somewhat OT - what are you a snob about?

[Paul Carmody]

I was listening to the radio the other day and they were interviewing a sommelier. For those who may not be in the know--myself included--a "sommelier" is a wine expert. And to get to the highest level of certification they have to be able to correctly identify wines with 70% accuracy. (I think the audiophile community needs this kind of certification)

So it got me thinking about how I'm a complete rube when it comes to wine (mostly because I don't care for the stuff), yet some people--this sommelier included--probably have no patience for a dunce like me. Then I was thinking to myself, "Well what AM I a snob about?"

Am I a snob about audio equipment? Actually, no. I listen to the song first. I've been tremendously moved by great songs through absolute s--t equipment. I love what a great speaker can do to a song, but I'm much more concerned about the song itself.

So I had to dig a bit deeper. And when I really started thinking about what kind of crap I don't have patience for, I was surprised. The first two that popped into my mind:

-cliche music (specifically, stuff that sounds like stuff someone else has already done)
-"sitcom" jokes (not to be confused with The Simpsons, which is one of the highest forms of comedy writing in the last 100 years)

So please, share the things you're snobbish about; the things that you like so much that if someone does it poorly, it makes you cringe and see red. I'm very curious what sort of things we'll see...

[DanP]

Heh heh. This will be interesting if folks pipe up. I'm definitely a commercial snob. A bad commercial really gets under my skin and I really appreciate a good one. I'm a little snobbish about product packaging as well.

Dan

[johnnyrichards]

Karate, sadly. I watch most movies and TV shows and it looks like "Dancing With The Stars".

[billfitzmaurice]

Movie/TV plots. I usually have it figured out less than 1/3 of the way through. There hasn't been a whole lot of originality since Shakespeare.

[djg]

Karate, sadly. I watch most movies and TV shows and it looks like "Dancing With The Stars".

I was watching a Michael Jai White movie a few days ago, he seemed pretty bada**. Your opinion?


I am a furniture snob. I have some really nice wooden antiques from my parents, and some kit built reproductions. I will do without before living with cheap furniture.

[williamrschneider]

I'm a snob about the quality of photographic prints, b/w in particular.

[johnnyrichards]

I was watching a Michael Jai White movie a few days ago, he seemed pretty bada**. Your opinion?


I am a furniture snob. I have some really nice wooden antiques from my parents, and some kit built reproductions. I will do without before living with cheap furniture.

The only thing I have seen him in was as choreographed as the rest of it. Like i said - snobbery

Elvis Presley was also a highly ranked martial artist, so...

[wg_ski]

Bikes and riders. Especially the ones who come out of the woodwork every year a month before the MS150 to "train" on their junk Walmart specials - only to put it away and never ride it again till the same time next year. It won't get any easier next year if it just sits in the garage.

Watching those poor fools who do continue to ride them having to walk their 60-pound bikes up every hill at the local rallies. Or worse, someone walking their brand new $5000 carbon fiber bike up those same hills.

[biff]

Hey Paul - if you mean BESIDES music, there are few. Cars that don't handle, bad cooking, poor professional photography, and people who fish bait for gamefish.

But, I am that guy who will walk over to the board and tell the deaf guy running it where there might be room for improvement, how this musician is holding back because his mix is too hot, that he is mixing off axis and killing the folks in the beam, and that he forgot to light up the speakers in the balcony. A couple of years back I went to a new venue who was so proud of their new place and built in system with subs under the stage and was questiong the sound guy as to why the bass player was looking at his instrument like it was broken and the room was just thudding when I discovered that he was routing that instrument through the subs because they were "bass speakers", and I couldn't convince him to change. Talked to the bass player after and he thought something had broken because all he was hearing from the room was a thump but his monitor was OK. Strange though, when I go to a friends place and he is thrilled with his poorly placed, boomy, shrill, stereo I just smile and tell him I am glad he is enjoying his music.

[biff]

I'm a snob about the quality of photographic prints, b/w in particular.

That's not snobbery, that's vision.

[arlis_1957@yahoo.com]

Driving.

[timk]

Fly rods for me. I'd rather fish with a broom handle than some of the cheap crap I get handed from time to time.

[bungelow_ed]

It took awhile...but I am a snob about people who own dogs as a status symbol. Nothing get under my skin like seeing someone with a poorly cared for or untrained dog.

[marscoast]

It took awhile...but I am a snob about people who own dogs as a status symbol. Nothing get under my skin like seeing someone with a poorly cared for or untrained dog.

Nice one Ed - drives me nuts when I see some (typically young) fool with a young pit bull. I feel bad for both of them - the owner because he's a dumb arse who's not at all prepared to deal with that kind of responsibility, and the poor dog who always pays the price in the end.

[kmibb]

Jeans. I only buy boutique, selvage, made in America jeans. There's a big Japanese selvage scene too, but if you're over 6' tall they don't fit well.

Also getting snobby with wine.

[bungelow_ed]

Nice one Ed - drives me nuts when I see some (typically young) fool with a young pit bull. I feel bad for both of them - the owner because he's a dumb arse who's not at all prepared to deal with that kind of responsibility, and the poor dog who always pays the price in the end.

You are absolutely right, it's always the dog that suffers and usually through no fault of it's own.

[marscoast]

I decided to call in an expert of my own on this one... I emailed Paul's OP to my wife and asked, "So what am I a snob about?"

Her response:
"food and music and bedroom banter"
Love that woman's wit.

[generic]

Coffee
Pizza
Beer

I used to really be in to wine, but I'm a tad burnt out on it.

[Sketchin]

Beer, furniture, food (to a certain degree), Rum.

[LoveDoctor]

BEER. I hesitate to make direct comparisons to wine, but the yeasty arts of barley and hops provide greater pleasure to me than wine. When people say they despise a good craft beer in favor of a Coors Light, I always suspect they did not drink the good stuff the "right" way. The right glass and serving conditions, and especially the proper food pairing, can make the most bitter of IPAs sing on the palate. I'm quite sure I've been accused of being a beer snob after scolding table-mates for drinking their beverage improperly. But I try to restrain myself these days.