Happy Memorial Day...

The fishing is slow again today, fish not shallow, fish not deep, they must be making a hot weather transion right now. We were able to be productive with fun anyway with Morgan and Mary getting in some knee boarding. Morgan shows some speed here.








She looks happy.















Morgan manages a little air now and then.


















Bottoms up, Mary makes a 360 turn.

Morgan Gets Bass...

That boy does everything, first a job, now he catches a bass! That one was 2lbs 10 oz.














Pretty slow fishing day but fun on the water nonetheless. Tried to catch the feel of the lazy hot holiday weekend with boat wake and in the background 30 odd boats tied under the bridge fishing in the cool shade.

Morgan Gets Job...

With college graduation scheduled in August Morgan was offered a job today by Carpenter Company. Carpenter, located in Temple Tx is the largest manufacturer of foam comfort cushioning in the world. From their web site:

Carpenter Co. makes furniture more comfortable, pillows more soft, carpets more cushy, and homes more cozy. We are Carpenter Co. We provide the world with comfort.

Sounds like a secure field to me. Comfort is not likely to go out of style. Congratulations son!

Santana at Jazz Fest...

Miguel and Tommy's discussion of Santana on my facebook page led me to post the pictures I took of him a few weeks ago when we went to Jazz Fest. Here he is with full band and Spanish guitar singing his hit "Light my Fire."




Later he put away the acoustic guitar and grabbed an electric to demonstrate he stands with the true rock guitar icons by playing a version of Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and a Woodstock style "Star Spangled Banner."







No slouch on bongos either!

Jazz Fest Slide Guitar...

Saw a couple of the best slide guitarist in America this year at Jazz Fest. Here you see Derek Trucks and blues singer wife Susan Tedeschi (who is no slouch at electric guitar herself) on stage at the fest. Second time I have seen Trucks, his slide guitar is otherworldly covering ground that ranges from the delta blues, to Coltrane covers and middle eastern sounds. Note crutches behind Derek, I did not spot those till later when I uploaded pictures, no wonder he sat whole set.
Another South Louisiana favorite, Sonny Landreth. Have seen him many times dating back to the 90s. He and band played a flawless set demonstrating good songwriting and innovative slide guitar playing. If there was justice in the music world he would be huge.


Note the brown amp head on your left. That's a Dumble, made by eccentric amp guru Alexander Dumble. A little pretty like that might set you back $20,000. Usually see those amps in the rigs of the elite tone hounds, Santana, Robin Ford and so on. Here Sonny plays it through the old closed back Fender cab you see underneath. $200-$300 in a pawn shop or in the want ads, maybe cheaper depending on how the owner's back is feeling that day.

I have owned a couple of those closed back cabs for going on about 30 years, my back feels good, it's my ears that are bad.

My Aunt Passes On...

My Aunt Aloise passed away last night. She was married to my Dad's oldest brother, Leonard. Please keep her family, daughter Sue, husband Duncan and kids, grand kids and other family in your prayers.

Addison Clarie...

Cathy's sister Margaret and husband Kevin gave birth to Addison Clarie yesterday. Here's the picture. Cathy is in Indiana to lend a hand, celebrate and so on.

Mardi Gras Indians...

Indians Coming! You can't buy a suit like this, you must string and sew beads all year long to be ready by carnival time. I love making pictures of the Mardi gras Indian tribes when in New Orleans. You can check my pbase photo link for more, these are may be the second best I have taken.

The tribes have names like Red Hawk Hunters, Wild Magnolias, 9th ward Hunters and so on, roughly 38 tribes. This is a tradition that began in the 19th century Wikipedia says " The tradition was said to have originated from an affinity between Africans and Indians as minorities within the dominant culture, and blacks' circumventing some of the worst racial segregation laws by representing themselves as Indians."

Each Indian is a character of some sort, the big chief, spy boy, flag boy, first queen and so on. The tribes stated out violent, fought each other but has developed into a competition on who has the best suits and songs.

I have been looking around for a book on drumming in this style, but no luck. Guess I'll just have to park it on the couch with a drum and the recordings and learn it the hard way.

New Orleans Street Scenes...

Pop and Geneva in front of St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square. I have collected a few family photos dating back to the late 80s taken in and about this spot. I might have to stop, people kept asking what it was the subversive looking guy in overalls put in the trash can. You know homeland security, fear, the overalls, people are jumpy these days.

Mardi Gras bike chained to a street post.

Street drummer. Probably makes more money playing music than I do. In fact if he got any tips at he made more money than I do playing music. Probably also makes more in his day job than I do in mine. Of course it may be like Todd Snider said, "having nothing is almost like having it all..."

Old balcony in the French Quarter. I saw

some one's online photo album where they had posted a collection of window pictures they had made somewhere in the Balkans. Interesting hobby, might try something like that myself.

Trombone Shorty...

Here's some photos I made at Trombone Shorty's set at the New Orleans Jazz Fest recently. he could be called Trumpet Shorty because he plays that really well also. Get his latest cd "Backatown." It's reviewed in Rolling Stone Magazine this month, three and a half stars, might be his break out disc. Shorty has toured in Lenny Kravitzs' band and you might be looking at the future of rock music right here. Of course those things always depend on how many units you move, how many naked pictures there are of you on the Internet and other popularity starters that gain instant attention.
During Shorty's set this guy was set up with a canvas and paints at the side of the stage painting and whirling in time to the music. Check his progress, starts with nothing...


