Just like riding a bike, Dave & Dave got back on the horse and we had our first shoot for the upcoming season of WQED’s “OnQ.”  We heard about this new business in the area that was making vodka, so we just had to check it out.  If like us, a lot of you drive on Route 8, you probably see all of the old factory buildings in the Glenshaw area.   Well a part of the former Glenshaw Glass factory is now the new home of Boyd & Blair.  Like an upscale ‘Bartles and Jaymes,’ Boyd & Blair are actually 2 guys (with different names), Barry Young and Prentiss Orr.  These madmen/geniuses are sort of like those guys who home-brew beer and turn it into a micro-brewerey, except they’re doing that with vodka… and not just any vodka, vodka made with Pennsylvania potatoes.          Barry and Prentiss were really passionate about their product and their enthusiasm combined with a lot of expertise is part of the reason why they’ve been able to build the state’s first premium vodka distillery using state-grown potatoes.  The other reason they’ve been successful so far is that their vodka is produced in small batches by just the two of them.  They do it all, and there’s a lot to be said for that.  They are able to insure quality by doing it the old-fashioned way.  And to be sure things are old-fashioned, the facility has no automated processes and no computer-aided distillation equipment.  This stuff is really hand-crafted.  At the end of the shoot, we did get a little taste and those potatoes do give this spirt a level of sweetness that makes it go down smooth.  -Dave H.     

For those of you who might not know, Dave & Dave’s Emmy Award-winning cameraman, Frank Caloiero is quite the outdoor adventure maniac.  If the Olympics ever add “Freakout in the Forest” to their list of events, we have America’s gold medal candidate right here at WQED!  After a recent TV shoot for an upcoming Dave & Dave adventure, Frank took us to his favorite park to show us around.  He tells us all the time about his quirky outdoor workout regime, but to see it in person was quite something.  I’ve attached a bunch of pics to see him in action, but if I had to describe what I saw, I’d have to say it was like Cirque du Soliel-meets-The Deerhunter!  Not only did Frank display lots of high-risk agility manuvers, but he also showed us fossils and gave us some insights into the geology of the rocks in the area…. Who knew?????

-Dave H

Okay… the edit process (except for closed-captioning & feeding to all the other PA public TV stations) is complete and WQED in Pittsburgh has decided on an airdate for the show to premiere.  

T H U R S D A Y ,   S E P T E M B E R   2 5 T H  

A T    8 P M

Set your Tivos, DVRs, blackberries, alarm clocks and anything else in the house so you won’t miss this ‘strange’ hour of unbelievable television!

-Dave H

While it looks like Dave may be just watching TV or downloading something off the Internet that might get him in trouble… he is actually starting the mammoth process of editing the “Strange Pennsylvania” documentary. 

Before things got to this stage, WQED’s Digital Avid worker bees, Amy, Ryan and Andy were able to get all of the tapes we shot on the road “digitzed” into the Avid Adrenaline for us to edit into a show.  WQED is acutally a state-of-the-art HD production facility and we have 2 weeks to turn that mountain of tapes into an hour of fantastic television before we hand it over to Frank (our cameraman, now our finishing editor) so he can make it as watchable as possible, prepare it for closed-captioning, and make sure it’s ready to feed to the Pennsylvania Public Television Network for broadcast across the state.

Many of you might not know that Dave, Frank and myself, in addition to being model citizens and fun TV people, are also highly capable digital non-linear editors who spend most of our workdays editing TV stuff on WQED’s Avid Adrenalines.  Frank also teaches digital editing at Pittsburgh Filmmakers. 

 By the looks of things on the monitors, Dave is beginning to craft the “Lawnmower Racing” story which was the first piece we shot for the program.  That means we have a loooooong way to go!  And yes that is a putter leaning against the console to Dave’s left.  Editing and working on his short game… very nice.  – Dave H.

If you’ve been reading the blog entries from the ”Strange PA” trip, you might have noticed that we tend to work food into a lot of the posts.  While we were on the road last week we received notice from PPTN (the Pennsylvania Public Television Network) that they would fund our next program after “Strange PA,” called “Eat Pennsylvania 2: The Second Course.”  For those of you who know us and our work, you may remember our Telly-Award winning documentary “Eat Pennsylvania: A Keystone Plate Special with Dave & Dave” from 2006.  This will be the sequel!  If you’d like to get your hands on a DVD of the original “Eat Pennsylvania,” just go here: http://www.wqed.org/genl/shop/misc.shtml

While we were on the road shooting “Strange PA” this summer (as well as “Offbeat Museums” last summer), we were always on the lookout for those cool places to eat that are institutions in their own areas and stand the test of time.  If you’d like us to include a gem that you know about (it has to be in Pennsylvania), just drop us a comment here or e-mail it to us at daveanddave@wqed.org

      Dave H.

