Would the bath house welcome dogs? In a message dated 1/28/2005 9:25:28 AM Eastern Standard Time, "S. Sharrieff Ali" <[email protected]> writes:
>As Wilma would say..."now that is rich"! > >S. > >-----Original Message----- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ross Bender >Sent: Friday, January 28, 2005 12:36 AM >To: UnivCity University City List >Subject: [UC] The Gigantic Private Bathhouse Campaign > > >I just wanted to "weigh in" with my "two cents" and second Elisabeth >Dubin's breathtakingly brilliant idea about a gigantic public/private >bathhouse in Clark Park. At the moment I'm splashing around in Japanese >onsens doing a little research and when I get back I expect I'll be able >to add some truly professional perspectives on what, as is sadly the >case with this tawdry email list, is already turning into a sordid >mudslinging food fight with ad hominen attacks, personal slander, really >boring stories about cats, etc. PEOPLE can't we just get ALONG? A little >bit of civility, PLEASE. Or I may have to cancel my fucking subscription >again. > >To begin with, a little personal perspective. The most truly fabulous >public bathhouse I have ever had the privilege to visit was the >Continental Baths on New York City's Upper West Side. I went there not >for the baths, of course, nor the lewd and rampant promiscuity, but to >hear Patti Labelle and the Blue Bells (Sara Dash, Nona Hendrix) in their >prime. A truly romantic and dazzling evening, even though my programme >got a little soggy in all that steam. Not long after this epochal >performance the venue underwent a sea change and turned into a cheap >glitzy outfit known as Plato's Retreat. But the Continental Baths had a >certain je ne sais quoi, a certain quaint and decadent atmosphere which >recalled Venice in the 20s or perhaps the Grand Seraglio in >Constantinople back in the day. To wit, vast bevies of stunning >pear-bottomed ladies clothed only in towels, offering peeled grapes, >hashish, precious wines and other favors to those whom they fancied. > >Now it may seem a bit farfetched to imagine such a splendid institution >taking root in dead old Clark Park. I mean, GET REAL, Elisabeth Dubin. >Can't you just see staid solomonic old Anthony West forming a Baths >Subcommittee to explore the possibilities of, on the one hand, a fenced >in public bath, or, on the other, not a fenced in public bath. Plus >which, what would our puritanical Mayor say, not to mention the >University City Old Ladies Sewing Circle and Gentrification Committee? >Seriously, think what such a place would do to the REAL ESTATE prices in >the neighborhood! > >Personally I think a much more sensible, not to mention environmentally >sound, solution is to dig up the underground sewers and let the Mill >Race flow free, as I believe has been mentioned as a possibility >previously on this list. Wash all the dogshit out of the Bowl, drown all >the irksome dog people AND toddlers, thus killing two contentious birds >with one stone. Plus in the winter there would be skating. Ladies in >long Victorian skirts, men in cummerbands and bandanas. > >Ross Bender >http://rosslynnbender.org/nikki.html >On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 11:43:40 -0500, Daniel Flaumenhaft ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> On Jan 27, 2005, at 10:44 AM, Dubin, Elisabeth wrote: >> >> > Let's say I am a person who really believes that there should be a >> > gigantic public bathhouse in Clark Park for all to use. Don't I have >> > the right to self-select myself to campaign for this? �And if I get >a >> > group of like-minded people together to enact change, don't we have >> > the right as a group to work towards out goals? �We aren't elected >> > officials, so we are not obligated to reflect the views of anyone >but >> > ourselves. >> >> Actually, there *was* a movement to get the Rec Department to start >> building public bathhouses in parks. �While Boston, New York, >> Baltimore, and Chicago *did* build indoor bathhouses, Philadelphia was > >> too cheap for that and just built swimming pools. There were certainly > >> no servants with grapes. >> >> There were a number of quasi-public baths, including ones built by a >> "Public Baths Association" in Germantown (designed by Cope & >> Stewardson), and near 4th and South (by Furness and Evans). There was >> also the "Western Soup Society Public Baths" at 16th and South. (I >> think the "Western Soup Society" had the name because it started out >> as a soup kitchen, but by that point, it was a settlement house >> connected with the Christian Association at Penn). Chicago had the >> charmingly named Free Bath and Sanitary League. >> >> See Marilyn Thornton Williams. *Washing The Great Unwashed: >> PublicBaths in Urban America,1840-1920*. Columbus: Ohio State >> University Press, 1991. >> >> > You would of course have the right and social obligation to form a >> > counter-group, called something like "Neighbors Against Sweaty >> > McBathhouseification" or something. >> >> No, that's the *private* bathhouse that Penn is evicting the Cinemagic > >> to build. They'll have servants with *peeled* grapes. No doubt Ross >> Bender can tell you all about it. >> >> Daniel >> >> ---- >> You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the >> list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see >> <http://www.purple.com/list.html>. >> > > >-- >Ross Bender >http://rossbender.org >---- >You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the >list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see ><http://www.purple.com/list.html>. > > > > >---- >You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the >list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see ><http://www.purple.com/list.html>. > ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
