This footage covers the autumn months of October and November up until we leave for Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving. I attended less shows over these months and the holidays...due in part to less options as touring wound down for the holidays I suppose. We got to celebrate another Halloweenaversary and I took advantage of early archery season in hopes of harvesting a deer. I also created a couple more music videos for Leper...one was an idea that was a long time in the making but I'm happy with how it turned out, the other was finished up fairly quickly but not released until after the holidays.
10.01.2022 - 10.12.2022
Elphie wanted to try to have a Halloween party again this year now that COVID-19 restrictions had been ended for some time so on Saturday October 1st, 2022, that is what we did! Our landlord and new neighbor in our building worked on the backyard so we could have a bonfire which is where we ended up most of the night. Prior to the party, I gave the Mountain Dew Voodoo 4 a try. I think the taste seemed like SweeTart candy. I described it as "bitter" at first but I think "tart" is more appropriate. I decided to wear camo and a skeleton t-shirt with my skeleton gloves and bandana to be "in decay." A few friends made it out and it was a fun hang around the fire most of the night.
Elphie wanted to try to have a Halloween party again this year now that COVID-19 restrictions had been ended for some time so on Saturday October 1st, 2022, that is what we did! Our landlord and new neighbor in our building worked on the backyard so we could have a bonfire which is where we ended up most of the night. Prior to the party, I gave the Mountain Dew Voodoo 4 a try. I think the taste seemed like SweeTart candy. I described it as "bitter" at first but I think "tart" is more appropriate. I decided to wear camo and a skeleton t-shirt with my skeleton gloves and bandana to be "in decay." A few friends made it out and it was a fun hang around the fire most of the night.
On my morning commute on Friday October 7th, 2022, I noticed interesting rain clouds that had a heaviness to their look. On Saturday October 8th, 2022, it was very sunny and we made a visit to the Albanese Candy Factory. Elphie was looking for things she could include in her annual treat bag she gives out to visitors and also to family at Christmas time. I picked up a couple bags of gummy goof-ups to enjoy at work. On Monday October 10th, 2022, I stopped by the Bad Apple to pick up some poutine due to it being Canadian Thanksgiving. It was also Indigenous People's Day.
On Wednesday October 12th, 2022, we went to the United Center to see The Who! They opened their set with a selection of songs from Tommy due in part to the musical returning to the stage in the next year. I captured Baba O'Reilly at the end of the set. Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies opened the show and I captured "Brian Wilson" from that set. Once again, Elphie couldn't enjoy the show due to the heights of our seating area.
10.15.2022 - 10.21.2022
On Saturday October 15th, 2022, I worked out a plan with Skot Shaw to head over to Gary and Michigan City in Indiana to get a couple shots I felt would help me wrap up the music video I had been making for "Fon Ghrein (Beneath The Sun)" and hoped to release by Halloween. It would be the second video I made from Leper's newest album "This Next Song Is About Death." In Gary I wanted to capture a shot of the City Methodist Church ruins. I also captured some of the dilapidated buildings on the main drag into the city. Later, I added in some clips from when I first got to visit the church eight years ago and actually go inside. On the way to Michigan City, I captured the power plant from the road. I got some footage of it from the beach once we arrived there along with the shots of Skot playing the intro to the song a couple of times near one of the dunes and at the shoreline. This was one of the two main goals I had in mind to capture. The other was to have Skot and Rachel standing and watching the sunset. There ended up being some significant cloud cover, however, there was a small break near the horizon which allowed me to capture some footage that was close to the official sunset. The sun dipped behind clouds a few minutes before it would have begun to drop below the horizon. While that didn't quite turn out as I hoped, the clouds and the light definitely made for a colorful sky. While the music video is in black and red, I decided to save some of the footage for this project to show the true colors we experienced getting these shots. As we were wrapping up and walking back to the parking lot, Skot got into a conversation with a couple about the subject of the song and this album. We went to Hokkaido, an asian restaurant, after capturing this footage. That night, Elphie and I ended up having to take Stein to the MedVet, an emergency veterinarian. He had thrown up the evening before then isolated himself under my desk in a pile of blankets. He didn't eat or use the litter box so we had concerns. It cost us over $1,000.00 and we were there all night waiting to find out that they couldn't determine anything wrong with him. As we sat in the waiting room, re-runs of The Golden Girls looped several episodes over and over.
