Marty Kaplan's Blog

Let’s Eat Out Again!

Posted on February 24, 2013 by martykaplan

Sunday, February 24, 2013

It is becoming more and more obvious that Fallas are drawing near. Electric street signs are appearing all over the city. Women in traditional dress and hairdos seem to be omnipresent. All the casales fallers are electric with activity, as they get ready for the mid-March celebration. There was a despartá at 8:00 o’clock this morning. The despertá is a daily tradition during Fallas and it is essentially a sound explosion as a goodly number of devices are set off. The despertá and its big brother the mascletá take place in the Plaza de Ayuntamiento and we now live just a stone’s throw away from there. We had no trouble whatsoever hearing this morning’s despertá.

The newspapers every morning are filled with details of the latest news of corruption both political and otherwise. The King’s son-in-law is under investigation for having solicited public funds for non-existent events and salting the money away in a foreign bank account. Rumor has it that other members of the royal family were involved. The Partido Popular keeps trying to distance itself from the Bárcenas scandal. Bárcenas was a former treasurer of the PP who, as it turns out, had a 22 million Euro bank account in Switzerland and we later discovered that there existed a separate account that had 9 million in it. His purported books show a number of payoffs from large construction companies and to a number of PP officials including the current Prime Minister. There is also a scandal involving the mayor of Valencia.

The drill seems to be to deny everything, attack the attackers, talk about conspiracy theories and claim that your attackers are either anti-democratic or reds. The irony is that the political parties here have been in bed with the bankers and the large construction companies that caused the economic disaster here in Spain and they are among those who are suffering the least.

As if we had not dined out enough this week, yesterday we decided to visit La Comisaría and take a look at the new menu. It turned out that Eddie was not cooking yesterday afternoon. The good new is that Carlos, El Tigre, was in charge of the kitchen. When we walked in at 2:30 we were the only customers, but little by little the restaurant filled to capacity and it was necessary to call in extra help to deal with the situation.

The menu has been extensively revised. My impression was that four or five dishes from the old menu have made it to the new one. We decided to try three new dishes and a familiar fourth one that was a bit different from its previous incarnation. We had the empanaditas, dim sum vegetariano, sushi grade salmon that had been lightly smoked and served with wasabi, and a salad that featured what I can only describe as divine eggplant. We passed on dessert, but we did have coffee.

While we were dining, the wind had picked up in intensity and when we finally made our way home we decided that the best course of action was to stay indoors for the rest of the day and to spend out time reading, watching some TV and playing on the computer.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Fallas, La Comisaria, Marty kaplan, Valencia | Leave a comment

Dining Out

Posted on February 23, 2013 by martykaplan

Saturday, February 23, 2013

This has been an interesting week in spite of the fact that there is not much to report. The CIVAC meeting was uneventful, but at least we were able to nail down the final details of the 24 HORAS. As I mentioned before, all the events will occupy a 48-hour time frame, but, since the name has been used several times before, the decision was made to keep the name the same.

Tuesday evening we made our way to El Teatro Principal to see the Spanish version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. It is town for a month and tickets are hard to get. We ended up sitting on the aisle in the 13^th row and we had an excellent view of the stage. It was a very enjoyable experience. The voices were pitch perfect, the dancing was very energetic and the costumes and the lighting added to the overall favorable impression. The performance ended at 10:45 and a light dinner was in order.

After considering the alternatives we opted for The Ginger Loft. When we entered there was a couple at one of the tables and someone sitting at the bar. Within the space of fifteen minutes we had the place to ourselves. We ordered the ceviche and the wonton and along with a beer and a glass of wine it turned out to be the perfect late night snack. We had an interesting conversation with Mike and Santi about the reluctance of Valencian chefs and restaurateurs to replicate the authentic tastes of Asian cuisine. They are more willing to dumb down the taste for the Spanish palate. On the one hand it seems to make logical sense. You want to appeal to the Spanish palate especially if you own a restaurant. However, if one were to open a small Thai restaurant, would it not be possible to fill it with people who know the authentic tastes of the cuisine and want to experience them? You are drawing from a pool of a million inhabitants and a constant flow of foreign visitors.

