Consciousness Screwing with Us: Rice University’s 2023 Archives of the Impossible Conference

 

Dr. John E. Mack Image by Stuart Conway. John E. Mack Institute

“Twenty seven years ago, rather urgently, I flew off to a UFO conference because Dr. John Mack was there. So was Whitley Strieber. Come hell or high water, I was going. That impulse was impossible to explain. Particularly to my engineer-y spouse. 'You’re going where?' " (BoudinandBourbon.com announces Rice University's 2023 Archives of the Impossible Conference, May 11 through May 13, with a short discussion about the importance of Rice's paranormal special collections.)

Garland Fielder Weighs In on Architectural Design and the Creative Process - Interview

Garland Fielder studio shot 2022

...Hell yea, Garland. I happen to consider architecture the most sublime of human expression... (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com interviews Garland Fielder about his architectural design practice and the creative process. Fielder's ARChouse unleashes architecture, art and music.)

A Talk with Angie Dumas about her Blog "Da’Stylish Foodie" - Interview

Angie Dumas - Da'Stylish Foodie

"...I love cooking and throwing down in my kitchen..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com interviewed Angie Dumas about her lifestyle blog Da'Stylish Foodie. Dumas discusses content creation, authenticity and monetization.)

Eating Garlic Beef at Mai’s Vietnamese Restaurant - Mai's Immigrant Story

Mai's Vietnamese Garlic Beef Bo Luc Lac

"...Inevitably, South Vietnam’s dismal economy, rank with corruption and inflation, forced party apparatchiks to embrace the tools of capitalism, designer bags and all. But by this time Mai’s family was successful in a new land..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson eats Garlic Beef at Mai's Vietnamese Restaurant in Houston, owned by Mai Nguyen, and describes the dish and the owner's immigrant story. Fun inspiring history.)

Visiting Azienda Agricola Casamonti in the Chianti Classico - Wine and Cinta Senese Pigs

Casamonti's table prepared for wine tasting with an old well in the garden

"...Anna Rita officiated over the wine tasting and as she poured, she dished out bread and olive oil and Pecorino cheese, in sync with celebrated foodie Waverly Root’s assertion that wine's raison d' être is to accompany food..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson recounts her visit to Azienda Agricola Casamonti in the Chianti Classico where she toured vineyards and saw the Cinta Senese pig.)

Discovering S.P.Q.R. and Miraculous Oil at the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere

Trastevere - Image by civitavecchia.portmobility.it

...we arrived at the piazza in front of the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere. There we found S.P.Q.R. and miraculous oil... (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com writes about Romulus founding Rome, the Sabines, Trastevere’s vine covered mediaeval architecture, and finding S.P.Q.R. and miraculous oil at the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere.)

My Visit to the Houston Farmers Market on Airline Drive

Fruit at Houston Farmers Market

"...I learn something every time I go to a market. On this trip I learned that raw cinnamon in all its bark-like glory can be quite large..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com checks out Houston Farmers Market, the new building, long-time vendors and in-coming culinary hotshots like Chris Shepherd.)

Visiting ShyKatz Café on Galveston Island, Historical Architecture, James Waters House

ShyKatz French toast with Bacon

“…ShyKatz Café is a laid-back place, with old-timey mismatched furniture and a paper towel roll in the center of each table to serve as napkins…” (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com - checks out food and historical architecture in Galveston. Learn about ShyKatz Café.)

Romano’s Pizza - Italian Restaurant - Vinny Quarto, Frank Fragale - History of Calabria Italy - Montrose Neighborhood Houston

Romano’s Fettuccine Frutti di mare

"...accustomed to grabbing food at Romano’s on nights Donnie didn’t cook, and I hadn’t a clue how much that ritual meant to me until the nail salon’s fire pole-axed it.( Virginia Billeaud Anderson informs readers that Romano's Pizza and Italian Restaurant re-opened. Vincenzo Quarto (Vinny) and Francesco Fragale (Frank), born to two sisters in Calabria Italy, Antoinette and Caterina, are dishing out exquisite food. Read fun history of Calabria.)

Eating Oysters at Topwater Grill in San Leon at Galveston Bay, Texas

Topwater Grill at Galveston Bay in San Leon

"...Donnie wanted fresh oysters for lunch, so we ran down to San Leon at Galveston Bay on the Texas coast..."

(BoudinandBourbon.com reports on eating oysters at Topwater Grill at Galveston Bay in San Leon Texas. Here Wally and Barbara Jakubas built their restaurant at April Fool Point Marina. San Leon managed to remain a small boozy fishing community.)

