![[tango passion]](/public/2003/05/milonga.jpg)
O.T. © Jan-Hinrich Fehlis / CC
So we were going to our tango lesson, and Dora was working late so we were going to meet each other at Jason’s house. And when I got there, it turned out that he was having dinner guests, and dinner was running late, so I sat down with them on the back porch and chatted. It was Jason and Gulden, Farnoosh and Andy whom we’d seen once or twice in class, and Fabián Salas and Carolina del Rivero. They quickly learned that Dora and I were dancing a tango at our wedding, and I quickly learned that Fabián was in The Tango Lesson, one of Dora’s all-time favorite movies, and the movie from which our particular song (I Am You
) was chosen. I got to hear the history of how that song made it into the movie in the first place, and that Fabián and everyone else in the cast hated it, or rather they loved the music but hated the vocals sung on top of it.
Then Dora showed up, running late, but pleasantly surprised that she wasn’t really late because there was nothing to be late for. Coming straight from work, she hadn’t eaten, a situation which was quickly remedied. Fabián was manning the grill and was thrilled to find someone on which to pawn off the extra chicken and peppers and eggplant. We sat around, under the perfectly clear North Carolina sky, eating and drinking and shooting the shit and telling stories and dirty jokes.
Fabián and Carolina are driving down to Miami today — 14 hours — due to a screw-up in their travel agenda. They spend most of their time travelling, teaching and performing all over the world. And the rest of the year they organize a big tango event, the Congreso Internacional de Tango Argentino. Fabián gave us a brief history of tango in Argentina in the 20th century, which was apparently banned for many years under dictatorships and only recently re-emerged and began flourishing in the early 1980’s after Argentina became democratic. Carolina told a story from a movie that no one could remember, about a rude waiter dealing with a man whose French toast was cold, by warming it in his pants. Which led the way to Jason telling a story, which he swore was true, about Bangkok strippers who popped balloons from across the room with a dart in their… well, anyway, we told a lot of stories, and we laughed a lot, and then we had homemade mango ice cream and fresh strawberries.
Some days there are no lessons, there are only stories.
Was the film you were thinking of ‘Road Trip’? IIRC, the waiter licked the sugar off the toast and then warmed it in his pants not before exposing it to his flatulence. Gross.
Comment by Philip — Wednesday, May 14, 2003 @ 7:26 pm
Yes, I believe that was it.
Comment by Mark — Wednesday, May 14, 2003 @ 7:30 pm
Having worked in restaurants before, I would *never* be rude to anyone working at a place that supplied me with food (unless I was sure I would never have to eat there again). I’ve seen some very horrible things done to the food served to rude customers.
BTW, you’re the first blog I’ve posted to. I’ve been holding out until my own was set up, but now I’ve set myself a time limit instead. Hopefully this will motivate me to get it done, since I’ve been procrastinating since February.
Comment by Philip — Wednesday, May 14, 2003 @ 7:49 pm
The strippers who shoot the dart from parts unknown is probably from the movie “Fudoh”, A.K.A. “Gokukô sengokushi”:
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0123092
It’s a great, if not silly, movie. (it is most certainly *not* a film)
Comment by Eli Sarver — Wednesday, May 14, 2003 @ 8:08 pm
The story about the Bangkok strippers is true!
My wife and I had heard similar stories when we were backpacking in Thailand so we decided to go to Phat Pong (the street where said clubs are) and see for ourselves. And that’s not all they can do. They insert and remove razor blades, no damage done. They can pick things up through a straw and they fire ping pong balls at targets the customers hold up.
Personally I found it pretty amusing but my wife was amazed. She never thought the stories we had heard could be true.
Everyone should try to visit Thailand at least once. Not for the strippers though. It is a great experience that doesn’t kill your pocket book if you don’t want it to.
Comment by Anonymous — Wednesday, May 14, 2003 @ 11:19 pm
A-dart-in-the-what-now? Straws? Ping-pong balls? Razors?
Yeesh.
And considering a physical is 25 cents and the bribe to complete the physical is fifty, I can assure you that Thailand doesn’t break the bank. (A guy I know that went over to Thailand threw out the results of a $300-plus physical here only to discover that he needed…well, you can fill out the rest of the story.)
Comment by kami — Thursday, May 15, 2003 @ 12:16 am
Better late than pregnant.
Comment by Dan Isacs — Thursday, May 15, 2003 @ 10:40 am
There is a great “ping pong ball” scene in “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.” In fact, there is a great subplot revolving around a woman with a ping pong ball fetish and her husband who was trying his hardest to keep her away from ping pong balls.
Don’t ask, just watch the movie :)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0109045
Comment by Adrian — Thursday, May 15, 2003 @ 11:24 am
Were the peppers and eggplant grilled to? I’d love recipe.
Comment by pat — Thursday, May 15, 2003 @ 12:31 pm
Strippers in Juarez Mexico do the same and similar things. My favorite was shooting ping pong balls across the room. The object was to have the balls land in customers drinks at the bar.
Comment by filchyboy — Thursday, May 15, 2003 @ 2:12 pm