IT’S my pleasure to announce that I’ve finally accumulated the third SAG/AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) Union Talent Voucher required to graduate from non-union to union actor. Qualifying to join SAG/AFTRA is an important stepping stone in the life of an actor, whether one chooses to exercise the right or not. For me, it represents yet another step in my acting career.

What it’s supposed to represent is recognized acting experience a...

WHAT’S the difference between Chow Mein and Chop Suey? Gotcha there, didn’t I? So, in my world:

According to TheSpruceEats, Chow Mein, (in Mandarin “ch’ao mien” which means “stir-fried noodles”) is the more authentic of the two, having originated in Northern China. If it doesn’t contain something stir-fried along with boiled noodles, it’s not Chow Mein — https://www.thespruceeats.com/chop-suey-and-chow-mein-4077054. “Chow mein is an established recipe where noodles are ...

WHEN was the last time you picked a tomato, cucumber, carrot or peach right off the plant and thanked the plant for sharing its bounty? During my last trip to Japan, just before COVID set in, I visited the apple orchards of Iida, Nagano Prefecture, and walking a field with the farmer, heard him thank the tree after picking an apple for me to sample. And what an apple it was. Large, ripe, succulent and sweet. When I asked him his secret to success, he said it was because he always thanked the ...

WITH “Putin’s War” in Ukraine becoming increasingly destructive and bloody, I’m reminded of two outstanding Savant books: WRETCHED LAND (Savant 2011) by Mile Komarnisky — https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.square.site/product/wretched-land/32 — “Dmytro Verbitsky, an impoverished Ukrainian aristocrat, is actively engaged in the WWI, the Civil War and the WWII. Despite the cruelty of Stalin’s regime, he manages to raise a loving family, avenges his wife’s rape, learns to unders...

Earlier today, I had the pleasure of watching a Netflix film about William Shatner aka Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise, actually going briefly into space aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin capsule. What struck me was the hindsight he shared with so many former astronauts, about his reaction to seeing the Earth as the fragile “blue marble” it is, traveling at breakneck speed through the dark cosmos. The response is typically so deeply emotional, it makes me think of a new form of spi...

FOOD (and cooking) is something everyone, including me, can appreciate. Where do I go for the latest and best food and cooking suggestions? Three places: (1) my 1950’s Betty Crocker Cookbook (yes, I still have my mother’s original); (2) The Moosewood Cookbook (a “must” if you’re an interested, partial or wholly vegetarian); and (3) The Nine Books of William Maltese’s “The Traveling Gourmand.” Yep, that last one is a standard reference by Mr. Erotica himself, soon to be a film ...