RIP

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by kladner

That is both gracious and gallant. It is also a delectable finger in the eye of pretentious a-holes everywhere, in all walks of life.

ISTR Bourdain, in explaining why he did what he did, said something to the effect of "this is how much of the country eats", the implication being that perhaps these poor benighted folks deserve more than mockery by the wealthy bicoastal elites. Not to start a political side discussion in the RIP thread, but a lot of what happened in the 2016 election is captured in that vignette, with Bourdain playing the role of a 'food populist'.

[tServo]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

I sent Marilyn Hagerty a note of condolence on the loss of her friend. She sent me a reply, pointing out that her detractors way back then had put her on the map. Now that is gracious!

It brings to mind Julie Andrews' acceptance speech for her Academy Award for "Mary Poppins." She had been passed over for the role of Eliza Doolittle in the movie adaptation of "My Fair Lady," which came out the same year. She began, "Thank you, Mr. Warner." The audience howled with glee.

Audrey Hepburn played Eliza Doolittle in the movie adaption of "My Fair Lady". and she didn't even sing her own part, further infuriating Ms. Andrews
"Mary Poppins" was J.A.'s debut film role. Not bad, to win an Oscar in your debut !

[tServo]

If you get a chance, you should read his books, at least the first two:

"Kitchen Confidential" is autobiographical and relates his journey in becoming a chef
and running the kitchen in restaurants.
It is enlightening and hilarious; there were parts that were so funny, I could only read them in short bursts.

"Medium Raw"
Covers mostly his post chef career and is notable for exposing the under belly of what goes on in the kitchen of a restaurant. It is loosely structured; and he takes the opportunity to go off on rants about people and practices. He comes across as being quite humble about his own talents; possibly because he screwed up so much and viewed life and cooking from the lower rungs. He HATED and LOATHED pretense and arrogance and it's easy to see why he came to the defense of the lady who did the "Olive Garden" review. He felt more kinship with her than the hotshots on the "Food Channel".
Again, many hilarious parts.

You gotta love a guy who titles one of his chapters as:
"Alan Richman is a Douche Bag".

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by tServo

If you get a chance, you should read his books, at least the first two:

"Kitchen Confidential" is autobiographical and relates his journey in becoming a chef and running the kitchen in restaurants.

Yes, that one's on my Xmas-gift wish list.

Watched CNN last night for the first time in many years … but only because they showed an Anthony Bourdain retrospective. Parts Unknown visits Berlin – mmm, that Wienerschnitzel reminds me of the ones my Austrian grandma used to make. Great scene wher he and one of his local hosts sit in a dinner-and-a-movie-theater, watching Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, trying various German wines to see what goes best with messy, yummy working-class food treats like the German-Turkish culinary mash-up Donnerkebab, as Bourdain waxes about the still-socially relevant themes of the film: corporate greed and the role of individual activism in the context of an oppressive society. Great stuff.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Harlan Ellison

[ewmayer]

Harlan Ellison wrote Star Trek’s greatest episode. He hated it. | Vox

[ET_]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

Harlan Ellison wrote Star Trek’s greatest episode. He hated it. | Vox

He also wrote for Babylon 5 (and then he regretted it).
And for The Twilight Zone (That he didn't like).

He won 5 Hugo prizes from 1955 to 1975 using a stream-of-consciousness style halfway between James Joyce's Ulysses and Philip Dick. One of the SF authors that hit my interests when I was a boy.

[masser]

Steve Ditko

[kriesel]

Adrian Cronauer, inspiration for "Good Morning Vietnam" https://www.channel3000.com/entertai...dies/770518933

[ewmayer]

Shinobu Hashimoto, Rashomon screenwriter, aged 100.

[LOL - over on IMDB, Rashomon ranks as only the 111th greatest movie of all time, 99 places below Forrest Gump. And hey, I enjoyed The Shawshank Redemption, but #1 all-time, really?]

[pepi37]

Oliver Dragojević
7 December 1947, Split – 29 July 2018, Split
R.I.P