Travels In Blue Honey

BC & The Inside Passage of Alaska

2011-07-31T20:50:00.080-05:00

When we left Roslyn we drove west towards Seattle and it began to rain. Coupled with rain, gloom, and the worst urban sprawl I have seen anywhere, next perhaps to Washington DC, I would caution anyone from ever going to Seattle (unless you are being paid perhaps a million dollars a day). I understand for the first time why all of the Seattle sound bands sound like whiney little children with poop in their panties - if you lived there you would not be able to sound any other way. Also it finally becomes clear to me why Windoze continues to be an evolving piece of crap as Microsoft has settled there much like the fungus and mold that permeates the air thoughout Seattle and it's hideous suburbs. Go there only if you aspire to be a Zombie.

The rain continued for 3 days - all the way up the west coast of the US and about 800 miles into British Columbia as we stopped twice.

A rainy lake in BC

Finally, the rain let up for half a day in Smithers BC where we could take a walk

Twin Falls at the Hudson Bay Glacier - Smithers BC

The red headed Irish girl and I hiked to the base of the falls where we performed ceremonies to make her the "Goddess of the Twin Falls". It IS a rainforest so the smells were very wet and foresty. All of the forest glistened with wet in the brief sunlight. A great walk! The photo is taken from the campground we were staying in with a 450mm lens. I didn't take the camera with me on the walk as it is hard to be "in the moment" when I am thinking photo op and I needed a break from the rain.

Ketchikan

The next day we drove on to Prince Rupert, in the rain, where we were told it rains 330 days per year! We boarded our first ferry on the Alaska Maritime Highway. The 8 hour boat ride to Ketchikan - in the rain - was relaxing after so long in the motor home. It was in Ketchikan that we saw our first real wildlife - Bald Eagles!

Eagles

Spotted by my consulting detectives main henchperson ....

Bad Berta!

In Ketchikan we saw Totem poles...

Totem

Log Rolling...

Lumber Jacks Roll!

A Salmon spawning stream....

No Salmon yet...

and we ate dinner at Annabelles Saloon in downtown. No cruise ships were in and we had a wonderful view of the street - in the rain!

Petersburg:

The next day we were back on the boat by 6pm and traveled overnight to Petersburg where we spent 3 days....including the 4th of July. Petersburg is one of those small towns on the inside passage that are accessible only by boat. It is small enough that the cruise ships do not go there and everyone know everyone else. There is one grocery store and a couple of bars. Everything closed on the 4th even the tourist holes. We camped in a small campground right on the waterway and were surrounded by bald eagles in the trees. The first thing we did was drive to the end of the highway - in the rain.

The Actual End of the Highway, Alaska

To get a Big Stick Picture

Big Stick and me the end of the road.

As you can see by the sign, Alaskans love to kill signs. We have seen very few signs that haven't been shot by some Alaskan...not sure if they are using Helicopters like Sarah (who is NOT very well thought of here because she quit as Gov.) but there seems to be a nice mix of small arms involved in the shootings.

One of the most magnificent sights we have seen in Alaska was the LaConte glacier. We chartered a small boat with Capt'n Ron. Ron runs a charter service to see the glacier, whales or fishing. He also publishes the local newspaper and runs an office supply business....they tend to do alot of things in these small towns. After days and days of rain the sun came out for this trip and Ron got us close in to the Glacier. We were the only boat in the bay with the glacier and were lucky enough to see it calve a "corker". That is when a very large piece breaks off and falls into the ocean creating a large wave as it sinks but then, like a cork, it pushes back up through the surface and creates another large wave! Ron said he sees something like that maybe once in every twenty trips in - if he is lucky. Unlike the glaciers north in the inside passage that are jammed with ferries with cruise ship passengers we had the sight all to ourselves! A National Geographic cruise was at the mouth of the bay but was not small enough to get in close like we were. A truly once in a lifetime experience.

Cap'n Ron

At the LaConte Glacier

Icebergs from the Glacier

Ancient Blue Ice

Snowcaps & Bergs

Critters of the Berg

Juneau:

The bay coming into Juneau - whitecap mountains in the Background

On the Ferry again - in the rain of course - we continued North to the Capitol of Alaska - Juneau. This city can only be reached by boat or plane. There is no road that reaches here. Juneau is very small and really retains the feel of Alaska (without the cruise ships anyway) - I hope they aren't successful in moving it to Anchorage. After we land we see the huge and magnificent Mendenhall Glacier looming in the mountain as we drive down the road to our campground.

Our first day here we drove through the downtown and everything was closed. Turns out that the whole of the commercial side of downtown Juneau is only open when cruise ships are in port - they open and close on the schedule of the ships. We drove on out of town to a salmon sluice on the bay to watch the salmon swim upstream.

Salmon Hauling Fin up the stream

It was early in the season but this stream was alive with 'chum' salmon trying to work their way up the river.

The next day we took a walk back to the Menedenhall Glacier. Three cruise ships had landed at the port and it seemed most of the people taking excursions had opted for the glacier. There were so many of them I think the ambient temperature raised 10 Degrees. Still - if you were willing to walk off the path a bit it was a very pretty sight.

Mendenhall Glacier.

The glacier has been receding for years and the rate appears to be accelerating according to the rangers. As the glacier melts and retreats back up the mountain the runoff has split creating a beautiful waterfall to the right of the glacier.

Waterfall at Mendenhall Glacier

It was a very nice walk and it even stopped raining the 3+ hours we spent there!

Watching the Humpbacks do Bubble Net Feeding:

The following day we got up and went down to the docks to take a whale watching trip. It was a small boat with only 9 people on board and we were fortunate and got to witness the rare sight of Humpbacks "Bubble-Net Feeding". This is when a group of whales work together to corral and feed on herring. A female Humpback will dive and find a school of herring. She then circles around them herding them closer and closer while the males above circle around on the surface.

Circle of Humpback Whales

When she is ready she calls to the males above and they all dive under the water to where the female has corralled the herring.

Whale Tails Diving

The males then get below the herring and all push air and water and herring up to the surface at one time. They then surface through the fountain of fish and water with their mouths open devouring the herring.

Feeding Humpbacks

Our Captain had an underwater microphone on board which he lowered into the water and we could listen to the whales call to each other just before they surfaced. It was an incredible sight and we got to watch them do it twice - and it didn't rain that day either!

After the 3 nights here we boarded the ferry one last time and headed north to Haines for the drive back back into the Yukon and North - to Anchorage!

The Cult of The Moose

2011-07-18T22:28:00.000-05:00

The Moose is Loose

Recently; my consulting detective and the summer creative director for Blue Honey, Pete, brought to my attention the fact that he had been a fringe member of The Cult of the Moose for quite some time. I was later made aware that his main squeeze, Bad Berta, AND the red headed Irish girl were also members of this odd group of people! This cult centers around the now defunct TV show "Northern Exposure".

Northern Exposure was set in the fictitious town of Cicely, Alaska but was actually filmed primarily in Roslyn Washington. "Stud, we are required, as true cult members to go to Roslyn anytime we pass within a 100 miles of it", Pete informed me as we were setting off for Alaska. "We MUST have an adult beverage at the Brick", he told me in a pleading tone of voice that left no doubt he believed they all would suffer severe psychic consequences if they didn't fulfill the Moosie obligations.

Now I had only been vaguely aware of this shows existence when it was on - as you all know I only watch TV programs on Origami and travel programs to imaginary places - so I innocently agreed to this seemingly innocuous side trip. Little did I know what was waiting for me....

We arrived in Roslyn on a bright and sunny morning in time for a farmers market/craft & art fair. The town is small and very picturesque....but the first thing I noticed was the throngs of people from all over the world who had come there to make their pilgrimage to the home of the Moose! My companions were agog at the streets and said it was exactly like the show. My consultant and Bad Berta took a bench and began conversations with passer-bys as the Red Headed Irish Girl and I looked all around and she identified the sites for me.

Pete & Bad Berta singing the Northern Exposure theme with a semi-local.

"There's Roslyn's cafe!" she pointed down the street,

Roslyn's without the 's'

"but I guess the hippie who painted the sign didn't really get so stoned he forgot the 's'" she said slightly disappointed. She told me the town in the show had been founded by 2 gay women - Cicely and Roslyn - who moved to Alaska and started the business. I was starting to get sucked in...

