Jeff

As mentioned, Producer Zipp sat in for me on the podcast while I was out o’ town recently. You can hear it here. In the episode, he tells a story about a crafty raccoon that kept attacking his flock of ducks and chickens. He mentioned that once the beast was finally dispatched, he hung its tail from the coop as a reminder to the raccoon community at large that they’d best tread lightly. Yesterday he sent me a photo of it, and I thought I’d share. That should do the trick! Raccoons, by the way, look cute and cuddly, but don’t let ’em fool you. They’ll mess you up.

I returned to work yesterday for the first time since September 29. I had 2755 emails. I was there for more than eleven hours, with no lunch, and got it down to something in the high 600s. I also had other issues that I’m not going to write about. But I came to the following conclusion: I’m either never going on vacation again, or never returning from the next one. Those are the only prudent courses of action, as far as I can tell. Today is going to be another ball-masher. Looking forward to it!

In the new episode of the podcast I did a rundown of the food we had while on vacation. ‘Cause food is one of the top three great things about vacation. You can hear it right here. And I mentioned that we also partook (I’m surprised that’s actually a word) of the local craft beers (another of the top three). Either by drinking them there, or buying stuff and muling it back home. Oh, we brought a lot of stuff back with us. And here’s a rundown for you fellow craft beer snobs out there. I kept impeccable notes!

Hoppyum IPA
Overly Friendly IPA
Sweetwater IPA
Pernicious IPA
Sweetwater Brewing variety pack
New South IPA
Hopsequences IPA
Huger Street IPA
Highland Brewing variety pack
Fuller’s London Pride (a British favorite I rarely see)
Bound By Time IPA
Grand Strand IPA
IPA variety pack (from four different breweries)

In the unlikely event that you’d like to know the components of those variety packs, let me know. I can provide the information. It’s all in my handy-dandy travel notebook. And, as you can see, we’re all about the hops. We only had one pint of a couple of those (like New South IPA), bought a six-pack of a couple and drank them while we were there (Overly Friendly, a great name for a beer brewed in the South), and others we bought a full case and brought it back (Wicked Weed’s kick-ass Pernicious IPA). Did we get carried away? Perhaps. But most of this stuff is not available to us in the Upper Pierogi Belt. Now we’re stocked.

Speaking of travel, I’m going to West Virginia on Saturday, to visit my parents. They’re leaving for Florida on November 1, so the window of opportunity is quickly closing. I’m driving on Saturday and Tuesday, and will be there Sunday and Monday. It’s another long-ass ride (7 hours, 50 minutes according to Google). So, there you go. By the end of the week I’ll be completely caught up at work and everything will go down the ol’ poop-catcher again. Oh well. I need to see my folks before they disembark for the winter. I’m going by myself this time, and hopefully the Van Halen Channel will still be up and running on SiriusXM. If so, I’ll be logging many hours on that thing. I might also listen to Mark Everett’s (E of the Eels) memoir, Things The Grandchildren Should Know. I read it when it first came out, but am feeling the urge to revisit it. Maybe via audio book this time? In any case, please contribute to Phantom Ass Syndrome research whenever possible. Together we can defeat it.

Are any of you in Canada? If so, I want to remind you that I’m still up and running with Amazon Canada. The USA kicked me out, for reasons unknown, but Canada (kinder, gentler folks) is still working. That’s all I’m saying. I’m not urging you to do anything out of the ordinary, just keeping you informed. It’s all about the information. Information is king.

And speaking of Amazon, I bought season 15 of Top Gear a couple of days ago, so I can watch a couple of episodes with my dad. I know he’ll love it. For years I’ve been encouraging him to seek out the show, and he just says, “Yeah, yeah…” But I’m going to sit down with him and watch an episode or two while I’m there. I picked season 15 because it contains the episode about the Reliant Robin, which is flat-out hilarious. He’s gonna love it! I think.

And I’m going to stop right here. I need to fill the void (eat lunch) and go back to work.

Have a great day, my friends. Comments will be open for three days.

See ya soon!

Support us with a monthly $4 donation at Patreon, and get an extra podcast episode every week! We’re also at Venmo (@thewvsr) and PayPal (jeff@thewvsr.com). Thank you, guys!

I’m going to post some photos here, over the next couple o’ days, of our just-ended trip to Myrtle Beach. And, by the way, I’d rate the vacation a big fat A. Two days were a little cool and rainy, and that’s the only reason I didn’t go with A+. A fantastic trip! This is going to take me a while, so I’ll do it piecemeal. Please check back.

This is might be one of the best pictures I’ve ever taken. I don’t know, but I love it. It’s just my cell phone, with no filters or anything. The moon was crazy-bright the whole time we were there.

I took four shots of this sunset. The first two were orange, and the second two were pink. Just minutes apart. I like this one too, but all I had to do was point and click.

This one’s a little blurry, but I like the blur. I took it late at night from our balcony: a police SUV cruising the beach. Unfortunately, a Myrtle Beach policeman was killed that same night, in the line of duty.

One of our must-visit restaurants in Myrtle Beach is Big Mike’s Soul Food. This time I opted for fried chicken, macaroni & cheese, collard greens, boiled cabbage, and cornbread. I was under pressure to order, and might’ve adjusted things slightly if I’d had more time to consider it. But everything was fantastic, as usual.

