Connoisseuring Something Awful, finding beauty and humor in the unexpected and unappealing

Connoisseuring Something Awful
[00:00:00] FAWN: Hello, everybody. Welcome back to our friendly world. Hello. Okay, I'm going to read something from another book this week. Are you ready? No, I'm gonna read it. Why? You're not ready. Should I not? Kidding. Okay. I'm going to read from another one of my books. It's always on my desk. The Art of Noticing -131 Ways to Spark Creativity, Find Inspiration, and Discover Joy in Every Day by 
[00:00:26] Rob Walker. Are you ready? Yes. Okay. It's gonna be a long one. So bear with me. Okay, 
[00:00:31] MATT: okay
[00:00:36] FAWN: I'm nervous. Okay, here we go. Chapter 5 Being alone,
[00:00:40] connoisseur something awful. With a high, nasal voice, charismatic giggle, and an infectious enthusiasm for cities in all their splendid detail, Timothy "Speed" Levitch is the most memorable tour guide you will encounter. He's been at it off and on [00:01:00] since the early 1990s in San Francisco, Kansas City, New York and elsewhere.
[00:01:06] His remarkable narrations concerning New York city for the patrons of official tour buses, ecstatic soliloquies, and dazzling rants on the glory of terracotta or the unspeakable shame of the grid street pattern formed the basis of a wildly entertaining 1998 documentary called "The Cruise."
[00:01:28] What Levitch calls cruising can be thought of as one of two modes of moving through the world. The other mode, and the far more common one, is what he calls Commuter Consciousness.
[00:01:43] FAWN: The commuter begins, I believe, in that moment, when our urge to get to our destination becomes even more alive than ourselves. He once explained, Commuting, active verb, is to travel along the assumption that [00:02:00] every godforsaken human being currently on this planet is in your way.
[00:02:05] Woot. He paused to giggle after he said this, and then described an alternative to the commuter mindset. Cruising, also a verb, active verb, is the immediate appreciation of the beauty immediately around you in your immediacy.
[00:02:22] He continued, It's a natural antidepressant. Levitch has offered what he calls the Rush Hour Tour. Participants meet at 5 p. m. by the information desk in the middle of New York's Grand Central Terminal. Exactly when absolutely no one wants to be there. Levitch crackles. Yeah. It's a tour of what everyone is trying to get away from.
[00:02:49] To get his tour groups into the proper frame of mind, he informs participants that the group will inhabit the mindset of a Greek chorus, deconstructing the [00:03:00] action unfolding before them, riffing as in a performed drama on the potential meanings behind the behaviors occupying the stage that is our world.
[00:03:10] A private Greek chorus, he clarifies. Observing, commenting, participating, but not really committing. In the scene, but not of the scene. Eventually. He says, You're viewing Rush Hour as a parody dance of our interconnectedness. As an example of what that means, Levith advises delightfully, Connoisseur that honk. 
[00:03:35] This schtick, as he frankly characterized it to me. Is something he uses as the group moves out of Grand Central and into the over trafficked streets of Midtown.
[00:03:47] Plangent, with motors and horns.
[00:03:49] As each of the different honks of the city comes tumbling into your present tense - he instructs, take a moment to taste and connoisseur that [00:04:00] honk based on its voluminousness, its intensity, context, and duration.
[00:04:05] Taste and connoisseur. Sometimes he'll say all this right after a notably obnoxious honk, which he will proceed to describe in disconcerting detail, how its pitch compares to other honks, what its duration suggests about the honker's goals, what sort of vehicle such a honk implies, and so on. But almost as often he'll have just finished sketching the general idea of urban honking when a particularly ear splitting example will cut him off. The city, he says, Is a genius s vaudeville partner. You can connoisseur anything. And the more unappealing the subject, the better. Levitch concedes that some of his customers do not appreciate this riff because it makes them notice with fresh intensity something that they train themselves to tune out.
[00:04:57] But that's precisely the charm of the [00:05:00] practice. To convert a single annoyance of humdrum life into a thing that might be savored. 
[00:05:09] Okay, so why, why am I reading this? I just remembered something that I talked about on our podcast. a few years ago  I had just a few teachers in my life that really transformed me.
