Guilty Pleasures

[The Drunk Girl]

So, I was thinking that there has to be at least one thing people here have that would be considered a guilty pleasure (whether it be food, movies/television, music, whatever). Plus, it's a good chance to see some of the "quirky" things we all like or enjoy. :)

I'll start off with what I will admit is ridiculous, but I absolutely love!

I own every season of the show Will and Grace (and cried when the damn show went off the air).

And, I also have this weird love of cheese; anything made with cheese, with cheese on it, or just eating it by itself (except for American cheese---that's for sandwiches only).

[Greendruid]

So, I was thinking that there has to be at least one thing people here have that would be considered a guilty pleasure (whether it be food, movies/television, music, whatever). Plus, it's a good chance to see some of the "quirky" things we all like or enjoy. :)

I'll start off with what I will admit is ridiculous, but I absolutely love!

I own every season of the show Will and Grace (and cried when the damn show went off the air).

And, I also have this weird love of cheese; anything made with cheese, with cheese on it, or just eating it by itself (except for American cheese---that's for sandwiches only).

You need to come and visit us - we are practically swimming in goat's milk and building rooms with blocks of goat cheese mortared with soft goat cheese!

My guilty pleasure is pie. I love pie. My wife makes pie and it is amaaaaazing. It almost doesn't matter what flavour. She makes apple, blueberry, blackberry, chocolate, pumpkin, rhubarb. All of it is awesome and I will go to the point of making myself sick from eating too much pie.

[drgoodtrips]

I'm like a choco-holic, but for booze!

( http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33296 )

I don't really have any 'guilty' pleasures that I can think of. I suppose someone might find it embarrassing to admit to following professional sports as closely as I do. I do read a fair amount of crappy fiction (though this is mainly because I'm a book whore - I'll read pretty much anything this side of the romance genre). I like some low-brow movies, like Beavis and Butthead Do America.

[drgoodtrips]

I'm a lot like that Cookie Monster on Sesame Street. Only it's more like the Booze Monster. When I walk into a party and see that they have booze of any kind, it's like, "Whoa-hoa! All bets are off! Lemme at that booze!"

Sorry, this thread just reminded me of that Onion piece, which is one of the funniest I've ever read. I'll stop this now.

[Donkey]

Alcohol and Family Guy. And some tacky music.

[Michael]

I working on this. I doubt if I have any guilty pleasures, but I'll keep trying to think of one.

Persuing physical or emotional pleasure of any kind is just so unlike me to begin with. Most people accuse me of a 'spartan' disposition. :shrug:

I do break down and buy a bag of potato chips about once every few months or so... I doubt that counts, but I do crave those salt'n'vinegar chips occasionally.

I doubt if that qualifies. :D

[drgoodtrips]

I working on this. I doubt if I have any guilty pleasures, but I'll keep trying to think of one.

Persuing physical or emotional pleasure of any kind is just so unlike me to begin with. Most people accuse me of a 'spartan' disposition. :shrug:

I do break down and buy a bag of potato chips about once every few months or so... I doubt that counts, but I do crave those salt'n'vinegar chips occasionally.

I doubt if that qualifies. :D

I think that we're different sides of the same coin here. You have Spartan tastes and so you have few guilty pleasures. I tend to indulge as I please in various things - I simply don't feel guilty about doing so. :)

[Lily]

Guilty pleasures. Hmm. Well, I DVR every rerun of The West Wing and watch them faithfully. The last episode of the last season just aired this week and they're starting from the pilot again. And yes, I'm recording them again. I just love that show. I was never a Trekkie or a fanatic for any other television show, but I swear, I just love this show.

Other than that? Ghiradelli brownies. Oh my god, those things are sinful.

[Donkey]

Guilty pleasures. Hmm. Well, I DVR every rerun of The West Wing and watch them faithfully. The last episode of the last season just aired this week and they're starting from the pilot again. And yes, I'm recording them again. I just love that show. I was never a Trekkie or a fanatic for any other television show, but I swear, I just love this show.

