Marty Kaplan's Blog

Thursday, September 5, 2013

The Jewish New Year began at sundown yesterday and Susan went to services that were being held in a nearby hotel for lack of a synagogue here in Valencia.  I left at 5:00 yesterday afternoon for a trip to a magic store in nearby Burriana.

            Burriana is some 35 miles north of Valencia in the province of Castellón.  Gurrea picked up Pepe, Paquito and me at the corner of San Vicente and Linterna and in a few short minutes we entered the A-7 and we were headed to Burriana.  We were going to visit with Perete who is the owner of the Close-Up Magic Store.  He had paid a visit to the CIVAC last year and he brought a number of things with him for the purposed of demonstration.  However, this time around, we would have the chance to see his entire inventory.

            We found a parking space near the shop and we walked through the door a little before 6:00.  The store is relatively small, but it is stocked from floor to ceiling with decks, books, DVD’s and effects.  Perete only sells quality items and consciously keeps away from all the crap magic that is being produce in India, as well as the Chinese knock-offs of quality magic effects.  The Chinese knock-offs look the same, but they do not work the same and easily break after a use or two.

            We spent a good two hours in the store and everyone ended up buying something.  I picked up several accessories, but I did not purchase any new effects.  We left the store a little after 8:00 and sat down at an outdoor café for a quick beer.  We then piled into the car and headed for the small town of Nules and a highly recommended pizzeria there.  When we arrived we discovered that it was closed.  That being the case we found a nearby bar and we all has sandwiches.

            We returned to Valencia a little after 11:00 and Susan and I read for a while.  We shut off the lights a little before midnight.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

            It’s raining hard in Valencia and, ironically, I am listening to Harry Chapin singing taxi that starts off, “It was raining hard in Frisco…” The temperature has fallen into the 70’s and, when the rain stops, it is very pleasant out.

            Our portero, Antonio, has a small place in the country where he also has a garden.  Monday morning we found a very large bag of tomatoes at our front door courtesy of Antonio. Many of them have found their way into a couple of batches of gazpacho, as well as a salad or two.  We like our gazpacho with a picado. A picado is the word the Spanish use for finely chopped vegetables that are added to a gazpacho. In our case we are talking about tomatoes, cucumber, onion and peppers.  We also add croutons.  Lately we have taken to adding jamón serrano and a hard-boiled egg, which one would find in the Andalusian version of gazpacho that is called salmorejo. A generous bowl of gazpacho makes an excellent lunch.

            Last night we had dinner with Brian and Ofelia at La Fórcola. Tomorrow Ofelia and six other artists will sign a year’s lease on a space in Russafa that will be converted into a studio and gallery.  That will conclude a search that has gone on for the past several months. We chatted about this and that while we enjoyed our meal.  We started off with a plate of salume and fresh mozzarella followed by a pizza and some linguine with seafood.  We followed that with dessert, coffee and a chupito. As we were enjoying our liqueurs, I did some magic for my appreciative audience.

            The other day I was surprised to realize that I have been doing magic for close to forty years. It all started at Foxcroft School in Middleburg Virginia when the new head of the English Department, Biff Smith, came on board.  Biff, in addition to being an amateur magician was and is an accomplished jazz pianist and composer.  He has a couple of albums to his credit and for the past I don’t know how many years he has been teaching at The Berklee School of Music in Boston.  The rest of the year he teaches English at the Robert Louis Stevenson School on Pebble Beach.

            Most faculty offices were located in a wing on the second floor of the Schoolhouse. As you made your way down the corridor the Foreign Language Department was the first door on your left and the English Department was the first door on your right.  Most afternoons Biff would drop by and do a magic effect or two for me.  I must immodestly confess that I was a very appreciative audience. There came a fateful day when he asked me if I would like to learn a few tricks. And after an enthusiastic yes, we agreed to meet Saturday morning at his place.

            That Saturday was my initiation into some of the secrets of magic. Biff showed me a couple of card and coin effects, all of which were very basic, and he then proceeded to explain them to me. I then went home and began to practice.  After another session or two Biff said that it was time for us to visit a magic shop and we were fortunate because on of the best, Al’s Magic, was, at that time, located on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. Early one Saturday morning, with Biff at the wheel, we made the hour journey into the District. We parked the car and we walked in.