After 966 miles, and a fairly quick drive from Philly to Pittsburgh (thanks to the powerful hemi-like engine in our QED minivan), the Strange PA shoot is now over. All we have to do now is edit the approx. 30 hours of footage into some kind of show that makes sense. That starts in 2 weeks.

For now, it’s time to find out what I learned in the van. Here we go:

Gillian Anderson (X-Files) is NOT a British actress. She was born in Chicago.

There are 5,280 feet in a mile, NOT 3,700.

James Buchanon was the only President who came from Pennsylvania.

If I ever appear on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” I will be using Frank’s father-in-law as my lifeline.

The air at the Sunoco in Malvern, PA is free. FREE! And somewhat wispy.

When you look at power lines, if you touch the top line, it will mess you up, even if standing on a lift.

A case of Lowenbrau can help with creativity, but only in Bedford County.

Route 32 along the Delaware River might be the most scenic drive in PA.

Don’t try to park in New Hope, PA on Sunday.

The empire is falling.

Thanks to everyone who helped us on our trips this year and it was really nice meeting everyone. Big shout out to Greenpeace in Phoenixville, Yellow Book, the guy who went to North Hills High School, the TV crew from Maryland, Little Anthony’s Pizza in Coatesville, Asher and his mom, the Patient Creatures, everyone working in the kitchen at the Copper Kettle in Chambersburg, Woody Poles, and Mother Nature for holding off on the rain until our last day of shooting (which was inside).

    Now, we rest. – Dave R

While in Philadelphia shooting, Dave, Frank & I do have a few food traditions that we always try to stick to.  Our first stop in town is always Geno’s for authentic and essential cheesesteaks.  Frank & I do “wiz,” while Dave R goes provolone.  For some reason we’ve never even looked at Pat’s just across the street and have always just chosen Geno’s.  The place NEVER disappoints.  This may very well be the quintessential Pennsylvania sandwich… and “wiz” is a bit strange!  When in South Philly, Geno’s is a MUST STOP.

Something else we discovered while shooting our “Eat Pennsylvania” documentary a few years back was a gelato place called Capogiro.  It’s a family-run joint that has been open  in Philly since 2002.  You can check them out online at http://www.capogirogelato.com/main.html .  This stuff is crafted in small batches with top notch local ingredients.  You can mix & match flavors and sample anything in the case.

Great quality and great taste!  

Sadly, one of our food traditions, breakfast at the Broad Street Diner is no more.  We discovered that the rough around the edges, no nonsense, old school diner closed recently.  Oh well… there’s always the Melrose Diner!  -Dave H.

On South 22nd Street in Philadelphia lies the College of Physicians, home to the Mutter Museum.  (The word “Mutter” has those two dots over the “u” kind of like that metal band “Motorhead” with the dots over the “o”)

The Mutter Museum was founded to educate future doctors about anatomy and human medical anomalies.  Uh oh!  Yes, this is the place you’ve heard about, or perhaps have seen with all of the jars of assorted body parts and other icky things.

Conjoined twins, a skull collection, 2,000 items extracted from throats, colons, brains and even a growth removed from President Grover Cleveland!  The “strange factor” appears to have blown right off the chart. – Dave H

I’m having a bit of trouble with YouTube at the moment, so until that is resolved, you can just click the link below to see a short video of Dave & Dave actually ringing rocks!

http://youtube.com/user/babycondor21

Of course the segment for the “Strange PA” show won’t feature Frank & I goofing off, more like Dave & I goofing off!

Seriously, I think it will be more like a cross between an episode of “Lost” and a drum solo from Rush’s Neil Peart… only more explosive, eerie and yes… Strange! - Dave H.

We’re now south of Easton and north of New Hope, PA in a 7-acre boulder field called Ringing Rocks Park.  This natural wonder lives in Bucks County, is open 365 days a year, and is free for all to enjoy. 

This has got to be the only park on the face of the earth where everyone walks in with a hammer in their hand.  We also saw one guy with a 9-iron and another with a chrome trailer hitch.  The “bring your own tools” thing allows you to take a whack at the boulders and try and get them to ring.  You can also pick up a piece of rock and use that too.  If you do it just right it actually sounds like you’re clanging metal pipes.  Weird?  Sort of.  Strange?  You bet!

Hammer Time!  We’ll post actual video of giant boulders ringing on our next installment! -Dave H.