In many ways this past weekend in Austin has felt like a stop on the time travel train.
I'm convinced that sometime in the future, time travel is a functional thing, much the way air travel is today. However, in this future, all time travel trips must be meticulously planned: your clothing, money and vocabulary must all be perfectly synced to the time you are visiting. (You wouldn't want the people in the past to know that you were a time traveler, as then everyone would want stock tips and investment advice and other such self-serving nonsense.)
An exception to this planning rule is that there are a few "free" stops on the time-travel train. These are places where it doesn't matter much what you do, say, or wear. There is nothing you can get wrong, because there are no right or wrong answers. One of these free stops on your time travel tour package is the annual rite of spring, known as Eeyore's Birthday in Austin, Texas.
The backstory behind the party indicates that the event grew out of an attempt by the English department at the nearby University of Texas at Austin to celebrate Shakespeare's birthday, and give the students a chance to blow off some steam before finals. It has turned into something much more than that.
So, when you see someone at Eeyore's birthday in an outfit that seems far better suited to hunting elk in 19th century Germany--what you've probably found is a time-traveler returning home from a 19th century elk-hunting trip. Same with the Viking priestess you saw at Eeyore's, or the person with the perfect 80s hair. They were all on their way to/from their time-travel destination--they just decided to pop into Eeyore's birthday because they know a good party when they see one.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Sex and the Secret Service
I suspect that you've heard about the Secret Service sex scandal where President Obama's advance team in Cartagena, Colombia allegedly hired prostitutes, then failed to pay at least one of them.
While the investigation of the events in question grinds on, and the televised political discourse tries to blame the president for this, one big aspect of this story has been missing from the coverage.
If the Secret Service wasn't a total boys club, this wouldn't be an issue.
I am not in the Secret Service. I am far too lazy to even bother applying. As far as I know, my entire interaction with the Secret Service has been when I used to see Lady Bird Johnson's security team guarding her, back in the days when we used to share a manicurist at a small salon in Austin.
Looking at the Secret Service from the outside, one thing is clear.
You don't have multiple people allegedly hiring prostitutes on a work trip if your work culture is one where women are respected as people.
According to this NYT article, 25 percent of the people who work in the Secret Service are women. No data is given for what percentage of these women are field agents.
Then again, as parodied on Jon Stewart earlier this week, the idea that women are people is having a rough time right now.
Update: Another Jon Stewart clip
While the investigation of the events in question grinds on, and the televised political discourse tries to blame the president for this, one big aspect of this story has been missing from the coverage.
If the Secret Service wasn't a total boys club, this wouldn't be an issue.
I am not in the Secret Service. I am far too lazy to even bother applying. As far as I know, my entire interaction with the Secret Service has been when I used to see Lady Bird Johnson's security team guarding her, back in the days when we used to share a manicurist at a small salon in Austin.
Looking at the Secret Service from the outside, one thing is clear.
You don't have multiple people allegedly hiring prostitutes on a work trip if your work culture is one where women are respected as people.
According to this NYT article, 25 percent of the people who work in the Secret Service are women. No data is given for what percentage of these women are field agents.
Then again, as parodied on Jon Stewart earlier this week, the idea that women are people is having a rough time right now.
Update: Another Jon Stewart clip
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