The footage for The Holidays begins with our usual trip to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving. While the plan was to finally have a regular Christmas visit to North Carolina, COVID-19 altered things a bit so the footage covers until a week after the New Year with the changed travel plans and holiday celebrations.
https://youtu.be/A8aUZnu9Ow4
Thanksgiving, Hunting, and Northern Family Christmas (11.23.2022 - 11.28.2022)
I left work a bit early on Wednesday November 23rd, 2022 in hopes to make the drive to Warren, PA end earlier in the evening. This came with a bit of pushback by one co-worker and thus the trip was shortened by a couple of days as well. The drive was without incident and we arrived around 1:00am.
Thursday November 24th, 2022 was Thanksgiving and we had the usual celebration at The Hinsdale house in Clymer, NY with the Sorensen family. It was a good time as usual and a lot of great food too!
On Saturday November 26th, 2022, the Pennsylvania rifle season began for deer. I lost the footage I had from the hunting days. On the first day I used the spot where I last shot a deer in 2020. I didn't see much activity during the day and what activity I did see was out of shooting range. I had one deer come along the hillside east of me that I may have had a chance to shoot except I was looking in a different spot after seeing movement there. If I had caught a glimpse of the other deer just a few seconds earlier I think I had a shot. As it turned out, the only thing that I really had a chance to shoot would have been a porcupine that wandered by then climbed a tree. It later climbed back down and continued through the woods.
On Sunday Nocember 27th, 2022, I went out to hunt once again. I set up in an area that appeared to have been used frequently by deer to cross through but I didn't see anything while I was there. When it began to rain, I moved to a spot under a hemlock the rest of the day in hopes to stay dry. It is a spot I've used before and have seen deer but I saw nothing all day except another hunter who drove in to an area that is posted. While I was hunting, my family decorated the Christmas tree. Elphie also captured footage playing with Charlie the cat. The Christmas celebration video footage is all from Elphie because I seem to have lost that as well.
On Monday November 28th, 2022, we drove back to Chicago due in part to the lack of luck hunting and the incident prior to leaving with the co-worker in hopes to lessen the stress at work. As we drove through Ohio along the turnpike we noticed some helicopters. It appeared that they may have been working on utility lines and possibly had people hanging off ropes below them. We also saw a small plane come in for a landing at the Toledo Airport. We made the trip again without incident and arrived in time to watch the second half of the Steelers game against the Colts...Steelers WON!
Driving into work on the morning of Tuesday November 29th, 2022, I captured the city skyline using my CrossTour CR-900. I found out my old friend Russ had moved to town so we got some pizza at Falco's and caught up a bit on life.
Thanksgiving, Hunting, and Northern Family Christmas (11.23.2022 - 11.28.2022)
I left work a bit early on Wednesday November 23rd, 2022 in hopes to make the drive to Warren, PA end earlier in the evening. This came with a bit of pushback by one co-worker and thus the trip was shortened by a couple of days as well. The drive was without incident and we arrived around 1:00am.
Thursday November 24th, 2022 was Thanksgiving and we had the usual celebration at The Hinsdale house in Clymer, NY with the Sorensen family. It was a good time as usual and a lot of great food too!
On Saturday November 26th, 2022, the Pennsylvania rifle season began for deer. I lost the footage I had from the hunting days. On the first day I used the spot where I last shot a deer in 2020. I didn't see much activity during the day and what activity I did see was out of shooting range. I had one deer come along the hillside east of me that I may have had a chance to shoot except I was looking in a different spot after seeing movement there. If I had caught a glimpse of the other deer just a few seconds earlier I think I had a shot. As it turned out, the only thing that I really had a chance to shoot would have been a porcupine that wandered by then climbed a tree. It later climbed back down and continued through the woods.
