The queer history of Grace Jones:
That night, Grace Jones sang “I Need a Man” just like a man might—tough and lusty, she was a woman who was not just singing to them, but also forthem, as them. She was as queer as a relatively straight person could get. Her image celebrated blackness and subverted gender norms; she presented something we had never seen before in pop performance—a woman who was lithe, sexy, and hyperfeminine while also exuding a ribald, butch swagger. In ’79, Ebony got her je ne sais quoi exactly right: “Grace Jones is a question mark followed by an exclamation point.”
Even now, her transgressive charisma remains bold. She still feels outré.
*
Turkey has too much history (every word of this Elif Batuman piece is EXTRAORDINARY):
“The essence of all your work is in those crates,” Sibel told him. “It’s not in a few cleaned-up ships in the museum. The real thing is in the boxes.” For Sibel, the most characteristic finding from Yenikapı was precisely “the surplus.” “When one piece is found,” she said, “it teaches you something. When thousands of pieces are found, it’s something else. At a certain point, you have the knowledge already, and the rest is a surplus.” You don’t have to be a conceptual artist to see in the surplus an irresistible metaphor for certain historical questions in Istanbul: once you start digging, so much stuff comes out that there’s nowhere to put it, and, eventually, you have to just bury it back in the ground.
Tansev seemed moved. He made a few phone calls, and wrote a number on a slip of paper: 83,562—the number of boxes his workers had removed from the site.
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I have rarely been so outraged as this piece made me:
Her mother glanced at the words, then back at her daughter. “What does this mean all of your payments were sold to a third party?” her mother recalls saying.
The distraught woman said the letter, written by her insurance company, referred to Rose’s lead checks. The family had settled a lead-paint lawsuit against one Baltimore slumlord in 2007, granting Rose a monthly check of nearly $1,000, with yearly increases. Those payments were guaranteed for 35 years.
“It’s been sold?” Rose asked, memories soon flashing.
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You are more than welcome to talk about the tragedy in Virginia yesterday, I don’t have much editorializing spirit for it.
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On why the Rentboy.com bust is a useless waste of taxpayer money, and is only going to hurt people:
I think that to many in our community this feels like a throwback to when the police raided gay bars in the 50s and 60s. Despite the salaciousness of the language in the complaint I don’t think the charges will stick because basically the site provides a forum for people to meet and make personal arrangements on their own. Rentboy.com may be a provocative title but sexy, fun language is not illegal. This invasion of a consensual hook-up site which is run for and by members of the LGBT community feels like a real slap in the face after gentrification, and the Giuliani and Bloomberg administrations drove so many NYC gay bars out of business and forced people to meet online instead of in person.
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HOW did I miss Stacia L. Brown on Surya Bonaly!!!!
In addition to pegging herself as a rebel during that practice session, judges seemed prejudiced against Bonaly. In his Rebel On Ice interview, Frank Carroll, a former U.S. Olympic coach, said, “Even though she was wonderful [and] spectacular and she did great performances, she didn’t look like the ‘ice princess.’” (Until recently, “ice princesses”—skaters who emphasize graceful artistry over raw athleticism—were preferred among judges. A recent ESPN article asserts that this may be changing.)
Retta, who recalls watching Bonaly’s performances on TV as a child, also thought Bonaly’s appearance made her conspicuous on the ice. “She was shorter. She had a ‘black girl’s body,’ [which meant] thicker legs. She was never going to look like the other skaters.”
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My friend Carrie’s new puppy taking a walk with the big guys again:
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LOVE the illos by Friend of The Toast Matt Lubchansky.
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Deleted comments of the day:
Tags: feminism, link roundup, the internet
“If they’re made up, well….I would like to heartily shake your hand to thank you for your creative prowess.” was clearly the rest of that sentence. Clearly. #mencopingadmirablywiththeexistencefiction
Guess SOMEBODY’s too busy to read the “this is not 100% serious tag”
also my favorite thing about that tag is how few pieces it’s applied to
LOL, I didn’t see that tag and totally accepted it as facts.
How do they even get here?
I feel like they must have a facebook page or newsletter called “Daily Dose of Articles to Willfully Misinterpret and Mansplain.” Maybe with suggested talking points.
It’s the Dark Side of the Force version of Dad Magazine.
Tedious Uncle Quarterly
Dirtbag Cousin Weekly
“Um Actually Digest”
Aww, bless his li’l heart.
I had never heard of Grace Jones before today and this is a travesty. She’s excellent.
She’s the BEST THING about Conan The Destroyer (she broke a dude’s rib in one of the fight scenes, because she was so into it).