We found the remains of the radio station -KBHR - right where it had been in the show..

KBHR

but looking slightly worse for wear.

The totem pole was still in the same place across from Dr. Joel's office:

Totem

Dr. Joel's Office

Which is now run by Steve as really unique gift and souvenir shop where you will find many impossible and strange things...and a lot of Mooses!

Steve

When the show quit they left behind Joel's desk with a Cicely newspaper and sundry other props that had been made to add realism to the show. I was beginning to get tingle every time we saw something connected to the show. Later that night Pete took me back into Roslyn for a night time look the Brick and to show me THE Mural. There will still people flowing into and out of the Brick - women in skirts and Mukluks come to sit at the bar - bearded bicyclists who just wanted to stand next to the heat stove. We had our beverage and stood outside by the door watching other cultists come and go. They seemed to know Pete was a consulting detective at times and asked him arcane questions about Alaska....they seemed disappointed when he told them he was retired.

Pete Consulting

And finally we went to the see the MURAL:

The Wild One

A giant size painting of Brando as the Wild One - now fading and chipping away. Why was it here? Had it been part of the show. No one we talked to seemed to know and Pete only smiles cryptically and knocks back another Bud when I ask him. The Moose has got me now....I'm into the 3d season of Northern Exposure and hoping, illogically, that it will never end......

True Alaskan Moosie

The Rodeo

2011-07-10T18:55:00.001-05:00

At the Crazy Horse Monument under construction in the Black Hills of South Dakota we went to our first Rodeo. These guys were the real deal and believe me this made football look like a quilting bee! When you see these bulls with red eyes all fired up to eat your lunch or a wild snortin' pack of horse muscle ready to stomp your sorry butt I think a line-backer with his jock on sideways is a reaaal pussycat!:

Gettin' ready to ride!

Ridin'

Holdin' on...

A little rasslin' to wake up....

Calf ropin' just for a break.

Back to the ridin'......

This was a short ride.....

But the cowboys still ride...

And the cowgirls ride....

And the future gets ready to ride.

The Gumbo Ya-Ya Festival

2011-06-14T22:11:00.004-05:00

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The Quad Cities, Davenport & Bettendorf in Iowa, Racine and Rock Island in Illinois host a wonderful and varied night life with many festivals through out the year. The four cities straddle the Mississippi River with the night life along the riverside in each city. We started our crawl to the The Gumbo Ya-Ya Festival in Rock Island, Ill, by stopping in The Muddy Waters Saloon in Bettendorf where we met Hal & Kristi. The Muddy Waters is a stop on the Cruisin' the Blues Highway tour. Read about it at the link provided. Stop in and see Hal (a Harp player) and Kristi, the proprietor. Tell 'em Blue Honey sent you! We then went to the 11th Street Precinct in Davenport for sandwiches and adult beverages. Our waitress, Taylor, recommended a local concoction dear to her heart, the uncommon Bomb, made of Jamesons , Kahlula, and Bailey's all dropped in a locally brewed beer. It was a good thing to start the evening out with.

Taylor (on left and friend)

There is a shuttle service that for $1 will take you on a loop through all the of the entertainment districts in the 4 cities of the Quad. As luck would have it Taylor's Mom, Paula drove one of the shuttles. Taylor told us where to get on and to get a ride to the Gumbo Ya-Ya Festival (Mardi Gras North) that was being held in Rock Island. We got on Paula's shuttle and she took us right there!

The lovely Paula

On the way we passed Casinos, a Minor League Baseball game, a Roller Derby ad, and more music and food establishments than you could float a barge on! The shuttle held many wonderful and unusual sights all night long including this lovely lady with the purple penis headdress.

The first encounter we had at the Ya-Ya was with Dimitri and his Vampire Clan. They had come to the festival in search of blood and converts.

Dimitri and Snooky.

Kata

Henchman

The girl next door - who wants to drink your blood.

The Beauty

Hagar

Olivia

I told Dimitri I wanted to join his clan and he said he would take me when I get back from Alaska. In reality Dimitri and his Krewe leave their everyday characters to become these vampires and come to the Ya-Ya festival every year to entertain the crowds. It's all unofficial and just an example of how you don't have to live an ordinary life if you dont want to. For the Caribbean Festival they are Pirates!

After the Vampires we kept running into a different kind of lusting after another life - bachelorette parties!

Denise's Madcap Party

The most fun group and cutest girls award went to Denise's bachelor party. They were great fun and were'nt afraid to interact with the crowds - though I worry about that crazy tattoo they made her get - and where it is on her body. Might be hard to explain to the new Mr!

And of course there was the music. The boogie woogie swing of Davina and the Vagabonds made people dance with strangers, confess their sins and return the things they hadn't stolen! Check them out:

Davina & The Vagabonds bringing the true religion to Rock Island

Dottie

Boogie Dancin'

Pete & B shakin it up!

Street Talkin'

And finally - Dikki Du and the Zydeco Krewe brought sweatin to a new level!

Playin' it up

Crackin' the walk!

Who would of thought - Iowa Rocks!

Hard Knox in Knoxville Tennessee

2011-06-07T13:28:00.001-05:00

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The Derby Starts

Roller Derby is alive and well all over the place. From London England to Youngstown Ohio to Bakersfield Ca. women of all shapes and sizes, ages and colors, get together to slam into each other and the cement floors all while whirling around a flat floor on roller skates.

The skaters wearing a helmet cover with a star on it are the jammers. After making it through the pack of blockers once, the jammer begins scoring points for each opposing blocker she passes legally and in bounds. She can also score points on opponents who are in the penalty box and can get a fifth point if she laps the opposing jammer. Blockers are trying to stop the opposing team’s jammer while helping their own jammer get through. The Jammers are usually the fastest and most colorful of the skater 'characters'.

Goblynn Celebrates a big score.

Governed by the Womens Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) there are 117 'Leagues' and 57 Apprentice Leagues. Click HERE to find your local League. We had the pleasure of attending a match featuring the Knoxville Tennessee Hard Knox. I have got to say it was one of the most entertaining evenings I have spent at a sporting event at any time! The skaters are ordinary women doing extraordinary things just for the hell of it....a reason to compete with all of the accompanying fun and companionship of any team sport with the rewards of softball leagues. No giant paydays here just fun and it shows. If you can't go to one of these matches and have a good time I gotta assume you pull the wings off flies or dissect baby cats for fun.

The players all have nicknames and adopt personas around their names. I think the fans should do the same....especially if you sit 'suicide'. Suicide is sitting on the floor at the edge of the track ready to dodge a flying skater who could end up in your lap at anytime. One of my favorites was "Fluffy":

Find your local team and go out for an evening of fun cheering your favorite skater on. After the match they'll even sign autographs and pose for pictures.

Goblynn is absolutely stricken by a fans charm.

Goblynn explains strategy to Pete.

Juke Joint 2011 & The Photo Workshop

2011-05-14T13:46:00.293-05:00

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Last month we went off to Clarksdale, Mississippi again. this time for the Juke Joint Festival and a photo workshop headquartered at the ShackUp Inn. Good times and relearning some things from long ago. Except for AA and MEM I have been pretty successful at removing the cult of personality I had developed in the past around individual photographers and was unfamiliar with the work of the workshops mentor: David Alan Harvey.

David Alan Harvey

Day 1: Rosedale and The Shack Up Inn
The first thing we did was head for the crossroads to harvest the Voo-Doo picks (see the previous post 'The Harvest' for a picture). On the way back we stopped in Rosedale just so I could take a photo of this church. Built is 1879 it is a fantastic representation of Carpenter Gothic architecture. The church is on the National register of historic buildings and is very dramatic at the right time of day.

Grace Episcopal Church on Main Street Rosedale.

Then off to the Shack Up Inn to check in and enjoy some music for the night.

Big 'A' (previously little a but time had caught up to him) with his drummer and singer performed for us.

Big Anthony

High Stickin'

She's about to "Walk the Dog"

One of the workshop participants, Sascha Meies, a German living in Paris was accompanied by his lady. Here she is viewing the proceedings.

Sasha's Girl

Day 2: T-Model Ford and Open Mic at the Hopson Plantation

This evening T-Model Ford was brought to the Juke Joint Chapel in the Shack Up Inn to play for us.