On Sunday Nocember 27th, 2022, I went out to hunt once again. I set up in an area that appeared to have been used frequently by deer to cross through but I didn't see anything while I was there. When it began to rain, I moved to a spot under a hemlock the rest of the day in hopes to stay dry. It is a spot I've used before and have seen deer but I saw nothing all day except another hunter who drove in to an area that is posted. While I was hunting, my family decorated the Christmas tree. Elphie also captured footage playing with Charlie the cat. The Christmas celebration video footage is all from Elphie because I seem to have lost that as well.
On Monday November 28th, 2022, we drove back to Chicago due in part to the lack of luck hunting and the incident prior to leaving with the co-worker in hopes to lessen the stress at work. As we drove through Ohio along the turnpike we noticed some helicopters. It appeared that they may have been working on utility lines and possibly had people hanging off ropes below them. We also saw a small plane come in for a landing at the Toledo Airport. We made the trip again without incident and arrived in time to watch the second half of the Steelers game against the Colts...Steelers WON!
Driving into work on the morning of Tuesday November 29th, 2022, I captured the city skyline using my CrossTour CR-900. I found out my old friend Russ had moved to town so we got some pizza at Falco's and caught up a bit on life.
December and Christmas In Chicago (12.02.2022 - 12.28.2022
On Friday December 2nd, 2022 there was a little Christmas party for the staff at Cornerstone Community Outreach. That evening, Uptown Chicago had its Wilson Winter Walk and Glenn Kaiser and The Crossing played a show in Everybody's Coffee. Glenn had Skot Shaw play drums with Glenn Kaiser. I hoped to capture a song with the cigar box guitar but Skot didn't play on those songs. Instead, I captured "Silent Night" toward the end of the set. The Crossing played earlier. I wondered why they don't play Christmas songs at these events and apparently there were lineup changes since the Christmas album came out as well as the band not remembering how to play the songs. Driving home I saved the footage from my CrossTour CR-900 and sped it up showing the Christmas lights along Lake Shore Drive as well as the Lincoln Park Zoo Lights. I also captured the Go Team U.S.A. on the Blue Cross Blue Shield building overlooking Millennium Park as well as the lights on Soldier Field as I made my commute home.
https://youtu.be/GdX4GN1bFoI
https://youtu.be/tS0XbI_Y9nI
On Monday December 5th, 2022, I decided to go to the Lincoln Park Zoo Lights. It was the first time in a couple of years due to COVID-19 restrictions and the new policies on entering for the light exhibits. On my way to Lincoln Park Zoo from Uptown, I captured the lights in Wrigleyville in particular using my CrossTour CR-900 then speeding it up to be like a time lapse. By the time I got parked, I had nearly missed my ticket window for entry! There were the usual lights but a few new things including a Chicago skyline light display. No one was out carving ice. I went inside a couple of the buildings as well, the birds were back on exhibit following their quarantine that happened this summer due to an aviary flu. On my way home, I did the same for the lights along the Magnificent Mile on Michigan Avenue and captured the Christmas tree at Millennium Park with my iPhone while driving by. Back at the house, our house skeleton had a beard and Santa hat added to it.
On Wednesday December 7th, 2022, before leaving Uptown after work I tried to capture the CTA Holiday Train as it passed through the neighborhood. Forgetting that due to ongoing construction which puts the usual northbound tracks on the east side of the platform out of commission, I didn't get a great shot. I had missed it earlier in the evening as it was headed southbound.
On Thursday December 8th, 2022, I tried again to get footage of the CTA Holiday Train and this time I was able to capture it as it headed south and entered the Wilson Station from the corner of Wilson and Clifton. A truck pulled up and stopped in front of me which interfered a little bit but I was glad to capture what I did!
On Friday December 9th, 2022, as I made my commute home from work a lit up trolley passed by going northbound on Lake Shore Drive.
On Tuesday December 13th, 2022, I encountered someone broken down along the parks on Lake Shore Drive. They had a tow truck there to assist them.
