Today on 'In The FOT Seat': Beth

[KickTheBobo]

Here's what Beth had to say:


1. What is your real first and middle name (if any) Elizabeth Marion.

2. Where were you born, geographically? Englewood, NJ

3. Where do you reside now (geographically)? Cambridge, NY

4. What is your current vocation/ job/ area of study? I am finishing up a BA in Literature at Bennington College, and will then move on to student teaching and hope to study special education in graduate school, specifically remedial reading.

5. Desert Island: Belle and Sebastian's Tigermilk.
I was going to originally go with This Mortal Coil--It'll End in Tears so I could listen to it on headphones and get distracted by its awesome sound design, but I think that it would get too depressing after a while.

6. What is the most impressive thing in nature that you have ever seen in person? The Grand Canyon.

7. What is the most impressive thing in the human-made world that you have ever seen in person? Giotto's paintings in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.

8. Death Row Pizza: Anchovies and fried eggplant. Extra cheese.

9. Tom calls you up and tells you that he will be at a cardboard symposium in your town and has a free day off. Roller Rink!! I will specifically commission them to play only ABBA while we skate. Maybe a cheese tour (tour of all the farms that make cheese in my area) if he has time. End the night at the drive-in, where I can take him to see the subversive independent film The Dark Knight.

[Gagneaux]

Beth,

what's your desert island book?

[A.M. Thomas]

Favorite Yé-yé girl?  You can only pick one.

Also, per Emma's request, answer these too:
What movie have you seen more than any other?  How many times have you seen it?

What is your favorite novel?  Who is your favorite author?

What three adjectives best describe you?

[Beth]

Hmmm... I guess my desert island book would be Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safron Foer, just because I love to read it and can get lost in the fable-like prose easily.

Favorite ye-ye girl: France Gall. No contest.

Favorite book? It's a three way tie.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: I suppose. I read it almost every year between the ages of 8 and 15, and it is a world I never got tired of visiting.

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov: It's inventive and just a great read.

Anna Karenina by Tolstoy.  It's overflowing with some of the most beautiful language I've ever read, and the way he deals with romance and relationships is breathtakingly honest and feels so real, so current.  I especially love the part near the beginning of the book when Levin sees Kitty skating on the ice, and thinks about whether he should approach her or not.

I don't have a favorite author, but I dig Flannery O'Connor and George Eliot lots.

Movie: Harold and Maude. I must have seen it at least 40 times. I think because I love it so much, and whenever I find out that someone hasn't seen it, I usually make them watch it with me.

Adjectives: Um, talkative, sensitive (overly sensitive at times) friendly.

[mokin]

How were you introduced to the Best Show?
What's the origin or meaning of your icon?

[Beth]

I had heard the Best Show here and there when I was living in NJ. And of course growing up in NJ, I listened to FMU lots, but  I never really got into the show until I was on tour with a friend's band, selling merchandise. The woman who was touring with us as the opening act told me I should listen to The Best Show when I asked her about good podcasts to occupy my time in the van. After a couple of listens, I was hooked.

When you say icon, do you mean my avatar or a human icon that I look up to?  I'm going to guess you mean my avatar. It's from cuteoverload and it's a baby bunny and i like baby bunnies.

[mokin]

Yeah, I meant avatar, but while we're at it, Who are your heroes?

[Beth]

Victoria Woodhull, because she was a rockin lady far ahead of her time

Kathleen Hanna, because Bikini Kill got me through high school.

Angela Davis because she's a badass and her books and essays have made me view society in a different light.

Jim Henson, because he shaped my childhood and made me a more imaginative adult.

Bruce Springsteen, because even though I was not too fond of his last album, he's been the soundtrack to some of my happiest memories. Also because he rules.

Yoko Ono-Because she never listened to all the snarky criticism about her, and she's proven herself again and again as a valuable musician, artist and person.

Dolly Parton-Because she's never been anything but herself.