January 2009
January 28, 2009Exit 2008: Episode 4 - New Year's Eve
- By Fredrick
- No TrackBacks
Having arrived at our destination in Athens, GA, the only ground we really had left to cover was the distance between Jason and Kay's place and downtown Athens. We killed some time downtown while Jason was at work, doing some shopping and catching a good meal. Despite the fact that it was bright and sunny, winters in the south are still winters so we spent a good amount of time just hanging out in the van.
When Jason was done, we went and picked up Mr. Jim Hix for the Casper & the Cookies rehearsal. Considering we had come so far and been through so much, this day seemed to just fly by. We all go gussied up before the show and before long we were on our way to the 40-Watt club!
Music by The Hidden Cameras, Love, and The Helio Sequence.
What Happened on King's Mountain
- By Fredrick
- No TrackBacks
Exit 2008: Episode 3 - The Great North Carolina Escape
- By Fredrick
- No TrackBacks
We called the rental office and asked for their neighborhood pick up, and she refused, telling me that her boss said no, but then telling Miranda that she just didn't know the area. All in all she refused to let us talk to her boss and hung up. The office was in Gastonia, which was quite a ways away, but we got our first break when I was able to pay the maintenance man at the hotel to drive me to the budget office to get a car.
So 15 miles away the lady at the office tried charging us an extra $200 and just as I stormed out of her office, I saw the maintenance man drive off. So once again I was separated from my friends and hopeless. Just as I was about to hit the bottom the clouds parted and a heavenly light filled me with warmth as I got a message from Jason saying he would come rescue us from this hell. So in the 5 hours of travel time, I walked as far as I could and Miranda and Alex amused themselves in a small town Wendys.
Music by The Carolina Chocolate Drops and Axe Riverboy.
January 12, 2009
Exit 2008: Epidsode 2 - Fredrick Vs. North Carolina
- By Fredrick
- No TrackBacks
Monday proved to be a trying day for us, something you don't wish to encounter your first full day on the road. We left from the Love's truck stop at 7:30am after a short rest, and breezed through the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and made it into the North Carolina welcome center hungry, tired, but happy. It would be only a matter of hours before we would be stranded.
Just outside Charlotte we encountered our first snag when the key to my gas cap broke off in the lock. At the advice of my mechanic, I tried prying the cap off with a ghetto screw driver I borrowed from the gas station, which only tore the cap off, leaving the locked cylinder in the pipe. Mira was able to get it out with a little luck and a lot of work with a pair of tweezers. A homeless drifter taped it closed with duct tape.
In less than a half an hour we were stranded on the side of the I-85, sign for Exit 2 Kings Mountain in our sights. I did what I thought was right and ran off to get some oil. The girls stayed with the car. It was sundown before I would get back.
A sweet highway man came to check on us, he would be our saving grace from the arrogant redneck that came to tow us. He took the car miles into nothing only to have his cousin, the mechanic, tell me instantly that the piston had crashed through the engine block. There was nothing we could do, it was terminal.
We got all of our stuff out of the car, while tearing out my new cd player I got a deep cut in the bend of my finger which still wont heal. The Highway man took us to the Quality Inn. He'd been with us for over an hour. I forget his name, but I want to thank that man for everything.
Music by Fleet Foxes and Old Crow Medicine Show.
Exit 2008: Episode 1 - Sundown Sunday
- By Fredrick
In the spirit of adventure, Alexandra Flynn, Miranda Austin, and myself all set out last Sunday night on a journey to spend New Years Eve in Athens, GA. The plan was simple enough; leave Sunday night after I got out of work and drive till my eyes wouldn't stay open. From there we would continue to Athens where we'd stay at the Econo-Lodge (or perhaps the Red Roof Inn, which an Athens Resident/Gas Station Attendant told me was a good choice).
This trip was originally intended to be filmed solely with my silly little Aiptek camera, but that morning I found that it had quit working. Not wanting to go without, we went to Best Buy and bought a new Sony Handycam with a built in hard drive and all that. When I got home and went to steal the SD card from the Aiptek, I was shocked to find that it decided to work. We didn't have time to go back to Best Buy, so we have two cameras now. I cant explain why the upload has those strange lines all over it...
Altogether I'm not very satisfied with this episode, we didn't have a whole lot of shots to choose from; it was late and for a lot of this part Alex and Mira were both asleep, or the shots we got just didn't turn out because it was dark. From here on out, though, it gets better. I guess I just wanted to get this one out of the way and move on. You all get the point - it was late and I drove for six and a half hours on an interstate.
I would have liked to have gotten more shots of our escape from New York - driving through a deserted Canal Street in the middle of the night was really something special. There was also the moment we came down the hill and the Newark lights were all laid out like the night sky was asleep on the ground. No on caught that one.
Music by Her Space Holiday.
January 3, 2009
Finding freedom in the Empire State through driving
- By Fredrick
- No TrackBacks
When going home feels like revisiting the past. This video documents my holiday at home in Corning, NY. Surrounded by people I love, and places I hold dear; sometimes going home feels like a dream.
