Aging: 78-Year Old Author Paul Theroux Traveled To Mexico To “Feel Young”

From a BBC Travel online article:

Paul TherouxI think of myself in the Mexican way, not as an old man but as most Mexicans regard a senior, an hombre de juicio, a man of judgment; not ruco, worn out, beneath notice, someone to be patronised, but owed the respect traditionally accorded to an elder, someone (in the Mexican euphemism) of La Tercera Edad, the Third Age, who might be called Don Pablo or tío (uncle) in deference. Mexican youths are required by custom to surrender their seat to anyone older. They know the saying: Más sabe el diablo por viejo, que por diablo – The devil is wise because he’s old, not because he’s the devil.Paul Theroux's On The Plain of Snakes A Mexican Journey

But “Stand aside, old man, and make way for the young” is the American way.

I was that old gringo. I was driving south in my own car in Mexican sunshine along the straight sloping road through the thinly populated valleys of the Sierra Madre Oriental – the whole craggy spine of Mexico is mountainous. Valleys, spacious and austere, were forested with thousands of single yucca trees, the so-called dragon yucca (Yucca filifera) that Mexicans call palma china. I pulled off the road to look closely at them and wrote in my notebook: I cannot explain why, on the empty miles of these roads, I feel young.

To read more: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20191203-is-travel-the-secret-to-a-long-life

Top 2019 Restaurants: “Konbi” In Los Angeles .(Bon Appétit Magazine)

From a Bon Appétit online article:

Bon Appetit Restaurant of the Year Konbi Los Angeles…Nick Montgomery, who opened Konbi with Akira Akuto; both are alums of David Chang’s Momofuku restaurants in New York. American chefs talk about opening “odes” to little spots they stumbled upon in Tokyo, and while this 10-seat space is indeed Montgomery and Akuto’s ode to Japan’s konbini (24-hour convenience stores), there is a palpable intensity to their level of study that makes Konbi entirely its own.

Konbi Menu

Konbi is a daytime restaurant in Echo Park. We serve Japanese style sandwiches, seasonal vegetable dishes, French pastries, as well as a selection of coffee & tea.

Website: https://konbila.com/

To read more: https://www.bonappetit.com/story/hot-10-best-new-restaurants-2019

 

Top New Exhibits: F-117 NIGHTHAWK STEALTH FIGHTER At The Ronald Reagan Library & Museum

…the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute announced its “Operation Nighthawk Landing” project – a Reagan Foundation & Institute and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® joint effort that will soon bring an F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Fighter to the Reagan Museum for permanent exhibition. Made possible by loan from the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, the F-117 placed on display will serve as a visible reminder to the Library’s near half-million annual visitors of President Reagan’s commitment to the rebuilding of the U.S. military through his “Peace through Strength” program. The F-117 Nighthawk, Tail #803, nicknamed “Unexpected Guest,” flew more combat sorties (78) than all other F-117s combined. The aircraft entered service in May 1984, during President Reagan’s administration.

“The Reagan Library will now be one of two places in the nation where the general public can visit an F-117 Stealth Fighter on permanent display,” said John Heubusch, executive director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. “We are deeply grateful to Lockheed Martin for their outstanding assistance in restoring the aircraft for such a meaningful display and to the U.S. Air Force for making it possible for the Reagan Library to exhibit the plane for millions of visitors to enjoy for years to come.”

The F-117 Nighthawk was the world’s first operational stealth aircraft. Between 1981 and 2008, Lockheed Martin produced 59 operational F-117s and five developmental prototypes, but the aircraft weren’t publicly acknowledged until 1988.  Known as “stealth fighters,” the F-117’s angular shape was designed to reflect radar waves and was bolstered by the use of a radar-absorbing material. Because the aircraft was only expected to operate at night, it was painted black to make it more difficult to discern against the night sky.

Website: https://www.reaganfoundation.org/library-museum/permanent-exhibitions/f-117-nighthawk-stealth-fighter/

Top Interview Podcasts: Actress Jamie Lee Curtis Talks About Her Films And Career (New Yorker)

Jamie Lee Curtis comes from Hollywood royalty as the daughter of Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis. She credits her mother’s role in “Psycho” for helping her land her first feature role, as the lead in “Halloween,” in 1978. “I’m never going to pretend I got that all on my own,” she tells The New Yorker’s Rachel Syme. But Curtis says she never intended to act, and never saw herself as a star: “I was not pretty,” she explains; “I was ‘cute.’ ”

Eventually, the pressure she felt to conform in order to keep working led to a surgical procedure, which led to an opiate addiction. Curtis talks with Syme about recovery, second chances, and more than forty years of films between “Halloween” and Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out.” Plus, the chef at one of Los Angeles’s best restaurants on how to build a woman-friendly kitchen.

To read more: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/tnyradiohour/articles/jamie-lee-curtis-original-scream-queen-podcast