve Winwood left.
Beers (and the Whole Sick
Crew, of course)
Stick Your Head in To-Dos
Where were you guys? "And
their little fish, too"
didn't go over my head, but
everything else you wrote
did. Was the corporate
clampdown idea a joke, or
does it refer to something
that really happened? Did you
just oversleep and forget to
suck for awhile?
The "you can't catch me"
writing style sometimes takes
such an oblique trajectory
that it whizzes right over my
head. You told us why you
were offline, but it's still
a mystery to me.
Tom Erlewine
<erlewine@ev.net>
We forget a lot of things,
it's true - something about
"short- term memory loss," but
can't remember why it happens -
but we never "forget to
suck." We sucked long before
there was a Suck, and we'll
keep on sucking long after.
And as for our "can't catch
me" writing style ... well,
nanny, nanny boo-boo.
What We Have Here ...
I subscribed to Suck just over
a week ago. When will you
deliver? Should I
resubscribe, should I just
.... wait ... by the
terminal, bloodshot eyes
weeping, staring at my
two-dimensional netgate?
What the hell is the point? I
email my vitals to you, and
you stap them!
Somebody give me a martini,
I'm being oppressed.
LGW
We stap people's vitals for
breakfast, Luis. Consider
yourself lucky that you don't
have to drink that martini
through a straw.
But that has nothing to do
with why In-Box Direct isn't
working. We'll get right on
it, and until then - waiting
by the terminal with
bloodshot eyes is how we
spend our days. At least you
have something to look
forward to.
Suck Is Down
Hello. What happened to
http://www.suck.com/??? The
URL is not working.
:-(
<mudhoney@sanfransicko.com>
God, aren't emoticons just a
wee bit passé? I mean,
maybe two years ago this was
fine. And maybe, just maybe,
a year ago you could've
squeaked by. But the damn
things are on TV now, guy!
What are you, some kind of
mainstream-loving sicko? Next
thing you know, you'll be
telling us that you still
actually surf the Web.
Please. Get with it.
Isn't It Ironic
Subject: Irony versus Being a
Smartass
Cheap irony is (he said
hopefully) dead. Proving that
you're hipper than thou by
raising an eyebrow or
throwing out a "whatever" is
the last resort of the
culturally challenged. It is
also a totally inadequate
substitute for humor, as any
random viewing of Saturday
Night Live will easily prove.
Being a smartass, on the other
hand, lives. It requires you
to figure out what you don't
like, why you don't like it,
and to criticize it in a way
that is both brief and funny.
Sucksters, now ... well,
everybody's asking you, which
side are you on?
Alan Kornheiser
The Doctor Is IN
<ASKornheiser@prodigy.net>
Alan, some subjects don't
warrant a careful examination
and critical analysis.
Furthermore, we think you may
be underestimating the beauty
of the well-placed
"whatever."
The "whatever" is a simple
recognition of the fact that
many, many subjects aren't
worthy of more than a sneer
and a glib aside. Also, it's
a breathtaking one-word
tribute to laziness. We're
lazy, Doctor, is that so
wrong?
While we recognize that
alienation is hip at the
moment, rest assured that
most of us here are
definitely alienated, and
most definitely not hip.
