Monthly Archives: July 2011

My Name is Vegetarian Metalhead: For We Are Many!

Posted by on July 15, 2011 2 comments

 

People often ask me why I’m a vegetarian. It’s as annoying as someone asking a tattoo artist about tattoos while hanging out in a bar. My question is why eat meat? Eating a dead body is…. repulsive. Isn’t it?

Typical unsolicited comments I receive are: How do you get protein? But meat tastes so good! I don’t know what to do with tofu. What do you eat on Thanksgiving? But fish isn’t meat. You don’t eat meat-I feel bad for your man. The monotonous conversations that ensue make me want to stab someone with a carrot! But then I remember that some people feel judged or even guilty about eating meat and so they ask questions. It’s easier to scoff at a vegetarian than to acknowledge the process of turning a live chicken into a McNugget. Read more »

Jucifer: Not Junius, Has Lots of Speakers, and Can Ride a T-Rex

Posted by on July 1, 2011 3 comments

By Jessica May

Edgar Livengood and Amber Valentine of Jucifer -- photo by Scott Stewart.

Among my friends, I’m one of the least knowledgeable people about new bands, music trivia, and so forth. (Why do I write these columns again?) So when I saw that Jucifer was coming to the Heirloom Arts Theater in Danbury on July 7th, I was like, “Oh, that band Howl was on tour with last year!” I had watched a few of their YouTube videos and didn’t have to work until late the next day, so I figured I’d buy a ticket.

But when I looked up Jucifer to do some more research, I was befuddled. I remembered more members, no chicks, and and a lot of beards… What was the deal with all these videos of a less-hairy two-person band and a wall of speakers? Read more »

A Naked Day at the Beach – Robert Moses Beach, Long Island, NY

Posted by on July 1, 2011 5 comments

By Nicole Monroe

Robert Moses State ParkPast Jones Beach, on the less populated, car accessible west end of Fire Island, sits Robert Moses State Park. Every bit as beautiful as Jones Beach, if not more so, Robert Moses boasts 5 miles of soft, sandy beach in which beachgoers can swim, surf, or fish. There is a small playground near the entrance, a typical beach-food shack serving soft pretzels, fries, etc., and a golf course. Although family friendly, not all of the beach is heavily populated with kids – particularly, on the east end. For there, on the east end of Robert Moses, lies a designated “clothing optional” bathing section. It is to this designated section of the beach that my infamous book club traveled to celebrate a member’s birthday and discuss the sexually explicit, yet well-written autobiography, The Sexual Life of Catherine M. Read more »

Sixty-Five Days as a Bad Vegetarian… And Counting

Posted by on July 1, 2011 1 comment

 

When I arrived early to a job interview at the Fairfield Public Library, I didn’t intend to get any books, much less one that would create a huge moral dilemma in my everyday life. The “One Book One Town” display stood in the middle of the lobby: stacks of Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals, on sale for $5 apiece. I’d read about the book in a Time article a week or two beforehand, so I picked up a copy and leafed through it to kill time.

Instantly, I was hooked. Foer opens with an anecdote about his grandmother, a Holocaust survivor and in Foer’s opinion, the world’s greatest chef. She hordes nonperishables, she cooks with the fattiest cuts of meat available, and her chicken and carrots recipe is second to none. Even when she was faced with starvation while running from Nazis, she refused to eat pork sausage because it wasn’t kosher. When Foer asks her, “Not even to save your life?” she replies, “If nothing matters, there’s nothing to save.” Read more »