When I was working on the Peregrino album I commuted from the Ruzafa neighborhood to Estudio Millennia in La Fontet de San Luis. The walk took 25 minutes and I…
A number of years ago I found myself in northern Argentina being chased through a grassland by a giant anteater. It was a large mammal with a tapered snout and…
It’s been one year since I launched my podcast about creativity. I learned so much from my amazing guests through these monthly conversations. And I’m sure the best is yet…
There’s a great club in Valencia, Spain called Bar Centro Excursionista where I’ve had some of my funnest gigs ever. While working on my latest album I learned how you…
When the lock down began in March of 2020 there was a nation-wide craze to purchase baby chicks for backyard food production. I waited nearly two hours on a Saturday…
Bull fights are still common in many cities across Spain. We were given tickets to see a few corridas in the historic Plaza de Toros in the heart of Valencia.…
I must confess that I am sometimes at a loss when it comes to understanding the performance and conceptual aspects of contemporary art. Call me old fashioned but I wonder…
Here’s the thing: I’d like to be more than just a well-trained monkey. This is one of the reasons I’ve spent so much time in situations of “higher learning,” seeking…
Pyromania, like paella, is deeply engrained in Valencian culture. The city has a Spring carnival tradition known as the Fallas. It lasts for three weeks with daily explosions in the…
We humans are such habitual and adaptable creatures. It is amazing how quickly landmarks of a new city can become part of your mental map: the rotisserie chicken storefront that…
Navigating Madrid’s shopper clogged streets during the mid-January rebajas sales season was challenging. Excessive concentrations of human beings that live to consume are not my thing. This was my third…
There is much to be said about off season travel. Most obvious is the lack of crowds, even with the risk of cold or inclement weather. Prices are better and…
“You’re an expatriate. You’ve lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You spend all your time talking, not…
Sometimes a lack of planning plays in your favor. We waited to see the Giza pyramids until the end of our trip. Looking back, and through no foresight of our…
The date palm is integral to Egyptian village life. The tree grows everywhere and its every part is utilized: fruits as a food staple; wood beams for building; fronds for…
Our trip to Egypt was a last minute decision. Quince had always wanted to see the pyramids. I missed seeing the Grateful Dead play there in 1979 when I was…
Ibiza is an island of pines, rocky cliffs, secluded bays and blue waters, in the Balearic Sea off the eastern coast of Spain. We travelled there in early December, with…
Upon first impression, Valencia was much larger, busier, and grungier than we imagined. This time we’d driven into Spain via a tunnel drilled many miles through the Pyrenees. Leaving behind…
What do you get when you mash up twenty centuries of architecture and city building with all the complexities and luxuries of contemporary living? You get some profoundly kooky shit…
ambrosia — (/æmˈbroʊʒə/, Greek: ἀμβροσία, "immortality") food or drink of the Greek gods, often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumes it Many years ago I was offered…
We are largely making this trip up as we go. With friends’ homes to visit and their helpful suggestions, there have been destinations. But it’s often the interstitium — the…
We drove south from Bourdeaux through the southern wine country, stopping at La Brède for a tour of the castle of Montesqueu, the political philosopher and judge who apparently chose…
I’d been butchering French for half a month before we arrived in Bordeaux for a one week stay and the bonus of attending morning classes at a language school. “Pardon…
Jean Prouvé’s Prefab Buildings As timing would have it, we somehow escaped the incendiary maelstrom that descended on Northern California’s Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties in the early…
We’ve been wandering the beautiful stone flower that is Paris for almost a week, ten miles a day, often without a destination, until our feet ache and we have to…
A few weekends ago, I retreated with my Cahootian conspirators to a house deep in the hills of Mendocino County. Four miles up a dirt road, a few miles off…
