I toast you with my paper cup of Maxwell House. If we didn’t have opposition to ideas, these threads would be boring.
I've Got Friends in Low Places
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I enjoy pintos and cornbread. It’s depression era food but fills you up and keeps you warm. Add a cup of crappy gas station coffee and a bowl of SWR and you’ve been transported to 1934.
Wow paper cups huh?
I bet you leave the vehicle running when you arent in it too....
Only when I have to leave the dogs in it. If the radio isn't playing their favorite tunes, they get barky.Wow paper cups huh?
I bet you leave the vehicle running when you arent in it too....
You never cease to amaze me, thankfully in a good way.This exchange between Jon Carroll and mystery writer, Ross Macdonald (real name, Kenneth Millar), originally appeared in Esquire Magazine in June of 1972:
The reporter said: “It seems that people who read a great many mystery stories are subject to a kind of social hazing. It seems to be considered a mild vice, like smoking cigars or speaking too loudly.”“I think,” said Millar, settling into his chair, “that there are serious reasons for it. The mystery novel deals with subjects that are untouched in the kind of sensitive and stiff middle-class society you’re talking about—death, crime and other forms of evil. The subject is evil; all mystery novels are about evil. Evil has traditionally not been talked about very much. I really think the roots of the mystery novel go back to the medieval fabliau, which deliberately dealt with taboo subjects. I think it’s significant that very early dramas were known as mysteries. They dealt in a more human way than the Scriptures or church services with sacred subjects and matters of good and evil. Now, of course, what used to be taboo is more or less taken for granted. But a certain aura of evil hangs around the form—the same kind of aura that, for a different reason, hangs around sex writing.”Awkward silence. The reporter then said: “Another link between sex writing and thriller writing is that they are both popular arts.”Millar leaned forward, sighting an easy opening. “Very much so. That’s the primary reason that I’m a mystery writer. I have a very strong feeling that it’s the duty of a writer, or at least of this particular writer, to write popular fiction. Ideally, a community tends to communicate with itself through its fiction, and this communication tends to break down if there are Mandarin novels written for Mandarins and lowbrow novels written for lowbrows, and so on. My aim from the beginning has been to write novels that can be read by all kinds of people.”I collect many things, and the work of Kenneth Millar/Ross Macdonald is among them. Within that collection, I collect both lowbrow and highbrow items by a writer who worked in a genre considered populist and low brow and elevated it to what could be considered literature; I collect his lowly paperbacks with illustrated covers, but also his handwritten manuscripts and letters.
Some of you may have read this link before (I’ve shared it in the past). Several years ago, I designed a Ross Macdonald coffee table book that had text made from interviews my late friend, Paul Nelson (of Bob Dylan and New York Dolls fame) did with Ross Macdonald the Spring and Summer of 1976; the book featured over 1,300 items from my personal Ross Macdonald collection. Here’s an interview I did with the Library of America shortly after the book’s release:
With It’s All One Case, a designer and collector has Ross Macdonald covered - Library of America
It’s All One Case: The Illustrated Ross Macdonald Archives (Fantagraphics, 2016) A major new entry into the critical literature on crime novelist Ross Macdonald arrives this fall with the release of It’s All One Case: The Illustrated Ross Macdonald Archives from Fantagraphic Books. Editor Kevin...www.loa.org
There are many combinations of lowbrow and highbrow (to varying degrees) within my interests. I collect toys, but often strive for ones in their original packaging; I collect LPs by popular musicians, but this includes rare test pressings and acetates; I collect comic books, but also original art; I love a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon in the summer, but usually prefer craft beer by microbreweries; I’m able to enjoy a humble table wine, but love Vintage Port and Madeira. I love White Castle hamburgers, but a wine paired meal at Le Bernardin is much appreciated and savoured. I’m at home watching cheesy action movies, but happy to discuss symbolism and allusions in a Fellini film for hours. I love Jidaigeki Samurai and Yakuza movies, but also collect the original Japanese theatrical movie posters for them.
I grew up with Big Daddy Roth Hot Rod stickers and Art Spiegelman’s cardboard Wacky Packages for Topps from 1967. Lowbrow is in my DNA, and highbrow grew from within that.
I like what I like, interesting thoughts, old saying when you’re in your 20s to 40s you live your life thinking what people are gonna think, 40s to 60s you say to yourself fuck em I’m gonna do what I want, 60s to 80s you learn they never thought about you , So do what you want when you want! I Garronte!
