Marty Kaplan's Blog

Thursday, May 30, 2012

Last night was another late night, but given the fact that dinner started closer to 10:00 PM it did not come as a great surprise. Magolo had told us that the dinner would be una de oferta, which meant that the items that showed up on the table would be those that were on sale at the market.  He was true to his word.

There were a variety of appetizers plated and placed on the table.  There was a variety of vegetables, some guacamole and a bit of fish.  Then came a never-ending supply of chicken curry and basmati rice.  For those that were still hungry there was a plate of turkey burgers and when those disappeared it was time for dessert.  Each dinner guest received a plate with two profiteroles and a slice of chocolate volcano cake.  The meal was accompanied by red and white jug wine.  In truth, this was a fun meal and very appropriate for the occasion.

After the meal decks of cards made their appearance and several people came to the fore and did a trick or two.  Even though I had prepared two effects, the conditions were not conducive to their being performed so they will have to wait for another day.  No problem.  A little after 11:00 we presented Magolo with a rather large birthday card and we thanked him for inviting us to share his retirement dinner.  Conversations continued here and there and it was a little after 12:30 when Susan and I made our way home.  It was yet another fun evening with Valencia’s magicians.

Here are some photos from last night courtesy of Susan.

Magolo

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Susan had a busy morning.  She had a photo workshop at 10:00 that lasted for an hour and a half.  She discussed her food project with her instructor and got some valuable pointers.  When she came home, since Rosa did not show last Thursday, she set about cleaning the apartment from top to bottom.  By the time she finished, she was in no mood to do anything except to go out for lunch and that is exactly what we did.

The path of least resistance was La Fórcola and given the fact that we frequently like to follow that path that is where we ended up.  We both started with the green apple salad that had a mixture of lettuces, bits of Serrano ham and slices of green apple.  Susan had the pasta with tellinas and I opted for the swordfish.  Our dessert was fresh pineapple and it was at the peak of its ripeness.  After our coffee we headed back home for a bit and at 4:15 we hailed a cab to take us to La Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático located at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia.  We were going there to see some student directed scenes from García Lorca’s YERMA because we are both fond of García Lorca and because our friend, Rebeca Valls, was in the starring role.

We arrived a bit early in spite of the fact that the taxi driver was not quite sure how to get there.  That has been happening a lot lately with the cabs we have hailed.  The drivers are not quite sure how to get to where we want to go.  The room auditorium was not open so we headed to the cafeteria for a quick coffee.  When we finished we headed back and no sooner did we arrive than the doors were opened and there was a mad rush for seats.  We managed to get two in the first row.

The student director introduced the scenes and shared some of his thoughts that went into his interpretation of the play.  The lights dimmed, the music began, the stage lights came up and the scenes began.  YERMA is a tragedy.  It tells the story of a married woman who is unable to have a child and her husband who is not interested in having a child.  It is a critique of rural Spanish culture where marriages were arranged and sex was never a topic of conversation.  Yerma ends up killing her husband and, in effect, killing herself and her dream.  I think the director was unaware of this.

There really is no other explanation of why he mixed modern elements – a digital camera, modern bathing suits, bottled water and beer bottles – in a setting where the main character went out to manually work his fields and tend his herds.  The other puzzlement was why some of the scenes were played for laughs, including a slapstick scene where the main character’s hair gets caught on another character’s earrings and she struggles to get her hair free.  The good news is that García Lorca’s words are powerful and when delivered by such a talented actress as Rebeca they still resonate with your soul.  She was letter perfect in these scenes.

After the performance we chatted with her briefly because she was returning to Madrid on the 7:30 AVE.  We had the chance to meet her parents and chat with them briefly.  We then made our way from the building to the traffic circle and found a cab to take us back home.  It was a little after 7:00 when we walked through the door.

We were in for the evening and Susan put together a salad that was our dinner.  We spent the evening working on the computer, reading and watching some TV.  Since I will be performing an effect or two at tonight’s dinner at La Cuchara Mágica I ran through the effects I will perform and made sure that all was in order.  We went to bed around 11:30 having spent another lovely day in Valencia.

Here are some of Susan’s photos from the past few days.  Enjoy!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The agenda seems to fill up magically.  Later this afternoon we will head out to see our friend, Rebeca Valls, in student directed scenes from García Lorca’s Yerma.  The first time we saw her was as the youngest daughter in García Lorca’s La casa de Bernarda Albain Madrid.  Wednesday evening there is an event at La Cuchara Mágica celebrating the retirement of Magolo who is also a member of the CIVAC.  Thursday evening the veteranos get together again.  Friday Ofelia, Brian, Susan and I will attend a performance of Plecs and Saturday evening Susan and I will be attending a concert by the Spanish pop group Los Presuntos Implicados.

Yesterday we slept in and while Susan made her way to the Central Market I visited the bookstore around the corner in search of a recently published novel entitled Las doce llaves.  It is a 900-page novel that is set here in Valencia and it has piqued my curiosity.  As it turned out they did not have a copy, but they ordered one for me and they should have it later today.

When Susan returned from her shopping expedition we decided that we would have a bountiful fruit salad for lunch making good use of the melons and stone fruits that are now abundant throughout the market.  A fresh loaf of bread was the perfect accompaniment.  We had our coffee later in the day.  After finishing my coffee I visited the travel agency that is around the corner.  Our friend and my former colleague, Juliet Henderson is coming for a visit in July and she has been trying without success to buy her train tickets on line.  There were several people ahead of me at the agency, but I was successful in getting her tickets.

In the evening I went to the CIVAC meeting where a number of the members performed variations of an effect called RESET.  I picked up a very interesting handling and I am toying with the idea of adding it to my repertoire.  I did not stay for dinner.  I headed home a little after 9:30 and stopped off at La Fórcola and got a pizza to go.  Susan and I had it for dinner and we spent the rest of the evening reading and watching some TV.  We were in bed before midnight.

Monday, May 28, 2012

There is a meeting of the CIVAC tonight and the theme is a rather limited one.  I will make it down there eventually, but no need to be there at 8:00 on the dot.  Other than that event there is nothing else on the calendar.

We took life easy most of the day yesterday.  Susan made some tortilla española and a salad and we combined that with a fresh loaf of multigrain bread from El Parisien and life was good.  We spent the afternoon reading and at 8:00 PM we took a cab to Babel Cines.

Babel is a multiplex with five theaters and it specialized in showing films in their original language with subtitles in Spanish.  Susan and Zahava go there frequently, but this was to be my first visit.  We were there to see a French Canadian film called Monsieur Lazhar, which was one of the films submitted for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.  It is a very powerful and moving film.  The child actors are absolutely outstanding, as is the lead character.  The premise of the film is that there has been a sudden vacancy at a school and Bashir Lazhar has found out about it and offers his services, which are accepted.  Lazhar is from Algeria and has come to Montreal seeking political asylum.  The film deals with his story and that of the children in his classroom.  I won’t say more than that because I do not want to spoil it for you.  Here is a link to the trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjNCkxnT-xE

After the movie we made our way to a restaurant called Yi, which specialized in Asian cuisine.  There seem to be a number of international restaurants in that area including Mexican and Chinese.  Susan and Zahava had eaten there several times and the fact that it was still open was another point in its favor.  There were four people having dinner when we walked in and another couple walked in as we were dining.

They have a number of set menus and Susan and I ordered different ones.  Mine consisted of a salad, some fried prawns, two Vietnamese spring rolls, a tuna roll, a chicken dish and fried rice.  In addition to the Vietnamese spring rolls Susan’s menu included soup, two pieces of sushi, and Teriyaki salmon.  All of the dishes were tasty, but not as good as what we have become used to in the San Gabriel Valley.  We’re spoiled and we know it.  Dessert was fried ice cream and it was forgettable.  I would probably go back and explore the menu a bit more deeply.  I would probably order a la carte rather than choose a set menu.  Here is a link to their web page http://www.cocinaasiaticayi.es/

It took a while to find a cab, but find one we did.  It was close to midnight when we got home.  We washed up and got ready for bed and it was lights out at 12:30.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

I feel like I am in the middle of an Edgar Allen Poe poem with all the bell ringing that has been going on for the past few days.  I assume that all is in celebration of the Virgin and the various celebrations that are going on in our neighborhood and others close by.  The bells ring at all times of the day and night.  Given the fact that we are a block away from the church, we get the full effect.

Yesterday around 2:00 I headed out to Nacho’s to pick up a few items and to pay my bill from the previous night.  As I approached I saw him cleaning of the sidewalk tidying up the mini-mess we created Friday night.  He appeared to be operating at half speed and in less than a minute I found out why.

After he closed down the store the party continued at a nearby café and then it moved to a discotheque in the Carmen.  Bottles of champagne kept appearing on the table, according to Nacho, and the party did not wind down until 6:00 AM.  After some three hours of sleep he opened the mantequería at 10:00.

I purchased a number of items and then slowly made my way home.  I had purchased a few links of morcilla and longaniza and they became the basic ingredients for our lunch.  Susan cooked them up with some onions and some sweet red peppers and, at the last minute, added some tomate frito.  Lunch was tasty, but not overwhelming and that was good because we were going out to dinner with Ofelia and Brian.

Susan and I had eaten at Dhaba, an Indian restaurant near the Central Market and since Brian and Ofelia had yet to find a decent Indian restaurant in Valencia we suggested that we all give it a try to see if it measured up to their concept of Indian food.  The good news is that it did.  We studied the menu for a while and our waiter convinced us to order the tasting menu.  We followed his suggestion and found ourselves with more food than the four of us could possibly eat.

We were each served a plate that held the four appetizers that began our meal.  There was chicken Tika, tandoori chicken, a samosa and a fourth treat whose name escapes me at the moment.  Next came the curries.  Each of us had ordered one and they were set before us.  Ofelia had opted for a vegetarian curry, Brian chose a lamb curry that was extra spicy, Susan chose a less incendiary version of the lamb curry and I opted for the prawn curry.  Mine was very tasty with just the right amount of heat.  I counted eight shrimp in my dish and each was perfectly cooked.  Each curry was served with a generous portion of Basmati rice and a basket of Naan.

The tasting menu also included dessert and last night that included mango ice cream and a pastry that had been soaked in rose water.  I was too full to try either one of them.  We were also served a chupito of orujo.  We had been dining on the patio where the weather was just perfect.  However, we decided to move indoors to have our coffee and, in truth, to find a better surface to do some magic.  I did three effects with a deck of cards and finished my mini-set with a version of the penetrating rubber bands.  I also made a napkin rose for our waitress who was very surprised and pleased to receive it.

We had been told that the tasting menu cost 20 Euros per person and when the bill arrived it was for 80 Euros.  Something did not seem right because in the course of the evening we had consumed ten small glasses of beer and they did not appear on the bill.  Our waiter said that he just treated them as part of the menu and that he did not charge us for them.  What a pleasant surprise.

It was a bit after midnight when we started making our way home.  When we walked by the art school that is on the way home we discovered a rather large celebration going on in the courtyard.  They were just cleaning up after a rather large meal and there was a band playing and people marching in step.  It looked like a rehearsal for a parade and was similar to what we had seen during the celebration here that is called Moros y Cristianos.  When we crossed the threshold of our place it was 12:30.  It was a bit after 1:30 when I finally made it to bed.

Balcony decorated for the pasacalles de la Virgen

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Today’s calendar of events is unclear at the moment.  There is a possibility that we may have lunch with Pepe and his mom at his place, but that has yet to be confirmed.  We may attend a live performance tonight or we may take in a movie.  We are waiting for another phone call to make the final decision.  Whatever we end up doing, it will be a fun day.

Yesterday Susan had her morning Pilates class and afterwards she went out for lunch with her fellow classmates.  The conversation was animated and the noise level was deafening.  It was a very pleasant experience and everyone had a good time.  I just raided the refrigerator here for lunch since I was still full from Thursday’s rather late dinner with the guys.

We worked on various projects during the afternoon and early evening and at 10:00 PM we made our way down the street to Mantequería Chisbert to join Nacho and friends for the visit by the statue of La Virgen de los Desamparados that would be making a stop in front of his store.  When we arrived there were already a goodly number of people inside the store and the number would grow as the evening progressed.

Nacho is the unofficial mayor of Calle Borrull.  He appears to know everybody and everybody appears to know him.  Among the guests was Victoria who hails from North Carolina and Valencia.  Her dad lives here and the rest of her family lives in North Carolina.  She has been in town for a while living with her father and earning some pocket money by serving as an English tutor for Nacho’s friend, Paco, who is a doctor.  Victoria is returning to North Carolina on Sunday where she will spend the summer working in hopes of gathering enough funds to return to Valencia in the fall.

Paco’s wife was also present as was Paco’s good friend, Vicente.  We also met two young women and their children who, as it turned out, had spent three years in North Carolina when their dad was sent there by IBM.  Nacho’s sister came by with her son and her husband.  There were also another half dozen people in attendance, but there were too many names to remember.

Beer and wine flowed freely during the evening and we each had a very typical bocadillo called a blanco y negro.  It is made with two different types of sausages – morcilla and longaniza – and, as was the case last night, was served with a tomato sauce on top of all.  The sandwiches, to say the least, were very generous, but we managed to eat all of them.  We were all engaged in conversation when someone entered to tell us that the statue was making its way down the street preceded by some aerial fireworks and just before her arrival in front of the store a mascletá.  The statue arrived carried by a number of the faithful and followed by several members of a marching band.

We all threw rose petals and applauded the arrival of the Virgin.  Everyone took photos and a number of neighbors had emerged from their houses to witness the spectacle.  It was little before 1:00 when Susan and I made our way home and it was close to 2:00 when we finally got to bed after a most interesting foray into Valencian tradition.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Yesterday I decided to take the bull by the horns and go get a haircut.  My new barber is quite a distance from the house so I invited Susan to join me and offered to buy her lunch afterwards.  As luck would have it, when we walked in my barber’s chair was empty and so I sat down and let him cover me with the black cloth and he then set about his work.  Manuel is an experienced barber and he knows how to deal with beards.  Some forty-five minutes later he had cut my hair, trimmed my beard and given me a shave. All this for the princely sum of twenty-one Euros.

Peluquería Beltrán is around the corner from the Westin Valencia where we have stayed several times.  For that reason we are familiar with the neighborhood and some of the eateries that populate it.  As we passed by Cervecería Erajoma I remembered a Sunday meal we had eaten at the bar a couple of years ago so we backtracked and entered.  We were offered a choice of tables and we took one towards the back.  I ordered a beer and Susan ordered a bottle of agua mineral and we studied the menu.

We ended up ordering the ensalada Joma that included lettuce, tomatoes, hearts of palm, tuna, smoked salmon, and fish roe.  Thankfully we only ordered a half portion.  We also ordered a half portion of grilled vegetables that included artichokes, two kinds of mushrooms, asparagus and potatoes.  To accompany all of the foregoing we ordered some swordfish and were served two rather health swordfish steaks.  Our dessert was a plate of sliced fruit that was as delicious as it was varied.  We finished the meal with coffee.  The bill for our meal, which also included bread and two glasses of wine, was 39 Euros.  The service was attentive and the quality of the food was outstanding.

We took a cab back home and were dismayed to discover that our cleaning lady had not shown up.  She usually calls when that happens, but sometimes she does that after the fact.  Her absence gave me a chance to proofread the article that Susan is writing about La Comisaría.  It promises to be a good one.

Thursday evening saw us heading out in different directions.  Susan went to join Ofelia and several friends for dinner and a visit to a photography exhibition.  I was on my way to a meeting of the veteranos at Jerito’s house.  I was not sure how many people were going to show up, but I knew that Pepe would be there along with his son, Jaime.

I was the first to arrive at Jerito’s and that gave s the opportunity to chat for a while.  I learned that Jerito used to be an economics professor and that he was also part of an acting company that presented classic Spanish plays.  He showed me his scrapbook where he combined his reminiscences with reviews clipped from a variety of newspapers.  He later showed the assembled group paper money that was used during the war years including money that was printed by the various towns and cities to allow their inhabitants to purchase the basics, which were in very short supply.

Everyone had arrived by 8:15 and that included Paquito, Gioco, Gurrea, Pepe and Jaime.  I did a couple of effects and Paquito performed a very cute packet trick by Martin Lewis called Rabbit Test.  At 9:45 we headed out in search of some dinner.  We ended up going to El Asador de Leandro where I had not been for quite a while.  The place was three quarters full when we walked in and that was a good sign because Eva and Leandro were giving some thought to closing the restaurant down.

