So we can't really believe that anyone is still around reading this drivel. Yet our "hits" keep expanding (using that word makes me feel so high tech!). What does that say about the plight of American culture? Not good Tonto, not good.
I'm sure we'll post something from Virginia about the ride up and the start of the trip and all of that jazz, but the good news is that our long-winded ramblings are probably just about over because this blog will soon begin its transition toward more pictures and less text--->>if you think we are writing long posts when we could be enjoying Spain, well haha on you!
So we figured this might be a good moment to thank any of our probably-not-so-loyal readers who may have been putting up with all of our meanderings and musings the last few weeks. So we present you with five "gifts." Five things that might be likely to make the type of person who actually reads a blog like this happy. They are our gifts to you. Or "virtual" gifts anyway.
Gift #1
The last time we traveled to Paris we found this hole-in-the-wall restaurant run by a married couple in their late 80s named Robert and Louise. You get seated at a table with strangers and order your favorite cut of meat cooked however you want it. They then cook it in an open wood fire oven in the main dining room and serve it on a wood platter with rivets to catch any loose juices. Side dishes you ask? Potatoes cooked in the steak juices. And everyone is French and either really old or really hip (or both.....but thankfully never hipster). Did I mention that the restaurant has a house cat and a house dog? Well they do. The restaurant is aptly named Robert et Louise. When Brittany had a student go to Paris over spring break, she recommended this restaurant to the student who then sent her a picture from her iThingie. It is a beautiful picture that made me happy to simply stare at it for a week. I hope you enjoy staring at it too, because it is your first gift:
Gift #2
This may be the greatest three minutes in television history. It comes from the end of the very first episode of Anthony Bourdain's now defunct No Reservations. His first location was Paris, and his self-stated thesis was to prove "Why the French Don't Suck." These three minutes pretty much articulate my entire world view better than I could ever express it myself. This is the perfect thing to watch during your lunch at work in order to feel better about life. Enjoy.
Gift #3
If there is one thing everyone knows Todd is obsessed with besides food and Tulane football, it is Sofia Coppola. Yes, it is an academic pursuit--my most major academic article was on her first three films--but the love goes much deeper. I find her to be just about the most under-apreciated filmmaker of her (or any) generation. She is the Queen not just of style, but of subtlety. And her camera's eye is unmatched in contemporary Hollywood IMO. Heck, our guest bedroom is Sofia Coppola themed. Need I say more? Yet, somehow, I have apparently displeased God, because in spite of the fact that she only releases a new film every 3-4 years, her next film, The Bling Ring, releases in the U.S. on June 14. Yes, while we camino (!). So my gift to you is to let you see this film and taunt me about having seen it in theaters mercilessly. Somehow, I don't think it's gonna still be out in July (unless the teenie-boppers miss the subtle social critique and actually think the movie is pro-them).
Gift #4
Did you ever drink a frozen, watered down Daiquiri and wonder, surely, there must have been a classy cocktail in here somewhere long before the packaged tourism and cruise culture messed with it? I mean, surely?!? Well, there was. The Daiquiri was actually a pretty interesting cocktail back in the days. Slightly sweet but certainly not sickly so. Not particularly sugary. Has an actual flavor. Something you could sit at a bar and drink with dignity. A worthy summer drink. Do yourself a favor and enjoy one. Like now. Right now. Why are you still reading? Anyway, here is our favorite variation of the "Hemingway Daiquiri":
2 oz white rum (preferably Old New Orleans Rum)
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz marsh grapefruit (regular grapefruit will do, you heathen)
1.5 oz simple syrup
2-3 dashes of maraschino liquor (this is the only thing that will set you back $, but it'll last you a lifetime)
Gift #5
AmericanaramA. This summer, while we are gone and can't go (and then when we are back and too broke to travel) Bob Dylan is touring outdoor venues along with a mostly-acoustic Wilco, My Morning Jacket (whom I don't know all that super much about, but I have loved their covers on tribute albums for Dylan, John Prine, and even little ol' John Denver), and a rotating series of old-time string bands. Did I mention that there will be cheap hot dogs and beer? Or how about that Bob Dylan is almost 80 and could die soon. See him while you can. He is probably the most important artistic or literary figure of the past century. Even if you don't like his stuff, why miss the chance to see him. I mean, even if you hate Shakespeare, wouldn't you be interested in meeting him in person if you still could? Well Dylan > the Bard (that was just dropped to get Alan B.'s goat) so therefore if you aren't at AmericanaramA you are wrong. If you can't afford the time or money to walk the Camino this summer, then you might as well enjoy a slice of AmericanaramA while it is still there to be had.