Wednesday was a cold and windy day so we opted to eat at home and spend most of the day indoors. I received a call from Dani DaOrtiz – as usual he was on his way to an airport – alerting me to the fact that he was going to send me his next column for Genii Magazine. As it turned out, the column was overdue and there was a request that I complete the translation as soon as I possibly could. The article was seven pages long and fairly technical so I knew that it was going to take me a while to get it done. I began the process on Wednesday and was not finished until Friday when I sent it off to the publisher a day ahead of when I had initially promised it.

Thursday was when I did the bulk of the translation and to reward myself we went to Carosel for lunch. The restaurant never disappoints. It is always a treat for the eye, the nose and the palate. Thursday’s appetizers were a salmorejo (the Andalusian version of gazpacho that is denser than gazpacho) adorned with a langoustine and a chunk of eggplant, una falsa croqueta de mejillones, which was essentially a deconstructed croqueta that featured two plump and juicy mussels, rollitos de salmón con salsa de cacahuates (essentially a smoked salmon taco with a peanut sauce), and crujientes de íberico con salsa de plátano y de curry (breaded and fried thin strips of pork with a banana and curry dipping sauce). We had a paella negra con calamares as our main dish. This paella is made with squid ink and in other restaurants has a tendency to be overly salty. That does not happen here.

We went out for lunch on Friday, also. We had not been to A Nou in a while and so we headed to Calle Borrull for lunch with Mario, Javi and Teresa. Our appetizers yesterday were a flan de queso, lomo asado con setas and alcachofas con atún. We had an arroz a banda as our main dish and the six shrimp that crowned the dish were exquisite. After dessert and coffee we made our way to La Petxina so that Susan could sign up for next month’s Pilates class. Juanjo came by last night for his conversation lesson with Susan and after that we watched “Hitchcock” courtesy of Apple TV. We did not get to bed until after midnight, but since there was no need to get up early this morning, it was no big deal.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A Nou, Carosel, Marty kaplan, The Ginger Loft, Valencia | Leave a comment

Breaking Bread

Posted on February 17, 2013 by martykaplan

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Friday’s daylight hours were not too eventful. We got up late, had breakfast and then paid a visit to the Mercado Central. Pepe had invited us to join him and Paquito at his place tonight and red meat was on the menu. Susan had volunteered to make the salad and as an added treat she thought that she would bake and bring over a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies. Since dinner promised to be rather abundant, we had lunch at home. Susan made a quinoa salad with pistachios and mint and a side salad to accompany the quinoa.

At 9:30 we made the two-minute walk from our place to Pepe’s and as we approached the smell of the smoke from a fireplace was in the air and that meant that Pepe was getting the fire ready for some serious grilling. Paquito was already there when we walked through the door. We opened a couple of beers and chatted while Pepe removed the biggest pepper I have ever seen from the coals, along with an eggplant and some onions. He then went into the kitchen to make a killer escalibada. We worked on some sardines and some peanuts while he was busily at work.

We then began to devour the escalibada while Pepe put some morcilla and some longaniza on the grill. Next to feel the heat of the fire were three of the biggest steaks that I have ever seen. Susan’s salad was the perfect accompaniment to the very rare meat. In addition to the food we made two bottles of wine magically disappear. For dessert we finished off a plate of Susan’s chocolate chip cookies. It was a little after midnight when we made the two-minute walk back home.

Yesterday we decided to visit Jordi’s recently opened Terraza del Muvim, which is located inside the Museo Valenciano de Ilustración y Modernidad (MuVIM). The menu of the day is similar to what one finds at Carosel. The main difference is that the appetizers do not appear all at once on the wooden tabla, but rather are served one by one. Yesterday’s appetizers were a peas soup with mint, a coca topped with sardines and a salad. For our main dish we ordered an arroz meloso with cod and cauliflower. Dessert was a vanilla crumble.

