It always circled back around to Marco Polo and Kublai Khan. That always fascinated me because so few people make the connection between the two.

Connection is very important. It's extremely important for me to be connected and sharing with other people, giving them what I feel is important.

I don't hide my being Israeli. I say it in every interview. I put out a record with songs in Hebrew. The people who signed me have no connection to Judaism or Israel.

People still call me the eternal amateur. After all, professionals are supposed to be able to conduct everything. But I can't unless I feel some connection inside. Conducting is not an end in itself for me.

I like to try to capture places that a lot of people went to or have a deep emotional connection to. Malls, abandoned speedways, abandoned theme parks. To me, those are most interesting kinds of things to capture.

If I could pick one reason why I want to be a writer, it would be connection. In all kinds of ways, I like to be individual and distinct; but when I write, I want to be writing about things that connect me to the people for whom I write.

I'm often troubled by a very strong instinct to share everything that's going on with me. I want to feel that connection, even with people I don't know. Then this other voice says, 'That's not prudent. People will use what you've said to hurt you.'

I think I had a fur coat that someone bought me from Portobello Market back in the 1960s, but I think as soon as you think about it, what it is you're wearing, make that connection, then you realise it's just not right. I don't lecture people about it, but it's not something I'd ever wear.

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