The Angry Jew

The rantings of an Angry Jew in The Pacific Northwest

This is an actual sign board from an independantly owned and operated Burger King in Memphis, Tennessee.

Due to complaints, the sign has been taken down and now reads;

MARRIED QUEERZ

ARE

COMING TO TAKE YOUR GUNS

The one problem with meeting your hero’s is realizing that they may not live up to your expectations.  We all build up these images in our heads of people we admire and respect, but have never met.  Few can stand up to the expectations we create.

I am happy to report to you that Anthony Bourdain had no such problem last night at The Keller Auditorium.

He was as real, honest, and unapologetic as one would expect from watching either of his shows, A Cooks Tour or No Reservations, or from his book, the best selling Kitchen Confidential.  He is happy to admit that he has a dream job and was damn lucky to get it.

I didn’t know what to expect when The Secret Alien and I took our seats (12 rows back from the stage).  One of my early fears was allayed when no one was selling t shirts, books or DVD’s in the lobby of the theater.  I would have hated to see him give in to crass commercialism.

The stage was adorned with a lectern and a microphone.  No Jumbotron screens, no set, just plain and simple, like the man himself.

And then it started…just like that…no announcement…no long winded introduction reminding the crowd of his credits…the lights dimmed and out he strolled.  The big toothy “is this for me?” grin when he walked out was enough to get the crowd on their feet.  He only let the ovation go on for a few heart beats before he laid out the format for the nights festivities.

He invited the crowd to call “Bullshit”.  He was there to tell us what he thought and felt and invited us to challenge him on any and all of it.  He spent the first 35 minutes sharing his thoughts on The Slow Food Movement (Alice White was a danger to society for wanting us all to go back into the fields and raise our own foods), the organic foods movement (He used to what he called “The Starbucks Model” to explain that, which is that Starbucks grew on the philosophy that people were not “happy” paying 75cents for a cup of coffee, we will let them pay 4 bucks.  So, if people were willing to pay 6 bucks a bunch for organic grapes, then the guy who was growing crappy grapes could charge 4 bucks), Vegetarians (Prey has eyes on the sides of their heads, predators have eyes on the front of their heads.  We have arms and legs so we can chase down weaker creatures and eat them), Obesity (Their are just to many fucking fat people in America, those were his exact words, you could see him catch himself for just a half second after he said it, then adopt the attitude of “Fuck it, I said It.  What are you going to do about it.”  He did the exact same thing later in his talk when he referred to a TV “Chef” as a “retard”.  You have to love a man who refuses to give into political correctness), and the current crop of FOODTV “stars”.

After that he threw the show to us.

The audience queued up at a microphone, myself included, and asked questions of our hero.

The audience was as vocal about our feelings as was our hero.  A woman who spoke out in favor of organics was boo’d down and showered with calls of BULLSHIT.  Cries of “What’s your question?” came after a younger guy felt he needed to give Anthony 5 minutes of back story.  Wolf whistles and cheers came after an attractive, self confessed recovering vegetarian asked his opinion on where she should lose her “Burger Cherry”.  (His answer, IN N Out, Animal Style)  Tony himself showed little restraint, one audience member felt the need to pester him as to why he did not focus on Portland’s brewing industry when he visited for an episode of No Reservations.  Anthony responded that they avoid doing scenes of pouring things into glasses as it was not good TV.  When the guy kept repeating himself, Anthony looked him in the eye and simply said “It’s not GOOD TV, Next Question.”

The Q&A went on for an hour and a half.  The highlight to me was a woman who had worked as a cook for ten years, but took offense when people referred to her as a cook instead of as a chef.  The audience started to shout her down, but Anthony silenced them and took the question very seriously.  He explained that a chef is nothing more then a cook who is a leader and when a group of chefs gets together, the highest praise the can give one of their own is “That guy is a great COOK.”  You could see her walk with her head held a little higher as she left the microphone.

The show ended as it started, with little fanfare, and lots of love for the man we had all come to see.

The Secret Alien, who had seen little of Bourdains stuff prior to the show, was as impressed as I was with the mans humanity, honesty and his love for what he was doing.  He is one of the luckiest SOB’s on the planet.  All you have to do is ask him and he will tell you that.

I hope I have done an adequate job of sharing the flavor of the evening, but no matter how much I write, I know I won’t be able to capture it for you, so as a parting gift, here is a an interview with a Q&A he did for Google a few years back.




What was my question?

I wanted some advice on how to best do my own food tour of Vietnam.

I know the past few days or so I have come off like a major gay rights activist, and in reality, I am not.  That is to say, I don’t believe that any group should be entitled to any more rights then any other.  It is the gross unfairness of what happened to Lt Col Fehrenbach that has motivated my “call to arms” on his behalf.

Well, yesterday, I received a “forward” email to my “other” identity.  Yes friends, I do have a life beyond The Angry Jew.  It was sent to me by someone who I thought knew and understood me, but apparently I was wrong.

The email reads;

The movie Corpus Christi is due to be released this June to August..

This disgusting film set to appear in America later this year and it depicts Jesus and his disciples as homosexuals! As a play, this has already been in theatres for a while. It’s called Corpus Christi which means ‘The Body of Christ‘.   It’s a revolting mockery of our Lord. But, we can make a difference. That’s why I am sending this e-mail to you. If you do send this around, we may be able to prevent this film from showing in America and South Africa .

Apparently, some regions in Europe have already banned the film.. We need a lot of prayers and a lot of e-mails.

The movie Corpus Christi is due to be released this June to August..