My tastes and pleasures run the gamut of brows. I've been a voracious reader, having read most of Dostoyevsky, Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy, and other great Russian writers, as well as Twain, Dickens, Wells, Stoker, Hawthorn, Doyle, Thackeray, Melville, Swift, Vasari, etc, etc. Also, I read all of the Freddy The Pig novels by the immortal Walter Brooks somewhere along the way
Then I hit puberty and all that changed. It also might have been trying to teach myself ancient Greek so that I could try reading Herodotus in the original, or closer to it than in translation. "Teach Yourself Ancient Greek" proved to be Greek to me, and I think it blew a gasket in my 12 year old brain.
Having rambled among the immortals I decided to read crap. Turns out I really enjoy crap, as long as it's well executed crap. This consisted mostly of Mad Magazine and DC Comics. The artwork was inspiring, even if the story lines were simplistic, and Mad was always entertaining.
Eventually I landed on Sci-Fi, otherwise known as "speculative fiction" for the highbrows, and mysteries. I remain a sucker for a good mystery to this day, and also the occasional essay into history. For a while I got into collecting signed limited 1st Editions of Sc-Fi by my favorite authors, Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlein, Pournelle, Farmer, Niven, Leiber, LeGuin, etc.
Wit is always a pleasure, wherever it pops up, maybe it's My Man Godfrey, You Can't Take It With You, Mrs Brown's Boys, QI, Pointless, What We Do In The Shadows, and many more.
I rarely go to a movie these days. Much of it just doesn't appeal, though I did recently watch American Fiction and really enjoyed it. Watching the coming attractions was dispiriting, a lot of mindless action to thrill flatliners. How anyone can watch a Zack Snyder film is beyond me. He's today's Cecil B DeMille, but without any talent.
I can appreciate Haute Cuisine, but assembling a plate using tweezers just so it can go down a sewer pipe a few hours later seems silly. I like simple well executed preps using good ingredients. A bowl of red is blessedness squared.
From Esoterica to OTC, I enjoy a wide assortment of blends. Still, 90% of what I've tried over the years did't cut it. The existance of Borkum Riff puzzles me. It isn't tobacco, at least to me. It resembles tobacco about as much as Invasion Of the Body Snatchers resembles a beauty pageant. And yet, there are people who actually like it.
My car is 20 years old, gets me where I need to go, doesn't cost me a fortune in insurance or repairs. Cars don't impress me unless it's a vintage automobile at the Petersen, or at the Concours D'Elegance in Pebble Beach. You could pay me to buy a Tesla. You would HAVE TO pay me to buy a Tesla.
I hate formality and formal occasions, which is why I've never attended the EMMY's. If I was up for an award, I might be persuaded to put on the monkey suit. That ain't ever gonna happen, so no worries.
Love opera and pretty much all classical music. Like a wide variety of folk, old timey, jazz, some rock, etc. Not a balletomane, have attended a few performances when my date promised me a "reward" after. Not much for poetry readings, nor for poetry. I can appreciate it, but only dispassionately.
Every now and them, when I'm stuck in a hotel room, I'll watch some broadcast TV and wonder how it is that the population hasn't committed mass suicide.
Then I hit puberty and all that changed. It also might have been trying to teach myself ancient Greek so that I could try reading Herodotus in the original, or closer to it than in translation. "Teach Yourself Ancient Greek" proved to be Greek to me, and I think it blew a gasket in my 12 year old brain.
Having rambled among the immortals I decided to read crap. Turns out I really enjoy crap, as long as it's well executed crap. This consisted mostly of Mad Magazine and DC Comics. The artwork was inspiring, even if the story lines were simplistic, and Mad was always entertaining.
Eventually I landed on Sci-Fi, otherwise known as "speculative fiction" for the highbrows, and mysteries. I remain a sucker for a good mystery to this day, and also the occasional essay into history. For a while I got into collecting signed limited 1st Editions of Sc-Fi by my favorite authors, Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlein, Pournelle, Farmer, Niven, Leiber, LeGuin, etc.
Wit is always a pleasure, wherever it pops up, maybe it's My Man Godfrey, You Can't Take It With You, Mrs Brown's Boys, QI, Pointless, What We Do In The Shadows, and many more.
I rarely go to a movie these days. Much of it just doesn't appeal, though I did recently watch American Fiction and really enjoyed it. Watching the coming attractions was dispiriting, a lot of mindless action to thrill flatliners. How anyone can watch a Zack Snyder film is beyond me. He's today's Cecil B DeMille, but without any talent.
I can appreciate Haute Cuisine, but assembling a plate using tweezers just so it can go down a sewer pipe a few hours later seems silly. I like simple well executed preps using good ingredients. A bowl of red is blessedness squared.
