A Comedian

I think I've mentioned a few times that I've not traveled much out of the country.  In fact, I believe I once said that my only trip was to Haiti, in 1984 (or thereabouts).  Not true; I was in Bermuda a few years ago, by very rocking boat.  The only time I've flown is Haiti.  Tony Bourdain's been there.

Now, Tony Bourdain is an acquired taste, so I'm told.  I wouldn't know, as I've been impressed with his style of reportage from the beginning.  This show is far more sober, still snarky, but not so with the people of Haiti.  He doesn't travel far; only up the mountain to Petionville.  The show is really about Port Au Prince, not Haiti.  That's as it should be.

He did a piece on the Israeli attack on Beirut back in 2006, but that wasn't on purpose.  He just happened to be there when the attack happened.  The first few days of the shoot went normally.  Then all hell broke loose.  He turned to reportage.

In the aftermath of the earthquake, he goes.  I've no idea why he thought of it, but he begins the episode reading "The Comedians", Graham Greene's novel set in a fictionalized version of the Hotel Oloffson in downtown Port Au Prince.  We stayed up the mountain, in Petionville, at the Montana.  A bit of irony:  the Montana was (yes, past tense) up the mountain some few miles and farther from the quake's center, made of concrete, and pancaked by the quake; while the Oloffson is in the middle of the city, which is to say, almost on top of the epicenter, made of sticks, and still standing.  We ate there, and sat on the balconies. 

You have to watch this show.  Check the Travel Channel for the schedule.  If this doesn't get an Emmy, there's not a shred of justice.  "60 Minutes" rarely makes such reportage.  The Beirut episode was nominated, but didn't win.  That episode was serendipitous, this one was very much on purpose.  See it.