Found In the Woods

Well the summertime is here and besides catching up on reruns I've found a few gems that I've really enjoyed.

Rescue Me
F/X Tue 10:00pm

The show focuses on the lives of seven or eight FDNY firefighters who all live pretty intense lives. Apart from the fire fighting and gritty humor, the show delves into some pretty intense character conflicts; Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary), the lead character, loses his son at the end of the last season. Sexual infidelity, drugs, alcohol and a heaping serving of brawls are all the order of the day. I'm not one to really revel in the obvious coarseness of most Television shows of this genre. There is something about Rescue Me that keeps drawing me back in.

Sure, the indecent humor and sexual situations are all engaging, but there's so much more here. The characters don't sell out. They maintain the toughness/stuidity/innocence/angst/weakness that the writers imbibed upon them at the getgo and strive to make something out of their lives in the day to day. I think that most of them have resolved to their life status and take great pride in it. Also, the editing is wonderful. Comic timing is brilliant and not overdone or too obvious. There's lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing. Check out the show and be prepared for lots of cursing, sexual situations (some explicit) and some good 'ol NYC-style brawls.

The Real Dirt on Farmer John
PBS: Independent Lens various times, check website

I caught this by accident on Saturday night. It's an engaging, delightful story about a farmer who faces the farming crisis of the 1980s in America and meets it head on. After the storm passes, he loses nearly everything. Picking up the peices, he rebuilds in a new way – this time, farming organically. His success is a fascinating story of hard work and a willing intellect. He adopts philosophies and ideas to his own life and ends up with a profitable entity fully backed by a community of stakeholders , students, friends and and admirers. The stripped-down, earthy feel of this documentary is what got me interested. This man is so passionately and strongly attached to his land, he will try anything to keep it. A great story, well told.

Alone in the Wilderness
PBS, http://www.dickproenneke.com

This is a sort of documentary / art film. It's a fascinating look into the life of a man, Dick Proenneke, who in the early 1970s left the hum-drum of the working world behind, took a few tools and a canoe and headed out in to the Alaskan wilderness to build a home; literally. The film is mostly self shot and shows Dick working day by day on his cabin, which he builds nearly entirely from local materials. About the only thing not local are the nails and the tarpaper roof sheets! He even buids several tools from scratch. A remarkable tale, told through the words of Proenneke, which can also be read in his journal. This guy is a real craftsman. One of a long lost breed. The way he manipulates the materials he has from raw logs into usable pieces of lumber, furniture and tools is simply amazing. I found myself agape at his skill and patience. This one will be hard to find on regular TV; buy the DVD or borrow it from the library.

Kristin and I celebrated our fourth anniversary this past weekend. We traveled out to Grantsville, MD and stayed at the Stone Bow Inn. It was wonderful. The inn is situated on the banks of the Cassleman River about a hundred yards away from the “old stone bow”; a bridge constructed in 1813 for the national road, AKA route 40. The inn also shares land with an incredibly active artist community where you can peruse the trades and wares among the scattered old log & mortar buildings which were moved from nearby areas to the commune. To name a few, there is a potter, weaver, metalworker, soapmaker, glassmaker, painter and several historic interpretive sites as well.

On Saturday we visited the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. What a treat. They operate an ex LS&I 1916 Baldwin 2-8-0 from the old WM Cumberland station up to Frostburg, MD. The trip is really nice. We sat in first class which included a nice meal and service throughout the trip. We met some nice folks and really enjoyed ourself. I’ve posted pics of our journey in the Gallery here and here. I’ve also posted a short video of Mountain Thunder ascending the grade toward Frostburg:

Coming to a crib near you July 5.

If you haven't heard of YTMND you must be living under a rock. Here are a few of my fav's:

Picard Song http://picard.ytmnd.com
The original http://yourethemannowdog.ytmnd.com
Ni@@a Stole My Bike: Punchout Remix http://niggastolemybike.ytmnd.com
YTMND: For Gameboy http://ytmndgameboy.ytmnd.com
What is love!? http://ckjcwf.ytmnd.com
Picard IS the Empire : A Night at the Hothberry http://anightatthehothberry.ytmnd.com
The Emo Song http://emosong.ytmnd.com
Optimus Prime's Wonderful Time http://primewonderfultime.ytmnd.com

and, my absolute favorite…

UBER HAX!!1 : The Katrina/Rita Saga : Directors Cut http://katritahax.ytmnd.com

"teh economy is teh suck"

Good gracious, has it been that long? Over a month since the last post hit the streets. Sorry abou that folks. I like to try and dish it out more but sometimes things just go in the other direction and I find myself wandering around far away from das blog.