From Esoterica to OTC, I enjoy a wide assortment of blends. Still, 90% of what I've tried over the years did't cut it. The existance of Borkum Riff puzzles me. It isn't tobacco, at least to me. It resembles tobacco about as much as Invasion Of the Body Snatchers resembles a beauty pageant. And yet, there are people who actually like it.
My car is 20 years old, gets me where I need to go, doesn't cost me a fortune in insurance or repairs. Cars don't impress me unless it's a vintage automobile at the Petersen, or at the Concours D'Elegance in Pebble Beach. You could pay me to buy a Tesla. You would HAVE TO pay me to buy a Tesla.
I hate formality and formal occasions, which is why I've never attended the EMMY's. If I was up for an award, I might be persuaded to put on the monkey suit. That ain't ever gonna happen, so no worries.
Love opera and pretty much all classical music. Like a wide variety of folk, old timey, jazz, some rock, etc. Not a balletomane, have attended a few performances when my date promised me a "reward" after. Not much for poetry readings, nor for poetry. I can appreciate it, but only dispassionately.
Every now and them, when I'm stuck in a hotel room, I'll watch some broadcast TV and wonder how it is that the population hasn't committed mass suicide.
I used to take a pack of Backwoods smokes with me on fishing trip in the canoe. Toscanos are pretty cheap too.
I've had a friend give me a Black and Mild a few times. They seem to be a Birmingham inner city staple.
I've had Hava Tampa a few times.
But, White Owls have just always had a stigma in my area. It's a slang term, as I mentioned in the other thread, and for that reason most stores don't carry them down here. Just asking for one could lead to a fight. I'm surprised that it isn't a more widely known thing. I could have sworn I heard it used derogatorily in a movie also.
But, now that I am a little wiser, I would buy a GTO knock off in bulk before I would buy one at a gas station. Just as cheap and I can get them in Criollo. Very tasty. Cheap, but tasty... low brow, high brow, who cares...
I've had a friend give me a Black and Mild a few times. They seem to be a Birmingham inner city staple.
I've had Hava Tampa a few times.
But, White Owls have just always had a stigma in my area. It's a slang term, as I mentioned in the other thread, and for that reason most stores don't carry them down here. Just asking for one could lead to a fight. I'm surprised that it isn't a more widely known thing. I could have sworn I heard it used derogatorily in a movie also.
But, now that I am a little wiser, I would buy a GTO knock off in bulk before I would buy one at a gas station. Just as cheap and I can get them in Criollo. Very tasty. Cheap, but tasty... low brow, high brow, who cares...
Well, my interest has been piqued. Just ordered this copy for less than $8. Love the variety on this forum. 
Thank you for your interest! I hope you enjoy it. I was very fortunate that my request for special printing for this book was granted. Instead of the typical rosette pattern (left) seen on most publications, stochastic (or FM) screening (right) was used—this random screen produces a much finer image, closer to the continuous tone of a photograph rather than the dot patterns you see in most magazines. The end result is that you’ll be able to read even the smallest manuscript pages clearly.
Wow, what a great line !
"Then I hit puberty and all that changed." had me rollingWow, what a great line !
I'm sorry, but that information is classified...
Let's make it very clear here... A taste for Low Brow does NOT mean you are a low life... regardless of what a certain solicitor from the town of "California" might say.
And my wife is still a beautiful woman... Mr. Lee, I am not sure if I should tell her that you think her looks expired after she got older.
And my wife is still a beautiful woman... Mr. Lee, I am not sure if I should tell her that you think her looks expired after she got older.
I use a three foot plastic tree for Christmas. Am I lowbrow now?
A person who doesnt have culturally elitist interests, is by no means a low life or a scumbag. Mr Lee is very naughty to conflate the two things.
Wait, Briar Lee hasn't even posted in this thread. Where has he insulted Telescopes wife or mentioned low lifes? I can't think of anyone lower browed than Briar Lee, packing his cheap pipes with broken up bits of cigarettes, so I am confused.
Lowbrow…
www.merriam-webster.com
Lowlife…
www.merriam-webster.com
Hope this helps…IBTL.
️
Definition of LOWBROW
of, relating to, or suitable for a person with little taste or intellectual interest… See the full definition
www.merriam-webster.com
Lowlife…
Definition of LOWLIFE
a person of low social status; a person of low moral character… See the full definition
www.merriam-webster.com
Hope this helps…IBTL.
️
I am by no means low brow. I tried to get me an executive position with an office and a swivel chair. I'm only workin' at the car wash because of that bogus non-support rap.