April 9, 2009

"He was drinking straight from a bottle of Grey Goose..."

"... and when the deejay started playing M.I.A.'s 'Paper Planes,' he got up, started dancing like a loon and kept on yelling, 'Shots!'"

Aw, leave Michael Phelps alone! What's wrong with drinking in a club? If you go out dancing, why not dance like "a loon"? Let him drink from a bottle of Grey Loon and dance like a goose if he wants. What business is it of yours?
[T]he athlete skeeved out onlookers when he persisted in PDA-ing with his girlfriend, cocktail waitress Caroline (Caz) Pal.

"They wouldn't stop making out! They were literally sucking face, and not caring that anyone was watching," says our snitch, who added that Phelps danced up such a storm that he briefly went shirtless, changing out of his T-shirt in the club and putting on a zip-up hoodie with nothing underneath.
Literally sucking face, eh? Who are these people who go to clubs and are nevertheless susceptible to the skeeves?

You know my position on public display of affection:



So just yell — good-naturedly — "Get a room!" and go find a love of your own. Or sublimate usefully.

IN THE COMMENTS: Mr. Forward has a poem:

Swims like a fish
Dances like a loon
Drinks Grey Goose
Sings off tune
Affection in Public
Isn't so wrong
At least he wasn't
Kissing his bong.

38 comments:

KCFleming said...

As long as his teeth didn't fall out, it's all cool.

rhhardin said...

I don't even have an ipod, let alone a pda.

Meade said...

rh: Althouse wants to give you an h-u-g.

I'm sure of it.

The Dude said...

Whoa, he was kissing a woman, dancing and drinking? Who the hell does he think he is? Back in the pool with you, Stretch.

traditionalguy said...

After his training regimen the last 10 years he has a lot of catching up to do at "clubing". His life may never be like all the cool kids, but he wants to try out the Fun side of being alive. So everyboy should find someone else to make fun of, and let Phelps live a less than perfect life.

The Crack Emcee said...

I wasn't going to say anything but it's just getting worse:

IIt started around the time you seemed to publicly fall in love - you're advocating wrong all over the place. Your buddy, Glenn Reynolds, is pretty off as well.

You're a hippie and Reynolds is a dork. Sorry but you guys aren't "conservatives" - nor will you do our country any good. You miss the whole plot. And that's what America needs to get free of: "influential" no nothings. People who are constantly screaming "leave 'em alone" when somebody fucks up and people start talking. People who think others want to see them kissing - yea, get a fucking room! People who are always making excuses for degeneracy ("Aren't I absolved yet?") - and lack real passion for anything but themselves (Althouse is very vocal about her marriage and other likes and dislikes - American Idol? - but not about much that may matter in this time of supposed crisis. Or am I confused about conservatism too? Is it just another form of naval-gazing as well?

And about that "marriage": I'm still wondering how a law professor squares saying all that "in sickness and in health", love, honor, and "cherish" for life stuff - twice. Call me simple but it don't make sense. How do you do something - for life - twice?

The Crack Emcee said...

Sorry about the misspellings.

The Dude said...

Well, they may be "no nothings" but neither is self-identified as conservative.

Ann voted for Bambi, Prof. Reynolds is a libertarian.

KCFleming said...

Crack Emcee,
Being able to be left alone -especially being free of gummint coercion- is a pretty conservative belief.

But Instapundit and Althouse are not conservatives.

Mr. Forward said...

Swims like a fish
Dances like a loon
Drinks Grey Goose
Sings off tune
Affection in Public
Isn't so wrong
At least he wasn't
Kissing his bong.

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

Let him live a little! What do these people expect? An ascetic monk? On account of what??

And why do we need to know that his girlfriend is a cocktail waitress? Is that a code word for hussy? Shameful...

Peter V. Bella said...

Sounds like the article was written by a hardcore heterophobe!!

rhhardin said...

No nothings are nihilists.

The Crack Emcee said...

Thanks for clearing that up - laterz!

Bissage said...

A quick image search on teh Googles provides proof positive that Ms. Pal lacks the body of a competitive swimmer and yet she seems perfect for the breast stroke.

Go figure.

KCFleming said...

Hmmmm.... I always thought nihilists just preferred the album Harvest to So Far.

rhhardin said...

Literally is used figuratively.

Something that is not only possible, but very common.

``So much so that it might as well have been literal.''

TMink said...

Crack wrote: "Sorry but you guys aren't "conservatives""

Neither Althouse nore Reynolds have ever self identified as Conservatives. Glenn accurately calls himself a Libertarian who believes in defense and can count and Althouse calls herself a moderate Democrat.

Those fit pretty well as far as I can see.

Where did you get off course?

Trey

rhhardin said...

Dictionaries deny the figurative use and insist that literally just has another meaning as an intensive. Lexicologists become lexicologists because they're interested in words but can't hack the literature courses.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Emcee and I are on the same page about this...sort of.