On Friday December 16th, 2022, I took my lunch break to visit the Christkindl Market in Wrigleyville. I was able to purchase some Christmas Soda and Schoko Schaumküsse in the Sweets Castle. Last year, I had to go to the downtown market because there was not Sweet Castle in Wrigleyville. The Wrigleyville Market is far less crowded than the downtown one. I also got some pierogis from the Prince Of Pierogi booth. Instead of a skating rink, there was a carousel set up this year. On My way home from work, on the ramp from Lake Shore Drive to I-55 there was a bus broken down that I had to navigate around.
On Saturday December 17th, 2022, while shopping at Meijer in Highland, Indiana, we encountered Tally once again, this time in the candy aisle where a spill of chocolates had occurred. It sort of looked like some deer had been in the aisle and pooped on the floor! I also finished up work on the Red Words music video for Leper, hoping it would meet Skot's approval. He had some suggested changes though so I had to get back to work on it.
On Sunday December 18th, 2022, there was an oi show and birthday party for a bunch of folks in different bands all having December birthdays. The show was at The Irish Rebel in Oak Lawn, IL. I sort of found out about the show during the week prior and Kyle Bawinkel was looking for someone to record the show. I offered. It was a free show. I left and realized I had forgotten something at home so I can to backtrack so I ran late a bit. I only got part of Bad Sons for that reason. Kyle mostly wanted me to capture Fuerza Bruta and the surprise Brick Assassin set but I captured the rest of the night anyway. Other bands who played included Gal Gun and Criminal Kids. I shot the band footage using my Canon Rebel T6s with an Audio-Technica AT-8024 microphone. Someone walked basically through me causing the microphone to break free from its base and so I had to hold it through the night. I used Gorilla Glue to fix it at home. My old friend Russ was there so it was cool to hang with him as well. I brought him some Skyline Chili! On my way to and from the show, I captured the lights at Midway Airport as well as a plane coming into to land overhead as I drove down Cicero Avenue. I also captured a jeep decorated for the holidays.
https://youtu.be/tS0XbI_Y9nI
On Monday December 5th, 2022, I decided to go to the Lincoln Park Zoo Lights. It was the first time in a couple of years due to COVID-19 restrictions and the new policies on entering for the light exhibits. On my way to Lincoln Park Zoo from Uptown, I captured the lights in Wrigleyville in particular using my CrossTour CR-900 then speeding it up to be like a time lapse. By the time I got parked, I had nearly missed my ticket window for entry! There were the usual lights but a few new things including a Chicago skyline light display. No one was out carving ice. I went inside a couple of the buildings as well, the birds were back on exhibit following their quarantine that happened this summer due to an aviary flu. On my way home, I did the same for the lights along the Magnificent Mile on Michigan Avenue and captured the Christmas tree at Millennium Park with my iPhone while driving by. Back at the house, our house skeleton had a beard and Santa hat added to it.
On Wednesday December 7th, 2022, before leaving Uptown after work I tried to capture the CTA Holiday Train as it passed through the neighborhood. Forgetting that due to ongoing construction which puts the usual northbound tracks on the east side of the platform out of commission, I didn't get a great shot. I had missed it earlier in the evening as it was headed southbound.
On Thursday December 8th, 2022, I tried again to get footage of the CTA Holiday Train and this time I was able to capture it as it headed south and entered the Wilson Station from the corner of Wilson and Clifton. A truck pulled up and stopped in front of me which interfered a little bit but I was glad to capture what I did!
On Friday December 9th, 2022, as I made my commute home from work a lit up trolley passed by going northbound on Lake Shore Drive.
On Tuesday December 13th, 2022, I encountered someone broken down along the parks on Lake Shore Drive. They had a tow truck there to assist them.
On Friday December 16th, 2022, I took my lunch break to visit the Christkindl Market in Wrigleyville. I was able to purchase some Christmas Soda and Schoko Schaumküsse in the Sweets Castle. Last year, I had to go to the downtown market because there was not Sweet Castle in Wrigleyville. The Wrigleyville Market is far less crowded than the downtown one. I also got some pierogis from the Prince Of Pierogi booth. Instead of a skating rink, there was a carousel set up this year. On My way home from work, on the ramp from Lake Shore Drive to I-55 there was a bus broken down that I had to navigate around.
