Rte 301, Carmel NY 10512

While Jim and I wimped out and only opted for day camping (a four month pregnant belly and ground sleeping don’t equal happiness), I must say the Clarence Fahnestock State Park is a lovely spot to get in tune with nature, build a comforting and perfect smelling wood fire, throw hot dogs (in this case, incredible ones from Schaller and Weber) on the grill, laugh with friends, and roast some mega sized marshmallows.

While eating and relaxing under a canopy of high trees plus a few games of bocce ball was about all we took part in, the nearby State Park (only about an hour and twenty minute drive in regular traffic) offers lots of hiking trails, and ponds for canoeing. Our camp mates even found some caves on a short hike nearby the camp site. Unlike the better known Bear Mountain across the river, here beer is welcome (of course so long as you are respectful and clean up after yourself). Once I am in more rugged mode, this would be a great place to return to for a couple nights of real, if not too tough (other campers are within shouting distance, the highway’s only a short ride away and running water bathrooms are available nearby) nights of roughing it in the kind-of wild.

Stop by Stew Leonards on the way up for provisions, make sure to bring along someone as handy with a tiny stove and a dutch oven as our friend Mike (who made a kicked up chicken chili verde and a blueberry cobbler with little more than a knife and ingredients) and make sure to pack some seats (which was the one of the only comforts we forgot).

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See more: Places to Visit Outdoor Activities Parks Upstate New York

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Posted on May 23, 2010

About Time

Pat Kiernan thought it was pretty funny, but later NY1 Called the New Yorkers/Tourists walking lanes as “mysterious” and “ominous”. Obviously, I am with Pat on this one. So far, the prankster behind the lanes has not come forward.

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Posted on May 23, 2010

directed by Tim Burton (1988)

I have seen the Tim Burton comedy Beetlejuice so very many times as a kid that I was a little reluctant to re-watch it at Jim’s request, but the surreal, lighthearted darkness was exactly what I didn’t even know I was in the mood for. Among many achievements, including memorable and clever makeup, effects, costumes (love Lydia’s black head wear and the glove headband) and set design, this boasts a great cast including Noni’s best role yet as a goth teen. Jefferey Jone and Catharine O’Hara, who are really always excellent don’t break the streak here and Geena Davis is likable and goofy while Alec Baldwin is almost unrecognizably earnest and fresh faced as a loving couple that finds themselves recently deceased (and remind me of soon to be married friends Luke and Ashleigh). Michael Keaton, in an unexpected role, is the gross out Beetlejuice, who so easily could have become an unbearable character and yet is a classic. It’s a strange feat, but not quite as strange as the animated series that spun off in 89 that was an inexplicable hit.

It’s one of Burton’s very best (behind only Peewee’s Big Adventure and Ed Wood in my assessment) and it makes me wonder, after painfully sitting through the wildly disappointing Alice in Wonderland (or as another disappointed friend eloquently called it Alice in Buttholeland), what exactly happened to him? Is it the large budgets getting in the way? An ego from a lifetime of success and fame? Is the problem that he isn’t writing his own material? Does Johnny Depp or Helena Bonham Carter have some malicious power over his skills? I wish someone could get to the bottom of it, because I’d love to see him making a movie that brings together his unique vision, an endearing plot and just plain likability together as successfully as Beetlejuice again.

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See more: Movies 1980s Comedy

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Posted on May 16, 2010

by The Smiths (1986)

The Smiths are the kind of band that elicits such tenacious adoration and devotion from it’s fans and that love is something you either get or you don’t. For those that like me get it, you only have to hear a refrain:

“I’ve got the twenty first century breathing down my neck”,

“Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head…”,

“A dreaded sunny day..”,

“And now I know how Joan of Arc felt…”,

“Take me out tonight.”,

“From the ice age to the dole age there is but one concern…”

to be transported to an emotional state that’s frankly (Mr Shankly) hard to describe. There’s part longing, part sentiment, part defiance, part arrogance, part romance and part glorious despair in their music. All the songs quoted above, which are so ingrained in certain children of the 80s, and were personally such a part of my adolescence are found on The Queen is Dead. It’s an undeniably impressive track listing of catchy, unrepeated (because really, who since has the same sound and dynamics as the Smiths?) pop musical wonderment. It’s one of the few listening experiences that actually make the pain and complexity of adolescence sound appealing and dignified. It’s really hitting the spot lately.

If you missed out on the Smiths so far, and want to get on board, well you could really start with any album as they’re all phenomenal, but many find this to be their best total effort.

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See more: Albums 1980s Pop

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Posted on May 16, 2010

R.I.P.

I normally don’t like to repeat recommendations here on Brix Picks and Frank Frazetta has already made two appearances before (once as an entry, once as a best of), but the man is my absolute favorite and I am just heart broken to hear of his passing. The true master of fantasy illustration, Frazetta brought to life a world of curvy, sword wielding women and large, death dealing warriors that as a child inspired me like no one else to go into making art (well, except for my dad, who introduced me to Frazetta with his huge, worn books that I would pour through in the basement).

Pour through a few of his best pieces below/after the jump and afterwards, be sure to watch or re-watch his most excellent animated masterpiece, Fire and Ice.

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Posted on May 16, 2010