Still here!

Recent Blapp blog silence has been due to busy end-of-semester activities for the both of us. In other words, it's not you, it's us!

Rain/sleet/slush/snow storm has shut down parts of the state this morning, but the immediate Amherst-Noho area is simply a cold, soggy, gray mess, with only a few local school closings. Yuck.

Go USA!

There are currently several large groups of kids -- 20 or so in each group, maybe grades 4-6 -- walking the streets of Northampton and the college's campus carrying handmade 'Obama' posters and shouting "BARACK!" and "OBAMA!" in call-and-response style.

They are making quite a noise, and many cars and trucks passing by are honking, which causes further cheering and screaming. Looks like they're having a lot of fun.

Right on.

A reminder...

For those who don't know, today is Election Day. Finally. Go do what you're supposed to do today. :-)

Our congratulations to our readers who live in "battleground states" for surviving what must have been a brutal onslaught of campaign advertising over the last several months. Way to power through the noise!

As it's among the bluest of the blue states, there's little doubt which way Massachusetts' electoral votes will go. As a result, the primary campaign was fairly active, but we've been largely spared of political ads during the general election season -- we'd see the occasional Obama commercial, and in the past two weeks we started to see a few TV ads for local congressional candidates, but that has been the extent of things. Awfully nice to not have a lot of that stuff buzzing around the airwaves, to be honest...

Cheers,

- jbc

Just going about our business -- nothing to see here...

We spent a low-key weekend here in wmass, enjoying what may be the last remnants of reasonably comfortable weather outside.

Heidi has been in academic mode, glued to books, papers, etc., while I've been puttering around the house working on little projects like mixing new Derailleur songs, cleaning, and the ongoing fine-tuning the project guitar (now christened the "Less Paul" -- thanks to Quentin for the suggestion).

My band here had another show this past week, our fourth in the past two months, at a great Northampton bar/restaurant called The Sierra Grille. Also on the bill that night were members of the Young@Heart Chorus (playing unannounced as "Secret Special Guests") and a cool Boston band called The Needy Visions. Cool show, and we had a fun time. You can see some pictures from the evening here. No pics of me, but Matt shows up in a few (black shirt, black guitar w/white pickguard) and Chris is in a couple (funky hair, white Les Paul guitar).

Some travel plans in the near future -- a potential trip to NYC next weekend, then I'm off to Baltimore for three days for a work conference, then Heidi leaves for a big anthropology conference in San Francisco.

- jbc

Mad Max's fall foliage tour?

The big-time movie folks stormed town last week for their work on The Edge of Darkness; mostly visible via a few previously-unused parking lots around Northampton now filled with semi trailers of equipment, and small sections of Northampton closed to traffic for part of the week to accommodate filming. They've also built a "bad guy lair" on top of Mt. Sugarloaf in S. Deerfield.

A coworker took this picture of Mel Gibson on the set -- handsome fella, no? We’re not sure if he’s a method actor and this is him “in character”, or if it’s just Mel being Mel… (Ed's note: The Dunkin' Donuts coffee is a classy touch. Very authentic.)

It’s coming up on Columbus Day weekend, which means the leafers are expected to be out in full force for the next few days – Peter Pan tour buses and cars with NY license plates will be a common site in the area, and traffic around Yankee Candle is likely to be quite heavy. (Heidi recently stated that Yankee Candle is the most popular tourist attraction in Massachusetts, which is frighting for a number of reasons. She has yet to provide verifiable evidence of this assertion.)

- jbc

Back to business

Back to school and back to work for the both of us -- the busy season is upon us.

In other local news:

A) Hollywood is coming to town -- Mel Gibson will be in the Valley in a few weeks.

B) Reported in the local police logs:

Sunderland, Sept. 6
1:05 AM -- Officer observed a man walking around a building at Cliffside Apartments with a green Star Wars-type light saber toy; it was determined to be a migrant farm worker looking for his artificial eye, which had fallen out; subject was advised to continue his search when the sun rises.

Can't make this stuff up.

Visitors from afar!

We were so excited to host Jay's parents for their week-long visit earlier this month. We had a very busy week around the valley, including a trip to Yankee Candle Co., dinners at local favorites Pizzeria Paradiso and Bub's BBQ, and a nice bike ride on some of the farm roads around Historic Deerfield.

We also spent a few days in Rockport, one of our favorite destinations on the coast. On our way to Rockport, we stopped at Walden Pond, where Henry David Thoreau spent two years, inspiring his book Walden; or Life in the Woods.

Site of Thoreau's cabin.

















View of Walden Pond from near site of Thoreau's cabin.



















