Audio (MP3): 20180625 - Post mortem, Bourdain

The thing that I had a hard time wrapping my mind around with Anthony Bourdain’s suicide is that I kept thinking he was supposed to be above all of that. I wanted not to be surprised but I really was. I felt let down at first regardless of what I said.

I don’t have the kind of heroes or as many of them as I did when I was a teenager but Bourdain may have been the closest thing I had to a celebrity hero as a grown-up.

From the time he was a teenager, through his 20s and 30s, on into his 40s and 50s, and then even in his 60s I admired and respected his different phases and who he ended up as a human being.

With his death I kept thinking annoyed, “you don’t give up.”

When people lose their hope it can sometimes rub off on us. There’s nothing good enough out there to look forward to kinda thing. When the future’s not bright and the struggles of everyday are too much then what’s the point?

I never saw Bourdain as wondering what the point was though. Or running out of hope. But then again I only saw what made it into his TV shows.

Kinda sucks that real-life heroes are only humans, too.

#anthonybourdain #allislost #diariespodcast

CNN’s Anthony Bourdain dead at 61

New York (CNN) — Anthony Bourdain, the chef and gifted storyteller who took TV viewers around the world to explore culture, cuisine and the human condition for nearly two decades, has died. He was 61.

CNN confirmed Bourdain’s death on Friday and said the cause of death was suicide.

Bourdain was in France working on an upcoming episode of his award-winning CNN series, “Parts Unknown.” His close friend Eric Ripert, the French chef, found Bourdain unresponsive in his hotel room Friday morning.

Holy shit, dude! 😳

I was really surprised when I saw the headline but then after it soaked in for a bit I wasn’t. He was a poetic rockstar, traveling the world, writing his craft, rocking the foodies. Digging up the real story on the people.

Seemed to me after listening to how he spoke on certain topics that he missed that checked-out, junkie lifestyle.

#rip #anthonybourdain

Audio (MP3): 20180318 - About those bullfights

Sara and I watched Anthony Bourdain in Spain last night. I wish that watching bullfights didn’t bother me as much as it does but I could never get behind a sport like that. Not that I’m somebody big and influential or whatever but killing an animal so you can be a rockstar is bullshit.

It doesn’t matter if it’s part of the heritage or culture. It’s barbaric and inhumane. I don’t see it any differently than wrestling with a dog or playing with a cat and then breaking their neck.

Bourdain didn’t look like he enjoyed the bull’s death much either. But ya know what, I would’ve canceled the episode if I was him. It’s important to stand up for what’s right or to stand up and say “this is wrong.” Even more so when you have a direct impact on the situation’s outcome.

I love his shows, always have but after the episode we watched last night, I lost some respect for him.

#animalrights #anthonybourdain #diariespodcast