On Saturday December 17th, 2022, while shopping at Meijer in Highland, Indiana, we encountered Tally once again, this time in the candy aisle where a spill of chocolates had occurred. It sort of looked like some deer had been in the aisle and pooped on the floor! I also finished up work on the Red Words music video for Leper, hoping it would meet Skot's approval. He had some suggested changes though so I had to get back to work on it.
On Sunday December 18th, 2022, there was an oi show and birthday party for a bunch of folks in different bands all having December birthdays. The show was at The Irish Rebel in Oak Lawn, IL. I sort of found out about the show during the week prior and Kyle Bawinkel was looking for someone to record the show. I offered. It was a free show. I left and realized I had forgotten something at home so I can to backtrack so I ran late a bit. I only got part of Bad Sons for that reason. Kyle mostly wanted me to capture Fuerza Bruta and the surprise Brick Assassin set but I captured the rest of the night anyway. Other bands who played included Gal Gun and Criminal Kids. I shot the band footage using my Canon Rebel T6s with an Audio-Technica AT-8024 microphone. Someone walked basically through me causing the microphone to break free from its base and so I had to hold it through the night. I used Gorilla Glue to fix it at home. My old friend Russ was there so it was cool to hang with him as well. I brought him some Skyline Chili! On my way to and from the show, I captured the lights at Midway Airport as well as a plane coming into to land overhead as I drove down Cicero Avenue. I also captured a jeep decorated for the holidays.
https://youtu.be/M4x9PAJhCUk
Brick Assassin Setlist:
1. C.B.C (Chicago Brick Crew)
2. Bonehead Dicks
3. Entitlement Generation
4. New Age (Blitz cover)
Brick Assassin Setlist:
1. C.B.C (Chicago Brick Crew)
2. Bonehead Dicks
3. Entitlement Generation
4. New Age (Blitz cover)
On Wednesday December 21st, 2022, Elphie flew to North Carolina so she could have Christmas with her family. I suggested this as I was not going to be able to leave at the time we had planned due to a COVID-19 case in one case manager I work with and the other being out of the country on vacation. I wasn't sure when I was going to be free to leave but estimated that hopefully I could get down there for a few days around the New Year. In the meantime, we had a Christmas Party for the single men's program at Cornerstone Community Outreach during the lunch time. I recruited a few others to help get everything set up and it seemed that the party went fairly well despite the complications with staffing. This was also the first official day of winter and we had a significant winter storm looming in the forecast. I captured some footage of the trip home from work.
On Thursday December 22nd, 2022, the storm hit. It didn't produce nearly the amount of snow that was predicted at some point but it was enough to make the commute home a bit slower. It was 9 degrees just before I left work and dropped to 3 degrees when I got home less than 2 hours later. I believe it hit zero within the hour and was -5 shortly before I went to bed.
When I got up on Friday December 23rd, 2022, my phone showed the temperature at -9. It had apparently reached -10 a little earlier. While it made an unpleasant sound, my car did start...my GPS never figured itself out and the CrossTour CR-900 was never able to turn on either but it did work on my commute home though. Around mid afternoon, I got a call from our landlord asking why the temperature was showing so low in our apartment on the Ecobee Thermostat...he wondered if I had turned off the furnace. I told him I had not so he went to investigate. It turned out that when I tried to lock the door, the deadbolt didn't latch and apparently the wind had blown it open. I had pushed on the door fairly hard before leaving to ty to make sure it was latched since it didn't feel like the deadbolt fully engaged. He shut the door, ensured it latched and I ended up coming home about an hour early to check on Stein's wellbeing. He seemed to be ok. I then ordered a deep dish Chicago style pizza from Falco's and went to pick it up. I captured some footage of the neighborhood Christmas decorations and lights along the way. The pick up area was extremely cold at Falco's and it was also busy. After waiting a long time, my pizza was finally ready and I came home to eat it! I spent the evening finishing up work on the Red Words music video for Leper, hoping that this cut would be acceptable and approved by Skot!
