I have to wait seven months to see this?! Mainline it into my brain already!
Finally [NYC Photo Dump Edition]
Shew. November and December have been a bit nuts, but I have finally gotten around to looking at the (few) photos I shot on my NYC trip. It was a really awesome time. The weather was cold but not rainy, thank goodness. I saw three Broadway shows and caught up with some old friends I hadn’t seen in ages. All in all, it was a really awesome trip. I am hoping to make it back up in April/Early May to see the new production of Floyd Collins that will be playing at Lincoln Center.
Sink Shark
Mass Transit-ing
Gettin’ a slice!
Death Becomes Her at the Lunt-Fontanne
Brooklyn Heights Breakfast
View of Lower Manhattan from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade
View of Lower Manhattan from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade
The Manhattan Bridge
Chinatown
One World Trade Center seen through The Oculus
One World Trade Center
The Ear Inn
Ear Inn Reunion
Sunset Blvd at the St. James
Smallest Privately Owned Land in NYC
Waiting on the 2 or the 3 Train
Crown Heights Breakfast
Tammy Faye at The Palace
Tammy Faye Stage Door Reunion
John’s Pizza on West 44th
Frankensquid
Trying to rock those Disaffected New York City Travel Vibes.
And Then … NYC!
So, yeah. I am going to New York City this coming weekend. There are two Broadway shows currently running that I am dying to see (plus a show that an acquaintance of mine is in) … so, I got off my homebody ass and planned it.
This is the first major trip I have done since March of 2020 when David and I made that ill-fated Eve of COVID Shutdowns trip to New York. And, these will be the first Broadway shows I have seen since 2010. I am pretty excited to see the city and the shows. I am staying with a friend who did shows at the local theater before he went to NYC for school. He ultimately ended up staying, so it will be good to reconnect with him. (I did see him briefly on that 2020 NYC trip).
Back in the day, I used to go to the city once a year. But, my free place to stay vanished, life happened, and I just got out of the habit of going. This will be my first time traveling by myself in a loooooooooooong time. I am a nervous traveler by default but feel pretty calm about it right now. I expect that by tomorrow night I will be in full on meltdown mode and in a total panic by the time I am boarding the plane. Fun times!
Here’s what I am seeing …
And Now … A Lost World
One Month Later
It’s been one month since Helene rolled through and upended the entire region here. To say that it will be years before some areas recover is a massive understatement. Personally, I don’t think we will ever have an accurate death toll from this disaster either. A week ago, I drove through a couple of the hardest hit areas in Asheville and I can tell you that no photo or video will ever prepare you for seeing that amount of damage and destruction in person. It was sobering and heartbreaking. I will forever say that we were so lucky in my neighborhood. It could have been so bad here if Helene had shifted further west.
As a Side Note: For years, I have seen people mark themselves safe from various natural disasters and events on Facebook. I never thought I would have to do it myself.
Not Washed Away
We survived Helene. And we got lucky … really, really lucky. Asheville and the areas east and north of there got the worst of it. If the storm had shifted further west, it might have been a different story.
A weather system had stalled over us that Wednesday and dumped rain on us for 24 hours. And then the remnants of Helene arrived the next evening bringing even more rain and high winds. We left the house on Thursday night and stayed elsewhere in case any flooding happened. It was nerve-wracking not knowing what was going to happen. The emergency alerts started at 3 AM and didn’t stop until the rain ended.
It turns out that the creek across the road stayed in its banks the whole time (from what I can tell) thanks to the town reservoir and a big dam about a mile up the road. The worst that happened here was a culvert stopped up and sent water through the lower part of the yard/driveway plus a bunch of limbs fell out of the trees around the house. The power and water stayed on but cell and internet service were nonexistent for five days. We didn’t have any idea about the amount of devastation until we were able to get back online and see the photos and videos coming from Asheville and beyond. All things considered, we made out okay, and I am super grateful for that. Our minor inconveniences are nothing compared to what communities around us are dealing with.
This is the only photo I have taken of any of the damage around the my county. The bridge on Coleman Mountain Road that crosses Jonathan Creek failed … which probably saved some friends or ours from being killed. They live in an RV on the creek just up from here and stayed even when the water was coming up under the RV. They think if the bridge hadn’t failed, they would have been washed away.
We, as far as I know, don’t know anyone personally who is missing or was killed. The county’s death toll is five. There are a lot of missing people in the communities east/north of us. Some of them will probably never be found and that’s a sobering thought. The death toll in Buncombe County is well over 100 right now.
It’s been a bit weird. Life here has pretty much returned to normal, while very close by we have friends that still have no reliable power, phone, internet, or water. I won’t say it’s survivor’s guilt but it’s … something.
Alive and Drooling
Yeah. I am still alive. What an up-and-down summer it has been. Some good times, some pretty bad times, and quite a few trips to the movie theater. Maybe I will chat about all that at some point.