On Friday October 21st, 2022, despite the problems that have arisen surrounding Brauerhouse, I went there to see Grave Robber with Leper. I showed Skot the rough draft of the "Fon Ghrein (Beneath The Sun)" video I had been working on before the show. I hoped that the cover I paid would all end up in the hands of the artists rather than Brauerhouse. I captured "Buried Alive" by Grave Robber and "Bat" by Leper. I also shot a bunch of photos.
10.22.2022
On Saturday October 22nd, 2022, we went to The Forge in Joliet, Illinois for the Prison City Halloween Massacre 13 featuring Disgraceland Wasteland Suspensions, Whut?, Misfire, Texas Toast Chainshaw Massacre, Villainous Grinn, Extraction Point, Chokesetter, and I Hate People. As we drove into the sunset, we saw a large group of motorcycles, some doing wheelies, on an overpass. It was a good show and the person that stepped in to do sideshow tricks did a good job too.
10.23.2022 - 10.31.2022
On Sunday October 23rd, 2022, it was a very warm day so we had the windows open. A praying mantis took up residence on the screen of our bedroom window. On Thursday October 27th, 2022 I saw a cone such as one puts on an animal after a veterinary visit laying on the street in Uptown Chicago.
On Saturday October 29th, 2022, Elphie and I went to Uptown to meet with the Shaws and then Skot and I continued to Winnetka, Illinois to shoot some footage for another Leper music video which would be "Red Words." Skot had an idea for what he wanted and I went with that direction to create this one. I shot some extra footage of the location that Skot choose. Christ Church. After shooting the video with Skot, Elphie and I went to Bree Thai near Midway for dinner as we often do for either anniversaries or her birthday. That night we attended the Nocturna All Hallow's Eve Ball at Metro. I captured a few clips throughout the night including the costume contest.
On Monday October 31st, 2022, I decided to use a Paid Day Off to stay home. That evening we went out for our Halloweenaversary to eat at The Patio BBQ then look at some Halloween decorations. There was a list of notable decorated properties throughout the southside and suburbs so we took that list and hit as many as we could. One of them we stuck around for a production that just kept on going and we finally left after I think about half an hour. The people certainly went all out! The houses were well done and it was fun to see. I used all my camera options for what was captured this night: an iPhone 6 and 8, Canon Rebel T6s with an Audio-Technica AT-8024 microphone, and Crosstour CR-900.
I had a concept in mind for making a video for Fon Ghrein (Beneath The Sun) by Leper. It took me a couple of years to compile the footage I wanted of sunrises and sunsets as well as some footage in Chicago of urban decay. A church fire added more to this as well as a couple other ideas as the concept evolved somewhat. I was pretty happy with the end product. You can read more about that project here. I released it at midnight on Halloween.
On Saturday October 29th, 2022, Elphie and I went to Uptown to meet with the Shaws and then Skot and I continued to Winnetka, Illinois to shoot some footage for another Leper music video which would be "Red Words." Skot had an idea for what he wanted and I went with that direction to create this one. I shot some extra footage of the location that Skot choose. Christ Church. After shooting the video with Skot, Elphie and I went to Bree Thai near Midway for dinner as we often do for either anniversaries or her birthday. That night we attended the Nocturna All Hallow's Eve Ball at Metro. I captured a few clips throughout the night including the costume contest.
On Monday October 31st, 2022, I decided to use a Paid Day Off to stay home. That evening we went out for our Halloweenaversary to eat at The Patio BBQ then look at some Halloween decorations. There was a list of notable decorated properties throughout the southside and suburbs so we took that list and hit as many as we could. One of them we stuck around for a production that just kept on going and we finally left after I think about half an hour. The people certainly went all out! The houses were well done and it was fun to see. I used all my camera options for what was captured this night: an iPhone 6 and 8, Canon Rebel T6s with an Audio-Technica AT-8024 microphone, and Crosstour CR-900.
I had a concept in mind for making a video for Fon Ghrein (Beneath The Sun) by Leper. It took me a couple of years to compile the footage I wanted of sunrises and sunsets as well as some footage in Chicago of urban decay. A church fire added more to this as well as a couple other ideas as the concept evolved somewhat. I was pretty happy with the end product. You can read more about that project here. I released it at midnight on Halloween.
