There were chained up pitbulls barking in various backyards on one block.

The expressions seen here aren’t actually concerned looks; they’re trying to figure out what kind of tree that is over there.

But there were a few bemused looks of concern and bewilderment and amusement after we saw this:

This is Johnny asking this plumber whether or not the gun strapped to his hip is standard issue.

Kind of interesting. Right after this a few kids walked by and commented that we looked like cops. I was incredulous! I didn’t think I looked as much like a cop as my company might have, but I missed the point; what did we look like poking around on this dead end block with a video camera and a flashlight and a clipboard?

We then headed back to Juley’s office, and John put pen to paper.

Fingers crossed for John and the “Willow Haven.”

Hi there!

Might have laughed harder than I ever have during this ram-shackled production today. Gabe, Johnny, Connie, and myself were taking a look at a beautiful old house slated for demolition on 6th St. North. We were doing the usual tour, poking our noses around, Connie and John talking houses, etc.

Then, in the upper upstairs I saw something on the windowsill that looked funny. John came over and started examining it, even picking it up at one point. His theory - for about 5 seconds - was that it was a unique Northside fungus. Then he screamed.

Gabe and I have been giggling about it all day - I’m sure John hasn’t. I won’t tell you what it was, that would just ruin the mystique.

The house - listed for 15 grand! - was in semi-rough shape but definitely salvageable. The basement, though rank, still had it’s copper (although there were numerous probes in the walls throughout the house).

The block itself was in pretty rough shape. We counted at least 3 houses with demo papers on them. Plus a few more vacant and boarded. The place had definitely seen brighter days.  Here’s John calling in some graffiti on one of the abandoned houses.

I’d have put a picture of Connie up, but I got the impression she’s not cool with her picture popping up on random blogs, so for now I’ve denied you the pleasure.

Interesting little shoot today. John’s theory on why toilets are the first sign of a proper civilization was particularly engaging.

Some hard-nosed cops showed up in the alley. Johnny promptly filed a police report after heavy questioning. These particular boys in blue simply were not having my camera all up in their mugs.

The knife used on Johnny’s tires cut way too wide for mere patch-work. Two new tires had to be bought. I think he got a deal though - they knew him from last time.

This is where both Johnny and our lens spent most of the afternoon. Under his Celebrity.

Today marked the second time in a matter of months that John dealt with slashed tires. We hung out with him for a bit in some godforsaken alley where Jeff Skrenes had John’s car towed after it was vandalized in front of Peter’s house (2 slashed tires, 1 broken window - still better than being fire-bomed…well, from a mechanical standpoint at least, but from a comprehensive insurance standpoint…).

It was hot. It was long. It was dirty…but it was not a porno movie, despite all of this. It was one of those days, I should point out, where a some of the negative vibes from the North side (ala some down-on-their-luck residents that slunk in and out during our time there) kind of got to me while shooting, and especially afterward.

In the end, though, I spent a lot of time with John (Gabe went to a MinnPost meeting regarding the RNC and what we’ll be shooting there - incidentally, John may or may not have plans of getting shot by a rubber bullet while protesting) talking and hanging out and asking questions, many of it off the record (because I eventually ran out of tape).

At one point Johnny had to back his enormous van out of a tight, tricky spot after he bought the tires. For some reason I thought his intense focus and determination while doing this was funny, so I shot it. Based on his expression, I thought for sure we’d never back out with any success.

All in all, a pretty good day of shooting. For the record, I did feel kind of bad watching John do all this “shit work” as he called it all day long while I stood a few feet away doing nothing except aiming a camera at him. I kind of wanted to help, but that seemed a little out of line (even though I’ve helped with other things, I’m trying to keep the interference to a minimum).

More soon, everybody. Cheers.

Jake