#it's just funny since the photo is so great and the painting so kitschy

[unicornery]

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams"

today I had occasion to research the origin of the phrase "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" after I heard it referenced in a 1998 tv show episode. I was curious where it came from, in the culture. It was originally a traditional pop song from 1933! Then I found this article explaining the background on the GD one and I'm sorry but this is so goddamn funny to me.

During a 2005 episode of VH1‘s Storytellers series featuring Green Day performing and telling the story behind the songs on American Idiot in its entirety, Billie Joe [Armstrong] takes a question from a fan who asks if the “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” is a real place.

Billie Joe responds telling the story of the song’s inspiration, including a mention of how the title comes from “an old James Dean photo where he’s walking in New York,” claiming that the title is printed beneath it, and that is where he got it from.

To clarify, though, Billie Joe misspoke, combining two separate things into one. Both of these things do involve James Dean, but they are totally separate pieces of art from different time periods.

First, he refers to the famous photo shot by Dennis Stock in 1955, titled James Dean Alone in the Rain, in the Middle of Times Square.

There is a famous painting, also featuring James Dean, by Gottfriend Helnwein that is titled “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”. This painting was completed in 1985 and is a parody of Edward Hopper’s 1942 painting “Nighthawks.”

Helnwein’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” features Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, James Dean and Elvis Presley.

source extrachill.com

[licncourt]

03.10.2023, New Orleans, LA

Royal St and Ursuline Ave // St. Louis Cathedral // Royal St // Gallier House Parlor // Gallier House // Gallier House Front Room // Café du Monde // Royal St // LaLaurie Mansion

As requested by anon, day one trip pics that represent the city how it actually looks! The biggest thing that's different from the professional photos (aside from the tourists) is all the street parking!! There really isn't any room for garages or parking lots in the French Quarter, so all the residents plus the tourists are parked along the street. I understand why, but it makes it very hard to get a nice picture. The historic 18th-century townhouses all have someone's Honda Civic in front of them.

Also this whole city is terrified of being sued by Anne Rice so it's all off-brand and public domain vampires with absolutely no acknowledgement of VC, which is pretty funny. 100% vampires, but no one will say the Lestat word.

The Gallier House is stunning, staged beautifully with period furniture and decor and as faithfully as possible. Our tour guide was lovely and extremely knowledgeable about the family, the historical context, and the house itself. (If you ever plan to visit, you do have to book a tour. They don't make that very clear on the website).

It was super exciting to see, but I was surprised by how small it really is as well as by the details of the facade. The "stone" pillars are actually wood and the metalwork is painted green, it's not brass or bronze patina. Tbh we agree that it's a great house but it would not be up to Loustat standards.

The LaLaurie Mansion was cool to see, but a bit underwhelming since it's privately owned and not accessible to the public. It looks like the other houses on the street, you would never know it has any special history to it. The upside is that all the houses really do look like that!! Everything outside the French Quarter is very much a normal city, but I was surprised at just how New OrleansTM it is when you're inside of it.

Café du Monde was really fun, but it's almost laughable that AR had Loustat going there regularly. It was 100% tourists and clearly not catered to locals. The beignets really were delicious though and I had a great café au lait. If you ever visit, absolutely do what we did and go after 9p. The morning line was around the block but we waited less than five minutes to order at night. I also suggest sweetening your coffee with the extra powdered sugar in the beignet bag. Beignet flavored coffee.

I can't speak for the summer months, but as of now we can say that the stories about the smell of NOLA are not true. It smells like nothing or like weed except for Bourbon Street which smells like weed and also fried food. No sewage but also no jasmine. Equal parts a relief and a disappointment. Don't worry though the Mississippi River is just as ickynasty as everyone says if, like me, you'd never seen it before.

We had lunch at Stanley's of New Orleans and even though it was right at Jackson Square, the food was fantastic and not bland touristy stuff at all. Frog legs taste very mild and a little fishy fyi. The Vampire Café was kitschy as hell but we had fantastic blackened alligator, great desserts, and really fun cocktails served in blood bags! Also recommend. The Boutique du Vampyre is right behind it, but, just like the whole city, it's only store brand vampires.

@sofipitch @hedonisticgene

[alpacamybagsus-blog]

Days 11, 12, and 13 (Tucumcari/Santa Fe/Albuquerque, Flagstaff, Los Angeles)

Our writing over the last couple of posts has been a joint effort since these blogs always seem to take us longer than we think they will. This one, however is going to be a solo Michael effort, since Kanisha is busy repacking our car today. Late on Day 11 we found our rental car was making a funny noise emanating from the wheel well, which made us nervous. Would the wheel fly off on the Interstate while doing 70? Or worse, on a two lane road where losing control would mean a head-on collision with a tractor trailer? We didn’t want to find out, so like the responsible adults we are, we swapped it out for another rental car. Don’t worry, readers, we lost a few hours of fun, but we’re safe.

So the last time we wrote it was from the comfort of the Blue Swallow Motel, which is a perfectly-preserved-from-1939 motel along historic Route 66 in Tucumcari New Mexico. I personally enjoyed the old copies of National Geographic they left in the room, which advertised travel deals for tourists of the era. Main takeaway: travel used to be hella expensive. We live in a Golden Age! 

Kanisha went out at night to take photos of the neon phantasmagoria that once characterized the small rest towns on the Mother Road:

Pretty, right?

Earlier, we also got a shot of the kitschy curio shops that populated the area.