11.01.2022 - 11.04.2022
While driving home from work on Tuesday November 1st, 2022, I decided to save the footage on my CrossTour CR-900 that showed the moon over Soldier Field as well as what remained of the sunset behind city as I turned south from Lake Shore Drive onto I-55. As I left for work on Thursday morning November 3rd, 2022, I decided to save the footage of the big hole on our street as work was being done.
On Friday November 4th, 2022, Leper played another show at the Ashbary Coffee House in Willow Springs, Illinois. After the show there was a plan to meet in the nearby Fairmount Cemetery for cupcakes for Jennifer Mercy's birthday. I captured "Howling" from Leper's set. I also captured a bunch of photos. I captured this footage using my Canon Rebel T6s with an Audio-Technica AT-8024 microphone.
11.07.2022 - 11.15.2022
On Monday November 7th, 2022, I decided I needed to take a few practice shots with my Excalibur Bulldog 440 after doing some maintainance on it including replacing its limbs after some concerning wear evidence began to surface. I hit the bullseye after a couple shots so I figured I should be good to go once I hit the woods for a deer hunt. I left work a bit early on Thursday November 10th, 2022, to drive to Warren, PA for a few days of deer hunting. I saved some footage from my CrossTour CR-900 along the way including the sunset. When I arrived at my parent's house, there were several deer out on the street and in the neighbors yard. I tried to capture a clip of this. I saw a number of deer as I made the drive, especially after Cleveland. I hoped this would be a good sign.
On Friday morning November 11th, 2022 I got up early to go hunting, my mom was awake for some reason too and had me come to the window when I got downstairs because there was a deer by my car! When I got outside, that deer was no longer there. I parked and a lot of traffic was coming into the area I usually walk to hunt so I decided to take a different path into the woods. I didn't see much of any deer while walking until I got to an old brush pile and scared a couple deer. I set up under a hemlock to try to keep dry from the rain that was just beginning to fall. It was pretty much a moderate to heavy rain all day...it was remnants of Hurricane Nicole, apparently. I saw a few deer as I got soaked. One was bedded down where I could see it as it stood up to shake off the water every now and then but never came near me. A couple did get close enough to take a shot but one was definitely not legal and the other got spooked by a stick falling before getting in a position where I could shoot at it. I saw an interesting moth or insect of some sort on the tree that I was set up under throughout the day.
I went back out on Saturday November 12th, 2022 to the same general area and by the same general route. I once again scared a couple deer from the area that used to be a brush pile and noted that there was a lot of sign of tracks and some rubs in that area. I set up in a spot near the hemlock that I had piled some brush around in hopes to give me some sort of rest for taking a shot and perhaps cover me somewhat to not be so noticeable. A deer came in fairly close but was once again not legal. A decent size buck came in a bit later and got in a spot where I could take a shot and I did shoot but seem to have somehow missed. It sounded like the bolt hit some hard wood but I never found the bolt, only one fin. I never found any evidence of hitting the deer either...no blood nor hair. I tracked it a bit to see if I could find anything to give me the confidence I had hit it but never found any sign that the shot landed. Where I eventually found the fin was in a soft, rotten log not too far beyond where the deer stood when I took the shot and it doesn't seem likely that the fin would have made it through the deer but not the rest of the bolt. For the rest of the day I didn't see anything. I was a fairly nice day mostly but the rain came back during the last couple of hours so I was soaked again. As I was leaving there was a deer hanging around by the road. It didn't move right away and I decided to try to take aim but then it ran off.
I had picked this weekend to hunt because it offered a Sunday option. On Sunday November 13th, 2022 I decided to set up on top of the old brush pile and see whether a deer came through while I was in there. Shortly after settling into a spot, I saw a couple deer but they didn't give me much of a chance to shoot at them. One began to emerge from some brush but I couldn't get my sights on it quick enough. Both deer then ran up the hill. I ended up moving. a little bit over in hopes of having a clearer shot in that area if the deer were to come through again. I saw a buck on the hillside and it seemed to see me too. It was legal but would have been a long shot. It began to snow then stopped, melted, and snowed again. It was a very wet snow so I was soaked again. With about an hour left of daylight, a deer came through less than ten yards from me and took me by surprise as my presence seemed to take it by surprise as well. I tried to quickly and quietly prepare for a shot and it jumped back into the brush and ran off. I didn't see anything else until I walked out of the woods as it got too dark. Again there were deer by the road. One ran but another one with it didn't move. I decided to take a shot in the dark. The deer ran a short distance after I took my shot then stood on the hillside. I couldn't see if I hit it or not. It eventually walked off slowly but no sign of injury. I recovered my bolt but the broadhead remained in the tree. I didn't see any sign of blood or hair in the snow where the deer had stood nor on the bolt so I assumed I didn't hit it. I left empty handed.