When we finished our meal a little after 4:00 the museum had already opened for its afternoon hours and so we paid a visit. There was a photo exhibit of Cuba that Susan had wanted to see for the longest time and we ended our time at the museum looking at that exhibit. The exhibit was an interesting contrast between the spirit of the Cuban people and the abject poverty in which they live.

My phone rang a little after 6:30 at it was Nacho Diago who was in town for a Sunday performance in a nearby town. It had been a while since we last caught up and he wanted to come over and see our new place and then go out to dinner. It took him about an hour to get here and after giving him a tour of our place we sat down for some wine and some conversation.

I have been in touch with Nacho since I undertook my project of creating a stand-up act that was pitched towards adults. Yesterday I had the chance to show him to of the effects in my set. He had some touches that eh shared with me to make the performance of those two effects magically stronger. Nacho’s experience as a magician and as an actor experienced in stage, television and film makes him a valuable advisor and he has offered to help me as I continue to develop my “act”.

A little after 9:00 we headed for Ballando Nudi for dinner. Francisco was at the top of his game as he suggested a variety of possibilities for our meal. We ended up ordering a salad, anchovies with mozzarella di bufala, some home made tagliatelle and a second pasta topped with a meat stew that had no right to taste so fine. For dessert we ordered a chocolate pastry and tiramisú. When we finished our chupito, it was a little after midnight. Nacho had parked near the house and so we accompanied him to his car and then we continued on our way home. Given the heaviness of our dinner meal, we stayed up for another hour before we retired for the night.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged La Terraza del Muvim, Marty kaplan, Valencia | Leave a comment

No, No, Ninot!

Posted on February 15, 2013 by martykaplan

Friday, February 15, 2013

The temperature is in the 70’s and the wind has died down. It was sunny yesterday, but the wind did occasionally pick up and that was especially evident yesterday when we were looking at the Ninots that are on exhibit at Nuevo Centro. The exposition is housed in a series of tents and when the wind blows, just about everything rattles.

Ninots are the figures that are part of the fallas that will go up the first week in March. A falla can be as high as four or five stories with a multiplicity of Ninots. As you may recall, all the fallas are burnt to the ground on the last day of the celebration. However, there are two Ninots that are spared from the conflagration. One of them is a smaller figure and the other is a larger figure. When you tour the exhibition your entrance fee allows you to vote for the best small and large figure. It is this public vote that decides what Ninots will be spared.

We visited the exhibition after our lunch yesterday. We tried what was a new restaurant for us. It is called Mulandhara and it is located a couple of blocks away from the Cines Yelmo. Pepe and Salva had eaten there and Pepe recommended the place very highly. We thought Valentine’s Day would be the perfect time to try it out.

The restaurant has been in existence for two years. Its feel is rather modern with a lot of black and chrome. There were four different menus available and we chose the one that offered us four different shared appetizers, an arroz meloso with lobster and a mango and cheese pudding for dessert. Since it was a special occasion we ordered a bottle of cava to go along with the meal. There will be a picture of the bottle further down in this post. We began our meal with a salad that featured a variety of lettuces, green garlic, goat cheese and shavings of jamón serrano. The other appetizers included a croqueta, a square of focaccia, and a salad of grains that included barley green garlic and chicken. There was an additional appetizer that featured goat cheese, but the other ingredients escape me at the moment.

The arroz meloso was studded with mushrooms, squid and baby shrimp and on top of all sat a whole Atlantic lobster that had been whose meat was made very accessible by judicious cuts of the knife and the application of a nutcracker to the claws. The dish was exquisite. That is the only adjective that comes to mind. We finished our meal with the pudding and a cup of coffee. The bill for this feast, including the bottle of cava that cost 26 Euros, was 70 Euros. The Spanish expression “Aquí se vive bien” certainly applies to yesterday’s adventure.

