12 22 08 10:26 |No comments yet Serving Hamlin for the Holidays
December found me hunting. I enjoyed a great 4 day trip to Bertie County, NC with Brad, Cliff Rowland, and Ethan Call. Boar and deer were our quarry, well, intended quarry as we didn't manage to actually shoot anything. En route we enjoyed an all too brief visit with Brad's parents and picked up some North Carolina Barbeque (yes, it is amazing and somehow feels 'healthier' than other varieties of slow cooked meat). We encountered the slowest, yet kindest Red Apple Convenience store in the world. We got there late and had a round of sandwiches and some beers and aged 12 years while waiting in line. It was amazing. Anyhow, the hunting. We stayed in a small 'cabin'(tin roof and 4 walls) with a wood stove. Much to our dismay, the wood stove was sitting in the middle of the cabin with nary a chimney/vent inm sight. It was getting dark so we attempted to fashion a vent from some old roofing metal (probably noxious) we had found around the cabin. After tying it all together with half rusted barbed wire we stoked it up and settled in for the night. Yup, almost died 2 nights in a row from the smoke and fumes this little stove put out (Number 29 it said on the front of the stove, a name that will live in infamy). There were good times with the stove and bad time with the stove, it was a 'rollercoasted of emotions', as Cliff so aptly put it. When not hunting we enjoyed meals at the Heritage House (formerly Catfish's), which included a stunning mackrel cake(replete with bits of scale and bone, which I very much enjoyed) and the now infamous 'Corn Sticks' which are bars of rolled corn meal and lard fried to a golden brown and served with butter. I'm trying to think of something humorous about the corn stick, but they are delicous and become their own punchline only while at the Heritage House. We also played a bit of music. Many thanks to Cliff for teaching me some new fiddle tunes and letting me butcher his beautiful 1929 The Gibson Mandolin. There are photos on my flickr page, click the photos link ofer there ------>> for a look see.
December also rang in the premier of 'Homeward Bound : John Mellencamp' a documentary on the Biography Channel/A+E produced by Stage 3 Productions. I had the amazing opportunity to write the original music for the piece and mix the show. It was a lot of fun working very closely with a small, super competent team on a project that let all of us flex a little creative muscle. The show was very well received and is in rotation on the Biography Channel and will move to A+E in January, We hope to make more of them in 2009 so stay tuned.
Wishing you all a warm and rejuvinating holiday season, and a happy and prosperous 2009. - Tim
