Archive for the ‘Popular Culture’ Category
May 17, 2013
Really. There is a day (ok, several different days) that basically say it’s not ok to hate the non-heterosexual community. I’m going to spare everybody my rant on that simply because I’m tired of writing it, saying it, and above all thinking about it. Put it this way, every day, I’m reminded of how I’m “different”. I’m over this. Over it. People blog about the sexualization/objectification of Disney FEMALE characters, has anybody looked at the images they present to boys?
Katy Pyle’s re-interpretation of The Firebird, a Ballez is MORE than just a queer ballet. It is so much more than that. This show re-examines how we present people. Take a look at the picture below taken by Chrissy Pessango:
Chrissy Pessango Picture
What do you see? More correctly, what do you see? Look at the different body types, look at the gracefulness each of these dancers holds. Maybe one, ONE, presents the body type you would expect to see in a ballet. One. And here they are a dance corps, musicians who identify as non-heterosexual but teaching a much broader lesson: the presentation of the craft is the important part. Shaking up gender expectations is huge: doing so with health body images? Well that’s nothing short of spectacular.
The show opened last night as St. Mark’s church (an Episcopal Church in NYC). Yes, a mainline church supporting queer art.
The $10,000 Pyle is hoping to raise is to provide better pay for those who have contributed so much to this project. Please help fully fund her. The show is sold out. The importance of this re-envisioning is not just important for the queer community but for every person. None of us are that “perfect” image. Pyle’s work is groundbreaking. Pyle’s dancers are taking very real risks in their professional lives. The church that is supporting them will undoubtedly draw (more) criticism. That is the risk of being a ground breaker.
This is the link to the KickStarter campaign. Please give what you can. The project is so close to being fully funded.
And no, I was not paid to write this review (and I wish is I was in NY so I could go see the show!!!)
Tags:a Ballez, ballez, body image, Chrissy Pessango, dance, diversity, Feminism, hollins, katy pyle, Kickstarter, lgbt, people, queer, queer dance, self-image, social media, the firebird, transgender
Posted in LGBT, People, Politics, Popular Culture, Religion | Leave a Comment »
May 16, 2013
“This ballet is the one I wish I had seen” . . .words, of course, you would expect to hear from the artistic director. The reality is that in the context of The Firebird, a Ballez this is much more than a true statement. Katy Pyle has re-envisioned Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird in a new image. A queer image. The clip from Kickstarter IS the ballet I wish I could see if I was in NYC this weekend.
I am far from a lover of ballet, I am impressed with the skill it takes to dance on ones toes (I’m thrilled to get through one day with stubbing a toe) but I’ve never felt a connection (I vaguely remember The Nutcracker and by vague, I remember this idea of child running around and the prince/princess and always been freezing cold in the theater) to ballet.
I clicked on the Kickstarter campaign because the artistic director is the sister of a college classmates. I believe in projects in Kickstarter: we are all on this planet together and well, in this country we really don’t grasp “the arts” or funding for the arts. As I watched the clip and listened to Katy’s reasoning for funding the project, I went back and watched the clip again. Without sound.
I saw me: not just the gay me. But me. The person who doesn’t look like a dancer. I saw people of different ethnic origins. I saw not male/female roles but artists expressing their craft in a very gender scripted medium. Yes, there were dancers who looked like dancers but compare the clip above to this one I grabbed from you tube.
Pyle’s project is more than just a “queer ballet and orchestra”. The dancers look like everybody. They present healthy body images with varying frames. As I’ve replayed the clip in my head all day and thought about what I wanted to write about this amazing project. I realized that Pyle is correct, this is a ballet I wished I would have seen. Maybe somewhere in the back of my childhood brain I knew I was gay. Maybe somewhere in the back of my head I knew I never had the body type to BE a dancer (even if I had the coordination).
The LGBTQ community has spent much of the spring in celebration as states grant the right to marry. Now it’s time to show how it’s getting better in different areas of life. The myths and fables of childhood which provide many of the gender norms which continue to be presented as acceptable need to be broken: not just for the LGBTQ community but for everybody. Every time I think of this ballet, I am amazed at the creativity. I am in awe of the courage and I give thanks. Maybe there will be a child watching who when s/he grows up s/he will realize s/he is LGBTQ and that the ability to dance doesn’t cross a gender bounds, that the stories presented in the struggles, the fantasy, the mythology of dances can be presented not as straight or queer but as what they are: human struggles.
