tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post247639754625473343..comments2024-02-12T23:25:09.583-08:00Comments on Overweening Generalist: Food/Sex/Death: Edition Bethmichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-66084948734656506522016-09-13T02:17:43.918-07:002016-09-13T02:17:43.918-07:00How marvelous to know someone in Chongqing reads m...How marvelous to know someone in Chongqing reads me, and likes this!<br /><br />You made my day, so thanks. <br /><br />I find I wonder about what your life - and the Anon from Hokkaido - what your lives are like; about your habitus, environment, what it feels like there. Wonderful to contemplate...michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-73547181302043791522016-09-12T04:16:18.457-07:002016-09-12T04:16:18.457-07:00Well you have got a fan in Chongqing, China. But d...Well you have got a fan in Chongqing, China. But due to the great firewall of China, you need a VPN to read it. So no idea where this is registering from? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-31027775921795511922016-08-26T21:50:07.579-07:002016-08-26T21:50:07.579-07:00Yes, Montana. Though, I read OG from Hokkaido. So,...Yes, Montana. Though, I read OG from Hokkaido. So, the mystery reader near Kyoto, or Osaka, or in Tokyo remains a mystery.<br /><br />I wonder if Infinite Jest passes the Bechdel test? I doubt it. "Too male" seems like valid criticism to me. I agree Pynchon and the lead in his last novel. I think Iain Banks made a conscious choice to write strong, independent women, and he did a better job than any male author I know. Yeah, he wrote a few stinkers, but Whit and The Business have a special place in my heart.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-16336658869477127762016-08-25T17:49:00.866-07:002016-08-25T17:49:00.866-07:00@Oz: good point on the peach/Duane triple play. I ...@Oz: good point on the peach/Duane triple play. I love that record, and just now hauled it out of my CD stacks to blast whilst showering (one of my favorite places to listen to music: under soft hot water bullets, music bouncing off the tiled room and other hard surfaces in there). <br /><br />I thought of Duane Allman the other day when I caught this harrowing (to me) video about how California has now legalized "lane splitting":<br /><br />http://boingboing.net/2016/08/19/lane-splitting-now-legal-in-ca.htmlmichaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-47428850203322019572016-08-25T10:22:54.350-07:002016-08-25T10:22:54.350-07:00If you consider Duane Allmann then a peach could r...If you consider Duane Allmann then a peach could represent all three, food, sex and death. Crowley uses a peach as a sexual metaphor in The Book of Lies. "Eat A Peach" is an album by The Allman Brothers named to commemorate the tragic death of Duane Allman due to a motorcycle accident with a truck hauling peaches. Eat a peach ... Oz Fritzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06061222169144560970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-85393316878031181312016-08-24T17:36:32.149-07:002016-08-24T17:36:32.149-07:00@Bob Campbell- Yea, I think we straight white male...@Bob Campbell- Yea, I think we straight white males probably have it easiest when expressing how cool we are with gender fluidity. I had gay male friends who got "bashed" - beaten up - by putatively "straight" male jocks. I think that's when my limbic system started to become sensitized to the anguish of others who are on the "outs" w/re/to their gender expression. The Matthew Shepherd case nailed it down, hard, for me. Ever since then I've become at times hyper-sensitive to this stuff. Also, I assume you're like me and have been assumed to be a bad guy simply for your straight white male privilege. It's wrong, but I guess I just suck it up. <br /><br />You got BIT BY A BAT? Were you doing your Ozzy impression again? I told you that was going to come back and haunt you. Now you have to get rabies shots directly in your abdomen. When will you EVER learn?<br />michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-13610483454371986222016-08-24T17:34:29.144-07:002016-08-24T17:34:29.144-07:00@ Tom-
Yea, I had my own "discuss your own r...@ Tom-<br /><br />Yea, I had my own "discuss your own recent reading of books" group - based on your idea. It worked for awhile, but I think the group's interests were too diffuse. I found I could hang and discuss anything with anyone, but the members who showed up seemed put off by the others and their non-germane books.<br /><br />The way I got pushed out of female-majority book groups: I slowly got the message that, though they wanted to feel democratic, I was cramping their Female style. So the sex-role stereotyping goes both ways, it seems to me. michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-1613462880950104692016-08-24T17:27:34.346-07:002016-08-24T17:27:34.346-07:00@Anonymous in...is it Montana? I know from my stat...