THURSDAY,DEC.6,2001
ENTERTAINMENT
Neither Mom nor society should stop her
By Meghan Bainum Sex Columnist
When I was a little girl, I discovered my dad's Playboys. I read them, too. Cover to cover. Once, I got caught by my mom. I remember feeling confused about why she didn't want me to read the magazines.
In my young mind it made sense. I had everything (physically) the women in the magazines had. And someday, I knew I would be older, and I would look more like those women. I remember looking at my girlish body, wondering how in the world it would feel to be a "woman."
Commentary
Now, here I am, equipped just like those models 1 stared at years ago — but on a slightly smaller scale.
but on a slightly smaller scale.
But, in a way, the physical part is only one part of a woman, and, in fact, not the part I think my mom was worried about when she took the Playboy away from me.
Yes, women have breasts, women have vaginas—these things don't usually disappear for no reason. But not many women bare these "private" parts to the world.
Meghan Beinum
Columnist
opinionkanan.com
Not many women like to be seen with desire in their eyes. Not many
women are comfortable to even look like they desire to be sexual—and while lidded eyes, wet lips and flushed cheeks are bad enough, the open lust (and open legs) of the women in Playboy take desire to another level.
boy take care to meet me.
I might have gotten physically aroused by Playboy a time or two, and that was always nice. But what the real gift Playboy gave me — what I found tucked among the breasts, interviews, informative articles and hilarious jokes — was an appreciation for my sexuality and, especially as I grow older, an openness to my own curiosities and pleasures as well as those of my lovers.
It also gave me a willingness to talk and write honestly and openly about sex. But, it wasn't until I had this sex column and dealt with all the crap that inevitably surrounds anything
remotely controversial that I finally figured out the lesson my mother was trying to teach me when she tried, in vain, to keep me away from my dad's magazines.
magazines.
She wasn't worried about the boobs and vaginas I would see or the sexually-charged words I would read. I don't even think she was worried that I would think about posing for the magazine or become a "slut."
My mom worried that the path I was choosing was not the easy one. She was right. I might not spread my legs for Playboy (more because of an aversion to waxing than anything else), but I do spread my views on sexuality. I encourage women and men to enjoy sex, enjoy pleasuring themselves and others, enjoy that natural thrill that comes with sexual attraction.
And although many here at the University of Kansas appreciate those views, others don't. I expected this. I expected criticism. I expected a fight. What I did not expect, however, was that it is still - in almost 2002 - difficult for a woman to spread her views
especially sex-positive ones.
I have realized that I share more than the sexual maturity, two breasts
and one vagina with the women posing nude, open and sexual in Playboy's glossy pages. I share the realization that, no matter how beautiful the pictures, how amazing the person or how purely truthful the writing, any woman who asserts herself sexually must also be willing to endure the scorn and insults that come with challenging the values of any society even those that are unequal, uneducated or hopelessly out-of-date. And, like the Playboy model, I often face the scrutiny of our society alone, publicly and with my beliefs naked to the stinging, painful comments of others.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3B
I know now that — even at KU — the voices in favor of sexual repression, while not more plenitiful in number, are defiantly louder than those in favor of a healthy, positive view of sexuality.
dainty.
Dare to enjoy sex and admit it. Most people do, we're all just frozen in a moment of silence, caught forever like centerfolds in an upight, morally righteous world. Stand up, let your voice be heard. Yell. Shake off the weight of society and feel how good it is to be naked.
Contact Bainum at 864-4810
Local band to shake it up at Abe & Jake's
By Mandalee Meisner
jayplay writer
Jayplay writer
Dain Estes calls himself a starving artist.
"But I can feed my dog, and I can feed myself," he said, "so it's okay."
the frontman of local band Shaking Tree said his journey from a "bright-eyed" hopeful to a more experienced — but still hopeful — musician has been a tough one.
Shaking Tree's first studio album, Matter of Change, was released in May 2000 on Knot Known Records. It's the band's third album after two independent releases: the self-titled debut in 1997 and Sounds of Rain in 1998.
Although Matter of Change was well received by the public and produced by John Hampton — who has worked with Sister Hazel, the Gin
Blossoms and Stevie Ray Vaughn, among others — commercial radio play has been limited.
we really thought this last album was really good. We believed in the album, but soon realized that the way everything works is kind of bogus." Estes said.
"You want to believe that when you listen to radio and hear something, it's on there because a lot of people want to hear it," he said. "But in truth, it's about the money."
This "wake-up call" for Estes has led the band to focus more on developing a strong fan base and selling music at its live shows. The band has been touring steadily since 1997, playing a mix of alternative and world music across the Midwest and western United States.
