RI Day 5 - Illustrations, Improv Festivals, and Increases in Age
Today was my birthday so I decided to take it easy. I always feel a little weird on my birthday. It's the only day of the year where you have legitimate grounds to be constantly on edge that you might be surprised by a big crowd and then sort of disappointed when you're not. It's nice getting messages from people you've met at various points in your life, but it's a lot existential dread to feel the cruel passage of time.
My parents started my day off by surprising me in Rhode Island with my best friend from childhood. It was a big reunion.
We all went to Evelyn's Drive-In a world famous seafood restaurant in Tiverton. Unable to make a decision, my dad and I chose to split the seafood platter, 2 lbs (!!!) of assorted fried seafood, french fries, and cole slaw. It was insane, and probably took a full year off of my life, but I've lived long enough now that I'm fine with that. The scallops and shrimp were definitely the stars of the show, and it was nice getting full bellied clams as opposed to just strips. The calamari, clam cakes, and fried cod were all great as well, but not quite as next level good as the other three. Either way it was a feast not fit for the faint of heart. If seafood isn't your thing, my mom got a salad and my friend got a steak sandwich and everyone left full and happy.
the ocean is actually empty now
After my friends and family bid adieu, I went to the last museum on my list and saw the museum of American Illustration in Newport. Because many of the works are still used in commercial products they are still under copyright so I wasn't legally allowed to take any pictures but hopefully I can do it justice. I was rushing because i got there near closing time (having taken a slight but deserved birthday nap) so I might have been rushing a bit, but I loved everything I saw. They have a lot of illustrations but I think the majority of paintings were by Norman Rockwell, JC Leyendecker, and Maxfield Parrish. The special exhibits while I were there were one on the idea of the American Muse and had a bunch of different artists' drawings of what they believed the ideal american woman to be, and one of replications of famous paintings by an artist named Don Trachte. The first one was interesting sociologically, but the second exhibit had a great story behind it. Don Trachte was a comic strip illustrator who owned 8 original works of art by great painters, but when he was getting divorced from his wife he had to give over the paintings. Years later one of those paintings was up for auction, and the buyer thought it looked a bit off. No one could explain it, but eventually a wall was taken down in Trachte's home and a secret room was revealed that contained all 8 original paintings. All the ones he had given to his ex-wife were forgeries and he was a good enough artist that no body had really noticed. The museum displayed his replicas next to the originals and they were almost all imperceptible.
My favorite will always be this one by Rockwell (left) but I also really loved this one (right) by NC Wyeth from a book called Trending Into Maine.
From there I celebrated the second anniversary of my twenty-first birthday by going to Proclamation Ale Company. They're one of the most highly rate microbreweries in the state, and while they only have a small selection, what they lack in quantity they make up for in quality. They had a pilsner, a saison, an IPA, and a DIPA. While I'm still not sold on IPAs, these two were some of the best I'd ever had, and I actually bought a six pack of the pilsner because I liked it so much.
After the brewery, I drove into Providence to see an improv festival I got there right between shows though so I decided to look for a quick dinner. I really had to go the bathroom so I went into a pizza place thinking it would be low-key. Providence's Coal Fired Pizza turned out to be a really classy place, but I felt obligated to stay after using the bathroom. I got the last RI staple I hadn't tried yet and had a white clam pizza. It was delicious, but I think spending a lot of money on pizza is kinda dumb on principle because it's always gonna be good.
The improv festival was fun too. I saw six groups perform. The first three were Cuddle Party from Boston, Three Different Savers from Providence and Judy Big Mouth from NYC. I thought the first group was the funniest, but not necessarily the best actors, the middle group had really great actors who weren't particularly funny, and the third group was kinda the middle ground between the two. The thing with long form improv that's tough is that when a scene is generally more serious than funny, you get kinda stuck in that which while still impressive from an improvisation point, isn't always as enjoyable. Personally I'd rather just watch something silly, but I guess that sort of betrays my short form background.
The second group of three, Providence Pipes, Robot Love from Hartford, and Trudy Carmichael: The Improvised One-Woman Show, had a bit more variety in their styles. The first group did musical long form, the second group did a sort of hybrid long form/short form/ with a couple different games that all built to a whole a narrative, and the last group really was just one woman and a pianist improvising an entire cabaret piece. The middle group was my favorite and also probably the funniest group of the night, but the one woman show was one of the most impressive things I have ever seen. I don't know if the actress' name is actually trudy carmichael but she had an incredible singing voice and stage presence.
Favorite Random Sightings: Pickers Paradise (antiques, not noses); "Cool Pumpkins and Gourds"; A license plate that said "Hai 999"
Regional Observations: Rhode Island actually contains way more islands than I had realized before
Albums Listened To: Community by Aaron Embry and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes (record store day split 7"); Compact Jazz: Nina Simone (somehow the best of didn't have Feeling Good); The Complete Animals (Just Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood and We've Gotta Get Out of this Place; The Complete Collection by Flight of the Conchords
People's Favorite Jokes:
"This Job"- Dunkin Donuts Employee
Quoting Patton Oswalt: "I'm gonna only play my kids Phil Collins' No Jacket Required, so they get really cool when they rebel"
What's the difference between in-laws and outlaws? Outlaws are wanted.
Song of the Day:
