RIP Anthony Bourdain

[zoony]

I truly loved him, and loved his no holds barred views on almost everything.  I think most overlook his writibg, if nothing else the writing on his tv show.  That was his true genius.

 

His brutal takedowns of vegans and vegetarians, exposing them for the shallow narcissists that they are, was and always will be a thing of beauty, too

 

RIP

[JCB]

Dude also wrote some pretty fine crime novels. RIP.

[Going Commando]

If you watch his work long enough, you will become a kindred spirit to him.  He was special in that way.

[The Evil Genius]

 

[Fresh8686]

Sucks so much to lose a spirit burning brightly.

Ugh, I know what it's like to deal with depression and suicide. I beat mine... but God, I wish I could have been able to help him in some way. Things like this are why I'm so determined to understand the mechanics of trauma, depression, and pain so I can beat that **** for others and myself.

[Zguy28]

This is what its like to lose all hope. He was a ticking bomb, at least it seemed from that opioid interview. All that talk about down-time being bad for him and having to stay busy. It was prolonging the inevitable and using it to not think about his despair and hopelessness. Sad all around.

[Spaceman Spiff]

9 minutes ago, Fresh8686 said:

Sucks so much to lose a spirit burning brightly.

Ugh, I know what it's like to deal with depression and suicide. I beat mine... but God, I wish I could have been able to help him in some way. Things like this are why I'm so determined to understand the mechanics of trauma, depression, and pain so I can beat that **** for others and myself.

 

I am glad you were able to beat yours.  I hope that you can use that experience to help others.  

[Corcaigh]

Heart breaking.

 

Did a great job of showing the humanity of the people he met, and opened up places and communities we'd never otherwise have seen.

[AsburySkinsFan]

Tony was the first foodie guy I started watching, I loved how he'd tell the establishment to go **** themselves and never flinch.

He was always haunted by his demons and that's what made him real, we all knew he wasn't perfect and never wanted him to be.

I don't often grieve for celebrities but IMO the world is a bit less bright today.

 

I pray Tony finds the peace he deserves.

[zoony]

I also cant help but wonder if there wasnt a recent diagnosis given that will come out, or maybe we will never know.  That seems to fit more than anything with what i gather about him, as much as you can gather from a distance at least.  Maybe parkinsons or cancer or early onset dimentia. That would be him to go out while he could.  Not that this would be a good reason, but it would fit more.

 

[Corcaigh]

3 minutes ago, zoony said:

I also cant help but wonder if there wasnt a recent diagnosis given that will come out, or maybe we will never know.  That seems to fit more than anything with what i gather about him, as much as you can gather from a distance at least.  Maybe parkinsons or cancer or early onset dimentia. That would be him to go out while he could.  Not that this would be a good reason, but it would fit more.

 

 

Possible, but in the middle of shooting a program on location in France?

 

I had two friends who took their lives on an average day with no family, work or financial stressors. The demons finally won.

[Destino]

2 hours ago, bcl05 said:

This is well done:

https://www.gq.com/story/rip-anthony-bourdain

Drew is a favorite of mine but I wonder if he's missing something here.  From the article:

 

Quote

I cannot know what drove Bourdain to allegedly take his own life. He was a recovering addict. He suffered from bouts of depression. He was heir in spirit to another author, Hunter S. Thompson, who also died by suicide. He spent what was almost certainly an unhealthy amount of time out on the road, alone. But I think I’m gonna go ahead and leave those demons be, because no matter how or why Bourdain died, he embodied, at least on television, the way a person ought to live, a life where fame and avarice take a backseat to the feeding of your very soul.

 

We knew Bourdain had issues, struggled with down time, and he even wrote recently that he'd rather die in the saddle than retire.  Bourdain had a 11 year old daughter and he was away 250 days a year, and that was while he was still married.  Now he's committed suicide.

 

Maybe it's just hindsight but constant experience seeking doesn't look like "feeding your very soul" or "the way a person ought to live" to me.  At least not anymore.  It looks like running, because he needed to keep moving.  It's right to celebrate the man, but I see sadness in a life spent in pursuing the next distraction.  

[zoony]

42 minutes ago, Corcaigh said:

 

Possible, but in the middle of shooting a program on location in France?

 

I had two friends who took their lives on an average day with no family, work or financial stressors. The demons finally won.

 

Bourdain was French American and spent his summers as a child in France.  He describes these as the happiest of his life... when he was introduced to food by his uncle, who offered him a raw oyster that he gulped down immediately.  The look on his brothers face of nausea made him immediately know that food could be dangerous, and he was immediately hooked.