T-Model Ford

Ninety-one years old he's still churnin. T-Model Ford did it all in his 90 years - hard drinkin and hard lovin', chain gang time and Jail time. He had lived a life in the Blues and kept a bottle of Jack Daniels close at hand throughout the evening that he needed to be able to play. He had a pacemaker put in a few years ago, a stroke last year, and his hands hurt so bad from arthritis that it wasn't until the 10th hit or so from the Jack that he could actually play.

Still pickin...

Still rapacious - his eyes were all a-gleem and a devilish smile lit up his face every time a pretty girl talked to him. How many 90 year olds have you known can still wear a hat with a skull on it?!

Next door at the Hopson Plantation store Ronnie Drew (owner of Bluestown Music in Clarksdale) and Steve Sauer (Itinerant piano player and Led Zepplin fan) were entertaining the adult beverage crowd at an open mic night.

Ron Drew

Steve Sauer

Adult beverages flowed and the dancers snuggled up as the night twirled on.

Day 3: Po Monkey's

Po' Monkey's Juke Joint

Somewhere south of Clarksdale just off Rt. 61 you turn right off the highway and travel a few hundred yards, turn left when you see an old graveyard on the right and coast down a gravel road for a few miles till you see the American flag flying on your left. You've just arrived at Po' Monkey's Juke - preferably about sunset just as Willie Seaberry is about to open his little club in a cotton field.

Willie Seaberry

The inside of Po' Monkey's is decorated with stuffed monkeys that Willie's patrons have sent him. They come from all over the world to experience some of the setting that birthed the Delta Blues.

Willie Welcomes folks to the Juke.

Willie has run Po' Monkey's for 50 years. He lives in the back and opens the front for Jukes - these days (he's 70 years old) just when the spirit moves him or for special visitors or on Thursdays. Juke means 'Dirty Move' like on the Basketball court when you get faked out or, in the case of the Jukes, like the moves the strippers Willie used to bring in from Memphis put on the Po' Monkey patrons.

Bill Abel

Playing at Po's Monkey's the night we were there was local Delta Bluesman Bill Abel. Bill has been playing this music for almost 30 years. He plays by himself or as a sideman with every local legend in the Clarksdale area. He has traveled the world playing this music he loves on instruments he makes himself. From one string 'Diddley Bo's' to six string guitars made from cigar boxes and driftwood he makes a totally unique sound and contributes to the Delta Sound.

Bill's Instruments

Day 4: The Graveyard, Bentonia Blues, & Evening in Clarksdale

Robert Johnson's Gravestone

Miles from anywhere, under a huge spreading Oak tree in the graveyard at Little Zion Baptist church near Greenwood, Miss. is this gravestone. Of the 3 reported burial sites of Robert Johnson this is considered the most likely at it is the only one reported by an eyewitness: Rosie Eskridge, whose husband Tom dug the grave. The story is Johnson was poisoned by a jealous husband after playing the Three Forks Juke joint in Greenwood. He died that night at a local plantation. That plantation was extremely close to Little Zion Baptist. Rosie Eskridge claimed to have seen the body all wrapped up in a cloth under the tree where this marker is now while her husband was digging the grave. While we were there a young couple, in their twenties, pulled up in a rental car to see the grave. They were from England and were teachers on a spring trip to America. They wanted to be sure they saw as many places in the Delta as they could - further testimony to the enduring legacy of Johnson and the other Delta Bluesmen and how universal their music is.

Blue Front Cafe - Bentonia Mississippi

After the grave site we drove 2 hours south to Bentonia to photograph the Blue Front Cafe. When we were here in January it was closed - we thought permanently. To our surprise and delight we found Jimmy 'Duck' Holmes sitting on the front porch playing his guitar with 7 year old Roman Barten-Sherman.

'Duck' Holmes with Roman and family.

Jimmy Holmes is perhaps the last living player proficient in the "Bentonia Style" blues made famous by 'Skip' James ("I'm so Glad"). See him HERE. But he's trying to pass it on.

Roman Learning a lick.

Jimmy's parents opened the Cafe in the late 40's during segregation. They were not allowed to serve Coca-Cola then as it was reserved for whites. They served Ne-hi instead. In 1972 Jimmy began the Bentonia Blues Festival that fills the streets in front of his cafe every June with people from all over the world.

Another 2 hour drive and we arrived back in Clarksdale wondering the streets as the city began to heat up for Juke Joint.

Day 5: Bluesberry with the All Night Long Band

Sean Appel and Freinds

The afternoon began with opening ceremonies at the theater and a performance by Sean "Bad" Appel and some friends. Naturally there were those moved by amour when the music started.

Moved by the music.

Jimbo Mathus

Jimbo Mathus of Squirrel Nut Zippers and more (read about him here) waits outside the theater to move his equipment in for a performance.

That night we kicked it with the All Night Long Band Featuring MaryAnne ('Action') Jackson at the Bluesberry Cafe.

Sean and Bigboy takin' it to the streets!

Playin' up a storm.

'Action' Jackson serve some head!

Lightnin' Harmonica

Action and her squeeze Steve!

On the streets the colored girls were dancin' and singin' "Stop! In the name of Love"

I was Diana Ross when we sang together...

They gave me love,love,love...

Day 6: Monekys and Cat Head

Monkey's riding Dogs

Dudes! Really - I got no idea who thought this belonged in a blues festival It was "Monkeys Riding Dogs Herding Sheep". Literally. A cowboy brought out monkeys riding dogs and they rounded up sheep and put them in a pen then went back in their trailer. The cowboy told everyone that he had a dream as a little kid about this and when he grew up he made it real. As far as I am concerned this was proof that they grow killer weed in the Delta and EVERYONE smokes it or at least breathes it in! I never had one this good back in the 60's when acid was still legal!

Across the street at Cat Head Bookstore 'Duck' Holmes was wowing a crowd at his cd re-issue party.

Jimmy 'Duck' Holmes

Around the corner the Super Bad String Band was playing a benefit:

Day 7: The Juke Joint Festival 2011

We start the Juke Joint Day with John Popper playin some wakeup harp with Bill Abel down by the river.

Mr. Popper

While he was playing we got Caddilac John to sign oyr Crossroads Guitar - Gettin' full!

John just signed the Crossroads Guitar.

Then John went on stage and rattled his harp all down Sunflower Street!

Caddilac John cryin' with his Harp.

And the girls just loved the music -

RL Burnside signed and played our guitar:

And Honey Boy Edwards studied the crowd. Born in 1915 he rolled around with Robert Johnson and claims to have been in the Juke the night Johnson was poisoned. His story of the poisoning is considered the definitive one.

From Indiana the showtoppers for the weekend were The Reverand Payton's Big Damn Band! Heavy Metal Washboard music that has to be seen to be believed. Don't miss a chance to see these guys live - you won't regret it.

Reverend Payton

Clarksdales busiest after dark spot.

Inside Ground Zero

The Cd cover I did during the festival for Sam 'Black Smoke' Wiggins of Memphis

And finally my good friend 'Rat' Frank Ratcliff owner of the Riverside Hotel. As usual he provided great company during the fesival:

Pros & Cons of the workshop:

These were an incredibly intense 10 days and certainly the best money I have spent on Photography since Cooper School in 1972. The instructer, David Alan Harvey, is a Magnum and Nat Geo photographer. You can check out his work here:

Burn Magazine

David Alan Harvey

Wikipedia

He is 66 years old but definately doesn't act it. He has an ego the size of Detroit but deserves it. His book "Divided Soul" leaves me cold even though it is technically thrilling. But his Hip-Hop book "Living Proof" brought tears to my eyes! He is an incredible photographer and can tell his stories in many ways. I got MUCH out of the week.

Pros:

Biggest thing for me was meeting and seeing the work of Jake Mendel. He was one of the workshop participants and who I want to be when I grow up. His book on racing 'Short Track' so nails the subject.

I had several goals & all were met -

1. Understand better how to use flash - His demos on this were absolutely terrific. Some I had known from school long ago and forgotten and some were new for speedlites and digital.

2. Work the street - Be able to take candid on the street photos again like I used to be comfortable doing. Got really comfortable here.

3. Understand printing and the various equipment types better.

4. Hear some great Music

All of these goals were met and more. I learned:

1. How to set flash comp and when to do it

2. People like to have thier picture taken so just looking for the shot is the issue.

3. All photographers there it seemed used full frame cameras. Mostly Canons or Leicas and Nikons. You can definitely get more visual information into a full frame and it is difficult to get everything you want in aps-c.