            It was Saturday so the store was busy. In the 70’s it was difficult for stores to survive economically by selling magic and only magic. Therefore they supplemented their income by selling jokes, make-up and costumes.  In addition to all the foregoing Al had a rather extensive magic department with a goodly number of books and six or seven display cases brimming magic.  Al had the well-deserved reputation of being the best demonstrator in the business.  Al could sell you anything, but he would not sell you an effect if he thought or he knew that it was beyond your abilities.  I took everything in and finally I was able to focus.  Al showed me a few beginners’ tricks and, with Biff’s advice, I made my selection and I also picked up several decks of cards.  At that time most magicians used bridge size cards and it was not until a few years later that poker size cards became the cards of choice.

            When we got home, I unpacked my goodies and tried to remember Al’ s teaching tips.  It took a bit of time to do them passably well and I relied on the patter that came along wit the effect.  The good news when you start to do magic is that you are totally unaware of how much you do not know.  Your constant companion as you take your first steps in magic is imitation.  You see someone do something that you are familiar with and you consciously borrow both patter and presentation ideas.  It takes a while to discover your uniqueness as a magician and a creator and, truth be told, most magicians never make that discovery.  They acquire effects, but they do not do magic.

            Biff and I both celebrate birthdays in May.  Mine is on the 12^th and I believe his is on the 13^th.  Soon after our first visit to Al’s we decided that we should do a magic show together and invite all our faculty friends and their spouses.  Fearless and clueless I did my first performance ever in front of a group of friends and colleagues. I doubt that the magic was very good and the only saving grace was the fact that I had been on stage in a number of plays and I did have stage presence.

            Biff and I continued to meet occasionally to practice our magic and it was also an opportunity for me to learn new effects.  We also continued our visits to Al’s and were happy when we escaped without spending more then a hundred dollars on new magic. In December of 1977 Biff gave me a copy of Walter Gibson’s The Complete Illustrated Book of Card Magic and it has had a special place in my magic bookcase ever since.  Here is a copy of the inscription.

                        When Biff accepted his current position at RLS my interest in magic waned.  You really need the company of other magicians to challenge yourself to grow in the art.  I did visit with Al from time to time and on occasional forays into Baltimore I would visit with Phil Thomas at his Yogi Magic Mart.  However, it was not until we moved to California in the summer of 1983 that my interest in magic revived.  I will talk about that in another post.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

            Susan is currently in the New World where she had been for the last two weeks or so.  She spent a week in LA visiting with a number of friends and then moved on to Colorado where she spent a week with Rachel. Currently she is in San Francisco and, if I am not mistaken, will head out to Nevada City this afternoon.  As the Spaniards say yo estoy de Rodríguez.  In the summer months many families retreat to a beach house they own or rent.  The mother and the kids are there week round and the father visits on the weekends.  During the week the dad is on his own or está de Rodríguez.

            Being on my own, I have assumed all the household duties.  I am doing the shopping, the cooking, a modicum of cleaning, as well as the laundry.  I have made a daily visit to the market to pick up fruit, vegetables, cold cuts, meat and chicken.  I have enjoyed a varies menu that has included a goodly amount of gazpacho, as well as a variety of salads, beef and chicken fajitas and a variety of grilled meats.  The fruit this summer has been absolutely amazing.  Every melon has been at the peak of perfection.  The watermelon has never tasted as sweet and the cherries are amazing.  I have eaten at friends’ houses a few times.  In a short while I will join Paquito and Pepe at Paquito’s house for lunch and Friday I will be enjoying dinner with Brian and Ofelia,

            My days have been full.  I am in the last stages of my translations for the next issue of El Manuscrito.  I have also been able to work rather intensively on my magic.  I have worked on making my magic more easily accessible so that I know where to look when I need to locate something.  I have also spent some time revisiting old effect and trying to remember how to do them and, at the same time, making slight changes here and there so that they are more magical.  I have managed to solve several presentation problems that have been bothering me for a while.

            I have done a great deal of reading this summer in both Spanish and English.  I have just finished a 700 page novel called La verdad sobre el caso Harry Quebert. Other books that I have read include The Rosie Project, Stardust, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neverwhere, The Burgess Boys, The 100-Year Old Man who Climbed Out the Window, The Illusion of Separateness, Crashed, Little Elvises, The Fame Thief, The Orphan Master’s Son, Mr Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore, Bad Monkey and Skin Tight.

            Susan returns on the 19^th and, in the meantime, I will just keep on doing what I have been doing.  The weather continues to be hot and sunny and does not lend itself to long walks unless one has a specific destination in mind.  August is a very quiet month and most smaller shops are closed until the beginning of September.  The streets are mostly empty except in those areas frequented by tourists.  The scandals surrounding politicians past and present continue to multiply and those who testify seem to have defective memories, as well as defective moral compasses.

            That’s the word from here.  I hope wherever you are life is treating you well.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Susan is all packed and ready for her California/Colorado adventure.  She leaves on Tuesday and returns on August 19^th.  The hot and humid weather has limited our activities, but has not gotten in the way of our eating out.

Tuesday we had lunch at Carosel and since things were not super busy Jordi sat down and chatted with us for quite a while.  He updates us on all his projects, as well as his vacation plans.  He will be taking two weeks off in the middle of August. After lunch we headed back home and at 8:00 we headed out again bound for Jimmy Glass.

The featured artist Tuesday evening was Jorge Pardo, an award winning flautist and saxophonist.  One of the members of his quartet was Josemi Carmona, an unbelievable Flamenco guitarist who is also part of the group Ketama. The music was a combination of Nuevo Flamenco and Jazz/Flamenco fusion.  The room was packed to capacity and the air conditioner was not up to the task given the hot lights, the number of bodies and the outside temperature.  The music ended at 11:00 and Susan and I made our way home where we read for a while before turning out the lights.

Thursday night we had dinner with Vilma and Juanjo.  We met at La Bodeguita del Gato in the Carmen and had a lovely evening filled with good food and interesting conversation.  The two of them are planning a trip to Honduras to visit with Vilma’s family and to do some exploring of the neighboring Central American countries.  We were so engrossed in conversation that we were surprised to discover that midnight had come and gone and, given the fact that both of them had to get up for work tomorrow, we said our goodbyes and we each went our separate ways.

Friday evening we caught up with Ofelia, Brian and Olivia.  We started out with drinks at their place and around 9:30 we made our way to Sorsi e Morsi, an Italian restaurant that always seemed to be closed when we tried to eat there.  We had an enjoyable meal and I ended up doing some magic for those assembled at the table.  I also did some magic for our server, Flor, who was very appreciative of the two souvenirs that I gave her.

Yesterday it was lunch at Kawayan, an Asian restaurant that now occupies the space that was Ballando Nudi.  The food was excellent and, ironically, as we were leaving the former owner of the space, Francisco Cocineros, drove up on his Vespa.  We chatted for a while and discovered that he is currently working as a bartender at Radio City to help finance a trip back to Italy.  The rest of the day was uneventful and both Susan and I put a substantial dent in the books that we are reading.

The TV is our bedroom died so on Thursday we went to FNAC to take advantage of their 12% off sale.  We picked up a 32-inch Samsung Smart TV, which weighs less than ten pounds.  Susan assembled the base and I took care of setting it up and connecting it to our router.  We then took down the old TV in the bedroom and replaced it with the TV that had been in the living room.  Susan removed the hardware from the old TV and replaced it on the other TV and we hung it back on the wall without any problem.  We turned it on and discovered that everything was in perfect working order.

When we were at Jimmy Glass on Tuesday Susan made an interesting discovery.  There is a tourist magazine published here in Valencia called 24/7.  It is one of the many giveaway publications that are found in hotels and restaurants.  Susan had submitted a couple of photos for their READERS’ PHOTOS section and, borrowing a copy from a nearby table, she discovered that her pictures have been published in the current issue.

Today will be an Eggs Benedict Sunday at The Ginger Loft. The Batalla de las flores is scheduled at 8:00 PM tonight.  The temperature is supposed to flirt with 100 today and it will have an effect on our decision to attend the event.  We shall see what the day brings.