While in Rockport we made a triumphant return visit to the Lobster Pool restaurant for super-fresh and tasty seafood.
















View of the ocean (looking North) from the backyard of the Lobster Pool.














Fun pics from at the beach in Rockport, including mom's first ever steps in an ocean. Yay!

- JBC

Follow the Dig!

If you want to keep tabs on what we're up to on the dig, check out the course website:

http://www.anthro.umass.edu/field08/

The students will be writing about our activities and finds in the Blog section. We've been in the field for two days (95+ degrees both days) and so far only one injury! I cracked my toenail in half when a piece of surveying equipment fell on my toe... :(

-hbc

Garden goodies

Our landlords were kind enough to let us "borrow" a small section of their garden so we could plant a few things. We've got a bunch of basil, some pepper plants, a couple of rapidly-expanding squash plants, and a row of arugula. Between this, the massive blueberry patch in the backyard that ought to be ready for picking soon, and the many farm stands nearby, we'll have plenty of tasty goodies to eat that were grown within a few miles of our home.


Hot and humid weather for the last couple of days in WMass -- rather uncomfortable to be outside. The hottest days of the year coincided with the start of Heidi's field school project; one week complete, 5 to go.

Travel Pictures

Some fun pics from our time in MN, in no particular order. We invite you to create your own story using the photos provided.



























Shortly after arriving home we promptly repacked the car for a short trip to see Lyle Lovett play a show in Cohassett, a little town near the ocean and south of Boston, and we camped in a nearby state park.

On our way back we drove to Nantasket Beach in the town of Hull -- an amazing mile+ stretch of sandy beach on the ocean. Unfortunately, the weather was extremely unsummerish that day, so the beach was mostly deserted except for a few hearty folks.

Last on today's menu: a bunch of folks have asked for updates on the ongoing guitar project, so here's the current state of things:

A few finishing touches to wrap up, but the wiring is complete and it plays quite smoothly. In polite technical parlance of the day, it pretty much rocks.

Until next time...

- JBC

Back in Happy Valley

Hey there, friends!

Despite Chicago's best attempts to place major road construction along our driving route, the city did not foil us, and we have arrived back in WMass -- only to be leaving again for a short weekend camping trip on the south shore near Boston...

Great times in MN and WI, so good to connect with so many people during our short time there. Thanks to all who bent their schedules, stocked their refrigerators, fluffed their pillows, and all manner of other things to accommodate Team B-C -- we appreciate it!

We'll be posting more mighty blog action updates soon now that we're back home, but for now, we're loading up the car and heading for the ocean!

- JBC

Keep on keeping on...

Today we begin with the opening lines from “UMass”, The Pixies’ glorious (and charmingly descriptive) ode to their alma mater:

In the sleepy west of the woody east
is a valley full, full o' pioneer
we're not just kids, to say the least
we got ideas to us that's dear

Pretty much says all you need to know about the area.

A busy past month for both of us as the school year winds down, so no amazing new adventures to report. Heidi has acquired a nasty cold, just in time for her finals to begin this week. The weather has finally turned consistently nice, so it has felt good to get out and put a few miles on my bike. We’re both looking ahead (and looking forward to) a short road trip to MN – just a few weeks away.

The ongoing guitar project? The guitar body wasn’t taking the stain evenly, so Plan B was several coats of a rich burgundy red spray paint – looks pretty good so far, and the varnish is going on now. Should have things finished and wired up for play testing within the week; I’ll post pics when ready.

- JBC

Operation: Luthier, part 2

Project El Cheapo Kit Guitar continues in fits and starts, with promising results. The neck has been fitted and shimmed, seems stable. The nut was too high, so it was sanded down (then shimmed because I over-sanded it, oops) and re-glued. Neck needs a little more relief, but in general it definitely seems to be a playable instrument, and string intonation is close enough to warrant continued work. Next steps: finishing the body (perhaps a cherry red stain?), and installation of a Kent Armstrong P90 pickup (on order) in the empty bridge position.

(I'm experiencing a sudden strange urge to watch Spinal Tap...)

In non-guitar geek news:

The end of the academic year is rapidly approaching (yay!), and the snow is rapidly melting (yay!) as spring considers whether to show up on time or make a fashionably late entrance.

- JBC

Operation: Luthier (part 1)

I recently acquired, for free (and via almost entirely legal means) this:



It was dusty bits and pieces of a beat-up kit for a replica Les Paul-style electric guitar (already cleaned and rough sanded before I took these pics). The neck fitting needs to be fully redone, the bridge pickup is AWOL, and the body is all but unfinished -- in short, it's a mess. However, the body seems solid and usable, the neck is complete and the frets & fretboard look OK, the bridge hardware is all there, and the internal electronics are functioning properly.