So lots has gone on since then… some highlights:

• I celebrated my 31st b-day.
• We celebrated our 4th anniversary at our current address
• Got to see the beloved Red Sox conquer the Orioles @ Camden Yards w/ my Dad
• The kitchen remodeling project began at home. (Pics are up in The Gallery)

So these are just a few things. Life has been good. Spring is here and my allergies won’t let me forget it. Kristin is looking very pregnant and is starting to feel really uncomfortable at night. Seems no position is without soreness… It’s only 1.5 months now until the due date. Kyle is doing great as well. He’s making an early entry into the terrible two’s and is letting us know. He’s into everything and has opinions now about everything. He wants what he wants when he wants it. Or he throws mini-tantrums. It’s funny to watch him process stuff. You can ask him “Kyle, do you want a cracker” … he’ll think for a second and say “Okay!” and shake his head up and down. I love it. It just keeps getting better.

One of the most impressive auto ad campaigns I have ever seen. It’s too bad most morans running the marketing departments of todays big automakers can’t think up shi* that’s this cool anymore. With the music accompaniment this is a work of art. James Bond is jealous.

Our Bathroom was completed a couple weeks ago and I forgot to blog it. Well, I guess I've just been enjoying it too much and straight up forgot! Wow, the carpenter and all the other contractors did a spectacular job. Whenever you're in there it's like you're in an Inn or a B&B or something. It doesn't feel like our house. Everything is so nice and fresh. The room is more comfortable and everything feels so right in there; not hacked together like it use to be. It's amazing how hectic the transformation was from old to new and how great it is now. There are some pics up in the Gallery but nothing spectacular. I'll need a wide-angle lens or something to get some really good shots. View 'em here.

So, as the due date approaches and the walls of the house seem to squeeze inwards, my eBay exploits are at full steam and the great furniture rearranging begins. We’ve got a fairly small house (1500 sq. feet or so). Luckily the basement is finished. What we’ve decided is to rearrange the office from the upstairs blue room to the basement guest room. This will really be a paradigm shift for me. I’m so used to having the office right off the main upstairs hallway, now it will be down in the back of the basement. More den-like, which I’m looking forward to.

I took yesterday off to pack, move and set everything up. We got about half way done. All that’s left is to trim the top off the Ivar shelves, install the wall mount shelves, finish the cable/network/telco installation and set everything back up.

Restaurant on Wilson Blvd. in Clarendon, VA. I don’t understand how this got thru the sign shop unnoticed. Sign reads “Good Taste Gourment” … “U Like”. I sure do. Click for a larger view.

Thanks Randy & Pat

Saw Belle & Sebastian last Sunday night at the 9:30 Club. The show was fantastic. This was my second time seeing them there, the first time being on the Dear Catastrophe tour. The opening band, The New Pornographers, were great too. Their energy was massive and they were incredibly tight. Their drummer was hilarious. He was twirling and tossing his drumsticks and never missed a beat while taking generous swigs from a tank of, what looked like, gin or whiskey. He even shared with the other bandmembers at different times.

B&S came on and did a wonderful show. They opened with Stars of Track and Field – a slow one and a favorite of mine. They played a handful of new stuff, most of which I don’t really care for, and a good dose of oldies, including String Bean Jean, Century of Fakers, Electronic Renaissance, I Don’t Love Anyone & The State that I am In, another favorite of mine. The banter from the band was wonderful. At one point Stuart took his shirt off and requested a small v-neck from the merchandise counter in the back. The crowd passed it forward and he put it on, even though the thing was extremely tight… his mannerisms were hilarious. They played a beatles cover “Birthday” for one of their sound engineers who’s 40th b-day it was, which was a real treat because of how simply and tight the song was performed. I imagined the beatles themselves were performing. Discourse about the Scottish vs. American social practice and limits on public discussion about sex were hilarious; using colloquialism vs. being up front and overt, basically.

All in all an enjoyable night. The crowd at these shows is typically very friendly. Take, for example, the guy behind me who blew smoke in my ear twice. When I finally turned around and gave him a nasty glare, he apologised profusely. A few moments later he tapped my shoulder and offered me a drink he’d purchased at the nearby bar. I thanked him and politely refused (I don’t take candy from strangers), but come on – you would never see that at a Rob Zombie show. Aside from the turds in the “VIP” section (artsy-fartsy morons armed with cameras, picture phones, blackberries and cliches) the crowd was respectable (quiet enough to hear a pindrop during Stuart’s piano solos in Fox in the Snow) and fun.

You can listen to the second night’s show on NPR Here.