On Saturday December 24th, 2022, Christmas Eve, I hung out at home. I had reached out to Russ to see if he wanted to stop by to hang or something. I ended up watching football all day, eating Schoko Schaumküsse and more of my Falco's Pizza. That evening the Steelers played the Raiders on the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception. Franco Harris had unfortunately passed earlier in the week as there was a plan to honor him and retire his jersey. The Steelers were able to win at the end of the game 13-10!
I spent Sunday December 25th, 2022, Christmas Day, watching more football, eating more of my pizza from Falco's and hanging out with Stein in the house. I had contact with Russ who was planning to go to Chinatown for a meal but I didn't feel like going out in the cold. It was a low-key Christmas.
On my way back into work on Monday December 26th, 2022 I captured the ice on Lake Michigan during my morning commute. I also tried to capture the Wilson Abbey Window display on my way in and going back home as well.
New Year's, Celebrating Southern Family Christmas, and Cincinnati Visit (12.29.2022 - 01.08.2023)
After the delay due to COVID-19 in our midst at Cornerstone Community Outreach and another co-worker's vacation, I finally was able to leave to use my remaining time off I had accrued and spend some holiday time in the south. I left Chicago in the afternoon on Thursday December 29th, 2022 after leaving work a little bit early again. I made the drive to Cincinnati, Ohio to stay the night at the Sheehy's. I arrived around 11pm. I also stopped at Meijer to load up on Ale 8-One also picking up some of the Orange Cream and Cherry flavors. As I drove I noticed what seemed like a lighthouse near Fair Oaks Farm. I also captured the usual lights from the windmills, the Children's Hospital in Indianapolis, a smiley face along I-74, and the Cincinnati skyline coming in from the north. As I arrived in the Sheehy's neighborhood, I captured the Christmas lights. We talked for a bit then I went to bed in hopes of getting a decently early start the next day to drive to North Carolina.
On Friday December 30th, 2022, I ate my usual Raisin Bran breakfast at the Sheehy's then made a quick trip back into Cincinnati to pick up some Two Long Ears books from Jacob Boehne. I missed him unfortunately but I was able to get the books and say hey to Adalia then headed south through Tennessee into North Carolina. I stopped at the Tennessee welcome center but some of the decorations had already been removed. As usual, I captured the sign for Stinking Creek, what seems like remnants of an amusement park, and the huge cross near the adult store along I-75. Once in North Carolina I captured the tunnels as well as a time lapse of interesting cloud cover in the mountains I would soon be entering. I also captured the Tryon Equestrian Park Christmas lights from the road. I did all this using the CrossTour CR-900. As I got near Charlotte, Elphie called to see about meeting somewhere for dinner and we worked it out to meet at R.O.'s Bar-B-Que! She got there a little bit before I did with her mom. It was great to see Elphie again...and it was good to have the delicious Bar-B-Que slaw again too!
We celebrated Christmas with Elphie's mom on Saturday December 31st, 2022. She always gives us interesting gifts and the conversation is often quite interesting while we are there as well. We stopped at the Food Lion to pick up beverages for a little New Year's Eve celebration with Elphie's sister and her friends. We loaded up on a couple cases of Cherry Lemon Sundrop and Cheerwine. I was able to get some of the Mountain Dew Roar variant found only at Food Lion which is berry and kiwi. I also found some Hershey's Yuengling so I got some of that to try. We picked up pizza for dinner and Elphie's sister had a bunch of other snacks as well. We turned on the various shows to watch as we waited for the New Year so we could celebrate it.