On Monday November 14th, 2022 I made my drive back to Chicago. Along the way I picked up a bottle of Mountain Dew Fruit Quake. I didn't really like it. It was meant to be like fruit cake I guess. It would seem I am not a fan of fruit cake then. As I waited at the light at Archer and Western in McKinley Park I noticed someone dancing on the walls of the memorial to William McKinley.
On Tuesday November 15th, 2022, I stuck around in Uptown after work for a show in the J.P.U.S.A. Garden Room featuring Kevin Schlereth, Brandon Reid, and Christian Welch. Tobin Bawinkel was meant to also be on the show but he ended up getting a bit sick. This was one of the first times in a long time that Brandon Reid had played a show as well.
After having to work late on Wednesday November 16th, 2022, I met Elphie and her friends Buttons and Raye at Huck Finn's for dinner. Elphie had already ordered my French Toast! It was good and fun hangs with friends.
On Friday November 18th, 2022, i captured shots of the Lincoln Park Zoo Lights as I drove home and I also captured the Lindbergh Beacon lit up using the CrossTour CR-900. That evening, I went to see MxPx at the House of Blues. I ended up getting tickets from Chris and Becca Smith. We worked it out to meet so we could swap Furnace Fest vinyl that we both had for each other. I captured "G.S.F." by MxPx and "Without You" by Teenage Bottlerocket with Mike Herrera doing guest vocals. It was fun to hang out with Chris and Becca for a bit. It was also a very cold night! While I was gone, Elphie captured a shot of Stein with Spike Davis' new book Butt Dialed By Jesus.
11.19.2022
On Saturday November 19th, 2022, Elphie and I went to Tinley Park, Illinois for The Uh Ohs Nightmare Before Christmas party at the Performing Arts Center. They played a quick set prior to playing the movie for the small group of us who attended. It was a bit of a bummer that Leper had scheduled a show that same night as well. I captured "Slipshot Delivery Service" which recounts some postal issues that Anastasia in particular but relatable to the rest of us who have had postal difficulties!
On Saturday November 19th, 2022, Elphie and I went to Tinley Park, Illinois for The Uh Ohs Nightmare Before Christmas party at the Performing Arts Center. They played a quick set prior to playing the movie for the small group of us who attended. It was a bit of a bummer that Leper had scheduled a show that same night as well. I captured "Slipshot Delivery Service" which recounts some postal issues that Anastasia in particular but relatable to the rest of us who have had postal difficulties!
11.20.2022
On Sunday November 20th, 2022 the annual Disgraceland Wasteland Disgracegiving Suspension event was held at Wasted Youth. We stopped along the way at White Fence Farm to pick up some chicken and fritters and Elphie pet an alpaca. There was a lot of good food and while there, I found a ticket for the Pittsburgh Penguins game in Chicago against the Blackhawks that was sort of affordable so I bought the ticket on Stubhub and headed back to Chicago for the game. I got there just about when the puck was scheduled to drop, however, there was a ceremony pre-game to honor Marian Hossa and retire his #81 jersey which delayed face-off by about half an hour. I had a standing room ticket. After entering the United Center and walking toward the stairs and escalators to get to the upper levels, I ran into Tom Crozier who was in the 100 section somewhere. I managed to find a decent viewing spot. During the first break, Tom Crozier was selected to play a game and won a jersey! This game was also Evgani Malkin's 1,000 game and Chicago congratulated him on the screen for that as well. The Penguins went on to beat the Blackhawks 5-3 making it the first game I attended in Chicago where the Penguins came away with a win! I had some video footage from the day but seem to have deleted it on accident I guess. I returned to Romeoville to the suspension and hung out with Elphie for a few more suspensions before we went home.
Additional soundtrack includes "Howling (Ylande)" by Leper, "The Coloring Song" by Caprill And My Sister's Garden, "Wither" by 6'10, Where The Good Won't Go" by Hoaxed, and "Close of Autumn" by Caedmon's Call.
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.