I'm not against public displays of affection and I'm certainly not a prude.

But there is a difference between a few kisses in public, holding hands, arm draped around the shoulders or waist of the loved one, .....and sucking face, slobbering all over each other, feeling each other up, grabbing boobs and cocks and all but having sex in public.

The first is something that makes the onlookers think...oh..how wonderful, they love each other. The second just makes 'ordinary' people uncomfortable. It is pornographic and shows a complete lack of any kind of discretion or consideration for other people. It shows a lack of morals.

Having a drink in public and even getting a bit tipsy isn't such a big deal either. I'm certainly no stranger to scotch or wine, but I also know my limits and remove myself from public before I become a disgusting slobbering drunken asshole as Phelps was doing. (I prefer to do that in the privacy of my own home LOL)

Let the kid live? Of course. He's had a very strict and controlled life and deserves to have some fun and let his hair down. Why is this news anyway? Who cares?

Seriously. Drinking straight from a bottle of vodka and all but having public sex is a sign of serious serious problems. Not only for Phelps but for a society that thinks that this is just okey dokey or that it is just a youthful indescretion. If you can't see the difference there is something also wrong with you.

And about that "marriage": I'm still wondering how a law professor squares saying all that "in sickness and in health", love, honor, and "cherish" for life stuff - twice. Call me simple but it don't make sense. How do you do something - for life - twice?

Speaking for myself...you can do it twice when 'you' meant it the first time and while 'you' still kept your vows, the other party to the marriage didn't. Things happen beyond your control and marriage shouldn't be a death sentence for either party.

Ann Althouse said...

@DBQ I agree that some PDA crosses the line, though I'd draw a different line in a dark, late-night dance club.

Generally, on the street, I approve of hugging -- very warm, in a world of your own hugging -- kissing -- but don't let people see your tongues or seem as if you're trying to put on a show -- and rubbing the body parts that are not the body parts that you cover up at, say, a normal beach.

Okay?

Anonymous said...

Phelps is a moron. The nightclub's markup on the bottle of Goose was probably in excess of 1,000% (Marquee's bottle service menu only says "prices on request.") Now, the reason why you go to nightclubs and pay exhorbitant prices for bottle service is so you can score with hot chix. Nothing'll get thong panties dropping faster than the sight of an Alpha Male paying hundreds of dollars for liquor. But Phelps was already there with his girlfriend. So why bother paying for the Goose?

Peter

Ann Althouse said...

"all but having public sex"

I just reread the passage. They were kissing!

Unknown said...

Crack Emcee is approaching Maxine levels of tiresome.

quickwatson said...

I didn't mind looking at Michael Phelps during the Olympics. However, to me he is not someone whose wanderings in public I care to follow. Too much face time with some people is hazardous to my well-being.

I know he will have the photogs and gogglers following him until the next hercu-Olympian steps up to the podium. Then he will go the way of the product endorser and I will just have to channel away from his commercials.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

"all but having public sex"

I just reread the passage. They were kissing!

"They wouldn't stop making out! They were literally sucking face, and not caring that anyone was watching,"

Sucking face /= kissing

Just saying.

I feel sorry for the kid. He is like a huge rubber band that has been stretched too tight for too long and now he is understandably rebounding.

Still, doesn't excuse bad public behaviour and really doesn't excuse public tolerance of the same.

I'm not suggesting we all become Victorian prudes, just a little moderation in public and consderation for others. After 17 years my hubby and I still kiss in public, touch each other and hold hands when walking. We "suck face" in private. :-)

MayBee said...

I feel sorry for the kid. He is like a huge rubber band that has been stretched too tight for too long and now he is understandably rebounding.

Are we sure about that? He had a DUI several years ago, so he's found time to party in his lifetime. Do we know that he went through his life deprived of fun? I've known a lot of college athletes in my lifetime. They had fun! They weren't at his level (nobody is), but still...

He can do what he wants, but he has his fame in part because he seemed like an all-American hero. If he's going to have skanky girlfriends and get crazy drunk in public, he's going to lose his luster. That's how it works.

Unknown said...

Wow, you would think he was Sarah Palin or something. Leave Michael alone!

Anonymous said...

Here we have a person who has achieved more than anyone else on the planet athletically, who has a dreamy six pack, and who is having a good time. His girlfriend has a hellacious rack and a tramp stamp and probably fucks like a bucking bronco.

It's only natural that some loser at the club and some people here would be envious, and would criticize the man for whatever imperfections that can flail at.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Drink Pinnacle instead of Grey Goose. It's the same thing but cheaper.

traditionalguy said...

Crack... The vows taken at the making of the first marriage expire at the first spouse's death. That is why adultery of the other spouse is an exception. Adultery under that total system of laws results in the death of the cheating spouse. Since The Law acts together as a system, the innocent party is totally free from their vows. There is also freedom given by grace to a spouse who has been abandoned under Paul's new testament teachings on marriage.

