Ain't No Matter....

First off, I apologize I haven’t been all that diligent about posting entries.  Sometimes its tough to stay focused when you don’t have a consistent workspace.

This week Ghost Hunters is investigating at Mark Twain’s house in Hartford, Conneticutt.  The house is fully renovated and restored to its original state when Mark Twain lived there.  Supposedly the Ghost of Mark Twain’s daughter inhabits the house and terrorizes anyone who disturbs her.  From what I hear, the team has gathered some very interesting evidence, that of which I am not at liberty to discuss. When I had some down-time on Tuesday night, I went into the house by myself. It was a rather stirring feeling walking around a museum in pitch black with only a headlamp to guide me. It reminded me of the book, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  If you aren’t familiar with the story, it is about two children who secretly live at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art for a month and get into all sorts of shenanigans.  I thought of how cool it would be to covertly reside in Mark Twain’s house.

Sleep in his bed.

Use his bathtub.

Play with his toys.

Smoke his corn cob pipe.

On Wednesday before work, I went to a bookstore and bought Huckleberry Finn. That night I sat and read the book on my lunch break in the very same 4x4 foot spot where it was written. His desk was in the corner of a third story room and he sat facing the wall so he wouldn’t get distracted. “You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter….” (opening lines of HF) I had read it before when I was in middle school, but this time the words held so much more meaning and wonder. Perhaps it’s because I have slightly matured since then and can appreciate his usage of southern slang. However, I’d like to think it was because Mark Twain’s ghost was there with me assisting my intellect.  Sitting there on the floor(because you’re not allowed to sit on the furniture) was one of the moments where I couldn’t help but admit I was glad to be doing what I was doing where I was doing it.  Not exclusively in the moment, but also on a larger scale.

When I got back to my hotel room, I moved my desk away from the window and into a corner of the room.

That’s all for now.

-Charlie

Haiku of the Day:
If onions could speak,
They’d only tell sad stories,
Please don’t fear the tears.

Yo Mama Joke of the Day:
Yo mama is so fat, her DNA strands are made of cinnamon twists.

Hey Dude

So to catch up from the last couple days...... I left Florida on Friday and got to Providence on Saturday night. It is a truly euphoric feeling to get out of a car after driving for 22 hours. On Saturday night I went out with a couple of the guys from the track team and stayed at Al's house.  I felt a little guilty considering GH was paying for a  room for me downtown, but I figured I don't get many chances to stay with friends.  On Sunday, I watched some Friar Fall-ball, played a vicious game of catch with a springer spaniel(looked just like Roxy), and went out with the Pandiani's for dinner at a restaurant located on the north side of Providence called Ralph's Bull & Claw Tavern. At first glance the place appeared a little fishy but the general consensus post-meal was that it was a real diamond in the rough.  Check it out if you're in the area. If the manager is there, ask about the story with James Woods.  Despite having minimal free time in Providence, I was glad to see all the familiar faces and to be back on campus while it was fully inhabited.

Today I worked at the home base for Ghost Hunters which is in Warwick, RI.  After a fairly easy workday, we drove to Hartford.  So far I haven't seen much if this city, but frankly I am not impressed.   The neighborhood around the hotel resembles a shadey Gotham City slum.  Hopefully by the end of our two weeks here it will warm up to me.  

As for music, the past couple days I've been listening to David Bowie, Aerosmith, and a whole lotta Beatles (white album onwards).

Here is a sad song made better.

I hear they sell asian babies in 5-packs at Walmart these days.

That's all for now.

-Charlie

Anonymous Joke of the Day

What do cellphones have in common with beer?

No bars, no service.

Yo Mama Joke of the day:

The crop circles in England are a result of yo mama playing hopscotch in a cornfield.

Like a Day at the Beach

This week has been a fairly easy work week. The producers and the DOP have been very efficient at motivating the crew.  The attitude has been: get to the location, shoot what you need to shoot, and get out of there.  Everyone knows their job, no confusion, short work days.  Take today for example.  It was a B-Roll day and everyone split into pairs.  Every pair had one cameraman and one driver. Everyone had a list for every shot they needed to get.  The list consisted of various places or objects that identified with the town of Pensacola, such as: boats, fishermen, pelicans, canons, statues, docks, etc.  It is very much like a B-Roll scavenger hunt. My cameraman and I knew exactly where to find everything because we have spent the past couple days in the town.  We started at around 10:30am.  Even though we had a one hour thunderstorm delay, we were at the beach playing football by 4:30.  Good stuff.