She’s the best thing about A View to a Kill, too.
My brother is a huge Grace Jones fan. He’s insistent that she was the first to really nail the pop star/performance artist hybrid style, and that Lady Gaga is a pale imitation. (pun intended?)
I am an Old and Grace Jones, along her German contemporary Nina Hagen, were my style icons in the 80’s. OMG, I remember her as a guest on The Tonight Show and Johnny Carson had NO IDEA what to do with her.
Grace Jones is a GODDESS. I find her literally awe-inspiring, in that she is great and beautiful and amazing but also I am literally afraid of her because she is GLORIOUS LIKE THE SUN.
“Grace Jones is a question mark followed by an exclamation point.”
Grace Jones, interrobang.
Uh, I just watched the “On Your Knees” video in the profile.
I’m…. I’m gonna have to go take a break….
See you Toasties next year.
Even as a young girl watching figure skating, it always made me crazy that Surya Bonaly was not on the winners’ podium more often. She was such a joy to watch on the ice!
Me too! I enjoy the artistry of figure skating more than pure athleticism (I hate the skaters that just do a lot of jumps and get a lot of points and fail to entertain) and even though Surya wasn’t the typical “ice princess”, she knew how to PERFORM. I was pissed every time she did an awesome backflip and the announcers pointed out she wasn’t supposed to do that.
“Kocabaş was particularly excited about the ship known as YK12, which was recovered along with both a large cargo of amphorae and the captain’s personal belongings: a mess kit, a brazier, and a large basket of cherry pits. The cherry pits indicated that the ship sank during the relatively brief cherry season—perhaps during one of the summer storms common in the Marmara region.”
I love this dearly.
OK NO THO
“There was a device that Kocabaş described as ‘a Byzantine tablet computer’: a seven-inch wooden notebook with five removable wax pages that could be written on and erased again. The ‘tablet’ had an ‘app’ at the bottom: a sliding compartment concealing a tiny assay balance.”
“iAssay is a startup that’s disrupting the balance industry by tapping into the sharing economy and making the world a better place.”
It’s just too bad that most men don’t have a sense of humor. : (
Right? The word on the street is women aren’t funny, but the women of the Toast are dang funny, and these deleted commenters are humorless scolds!
I almost pity the misogynists. The cognitive dissonance must be very painful for them.
Whenever I heard “women aren’t funny,” I always thought, “But my friends are funny? I’m funny?” Then I thought maybe it was “other” women. Then I found tons of lady authors, writers, bloggers, tweeters, everything. Women were funny without it being the point. Women were funny with it being the point.
It turns out, not only were lots of dudes basing this on “you’re only funny for real if you’re a professional comedian or talk show host” but also they were just plain dumb wrong.
If a man doesn’t have funny women in his life, it’s probably because they can barely crack a joke around him, and frankly, he sours the company.
My cynical theory is that “funny woman” for some men means, at most, “woman who laughs at my jokes.” As if women who say words are bad enough, but women who are clever are just down right terrifying. Like, who is amused while shitting one’s pants? Better she sit there and giggle in an unthreatening and flattering manner.
There’s also the “fluency doesn’t flow both ways between privileged and oppressed” theory. Given the level of male dominance and privilege in society, learning their ways is a matter of survival for women. Given how thoroughly their preferred storytelling methods dominate our collective canon, it’s basically impossible to be someone who has ever gone to a movie and not know what dudes like to laugh at.
But there’s no obligation for cross-cultural study to go the other way. So the jokes that women tell each other, based on the conversations we have within and around and behind and underneath the mainstream dialogues, are bewildering to dudes. A few of us can learn to tell the “dude-flavored” jokes, it’s not particularly hard. But I’m mostly at “it’s not that this dude doesn’t know funny women, he just doesn’t know any women with his exact sense of humor, but he can find plenty of movies, etc that do fit him perfectly”
…okay, that just blew my mind a little bit.
Seconded
Oh, I just COMPLETELY internalized “women aren’t funny”. Until, I don’t know, a couple months ago. Not that I still thought that *other* women weren’t funny, I recognized that as bullshit, I know LOTS of women that are funny, both personally know and know-of.
But I had 100% internalized that *I* was not funny. Even though I knew that I pretty regularly make Mr.Table almost do spittakes and/or choke on various beverages if I say funny things at the wrong moment– I chalked that up 100% to just knowing him so well that I could use that to compensate for not being funny.
