Women's things...

Well, that was interesting. Last night, I went along with some of my friends to watch a production of the Vagina Monologues. It was certainly an experience. I went because my good friend, Sam Reid from Band Club was in it, and a great job she did too; but I was not particularly looking forward to spending two hours listening to what I expected to be a feminist rant.

And feminist rant it was, in places. I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to anyone, although certain parts of it were invaluable. The monologues address issues such as violence and abuse towards women, and rape. These monologues must be heard. But some of it is just wierd, and some of it is entirely unnecessary. One of the pieces, for example, is dedicated to the C word. That word which is considered more offensive than any other in the English language. The speaker claims that she has reclaimed it, and takes pleasure in using it. She tries to get the audience to chant it over and over again (and I'm sad to say that most of them did). It seems to me that it was put there for nothing more than shock value. The monologue seemed to serve no real purpose; there were no staggering insights in it. Just a repeated use of a particularly vulgar word. But then again, if you're going to watch something called The Vagina Monologues, you have to expect a few vulgarisms.

I'm not going to say anything more about the production, because I don't want to put people off/ruin it for them. AS I say, I think that some of the pieces are essential viewing (or reading), but parts were a little hard to swallow.

Meanwhile, back at Salvator Darlings camp, things are getting a little exciting. Leading up to the release of our mini album, we have a series of gigs that we're in the process of booking from the end of April. We have a show next Monday (Feb 20th) at the Packhorse in Leeds, to say farewell to our Irish bassist, Tim Higgins, who's leaving for various reasons. The show will feature long time friends of the Darlings, The Hyde Park Death Squad, as well as new act Sensitive Men.

In preparation for the show, Simon and I will be appearing on Leeds Student Radio this afternoon at about 4:30 GMT. Just go here, click on the button that says listen, and you can enjoy a couple of songs and an interview with us. Should be pleasingly silly.

Right, the bell just went, and I have a group of children to take bowling. I love my job! Have a good Valentines day, y'all...