4. There are some really good photographers in this world. Every single person there ended up taking at least one photo I wished I had taken. I urge you to check out Jake Mendel. Prior to this week he worked only in B&W film! His work was very inspirational to me and we became quite good friends. For my money he took the best shots of the week and I think Jake is going to do his own book. Everyone there had a story and I truely enjoyed meeting them all - but I was very intimidated by that much talent so it was good for me to push up against them.

5. Everyone needs a print technician. Harvey travels with an assistant and a print Tech, David Couvousier. He is a talented Photographer in his own right and works for Harvey full time. Michael makes prints that just scream professional and it would be great to have someone along like that. He uses a large fromat epson printer and I was lucky enough to get 3 prints from him. When he got done they looked like they were for Time Mag. Damn I wish I could do that.

6. Every single person there had an Apple laptop. Everyone except me. I had the only Windoze one. I asked people individually why and they said either "I've always used Apple" or "The graphics are better on Apple". I gotta switch I think.

7. The music was GREAT! We bought a "Crossroads" Guitar - made in Clarksdale - and got a bunch of autographs on it concentrating on the old guys in thier 80's. I met Honeyboy Edwards (he actually traveled with and performed with Robert Johnson. He is 96 yo) but didnt get his autograph this time. I hope he lives another year.

8. I was lucky enough to get some photos under consideration for the book to come out from this. I learned to see some things differently than I had at the beginning and I think it has given me a better eye.

9. This shit is WORK! Our day started at 9am going over 10-15 shots from everyone the day before. That lasted till 1pm. Then we went out and shot photos till 11 or 12 at night. then edited for 2 hours to get 10 to 15 to take in to the morning meeting then do it all over again. Intense but the collaboration was ennervating!

10. If you can get 1 or 2 photos a day (in a 12 hour day) then you have had a good day. Harvey can spend a month preparing for a shoot by going to the location and looking around and planning before he even takes a photo. That planning and preparation and showing only his best shots are keys, I think, to success in this art form. And keeping only your very best images.

Cons:

1. When going over the previous days shots with everyone Harvey would reject photos that "Didn't do it for him" but there was never any in depth discussion of what good composition actually entailed. I did not ever feel I knew what he would consider an acceptable composition by specific element except by mimicking what others had done and he had okay'ed. I would have appreciated at least one session with an in depth discussion about elements of composition from his point of view.

2. One on One time. Despite declaring early on that he would absolutely spend some amount of time with everyone one on one it never happened. The last day he briefly hurried through some shots I had taken on assignment but never really looked at them or talked about them as he was in a hurry to go to dinner.

All in all it was the most fun I have had in years and would have paid even more if I had known how much I was going to enjoy it. You just cannot put a price on that kind of experiance. Really. The only way it would have been more fun is if I had been able to convince one of my friends to come along and we could have done it as a team!

Stay tuned for the next post - ROLLER DERBY! Yowza X 2!

The Harvest

2011-05-08T19:21:00.001-05:00

VooDoo Mojo Picks

The first thing we did when we arrived back in Clarksdale was harvest the VooDoo Mojo Picks. 13 Hard Rock picks and 13 more of various sizes were buried at the Crossroads on the dark of the Moon in Jan. and dug up April 9th. They had spent 2 full moons including the "Super" full moon of March soaking up the Mojo of the crossroads. We then buried another 13 for the full moon that week. They were harvested before we left. If you get one in the mail be sure to use it wisely...and carefully. When you are really stuck on something and need the inspiration of all the old bluesmen who went before just get out the pick and sing yourself some blues!

Mardi Gras in Moh-Beel 'Bama

2011-03-21T22:51:00.050-05:00

She had to pop her hood to get those beads but it was worth it!

What IS Mardi Gras anyway? I knew it was a party and there were beads and boobs and costumes and adult beverages but how did we get to this state of mega-party I wonders? So off to the research department I went and found some interesting things. Mardi Gras began in Mobile Alabama NOT New Orleans. Mobile was originally a French settlement and the original capital of French Louisiana. That background meant a heavy Catholic tradition and the festivals that came with it. Called "Carnival" in the rest of the world, Mardi Gras is a season of parties, parades, and balls in the 6 weeks leading up to Lent when Catholics traditionally sacrifice and live an austere life until Easter. The real beginnings no doubt run back to the Dionysian festivals of the greeks which involved much drinking, carousing, dancing, and promiscuity. The Catholic Church co-opted many of the pagan festivals into their mythologies to sell it to the locals. Mardi Gras in the US began in Mobile in 1703 when the French settlers threw a party and made a paper-mache bull and paraded in through the streets while drinkin' and dancin'. New Orleans first parade with floats at Carnivale wasn't until 1857. That year Mobile's most elite Mardi Gras Society, The Cowbellian de Rakin Society, traveled to New Orleans to help form the "Mystic Krewe of Comus", New Orleans oldest parading Krewe.

Mardi Gras wasn't celebrated much during the Civil War and the 2 World Wars but except for those interruptions the party has been on! For the Blue Honey the debate was to travel to New Orleans or stay put here in Mobile and do the Mardi Gras.

The Museum and Inca Parade

We finally decided to stay here and began our Celebration with a trip into downtown Mobile to the Mardi Gras Museum.

This guy guards the door to the Mardi Gras Museum

Inside the museum are artifacts and history's of the Krewes and the Kings and Queens of Mardi Gras's past. People involved take this stuff seriously and the money spent on costumes and dresses and Tuxes surpasses any other time of the year locally.

A royal outfit - NOT the most elaborate we saw!

After the museum we made our way into the streets for our first Mardi Gras Parade - The Order of the Inca! The parade was a good 90 minutes from starting so we found a local watering hole on Dauphin Street - The OK Bicycle Shop. They had a few tables on the street to watch the action go by and we parked ourselves right there. A few Mexican beers, some South of the Border food, and some great conversation with our server and her boyfriend - the greeter - unti we heard the parade a-coming. We had been advised to listen for the "Thumpers" - the big Bass Drums of the bands - and to watch for the glow of the lights from the "walkers" - the people who walk alongside the floats.

Vendors and Lights and Dancers and Marching Bands

And, of course, THE THROWS!! The floats elaborately designed and manned by people in costume who throw candy, beads, toys, and other sundry gifts to the revelers. Originally the beads were made of glass and far fewer thrown so it was quite a coup to go home with a string of beads from one of the Krewes. There is a hierarchy of throws: The Krewe chiefs throw the special Marshalls medallions which are the rarest followed by the Insignia Medallions and then the beads. The longest beads are thrown by riders of the higher ranks. In addition there may be stuffed animals or other toys, tootsie rolls, gum and of course the greatest prize of all: Moon Pies!! We were lucky enough to come away from the Incas with a Marshall's Medallion (caught by the red head) and an Insignia medallion each. I think they knew we were new as we were the oldest people acting like 6 year olds "Hey Mistah - throw me something" all while jumping up and down and screeching - you get caught in the moment y'know!

Inca Medallions

The pile of Swag and loot from this one parade was so overwhelming we piled it up and just looked at it in complete marvel:

Inca SWAG

Because of so much loot I made Dorothy Queen of Blue Honey for Mardi Gras and we loaded boxes of the loot and sent them off to friends and children (or own and others).

Queen Dorothy of Blue Honey

The Mystic Order of Mirams

The next Wednesday we were sipping beverages at the Silver Moon by the Florida border with new friends Wayne and Frankie Gregory and listening to some Hot Licks from Luther Womble and the dulcet song stylings of Johnny Barbato. Queen Dottie related to them how much fun we had at the parade and the next thing we knew we were being invited to not one but two Mardi Gras balls in Orange Beach. Both Wayne and his impossibly lovely wife Frankie are real estate agents so if you are looking to visit or move to Gulf Shores area click on the link for them above (shameless plug!!). They are members of different Mardi Grad Krewes and both ride in their parades and attend the balls after. One day to acquire a Tux and Tails for me and a long gown for the Queen - a noticeable hole in our wardrobe!

