My Friends

Female Trouble is a family classic! When John Waters came to UCSD for his "vaudeville" act (actually monologue), I had the perhaps not-so-unique opportunity to ask him "What's wrong with the telephone company?!" ... My cousins and I would love to host a Female Trouble-themed party sometime. We've got a potential Gator, some definite Taffys, an Aunt Ida, but someone's got to find that fishtail wedding dress :)
— November 14, 2008 4:48 p.m.

Requisite Chops

Hi Jeff, This is off topic, but I am curious to know if you have seen the latest effort from the Wooster Group, doing Hamlet (saw it last week in L.A.). I find their work always merits quite a bit of comment/discussion. What are your thoughts? It would be refreshing if the Reader would allow you to comment in depth on offerings in L.A. as well as home base. What do you say we move the discussion up a few? Suzanne D.
— February 21, 2008 1:15 a.m.

Dis-Ativan-tage

Hi Barb, A delayed response (hmmff)--. Thank you so much for reporting on Ativan! Ironically, I discovered a similar effect the same week you reported it. It is disconcerting to think that we have researched the effects of prescriptions upon our bodies and minds, only to be tripped up by an overlooked effect. My bottle of Ativan does not include a warning about amnesiac effects. The website does. This is an extremely valuable observation for all of us who take mood stabilizers for mild or moderate anxiety, as they say. For the reader commenting on the "date rape" effect, it is not possible with Ativan, as far as I know--and very happy to report. You are perfectly clear on what you are doing at the moment, such as making appointments and dates--it is the usual, sober next day, and beyond where the black hole gapes. All I can suggest is that if you tend toward anxiety, and also happen to love your wine or cocktail evening out, don't take your Ativan (or "Lorezepam") that day. Day before seems ok. Klonopin or "Clonazepam," taken for anxiety also not a good mix, as it can intensify the effects of alcohol, but Ativan seems to be the culprit for amnesia! Makes your innocent night of 'nosh and quaff' feel next day as though you are a drunk in the last stages. Not cool. Thanks again, Barb. I'm sure your artist understood, and brava for being honest about it. Suzanne
— February 21, 2008 1:03 a.m.

Treacherous Bodies

Thanks for providing another source, Eric, and I will check it out, despite frustration with the subject, having spoken to a number of anatomists, scientists, etc. while researching for a conference as well as at the actual conference, which took shape at Berkeley as: undeadconference.com Yes, I snarked at you, having felt that your offer of Wikipedia "as a start" was in itself a kind of insult. Glad you and your credentials weren't annoyed, and so we all go on. Cosmo, it's Suzanne Daniels (lazily, "SD," now that we must "identify" ourselves) of our earlier worries over JB's situation. Glad to read that things are a bit better there. Looking forward to your future postings.
— February 21, 2008 12:32 a.m.

Treacherous Bodies

Dear Eric, A public forum, I know, but I was directing my comment about research--with no rancor--to Cosmo, with whom I have had nothing but pleasant discourse. Just curious, Eric. Did you both start and end with Wikipedia? I recognize many phrases from uncited sources that were probably tacked together in your Wikipedia article. In the latter part of your reply I am not sure which exhibit you are discussing, so further comment on my part would make no sense. I also do not wish to get into a discussion of medical ethics, and will only say that I respect your position, and hope that whatever the problem, you try to work it from more than one angle. But you, Eric, have definitive proof of some kind? "...it is very clear that many of the exhibits are executed prisoners." Wow! Can you please provide that proof? Would you be willing to give a lecture on this material?
— February 13, 2008 9:29 p.m.

Treacherous Bodies

Cosmo, maybe it's better if you do a little research. It's never better that you don't know! I don't believe that Gunther von Hagens, the originator of the plastination process--and Bodyworlds exhibit-- had truck with human rights violations; he has an odd sense of humor but an apparently legitimate business--of which the exhibitions provide the sole source of funding for lab work. It takes a LOT of work to plastinate bodily specimens, and it is claimed that costs are barely offset by the fees colleges pay for these specimens. I think there were rumors of misuse of Russian corpses before the Chinese lab was established, and who knows? Perhaps some hinky dealings with funds, if anything, but one thing is clear. Von Hagens does not lack for volunteers. There is a whole society of international donors who have pledged their bodies to be plastinated--not solely for exhibit as whole specimens, but as 'body slices' for closer--and nearly incorruptible--models for medical study, most often by med students. However, it is not certain what has happened or is happening with the former trainee who ran off to start "Bodies" on his own. I can say that the "Bodies" exhibit is rather travel-worn, and the specimens more poorly rendered, and obviously less cared-for than those in BodyWorlds. I don't have time to get into it much more here, and I cannot claim to have 100% facts either. I simply did some background research before presenting at a Berkeley lit conference on a kind of outrageous aesthetics presented by plastinates. SD
— February 12, 2008 11 a.m.