Saturday, July 31, 2010

UPSTATE ADVENTURES - Chasing Waterfalls

TUESDAY JULY 27, 2010 Lyons Falls NY. The whole day seemed like a dream. We arrived Monday afternoon waaaaaaaaaaaay upstate (read previous blog). Tuesday Morning, while Laurice slept, Evan, Vincent and I went exploring and found some beautiful waterfalls - Ager and Lyons by name. We stumbled across a few local artists painting the scapes. Thank you to Evan for taking these great shots (200+ for the three day trip.) We meant to drive up for five minutes, take a peak and get on the road by 10am. I think we spent a full hour of walking over rocks. If you are a National Geographic Channel fan, you would love this location as a perfect example of HOW THE EARTH WAS MADE. Huge boulders with massive scrape lines marred the entire area. Distinct changes in layers of rocks showed there was an entire layer of Lava Rock that still gave the impression of flow. It was a very therapeutic moment in a three day working vacation. Wish we had time to go swimming. SO COOL!!! Six great shows of IMPROV 4 KIDS (http://www.improv4kids.com/) all rocked the Turin and Elmira area libraries. Great dinners and drinks along with some fun local fare made this one of the funnest road trips ever!!!

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LYONS FALLS







INCEPTION: AM I STILL DREAMING

INCEPTION http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/

So let me preface this mini review by saying, I drove 4 hours, performed two shows and had a few drinks at Applebees - including the slim rita that is not just for the gals excuse me very much!!! OK add the Bahama Mama and the Long Island Ice Tea you could say I am quite the GIRL DRINK DRUNK!!! We discovered just minutes before dinner and after the two shows that four of us were sharing a room with one king bed. After some haggling with the front desk the rolled in two rollaway beds.

So the fact that I slept thru a few moments should not reflect my opinions on the movie. I actually loved it. I loved how the four of us (Laurice, Evan and Vincent plus me) all had different oppinions afterwards. We all had our own interpretation of the closing image. Was it all a dream? Total Recall & Matrix type stuff but far better cinema. The action scenes while dream like and surreal were much more relatable.


I want to see it again so I can judge better, but I did have problems with Ellen Page's story line. There were huge leaps following her care about Leo's plight. But perhaps I slept thru those.

Overall I recommend it. Go sober. Or just under the influence enough to height your experience.

INCEPTION VIDEOS AT IMDB.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/videogallery

Monday, July 26, 2010

THE EDGE - U2, Spiderman.... No Almost Canada

It's 8am. Leaving NYC. We drive north to Turin NY. By noon we are far from the New York we are used to.

The views around here are spectacular. I feel like I am on a working vacation. Growing up, living in a medium paced BURB, doing water sports and site seeing was a major vacation goal. Now sitting back and breathing fresh air for 24 hours is HUGE.


We are headed straight to the theater but we see our Hotel on the way. NICE PLACE.....

AMAZING SHOW TODAY!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY UPSTATE. Walt, Laurice, Evan and newcomer Vincent Diperi rock it out in Turin NY. WOW Tons of Fresh Air. Funniest Moment - Doing Miracle Ear with the Author of THE NASTY DIPHTHONG. Seriously, 4th grader suggested diphthong. Future Opera Singer perhaps. Then ONE to FIVE featured running cheese, with Vincent and Laurice chasing the cheese (EVAN) all over a huge stage, all three at some point leaping off a chair. The 60 second version was so fast paced, it was hilariously chaotic from there.

HIGHLIGHT after the show? The cheese shop with a GIANT cow. We defiled this poor helpless creature. Bought some homemade candies, real maple syrup, misc gift items and CHEESE CURDS. They actually squeaked. Very tasty. Never have to go back to Wisconsin again. http://www.gotgoodcheese.com/

Off to dinner. At the hotel a Brand New Restaurant, THE BOONDOCKS, http://www.boondocksrestaurantandbar.com/ over some very cool Disney Like Restaurant design. A giant tree in the middle of the room - branches stretching over head the entire seating area. The entrance to the bar area from the restaurant area looked like a Wild West Saloon porch. The adjacent walls featured huge rock formations. The other two featured murals of prairies, horses and cattle. Down the center ran a dry creek bed with two bridges to cross. Any more would be tacky. I found the design just right. Amazing service and food two. Pints at $3 and Bottle of wine for just $14 rounded off a great meal. Evan and I both had the Delmonico Steak smothered in melted Bleu Cheese crumbles. On the side we found THE BEST mashed potatoes ever and some herbed veggies. Laurice had a TRIO BOB (3 Kabob Skewers) and Vincent went lighter with a chicken sandwich. OMG almost forgot the amazing cookie Sunday. These cookies would give any baker a run, topped with Ice Cream, Sauce and Whip.... TO DIE FOR...

We drove down to Boontown looking for wine store. It was closed but we stumbled onto local fireman's parade. SO COOL. This really took me back to the days as a kid watching my father march with the Browningsville Band in the Frederick MD area. Later I joined in playing Trumpet. The evening's weather was perfectly 72-75 with a breeze. So refreshing after the two week scorcher in Times Square. The town was so much like the small towns i remember in Howard,, Carroll and Frederick. Mt Airy, New Market, etc Well back then they looked like this. A large park across the tracks and highway featured a cover bridge, pond and large play area. I will get some of those pics up ASAP.

After the show we grab some beers and watch True Blood via Laptop.  SO GOOD THIS WEEK!!! Tons of laughs this was a wonderful day. Looking forward to two more on the road.

Thanks your to the Turin Library and other local organizations responsible for bringing us up to Canada (Which for most city dwellers is anything past Poughkeepsie).

Special thanks to the EDGE HOTEL. They donated rooms for our little stay here. http://www.theedgehotel.com/index.php
I really love the log cabin lobby feel. Free breakfast is on all our minds. Cute little gift shop has Maple Syrup and Soaps of exotic country flavors. The website helped us plan our evening. Although sleep sounds really good right now. FREE INTERNET, CABLE King Beds, and the most lovely staff at the front desk. Wish we could stay longer. Ready to dream of waffles!!!

PS This just in from our gracious host....

Hi, Walter and Gang! Thanks again for a wonderful show!!! We all really enjoyed it. You are all very talented, and we were really blessed to get you guys on such late notice. Have a safe trip to Elmira, and I hope you enjoyed "Lucy-luwinda Milksalot". That's the big cows name, in honor of the windmills and the dairy farms. (Get it ) Hope to see you all again sometime, (HOST CLIENT)