i hate the world cup, too

i am definitely makin' it my mission to get the gossip for the next ladyfest romania. with the butchies out of the picture aka on hiatus aka disbanded forever as far as anyone knows (but i don't want to think unhappy thoughts), and having finally seen the gossip live i can say that theirs are the funnest most b.s.-free shows in the universe and that this goodness must be brought east! of course, i am not counting fugazi not just 'cause they're also on hiatus (lalala, not thinking about it) but 'cause i was talking about ladyfest and fugazi's many good things but riot grrrly is not one of them... :D

(photos from dailyabuse.com/Music/THE_Gossip)

ps: before this show i was semi-indifferent towards the world cup. however, having to wait out a whole game because the audience couldn't stand turning off the tv to start being an audience... and therefore having the show begin in the middle of the night and missing the last train back home because of all this... has made me a first-class world cup and soccer hater. that's right. i said it. and i can take comfort in the fact that beth and the rest of the band (and the opening band, the jai-alai savant) TOTALLY agree with me. (btw, beth is extremely funny, besides having the clearest, most soulful voice and stage presence-wise being beyond charismatic.) also fueling my hate, soccer game-going and celebrating culture seems to me more and more similar to frat culture - except it's even worse, 'cause it's more massive and widespread and inescapable. i think i've said all i need to on this subject. and i'm NOT watching the final.

pps: perhaps ironically, my favorite quote of the moment:

If I needed to deal with depression or with being too prideful or with greed, then I'd suffer these experiences until I learned to detach enough to get perspective, to give it meaning. I believe that the universe is a text which we cocreate. But when you're in flesh and blood -- when you don't have that distance -- when you're in the midst of pain -- you can't see anything but its immediacy and so this enemy becomes all powerful; there are no redeeming qualities. But by stepping back and asking "OK. What's my responsibility in this? Which part did I play? What's the meaning?" you get into symbolic and archetypal patterns.
[So you're talking about a way of attaining agency. When you view good and evil dualistically, the negative events have tremendous power over you. By shifting your perspective you acquire power to bring about change.]
... I know this sounds kind of Pollyanna, but I really think that when someone does you wrong you have to forgive them; you have to let go and get on with your life. ... It takes your energy and whatever takes your energy and attention enthralls you, enslaves you. If you dwell on this person who did you wrong, you're giving them energy which you could be using in more positive ways. ... We need to be able to switch between looking at differences and looking at commonalities. I don't think one is superior to the other; we just need some kind of negotiation or balance. ... It depends on your perception, what you focus on. During the last few centuries -- or maybe even longer -- people have focused on differences, on the stranger. Difference is threatening to the perceiver. From the beginning of time to the present, all the wars, ethnic conflicts, class conflicts, and so on are based on the belief that people who are different from you may harm you. What I want to do is blink my eyes and see the other from a different perspective, focusing on what we have in common...

gloria anzaldua (from interviews/entrevistas)