Samstag, Dezember 23, 2006

The Straight Story

The first time I got into the US was in 2000. On the way to Kahului I had to stay in San Francisco for 6 hours. I hate flying. No, I don't just hate it, it definitely makes me feel like dying. Having come through an unbelievably long flight from Frankfurt to San Francisco I finally had my first drink on that airport bar in San Francisco. A kind of cowboy sitting next to me saying something about "Seattle" that could have sounded like "sit down there..." made me feel like a true survivor. That made me happy: Not talking, but having conversation. That was new to me and kind of thrilling. I truely loved it. I went on - having 6 hours to kill - and got into that restaurant. No, I did not really get in, first I had to wait. And then the waiter got me in. That's the way they kill their time up/down there in the US. As I found out. Had myself a sandwich. What a great kind of sandwich. I was enlightened. Never had that kind of sandwich before. I did not only love it, I kept it within my memory for all the time being. Believe me: It was just GORGEOUS.
I went on - still had a lot of time to spend - and got into that other bar. A neatly dressed waitress asked me: "Single shot or double shot?" (I had asked for a wodka-orange.) and I: "Double shot." And that was it. But not the last. I had some of these double shots. Wow.
No, I was no more afraid of flying, I was just drunk.
And I still have no idea of how I got into that plane to Kahului. The first beer on that plane I spilled all over myself - and a little bit over my neighbour. "Sorry..." I mumbled, he just looked straight ahead the European way... I felt at home again. A look at my flight ticket told me, it would only take 1 and a half hours to get to Maui. What a mistake. I had totally forgotten about the time shift between San Francisco and Hawaii...
They started to show a movie. About an old guy driving a very very very long way to his brother on a lawn mower. No, not a tractor, a lawn mower. It was a David Lynch film. Called "The Straight Story".
I loved it immediately. It was perfect. It was telling. It was wise. It was drunk. I was drunk.
Today I saw this movie again on TV. It's still perfect. It's still telling. It's still wise. It got me drunk.
What a gorgeous piece of art.

posted by chris gelbmann @ 12:17 AM