Other than that? Ghiradelli brownies. Oh my god, those things are sinful.
Good tv is not a guilty pleasure.

[Michael]

Good tv is not a guilty pleasure.

I disagree. If you follow the theories of Marshall McLuhan (as I do) then you would hold that television is a 'stone cold medium' that is entirely predicated upon a one-way communication channel from the 'communicator' (the network) to the passive receiver (that's you).

There is nothing admirable about being a passive receiver of anything. The very process tends to produce 'Pavlovian' effects (which it is designed to do!).

[Donkey]

I guess we'll need a working definition of "guilty pleasure" then... ;)

[Lily]

I disagree. If you follow the theories of Marshall McLuhan (as I do) then you would hold that television is a 'stone cold medium' that is entirely predicated upon a one-way communication channel from the 'communicator' (the network) to the passive receiver (that's you).

There is nothing admirable about being a passive receiver of anything. The very process tends to produce 'Pavlovian' effects (which it is designed to do!).

Does it count if you yell at the TV, or does that just make you a crazy person? :erm:

[The Drunk Guy]

I disagree. If you follow the theories of Marshall McLuhan (as I do) then you would hold that television is a 'stone cold medium' that is entirely predicated upon a one-way communication channel from the 'communicator' (the network) to the passive receiver (that's you).

There is nothing admirable about being a passive receiver of anything. The very process tends to produce 'Pavlovian' effects (which it is designed to do!).
That go the same for books?

And I feel guilty of nothing. I enjoy every goddamn minute. :D

[Americano]

Good tv is not a guilty pleasure.

I find it difficult to associate perhaps 95% of TV fare with pleasure. Its primary mission is selling consumer products.

[Zarquon]

I don't watch anything on tv except for news, and its not my pirmary source for that either.
Books(fiction) are far more interactive than t.v. in terms of being able to imagine the worlds depicted by the author and interpret the story in your own way, but they still are a passive medium, though an engaging and informative(non-fiction) one relative to t.v.
------
My guilty pleasure?
College Humor(and anything else that's funny) videos on Youtube.

[Lily]

I find it difficult to associate perhaps 95% of TV fare with pleasure. Its primary mission is selling consumer products.


Agreed. I watch very little broadcast TV. I like the independent film channels (mostly without advertising), the news channels (although I find myself yelling at them sometimes), C-Span (I yell at that a lot) and my public television stations. Oh, and I'll watch anything with Michio Kaku. That guy is so cool.

[Michael]

That go the same for books?
Certainly not. ;)

Besides, according to McLuhan's theory, books are a hot medium due to the high level of engagement required. Illiterate people can sit on a couch and watch tv. It takes years of education and a lot more effort to physically read a book than watch tv.

McLuhan's theory is all about the amount of effort/engagement required by any given communications media channel. The internet is definitely a hot medium which is why corporations and governments fear it. Television is a stone cold medium which is why it is the absolutely best method for advertising and propaganda (message content is tightly controlled and passively absorbed).

Books(fiction) are far more interactive than t.v. in terms of being able to imagine the worlds depicted by the author and interpret the story in your own way, but they still are a passive medium, though an engaging and informative(non-fiction) one relative to t.v.
See my reply above. Books are a warm (active) medium, television is a cold (passive) medium. Internet is a very hot medium (so is snail mail correspondance).

McLuhan is a very interesting thinker and his theory is not easily understood by simple common sense. I consider McLuhan's theory to be one of the most brilliant theories about communications media.

***

As for guilty pleasures, I'm still trying to come up with one. I know I must have one, I just can't think of what it is. :shrug:

In the same spirit as Zarquon above, I have a definite weakspot for 'wipeout' videos on YouTube - skateboards and/or bicycles - nothing guilty about that pleasure though - it is a sublime human trait to take amusement at the misfortunes of others! :lol: