Jazz is from New Orleans

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I’ve just finished three barnstorming trips around the US to shoot videos for a National Geographic/Cengage textbook series on US history. This was fun. I dressed up as pilgrims, Civil War and Revolutionary War reenactors, Mark Twain, Paul Revere, George Washington, Rosie the … Read on

Tagged New Orleans

I just won an award!

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A few days I wrote about how I MIGHT have just won my first award since my first high school article (a foolishly glowing article on an awful Roger Daltrey album). That was for my participation on Gary Arndt’s first episode of his … Read on

Tagged award

Video: Prizren, Kosovo in 60 seconds

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I took a Balkan roadtrip last December, and one of the surprising highlights was the Kosovo town of Prizren. It was cold and foggy. I couldn’t even see the castle on the hill above town. And the town introduction was unusual. Crooked cobbled … Read on

Tagged Kosovo

Why Eastern Oregon is the USA’s most underrated region (Spoiler: beer)

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I like Eastern Oregon a lot. I wrote about it for National Geographic Traveler, and helped a five-year-old make a video about it last year. More recently, I wrote this piece for the Los Angeles Times on why Portland doesn’t own the Oregon … Read on

Tagged beer

Wait, there are women Rush Fans? Yes. [Video]

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Kindly watch this short video: Everything you know about fans of Rush is probably wrong. That sort of bore out recently when I attended RushCon, a “Star Trek convention for Rush fans,” and found out it’s NOT only guys miming drum fills in 18-minute … Read on

Tagged music, Rush

Oklahoma’s Last Stop [Article]

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I grew up in Oklahoma, which means I grew up flipping through the pages of Oklahoma Today magazine. I have a feature in its latest issue on the Oklahoma Panhandle, a dream trip I took with my 76-year-old uncle last fall. It’s one of my … Read on