Weekend Wind-Down #22

So last weekend, we took our Canadian friends, Becky and Aitor, to Helen, GA - a.k.a. ALPINE HELEN, the faux German town nestled in the foothills of Northeastern Georgia. If you didn't already know, Becky and Aitor of THE SWEETIE PIE PRESS have been traveling all over the U.S., making and selling their wares, visiting with friends and making new ones, and most importantly, sampling regional delicacies and taking in the spectacle of the roadside attraction slash tourist trap wherever they may find one. Our roadtrip started with a sampling of a local southern snack: boiled peanuts. Or, as they say in these parts, "BALD PEANUTS". Becky and Aitor certainly had never had them before, and neither did I, even though I've been living here for almost three years now. Missy opted out of the snack attack, due to "texture issues".

First stop in Helen was CHARLEGMAGNE'S KINGDOM, a massive miniature kingdom and train layout, complete with it's very own Alpine mountain range:

















After visiting the tiny town we took in the rest of the cheesy good/bad sights and sounds of Alpine Helen:



Missy really liked this horse wearing a tiny red hat:











We watched as hapless tourists tried tubing in the drought-stricken river that runs through the middle of the town:







Aitor ponders the Museum Of Live Tarantulas And Reptiles:





There was this perplexing window display in a Dutch gift shop - I think it was supposed to depict Amsterdam's infamous red-light district but the "Basic Options" plaque on the side of the building screams "teen pregnancy counseling":





FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Crafting with Becky and Aitor...our livingroom was like a factory!
RAOUL - Finally playing on the big stage at the Georgia Theater with Folklore.

WORST MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Missing Becky's performance yesterday.
RAOUL - Finding out about our friend Lynn being sick.

FUNNIEST MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Becky's photo of Nilla sitting like a person.
RAOUL - Hearing about Jay's boombastic morningtime farts.

WORD OR PHRASE OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - "'ello guv'ner"
RAOUL - "girl puzzle - figure me out!"

FAVORITE MEAL OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Willy's was pretty good, I guess.
RAOUL - Loaded Nachos at The Grit.

THE GRILL, STEAK N' SHAKE, OR DAIRY QUEEN - BEST MILKSHAKE?
MISSY - The Grill.
RAOUL - Steak N' Shake.

FAVORITE YARD SALE/THRIFT STORE FIND THIS PAST WEEK?
MISSY - The 80's craft books from Jay's family's yard sale.
RAOUL - "Malcom X" dvd for five bucks from the antique mall in Woodstock.

PERSONAL SOUNDTRACK FOR THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Bjork, She & Him, Laura Marling, LAKE, Luna.
RAOUL - Hot Chip, Elf Power, Vampire Weekend, Dub Narcotic Sound System, LAKE, Yo La Tengo, Red Pony Clock, Cryptacize, Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five.

Nilla Loves Crafts

I think Thursday is Nilla Post Day here at Rancho Cocoa. Raoul is busy recording with our friend Ian, so I will post this picture.

Here is my cat Nilla! She is holding a little blood drop that my good friend Becky made. She just made it yesterday when she and Aitor were staying here. I love my little drop and it looks great with my water drops I have been making. I think she got four of these made last night. Go Becky!





My posts are not as interesting as Raoul's !! So sorry.

Nilla Twenty-Three

A photo of Nilla, sitting on our kitchen floor. This photograph was taken by our friend Becky ofTHE SWEETIE PIE PRESS...I done stole it from Becky's Flickr photostream. I can't say enough times how much we love the dramatic lighting and the look on Nilla's face...

Last Time For The Last Time

So...I don't want to sound like a broken record, buuuuut...FOLKLORE is playing another "last-ever show" tomorrow (this Wednesday night) at THE GEORGIA THEATER. Jimmy promises this is the absolute last Folklore show ever...at least, the last show with this line-up, or at least until a reunion happens (fingers crossed)...we're playing a bona fide doozy of a show with THE MATT KURZ ONE, CHRISTOPHER WITHOUT HIS LIVER, FUTURE APE TAPES, and THE BUDDY SYSTEM...it's going to be another great night of music that you should not miss if you can help it. The show starts at 10PM SHARP, and surprisingly, Folklore goes on first. Come say goodbye to us for one last time...again!

