Margarita Pracatan, the Cuban singing sensation with a better grasp on joie de vivre than your average French person, remains one of my favorite strangers interviewed for this site. I first saw her back in the UK in the mid-1990s on a television show hosted by raconteur/author/critic/everyman Clive James, and…
Ben On The Mend
Time for some good news. Apparently Ralph Archbold, Philadelphia’s most well-known Benjamin Franklin impersonator, is on the mend following his stroke last year. Regular readers of this site (hello mum and dad) will know that a little under a year ago I interviewed Ralph over dinner in the City of…
Interview 16: Tea With Teresa
Today’s dinner with a stranger is actually brunch with a stranger. But I felt that “Brunching With Strangers” was an awkward title for a website, so I’m going to say that, technically, the meal I had counts as a dinner. Right? Right. Anyway, by clicking here you can read about…
Delayed Festivities
Here’s the third and final (mercifully, I’m sure) video of Margarita Pracatan and I attempting various festive songs. I know it’s a little out of date. This time round we’re singing “Feliz Navidad” with two key elements. First, we’d had quite a lot of wine by this point. Second, neither…
On The Road To Somewhere
Hello again! Hope you had a good time over Christmas. Later this week I’ll be uploading the rather belated third festive music video I recorded with Margarita Pracatan. In the meantime, a short update on my travel plans this year. I’ve updated the list of places I intend on visiting…
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, etc.
I’m heading home to England for Christmas and won’t be updating this site until 2010. I know, you’re devastated. But stop the sadness and dry your tears because I’m leaving you with a splendid festive gift. Here’s the second of the three recent videos I recorded with Cuban singing sensation…
Interview 15: Learning About Jack
Another update? Oh my! Here’s another dinner interview, this time in New York City with actor/teacher Jack Freiberger. Click here or here or even here (hint: all the links lead to the same place) to learn about his work developing a one-man stage show (running off-Broadway until January) that merges…
In The Festive Spirit
Back from another weekend in New York City and two fun interviews. More on the first of those two interviews later this week, but in the meantime enjoy this video that I made with Margarita Pracatan during last weekend’s visit. Yes, I reunited with the Cuban singing sensation from my…
Interview 14: Hocus Pocus
Let me work some magic…abracadabra, here’s a new interview! This time I’m back in Washington, DC, for an interview with magician Michael Chamberlin. Click on the picture above or that link in the preceding sentence to learn about this Maryland-born magician, and also to watch a rather splendid video of…
Philadelphia Freedom
I have zero reason for using that headline other than the fact I was recently in Philadelphia for a weekend visit and the Elton John song “Philadelphia Freedom” came to mind. Moving on swiftly, I didn’t have any dinners with strangers in the City of Brotherly Love but I and…