Anthony Bourdain dead at 61

[Locke]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Well that sucks. Watched all his shows, and admired the way he pushed the envelope of food and travel entertainment into something more provocative. Seemed like a guy you'd love to have a drink or four with.

But I don't know that I'm shocked. I just finished reading Medium Raw, and in his books he makes it clear that he's been deliberately veering over the shoulder all his adult life. Nobody goes that hard with the booze and drugs into their 50s unless they're running away from something.

I think the shocking part for me is that we all know that he had his demons.

He had problems with drugs, drink and smoking and the fact that he ate and drank for a living.

But he kicked the cigarettes, kicked the drugs and got a handle on the booze.

Look at photos of him! For 61 that guy is in killer shape.

So hes made a concerted effort to take care of his health.

And then this.

Thats a big part of the shock factor for me. He knows he had problems and he took steps to deal with them.

[troutman]

I like how he had punk rock friends, like Alison Mosshart of The Kills.
@FYMissMosshart


https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/b...say/index.html

She opened her Nashville home, "Disgraceland," to us, our crew and an army of invited guests. She dragooned her brother, Matthew, a talented chef, into catering this unruly affair, let us rig up her beloved Dodge Challenger, the "Black Shark," and drove us around town.

She liquored us up on fine tequila, made sure that I, and every member of my crew had an awesome time in Nashville, and that we would, all of us, wake up with unexplained bruises and Mosshart-designed tattoos.

No one has ever been nicer or more awesome.

Anthony Bourdain: 15 Great Musician Encounters


https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/list...d-rock-w521278

[Matata]

Originally Posted by CrunchBite

Being able to admit you can't wrap your head around it is the first step to maybe understanding depression and suicide.

Because you're right, it doesn't make sense for a healthy/non-ill mind.

I understand depression and suicide, but all tools I used to pull myself out of it were all things that AB had ready access to: good health, sense of purpose, family, friends, community. I think those tools would work for the majority of people dealing with depression, so I'm finding his experiences to be completely alien to my own, which is why I'm suspicious of psych meds (which I've always avoided.....outside of weed).

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Nufy

FG's opinion may not be wanted / appreciated but he is the more mature one in this discussion.

Not sure how you came to that conclusion. Actually I think Pepsifree's attitude has been incredibly productive throughout in the face of people saying some pretty terrible things. Go figure.

As has been noted, defending your horror show of ignorance by saying "this is just my opinion" doesn't really do any work towards dispelling criticism. Where is piles and piles of scientific research that completely contradicts the foundation of that belief, refusing to take any of it on board speaks really poorly of a person's character. That is not an opinion to be respected. This really is analogous to calling someone weak for dying of cancer. If only they'd fought harder, right?

[Wormius]

Really, who knows? This could have just been some sudden mental break that came out of nowhere and consumed him. If your head isn’t in the right space, how would you even conceive of looking for help or support?

[ernie]

Some stuff from Buenos Aires episode of Parts Unknown where he visited a therapist:

“I need somebody to talk to,” he confessed.

He went on to visit a therapist and talk about his relationship with food and how it sometimes sends him into a depression. “I will find myself in an airport, for instance, and I'll order an airport hamburger. It's an insignificant thing, it's a small thing, it's a hamburger, but it's not a good one,” he explained to the therapist. “Suddenly I look at the hamburger and I find myself in a spiral of depression that can last for days."

he felt like “a freak,” further explaining that he felt isolated. "I communicate for a living, but I'm terrible with communicating with people I care about,” he said. “I'm good with my daughter. An eight-year-old is about my level of communication skills, so that works out. But beyond, that I'm really terrible."

Just maybe having it all and access to any help doesn't mean much when in the end you still have a huge amount people that simply boil things down to "suck it up and be a man". In fact, often the same person who says and believes that is the one we end up suddenly mourning.

[Tron_fdc]

I've been shovel fed more depression/anxiety/mental health problems from a loved on the last 5 years than I care to admit. If you haven't been in that position you have NO IDEA what it's like facing these demons every minute of every hour of every day of your life. I'm not going to bother to comment on it any further, because I don't have the time or constitution to explain it to someone who can't (or won't) understand it.

Bourdain was a ####in legend. I loved his shows. I wanted so badly to meet the guy and have a beer with him while eating fish eyeball stew; for some reason I always felt like we would get along.....and that was his appeal to a lot of people who were fans of his work.

To me he truly was the most interesting man in the world. I'm gutted he's no longer around to let me into his world, and for an hour let me live vicariously through his adventures and storytelling. Just a fascinating man who I will never get the opportunity to thank.

RIP

[nik-]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1005117568913412098

[burn_this_city]

Really hope the horse#### newfie and frenchie controversy here didn't contribute to this. The whole thing was rather ridiculous.

[DFO]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1005071147614994433

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by cKy

Suicide is something that seriously needs to be discussed more openly with everyone's opinions attached.

This is so important.


My Wife and I recently had this discussion with our kids. We have started spending time with my buddy's widow and his kids. He killed himself 2 years ago.


My son asked where he was.

We talked about it. It was ####ing hard.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by DFO

https://twitter.com/user/status/1005071147614994433

This was actually one of the first things I thought of when I saw the news. That was a good episode.

[Coys1882]

Originally Posted by Nufy

But keep on with the name calling and attacks on his mobility. It make this whole place look great.

Is that how you read them? I thought they were parallels being drawn on imagine if the rest of us believed and commented 'that FG accepting the wheelchair was a coward's way out of just using your legs'

[Coys1882]

[nik-]

oh man, it seems like he was found dead by Eric Ripert. Those two had some great moments on camera too.

Sad.

[The Reverend]

My favourite thing about Anthony Bourdain was he always seemed happiest in a crappy tavern eating a hot dog, listening to punk rock and drinking lager. His gift for prose and the scene's he created on his show were more art than television travel show.

This truly was a great man. RIP.

[Wormius]

There was an episode, I forget which of his shows it was, that had him working as a line chef in some busy NY restaurant. It was just wildly entertaining to see that kind of bustle and kitchen choreography.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Wormius

There was an episode, I forget which of his shows it was, that had him working as a line chef in some busy NY restaurant. It was just wildly entertaining to see that kind of bustle and kitchen choreography.

Is that when he went back to work the line at Les Halles? He did that with Eric Ripert (who's a top tier chef, and, as I mentioned above, is the one who found him dead) riding the grill and Tony was getting annoyed because Eric was just coasting along killing his orders with no problem and Tony was getting in the weeds. That show was classic.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by nik-

Is that when he went back to work the line at Les Halles? He did that with Eric Ripert (who's a top tier chef, and, as I mentioned above, is the one who found him dead) riding the grill and Tony was getting annoyed because Eric was just coasting along killing his orders with no problem and Tony was getting in the weeds. That show was classic.

I am not sure if he was back at Les Halles, but there were a lot of Asian line cooks IIRC.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I am not sure if he was back at Les Halles, but there were a lot of Asian line cooks IIRC.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ip392

This is the Les Halles episode. It's mostly Mexicans and central Americans (like a massive part of the restaurant industry in the US is). The epicness starts at 33:00