I took a trip to one of the last-ever Beach Boys shows, a band that now consists of only one original member -- the eternally controversial Mike Love. I wanted to witness the end of an American institution. Unsurprisingly, it's ending badly.
USA. A Mexican restaurant. We had not yet ordered anything, and the food was already arriving.
Chips. Salsa. Unrequested. Free.
I stopped the waiter. "We have not earned these."
"They just come with the table, man."
They come with the TABLE. In my land, hospitality is a debt. Every gift creates an obligation, weighed carefully, returned in the proper season with interest of feeling. Here, the gift arrives before you have even proven you can pay for dinner.
This is not an appetizer. This is a declaration: we trust you. Eat.
I ate with the gravity the moment deserved. And then — I must report this calmly — the basket emptied, and a new one appeared.
"Did we…?"
"Refill," the waiter said. "It's bottomless."
Bottomless. They have wells of salsa. The supply lines of this nation are beyond anything my ancestors imagined.
My friend warned me. "Don't fill up on chips, dude."
Too late. I had accepted three baskets. Honor demanded each one be finished — an unfinished gift is an insult. By the time my actual food arrived, I was a ruined man.
I was not hungry. I was not comfortable. I had been defeated by a courtesy.
Generosity that arrives before the request cannot be repaid. It can only be survived.
I know the rule now. I have made my peace with the basket. One basket. Two at the most.
Who am I deceiving. There is no number of baskets I would refuse. The trust of a nation is in that salsa, and I intend to honor all of it.
First trailer for ‘ROLLING LOUD’, starring Owen Wilson, Matt Rife and Travis Scott.
The film follows an overprotective father who attempts to bond with his son by sneaking him into the Rolling Loud music festival.
In theaters on October 2.
Gonna repost this piece yet again. It's still probably my favourite thing I've ever worked on. Still so proud of it.
We miss you Bowie...
#marathonthegame
People use AI to write everything for them now, but this one is especially damning. Your vows are supposed to be special and PERSONAL. If my wife admitted to using AI for our vows, I’d be beyond offended.
Absolutely hilarious because it just shows how these people do not believe in anything. They spent years saying hip hop isn’t even real music but the second one joins in on the grift she can go to the Super Bowl!
Successful Black vampire movie just became most nominated movie in Academy award history. Seems like that audience might really like a Blade movie. Could put an Academy Award winner like Mahershala Ali in it.