BEST new show on TV: Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown on CNN

I always thought that restaurateur, author, chef, Anthony Bourdain, was a bit of a prick, although I like that sometimes.   Especially his very personal attack on Food Network's chef Paula Deen (didn't disagree with his issue about her diabetes, but the rather nasty way he treated her.

I was totally shocked when I watched one of the first shows of his new show, Parts Unknown, on CNN and was completely enthralled.   The first episode that I saw was the Korea Town in LA.   I became addicted immediately.  I've watch every episode since.

Bourdain, a dude who captures my heart with his profanity

First of all, the dude has a sailor vocabulary that he shares unabashedly on the show.   He said 'fuck' several times.  He said 'shit'.   He said 'god damned'.   I relish others who swear the way I do.  I fell in love with the show instantly with the first 'fuck' that was uttered.

Myanamar episode

But more importantly, Parts Unknown, is a very intelligent sociological, journalistic show in addition to being a "foodie"-oriented show.   The essence of the show is about discovering food in all sorts of exotic far flung places.  But like I said, the show transcends a food discovery show.

Last week's show from Libya, was perhaps some of the most impactful reporting I've seen since Gaddafi's death.  And yet, it ultimately made my mouth water.

Libya episode

One example, a breakfast item, which is sort of a flattened "donut" fried with an egg or to in it.  Another segment at a seafood shop made Seattle's Fisherman's Wharf's vendor offerings pale in comparison.

Dish from the Los Angeles Korea Town episode

Since the first LA Korea Town episode I've watched with more and more obsessiveness shows profiling:  Colombia, Canada (Quebec), Morocco (Tangier), Libya.   In fact, I've viewed each episode multiple times.

A Tangine from the Morocco episode

Canada (Quebec episode)

Libya episode

I'm bored with television for the most part.  I've lost any interest in the faux reality shows (Housewives, etc).   But this show is as real as it gets.   And Bourdain, who often looks haggard in a dashing way, is so very erudite, humorous, and ballsy, that you must check out this show.

After only a half a dozen episodes CNN has renewed the series for a second season.  It seems that I'm not the only viewer impressed with Parts Unknown.

Bordain in the Morocco episode

The show is on at 9pm Eastern on Sunday.   Please go to the website to learn more (click here).  But more importantly, give yourself a gift, and became a viewer of this show.  You'll become a more educated foodie, but more importantly, you'll be eminently aware of the diverse world in which we live.

Food from the LA Korea Town episode

BUTCHART GARDENS--in British Columbia--one of my favorite places and one of the most beautiful places on earth

As I mentioned a few days ago in an earlier blog (see THE HIGHEST TIDE at http://markgsmusings.blogspot.com/2009/07/great-book-i-just-highest-tide-starfish.html ) I've had Saltspring on my mind recently. Saltspring is one of the southern Gulf Islands in British Columbia, just off Vancouver Island where in years past we've spent vacations.

While the entire region of British Columbia is some of the most spectacularly gorgeous scenery in the world, there is one place that is just so special: Butchart Gardens. Butchart Gardens is located on Vancouver Island. The fun part about going to the Gulf Islands is taking the ferries (:)) to visit the various islands. It is spectacular to sit outside on the ferry and watch the beautiful territory and observe the wildlife and sea life. We've seen killer whales and other whales amongst many.

So you take a ferry (BC Ferries) from the island you're staying on. I think the ferry rides are just about the best. The size of the ferries varies. The ferry from Vancouver (from Tsawwassen) is usually gigantic and holds hundreds of cars and trucks. There are small ferries that you take interisland, but they all carry vehicles. One of my favorite memories of the Gulf Islands was our first trip. We were traveling from Vancouver to Saltspring and going through a very beautiful place between two islands. I think it is called Deception Pass. Anyway they had a bagpipe player aboard who played the bagpipes while we passed through the pass. I started sobbing: it was just the most perfect moment in the world! I get goosebumps right now remembering.



I have to add that I LOVE riding fairies (oops, how Freudian of me....I meant ferries), I LOVE riding trains and subways. I would love to commute to work on a ferry the way BC'an's where you have time to read a newspaper, work a crossword puzzle, start a new novel, do some cross-stitching, or just sit and listen to your ipod. Subways and trains, and ferries, are just so fucking civilized, in my opinion. In Southern California none of these things exist. Southern California is very uncivilized this way (as opposed to Boston, Washington DC).

