Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Page 1 Consider (11/29)

  • Mama Mia Museum: An ABBA museum dedicated to the music, clothing and history of the legendary Swedish pop group and its four members will open in Stockholm in 2008, organizers said Tuesday. The interactive museum will feature original outfits and instruments used by the group, handwritten song lyrics, a display of different awards, and "all other things we can think of and find," said Ulf Westman, an event consultant who is spearheading the project with his wife Ewa Wigenheim-Westman. How do you say campy in Swedish? (AP)
  • Wanting It Both Ways: A woman in Virginia is trying to get full custody of the daughter she gave birth to while joined in a same-sex civil union in Vermont. It seems when it suited her needs to have the protection of the law and be recognized as a co-parent, she was for it. Now that it doesn't, she's asking a court to deny everyone the rights she was once afforded. How sad is this woman? (Big surprise: she "isn't a lesbian anymore." Surprisingly, a Virginia judge ruled that all custody issues must be handled in Vermont -- quite a surprise for the state that gave custody of a child to a convicted murderer father over a lesbian mother. (NYT)
  • Five Alarm Lezzie Put Out: Bonnie Bleskachek, the nation's first openly lesbian big-city fire chief, has agreed to step down in the wake of firefighter lawsuits accusing her of harassment and discrimination, her attorney and the mayor of Minneapolis said. Mayor R.T. Rybak announced the agreement in a letter to the city's executive council in which he wrote that he no longer had confidence in Bleskachek as chief. Bleskachek, 43, was hailed as a trailblazer when she was promoted to the top job two years ago, but her tenure has been troubled. Three female firefighters have sued, alleging various acts of discrimination and sexual harassment. A city investigation ultimately found evidence that the department gave preferential treatment to lesbians or those who socialized with them. (AP)
  • Racing Line: In response to the whole Michael Richards incident, Jesse Jackson has called for a ban on all racial slurs in film and TV. I love how the ill-doings of one former sitcom star empower someone like this admitted adulterer reverend (with a child out of wedlock to prove it) to now try to rob the rest of society of its constitutional rights. Doesn't anyone "get it"? Incidentally, I brought up the whole race thing the other day to get a feel for the mood out there. My hypothetical of screaming something in anger at a bad driver on the road is along the lines of something that I have done that has gotten me a dirty look or two. Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that people are so afraid of not being politically correct these days that frequently they won't mention race in any way whatsoever, even when it would be useful to do so. I'll be at work and someone will be trying to tell me who I need to talk to in the HR department about something. They will dance around describing her ... eventually they'll maybe say "she's got braids" ... and eventually a black person in the room (or I) will say, "You mean that black chick in HR?" (There's only one!!!) My whole "adjective" bit is mostly an issue for me when I'll be telling a story about something that's happened. If it was a "retarded Asian" who fucked up my sandwich at the deli, I'll probably mention his being Asian. (I want my audience to feel like they were there with me, as the wrong spread and the wrong cheese got put on, OK???) Like that contestant on "The Apprentice" who got in hot water for referring to "two old Jewish biddies" (or something like that) -- from what I gathered she was just being descriptive while trying to tell her story. Other cried anti-Semitism. I cried exhaustion. (BBC)
  • 8 comments:

    Anonymous said...

    But in your deli scene, the race of the guy really has nothing to do with the story. The guy messed up your order. That's the important part. His race is not. Why can't he just be that retarded guy who screwed up your order. Now yeah sometimes telling the race is important (your HR story), but other times it adds nothing at all.

    Anonymous said...

    James -- You're right. That's the PC view of things and certainly how news organizations should be reporting things.

    But we're not talking about what news broadcasts or papers should be doing. Have you ever read a book? It's all in the details, my friend. It's like painting a landscape, you can't leave out the color of the sky ...

    Anonymous said...

    Anonymous,

    Oh, pleeze. Have I ever read a book? Yeah I have (lots of them) and sometimes race is mentioned and sometimes it's not. And spare me with the pc charge. I know it's all fashionable to throw it out, but it does not apply here.

    Anonymous said...

    if someone is asian and you mention that they're asian, how is that being racist? we need to really get a grip here.

    Anonymous said...

    I'd say it's relevant because maybe you wouldn't want to have that same person make your sandwich next time you're at that deli. (But everyone knows Asians don't know how to make sandwiches. Fuck -- I'm a racist!)

    Anonymous said...

    Blake,

    Never accused anyone of being racist. No assumptions please.

    Anonymous said...

    Baby, given that I am ABBA's #1 fan I say it is long overdue that they had a museum of their very own! They have built an empire with staying power. Go Benny, Bjorn, Anni-Frid and Agnetha!

    Anonymous said...

    I disagree, especially in the Apprentice case. She used "Jewish biddies" in a derogatory way, as there was no reason to mention their religion, other than to use her bigoted opinion of Jewish people to explain why her plan failed. Like, if someone called me a "gay bastard", they wouldn't be using 'gay' as simply a descriptive term, but to suggest that there is something inherently wrong with me being gay, Jewish, Asian, Black, Muslim, Cherokee, what have you.