This place is empty...

Where *are* you all? I think everyone's disappeared off to alt.music.nirvana.... �h w�ll. (Don't ask...)

It has been very quiet. Maybe people have goneon holiday or something. I hear it's a bank holiday tomorrow.

What did people think of the Val episode yesterday? I was getting deja vu: Val & her magazine were suspiciously identical to "Cheeky" magazine & its editor who made an appearance once in Clarissa. Mind you there were some plot differences. Clarissa had deliberately entered the essay competition whilst Daria was entered without her knowledge, and in Clarissa's case the thing all takes place at home, not school. In her essay she had lied through her teeth in writing about her wonderful family, and then had to try and maintain the charade when the cheesy 16-going-on-40 editor came to visit. And the essay prize was a car, so Clarissa was desperate to ingratiate herself with the unctuous editor. In Daria's case I thought the thing was rather more vague, as she had no interest in the editor's visit at all which gave the episode a feeling of pointlessness.

There was perhaps one interesting truth in the epidose though, which is to do with the question of why a person like Val could have imagined that Daria was a kindred spirit, "cool" and "edgy".

It seems to me that "cool" people (and I use the term in a derogatory sense, you understand) do tend to look at the writings of intellectual people (for want of a better word) and, perhaps mistaking weirdness for wackiness, identify with those writings. But when they meet the authors, we find an inevitable chalk and cheeseness, a mismatched meeting of substance with style.

That for me is what the episode was about: the mystery of Val wanting to like Daria, because she had identified with her writings. Sadly the ending was predictable and unilluminating, with Daria blowing Val off, whereas it would have been better in the larger scheme of things if the show could have explored the unasked *why* of it all.

-Shez.

Noooooooo.... Oops. :/

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editor. In

feeling of

Daria could never have entered the contest on her own and could never have exhibited the slightest interest in it. That would have been completely out of character for Daria. It would have to fall to someone like O'Neil to enter the essay for her.

Well maybe pointlessness is exactly the point. Of all the publications that Daria would have had absolutely no interest in having her writings appear "Val" and magazines like it would have to be the very least.

is

the

You'll notice that Val was continually "name dropping," attempting to imply that she had a close personal relationship with almost every famous person she mentioned. Daria was no different as Val probably tries to ingratiate herself through such excessive familiarity with everyone she meets whom she thinks she might be able to "use." Val's fawning flattery of Daria suggested that Val expected to benefit from Daria's talent. Val is, above all else, a hard-nosed, aggressive, business woman. Daria might have been able to parlay this encounter into a successful writing career if she'd been willing to play the game and go along. Unfortunately Daria's ethics got in the way, as they often do. This is a common theme for Daria and should not have been unexpected in this episode given Daria's stated opinion of "Val" magazine and of teen magazines generally.

Yes but the interesting question is why Val liked Daria's writing in the first place, given that Val & her magazine are seemingly totally different to Daria. I felt that was the most intriguing thing about the episode, and I wish it had been explored more, as I feel it was not just a plot device but really does portray what I consider to be one of the mysteries of real life, that shallow trendy people do admire the works of deep people yet if they met them in person would despise them as being boring brains or whatever. For me this is one of life's strange tragedies, that people can wax lyrical about your literary or artistic creations yet not like their creator as an actual person. Maybe that's why dead artists are so popular, as critics etc who love their work don't have to compromise their social standing by being seen hanging out with the boring geniuses that made them.

-Shez.

It's not all that odd, really. I think it may have to do with ways of thinking. I consider myself a pretty good writer, for example, but not too great at socializing. They involve two different ways of using the brain; one comes a lot more naturally to me than the other. Unfortunately, it's the socializing bit that tends to Win Friends and Influence People. The sort of slow, introspective thought that produces writing does not lend itself to engaging conversation (which with many people tends to be kinda shallow and pointless anyway), at least in my own experience.

To bring this back on-topic -- Daria's ideas in that essay probably struck Val has having some ring of truth to them, which made her say, "Cool! Whack! Marketing value!" But those ideas were produced through a solitary thought process, and the flakey, shallow Val really didn't have anything to add to them (notice she hardly even mentions the *content* of the essay). She simply made the mistake of assuming that she'd have much in common with someone who wrote things she could agree with.

As for the episode -- the presence of Val really drags it down after the first time or two. It's not worth sitting through her blizzard of obnoxiousness just to get a few of Daria's biting comebacks.

In article ,

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Most likely Val saw something she liked in "My So-Called Angst" and never suspected that the author might have a great deal more to say that wasn't included in the essay. Val runs a magazine. Anyone who runs a magazine must surely have had some experience dealing with writers and their idiosyncrasies. (Though there are some magazines that seem to do well enough without the services of anyone who knows how to write.) I suspect that Val, knowing writers, would have been willing to forgive Daria almost any of her oddities (curiously, oddities that we in A.T.D all seem to admire) save one. When Daria attacked the core of Val's empire, vacuous youth culture, that was more than Val could tolerate. Val and Daria didn't need to like each other to do business. If it were required that we personally like the people we do business with then the world economy could come to a screeching halt. Even knowing how Daria felt about Val's line of business needn't have disqualified Daria from writing for Val magazine. These days it's difficult enough finding anyone who can write even marginally that rejection isn't justified simply because you disagree with their point of view. But if she'd hoped for a writing job at Val magazine Daria violated one fundamental business rule: Don't piss off the boss. In fact I suspect that Daria would have considered working in the sneaker sweatshop preferable to working for an organization like "Val."