Later in the evening I attended a planning meeting for the 24 HORAS and things are fitting nicely into place. The whole event will take place at a space called La Rambleta, which in addition to having a restaurant and a variety of meeting places has a 600-seat auditorium. The 24 hours, as it turns out, is a misnomer because events will start at 9:00 PM on Friday and will not come to a conclusion until 8:00 PM on Sunday. I was back home before 11:00, but we did not get to bed until 1:00.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Marty kaplan, Mulandhara, Ninot, Valencia | Leave a comment

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted on February 14, 2013 by martykaplan

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine’s Day or as it’s known here in Spain Feliz Día de los Enamorados! Susan and I had an amazing lunch today and I will give you the details tomorrow or the next day. Afterwards we walked back home and on the way picked up our train tickets for our end of March escape to Madrid. We have tickets for El Rey León, as well as two magic shows. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Yesterday Susan did her morning Pilates and I did some cardio and weights at the gym. Jordi had invited us for lunch at Carosel so after a quick shower we made the five-minute trip to the restaurant. The reason for the invitation is that he has a photo project for Susan that involves both Carosel and his new place, La Terraza del MUVIM.

Lunch as usual was spectacular. The table de entrantes include a cream of corn soup, a tomato salad made with a variety of tomato local to Valencia (tomate Raf). The salad, in addition to the tomatoes included onions and julienned carrots and mojama (dried red tuna). There was also a coca de escalibada and a type of croqueta that was filled with tuna and other goodies. Our main dish was an arroz meloso that was filled with mussels and squid. Unbelievably tasty!

Susan will need to meet with Vicki to work out the details of the photo shoot and the good news is that there is abundant time for this project to unfold. The rest of the day was really uneventful. Susan curled up in her rocker in her office and read her book and I did some work on the computer. It was around midnight when we went to bed.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Carosel, food, Marty kaplan, Valencia | Leave a comment

Happy New Year Chinese Style!

Posted on February 11, 2013 by martykaplan

Monday, February 11, 2013

Significant storms keep pounding the north of the peninsula. The only noticeable effect here in Valencia is the increased wind velocity and the cooler temperatures. All in all, it’s not a bad tradeoff.

Friday, Susan tried her hand at making an authentic paella valenciana with outstanding results. I think the only change she intends to make for attempt number two will be a little less water for the rice. Friday night Juanjo came by for his conversation session with Susan. I took advantage of the time to do absolutely nothing. My head needs a rest after all the work I have been doing on my stand-up routine.

Saturday we made our way over to the Museo de Bellas Artes for a guitar concert. It turns out that it was the first time in the history of Los Amigos de la Guitarra that a violinist and a guitarist took the same stage. The guitarist was Miguel Pérez Perelló and the violinist was Margherita Marseglia. Their program was quite varied and included works by Tárrega, Bach, Corelli, Paganini and de Falla. It was an enjoyable concert made all the more enjoyable by the lovely auditorium and an audience made up of people who were present to listen to the music. Here is a sampling of the guitarist’s work http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dzpCJ47Gug0#!

After the concert we paid a visit to Bar Ricardo, which is about four or five block away from our old place on Borrull. Susan and Zahava had eaten there a week ago and Susan was anxious for me to try it out. Our timing was perfect and we got the last table. After that groups, both large and small, kept coming through the door and they filled up the bar area, the downstairs dining room, the upstairs dining room and all the tables on the terrace. Who knew it was such a popular space?

We ordered three tapas – escailibada, puntillas and gambas al ajillo. All the dishes were very tasty. We managed to down several beers and a couple of glasses of red while we snacked. Dessert was a coffee and a chupito. It was close to 11:00 when he headed back home.

Yesterday we went to The Ginger Loft to celebrate Chinese New Year. Mike has been preparing this special meal for the last three years that we know of and maybe even longer than that. Pepe was able to join us and that made the meal all the more enjoyable. We enjoyed seven different dishes followed by a simple dessert. Among the dishes were won ton soup, mushu pork, char siu bao and other delights. We arrived at 2:00 and we did not leave until 4:30 and, boy, were we full.

