Hmm...

Our latest copy of Gourmet arrived bright and early this morning--before breakfast, even. So we sat down at the table, cracked it open, admired features on Persian cuisine, mid-winter barbecueing, and the Danish new wave, then happened across the following advertising insert:



Okay, now we never, ever considered using "Experience the unprecedented" as a tagline, but, the funny thing is, just the other day, after I suddenly decided that our header needed some kind of accompanying image, I spent about an hour trying to locate a photograph that I'd seen once of a mile-long (or so) table that had been set up along a street in Ghent some years ago as some sort of vaguely Gordon Matta-Clark-esque performance piece (and an attempt to set a world record for the biggest sit-down dinner, if I'm not mistaken).

Anyway, I didn't realize this ad would touch such a nerve, but Michelle immediately flew into a blind rage* and tried to rip it to shreds upon seeing it, hence the torn corner you see in the picture. I had to jump in and physically separate her from the insert just so I could get a picture of the poor thing.

Finally I managed to convince her to "take the high road," that we were "better than this." And now that everything's calm again here at AEB headquarters, we'd just like to say, anytime you're ready, American Public Television/Lexus, we're ready for our close-ups.

aj

*In fact, I hadn't seen her this mad since she came across this gem



from an ad for Pintxo back in 2005.