Graduate '09...

Mary has graduated with the Lufkin High School Class of 09 as of last night. Congratulations Mary!
Of course it's not all milk and honey. In these parts you get kicked out of the house to function as an adult.
First though you get a party at Sushi Cafe. Kind of like a last meal. In attendance were from the front Miguel's parents and sisters, Quince, Mary and Miguel, Cathy, Pop and Geneva, Morgan and Ali and Glenn and Grandma Bessie.





Mary ranked 34th out of this field of graduates. They gave us the papers on her that say, "she is smart, don't let her pull a fast one on you."

So I Am on FaceBook...

I don't know, may be a couple of months now I have been doing the Facebook thing. Got 36 friends already, mostly people who I went to high school with. There's an Alumni Band concert coming up this summer and a bunch of those folks have been connecting through Facebook it seems.

Anyway, I got it rigged so that what ever posts here, posts there, so if you don't do Facebook you are not missing anything from me. Does seem like blog visits are up a bit so some of those folks are drifting over here.

I have not solicited any of these friends, they find me. I feel as if I might be rude not suggesting any friends to them, maybe I should suggest a friend that Cathy met in New York, Joro Boro to my friends. He's on my list but we do not seem to have any common friends. Yet.

It is a little funky when folks suggest a friend I don't know. Hip me, do I accept one and all? Why do they do this am I such an ordinary dude that all will like me?

This Might Be the Last Picture...

...of Mary and Kaylee together. You have seen lots of the standing side by side on the Panther Drum Line the past few years, for the occasion of the spring concert they dressed alike.











Even the shoes.










I think I found a new hobby. I was sitting with Miguel at the concert. He happens to work for the local outlet of a major national clothing retailer. Not, Walmart, but the good stuff, old school. He pointed this guy out to me, said "i sold him and his mom that shirt this morning." I had the great idea to count coup so to speak and the pictures will start appearing here as other opportunities arise.

Actually I missed a very good chance last fall at an event when Miguel pointed out a guy in an ugly tie and said, "i sold that shirt and tie." Now it's not Miguel's fault if you insist on ugly ties, he has them. What I want to know is how he found a shirt with a size 19 neck, 32 sleeves and extra long tail that fit the man so well. If I could have snapped that shot I could have passed the guy off on these pages as a space alien.

Anyway, the hunt is on. It's not easy in the fact that some events will be attended by people that already have ties. It's going to be finding the events attended by people that don't have ties, but need them quick.

Spring Band Concert...

The Lufkin High School Symphonic Band.
Last spring concert for graduating senior Mary.
What's not to like about a spring concert that has a tuba feature...
...and a trombone feature!





Last youtube from the percussion recital, it's Mary playing Sonata for Timpani with Brownie. Don't know what it's supposed to mean, maybe some kind of performance piece making a statement on global hunger, or maybe she just got hungry playing the solo, who knows.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMe10WRGQiY

More Drum Line...

Here's Jawan. He is a seriously good drummer, more decorated than most, if you can imagine a decorated drummer. He'll be back next year, watch for him on the line.
Quartet, they last played this one year when Morgan was on the drum line.





Nice poster with all their pictures. Mr Schultz, middle school director and also a drummer in the middle.

Got a performance piece, Bucket 'O Cups, uploaded to youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/my_videos

No views as of this morning, be the first.

Odds and Ends From the Weekend...

Brother in law Jim and wife Sandy had a little graduation party for cousin Samantha last Sunday in Houston.

Here's Pop and Geneva at the party.









Samantha with cousin Mary both graduates, can you guess which colleges they will be attending?










Fished Monday with Pop and Geneva, can you say, wind from the east, fish bite least? We managed enough for a small fish fry for us, but the usual pattern was not holding, fish scattered in the cool weather. The birds are back from last year, you may remember photos, nesting in one of our fishing spots. Scrambled bird eggs sure go well with fried catfish.

9th Annual Percussion Recital...

Here's Mary at the Percussion Recital last night. It was a very good show with 6th-12th grades performing.

I think at the first percussion recital Morgan was in the 6th grade, he's 21 now.









Check the link for a look at "Big Yellow Mambo"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDBM6xAoygg

I have a couple of more short vids I'll get up sometime this week.

More Rocking From Relay for Life...

Here's a young band, I think they called themselves Falling Forward or something like that. Pretty good, well rehearsed, I did not know any of the songs. I think it might have been what they call Christan Rock.

I am not too familiar with that kind of music but it is pretty big I think. I play at church and all that but it's liturgical music, kind of Mexican folk songs and old Catholic favorites. Lots of polka type stuff which on it's good days can kind of veer into gypsy territory. That's why I am not up on the latest stuff, to busy with something else.

From the back, hey I got back stage at a gig!

