Wow.

Okay, so I've been mildly remiss in catching up. I'll deal.

My Montreal trip was uneventful (which can sometimes be a good thing), so I was thankful for that. I got in some meetings with both clients and artists, and all went well. On Thursday, I spent a good portion of the afternoon with Frank Marino of Mahogany Rush. I've gotten to know him a bit over the last two years, and took him up on his offer to visit the Marino homestead while I was in Montreal this time around.

Frank is, quite frankly, one of the most interesting people I know. When I arrived, he was in his basement studio working on some audio tracks from a DVD project that was spurred on my Jon Landau, who's Bruce Springsteen's manager (and a big Mahogany Rush fan). Something had happened with the drum tracks, so Frank was involved in a forensic-level reconstruction of those tracks. It truly was DNA level stuff. He told me he's been working on it for nine months, 16 hours a day, seven days a week. He'd done just over 480,000 individual cuts, and he estimated that he was about 60% done with the project. He hopes to have it done by December so he can go out on tour in January. When the audio work is done, he'll have 12 hours of Mahogany Rush video, or about six DVD's worth. If you're a Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush fan, you'll want it.

Trust me on this.

On Friday, I finished up what business I had to and then pointed the Camaro south. I was heading back to my Dad's, about five hours south. It was unusually foggy, and all I could think of was the fog would give the police a good deal of cover:

Quebec fog...

I kept my speed sane and, after a little over a half hour, I made it to the border:



Border crossing from Quebec into New York State...



Before crossing into the United States, I decided to stop into the "duty free" shop at the border:

Duty free shop at the border...

If you've never been in one of these, you might be amazed at how low the prices on things can be when taxes aren't involved. Everything from liquor to cigarettes to jewelry is sold, and the prices are very good. I didn't buy much (I never do), although I did find a watch I rather liked. I didn't buy it (I'm totally unfamiliar with the brand), but did pick up a few little things and some coffee.

I'm always looking around when I drive. Hey, what can I say? I'm a sucker for cool roadside images. While there wasn't a great deal to shoot during this drive, I did find a cool old barn just south of the border and, if you've followed this blog for any period of time, you know I'm a fan of dilapidated barns:

An old barn along the New York State Thruway...

Now, up until now, I hadn't really had "fun" in the Camaro. The last thing I need is a speeding ticket but, you know, sometimes you just can't help yourself. And, sometimes, I just can't help myself. I had to see what she would do:



Gotta' love a heads up display...



I actually didn't drive that fast for too long. If any New York State Troopers read this, I swear, I only went this fast for purposes of the photo.

I swear.

I finally arrived at Dad's and got settled. At that point, there was only one thing on the agenda: CUBANO. Dad's friend Bert is a Cuban immigrant who owns Cafe 32, a little restaurant/bar in Plattekill, New York. Bert is an amazing chef, and he can cook anything better than most. One of the things he makes, which sunk its hooks into me long ago, is a Cubano sandwich. It doesn't bode well for the diet, mind you, but it's good. Thinly sliced pork, ham and Swiss cheese. Man, oh, man:

Bert in the kitchen, whipping up my Cubano sandwich...

It was good catching up with Dad, too. I don't get to see him as much as I'd like. He's been to California once, many years ago. I think he has an aversion to any airplane flight that's over three hours long. So, when I'm going to Montreal, I fly into New York to visit Dad, and then drive north to Canada.

Dad and I on the front porch of Cafe 32...

Dad...

After an evening at Cafe 32, we went back to Dad's for some of his Bloody Mary's. I love a good Bloody Mary, and Dad's got it pretty well down pat.

The next day, I wanted to head out and take some pictures. The area where Dad lives is definitely at no loss for cool things to shoot. It's a very old area, with lots of old graveyards (which you'll miss if you're not looking for them) and buildings to shoot: 



The Cherry Top ice cream shop...



A ca. 1800's house in Newburgh, New York...

 

Part of an old graveyard in Newburgh, New York...



An old gravestone, dating from 1863...

An old church, which is now a museum, in Newburgh, New York...

Now, I have to be honest here. I thought the car I was driving on this trip was pretty damn cool. I mean, c'mon, a fire engine red convertible Camaro? Hell, yeah; talk about sporty. But, as cool as it was, it was bested. While you might think you'd be more likely to find something like this in Mississippi but, no, this was New York.

And it was just bitchin':

A rather sporty lifted Pontiac Trans Am...

Sadly, my visit was short and, before I knew it, it was Sunday morning; time to fly home. It was a good trip, though, and it's always good to see the old man.

Now, if I can just get him to be seen in San Diego, I'll really be on to something...