Regina Spektor- On the Radio
Amos Lee- Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight
Enjoy,
-R.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Song of the Day
Since I can't sleep, and since it's Wednesday night/Thursday morning, there are two:
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
As if I needed another reason to hate Barstool Sports..
Barstool Sports is my nemesis. I can't even get into it in a post because I will go off on a complete tangent. If you haven't ever heard of it, consider yourself lucky. It is one of the most inherently misogynistic blogs that I have ever seen (though I must admit that I don't browse any similar sites with any regularity). It's basically some guy out of Boston who writes a tiny bit about sports and posts a lot of pictures of boobs and butts. The UMass bros love the Barstool, the guys I work with love the Barstool. It makes me sick. There are regular pages of "Local Smokeshow of the Day,""Guess That Ass," and "Kill, Fuck, or Marry." That is where pictures are posted of three women and followers comment on which activity they would attribute to each woman. Disgusting.
But that aside, I just noticed over the shoulder of one of the guys on shift that this guy made a post about the Boston Marathon. Without my own comments on the matter, here is the post:
The Marathon is coming, the Marathon is coming! It’s tough for anybody to argue that Patriots Day isn’t a great day in this city. After all, we get an early Red Sox game, lots of people get the day off from work and it offers another free reason to drink a few beers during daylight hours. So while there can be no debate that Marathon Day is a great event, there is also a dark side to Marathon Day and that is the actual race. So without further ado here are my top 8 peeves about Marathon Day.
1. Anybody Can Run the Marathon
It’s true, it’s true, anybody can run the marathon. Therefore it drives me nuts when people act like they have some god given gift that allows them to compete in this event. No you don’t. Now obviously you can’t just wake up on Marathon Monday and decide that you’re going to run the thing, but if you decide six months prior that you are going to run it, then anybody can get ready for it. Sure it takes lots of training and dedication, but no real athletic ability. If we roll back the clock six months to November 2010 and I decided that I wanted to play for the Red Sox on Marathon Monday the odds are that I’d still get a 97 mph fastball jammed down my face, but I sure as hell would be able to run the Marathon with no problem. You want to brag about running? Beat a Kenyan. Until then shut up.
2. Speaking of the Kenyans
How excited can a blue blooded Bostonian get about watching a bunch of guys we’ve never heard of run a road race? (And even if we had heard of them, we probably wouldn’t realize it because their names are so complicated.) I honestly have no idea who has won any marathons outside of when Rosie Ruiz took the subway to finish first. (On a side note the Rosie Ruiz incident is similar to when I tried to cut through my Middle School when we had to run the mile in gym class.) This is nothing against the Kenyans, but why in the world would I care about them?
3. The Donation Thing
I’ve gone over this a thousand times. I’m all for donating money to good causes. However, I don’t like how marathoners tend to act like they are making this huge sacrifice to run the marathon so they can raise money for a cause. I’m sure there are a few runners out there who really dread running the marathon and the only reason they are doing it is because they want to raise awareness, but this is definitely the minority. I mean, if I ran the marathon, then you’d know that I was doing it strictly to raise money because I despise working out, but what about these other clowns who run it every year? They love it. After Boston they’ll go run the NYC and Chicago Marathons too. They’re running it regardless of donation money. They love the spotlight. They love having everybody congratulate them. However, they make it seem like they are running it for a cause. I don’t buy it. You could just as easily collect donations for a disease walking door to door as running the marathon. “Listen, Susie I don’t want to sponsor you running the marathon for the 7th straight year and I don’t want to see pictures of you crossing the finish line because I don’t care.” I’ll donate money to the Aids foundation because it’s a good cause, not because you’re so noble for doing something you want to do anyway. Do you want to sponsor me in a wiffleball tournament? At my old job I actually had a girl who was collecting donations for a trip to Hawaii where she was running a marathon. Imagine the balls on this slut. She actually wanted us to pay for her trip!