Friday, July 5, 2013

            July 4^th was just another day here in Valencia, Spain.  We got a call from Jordi around 11:00 AM asking if Susan could come by the MuVIM to take a few shots of a special event that he was preparing.  It was a luncheon for 125 members of various cooperatives here in Valencia celebrating El Día Mundial de Cooperativisme.  The focus here is cooperatives involved in the production and marketing of food and wines that are native to Valencia.  The menu consisted solely of products sourced here in Valencia.  There were at least a dozen people at work getting everything ready.  When the guest arrived everything was in place and although we did not hang around for the kickoff, I would imagine that it was a roaring success.   Jordi is hosting a goodly number of groups at the MuVIM and that means that his gamble of opening a second space is paying off.

            Melanie and Andrew Handelsman are in town.  Andrew is here with a group of fifteen students from Woodberry Forest School in Orange, Virginia. They will be in town for another week or so before they move on.  They have spent some time in Madrid and Seville and they will end their experience in Barcelona.  Melanie and the two boys joined up with the group at the end of June.  Tommy and Robbie are enrolled in a soccer camp here and its starts at 9:00 AM and ends at 7:00.  Andrew teaches in the mornings and Melanie is freed up to explore the city.  We were able to catch up with them for lunch at A Nou where we had a very enjoyable meal.

            A Nou has had a makeover thanks to a program called Pesadilla en la cocina, inspired by Gordon Ramsey’s program both in the States and the UK.  The renowned chef in this series is Alberto Chicote and he comes to save restaurants that are failing and, of course, there is always a great deal of tension and drama is never lacking.  A Nou’s adventure with Chicote was supposed to air last week, but was pre-empted by a soccer game.  As a result of the program the restaurant got an entirely new look and several changes were made to the menu, it seems that the program will now air in September or October.  Ideally that should help stimulate business.

            We have been taking life a bit easy since Rachel left about ten days ago. We did get to see “Before Midnight” with Ethan Hake and Julie Delpy and we enjoyed it a great deal.  On Wednesday we went to the beach in the town of Cullera.  Cullera is a 35-minute train ride from Valencia and the bus ride to the base of the lighthouse and La Playa de los Pensamientos is another twenty minutes.  The initial part of the beach is very much overbuilt with condos and it makes one feel like they are being closed in.  If you did not have claustrophobia when you arrived, it would probably leave with you.  The other end of the beach does have its share of condos, but not to the point of being overwhelming.  The beaches are small because of the rocks that jut out into the sea.

            Our initial plan was to visit the lighthouse first and then explore the beach.  As it turned out, the bus line ends at the base of the hill that leads to the lighthouse.  It was impossible to tell how long that journey was and the lack of a sidewalk for pedestrians caused a change of heart.  Since it was lunchtime we found a restaurant that had a terrace overlooking the beach and we enjoyed a delicious paella while we watched the world pass by.  After lunch, Susan shot a number of pictures and we made our way back to the bus stop.  We were back in Valencia a little bit after 6:30 after a rather enjoyable day at the beach.

            There are no big plans for the weekend.  There is a magic show and dinner at La Cuchara Mágica for Andrew and his students and I will be there to do some magic along with Gurrea.  Monday and Tuesday we will be going to the Palau de Música for a couple of jazz concerts.  We will hear Wynton Marsalis on Monday and Chick Corea on Tuesday.  It should be fun!

Saturday, June 22, 2013

            The weather continues to be most bizarre here and, so it seems, in many other parts of the world.  There has been flooding in some of the mountain regions of Catalonia. Madrid had a high of 72 degrees on Wednesday and last night we had a series of thunderstorms with heavy rainfall and hail.  In spite of the fact that it is almost the end of June, the temperature is struggling to reach the 90’s.

            Rachel’s birthday was this past Wednesday and so we decided to do something special.  We took the 11:10 AVE to Madrid and after we arrived we headed to the Hotel Palace where we would spend the night.  Around 2:00 we hopped a cab and went to the only kosher restaurant in Madrid, La Escudilla.  If you search out the site on the web you will find many negative comments about the way people are treated there.  Comparisons are frequently made with the soup Nazi of Seinfeld fame.  Frankly, I did not know what to expect.