We ordered the tomato salad to start and everybody shared that appetizer.  Then we each ordered whatever struck our fancy for our main dish.  I had a steak and, as usual, it was perfectly cooked and delicious.  Some of us had dessert and we all had either coffee or tea.  We ended our time at the restaurant with a bit of magic.  I performed a couple of card effects and Gurrea performed his multiplying rabbits effect.  It was close to 1:00 when we left the restaurant.  Gurrea drove Paquito and me home and it was 1:15 when I walked through the door.  I went to be a little after 2:00.

Ofelia

Ofelia 2

A street vendor

Susan’s dessert at dinner last night

Thursday, May 24, 2012

I have been taking it easy the last few days because the knee has been unhappy.  I think I have been trying to do too much, so my intention is to take it easy for the next several days.

Monday evening I went to the CIVAC meeting where the theme was sponge magic with rabbits.  As is frequently the case, Gurrea showed us a number of routines that called for them.  He also shared with us his commercial routine, the one that he always uses in his restaurant work.  His routine is both funny and magical.  I stayed at the meeting until 9:30 when I made my way back home.  I picked up a pizza along the way that would be Monday night’s supper and serve the same function on Tuesday.

I stayed close to home on Tuesday and Susan put together a lovely salad for lunch.  I spent the day reading, playing with my magic and watching a bit of TV.  Susan caught up with Vilma late in the afternoon and we spent the rest of the evening just relaxing.

Yesterday Susan started her day with her Pilates class.  A number of the ladies have coffee afterwards and discuss whatever is on their minds.  They will be having lunch together on Friday and Susan will join them.  When lunchtime rolled around we decided to grab a bite at Las Torres Cervecería where we started our Sunday adventure.  Their signboard advertised arroz a la banda for the bargain price of 3.33 Euros.  The dish also came with a salad.  We ordered some puntillas to start the meal and then we proceeded to enjoy the small salad and a rather generous serving of rice.  We shared a dessert and then finished our meal with coffee and a chupito.

Susan attended a mini-workshop at the photo gallery down the street and I used my time to catch up on episodes of GLEE.  When Susan returned we watched another episode of GLEE and followed that with an episode of SMASH.  We were in bed by midnight.

This evening I will be attending a meeting of the veteranos and Susan will be joining Ofelia and her fellow gallery members for dinner and a visit to a photography exhibit.  Friday evening Nacho of Mantequería Chisbert      has invited us to come for a light supper at 10:00 to be followed by a visit from the Virgen de los Desamaparados at 11:30.  The visit will be accompanied by a mascletá and some fireworks.  It should be interesting.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Yesterday was a day filled with surprises.  We had agreed to meet Nacho and Cayetano at 12:30 at Las Torres to have a little something before we headed out to the Asador 7 de Julio for lunch.  Susan and I arrived first and took a seat inside and ordered a glass of white wine while we waited for our friends to arrive.  They showed up ten minutes later and we proceeded to chat, drink and listen to some very good music.  We managed to consume two dishes of peanuts, a dish of olives and a plate of puntitas while we had another glass of wine and Nacho and Cayetano had another beer or three.

Las Torres is, for all intents and purposes, a bar that serves food.  It offers a variety of tapas and during the week they offer a dish of the day that you can the basis for your lunch.  The dish of the day is usually less than four Euros.  The bar has undergone an extensive renovation and is now very attractive with new chairs and tables, as well as new walls.  It was a very lively place yesterday with regulars dropping by to have a drink and catch up with friends.  The place is bright, light and airy and in now way resembles what the English word “bar” conjures up.

A little after 2:00 we decided that maybe it was a good time to make our way to the restaurant.  The four of us hopped into Nacho’s smallish Fiat and fifteen minutes later we were in Manises two minutes away from the airport, but right in front of the Asador 7 de Julio.  As we drove by the front door Nacho emitted an “Oh, oh!” and it indicated that something was just not right.

He had seen a young lady in her first communion dress and Nacho remarked that he forgot the May here in Valencia is the month of primeras comuniones and primeras comuniones mean a large celebration in a restaurant.  As it turns out there were five parties going on and there was no hope of getting seated.  So, we piled back in the car and headed back to town.