4. The TV Coverage
How bad is the TV coverage for the Marathon? They just sit there on that truck and nothing happens. You could tape the first five minutes and then just re-run that footage the entire race and nobody would be the wiser.
5. People who get work off the next day
I love people who skip the next day of work to recover. Huh? No group of people has the world tricked more than the marathoner. They ENJOY doing it. It makes them feel special. It’s an ego trip. Why do we reward them for doing something they enjoy by letting them have the next day of work off for free? I should be given a free vacation day the next time I place an unusually large bet because that takes a lot of courage and balls too. If I lose I won’t sleep a wink and won’t be ready for work either.
6. The Marathon Helpers
Where the hell do these people come from? My guess is that these people are usually the serious joggers of the world who didn’t run the marathon. They are there to give out food, encouragement and to wrap those ridiculous silver space ship things around runners as they cross the finish line. The beauty of the Marathon Helpers is that they like to dress up like they are actually running in the race. They are decked out in cross country shoes, spandex, and the whole ten yards. It’s their day in the sun and they want to make sure everybody knows it.
7. The Limper
In point #5 I said that I don’t like the fact that my old job used to give marathoners a free vacation day on Tuesday. Here is the thing though; the marathoners generally still show up at work even though they don’t have to. Why? Because they are glory hounds. God forbid they miss the opportunity to limp around work and have people ask them why they are limping. I personally refuse to fall into this trap. Whenever I see somebody limping around on the day after the marathon, I just act like I don’t even see it. Oh, I’ll purposely get into a conversation with these people, but I won’t give in and ask them what they did on Marathon day. Instead I’ll blab all day about how I went to the Sox game and then got wrecked at a Marathon party. You can almost see the limping marathoner bursting at the seams just waiting for you to ask what they did.
8. Smelly Subway
I must admit that I respect the people who run the marathon and then just climb aboard the green line with rush hour traffic to go home. These are the rare marathoners who do it for themselves. They aren’t in it for glory, but just the personal satisfaction that comes from setting a goal and achieving that goal. These are the people who were probably good athletes in their day and don’t need to hear from all their friends, family and colleagues how great they are for running the race. So while I respect these runners, I still don’t like it when I’m jammed in with them on the subway trying to get home. It is flat-out disgusting. There should be a fire hose to wash these people down before they are allowed on the subway. Without a doubt marathon day is the worst day of the year to ride the T. It is packed, it is smelly and nobody in a civilized society should be forced to endure it.
So in the end, I love Patriot’s Day. I love going to the early Sox game and then hitting a local drinking establishment or going to a Marathon party. And yes, I respect people who run the marathon for themselves. I don’t think it’s easy and it surely takes a lot of dedication and training. However, I can’t stand the people who do it strictly for the fake glory that comes with running the thing. The bottom line is that anybody who wants to run the thing can. I don’t expect people to ogle over me when I do something by choice that I enjoy doing. I don’t know why runners feel any different.
Normally, I would leave a link to the page for y'all to investigate on your own, but if you want to find it, you can search it for yourself this time.
But that aside, I just noticed over the shoulder of one of the guys on shift that this guy made a post about the Boston Marathon. Without my own comments on the matter, here is the post:
The Marathon is coming, the Marathon is coming! It’s tough for anybody to argue that Patriots Day isn’t a great day in this city. After all, we get an early Red Sox game, lots of people get the day off from work and it offers another free reason to drink a few beers during daylight hours. So while there can be no debate that Marathon Day is a great event, there is also a dark side to Marathon Day and that is the actual race. So without further ado here are my top 8 peeves about Marathon Day.
1. Anybody Can Run the Marathon
It’s true, it’s true, anybody can run the marathon. Therefore it drives me nuts when people act like they have some god given gift that allows them to compete in this event. No you don’t. Now obviously you can’t just wake up on Marathon Monday and decide that you’re going to run the thing, but if you decide six months prior that you are going to run it, then anybody can get ready for it. Sure it takes lots of training and dedication, but no real athletic ability. If we roll back the clock six months to November 2010 and I decided that I wanted to play for the Red Sox on Marathon Monday the odds are that I’d still get a 97 mph fastball jammed down my face, but I sure as hell would be able to run the Marathon with no problem. You want to brag about running? Beat a Kenyan. Until then shut up.