And then I started commenting here more regularly. I don’t know y’all IRL. Well, except ginkgotree. But I was, from time to time, saying things that lots of people were liking. Some were “i agree” likes, or “I believe you” likes, or “this was an interesting perspective” likes. But some of the comments I was making were just a short joke. There really wasn’t any explanation for the thumbsup other than “I find this amusing”. Oh. Oh. So maybe I’m not funny in a standup sort of way, or a mainstream sort of way, but I actually am funny to the right audience? Oh.
I’m still adjusting.
Having watched a lot of standup*, not being funny in a standup way might be the best way to be funny.
*local comedy theater company, standup leaned heavily toward racism, sexism, and combinations thereof. They got better about culling the worst people, but I always hated working the standup shifts.
++++1 to this. I enjoy some stand-up but it’s never been my favourite way of getting some comedy.
Also, I have been *startled* by how many regular dudes on OKC say they’re trying stand-up or practising, mostly as a hobby or pasttime, maybe with professional aspirations sometimes. You do you, man, but my circle and I would never in a million years considering putting ourselves on a stage. I’m not sure if it’s a gender thing.
I’ve definitely realized with stand-up that I have to be very very picky about who I go to see (that said, I’ve got tickets to a Donald Funches show AND a Kumail Nanjiani show this month and I am excite) because otherwise it can be a cavalcade of surprise sexist/racist/homophobic/other lazy garbage jokes.
Oh man! You should check out Hari Kondabolu. His comedy is really socially aware but also super funny! He is proof that it can be done.
“Yes, the theme of tonight’s show will be colonialism.” 💕
*Ron Funches
I swear I know his name.
I know it is objectifying and I apologize in advance but I want to hug Ron Funches SO THOROUGHLY.
That smile/giggle! He is the cutest.
He says himself that he’s like a pug riding a decorative pillow!
His “not a tough person” bit is amazing.
Like, I make a lot of people laugh but I never thought I’d be good at stand up because I work with live material rather than offering my observations on stuff. I think this is true of a lot of women as they don’t immediately assume they are centre of attention.
I knew I was funny because I’d pissed off enough fragile men by being funny at them (and sometimes making women laugh while the men sat there being cranky). Though reflecting on it now, it’s almost exclusively been women who’ve told me outright that I’m funny. (It feels weird to write this comment about how funny I am without making any jokes, but oh well.)
Also, @ThatOtherWench, that’s a spot-on analysis. I’ve never been able to articulate the dynamic that way. My sister and I have talked about it while talking about how much we love Broad City and how some of the guys we know don’t “get” it. That show has a lot of the jokes/type of humor women use with each other but that a lot of men have never been exposed to. (It’s also become a good litmus test for assessing dudes’ senses of humor/comfort with women for me!)
I think that articulates why Broad City feels positively nourishing to me. It’s a brand of humor that I can’t really get from other shows, even shows that I love a lot. BC feeds my soul.
In my experience, it’s been women who are more willing to just tell somebody they’re funny; men just laugh sardonically at the jokes. It seems as if admitting that somebody’s funny can almost be viewed as a power exchange, an admission that somebody can bring you into that intimate comedic relationship with them. I literally thought of this 2 minutes ago, and have spent the time since then typing this comment.
So, Toast-friends, thoughts on the intimacy of humor?
One of my dude friends from law school who I hadn’t seen since graduation told me at our 10-yr reunion that he remembered me as the funniest person in our class. That’s not how I remember law school–I remember myself during that time as insecure and trying to hide it with bitchiness, so the takeaway is maybe, men find me funny when I’m mean? If that’s true, then I like women’s humor better.
I think some of the men who say that women aren’t funny are men who have claimed “funny” as a key part of their identity and they can’t handle someone else in their group having that role. Their egos won’t allow anyone else to be funny, especially someone who is supposed to be a lower status. Also, if they are funny as a way to get women to like them, then if women are funny, what do they have to offer?
I think you’re onto something, and that’s a shame, because the best part of having a sense of humor is joking around with other people and riffing off each others’ witticisms. If you’re the only one in the room who’s allowed to crack jokes, what’s the fun?
Like, my boyfriend and I basically communicate entirely via running jokes and goofy voices. If you’re a straight dude who thinks women aren’t funny– not only were your girlfriends suffering in silence while you condescended to them and refused to laugh at their jokes, that also must have been insanely boring for YOU.
Seriously! The Partner and I were initially worried, when we started contemplating dating after knowing each other forever, that we’d out-earnest each other. Because we have reputations as VERY SRS PEOPLE. But then I discovered that he had a silly streak that he only brought out around the people he’s closest to, and he discovered that I am secretly a fount of absurdist humor and fart jokes. There is nothing so awesome to me as someone who not only is hilarious but also makes space for me to be hilarious.