Elphie's family had a "traditional southern New Year's meal" on Sunday January 1st, 2023. I tried all of it which included ham, potatoes, collard greens, black eyed peas, corn bread, and hog jowls. The hog jowls were essentially like bacon and everything was pretty good. I wasn't a fan of the black eyed peas. That evening, I got to open my gifts from the rest of Elphie's family: a skull blanket, an "IT" themed ramen bowl, and cherry cordials. All good things. Later, I got to watch the Steelers game against the Ravens which they won 16-13 to keep the playoff hopes alive!
On Monday January 2nd, 2023, we visited with some of Elphie's friends then prepared Chicago style pizza which I bought at Aldi from Gino's East. This was due in part to Elphie's nephew bragging that he could eat an entire Chicago style pizza. These ones ended up being smaller than the one I had while at home on Christmas prompting the challenge. I also got to watch some of the Winter Classic at Fenway featuring the Penguins versus the Bruins where the Penguins lost 2-1.
I worked on the video project for Red Words by Leper in between hunting trips and the holidays after shooting it at the end of October. I added in the Bible shots later. This was a project directed by Skot Shaw and I tried my best to create what he had in mind. I had to revise a couple things after the first draft and getting more direction from Skot. I think it turned out ok. You can read more about this project here. Skot decided to officially release it on January 2nd, 2023.
https://youtu.be/HBYjj91cbQ4
On Tuesday January 3rd, 2023, Elphie and I took her mom out to Hillbilly's Bar-B-Que then to see Puss in Boots at the movie theater. On our way, we saw a motorcyle lose its chain!
On Wednesday January 4th, 2023, we watch one of Elphie's nephews play basketball then picked up some Krispy Kreme to eat later.
On Thursday January 5th, 2023, Elphie decided I needed to taste test some more southern foods including picked pigs feet, pickled eggs, and boiled peanuts. I am not a fan of any of these. I also tried Choice Cherry Gold soda and that was ok. It was another cherry citrus beverage similar to the Cherry Lemon Sundrop. We went to eat with Elphie's cousin after at El Rey Mexican restaurant.
We headed back north on Friday January 6th, 2023 stopping again at R.O.'s Bar-B-Que on our way out of town to enjoy some more slaw and Cherry Lemon Sundrop. I also purchased a tub of slaw to bring back. We made the trip without incident to Cincinnati, stopping at Bojangles in Tennessee for lunch along the way. We arrived around 8pm which is pretty early for us and chatted with the Sheehy's for a while. We had hopes to see some folks while in town but no one seemed to be available.
On Saturday January 7th, 2023 we went out for lunch with the Sheehy's to Bard's. It's a diner that they really like to support. I had the poutine and an Ale 8-One. It was a pretty filling meal. After riding around a while with the Sheehy's, Elphie and I decided to drive to the Fairfield Jungle Jim's and check out what they had. We found quite the collection of Pez dispensers. We made our way through the international market, finding the Schoko Schaumküsse in the German section and glögg and knäckerbröd in the Scandinavian section. There was another Scandinavian section combined with Irish a short distance away where the Christmas soda was stored. I got a pack to let the Sheehy's try it. Back at the Sheehy's we watched the Weird Al movie then watched an older one called U.H.F. We also watched literal music videos and an interesting preaching couple from Chicago on YouTube. I also got them to play the Red Words video from Leper before going to bed.
On Sunday January 8th, 2023, we headed back to Chicago, the Steelers played and beat the Browns during the drive 28-14 but unfortunately didn't get all the help they needed to secure a playoff spot. The drive was the usual except our GPS wouldn't cooperate. It had been giving me difficulties ever since a software update required a card to be inserted. As we drove we couldn't get the card to eject then when it finally did, it shot out somewhere and we never found it. I decided to just use my phone as our GPS even though we really didn't need it to know where to go. We got home in the evening with no other issues and with that, our holiday season came to a close.
