This Weekend...

Catch Mudbelly and the Strat Kats playing Sunday at the Ellen Trout Zoo 3pm-3:40 for the 4th of July Celebration.

Celebration at St Patrick's...

Yesterday marked the end of 82 years of service by the La Sallette Order of Priests to the St. Patrick's Parish in Lufkin Tx. Church parishioners came together to celebrate a Mass at the Civic Center. In attendance were new diocesan priests for St Pat's, Father O'Dowd and Father Garcia, various La Sallettes and Bishop of Tyler Alvaro Corrada.

A display of local Church history decorated the civic center lobby. Catholic history in this area dates back to early Franciscans who came to convert the local Indians.










We finely have friends in high places. Pictured here with Bishop Corrada is former St Patrick's pastor Eduardo Nevares, now Auxiliary Bishop Elect of Phoenix. Bishop Corrada made comments that the announcement of Bishop Ed's appointment coincided with the immigration debate that has begun in Arizona. Pray for Ed as he will possibly be involved in national events.

I was interview by KTRE TV. Check my quotes here:

http://www.ktre.com/global/story.asp?s=12717670

Sam Rayburn Sunset...

Fishing has sure been slow but the lake is the only way to beat the heat. Yesterday's nice breeze, cool swim and picnic supper are what summer is all about.

Happy Anniversary...

Today is our 21st wedding anniversary. Couple of pictures, then and now.

Just the Place for a Weekend Getaway...

Spent a quick get a way night recently at this Bed and Breakfast in Tyler, the Woldert house. Dates from the 1850s. They served a good breakfast. Judging from historical pictures in the room, me and Cathy are a more handsome couple than the original inhabitants.

Happy Father's Day...

Just thinking, does this tube make my butt look big?

Baby Room...

Cathy spent a couple of days this week in Lake Jackson helping Rose finish the babies room. As usual with most high old times in this family it's a Mardi Gras theme.

Another angle with masks and "C" for Coraline.

Better shot of the masks. That's Cathy in the mirror, glad she had pants on, people make that kind of mistake in their Internet pictures when mirrors are close by.












Rose is waiting, everything looks good for on or about July 4th,

Some People Thought...

...that this was me and Miguel, sitting side by side, naked to the cool wind as we ride across the lake on a hot summer day, sharing a bench seat in the back of a flat bottom boat.

It's not. It is me and Miguel engaging in another one of our hobbies which is making photos of unsuspecting strangers. Cathy says it's a hobby that's going to get our butts kicked one day.

Helping People out with their FaceBook Profile Pictures...

Opportunities abound this weekend for people to get a good shot to update their facebook profiles for summer fun. Katie and Peter seem to prefer the co- profile picture, here they collaborate on a catch.












"Does this hat make my head look big?" Too bad everyone knows your home town now.














It's ok if you forgot your suit.

Tubing...

A visit this weekend by Katie and Peter includes a lake trip with Mary and Miguel for fishing, tubing and knee boarding. Fishing was slow, handful of keepers but the lake is the place to be in the heat. I think the water was cooler than last week due to the recent rains.

Carl and Cathy show off, taking advantage of having some extra boat drivers to get on the business end of the tube. You don't know how hard this is to do at the lake just the two of us. There is no one to take the pictures.



Hold me tight, I'm scared!











Oops!

Happy Birthday Morgan...

Happy Birthday to Morgan. He is 23 today. You have seen a couple of recent pictures of him on these pages, here is one that dates to a best guess of summer 1992. Son and dad are pictured with a big string of bream and white perch.

Social and Pleasure Clubs...

Just a few more pictures from this year's New Orleans Jazz fest of some of the city's Social and Pleasure Club Secondliners. They are called secondliners because they follow the brass band, the first line, in parades and jazz funerals.

The roots of these clubs go back to the benevolent clubs of the mid-late 1800s whose purpose has been largely supplanted by insurance companies today. They can be traced further back than this to west African invitation societies.

Today it cost hundreds of dollars a year to belong to one off these clubs plus clothing expenses and they serve to foster a sense of pride and unity in the community.

These gentleman were dancing to the Pinstripe Brass band. I posted pictures of them several days ago. Getting on down!










Where you get them shoes!

My culture looks pretty pale compared to these guys.

Happy Birtyday Dad...

June 7th would have been my Dad's birthday. Here's a couple of fishing photos, date from early-mid 80s.

Here he's pictured with a nice striped bass. I haven't caught one this size in a few years, only small ones. They may not be any reproducing to this size anymore in our lake.




Here's me and my Dad hold up a 27 pound op. Recently looking at old family pictues my Dad and at least two of his brothers wore this standard Wallace fishing outfit, jump suit and bucket hat. Cathy says as soon as I can get divorced from her I can start dressing this way also.

Happy Birthday Katie...

Katie turns 27 today. It's ok to post that info here?

In this photo, with doting parent in the back ground, Katie waits with pen and pad to record all calls, email, letters and gifts on her special day.

Pinstripe Brass Band...

These Photos I made recently in New Orleans are of the Pinstripe Brass Band. It was a rocking gig, maybe the best I have seen and I can recall seeing some of the biggies, Rebirth, Dirty Dozen, Soul Rebels and some lesser ones I can't recall right off the bat.

New Orleans brass bands have, tuba, trumpet, trombones, saxs, snare, bass drum and often other assorted percussion including cowbell. I think I like New Orleans so much because more cowbell, more banjo, more tuba and more accordion are good things. Check this photo, stunt trumpet. Ok, I know you guys always have the melody, but give us a break.

The brass band tradition dates to the late 19th century when various civil war units in the area began breaking up and the instruments from their European style military bands fell into the hands of recently freed slaves who combined African folk music with the military style to birth the music we call jazz. Not that these folks hadn't been busy, in the early 18th century the French owners of New Orleans had allowed their slaves Sundays off so they could gather in an area across Rampart St. north of the Quarter in what was called Congo Square to dance and drum basically inventing pop music as we know it today. I have stood there listening and thinking, like I do sometimes in old places where things changed trying to catch a vibe of those long gone and what they did.

One thing that changed with the U.S. purchase of Louisiana was the beginning of a harsher practice of slavery, especially in the years leading up to the Civil War when gathering of potential subversives were banned. The fun in Congo Square died out, hence the gap between this and the brass band beginnings. What could have been with uninterrupted creativity? Keeping the poor people down pretty much never goes out of style whether it's controlled famine and decreased nutrition in Africa resulting in under developed brains that can't be future leaders or the well off folks railing against health care for all in this country, it will never end.

New Orleans Social and Pleasure Club members hear the Pinstripe Brass band and begin to dance. More pictures of these guys later.

Course if your are watching the recent show "Treme" on your big screen you know all this.