It's too bad PBS hasn't delved into the world of reality television more. Frontier House (inspired by a similarly conceived show about the 1900s over at the BBC) was a highly entertaining, insightful, and even educational. Three families were given acreage in Montana to live just as settlers did back in the 1880's. The goal was to be prepared for the coming winter by the end of the series – without cheating, Gordon Clune!

Like any good reality, there's a villain, and here Mr. Clune serves well, but in this relatively good-natured show, even the cheater finds himself better for growing closer to his family. Another family, the Glenns adapt to the harsh lifestyle easier, but their personal relationships are strained.

Available on DVD and Netflix, you'll find yourself more inthralled in the drama of making root cellars and cutting wood than you would ever expect. This is only second to Manor House in PBS's amazing series of historical reality shows.

See more: TV Shows 4th of July Pre 1900 Reality

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Posted on June 29, 2009

We really packed a lot into our recent visit to one of America's most historic resort areas, Block Island, that I'll be telling you about it over a couple weeks. I'd like to start with the most unusual and dramatic experiences at Crescent Beach just North of Old Harbor.

As many people can probably relate, less than ideal or seasonal weather put a spin on our vacation and we visited the island (which you have to reach via ferry) during foggy, soppy, and sometimes downright rainy weather. On the plus side this made us feel like we were right in the middle of a Stephen King novel, and never more so than our last evening there when we took a stroll along the beach before sunset.

A pristine stretch of soft sand, I can imagine Crescent Beach in the summer is usually packed with tanning revelers and the waters filled with summer visitors cooling off. When we visited though, it was stunning in its beauty but nearly vacant. Off the shore, a wall of cloud bank could be seen and we watched it slowly roll in, swallowing the town in the distance before surrounding us in an eerie and beautiful haze.

While it's a beach experience not many who visit are likely to see, it was one of the most memorable highlights of my trip.

See more: Places to Visit Beaches Rhode Island

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Posted on June 29, 2009

The quilts of Paula Nadelstern make for a dazzling exhibit of exceptional craftsmanship at the American Folk Art Museum. You are greeted with a huge creation on the lobby level that boggles the mind. Upstairs, more vibrant quilts using different techniques are on display. The labor intensive art is even more impressive when you learn that Nadelstern, a Bronx native makes all her quilts in a small apartment as she says on her own site:

“Historians have suggested that the block-style method of quilt-making evolved in response to the cramped quarters of early American life. My family's living arrangement in an urban environment created similar considerations which, unwittingly, I resolved in much the same way. For over twenty years, my work space in our two bedroom apartment was the forty-inch round kitchen table”.

The most interesting look into the artist's craft is the segment along the hallway that shows the reverse side of the quilting, the literal toil to make such geometrically perfect images on the front. Be sure to peek into the kaleidoscopes by various artists too.

Upstairs is a much smaller, but equally fascinating, collection of hand carved wood sculptures by Southern barber Ulysses Davis. He not only captured historical and religious figures but created mythical creatures some of which would make Father Lankester Merrin tremble if he dug them up in Iraq.

Davis, who (like many folk and outsider artists) rarely sold his work,?never looked to his craft for financial gain. As he once said “They're my treasure. If I sold these, I'd be really poor.”

See more: Spend a Couple Hours 4th of July Galleries/Museums Local Midtown West

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Posted on June 29, 2009

You can't get more American than (sort of) fresh apple pie from McDonald's. There's lots of online controversy about the rumor that the nearly seventy year old fast food chain uses potatoes flavored like apples rather than real apples; people cry foul play, but I say: what ingenuity! And what kind of genius can make a potato taste like an apple anyways?

I hadn't had one of these cinnamony desserts in years and years and I thank Jim for waiting patiently while he got cut in line by vicious girl teenagers over and over to get one for me.

See more: Desserts 4th of July Baked Goods Pies

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Posted on June 29, 2009

I think everyone was shocked and astonished by the sudden passing of arguably the most famous man on the planet. While Micheal Jackson may not have always represented the best about American pop culture, back in the day when I was growing up, he certainly seemed to… for a little while. I saw him perform with the Jacksons during 1984's Victory Tour (my brother, then a baby, slept through the whole thing) and it was exciting beyond belief.

From the iconic red jacket to the single white glove, from the pop perfection of Off the Wall to the thrill of seeing the Thriller music video for the first time, whatever one might think of the later years, it's hard not get sentimental about a man who could bring the world to its knees in joy with two seconds of dancing across the stage.

See more: Style Icons: Male 4th of July Musicians

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Posted on June 29, 2009