Tags:arts, ballet, ballez, dance, Feminism, gender, gender roles, katy pyle, lgbt, lgbtq, NYC, people, social justice, the firebird, transgender
Posted in LGBT, People, Popular Culture | 2 Comments »
May 9, 2013
I’ve seen variations of the following article discussing the idiocy of Abercrombie & Fitch in various versions all of over social media. This is the latest one to hit my Facebook feed.
Here is the deal: this isn’t like the CEO of Macy*s saying such a stupid remark. A&F has a long, long, long history of questionable business ideas. Deciding to boycott A&F now ranks up there with the idea of “Hey, I wonder if we can land a person on the moon?”. Abercrombie & Fitch has long been worthy of a boycott, banishment and a simple refusal by sane people to not purchase their clothing. Here are some of the highlights:
1) Employees are refered to as ‘models’. Yup, you read that right, models. I’m not going to go on an anti-model rant but in the context in of the 21st century model is just this side of “allowing for objectification” and “we won’t hire ugly people.”
2) In 2005, the company was subject to a federal consent decree due to a hiring and promotion practices. A consent decree essentially means that the federal government has found their violations of federal laws has been so egregious that a third-party is required to monitor such activity. I work in a heavily regulated federal industry, it’s extremely hard to wind up with a consent decree when matters of health, medicine and transportation are involved. It’s damn near impossible when clothes are concerned.
3) A&F has a history of discriminatory practices against Muslims and people with disabilities.
4) Countless ads that objectify and/or sexualize children, ads that are xenophobic, employment practices that are far out of line cultural norms.
Look, this is a company that has united feminist groups, Bob Jones University, liberal religious traditions and several unions. Yes, they did donate $10 million dollars an emergency department at a children’s hospital. But the larger question is this: this is a company that at every turn manages to purposefully offend every non-white, thin, attractive member of the population. Ten million dollars probably doesn’t even begin to cover the damages they have done.
The bigger question is this: Why the hell have people been shopping them for so long?
Tags:A&F, Abercrombie & Fitch, ADA, autism, boycott, consent decree, diversity, Feminism, lgbt, musings, people, personal responsiblity, Reflections, social justice, things that aren't common sense but should be, xenophobia
Posted in People, Politics, Popular Culture | Leave a Comment »
May 1, 2013
Along Boylston
Make shift Memorial at Copley.
Also at Copley.
Re-glassing of Marathon Sports.
For the first time since the marathon, I had to be in the Copley area. I snagged a few pictures. I’ve always thought that make shift memorials were weird. As I wandered around the one that has sprung up on the Boylston side of Copley, looking at random pictures, quotes, I understood. New Englanders in general don’t show a lot of emotion. There were tears shed. The ever-present car horns that are Boston were absent, nary a Duck Boat in site and the street musicians were absent. Copley has changed. We are still struggling. We need the satellite trucks gone. Our farmer’s market needs to open on time. We will heal. We are changed. But we are #oneboston.
I’ve lived here longer than anyplace aside from my native Chicago. I’m proud to call Boston home. And our city will only be better. Because, to quote the incident commander, “It’s what we do. We are better than them.” We are #bostonstrong.
Tags:#bostonstrong, #oneboston, 4/15/2013, anger, Boston, Copley Square, diversity, healing, local business, marathon, musings, people, Random, Reflections, religion, social media, tolerance
Posted in People, Politics, Popular Culture, Reflections, Sports | 1 Comment »
January 1, 2013
Nahant Beach
Cross the first one off the list. Not often a fur clad, Uggs wearing woman and a bagpipper encourage me to take a plunge into the ocean in winter with some friends! Happy New Year!!
Tags:friends, fun, lack of common sense, New Year's Resolution, ocean, people watching, pictures, Random
Posted in People, Popular Culture | Leave a Comment »
December 31, 2012
Some will take 5 minutes, some a few months. . . . just a list of random things I thought I’d try to do in 2013.
