Part I – Edinburgh

Part II – Isle of Skye, Harris, and Lewis

[the_ad id=”1999″]

Day 7 – Inverness and Lochness – Scottish Highlands

Urquhart_Castle’s history can be traced back almost a millennia to the Picts, early settlers of Scotland.  Supposedly a Pict King was converted to Christianity here by St. Columba from Iona.  The castle was built in the 7th Century and them intentionally blown up by the British at end of the 18th century to keep the Jacobites from overtaking it.  It sits on the edge of Loch Ness, providing a unique view out over the water.

River Ness runs though the town of Inverness, in the Scottish Highland, which is equal parts historic and hip. Inverness is also on the northern coast of the Great Glen Fault. This fault line formed most of the Lochs over 300 million years.

We ate at The Kitchen Restaurant which was an unplanned treat. If you can believe it, we fought over the last piece of pickled herring (if you can believe it!) and shared a fabulous duck entree.  We then got gelato at Miele’s Gelatoria, they even have non-dairy options.  Finally we ended the night with a few half pints of the local beer at Black Isle Bar.  It was a real treat to sample the micro-brew culture of the Scottish Highlands.

Day 8 – Clava Cairns and Culloden – Scottish Highlands

Clava Cairns are ancient Bronze Age burial sites, shaped like a slabbed letter C.  (C is for Cairn, that’s good enough for me.) The other edge is large boulders that hold the larger stones.  They are about 1.5 meters high and about 30m in diameter.  They are found all other the Scottish Highlands and Ireland as well.

Culloden Battlefield was chalked full of history about a tragic last stand in what could be described as a British civil war.  The Scotsman that fought for the insurgency of Bonny Prince Charlie were ill prepared to fight against the heavy artillery of the British government.  Yet they bravely and tragically fought the lost cause anyway, which is why it is romantically commemorated.  The show Outlander tells the story of the highlander clans from the perspective of a time traveling doctor (no, not THE Doctor, that’s a different show).

Day 9 – Stirling Castle – Stirlingshire, Scotland

Stirling is just south of the Scottish Highlands, so please forgive us from including in our “Highlands” post.  It might have been our favorite town, it is filled with history yet light on the tourists.  The old town sits on a hill, with Stirling Castle on top.

For our anniversary dinner we when to the Stirling Highland Hotel and had a lovely 3 course meal. The big surprise was that Juliette and selected the location because of one unique feature.  Their building used to be a high school and in 1888 an observatory was added to house a one of a kind telescope. Cooper was thrilled to photograph this awesome little rotunda with rotating roof.  Although the hotel runs tours, only the Stirling Astronomical Society can use the telescope to star gaze.  It is worth coming back one day.

Day 10 – Stirlingshire – Scotland

Another treat for pop culture geeks was our visit to Doune Castle, Deanston. You might recognize it from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (if so, according to the very comedic woman running our guest house, you are probably male).  Otherwise, and more recently, the castle can be seen in the TV show Outlander as well as Game of Thrones. Visitors are given complimentary headset guides narrated by the Python Director and historian Terry Jones.  Outlander fans on the tour are occasionally treated to the dulcet tones of the historical heartthrob Sam Heughan.  Come early to this castle to get the best experience, sans large crowds.  Be warned, you will run into at least one “Thrones-er”, “Sasanach”, or Knight that says “Ni!”

We recommend taking a tour of the Deanston distillery, if the spirit compels you, since it is very close to Doune Castle.

Not only did we get to taste a dram or two but we also got to see the entire facility, including the aging room.  Deanston may be the only distillery in the world that relies solely on its own renewable power generation.  The facility had previously been a cotton mill, built in 1830, that harnessed the flowing water of the adjacent river Teith to run turbines.  After a few upgrades the plant now generates enough energy that the distillery only uses 25% of it, the rest feeds the grid!

Airth castle is a funky hotel in Airth.  There we met Wallace McIntosh, an old English Sheep Dog. He ran right for Cooper, who was tickled purple!

Our final stop was in The Helix in Falkirk at sunset.  There we admired the grand modern horse sculptures known as the “Kelpies”.  Kelpies are a mythological creature know for taking the form of a horse and feared for dragging their victims under water.  Luckily these Kelpies just lit up and remained inert.  It was the perfect end to an amazing tour of Scotland.

The post Scottish Highlands: the Land o’ Lochs | Scotland appeared first on No Stranger to Us.

We love immersive experience, when the story telling jumps off the screen and into your face.  Also dressing up like your favorite characters lets you shed the pretense and burden of being yourself for a while!  As far as immersive pop culture events, there is no better team of performers and producers than the folks at BBQ films.  So when we got an email about a free Twin Peaks tribute we had a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.