This disgusting film set to appear in America later this year and it depicts Jesus

and his disciples as homosexuals! As a play, this has already been in theatres

for a while. It’s called Corpus Christi which means ‘The Body of

Christ’.   It’s a revolting mockery of our Lord. But, we can make a

difference. That’s why I am sending this e-mail to you. If you do send this

around, we may be able to prevent this film from showing in America and South Africa .

Apparently, some regions in Europe have already banned the film.. We need a

lot of prayers and a lot of e-mails.

As a Christian I want to take a stand in what I believe in and stop the mockery of Jesus Christ

our Savior. At the risk of a bit of inconvenience, I’m forwarding this to all I think would

appreciate it. Please help us prevent such offenses against our Lord. It will

take you less than 2 minutes to pass it on.

If you are not interested, or do not have the 2 Minutes it will take to do this,
please don’t complain when God does not have time for you, because He is far busier than we
are..

Remember, Jesus said ‘Deny Me on earth and I’ll deny you before my Father’

BLESS ALL OF YOU..MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN SOMEONE’S

LIFE TODAY. SPREAD THE JESUS LOVE!

Oh, where do I start.

If I understand this correctly, a bunch of homophobic bible thumpers with pea sized brains and access to email are getting their genitalia in an uproar over a movie that has yet to be made.

A Movie.  And They Are Upset?

I must not have gotten the email expressing their outrage over the release last week of a report acknowledging the systemic abuse of children in Ireland, by priests and nuns, over the course of the last 50 some odd years.

Tell you what, when you can get your earthly representatives of GOD on earth to stop diddling little boys, then maybe, I will give you a fair hearing.

I mean really, did you guys get this upset over Mel Gibson’s 2 hour snuff flick, The Passion Of The Christ.  Of course not, he is an anti-Semite, so he must be OK in your book.

Are you saying that you guys are more like the Muslin fanatics who say it is crime worthy of death to show an image of the lord not to your liking.  Come on now, it’s not like anyone is printing cartoons of Jesus, it’s just a movie.

And besides, the movie has not even been made yet.  That’s right, go look it up yourself on IMDB.  The only Corpus Christi listed is a 2006 Polish film by Adam Sikora.  Is that what you are upset about?  I ask because it does not even rate a plot description.

Right now it exists only as a stage play.  According to Wikipedia, in the play, Judas betrays Jesus because of “sexual jealousy”.   I did find a New York Times review of the play and honestly, it sounded pretty good.  It is hard not to like a production that includes the line;

The pregnant Mary to Joseph: “I’m a virgin, Joe” and his comeback “Nobody knows that better than I do.”

I’d pay 10 bucks to see that.

Feel free to drop me a line when it comes to Portland.

I won’t join in your feeble little protests, but I will be happy to write a review.

“So it was okay to waterboard a guy over 80 times, but God forbid the guy who could understand what that prick was saying….has a boyfriend.”

Jon Stewart

Speaking on the case of an Arabic Translator who was discharged from the military after admitting he was gay.

Good men like Lt. Col. Fehrenbach are being persecuted because of their sexual orientation while the “feather merchants” in the state department are being rewarded for it.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to announce in the next few days that domestic partners of gay diplomats will begin receiving the same benefits as the spouses of heterosexual diplomats.  I mean come on now.

This on the heels of Sundays announcement by President Obama’s top military advisor, Adm. Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, that there are no plans by the administration to reverse “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” anytime soon.  Apparently the Pentagon needs time to establish a working group to determine what, if any, impact on the military and it’s culture would result from dropping the policy that allows gays to serve, provided that they do not reveal their orientation or engage in homosexual behavior.

Does any of this make sense to anyone?

What makes a diplomat any more deserving than the men and woman serving on the front lines of the “War on Terror”?

Where is the justice for hero’s like Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, who has been stripped of his rank and pension simply because he is gay?

This is a wrong that must be righted.

Please join me in contacting your elected officials in Washington and demand that there be justice for him and all the men and women, regardless of their sexual orientation, that give of their blood and sweat to keep America free.

Attention to all who enter here. If you are coming into this room with sorrow or to feel sorry for my wounds, go elsewhere. The wounds I received I got doing a job I love, doing it for people I love, supporting the freedom of a country I deeply love. I am incredibly tough and will make a full recovery. What is full? That is the utmost physically my body has the ability to recover. Then I will push that about 20% further through sheer mental tenacity. This room you are about to enter is a room of fun, optimism, and intense rapid re-growth. If you are not prepared for that, go elsewhere.
The Management

Sign posted by Navy SEAL Lt. “Jay” on his hospital room door while recovering from wounds suffered fighting in Iraq.

To all of our veterans, who have selflessly served our nation, I give you my thanks and wish peace unto you.

This just in from The Reuters News Service;

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday praised an Army soldier in eastern Afghanistan who drew media attention this month after rushing to defend his post from attack while wearing pink boxer shorts and flip-flops.

In fact, Gates said he wants to meet the soldier and shake his hand the next time he visits Afghanistan.

“Any soldier who goes into battle against the Taliban in pink boxers and flip-flops has a special kind of courage,” Gates said in remarks prepared for a speech in New York.

So if Lt. Col. Fehrenbach had slipped into a pink flight suit, would he still have a job Mr Gates?

Yesterday I took my own advice and wrote to the offices of Senators Jeff Merkley and Gordon Smith of Oregon and Congressman David Wu.  I even sent an email to President Obama.  The word is spreading , slowly, on Facebook, but people I need your help.

Senator Merkley’s office contacted me yesterday and I will be speaking to them on Monday.  Between now and then, we need to show the folks in Washington that we will not stand for this.

What is being done to Lt Col Fehrenbach is an injustice that needs to be corrected.

Please, watch the video in the previous post and click this link to contact your elected officials and let them know how you feel.  Last, but not least, please pass the word.

I thank you