1) Polar Bear Plunge
2) Read 50 Shades of Gray
3) Read Team of Rivals
4) Read In the Garden of Beasts
5) Read Fall of Giants
6) Read The Great Influenza
7) Read Book #6 (Title: TBD)
8) Read Book #7 (Title: TBD)
9) Read Book #8 (Title: TBD)
10) Read Book #9 (Title: TBD)
11) Read Book #10 (Title: TBD)
12) Read Book #11 (Title TBD)
13) Read Book #12 (Title TBD)
14) Participate in the SNAP challenge (one week, $25 all 7 days)
15) Run a 5K
16) Write a letter instead of shooting a long email
17) Walk the Freedom Trail
18) Go to a Red Sox/Yankees game
19) Participate in the USPS 3K challenge
20) Unplug from social media for a week.
21) Walk, run, jog 500 miles (I mean, I’ve got a YEAR)
22) Go to Walden Pond. (Such a bad local tourist)
23) Get over my fear of needles and go to the dentist
24) Take a yoga class
25) Volunteer 50 hours
26) Go to Northern California
27) Go to New Orleans
28) Go to Puerto Rico
29) Learn to cook tamales
30) Make an intentional collage
31) Go vegetarian for a week
32) Menu plan for a week . . . and follow it!
33) Bike 1000 miles (see the I’ve got a year note)
34) Walk away from an argument
35) Work a 44 hour week
36) Make sure all that dang adult paperwork is taken care of
37) Pay off the remaining credit card debt
38) Go to the MFA once a month
39) Go to NYC just to go to MOOD!
40) Walk the Freedom Trail
41) Prehab my shoulder in an attempt to avoid surgery
42) Organize guest room
43) Organize kitchen
44) Find new homes for orphaned socks.
45) Start to learn Spanish.
46) Finish my holiday shopping by October.
47) Hollins Hanukah II
48) Journal more
49) Sending my 2012 Christmas cards by oh, St. Patrick’s Day.
50) Go fall camping
51) Take a fun class at one of the zillion extension centers
52) Try to be more zen.
Tags:2013, food, fun, health, Kitchen, musings, New Year's Resolution, organization, personal responsiblity, Random, reading, Reflections, resolutions, social justice, social media
Posted in Popular Culture, Reflections | 3 Comments »
November 25, 2012
Looking for a strange new challenge to go after for a Thanksgiving potluck and a few hours of conference calls to do reasearch, I found an interesting concept: the piecaken. Apparently, this trend has come out of the missionary community: I’m not sure what to say on that one either theologically or politically so I’ll let each of my 12 readers decide independently. What I found was a decided lack of directions except for a list of “nots” and the idea to use pre-made cakes. Look, if I’m going to bake a pie in a cake, the pie is going to be from scratch.
The concept is pretty self-explanatory: bake a pie into a cake; a perfect dessert for Thanksgiving. After scouring the blogs, I decided that the one aspect made-from-scratch piecaken creators all lamented was a berry pie. After playing with flavor profiles, I decided to do a coconut pie and chocolate cake.
The coconut pie was a breeze to make: the recipe didn’t say but I poured into an unbaked pie crust. I made the pie the day before (tip from another blog) and cooled completely.
The next day, I made the cake. I’ve made exactly one cake from scratch so I went with the tried and true Betty Crocker cake. The only modification I made was to swap the 1/2c oil for 1/2c of water. I figured the oil wouldn’t be needed based on the cake recipe and would help to figure out the baking time. I poured roughly 1/3 of the cake batter into a well greased spring form pan (10”). And then the tricky part: transferring the pie from the pie plate to the cake. I removed the outer edges of the crust, flipped the pie onto a cookie sheet and flipped back.
Mine broke a bit but I was able to piece back together. Pour the remaining cake batter over the pie and cooked until knife clean (70 minutes at 350 degrees).
I let the piecaken rest overnight (I didn’t want the cake to ball up when I frosted it). I frosted with a simple butter cream frosting.
I hauled a cake weighing more than a newborn to a foodie potluck and viola, a piecaken for the ages.
Now, on to the next culinary adventure!
Tags:baking, cake, chocolate, cocount, cooking, culinary adventures, food, fun, insanity, Kitchen, pie, piecaken, potlucks
Posted in Cooking, Popular Culture | 2 Comments »
September 1, 2012
It was a busy day at the day job and then the watermelon incident : 2 watermelons + one cat = one huge sticky mess. So, convention number one is over: convention number two about to start (lies, lies and damn lies) and a twitter account about an empty chair. Let the countdown continue. . . . . .