New project for Jay: see if I can work it into playing condition, and perhaps make it look halfway decent too...


If the project is successful, who knows? (As you can see here, it would be the right guitar for Ace's role in a KISS cover band...)

Happy spring! :)

Heidi's Birthday Adventure

To celebrate Heidi's birthday we decided it was time to visit somewhere new -- a day trip to the small former milling town of North Adams, in the Berkshires in the NW corner of the state. As the milling industry faded, the town was left with a wealth of warehouse space, a portion of which was redeveloped into the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, or MassMoCA.

To fuel up for our adventure, we started our day with breakfast at a local "sugar shack".

Early spring is prime season for maple syrup, and there are a number of these sugar shacks in the upper Pioneer Valley, all open for a month or so during tapping season. A tasty breakfast with super tasty maple syrup makes Heidi smile:

Next, a scenic drive approximately 50 miles up into the sparsely populated Berkshire hills - a very pretty drive this time of year.

A view of the Deerfield River, the hills, and of an impressive stretch of icicles along the highway.

MassMoCA.



Photography is not permitted in most of the gallery spaces, but we did get a few pictures of one exhibit, called "Projections" -- a massive room (roughly the size of two gymnasiums end-to-end) with poetry projected in a constantly moving stream, very cool because of the sheer size and because the work is in motion around you...

So that's how you say it?

A clever (or not, depending upon your point of view and or city of residence) advertisement has gotten a little buzz in the region lately, as Athol is a town just north and east of us.

Here’s the full story.


For those not in the know, there are plenty of town names with unexpected pronunciations here. Amherst is pronounced like “Ammerst”, Worcester is pronounced like “Woostah”, and, Athol is pronounced, well, you can probably figure it out.

As for us? Break week is just a week away, and we can’t wait. Our massive piles of snow are rapidly disappearing, but, like last spring, it has been rather overcast for much of the time, so it has felt a bit dreary despite the warming trend. We’re hoping we’ll get a nice long dose of sunshine soon.

- JBC

And we're free!

Our driveway has been cleared! There was a tense moment when the plow guy briefly got stuck while plowing our drive, but his approach of "gun the engine so hard your tires smoke" did the trick.

When all the roads and driveways are cleared in a few hours there will be a line of pickup trucks (with plows on the front) parked outside the Polish-American club in town. I guess you work up a big thirst hauling all that snow...

Snowed in

Jay and I are sitting in the living room, each with a laptop and cup of coffee. It's like our own little internet cafe. We are waiting for our driveway to be plowed after yet another Nor'easter last night. We're still getting used to the weather here--nowhere near as cold as Minnesota (we're not complaining!) but we're amazed at how quickly snow gets dumped on us! The system for dealing with storms is pretty efficient. Cancellations start the night before, and plows are out quickly. With all the long, winding roads and driveways, though, it's still slow-going the day after a storm.

UMass has a delayed start, but Smith opened right on time, the only one of the Five Collleges to do so. Oh well--until the ice-encrusted snow in our driveway gets cleared we'll just stay put and enjoy our coffee!

We're Back!

Did you miss us?

We traveled to Minnesota for the holidays, spending quality time with family and friends. Lots of babies to hang out with (seven under the age of two!), food to eat, and Guitar Hero to play.




Troy recieved Guitar Hero as a Christmas gift, and of course we all had to try it out. Chad and Holly rocked, Laurie revealed her inner rock-goddess, Jay got booed off the stage the first time he played, Troy scored almost 100% on a Foo Fighters song and Heidi found the game strangely addicting. But perhaps the best moment of all was Heidi's mom, in an effort to encourage Troy's playing efforts, clapping enthusiastically to "Shout at the Devil." Good times...



We got to spend lots of quality time with our nephew, Liam.



He went from barely walking to practically running during our visit.



Liam got a little tangled up in some tape while helping Heidi wrap some gifts.



We got to meet Emma, the daughter of Jay's cousin Kris and Chrissy. So cute!



Heidi's parents gave Jay Wild tickets for Christmas. The Wild lost, but we had such great seats (fourth row!) we didn't mind really mind!



We had our traditional holiday dinner with our college friends. Lots of great food and even better company.



Jay even got to play a song during a performance by his old band.

We also had lots of family Christmas celebrations, spent New Year's Eve with the DL nerds, heard lots about Holly's trip to Thailand, enjoyed some quality time in front of the fireplace at the Clapp's, and just generally had a great visit.