2. Speaking of the Kenyans
How excited can a blue blooded Bostonian get about watching a bunch of guys we’ve never heard of run a road race? (And even if we had heard of them, we probably wouldn’t realize it because their names are so complicated.) I honestly have no idea who has won any marathons outside of when Rosie Ruiz took the subway to finish first. (On a side note the Rosie Ruiz incident is similar to when I tried to cut through my Middle School when we had to run the mile in gym class.) This is nothing against the Kenyans, but why in the world would I care about them?
3. The Donation Thing
I’ve gone over this a thousand times. I’m all for donating money to good causes. However, I don’t like how marathoners tend to act like they are making this huge sacrifice to run the marathon so they can raise money for a cause. I’m sure there are a few runners out there who really dread running the marathon and the only reason they are doing it is because they want to raise awareness, but this is definitely the minority. I mean, if I ran the marathon, then you’d know that I was doing it strictly to raise money because I despise working out, but what about these other clowns who run it every year? They love it. After Boston they’ll go run the NYC and Chicago Marathons too. They’re running it regardless of donation money. They love the spotlight. They love having everybody congratulate them. However, they make it seem like they are running it for a cause. I don’t buy it. You could just as easily collect donations for a disease walking door to door as running the marathon. “Listen, Susie I don’t want to sponsor you running the marathon for the 7th straight year and I don’t want to see pictures of you crossing the finish line because I don’t care.” I’ll donate money to the Aids foundation because it’s a good cause, not because you’re so noble for doing something you want to do anyway. Do you want to sponsor me in a wiffleball tournament? At my old job I actually had a girl who was collecting donations for a trip to Hawaii where she was running a marathon. Imagine the balls on this slut. She actually wanted us to pay for her trip!
4. The TV Coverage
How bad is the TV coverage for the Marathon? They just sit there on that truck and nothing happens. You could tape the first five minutes and then just re-run that footage the entire race and nobody would be the wiser.
5. People who get work off the next day
I love people who skip the next day of work to recover. Huh? No group of people has the world tricked more than the marathoner. They ENJOY doing it. It makes them feel special. It’s an ego trip. Why do we reward them for doing something they enjoy by letting them have the next day of work off for free? I should be given a free vacation day the next time I place an unusually large bet because that takes a lot of courage and balls too. If I lose I won’t sleep a wink and won’t be ready for work either.
6. The Marathon Helpers
Where the hell do these people come from? My guess is that these people are usually the serious joggers of the world who didn’t run the marathon. They are there to give out food, encouragement and to wrap those ridiculous silver space ship things around runners as they cross the finish line. The beauty of the Marathon Helpers is that they like to dress up like they are actually running in the race. They are decked out in cross country shoes, spandex, and the whole ten yards. It’s their day in the sun and they want to make sure everybody knows it.
7. The Limper
In point #5 I said that I don’t like the fact that my old job used to give marathoners a free vacation day on Tuesday. Here is the thing though; the marathoners generally still show up at work even though they don’t have to. Why? Because they are glory hounds. God forbid they miss the opportunity to limp around work and have people ask them why they are limping. I personally refuse to fall into this trap. Whenever I see somebody limping around on the day after the marathon, I just act like I don’t even see it. Oh, I’ll purposely get into a conversation with these people, but I won’t give in and ask them what they did on Marathon day. Instead I’ll blab all day about how I went to the Sox game and then got wrecked at a Marathon party. You can almost see the limping marathoner bursting at the seams just waiting for you to ask what they did.
