Posts Tagged ‘Americana’

BDA: The Northeast (9/27-28/10)

October 21, 2010

It is a truth universally acknowledged that wanting for high-end retail in the wilds of Pennsylvania and New York, you are never far from a  fireworks outlet. And so it was, armed with Blue Thunder rockets and a prodigious amount of roman candles, that I made my way to Ithaca, NY for the first leg of my cross-country trip.

The weather didn’t get the memo I sent about “amping up the poetry” on my drive through western Pennsylvania, but this just gave me time away from scenery-shooting — plenty to follow over the next 16 days! — to concentrate on becoming one with my ride. Day one saw a lot of firsts, actually: first gas pumping (both alone and with company, as NJ forbids us juicehead gorillas from doing it ourselves), first cruise control experimentation. That you can actually get the car to drive for you sort of I still marvel at like a kid building a science fair volcano, or discovering cheating through your calculator. Just an amazing world.

More! Here!

BDA: The Alamo Drafthouse Rules (10/6/10)

October 7, 2010

AUSTIN CITY LIMITS is lighting up my next three days like an alternative music Christmas tree, so I figured I’d bang out 1-2 “Barfoed Does America” posts today before going Internet-silent (dubious claim!). The catch? An emphasis on documentation over quality and polish; reportage over…good writing. (Read: fast and loose typing.) Why you’re still reading is anyone’s guess, as I’ve basically just told you that what follows is subpar Lifting Fog…but that’s on you, pal. Thanks for your support!

We are all humans here, and therefore have all been to the movies. That’s EVERYONE — even jerkbags who say “I don’t go to the movies.” Even poor people who really cannot afford to go to the movies. We all go! And we all love it!

But for as long as movie theaters have been in existence, so too have complaints about the movie-going experience. From the old standbys (ceaseless chatter; crying babies) to the new standards (“Love in this Club” ringtones), the drawbacks have become as much a (begrudgingly) accepted part of going to the movies as pre-show trailers. We deal, because we have to.

There is a theater deep in the heart of Texas that says NO WE DON’T.

(Which you can read about by clicking this link!)

Barfoed Does America: The Beginning

September 29, 2010

Usually I’d start one of these things with a meandering, “epic” opening that inches into the rest of the post deliberately (like it’s a mink bathrobe or cold pool), going on and on about some seemingly unrelated topic. I’d try your patience and commitment with my purple prose. I’d throw in a lot of words I only sort of understand (“homogenous”; “zeitgeist”). I’d definitely invoke the rule of threes, prodigiously. But we DON’T HAVE THAT LUXURY THIS TIME. Why?

Keep reading!