More snow bunnies

I’m back in action.

Click for photos from February 19 & 20, 2011

Hammond Castle Museum in Gloucester

On Sunday, August 1, we visited the Hammond Castle Museum in Gloucester, MA.

Odd place—built from 1926–29 by the Hammond Radio guy as a wedding gift to his wife, and in 1930 opened as a museum.

After we paid our admission, the money-taker person said, “Enjoy the museum. See you when you get back next week.” I took this as an omen of weird things to come.

Imagine a medieval castle replica that, since 1930, has never been, um…cleaned.

Imagine wandering through endless mazes of rooms filled with hundreds of dust-filled relics and having to admire the ceiling plaster that’s fallen on top of them.

Imagine taking the spiral staircase to the tower floors, only to find that there’s no ventilation, so 80 years of visitors’ body odor is trapped in the stagnant air. Particularly alluring on a hot August day.

Imagine entering the breathtaking entrance to the Great Hall, only to be greeted by another indistinguishable stench. (And they hold weddings/receptions in that hall. Seriously.)

I can’t detail the museum items in my photos because, well, it seems the museum doesn’t feel the need to describe their items. So we had no idea what we were looking at. And there were no employees to be found anywhere (once you pass the demon money-taker). In one of the rooms, we encountered a medieval tapestry that seemed authentic, but we’ll never know if it was—etc.

Click for photos of Hammond Castle Museum from August 1, 2010

Since the museum is in the Massachusetts fishing town of Gloucester, afterward we traveled wee further south to Manchester-by-the-Sea, a seaside town I’ve always wanted to visit. Before visiting, the only thing I knew about Manchester-by-the-Sea is that parts of the (forgettable) film State and Main were filmed there. And the only reason I knew that is because back in the day I worked on the soundtrack to that (forgettable) film for RCA Victor. After visiting, I now also know that it’s a very quaint and pretty town.

Click for photos of Manchester-by-the-Sea from August 1, 2010

Wolf Hollow

On an unseasonably mild Halloween afternoon, we visited Wolf Hollow, the wolf sanctuary in Ipswich, MA.

It’s been more than nine years since I was last there, and unfortunately the sanctuary population has dwindled to five wolves from the 16 they once had. (They had a long-range plan for reproduction, but the Alpha female they adopted for breeding turned out to be unfit for mothering, and to make a very long story short, they’re in a holding pattern until they can adopt a new breeding pup.)

When I had an affluent NYC salary, I was a member of Defenders of Wildlife, as well as a sponsor at Mission: Wolf in Colorado. Years ago the Mission: Wolf group brought a few of their wolves on an east coast tour and made a stop in Manhattan at the rectory of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. It was an odd venue, but the size of the room was small and we were able to have an intimate experience with the two touring wolves. The handlers had us sit in a circle and brought the wolves into the room on leashes for a walk through the inner circle. We were asked to not reach out and touch the wolves, but eye contact was okay—if the wolves were interested in you first. One of the wolves circled around with his head down and then made direct eye contact with me and pushed his nose into my knee. It was thrilling, and the handler told me if that wolf and I met again in my lifetime, the wolf would remember me. (For years I remembered the wolf’s name but now it’s sadly forgotten. And it was so long ago that I’m sure that wolf has crossed over.)

The new thing I learned on this visit to Wolf Hollow: wolves love cheese.

They also love deer, and the sanctuary had been delivered a road-kill deer (poor thing) that was to be fed to the wolves for lunch after the presentation. I wasn’t interested in watching the feeding frenzy, so didn’t stay for that portion, but most of the other audience members hung around for the fun, as did Shawn. So, no, my photo link below does not include lunch being served, but if you really have a hankering to see it, try a search on Flickr, since other audience members were snapping away.

Before lunch was served, we had a successful howling session with the wolves—they were very happy to oblige:

Of note to those in the New England area—last winter was brutal, never-ending, and very, very cold, and last year the wolves had their full coats grown-in by mid-September for preparation. During the presentation we were told that, unfortunately, this year the wolves’ coats were once again fully grown-in by mid-September. Another long winter approacheth.