A Talk with George Graham of Acadianatable.com about his new cookbook "Fresh From Louisiana: The Soul of Cajun and Creole Home Cooking" - Interview

George Graham in his Kitchen. Courtesy George Graham

"...I poured a glass of bourbon and thought about George Graham..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson interviews George Graham about Acadianatable.com and his new cookbook Fresh from Louisiana: The Soul of Cajun and Creole Home Cooking. And learned about Graham's food marketing background which evolved into a wide array of marketing services such as content creation, food styling and photography and video production and ad placement.)

Ryan Baptiste - The Light Beyond The Blight - Redbud Gallery - Echoes of New Orleans

Ryan Baptiste, “Southern Hospitality,” 2018, Oil on canvas, 38 x 46

"...she told me she considered Ryan’s Baptiste’s paintings to be exceptional..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson interviewed Ryan Baptiste about his "Light Beyond the Blight" exhibition at Redbud Gallery. Ryan's light-filled images of human figures and New Orleans architecture allegorize spiritual essence.)

Bayview Inn on Vermillion Bay at Cypremort Point Louisiana - Cranking Up

Bayview Inn - Cypremort Point - Vermillion Bay - Louisiana

"...Bayview Inn at Cypremort Point on the Louisiana coastline has had miserable luck. Last summer Hurricane Barry walloped the establishment..." (After a hurricane forced the owners to rebuild, Bayview Inn at Cypremort Point on Vermilion Bay is reopening. The fuel dock, market and bar & grill with live music are back in business on Memorial Day weekend.)

Francis Bacon: Late Paintings - Museum of Fine Arts, Houston - A Tour with Alison de Lima Greene, Didier Ottinger Centre Pompidou

Francis Bacon, Triptych August 1972, 1972, oil and sand on canvas, Tate. © The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. / DACS, London / ARS, NY 2019

"...Conceivably it served Bacon for Dyer to be wasted in the Paris hotel room..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com previews the exhibition Francis Bacon: Late Paintings with MFAH curator Alison de Lima Greene, and Centre Pompidou’s Didier Ottinger.)

Martha Stewart Visits Lucullus Antiques - Patrick Dunne - New Orleans

     Martha Stewart and Patrick Dunne at Lucullus Antiques

"Aware of the publicity value of such a visit, Lucullus’ staff posted Martha’s picture as fast as a drunk tourist can eat a Lucky Dog..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson tells readers about Lucullus Antiques' new location in the Bywater section of New Orleans, where Martha Stewart recently visited owner Patrick Dunne and staff.)

Avesta Persian Grill's Pomegranate and Walnut Stew, Cyrus the Great, and Tajikistan

Avesta Persian Grill's wall mural with images of relief
carvings from the citadel of Persepolis

"Assyria, Greece, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Central Asia, parts of India, Cyrus hoped, would roll over, or spread their legs in exchange for favorable terms as tribute-paying satrapies and vassals." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com visits Avesta Persian Grill to taste the pomegranate and walnut stew called Fesenjān, a dish that dates back two and a half thousand years and was prepared in the Persian Empire's royal kitchens at Persepolis.)

Notes on Irises, Van Gogh, Walter Annenberg, Louisiana Politics - Essay

Pam Zuschlag, "Irises," Photograph taken la Louvre
Garden, Bonnieux, Provence, facebook 5-13-19

"...In 1987 Annenberg had a hankering to own van Gogh’s Irises (1889)..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com tells readers about Van Gogh's irises, Walter Annenberg's  painting of irises, and how the iris became the official Louisiana state wildflower.)

My Visit to Irene’s New Location - New Orleans French Quarter

Bar at Irene's - 529 Bienville - New Orleans

"...The moment I saw the “new” Irene’s brick walkway, the instant I stepped inside and saw the wooden wine barrels, I knew it was dumb to worry... (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com writes about Irene's move to its new location at 529 Bienville in New Orleans. Includes fun history of southern Sicily.)

A Closer Look - Christy Karll’s Painting “Swerve” - Interview

Christy Karll, Swerve, 2018, Oil on archive paper,
17 x 16 1/4 inches (framed), from Barbara Davis gallery

“...You bitch,” I replied.  Surrounded by inspiring architecture.  I on the other hand was in Houston..."

T-Coon’s Restaurant - Savage Breakfast - A Closer Look

T-Coon's Restaurant (Southern Breakfast) Eggs, Sausage, Biscuit and Grits

"..the reason lawyers and farmers and kids and tourists crowd into T-Coon’s Restaurant..." (Just a reminder that T-Coon's Restaurant in Lafayette Louisiana in packing them in for Southern-style breakfast - eggs, sausage, bacon, grits and a biscuit.)