Shez of the Last Stop Cafe writes:

I've just noticed that this Daria episode (The Lost Girls) was written by Neena Beber, who used to be head scriptwriter for Clarissa. This would explain the similarity.... however according to the episode guide at obkb.com she wasn't the scriptwriter for the CEIA episode in question ("She Drives Me Crazy") :-o , although I daresay she may have been the script editor for it or something? In the CEIA version Val was called Jill incidentally.

(And Jane was called Sam, and Quinn was called Fergusson, and Trent was called Clifford and Helen was called Janet and Jake was called Marshall and the padded cell bedroom was a straitjacket and Daria was called Clarissa.)

-Shez.

"endless, nameless" asks:

Hold on a minute, let me check...

Oops! Sorry about that. Had Invisibility Mode set to on.

Actually, I was looking for a book someone might want to borrow.

"Having Fun with Doctors' Heads" or

"Don't Piss Off the Nurses"

[email] wrote:

LOL.

It should be interesting tomorrow... I'm going to the pub tonight, will probably show up at the hospital tomorrow looking half-dead and be put on an IV immediately... ;)

"endless, nameless" wrote: <always practice safe self snippage>

Hehe. First impressions are always important. I can see it now...

"Hi, my name is Alli. The cat just dragged me in.". ;)

"endless, nameless" wrote:

Nope, just got back from a few days at the beach-- and the cool part is that I didn't even get sunburned. And that's a minor miracle, given my red hair and fair skin-- if you show me a picture of the sun without letting me first put on SPF 30, I'll burst into flames right on the spot. ;-)

Oh, yeah, it was Memorial Day-- or it will be on Monday-- which is supposed to be a National Holiday so that everyone can remember those who fell defending the US. Naturally, it has turned into an excuse to gas up the huge family SUV and sit in huge traffic snarls while everyone attempts to get the hell away from home in order to spend a few days at overcrowded tourist attractions...

And people say we Americans have no traditions. ;-)

rich.

Quinn: People are so weird!

Daria: Some are weird. Some are just astonishingly self-centered and deceitful.

I was probably driving all around town looking for a copy of "Forbidden Planet" which I finally found at the Blockbuster on South Division, only the fourth place I looked! Gee, don't these people have any taste any more? Forbidden Planet is much better than that... that thing they were promoting in their windows. (You've Got Mail. I've mentioned my Meg Ryan problem before...)

Dagny- cynic, general loony

http://urbanspacemen.arecool.net

"I'm not different for the sake of being different, only for the desperate sake of being myself. I can't join your gang: you'd think I was a phoney and I'd know it." Vivian Stanshall

Dagny said:

Heh ... One of my favorite movies, *Forbidden Planet*. Interestingly, *Forbidden Planet* is loosely based on Shakespeare's *The Tempest*, while *You've Got Mail* is based on an earlier movie about pen pal lovers.

*You've Got Forbidden Planet*, of course, is about an ancient alien machine accidentally activated by e-mail. With Meg Ryan as Altaira.

Sincerely Yours, Jordan

PS - I have the book version of *Forbidden Planet*. Quite good, and makes plain some things only hinted at in the movie.

In the UK, Forbidden Planet is a whole store chain, they sell every comic, anime, manga and sci fi thing imaginable (with the notable exception of Toon magazine as previously noted). The original London branch is very popular, it's often so crowded with browsing customers that it's hard to move!

-Shez.

On Sun, 30 May 1999 23:51:31 +0100, some letters randomly coalesced from individual pixels, claiming to be from "endless, nameless" , and it said:

I'm currently attending Truck Driving Academy, and they _load_ the homework on us. So I'll be about only once a week now (weekends). And that's only before I disappear into the cab of a truck forever. (Actually, I plan to do the laptop and pcx modem thing, just so's I can keep in touch with my people via e-mail and newsgroups. :)

