The Hammock Papers: Hugh Johnson.

24 December 2010

Hugh Johnson.

Ritual.

Respect.

Reason.

These tenets are central to appreciating, producing, and enjoying the art of food.

Hugh Johnson is my hero. His pamphlet, How To Enjoy Wine provided the foundation of my knowledge and appreciation of the glories of wine ... this useful education comes with a healthy dose of humor and pretension is 86ed.

I recently found episodes of a public broadcasting series that he did back in the 80s. They are fascinating. There are more to come but these are the thirst, I mean first four episodes. They'll help get the bottle open and choose a glass (if you feel the need) ... the rest is pretty simple, right?

Pour a glass (make sure to "polish it vigorously") and enjoy. Cheers.

Episode 1, Opening a bottle

Episode 2, How to extract a broken cork

Episode 3, Opening a bottle of Champagne

Episode 4, Choosing a glass

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MARCUS AURELIUS

"Is your cucumber bitter? Throw it away. Are there briars in your path? Turn aside. That is enough. Do not go on and say, 'Why were things of this sort ever brought into this world?' neither intolerable nor everlasting - if thou bearest in mind that it has its limits, and if thou addest nothing to it in imagination. Pain is either an evil to the body (then let the body say what it thinks of it!)-or to the soul. But it is in the power of the soul to maintain its own serenity and tranquility."

VINCENT van GOGH

"What am I in the eyes of most people? A nonentity or an oddity or a disagreeable person — someone who has and will have no position in society, in short a little lower than the lowest. Very well — assuming that everything is indeed like that, then through my work I’d like to show what there is in the heart of such an oddity, such a nobody. This is my ambition, which is based less on resentment than on love in spite of everything, based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion. Even though I’m often in a mess, inside me there’s still a calm, pure harmony and music. In the poorest little house, in the filthiest corner, I see paintings or drawings. And my mind turns in that direction as if with an irresistible urge. As time passes, other things are increasingly excluded, and the more they are the faster my eyes see the picturesque. Art demands persistent work, work in spite of everything, and unceasing observation."

DAN CAMPBELL