@Anonymous in...is it Montana? I know from my stats that I get hits from Japan, but I always assume they're mistakes, and then I like to daydream about someone actually in Tokyo or near Kyoto or Osaka actually reading the OG...ego!<br /><br />I'd love to get enough humans to read Infinite Jest with me. My personal experience with DFW and female readers is that he's - for some reason - not taken as "too male", as Pynchon seems to be. This sort of thing is a mystery to me. Pynch's last novel has a very strong, brilliant female main character. His women are independent and smart. <br /><br />Maybe it has nothing to do with DFW or Pynch, but the commitment to a 1000 page book?<br /><br />Thanks for the comment!michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-32759910907873129212016-08-24T13:17:04.748-07:002016-08-24T13:17:04.748-07:00Michael,
I once belonged a book club which consis...Michael,<br /><br />I once belonged a book club which consisted entirely of couples, which at least solved the gender imbalance problem. <br /><br />My current book club is mostly women,but we each talk about what we have been reading,rather than everyone talking about the same book. That seems to reduce tension about what title to talk about. Cleveland Okie (Tom Jackson)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07810736442596736041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-6623622155486706232016-08-24T08:20:56.041-07:002016-08-24T08:20:56.041-07:00I read your blog in Japan this spring, perhaps I r...I read your blog in Japan this spring, perhaps I read posts from 2013, but I definitely read from the viewpoint of 2016. Today, I read from MT, as usual.<br /><br />I have things to say about death, food and sex, but lets talk book clubs and gender ratios. My book clubs need more women, and less men. The Infinite Jest club's numbers have slowly dwindled, and we've gone from four women to only two. The Prometheus Rising club (which I host at my house) recently went from zero women to one. Progress, I guess? Perhaps you could send some of those ladies up to MT, and I'll send some weird dudes down to your locale.<br /><br />Anyway, I have a crochet luncheon to attend. Hopefully I'll recruit some guys to spin yarns and trade-in for women looking to read them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-47847553553858994522016-08-23T21:38:22.325-07:002016-08-23T21:38:22.325-07:00I feel I should recuse myself from commenting on t...I feel I should recuse myself from commenting on the brilliance of the OG's presentation here, as I am currently immensely enjoying a re-read of "Jitterbug Perfume as my designated 'beach book' this summer, and just this afternoon had a delightfully delicious garden fresh tomato sandwich for lunch. I question my ability to remain objective given these circumstances :)))<br /><br />FOOD<br /><br />I am now well accustomed to the sideways glances and condescending comments that are provoked by my immediate and automatic removal of the "tomato" & "lettuce" that adorn the various cheese burgers I often order in restaurants. I accept my lumps in good humor, but the truth is I don't want my burger ruined by that soggy mess masquerading as produce!<br /><br />SEX<br /><br />By and large I am very enthusiastic about the break down of the false dichotomy of gender, and even if I flinch a little at, what seem to me, superfluous labels, it all seems to be towards a greater good.<br /><br />Besides my comfortability with shedding labels certainly has to have something to do with the privilege of my labels being white/straight/cis/man.<br /><br />I'm hoping that somewhere down the road the illusory nature of identity itself will become more and more apparent what with all these epiphanies about fluidity going around.<br /><br />DEATH<br /><br />I recently got bit by a bat! I originally read this post while sitting in the emergency room while waiting to receive treatment for exposure to rabies. There was a bit of monkey business that made it so I almost didn't get the proper treatment, and there was thus just that ever so slight memento mori in the air. My primary care doctor, who is super old and super cool, may very well have saved my life by explaining the situation in terms I could understand: "Bob, you can't fuck around with shit like this!"<br /><br />Bit by a bat, as if I needed more material for self mythologization, and on a day where I already had plans to take my kids to see Tim Burton's original Batman movie at a special screening at our local movie theatre.<br /><br />"LOVE THAT JOKER!"Bobby Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03809136879430277243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-46008661693444775262016-08-23T17:54:03.144-07:002016-08-23T17:54:03.144-07:00@Wes: Yep. I wish everyone could taste even the wi...@Wes: Yep. I wish everyone could taste even the wild blackberries that bramble all through my yard.<br /><br />Permaculture is pretty big where I live and lots of people grow tomatoes, zucchini, and peppers in their front yards around here. Neighbors leave a bag of assorted overflow on your porch. In Berkeley you can call a group who will gather your extra fruits and vegs and give them to the homeless. In case anyone from Berkeley, Kensington, El Cerrito or Albany is reading this and it's germane:<br /><br />http://northberkeleyharvest.org/<br /><br />Thanks for the choice comment, Wes!michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-71187033602840432522016-08-23T17:46:58.601-07:002016-08-23T17:46:58.601-07:00@Eric-
