Maine Lobster Festival and DFW

Sure it’s a long way off…127 days to be
exact…but I figured this was a festival that you wanted to know about. The Maine Lobster Festival is held every year around August time in the
small Maine town of Rockland. During the festival, the town turns from a sleepy little hamlet into a riotous
celebration of everyone’s favorite red (when cooked) crustacean. This year’s Maine Lobster Fest takes place from August
2-6 and I can tell you personally, that it is a hoot. There is music, drinking, dancing, and literally tons of lobsters
are cooked to succulent perfection. Dip yours in butter or mayo or eat it plain. Yum.

But there is one
caveat. The lobsters are cooked alive in pots of boiling water. Now if that bothers the animal lover in you, you are
not alone. In fact ,part of the reason I bring this up is that I just re-read David Foster Wallace’s treatise
(pdf) on animal cruelty, a superb, if uncomfortable essay on what it means to bring great pain to animals, even those
with lesser-developed nervous systems. Personally, I don’t have much problem with the idea, but the essay here
made me think twice…OK…once…twice…now where’s my damn lobster! Munch, swallow, yum.