We got a great night’s sleep marinating in the “100% refrigerated air,” and had some great coffee the next morning courtesy of the hosts. Soon after, we were off across more lonely high-desert roads to climb the mountains towards Santa Fe.

At an elevation of 7,198 feet, the capital of New Mexico (also America’s oldest, founded 1610. Have that, Boston) is an impossibly pretty mountainside town, done almost entirely in the Pueblo-Spanish style. I’d say it’s amazing that it could remain so well preserved, but apparently the revival was part of a 1912 effort to boost tourism. I guess the Old Trail hadn’t been bringing in enough new money...

Anyway, it’s still beautiful, and I wish I had snapped more pictures of buildings like the above.

The cathedral basilica was also a Neo-Romanesque masterpiece.

As with the rest of New Mexico, there was no shortage of turquoise, and the lapis lazuli was not in tight supply either. Santa Fe more than the roadside stands had high end Native art galleries though, which were pretty cool even if we couldn’t afford anything. 

There was even a nifty art vending machine made from a converted cigarette dispenser.

Aside from walking around we also spent most of our morning at a farmer’s market where Kanisha managed to snag some chive vinegar, and I some yak jerky. Hipsters have taken over everywhere, and we thus get to reap these rewards!

After leaving Santa Fe in the afternoon, we drove down through the mountains to Albuquerque, where upon arrival, I took a much needed nap. Albuquerque is a rapidly growing city that boasts the distinct New Mexican culture you would find in Santa Fe, with a bustling Los Angeles type vibe. You can find Native American and Mexican food casually interspersed in the city’s many restaurants, and we got to enjoy a fusion dish - the Navajo Taco, made by layering salsa verde, beans and cheese on top of Navajo fry bread. As with the rest of New Mexico, the food is just casually very spicy. You don’t even have to ask, it’s just expected that you want it hot. 

The other thing you might think of when Albuquerque comes to mind is Breaking Bad. If that’s you, than you and Kanisha are on the same page. We discovered the aforementioned taco because we went to Los Pollos Hermanos (actually this was filmed at a delicious New Mexican burrito chain called Twisters).

We also stopped by the local candy shop that did the props for the entire first season of the show and was responsible for the blue methamphetamine.

Here’s Kanisha cooking up a batch of fine crystal. Plus we got to buy some delicious mint-covered Oreos.

Last, it was time to head to a brewery to finish the day, but Kanisha snagged a last photo of another famous TV location:

After Albuquerque, we had a long drive ahead of us out to Flagstaff, to see two National Parks: Painted Desert/Petrified Forest (underrated) and the Grand Canyon’s South Rim (appropriately rated). But first we had to cross the continental divide. Most of the rivers we crossed were essentially tiny creeks since the whole area is so dry. They apparently flood to great depths during the monsoon season, but for now it was silly to think that a river like the Pecos that’s so prominent on the map barely has enough water to flow for most of the year.

We also got Denny’s, Kanisha’s first time in 10 years. Getting beers at a Denny’s officially made us the trashiest people in said Denny’s, which is a tough title to achieve and one to be proud of.

The first park we made it to was Painted Desert. The approach to the park is similar to the dry scrub land that covers western New Mexico and Arizona, but soon you see the painted valley spread out before you. We remembered pictures!

Even the stuffed alpaca was remembered (finally):

The south portion of the park is covered in large petrified tree trunks. The area had formerly been tropical in the time of the dinosaurs, but the fossilized trees now dot the landscape. From far away, the trunks and flecks of petrified wood covering the ground make it look like freshly sawn logs strewn with sawdust are everywhere, but up close you can see the quartz formations. They’re pretty enough to make jewelry from. Kanisha took some pictures:

And again our alpaca, with a nice detailed view of the quartz:

After leaving, it was time to see the crown jewel of the Great American Roadtrip. The Grand Canyon drive takes you up through the desert to the mountains, where Flagstaff is nestled in the Coconino National forest. It’s highly surprising to be driving at one moment through red rocks and desert, and having that scenery give way to a thick pine forest. The canyon itself is about sixty miles north of Flagstaff, and gives no warning that the forest is about to give way to its vastness. The first person to discover it must have just been wandering through the woods, and then suddenly stunned, seemingly out of nowhere.

Obviously, we took pictures.

Kanisha contemplating beauty!

Me, looking at how far I’d fall if there weren’t a rail!

Us, at the rim (it was windy)

Obligatory selfie, (again, windy)

After hiking around for a bit, we decided to go check out historic Williams, a historic Route 66 town we’d been tipped off to by a fellow traveler down in Boquillas, who seemed to know his stuff. It turned out to be wonderfully quirky and kitschy like Tucumcari, but with a bustling downtown vibe. Definitely recommended, definitely worth a visit. 

As you can see, they keep that 19th century Western town spirit alive.

Finally we stopped at an extremely Twin Peaks-y diner and got dinner. The staff were super nice, and they had fine coffee and cherry pie, as one must expect. They also had a sign up with this piece of wisdom, which I now bequeath to you:

The next day comprised a long drive through the Western Arizona and Eastern California desert. We unfortunately don’t have much photo evidence for it, but if you can imagine a lot of hot gravel and 110 degree air, that’s pretty much how it went. We eventually arrived in San Bernardino and had some pretty groovy Peruvian food as we waited for rush hour traffic to subside before we could head into the city. As anyone who knows LA knows, this never actually happens, so we had to sit in some traffic. We finally made it to Downtown LA and had a drink to end the day. I was first introduced to mezcal when I lived here, so we went to a bar specializing in it for a drink. Much deserved after all that driving!