8. Smelly Subway
I must admit that I respect the people who run the marathon and then just climb aboard the green line with rush hour traffic to go home. These are the rare marathoners who do it for themselves. They aren’t in it for glory, but just the personal satisfaction that comes from setting a goal and achieving that goal. These are the people who were probably good athletes in their day and don’t need to hear from all their friends, family and colleagues how great they are for running the race. So while I respect these runners, I still don’t like it when I’m jammed in with them on the subway trying to get home. It is flat-out disgusting. There should be a fire hose to wash these people down before they are allowed on the subway. Without a doubt marathon day is the worst day of the year to ride the T. It is packed, it is smelly and nobody in a civilized society should be forced to endure it.
So in the end, I love Patriot’s Day. I love going to the early Sox game and then hitting a local drinking establishment or going to a Marathon party. And yes, I respect people who run the marathon for themselves. I don’t think it’s easy and it surely takes a lot of dedication and training. However, I can’t stand the people who do it strictly for the fake glory that comes with running the thing. The bottom line is that anybody who wants to run the thing can. I don’t expect people to ogle over me when I do something by choice that I enjoy doing. I don’t know why runners feel any different.
Normally, I would leave a link to the page for y'all to investigate on your own, but if you want to find it, you can search it for yourself this time.
Monday, April 18, 2011
New England Running: The Boston Marathon!
Disclaimer right at the start: I was spectating, not running.
But gosh, it was great to be there today. Knowing how much the spectators' cheers have pushed me along in the races that I have run, I enjoyed being able to yell for the runners today. My mom and I took the commuter rail into South Station and meandered around for a little bit before we headed down to the finish line. We were there before the wheelchairs passed, and even then, there was not much space on the fence at all. We found a spot on the corner of Commonwealth Ave and Hereford that wasn't too crowded and camped out for a few hours to watch the race.
As far as the elite runners go, the Americans missed it again. But just barely in the women's race! I was getting updates on my phone throughout the morning, and it was exciting to see how closely packed everyone was leading up to the last few miles. It was more exciting to see everyone pound by pushing for the finish.
Now, in all of my years in Massachusetts, this has only been the second time that I have watched the Boston. And the first time hardly counts, because I was in 8th grade and not at all appreciative of what a marathon is. I don't think that it was until I was older that I realized that the Boston Marathon is The Marathon. It was always just the marathon in our good ol' capital city, and I didn't comprehend that this was the race for which people spent years training, traveling from all over the world to compete in the most elite marathon.
Thinking about this on the train today, I found myself wondering why I haven't made more of an effort over the past few years to be present at the Boston Marathon. Why doesn't anyone? If you live in Massachusetts, you have a fantastic world event right in your backyard, available for your viewing pleasure at absolutely no cost. You can stand alongside the road, mere feet away from some of the fastest runners in the world. (The winner of the men's race was averaging about a 4:42 mile- I couldn't run that fast if I was running from my death.) Being in Massachusetts and having the ability to go into Boston for this race is something really special, and I'm so glad I did it this year before moving away.
It was also some inspiration to try a little harder, push myself a little more, and take my running a little more seriously. I would love to run the Boston someday, just once. If I find it too hard to qualify, I fully intend to run for charity. But it'd be sweet to get a qualifier. I'd have to shave quuuuite some time off my runs, but perhaps if I actually stuck to a training schedule, it could be possible.
Oh, it's good to have dreams.
-R.
 |
| Patriot's Day parade that we found in our meandering |
As far as the elite runners go, the Americans missed it again. But just barely in the women's race! I was getting updates on my phone throughout the morning, and it was exciting to see how closely packed everyone was leading up to the last few miles. It was more exciting to see everyone pound by pushing for the finish.
 |
| view from our corner |
Thinking about this on the train today, I found myself wondering why I haven't made more of an effort over the past few years to be present at the Boston Marathon. Why doesn't anyone? If you live in Massachusetts, you have a fantastic world event right in your backyard, available for your viewing pleasure at absolutely no cost. You can stand alongside the road, mere feet away from some of the fastest runners in the world. (The winner of the men's race was averaging about a 4:42 mile- I couldn't run that fast if I was running from my death.) Being in Massachusetts and having the ability to go into Boston for this race is something really special, and I'm so glad I did it this year before moving away.