 

He was drawn to everything that was dangerous.  Punk rock, drugs, food, a life with degenerate cooks, alcohol, etc.  His biggest fear was being seen as a sell out.  I can definitely see how he would not want to go down with, say, alzheimers or something similar

[The Evil Genius]

I'd say his support for Asia Argento (his gf) and the MeToo movement did put a target on his back. That said, I suspect nothing nefarious here even though hanging oneself seems a lot harder than other methods.

[visionary]

Thread

 

 

 

[The Evil Genius]

I'd suggest everyone read all 16 parts of the Yashar Ali tweets above. Really gives an in depth idea of who and what Anthony Bourdain was.

[visionary]

 

[zoony]

I loved his first visit to the waffle house.  I loved him sitting with david chang at momofuku discussing the merits of KFC mac and cheese vs mcdonalds chicken nuggets

 

Moreso than his eviscerating takedowns of vegetarians, his takedowns of foodies were better.  That article linked above about defending the olive garden reviewer was awesome.

 

Foodies are the worst, btw.

[visionary]

 

 

 

 

 

[ixcuincle]

 

[visionary]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Marc Maron - as is his sad tradition - replayed their interview from 2011 today. They talked a lot about Hunter S. Thompson. Thompson had apparently had suicide as his "exit plan" for decades, probably in part because he saw Hemingway as a kindred spirit. Heroes can be a problematic thing.

 

I looked up HST's suicide note today, because I'm sure Bourdain read it himself a dozen times.

 

FOOTBALL SEASON IS OVER

No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always ****y. No Fun -- for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax -- This won't hurt."

 

Doing this in France makes me wonder if this was not some sort of long-range plan as well that may have been triggered by some other event like Zoony says.

 

And, of course, this is all wonderfully (irony) romantic until you think about the young daughter.

 

 

[The Evil Genius]

nsfw language below.

 

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

2 hours ago, zoony said:

I loved his first visit to the waffle house.  I loved him sitting with david chang at momofuku discussing the merits of KFC mac and cheese vs mcdonalds chicken nuggets

 

Moreso than his eviscerating takedowns of vegetarians, his takedowns of foodies were better.  That article linked above about defending the olive garden reviewer was awesome.

 

Foodies are the worst, btw.

 

That's one of the reasons I liked him.  He liked what he liked, didn't give a **** about what anyone thought of it.  

 

He also turned me on to one of my favorite albums, Funhouse by the Stooges.  

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I don't know if they still do it, but iTunes used to have celebrity playlists. His was certainly one of the better ones.

 

Hey, I found it.

 

1. "Beat on the Brat" by Ramones: "A great song by a great New York band that could have come from nowhere else."

2. "Anemone" by The Brian Jonestown Massacre: "A sad, evocative, and brilliant song about (I think) betrayal and disappointment."

3. "La Decima Vittima (Main Title)" by Piero Piccino: "The kookiest, catchiest, kitschiest score ever from the insane (and fun) '60's Italian satire The 10th Victim. We try to rip it off all the time for No Reservations."

4. "Two Against One (feat. Jack White)" by Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi: "Danger Mouse? Jack White? Norah Jones? In a cheesy/wonderful homage to soundtracks to Italian films that never existed? YES!"

5. "Wedding Dress" by Mark Lanegan: "He's not a New York artist, but it's a great, great song that fits right in with memories of my New York past."

6. "Penetration" by Iggy & The Stooges: "Cause it's arguably the best Stooges song ever."

7. "Gin and Juice" by Snoop Dogg & Dat "n-word" Daz: "I can't drive down a street on the West Coast with the top down without thinking about this tune."

8. "Black" by Pearl Jam: "Heartbreak again. More heartbreaking doesn't exist."

9. "Main Theme - Carter Takes a Train" by Roy Budd: "This track from the best, most uncompromisingly brutal gangster flick ever just fits with driving or moving in any part of England."

10. "Monster" by Kanye West, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver: "I'm thinking about Martin Picard here, and the Joe Beef guys. You'd BETTER keep your hands on the counter in Montreal."

11. "World in My Eyes" by Depeche Mode: "This reminds me of Hong Kong, where I always feel very far away."

12. "Kill City" by Iggy Pop & Jameson Williamson: "About Iggy's bad old days in L.A."

13. "Bullitt, Main Title (Movie Version)" by Lalo Schifrin: "I can't get away from this movie in San Francisco. I never grew up. So sue me."