A generic beach shot, taken from Springmaid Pier, that I like. Low-tide, when Toney likes to go out for her five-mile walks. And when I stay back at the hotel and tell myself I should probably join her, but just look at my phone instead. This time I’m with her.

Just an old man wearing douchey sunglasses taking selfies on the beach.

One of the six or seven sea kitties living on the hotel property. This one is hoping we’ll “drop” some scrambled eggs during our breakfast. We slipped them some food every day, even though the signs said not to. They’re very skittish though, and won’t let you pet them or even get close.

Our hotel at night, taken from the beach. Our room was in the middle, fourth or fifth floor from the top.

Support us with a monthly $4 donation at Patreon, and get an extra podcast episode every week! We’re also at Venmo (@thewvsr) and PayPal (jeff@thewvsr.com). Thank you, guys!

Ahoy, Surf Reporters! I just wanted to drop in real fast and alert you to a new episode of the podcast, hosted by Producer Zipp. He graciously offered to sit in for me while I was on vacation, and he turned out a great episode! Check it out.

Also, just so you know… I’m allowing comments for two days, but I set it so I have to approve them before they appear on the site. If there’s anything political, it goes straight to the shitbox. After two days, comments will be closed. It’s a shame that I have to do this, but that’s the current situation.

I’m planning to post some photos from our trip later today. It was beautiful! Early October is the time to visit Myrtle Beach.

See ya soon.

Support us with a monthly $4 donation at Patreon, and get an extra podcast episode every week! We’re also at Venmo (@thewvsr) and PayPal (jeff@thewvsr.com). Thank you, guys!

Follow us on Instagram to keep track of the Myrtle Beach shenanigans. It’s a well-earned vacation, my friends. Well fucking earned. And, just so you know, I’ve been forced to turn off comments at the site, because of some folks’ absolute inability to stop injecting politics into everything. It’s insane, but whatever. If you want that kind of thing, the internet will provide. But you ain’t getting it here. When I return I’ll reassess, and might go to a set-up where I have to personally approve every comment. Which, by the way, is ridiculous and something I’m already starting to become resentful about. Or I might just do away with comments altogether. We’ll see. In the meantime, vacation time beckons. I’ll see you over on Instagram and Facebook. Also, there’s a podcast out there. Have a great week and a half!

Support us with a monthly $4 donation at Patreon, and get an extra podcast episode every week! We’re also at Venmo (@thewvsr) and PayPal (jeff@thewvsr.com). Thank you, guys!

OK, it’s the only one I’ve ever seen, and probably the only one that exists. But that’s neither here nor there. Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives is a great documentary. And it’s great not only because it features one of my favorite indie rock stars — Mark Everett of the Eels. It’s because it’s well-executed, I learned things, and there’s a quest of sorts that creates a bit of suspense. It’s fun to watch, and it’s only an hour long. And brevity is a dying art that I appreciate wherever I can find it.

I’ve seen the Eels in concert more than any other band, by a long-shot. Probably ten times total, somewhere in that neighborhood. My kids grew up listening to their music, alongside the Beatles and all the classics. Mark Everett, who is known to fans as E, is a god in our house. But why is he involved in a film about physics? You ask good questions, my friend.

As unlikely as it might seem, the father of the singer in this video was an accomplished physicist who came up with the “many-worlds” theory. His name was Hugh Everett, and when he first presented the theory it was rejected and ridiculed. It turns out the physicist community is just as petty, catty and shitty as any other. From all accounts, E’s father never recovered from this rejection, not really. Indeed, he died at age 51. However… after he was gone there was a reexamination of his work and he’s now considered to be a genius. And how’s that for a kick to the balls?

In the documentary E meets with physicists who knew his father, and others who attempt to help him understand his father’s signature contribution. It’s very interesting, and a lot of fun. In fact, at one of their shows I attended in Philly they played the entire movie as the opening act. After the Eels came out and ripped through two or three songs E asked the audience, “So, do you want more quantum physics, or more rock n roll?” When the audience responded in the predictable manner, E muttered, “Yeah. Take that, Dad.”

Even if you’re unfamiliar with the Eels (something you should remedy) I think you’ll enjoy this movie. It was produced by the BBC, and is very well done. It’s available right here, whenever you want to watch it. In this world, and probably a few of the others too.

I also recommend E’s autobiography, Things The Grandchildren Should Know. It’s one of the best, least-pretentious rock bios I’ve ever read. There’s also a well-reviewed book about Hugh Everett, but I haven’t read it yet.

Do you enjoy documentaries? I love ’em. In fact, I just signed up for HBO Max because of all the docs they have on there. I’m planning to watch Class Action Park ASAP. Man, that shit is right in my wheelhouse.

What are your favorite documentaries? Which ones do you recommend? Tell us all about it, won’t you?

And I’ll see you guys again soon.

Have a great day!

Support us with a monthly $4 donation at Patreon, and get an extra podcast episode every week! We’re also at Venmo (@thewvsr) and PayPal (jeff@thewvsr.com). Thank you, guys!