After the delay due to COVID-19 in our midst at Cornerstone Community Outreach and another co-worker's vacation, I finally was able to leave to use my remaining time off I had accrued and spend some holiday time in the south. I left Chicago in the afternoon on Thursday December 29th, 2022 after leaving work a little bit early again. I made the drive to Cincinnati, Ohio to stay the night at the Sheehy's. I arrived around 11pm. I also stopped at Meijer to load up on Ale 8-One also picking up some of the Orange Cream and Cherry flavors. As I drove I noticed what seemed like a lighthouse near Fair Oaks Farm. I also captured the usual lights from the windmills, the Children's Hospital in Indianapolis, a smiley face along I-74, and the Cincinnati skyline coming in from the north. As I arrived in the Sheehy's neighborhood, I captured the Christmas lights. We talked for a bit then I went to bed in hopes of getting a decently early start the next day to drive to North Carolina.
On Friday December 30th, 2022, I ate my usual Raisin Bran breakfast at the Sheehy's then made a quick trip back into Cincinnati to pick up some Two Long Ears books from Jacob Boehne. I missed him unfortunately but I was able to get the books and say hey to Adalia then headed south through Tennessee into North Carolina. I stopped at the Tennessee welcome center but some of the decorations had already been removed. As usual, I captured the sign for Stinking Creek, what seems like remnants of an amusement park, and the huge cross near the adult store along I-75. Once in North Carolina I captured the tunnels as well as a time lapse of interesting cloud cover in the mountains I would soon be entering. I also captured the Tryon Equestrian Park Christmas lights from the road. I did all this using the CrossTour CR-900. As I got near Charlotte, Elphie called to see about meeting somewhere for dinner and we worked it out to meet at R.O.'s Bar-B-Que! She got there a little bit before I did with her mom. It was great to see Elphie again...and it was good to have the delicious Bar-B-Que slaw again too!
We celebrated Christmas with Elphie's mom on Saturday December 31st, 2022. She always gives us interesting gifts and the conversation is often quite interesting while we are there as well. We stopped at the Food Lion to pick up beverages for a little New Year's Eve celebration with Elphie's sister and her friends. We loaded up on a couple cases of Cherry Lemon Sundrop and Cheerwine. I was able to get some of the Mountain Dew Roar variant found only at Food Lion which is berry and kiwi. I also found some Hershey's Yuengling so I got some of that to try. We picked up pizza for dinner and Elphie's sister had a bunch of other snacks as well. We turned on the various shows to watch as we waited for the New Year so we could celebrate it.
Elphie's family had a "traditional southern New Year's meal" on Sunday January 1st, 2023. I tried all of it which included ham, potatoes, collard greens, black eyed peas, corn bread, and hog jowls. The hog jowls were essentially like bacon and everything was pretty good. I wasn't a fan of the black eyed peas. That evening, I got to open my gifts from the rest of Elphie's family: a skull blanket, an "IT" themed ramen bowl, and cherry cordials. All good things. Later, I got to watch the Steelers game against the Ravens which they won 16-13 to keep the playoff hopes alive!
On Monday January 2nd, 2023, we visited with some of Elphie's friends then prepared Chicago style pizza which I bought at Aldi from Gino's East. This was due in part to Elphie's nephew bragging that he could eat an entire Chicago style pizza. These ones ended up being smaller than the one I had while at home on Christmas prompting the challenge. I also got to watch some of the Winter Classic at Fenway featuring the Penguins versus the Bruins where the Penguins lost 2-1.
I worked on the video project for Red Words by Leper in between hunting trips and the holidays after shooting it at the end of October. I added in the Bible shots later. This was a project directed by Skot Shaw and I tried my best to create what he had in mind. I had to revise a couple things after the first draft and getting more direction from Skot. I think it turned out ok. You can read more about this project here. Skot decided to officially release it on January 2nd, 2023.
https://youtu.be/HBYjj91cbQ4
On Tuesday January 3rd, 2023, Elphie and I took her mom out to Hillbilly's Bar-B-Que then to see Puss in Boots at the movie theater. On our way, we saw a motorcyle lose its chain!