Dottie Queen of Blue Honey

It was fairly surreal to see 20 or 30 dressed folks dressed in gowns and tuxes standing along side the road hollering for beads at 8pm in the night but there we were - adding to our loot. After the parade we went inside and waited for Frankie to return from her float - the alcohol was wet everywhere. We had to stay inside as the doors were 'Locked' in anticipation of the Queens arrival. With great pomp and ceremony the Queen was introduced and all her subjects (the members of Miram) came to her and laid tribute (dubloons) at her feet. It was waaay too much like prom I think - an over the top pretend prom Moms and Granmoms that is. The Queen who made her own cape and gown which were incredible was an ex-Mrs. Ohio! and Mrs. Alabama! It must be her hobby I guess - this Queen thing, Luckily we were seated at a table with extemely friendly and Southern Charm type folks who engaged us all in conversation and fun. The band was very good and The Queen of Blue Honey and her escort actually got up and danced in all of our elegance. The operative word here was fun and even though I think there may have been a few to whom this was a 'serious' event most were there to play dress up and have a good time. We thoroughly enjoyed it all!

Mystics of Pleasure

On Saturday we moved to Perido Beach Resort the home of the Mystics of Pleasure Ball that we were to attend that night. Our plan had been to rent a condo on the beach for Mardi Gras and attend the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Parades on Fat Tuesday. With the MOP ball being in the resort we just decided to stay there for 5 days that way we only had to crawl to the elevator to get to bed. This proved prophetic as the MOP ball had a free bar with what I have been assured were great Margaritas - and you may know about the Queen of Blue Honey and Margaritas! Let it be known they renewed their acquaintance that night.

The scheduled parade was canceled due to rain all along the coast so we only had to put the tux and gown on (D wore the gown in case your keeping track) and go down the elevator to the ball room.The only hitch was that ball was only open to members until 9pm so we had to find wet beverages before that on our own. Thankfully had a half a bottle of Bailey's up in the room to take the edge off and the Queen had her wine. By nine both were gone and we went in search of the Mystical 'Free' bar below. We arrived in our usual splendor just a tad tipsy and found our friends.

Frankie and Wayne Gregory

Walking through through the resort I noticed quite a few people dressed in Confederate uniforms and thought "Well, it is the South". When we walked into the ballroom the first thing that you had to notice was a giant Confederate flag behind the bandstand.

The Bandstand

Now I'm from the north and have a whole set of preconceived notions about that flag and what it stands for so I got kind of nervous when I saw it. But I got a true education about culture that night that opened my eyes to my own ideas about who people were. We met people all night who were warm and gracious to us as only Southern folks can do. There was FatBack.

FatBack

Dressed elegantly as a Confederate General he was friendly when we talked as though we had known each other for years. He owned a local restaurant that we will get to when we return.

I spent an interesting political conversation with Joe Galbraith owner of the Flora-Bama the last great American roadhouse.

Joe Galbraith and the Queen of Blue Honey's date.

I talked to artists and musicians, business men and women. Folks from all walks of life. There was an incredibly hot band that did everything from Clapton to complete Temptations routines.

Never got their name

But the moment the light came on for me and I learned what it meant to be Southern and what the Southland actually was came when a girl, Tonya, who had been sitting with us at our table got up and went on stage to sing "Sweet Home Alabama" with the band. Now I had been expecting to hear that song as it is the Alabama national anthem no matter where you are but I was totally unprepared for how it could set off fireworks. It was late and crowd was definitely oiled and ready to cut loose. There ahd been several hundred jammed tightly on the dance floor this entire set by the band dancin' and having a great time. When the first familiar chords of "Sweet Home" rang out the entire crowd (about 1000) people let out a cheer and close to half of them jammed the dance floor hands thrusting in the air as Tony started singing.

Tonya on "Sweet Home"

When she got to the line "Sweet Home Alabama" the crowd called back "Roll Tide Roll". When she said "Where the skies are so Blue" nearly 1000 voices chanted back "Blue! Blue! Blue". When she sang "Comin' Home to You" the crowd sang back to her "Home! Home Home!" Throughout the song Tonya just wailed the lyrics and crowd sang along and called back to her. Well hit me with a hammer and you will get my attention! The entire thing was electric and gave me goosebumps. These people were not caricature stubborn Confederates refusing to believe the Civil War ended with them on the losing end. These were real flesh and blood people celebrating where they lived and grew up and the place they called home. There was no Jim Crow south in this sentiment from where I stood - just jubilant celebration of the things they loved. And that is what the Confederate flag meant to these people NOT the southern stereotypes I had been loaded with up north. Now I am certainly not naive and recognize there ARE people who personify those stereotypes in that room but at that moment nothing applied but celebration of home and hearth and it was really an incredible thing to witness! I cannot see 500 Ohioans singing "Hang on Sloopy" on a sweaty dance floor and getting the same rush of emotions. Something would be lost in the translation.

To top it all off the Queen of Blue Honey and I danced close and slow for the second night in a row.

We dance.

Dorothy though did have a few too many Margaritas and had to escorted gently upstairs where she stayed for the next entire day while I went out again on Sunday to the Silver Moon for some more beads and Beer and Music!

Fat Tuesday at the Shores

On Monday a tornado touched down by Mobile and we spent the day holed up in our room watching a spectacular show as lightning and thunder pounded the ocean out our window. In the evening the rain let up and the surfers came out to crash and burn in the 12 to 15 ft waves.

Surf was UP!

Tuesday - Mardi Gras - started sunny but quickly clouded up - though no rain. We drove down beach road to Gulf Shores to watch the first parade of the day at 10 am. Family friendly it had Kings and Queens;

Princesses and pretty girls;

Floats and Funny Hats;

Singers and Bands;

Cars;

Dogs and Kids;

and of course MOON PIES!!

And because it was Mardi Gras - the unexplainable:

Elvis

He said he was Elvis. He didn't really die - just moved to the coast to be a shrimp boat captain and to get away from the crowds. He said he gave them the idea for Forrest Gump anonymously. I said I believed him but what was the name of the boat? He said, "Thank Ya Very Much" as he scooted away.

After that encounter we drove off to Shuckers, a marina and bar near the Wharf - the starting place for our last parade - the boat parade from the Wharf to Lulu's. We ate lunch and had us some beers and great conversation with the waiter Damian who had traveled all around the world before alighting here in 'Bama.

The boats lined up all decorated for Mardi Gras:

Then sailed down the Inter-coastal to the next party,

Afterwards we took a stroll through the Marina admiring the boats still there and decided that next year if we are here for Mardi Gras we will have a boat to sail away on too!

The Blues Trail Part 4: The Road Markers

2011-03-04T12:00:00.004-06:00

The Mississippi Blues Trail is an ongoing project of the Mississippi Blues commission that attempts to tell the story of this unique American music by noting the important places and occurrences in the lives of the men and women who originated the music. We went to Mississippi to go to the Clarksdale film festival with the idea that we could also drive the Blues trail and hit the important stops along the way. Silly Rv'ers - there are over 130 stops on the trail and still growing! The latest was just erected in Memphis to John Lee Hooker - my personal favorite of the electric blues Dudes. Yes I know Memphis is not in Mississippi but then they are apparently not letting geography get in the way of the music - much like John Lee did with timing when he played the "Boogie", he didn't let time get in the way of the groove which is why he is the real father of Rock 'n Roll for my money. So you know - the Blues Trail is mostly just markers put up in places of significance throughout Mississippi. Some are not clear as to why they are in the spot they are in but all have some of the history of the Blues to read on them.

HATTIESBURG

We started in Hattiesburg, at the marker for Hattiesburg put up to commemorate the Mississippi Jook Band. They had what was called by Rolling Stone the first recording with "fully formed rock and roll guitar riffs and a stomping rock and roll beat" when they recorded in Hattiesburg in 1936. Problem was the marker is on the spot of an apparently torn down building in a part of town attempting to "Urban Renew". There is a corner store of some kind next to it and an empty lot where the marker is located. Around that store and on the empty slab where the marker is there were a number of ghetto captalists intent on getting us to purchase some of their fine crack - competing at it I might add. The second time around the block -when we were attempting to find out why they were congregating there at 2 in the afternoon - they were certain we were there to purchase (or possibly sell the Red Headed Irish Girl - as they were waving her over to the curb). I wouldn't reccommend stopping here - unless you need drugs really, really bad. And if you do you should probably go to a clinic instead. With that introduction we were wary of the rest of the stops we were going to make but that was the only place we felt that stopping was a bad idea.