Another great sunset.

Because of the simple schedule this week, I got the chance to get in a couple of good runs.  After working a 14+ hr day, the last thing you want to do is run 5 miles.  This week there’s no excuse.  Monday I went for 6.5 mi averaging 7:15 pace and today I ran 8mi at that pace with the last 2 miles at 6:35 or quicker.  I am certainly nowhere near where I was last May, but it makes me happy to know that I can maintain decent fitness while working fulltime.

Listened to all Explosions In the Sky on the run today.   They are considered one of the groundbreakers of the Post-Rock genre. I'll give a full review of the band/genre at a later date. Here is a taste:

That’s all for now.

-Charlie

“Where’s Waldo books train kids to be stalkers.”

-Anonymous

Yo Mama Joke of the Day:

Yo Mama is so fat, she uses redwood trees as toothpicks.

Lenny

This weekend I had off from work and I think I made the best of it.  I got off at around 330am on Friday night and instead of going to sleep, I stayed up for a few hours and went for a sunrise run.  I wish I kept track of how far I went because I felt like I was really moving.  Under optimal running conditions(cool, slightly humid, scenic) everything feels good.

Last night I went out with the crew to an Irish Pub a few blocks from the hotel.  It was a really smokey bar, but there was a fantastic cover band called "Petty Cash".  They played some great renditions of Tom Petty's "American Girl" and Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues".  Other songs that I was surprised to hear and deeply impressed by were "Freebird", Santana's "Evil Ways", and Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Lenny".  Stevie Ray Vaughn wrote the song for his wife, whom he also named his guitar after.  When I first heard the song I was in 10th grade and I pretended that the song was about Lenny from The Simpsons.

Today all I did was bodysurf and sunburn.  Great weekend!
That's all for now.
-Charlie

"Recently I read somewhere that 4 out of 5 people suffer from chronic diarrhea on a weekly basis.  Does that mean that 5th person enjoys it?"

Yo Mama Joke of the Day:
Yo mama is so fat, she laid on the beach one day and the coast guard tried to roll her back out to sea.

The Ongoing Horrible Sea

This week we have been filming at a Lighthouse in Pensacola.

It was built in the early 1800’s and was occupied by the Confederate Army during the Civil War.  Supposedly at some point the lighthouse keeper was murdered by his wife in the tower.  There have been reports of loud noises, moved objects, and heavy breathing, coming from certain spots in the lighthouse.  The Ghost Hunters recorded some strange noises, drastic drops in temperature, and at one point had some odd equipment malfunction.  Overall it should be a fairly interesting episode.

The other night I went to the top of the tower on my lunch break.  It was a very impressive view.  Even though it was dark out, you could see for miles out to sea.  The light from the lighthouse was like a giant rotating spotlight.  It reminded me of the eye of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings movies. As I was eating my dinner, I sat still for a minute to listen for any heavy breathing or the sound of moving objects.  At that moment a giant black cockroach-type bug crawled onto my arm, which was exponentially more scary than any paranormal encounter.  I still have not gotten used to the ecosystem in the south.

For the past week I have been completely obsessed with Maps and Atlases. It fits into my music collection on multiple fronts. At times the songs are driven by quirky riffs similar to that of classic progressive rock (Genesis, Yes, ELP).  Other times they can get very technical and sporadic like modern progressive hard rock (The Mars Volta, The Fall of Troy).  On a third front they can carry very dynamic yet gentle melodies as with other modern experimental/soft rock groups (Minus the Bear, My Morning Jacket, Coldplay).  This video solely highlights their softer side but certainly conveys the talent behind the music.

Maps & Atlases - The Ongoing Horrible
Uploaded by sargenthouse. - Explore more music videos.

I recommend their newest EP, You and Me and the Mountain and be sure to check out their myspace .

That’s all for now.

-Charlie

“For every cavity, there is a pissed off mother.  But there is also a happy dentist and a candy filled kid.  Do the math.”

-Anonymous

Yo Mama Joke of the Day:

Yo Mama is so fat, she body checked a poodle and it went back in time.