71: The Smithsonian(s): All of them. Most are free. Yes, most of them are on the Mall in DC which is its own mess but really? Everything from The Fonz’s jacket, to a returning Gemini capsule and the Hope Diamond scattered around DC. Look, I love the British Museum, the Louvre, MOMA but the single collection of an eclectic bunch of museums dedicated from everything from Air and Space, to different indigenous populations to flat out quirky American pop culture all in one place. I hate going to DC for all of the reasons that make sense but a long weekend trip to the Smithsonian is completely worth it.
70: Dunkin Donuts. New England bias; but really, somebody has to make the donuts. There can be a raging debate (and don’t get me started on the ones in metro Boston not being open 24×7 OR making their own donuts) about what is the “best” donut (honestly, there is something insanely decadent about a hot Krispe Kreme donut). But millions of New Englanders greet the day with a regular coffee: which of course means with cream and sugar.
69: The Little League World Series: It’s our sport, but teams from all over come to compete. Did you catch the team from Uganda this year? First time an African nation won a game (sorry Oregon). Did you see the introduction of the players without subtitles? Did you see kids getting to be kids? It’s a slice of summer. And it’s a reminder that really, it’s a game. Some of those kids might get college scholarships, a lucky few might make a living out of sports but for one summer, they were on the top of the kid world. And I feel so bad for the loosing team. They really are just kids.
68: The Roll Call of States: Each convention does it. Somebody stands up and casts the delegate votes for each state, territory, commonwealth for the party nominee. It’s not just the act of voting (more later on that) but how: Alabama: The state with the 3 last national college football champions. Each state with the opportunity to proclaim something grand, funny, sometime snarky about a neighboring state casting the assigned delegates won in primary battles.
67: The Parade of Mini-Vans: aka, dropping kids off at college. Yes, every nation has something equivalent. However, I live in the Boston area where we have what is known as Allston Christmas. People moving in/out of apartments en masse: couches have been known to be stolen thinking they were for pickers. It’s a riot/terrifying/annoying/hysterical event. Parents lost, not wanting to leave their child, college students all to happy to have the mini-van turn around. And yesterday, as far as the eye could see on I-90 east…moving vans, mini vans, jam packed cars. Thankfully, I was going west.
66: Tailgating: It’s been elevated to a new level by my crazy Kansas cousins. (Beer and Oreos: breakfast of champions). Grilling out before the game be it in West Lafayette, Austin, Boise or Athens there is something about the fall ritual of donning your team colors, cheering them on and watching the sport. And Muck Fichigan: I’m for O-HI-O.
Tags:allston christmas, baseball, college, donuts, dunkin donuts, football, little league world series, museum, O-HI-O, Obama, oreos, Presidential Election, Random, Romney, smithsonian, tailgating, uganda
Posted in Election Countdown, People, Popular Culture, Sports | Leave a Comment »
August 4, 2012
Sigh. Nordstrom used to represent legendary customer service. Today, I returned, after a bit of frustration, a skirt and 2 pairs of shoes to my local Nordstrom that I had sent to me during the (in)famous Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.
I’d rather have a root canal. Ok, maybe not that extreme but close.
I stepped off the elevator and took my items to the customer service department. I wanted to just dart in, out and continue on with my day. Was I wrong! As I placed my Nordstrom bag on the counter, with the receipts in hand and my Nordstrom card (trust me, for these acts alone I deserve a medal). The customer service representative told me he could not help me with my returns. Um, excuse me? I mean, it’s a return. You are customer service. He pointed to a sign that said I could go to any department and they’d be happy to assist me with my return. Seriously? I mean, this is a Nordstrom: places of legendary (and false) tire returns.
I trudged over to St. John’s (the closest department) and while the woman was lovely, she couldn’t return the shoes. Something about a “company policy” again and I know Nordstrom employees take flak all day so I smiled and took my items downstairs to the shoe department.
