http://www.onpointradio.org/2011/01/gypsy-rose-burlesque

Or listen to it live on your local NPR station:

http://www.wbur.org/syndication/?program=On%20Point

xoxox!

Honeysuckle.

http://blog.acehotel.com/post/1495311394/honeysuckle-hype-jer-ber-jones

http://swedishhousewife.com/?p=495&cpage=1#comment-89

Thank you again to the SHW for all of your support-spatial, inspirational, edible, and that which defies adjectives.

xox,

Honeysuckle.

The simplest answer would be this: in New York City’s Chinatown, before hitting the road for my East Coast fieldtrips and performances, I discovered the most phenomenal beef jerky I have ever torn into and fell into a food coma so deep, I am only just emerging.

A more nuanced answer, with slightly less magical realist leanings would be this:

0. Debuted a segment of the show as a performance artists at the Seattle Erotic Arts Festival

image courtesy of Kelly O for The Stranger

1. Traveled to Vermont to visit Juli at work at a small mid-state slaughterhouse.

2. Performed with Rogue Burlesque at the Middlesex Lounge (including the first public screening outside of dress rehearsal of the short film “Honeysuckle’s BBQ” by Morgan Elizabeth and Debora Spencer)

3. Christened the new space for queer performance venue “Collect Pond” along with Julie Blair in Brooklyn, NY with the full-length solo show

(image taken by Honeysuckle during NYC show)

4. Performed the full show in DC’s oldest lesbian bar, Phase 1, just after they celebrated their 40th anniversary.  Writer/Performer Natalie Illum opened that show, and her performance gave me permission to take content deeper and to engage the audience from the start.

DC preview coverage/interview

DC show review

(photo taken by Honeysuckle during DC show)

(Phase 1 minglers)

5. Moved my life from Seattle to Southern California (with show set and costuming in the trunk in case I needed to stop along the way!)

6. Considered buying a cow (for slaughter) at the Del Mar, CA County Fair.  His name was Brick; he was a sweetheart and the teenage boy who had raised him (his first steer!) was so eager to show him, and a bit sad to see him go.

“Menu” motif signs were used to identify cows at the county fair

This cow was licking his stable mate over and over–cleaning or cuddling or scratching an itch?

Sexy nurse imagery being used to sell deep fried butter gives meat-woman imagery a run for its proverbial and literal money.

And in the last two weeks, though less well photo-documented, some exciting beef run-ins:

7. Sampled two varieties of homemade beef jerky (and witnessed the preservation process of one variety) made by one of my favorite lesbians in San Diego.

8. Considered buying many pounds of local beef through a groupon.com deal of the day.

9. Considered buying many pounds of local beef from a man driving around in a truck who stopped me in an alley to sell frozen steaks.

10. Found that the local meat vendor at my farmer’s markets makes jerky…ordered beef jerky…daughter forgot to remind dad to bring it…got a slim jim-like preserved meat stick (which looks wonderful!) instead.

11. Considered researching the impact the BP oil spill will have on the economics of beef jerky; decided to focus energy elsewhere.

12. Received beef jerky in the mail for my birthday.

The experience of taking the show on the road, connecting with new and extremely varied audiences, and getting more meat-learning and slaughter-smelling under my belt (figuratively) has been one of the most moving experiences I’ve had as a performer and artist.  Blogging is weird.  It is a strange way to report and semi-interact when the cultivation of a certain type of authenticity and artifice in live performance is the medium and the message of this work.

AND some of these images, interviews, conversations, and video clips seem worth sharing.  I plan to eat enough jerky to have the beefy balls to backtrack through my archived material from this adventure and share more of it.  And hey, if you’re reading this, I would love to hear some questions you have–what would you want to see or hear more about?  What is most compelling or confusing?

As far as the show itself, the cross-coastal tour is not entirely over.  Conversation is currently in progress with Producer Paula The Swedish Housewife about a summer/fall show in Seattle, and there have been offers to perform in Palm Springs, CA and elsewhere in the middle and the western parts of the country.  Stay tuned for more…

xox,

Honeysuckle.

Please pass/post the information and posters on to local friends in the Boston-to-DC corridor!

