AKON BEAUTIFUL RINGTONES

Idyll Banter: Weekly Excursions to a Very Small Town

In March 1986, while living in Brooklyn, Chris Bohjalian and his wife were cab-napped on a Saturday night and taken on a forty-five-minute joy ride in which the driver ignored all traffic lights and stop signs. Around midnight he deposited the young couple on a near-deserted street, where police officers were about to storm a crack house. Bohjalian and his wife were told to hit the ground for their own protection. While lying on the pavement, Bohjalian's wife suggested that perhaps it was time to move to New England.

Months later they traded in their co-op in Brooklyn for a century-old Victorian house in Lincoln, Vermont (population 975), and Bohjalian began chronicling life in that town in a wide variety of magazine essays and in his newspaper column, "Idyll Banter."

These pieces, written weekly for twelve years and collected here for the first time, serve as a diary of both this writer's life and how America has been transformed in the last decade. Rich with idiosyncratic universals that come with being a parent, a child, and a spouse, Chris Bohjalian's personal observations are a reflection of our own common experience.

"Chris Bohjalian is a terrific columnist—thoughtful and thought-provoking. Just like me! No, really, this guy is good." —Dave Barry, author of Boogers Are My Beat


“The best book I’ve ever read about life in a contemporary village. There’s no doubt that Chris Bohjalian has established himself as one of America’s finest, most thoughtful, and most humane writers.”
—Howard Frank Mosher

The black and white, washed out version of banter. Damn.. this shot was overexposed, so i edited this in photoshop, giving it a b&w treatment [ that was the only way to save it :( otherwise the photo would look terrible with fake plasticky colors! ]

This is part of my Chinese/English Caption series of photos.

Flight of the Conchords clip, video, banter


Jemaine, not a male prostitute

Morning deejay Rae Randell can’t help thinking Santa has left an early lump of coal in her stocking. Her dream opportunity–hosting the town’s time-honored Christmas parade–has just been ruined. The mayor has chosen Simon Harte, Rae’s former radio partner, to co-host the beloved event. Cocky, irresponsible Simon, the guy who dumped their two years of friendship and fighting for the lights, camera, and action of the local TV station.

Simon doesn’t mean to rain on Rae’s parade, but he can’t resist the urge to fire back whenever in the presence of her fiery personality. He’s always been drawn to the feisty blonde, an attraction that sometimes spilled over the airwaves in their lively banter. But Rae’s combative nature sparks his own competitive edge–even in a team assignment covering the town’s biggest holiday tradition.

Can they find a way to make it through the parade without strangling each other? Or worse yet– revisiting their secret feelings of romance?

Morning deejay Rae Randell can’t help thinking Santa has left an early lump of coal in her stocking. Her dream opportunity–hosting the town’s time-honored Christmas parade–has just been ruined. The mayor has chosen Simon Harte, Rae’s former radio partner, to co-host the beloved event. Cocky, irresponsible Simon, the guy who dumped their two years of friendship and fighting for the lights, camera, and action of the local TV station.

Simon doesn’t mean to rain on Rae’s parade, but he can’t resist the urge to fire back whenever in the presence of her fiery personality. He’s always been drawn to the feisty blonde, an attraction that sometimes spilled over the airwaves in their lively banter. But Rae’s combative nature sparks his own competitive edge–even in a team assignment covering the town’s biggest holiday tradition.

Can they find a way to make it through the parade without strangling each other? Or worse yet– revisiting their secret feelings of romance?