On Wednesday January 4th, 2023, we watch one of Elphie's nephews play basketball then picked up some Krispy Kreme to eat later.
On Thursday January 5th, 2023, Elphie decided I needed to taste test some more southern foods including picked pigs feet, pickled eggs, and boiled peanuts. I am not a fan of any of these. I also tried Choice Cherry Gold soda and that was ok. It was another cherry citrus beverage similar to the Cherry Lemon Sundrop. We went to eat with Elphie's cousin after at El Rey Mexican restaurant.
We headed back north on Friday January 6th, 2023 stopping again at R.O.'s Bar-B-Que on our way out of town to enjoy some more slaw and Cherry Lemon Sundrop. I also purchased a tub of slaw to bring back. We made the trip without incident to Cincinnati, stopping at Bojangles in Tennessee for lunch along the way. We arrived around 8pm which is pretty early for us and chatted with the Sheehy's for a while. We had hopes to see some folks while in town but no one seemed to be available.
On Saturday January 7th, 2023 we went out for lunch with the Sheehy's to Bard's. It's a diner that they really like to support. I had the poutine and an Ale 8-One. It was a pretty filling meal. After riding around a while with the Sheehy's, Elphie and I decided to drive to the Fairfield Jungle Jim's and check out what they had. We found quite the collection of Pez dispensers. We made our way through the international market, finding the Schoko Schaumküsse in the German section and glögg and knäckerbröd in the Scandinavian section. There was another Scandinavian section combined with Irish a short distance away where the Christmas soda was stored. I got a pack to let the Sheehy's try it. Back at the Sheehy's we watched the Weird Al movie then watched an older one called U.H.F. We also watched literal music videos and an interesting preaching couple from Chicago on YouTube. I also got them to play the Red Words video from Leper before going to bed.
On Sunday January 8th, 2023, we headed back to Chicago, the Steelers played and beat the Browns during the drive 28-14 but unfortunately didn't get all the help they needed to secure a playoff spot. The drive was the usual except our GPS wouldn't cooperate. It had been giving me difficulties ever since a software update required a card to be inserted. As we drove we couldn't get the card to eject then when it finally did, it shot out somewhere and we never found it. I decided to just use my phone as our GPS even though we really didn't need it to know where to go. We got home in the evening with no other issues and with that, our holiday season came to a close.
Additional soundtrack includes "Silent Night" by Justin Wheeler, "Doxology" by Glenn Kaiser, "Letter To The Birthday Boy" by Rusty Vining, "Joseph, Just Keep On Playing" by All Together Now, "Kinda Because Of Christmas Time" by Theo Katsaounis, "Canticle Of The Turning" by The Uh Ohs, "That Night In Bethlehem/Frost On Your Fingernails/Cold Barn" by The Crossing, "O Holy Night" by Leper, "I Want A Hippopotamus For X-Mas" by Grave Robber, "Woah Woah Christmas" by The Prettybads, "Rudy the Reindeer" by Stop The Presses, "Blind Christmas" by Oneida, "Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel" by The Castros, "Distant For Christmas" by P.F.C. Pierce, "Sing We Now Of Christmas/Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel/Emmanuel" by Michael W. Smith, "Meteor Of Wondrous Light" by Kevin Max, Of Garland Bright" by Ronnie Martin, "Coventry Carol" by Sound Of Ceres, and "Unknown" by The Rocky Valentines.
Footage filmed using an iPhone 6 and 8, Canon Rebel T6s with an Audio-Technica AT-8024 microphone, and Crosstour CR-900 by Elphie and Joel A. Swanson. Titles and other animations created using Motion 4 on a Macbook by Joel A. Swanson. Edited using Final Cut Pro on a Mac Mini by Joel A. Swanson.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9ZwEF2QQpO_ZsH7j3Ts06Vv_7r-Brix
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9ZwEF2QQpO_ZsH7j3Ts06Vv_7r-Brix
