If I Were A Carpenter...

I'm sure most of you have been up late at night and, while stumbling upon the PBS staple, Alone In The Wilderness, have felt a complacency that you very badly wanted to last until the sun came up. Dick Proenneke shot a bunch of 16mm footage while he lived in a cabin of his making up at Twin Lakes, Alaska in the late 60s. This fella isn't about what bugs to eat while you're lost in the woods trying to make your way back to civilization. He's sourdough bread, bacon fat, ram meat, and blueberry jam. The book is better, but we'll save that for another day.MP3: Bobby Darin - If I Were A Carpenter MP3: Tom Fogerty - Cast The First Stone

a dreamer of pictures

Now we’re big on nostalgia around here, and upon hearing a couple of weeks back that a hundred and eight year old company called Lionel Trains emerged from bankruptcy, we couldn’t help but feel okay, because really, there ain’t no memory like the memory of the first time you took control of a Santa Fe Super Chief on a basement train set.It also makes you feel okay to hear that Lionel Trains owners will remain with the company, because really, there ain’t no better name in model trains these days than Neil Young. And there ain’t no better story in model trains than the one about Neil’s bond with his handicapped son:

Neil Young’s Incredible Lionel Empire: 1993 article from Classic Toy Trains. "He accepted the challenges presented by Ben's condition and responded by developing a completely new method of toy train control, giving his son the chance to experience the joys of toy train operation"

Take a Ride on Neil Young's Trains: A 1997 story published not long after Neil purchased a 20% stake in Lionel.

Model Train Journal message board with text of May 5, 2008 Wall Street Journal story regarding the future of Lionel Trains.

Here’s hoping that many more fathers and sons find memories down the tracks of a Lionel.MP3: Neil Young - I am a Child [Live at Massey Hall 1971]..

When I Die (If I Live That Long) I'd Like To Be Buried Under This Gravel

Edward Abbey, author and critic of everything, is one of CS's absolute favorite things in the cosmic empire and we were happy to see that a little scene from Voice In The Wilderness made its way onto the Internets. VITW is an Abbey documentary that was made a few years back that includes a lot of bad PBS-style moments and a few great ones. This segment has one of the latter where Abbey takes us back to his Desert Solitaire days and carelessly expresses where he wants to be buried.In reality, Outside Magazine tells us:

The last time Ed smiled was when I told him where he was going to be buried," says Doug Peacock, an environmental crusader in Edward Abbey's inner circle. On March 14th, 1989, the day Abbey died from esophageal bleeding at 62, Peacock, along with his friend Jack Loeffler, his father-in-law Tom Cartwright, and his brother-in-law Steve Prescott, wrapped Abbey's body in his blue sleeping bag, packed it with dry ice, and loaded Cactus Ed into Loeffler's Chevy pickup. After stopping at a liquor store in Tucson for five cases of beer, and some whiskey to pour on the grave, they drove off into the desert. The men searched for the right spot the entire next day and finally turned down a long rutted road, drove to the end, and began digging.

MP3: George Harrison - Hear Me Lord (Demo)MP3: The Beach Boys - There's No Other (Like My Baby)

Hammer Down, Heaven Bound

New Hampshire might have lost their favorite Old Man, but up north they still claim New England's reigning queens, The White Mountains. This spring, the Appalachian Mountain Club wants to take you to the alpine zone of the Presidential Range and show you alpine wildflowers while traveling hut-to-hut. The huts in the Presidential Range are some of the best in the country and you'd be real wise to take them up on their offer. An AMC naturalist will be your guide. From the AMC:

This spring, discover the unique and fragile alpine zone, a fascinating ecosystem of delicate flowers, hardy plants, and remarkable wildlife that survive in the harsh climate of the Presidentials. These rare flowers bloom only once a year, and AMC is making it easy for you to plan an alpine garden visit.

