Mike

Mobsters, Brooklyn, and Vincent D'Onofrio

What's not to love?  That's what I thought when I bought tickets Friday for today's showing of The Narrows at the Charleston International Film Festival.  I won't give anything away other than to say that it was better than I expected and I had high expectations.  Justine and I stayed in our seats after the show for a Q&A session with the writer, Tatiana Blackington.  Her script is an adaptation of Tim McLoughlin's novel Heart of the Old Country.  (Alison, Tim McLoughlin is the editor of Brooklyn Noir.)  So far the movie has made the festival circuit.  It opens in a limited number of theaters on June 19th.  It was shot with a digital camera and, because there is no actual film copy, it will be shown only in theaters that have digital projection.  The version we saw today wasn't as HD as the release version will be so Justine and I plan on seeing it again if it comes back to Charleston.

Before The Narrows we watched a 7-min short entitled Interpretation.  Again I won't give anything away.  When it was over the audience applauded politely.  That was followed by an unscheduled 8-min short entitled Wish.  When it was over the audience sat in stunned silence.  Not it-was-bad stunned.  More like what-the-fuck stunned.

My only complaint has nothing to do with any of the films we saw.  If the Terrace Theater wants to continue hosting the Film Festival the owners need to invest in a better sound system.

Monday morning update:  The Narrows won the jury award for Best Feature at the Gala last night.

Congratulations, Justine BS, MSc, CSCS!

She's now a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.  She felt that she had done well on the exam but she wasn't sure that she had done well enough.  (Only 65% of the people who take the exam pass both parts on the first go).  I'm proud of her.  For about a month before the exam she buckled down, stayed in at night instead of going out with friends, and studied, studied, studied.

I hate to mention this to people who don't live here*

Charleston routinely makes travel and style magazines' top-ten lists, or gets nice mentions in national papers like the New York Times or regional magazines like Southern Living, but this week the city got glowing write-ups in two very different, glossy, national rags.

Forbes profiles what we call "historic Charleston" (everything below Calhoun and a little bit above) with emphasis on historic preservation and the exploding culinary scene:

"Charleston today has to be included among the handful of great eating cities in America, and it may be the only one where you can taste a local, close-to-the-ground cuisine being born and defined from plate to plate."

For Gourmet it's mostly about the food.  (It's nice to see that my usually forgotten West Ashley gets a mention.)  The dek?:

"Beyond the picture postcards, Charleston is a lovely port city that’s fast on its way to becoming a serious food capital."

*It's not that I don't want you to vacation here.  It's that I prefer if you don't move here.  Metro Charleston is crowded enough as it is.  And yes, like you, I'm "from off" but I got here first.

Evidently being a libertarian makes me a possible terrorist

[click to enlarge]

See if you may be a terrorist, too!

Hmm.  I wonder if this post has been flagged by a government computer because I used the word "terrorist"?  Or will just calling myself a libertarian do the trick?

Send Justine positive vibes today

She's taking her Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification exam this afternoon in Georgetown.  Evidently the exam is a bitch.

My little buddy

This scruffy sparrow has been pigging out at the feeder for two days now.  It only leaves when a bigger bird, like a jay or a woodpecker, muscles in.  Even then it flutters to the nearest surface and waits until the coast is clear.  “Flutter” is the best way to describe how it flies because “flying” doesn’t come close.  Once this morning it fluttered onto the deck and into Psycho’s waiting mouth.  Fortunately for it, Psycho has no idea what to do with something that didn’t come out of a Fancy Feast can so he quickly spit it out.  My little buddy is also very tame.  Several times today it let me walk up to the feeder and stroke its back.  I’d invite it into the house for a sleepover but I don’t think Champ is as discriminating as Psycho is when it comes to dinner.

Easter Lilies

Zephranthes atamasco (also known as Atamasco Lilies or Rain Lilies)

Atamasco lilies are native to moist habitats in the southeast.  Most of Shadowmoss was originally swampy, open woods before developers drained and filled it so it's not surprising to see them blooming in yards during March and April.  These are blooming in a neighbor's yard this Easter Sunday morning.

First Moby, now Babs. I'm getting good at this.

I was outside with Champ about an hour ago waiting for him to pee again (he's still on prednisone) when a woman drove up and asked if I'd seen Babs, a young black lab. She had been watching him for her daughter and he'd wandered away.  (Yes, Babs is a he.)  I told her that I hadn't but that I would put Champ on his short leash and that we'd go looking. It took us about 5 minutes to find Babs.  Evidently he'd been on the 15th fairway and was happy to see someone, even me and Champ.  We walked him back to his house and sat in the yard until the woman returned.  Then Champ and I walked back home, flush with karma points.  We both need them.

If I've done the math right...

Allan +$14
William +$6
Me -$6
Justine -$14

31,000 people + 1 bridge = something special