Journalism
Arab Spring of organic cuisine
This past Spring, I was great fortune of visiting Beirut, Lebanon. I was on a 2-week USAID-funded volunteer assignment, to evaluate the emerging organic food and farming sector, and to develop a communications strategy to help take them to the next level. I met with the country’s pioneers of organic agriculture, dined with forward-thinking restauranteurs … Continue reading
Why vote “YES” on Prop 37
How many of you look at labels on packaged foods — Ingredients? Nutritional content? Calories? When it comes to genetically modified foods (GMOs), I don’t trust the health and safety claims of the industry, and I want to be able to choose whether or not to eat them. But, unlike in dozens of other countries, … Continue reading
Green in Dubai’s Desert
A weekend in Dubai – Part 2 — the Al Maha Desert Resort, the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve and an antelope’s quiet disdain. Excerpt below, and click here for the full article. +++ The towering skyscrapers of Dubai disappear behind me in a haze. The air smells and tastes of sand, even as the taxi whisks past a … Continue reading
Electrifying Eco-Resort
As some of you may have already gathered, my journey here in Asia has increasingly focused on what is called ‘mysticism’ by some, and quantum physics by others. Chi, prana, kundalini, chakras, universal energy, zero-point energy, etc. The words (and the traditions from which they derive) are less important to me than the underlying phenomena … Continue reading
I see dead people, Bali-style
My short story, “Bali Magic”, is one of five finalists in the Bali-High.com community blog contest. Bali Magic “Michael!!” she screamed as I parked my bike at the warung restaurant. What the hell?? I had never been to this village before or even to this part of Bali. I was staying at an eco-luxury resort down … Continue reading
One week in Indonesia
A taste of my past week here in Indonesia: Research: Digging in deeper into my research about profound manifestations of ‘energy’ (chi, kundalini, prana, mystical – the names matter much less than the phenomena themselves and related implications), developing a database of people around the world with X-Men type abilities, and exploring similarities and dissimilarities from … Continue reading
Dubai’s green dust storm
On a recent flight to the Middle East (including a 2-week volunteer gig in Lebanon developing the organic food and agriculture sector), I squeezed in a quick, 3-day layover in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. The trip started with grabbing a drink with my friend Ivan (whose parents own the wonderful Chileno Valley Bed … Continue reading
Tea time in Tel Aviv
On my recent trip to Israel, I stopped by the offices of Wissotzky Tea, interviewing Shalom Seidler – the 5th generation family member to run this 150+ year old company – for a business article in World Tea News magazine. Although I occasionally enjoy a spot of tea, the Wissotzky offices were located next to one … Continue reading
Pasadena moments
Back in January, and shortly before flying to Indonesia, I hopped in the car for a final road-trip to Los Angeles. Normally, I’d couch surf, but this time decided to combo the trip with writing a review of the Pasadena’s palatial Langham Huntington hotel. I last time I was in Pasadena was for the Tournament of Roses … Continue reading
They call me the seeker …
When I land a Prime Time TV series, the theme music will have to be The Seeker by The Who! Basing myself in Bali, I’ve begun diving into exploring the region’s mystical mysteries. Beneath the relatively thin veneer of modernity (including motorscooter-clogged roads, gaggles of Eat, Pray, Love tourists, and Aussie Spring-Break seeking partiers), there’s … Continue reading