It was also some inspiration to try a little harder, push myself a little more, and take my running a little more seriously. I would love to run the Boston someday, just once. If I find it too hard to qualify, I fully intend to run for charity. But it'd be sweet to get a qualifier. I'd have to shave quuuuite some time off my runs, but perhaps if I actually stuck to a training schedule, it could be possible.Oh, it's good to have dreams.
-R.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
New England Running: The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail
So, yesterday Dave and I decided to go check out the portion of the Metacomet-Monadnock trail that traverses the peaks of the Seven Sisters. If you park at the Notch Visitor's Center, the trail begins across the street with a sharp incline, and extends across ridge line towards the Mt. Holyoke Summit House (which happens to be one of my favorite places ever). I had done some hiking in the area, but never with the intention of running. However, I recently heard of the Seven Sisters Trail Race that will be held on May 1st, and I wanted to scope out the terrain.
We were out on the trail for about an hour, which we figure was probably somewhere between 3-4 miles. The running was.. interesting. There was just as much climbing as there was flat terrain that was runnable, possibly more climbing. There are lots of roots and rocks and steep uphills, but we found that it made for a pretty enjoyable experience. Normally in a long run or a race, the running becomes the most exhausting part, but on this trail, it seemed that we were best able to relax and catch our breath when we were running. It meant that we weren't trying to navigate steep downhills or climb straight up.
The trail race in May will run the entire out-and-back course of the Seven Sisters Trail, a total of twelve miles. Judging by how hard we worked in running only four, we decided that the race itself will be pretty treacherous. There will probably be quite a few falls, some serious scrapes, and some sooooore muscles by the end. However, I am not at all discouraged. It'll be hard, but I'm pretty excited for the race, and I encourage my Western Mass running friends to check out the race page! (Also, it benefits the Friends of Mt. Holyoke Range, which works on preservation to keep the area free of development!)
 |
| Photo from Wikipedia (And yes, the views are this good.) |
The trail race in May will run the entire out-and-back course of the Seven Sisters Trail, a total of twelve miles. Judging by how hard we worked in running only four, we decided that the race itself will be pretty treacherous. There will probably be quite a few falls, some serious scrapes, and some sooooore muscles by the end. However, I am not at all discouraged. It'll be hard, but I'm pretty excited for the race, and I encourage my Western Mass running friends to check out the race page! (Also, it benefits the Friends of Mt. Holyoke Range, which works on preservation to keep the area free of development!)
Friday, April 15, 2011
New Developments
Alright, so I know that I haven't posted more about my time in Boston. If you are antsy for more deets/pics, I shall pass you on to Risa's blog post about it until I make it back there. For now, I want to talk about the workshops I attended at Ladyfest Easthampton.Though I didn't get the chance to stay for the music, I was there for the workshops on getting published, making zines, and screen printing. (Check out my sweet new hand screened shirt!)
It was really cool, and reminded me how much I enjoy pretending to be five for arts and crafts time.
In one of my classes (Sustainable Thinking- UMass students, check it out through the STPEC department) we have been considering making a zine to promote the class and promote sustainability on campus. This was my initial interest in the zine workshop- gaining something that I can take back to that project. Howeverrrr, I enjoyed it quite a bit, and decided that I will try to bring it to the blog. Or rather, bring the blog to zine?
I have created a new email just for the occasion:
fishandbikesblog@gmail.com
Want some mail? Get at it!
Much love, R.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Today was great.
More to come on that later. I have to do some personal journaling to sort out my thoughts in order to prevent myself from rambling. However, here are some highlights:
- Had to be sneaky sneaky about getting in. AKA, become Risa and lose my badge.
- Met Jean Kilbourne. Dorked Out. Picture to follow.
- Overall better attitude about the possibility of social change.