The Email read:

To celebrate the highly anticipated premiere of David Lynch’s groundbreaking series, Flavorpill has teamed up with the immersive wizards of BBQ Films to create a Twin Peaks world both wonderful and strange ahead of the premiere of Twin Peaks Sunday, May 21, on Showtime.Enjoy a damn good cup of coffee at the Double R Diner, explore the mysterious Twin Peaks Lodge, and interact with a variety of quirky — dare we say suspicious — characters from this quaint northwestern town, brought to life by the beauties of The Pink Room Burlesque. Come in costume to enter our Miss Twin Peaks Pageant; the prizes could be a new shirt at the men’s store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good hot black coffee. You’ll just have to compete to see!It is happening again. And you are invited.

Juliette came dressed as the wise Margaret a.k.a. the Log Lady, Cooper was Dr. Jacoby.  We had the pleasure of attending with our good friend and costume maven Stef Kruzick. She came dressed as the incomparable Audrey Horne. Va-va-voom!

We ran into our good buddy Cesar Kuriyama who was enjoying a damn fine cup of coffee at the Double RR Diner.

The night got stranger and stranger as burlesque dancers titillated the audience in the Black Lodge and karaoke singers bared their souls with favorites from the Lynchian musical library. We were quite impressed with Nadine Hurley’s rendition of “At Last”. She may be missing an eye, but she had a full set of pipes!

This venue at so many mirrors! Cooper couldn’t help but be “self-reflective”.

Costume Contest!

Suddenly we were all transported to the Black Lodge for the Miss Twin Peaks (costume) contest.  Everyone looked amazing, it was hard for the judges to pick the top three.  Audrey, The Log Lady and Dr. Jacoby were all honored as finalists.  Much to her surprise Juliette got runner up!

It was a helluva night!  Can’t wait for the premiere on Showtime this Sunday.

Update: Here was Gothamist’s take on the night.

We were quoted on Salon! An excerpt:

A New York filmmaker named Cooper Miller, who was attending the event dressed as Dr. Lawrence Jacoby, explained the appeal of the evening to me like this: “People in New York especially love to take on other identities. Sometimes the modern existence is so dependent on your identity. Everyone has to portray themselves a certain way. I feel like these are moments where you really get to let loose and get weird and have fun and be someone else other than yourself. These are the moments that make the New York scene kind of distinctive.”

His wife* accomplished partner and Director of Content at Carrot – a VICE Company, Juliette Richey, who was dressed as the log lady, added: “And ‘Twin Peaks’ is a particularly great show for that. Every character on that show is like the weirdest character ever — whether you’re a detective or a log lady who lives in this town.”

*our correction

The post A Tribute to Twin Peaks | BBQ Films appeared first on No Stranger to Us.

What was so impressive about the CHOW exhibit in the Museum of Food and Drink‘s pop-up space was the way that the Chinese restaurant in America was contextualized as an important expression of the immigrant experience. It powerfully demonstrated how a rich immigrant culture combined exclusionary tactics of the dominant society can create a thriving sub-culture.

Chinese Food History

When you walk into the space your senses are overwhelmed with the smell of blueberry infused fortune cookies baking.  On display are original cooking tools and vintage menus of Chinese restaurants from across United States.

The first craze of Chinese food was in the early 1800s when Americans were eating a dish that they referred to as “Chop Suey”.  This dish was likely a stir-fried mixture of animal innards and vegetables tossed in a soy sauce.

In the middle of the exhibit a fortune cookie machine is on display.  Here a visitor can watch all the steps to the process of making a fortune cookie on a mass scale.  Best part, eating unlimited cookies!

The machine is a part of MoFad’s Twitter campaign #ProjectFortune. It’s an interactive experience! Each cookie contains a custom fortune submitted via twitter with the hashtag, or entered into the kiosk here at the museum. Getting them printed and cut to size must be a chore!  The cookie recipe changes every so often, currently they use blueberry and raspberry extract, which we have never tasted in a cookie before.  The cookies are addicting!  Luckily you can take even more home with you in a take-out box.  We also learned that they donate the excess to a food pantry.

There is also a space that features cool smell generating machines called the “Smell Synth”.  You can mix fragrances together to create smell recipes.  Cooper got creative and mixed up some stank like a olfactory DJ.

Time to Taste!

