Iceland in Hot Springs, Arkansas

Sometimes the cognitive dissonance gets a wee bit too much. But here's a point for the South. According to pitchfork media, Sigur Rós' Jón "Jónsi" Birgisson and Parachutes' Alex Somers have been coming together for the sake of art under the name Riceboy Sleeps and they are having an exhibit in Hot Springs, Arkansas at Gallery 801. What a coup for Gallery 801 based on the attention that they are getting. Riceboy Sleeps does paper and book art, it seems, and I think they did at least one album cover (ok, CD cover) for Sigur Rós.

Now, I've been a huge Sigur Rós fan since pretty much the beginning. I flew out to the Bay Area to see them on their first American tour in 2001 since they were only touring the Coasts. Well, I snuck in a night at Nickies to see DJ Cheb i Sabbah too. I even wrote a review about the show, which has been removed from their official site, and my encounter with three members of Metallica at the show. Metallica? Sigur Rós? Say it ain't so, Hall! I actually thought that the lead guitarist for Metallica at first was Dave Navarro and almost said so. That would've been funny.

I'm also a big fan of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Why? Well, I've taken two long weekend-type vacations in that area, and when I lived briefly in Dallas, not exactly a nature preserve, trips up to Lake Ouachita (one of the cleanest lakes in the nation because you cannot build on the lakefront) were balm to my humidity-flayed soul. Hot Springs has, of course, old spas from the late 19th-early 20th century, which are a kick to visit, and the scenery is quite nice. You can rent a boat and go out on Lake Ouachita, which I've done twice, and there are some great swimming holes in the area.

But how did Riceboy Sleeps get a show there? There were a ton of little galleries the last time I was there in the mid-90s, but most of it was Western-oriented. They were a few galleries a bit out of the ordinary. I remember one that sold welded sculptures of hockey players dressed as samurai swordsmen, but still. Not exactly the most avant-garde place, Hot Springs. Or is it? Great story about how the exhibit came about here. It never hurts to ask.

Just don't eat at the Thai restaurant in downtown Hot Springs.

Waitin' and Grabblin'

Ah, the delicious dichotomy of sexual mores that is the South.

One can see several billboards around Knoxville promoting abstinence. Yes, and by abstinence, I mean sexual abstinence, not abstinence from deep-fried foods and the flesh of swine roasted over various types of wood. These billboards have been around since I visited here previously in 2005, but they appear to be in good repair. The name of the organization is called Just Wait. Apparently, it is a local organization, for the homepage declares eagerly that:
"We have gone from teaching in 3 counties to 13! We have gone from a staff of 3 to now more than 10! We now see over 25,000 students and have the privelege of sharing the life-changing message of abstinence until marriage."

I had assumed that this was a national organization. One wonders where the funding is coming from. Their graphic design is somewhat effective, I suppose, in a cheery vacation bible school sort of way. The most eye-catching of the billboards is the image on this t-shirt, which at least gave me pause to investigate what was going on further. I'm not so sure about the veracity of their slogan "Safe Sex Isn't", but apparently, you can add sexual education to the list of topics such as politics and religion that aren't to be discussed in polite company but can be trumpeted from billboards.

Now for the grabblin', brought to my bemused attention courtesy of the weekly here in Knoxville, The Metro Pulse. And what is grabblin', you naturally ask? Welp, according to catfishgrabblers.com, it is:
"... the art of fishing with your hands. In the spring of the year the catfish move to shallow water to lay their eggs. Spawning is triggered by the increasing length of the days and the warmer water temperatures. Spawning in the Tennessee River area usually starts about late May."

For further details, I refer you to this page. And why do I bring this up in a discussion that is presumably about the sexual mores of the South? Simply put:

Girls Gone Grabblin'

Yes, it's a take-off on the infamous Girls Gone Wild video series whose highly repetitive commercials afflict those cursed with insomnia and who happen to stumble (or is it thumble with a remote control?) upon one of the many channels that hammer these products ad nauseum and ad infinitum in the wee hours of the morning.

However, Girls Gone Grabblin' simply must be infinitely more charming, for who can resist the following ad copy:
"Believe it or not! We now bring you the first and only Girls Gone Grabblin' DVD ever produced. Be one of the first to watch & be amazed as 35 Southern Women bring you the thrill of catching catfish weighing up to 44lbs. with their hands and wrestling them to the bank."

Folks, I too find it hard to believe that this is the first and only Girls Gone Grabblin' DVD produced. But I predict that in this specialized case, the supply will create the demand, for who can resist the allure of not 10, not 20, but 35 Southern women catching catfish and wrestling them? It would take a stronger and far more virtuous man that I, given my predilection for all things deep-fried and the fact that these are not, I repeat, are not farm raised catfish fed Purina Mills Catfish Chow so they'll taste right once cleaned.

Grabblin'. You couldn't make this stuff up.