Getting it outlined...
Finished!

Miguel Graduates...

Miguel graduated from Angelina College last night with an Associate in Applied Science, drafting. Since I also am an AAS that makes us both scientists. Here's the cake Mary made in the blue and orange AC colors. Debo is his pet name, goes with Deba.








Right before graduation is a good time to survey the world, it's fixing to be yours and it's ok to wonder if any one came to your graduation.














Got it!













Mary and Miguel. Graduation was followed by a party at Don Miguel's and Alejandra's house with plenty good eats.

From here Miguel is currently employed in the drafting Department at Lufkin Industries. Looks like more school to go, architectural? Engineering? Stay tuned...

The Dead Weather at the Jazz Fest...

One of the acts we saw at jazz fest was fronted by a favorite performer we follow, Jack White. Jack burst on the scene some years ago with a guitar and drum duo called the White Stripes. Lately been seen with bands the Raconteurs and now the Dead Weather. Usually he plays guitar here seen on drums.

When the White Stripes appeared a few years ago the blues police set up a howl that they were ruining the blues. More progressive minds, me included think he saved them. Jack often appears with funky cheap guitars and loud as piss amps, a similar creed we swear allegiance to around here.


Don't know all these band member's names but this is kind of a garage rock/punk/blues super group. No one had cheap guitars today. They played a complete set of matching Gretsch guitars, here a Bo Diddley square model and a big hollow bodied bass.

Jack with a Thunderbird, similar to what Muddy Waters used early in his career.


The guitarist on the left sports a White Falcon. Guess you could best describe this music as spooky Gothic punk blues garage rock. Maybe if you are hung up a the same old tunes check them out. To quote one of their songs, "Cuts like a buffalo..."

Got My Obama Windows...

The Stimulus Plan reaches behind the pine curtain. Yes sir we are helping out with the installation of three new double windows and a door. As part of the the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 we get a tax credit (read that as less taxes folks in addition to the already record tax cuts by the current administration for folks in my bracket) for installing energy efficient home upgrades. We also get future savings on the electric/energy bill which helps the environment and hopefully reduces demand on foreign energy sources and debt borrowing which puts our money in the hands of nasty people. Local workers were put to work and bought beer and cigs on the way home from work.

What's not to like?

More Jazz Fest...

Here's some people pictures from the Jazz Fest. This is a picture of Pop, Geneva and Cathy just before they enter the nude section of the Jazz Fest. bet you didn't know they had one of those. Cathy and Geneva smile for the camera while Pop is busy taking his shoes off so he can hurry and drop them 'ralls. Note the naked legs in the back ground, I cropped this picture so no faces are seen because they were afraid. Not unusual, after eight years of the Bush administration has made us afraid of almost everything they are scared their mom, their boss, their coworkers or SOs will see their naked pictures on the Internet. And besides, they did not pay the usual $39,000 picture fee for this space. Anyway the real point of all this other than making naked jokes and poking Republicans with a stick is for you to note the turtle shell shaker stick on the ground between Geneva and Cathy.


Here's a some what better picture but you can't see the shell, you have seen it on these pages before and I have taken it to many Jazz fests. Probably 10-15 years old, it's a personal invention, an attempt at wretchedly bad ethnic folk art. For some reason this shaker, I shake it in time to the music, plays any kind of music and sounds better than expected to old fashion dixieland, attracted more attention than ever before at the fest. Lots of people, dozens approached and asked to take a photo and many more probably took a photo of me in action on the sleigh. The crafts people eyed it jealously and the proprietors of the American Indian Booth ask if I minded them using the idea. I said go ahead. People seemed starved for a meager amount of what they thought of as creative, authentic, exciting and so forth, see eight years of Bush administration.

Anyway, I was standing outside the dixieland tent a sawed off guy approaches, kind of greasy looking, smoking a cigar and wearing a pith helmet. Asks how much for the stick. Now this is a moment I have really been waiting for, sell my stuff. He says he's in the music biz, will use it recording. I say well what do you do? He says, used to play the Austin circuit. I say maybe I saw you, I been around. he says it was with a band called "Machine Screw." He takes out a bic pen and taps the turtle shell. He says I'll play it like this if you sell.

Anyway, that's like three strikes at that point, sawed off and greasy cigar smoking, played in a band called "Machine Screw" and taps my turtle with a bic pen. I can't sell. We both cry a little, but I'm faking it.

Keep your eyes open, it's coming to a store near you and you saw it here first.

Happy Mother's Day...

Happy Mother's Day Cathy! Cathy Week continues. No, she is not cooking on this special day, but instead prepares for another year of fierce mothering by downing large hunks of raw meat.

Shirt made by Mary, for her birthday, with Mary and Miguel's smiling faces on front.

Happy Birthday Cathy...

Cathy Begins her birthday with a breakfast of chocolate covered strawberries.

Thanks to all the folks in the background, I know it's early but your presence really underlines this special day.