We took it easy for the rest of the day. Susan watched an episode of Dowton Abbey and I worked on an arts and crafts project for a magic effect. We did not get to bed until midnight.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Amigos de la Guitarra, Bar Ricardo, Marty kaplan, The Ginger Loft | Leave a comment

Pablo Martín Quintet

Posted on February 6, 2013 by martykaplan

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Inma arrived at 8:00 to do her every other week house cleaning and, since we were up and about, we decided to go across the street and have breakfast. We had been meaning to go to the Café Oeste for the longest time and yesterday was that day. It is a small family run café that is open for breakfast and lunch. In addition to the usual breakfast toast and sweet rolls they offer a variety of tortillas. I counted nine of them in the display case. There was the traditional tortilla de patata, as well as the tortilla de patata y cebolla, but there were also tortillas with spinach, chorizo, cod, baked ham, Serrano ham, morcilla and sobresada. We went traditional and had a croissant, juice and a cup of coffee.

When we finished our breakfast we went to the supermarket and picked up cleaning supplies and paper goods. Our next stop was the Mercado Central where we bought a fresh caught dorade that Javi cleaned and fileted for us. We also picked up some strawberries and cherries. Strawberries are back in season here. They are being shipped in from Huelva, which is in the south of Spain. Our shopping done, we went back home and worked on various projects until lunchtime.

Lunch was the fresh-caught dorade along with a salad, fresh green beans and tzatziki. All went well with an inexpensive albariño that we had bought the other day. We took it easy for the rest of the afternoon in anticipation of a late night at Jimmy Glass.

When we arrived there was already a line outside the door waiting for the place to open at 9:00. As usual Pepe was among those first in line and as usual he saved us two seats at a table that was less than six feet away from the drummer. Admission to last night’s concert featuring the Pablo Martín Quintet was 14 Euros per person and at Jimmy Glass there is no requirement that you order drinks, although everyone does. Pablo Martín was presenting his new CD/DVD entitled El Caminero. The quintet features Pablo on bass along with a percussionist, a reed player, a pianist and a trombonist. The pianist and the drummer who were sitting in tonight are not the usual members of the group, but they played as if they were. The concert started at 9:45 and did not end until 12:45. There was a twenty minute intermission which is when most of the patrons pick up the sandwiches they ordered when they walked into the place,

The musicians were amazing. I am not an expert when it comes to the jazz scene in the US, but I am continually blown away by the quality and the creativity of Spanish jazz musicians. I often wonder aloud whether the locus of jazz has shifted to Europe. Either way, it was an incredible night of jazz and it is uplifting to be only feet away from the bandstand listening to musicians play without any amplification. Valencia is fortunate to have Jimmy Glass as a venue for jazz musicians who come from all over to play there. The good news is that it is always standing room only here and that is one of the reasons why this jazz club continues to be very successful. Here is a link to the first song on the album. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpUDKFBMRwQ Enjoy!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Jimmy Glass, Marty kaplan, Pablo Martín Quintet | Leave a comment

Oh Boy, Señor Rajoy!

Posted on February 5, 2013 by martykaplan

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

In addition to the financial crisis that continues to cripple the Spanish economy, we now have a political crisis. It is really not surprising that there is a connection between the two. It seems that a former treasurer of the Partido Popular somehow managed to park some 22 million Euros in a Swiss bank account. Additionally, his account book has surfaced that records payments made under the table to the high mucky-mucks of the party. The current Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, has supposedly received some 350,000 Euros over a ten-year period. Rajoy appeared on Spanish television on Saturday to give his explanation of “the facts”. He did so in a prepared fifteen-minute address after which no questions were permitted. If that were not enough to undermine his credibility, reporters were not allowed into the room where the speech originated and were obliged to watch the speech on a monitor.

