U of L Cardinal trashes Taco Punk

[Robin Garr]

That kind of sexist sentiment is why the "foodie" scene continues to alienate me.

A bit of an over-generalization, Peg? I hope the couth-to-crude ratio around here remains on the up side, even if it's imperfect in an imperfect world.

To me it seemed sort of like "I'm on my period and want to trash something so I'll go someplace I know I won't like and already have built in talking points to mock other people".

Oh, how nice. A woman expresses contempt about something and OF COURSE SHE'S ON HER PERIOD, right? That kind of sexist sentiment is why the "foodie" scene continues to alienate me. Of course, eating at home more isn't a bad thing.

Peg,

For what it's worth I'm a guy and had the same reaction upon reading that. I was surprised and dismayed.

The times I've witnessed that sort of comment, at least in my adult (read: post collegiate, 30+ years) life it has been from men who felt wounded and, struggling with the hurt, lashed out verbally from a place of deep pain. Sometimes people who are hurting dredge up whatever feels like the most substantial piece of mud they can sling from their psyche to affect some momentary relief. It is uncomfortable to witness. On the other hand are men who have real problems. I will not lie to you. A few times I have heard stuff like that from men that my gut told me were reacting mostly from some genuine and creepy antipathy towards women. Dunno how often you have guys tell you the world they live in, but there it is as honestly as I can relate it. The vast majority of men fall on the other side of that divide.

I say this not to justify the sad remark in that post but to try to understand it more fully in context. Dan wrote a fine "high road" post in reply to a vicious column that I can't dignify by calling it a "review". I do not say "vicious" lightly. Please reread that and I think you'll see where the pain in the unfortunate subsequent post comes from.

In summation, yeah, I agree with Peg that this is not appropriate. But I don't see a pattern of misogyny on this board. Misogyny is aggressive, malignant and breeds like a cancer for its own sake. Please do not confuse this with someone who gets stung by a wasp and cusses a blue streak. It's not pretty, but it's human. The difference is we didn't used to do it on the Web.

To me it seemed sort of like "I'm on my period and want to trash something so I'll go someplace I know I won't like and already have built in talking points to mock other people".

Oh, how nice. A woman expresses contempt about something and OF COURSE SHE'S ON HER PERIOD, right? That kind of sexist sentiment is why the "foodie" scene continues to alienate me. Of course, eating at home more isn't a bad thing.

Nice- the 'ol 'I'm gonna take my marbles and go home' post.

Really? You're amongst friends. Ok then.



Ms. (I could care less) is going through a very painfull process at the moment, believe me. It's kind of necessary though, for her own development. She will have to learn that Louisville is not NYC and that our critics are kind with thier words. We are too gentile.

Tommorow morning, she will wake up with a pit in her stomach, go to her computer and pull this thread up- even before she makes her morning coffee.

This thing will heave on her soul for a bit, but the truth be told- this too shall pass. We are too gentile and willing to let her grow...

I really liked her writing style- it was entertaining! It just went kinda dark and judgemental and by the end of the piece I was no longer entertained- nay, quite the opposite.

Although I am biased and believe Robin is probably the best (and most relevant) review critic out there due to locale and involvement, I am not sure what qualifies anyone to be better than another, so cannot speak for the person who wrote critique.

However, in my opinion, the #1 website that tackles social commentary in general is Grantland Simmons. Although initially focused on sports with Bill Simmons, my favorite writer period (Michael Lewis would be close second), it has rotating guest writers who talk about things I love (sports, cutting edge TV shows like The Wire, etc., and just absolutely rip things I hate like TV reality shows (they actually have a fantasy league based on idiotic behavior)). Have some of the best writers around like Chuck Klosterman, Andy Greenwald, Molly Lambert, etc.

I was opposite of most on forum on this review. I was somewhat ambivalent on review itself (all of us hate something and sometimes go too far), but really hated the "I think I am pretty clever" setup of the article. Has the air of a pretentious Oprah book of the month club excerpt.

[Robin Garr]

... really hated the "I think I am pretty clever" setup of the article. Has the air of a pretentious Oprah book of the month club excerpt.

I can't really disagree, Ron, but I have to confess that just about every young writer goes through that phase that comes with the pure orgasmic rush of perceived power that comes with taking up a public pen. I can no longer remember but I'm pretty sure that I had it too.

Is this the Grantland site you're talking about?

http://www.grantland.com

Or this one, the pop-culture subdivision?

http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus

Robin,

The first link to grantland will take you to various subjects. If you enjoy sports at all, Bill Simmons is the most famous (he developed the 30 for 30 series for ESPN), but it has multiple sub-categories.