Tarvok wrote in message ... *snip*

AAAK! A bright guy like you is going to be a truck driver??!!! Oh well, I guess it's better than what I did at your age, I joined the friggen army! I did manage to save up enough to go to a 2-year diesel school at least. I assume you're going to do something like that. Truck driving can be a pain of a job at times but you can make some pretty decent money at it. You're going to have to build up a tolerance for some the most unbelievably dumb people you'll ever meet in your life though. Some of them are right up there with Kevin (I'm not kidding!). Imagine a fat stinky guy with Kevin's mind and that about covers it. "How does he know!" you ask? Well, I just happen to be a heavy diesel truck mechanic (specializing in Cummins engines). I work on trucks every day and I often have to deal with these guys (yes most of them are guys). It's not all bad though. Your income possibilities will be right up there with what I make, the train-up time is much shorter, and you don't have to buy 18,000 dollars worth of tools just to do your job. It's one of those jobs where you can earn more than a lot of people do who have some pretty serious degrees (if you can handle the job, the people, and the lifestyle). I have about the same income you'll probably have and with it I've become debit free, bought a nice condo (with a VA loan), and now I sock away about 1,600 a month into my Internet brokerage account. I estimate I'll be able retire at 41, in about 8 years (maybe less). Both jobs have their pros and cons (I get greasy & work my butt off, and you'll have to live in a truck for weeks on end) but if you're as tough as you are smart, you'll find a way to profit from it. Warren http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Garage/6927/

On Tue, 1 Jun 1999 00:42:36 -0700, some letters randomly coalesced from individual pixels, claiming to be from "Warren" , and it said:

Heh heh, as if that's all I'll do. I'll definately continue my writing, and probably program in hobby form, and just basically bum about with my hobbies, with the secure financial base that trucking will provide.

I tried to join the Army National Guard. I just barely can't pass the hearing tests, thus they wouldn't have me. I was going to go into avionics.

Ugh, tell me about it. I've got a guy I work with who refers to the police as "pigs" (which conflicts with my generally lawful nature) and generally doesn't respect the law, except when he does (you know the type). He's constantly boasting about how much he knows about trucks, then gets one of the lower grades on the test. The other day, he asked me if I had a girlfriend. I said no. He looked at me as if I'd grown another head. (Yeah, and I'm a virgin too. Wanna make something of it?)

At least I will only have to deal with this sort of thing at the docks; driving is pretty much a solo job.

Like I said, bumming around. I intend to do some good stable investing in mutual funds, and if I feel like it, I might do some of my own playing around with the stock market. I might program shareware in my downtimes. I might do something else. The goal here is financial stability; I'm not good enough at homework to do that via the standard college route, and I enjoy the freedom of the road, anyway. 48 states + Canada. Yeah!

[email] (Tarvok) wrote:

<snip>

Don't forget those Daria mudflaps! See, y'all thought I was just joking awhile back-- now if you had those Daria mudflaps, we'd know it was you before we cut you off in traffic. ;-)

Good luck and safe travelling.

rich.

Jane: You're a twisted little cruller, ain't'cha?

On the mountaintop, [email] spake thusly:

But can even Daria mudflaps prepare you for CB radio? A constant stream of idiocy, whistling, and Barbara Streisand music at YOUR command! And of course the instant a chick comes on, it's all "How y'doin, little lady? Wanna meet me in shower stall seven?" Uggggghhhh.

-Mindy "Ohhhhh! Faggot music!"

In article ,

Not driving to Hawaii? It's a shame.

I used to work at a truck stop...it was awful...I know all about big hairy stinky truckers with butt cracks bigger than the Grand Canyon...LOL Jess "Morgendorfer"

Daria: Do you believe everything adults tell you? Gupty Kids: Yes Daria: What if 2 adults tell you totally opposite things?

JMStargazr wrote:

Well, I can tell you firsthand what it's like, because I used to BE a truck driver. I loved the hell out of it, but I had to quit because it was just too much on me to be out 6 weeks at a time. With two in the truck that just made a bad situation worse (I couldn't sleep very well with the truck moving). If I could have been a solo I would probably STILL be out there. I wouldn't trade the travel for anything; I was able to go places and see sights I'd probably never see otherwise outside of the movies (Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, Golden Gate Bridge, Statue of Liberty, etc)

If I can pick up a solo ride I might go back sometime. (Will have to reacquire my CDL to do it though, I've moved since then and couldn't afford the fee to keep the commercial part)

Marty Skywarn Storm Spotter KCB009

On Wed, 02 Jun 1999 19:07:43 -0400, some letters randomly coalesced from individual pixels, claiming to be from William Fowler , and it said:

Partnering is totally optional these days, and a lot of companies can get you home once every two weeks (notably Swift, but then again, it _was_ a recruiter telling us this). Given that I'm single, don't have a girlfriend, and basically don't have anything tying me down, I'll definely be staying out for weeks at a time (and probably spending much of my down time in various towns with things I want to see in them...). It should be fun. :)

Tarvok wrote:

Yeah, times have changed all right... it WAS back in 1993 that I drove. I ran for Digby at that time.

I should go and get my CDL back... since I'm on unemployment right now it's not like I don't have time or anything....

Then I can rig my truck up with a mini-satellite dish so I can get my daily dose of Daria while on the road (when they feel like showing it, that is) heh

Marty Skywarn Storm Spotter KCB009

You talk as if this is a bad thing! :-)

What was really funny was that the big seven-foot-tall scary looking Sasquatch types were always the nicest ones. The clean shaven, fairly decent looking truckers were always jerks. Jess "Morgendorfer"

Daria: Do you believe everything adults tell you? Gupty Kids: Yes Daria: What if 2 adults tell you totally opposite things?