cNutgroist

That's a clear case of serendipidididipididdipity in't it? I go meet the flemish force of lowland nature that is the bald Belgo-man and it turns out he's never tasted Guinness before so I act like his protector and take him through the rituals, all semi-made-up by me, and put the fear of god into him with tales of minerally, ironic (as in 'tasting of iron', right?), meaty, peaty, creamy degustatory experiences and i allow him to finally lift his glass ('wow! half a litre, right?') and of course he loves it. Straight off, just loves it. Clearly he's Belgian. I'd forgotten that Belgians basically ARE beer. They're born with the taste, we just acquire it after we've been sick on Southern Comfort and cheap cider. If then. So he insists we stay for a while, even though I made it a personal goal to take only one half of an hour for this so I could get home and work again. But we end up in deep conversation and it strikes me, very early on, that of course we don't know eachother at all. Sure, we pledged eachother eternal brotherhood back at the xmas do but really he doesn't remember a thing about it and i wish i didn't. Yes, he's a fascinating guy, good company and genuinely interested in you and the world around you, but he's got an edge and we certainly danced around it for a while. Illness, cloning, fatigue, the mongols, chechnya, daniel pearl, london, new york, rome, brussels, beer, wine, diet and many other things seeped through but what absolutely shocked me and, i think for the first time, was a genuine 'i'll be blogging this' moment was when he mentioned, casually, that he'd never seen Star Wars. And I quote,

'I seen some things, you know, like some 'beam me up, scotty' btu it's all just stupid shit, you know, not like reality at all. I like that jodie foster movie but it's got some grounding in the real world, right? not just like a whole new universe, i hate that. and my family hates it too.'

I was lost for words so i did what always do when words fail me: i fail them right back. i had to explain to him that it was unusual. he didnt get it. i asked him if he'd eaten at mcdonalds. 'of course'. and have you heard the music of elvis? 'sure,of course i have'. then how on earth have you managed to miss Star Wars all these years?

I never got a straight answer.


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