Rajoy has denied everything, which is par for the course for politicians all over the world. He has cast doubt on the written records stating that it is all a plot generated by enemies of the party and enemies of the state. This supposed truth comes from the same politician who has managed to renege on all his campaign promises. In spite of vowing that the IVA would not be raised, that there would be no cuts to health and education and that pensions would not be touched, the opposite happened in 2012. The failing banks have been refunded, but anything that remotely resembles a public service has been slashed. Unemployment ranks continue to swell and the youth unemployment rate stands at 50%. He is not the only member of his party that has been involved in financial misdeeds. All the under the table deals that were made during the boom years have slowly been coming to light and the role of the PP’s involvement in the bad decisions of the local banks and the bribes that were paid by contractors to avoid “problems” are now coming to light.

In the last election the PP achieved an overwhelming majority of the votes and was able to take charge of the political reins with the aid an assistance of any of the other political parties. As a result, the Parliament has consistently vetoed any request for appearances by the various ministers and the prime minister himself. The report regarding the state of the nation has been consistently postponed. Major changes have been made at the TV networks that are publicly funded. Critics of the government have lost their positions and friends of the PP now find themselves in the spotlight. The PP has been unable to control the press and the current crisis has been sparked by investigations carried out by two of Spain’s top newspapers, El Mundo and El País. The latest polls show that if the elections were held today the PP would garner only 23% of the vote with the Socialist Party not far behind. There have been calls for Rajoy to resign and I am sure that there will be a call for early elections. It is doubtful that either will happen.

Valencia continues to struggle as new scandals continue to come to light. Valencia’s problems have been highlighted in the international media and today’s LA Times has a page 3 article about the unchecked spending that went on during the boom years. You can read all about it here http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-spain-valencia-20130204,0,2467482.story

Our lives have not been as exciting. The good news is that there is no hint of scandal in the Kaplan household. We did manage to get to the museum on Sunday. The IVAM, which is the Modern Art Museum, had an exhibit entitled “América” that was truly bizarre and we were not really sure what its intent was nor we were sure about what America they were describing. The good news is that admission was free and worth every penny.

Yesterday we tried out a new place for lunch. It is a bar/tasca called Maipi and it was recommended to us by our upstairs neighbor and it also got a mentioned in a NY Times piece of a few years ago about where to eat in Valencia. We started off with some artichokes and ham. Susan was in the mood for fish so she ordered the cod a la portuguesa and I had the leg of goat, which I found to be a bit bland. I really think that this would be an ideal place to have tapas since their tapa menu is quite extensive. We will definitely go back and give it another try.

Last night there was a CIVAC meeting that featured a lecture by Boris Wild. I enjoyed it because it was heavy on theory with only a limited number of effects being taught. There were several members who were displeased by the lecture for the very same reasons that I liked it. Wild is a very creative thinker and his plots are airtight and will convince any audience that they have witnessed magic happening. The lecture ended at 11:00 and the guys were going to go out in search of some supper, but I was out of energy especially since I needed to do a rush translation for EL MANUSCRITO. Tonight we are going to Jimmy Glass to listen to some jazz.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Mariano Rajoy, Marty kaplan, Partido Popular | Leave a comment

It’s Already February?

Posted on February 3, 2013 by martykaplan

Sunday, February 3, 2013

This must be the time when a number of restaurants make changes to their menu. When we had lunch at La Comisaría the other day, Anna told us that as of tomorrow there would be an entirely new menu and most of the dishes that we have come to know and love will disappear. I think the only holdovers will be the chupa chups de langostinos and the tomates tres texturas. It seems that the menu of the day Monday through Wednesday will consist of six tapas and a beverage for 15 Euros. Of course, we will have to try it out.

Jordi is also making major changes to his menu. We found that out yesterday when we had lunch at Carosel and what a lunch it was. The highlight was an absolutely incredible arroz al horno personally delivered to our table by Jordi himself. Nobody at the moments is will to talk about the menu changes so I guess we will have to return and find out for ourselves.