- I'll have a bunch of links later, but for now I'm checking out freespeech.org. Loads of FREE and INDEPENDENT documentaries, series programs, etc. I think this will keep me occupied for a while.
- Risa brought me back delicious tea from The Tea Farm on South King Street in Honolulu, and I based on the cup that I'm drinking right now, I am strongly recommending it to all of my Oahu friends.
So quit being afraid of it, and call yourself a stinkin' feminist!
Conference Crashing
So, I am in Boston right now at the Seaport Hotel, where the National Conference for Media Reform is being held. My primary reason for being here is that my lovely friend Risa has been shipped here by the University of Hawaii to attend the conference, which I was very excited to hear when I learned of it a few weeks ago. It's very strange to think that almost a year has passed since we saw each other, and it's a funny thing to see someone out of the context from which you know them. It's been really nice to see each other and catch up. We treated ourselves to a fancy dinner last night (mostly because we didn't want to venture out of the hotel) and popped into the dance party that a lot of people from the conference were attending.
I was planning on bumming around Boston during the day while Risa goes to sessions, but she mentioned to me yesterday that I can probably just go with her. I may be a super-dork, but this makes me super excited- there are some panels that sound really interesting about women in media that she had scoped out to attend: Media Policy is a Women's Issue, Keeping it Unreal: Decoding Gender, Race and Reality TV- A Media Literacy Workshop, and Taking Sexy Back: Why and How to End the Media's Sexualization of Girls. Jean Kilbourne is at this conference, and is screening Killing Us Softly 4 and taking part in the last panel that we will go to today. That also makes me dork out a little after watching those films for the past four years. Mmmmmm, Women's Studies.
More to come later on adventures with Risa! I just have to buy some stupid batteries for my stupid camera that keeps eating the stupid batteries every two days.
This is my urinal.
So, Dan Savage has a urinal of the day feature on Slog, and my picture of the weird UMass urinals in the women's rooms totally made it on the site. Go me? Alright, it might be a little lame/gross/weird, but I'm excited about it.
Urinal of the Day: The Mysterious Case of the University of Massachusetts and the Gender-Nonconforming Mystery Urinal Mystery
Thursday, April 7, 2011
I love scones.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
"If my wife incorporated her uterus, you'd say 'hands off.'"
Okay. What the fuck.
This story is aggravating on a few different levels.
In order to not botch it with my own rambling interpretation, here is the article published by the St. Petersburg Times:
This story is aggravating on a few different levels.
In order to not botch it with my own rambling interpretation, here is the article published by the St. Petersburg Times:
During last week's discussion about a bill that would prohibit governments from deducting union dues from a worker's paycheck, state Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando, used his time during floor debate to argue that Republicans are against regulations -- except when it comes to the little guys, or serves their specific interests.
At one point Randolph suggested that his wife "incorporate her uterus" to stop Republicans from pushing measures that would restrict abortions. Republicans, after all, wouldn't want to further regulate a Florida business.
Apparently the GOP leadership of the House didn't like the one-liner.
They told Democrats that Randolph is not to discuss body parts on the House floor.
"The point was that Republicans are always talking about deregulation and big government," Randolph said Thursday. "And I always say their philosophy is small government for the big guy and big government for the little guy. And so, if my wife's uterus was incorporated or my friend's bedroom was incorporated, maybe they (Republicans) would be talking about deregulating.
"It's not like I used slang," said Randolph, who actually got the line from his wife. He said Republicans voiced concern about young pages hearing the word uterus.
"I think it's a sad commentary about what we think about sex education in the state," he said.
House GOP spokeswoman Katie Betta: "The Speaker has been clear about his expectations for conduct on the House for during debate. At one point during the debate, he mentioned to the entire House that members of both parties needed to be mindful of decorum during debate.
"Additionally, the Speaker believes it is important for all Members to be mindful of and respectful to visitors and guests, particularly the young pages and messengers who are seated in the chamber during debates. In the past, if the debate is going to contain language that would be considered inappropriate for children and other guests, the Speaker will make an announcement in advance, asking children and others who may be uncomfortable with the subject matter to leave the floor and gallery."
