Another Shameless Plug

GQ is obsessed with all things Charleston lately. Check out one local chefs guide to the city. Some pretty good shout outs here. Dellz Delli, Butcher & Bee, and The Royal American! I found it to be a legit take on the city. Nothing touristy.

The Short Order: Chef Jeremiah Bacon's Guide to Charleston, South Carolina Restaurants Bars: GQ.com

WTF?!

Last week I woke up with quite an odd patch of bites. My initial thought and blame was put on my mattress at work. Bug bites or some disgusting bacteria left from a human who sleeps in the same quarters as I. Then I thought this may have been brought upon myself. I recently washed my bedding, I use at work, in the same extractor we use for our gear. Mistake. Possibly some chemical or other nastiness attached itself to my sheets and I unknowingly snuggled up with a this disease. Wrong, wrong, and wrong. I have shingles! What is this the 1920's? Am I eighty years old? Apparently the chicken pox virus I so fondly remember being mutated by has reared it ugly self again. The dormant virus that remains, similar to herpes simplex, can pop up unannounced. Poof its here and not really sure why. Its a lot different than chicken pox where this time around it attacks a specific nerve region to cause painful swelling, ache, and fever. Hence the large red area surrounding those beautiful blisters. It typically only occurs once and usually to people over 60 or those with weakened immune systems. Hmm.. The doctor actually was laughing at me for putting up with this for almost a week. He said with a smile, "You look quite comfortable for someone with shingles.", and then went on to tell about his late mothers bout with the virus towards the end of her life. Thanks Doc. I think I'll survive this time.

Glowing Review!

After reading the City Paper write up, I have chose to defer my review. I feel Erin did a nice job of summing up what I shared as a fantastic night. Kudos to Hailey and I hope to scoop a hard copy to share with all. (However, photos are mine)

Down-home crowd celebrates The Garden Summer premiere 

Farm Friends

by Erin Perkins

As soon as we walked into the American Theater for The Garden Summer premiere, we noticed the attention to local details — rosemary-bourbon cocktails from the Belmont in glass jars, movie posters hand-printed by Sideshow Press, and Charleston photographer Sully Sullivan at the photobooth helm.

The evening was a celebration of the first public viewing of Hailey Wist’s independent film, a documentary focused on five young people, practically strangers, surviving a summer living off of what they could produce from a farm in Arkansas. The locavore theme of the film influenced the community feel of the fête — I wouldn’t be surprised if the rosemary sprigs in the cocktails were from a friend’s backyard.

The crowd was buzzing with anticipation to see Wist’s two-year endeavor come to fruition. Much of the creative crowd — filled with local artists, designers, musicians, and models — first learned ofThe Garden Summer project from a presentation Wist made at a May 2011 Pecha Kucha in Charleston. The intimate setting of the American Theater and the familiarity of the crowd gave the screening a feel of sitting down with family to watch an old super 8 — even everyone’s favorite patriarch Bill Murray showed up as the lights dimmed.

The film was as lovely as expected and the crowd gave a standing ovation to Wist and her farm friends before everyone headed off to the after-party for a few more libations from the Belmont.

Outside the American Theatre

Nothing beats a free drink. Even better when it's Bourbon with homemade ginger beer. 

Q&A Session after the show

Bring Your Gun, Girl, and Dog

Another weekend came and went and of course it was spent working..kind of. I was conned into working the South Eastern Wildlife Expo (SEWE) with Patrick. We got this gig through a friend of his who is in actually pretty important to Charleston. She is the lead coordinator for all the major events that take place at Marion Square; Food and Wine Festival, Fashion Week, Movies in the Park, and obviously SEWE. So after a ton of paper work and a piss test later, we were all set to work one entire day of manual labor. We were assigned to Brittlebank Park where the majority of the festival took place. Our task? We were in charge of recycling and food waste management, but no one used our supplied receptacles. So we just drove around in a golf cart, took in the days activities, and made friends with all the vendors. Pretty much it was hillbilly heaven and I was able to witness it first hand, and get paid! It was comparable to a state fair. A state fair that really loves hunting, fishing, and string music. They offered fly fishing demos, a speed boat simulator, and camper tours. The highlight for everyone is the dock dog competition. Overall it was a good day in the park. I left with a full belly of kettle corn and fried alligator.  

Is that Chris Cox!! Sure is and he's showing off his chainsaw sculpting skills. I bet you didn't guess he would turn that log of wood into a perched pelican. 

Holy grizzly bear! The left guy stood at an incredible 10 feet. 

The dock dog competition. A true ESPN event. These pups can jump. The winner leaped a whopping 22 feet 7 inches! 

The Green Carpet

I am very excited for next Wednesday. I am attending my first ever movie premier! It's not exactly a monumental occasion, nor filled with celebrity, but something I have been keeping a close eye on for the past couple of years. The movie is actually a documentary which doubles as one grad students social experiment. The premise is five relatively new acquaintances gather in a rural ranch for an entire summer to live self-sufficiently. They attempt to grow all organic, eat what they don't produce within a 100 mile radius, and even sell extra yield at the local farmers market. They attempted this feat in 2010 and have finally cut and edited to provide the final project which will premier on King St. at The American Theatre. My heavy interest led me to purchase a ticket and walk the red carpet to see the results of The Garden Summer.



The Garden Summer Trailer from Hailey Wist on Vimeo.

Hmm..

NChas Firefighter Speaks Out

Never a good scene on the way to work.

There is one ironic thing about this house that was on fire. It was literally four houses away from the house Patrick just purchased. It looked to be in the area of his new slumlord residence so when I arrived at work I checked the call run. Sure enough just houses away. The entire drive I was laughing at the idea of the family that we booted returning for an early morning arson. Lucky for him it wasn't.