Meanwhile … Second Sight (over in the UK) has announced their limited edition Blu-ray of The Blair Witch Project and you can color me stupidly excited! This release “represents the filmmakers’ complete vision for the film” as the home video versions that Lionsgate has been putting out messed with the look of the original film. Needless to say, I pre-ordered this asap. Ha, ha. Second Sight is out to bankrupt me. Their limited edition releases are ACES.
Special Features
- A new Second Sight Films restoration from the Hi8 videotapes and 16mm film elements, supervised and approved by the Producers and Directors
- 2-disc edition includes restored and remastered Original Theatrical Cut and Festival Cut plus original-release version
- The Blair Witch Documentary: a new feature-length Second Sight Films production
- New audio commentary by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson
- Directors’ and Producers’ audio commentary
- Deleted scenes including previously unseen video and 16mm footage
- The Blair Witch Project: Analogue Horror in a Digital World by Mike Muncer
- Curse of the Blair Witch
- Alternate Endings
- Cannes 1999: archive Directors interview
- Trailers
Limited Edition Contents
- Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Timothy Pittides
- 184-page hardback book with archive production materials and new essays by Stacey Abbott, Becky Darke, Adam Hart, Craig Ian Mann, Mary Beth McAndrews, Dr. Cecilia Sayad, Pete Turner and Heather Wixson
- Heather’s Journal
- 3 collectors’ art cards
Mood Ring [German Edition]
Duolingo gets. me.
Jake Break
Hello, Jake!
I know it’s been a while since I have reached out to you. I am sorry that I haven’t seen your new movie, Roadhouse, yet. I have seen your “getting in shape for the movie” training video though. Dang! It’s too bad you shaved your chest hair but I guess you can be forgiven for that. And know, if you ever need something to drill other than your forearms, you can always hit the “contact me” link in the menu.
Love, Chas.
Tripled!
Life is slogging along. I had COVID a few weeks back and then David got Strep early last week. Sheesh. Hopefully, we can both manage to avoid germs for a while.
At least the freelance work is poppin’. Though I do wish it was more consistent. I need more spending cash for movies and records and books. Ha! I guess the freelance stuff would be more consistent if I got off my ass and actually promoted myself to more people. Though I did get contacted over the weekend and it sounds like I might be tapped to do a logo for the county’s first-ever Pride Festival. That should be fun and interesting.
And the movie studios certainly worked it for horror film fans this week. Guess who is going to the movies for the next three nights? This guy! So there is Late Night with the Devil tonight, Ghostbusters, Frozen Empire tomorrow night, and Immaculate on Wednesday night. No links ’cause I am lazy!
The Vibe
This round of COVID seems to be in the rearview mirror. In just a few more days I can be unmasked around people. Thank goodness I had a super mild case. Honestly, if my second boyfriend hadn’t tested positive, I would have just thought I had allergies or a light head cold. I am super happy it wasn’t worse.
Anyhoo … Here’s the 1999 Music Flashback Vibe for the day.
And Then …
How’s your week going?
Rejections and Confessions
And just like that, it’s all over. My dreams of Bear Films (link so totally NSFW) stardom have been crushed. Ha, ha.
I knew it was a long shot when I first applied. I think it would have been nice to have gotten a little feedback (you’re too old, you didn’t have a scene partner already, etc.). But, all in all, I am pretty proud of myself for going this far into the submission process. I almost didn’t send that last batch of information/naked photo in.
“What spurred this somewhat out-of-the-blue attempt to get yourself XXX video-ed on a larger scale?” you might ask. Well, I have always had a fascination with porn (be it on screen or behind the scenes). And, the truth is … I have kinda been doing it on a small scale for over a year now. Trying to do it on a larger scale seemed like the (somewhat) logical next step.
In mid-2022, a fellow graphic designer friend and I started talking about OnlyFans and what kind of chutzpah it would take to start a page there. I was already lurking there and following a few creators, so I had a slight idea of what was involved. My friend agreed to shoot some photos for me and I got busy trying to get age verified so that I could post adult content. Coming up with the porn name was actually the easiest part of the whole thing. The idea, initially, was to have a paid subscription page but I ultimately decided to set it as free and tell folks that tips were welcome. I just couldn’t see people paying money without knowing what they were getting.
The page went live in November of 2022. Right now it’s a mixture of the super nice pictures that my friend has shot and the DIY photos and videos that I do myself. I had planned to have videos with other guys, but that has not come to fruition yet. It’s easy if you work with other OnlyFans creators (because they are already verified as well). Anyone not in their system has to jump through the age verification hoops (which can be pesky). But finding content creators in my neck of the woods has been a bust so far. Maybe that will change.
I haven’t made as much money in tips as I would like to. I currently consider this to be more of a naughty hobby. And my friend has enjoyed stretching his photography skills in a different direction. Speaking of … he and I need to shoot some more quality photos sometime soon. Gotta keep the (currently 481 … more than I ever thought I would get) subscribers happy!
Don’t like clicking (also totally NSFW) links? OnlyFans even generates a QR code for fans to use to get to your page!
So, there you have it. Now, what you choose to do with this information is up to you.