In my current club, at the end of a sessio...@Eric-<br /><br />In my current club, at the end of a session everyone gets to pitch a book for the group to read. Based on what we've read so far, I don't even consider nominating Joyce or Pynch or RAW. (I did mention "John Carter"'s _Sex and Rockets_ last time, and it didn't win, but a few of the women said it sounded great.)<br /><br />I'm using the Hebrew alphabet not due to Cantor (who is the most psychedelic mathematician ever? maybe?), but because of the Jewish humor tropes of Food/Sex/Death.<br /><br />Thanks for reading!michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-75447989289425767602016-08-23T17:41:53.507-07:002016-08-23T17:41:53.507-07:00@Tom- I hate to say it, but I wish you were here i...@Tom- I hate to say it, but I wish you were here in NoCal to taste the peaches, which are so good it's insane. I had a huge white-meat peach the other day that was perfection, as if it broke through the membrane of Plato's Ideal World of Forms and came down to me as Peach. And at our local Trader Joe's we buy for $5 a crate of smaller peaches which, even when slightly hard to the finger-poke, are nonetheless sweet, the ichor attracted to chins, obviously.<br /><br />I was also basing my assumption that "real" hearty tasty tomatoes are available everywhere on hearsay based on family and friends in different parts of the country; but I don't know anyone living in Ohio or Michigan, or even PA for that matter, so I hope you get the real stuff where you are, near Cleveland.<br /><br />Farmer's markets (which are everywhere round these har parts) are the best place to look for over-the-top flavor in any fruit and/or veg. I hope ya got 'em where you are...<br /><br />Speaking of peaches and Tom Robbins (and sex), in _Still Life With Woodpecker_ his female hero's vag is described lovingly as her "peachfish":<br /><br />"Yet, on the premise that it would aid preparation for her mission in life; on the premise that were she ever to resume her studies in environmental sciences she might not be so easily distracted by vibrations from the half-shellfish half-peach that occupied that warm, watery bowl of her lower regions, she made herself available to maturation, if maturation would have her."<br />p.20michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-58765475263159647002016-08-23T15:07:50.351-07:002016-08-23T15:07:50.351-07:00Strawberries from the garden make strawberries bou...Strawberries from the garden make strawberries bought from the store seem like an abomination. Gone the taste of succulent somewhat mushy sweetness replaced by this bland tart somewhat crisp red imitation.<br /><br />Picking the bounty from a garden provides an invigorating sustenance which I pity the city dwellers have never experienced. <br /><br />I enjoyed Tibetan Peach Pie by Tom Robbins. His other works comprising metaphoric medley does become a bit tiresome though.Weshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09803773412941700403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-41665229344525138812016-08-23T12:39:18.477-07:002016-08-23T12:39:18.477-07:00I have had mostly male Finnegans Wake book clubs f...I have had mostly male Finnegans Wake book clubs for 31 years, as well as Pynchon groups, etc. Of course, these clubs had relatively little expressing of ourselves emotionally.<br /><br />Mathematicians use the Hebrew alphabet for the cardinalities of infinity. Terrific post.Eric Wagnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04312033917401203598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-71827240609417245702016-08-23T07:39:50.784-07:002016-08-23T07:39:50.784-07:00When we finish throwing all of the supermarket man...When we finish throwing all of the supermarket managers in jail for selling fake tomatoes, can we start jailing them for selling fake peaches? My wife and I have largely given up buying peaches in the grocery store, because they are always terrible. Only the ones at the farmers markets or local orchard outlets or the "locally grown" section of the local upscale grocery store are edible. There are certain foods where getting locally grown makes a big difference. <br /><br />I think blackberries are good too; I need to get around to reading the Tom Robbins memoir. I read one of the novels years ago. Cleveland Okie (Tom Jackson)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07810736442596736041noreply@blogger.com