Here Comes the Sun

Yesterday we arrived at our new location.  I thought we had it swell back in Atlanta, but this is as close to paradise as work can get.  We are staying in Pensacola Beach Florida.  Our hotel is right on one of the most amazing white sand beaches I’ve ever seen.  We got here late in the day yesterday, with just enough time for a short run to scope out the neighborhood and a pleasant early evening swim in the agreeably warm ocean.  I then went out with some people on the crew.  We went right next door to a Seafood Restaurant/Bar called Crabs that had the whole Jimmy Buffet “Wastin’ Away…” theme going for it.  They had all kinds of funky drinks and creative menu choices and the bar area spread right onto the sand. It’s definitely my kind of joint and I’m definitely planning on going there a couple times over the next ten days.  Also last night was one of the first times I got to go out with my coworkers and I really enjoyed it.  Some people act extremely different in casual settings and after seeing that side of them I learned that most of the crew members seem like good people that I know I can get along with.

This morning the hotel alarm clock woke me up at 5:45am.  The chambermaid must have forgotten to reset it from the last patron.  My waking thought was, ‘Why the hell would anyone want to set their alarm that early at a vacation spot?’ I soon found out why.  I peaked out my window to see the sun just starting to come up over the ocean.  I went to the lobby and grabbed some breakfast.  Then I walked down to the beach and had my french toast sticks, banana, and orange juice, sitting on the sand, watching the sun progress into the sky.

It was my day off today and I spent it walking around town, swimming, getting sunburned, and napping. Tonight I went to a sports bar that was also right near the hotel.   There I watched the Miami - Florida State game and had one of the best burgers I’ve ever had in my life.  It had this Cajun marinade that was nothing short of exhilarating.  On the way back I walked down to the water.  The course of the sun is parallel to the Gulf Coast of Florida, which makes for amazing views at both dawn and dusk.  

It was a fitting end to an extraordinary day.

That’s all for now.

-Charlie

“Diamonds are forever. Marriages are not.  That’s why cubic zirconias were invented.”

-Anonymous

Yo Mama Joke of the Day:

Yo Mama is such a loser, telemarketers tell her to stop calling.

Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?

While we were in Atlanta, we were staying at a place called The Palomar.  It is definitely in the top 3 best hotels I have ever stayed at.  The lobby had all marble floors and velvet furniture. There was a full complimentary breakfast every morning and wine tasting every evening.  The room was enormous. The entire bathroom was made of marble and frosted glass. Giant plasma TV.  The bed was marvelously decorated with at least ten pillows.  I felt like I was destroying a piece of art every time I got into bed.  The room also had an oddly shaped bench.  Usually you don’t see benches in hotel rooms and I didn’t think I would use it, but I found myself constantly sitting on it.  Didn’t want to sit in the desk chair and didn’t quite want to lie in bed.  The bench was the perfect medium. 

It is tough to put my weekend at Dragon Con into words.  It was a visually dazzling experience that one can only understand by seeing it with their own eyes.  For every fictional character imaginable, there was someone who dedicated their entire labor day weekend to dressing up as that character.  There were Jedi’s, Hobbits, Spongebobs, Aleins, Orcs, Darth Vaders, Ron Burgundy’s, Elmos, Fairies, Demons, Santa Clauses, you name it.  The highlights for me were the Storm Trooper parade, a panel discussion with the actor who played Chewie, and someone wearing a full size Big Bird costume.  In short, this weekend I have seen so many geeks, nerds, and trekkies, that I technically am one.

That’s all for now.

Anonymous Quote of the Day:

The chances of your fireplace burning down your home are a million to one.  But what if you live in a fireplace warehouse where there are a million fireplaces.  I’d move.

Yo Mama Joke of the Day:

Yo mama is so dumb, she tried to put the alphabet in numerical order.

Summertime

I wish I had more summer nights like the one I just had.  Tonight I met up with Dougie, a college buddy whom I haven't seen in over a year.  I went to his house for a delicious grilled cheese and tomato soup dinner where I met his sister and played with his new puppy.  Then we went out to his favorite hometown bar with some of his friends.  We sat at the bar reminiscing about times at PC.  $1 Drafts all night. Nothing but good vibes, cheap beer, living easy. 

This song has been done by many artists: Billie Holliday, Sublime, Ella Fitzgerald.  But none do it better than Janis Joplin.  She remains one of the very few female vocalists to survive in the hard rock genre.  In this video her balance between guts and grace give me goosebumps.