Wednesday, May 12th @ Middlesex Lounge
w/Rogue Burlesque
315 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA
Doors at 9, Show at 10
$5

Thursday, May 13th @ Collect Pond
338 Berry St @ S 5th st
Brooklyn, NY
Tickets: $5-15
8pm

Friday, May 14th @ Phase 1
525 8th Street SE
Washington, DC
Tickets: $5
8pm

xoxox,

Honeysuckle.

Hangar steak, the cut that ‘hangs’ from the diaphragm, is prized for being flavorful with a slight kidney-ish tinge.  Presse does a nice job of preparing the steak to bring out that flavor and keeping the steak relatively tender (it tends to get tough if cooked slowly or for too long).  Several butchers I’ve spoken to in the US have bemoaned the lack of demand for Hangar here.  Even in good economic times, when steaks are selling better than they are right now, hangar is often ground into hamburger rather than separated as a delicacy as it is much of Europe and in Mexico (can someone set me straight on whether Hangar would be carne asada or arrachera, please?)

It was wonderful to learn more about the path that Kennedy and a strong group of queer youth on the East Side of our city have been on for the last several years, from documenting their individual stories to launching a project to make real change and safe space in their community.  Check out how you can support Queer Youth Space, follow them on facebook, and see what they’re up to!

Queer Youth Space is a community initiative and coalition in which the overall campaign is to secure space for queer youth in the Seattle area. This space would be led, owned, and organized by the very constituency that the space would serve. Queer Youth Space is radical and revolutionary in that it is a youth-led, adult supported model. The ideas and values inherent within this structure are at the very core of the philosophy of the collective, chief among them furthering the model of youth leadership in which Queer Youth Space believes should be dominant structure locally as well as nationwide.

You can read the entire thread of the blog post from the Atlantic.com, which quotes Ann Friedman’s piece on Feministing, who references Carol Adams, whose book cover inspired my 2010 valentine…and the start of the “Eat Your Heart Out” project.

The Oregon Fox news article Customers Find All Skin, No Meat at Vegan Stripclub has the following words from the club’s owner: ““(It’s) vixens, not veal, and sizzle, not steak,” Diablo said. “We put the meat on the pole, not on the plate.””

Comments on the Atlantic post include a vicious east coast v. west coast battle, as well as a link to Acropolis Steakhouse in Portland, a strip club with some incredibly enthusiastic clients, and many with complaints about the meat and/or the women.

And for more information about non-vegan Portland joints, you can consult the Portland Mercury’s review of strip club/steakhouses here.

Meat is complicated.  The internet is amazing.

Front of house meat (most likely from Iowa) at the Taylor Meat Company, Taylor, TX

I am back in Seattle after a raucous week of California travel (San Diego, Palm Springs, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco with varying doses of academia, lesbian spring break/Dinah Shore, and my mother in each locale), and am entering into an intensive ten days of rehearsal. I promise to pull out of it to post more interviews, images, and clips from the Texas adventure, and to post show content as I begin to document it!

xoxox, and thank you again for your support!

Honeysuckle.

Celebrate

Life of a Pig

April 20, 2006

by tamara murphy

and whistling train farm

Menu

Chicharrones ( skins )

Everything Pig Pate ( pork trimmings, fat, heart, liver, kidney, tongue )

Smoked Riblets ( ribs )

Traditional Posole, Roasted Chilies, Tomatillos, Tortillas ( pork shoulder,  head, trotters,  hocks )

Grilled Loin, Chorizo and Clams ( loin, chuck, fat, trimmings )

Roast Pig: Whistling Train Farm’s Greens, Greek Potatoes ( whole pig )

Heirloom Navel Oranges, Jicima, Watercress, Cracklings ( fatty skin )

Bacon Baklava

Vanilla Ice Cream, Maple Flower Crème Anglaise

Bacon Brittle ( belly )

Tamara also invited me to perform at this year’s Burning Beast, an event held at smokefarm featuring some of Seattle’s top chefs and a great deal of meat from local farms.  We may also book a small performance at Elliott Bay Cafe as they work on new digs.  Looks like the west coast summer tour is taking a turn for the savory!