Mike

Are you looking at me too?

I think the cardinal warned the dove about me.

Hummingbird

Wheels down

Final approach

Touchdown

Fence Rat

The nest is empty!

Justine moved out of the house and into her new apartment today.

The best part is that I get my office back once I vacuum and move my desk.

The little door on the left?  Malkovich!

Too bad I didn't have my camera with me (and a rifle).

While I was walking Champ this morning I saw a vixen sitting on a downed tree trunk watching her three pups play.  As much as I dread having three more foxes in the neighborhood (my attempts to keep Psycho in at night are not going well), I have to admit that the pups were too damn cute.  One second they tumbled together in a ball of fur.  The next they chased each other around in a circle.  When we got back to the house I grabbed the Nikon and hopped in the truck.  Unfortunately the traveling circus had moved on.

As for Psycho, he'll never learn.  Twice last week a fox screeched at him in the early hours of the morning.  The first time was at 3:45 Monday.  The screeching woke Champ, then panic ensued.  Champ ran downstairs barking.  I ran downstairs and turned on the floodlights.  Justine ran downstairs and opened the door from the deck to let Psycho in.  Flash forward to 5:30 Wednesday morning and a repeat performance, except that this time Justine slept through the commotion.  When I turned the outside lights on and opened the door to let Psycho in I didn't see the fox.  As I stood looking out at the back yard it slowly walked from between my house and Ms. Hilda's.  It spent a couple of minutes sniffing around the yard before disappearing behind Lisa's fence.  This was the first time Champ actually saw the fox and he tried his best to break through the picture window in the living room to get to it.  It bothers me a bit that the fox no longer seems spooked by either the lights or Champ's maniacal barking.

One thing Psycho has learned is that I want him to come inside before I head to bed so he disappears until he's sure that I'm asleep. 

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.