Shotguns, Weddings, and a Cabin in the Woods: Southern Hospitality and a New Addition to the Family

I flew out last weekend to Memphis, Tennessee, to go to the wedding of my cousin. I was expecting to have a very pleasant time and enjoy a nice little wedding.

I wasn’t expecting to be deep in the woods, in a cabin by the lake.

I wasn’t expecting such incredible hospitality.

I wasn’t expecting such an incredible ceremony, a unification of two different countries, cultures and traditions.

And I wasn’t expecting to meet such wonderful people, and to make friends I hope will last a lifetime.

The weekend began on Beale Street in Downtown Memphis, the one from the song “Walking in Memphis”- that was all that was running through my head as I took in the sights, sounds and smells of this famous road. That song also happens to be one of my favourite songs, because it’s the only one I could ever sing reasonably well at SingStar.

I met my cousin, his fiancee, and some fellow groomsmen and bridesmaids at the Hard Rock Cafe, where we all went for a meal. If you don’t know this about me, I’ve made it a mission of mine to visit as many HRC’s across the world as I can. In fact, I have made a blog post about it, when I went to the newest addition in LA.  Anyway, the Cafe in Memphis was a really classic one, perfect for representing such an iconic music town. A whole upstairs of memorabilia dedicated to the King! Better still, they took us all backstage so we could go on stage with some guitars and a drumkit! It made for a great picture of us all!

After a great meal, it was off to Moscow, TN. a small town an hour away from Memphis. And by small, I mean the nearest shop was 30 mins drive away! One main road, stretching for miles and miles. To say it was out in the sticks is an understatement. And yet, it was perfect.

It was perfect because of the hospitality we received there. Grammy and Granddaddy, or Mai Ida and Maynard, Michelle’s Grandparents, opened up their wonderful home and land to the British Invasion. They live in a stunning house at the end of a beautiful winding driveway. It’s huge, but homely at the same time. We were all welcomed at the door and immediately treated like family. The Stiles’ were such wonderful hosts, grandparents, and parents, Lee Ann and Trey, and together they orchestrated a phenomenal weekend.

I mustn’t forget Uncle Joe either. He lent us his cabin for the weekend. And boy, what a cabin it was. These were the instructions we were given to get there.

“You turn left at the corner of the cornfield. There’s a gate that’s padlocked, here’s the key for it. Then drive along the field until you get to the railroad track. You must stop here, turn the radio off, and wind both windows down. There’s no barrier, so look and listen both ways for a train. The crossings on a curve so you won’t see anything coming until its upon you. It’s a really narrow crossing, be careful you don’t fall off the edge. Drive along the track through the woods, into the big field, and you will see the cabin. Be careful you don’t fall into the lake!”

And that was that. The cabin was perfect for the groomsmen, a little bachelor pad for Jon’s last couple of days of freedom! Cards, beer, and Ice Pops! All set to a backdrop of deer, bobcats, raccoons and ducks mounted on the wall. The setting was idyllic, as some of these photos show, a beautiful lake to frame the landscape.

Friday dawned, and all the boys went into Memphis pick up our wedding suits. Dressed to the nines we paraded around the shop ensuring everything was a good fit. Laughing and joking, we then had a pizza lunch, and drove home with classic rock blaring on the radio, rocking out American style.

As if that wasn’t enough, we then did something really “American”, or at least to Southerners anyway. We went shooting. Only in the backgarden (which includes acres of forest) but still. We used a small rifle, with the smallest, least powerful bullets, but it was shooting nonetheless. We all thoroughly enjoyed it, but probably wouldn’t do it again any time soon. I should clarify that we were shooting at a target, not animals, despite Maynard’s story about how he enjoyed watching armadillos jump into the air when shot at!

After the rehearsal dinner and a night of poker, wedding day dawned. Bright and early for Adam and I, as we got up especially to see sunrise. After more cards and a quick round of golf, and then various organising, we suited up. It was roasting in our morning suits, at 2.30pm, but we all looked the part. Very sharp indeed. Off to the house for photos, and hiding Jon from the bride, and then, Wedding Time!

 

 

What a ceremony it was. I don’t want to go into too much detail here, I think that’s best heard in person. Needless to say, it was perfect. Michelle looked stunning, Jon was impeccable, everything ran smoother than possible (baring the train blasting through midway through a hymm!). It was like no other wedding, unique in every way. Every one said they’d never been to anything like it; gorgeous setting, funny, beautiful, emotional.

And it was emotional, or I found it to be so anyway. I don’t know what came over me, I never expected to get all teared up, not at all, but it happened. A combination of things, but it just hit me. My big cousin Jon getting married on such a perfect occasion to such a beautiful bride. He couldn’t be luckier. My deepest, sincerest congratulations to them both.

 

They’ve hit the nail on the head with transatlantic relationships, and united families and friends from both sides of the pond. A great big family, spanning oceans. It was wonderful to be part of something so special.

There’s lots more stories from the wedding, but I’ll let them be shared in person before I perhaps write about them on here!

