Location, location, location Books read since leaving Pittsburgh for Melbourne (Australia) a month ago: Niall Ferguson: The Ascent of Money Carrie Fisher: Wishful Drinking Norman Doige: The Brain That Changes Itself Don Watson: American Journeys Augusten Burroughs: You Better Not Cry Dava Sobel; Longitude All of these are extremely good books. However, only one of [...]

How not to improve on ‘Wicked Game’ (but make it sound more like the kind of track you’d actually desperately record in your bedroom late at night) Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’ is one of those perfect songs which simply cannot be ‘improved’ upon.  There are many, many tracks that can be improved upon (ie better [...]

Car acting There are currently three major features being shot in Pittsburgh: The Next Three Days, a murder mystery starring Russell Crowe; Love and Other Drugs, a comedy starring Jake Gyllenhall and Anne Hathaway (both of Brokeback Mountain fame); and Unstoppable, an action flick starring Denzel Washington. This means that every unemployed actor (if that [...]

A match, surely, made in heaven Here are 10 reasons why Chris Isaak should marry me: 1. He writes songs about love and heartache (mostly heartache); I write songs about love and heartache (mostly heartache) 2. Hes a major international celebrity; I am (according to the US Department of Immigration) an ‘extraordinary alien’ 3. He [...]

A New Country My USA permanent residency card arrived totally unannounced in the mail today.  I  stared at it in happy shock and amazement.  I am now an American (albeit one with a funny accent).  Exactly one year after Tanya and I wandered into Pittsburgh, for the first time, almost by accident,  I  can now [...]