I got back from Kalamazoo late Saturday. Are you in Virginia? I promise to see Sofia Coppola's movie. I like your argument about seeing Dylan, too. I'll see what we can do. If you're still in VA, call.
ReplyDeleteAt the conference, I went to an excellent session on pilgrimage with you in mind. My two friends, Tom Hanks of Baylor and Dee Dyas of U. of York, both faculty with York and Nottingham's Center for Christianity and Culture, engaged in a nice little debate about whether the most important part of the pilgrimage was the journey or the arrival. Dee is going to send me her paper and PowerPoint so that I can share it with you. I'll ask Tom to do the same, though he didn't really have a formal paper. He just talked. When he teaches Chaucer he does a mini-pilgrimage in Waco and has his students write about it. You might be interested in that, too.
ReplyDeleteDiff between a pilgrimage destination and journey? Sounds like my dissertation. Hobo heroes vs tourists
DeleteI'd just like to point out that on May 24, Dylan will turn 72. That may look like "close to 80" to a whippersnapper like you, but to us oldsters, those 8 precious years make a big difference. I've written Dee Dyas and Tom Hanks to remind Dee and ask Tom to send me their papers and slideshows so that I can share them with you when you get back. Oh, and Dylan is NOT > Shakespeare. Even Kathy, who has worshiped at Dylan's shrine since the early 60s and now is singing the lyrics of "Subterranean Homesick Blues" thanks to you, would not say that. But we did just watch the "video" of "SHB" (really the opening scene of Pennebaker's great film) and now I'm humming it inside, too. Great stuff that still speaks to me. Maybe we'll go to California to see his last concert of the tour with Big Lou the Little Guy, since I won't be preparing to teach. Twenty-seven years of schoolin' and they put you on the day shift. I'd better chew gum.
ReplyDelete72. 80. He ain't forever young anymore (though in a way, he always will be). The Pennebaker film is phenomenal. Truly. That said, I'm a bit partial to Todd Haynes's I'm Not There, which would make my top five films since the millennium (along with There Will be Blood, Marie Antoinette, Inglorious Basterds, & Children of Men). To quote Cate Blanchette playing a version of Dylan in that film --> "I dig Shakespeare." Cali with Louis and Dylie would be awesome. Currently humming Queen Jane Approximately (google Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch's version from the Big Surprise Tour). Wishing we had packed Kepa's onesie that reads "The pumps don't work cause the vandals took the handles". Oh well, he did wear it to Jazzfest as well as for his official one-year pictures.
DeleteWhen I brought John Waters to VMI, he talked about visiting a filmmaker friend in Baltimore who gave him a cinematic tribute he'd made to Karen Carpenter made entirely with Barbie and Ken dolls. He sent it to her family, and they had it banned from any public screening in the continental United States. He gave Waters a reel of the film, which Waters kept in his closet and pulled out for parties. Years later, I discovered who the director was. Todd Haynes. I'm not making this up. I could do without the Richard Gere portion of "I'm Not There," but the rest is brilliant. And where the hell do you get a onesie like that? Do they have them in sizes for 19-month-olds?
ReplyDeleteI've seen that film. My boss at Tulane was obsessed with it. I don't know what to say other than it was "far out". The Richard Gere part of I'm Not There started out as my least favorite, and I still don't viscerally "like" it as much as, say, the Cate Blanchette part, but I now think it is the most important portion of the movie. Like wowzas important. I can't believe I just used the word wowzas for the second time in a day. I forfeit my PhD for an hour. I don't know where the onesie came from because our good friend Megan H. got it for us, but I'm guessing if you Google it it could be found. I'm also guessing they go up to at least 24 months
DeleteBri says the onesie was from cafe press.
DeleteWe saw the Karen Carpenter movie on bootleg DVD that I think was illegal. Brittany mentions it every Christmas when she hears the Carpenter christmas song and it makes her think of Barbie throwing up. Also the weird spanking scene. I don't know how any one scene in a movie about the Carpenters made with dolls could be more weird than another, but the spanking scene somehow was.
Damn it, I can't teach you anything anymore!
ReplyDelete