The 84th dinner interview took place on December 29, 2015, with Michael Wood in Willerby, England. He’s an award-winning town crier who loves his work. Although Michael keeps the ancient art of town crying alive and well in his community, it’s just one of many unusual careers he’s enjoyed. During…
Charles Cecil Reforges Broken Sword
Revolution Studios, the software company co-founded by 127th dinner interviewee Charles Cecil, is getting plaudits for the recently released Broken Sword: Reforged — an update to a landmark adventure game first released in 1996. The new version features remastered graphics, improved audio, reworked scenes and more to provide a fresh…
Throwback Thursday 83: Cycling Through America
Ines Verbeke was born in the United States but raised in Belgium, and has always wanted to visit the country of her birth. So at the age of 25 she has launched an ambitious effort to cycle across America, starting in the Northeast. During a brief stop in Washington, DC,…
Jane Lynch & Kate Flannery Are Swingin’ Into Christmas
Actresses Jane Lynch and Kate Flannery — featured as the 119th dinner interview a few years ago — are hitting the road again with their popular festive show “A Swingin’ Little Christmas.” They’ll be joined by Tim Davis (Glee’s vocal arranger) and The Tony Guerrero Quintet for a show full…
Throwback Thursday 82: The Swiss Ambassador
In 2015, Martin Dahinden was the Ambassador of Switzerland to the United States. He was also the 83rd stranger to dine with me. His staff at the Swiss Embassy were incredibly generous to arrange an evening of a special menu for the two of us, taking place at the gorgeous Swiss…
Throwback Thursday 81: Night Of The DC Dead
Where were we? As I slowly get this site back up and running ahead of hopefully resuming dinner interviews later this year, one regular feature that’s returning is Throwback Thursday — a sequential look back at past dinners. The previous throwback update was in March 2021(!) when I shared memories…
Rest In Peace Matt Yee
Far too late in posting this sad news but I still wanted to pay tribute to the memory of singer and performer Matt Yee. Matt, the 96th stranger featured on this site, was diagnosed with liver cancer at the start of last year and unfortunately passed in December in his…
Quiz The Tired Old Queen At The Movies
Steve Hayes, also known as the “Tired Old Queen At The Movies,” has a one-man show next month in New York. He’ll be performing “Quiz The Queen” which promises to be “an evening of hilarity, surprises and unexpected anecdotes as we try and stump [Steve] by showing him various clips…
Meet Ben Claasen III At Artomatic
Ben Claassen III, the artist behind the comic DIRTFARM and the 43rd stranger featured on this site, is taking part in the ongoing Artomatic in Washington, D.C. It’s a multimedia arts festival now in its 25th year, with dozens of local artists exhbiting their work, along with a marketplace where…
Rest In Peace Burt Young
Actor Burt Young, perhaps best known for his recurring role as Paulie in the Rocky movie series, has died at 83. I had the incredible honor of meeting Burt for a very enjoyable afternoon in October 2011 for the 39th dinner interview. We met at his apartment in Port Washington,…