[00:05:19] One of them was my college professor, Hank Wessel. He was a phenomenal photographer. One day we were complaining about getting to school and taking the bus we lived in San Francisco. And he's like, Oh, I love the bus. I love places like that. When everyone is crammed on to a bus, crammed into a bus where everyone is touching one another, and we're like, Oh, it's terrible.
[00:05:43] Gross. No, no. You know, and he's like, but think about it, that is the only time in life where it's not awkward to be so close to a stranger. It is like, it is this intimate experience to be so close with someone [00:06:00] that you don't know, without any awkwardness. And that spoke poetry to me, and I think that's kind of what sparked my whole idea of Our society and how we treat each other and how we dance together and how we treat each other, how we interact with one another, how close we are or aren't as friends,
[00:06:26] That statement about the crowded bus really transformed me. And , a couple weeks ago we were talking about really looking at something that may not be appealing to you. Like I was talking about my studio in Santa Monica, how the walls were falling apart. It was kind of like, you know, depressing and gross.
[00:06:45] Like I live in squalor. What is this? But then I forced myself to look at it with beauty and go, you know what, this is an artist studio and how can I make it Beautiful. Much like Italian alleyways, [00:07:00] and there are parts of the wall that are broken off and you can see underneath the plaster, the brick, you know, it's quite beautiful.
[00:07:07] And some people actually go out of their way to make that be the way the wall looks on purpose. I've seen murals where they paint 
[00:07:14] MATT: that. Yeah, 
[00:07:15] FAWN: exactly. But like that really, you can think of it as, Oh. It's falling apart. So ugly. But if you look at it, it's like, oh, how charming. So how can we take this, what we just heard?
[00:07:29] And really take a look at our surroundings, especially these days when things appear so Terrible. Wow way to take us down. Nice No, i'm just saying how can we? Connoisseur something awful. 
[00:07:42] MATT: Right, right. And that's that's a great question. And which 
[00:07:46] FAWN: by the way, 
[00:07:47] MATT: how do we do?
[00:07:47] Yes, 
[00:07:48] FAWN: which by the way, this is why I like to smell awful things when someone says Oh that stinks. I'm like, oh, let me smell. Oh dear. I wonder what it smells like. 
[00:07:56] MATT: No, I have no interest I want to [00:08:00] smell pretty pretty, 
[00:08:02] FAWN: you know, and also looking at awful things and How can we make them delicious? 
[00:08:07] MATT: Excellent question.
[00:08:08] Good point. I will tell you, when I were younger, my best friend at the time and I would go out of our way To go see a bad movie. Because we knew it was gonna be bad. And we knew we could laugh. And we knew the theater would probably be empty. So 
[00:08:23] FAWN: would you go because you wanted to laugh at it? 
[00:08:26] MATT: We wanted to laugh at it, yes.
[00:08:28] And we wanted to laugh at ourselves for being there. And we wanted to, then, after we'd had that experience, after we'd shared that experience, then we could re revisit it later. We saw a movie, and, Yeah, please don't, please don't sue me, Hollywood. We saw a movie called The Quest, and The Quest was like, Jean Claude Van Damme was in it, and One of the James Bonds was in it, the guy who did The Saint, too, and it was terrible.
[00:08:56] I mean, it was formulaic, all the jokes were [00:09:00] pre canned. It was like written for an eight year old who'd never seen a movie before. It was solid. It was brilliant. We had such a good time at it, too, because we, we laughed through the whole movie because the movie was deserted, and we saw a discount movie theater and the whole bit, and it was such a success.
[00:09:17] That like a month late, literally a month later, we went to go see what was primed to be a complete and utter slam dunk. This was the opening weekend of the Keanu Reeves vehicle, The Matrix. You saw the, you saw the commercial for it, and Keanu says, I know Kung Fu. And then the other line, whoa. I mean, slam dunk.
[00:09:47] And I'm still conflicted because The Matrix turns out as a good movie, a really good movie. Wait, so 
[00:09:52] FAWN: you thought it was going to be a really bad movie? We thought 
[00:09:55] MATT: it was going to be horrifically bad. 