Weekend Wind-Down #21

(Becky and Missy's napkin drawings of GARFIELD at The Grit, Athens, GA)

FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Having Becky and Aitor visit.
RAOUL - Our visit to Alpine Helen.
BECKY - Our trip to the Creation Museum.
AITOR - A tie between our trip to The Creation Museum and "Bavaria".

LEAST FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Being up so early on friday.
RAOUL - The moment my alarm clock rang on Friday morning.
BECKY - Breaking a vintage picture frame and being able to replace the glass.
AITOR - Breaking the glass in a vintage picture frame.

WORD OR PHRASE OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - "shellacked pretzel"
RAOUL - "Chris Angel - Mind Smeller"
BECKY - "slam dunk"
AITOR - "bald peanuts"

FUNNIEST THING YOU SAW THIS PAST WEEK?
MISSY - The jade Buddhas in the German Village.
RAOUL - Jo and Andre's "WTF" banner
BECKY - Cavegirl feeding squirrels in front of dinosaurs.
AITOR - Atheist Alley...those brontosaurus entering The Ark is pretty rich too.

FAVORITE MEAL OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Brunch at The Grit.
RAOUL - Dinner at Jo and Andre's place.
BECKY - Veggie burger at the Northstar Cafe in Columbus, OH.
AITOR - The Hot Brown at Otto's in Covington, KY.

WHAT IS YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE ROADSIDE ATTRACTION OR TOURIST TRAP?
MISSY - Rock City, Chattanooga, TN.
RAOUL - Casa de Fruta, Hollister, CA.
BECKY - The Totsky Overpass, Totsky, Saskatchewan, Canada.
AITOR - Devil's Rope Museum, McLain, TX.

IF YOU COULD CREATE YOUR OWN ROADSIDE ATTRACTION OR TOURIST TRAP, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHERE?
MISSY - Matryoshka House - a house with increasingly smaller houses within each house, Athens, GA.
RAOUL - An exact replica of the Winchester Mystery House that is also a bed and breakfast, Chattanooga, TN.
BECKY - A museum that "makes no sense" in our apartment in Toronto, Canada.
AITOR - The Constantly Ringing Phone In A Photobooth in the middle of Death Valley, CA.

WHAT WAS YOUR PERSONAL SOUNDTRACK FOR THE LAST WEEK?
MISSY - ...the same old shit...
RAOUL - Yo La Tengo, Elf Power, Shins, Pale Saints, Mitch Hedberg, Motown mix cd.
BECKY - NPR and Phil Collins...talking about his divorce on NPR.
AITOR -Mitch Hedberg.

Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend's Too Stupid To Know About - Part Three

Last Saturday at around noon, a bunch of us that frequent the INDIEPAGES board met up at THE GRILL for lunch before Popfest started up again. Here, Katy, Eric, Chris, and Missy wait outside the diner for stragglers:











Colin got a little lost and showed up to the meet-up a tiny bit late:







Courtney showed up a little after Colin and managed to get in some quality nerding-out time with us:



...and now the dudes - my "pimp hand" getting in on the group picture action:



We stopped into BIZARRO WUXTRY on our way to see shows at LITTLE KINGS and looked at comic books. This book caught my fancy in a big way:





Back at LITTLE KINGS, Missy posed with one of BAD ANIMAL's stage props:



The members of Boyracer re-convened as members of Swedish punk band LOGNHALSMOTTAGNINGEN with Martin of THE FAINTEST IDEAS at the helm:









Jon of THE BLANKET TRUTH entertained the audience in-between bands setting up:









Ian of NANA GRIZOL and Missy conversed between performances:



Panama City, Florida's BAD ANIMAL pumped up the audience with his Hi-NRG brand of pop music:







We watched THE YOUNG UNTOLD before skipping out of Little Kings for a well-deserved nap:



On the way back to the car we stopped back at BIZARRO WUXTRY so that Eric could pick up a couple of books: