Bummed / saddened / AB will be missed...

Absolutely. Been a fan of his since "Kitchen Confidential". A natural storyteller who used his platform to give many people a voice.

I think he and Henry Rollins have the most fascinating second acts I can think of.

I don't think I've seen anything he's done, except commercials for his shows. Should I?

Yes. It’s all good, especially Parts Unknown. Kitchen Confidential was also a great book.

lakeroadster said:

I don't think I've seen anything he's done, except commercials for his shows. Should I?

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I would certainly say yes. I don't watch much TV, but my wife and I have watched his shows for years. He treated the people he met on his travels with respect, and let them tell their story.

His most recent show has an essay that goes with each episode that kind of sums up that episode. I'd recommend his West Virginia one linked below as a pretty honest account of who he was, and how he tried to understand and present a place/people/culture/cuisine even if it was different than his.

https://explorepartsunknown.com/west-virginia/bourdains-field-notes-west-virginia/

Thanks Chris and Neil.. we have Roku, I'll see what's available.

I really enjoyed Parts Unknown. It did a great job of reaching into everyday peoples of foreign cultures (without or within national borders) and cutting through or adding context to stereotypes and prejudices.

For a man whose show celebrated life in it's various forms and flavors, his was truly a sad end.

He was courageous, honest, cutting-edge... Taking his life just doesn't seem to fit... Sadly we will never know what/why...

Just one example of his continual support of people/causes: https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5b1a9f1ce4b0adfb82688801

Speaknoevil said:

He was courageous, honest, cutting-edge... Taking his life just doesn't seem to fit... Sadly we will never know what/why...

Just one example of his continual support of people/causes: https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5b1a9f1ce4b0adfb82688801

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His what or why is based on a mental disorder, chemical imbalances in the brain.

Steven said:

...chemical imbalances in the brain.

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We don't talk enough about this part, IMO.

I watched his show, I have some episodes recorded yet to see.
He went to place many of us will never go, treated princes and paupers with respect.
Also had an adequate amount of sarcasm.

M

MClark said:

I watched his show, I have some episodes recorded yet to see.
He went to place many of us will never go, treated princes and paupers with respect.
Also had an adequate amount of sarcasm.

M

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I watched very few of his shows; I cut cable several years ago. I’ve seen some on YouTube, including one he recorded in Butte, my adopted hometown. I enjoyed what I saw; his shows were more honest than many. I’m very sorry for his daughter, his partner, and his friends.
I’m also sorry that mental health issues aren’t easier to discuss, recognized, and better treated. We all have something going on sometime.

dhbarr said:

We don't talk enough about this part, IMO.

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"Have you tried, I dunno, just NOT having a chemical imbalance in your brain?"

"Just be 'normal' then you'll be fine."

Anyways...I always related to Anthony Bourdain. When I was young I liked him because he was a hard-eating, hard-drinking, hard-smoking cynic who had an amusing attitude and a way with words. I always loved his narration. As he grew older he became less of a misanthrope and more empathic. He explored a fascinating willingness to try new things, go new places, meet new people, eat and drink weird stuff, and all the while go "yeah what the hell, I'll give it a whirl." That rubbed off on me and sent me on adventures to every corner of America, China, Japan, Spain, Bermuda, Mexico, to experience new cultures, meet the people, eat the food and drink the drink no matter how odd. I think he helped fuel my sense of adventure and exploration throughout life and unlike any other "celebrity" to this point his absence leaves me legitimately saddened.

I knew he struggled with doubt and addiction when he was young, but for a long time now he seemed to be beyond that. He had a great life, a great career, a great daughter, got to eat, drink and smoke all over the world. It seemed like a fairy tale life to me. I find the fact that the doubt and sadness from his youth could come back and shatter that great life and ultimately drive him to suicide deeply troubling.

muddymooose said:

"Have you tried, I dunno, just NOT having a chemical imbalance in your brain?"

"Just be 'normal' then you'll be fine."

Anyways...I always related to Anthony Bourdain. When I was young I liked him because he was a hard-eating, hard-drinking, hard-smoking cynic who had an amusing attitude and a way with words. I always loved his narration. As he grew older he became less of a misanthrope and more empathic. He explored a fascinating willingness to try new things, go new places, meet new people, eat and drink weird stuff, and all the while go "yeah what the hell, I'll give it a whirl." That rubbed off on me and sent me on adventures to every corner of America, China, Japan, Spain, Bermuda, Mexico, to experience new cultures, meet the people, eat the food and drink the drink no matter how odd. I think he helped fuel my sense of adventure and exploration throughout life and unlike any other "celebrity" to this point his absence leaves me legitimately saddened.

I knew he struggled with doubt and addiction when he was young, but for a long time now he seemed to be beyond that. He had a great life, a great career, a great daughter, got to eat, drink and smoke all over the world. It seemed like a fairy tale life to me. I find the fact that the doubt and sadness from his youth could come back and shatter that great life and ultimately drive him to suicide deeply troubling.

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The problem is with people who are clinically depressed is they commonly medicate themselves with booze and drugs. Not a great cocktail. Fortunately for me I quit all this before I was diagnosed. Those that I saw in the hospital were not as fortunate.

I really enjoyed Bourdain’s show and am sad that a person with so much good fortune ended his life. But, he joins 45,000 other Americans (~125/day) who commit suicide every year. That number is staggering, and has been increasing over the past 20 years.

Autopsy shows no drugs, no alcohol.

Look at his girl friend. She has some serious issues.

grouch said:

Look at his girl friend. She has some serious issues.

