Recently in Culture Category
Penny Arcade Expo 08 Roundup
This past weekend in Seattle was PAX 08 (along with Bumbershoot and a ton of other stuff). I don't know how many tourists were in Seattle last weekend, but almost 59,000 of them were there for PAX. Penny Arcade is, of course, one of the biggest web comics on the web and is known for brutally honest commentary on the video game industry. This was the fifth year of their conference who's stated goal is to make the Internet into a physical place for one weekend a year. I've gotta say that they definitely succeeded this year. With Fruit Fuckers walking around downtown Seattle, some of the best nerdcore rappers around, and three floors of bean bags to hang out and play Nintendo DS games (which mostly consists of drawing penises on pictochat), it's hard to imagine what else is missing from this physical presence of the Internet....more.
The Melon Sponsors Frost Park Chalk Offs
Join us noon tomorrow at Frost Park as The Melon sponsors the Chalk Offs. Not only are the Chalk Offs an awesome place to express yourself creatively and meet some great Tacomans, but (and most importantly) we'll be giving away free watermelon to all who stop by.
By Ink Alone: The Christian Boogeyman is Coming
Conspiracy still happening, but this time its not international economics, but Fundamentalist American Jesus-Love
Jeff Sharlet writes a scary and extremely interesting book detailing the powerful Christian organization1 The Family and their ties to American men and women of power. Sharlet also uses his book to detail the history of fundamentalism and the rise of in the past 50 years. Sharlet is also a writer for Harpers, Rolling Stone, and created The Reveler.
Electric Elliot Loses Chalk Offs!!!
Melonites,
For those of you that have been following the Frost Park Chalk Offs (which take place every Friday at noon), you'll know that this past Friday sported an unprecedented prize for the loser as opposed to the victor. That's correct, to the loser goes the spoils.
The thought of losing to win, however, didn't stop the Chalkies from producing a myriad of stunning pieces.
...more.Prayer at the Pump
On May 3, 2008 – I submitted an email to Rev. Dave Wright of The University of Puget Sound on behalf of a small group of activists. In it, I said I wanted to: “organize a group of local priests, pastors, rabbis and other spiritual leaders to hold a short prayer vigil at a local gas station (literally 15 minutes) once a week - every week - for the foreseeable future. The idea is that America is an fox-hole moment right now and neither the D's, the R's nor anyone else seems to know what to do about rising gas and food prices, unemployment and home foreclosures. At the center of all this is the bank-breaking experience of buying gasoline: the uniform source of power that drives this country. But we want to remind people that there is a fuel more powerful than petroleum and use faith to find a community oriented approach to navigating the recession.” Though the reverend expressed a wiliness to help, the idea died once it became apparent that I would be the only follower attending these “services."
...more.By Yeast Alone: The Rise of the Sumerians!
They’re back!
We’re following up our previous Double Red tasting with another northwest favorite. This week, we’re off with Ninkasi Brewing Company Believer Double Red Ale. As we discussed before, America has severely altered the formula and style of the Irish Red Ales. Especially on the west coast, Americans have focused on very bitter, excessively high flavor Irish Ales. As a hop-head myself, I can’t complain much, but it is not true to the style.
But that’s not a bad thing.
Tacoma Tribute Poem
Melonites,
Zach Street over at Speak Your Soul, is putting together a poem in tribute to our fair city of Tacoma. But Zach needs our help.
We are collecting words and phrases about Tacoma to build into a single Spoken Word poem that celebrates Tacoma.
That right, you have the opportunity to add a line or a word a "Community Composed Tacoma Tribute Poem." You can add your portion here: http://www.speakyoursoul.org/tacomatribute.
Additionally, Speak Your Soul has a great website filled with audio of a lot of fine spoken word performances. They also hold open mics every Friday night at 8pm in the One Heart Cafe.
Melon Movie: Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
Hulk Hogan, Barry Bonds, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger−what do all these men have in common? American heroes, maybe. Steroid users, absolutely. Bigger, Stronger, Faster* isn’t just a movie about steroid use in athletics and pop culture, it’s an attempt to understand what drives Americans to excel and questions the very fiber of our morals....more.
Peace Corps Swaziland
My friend Erik Connell recently posted a great account of his 13 months working for the Peace Corps in Swaziland on Facebook. With his permission, I've re-posted his amazing piece on The Melon for your reading pleasure:
Sanibonani bekunene,
That means hello everyone in SiSwati, the local language in Swaziland. Technically it means hello people of the right hand, but hey, that’s how they greet there.
I’m back home now, after spending 13 months there. I resigned due to health concerns combined with the fact that I was not doing as much as I had hoped in the program. It was a tough decision, but I think it was for the best.
By Yeast Alone: Hell of a Wheat, errr, Pale Lager
You know, like the Germans do so fantastically
So I sometimes go into the beer store right after a payday, and in a bad mood and thus search out a beer that I’ve never tried, never heard of, never even put the name on the bottle and the image displayed on the label could be put together. I stumbled upon Aktienbrauerei’s Hell. Yes, indeed, a beer called Hell.