Alrighty then - sounds like my son. A strange lad - he usually only has to hear a character a time or two before he's walking around interjecting their dialogue in the midst of otherwise normal conversations....
Dining in Darkness
I think Catherine Tate may be suffering from multiple personality disorder. She plays every character on her show from a scatter-brained teenager to a Nan withAlzheimer's.
That's the first I've heard of it. Apparently I'm going to have to check this out!
Is Ellen always that sadistic? Wow - I kinda like it!
Oh, Harold. Lol - I hearby award you the honor of First Eye-Roll of the Day!
In addition to Welsh coal mining having it first, my cousin in Penclawdd tells me that this fad was quite popular above ground in Swansea and Cardiff during the Blitz.
This phenomena has become so popular here that the NFL did a test run during the last Super Bowl XLVII. Reportedly, the extra-sensory experience for the fans was only a marginal reason for the experiment. They hoped, it seems, that it might improve ref's calls during the game. The total blackout only helped slightly.
We've had at least one restaurant like that here too. As I can't cope with being in the dark at any time, it's definitely not for me. A cousin of mine said she was planning to go but I don't know if ever through with it. Harold makes a good point about coal-miners.
Hmmmmm...no background muzak. Pity! One might thrill to the strains of Bruce Springsteens "Dining In The Dark" as one filled ones lap with spaghetti and speckled ones tshirt with pasta sauce.
It may be new in Zurich, Berlin and NY but I remember something similar back in the 80's in Riverside when the electricity got cut off for non payment of the power bill. As I recall, eating cold beans out of a can in total darkness got old very quickly.
There is also the laundry question. Vittles can become unruly when the lights go out. Do they provide bibs at these establishments?
It began in Zurich, then moved up to Berlin, back to Paris then across the Channel to Llundain (London)--jumped over the big Pond into NYC then out to San Francisco, down to Los Angeles and may be coming to a darkened building near you. It's called "Dans Le Noir?" or "in the dark?" The idea is to go to a very expensive restaurant which is totally dark inside--no lights are allowed (including the glowing screens of smartphones). The waiters are blind (a positive on the employment side). They lead you to your table, recite the menu, take your order (presumably without writing it down), bring your food and then you dine in absolute darkness. It's supposed to enhance your remaining senses of touch, smell, taste and hearing. The latter sense especially tunes in to the crunch, smack, squish, slurp of food and drink in the process of being masticated and imbibed. Lovely, I'm sure.
Although this new dining adventure began in Europe in 1998 it is still regarded, especially here in the USA, as avant-garde. I don't want to belabor the point, but sometimes it seems the term avant-garde, itself,is getting a little tired and outdated. You'd think the avant-garde crowd might consider being a little more innovative when it comes to language! Old terms like "groovy" or "cool" or "rad" may be trite, but they're the "new kids on the block" compared to "avant-garde."
Nonetheless, in Wales the experience of "dining in the dark" is nothing new. We had it long before Zurich or Berlin or Paris. It was called coal mining. And the most popular dish was Cornish Pasties.
When Ellen DeGenerous first heard about this new "dans le noir" experience, she sent two of her staff to experience it firsthand at Los Angeles' latest fashionable restaurant called Opaque.
updated by @harold-powell: 11/11/15 10:38:49PM
