Corsican Culinary Delights, The Popol Vuh, The Rise and Fall of the Maya & Mawaan Rizwan's Juice!

“The aesthetic experience is a simple beholding of the object . . . you experience a radiance. You are held in aesthetic arrest.” - Joseph Campbell

Aesthetic Arrest is our weekly dip into the Epicurean pleasures we’ve been enjoying lately. Cheers to that!

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Ryan Wildstar’s Recommendations:

Reading: Journal of a Landscape Painter in Corsica by Edward Lear

Download a free PDF via Archive.org or purchase a 1st edition here!

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Listening: One Drop of Kindness by Yungchen Lhamo

Purchase or Stream (multiple platforms)

• Official Site of Yungchen Lhamo

• One Drop of Kindness (via Real World Records)

• One Drop of Kindness Foundation (established in 2004 by Yungchen Lhamo)

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Looking: Edward Lear’s Paintings of Corsica 

1) The Forest of Bavella, Corsica (1868); 2) The Forest of Valdoniello, Corsica (1869); 3) The Forest of Bavella (c. 1878-1888); 4) Calvi, Corsica; 5) The Pass of Bavella, Corsica; 6) Grosseto, Corsica (1868)

• Edward Lear in Corsica (via Eddie Playfair)

• Edward Lear’s Bavella Pictures (via A Blog of Bosh: The Edward Lear Home Page)

• Edward Lear, Grosseto, Corsica (via A Blog of Bosh: The Edward Lear Home Page)

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Viewing: Rise and Fall of the Maya (National Geographic)

• Nat Geo Boards Doc Series Featuring Largest Mayan Ruins Ever Discovered (via Deadline)

• What really caused the collapse of the Maya civilization? (via National Geographic)

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Tasting: Le Carbet Comptoir à Huîtres (86 Rue Cardinal Fesch, Ajaccio, Corsica, +33 4 95 73 19 67)

1) Oysters Diana from Corsica; 2) Oysters from the Île d'Oléron; 3) Pommes Frites; 4) Mussels with Cream Sauce [Photos by Ryan Wildstar & Ryan Elston]

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Ryan Elston’s Recommendations:

Reading: Popol Vuh: A Retelling by Ilan Stavans (illustrations by Gabriela Larios)

Purchase here.

• Scholar’s mission: help modern readers discover a Mayan creation story (via Mexico News Daily)

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Listening: La Gran Diversión by Roberto Fonseca

Purchase or Stream (multiple platforms)

• Official Site of Roberto Fonseca

• “La Gran Diversión”: Roberto Fonseca’s Personal Ode to Cuban Music of the 1930s (via World Music Central)

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Looking: The Art of Gabriela Larios

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• Official Site of Gabriela Larios / Instagram / Etsy

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Viewing: Juice — created by, written by & starring Mawaan Rizwan, co-starring Russell Tovey, Nabhaan Rizwan, Shahnaz Rizwan & Jeff Mirza (BBC)

• ‘It’s cheap therapy, innit!’: comedian Mawaan Rizwan on family, adulthood and his brilliant new TV series (via The Guardian)

• Juice’s Mawaan Rizwan: ‘Casting my family felt like the right thing to do’ (via BBC)

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Tasting: Epic Dinner Party with Friends in Our Corsican Villa!

1) Alan's Seafood Salad; 2) Cheryl's Grilled Vegetables; 3) Alan's Soubise Rice; 4) Ryan Wildstar's Dijon Chicken; 5) A Corsican Cheese Platter from the Marcatu D'Aiacciu; 6) Desserts from the Le Bon Pain Purtichju in Porticcio, Corsica [Photos by Ryan Wildstar & Ryan Elston]

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That’s it for this week! But we want the dinner party to continue! So each week we are asking a “dinner party” question for everyone joining us here at our table. Last week, we asked: “What’s YOUR favorite street food? And most importantly, which city does it best?” Here are some of the great responses from the comments:

• Ryan Elston chose falafel in Paris!

• Ryan Wildstar chose taco trucks in Los Angeles!

• kde chose crêpes in Paris!

• Katie Kleinhesselink chose green chili in Mexico City!

Thank you everyone for your wonderful responses! That was last week . . . but we don't want this week's dinner party to end either!

So here is this week's question for the table:

In the last two weeks, we’ve been busy visiting ancient ruins in Rome and Corsica, and on this week’s podcast we had several recommendations revolving around the civilization of the ancient Maya.

So, our question for the table this week is:

If you could travel back in time and visit ONE ancient civilization, what would it be?

Tell us your choice in the comments and we’ll share some of your responses on next week’s podcast!

Also, don't forget to stop by The Epicurean Vagabonds Substack on Wednesdays, to check out our revamped Mid-Week Libations! Now with audio segments featuring Ryan & Ryan!

And thank you for joining us for Season Two of Aesthetic Arrest!

Cheers to that!