CRYSTAL SPRINGS - Robert Johnson Museum, Tommy Johnson Marker

After an overnight in Jackson we drove to Crystal Springs to stop at the Robert Johnson Museum run by his grandson Steven Johnson who is also a bluesman. There is a marker here for Tommy Johnson who it is said is the man that the Robert Johnson legend was modeled on - including selling his soul to the devil! Tommy Johnson - apparently no relation to Robert - predated RJ by about 10 years. He recorded the hugely influential song "Canned Heat Blues" in 1928, eight years before RJ recorded 'Crossroad Blues' in Texas. And yes, Canned Heat took their name from that song. Tommy, however lived most of his life right there in Crystal Springs dying in 1956 of a heart attack after playing a gig! He is believed to be inspiration for the character named 'Tommy Johnson' in the film 'O Brother, Where art thou?". In the film a character named Tommy Johnson claims to have sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads to play the guitar. He joins the 3 main characters in the "Soggy Mountain Boys" and plays several Skip James tunes.

Robert Johnson Museum

We also stopped at the Robert Johnson Museum in hopes of meeting his grandson Steven and see some of the museums things but it was closed when we were there. I had a later email from them assuring me they would open the place for us if we call before arriving so I would say if you want to go there be sure to call in advance. We got to look in the windows though - Joy

BENTONIA - 'Skip' James, The Blues Front Cafe

Skip James Marker

This marker commemorated Neamiah 'Skip' James. Well know to Cream fans for having written "I'm So Glad" James wrote many influential songs and sung in an eerily high falsetto that many later R&B and blues singers imitated. He played at the Juke in near by Bentonia - the famous Blues Front Cafe:

Blues Front Cafe

The Bentonia Blues style as the it came to be known was played here for years. The place is now shut down but operated for many years and even had it's own Blues festival every year in the parking lot. It's boarded up and the windows barred but the building still looks solid. Some of you need to get down there and re-open it as there is still alot of the Blues spirit still there! People have come from all over the world to this empty building and signed there names somewhere on the wall. We added Joe/Dot and Travels in Blue Honey to the autographs! And of course Big Stick had his picture taken there:

Me and Big Stick Lookin' for our Groove

If nothing else the reason this looks familiar to you as it was used in a Levi 501 commercial with an old dude playing blues on that front porch!

BELZONI - Pinetop Perkins

This is the plaque just outside Belzoni for PineTop Perkins - 97 years young and just won a Grammy! To the right of the plaque is a building being finished that will be a Pinetop Perkins museum. I assumed the shacks in the background will have something to do with that as I doubt that they were for rent.

CLARKSDALE - Ike Turner, WC Handy, Ground Zero, WROX, New Roxy

On to Clarksdale where it seems there is a connection to the Blues on every corner. Ike Turner got his start as an elevator operator in a hotel on this street corner

Ike

He then went on to be a DJ at WROX and a music promoter and leader of his own band - and then TINA!

Delta Blues Museum

Just down at the end of the street is the Delta Blues Museum. Full of photos, guitars and artifacts from the many delta performers it's easy to spend 2 hours in here and think you have only been here for 10 minutes. My favorite was the actual sharecroppers shack Muddy Waters was born in. It was salvaged and put together in the museum with a life size figure of Muddy sittin' and playing. A video with every rock musician you ever hear of telling what Muddy meant to them plays in the background and the walls are hung with photos and artifacts about Muddy's life including a hand built custom electric guitar made out of boards fashioned from the salvaged wood of the shack. Commissioned by the members of ZZ Top it is truly a one of a kind Mojo filled Axe!

Muddy in the Shack

One street over from the museum is the Ground Zero Blues Club. The world famous blues club and street joint owned partially by Morgan Freeman, this place has been keeping the blues alive for years by showcasing some of the best local delta bluesmen and blues players from around the country. This includes my hometown boy-ah - Damian Knapp!

Damian

One street over on the opposite side of the museum is the WC Handy plaque.

W C Handy, known as "The Father of The Blues" he lived in Clarksdale and was influenced by the delta musicians he heard. Besides being a musician himself he collected blues music and was the first musicologist of the blues. The annual Blues Foundation awards are named after him.

Continuing down the same street we see what remains of the New Roxy Theater. The front marquee is still there along with the brick walls and a stage that is used for blues acts during the Juke Joint Festival - under the stars as there is no roof!

New Roxy

Around the corner and down the street from here is the famous Riverside Motel. Originally the 'Negro' hospital in town it was famous as the place where Bessie Smith died from injuries sustained in an automobile crash.

It was bought in 1944 and turned into a motel. Blues performers of every stripe have stayed there along with celebrities like John Kennedy Jr (Rat has the pictures to prove it!). It's currently run by the son of the original owners - Rat.

Rat of the Riverside

Rat owns the Riverside and a great big old Cadillac - with a Rat for a hood ornament. Nearly everyone I talked to in Clarksdale referred to him as " a charactah". This is about the highest form of praise a Southerner is likely to bestow on a non-family member. I spent about an hour with the Rat as he gave me a tour and running history of the Riverside. It is nearly impossible to give an adequate description of this place as it, like the Shack Up Inn, retains on the outside its connection to a past time. A time before the Holiday Inns and Marriott's took over the roadside business in America and made everything homogonous & tame. The Riverside keeps its unique look on the outside but on the inside Rat has modernized and upgraded all the rooms and is in the process of doing the same to the cottages running alongside the motel. He is retired from a full time job and has big plans for the continuing restoration including possible a coffee shop. The rooms are all named after famous blues performers including room #2 the Bessie Smith Room. this was originally the emergency room and the room she died in.

Hallway of the Riverside

I urge you to stay here when you come to Clarksdale and visit with Rat - I promise you this will be an experience you will remember forever!

Back downtown at Cat Head you are liable to see a musician from anywhere in the country just show up and start playing in the streets. We were lucky to catch Princess and friends from Austin Texas playing on the sidewalk with just a few voices and an 18 year old guitar player.

Princess sang 'Sittin on the Dock of the Bay' for ME!!

Oh Yeah!

Happy to Sing.

'Brother' Marcus Tharpe of the Southside Ramblers

Catch some music from Marcus at http://www.myspace.com/thesouthsideramblers. What better way to end our trip to Clarksdale than with live street blues!

ROSEDALE - Plaque, Bugs Blues

Rosedale Plaque

Off the main road near an open field across from the railroad tracks they put the plaque for Rosedale. This is a sad and bleak town. There is not much there and it reeks of emptiness and despair. Around the corner from the plaque is the closed up shell of Bug's Blues Lounge.

In the parking lot and empty field to the left of the building were 15 or so men just sitting around drinking at 1 in the afternoon - apparent victims of the lack of work in the area. Down the street closer to Rt. 8 was this testament to a livelier time

Complete with bullet hole in the empty shop next door Rosedale seemed to be a town incarnated as the 'Blues'. This was the town that Robert Johnson referenced in "Travelling Riverside Blues" and that Cream added to "Crossroads" - it sure seems to have seen better days.

INDIANOLA - BB King Museum

After Rosedale we drove on to Indianola for the BB King Museum. This was an incredible stop as the place also serves as a Delta interpretive center and has much to do with all Delta Music. Set in a building that the 16 year old Riley 'BB' King actually worked in, the museum is set up to tell his story chronologically as YOU walk through it. Every stop has a portion from the DVD about 'BB's life and artifacts from that time. There are numerous versions of Lucille including an interactive one where you can sit down and play an electronic Lucille. We only had about an hour and 15 minutes before the museum closed and found ourselves only at the Delta end of the museum at that time. The woman left working let us stay an extra 30 minutes to get it all in even though it meant she worked late. This is a wonderful stop and not to be missed if you hit the Blues Trail!

VICKSBURG - The Juke Joint Blues Restaurant and Art Gallery

LaToya the Lively

We spent our last 2 days in Mississippi in Vicksburg just ahead of a cold snap in the weather. We toured a couple of antebellum mansions along the river including one that still had a cannon ball in the floor from the siege of Vicksburg during the "Unpleasantness of the 1860's". Vicksburg was laid sieged to and captured after 47 days by the Union Army. After this the Union controlled the entire Mississippi river. There are batteries where the guns stood all over the city as you move along the river and is a stark reminder of how more real the war was to the Southern cities that were defeated than to us that grew up in the North. The Confederate general John Pemberton surrendered on July 4th, 1863. The city refused to celebrate the national holiday of 4th of July again until 1945! Emotions ran high I'm guessing.