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Guess he wouldn't be the first one to kill himself over a woman .

Not even close to what I was hinting at. She is heavily involved in satanism. I don’t think he killed himself at all.

grouch said:

Not even close to what I was hinting at. She is heavily involved in satanism. I don’t think he killed himself at all.

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Oh; interest theory...

My take...
Some reports say Bourdain was found hanged with a bathroom robe belt from the bathroom doorknob. There are three options... At 6'-4" the idea of Bourdain hanging himself directly from doorknob height is ludicrous--I'm 6'-2" and seated with my head nearly rests against a doorknob, let along getting enough slack to hang oneself. Another option is to tie the belt to the doorknob, throw the belt over top of the door, get on a stool, tie the belt around your neck and finally kick out the stool. Does this work, not really. A standard size men's bathroom robe belt is somewhere around 54" long. The doors in the hotel look to be a standard 6'-6"' in height (but if taller, it is even less likely). Say you allow 6" to tie the belt to the doorknob and run the belt up and over the top of the door; this allows only 4" for Bourdain to tie around his neck on the other side of the door--not happening. So, the final option is the "choking game" done by some teenagers. Tie belt to the doorknob. Put heels against the door and fall forward. Again does this work? For a shorter teenager, maybe, but for a 6'-4" man with that length belt, again, not likely. With Bourdain's height, falling forward approximately 3' would leave the belt primarily tensioning on his back/shoulders and being very ineffective in strangling him.

So the theory... With religious allegiances aside, Anthony Bourdain and his close association/devotion to actress Asia Argento exposed him to the underbelly of Hollywood like never before. Her vocal stand against Harvey Weinstein and other unnamed perpetrators was strongly supported by Bourdain. His investigative journalist nature led him deeper into the rabbit hole and he had been most recently been working on a piece to expose wide spread underage sex trafficking in the entertainment industry. Those in power did not want this out publicly and had planned to execute both Argento and Bourdain, but knowingly or unknowingly, Argento was able to extract herself from apparently repeated planned attempts over a number of months. Below is an excerpt from high-level entertainment industry lawyer the same day of the incident came to light:


In the end, the assassin(s) decided to go through with Bourdain's death alone and simply leave Argento with a warning message which she possibly even received a couple of hours before the act, subsequently resulting in her infamous ripped t-shirt F-Everyone tweet. Beyond that the assassin(s) staged the hanging in the hotel room, most likely in a ritualistic way as the combination of scarf/belt and bathroom doorknob have become a symbol for sex-related executions.

P.S. It seems Argento has ceased her #METOO dialog. Of course, this could be that she is in mourning; we'll see if the silence lasts. Interestingly Andy Spade wore a mouse mask after his wife Kate Spade died in a similar manner. Some say this was in deference to the owl, a higher level more powerful predatory group, and was Spade's way of showing submission; hoping his life would be spared.

Yup, that’s what I was hinting at.

Speaknoevil said:

My take...

​

In the end, the assassin(s) decided to go through with Bourdain's death alone and simply leave Argento with a warning message ...

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Yeah, the same assassin(s) that got Robin Williams and David Carradine.

Suicide by short-drop asphyxiation is the reason the police take away your belt and shoelaces before putting you in a cell.

And seriously, whether or not it is meant in jest, this speculation is in very poor taste.

jlabrasca said:

Yeah, the same assassin(s) that got Robin Williams and David Carradine.

Suicide by short-drop asphyxiation is the reason the police take away your belt and shoelaces before putting you in a cell.

And seriously, whether or not it is meant in jest, this speculation is in very poor taste.

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You mean you want this forum to only be about boring rocketry stuff?

That is why I changed my username and left behind 13,000 posts, because of people like you.

jlabrasca said:

Yeah, the same assassin(s) that got Robin Williams and David Carradine.

Suicide by short-drop asphyxiation is the reason the police take away your belt and shoelaces before putting you in a cell.

And seriously, whether or not it is meant in jest, this speculation is in very poor taste.

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Actually, looking up the term you use, you are right, you can kill yourself by kneeling and still have contact to the ground assuming you position the rope correctly (https://lostallhope.com/suicide-methods/hanging/short-drop/simple-suspension). Clearly you have much more experience at hanging than I do!

Carradine clearly had sexual issues going on with the way they found him. Robin Williams was definitely manic-depressive as attested to by family. So you think Anthony Bourdain was on the brink, ready to kill himself, with a new show in the works? devotion to a young daughter? statements of contentment within weeks of the act? And unlike the former two, why did officials not provide details of the scene and instead closed the case quickly and cremated the body?

You forgot Bob Crane.

grouch said:

You forgot Bob Crane.

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Although "bludgeoned to death with a camera tripod" is a bit different than hanging.

Oh that’s right, I forgot. For some reason I though he was found in a closet strung up by the neck.

jlabrasca said:

And seriously, whether or not it is meant in jest, this speculation is in very poor taste.

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This. The conspiracy theories are pretty crass.

Per my new username, I'm going to walk away from this thread. But clearly recent posters are people that don't know the essence of Anthony Bourdain: acceptance, learning, openness, questioning, investigation versus close-mindedness. Instead they post both with self-righteousness and broad brush glossing over life and events. Crass was the word used: stupid, insensitive, mindless, thoughtless, ignorant, witless, oafish, boorish, asinine, coarse, gross, graceless, tasteless, tactless, clumsy--thanks much! Hope you two get put on probation by the TRF monitors and not me. Given the prejudice shown, I assume it doesn't help to show my University of Chicago record, career accomplishments or, if you are Trump supporters, my 162 IQ?