One of the stops you'll make is the Lake Of The Clouds Hut (pictured above). God's country.MP3: Magnolia Electric Co - Hammer Down

I'm The King Of The Hully Gully, You're The Queen Of Slop

Everyday last August I'd wake up, play Side A of Loudon Wainwright's A Live One, and quietly watch 30 Chinese men practice martial arts on the overgrown basketball court outside of our apartment . The whole scene put me in a total trance. A princess friend of mine once called Loudon Waiwnright "Raffi for adults," but I don't buy that back handed compliment."Cyclones and typhoons and tornadoes tooBaby, they should name a hurricane after you"MP3: Loudon Wainwright III - Natural DisasterMP3: Loudon Wainwright III - Kings and Queens

ideas worth spreading: mycelium

A friend recently came back from the TED conference out West and sent along a lecture called 6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save the World. "This guy stole the show," he said. Despite the fact that the last time we heard someone proclaim that mushrooms could save the world, we were singing You Enjoy Myself during an epic trampoline jam, we thought better and realized that TED would be above Fungi jokes and lame Phish references.All prejudgments aside, we have to tell you that this 17 minute lecture is not only worth every second, it should be longer. It's hard to compress the history of an organism that predates plants by several hundred million years into a few short minutes.In that Inconvenient Truth sort of way, Paul Stamets takes the science of mycelium and prototaxites and explains their epic story in terms that inspire us to consider a world where mushrooms absorb toxins from the earth, restore habitats, cure the flu, reinvent pesticides, neutralize carbon and grow old growth forests from cardboard boxes. In short, 'engaging mycelium can help save the world.'The stuff is real and it's powerful, and believe us it's worth your time.

"Once you’ve heard 'renaissance mycologist' Paul Stamets talk about mushrooms, you'll never look at the world -- not to mention your backyard -- in the same way again." Linda Baker, Salon.com

Paul Stamets: 6 ways mushrooms can save the world [VIDEO]

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Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness

The OPFIHDW is on Fire Island, a skinny little number that lies south of the mighty Long Island. The whole island is about 31 miles long and 1/4 mile wide at the widest point. Long and skinny. Real skinny. The Otis Pike area is 7 miles of National Park Service wilderness located on the eastern side of the island. It's the only NPS wilderness in the whole state of New York.And Holy heck. This place is the place. Miles of undeveloped beach, waves bigger than me and you, forty foot high dunes, and a camp-anywhere-but-on-the-beach policy. Behind the beach are the aforementioned dunes (where you have to camp) that sure as heck don't look like you're a hop, skip, and a jump away from New York City.It's covered in wildflowers, deer trails, SAND, bones, and endless amounts of perfect places to pitch your tent. Although you can't see it from home base, you can hear the ocean roaring and a two second walk up a sand ridge will give you a perfect view of all the action. Leave your flint at home cause you can't be making fires here. Only stoves for cooking huevos rancheros.Best part: You don't need a car. Hop on the LIRR to Patchogue and take a ride on the Watch Hill ferry. (The ferry terminal is 2 minutes from the train, right behind the bowling alley). Get off at Watch Hill, get a permit, and be on your way. Walk 3.5 miles down the beach, walk behind the dunes, pitch your tent, and go back to the beach until the sun goes down. Do whatever it is you like to do at night, then wake up, hike to the other end of the dunes, another 3.5 miles. No backtracking on this trip. Have the ranger at the Wilderness Visitor Center at Smith Point call you a cab, take it to the Mastic Shirley LIRR stop ($10 ride), and come on back home. Watch out for old men sunbathing in the nude.From Mary Hopkin's Earth Song, Ocean Song:MP3: Mary Hopkin - The Wind