A word of note on being a Best Man: It isn’t all fun and games with the bridesmaids, with just a little speech to give! And the rings are the least of your worries, so long as you don’t need to carry vaseline and icewater with you to ensure they fit! Lots of organisation, mastering of ceremonies, and making sure everything runs smoothly is in order. If the groom forgets something or needs something, its all down to you! Even if that means a rendezvous in the airport before the honeymoon!

Oh and, keep that speech short! Sorry about the length of mine everyone!

 

Shutters, Apertures, ISOs and Macro: An intriguing new present.

With the money from my birthday I decided to invest in a new digital camera. I’ve had some great times and gotten some great shots with my old Olympus camera, the one from the advert where the little kid throws the camera and the dog fetches it and brings it back. I bought that one because it was “drop proof” and “water proof”, knowing I was probably

going to need both those features.

It took some great pictures, given it was relatively inexpensive point-and-shoot camera, but as the flash now often fails onit, I decided it was time to purchase an upgrade.

Deciding what to buy though, was a feat in itself.

I trawled through review after review, comparing dozens of options and hundreds of features. It didn’t help that I really wasn’t sure what I was looking for. A compact system camera? An SLR? Another point-and-shoot?

I’ve always loved taking pictures and experimenting with shots, but I don’t really have a clue what I am doing. I would like to learn properly eventually but for the time being I am content just playing around and experimenting. Thus I decided an SLR would be too expensive, too complicated and just too big with all the extra equipment needed. I did however want a little more manual control than just a simple point-and-shoot, and so I ended up going for what’s called a bridge camera; as in a bridge between a point-and-shoot model, and an SLR. It has a fixed lens, and is easy just to turn on and take a quick snap, but it also has a number of features and manual controls which can be regularly adapted and changed.

So I can perhaps learn how to take some better pictures, while still have a camera at the ready whenever I need it. Only downside is, it doesn’t fit in my pocket. However, it’s probably best that I’m not ramming it into my jeans alongside my phone, ipod and any number of random paraphernalia. And, the size makes it feel like a “proper” camera; in true geek fashion it looks cool around my neck!

 

These are a few pictures I took recently while experimenting. More can be seen on Facebook; to access the public link to view the album (you don’t need a Facebook) just click here.

Oh, and the modal of camera I bought in the end? It’s a Panasonic Lumix FZ40/45, and I highly recommend it!

Back in the US, disgrace at home.

Before I started writing this blog post, I looked out of the window. I saw a bright blue sky, and a hot afternoon sun beating down onto a lemon tree in the back garden. I’m clearly not home in England. No, I’m in sunny California, soaking up the sun on a family holiday. Some things here have changed, most things are the same. Either way, it’s good to be back in the US. Indeed, the immigration officer at Philly Airport even said “Welcome Home” to me, before correcting himself to “Welcome Back”.

If I were at home, and looked out of the window, I might see burning streets. Youths running rampant. The riots that have erupted in the UK, first in London and now spreading North to Manchester are quite simply disgraceful. There is no rhyme nor reason behind it; thugs out to cause as much damage and violence as they possibly can, inciting fear, looting shops, and challenging police to a showdown.

There are some in the media who have tried to pass this off as a bigger issue- disaffected young people, struggling in society. But there is absolutely no excuse for their actions, the vast majority of which are simply opportunistic; copycat violence, hearing of disturbances and jumping at the chance to hit the street and cause destruction. Indeed in Manchester, there were reports of organised thugs, with leaders shouting at younger kids what to do, where to throw bricks, which cars to flip over etc. etc. That they set fire to a Miss Selfridge shop in Market Street, the most unlikely target for anything other than wanton violence, shows the true nature of their crimes.

The police and fire-fighters appear to have done an incredible job, risking their lives through bravery and dedication in an attempt to bring the chaos under control. But when they are vastly outnumbered, even fully clad in riot gear, there is only so much they can do. Talks of rubber bullets, and even bringing the army in, will hopefully come to nothing, but I don’t think they should be ruled out. It might be a necessity. As I hope you all know, I am a big believer in absolute human rights, but when the police fear bringing rioters under control because of complaints commissions and law suits, instead forced to stand idly by having debris thrown at them, something is amiss.

Fortunately for me, I’m not in Manchester. I can worry about the destruction of my home from afar, and not worry about going out for a shopping excursion. We’ll certainly be doing lots of those, visiting local malls a long standing tradition in my family’s American holidays.

I haven’t been very good at posting lately. Being on holiday here in California probably isn’t going to change that either, although I am sure there will be plenty of things to blog about, so who knows.

One final thing, today saw voting in Wisconsin once again, this time in the Senate recall elections, as Democrats try to win back the State Senate, and thus put up a much needed road block to Gov. Walker’s draconian political plans for the Dairy State. If you’re reading this, and you’re in Wisconsin, in a Senate district that has a recall election, and you’ve haven’t voted yet, what are you still doing reading? GO VOTE!

Hopefully I’ll post more on the Senate election results later. If you’re desperate to keep up now, then check out this site here.