Hollywood Comes to the North Shore

I was perusing some local websites and came across a story about a movie that will be filmed in Topsfield starting in July:

Hollywood will be coming to Topsfield in July for the filming of a new Brendan Fraser movie that will feature a cast of animals and possibly one of the town’s elementary schools. The film, called “Furry Vengeance,” will be shot primarily in Topsfield, a location manager said Tuesday night at a selectmen’s meeting.

Benjamin Dewey, on behalf of the Summit Entertainment production, visited the board during a regular meeting to discuss the project and how it will affect the town. Dewey assured the board that movie’s management is trying to minimize the impact on day-to-day life in Topsfield.
“We don’t want to be in a situation where we are negatively affecting the ongoing activities in town,” said Dewey.

Dewey said that film producers will be searching locally for 50 to 100 extras for a scene that may be shot at either Proctor or Steward School for an Arbor Day festival at the end of the movie.

The movie that producers call a “green comedy” focuses around a developer (Fraser) who plans to build a housing development in a pristine Oregon forest are thwarted by the animal inhabitants.

With help from animal inspector Joel Larson and an animal handling team, the project will be bringing in a host of animals who will be housed at the Topsfield Fair. Dewey said the fairgrounds will be the headquarters for all of the filming done in the area.

If you want to read the entire article click on the link: http://www.wickedlocal.com/boxford/homepage/x702312702/Topsfield-wins-role-in-new-Brendan-Fraser-flick

Memorial Day Weekend

Today is Memorial Day. The day we honor those that have protected and are still protecting our country. What a beautiful weather day we've had. As I went for a walk this morning with Greg and a bike ride this afternoon to take pictures I thought about those brave men and women who gave their lives for us... and I thank them. This is my wonderful gazebo dressed for the occasion. Click on it for a larger view.
We dressed our house for the occasional as well with hanging flower baskets and a flag. There's something about a flag blowing in the wind that I find almost magical.
Last Thursday was the awards ceremony at Emily's school. She received two awards, one was an Outstanding Achievement award in Electronic Imaging and the other was Spirit of Science in Environmental Science.
Once again I am trying for a garden. I have 7 tomato plants that I bought at a nursey on our deck. I will update the photos as the season progresses. I also have some zucchini planted as well. I was afraid if I posted their photos you wouldn't be able to see them.
On Saturday Mark spent his day off honing his wood pile. I think perhaps he's building a fortress out there. At any rate it looks very nice, too bad we don't have a fireplace.
This is the view as you approach his gazebo. I hope this post finds you all happy and well and you were able to enjoy this beautiful weather and special weekend.

One down - Three to go

Derek has now completed his freshmen year in the music program at UMASS Lowell. We finally got around to posting a sample video from the recitals mentioned in the previous post. Let him know what you think.

New Housing

Mom and Dad came for a visit on Mother's Day. One of the motivations for them aside from a vacation was to join us at Derek's recitals. Monday evening was his percussion ensemble and Tuesday was the jazz ensemble. We enjoyed both of them. The pictures show Derek on his favorite instrument, the marimba. We brought Sarah to see him perform on the first night. He was very happy to see her.

We think we may have a solution for Derek's housing situation. Thursday evening we went to the place where he really wants to stay. He has made friends with a music major that is very similar to himself. His name is Dave and he's very focused on his music, not on partying. Dave is pictured in the ensemble on the base drum, with the blue shirt. He rents a room in a house in the next town. There is another room available. We met the owner. He is a man probably in his 30's that rents out 3 rooms of his house. He's from, I think Malaysia. He's a software engineer and spends most of his time in New York. He comes back to this area for about a week a month. Dave and Derek would have the basement. They each have their own room and a common living area. There is a laundry room down there as well. They would share a bathroom on the main level. There is also a woman renting an upstairs room. She uses the upstairs bathroom as does the homeowner when he's in town. We met her as well. We really liked the owner. He has a very laid back demeanor. There is no lease, just a security deposit and he asks for a month's notice if Derek should leave. Derek has full access to the house. Everything is furnished. We're going to give this a try because it's what he really wants. Dave said he could ride with him to school so there is no need of a car. My only reservation is that it's about 4 miles from school. I talked to 2 of Derek's former apartment roommates Thursday when I was waiting for Derek. We will be able to get the security deposit and last month's rent so it's not a total wash.

