This past weekend I was in San Francisco for The 8th Annual
Sketchfest. This was a two week long Comedy Festival with comic
performers ranging from Stand-up, One Person Shows, Improv Groups,
Sketch Companies and then there were shows that sort of defied
description. Some of those were the ones I took part in.
I was lucky enough to see a few shows besides our own. I saw
The Lampshades; the best fake lounge act I’ve seen in a long time. The
physical work they do is sublime and hilarious. I took a peek at
2-Headed Dog, but they were doing a sketch that had three men running
around in their underpants and little else. They were dancing in a
manner that had their peculiar distributions of body fat jiggle in a
way that caused me to run out of the theatre. I’m not saying I’m the
Venus DeMilo, but I don’t choose to subject anyone to the sight of my
sorry flesh sac.
The Theme Park Improv Show had Scott Adsit from 30 Rock and Oscar Nunez from The Office. They were outstanding, but what was really impressive was two of the performers in the troupe were the event promoters. You just never figure people that talented would have it together enough to pull something like this off. They did some of the best improv I’ve seen in a long time.
Recently I was fortunate to journey to Florence, a Renaissance jewel. I caught an Alitalia flight from Birmingham airport that is most convenient for short journeys between the UK and European continent. Flying via Milan, I found the seating aboard this Italian airline very comfortable and enjoyed being bussed to and from the plane. The seats are of grey leather and, although an airbus, quite roomy and spotless unlike so many other airlines I have flown on.
Most people go to Vermont to watch the leaves change colors in the fall but I like it in the spring when the leaves on the trees are green, 67 colors of green, so that the bonnets of the trees look like a jigsaw puzzle and the tulips are in bloom and the geraniums and the cherry blossom trees – there’s nothing fancy about Vermont, it’s all straight up plain flowers plainly blooming everywhere, as if the earth is starting fresh again after winter and toward the end of May it hits an optimum equilibrium even if it does rain every other day which if you’re only there for a day and a half isn’t very good odds, at least not of skipping the rain. But people in Vermont don’t mind, they just take out their umbrellas and keep on truckin’…. 
Anchorage, Alaska has some of the best restaurants in the world.
Especially if you like salmon. Years ago, I spent a summer in
Anchorage-it was the Exxon Valdez trial, and it went on for months. I
remember some things about the trial. I remember everything about the
dinners, which isn't particularly remarkable, as I had the exact same
thing-in different restaurants-every night (except for this one place
where I always ordered venison).
Open and become a part owner in a restaurant in Italy? Sure, why not?
That’s exactly what happened several years ago when chef Jeremiah
Tower and I decided to try our hand at operating a ristorante
in a small hill town in Umbria, Italy. What no one tells you before
you arrive to attempt such an endeavor are the hoops you must jump
through, and the circus-type feats you must attempt to get the
necessary licenses and permits to start a business in Italy as a
foreigner. Madonna! It was like trying to squeeze olive oil
out of Cararra marble. Endless meetings with lawyers, police chiefs,
and building inspectors and we still didn’t have the necessary permits
and documentation to operate a business.