            When we got out of the cab Bill Harrison, history teacher and my co-chaperone on many a Westridge summer immersion programs, was outside waiting for us.  Bill is here with a small group of students and, since it was lunchtime, he was able to slip away for a while.  When we walked in we were greeted by the owner and he offered us a choice of tables in the outer dining space of the restaurant.

            The space is rather small with maybe ten tables. This is a tablecloth and cloth napkin restaurant.  It serves meat and it is hard to find a vegetable on the menu.  We studied the menu and each of us ended up ordering a different dish with lamb as the base of each dish.  I had lamb chops; Rachel had lamb prepared with prunes and almonds; Susan opted for lamb skewers and Bill had a lamb with couscous dish.  Each entrée was the meat with no side accompaniments.  I did order a plate of fries and the meal did start with small dishes of tomatoes, carrots, beets, olives and eggplant as an appetizer.  We ordered a bottle of wine for the occasion and I was very surprised and pleased when I tasted it.  The wine is called Anfiteatro and it is from the Priorat region.

            The meal was enjoyable and the owner very amiable.  His sister, who has the reputation of being inhospitable, was not present.  There was an elderly man helping serve and he too was quite pleasant.  We finished our meal with some watermelon and some spearmint tea.  All in all, it was a very pleasant dining experience.

            After lunch we headed back to the hotel.  I opted for a nap and Susan and Rachel went next door to the Thyssen Museum to see a special exhibit of the works of Camille Pissarro.  Soon after they returned we were out the door again headed for the theater to see El Rey Leon.  Our seats were in the center of the fifth row and that gave us a perfect vantage point to see all the goings on.  The show lasts for almost three hours with an intermission.  After the show we stopped of at the Cervecería Cervantes for a quick bite and a beer.t

            We were up early Thursday morning and we were at the station well before the 11:40 departure of the train back to Valencia.  The rest of our day was rather uneventful.  Friday morning Rachel and Susan were supposed to meet Alba to take her tour of Jewish Valencia, but Alba had put the wrong day on her calendar and failed to show.  Monday will be the new day for the tour.

            Tonight we have invited Ofelia, Brian and Pepe to join us for dinner.  We shopped for the menu yesterday and a lot of the prep work was accomplished yesterday, also.  It should not take long to prepare the main course.  Sunday we have tickets for a Flamenco Ballet Company that it currently appearing at the Teatro Olympia.  It looks like it should be fun.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

            Rachel arrived Tuesday afternoon after what must have seemed to be an eternal flight.  She flew from Denver to Dallas, Dallas to Madrid and then Madrid to Valencia.  The flight from Madrid was delayed so she arrived close to forty minutes late.  We got to the airport at 1:00 having taken the metro to get there.  It is a quick twenty-minute trip.

            We had managed to lay in some supplies for Rachel’s visit and we hoped to add fresh fruit, vegetables and fish to the larder.  I had managed to find some kosher wines and they were already in house. Then to my great surprise I discovered a site called Delikosher that ships anywhere in Spain.  I ordered some fresh chicken, beef and lamb, as well as some cheeses and bagels and that means that Rachel will have access to variety while she is here.

            Our activity has been rather low as Rachel adjusts to the time change.  We have visited the area around our place and have made several visits to the Mercado Central.  We have also made several stops for coffee and/or a beer at many of our usual places.  Thursday afternoon Susan and Rachel went to the beach to toivel some pots and pans.  Vilma, who now has her Spanish driver’s license, drove them.  Among the items to be toiveled was a paella pan so that Rachel could finally experience a paella while she learned how to make one.

            Susan and Rachel have been doing quite a bit of cooking and baking.  In the past few days they have made a lemon cake, challah and rolls, two different fish dishes, a coca made with red peppers and other goodies, a coca made with caramelized onions and pine nuts and last night’s paella with chicken and vegetables.

            Susan and I will be going to a guitar concert this evening and other than that we have no grand plans for the day other than to enjoy Rachel’s presence.