The thing about this whole region is that you never stop marveling at the sights. The beauty is pervasive and constant but you never stop being enthralled and awed by it. The summer in the Northwest is particularly spectacular because of the flowers and the flora and fauna. But the most spectacular, the piece de resistance, of gardens in the world is Butchart Gardens. The gardens are located on the 55-acre Butchart Family estate. Behold the majesty:












"Benvenuto, Italian for 'welcome', is the name the Butcharts used for their original estate, now a National Historic Site of Canada, and still privately owned by family descendants. The Butchart Gardens offers 22ha (55 acres) of wonderful floral display located in Greater Victoria on Vancouver Island. The family's commitment to horticulture and hospitality continues to this day."

Here is the history from the Butchart Gardens website:
"In 1888, near his birthplace, Owen Sound, Ontario, the former dry goods merchant, Robert Pim Butchart, began manufacturing Portland cement. By the turn of the century he had become a highly successful pioneer in this burgeoning North American industry. Attracted to the West Coast of Canada by rich limestone deposits vital for cement production, he built a factory at Tod Inlet, on Vancouver Island. There, in 1904, he and his family established their home.

As Mr. Butchart exhausted the limestone in the quarry near their house, his enterprising wife, Jennie, conceived an unprecedented plan for refurbishing the bleak pit. From farmland nearby she requisitioned tons of top soil, had it brought to Tod Inlet by horse and cart, and used it to line the floor of the abandoned quarry. Little by little, under Jennie Butchart's supervision, the abandoned quarry blossomed into the spectacular Sunken Garden.

By 1908, reflecting their world travels, the Butcharts had created a Japanese Garden on the sea-side of their home. Later an Italian Garden was created on the site of their former tennis court, and a fine Rose Garden replaced a large kitchen vegetable patch in 1929.

Mr. Butchart took much pride in his wife's remarkable work. A great hobbyist, he collected ornamental birds from all over the world. He kept ducks in the Star Pond, noisy peacocks on the front lawn, and a curmudgeon of a parrot in the main house. He enjoyed training pigeons at the site of the present Begonia Bower, and had many elaborate bird houses stationed throughout Jennie's beautiful gardens.

The renown of Mrs. Butchart's gardening quickly spread. By the 1920s more than fifty thousand people came each year to see her creation. In a gesture toward all their visitors, the hospitable Butcharts christened their estate "Benvenuto", the Italian word for "Welcome". To extend the welcome, flowering cherry trees along Benvenuto Avenue leading to The Gardens were purchased from Yokohama Nursery in Japan and installed from West Saanich Road to The Butchart Gardens' entrance.

Their house grew into a comfortable, luxurious showplace, with a bowling alley, indoor salt-water swimming pool, panelled billiard room and a wonder of its age, a self-playing Aeolian pipe organ (still played on Firework Saturdays ). Today the residence contains the Dining Room Restaurant, offices, and rooms still used for family entertaining. From January 15 to March 15, a special re-creation of the family house is showcased.

The family tradition of acquiring objects when travelling has continued. The Fountain of the Three Sturgeons and the bronze casting of the wild boar are both from Florence, Italy. Both were purchased by Ian and Ann-Lee Ross in 1973. The fountain is a casting made from a much smaller fountain created by Professor Sirio Tofanari in 1958. Other works by him include the little donkey and the foal that stand close by the statue of the wild boar on the Piazza in front of the Butchart Residence. The boar is a rare bronze copy of a casting of the marble statue displayed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. This bronze known affectionally as "Tacca," in honour of Pietro Tacca, the artist who created the statue in 1620. His snout is finely burnished by thousands of visitors who give it an affectionate rub for good luck. Tacca is dedicated to all the children and dogs who visit The Gardens.

Each year over 1,000,000 bedding plants in some 700 varieties are used throughout the Gardens to ensure uninterrupted bloom from March through October. Close to a million people visit each year, enjoying not only the floral beauty, but the entertainment and lighting displays presented each summer and Christmas.

The only surviving portion of Mr. Butchart's Tod Inlet cement factory is the tall chimney of a long vanished kiln. The chimney can be seen from The Sunken Garden Lookout. The plant stopped manufacturing cement in 1916, but continued to make tiles and flower pots as late as 1950. The single chimney now overlooks the quarry Mrs. Butchart so miraculously reclaimed.

The Butchart Gardens remains a family business and has grown to become a premier West Coast display garden, while maintaining the gracious traditions of the past. Today the Gardens has established an international reputation for its year round display of flowering plants."

Here's a short video clip to watch

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Even though it's 116 (in Palm Desert where I live, not in BC) again today I can reminisce about days past on vacation in British Columbia and Butchart Gardens, riding the ferries, where life is cool and beautiful!

A great book I just read THE HIGHEST TIDE--starfish, and remembrance of vacations past in Gulf Islands of British Columbia

That was a mouthful.