Now, aside from the fact that the point of discussion was originally about unions, there are just so many more things at play. The article pretty much sums it up: the taboo around the use of the word uterus, issues of regulation when it comes to things such as abortion, and the state of sex ed. (And really, I thought we were reclaiming words like "cunt"- but are we really digressing to "uterus"?) Yikes.
Now, on a happier note, the ACLU is adopting this story along with the domain name incorporatemyuterus.com. What would happen if our bodies were as regulation-free as big business? Craziness. Hop onto the site and sign up for updates. (I'm also really hopin' for bumper stickers.)
At one point Randolph suggested that his wife "incorporate her uterus" to stop Republicans from pushing measures that would restrict abortions. Republicans, after all, wouldn't want to further regulate a Florida business.
Apparently the GOP leadership of the House didn't like the one-liner.
They told Democrats that Randolph is not to discuss body parts on the House floor.
"The point was that Republicans are always talking about deregulation and big government," Randolph said Thursday. "And I always say their philosophy is small government for the big guy and big government for the little guy. And so, if my wife's uterus was incorporated or my friend's bedroom was incorporated, maybe they (Republicans) would be talking about deregulating.
"It's not like I used slang," said Randolph, who actually got the line from his wife. He said Republicans voiced concern about young pages hearing the word uterus."I think it's a sad commentary about what we think about sex education in the state," he said.
House GOP spokeswoman Katie Betta: "The Speaker has been clear about his expectations for conduct on the House for during debate. At one point during the debate, he mentioned to the entire House that members of both parties needed to be mindful of decorum during debate.
"Additionally, the Speaker believes it is important for all Members to be mindful of and respectful to visitors and guests, particularly the young pages and messengers who are seated in the chamber during debates. In the past, if the debate is going to contain language that would be considered inappropriate for children and other guests, the Speaker will make an announcement in advance, asking children and others who may be uncomfortable with the subject matter to leave the floor and gallery."
Now, aside from the fact that the point of discussion was originally about unions, there are just so many more things at play. The article pretty much sums it up: the taboo around the use of the word uterus, issues of regulation when it comes to things such as abortion, and the state of sex ed. (And really, I thought we were reclaiming words like "cunt"- but are we really digressing to "uterus"?) Yikes.
Now, on a happier note, the ACLU is adopting this story along with the domain name incorporatemyuterus.com. What would happen if our bodies were as regulation-free as big business? Craziness. Hop onto the site and sign up for updates. (I'm also really hopin' for bumper stickers.)
Monday, April 4, 2011
AH! Boobs!
Art Attack: Woman Freaks Out Over Gauguin Painting at Washington's National Gallery
Something about Paul Gauguin's Two Tahitian Women really rubbed one National Gallery goer the wrong way.
Last week, a woman attacked the painting, screaming, "this is evil." She also reportedly tried to pull the 37 x 28.5-inch painting from the wall and banged on its plastic covering with her fists. The 1899 painting is a portrait of two women, both with exposed breasts. As far as art goes, this painting is pretty un-provocative.
Reportedly the woman — whose name hasn't been released — was tackled to the ground by another museum patron and restrained. She's now being charged with destruction of property and attempted theft.
Outbursts, one-woman protests and a heroic take-down?
Who says museums are boring.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Life at UMass: Humans Vs. Zombies
Well, folks, it's that time of year again. The time when it is no longer safe to walk around campus with any kind of bandanna, scarf, headband, etc. lest you be mistaken for participating in Humans vs. Zombies. If you DO make that mistake, do not be surprised to be ambushed, chased, or shot with a foam bullet by a player assuming that you are their opposition.
For those of you who are very confused and don't know what I'm talking about (aka, not a UMass student), here is the overview provided on the UMass Humans Vs. Zombies webpage:
Humans vs. Zombies is a game of tag played between two teams: human and zombie.
