Out of the Inkwell

As Gene Autry would say, "I'm back in the saddle again."

The vacation week flew by and here are various bits and pieces that may or may not be of interest.

I spend Sunday with my ass essentially glued to the couch watching an odd variety of DVDs including:

• "Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters" – a fairly diverting take on Chinese vampires that was ultimately not as interesting to me as the "Mr. Vampire" series
• "Frankenstein Must be Destroyed" – Peter Cushing next to last appearance as the mad Baron had its moments and I think Hammer was smart in understanding that Frankenstein was the monster, not his creations.
• "Dillenger" – Lawrence Tierney's screen debut as the legendary bank robber isn't very historically accurate, but the guy could certainly play a cold blooded killer well. The King Brothers production was released by Monogram and this must have been an "A" picture for them. The real surprise for me was to see a clip from a Mickey Mouse cartoon in the film!
• "Arizona Stagecoach" – Another Monogram release, this time a B Western starring "The Rangebusters," a team of good guys patterned affer The Three Mesquiteers and starring two of them – Ray "Crash" Corrigan and Max Terhune. Not a bad little western, but not real memorable either. Terhune was an ventriloquist whose dummy Elmer rides with him. In this film, Elmer speaks unaided which adds a surreal effect to the wild west proceedings.



We also took a day trip to Cape Cod. Mary and I are late comers to the Cape. Until a few years ago we had gone only once or twice, but now we venture forth several times a year, frequently with friends.



So our first stop was in Sandwich for lunch at the best place for seafood on the Cape, Seafood Sam's. Here is food porn, a fisherman's platter for two, a bargain at $24.



Then we took a walk along the nearby Cape Cod Canal.





Next was a tip to the Green Briar Nature Center in Sandwich operated by theThornton Burgess Society . Although we claim Burges for our own around here, he was born on the Cape and the society does a fine job preserving his memory and work. The center is a great place to visit with an art gallery, gardens on the grounds, its turn of the century jam kitchen – they were making strawberry rhubarb that day –





We then drove over to Bass River and walked along the public beach. if the weather had been a little warmer we would have set up the chairs and I'm sure I would have fallen to sleep. I find the ocean very relaxing, especially when there are no crowds around you.


Later we drove into Hyannis where I went to Tim's Books on Main Street – a very solid used book store – and Spinnaker's, a DVD, CD, pop culture place. We finished the day with a great meal at the British Brewing Company.

I can't remember when I last visted the Cape during the summer. I must say I like the relative privacy of the off season much better.




Unashamed tourists!
© 2009 by Gordon Michael Dobbs