Nick and Marshall. Both Black Belts from the Taekwondo school, Marshall plays with us in the Stone Wall Rockers sometimes, Nick teaches at the TKD school and is up for drum line leader on Mary's graduation. Young men doing lots of things well.

Percussion Concert This Weekend...

Last drum line performance for Mary this weekend, Saturday night 6pm Lufkin Middle School Auditorium. Here's a photo of the drum line at a football game last fall.


Check the link for a video of the piece "Moving" from last year's concert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNtytRppfYA&feature=channel_page

With an end to her career in the High School band Mary will be reduced to hustling gigs like the rest of us. Maybe you can catch me, her and Morgan as well at the alumni band concert June 27th.

Scholarships...

Here's Mary, back right standing, with the group that received Stephen F. Austin Academic Excellence Scholarships at the awards ceremony last night. Guess were she is going to school next fall. Mary's class rank is some where in the top 40 of this year's graduating class, somewhere in the 30s. That's the SFA Lumberjack "L" they are all holding up, a little different from the gesture that Lufkin makes at football games.

The Alumni Association also presented her with the Thomas and Nancy Moore Scholarship.

Way to cash in girl!

Happy Mother's Day...

Another Cathy Week activity, a special treat, I took her bank fishing off the bridge rip-rap. Poor thing, has to fish out of that big ol boat all the time.

We caught six cats on this quick trip. Ruined our average, but good fun was had by all.

Stone Wall Rockers at Relay for Life...

Here's the Stone Wall Rockers, backing up Elvis at the Relay for Life American Cancer Society Benefit last night. It's the small band version, usually more players and singers than this.

Left to right, Travis, me, Elvis, Mike, Bo and Marshall.
I play harp, but not every song is a good harp song. On those type of songs I play my famed turtle stick shaker.
Travis, me and Marshall, whose band followed us, some Young guys I know, they played quite well.

Me on harp. That's my little Fender Champ amp sticking out behind me. Coupled with a Green Bullet Harp mike and a cheap little slap back echo box it kills with that Chicago Little Walter sound. I am not afraid to stack it up against the big Marshall amps.

Sometimes the emails Travis sends with gig details contain the line, "wear Blues Hats if you got 'em." From the looks of my hair here, I might have to soon have a blues hat. It would have to be a big one, since my head is much larger that the traditional bluesman's head. Maybe it could be like a little contest here, find Carl a blues hat and the prize would be a big screen. We have done that before.

More Shameless Self Promotion...

The view from the stage at the recent Pineywoodstock Benefit Concert. Catch me tonight on harp with the Stone Wall Rockers at Relay for Life. We will play at the Lufkin Middle School, 8pm. Opening band at 7, I'll be there to see them.

For all Stone Wall needs click on the side bar link.

Click this link for a performance from the First Street Arts Anniversary last fall. I am there on harp, but this is not much of a harp song, it's vocalist Jerry Trow singing "Believe."
http://todayspageonline.com/video/GD4L8Hsk6YU/Jerry-Trow-Believe.html

Happy Birthday Cathy...

Cathy turns the big 50 today.

Here she relaxes in the Cole House Bed and Breakfast where we spent the weekend.

Birthday girl heads out fishing.

Weekend Fishing...

Occasionally we fish for something besides catfish. here's Cathy with a nice sacalay (spelling?) as the Cajuns call them or white perch as we call them in East Texas. She caught it on the rod you may remember from a previous blog post that Mary snagged during a deep water winter catfishing trip and drug up from 30 feet of water.
Here's me with a 4 pound blue cat.
Cathy pulls them in. Final count was 26 during the morning trip and 23 when we went back after lunch. Again the fish are holding shallow.
This plastic worm was in the belly of that 4 pound blue. No hook, just worm, must have been something a bassfisherman lost and the big cat pick it up thinking it was a real worm.

Bed and Breakfast Weekend Starts Cathy Week...

You know this time of year, Cathy's birthday (5/7), Mother's Day and National Nurse's Week is locally know as "Cathy Week." A holiday season for sure we started it at a local bed and breakfast located on Sam Rayburn Lake called the Cole House.




Read more info on the Cole House here:
http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/ShowReviews.aspx?inn=211750&d=1
The house we stayed in. Lake is back behind.
Door step to the Cole House, built in 1963. Looks like the same furnishings still there. Mr. Cole bought the property in 1949, way before the lake ever came in.

More on this trip later and a fishing report. Fishing was very good as it has been lately with the fish holding in the same shallow spot for about the past month or more.

On a side note Mary returned from the band cruise none the worse for wear even though Mexican ports were closed due to Hog Fever fears. Mary got a small interview in the Lufkin Daily News. Read her comments here:
http://www.lufkindailynews.com/hp/content/news/stories/2009/05/03/band_trip.html