Zoe

So we went to a wedding in Newport and we somehow avoided traffic in both directions, perhaps in part due to the off season, perhaps because we left the city at 12:30 on Friday afternoon.  It was beautiful; blue skies, cliffs, mansions, and more nautically themed bars than you can shake a stick at.  Lots of Zoe’s sailing buddies were in attendance. Zoe and I woke early on Saturday to get a few hours of bouldering in at Lincoln Woods Park (not Casino) just north of Providence.  The rock was a rough sharp granite, it was a cloudless 75 degrees, and we met a few New England climbers (they say “cah” not “car”).  There is a large amount of climbing within the small park boundaries and it was free.  In the ‘Gunks we pay at least $15 for the privilege.  To me it felt a bit like Rumney, only without the tall sport climbs and 4 hours closer.

The ceremony was at St. Mary’s and the reception at the Astor’s-Beechwood Mansion. We drank dark and stormies at the Black Pearl on the wharf during the intermission between the church and the mansion.  Lots of men in faded Mt. Gay Rum hats, but it seems the big money won’t come into Newport for another month or two.  The reception was black tie optional and Zoe did her part wearing a slim black spaghetti strapped cocktail dress while I wore a blue pinstriped suit and a silken yellow paisley tie from my father’s collection.  The live band, chosen at random by the planners, was surprisingly good and kept everyone dancing from the first dance onward.  For a party at a mansion that specializes in historical re-enactments, there was quite a bit of dancing.  Also there was a chocolate fountain with marshmallows and strawberries, which was pretty amazing.  I think we went to bed at exactly 00:03 as we were exhausted from both climbing that morning and drinking in the afternoon sun.  Newport is every bit as beautiful and rich as anyone will tell you.  And not a bad place to get married either.

Here’s the link to the NY Times wedding announcement and video from this weekend.

So if you ever get asked to rig a “stage” in greater Providence, Rhode Island, chances are you will be rigging a “stage” in an old textile mill from the late 1800’s.  Also, it will be filthy and spooky as you’d imagine a 130 year old factory would be.  We ran a lot of cable and hung many lights, and we had something like four days to do it.  To facilitate this we ended up with a bunch of Stage Hands from Local 23, and there we already a bunch of guys from Local 481, and everyone pretty much talked funny.  Did I mention it was filthy?  It was a screen adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe’s “A Tell Tale Heart”.  As David said, “Everyone is getting back into Gothic Horror these days”.  True, true.

So yeah.  It was Zoe’s birthday this Saturday, we got a bunch of people together (The Preps versus the Beards) and bowled at “The Gutter” in Greenpoint.  Good beer, bad lanes.  Zoe seemed happy.

Wordpress is begging me to upgrade to Version 2.5.  Mostly I’m concerned with the really poor speed of this blog, and I think it’s due in part to the database and Dreamhost, but I’m not sure.  There is some extended Google Apps functionality that might be good too.  The MSN Live Search doesn’t even list this blog.  But I am now the number one “Mark Beattie”on Yahoo Search. So that is sweet.  Maybe some more bouldering at Cat Rock this afternoon?  The sun is shining, 46 degrees.