YES. One of my favorite parts of having close friends is that we can set each other up for really good jokes, knowing that the other person can knock it down, or set ourselves up for a joke because we know the other person will play along. We generate more total funny by trusting each other to bring it, rather than making any one person responsible for ALL of the funny.
IE:
Friend: “So JK Rowling posted about Dumbledore and Gandalf getting married in Ireland,and the WBC said they’d picket it. and I’m wondering now what other fictional characters might they think are real?”
Me: “God.”
Years ago, the LGBT group at my university had an all-night Queer as Folk marathon, and me and my best friend quipped all the way through it and cracked each other up. (We watched a LOT of telly together.). The gay lads were amazed, and actually said, “lesbians aren’t supposed lt be funny! But you two really ARE funny!”
It is AMAZING the crap that people will believe.
Right? I mean, at the very least you need someone to intentionally feed you good set-up lines!
Ideally you’re taking turns talking and making each other laugh. I mean, I love being the center of attention and holding court, but that is not the appropriate mode of interaction for all social situations!
One of my boyfriend’s favourite things is that I’ve taught him that sometimes it’s fun to be the person ‘losing’ a ‘confrontation’ (for jokes). We switch up whatever roles into whichever would be funniest to set the other up for. It’s amazing and I can’t believe people miss out on these experiences because they’re too afraid to be vulnerable, it’s 100% my favourite part of our relationship.
“what do they have to offer?”
A collection of fedoras and trilbys with sweat-stained brims?
Ooooh I got the douche shivers from that.
The thought of those poorly-tended hats. ….
I’ve also found this is true of men who have staked out “smart” as well.
It must be exhausting to have a sense of self that’s so fragile. I might almost see my way to starting to feel a whisper of bad for them if I tilt my head and squint really hard.
For a little while I was dating a guy who works at an organization that is The Worst and he so clearly thought he was more intelligent than I am. This is patently absurd, not only because I’m pretty smart, but more importantly because he wasn’t that smart. This is not a gender issue — the Man with Whom I Have a Checkered Yet Fun Past is 1000x smarter than I am and always will be.
But this dude? Please, bich, you didn’t know that race is a constructed fallacy. And you’re also an idiot who takes 1000-page books on Tinder dates.
That, and if you think of “women” as “weird creatures who are unlike me in every respect,” and “funny” is an important part of your identity, maybe you project “not-funny” onto women as an extension of “not-like-me”?
We really need to make “humorless masculinist” a cliché. Does anyone have contact info for the global misandrist media conspiracy?
You just have to stand in front of a mirror in the dark and say Beyonce three times. Then your hormones sync up directly with the misandrist media command center.
If you’re getting a spotty connection that most likely means you haven’t oppressed enough men today so just go out and find a man to oppress. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. Just correct a man for being wrong or something.
This is so fantastic I’m disappointed that I can’t actually do this.
I’m pretty sure we are the global misandrist media conspiracy. Or, I mean, we’re at least the footsoldiers.
I think we need more humorless men gifs and static images with amusing text. I’m busy today, but happy to work on such a collection to supplement the general misandry collection.
Any suggestions? Anyone?
I feel like my current favorite gif is a good candidate. The white man represents white men, and the sunflower seeds represent the point.
Just, like, what the actual fuck is going on in that gif. That is definitely the way no human ever has eaten sunflower seeds.
Yeah, I’m a man so I’m just going to throw food at my own face. Super.
I saw this happen on tv at a sports bar and lost it laughing and had to track down a gif. I love that MLB actually posted it on their own website. But the gif doesn’t show how many sunflower seeds were on the ground around him. It’s straight-up that “drinking problem” Airplane! bit.
Wait, you guys don’t eat like that?? It’s the Neonatal diet, where you just hurl foodstuffs towards your mouth as though you lack fine motor skills.
The white man represents white men,
Strange how it’s funnier when you call it out like that.
P sure that if we aren’t the GMMC, they at least definitely read the comments here. Or, like, have an intern do it.
humorless meninists
this whole thread is making me grateful for my boyfriend, who is always making jokes WITH me, and appreciates when I am funny.
All the Disney food articles on that Eater link are super interesting. I cannot believe that the UK section of Epcot came 6th though, in the rankings. I remain peeved that the food that represents the UK is always bloody fish and chips.
Solidarity, with Canadian poutine in hand.
Ideally they’d just be honest and put those things in a Potatoes of the World food court, and then I would eat there daily.
Why doesn’t that food court already exist? This seems like a missed opportunity.
