Tag: Things that totally suck

Shit Houses

Architecture, Modernism, Two-Minute Hate

…is the (bowdlerized) title of this badly-edited video, wherein some mouthy Brit shouts about crap architecture in an annoying whine, but whose script could have been written by me except I would have inserted more swear words.

And there’s a genuinely-terrifying moment at about 3:25 which will make you want to commit murders.

Right after that horror, there’s an annoying advertorial (hey, the guy has to pay the bills somehow), but you can fast-forward a couple-three minutes if you want.

Here’s another example of the kind of thing he’s talking about, and that I hate with a passion.

Never an errant hijacked airliner when you need one.

Just What We Needed

Feminazis, Hippie Filth, Veggies & Vegans

Apparently, Massachusetts is going to allow topless sunbathing om Nantucket Island.

This would occasion no more than a yawn from me, ordinarily, but allow me to point out the kind of people who live on Nantucket (and other islands off the MA coast):

Not that we need any more reasons to never visit Massachusetts, mind you.

(And before anyone gets after me, let me tell you that I’ve been to Nantucket, Block and Martha’s Vineyard in summer — and if anything, the above pics are quite flattering.)

Less Beauty In The World

Bad News

I once wrote that Kirstie Alley was one of the five sexiest women in the world.  And now she’s gone (thank you, cancer, you fucking bastard).

My absolute favorite of her movies:  Sibling Rivalry.

Yeah, I know that she later ballooned out and was seven kinds of crazy, including Scientology.  Don’t care.  She had the world’s sexiest eyes, and laugh.

R.I.P., you gorgeous creature.

Unwelcome Silence

Bad News, Music

Damn it all:

Legendary Fleetwood Mac singer Christine McVie has died at the age of 79 – with the bandmates describing her as ‘truly one-of-a-kind’.

The songwriter was also a co-lead vocalist and keyboardist in the popular British-American rock band, which was originally formed in London.

Here’s my favorite Christine Perfect song, which she performed long before she went commercial.

…and the world has become just a little less beautiful.

Cue The Dynamite

Architecture, Modernism, Two-Minute Hate

Here we go again, with some egotistical asshole disfiguring the world with his “art”:

Vincent Van Gogh loved the light in Provence so much that he moved to the southern French city of Arles in 1888 for one of the key years of his short life. So how fitting that a new building, which dazzlingly reflects that light, has made Arles a major centre of contemporary art. Called Luma, it is designed by Frank Gehry, famous for his Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, who took inspiration from Van Gogh’s famous painting The Starry Night.

Given that Bilbao’s Guggenheim looks like a giant burst carbuncle, we all know where this one’s going:

Even worse than this, of course, is that a group of Bilbao’s city “planners” looked at the drawings and model of this disgusting excresence and said (in Spanish):  “Oh wow!  This is just what we need to make our city look more artistic!”  and signed off on the hideous thing.

But returning to our story, here’s Arles, as seen by Van Gogh:

And this maniac’s vision for Arles?

And it’s quite a sight: a ten-storey tower made of 11,000 twisted stainless steel panels, glass and concrete dominating a huge £150 million ‘creative campus’ on the site of a former railway yard.

They should have kept the railway yard.  From the genius himself:

Gehry says his Luma design was influenced not only by Van Gogh’s The Starry Night but by Arles’ Unesco-listed Roman heritage as well.

Yeah, nothing says “Roman” like twisted steel and glass.

If this distorted dildo had been around in Van Gogh’s time, we’d at least have one good reason why he cut his ear off.  In fact, he could have cut his eyes out, just to avoid looking at it.

And if Starry Night  makes you think of things like this, you need a psychiatrist more than Vincent ever did.

No Responsibility

Gummint, Law and Order

Here’s a recent situation which set my teeth on edge:

Mackenzie Croxford-Cook, 14 and from Deal in Kent, died on August 3 this year after entering a fairground in Pencester Gardens in Dover before it opened to the public.

He and a number of friends gained access to the fun fair and used the dodgems and trampolines before the teen was trapped and fatally injured on a ‘superstar’ machine.

So far, so good:  irresponsible / lawless teens go exploring, start fucking around on equipment that in normal times would be responsibly operated and controlled, and find out the ultimate cost of trespass and said behavior.  Sad, but teenagers do this kind of stuff all the time (although not always with a tragic end), and we all feel for the grieving parents of said hooligans etc. etc.

Here’s what blows the cuff off my arm:

The inquest into his death was due to conclude on Monday at County Hall in Maidstone, but area coroner Katrina Hepburn adjourned the case so further information could be gathered.

The coroner would like to question ride operator, Luke Shufflebottom, as well as Dover District Council which owns the land.

Ummm what for?  Was said funfair locked up?  Were signs posted which said, “Warning: Equipment Should Not Be Operated Except By Fairground Employees”, or something like that?  If so, then we all move on — if not, then fines can be issued and so on.

Ms Hepburn wants to have ‘all of the information’ needed to both conclude the inquest and potentially issue a Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) report, if necessary, due to any failings or shortcomings which could have contributed to the death.  She explained: ‘Mackenzie and his colleagues had access to this ride outside its hours of operation with such tragic consequences. I believe there is missing evidence looking at the fencing of this ride and questions about access to this location for these teenagers on that morning. Mackenzie was trapped in a fairground ride but I don’t have evidence about how that location was being fenced and monitored at that hour in the morning.’

Errrr no.  You’re the fucking coroner.  Your responsibility begins and ends with determining the cause of death.  If there’s any kind of culpability to be sought, that’s actually the job of the police to determine — assuming they’re not too busy tracking down and arresting perpetrators of hateful online texts, that is.

And excuse me, but it is not the responsibility of the fairground operator to have security constantly patrolling the (locked) premises just in case a bunch of thrill-seeking, irresponsible punks happen to come calling.

I’m heartily sick of criminal behavior being excused because there weren’t a thousand warning signs posted or a security guard stationed at five-yard intervals just in case some scrote feels like breaking the law.  A fence, a locked gate and a warning sign should be all that’s necessary to prevent you from accidentally getting hurt.  After that, you’re on your own and if bad things happen it’s your fault, and your problem.

Some people, such as the above coroner, are no doubt going to disagree with me, but I don’t care.  They’re wrong, and I’m right.