Interviewing strangers over a meal since 2008 (as featured in the Washington Post)
New Orleans-based t-shirt company Storyville is taking entries through Nov. 23 for its latest monthly contest to design a tee. November’s theme is “Black & Gold: Encore” — a second chance to craft a t-shirt dedicated to the primary colors of the city’s football team the Saints. I interviewed Storyville’s…
Click here or on the picture below for part two of my two-part interview with character actor and storytelling writer Stephen Tobolowsky, which took place at a diner in Los Angeles. In the first part, Stephen shared anecdotes about his extensive acting career. In the second part, he describes how…
Stephen Tobolowsky knows how to tell a story. And he’s got many of them to share. The character actor — perhaps best known for his role as overbearing insurance salesman Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day — was happy to talk during a lengthy breakfast last month in Los Angeles. In…
If you’ve seen the television show Glee, or any of Christopher Guest’s fake documentary comedies, or pretty much any big TV show or movie in the last few decades, then you’ve seen Michael Hitchcock’s work as an actor and writer. Michael, who lives in Los Angeles, is currently hard at…
The elaborate question mark tattoos below belong to Jesse Smith, who struggled for a long time with doubts about his Christian upbringing. The uncertainties were so great that they almost drove him to suicide — until he discovered the hallucinogen DMT. Although a widely banned substance, one church in Santa…
“Well, here’s to us.” — Jaws in Moonraker Sad to read tonight that Richard Kiel, perhaps best known as the villainous Jaws in two Roger Moore 007 movies, died this afternoon. He was my 51st dinner interviewee. We met in Washington, DC, last November while he was taking part in…
Living in Washington, DC, means it’s only a short subway or car ride to Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia. It’s a nice place to visit and has a host of wonderful restaurants serving everything from soul food to fine dining. But I don’t get there enough. So I was glad…
New Orleans is an amazing city. Outstanding food, some of the best cocktails in the States, great live music, beautiful architecture, friendly people — these are just a handful of its many perks. I first visited the Crescent City in May 2004, more than a year before Hurricane Katrina hit…
Anyone who grew up watching the incredibly popular children’s show Sesame Street recognizes the theme tune immediately. Several kids sing the question “Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?” After my latest meal with a stranger, I know the answer. Turns out the puppets…
There’s a pretty straightforward headline for you: today’s update is interview 61, my night out in New York City with actor/realtor/website owner Matt Bauman. Click on the picture above or on this link to read about our dinner at Italian restaurant Locanda Verde in the city’s Tribeca neighborhood. During our…