[00:09:58] FAWN: You thought it was 
[00:09:58] MATT: The [00:10:00] commercials were so mockable. And that has a lot also to do with the fact that Keanu Reeves still hadn't escaped the shadow of being, um Bill and Ted.
[00:10:10] Bill and Ted. 
[00:10:11] FAWN: Yeah. Bill and Ted. 
[00:10:12] MATT: And, you know, the other couple movies he'd done, even though he'd done Point Break, and that was a big movie, and a breakout, blah, blah, blah, he was still kind of dorky. And so I was like, oh my god, this is gonna be brilliant! So I'm still confused. 
[00:10:25] FAWN: Brilliant as in bad.
[00:10:26] Brilliantly bad, yes. 
[00:10:28] MATT: And I'm still confused. To this day. I'm not sure if I should like it, or I ironically like it, or what the whole story is. I'm very confused and conflicted. But that's what we would do because it was fun. You know, it's like, I think people go through so much of their lives taking themselves so seriously and, and there is nothing wrong with taking yourself seriously.
[00:10:49] When the moment calls for it, be serious. But when the moment doesn't call for it. Don't be serious is how I always view it. But other people [00:11:00] I'm sure out there even listening are like, but, but everything is serious. Life is serious.
[00:11:06] Whereas I see it as life is play.
[00:11:10] FAWN: You always take things into such a beautiful light realm. And here I am thinking, okay, can I take a despicable person in our society and like connoisseur that, like the kids and I were watching this dating show. Oh dear. 
[00:11:25] MATT: Oh dear. And I found it, by the way. You 
[00:11:26] FAWN: found it. Cause I was looking for bad TV.
[00:11:29] Yeah, and I immediately was hooked. Hooked. One, because it was Middle Eastern, and I'm like, let me look at that. Cause I'm Middle Eastern, so I'm like, even though it wasn't really my culture, you know, like, I, I'm like, I understand that. And I couldn't look away. I saw how bad it was, but I was like, I can't look away.
[00:11:52] I I ended up binge watching it. But, and then the kids too, were hooked [00:12:00] too. And it was late at night, and there was this one character that we, we all described as, oh, he's the perfect villain. He looked like a villain. But 
[00:12:11] MATT: like Vaudevillian villain, right? Vaudevillian villain. 
[00:12:13] FAWN: Nyuh uh 
[00:12:14] MATT: uh. 
[00:12:15] FAWN: Yes, exactly. Or like, you know those cartoons we used to watch when we were little?
[00:12:19] Like, with people? What was it in Bullwinkle? 
[00:12:22] MATT: Rocky and Bullwinkle. 
[00:12:23] FAWN: Yeah, wasn't there like a an evil villain that would like fly around? You know, I don't know those cartoons back then they always had this villain right and then later on Yes, and then later it was like, That guy that would put up his pinky finger.
[00:12:39] MATT: Dr. Evil, 
[00:12:40] FAWN: Dr. Evil, right? 
[00:12:42] MATT: He's a good guy 
[00:12:43] FAWN: from Austin Powers movies, right? Like that. But he was tall, very good looking, tall and thin. And his hair was slicked back. And just the way he carried himself and the way he spoke. I'm like, Oh, we couldn't look at it [00:13:00] normally we're like, he is a cartoon villain.
[00:13:04] We didn't even remember his name We just called him the villain of it, there are many villains actually in the show, but we ended up appreciating this villain can we appreciate bad people 
[00:13:16] MATT: I think as long as they don't Like they're ineffectual 
[00:13:21] FAWN: But even when they're ruining things for everybody right when there's a threat I mean, isn't that where comedy comes in that isn't that why
[00:13:29] we look at comedians because we're so scared of something or something is bothering us But the fact that they can connoisseur the hell out of something In a funny way, it makes things lighter and you can palette the world better. You can, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, 
[00:13:47] MATT: the world's more palatable, yeah.
[00:13:48] FAWN: Yeah, the world is more palatable. You're not as scared of it. 
