Word: plebeians
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Almost immediately, however, the intellectuals' appreciation of some pop began to lose its prickly ironic edge. Robert Venturi, the father of architectural postmodernism, was not joking in Learning From Las Vegas (1972), his analysis-cum-celebration of neon, billboards and America's plebeian pop architecture. Soon the creators of kitsch were sophisticated enough to make fun of themselves even as they were creating new kitsch. The producers of TV's Batman (1966-68) played up the primary-color silliness for camp effect. "Charlie's Angels was great camp," says the show's co-producer, Aaron Spelling, "and the audience accepted...
Specialties that deserve an honorable place on the American table include kulebyaka, the glorious salmon pie described by Chekhov as "shameless in its nakedness, a temptation to sin"; pirozhki, the more plebeian meat or vegetable pies; kidney and dill pickle soup; Azerbaidzhan lamb patties; veal stew with cherries; Ukrainian honey cake; smetannik, a rich pie of sour cream, jam and nuts; and the celebrated Guriev kasha, a thickened compote of brandied fruits. To round out a Russian banquet, Goldstein provides instructions for a dozen deliciously flavored vodkas, and with them a toast to the meal: Eshte, eshte na zdorovye...
...Louis in his prime, or a 20-game loser burning the ball past the lordly New York Yankees of the Babe Ruth era. For the sailing cognoscenti along the gilt-edged waterfront of Newport, R.I., an upset of such proportions is a very real possibility. Not in anything so plebeian as boxing or baseball, to be sure, but in the patrician world of yachting, where, over the din of clinking champagne glasses, the chitchat is about fears that the longest winning streak in sports is about to end. After 132 years, the U.S. could finally lose the America...
...years ago, the ultrachic restaurants of America were almost exclusively French. Today, on the smart streets of Manhattan, Washington, Chicago and Beverly Hills, three-star cafes are filled with the pungent aromas of Naples and Bologna. Pasta vincit ora/na/Not only the familiar, plebeian spaghetti, macaroni and ravioli, but more than 150 forms of Mediterranean batter, from agnolotti to ziti, have landed in fancy dress on elegant menus. Indeed, just about everywhere, restaurants and cooking schools dedicated to those al dente squares and rounds and ribbons of pearly paste are subverting meat-and-taters America. Exclaims Master Cook James Beard...
...Frenchmen had never experienced the transfer of presidential power from one side of the political fence to the other, and they were not sure what to expect after Giscard's regal exit. As it turned out, François Mitterrand's inauguration attempted to set a deliberately plebeian tone. France's new Socialist President arrived at the Elysée Palace dressed in a plain, dark flannel suit and a red tie. On hand to greet him at the top of the steps of the presidential palace was Giscard, who, after a brief handshake, took his successor...