They spend their days working in grungy offices and their evenings drinking beer and eating hummus at impromptu parties.

He stayed just long enough to eat a quick dinner-pita and hummus, leftover Shabbat chicken that he'd never had a chance to eat hot, a handful of black wine grapes, two cups of instant coffee to wash it all down.

"I want to eat hummus in your place," said the Israeli Yoash Zidon to the Palestinian Albert Aghazarian, "and you eat hummus in my place."

There were no throngs of pretty girls, although there were several girls dressed as if they thought they were pretty; there was no backstage debauchery, unless you count random roadies eating hummus.

Instead, as he sat at a Middle Eastern restaurant in the East 30's, eating hummus and falafel on a recent visit to New York, he radiated the star power of your local auto mechanic.

"I want to eat hummus in your place and you eat hummus in my place."

I called Ralph and told him I was on board, as long as I didn't have to wear a gray suit, eat hummus, or gut a whale.

We ate canned hummus and noodles and tried to decide what movie to watch on our iPods.