Janis Joplin - Summertime (Live Grona Lund 1969)

That’s all for now.

Anonymous Quote of the Day:

Books are finite.  The Internet is infinite. Which is better? Books………You can’t slam the internet to express anger and/or impatience.

Yo Mama Joke of the Day:

Yo Mama is so fat, Cheeseburgers have high cholesterol from eating her once a week.

Maps and Atlases

Today we finished up at the plantation location and headed up to Atlanta. We are going to be filming at a huge comic book/ fantasy/ sci-fi convention called Dragon Con. People have told me that it is the east coast version of Comic Con. Apparently it consists of thousands of fans dressing up as their favorite movie, TV, or comic book character and going to panels with famous actors, writers, directors,etc. It should be an interesting experience.

On the drive to Atlanta, a co-worker dropped a musical bomb on me. We have very similar musical tastes and he played me some bands that really caught my interest. One band that jumped out at me is called Maps and Atlases. They are considered to be progressive/ experimental/ math rock. As soon as I got to the hotel I listened to their newest album and couldn't turn it off. I am fairly stubborn when it comes to music recommendations, but honestly I can see this becoming a new staple of my music diet. There aren't that many videos of Maps and Atlases online. This is one of the few that had decent sound quality. It gives you a taste of their very dynamic and technical style of soft rock.

That's all for now.
-Charlie
Anonymous Quote of the Day:
People who have beards are wise. The longer the beard, the wiser they are. The same is true with mullets. Except instead of measuring wisdom, it measures their desire to sleep with their sister.
Yo Mama Joke of the Day:
Yo Mama's glasses are so thick, she looked at a map and saw people waving.

Eight Legged Freaks

This week we are filming at a cotton plantation outside of Atlanta.  The people who live there were tough to read, but from what I can tell, business has definitely slowed down a bit....... since 1865 or so.

The wildlife has been fairly interesting here.  The plantation is in a heavily wooded area and I have seen all kinds of rabbits, frogs, and dear. The owners have some horses and at one point 5 or so dear somehow got into the horse coral.  One of the horses trotted over towards the dear. He wasn't going very fast, he was moving at a very friendly pace, as if to say, "Hey guys, let’s be friends and hangout." They immediately scampered off into the woods.  He was left standing there with a confused look on his face. The poor guy.

I've also seen dozens of insects that I have never seen before in my life. I never knew I was afraid of spiders until today. I was standing in a doorway and a HUMONGOUS bright green spider landed on my shoulder and crawled up my neck.  I furiously brushed it off and just ran 20 feet away from it.  The rest of the night I thought that every blade of grass that touched my leg was that spider seeking revenge and I found myself constantly brushing myself off.  I didn't get a picture of it, but this one was of similar size, maybe a little fatter.

 For your listening pleasure.

That's all for now.

-Charlie

Anonymous Quote of the Day:

My esophagus is nothing but a burrito waterslide.

Yo Mama Joke of the Day:

Yo mama is so ugly, she looked into a reflecting pool and it broke.

Dreams

I got to the Hotel around 12:30 last night.  We are staying at a place called, “The Lodge,” in a backwoods town about an hour outside of Atlanta.  There is something that I really like about arriving at a new destination late at night.  Its dark and you don't really bother to recognize your surroundings.  Then the next morning the first thing you do is peak out the window.   No matter what you see, you will be mildly surprised.  Whether it was a three ring circus or a parking lot with 3 cars and a dumpster, there will always be that bit of momentary astonishment.  This morning I woke up to fantastic view of a lake that I had no idea we were near.   Tonight I’m going to pretend that I didn’t see it today so I can get that same surprised feeling again.

On the drive down, I listened to a lot of Allman Brothers in honor of being in their home state.  In the past few years The Allman Brothers have become an obsession of mine.  It is my absolute favorite music to listen to while running.  I will go into greater detail some other time.  Here is a song from one of my favorite live albums.

This song makes me want to: Buy a motorcycle, a suede jacket, and some aviators and cruise the hilly back roads of southern Georgia, while eating a peach.

That's all for now.

-Charlie

Anonymous Quote of the Day:  An apple a day keeps the doctor away.  A Cinnabon a day keeps the doctor busy thinking of ways to politely say that your a fatass.

Yo Mama Joke of the Day:  

Yo Mama's so ugly that she makes onions cry.