March 30, 2017

"The Missing Richard Simmons Creator Left a Boom Box on Simmons’s Stoop..."

"... a Gesture That Did Not Move Simmons to Talk to Him."
Dan Taberski spent six episodes of his morally suspect podcast Missing Richard Simmons slowly coming to terms with [the conclusion that Simmons didn't want to talk to anyone outside of his close circle of intimates]...  Taberski decided to make Missing Richard Simmons readily available to the potential Luddite with an instance of door-to-door delivery. “Sometimes I think of Richard Simmons like my grandmother, like I’m not quite sure if he knows how the internet works… So it was literally just putting what we had done into a boom box and putting it on his stoop, and to get his reaction so that we would know that he had heard it,” he explained.
You can listen — without the assistance of a boombox — to the whole 6-episode show here. The first 2 episodes are great. It goes interestingly to hell in episode 3, and after that it never redeems itself. Taberski's continued groping for attention — with this boombox business — squicks me out.

12 comments:

Birches said...

That gesture has a weird, creepy, Say Anything vibe to it.

joeqc said...

I like the word squicks. A first for me

Ann Althouse said...

If Richard Simmons wanted to do an interview at this point, why would he go with Taberski, who hasn't respected his request for privacy and has leveraged his own previously nonexistent fame on Simmons's fame, without Simmons's permission? It's like Jackie Kennedy deciding to do a photoshoot and choosing Ron Galella.

If Simmons wants to talk, he should be interviewed by Barbara Walters or Oprah Winfrey.

Rob said...

What does the (unlinkable) OED say about "squick"?

Danno said...

AA said..."If Simmons wants to talk, he should be interviewed by Barbara Walters or Oprah Winfrey."

I agree with your thought to not deal with Taberski, but Babwa Wawa or Harpo?

Tinderbox said...

The maid Reveles should sue that guy for slander.

Snark said...

The boombox invite isn't new. It happened during the podcast production and was initially expected to be detailed in the last episode.

madAsHell said...

I used the word squick as an onamonapia to describe stepping on puppy poop with bare feet in a dark hallway.

Shawn Levasseur said...

The only reason for Simmons to agree to an interview with this guy is so that he can be served with a restraining order.

Dave in Tucson said...

> Taberski's continued groping for attention — with this boombox business — squicks me out.

And yet here you are blogging about it... giving him more attention. Why?

Bill said...

Reminds me a bit -- just a bit -- of Michael Clarkson's obsession with J.D. Salinger. He was in good company, of course, but not everyone leaves family and job . . .

Blair said...

Did anyone give David Bowie this much grief when he retired from public life?