Same.
If you are looking for an investor/lifetime regular customer for this idea. I am here. I am so here.
Oh my god sign me up.
In Paris there’s a Metro station dedicated to the guy who popularized the eating of the potato <a href=”http://(http://www.parisrental.com/blog/paris-metro-series/painters-potatoes-on-the-paris-metro-line-3/” target=”_blank”>(http://www.parisrental.com/blog/paris-metro-series/painters-potatoes-on-the-paris-metro-line-3/ [see the bottom])
There’s even a statue of him handing out potatoes, which is kind of amazing:
So I’m imagining something of the sort in the France section of the Potatoes of the World food court. Just a humble suggestion.
Johnny PotatoSeed!
Unnnffff the French section will be amazing. Belgium will just give you a cone of frites and that’s cool too.
This statue looks as if it may be made of shellacked mashed potatoes, with lots of butter. Am I wrong?
I went to the Chip Museum in Bruges a couple of weeks ago, and it was quite fascinating, although I sort of rushed through the last room as by that point the smell of the chips from the chip shop at the end was pretty strong. The chips were very nice.
Up until this moment, I never knew I wanted to visit Bruges.
There is a chocolate museum opposite! I was too full of chips though…
I am confused. On the one hand, I feel sorry for you, having to pass on Belgian chocolate. OTOH, I am certain there is no such thing as “too full” for Belgian Chocolate.
It’s ok. I drove a carful back home.
Wonderful. Belgian Chocolate is most properly measured in Carful Units. Ounces are for inferior “chocolate”.
SAME
When I was in the UK my college dining hall menu had sections for meat of the day, vegetable of the day, and potato of the day. So many different ways to prepare potatoes.
Might I interest you in this restaurant devoted solely to potato-based dishes?
whyyyy is it not near me
[remembers I live in a Polish/Ukrainian neighborhood and there are pierogies everywhere]
Living the dream. All we’ve got around where I live are Mrs. T’s. They taste like ravioli with mashed up french fries inside.
My friend has a membership card for Potatopia. She’s kind of my hero.
I will always have a fondness for the UK section of Epcot because it helped my husband and I in the roughest part of our honeymoon. We were spending one day in Disney, and it was hot, crowded, and so humid. We were bickering and he was REALLY grumpy. Then I saw the Rose and Crown pub and told the boy we should eat there and he could get anything he wanted. It was air conditioned, they had Boddington’s on nitro, and the fish and chips were fantastic (sorry–we lived in New Mexico so we were all about the seafood all honeymoon). We even ordered a Scotch whisky flight and tried our first Islay whisky. To date it is the best Disney meal I’ve ever had, and I went a lot throughout childhood because my family was obsessed with all things Disney. Seven years later, as a direct result of that one meal, we’ve got tickets to fly to the UK next month and are spending four days on Islay touring distilleries.
The UK section is absolutely #1 in my book!
Your whiskey tour sounds delightful, hope you have a great time!
“Boddingtons on nitro” – this phrase has conjured up a hazy image of lads sprinting around Manchester with their tops off.
It’s in two weeks and I cannot wait.
Now there’s an image I’ll have stuck in my head. I don’t know that I’ll be able to order one now without giggling.
I’m going to be in the Manchester area for work in October! Will it be too cold to see lads without tops on?
Haha! I mean, probably? you will see some men with their tops off in October if you go out on a Friday or Saturday night round the drinking areas? However, I think my comment was confusing as I wasn’t sure what “on nitro” means (although I suppose it just means on tap) and Boddingtons was brewed in Manchester, so that’s where I was going with that image. I didn’t mean to suggest that there is some kind of northern ritual where the men run around as fast as possible with their tops off around Manchester (although, you know, there could well be).
Hopes dashed! hahaha… unfortunately, I will be there on a Monday night only, but I will still go out in hope! (what is one supposed to do on work trips except drink too much and go in hungover every morning)
You know, I wondered if something being “on nitro” is a thing in the UK. In the U.S., most beer that’s on tap is carbonated with CO2. If a bar or brewery has something on nitro, it means it’s carbonated with nitrogen. Finding beers on tap on nitro is difficult, and when a bar does have it typically it’s just one or two beers, and usually (but not always) Guinness or some other stout. Finding Boddintons on tap, and on a ntiro tap at that, was terribly exciting at the time. (Although, as I recall, not so exciting as the air conditioning.)
You can also consult this handy guide: http://www.taps-aff.co.uk/manchester
This is amazing! Thank you!
