So here's the rundown:
About 7:30 p.m. we had the kids packed off to the grandparents for the weekend.
About 8:00 p.m. we were watching Othello at the Shakespeare Theatre. Packed house and an excellent show. Avery Brooks's Othello believes himself placid and confident, but is quickly reduced to sputtering rage -- and Brooks plays up the visceral reactions of the jealous lover, contorting his body and issuing guttural moans and gasps -- through Iago's lies. Patrick Page makes a great Iago -- Page also played Scar in the Lion King and, interestingly, Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast -- and plays everyone for a fool, until of course the end.
The end of Othello is always a problem for me. Iago's plot is brought down by his wife, Emilia, who for the entire play has witnessed Othello and Desdemona's strained relationship, and even knows it is partly due to the missing handkerchief that Emilia had pilfered earlier. Emilia plays the dunce the entire play only to come out like Miss Marple in the end, finaly figuring out why it is that Iago begged her repeatedly to steal the handkerchief. Ugh.
The play ended around 11:30, at which time we decided to check out Busboys and Poets, since we'd heard so much about it (man, packing the kids off was a great idea). The bookstore is great, and they have a children's book section with some fantastic books -- like Langston Hughes: American Poet by Alice Walker -- and they don't waste space on right wing trogs like Bill O'Reilly or William F. Buckley, either.
Of course, everything I ever read about the place talked up how reasonable it was etc etc. Bullshit. That may be true for the food, but for a place that's supposedly a "progressive" meeting point, a hub of Left culture, the bar prices were astonishingly high. Two mixed drinks ran us $15 (and I wasn't calling out, "give me a grey goose and tonic" either), and some of you hotshots out there might be thinking, wow you got two drinks for under $20, but let me tell you I'm first off a cheap-skate and I'm second off a teacher's kid from an old railroad town and you can still go out all night in my town for 15 bucks.
So it is with sadness I pass first judgement (maybe I'm wrong) on the place: it's called commodification, my friends, and what Busboys and Poets is selling the Left as a commodity -- selling back to its customers the accoutrements of the politically progressive -- The Nation, books by Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Barbara Ehrenreich -- while ensuring that the proles can't come in to drink at the bar.
That's not to say I won't be back once or twice -- the bookstore is very good -- but it is to say that this place has the authenticity of Busch Gardens The Olde Country.
Note: This may get me going a bit more later on about the various manifestations of the Left and the idea of "authenticity." It's not about saying you have to be poor to be authentic, but there's a difference between being inclusive and exclusive. Or maybe I won't.
9 comments:
I'm glad you guys got a night out.
I know what you mean about places that are pretentiously and deceptively plebian. Like those stores in college towns that sell imported native-wear, clothes and bags made out of hemp or 100% cotton, which have tags printed on recycled paper declaring that "by buying this product, you'll be supporting the rainforest" or whatever. And everything costs $200, which one suspects is just a tad more than 100% mark-up on what the person who made it got...
And I hate to say it but Michael Moore makes me feel the same way. Like he's slapping the viewer on the back and saying "Look how cool and intellectual you are, questioning authority and all that by watching my films! You and me, baby-- we're the only intelligent life in these parts. What would the rest of those maggots do without us blowing whistles and keeping things in line, eh?"
There's something sleazy about it. Do you agree?
I live in DC, sleaze comes with the job description as does paying too much for rail drinks and pints. As for Othello, great story, I prefer the Opera. :)
When I wasn't a temporary teetotaler, I always found that the cocktails made in my own kitchen by yours truly were twice as good as the $15 swill you get at bars.
No one puts pride into making a cocktail that they're not gonna drink. I can honestly say the only good martini I've ever had was in my own home.
FYI, the Swami has spoken, your picks have been duly noted.
CCG: Yeah it's lifestyle Leftism and it leaves out the hard part of working against the structural issues. That being said, I don't dismiss Busboys and Poets, I just wish it could get its praxis in line with its theory.
LB: I tend to make a poor cocktail -- I will say this bartender knew what he was doing.
Catciao: I will check the swami immediately.
Great evening! I have to agree on both counts -- the end of Othello is endlessly upsetting and rarely believable for many. I still find it tough to swallow, and I've taught the damn thing 100 times. I do love O's speech "Soft, a word or two before you go.." near the end.
I COMPLETELY second the B&P complaints! I've also eaten there a ton in the past few weeks, and the wine and bar prices I found rather out of place. Food is decent and nicely priced, but they're obviously counting on the booze to carry them. Harrumph. Nice commentary on the Epcot Center for lefties...if only there were rides!
Congrats on getting a night out w/out having to pay a babysitter! (I was shocked to learn they make upwards of $15 an hour these days!! Iw as paid $2 an hour!!) I haven't been to the Shakespeare Theatre in a couple of years...
Anyway, thanks for the review of Busboys and Poets. It sounds like a great concept, and looks really cool, so too bad it doesn't live up to the hype.
Megarita: there are rides at B&P...you just have to drink enough and it all spins about.
MPL: we're paying babysitters $10 to $12 per hour when we get them, which is almost never.
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