The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world, in which the winning team conquers and
outlives the other.
The goal of the human team is to survive the zombie onslaught from day one until the
final day, but stunning zombies with unmodified NERF weaponry (Buzzbee blasters are
also permitted), tossing clean balled up socks, and tossing fresh marshmallows. Once
stunned, zombies are ineligible to bite (tag) a human for a pre-set period of time.
Survival may be made easier for the human team depending on their success or failure
during a series of OPTIONAL side-missions and random encounters. In these
OPTIONAL side-missions and random encounters, the humans must satisfy a series of
objectives set by game administrators, while also fending off the zombie horde.
The sole goal of the zombie team is to devour all humans, by safely tagging human
players and recording their bite codes (each player carries a unique ID) and recording the
bites online.
Zombies are HIGHLY encouraged to feast on human flesh during the OPTIONAL side
missions and random encounters by any means possible.
The website also describes the color codings for bandannas, indicating whether you are a human, self-bitten zombie, immortal zombie, self-bitten AND immortal, etc. There are some serious rules about safe zones and times. For instance, there is a concert at the Mullins Center tonight, for which the players are allowed a half-hour grace period before and after the show if they are attending. It is very serious business. The zombies in the photos above (red indicates a regular zombie) convened as I was walking by them, and I laughed to myself as I heard one say "I've only seen two humans all day!"
I have to say, that my first few years at UMass, I absolutely despised this game. I had no tolerance for the kids charging around campus with their Nerf guns, yelling to each other about where the zombies had gone to that they were trying to attack. At times it's still kind of annoying. However, I think I've grown more sympathetic since freshman year, and now I find the whole thing pretty amusing, and almost endearing. Everybody laughs at how weird these kids are and how obnoxious it is that they take over the campus. But really, we're all a little weird. And these kids are having way more fun than us anyway.
Zombie on,
R.
For those of you who are very confused and don't know what I'm talking about (aka, not a UMass student), here is the overview provided on the UMass Humans Vs. Zombies webpage:
Humans vs. Zombies is a game of tag played between two teams: human and zombie.
The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world, in which the winning team conquers and
outlives the other.
The goal of the human team is to survive the zombie onslaught from day one until the
final day, but stunning zombies with unmodified NERF weaponry (Buzzbee blasters are
also permitted), tossing clean balled up socks, and tossing fresh marshmallows. Once
stunned, zombies are ineligible to bite (tag) a human for a pre-set period of time.
Survival may be made easier for the human team depending on their success or failure
during a series of OPTIONAL side-missions and random encounters. In these
OPTIONAL side-missions and random encounters, the humans must satisfy a series of
objectives set by game administrators, while also fending off the zombie horde.
The sole goal of the zombie team is to devour all humans, by safely tagging human
players and recording their bite codes (each player carries a unique ID) and recording the
bites online.
Zombies are HIGHLY encouraged to feast on human flesh during the OPTIONAL side
missions and random encounters by any means possible.
The website also describes the color codings for bandannas, indicating whether you are a human, self-bitten zombie, immortal zombie, self-bitten AND immortal, etc. There are some serious rules about safe zones and times. For instance, there is a concert at the Mullins Center tonight, for which the players are allowed a half-hour grace period before and after the show if they are attending. It is very serious business. The zombies in the photos above (red indicates a regular zombie) convened as I was walking by them, and I laughed to myself as I heard one say "I've only seen two humans all day!"
I have to say, that my first few years at UMass, I absolutely despised this game. I had no tolerance for the kids charging around campus with their Nerf guns, yelling to each other about where the zombies had gone to that they were trying to attack. At times it's still kind of annoying. However, I think I've grown more sympathetic since freshman year, and now I find the whole thing pretty amusing, and almost endearing. Everybody laughs at how weird these kids are and how obnoxious it is that they take over the campus. But really, we're all a little weird. And these kids are having way more fun than us anyway.
Zombie on,
R.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)