Monthly Archives

October 2009

Chestertown, sometimes you are okay

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I mean, mostly because of your location, which really doesn’t have much to do with you today, so much as it had to do with where people decided to put you 300 years or so ago. However, here you are anyway.

And do you know what that means?

It means you are not in Pennsylvania. More specifically, it means you are not in Central or Western Pennsylvania, both of which are looking a little like this:


Former boss, Pat Besong’s house. Yesterday. The 15th of October.

So, while I could be scraping snow off my car, slogging through slushy puddles or having everything I love covered in salt already, I’m enjoying a delightfully chilly 46º day with rain.

Don’t get me wrong: the here and now of Chestertown still drives me crazy for many reasons – and on a regular basis. But, in the late fall and winter especially, it has its distinct benefits.

Autumn finally comes to Chestertown

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This weekend, aside from the heat of Friday/Saturday, was finally cool enough for true autumnal activities to commence. So, while Kate was away at her cousin’s wedding, the decorating commenced.

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Some people have Xmas lights…

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A tablescape that Sandra Lee would be proud of (if she wasn’t too busy ruining canned foods)

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All in all, I think it was a pleasant surprise for the road-ravaged fall aficionado.

Recipe: black murder

Food/Drink, Recipes by
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Dear Nick,

What are you drinking tonight?

Love & Kisses,

Internet

Well, Internet, tonight I’m having a “Black Murder.” It doesn’t lie. It was also the result of trying to use up some half bottles of liquor that have been living above the cabinets for months.

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I’d recommend, for the sake of not dying, doubling the Grenadine and adding a bit of sparkling water. Even then, you’re going to be sipping it, not guzzling, so settle in for a long night with this one.

Diagonal (mix)

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Perhaps it’s a sign of advancing age, a desire to see fall leaves or a hatred of having my car whack-whack-whacked by stones all the way up I-97, but my last drive home was the “back” way through Elkton, Lancaster, Harrisburg and Bellefonte. Rural and lengthy, it was a perfect chance to listen to a massive amount of music (and the GPS unit voice who apparently has no ability to modulate herself.) It was also a great opportunity to revisit the two thirds of PA’s regions that I’ve lived in (and the remaining one third that Kate has.) And thus was born my latest mix, Diagonal.

The Diagonal tracklist:

  1. “Everyday is Like Sunday” – Morrissey
  2. “North” – Phoenix
  3. “Drive” – Brad Walsh
  4. “Country Interlude” – Chester French
  5. “Rolling Down the Hills” – Glass Candy
  6. “Dead + Rural” – Handsome Furs
  7. “Ghost Under Rocks” – Ra Ra Riot
  8. “Kingdom of Rust” – Doves
  9. “Here Are Many Wild Animals” – A Camp
  10. “Dead Boys” – The Fashion
  11. “The Stars” – Patrick Wolf
  12. “Smalltown Boy” – Bronski Beat
  13. “Forest Families” – The Knife
  14. “The Leaf” – The Sea and Cake
  15. “Swing Tree” – Discovery

Limited time download(s, since it was kinda huge) – here & here.

Grab a high resolution PDF of the cover art to go with your download.

Video effect that I adore

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There have been a number of videos recently that employ an effect that can only be described as turning the artifacts of streaming buffering into something truly artistic. I saw it first with Beck’s “Youthless:”

And then again last week with Cassettes Won’t Listen’s video for “Into the Hillside:”

And finally, tonight, from the Presets. How I had never seen the video for “Are You the One?” is really beyond me:

Maybe it comes from years of surfing the internet on Venus Telephone’s blistering and never-changed-since-2000 384 kbps connection, but there’s a part of me that will always have a soft spot for these whacky pixelated messes.

Downhill for 100 miles

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Did you know that you can essentially plan on coasting the entire way from State College to Lancaster because it’s like 99% downhill? I do, because I just returned from a weekend at home with Kate.

The reason?

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Clarion’s Autumn Leaf Festival 2009, of course.

“Why go home for such a thing,” you are no doubt wondering. Well, my sister was crowned Miss Teen ALF and, despite the fact that she wore her crown the entire time we were home, we needed to see the spectacle of her in the Saturday parade.

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Squint hard, you can see her throwing candy off the back of a Sebring.

My mom – infinitely wise – reserved seats in the front row and brought along daiquiris.

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No idea why we never thought of this in high school.

And speaking of drinking, the drive home also afforded us a chance to hang out with both Dusty and Hoover. We went to Cozumel (in the Quality Inn) and saw Zombieland (during which the line “thank god for rednecks” got a round of applause from the locals.) It was stupendous, but not as much so as Dusty’s massive margarita:

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