I walked up to the shoe counter with my items and was asked if I needed help. Yes, I needed to return some items from the Anniversary Sale. And the sales associate offered to find somebody (I sort of wondered why she asked if she wasn’t going to help but oh well). I pulled out my two pairs of shoes and my skirt. The new sales associate apologized but said he couldn’t help me with the skirt but would take care of the shoes. At this point, I was wondering *where* Nordstrom and their famous customer service went. I asked about the sign at customer service that any department could help with any return. He explained that shoes was different due to a “company policy”. After inspecting my shoes in a manner that would make a US Marine Corps Drill Sergeant proud, he stated he could return the shoes. (Great, I’m thinking because I bought them less than two weeks ago, looked at them in person and said not for me.)
I went back up to St. John’s and returned the skirt. The woman apologized again saying that different departments can only return some items. She helped me return the skirt and was nice but really? 4 departments for 3 items? Target and Wal-Mart both don’t have you run all over the store for a simple return.
On my way out, I stopped by customer service. I wanted to let them know their sign was wrong. He explained the same “company policy” on returns about different departments. . I half jokingly asked the customer service rep if I could purchase a roll of quarters from him since that was on my to-do list. He said he was sorry but it was against company policy. At this point, I had to think what exactly does customer service DO all day?
On a lark, I looked a www.nordstrom.com for their returns policy: “Simply bring the packing slip and credit card used when you placed the order to any one of our stores.” And be prepared to run around for a bit.
Tags:customer service, fun, Nordstrom, Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, Nordstrom returns, Nordstrom shoes, people, people watching, Random, returns, social media, things that aren't common sense but should be, tolerance
Posted in People, Popular Culture | 4 Comments »
May 26, 2012
There is a passage in Acts that describes a gathering of individuals (hardly even the ultra-early church) where individuals spoke in his/her native language and was understood by the recipient in his/her native language (think text predictor gone right). I’ve been to enough church services on enough continents to pick out some of the more ritual aspects of the services (some always confuse me: The Apostles Creed descending to hell or not, trespass/debts/sin variations on the Lord’s Prayer) that I can intellectually understand that passage to mean an understanding due to ritual, body language and common ideals. Of course, I’m always bemused by Peter saying people aren’t drunk because it’s 9:00 am, clearly, the man had never tailgated in the SEC/Big 10 areas of the world: especially when it’s coupled with the German peasant phrase popularized by Goethe of strawberries by Pentecost mean a good wine crop. (Note, there were ripe strawberries at the farmers market today in the Boston ‘burbs so I’m thinking it’s going to be a good wine crop. . . ).
As I drove around today making stops at various farmers markets, I couldn’t help but notice all the flags flying at half-mast (an oddly enduring Massachusetts tradition) and think about Memorial Day in the context of those gathered during the first Pentecost and wondering what we would collectively say to each other if what we were saying would be understood. It would probably come very close to what has landed Cory Booker in hot water for saying what many of us believe: as Andrew Rosenthal wrote in a recent New York Times op-ed
“Cory Booker, the young, dynamic and often unpredictable mayor of Newark, got himself into hot water over the weekend by likening Republican attacks on President Obama’s former relationship with Jeremiah Wright to Democratic attacks on private equity. “This kind of stuff is nauseating to me on both sides,” he said on “Meet the Press.” “It’s nauseating to the American public.”
He also touted the president’s pro-business record (“over 90% of Americans have seen tax cuts under this president”), and said that Mitt Romney “would have let the auto industry fail,” but the media focused on his apparent defense of Mr. Romney’s work at Bain Capital. “I know I live in a state where pension funds, unions and other people are investing in companies like Bain Capital. If you look at the totality of Bain Capital’s record they’ve done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses.”
The sad thing? Booker has spent the week apologizing for his comments. Booker spoke in a language everybody – right, left, center – understood. We are tired of the finger pointing, hatred, vilification of opposition. Discuss your plans, the concrete ones and how you are going to pay for them. Show us how you will improve our systems. If the only way you can win is by trashing your opponents, you aren’t worthy of the position. Booker is right, it is nauseating. We as a country are better than this: and when an individual feels he has to apologize for heartfelt, probably dead on accurate comments, there is one thing I’m pretty certain of: we all agreed on the message from Mr. Booker, it just hit some on the campaign trail a bit too close to home.
Tags:anger, bain capital, cory booker, democrats, election, election nonsense, musings, Obama, people, politics, Random, Reflections, religion, republicans, Romney, social media, things that aren't common sense but should be, tolerance
Posted in People, Politics, Popular Culture, Reflections, Religion | Leave a Comment »
