Andy

I am reading "The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again)"
What an amazing cat that guy was. At one point in the book he is musing about restaurants in New York whose food gets worse and worse but the prices go up and they get trendy. They don't sell food anymore they sell "atmosphere". Wow thats true! And he loves America so much. No wonder.

For we are the greatest in the world at selling atmosphere and it always amazes me when i leave the US at how that atmosphere so finely crafted back home is everywhere and for every occasion. On Santa Fe a retail mall plays John Mayer in the concourse, but in the jean shop its Q-tip with his hip-hop light. Something for every occasion. I am fine with this. Everyone seems happy with it around here as well. I mean-i am glad that they are not making up some phony mash-up of Argentinian indigenous culture (whatever that is). What do you want- those Peruvian pan flutists you see on street corners all over the world. Those guys!

Even if in Buenos Aires they name their neighborhoods Palermo Soho, Palermo Hollywood, and i heard that Palermo Brooklyn is where all the expat artists are, they are striving for something and i am glad that the US gets it right when they put IT all together and make that THING that everyone wants. It always looks better on the other side of the fence. Everyone needs a passport.

Maybe its better when the most aspirational atmosphere you can dream of is not in your own back yard. Maybe thats why immigrants in the US work so hard, push their kids to read books, and make a grab at the real thing even if its only an atmosphere, an illusion. Barbie, Hello Titty, 100 Marilyns in different Crayola Colors, Campbell Soup- just a wig and a little cosmetic sugery and you're almost there...