Chris Jones vs. Slate's Tom Scocca, Part ... 3?

You're welcome, Boom. I'll take a shot of Macallan if you're feeling especially grateful.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/scocca/archive/2011/04/21/what-would-chris-jones-think-of-the-new-chris-jones-article.aspx

 

Yes! These threads are the best.

 

Even when I don't agree with everything in it, I really like Jones' blog.

 

Who's Chris Jones?

 

I hope this is all a concerted effort by Jones, Scocca, Whitlock, etc. to generate publicity. I'm guessing the traffic at Jones' blog rises significantly with every one of these "feuds."

 

This Scocca guy has written some amazing shit about cupcakes.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/scocca/archive/2011/04/19/cupcakes-of-today-are-disgusting-and-depraved-an-unscientific-numerical-study.aspx

 

Scocca's original point was ridiculous, as Jones noted. A freelance writer would not have a prayer of writing a profile of, say, Angelina Jolie for Esquire.

"I'll get a sitdown with her and Maddox!"

But if he has an idea that hasn't been done before - maybe it's about some small-town scandal or some 90-year-old former bank robber or some other, yes, obscure person or incident - he'd have a chance, if he pitched that. I don't get why that fairly obvious fact has set him off on this ongoing fatwa.

 

Sounds like a dead-to-nuts right analysis of a cupcake. I don't see the problem.

 

Here's the link to the actual article:

http://www.esquire.com/print-this/jeff-bridges-music-0511?page=all

I don't read a lot of celebrity profiles, but I love the mood of this piece. I could not care less about Scocca's points. It's a highly enjoyable read.

And this is getting stupid.

 

The Attention Whore of Montana is pleased. Quite pleased.

 

I like Scocca and Slate in general though because they do weird articles like that.

Chris Jones strikes me as an incredibly talented writer, but maybe not the greatest guy in the world if you're looking for tips on writing. Michael Jordan can't evaluate NBA talent, so I'm not sure what the big deal is; talent in a discipline does not necessarily correlate to you being able to identify or teach that talent. I imagine that a lot of people reading Jones' site are doing it because it features more of his writing, not because they're getting 100 percent out of his profile writing tips.

 

Heck, let's really get the flames going by linking to a Jones blog post about Charles Pierce's eulogy for Clif Garboden. Jones AND Pierce, release the hounds!!!

http://sonofboldventure.blogspot.com/2011/04/parting-glass.html#more