Radio Drama Double Feature

September 28, 2018 — Every fall for the past few years, the Winnipesaukee Playhouse in Meredith, New Hampshire, has presented a reproduction of an old-time radio broadcast on their stage, with all the players and sound effects technicians clearly visible. Actors, seated on folding chairs, step up to the microphone when required by their roles and read directly from the scripts, but not without a generous amount of emotion, mugging and hamming-it-up. These shows in the past have been near Halloween, but this year's production was a little earlier. But still, as always, the subject matter was of the creepy variety.

This show was a double feature, consisting of "Journey to the Center of the Earth" by Jules Verne and "The Lost World" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Both were adapted by John de Lancie (you may know of him. He had the recurring role of "Q" in "Star Trek: The Next Generation") from scripts by Nat Segaloff and de Lancie.

More laughs than Verne and Doyle ever intended were written into these versions. The sound effects were the star of the show, designed and executed by sound designer and performer Lord Adam Young, ably abetted by the sound apprentice, his son, Luke Young. With their huge battery of sound-producing equipment, along with their own voices, they reproduced gunshots, the flapping of pterodactyl wings, prehistoric animals, rattling cages, crashing bridges, etc.

"The Lost World" was the better of the two features. With its prehistoric creatures, primitive tribes and variety of action, it had more to work with. The actors seemed to be enjoying themselves, and that always inspires the audience. The entire show was directed by Margaret Lundberg and produced by Jim Rogato. I'll name all the actors, but not their parts. With many appearing in multiple roles, it's too complicated to go into here. The actors were Andrew Burke, Leigh Webb, Stephen Hird, Christina Mason, Laurel Briere, Charles Fray, Kayla Pingree, John Piquado and Gail Ledger. Hope I didn't miss anyone. Thanks to all for a very entertaining evening.

Driven To Make a Differemce

September 22, 2018 — The Driven To Make a Difference Charity All Car Show, presented by Great Bay Corvette Club, was held on the property of arms manufacturer Sig Sauer in Newington, New Hampshire. Primarily a Corvette and muscle car show, other makes, including a 1914 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, could be found. There were a number of Mustangs among the Corvettes.

The day began with winds so strong I had to hold onto my hat while attempting to take pictures one-handed, but the wind subsided as the day wore on, and it became quite pleasant with mostly sunny skies and moderate temperatures. I didn't attempt to photograph all the Corvettes, just the ones I thought stood out because of style, color, etc. There were a couple of 2019 models, not the first ones I've seen this season. My personal favorites are the Corvettes of the late '50s-early '60s. There was also a rare 1953, the first Covette.

My photo coverage of the event can be seen at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/driven/

Hemmings Concours d'Elegance

September 15-16, 2018 — I traveled to Lake George Friday where I had booked a room at the Wingate for two nights to take in the Hemmings Concours d'Elegance. Hemmings had moved the event, which started in Stratton Mountain, Vermont, twelve years ago, to Saratoga Springs, New York, for several years, then to Lake George last year. I was seeing it for the first time at Lake George.

On Saturday, the Cruise-In Spectacular is open to all makes. Sunday's Concours d'Elegance is invitation only for the cars which must be approved in advance by officials, and must be 1974 or earlier. It's the crème de la crème of car shows. Weather for both days was almost as good as it gets, sunny but hot, especially for mid-September in upstate New York.

The shows were held on the Festival Commons at Charles R. Wood Park, a large open field that easily accommodated the hundreds of cars in each show. It's in a picturesque spot, surrounded by the Adirondacks with Lake George within a short walk. On the downside, parking for spectators is inconvenient, mostly on-street and metered, although the town fathers generously offered not to ticket for non-payment for the weekend. Good restaurants were hard to find, and truck food at the show wasn't as good as it was at Sarasota Springs.

Overall, it was a great show featuring a broad variety of vehicles. I was especially impressed with the beautifully restored pre-war vehicles, always my favorite. Since no vehicles were allowed to exhibit at both shows, it was as good as two completely different shows, and that's how I treated them, building two sets of pages on my website.

You can view my photos of the Saturday Cruise-In at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/lakegeorgecruise/

Sunday's Concours d'Elegance can be seen at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/lakegeorgeconcours/

Kiwanis Club Antique and Classic Car Show

September 8, 2018 — The 33rd Annual Kiwanis Club Antique and Classic Car Show was held, as usual, on the New Hampshire Technical Institute campus in Concord. Temperature was on the cool side, never reaching 70 all day, but that was a relief after the intense heat and humidity we experienced most of this summer. Cloudiness stubbornly refused to clear most of the day, denying photographers that brilliant sun glistening on highly polished, chrome-laden antique cars.

This popular show can always be depended on to draw a large number and variety of cars. It's one of the few shows featuring Studebakers, and provides a special section for them. Pictures can be viewed at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/kiwanis18/

Atkinson Truck and Car Show

September 3, 2018 — The MacDonald Memorial Truck and Car Show, an annual Labor Day event in Atkinson, New Hampshire, was held this year on a 90-degree day with high humidity, one of many such days this summer. With the humidity, the heat index made it feel like at least mid-90s. This didn't seem to discourage anyone, as number of cars and spectators was about average for this show. As usual, there were many Model A Fords, and a variety of other models, including a row of military vehicles.

The show is sponsored by the Atkinson Lions Club and the Atkinson Fire Association. Vehicles were spread out over Dow Common, the fire department and Atkinson Historic Association properties, and lined up along Academy Avenue. It's all free, but donations are encouraged. All proceeds from donations and food sales go to local charities.

The show broke up early. It officially ended at 2 p.m., but cars were beginning to leave around noon, some even earlier, probably because of the heat, which got to be overwhelming in a short time. However, I had time to get photos of all the vehicles that interested me, and I hope you as well. You can view them at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/atkinson18/

Cruising Downtown

September 1, 2018 — The annual car show called Cruising Downtown in Manchester, New Hampshire, was a great success again. Most of Manchester's downtown area, including the main business district on Elm Street, Victory Park and several side streets are closed to all traffic except show cars. Spectators are free to walk the streets. The show goes on from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., a generous length of time as car shows go. There are many food trucks parked along the streets, besides permanent restaurants.

The show isn't what it used to be because of a decline in participation by city government, civic groups and armed services that were once heavily involved in the show. It's now basically just a car show, albeit a big one. Two live bands perform, spaced far enough apart so there's no conflict.

On this particular day, coming at the end of a period of near record heat and humidity, it was thankfully cooler, in the 70s rather than 90s, and much less humid, but cloudiness persisted most of the day, somewhat dulling photography. Still, I came away with over one hundred photos and a video which I feel are pretty respectable. You can see them at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/cruising2018/