After our visit with Weeble, Nina, Jelly, Bear, and Osa, on the road home we passed Patton Memorial Park (named for the General) in Hamilton, MA, and stopped awhile to frolic.

Click for photos from October 31, 2009

Bill’s visit

Another Brooklynite made a NH visit this year. Since Bill is a history buff, we all made a trip to Lexington and Concord, MA. (Mom had previous plans with her senior group that day.) It was a good trip for me as well, since I’d never been to any of these historical places.

September 26, 2009

U2 in Foxboro

On Sunday, September 20, the Macs and I headed down to Gillette Stadium. It was great to see the boys perform live again, but I’m never thrilled with outdoor stadium extravaganzas because they don’t feel intimate and spiritual, and the spaceship set design was a monstrosity.

And they did not perform Pride.

No Pride.

Pride was absent.

I was disappointed in the set list a few times—I can always do without hearing With or Without You—and One—and Elevation—but I was thrilled they brought back Unforgettable Fire.

The sound system in our section was really great and all the songs from the new CD were equally great—but the reigning champ of turning-the-crowd-into-a-frenzy still belongs to Where the Streets Have No Name.

Jim sent me the link to this crazily thorough website with more information than you can shake a stick at—here’s the set list—

U2 set list for Gillette Stadium on September 20

And to the best of my recollection at the moment, here’s my personal concert history—

Mag’s 25-year personal concert history following this little band from Dublin

Jaysus—the concert-going began in 1984 when I was just about to turn 19 years old, and they were in their early 20’s—being a fan started a few years before that—that’s 25+ years of growing into adulthood alongside them.

The Vertigo tour in Boston in May ’05 is still the best night I’ve ever had with them. Partly because it had been a long eight years since I’d seen them prior, partly because it was at Boston’s Fleet Center which is a perfect indoor venue for them, and partly because they love playing the Boston area—they still talk about Boston discovering them on this side of the pond. That night, they played (all or part of) Stories for Boys, Electric Co., The Ocean, and they closed with 40.

Have I mentioned that it took me three hours to get home from Foxboro and that I didn’t arrive in my comfy bed until 2:15 am and then had to be at work the next day at 8:00 am, thanks to no current vacation time? Yeah, I’m grumpy about the enormous traffic and the trek. I’m now boycotting Gillette Stadium as a venue. But will I try to get tickets if they return to Boston’s Fleet Center? Of course.

Click for photos

Cape Ann

Gloucester ~ August 16, 2009

Rockport ~ August 16, 2009

Shawn’s birthday

And we’re in this photo gallery… in rows six and seven.

King Richard’s Faire

On Saturday, September 20, we went to King Richard’s Faire. Shawn of course has been there many times, but I had never been, and was glad to spend another beautiful day outdoors before the autumn chill sets in.

Thee Monkey Butlers

The Abbey Lounge in Somerville, Massachusetts was the venue for Thee Monkey Butlers Halloween show on October 27, where we friends and family joined in the festivities. Another band performing that night, The Coffin Lids, played their set as The Mummies, and invited Thee Monkey Butlers (masked as The Lone Rangers for the evening) to join them on stage for their rendition of “Planet of the Apes”.

Higgins Armory Museum

We enjoyed a day in Worcester, Massachusetts on October 20, at the Higgins Armory Museum. Shawn had a great time because he was reliving a few past lives he’s probably had. I had a great time because I was reliving the finale of Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

We spent time at learning-demonstrations, including one about Viking combat techniques presented by members of Hurstwic. We also made it to a presentation by the Higgins Armory Sword Guild.

In other news, the final performance of A Strange Black Passion by Yellow Taxi Productions scheduled for November 2 has been canceled for various reasons. Since Shawn found this out last night, he’s permanently removed his beard. So unbeknownst to us at the time, yesterday’s photos turned out to be the final images of scruffy actor man.