For some reason the last couple of weeks I've had Saltspring on the mind. Prolly (as daninokc says) because I just read this really great novel titled THE HIGHEST TIDE by Jim Lynch. It is a lovely tale of a quirky, unusual and special kid in Olympia WA who has a very special relationship with the small cove and the Puget Sound, where he lives.

The only regret I have is that this book was way too short. At 250 pages I read it almost without stop I was so captivated and caught up in its charm.

It is a coming of age novel which features Miles OMalley, a 13-year old boy who enters a life-changing summer:
Thirteen-year-old Miles O’Malley lives on Puget Sound and knows everything there is to know about the sea and its creatures. When he becomes the first person to sight a live giant squid he is hailed as some sort of prophet. The media descend and everyone wants to hear what Miles has to say. But Miles is just a self-described “increasingly horny, speed-reading thirteen-year-old insomniac” who’s in love with the girl next door and obsessed with the writings of Rachel Carson. While the sea continues to offer up surprises from its mysterious depths, Miles navigates the equally mysterious world of adults. Strange events continue over the summer, culminating in the highest tide in 100 years."

As Miles himself explains it: “People usually take decades to sort out their view of the universe, if they bother to sort at all. I did my sorting during one freakish summer in which I was ambushed by science, fame and suggestions of the divine ...” —Miles O’Malley

This truly beautiful story has the most interesting and multifaceted set of characters, most notably, the book's protagonist, Miles. When we begin the book we learn that Miles looks to most of the world as though he is 9 or 10 years old as his growth has been stunted. Which serves really as a metaphor for the book because by the time we come to the perfect end, Miles has grown figuratively and literally into a young man. What I think you appreciate most is the unique, very mature perspective that Miles has on the world.

I suppose that Miles also appealed to me because he is an insomniac and he reads voraciously. I suffer the same curse and passion, respectively. Mr. Lynch's first novel is truly remarkable and you should run out and get it immediately. You will not be disappointed.

Okay, so starfish. Oftentimes I will buy a book because the cover attracts me. Which was the case with THE HIGHEST TIDE. I loved the starfish on the cover in the tidal pool because it evokes very fond memories of vacations past that we've spent in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia. For a guy who came from West Texas, experiencing British Columbia was an awakening indeed. On more than one of our previous vacations, Steve's nieces and nephews joined us when they were very young and we would all frolic and play in the ocean the way only young kids can (or rather were able to watch the young kid's frolicking).

For our vacations in BC we usually would rent a house for 2-3 weeks. Twice we stayed on Saltspring Island which is the most populous of the Canadian Gulf Islands and has the largest town, Ganges. All of the houses that we have rented were situated right on the water and the fun thing I discovered was the concept of a tide and tidal pools when we first visited the island. I also discovered and was charmed by starfish and all of the various colors they come in (I've always been attracted to colors): orange, blue, purple, red. When the tide comes out they are stranded in tidal pools or sometimes completely out of water. I remember being fascinated watching them and their slow movement. You could stare at them forever and it seemed they hadn't moved and then suddenly as if magic had occurred they would be in a different position. Really fascinating. We started collecting little starfish tchotchke's as a result when we traveled and have an assortment hanging on a wall in our kitchen.


Anyway, since we haven't had a vacation in a couple of years (alas, can anyone afford to do anything these days?) and I'm literally sick of the intense desert heat, I've been obsessing over our past Gulf Island vacations and so will "prolly" (as daninokc says....I just love his term for "probably") do a few postings on British Columbia because it truly is one of the most beautiful locations on the planet.

Someday, one of my "MEWANTS" (see my posting on MEWANTS) is to have a house in Gulf Islands. It really is the most idyllic getwaways. We've stayed now on two of the islands: Saltspring and Maine, and we've traveled to all of the others by ferry or boat. The interesting thing about the islands is that they all have varying ecosystems. I love Saltsping because it is a haven for artists, and we've always brought back wonderful treasures of pottery, paintings, and other perfect objet d'art.

The southern Gulf Islands, where we have vacationed, are located off the southeast coast of Vancouver Island. From Wikipedia:

The Gulf Islands are the islands in the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. The Gulf Islands are usually divided into two groups, the Southern and Northern Gulf Islands. The dividing line is approximately that formed by the city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, and the mouth of the Fraser River on the mainland. All the major islands are served by B.C. Ferries. The southern Gulf Islands include hundreds of islands and islets, and form part of an archipelago that also includes the San Juan Islands in the United States (separated by the Straits of Juan de Fuqa).

More about the wonderful Gulf Islands in upcoming posts but I'll leave you with some photos to admire of the area.