The old downtown area along the river is currently undergoing another renovation as a restaurant/club & boutique area. It was there we spent our last day in Mississippi and discovered the Juke Joint restaurant and art gallery. The wonderful waitress in the picture is LaToya Turner who charmed us with her stories and lively personality. The art gallery is the Mississippi home for the paintings of Troy Guilbeaux. After eating lunch with several of the paintings we bought 3 of them and one will be the new masthead for Travels In Blue Honey.

Next trip to Mississippi will be in April for the Juke Joint Festival. We hope to get to places Dave Pack has insisted we go see and maybe Tupelo! Stay tuned!

The Crossroads

2011-02-19T00:36:00.001-06:00

The Crossroads of Highways 61 and 49

This is the crossroads of the blues. It's where folks migrating north to Chicago made their way from the lower delta of the Mississippi up Highway 61. Northwest on Rt. 49 from Jackson and points further south in Mississippi and Alabama. Chicago, Kansas City, Tulsa Okla - they were looking for work after the mechanization of the large farms and plantations. This is where highway 61 and Rt. 49 cross in Clarksdale Mississippi. But even before the great migration Clarksdale was the place the bluesmen stopped as they made their way around Mississippi playing the Juke Joints and Party Shacks - at least thats the story. The most famous story though is the one about Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil at the Crossroads. But which Crossroads? The devil know there a LOT of crossroads in cotton growing areas of the delta. Where was Robert's?

Robert Johnson

We talked almost every night we were in Clarksdale with blues men of every description and just plain folks from the area trying to find where those crossroads might have been. Obviously not the tourist crossroads at highway 61 and 49. We heard a lot of stories and drove out to a lot of crossroads in the area. We were pointed to a very promising one by an 80+ year old blues guitarist who told us some little known stories that we found to be true by doing some research. He told us that people didn't really know that Robert had lived as a young man at Tunica Mississippi. The road that joined highway 61 out of Tunica was originally a 'Y' crossroads at a graveyard. Though that 'y' is no longer there - the graveyard is. He assured us that was where young Robert stopped and made his deal with the devil after deciding to leave Tunica and be a 'walkin' blues man. It sounded good and had cost me almost a full bottle of whiskey to get this story out of him so we headed out the next day to find this graveyard:

Graveyard North of Clarksdale on Highway 61

It was a cold,rainy, bone chilling morning all overcast and properly spooky but - it just didn't seem right. I took a few pictures and we left unconvinced that we had been to THE Crossroads.

That night, Sunday, our last in Clarksdale, we were in a local drunkards hangout talking about the films we had seen with a few of the people we had met at the festival. When I went up to the bar to buy a round a younger looking fellow we had seen around town all weekend playing guitar and singing on streetcorners for spare change slid onto a bar stool beside me. He's asked me not to use his real name so I will just call him Mr. "A". He was pretty tall, had a fedora on his head and an old suit like the Beatles wore on the Ed Sullivan show. He was pretty young looking but I couldn't really be sure of his age. Anyway he said he heard I was lookin' for the crossroad and for a glass of Irish Whiskey he would tell me the real story including how to find the crossroads. I figured 'what the hell' Ive tried everything else and ordered him a shot of Jameson's. He put his hand on arm and said,"A glass sport...". I got him his glass and Mr. "A" leaned over and told me this story about Robert Johnson:

Robert was born 100 years ago this May 8th in Hazelhurst Mississippi and there is going to be some serious partying around the Delta this year to commemorate his birthday. The story is ol' Robert was a harmonica player who wanted to play guitar....but he stunk up the place when he tried to play and after being laughed at by patrons of the Jukes and other musicians he went back to the Hazelhurst area to woodshed. There he hooked up with a guitar player from Beauregard named Ike Zimmerman.

Ike Zimmerman

Ike was known to play at night sitting on the grave stones in local cemeteries in the Beauregard area - just for the peace and quiet he'd say. According to relatives he had Robert join him in these cemeteries for his guitar lessons - might have been the first place the devil heard him play! (This is that cemetery:)

Beauregard Cemetery

After 7 months (or 2 years by other accounts) Robert headed back up the road towards Clarksdale to show off his new chops. Somewhere between Beauregard and Rosedale, around midnight (or at dusk by other accounts) he was walking down a dirt road and when he came to a crossroads a man came up off the road and offered to tune his guitar for him. The woodshedding with Ike had greatly improved his playing but after this man tuned his guitar Robert played like nobody else alive. But the devil got his due as Robert Johnson died young - poisoned by a jealous husband or girlfriend. He was the 1st member of the 27 club - famous musicians who have died at the age of 27. Jimi Hendix, Brian Jones, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain to name just a few.

I told him that was a great story and I had heard most of it before and how the hell this story was gonna tell me where the crossroads were? Mr. "A" told me to get a map of Mississippi that included all road county roads. I told him I already had one. He said, "Good - find Beauregard and draw a straight line between there and Rosedale. Count the crossroads along that line and the 27th crossroads will be the one you want. You'll know it when you get there cause you'll be going slightly up hill and it'll look like the electric lines are floating overhead just before you get to the crossroads" I told the bartender to pour him another glass of Jameson's and asked him to wait while I brought the Red-headed Irish Girl over to hear the story. When I got back he was gone - and so was the second glass of whiskey.

We headed to Beauregard the next day. I found the Beauregard Memorial Cemetery that Ike Zimmerman's sister said was one that Robert and Ike played in.

One of the head stones they could have played on.

For whatever reason this place resonated and gave us that chill that lets you know that you might be on to something. I got out my guitar and played "Good Mornin' Blues" just see if I could wake up a few spirits.

Me and the Spooks

When the dogs began to bark and the crows screamed in protest I went back to the car and got out the Miss. Map and started to count.....

After a few hours of driving through various back roads we came down a long dirt road to the 27th crossroads. Even though the day had been overcast and cloudy all along, just as we came up a slight hill to the crossroads some light came through the clouds and because we were lower than the road the electric wires seemed to hover above the crossroads completely suspended.

THE Crossroads

I got out my guitar and walked down the road and came back to the crossroads. It was dusk....the last hour before sunset on the night of the dark of the moon. I played a few chords and I just KNEW this was the same place Robert had met the man who tuned his guitar.

'Bad Boy' at the crossroads.

Now I'm not really superstitious but if a black cat had crossed our paths right then I would have jumped back in the car and headed right back to Blue Honey. Even still I was not inclined to hang around til midnight to see who might be lying in the middle of the road wanting to teach me a new tuning. Especially since it was going to be very dark with no moon and there wouldn't be much to see with my eyes. I was feelin' the voodoo though and wanted to take some kind of magic away from that place. So I buried 6 guitar picks along the crossroads at dusk on the dark of the moon in January 2011 and let them saturate all that night - when it got so dark you couldn't see to walk across the parking lot of the motel to the ice machine.

Me burying 6 guitar picks at the Crossroads

The next morning I went back and dug them up. I had decided overnight to bury a 'lucky' 13 more - all from the Hard Rock Cafe in Biloxi (that's another story) to let 'em marinate in the Crossroads VooDoo for 3 full moons. I'm gonna pick them up in the spring....they outta be full of the Delta magic by then.

The spot where 13 Hard Rock Guitar picks are cookin' Blues VooDoo!

I really did bury those picks there and I really do believe I found the crossroads! If you want one of those picks email me with who you are and why you should have a 'voodoo' pick from THE Crossroads! Put crossroads in the subject line or my spam filter will trash your email.

joeflmr@yahoo.com

"I believe I'm sinkin' down"

The Fire & Mr. Johnson

The First Annual Clarksdale Mississippi Film Festival

2011-02-13T00:50:00.002-06:00

(Click on any Photo to Enlarge)

Clarksdale Mississippi. Crossroads of the Blues. Juke Joints. Music in the Streets. History everywhere. Childhood home of Tennessee Williams. Southern everything. Film Mecca?......wha...? Thats right Clarksdale just hosted it's first (and hopefully) annual film festival! With an emphasis on Mississippi themed films and shorts the festival ran across 4 days from January 27 through January 30.