Our favorite part of the exhibit was the Chinese food tasting from a professional food consultant.  The custom printed chopsticks were a nice touch.  We also loved that the bamboo bowls were biodegradable and they use NYC Dept of Sanitation’s new curbside organics collection bin to collect food waste.

This might be a small museum but it packs a lot of history, fragrance, and flavor!

P.S. Demonstrous Productions helped them out with a fundraising video, they deserve a bigger space!

The post Chowing on Chinese food at the Museum of Food and Drink appeared first on No Stranger to Us.

The weather, the trees and the people were all celebrating the beauty of spring.

Mono No Aware

The Sakura trees are said to embody in the Buddhist concept of mono no aware, which is the awe found in impermanence, since they bloom at once and for only about a week.

What is exceptionally fun about the festival is that it also celebrates the panoply of Japanese culture, past and present, including drumming, dancing, gaming, martial arts, manga and Anime Cosplay.

The festival is great fun for kids of all ages!

Of course it was rife with photo-tunities!

The post A Cherry Tree Blossoms in Brooklyn | Sakura Matsuri 2017 appeared first on No Stranger to Us.

The audience used its tear off ballot to vote, Artist ANDRE and Marthalicia Matarrita were clear favorites in round one.

We both fell in love with Marthalicia’s first painting and were locked in a silent bidding war to purchase it.

Round 1 also saw Jaquelyn and Tony Carter eliminated but both had a decent showing.

Art Battle Round 2

Round 2 featured Ki Sub Lee, Krissy Whiski, A.E. Kieren and a Wildcard drawn from names thrown into a hat upon entry.

Shout out to our good buddy Soren Hansen for the lead on this fun combination of art, competition, theatre and adult beverages!

The Finals

The post An Art Battle waged in the Village NYC appeared first on No Stranger to Us.

Reformed Church Cemetery History

The Flatlands Reformed Church was established in 1654, and this greek revival style church building was built in 1848. The Dutch Reformed Church was formed in the Protestant Reformation, its first church (now called the Marble Collegiate Church) in the Americas was in New Amsterdam, now Manhattan.

We brought tulips to the church cemetery since they are often associated with the Dutch.  While researching this post I discovered that the association has everything to do with a historical event called Tulip Mania.  It is the story of the first known economic bubbles, when the price of tulip bulbs became unsustainable in the Dutch market.  This occurred during the Dutch Golden Age (1568–1648) in 1636, this church was founded less than 20 years later.

A spooky mist rolled through the graveyard while we were there.

Reflections on American History

It is tragic when memorial sites are desecrated like those in a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia this week. This kind of religious persecution is why so many Europeans came to the New World in the 17th century. America was for centuries the land of opportunity and freedom, now it is beginning to look like so many other failed states that no longer protect their most vulnerable citizens.

Having a claim to three centuries of ancestry in the United States does not give one the cultural claim to this country. Escaping oppression is often the burden of the oppressed, yet we also must all overcome the desire to become oppressors.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana

History repeats itself regardless of our memory, often by those who studied it the hardest. They are the scratch in the record that we refuse to take off the turntable.  It’s time to make new music.

The post Historic Outing | Old Dutch Flatlands Reformed Church Cemetery appeared first on No Stranger to Us.

The last time I was in this predicament I spent 2 hours in a Warby Parker store obsessively trying on hundreds.  I shared the top 4 picks to my social network with great success. Folks love when you ask their opinion, especially when given a finite set of choices.  So I’m looking for feedback again.  Interested?

My Myopic Transition into Adulthood

Eye glasses serve a dual purpose of bringing the outside world into sharp focus while also distancing the wearer from the world.  Spectacles are made to see the spectacle; making it clear to everyone around you that they are being observed.  At a certain point that aloofness of the nerd-set became a desirable thing that even the sighted began to desire.

I first fetishized glasses when I was about eleven years old, I would wear sunglasses all the time, even inside.  My 6th grade science teacher once called a security guard to force me to remove them; I was a rebel without a cause.  I was going through puberty and all of the patriarchs in my family, two grandfathers and my dad, wore them.  So it was not a stretch of the imagination to say that I may have associated wearing glasses with being male.  Around the same time my vision actually changed from 20/20 to much worse in under two years so testosterone and myopia in my family might be connected.  My optometrist blamed the hours of staring at a CRT monitor after school, the nerdy pursuit of computing caused my near-sightedness.

Eye Glasses Decision time!

There are 7 glasses numbered on the bottom of the gif below, two of which are pairs that I own as a scientific control.  The safety glasses are obvious, but the other pair is also Warby Parker.

The post Picking New Eye Glasses is Hard, Please Help! appeared first on No Stranger to Us.