THE PIERCED POMEGRANATE TAVERN: Whew!!! So much to serve up...

Thirsty for a Fresh Take on All Things True Blood?

WELCOME! Thirsty for a fresh take on all things True Blood? Pull up a virtual barstool at the Pierced Pomegranate Tavern where sisters Rachel and Rebecca are serving up juicy feminist analysis with a twist and opening a vein of thoughtful sociocultural dialogue on HBO's hit series.

Like the epic literary salons of eras past - theaters for conversation and debate which were, incidentally, started and run by women; where the spirited debate about the issues of the day ran as copiously as the actual spirits did - but updated for the digital age, the Pierced Pomegranate Tavern is a fun forum for exploring questions ripe for discourse about the human condition & today's most crucial social issues through the medium of True Blood.

Your salonnières are not peddling liquor per se, but they are offering up new and alternative ideas informed by such diverse influences as pop culture, art, music, cultural history, Goddess studies, transformative theory, literature and poetry, and archaeomythology, filtered through the sieve of their own lived experiences as feminist women of a particular age, background, and culture.

This is a space where you - patrons and passersby alike - can view and engage with these perspectives through the lens of True Blood and contribute your own thoughts. So, no matter if you're a Truebie or a more casual viewer of True Blood, or your drink of choice is a pomegranate martini - one of Rachel's favorite cocktails to drink and Rebecca's to mix - an herbal tea, a frothy double mocha latte, or a can of Fresca (wink, wink) you're invited to join the conversation on the show's complexities in a way that can spark transformation.

Hopefully you'll find something to sink your teeth...err...straw, into! PLEASE ENJOY RESPONSIBLY ;-)

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Whew!!! So much to serve up...

Whew! We hope you're thirsty, because after a whirlwind last few weeks, we here at the PPT have lots to serve up!

You know how True Blood goes on the road, leaving the comfort and familiarity of Merlotte's and Bon Temps (sans maenad-induced frenzy, of course) in the dust for points unknown, like Dallas, & Jackson, etc.? Well, the PPT has been on the road too; we've been beating down a footpath in such places as San Antonio, Texas, Harlem & Tribeca, NYC...and boy 'o boy, do we have some catching up to do!

OK, OK, hold your horses; no pushing or shoving please, there's plenty of room at the bar for all. Here's a taste of what's on the menu:

We met and chatted with True Blood's very own Tanya Wright (Deputy Kenya Jones)!

Rachel delivered her visual talk True Blood Reenacts the Goddess Persephone's Ordeal of Abduction and Rape...or Self-Directed Sexual Initiation? Opening a Vein on Woman-Centered Sexuality" at the PCA/ACA & Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture joint conference and will be serving it up here just for you!

followed by...

a chaser of a run-down on what was seen and heard at the conference relating to True Blood

along with a splash of...

some San Antonio local color for good measure!

We spent Friday night in the company of greatness at the Tribeca Film Festival where none other than Mr. Harry Belafonte validated and reinvigorated our focus on the arts (we're lookin' at you, True Blood - particularly in light of our conversation with Ms. Wright!) as a medium through which change can be leveraged!

So without further ado...

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A SALON FOR TODAY - WE'RE YOUR SALONNIÉRES

The European literary salons of the 17th and 18th centuries had intellectuals. They had drinking. They had conversation and debate. They were social and stimulating places where Enlightenment-era movers-and-shakers could linger in pursuit of wisdom and just one more glass.

Over the centuries, salons have played a historic role in enriching literary and philosophical movements and have built bridges between artists and thought leaders, this has had a major impact on intellectual and cultural life.

Salonnières played a central role in salon life; since most paths to formal higer education were closed to them, these abitious, intelligent, self-educated, and educating women adopted and implemented Enlightenment values to shape salons as informal universities where they too could exchange ideas, receive and give criticism, read their own works and hear the works and ideas of others.

At a time when society was dominated by men, the salonnières (nicknamed "Blue Stockings"; a term that even today connotes intellectual women) exerted powerful influence in the salons they convened, selecting their guests, deciding about the subjects of their meetings, and directing the discussion.

The Pierced Pomegranate Tavern is inspired by the old-school salons and designed to carry the flavor of the Enlightenment era's venerable houses of drink and debate into the 21st century, with a few exceptions.

Where the salons of old were at times elitist and exclusive, this forum is open and inclusive.

We're your salonnières, here to foster a fun and safe atmosphere for sociocultural and political discourse through the medium of True Blood that feels more social and less academic, to get the conversation going, and to keep it on track.

Feminist philosopher Mara Keller reinterprets Persephone’s ingestion of the pomegranate seeds as being part of her sexual initiation into womanhood. She writes:

Death, life, male, female and, above all, the irrepressible power of reproduction—all are found in the image of the pomegranate seed. It is this seed that Persephone takes within her body—literally incorporating it into her own being. With this seed, she becomes a new person: whole, mature, fertile, and infinitely more complex than before. Having tasted it, she has crossed a barrier from which there can be no turning back.

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Sunday, May 1, 2011

Whew!!! So much to serve up...

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