Good luck

Off to Henry's Place for spouse-only Father's Day early meal tonight, so I can get back and watch US Open late.

[Robin Garr]

Off to Henry's Place for spouse-only Father's Day early meal tonight, so I can get back and watch US Open late.

When you hit a quiet spot, Ron (maybe tomorrow or Monday ), I hope you'll favor us with a report on Henry's Place!

Oh, how nice. A woman expresses contempt about something and OF COURSE SHE'S ON HER PERIOD, right? That kind of sexist sentiment is why the "foodie" scene continues to alienate me. Of course, eating at home more isn't a bad thing.

Well OK, maybe a bit over the top I suppose, so I take it back. However, it was definitely the impression I got. I'm not very politically correct. I would note that these days it's perfectly accceptable for women, generally, to talk about men in such terms i.e. a hormone driven fellow will inevitably be described as "thinking with his other head" and women willl all nod and giggle. However, men aren't allowed to make such observations without being called "sad, misogynist, etc". Which is of course a massive double standard.

Whether or not the young lady in question is just crabby, nasty, snarky, and incredibly negative on periodic occasions, or as a matter of course.... well I can't really say. But IIRC she didn't write one single positive thing about the restaurant or anything else in her "review". You call it expressing contempt. I'd call it simply lashing out at and slagging off on literally everything and everyone (including the owner by name). She seems like an incredibly negative person that I wouldn't want to know.

On the other hand are men who have real problems. I will not lie to you. A few times I have heard stuff like that from men that my gut told me were reacting mostly from some genuine and creepy antipathy towards women....

Jeez Lonnie, a bit overwrought in your psychoanalysis there. Never had anyone call me creepy before. I just thought the author came off like a royal biatch. Most of us, male and female, have met people like that before. FWIW I get along with women just fine.

Who cares?

It was a bad review- it made no sense, seriously. Dry 'marinated pork,' please. As a chef, I can tell you it's hard to mess this one up. You have to actively work at screwing up something like this- the stuff is like chilli- it only gets better with time.

Poppycock.

She had a bone to pick and it was not with Taco Punk, but with the whole gentification issue.

There so many class issues tied up with this review that I don't know how to begin.

First, the assumption that U of L students represent the upper class, white voice is pretty puzzling. As for the particular writer, I have no clue about her background. But I think of U of L as a fairly working class, fairly heterogeneous school. Certainly compared to my undergraduate and graduate schools, it's a great stepping stone for people in lower economic brackets.

Second, assuming that the writer DOES represent the voice of privilege (and she does sound an awful lot like the very wealthy kids I attended university with), then I don't understand why she'd attack restaurants. Restaurant workers, and often owners as well, are usually barely scraping by. Even if they do have educations that put them in the middle and upper classes, their earnings do not. Attacking people who work hard each and every day for every dollar really makes no sense. Yes, I understand that the restaurant might be catering to upper class patrons, but the people that really suffer should the negative review succeed are not those upper class patrons, it's the working class people who work in the place.

Third, there are so many complicated issues involved in gentrification that writing in a restaurant review seems crazy. That's all.

It looks like Gabe took a shot back at the Louisville Cardinal with a letter to the editor:
http://www.louisvillecardinal.com/2012/ ... er-editor/

I think Gabe is correct in his critique of the Cardinal piece. But, I am reminded of the old adage "“Never argue with a man who buys ink by the barrel” or more recently "“Never argue with anyone who buys bandwidth by the gigabyte" or "Never pick a fight with someone who gets more than a million uniques a month" Of course the Cardinal editor does none of the above.

Dry 'marinated pork,' please. As a chef, I can tell you it's hard to mess this one up. You have to actively work at screwing up something like this- the stuff is like chilli- it only gets better with time.

Bet me Booties ????

Dry 'marinated pork,' please. As a chef, I can tell you it's hard to mess this one up. You have to actively work at screwing up something like this- the stuff is like chilli- it only gets better with time.

Bet me Booties ????

Why would I want to wear your shoes?

Dry 'marinated pork,' please. As a chef, I can tell you it's hard to mess this one up. You have to actively work at screwing up something like this- the stuff is like chilli- it only gets better with time.

Bet me Booties ????

Why would I want to wear your shoes?

True. Ya probably couldn't fill 'em anyway. My point was to politely disagree with your statement. One certainly -can- dry out pork...any cut. Worse yet is overcooked pork which becomes quite mushy and unappealing.