We thought we would eat at Canela, but when we walked in the place was jammed and our friend, José, asked if we had made a reservation.  We hadn’t.  He was sorry, but, at the moment, there were no tables available.  He suggested that we go up the street to Canela Taberna, have a beer and stop by again in a half an hour.  That’s what we did and it worked.  Thirty minutes later we were seated at a prime table upstairs.

Canela has two special menus each of which offers three appetizers, a main dish and dessert.  We ordered two of each menu for the four of us and that meant that we got to enjoy six different appetizers, a steak, a supreme of bacalao and a plate filled with a variety of desserts.  The appetizers were, in no particular order: jamón serrano, pimientos de piquillo stuffed with seafood, a salad that featured smoked salmon and mango, a timbale of smoked fish, a crepe filled with vegetables and goat cheese that had been breaded and warmed in the oven and served with a raspberry sauce.  We enjoyed all six, and we also enjoyed the steak and the cod.  In spite of being filled to the brim, we managed to polish off the dessert plate that featured watermelon, strawberries, a profiterole, a brownie covered with warm chocolate sauce and a slice of cheesecake.  We finished our meal with coffee and a complimentary mistela.  We did enjoy a bottle of wine and our bill for the eating extravaganza was 106 Euros.

It was 5:30 when we left the restaurant and our eating orgy had begun some five hours before.  We walked Nacho and Cayetano to the car and we continued on home where we took a well-deserved nap.  Our evening was limited to watching TV and reading a bit.  We went to bed a little after 11:30.

Sunday morning fruit salad

Paco – Las Torres

Cayetano

Nacho

Puntitas

Sunday, May 20, 2012

We slept in yesterday after a rather busy Friday night.  We puttered around in the morning and most of the early afternoon.  Susan finished and published her piece on The Ginger Loft and if you have not seen it yet you can find it here http://www.vistasdevida.com/ .  Before we knew it, it was 3:30 and we needed to get some lunch.  The easiest thing to do was to head to Canela Taberna, the less formal version of the restaurant where there is an outdoor patio.  We found a table in the shade and we studied the menu.

Cristina convinced us to order the clóchinas and it did not take much effort on her part.  We also ordered the steak and potatoes and that was more than enough to fill us up.  We passed on dessert, but we did have coffee.  When we finished Susan decided to hop a bus and go over to Rusaffa Art where more than fifty galleries had opened their doors to the public.  I opted for a nap and made my way home.

All dressed and showered we left the house at 7:00 and took a cab to the Museo de Bellas Artes, which is the new venue for the concerts sponsored by Los Amigos de la Guitarra.  We discovered that this used to be the venue for their concerts and for some reason they were obliged to change the venue to the auditorium at the Colegio Luis Vives.  They are happy to be back there and, in truth, it is a nicer and more comfortable space.

Last night’s concert was number 530 and the performer was Toni Cotolí who has performed worldwide.  His music choices, in the main, came from his current CD Puesta del Sol and from what will be his next CD, which is scheduled to be recorded in December.  Both albums feature the work of Valencian composer Luis Nuño who was in the audience and spoke to us briefly about his compositions.  Nuño has spent a goodly amount of time in South America, as well as a number of months in Boulder, Colorado.  He readily acknowledges the influence of South America in his compositions and the listener is immediately aware of that influence, also.

The concert lasted a shade less than two hours and the audience was enthralled with Cotolí’s performance.  We were able to purchase two of his CD’s and we enjoyed listening to them today.  After the concert we took a cab back to Calle Borrull and we decided to stop of at La Tasca Borrull, which is three blocks away from the house.  We always walk past it on our way to other places and we always say that one day we have to stop in.  Last night we did.

Monday through Friday nights the place is buzzing and the street is filled with patron drinking their beer and smoking their cigarettes.  There usually is a good-sized crowd indoors, also.  Saturday night is a quiet night.  There were four people outdoors and the two of us indoors.  I had a couple of beers and Susan had a glass of wine.  The bartender offered us two different tapas to go along with our drinks.  Our bill came to three Euros.  Now we understand the size of the crowds.

On our way home we chatted briefly with Marta and Juan of La Fórcola.  It was a little after 10:00 when we walked through the door and we spent the rest of the evening catching up on our e-mail and reading for a while.  Finally, here is a link to Toni Cotolí’s Web page where you can read all about him and hear some of his music http://www.tonicotoli.net/