social notes from here and there

[Michael Eisenstadt]

I was talking to an old friend, he's both old and we met in 1957.

He and Teralita Maverick have the same mantra (he lives in
San Antonio too): "If you don't travel, you ain't shit." This
is an exact quote, both of them having chanted it together
in my hearing.

Talking to him last week, I tried to defend my wanting to 
travel to France.

He's been everywhere, currently preferring Ireland and 
Spain (he is a Tejano from Del Rio). We did agree that
knowing the language is required to experience the whole
nine yards. From his own experience, he wasn't terribly
impressed by the French nor does he speak or understand 
the language.

My argument turned on the French civilization being committed
to maintaining a cutting edge in everything that makes up a top 
civilization. That cannot be said of Ireland or Spain. Nor of
Italy. 

So doing this, no surprise that the French are sometimes 
obnoxiously smug become they know that if France is not THE 
center of the world, it is at least priveleged to be one of the centers
of the world. 

Interestingly, part of being hip if one is French is to be very plugged in
(branche') into Hollywood movies, TV shows and American music.

I was blown away to discover that Homer Simpson episodes were
broadcast one day a week on a Paris TV station.

And to see a billboard ad for a big Snoop Dog concert.

Of course there is a corny aspect to this. There is a Paris radio 
station which plays all jazz and their main DJ is a black American
who knows no French. He just repeats 2 or 3 sentences he has
apparently memorized.

So the country seems like a more up experience to visit than others.
On the other hand, I sometimes get the impression that the French
are more morose than Americans, possibly because they don't
share goofy American meliorism. Realistic thus gloomy versus
feather-headed American optimism and denial of reality.

And they write books like crazy, unfortunately most of them
are too pretenious to read. 

On the other hand, Spain going socialist is kinda exciting. They 
replaced the conniving right wing Bush suckup. Maybe next
November we'll be replacing the creep we have now.

Organized protests are taking place in major cities. Was 
anything planned for Austin?