My sister and her baby.
Which makes us an Aunt and Uncle.
First time life experience.
Expect weird toys Ella
Tuesday
Sunday
Friday
Monday
How strange it must have been during the time of Prohibition. Tonight I (whiskey) had my monthly Silent Film event called Silent Music Revival. Before the feature film, I projected a cartoon short comedy about then-current events, as was done almost one hundred year ago, today.
The film was Breath of a Nation (1919), an obvious pun on the 1915 classic Birth of a Nation, and although this film had nothing to do with what it pays homage, it still, similarly, offers commentary on the social situation of its time.
Breath of a Nation is a more lighthearted Prohibition-mocking film that shows the openly-underground use of alcohol during a time that it was illegal.
While watching this film I couldn’t help but hysterically wonder whether films like Half Baked or Dazed and Confused would find itself in the same strange category with substances that were “at one point illegal, openly used until the government gave up and made them legal” category. I am not just saying this because I am an advocate for the legalization of marijuana (now conservative relatives don’t be upset, your party is headed this direction as well, just check the conservative opinion on the matter). I say this as a silent film enthusiast, who wonders, “what about our society will change?”
Silent Films are wonderful because they allow you to view a culture from the past that you are completely disconnected from. You can see how we have stayed the same and how we have changed. Call me an old fashioned progressive, but we can’t go forward without getting a glimpse of the past.
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the glimpse
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Tuesday
Adventures in American Diners: Bethany Beach Fire Station
Bethany Beach, Delaware.
oK, so admittedly this is not an actual "diner" per say, but rather a fire station doing a fundraiser breakfast. We will let this detail slide for the sake of breakfast exploration. Seeing as Bethany Beach is usually a very tourist oriented area, it was kind of nice to see the settled side of the small town. You could tell that most of the guests recognized each other, but certainly did not recognize us.
The food was set up as a buffet line with Bethany's finest serving the plates. At first we noticed that the eggs were kind of, dark. Turns out they were cooked in bacon grease, but after a mention of us being vegetarians they scrabbled us up some non-bacon ones.
Over all it was a pretty standard American breakfast: eggs, miniature muffins, pancakes, hash browns, toast, fruit and juice.
Though it seemed better in the company of firefighters.
oK, so admittedly this is not an actual "diner" per say, but rather a fire station doing a fundraiser breakfast. We will let this detail slide for the sake of breakfast exploration. Seeing as Bethany Beach is usually a very tourist oriented area, it was kind of nice to see the settled side of the small town. You could tell that most of the guests recognized each other, but certainly did not recognize us.
The food was set up as a buffet line with Bethany's finest serving the plates. At first we noticed that the eggs were kind of, dark. Turns out they were cooked in bacon grease, but after a mention of us being vegetarians they scrabbled us up some non-bacon ones.
Over all it was a pretty standard American breakfast: eggs, miniature muffins, pancakes, hash browns, toast, fruit and juice.
Though it seemed better in the company of firefighters.
Saturday
There's been a delay!
There has been a blog update delay because Laney lost the cable to connect the camera to the computer. We have found a way around it in the meantime.
So much has happened in the past weeks. We spent memorial day at Bethany beach where Jameson learned how to go crabbing. It took some persuasion to convince him that it, in no way, harmed the crab. It's not like fishing where even if you throw them back they still are left with a gaping wound in their head. Jameson has this deeply indescribable tie to crustaceans. You can see it in his eyes when he's playing with out pet hermit crab. But I think that he enjoyed crabbing, despite an emotional dilemma, when one got caught in the net for a minute.
Very entertaining, seeing the little things in their natural habitat.
We learned how to tell if you've caught a male or she-crab.
After Crabbing we strolled the beach where numerous Horseshoe Crabs (technically not actual crabs) had washed to shore, dead. It was a sad and confusing sight. What caused all of these aquatic spiders to wash on shore dead?
...
It was great to break away from the city for a bit to spend some time with the ocean. It seems to be calling us more and more often these days.
So much has happened in the past weeks. We spent memorial day at Bethany beach where Jameson learned how to go crabbing. It took some persuasion to convince him that it, in no way, harmed the crab. It's not like fishing where even if you throw them back they still are left with a gaping wound in their head. Jameson has this deeply indescribable tie to crustaceans. You can see it in his eyes when he's playing with out pet hermit crab. But I think that he enjoyed crabbing, despite an emotional dilemma, when one got caught in the net for a minute.
Very entertaining, seeing the little things in their natural habitat.
We learned how to tell if you've caught a male or she-crab.
After Crabbing we strolled the beach where numerous Horseshoe Crabs (technically not actual crabs) had washed to shore, dead. It was a sad and confusing sight. What caused all of these aquatic spiders to wash on shore dead?
...
It was great to break away from the city for a bit to spend some time with the ocean. It seems to be calling us more and more often these days.
Sunday
Gigs
Jameson and I have both have been making some money modeling for painters. Not nude, Moms, don't have a heart attack. Last Friday, a well known artist in Richmond put the pieces he painted of us in his Gallery opening.
and this is a drawing an artist, in a class I modeled for, did of me with my accordion. Pretty trippy, huh?
I liked it so much, he let me keep it.
and this is a drawing an artist, in a class I modeled for, did of me with my accordion. Pretty trippy, huh?