Slide Mountain Wilderness, NY

The Slide Mountain Wilderness is nestled in the Southwest part of the Catskills, right around Woodstock and Phoenicia, NY. It boasts the tallest mountain in the Skills, Slide Mountain, which is around 4200 feet high. That's only 25,000 feet smaller than Everest. We're getting there. Drive on out to the Slide Mountain trailhead in Big Indian, NY and walk a few miles up a somewhat steep trail to the top of Ms. Slide herself. Not much to be seen from the actual summit but along the way there's some great views of Catskill Park. No houses, no streets, just rolling hills for miles. It's the kind of scenery that makes you want to ditch electricity all together.Keep going past the summit for about a mile and a half into the notch between Slide Mountain and Cornell Mountain. There are some surprisingly difficult scrambles here that may require you to take your pack off. Make sure you fill up on water at the creek before the descent. There's not much else flowing anytime soon. A few great designated backcountry campsites are hanging out in the notch. I recommend going to the second one on your way to Cornell if you can. It's large and open and lies on the edge of a nice open rock face. If it's taken or you want to put your pack down at the first one, that ain't no thang. It's still a great place to be. The trip is about 5.5 miles in to the campsites.Make a big ol' fire (as long as you're below 3500 feet, which you should be) and sing Shania Twain songs at the top of your lungs. Enjoy the backcountry of one of the Northeast's best parks. It's a merry ol' time.

Folkstreams Dot Net

I'm telling you folks. This site is it. It's better than any other place on the Internets. No question. Folkstreams has streaming video of some of the world's best documentaries. It'll make you dizzy.There's Cajun Accordions, Cowboy Poets, Appalachian Dancing, Medicine Shows, Rattlesnake Festivals, Work Songs Of Texas Prison, and a TON more. You got to see for yourself. MP3: Roscoe Holcomb - Roll On BuddyMP3: Elizabeth Cotten - Freight Train

The Cure For Summertime Blues

It's about that time that kids are starting to daydream about their summer plans. And they should be. Ain't nothing better. There are not many places on Earth I'd rather be than Lake Plantagenet in Bemidji, MN when I was 12. Anyway, if you haven't already seen it, check out Summercamp. It's just about the best thing you'll ever see. Work sucks.

Summercamp! follows the day-to-day drama of 90 kids let loose in the woods at Swift Nature Camp in northern Wisconsin. Camp is a place where kids can be kids, where their home and school lives momentarily fade into the background as they go through the highs and lows of adolescent rituals: sing-alongs, talent shows, homesickness, counselor mutiny--and first love. Amidst group activities, showy arguments, and secret conversations, filmmakers Bradley Beesley and Sarah Price submerge themselves into this curious camp subculture, capturing a diverse array of adolescents from all economic and social backgrounds. Through the non-calloused eyes of kids, Summercamp! captures the raw emotional experiences that will endure with them for the rest of their lives.

MP3: Dion - If Only You Know

Wild Palms and Gold Mines: Everglades National Park, FL

Give yourself a new Seminole name, get a plane ticket to Miami, rent a car, then drive down to Everglades National Park in Flamingo. Techno music coming from the mono stereo works best for the midnight drive. When you get there, get an hour or two of sleep and then rent a canoe at the marina. There's a skinny gentleman with a mustache that will get you on your way. Go outside, ask for Louis (like the king, not the Anderson) and get in the water. Get paddling and don't get stuck at low tide. It'll give you a real-life panic attack.You're in the Gulf of Mexico now, so watch for prehistoric looking birds floating by your head, sharks swimming beside your boat, and miles of pristine beach covered by mangroves. Keep going for 10 miles in the hot sun to the continental USA's southern most point, East Cape Sable. This isn't the gloomy Everglades swamps that keep you up at night. This is going to be your favorite place on earth. Full of no-see-ums, shells the size of your face, and lonesome fires on the beach. Unfortunately you might have missed the window. Right about now the bugs are rallying the troops to get ready for a couple of months of deathly humidity. You don't want to be there, trust us. Wait until December and we'll go with you. We promise.

Paul McCartney and Percy Thrillington.

Paul McCartney decided one day in the spring of 1971 that he was real keen on the idea of making an orchestral version of Ram. He made it, it hit the shelves, and in 1977, he decided to finally put it out. But he wanted to have some fun, and because he's the king of (un)cool, he released it under the pseudonym of Percy "Thrills" Thrillington. He and Lovely Linda started spreading phony stories to the gossip pages and taking out ads announcing Mr. Thrillington's social and musical activities in London. Thrillington doesn't have his name anywhere, but let me assure you, this shit is pure Paul. It might sound like a C grade Bond soundtrack at times but any cover version of one of the greatest albums that ever was is fine by me.MP3: Thrillington - Monkberry Moon Delight