The Continuation of the X Interview
If you could take the most pleasant aspects of every city you’ve lived in, and form a new city (1) what would you call it, and (2) what’s cool to do in this town on a Saturday night?
I grew up in a tiny village in rural Ohio. Every one I knew grew up on a farm. Every one they knew grew up on a farm. Cultural diversity was a term that I didn’t become familiar with until I went to college. I began dating a guy from Puerto Rico (ok, not the wilds of say, Zimbabwe but it was a start). After meeting his friends, I realized that I wasted 3 years of my precious, young life in high school Spanish class because it took me about 5 minutes to arrive at the painful consensus that I didn’t know jack. I could barely speak conversational Spanish and I knew absolutely nothing about their culture. After a few pitchers of beer and a pizza, it didn’t matter. We were chatting like close friends. That was when I realized that, as corny as it sounds; food really can bring people together.
If I had to create a new town it would have a central marketplace like the ones found in Asia, Africa and South America. Filled with vendors selling fresh meat, veggies, fruit, nuts…anything you could possibly want to eat. And street vendors selling homemade delicacies from around the world. Stop…I know what you’re thinking. There would be no deep fried Twinkies in this joint. No hot dogs steamed in water that looks like it was pumped from the septic tank in my backyard. I’m talking fresh food from Mom & Pop vendors. Wouldn’t it be nice to just pop over to the mercado for quick, tasty and somewhat nutritious lunch or dinner rather than eating at Mickey D’s…again? Who cares if you can’t pronounce it or don’t really know what it’s made of. Usually if you can point to it, you can order it. And if it smells good, it’s more than likely going to taste great (one rule: nothing made from rat. I don’t care how good it smells/tastes, I ain’t eating rat). There would be tables everywhere so you could sit down, chow on your grub and discuss the fine art of how to suck on a crawfish head without popping out the eyes with someone you just met.
Each weekend the marketplace would be filled with music from different cultures. A little steel drums and reggae in one quadrant, maybe some Salsa in another and of course, my favorite band du jour in the middle of it all (hey, I’m putting out the money here). Did I mention the alcohol? Drinks from all over the world as well. You could literally start with a pint of Guinness, be transported by sake and bring the night to a close with a few shots of sugar cane liquor from South America. Although, I wouldn’t recommend that particular combo unless you plan on showing one and all that scrumptious sashimi you ate for dinner. And free cab rides home so I don’t have to scrape your arses off the street at bar close.
Evidently the creative portion of my brain shut down today because I'm having trouble coming up with a name for this imaginary town. Any suggestions???
Tomorrow, one last question from X....about conspiracies.....
I grew up in a tiny village in rural Ohio. Every one I knew grew up on a farm. Every one they knew grew up on a farm. Cultural diversity was a term that I didn’t become familiar with until I went to college. I began dating a guy from Puerto Rico (ok, not the wilds of say, Zimbabwe but it was a start). After meeting his friends, I realized that I wasted 3 years of my precious, young life in high school Spanish class because it took me about 5 minutes to arrive at the painful consensus that I didn’t know jack. I could barely speak conversational Spanish and I knew absolutely nothing about their culture. After a few pitchers of beer and a pizza, it didn’t matter. We were chatting like close friends. That was when I realized that, as corny as it sounds; food really can bring people together.
If I had to create a new town it would have a central marketplace like the ones found in Asia, Africa and South America. Filled with vendors selling fresh meat, veggies, fruit, nuts…anything you could possibly want to eat. And street vendors selling homemade delicacies from around the world. Stop…I know what you’re thinking. There would be no deep fried Twinkies in this joint. No hot dogs steamed in water that looks like it was pumped from the septic tank in my backyard. I’m talking fresh food from Mom & Pop vendors. Wouldn’t it be nice to just pop over to the mercado for quick, tasty and somewhat nutritious lunch or dinner rather than eating at Mickey D’s…again? Who cares if you can’t pronounce it or don’t really know what it’s made of. Usually if you can point to it, you can order it. And if it smells good, it’s more than likely going to taste great (one rule: nothing made from rat. I don’t care how good it smells/tastes, I ain’t eating rat). There would be tables everywhere so you could sit down, chow on your grub and discuss the fine art of how to suck on a crawfish head without popping out the eyes with someone you just met.
Each weekend the marketplace would be filled with music from different cultures. A little steel drums and reggae in one quadrant, maybe some Salsa in another and of course, my favorite band du jour in the middle of it all (hey, I’m putting out the money here). Did I mention the alcohol? Drinks from all over the world as well. You could literally start with a pint of Guinness, be transported by sake and bring the night to a close with a few shots of sugar cane liquor from South America. Although, I wouldn’t recommend that particular combo unless you plan on showing one and all that scrumptious sashimi you ate for dinner. And free cab rides home so I don’t have to scrape your arses off the street at bar close.
Evidently the creative portion of my brain shut down today because I'm having trouble coming up with a name for this imaginary town. Any suggestions???
Tomorrow, one last question from X....about conspiracies.....
posted by xwy at 8:48 AM
10 Comments:
I think food has probably more power to bring people together than music, provided everyone can agree on a menu. You might cross out rat, someone else might cross out beef, and so on. But there should be enough staples for everyone to agree upon.
Let's see what comes to mind concerning a name. Food Town sounds interesting, but I'm sure you'd get sued by the grocery chain of the same name. Copiaville (Latin: village of plenty) might be nicer.
I like the idea of free cab rides home!! The road keeps moving when I've been out on the town!!
I like x.dell suggestion. Copiaville has a good sound and a good meaning...
Since I'm not creative at all, I have no suggestion of my own. :(
MunchieTown
your fictional city ~ with is cosmopolitan-ness sort of reminds me of vancouver, where i live ... lots of different little places with foods that one cannot really pronounce ... even a dude who sells jap-dogs ~ japanese-ified hotdogs ... honestly. rotten ronnies is not really big here ... sushi, vietnamese, thai, indian, mexican, etc ... are everywhere. its way cool ... now if only the three month old garbage strike would end. that would be sweet.
i followed x-dell's link to this place. nice little spot. i would date Hobbes, too. heehee.
oh ~ about the name ... my brain fell out of my pocket this morning ... so ... i'm fresh out of inspiration. but i like x's idea.
ya, copiaville sounds good to me..
Mantissa, Angie, who am I to stand between a woman and her tiger?
X - Well, I might have to agree on that. Seems like everyone gathers in the kitchen at a party. Few gather around the sound system. I think you have a winner with the name (and it appears everyone else does as well).
Gary - I understand completely. I've had the road move on me as well.
Rick - Great idea but I'm afraid everyone one associate Munchies with something else. :0
Mantissa - I'm coming to Vancouver! I have a friend who grew up in Toronto and he describes it similarly. 3 month garbage strike? So is your garbage just sitting out at the curb??? Yeck. Maybe I'll come visit after that's over.
Foam - I agree and declare X's submission the winner.
X - Very wise of you. I'm sure there's an ancient Chinese saying about that some where. lol. Hobbes is more of the summer fling type anyway.
I remember your blog and joined the group you supported. I am glad to see you. Did you used to hang around Grant's page? God, I miss him and refuse to take off his link. He still writes me.
I will comment more on the interview--of course you have to address conspiricies if it's from X!
EOTR - Yes! I miss him too. If I remember something between SJ & Grant started the whole Giant Atomic Chicken thing. I hope he is doing well. Every once in a while I get a craving for tempura and think about that sitting in that Japanese restaurant with him & Kira. ahhh, good times.
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