[00:13:53] MATT: And you're not alone, and you know, hopefully the comedian gets a laugh through whatever they say. [00:14:00] And so you understand there's people who get me. I'm part of, I'm part of a tribe even a tribe around one joke. 
[00:14:06] FAWN: Yes, I'm not alone because someone else feels that way, but also it diminishes the power that that villain has over us.
[00:14:16] Right. Because we are able to appreciate it. Because, yeah. And laugh at it even. 
[00:14:21] MATT: When you take things seriously, even things that you can't control is hard. It's, frustrating. It makes you anxious, it, on and on and on and that's gonna be in a whole other thing I'm gonna want to talk about but yes 
[00:14:35] FAWN: Well, and once again, I think I'm taking this to a dark dark realm 
[00:14:38] MATT: You're 
[00:14:40] FAWN: more light And interesting because I mean what if you look at us I would be considered more like The more airy, fairy person, and you would be considered the, the more serious, but it's 
[00:14:53] MATT: Except you find dust and I find puzzles.
[00:14:57] FAWN: Exactly. [00:15:00] Sad. How did I become this way? 
[00:15:04] MATT: Puzzles! 
[00:15:07] FAWN: Alright, so anyway, that's my trip this week, is that. What do you think? What do you think? 
[00:15:13] MATT: Absurdities. Always. I run to them. I love finding them. 
[00:15:17] FAWN: Connoisseuring 
[00:15:17] MATT: it. Yes. Connoisseuring absurdities. I mean, it's, it's kind of been one of those things that I've, I've enjoyed.
[00:15:24] You know, speaking of absurdities, I saw my first, cyber truck. It's an absurd vehicle by Tesla. It's a electric truck by Tesla, but it like it's it's had its fair share of issues for a hundred thousand dollar vehicle. 
[00:15:38] FAWN: Is it a truck or is it like a normal car? Because I saw a weird looking car. 
[00:15:42] MATT: But it's all straight lines and stuff.
[00:15:45] FAWN: Yeah, I saw that, but I thought it was a car. Right. I don't know if we're talking about the same thing. I can 
[00:15:50] MATT: see why people might get confused, but yeah, yeah, there's been, it, it's, it certainly raised a lot of, opinions, and I think of it [00:16:00] as an absurdity, but there are people who take it very, very seriously.
[00:16:03] So if you take it seriously, then look at me as an absurdity, because I see it as an absurdity. So just try and enjoy yourself. I 
[00:16:13] FAWN: mean, there are things that can turn into good things, like if we become connoisseur of it, right? So, like, we go to the acupuncturist and we get the most gross tasting herbs,
[00:16:26] and you have to take them three times a day. Or twice a day if you have a stronger concoction, but you have to learn to love it. You have to learn to taste that extreme bitterness. And not just bitter, I mean some of the stuff, wow, it tastes like you're just drinking ash, like burnt ash, right?
[00:16:48] But you know it's doing amazing things for you, so you become appreciative, like I'm going to savor this drink, I'm just going to hold my nose while I'm savoring it, maybe at some point, because [00:17:00] it's so bad. But you have to savor everything. And appreciate everything. And I think that also is a key to getting you to a place where you are grateful.
[00:17:11] MATT: Right. Yes. Exactly. I was just thinking about it. It's like, nobody likes taking out their garbage or putting in their garbage. But my God, it's nice when the garbage gets picked up. That's such a blessing. 
[00:17:21] FAWN: Being grateful for every situation. 
[00:17:23] MATT: Exactly. 
[00:17:24] FAWN: Okay, that's it. Shall we, shall we stop it here? Yes, ma'am.
[00:17:29] All right. Talk to you all next week. If you need us, reach out to us, go to ourfriendlyworldpodcast. com. And, oh, if you could just tell other people about our podcast, that would be so lovely. also I'll tell you about our friend's podcast. I've talked about her before, but Amy Fagan love your podcast Grounded in Maine.
[00:17:48] Such a lovely human being. Hi Wendy. 
[00:17:51] Hello, Michelle. Michelle Silence, my voiceover buddy. We can make it a better world.
[00:17:57] A friendlier world. We'll talk to you soon. 
[00:17:59] MATT: [00:18:00] Be well.