I liked it so much, he let me keep it.
Thursday
In the Studio
We finally recorded the music written while living in South America for the past year and so of our lives.
We spent two days at Minimum Wadge Recording Studio in Oregon Hill.
The final 20 some odd minute journey of an album ended up better than any of us anticipated and we hope to be fine tuning and mastering it in the weeks to come.
Jameson's Art Instalation
Jameson and I both worked on this piece all week to get it ready for the First Friday when all the Galleries in Richmond open their new exhibits to the public.
It was exhausting hauling all the massive televisions and the over-sized wooden table up the 200 year old flight of gallery stairs, but we made it work.
And the product was a very drawing interactive sculpture. Jameson meant it to be a commentary on war and the influence of media, religion, and industry on politics.
The three of us sat there all night playing cards, letting the cards roll off the table and on to a mess on the floor.
Monday
Adventures in American Diners: Jean's Country Diner
Providence Forge, VA
Sandwiched between two gas stations, Jean's Country Diner shows you what the Virginia country side really cares about: America and Buttermilk Biscuits, and God bless um for it.
We felt a bit out of place when we first walked in, seeing as I was the only male with out a camo or flag bandana, while Laney was the only Female without frizzy, maybe dyed blonde hair. But this is what American Diners are all about. The culture, the environment and the food. A diner in the city is different from a diner in the country is different from a diner on the waterfront. That is what this series plans to explore, and so we started with Jean's.
Decorated with old Christmas lights that are unlit and televising a church service in the corner, Jean's has character. You walk up to small window next to the kitchen to place your order from a paper menu tacked to a cork board. The menu is standard breakfast and lunch items, eggs, pancakes, hamburgers and BLT's, all at a budget price.
We had a silver dollar plate, 2 eggs w/ grits and a biscuit, an egg, cheese and tomato biscuit sandwich w/ a side hashbrowns, coffee and tea for about $10. Though the portions weren't sizable it was a good value for sure.
We ate our food off of the served paper plates, with the provided plastic utensils.
It was good, all very satisfying, except the hashbrowns, they were dry and sort of "blah". The biscuits though, in contrast, were great.
Jean's Country Diner was a perfect first selection to this continuing series.
Sandwiched between two gas stations, Jean's Country Diner shows you what the Virginia country side really cares about: America and Buttermilk Biscuits, and God bless um for it.
We felt a bit out of place when we first walked in, seeing as I was the only male with out a camo or flag bandana, while Laney was the only Female without frizzy, maybe dyed blonde hair. But this is what American Diners are all about. The culture, the environment and the food. A diner in the city is different from a diner in the country is different from a diner on the waterfront. That is what this series plans to explore, and so we started with Jean's.
Decorated with old Christmas lights that are unlit and televising a church service in the corner, Jean's has character. You walk up to small window next to the kitchen to place your order from a paper menu tacked to a cork board. The menu is standard breakfast and lunch items, eggs, pancakes, hamburgers and BLT's, all at a budget price.
We had a silver dollar plate, 2 eggs w/ grits and a biscuit, an egg, cheese and tomato biscuit sandwich w/ a side hashbrowns, coffee and tea for about $10. Though the portions weren't sizable it was a good value for sure.
We ate our food off of the served paper plates, with the provided plastic utensils.
It was good, all very satisfying, except the hashbrowns, they were dry and sort of "blah". The biscuits though, in contrast, were great.
Jean's Country Diner was a perfect first selection to this continuing series.
Tuesday
36ish hours in New York City
For me, the strangest part about being back to life in the US is watching my calendar fill up three months ahead of whatever I'm doing today. Last weekend, since we didn't have any pressing obligations, Jameson and I had planned to spend the weekend camping to celebrate my birthday...but weather forecasts predicted rainfall over the entire south east of the continent. I decided on a whim that I wanted to take the overnight Chinatown bus from Richmond to New York. So, Jameson though exhausted, consented. It was a nice little 35 hour escape. We stayed with my friend Julia, who I met while studying in Asia. We spent Saturday walking around the city. When we first arrived Julia greeted us outside the gate of her apartment wearing a bath robe and an eye mask on her head. She rather quickly woke up, threw on some jogging shorts and led us all to prospect park where we were still managing to make the designated "dog off the leash" time of day. Never before in my life have I seen such a sea of kanines, and all different shapes and sizes. Silly New York City dogs who didn't seem to know what to do with their new found freedom. Most seemed to loiter around their owner and cautiously sniff on-coming dogs, making sure to maintain proper spacial limitation. Our representative pug/pomeranian was happy rolling around in the muddy spots of grass.
Mid-day, we met a friend at the Union Square farmers market. Oh what wonders there are to see! A man with a monkey head, lost in the crowd, a lady with a parrot sitting on her shoulder watching a man playing the guitar wearing a feather headdress, and flamboyant men everywhere carrying tiny dogs.
That night some of Julia and her boyfriend Kareem's friend had a party on the rooftop of his Brooklyn apartment building. We grilled our veggie dogs and listened a band play old time folk music, though It didn't feel quite right in NYC, not the way it does back in old Virginia. I listened and stomped along, thinking that at least the banjo player was from North Carolina. Cold rain rolled over us at about 11. My lack of sleep caught up with me and I passed out downstairs on the sofa.
-Laney
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