Raising kids is a lot of trial and error and hoping the right decisions are being made. Only time will tell us if this is a good one. The area is much nicer than the last one so I remain optomistic.

Life Keeps Getting in the Way

My apologizes for disappearing off the grid for a time. As my title suggests life keeps getting in the way. Typically May is a very busy printing month for me. I do the invitations for the Friends of our library annual meeting, several local newsletters, the programs for the annual Veterans Memorial Day etc. etc. I think you get the drift. It all seems to happen this month.This past week I needed to get ready for a visit from my parents (as well as work my regular job). They came yesterday and will be leaving Thursday morning. One of their motivating reasons for visiting is that Derek has a percussion ensemble recital tonight and a jazz recital tomorrow, which brings me to my next distraction.

I alway thought when the kids were little how busy life was and that it would get better at some point. I'm still waiting. Yes, some things are better. Everyone can bathe, feed and dress themselves and use the potty. All very important things. Having teenagers/young adults has introduced me to a new kind of busy. Worry seems to be my theme, will they be happy, be able to financially care for themselves one day, fine a career and survive college to name a few things.

Derek is very focused at college and doing very well. He wanted to get out of the dorm for next year having grown tired of other kids all night parties and going to the bathroom to find that someone threwup at some point. He and 3 other guys found an apartment very close to where the majority of his classes are. I was happy about that. He's had to trudge at least a mile each way to classes in some pretty nasty weather this past year and through heavy city traffic. Any way on May 1st the lease was signed and the guys moved in. Derek typically comes home for the weekends because he wants to see his girlfriend, get a break from campus living and get his laundry done. On Satuday he received a call from one of his roommates letting him know that there had been some problem Friday night and they had been beaten up by a hispanic gang and were leaving the apartment. The details are vague. It sounds like his roommates had been having a party of some sort and the gang accused them of wrecking their car. I don't know that we'll ever fully know the details. I'm thankful Derek was not there. One of the kids got beat up pretty bad, broken nose, messed up jaw. Understandably the kids and their parents are very shaken up. Now we have to figure out what to do about next year and hope they can get out of the lease. I'm looking back now on the days when they were little and realizing how easy it all was back then.

On My Own

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. I've slowly been getting back into my walking routine. I have this wonderful 2 mile course that's in the next town. It's a classic New England road with beautiful pastoral scenes and stone fences. I walked it for years with the dog I've had at the time. We still have our chocolate lab but her years are catching up with her. She'll be 13 next month and has lost much of her hearing. I don't dare to take her on the road now. My first few times out on my own felt very strange. I've substituted the company of a dog for my ipod shuffle. At least I don't have to towel it off before it gets in the car.

Summer in April

What a fantastic weekend. Saturday and Sunday were well into the 80's and it felt great. Greg took Friday afternoon off so he could enjoy the weather. On Friday we picked Derek up at 6 p.m. He wanted to stay at school a little longer so that he could continue to practice. His girlfriend Sarah has been in Germany for the past week with the German club and will be gone for another week. I know he's missing her especially because they can't even talk on the phone. He only has a few weeks left of school so he seems very intense now trying to pull it altogether in his head and on paper.

We woke up Saturday to two Mallard ducks lazily floating in the culvert in our back yard. There's a fair amount of water in it from the recent rains we've had. Greg and I hit the road early to go to Sam's Club to replenish stock items. The rest of the day we were outside as much as possible, me doing yard work and Greg doing his annual repainting of the deck railings. He even put the hammock up in the area Mark has built by his gazebo. Mark likes to chop wood in his spare time. I sense that he is homesteading on the property. He took off early to Maine in his search for land. It has been his long time dream to live in Maine with scenic views. He saw a lot of views but still isn't ready to take that plunge.

Emily had her boyfriend, RJ over for the day. They walked into Topsfield and enjoyed ice cream and the wonderful day. Yesterday we got a few groceries first thing. We had an early dinner so that Derek could eat with us before he went back. The grill is up and running and we enjoyed Century House steaks. They are the best. Prior to dinner Emily had a friend over to work on her environmental project. They have been monitoring a vernal pool all year and we paid our final visit to it. While they were taking photos I did a trail walk. I took Derek back to school after the meal was cleaned up and Greg went with Mark to look at trucks. Mark's other dream is to get a truck but he still hasn't found the right deal.

As always the weekends go fast but the beautiful weather and being able to be together made it ever so special. It didn't hurt that the Red Sox swept the Yankees either... the icing on the cake.