Shaking Tree will play for its hometown fans to "celebrate the end of another semester at KU" Saturday at Abe & Bake's Landing, 8 E. 6th St., with local band The Draft opening. Tickets are $5 at the door, with doors opening at 9 p.m.
Band members include Estes, vocals and guitar; Aaron Hetherington, drums and percussion; Tom Waddington, violin and mandolin; and newly-added Derek Swensen, bass.
Estes said he hopes to reach a few new ears with the change in venue. Shaking Tree has played at the Jazzhaus, the Bottleneck and Granada, but this is its first time playing at Abe and Jake's Landing.
The band's manager, Josh Degenstein, said that in addition to reaching a different audience, the change may alleviate some problems fans have had
"They've (the band) had complaints from fans that have stood outside the door, in the cold, trying to get into the Jazzhaus," Degenstein said. "Abe and Jake's is a lot larger than the Jazzhaus — and it's new — so we wanted to try it out."
in the past.
A single from Matter of Change, "Memory of Me," will be featured on the soundtrack of upcoming film Now You Know. The film is written and directed by Jeff Anderson, better known for his roles in Clerks and Dogma.
Despite the switch this time, Estes stressed that the band still planned on performing at the Jazzhaus on later homecomings.
Contact Meisner at 864-4810
Oysterhead's album offers different kind of sound
By Patrick Cady Jayplay writer
Oysterhead's debut album, The Grand Pecking Order, is a journey in the avant garde.
The album's experimental sound is a constantly changing mixture of Les Claypool's intricate bass lines, Trey Anastasia's improvising guitar work and the steady rhythms of Stewart Copeland.
The album opens with "Little Faces," a song that begins slightly ambient, but progresses into a loud, almost carnival-like melody. The lyrics describe watching 100 little people dancing on the bedroom floor.
ing on the bedroom floor. The following song, "OZ is Ever Floating," tells a story about the final moments of a person named Dr. John C. Lily. The song has a colorful vocal harmony and a dynamic backing melody.
moby. Anastasio employs polished blues licks in the ballad "Mr. Oysterhead" and a sweet melody in the acoustic "Radon Balloon."
Lets a same tale.
The strongest tracks on the album blend the offbeat poetry of Claypool and Anastasio with music that contains its own inherent energy. Prime examples are "Oz is Ever Floating" and the lavered "Birthday Boy."
The lyrics, though largely surreal, also seem political. "Shadow of a Man" describes the memories of a Vietnam War veteran. The Claypool-ian song. "The Army's on Ecstasy," also offers a satirical viewpoint.
Fans of Claypool's and Anastasio's past work would enjoy this album, and those who enjoy musical and lyrical experimentation would also like it. Overall, this collection of songs is a pearl in the Oysterhead.
n Contact Cady at 864-4810
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The History Channel, the cable network that has built a solid business living in the past, is producing its first live programming ever tomorrow to mark the 60th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack.
The network will cover the memorial service on the USS Arizona in Hawaii, one of the 21 vessels sunk, beached or damaged in the sneak attack that drew the
The History Channel, which
United States into World War II. Joan Lunden and Josh Binswanger will be anchoring, starting at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Earlier tomorrow The History Channel will be live from The D-Day Museum in New Orleans, where a new "Pacific Wing" is being unveiled.
"This is such an important day that it should be given the proper recognition," said Abbe Raven, the network's chief executive.
started in January 1995, has grown with lightning speed to where it is now seen in 78 million homes, nearly four-fifths of the nation's homes with television.
The History Channel documentary, "Tora, Tora, Tora: The
Its audience is 70 percent men, second only to ESPN in delivering male viewers.
About 20 percent of its programming is military-based, largely concentrated on the weekends.
True Story of Pearl Harbor," was among the year's highest-rated programs and it will be repeated tomorrow evening.
The first live production is a technical challenge for the 20 staff members involved.
The only other live event the network has shown before was John F. Kennedy Jr.'s funeral, but The History Channel took someone else's coverage from a satellite feed.
The job is made more difficult
since the memorial is taking place in the middle of a harbor; The History Channel's microwave transmitter is expected to briefly go out of service when a ship passes in front of it.
The History Channel knew before Sept. 11 that it wanted to go live on this day, but plans were expanded after the terrorist attacks. Raven said.
"I think Pearl Harbor resounds with a stronger connotation than it did before, especially for a
young generation for whom it felt like their grandfather's war," she said.
The History Channel is trying to get as many Pearl Harbor survivors on tape while it still can.
"These survivors, as their numbers grow smaller, won't be here much longer," Raven said. "They are witnesses to history and I feel we have a real responsibility to archive their memories."