Anonymous said...

ann, what kind of filter do you use for your video camera?

Mr. Wright, looks natural when he speaks, contour lines in his face, but you never have lines or even shading with your collarbones? How do you manage that?

Anonymous said...

also mr. wright, good for you that you have not been pressured into whitening your teeth. I see the whites of your eyes are very white but your teeth are naturally colored.

enough for my color analysis today. I really don't listen to any of these things, i just try to keep my eye sharp to build on my photography skills.

The Crack Emcee said...

"Crack Emcee is approaching Maxine levels of tiresome."

Yes, that can be the reaction when someone says, y'know, we Americans tend to be an immature lot and our society might be going to hell because of our continued defense of that as a lifestyle. When so many big babies decide the words they use and oaths they take mean only what they want them to mean - and damn anything else, including the social construct, because they don't "feel" like it - then why carry on at all?

Tell me: Does Ann Althouse walk into her law classes and tell students it's "I will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth - next time? And only if I "feel" like it? Or is there something those words mean and we should, maybe, as adults, start respecting that outside of court as well? I heard a song by Supertramp today that said:

"Now I know that what you say/is the undisputed truth/but I have to do things my own way/to keep me in my youth."

And I thought, "Aha! There it is!" The ethos of a generation that's infected everything that's come after it - driving us to destruction. The truth - or all those words in the dictionary or encyclopedia - mean nothing because these jackasses want to stay children as long as possible. (Not me: Silly boy, I wanted to an adult when I grew up,...) And merely by the weight of their sheer numbers, they'll keep this country in the state of being a giant nursery (or insane asylum) for as long as humanly possible.

I mean, here's an idea: What if Americans started a new "Age of Enlightenment" - not enlightenment of the Eastern variety - but one where we actually reached for the best in us? Turn away from American Idol, and trashed out loopy celebrities, and people who don't really say what they mean, and move towards getting real answers, nailing things down, the best in Art and pursuits that inspire? Where we stop making excuses for a Michael Phelps and tell him, "Look, you're a fucking icon now and a world-wide representative of your country and, unlike Bill Clinton, should try to act like it because there's more at stake here than YOU? Where, when we tell kids "marriage" is important and something not to be taken lightly, we don't start acting like Zsa Zsa Gabor is a role model and those around a couple actually pitch in to show "society" is how we progress as a species? Do we really have to give in to this lazy impulse to always say that's just too much work?

Doesn't anything matter to you people? Am I - a guy out of the ghetto - destined to live my life thinking, man, I've merely escaped one hell for an even bigger clusterfuck where everyone looks like Two-Face (Batman) wearing a loopy half-smile, with severe frown lines, because (as a people) we just can't decide to make it stop? I feel like Bigger Thomas in Native Son, wondering what in the fuck have you people been doing when I just want a real, honest-to-goodness, life - not this stupid carnival act you're presenting me with.

Really: is this world without meaning all it is with you guys? A bunch of snappy comebacks and "I'm bored" whenever someone says "We can do better"?

Haven't you ever wanted something better?

Anonymous said...

Crack -- Aren't you making a pretty big assumption about the vows? Here in Illinois, all you need is a couple people, a magistrate, and money for the fee.

Althouse doesn't strike me as the traditional vows type, especially in her Coke bottle glasses when she was an artsy hippie.

Ann Althouse said...

"ann, what kind of filter do you use for your video camera?"

No filter. It's just the iSight camera that is built into any Mac these days, used with QuickTime Pro.

Anonymous said...

wow, ann, I am pleasantly pleased that you officially recognized me, even if it is for a trivial side questions and not for anything profound or intelligent that i post on your blog.

Anyway you have the face of a thirty year old. Congratulations . Your expressions to me look as acting would, which is why I dont listen much. I think that's what the internet is becoming anyway, and sorely regret all that I said in faith and hope for this medium long ago. I hope now that facebook and twitter dont become permanent records of humanity to be found in thousands of years because some saving grace aliens might just avoid this planet in that case.

Maybe the internet has been always been that way since 1995/6 when i first read aol on a regular basis. I probably just have too much of a nostalgic attitude about it. OR after deciding to put my "words and chords" on a certain network way back then, I got suckered into something that wasn't real anyway.

oh well i gotta concentrate on being a new radical tune:

I gotta keep a new music in me instead. Have a happy weekend, and keep your precious face out of the sun if you don't want the morning sun to really show your age. Advice i don't follow myself, but who am i to listen to the truth anyway.

Anonymous said...

btw, Ann, I did post something intelligent and relevant to the discussion on your blog and the other three or four blogs that i comment on. It's all been hefty about gay marriage this week. I had an honest question. I wonder if it will be answered by the intelligent people on this blog. Or just over looked.

remember it is better to be looked over than over looked, said mae west. Though after having some rude comments thrown at me, i'm not sure which is better.

Look right through me, I guess. transparency and the internet.