Susan was to meet with Juanjo on Friday evening to continue his English lessons, but he needed to cancel because someone was coming by to take a look at the motorcycle he was selling. That being the case, I jumped on line to see if there were any symphony tickets available for that evening. I was fortunate enough to find two excellent seats in the tenth row. We grabbed a cab a little before 7:00 and we were in our seats at 7:20. The first half of the program featured a work by Alban Berg entitled Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. The soloist was Frank Peter Zimmerman whose performance was awarded with four curtain calls. The second half of the program was Anton Bruckner’s Symphony Number 5 in B Flat Major. It is one of the longest symphonic pieces that I have ever sat through. It lasts for almost seventy-five minutes and it is most demanding on all the string players.

When we exited the Palau it was close to 10:00 and we decided that we would visit iDon and have a pizza. We were fortunate enough to get one of the last few vacant tables and were pleased to discover that they now have their act together and that service is much smoother and attentive. Susan and I shared some mozzarella di bufala, a very different and tasty caponata, and a pizza capricciosa. The pizza was right on target and the crust was perfect. Our cab left us at our front door at midnight and we were in bed soon after.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Carosel iDon, Marty Kaplan. La Comisaria | Leave a comment

Magic Moments

Posted on January 31, 2013 by martykaplan

Thursday, January 31, 2013

The sun has returned to Valencia and temperatures are settling into the 70’s. It is getting more and more difficult to find seats at outdoor tables, but that is what happens when the weather is inviting.

Sunday afternoon Susan and Zahava headed off to Botánico for a celebration of Tu Bishvat, which is a Jewish celebration that marks the new year for trees. In addition to numerous stops in the garden prayers are said and sweets are consumed. That evening Susan and I went to the movies to see a Spanish film called La Banda Picasso that supposedly deals with the theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. I said supposedly because very little of the plot revolves around that theft and instead deals with the relationship between Pablo Picasso and a number of his contemporaries. The writer and director, Fernando Colomo, is Spanish and so we expected the film to be in Spanish. Well, in a manner of speaking it was in Spanish, but the Spanish has been dubbed because the film was shot in French. That was just another element that added to our poor impression of the film.

Tuesday we made our way to Patraix to pick up our new resident visas. When we arrived at 1:00 the line was mercifully short and it took less than five minutes for us to be attended to. We now are legal until December 4, 2014 at which time we will have to go through the renewal process again. It is most gratifying to have the process behind us and that means we can fully focus on being here.

We had lunch at home yesterday, but in the evening we ended up at Antonio Manuel where we snacked on several tapas. We had some habas con jamón, pulpo a la Gallega and the ever-popular patatas bravas. I had a beer and Susan had a couple of glasses of wine. I ordered a coffee while Susan finished her wine and then our waiter, Javi, poured us a chupito. The bill came to 22 Euros and was yet another reminder of the affordability of dining out here in Spain.

My time continues to be consumed by magic. I finally finished the translations for the second issue of EL MANUSCRITO and I sent them off yesterday. Monday’s CIVAC meeting focused on this coming April’s 24 HORAS, where we will celebrate the memory of Paco De Andrés, one of the moving forces in magic both here in Valencia and in Spain. He was an advisor to many of today’s Spanish magic stars and many of them will take the stage on April 13 to perform in his honor. There will also be a number of events that weekend including a close-up gala, a children’s gala, a dinner, a midnight cabaret and several lectures. I am involved with the children’s gala and have ended up as the emcee, along with Sofi. We will have meetings every Thursday to iron out all the details of this event.

I continue to work on my stand-up act for adults. I have been working on it for close to a month now. I have been working on the technical aspects of the effect as I work on possible presentations. I am getting closer to my goal, but I continue to work on the scripting. The scripting is the most difficult part because you need it to make the effect meaningful and interesting. At the same time, the words should not get in the way of the magic. Some thought needs to be given to the order in which the effects should be presented. The ultimate test will be when the act is presented to an audience and that will let me know what works and what doesn’t and that will involve yet another visit to the drawing board.

That’s what is going on here. We do not have a great deal planned for February, but it looks like March, April, May and June will be very eventful.