I know! It makes me chuckle every time. My original plan was to not bother learning how to convert from Celsius, and instead just relying on this website for clothing decisions, but then again is says that 19°C (66°F) is Taps Aff weather. That doesn’t seem to be well calibrated, right? That’s at least cardigan weather.
Hm, yes… but dudes usually run warm so maybe that’s it. But yes, 70 is usually still cardigan weather for me if I’m not being active.
I have a number of lovely memories associated with chain restaurants/coffee shops for precisely this reason–sometimes they rescue you at the right time.
Oh heavens, yes. The one that comes to mind for me instantly is Panera. Cash-strapped grad student desperately seeking wifi? Exhausted road-tripper scanning the exit signs for somewhere that might have fruit and vegetables along with the caffeine? They’ve got me covered.
Ruby Tuesday has a veggie burger and salad bar and it was one of those places we could get Spouse’s family to agree to (when they wouldn’t agree to burritos, Indian, Thai, or anything else “weird”), or that I could reliably find when I was working at contaminated job sites in various Rust Belt cities.
That WaPo article is horrifying but not surprising. Just the fact of having been lead poisoned, isnt that already enough for one life? People have to come and mislead you into letting them steal your money too?
I read that post on my back porch last night and it left me working my jaw like a fish out of water. I just cannot believe these companies are getting away with it… but of course they are, because if you want to make a buck off someone in America, poor, disabled black people tick ALL THE EXPLOITATION BOXES.
Oh geez. I don’t think I can read this. I just don’t even know…
I got a few paragraphs in then decided I hate everyone in this story so much and had to stop reading. (Not Rose or her mother, obviously.)
Tell me there’s a possibility for a happy ending where Access Funding gets sued into oblivion and everyone gets back the payments from now on, even if they’ve lost whatever came up since they signed to now?
ohhh, that section where the lawyers talk about how they started working for these shady companies, that part is enraging! I just marvel at how many people had to get together and convince themselves this is an OK business to run, to get it off the ground in the first place. And all the numbers and financial terms are overwhelming to look at, I’m sure even a well-educated person would have a hard time understanding how bad the deal is.
And then the “other articles in the Post…” section leads with that awful Duke freshman piece explaining why he won’t read Fun Home, and now I hate him even more, by association.
Based on the article I think what these lawyers do for a living would fall squarly under grounds for disabarment and sincerely hope that complaints are filed to the state bar that these slimebags belong to.
seriously, it’s the quiet, planned, dispassionate nature of the whole thing that really got to me.
Because to be a business model at that volume, this has to be rote. these individuals with lead poisoning aren’t registering as real people, the misery of living in this country without a life raft of personal monies isn’t registering as a real consequence. it’s not a tragedy, it’s tuesday at the office.
the lack of responsibility expressed by any of the people involved in creating and selling these deals is such chickenshit.
This reminds me of a case I once read about for my work, where a financial advisor was on trial for mishandling client funds and losing a bunch of people’s money, one of whom was investing the insurance payout from her husband’s death in 9/11 because she needed a source of income to care for the child with special needs she gave birth to shortly afterwards.
I don’t know how things worked out for her, but the court threw the book at the asshole.
The idea that they had no way of knowing that someone who was receiving structured payments as part of a lead settlement would be cognitively impaired is just so disingenuous. “Oh, she had a High School diploma and a driver’s license, how were we supposed to know she wasn’t fit to make major financial decisions?” Like, there are people who graduated college with honors who probably don’t necessarily have the knowledge to weigh the pros and cons of selling a structured settlement.
Well, especially because they’re getting the payments BECAUSE LEAD POISONING HAS IMPAIRED THEM, whether it’s cognitive or physical.
And that some cities have tried to put in regulations and safeguards to keep these predatory companies from stealing people’s money, but the companies keep finding ways around them. Ugh, humanity.
and I am 100% sure the guys who work at these companies are on the internet or in letters to the editor or at a bar ranting about how Some People “just won’t try to make an honest living” and “leech off the taxpayers” and “are just naturally criminal.”
I don’t even think I can process this article right now. I haven’t even gotten to rage – I’m stuck on disbelief. I mean, I believe it, obviously, it’s just staggering me that the world is this horrible, sometimes.
It reminds me a bit of the segment from This American Life from someone who would buy out lottery winners’ annual payments for a lump sum (this was when taking a lump sum at the beginning wasn’t an option for most lotto games); the rationale was the same, that the people needed more money than the annual payment provided for some emergency or just because they wanted it all at once. (Here’s a transcript; it’s the “Show Me The Annuity” story.) These weren’t people who were affected by lead, but they really couldn’t cope with the influx of that much money, and there were the lump sum buyout people to “help” them.
