The Sotted, Sentimental Swagger of Shane MacGowan and the Pogues
The list of cultural seats for the Irish-American diaspora usually starts and ends with New York or Boston. Chicago maybe. But Tulsa? Not...
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John Carpenter
Jan 275 min read
Old Friends and Rising Stars at Florida's 30A Songwriter's Fest
I generally think of music festivals as minimally clad young people writhing in blazing heat taking duck-lip selfies amid a greater...
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John Carpenter
Jul 18, 20235 min read
Rail Trails: From Once-Mighty Train Lines to Wonderfully Gentle Bike Paths
(Note: This article was originally published in the Chicago Tribune on April 19, 2023.) I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised by the...
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John Carpenter
Jul 11, 20238 min read
Turning 60 (Finally) Pays Off: My Unlikely Run at the World Series of Poker
I counted out a sizable bet and slid it across the green felt toward the three aces face-up in the middle of the table. Then I rested my...
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John Carpenter
Mar 29, 20234 min read
There's Good Food, Interesting Wine, Craft Beer, and Local Music in Out-of-the-way Lubbock
We rolled up onto a bridge curving high over the interstate and I looked out at flatness as far as the eye could see, stretched taught...
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John Carpenter
Dec 31, 20228 min read
Killing the Covid Blues in Clarksdale, Mississippi
I might as well have driven down to Mississippi a hundred years ago. But it was March of 2020. Peering back through the lockdown haze, I...
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John Carpenter
Dec 13, 20226 min read
Sharing a magical Indian wedding with old friends and new
I was 8,600 miles from home and the bridal party was taking advantage of the afternoon sun for group pictures, so I used the delay to...
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John Carpenter
Dec 7, 20227 min read
Chaos and harmony coexist in Mumbai
It took me 59 years to visit Asia for the first time and I still wasn’t ready for Mumbai, a city of jarring contrasts that overwhelms the...
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John Carpenter
Dec 4, 20224 min read
A Parsi tea tutorial in bustling Mumbai
When an affable, interesting, infectiously enthusiastic Mumbai travel guide invites you to his apartment to sample homemade Parsi tea and...
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John Carpenter
Nov 27, 20226 min read
Eastward to Istanbul, where Europe ends and Asia begins
A hectic day of travel and a long, stressful night retrieving a lost suitcase had me in a fitful sleep. My mind raced from one thought to...
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John Carpenter
Nov 19, 20225 min read
Florence begs a question: What has our generation done for the world?
Two days in Florence, birthplace of the so-called Renaissance, and an extra day in Rome visiting St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, led...
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John Carpenter
Nov 17, 20226 min read
Cooking in Rome with a new friend
“You attend to the pancetta,” Fulvia said, as she walked through the open kitchen door into her sun-drenched yard. “I am going to the...
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John Carpenter
Nov 13, 20223 min read
Rome: History and beauty in plain sight
Outside on the busy sidewalk, groups of loud teenagers wandered past. Italian business people strode from one appointment to the next, or...
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John Carpenter
Nov 5, 20225 min read
A rugged coast and a laid back vibe: The Algarve
If Florida had secret beaches guarded by limestone cliffs, vineyards sliding down to 900-year-old stone walls, lovely, zig-zagging...
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John Carpenter
Nov 2, 20224 min read
A happy return to a lovely old friend: Dublin
Good luck if you are the city after Paris on a European trip. The deck is stacked. We are now in Dublin, where the answer to the Eiffel...
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John Carpenter
Oct 28, 20223 min read
Stop the presses! Paris is beautiful!
I didn’t notice until I’d passed her three or four times, looming over the small square near our temporary home base like a guardian...
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John Carpenter
Oct 26, 20223 min read
Hemingway punched me in the mouth
One of the hallmarks of the good vacation is finding a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that turns out to be delightful, then walking out with...
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John Carpenter
Oct 23, 20222 min read
Paris to Istanbul to Mumbai - Our first big quest
We'll cross Europe slowly on our way to a Thanksgiving wedding in India.
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John Carpenter
Sep 30, 20224 min read
Tulsa's Bob Dylan Center Celebrates the Creative Process
The Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa is an inspiring tribute to the creative process of this musical and lyrical genius.
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John Carpenter
Dec 15, 20207 min read
Wandering and Tasting on (Middle) Tennessee Time
I’ve always turned to wandering driving trips in times of slumping stress. Few things clear my head better than a winding country road...
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