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