Last week, Mike Bennett, our well-known local radio personality from WHUD radio brought his camera crew to the studio to interview me for his television show. I have been listening to Mike on WHUD for many years and it was nice to sit down and chat with him for awhile. We talked about the upcoming Super Bowl in Tampa, the artwork i'm doing for the Andy Roddick Foundation Gala, and I gave him a tour of the studio. My staff and I showed him how my artwork is created and gave him a few sneak previews of some other projects i'm working on…..those of you who live in the area can watch his show “Mike Bennett on the Road” on the Time Warner Cable Network on Channel 6 on Tuesdays and Fridays at 6 (New York's Orange, Ulster, Sullivan, and Dutchess Counties). My interview should be airing throughout the month of October. Thanks for coming down Mike! Enjoy!

I just returned from Japan last week….I go there twice a year to do shows for my Japanese distribution company, High Spirits & Yu. It's an incredible journey, really….an awfully LONG trip….it's not at all like going to Europe….very few people speak English there and the ones that do are so bashful about it and afraid to make mistakes that they don't speak very much at all. I've been told that almost everyone there understands English but just can't speak well or express themselves. They are honored by the fact that i can count in Japanese and say a few words to them. I've learned how to greet the properly and they appreciate that a lot. Yes, it's true that the cab drivers don't speak English at all so if you do go there, make sure you have a piece of paper to hand the driver that tells him or her where you want to go in Japanese. Remember to take another piece of paper with your return trip written on it too so you don't get stranded! They all wear gloves and masks too to prevent against germs. I thought I was careful about germs…..until i went to Japan!

I am always the tallest person around and everyone stares at me in the elevator. That's a strange feeling…The movie Lost in Translation is really an accurate view of what it's like.

I love the hotels i stay in there…my favorite thing to do is go for a swim and then soak in the Japanese Onsen Baths. In some of the hotels, they are even outside and in the midst of beautiful Japanese gardens. I usually go there in January and with the cold air, the warm water feels SO good. When you get out, they serve you hot green tea so you can stay hot on the inside while your body cools down. When staying in Tokyo, i recommend the Four Seasons Chinzan-so. It's really memorable.

I'm not a huge fan of Japanese food but i'm learning to enjoy the vegetarian dishes washed down with a good Kirin or Suntory beer! And the exotic fruits you can get in the marketplace are wrapped individually and are so sweet and tastey. But bring lots of money if you go. A glass of orange juice will set you back about $12 and breakfast costs about $75. I mention breakfast because it IS my favorite meal of the day.

By the way, the shows were great. I met a lot of wonderful people….especially a lot of Japanese dentists who collect my work! It was amazing. The owner of the Nagoya Dragons baseball team also came and bought the original I did for his team. It was great to meet him.

I am glad to be home but I relish the time i get to spend in Japan…it's an alternate universe!

I recently completed one of my most favorite private art commissions. Jaimie Perla and Gregg Furst came to me a few months before their recent wedding and asked me if i would consider creating a 3D pop art ketubah for their ceremony. I was very excited by this challenge and that they would think of me for this meaningful event….for those of you not familiar, a ketubah is a Jewish wedding certificate that is signed by the bride and groom and various people taking part in the ceremony. Jaimie and Gregg talked to me about their lives and told me where they met, about their favorite restaurants and places to travel…vacation spots….and other personal hobbies and information….i took all of that and put it together into an original artwork that would be worthy of housing their marital contract. I am so pleased to be able to share it with you. Jaimie told us that her wedding was being filmed for that television show “Platinum Weddings” so i hope that when it airs, everyone will be able to see it. Congratulations Jaimie and Gregg and thank you for including me in this wonderful milestone.

–Charles

We picked the winners in the Fazzino American Airlines Word Scramble contest today! Congratulations to our Grand Prize winner of airfare for two to London, Deborah Gula of Levittown, New York! And our two runners-up (winners of “The Lights of London”) are Annie Manevitz of Westchester, New York and Donald Kitain of Commerce Twp, Michigan !

And we have decided to send the American Airlines poster to all of you who entered! You'll be hearing from my studio in the next few days! Congratulations to Everyone!

–Charles