I’ve dreamed of what I would do with lottery money, and one of the things would be to set up annuities for some close relatives of mine with various physical/mental/emotional problems who have problems getting and/or keeping jobs, but part of me knows, just knows, that these parasites would find them, and they’d be broke again.
You set up a trust fund with restrictions preventing the recipients from changing anything, ever. You are a good person and I am glad to internet-know you.
Disney World may have Epcot and all the country pavilions, but it doesn’t have the terrifying (but delicious) Monte Cristo sandwich from Cafe Orleans in Disneyland. I have never enjoyed (and later regretted) a dish so much in my life.
LOVED the Disney article – I was there a few years ago and my family focused on Epcot… There was a tour of something, I think possibly the Epcot globe, that took you through the sustainable farm they’ve set up to help supply the world restaurants with more sustainable, local food. I thought that was admirable but I love how far Zimmern expands the concept.
you’re thinking of Living with the Land which is, sadly, about twenty years out of date with its hydroponics. 😛 it’s cool to see, but only supplies a small portion of the food for the park. mostly lettuces and that one fish they have like a bazillion of in the red-lit tanks (super creepy).
it was really disappointing when i learned that it wasn’t as grand a thing as suggested. and also when i realized just how many bare roofs there are without solar panels or wind turbines. :/ like, c’mon guys. (i still visit all the time)
Holy crap, that one-bladed backflip! That is maybe the single most athletically daring thing I’ve ever seen.
YES. That is like my immediate word association with Surya Bonaly: BACKFLIP. I remember watching that live.
Reminder: Grace Jones sang Little Drummer Boy in the Pee Wee Herman Christmas Special and it’s the absolute best. Watch it now. In August.
That is literally the only thing I know her from and it’s somehow enough.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KksidokftOU
what do you think Brendan from Access Funding tells people he does for a living
I think he sits around at bars with other guys called Brendan and they make fun of the people they steal from.
Some of them are surely named Chad.
Possibly also Todd.
Fucking Todd!
The voice option our office manager selected for our time clock a few weeks back was the most white-bread, glad-handing, Kenneth Percell “hola!” you’ve ever heard. I named that voice Chad, and actually found its earnest incompetence somewhat endearing.
This sounds absolutely like the asshole traders I’ve known.
Assholes who are also traders that is, not dudes who trade in, like, hotdog ingredients or something.
At least those dudes are providing some sort of service to society, unlike the assholes-who-are-traders.
he starts talking about finance and law and most people’s eyes just glaze over and later they reach into their wallets for bus fare home and find they’ve just bought him his last three rounds of martinis.
Remember in the first season of Breaking Bad, when Walter blow’s up the guy’s car at the gas station? That guy = Brendan.
Due to the overwhelming success of the “one puppy picture per link roundup article” concept, and because my appetite for dog pictures is boundless, I would now like to request a spin-off series featuring the big dogs Carrie’s puppy is friends with. The entries this week are like a backdoor pilot. (Test audiences reacted positively.)
I love how Little Dog constantly seems to be checking with the idolized Big Dogs: “Am I doing this walking thing right? Am I?”
Grateful for any photos of black dogs. I know how hard it is to get good shots with so much black fur involved. My little ones can be so adorable (when not being so annoying), inspiring Mr Rose to turn up all the lights and take photos. Result: dim, fuzzy dark objects lacking enough detail to show any expression at all. *sigh*
Perfect gift for me: Take my beloved little monsters to a really good pet photographer and make me a portrait. Someone tell Mr Rose I was not joking.
One of the first things I did after buying a mirrorless camera with a significantly wider aperture than the point and shoot I had before was take pictures of my family’s mostly-black cat. It was great to actually be able to photograph detail instead of a black blob.
Another great article about RentBoy by Yasmin Nair: http://yasminnair.net/content/rentboy-sex-panics-…
I favor the theory that Rentboy.com was shut down due to fears of an AshleyMadison-style data dump that would reveal lots of powerful men to be hypocritical self-hating homophobic homo customers.
Bring on the data dump! As long as it protects the identity of the poor and vulnerable and only outs the vicious hypocrites. So, like, a curated data dump. Can that happen?
Toasts! I just now this moment learned about a performance of interest for any DC/MD folks:
Witches Vanish: In a series of stylized, highly visual vignettes employing puppetry, poetry, and surrealism, the weird sisters from Macbeth explore the stories of women who disappear, whether by choice or force. Inspired by history, astronomy, and Shakespeare, Witches Vanish examines the nature of change and the value of human life.
