Three things annoying me about the region:
1) The local production of "The Vagina Monologues" tried to sell tickets through Select-A-Seat, but a supermarket chain that is a major Select-A-Seat vendor refused to sell the tickets. A spokesperson for United Supermarkets said that when they sold "Vagina Monologues" tickets in Amarillo, complaints outweighed praise for selling tickets. The spokesperson said it might've made a difference if they'd known that the production raised money for the rape crisis center, but I'm still annoyed that the word for a woman's body part is considered so offensive that community pressure drives it out of the public arena. I suppose I will have to try to organize a few people to complain to United about not selling tickets.
2) via Josh Marshall, a state representative from the Panhandle (Pampa, near Amarillo) distributed a letter from a Georgia state representative opposing the teaching of evolution. That may be garden-variety idiocy, but the letter pointed people to a geocentric website that is apparently a wee bit anti-Semitic. Representative Chisum has offered a lame apology -- "I'm willing to apologize if I've offended anyone" -- and said that he hadn't looked at the website. Which I believe, but perhaps the bits in the memo about "Rabbinic writings in the mystic 'holy book' Kabbala" should've tipped him off about the Jewish thing?
3) Last night a Chippendale show in a bar was halted and the Chippendales and bar manager were handcuffed and jailed. The police lieutenant in charge on the scene said that "the dancers engaged in a simulated act," which from the story (and another story in the local dead-tree paper) seems to mean kissing or pretending to kiss women on the cheek. (Though another story says that the dancers were simulating sexual positions.) There also seems to be something slightly imprecise about saying that "one or more of the dancers" did something when all the dancers were arrested and jailed; shouldn't only the ones who did what was allegedly illegal be arrested? In any case, I'm sure that there was nothing better for twelve to fifteen police officers to do last night than to watch male topless dancers.
This one, at least, is already stirring outrage.
Oh man. So many great quotes:
Shortly after, several hundred women began chanting, "Bring them back, bring them back" and "the City Council sucks, the City Council sucks."
"Comparatively, it's a classy production," said Greg Jackson, Jake's Sports Cafe booking agent
At least it looks like you aren't out any dough, Matt:
Now if you had tickets to the 10:00 pm or midnight show, Jake’s owner Scott Stephenson says you can call Jake’s on Monday for a refund.
Posted by: Becks at February 17, 2007 12:06 PMAt least it looks like you aren't out any dough
What are you talking about? I lost two shows' worth of tips and had to bail myself out, too!
Posted by: Matt Weiner at February 17, 2007 05:28 PMSo that's a stage name.
Posted by: eb at February 17, 2007 07:44 PM(Trust my commenters to go straight for the Chippendales.)
Posted by: Matt Weiner at February 17, 2007 07:51 PMForget the stuff about "Pharisee Religion," what's a little anti-Semitism among state legislators? And "Kabbala," that sounds like one of them eth-nic restaurants. But you have to be disappointed that a legislator is so dumb he's willing to distribute a letter that endorses enacting material from www.fixedearth.com into law. "Geocentric" is much too polite a euphemism for this level of stupidity. Even anti-evolutionists and young-earthers haven't rejected Copernicanism yet. Mostly.
I trust this will provide final proof for my argument that evolution is wrong and should be replaced by my theory of Stupid Design.
Posted by: Ben at February 18, 2007 03:06 AMThings that annoy you are not limited to the Panhandle.
Censorship of Vagina Monologues at Notre Dame: http://www.nd.edu/~observer/01252001/News/2.html
Raid on Chippendales in Chattanooga (in 2004):
http://www.chattanoogapulse.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/12/21/43a8a9a817c3b
School board mandates teaching of intelligent design in science classes in Dover PA (since overturned by courts):
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6470259/
Yes, my annoyance is geographically widespread. (It wasn't the creationism that annoyed me -- that does annoy me, but I'm also used to it -- so much as the ridiculous anti-semitism, but of course in this case that started in Georgia.)
Posted by: Matt Weiner at February 18, 2007 05:34 PM