Winnipeg Free Press - December 31/08
Subcontinental Homesick Blues
Since packing up his knives and stepping out of the kitchen at Les Halles in New York, chef/writer Anthony Bourdain has manged to recreate himself into a successful TV travel show host. Although his program, No Reservations is still closely tied to food, Bourdain also likes to explore the places that aren’t necessarily in your travel guide. Over the past four seasons, the outspoken chef has taken his sense of adventure and ability to eat or drink anything put in front of him to off the beaten track locations in countries like Ghana, Vietnam, Romania and Sri Lanka. With season five premiering on the Travel Channel on January 5th, Bourdain writes about the importance of music when your visiting new places and sleeping in a different bed every night.
“Ultimately, travel music is and should be a solitary thing. In this respect, the iPod is the greatest and most indispensable of travel accessories” explains Bourdain in a feature for World Hum’s website. “One needs to protect oneself should one’s companions want to slide the latest Coldplay CD into the car system. It’s your head after all, wherever you go. And your sunset, whatever horizon it falls over. The music makes it your moment, your memory, whether simply juicing the view or summoning the more personal image of a child’s first stirrings in the morning, a longitude far from yours. Music only makes it better. Even when it hurts.”
The Lists of Lists:2008
For the past six years, pop culture blogger Rex Sorgatz has compiled the most comprehensive roundup of year-end lists from around the web. If you want to know what were the Top 10 Buzz Words in 2008, which albums the critics loved, who topped the box office and what viral videos had the biggest reach, Sorgatz will have it covered.
Price is Right
Despite the fact it was the first time in over 30 years that a contestant on the Price is Right nailed the exact cost of their Showcase, host Drew Carey seemed like he could have cared less about the historic win. According to a TMZer who was at the taping, the funnyman’s lackluster response was due to the fact the taping was stopped after Terry bid $23,743 for a package that included a trailer, a pool table, and a karaoke machine. Carey knew Terry’s bid was correct and stooped the show before making the formal announcement. While it could be the rookie host was unsure about how to handle the situation on camera and decided to take a break to sort everything out, there have also been reports that the producers were looking into the possibility Terry may have been cheating. In interviews after his big win, the lifelong Price is Right fan explained that he didn’t cheat, but he did spend a lot of time preparing and watching the show to help him fine tune his showcase skills.