It’s being put on by a women’s theater company in Laurel through September 20.
TOASTS! Did you know Chicago has a cat circus called The Acro-Cats? Did you know The Acro-Cats are hiring cat wranglers?! CUZ THEY ARE!
I had no idea this was my dream until now.
Well, I have a new dream job now.
I’ve seen the Acro-Cats perform, and I can confirm they are as amazing as you think. Mostly they did circus-type tricks, occasionally a cat would decide it didn’t give a fuck any more and would wander off to check out the rest of the venue. They also brought some other animals including a chicken who played the cymbals by pecking them.
I am a grouchy anchoress-in-training, but I would pay CASH MONEY to see the Acro-Cats. Also, as if I needed another reason to love Chicago.
The Acro-Cats will have a run of home-town shows in Chicago in early October and are slated to appear on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” Nov. 17, according to the website.
We now have the most important fact.
HELP — EGGPLANT EMERGENCY
I know this isn’t the open thread, but I was just given a truly enormous quantity of eggplants and could really use some good recipes. Any suggestions/ links?
If there are truly too many for you to deal with (one tips the scales for me), many food pantries now accept donations of backyard garden abundance. Just presenting as an option.
My go-tos for using up eggplant are baba ganoush and caponata. (You can also freeze the caponata for later.)
This is my favorite way to prepare eggplant by far: http://thewoksoflife.com/2014/08/chinese-eggplant… I haven’t tried this particular recipe because I usually just wing it.
I slice it thin, roast it with olive oil, then put it on veggie/black bean burgers.
Ratatouille with roasted eggplant. Just find any ol’ recipe for ratatouille (I use Alice Waters’, from “The Art of Simple Food”) and roast the eggplant in cubes instead of sauteeing it. It freezes really well, too, so you can make a whole bunch and enjoy summer food in winter.
In general, I am an Ottolenghi skeptic, but his recipe for Chermoula Eggplant with Bulgur and Yogurt is a thing of beauty.
I just made this caponata last week. Definitely eat it with the ricotta as well.
Ooh, orrr eggplant caviar.
(this post is making me hungry)
I second the chermoula eggplant, which I am coincidentally making for dinner tonight. Really good stuff!
I fry eggplants whole & keep them in my freezer to add to various beef stews. I particularly love to add my cooked eggplants to this dish that is my forever fav in winter!
Anyone have a good eggplant pickle/preserve recipe? I had a super good one at a restaurant as part of a meal and I am having trouble finding a good recipe to make my own.
these are two of my favorites:
Spaghetti with “Let-My-Eggplant-Go-Free!” sauce
Curried roasted eggplant with smoked cardamom and coconut milk – more involved, but worth it!
Smitten Kitchen version of Baba Ganoush- http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2014/08/smoky-eggp…
I also LOOOOOVE Moussaka, but I haven’t found a favorite recipe yet.
Lottie + Doof » Smoky Eggplant Puree with Pine Nuts + Urfa Pepper
Cuts down on the volume. Can be dipped or spread with anything. You can freeze it, too.
Pasta with aubergines! Chop an aubergine into smallish chunks and fry until softened, along with crushed garlic. Mix with tagliatelle, toasted pine nuts, lemon juice and zest and coriander. It’s a weeknight staple for me and my partner.
I often dice a few slices of eggplant really thin and add them to rice while it’s boiling. They get soft and sweet by the time the rice is finished cooking, but they’re mild enough that they don’t mutate the flavor of whatever else I put in the rice dish (peas, carrots, spices, whatever).
There’s also the good ol’ “coat them in batter and fry them like chicken” route, for when you finally, inevitably get tired of how healthy they taste 😉
My favourite is this one http://andrewzimmern.com/2013/03/28/fuchsia-dunlo… I don’t bother deep frying, I roast them and I toss them with the sauce anyway. It says they’ll disintegrate but I’ve never had that happen.
cut it into slices and salt it. Put it in a colander or something. It’s going to produce a lot of liquid
set the oven to 400 degrees.
When the oven’s ready, dry off the eggplant and put it in the oven. When it’s a little bit brown, take it out.
That’s all you need.
When Mr. Daki lived in Paris, he taught Grace Jones’s kid.
I married a man who’d held parent-teacher conferences with Grace Jones. In the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
Is that why I married him? You decide.
I like chopping em up into little cubes and adding them to stir fries. I guess one would traditionally use Japanese eggplants, but personally I think American eggplants work just as well.
The Acro-Cats will have a run of home-town shows in Chicago in early October and are slated to appear on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" Nov. 17, according to the website.
We now have the most important fact.