Month: June 2003

textual rape for meat-lovers

Don’t you even try to stop me from ordering what will someday no doubt be declared Book of the Last Several Millennia: Carol J. Adams’ epic The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory. A real page-turner, I’m sure! I’m particularly heartened by the five-star review from one “Gwen”:
“I was so moved by this extraordinary text. Interrogating the assumptions of white male Women beaters/meat eaters, this important work examines how the white dominating and oppressive culture dictates that the eating of meat is ‘good’ and even ‘necessary’, subject Peoples of Color to dietary regimes alien to their own subjectivities. As the writer notes, there is considerable resistance among patriarchal-dominated discourses to vegetarianism. This resistance is a form of textual rape, to be combatted by a ‘taste of their own medicine’: ‘A vegetarian writer may express feelings about textual violation by referring to images of butchered animals and raising the issue of dismemberment.’ A wonderful book, highly recommended.”
Hey, meat lovers! Bet you didn’t know you were a textual rapist!

consonant cd

Since I no longer have the CDMOM as an outlet, I’ll just tell you it’s been a long time since I’ve listened to an album as obsessively as I have been to Consonant’s self-titled debut. I love those dense drums and that meth-fueled energy.
I also like the back story of band leader Clint Conley: bassist for seminal early-’80s post-punk band Mission of Burma, 15 years away from music (including his current day job as a producer on a TV news show), then a new band assembled from indie-rock superstars (including ex-Dallasite Matt Kadane, formerly of Bedhead and currently of The New Year).
(Trivia: That last link mentions a Bedhead show in Cleveland seven years ago. “It was a Wednesday night, there were a couple of hundred people there to see us, and we couldn’t figure out why all these people who were there to see us were yelling and just causing a ruckus the entire time. We basically had confrontations with the audience, because there were people who just wouldn’t shut up, yelling for songs and things. It was one of the most bizarre shows we ever played. I’m kind of scared about going back!” I was there! It was July 4, and I was in Cleveland to visit my buddy I-Huei, now making rock history as a member of Sea Ray. It was actually a great show, in a divey storefront space downtown. When it was over, the fireworks were going off over the Cuyahoga River.
One final note: Sea Ray has finally crossed over from “best unsigned band in America” to proud new member of the Self-Starter Foundation family, which makes them brothers of Clem Snide, Enon, Les Savy Fav, The Mooney Suzuki, and other fine acts. New Sea Ray album out this summer — I’ve heard just about all of the tracks in one form or another and trust me — it’ll be worth your $12.)

taks story

Here’s my story on today’s front page, about why Texas high schools suck. (I phrase it differently in the story.) I forgot to mention it here, but I was also on TXCN last night.
Meanwhile, if the person who replaced my throat with a rusty razor-stuffed pipe could please return my esophagus, I would appreciate it. Thank you.

trivia bowl victory

Braggart Watch: Longtime readers may remember that last year, I led my team to victory in the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers first annual trivia bowl. I, as the non-lawyer ringer, teamed with my college chum Dena (an actual attorney-at-law) to rip through the much better-paid competition. (Well, better paid than me. I can’t speak for Dena.)
Well, this year, we tried again (with a new and valuable teammate, Henry). The odds were against us, as they are against all returning champions. Our opponents included: a team we humiliated last year that recruited a new member purely to counteract me, a team with a former Win Ben Stein’s Money contestant, and a high-powered team anchored by a retired judge.
But the results were the same. You are now reading the weblog of the two-time Dallas Association of Young Lawyers trivia bowl champion. The highlight from tonight’s playoffs: a rousing comeback in the semis, from down 210-90 at the halfway point to a 300-220 victory. (Not to mention a 440-130 shellacking of His Honor in the finals.) I now stand at 19-0 in trivia bowl competition, the longest winning streak by a Cajun in bowl history.
The concludes tonight’s edition of Braggart Watch.

attacking customer service

I can’t decide which is more annoying: having to listen to a coworker spend two hours on the phone with a customer service rep, complaining (unjustifiably, in my opinion) about some alleged wrong that has been done to him, swearing and yelling — or listening to him brag about his manly, tough phone call for the rest of the day, as if he’d just killed a wild lion with his bare hands.

chanda’s done

Alas, Chanda’s run comes to a halt, as I feared, with a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Henin-Hardenne. Not that it matters much, since she would have been mowed down by Serena in the semis if she’d won, but still sad — Chanda’s still waiting for that breakthrough.
That said, she stalled in the fourth round of each of the last four majors, so this was an improvement — her first appearance in the quarters at a major since 2000, and just her second since injuries started messing with her game in ’96.
Anyway, I’ve got a good feeling about Wimbledon.
She also remains alive in the quarters of women’s doubles with Daniela Hantuchova, who I may have mentioned earlier is hot, hot, hot.