Ginny from the Blog

The movie about Duke’s most infamous student is being released today, and I won’t be buying a ticket. I don’t want to give a sliver of support to Tucker Max, the douchey former Duke Law student, and self-described asshole who apparently has no issue treating women like smut.

The movie is based on a story from Tucker’s book with the same title. Released in 2006, the book of anecdotes somehow managed to make the New York Times Bestseller list for three years. I’ve never read it. For all I know I would love it (doubt it). I’ve read reviews (you can read some for yourself here) and it’s not the excessive drinking, the frat boy humor and the bodily fluids that bother me. It’s the way he purportedly treats women.

A reporter for the The Indy went to a screening of the flick at N.C. State a few weeks ago. In describing the plot, he wrote:

“He lies to his friends and nearly ruins a marriage, all for the opportunity to sleep with a stripper with dwarfism. He is cruel to his amorous pursuits—he calls the little person “Grumpy” and remarks on her “tiny little sausage fingers” before sleeping with her.”

Whether this actually happened to Tucker doesn’t matter to me. Women do not deserve to be taken advantage of, and they certainly do not deserve to have assholes put them down in the heat of the moment.

There’s more. There are rape allegations too. Students who protested the screening at N.C. State passed out fliers saying some of Tucker’s bedroom escapades meet North Carolina’s legal definitions of rape. Want to know Tucker’s response to the allegations? Read the words from his own mouth, thanks to the Indy:

“One audience member asked about the rape allegations. Max slipped into legalese.

“The discussion about consent needs to be had, but this is not the place to do it,” he said. Another asked what his parents think about his career choice.

“They think I’m a rapist,” he said, to scattered laughter. He paused. “If you put that in the fucking paper, I’ll beat your ass.”"

So, maybe it’s unfair to base my opinion on something I haven’t even read or seen. But, I think I’ve read enough. I can think of better ways to spend 105 minutes of my life.

If you’re open minded (and I hope you are if you’re reading my blog) then you absolutely should make plans to attend the N.C. PrideFest Parade on Saturday near Duke University’s East Campus.

It’s one of the largest gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender events in surrounding states and it draws a colorful, welcoming crowd. The most recent year I could find stats for was 2006, when an estimated 6,000 people attended.

The parade starts at 1 p.m. Here’s the route it will take:

The march will begin on Campus Drive and turn right on West Main Street then travel west to Broad Street. It will turn right on Broad Street and proceed to Green Street and turn left. It will turn left on Ninth Street and turn left on West Main traveling back to Campus Drive.

The parade is part of a day long festival on Duke’s East campus. You’re guaranteed to see hilarious costumes, amazing drag, a lot of rainbow flags and more. Vendors and nonprofits have booths, so there’s plenty to see if you want to arrive early. (Photos courtesy of flickr user Weege).

I’ve only been to the parade once, and that was four years ago. So if you’ve been in recent years, let me know if you have any tips on best viewing areas or other events that day that shouldn’t be missed.

I was having a beer at the James Joyce in Durham a couple weeks ago and I noticed a stream of Dukies filing into the bar, yet the bar wasn’t getting more crowded. I didn’t realize there was a patio out back, where the Dukies were lining up to see the Duke women’s rugby team wrestle inside a baby pool filled with chocolate pudding. It was a chilly night and these young, strong women were in T-shirts and shorts, coated in chocolatey mess.

I have never participated in any type of wrestling match, but if I did I would definitely prefer chocolate pudding to jello. What would you be willing to wrestle in?

So what happens when two famous political analysts (one who’s conservative, the other a liberal) come together to talk about the presidential campaign in front of an audience filled with Tar Heels? You get some laughs, some claps and maybe a boo or two.

David Brooks (conservative columnist for the NYT) and E.J. Dionne Jr. (liberal columnist for the Washington Post) met on stage at UNC’s Memorial Hall Tuesday night to discuss the presidential campaign. For a political news junkie like myself, it was 90 minutes of heaven.

Brooks opened with a surefire technique to endear himself to a Tar Heel audience: Insult Duke. “You guys are just like Dookies, only less stuck up,” he said, garnering applause and cheers from the nearly-filled auditorium.

It’s easy to get hung up in the media’s horserace coverage of political campaigns. So it’s refreshing to hear two intelligent analysts with mostly diverging opinions discuss aspects of the McCain/Obama race that can’t be covered in a sound bite.

Interesting observations (I took notes so all quotes are within a word or two of accuracy):

On McCain picking Sarah Palin:

*Brooks (the conservative): At the end of four years Sen. Joe Biden will still be the right pick for Obama. But with regards to McCain choosing Palin: “To be honest, I don’t know. I frankly don’t know if she’s going to be good or not. I’ve never met her I don’t know the character of the woman.”

*Dionne (the liberal): “Sarah Palin is clearly the most qualified person ever chosen for vice president,” he said, resulting in laughter from the audience and then adding “your laughter is my point.” He takes issue with: the lack of media interviews the campaign has granted so far and that McCain only met her (once or twice) before choosing her. He also is concerned about her lack of foreign policy experience. He said liberals will make a big mistake, however, if they “make a culture war” out of her selection by touting her as a small town American who shoots guns.

On the role of the Internet and technology in the campaign:

Brooks complained that technology (namely the ability to record video with small cameras and the use of blogs) actually make campaigns less transparent. He recalled the days when journalists used to rub elbows with candidates and chat informally on the campaign buses.

But with every move being recorded these days he added: “The candidate can not afford to unwind and open up … It has had this perverse effect of making campaigns less transparent.”

He added that the Obama campaign is particularly bad about this.

Strengths of McCain/Obama:

Brooks said McCain’s strength is that he has “incredible moral intuition” while Obama has incredible perception. He offered this anecdote, which happened before Obama announced his candidacy for president:

Brooks (the conservative) wrote a column criticizing the Republicans for spending too much. To make himself feel better for critiquing the party he said he threw in a couple sentences that said Democrats were guilty of overspending too. The next day, Obama sent Brooks an e-mail saying something to the effect of: “That’s fine if you want to criticize the Democrats, but you know you just added those two sentences to make yourself feel better.” Talk about perceptive, Brooks said.

Anyway, back to connecting the Triangle. One of the perks of living in communities rich with univerisities is the opportunity to see distinguished speakers for free. Although such lectures are not always well-advertised off campus. So you may have to do a little homework.

Duke University recently launched this comprehensive calendar. Does anyone know of any simialr resources for the area’s other universities?

My heart melted a little bit this morning, and I thought you might want yours to do the same. I watched the video Duke University’s news service produced to introduce the world to Ichabod, an aye-aye.

The extremely rare aye-aye is a goofy looking creature that looks like a cross between a bat and a ferret. It hails from Madagascar, where it is endangered and is thought by some to be an omen for death for the village it shows up in.

Ichabod was born July 23 at the Duke Lemur Center.

I haven’t been to the Lemur Center yet, but I so need to take a tour. The center offers tours by appointment only. Yet another fun, unusal thing to do in the Bull City. For more on Ichabod, click here.

So do you think this aye-aye is a cutey or a little creepy?