Organised by film maker Roger Stolle owner of the world famous Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art in downtown Clarksdale.

Cat Head Delta Blues

Cat Head sells an incredible array of Blues oriented merchandise and art.

Some Cat Head Stuff

Clarksdale has been undergoing a renaissance of sorts in recent years as people like Roger and other merchants have moved into the downtown area and begun refurbishing dilapidated buildings. Part of this process has involved the starting of or continuation of festivals centered around the the music of the Mississippi Delta and the opening of museums celebrating this music and other types of Southern Heritage. This has included an upscale restaurant - Mididi - and and a blues club - Ground Zero - opened by Morgan Freeman and local Attorney and businessman Bill Luckett. Mr Luckett has thrown his hat in the ring for governor of Mississippi and I would say that most states (shameless plug) would be lucky to have a true blues affectionado as Mr. Luckett for their governor. Mr. Luckett is a tireless booster of the Clarksdale resurgence and has put his money where his mouth is. We were impressed by his willingness to sit down and shoot the breeze over breakfast with the locals and strangers at the Delta Amusement Cafe on Delta Ave. just down from the Ground Zero Blues Club.

Da Bob - an I-talian in the Delta

Everyday of the festival our morning started here at the Amusement for breakfast, conversations, and of course a film. One of the components of the film festival was to enlist local restaurants to play films on their tv screens throughout the day. We enjoyed 'Breakfast Club' and 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' at Delta Amusement on Friday and Saturday mornings. On Sunday Bobby Tarzi (the owner and prime raconteur) informed us there was good news and bad news. The good news was he wasn't cooking that day and the bad news was we were going hungry cause nothing was open downtown for breakfast! On the days he WAS cooking we enjoyed a home cooked breakfast and visits with 2 of the other organizers of the film festival - Nan Hughes and Goldie Hishberg.

Nancy on the left and Goldie on the right enjoying 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'

We met Nancy our first day in town when we asked for directions to buy tickets. She was incredibly helpful all weekend and was always available to answer questions about Clarksdale or talk about anything at all whenever she got a break. Goldie was the indefatigable cheerleader. The Lady seemed to be everywhere and to know everyone and had that southern grace about her that managed to make a tee-shirt look elegant. Roger was the coordinator, Nancy the organizer, and Goldie the fundraiser. Together they were a formidable team that managed to create an amazing event.

THURSDAY

The festival began with a welcome from the organizers and a little music in the lobby of the Delta Cinema from Cadillac John, Bill Abel and Jon Popper sittin' in. Just some fine delta blues.

Cadillac John - 84 years old and still boppin the blues

From Left:
Jon Popper, Cadillac John, Bill Abel

The first film of the festival was "Raiders of the Lost Ark: Adaptation" by teen-age boys from Mississippi. A shot-for-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark that they started before they were old enough to drive and finally finishing seven years later. This film was at first in the WTF?! category for me. As I watched it became more and more engrossing. They actually did the entire movie with clever special effects and sets they made up as they went along. The boys obviously aged aged during the filming and it somehow worked - sort of like the dead moose on the piano - it made an odd kind of sense as the movie went along. Two of the films makers and actors were there to introduce the film and answer questions afterwards. Both are very engaging young guys and have continued on to form a film company. The number one question was "Why?!" The answer was they were just your regular everyday teens - obsessed with making movies and they just couldn't quit. A monument to perseverance they managed to pull it off with the money from paper routes and allowances. All of them were living in single parent homes with limited resources but with the complete support of those parents. It was a wonderful film and I urge everyone who gets a chance to see it.

FRIDAY

The schedule continued in Theater 1 with:

Barefoot Workshops: Clarksdale Retrospective, Part I – First retrospective of film shorts shot over the past few years highlighting fascinating cultural aspects of Clarksdale / Coahoma County residents, businesses, blues music and history.

Selections from Music in the Hall: Volume I – Brand-new concert film compilation from Oxford, Mississippi, featuring Shannon McNally, Cary Hudson, South Memphis String Band, Kenny Brown, Amy LaVere, Jimbo Mathus’s Mosquitoville and more.

Full Moon Lightnin’ – John Gardiner’s award-winning documentary offers two intertwining blues stories – one of NYC bluesman Floyd Lee’s return to his native Mississippi Delta and one of his guitarist Joel Poluck’s concurrent personal tragedies; partly shot in Clarksdale.

The Blues – Robert Gibbons’ amazing archival The Blues film comes to us via Canadian television circa 1966 and features rare interviews and performance by Mississippi natives Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Otis Span, Sunnyland Slim, Bukka White, Big Joe Williams and more.

One Night at Red’s – Clarksdale premiere! Mississippi Spoonman performs live at Clarksdale’s own legendary juke joint, Red’s Lounge, with special guest like Clarksdale’s Big Jack Johnson.

And in the main theater:

Down to the Crossroads: Volume I – Big Star Media presents blues-rocker George Thorogood and blues sax legend Eddie Shaw filmed live at Clarksdale’s own Ground Zero Blues Club by Vincent Productions; award-nominated film includes music and interviews. Filmmaker Q&A after.

Don’t Start Me Talkin’: The Junior Wells Story – Clarksdale premiere of Peter Carlson’s acclaimed film biography of one of the biggest names to every pick up the “Mississippi saxophone” (a.k.a. harmonica) – Junior Wells. Born in the South but made famous in the North, it’s the story of a man born into the blues.

M for Mississippi: A Road Trip through the Birthplace of the Blues – Filmed partly in Clarksdale, the award-winning M for Mississippi follows two blues fans on a fun and fantastic road trip to visit the region’s craziest bluesmen and juke joints. Filmmaker Q&A after with Roger Stolle. Not to be missed!!

Big Shoes: Walking and Talking the Blues – Legendary music filmmaker (Deep Blues, Blues Divas) Robert Mugge’s newest offering stars the Scissormen – a modern blues band based on tradition – as they play, tour and talk blues history. Introduction/Q&A with Scissormen’s Ted Drozdowski. A wonderful film and a fascinating introduction to these two unique musicians. See Saturdays activities for photos of these guys performing live at Cat Head.

Followed in the evening by a reception with wine and cheese and the music of Sean "Bad" Apple.

Sean 'Bad' Apple

And the film of the night:

Prom Night in Mississippi – Filmmakers Paul Saltzman and Patricia Aquino present the award-winning true story of actor Morgan Freeman’s offer to pay for Prom Night in Charleston, Mississippi. There’s one hitch, though. The historically separate white and black proms must integrate. An interesting film that had a stimulating conversation both after the film with the film makers and with the film goers in the lobby afterwards. Although Morgan Freeman was in town the previous night at his restaurant he did not attend the screening.

SATURDAY

The schedule continued in Theater 1 with:

Barefoot Workshops: Clarksdale Retrospective, Part II – Retrospective of film shorts shot over the past few years continues… highlighting fascinating cultural aspects of Clarksdale / Coahoma County residents, businesses, blues music and history.

3 Film Shorts: Lukos (Michael Williams), Faithful Departed (Daniel Lee), Shudder House (Joey Dello Russo) – Three haunting film shorts in 45 frightful minutes, featuring strong Mississippi ties (filmmakers, locations and/or music).

Dedan le Sud de la Louisiane (In the South of Louisiana) – A Southern music movie classic by French filmmaker de Jean-Pierre Bruneau featuring a beautifully shot, travelogue study of Cajun music and culture, circa 1974.

The Story of Cotton – Willy Bearden and Deep Delta Films presents The Story of Cotton – a history forever tied the Delta and Deep South; documentary features archival photos, contemporary interviews and more. Introduction/Q&A by the filmmaker.

One Came Home – Clarksdale premiere of feature film by Mississippi-born Willy Bearden (shown here as part of a Bearden double-feature), One Came Home is a powerful drama full of love and lies set in Magnolia, Mississippi, circa 1946. Introduction/Q&A by the filmmaker.

The Blues – Encore presentation… Robert Gibbons’ amazing archival The Blues film comes to us via Canadian television circa 1966 and features rare interviews and performance by Mississippi natives Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Otis Span, Sunnyland Slim, Bukka White and more.

And in the main theater:

Let Your Feet Do the Talkin’ – Stewart Copeland’s deeply personal look at buckdancing legend Thomas Maupin – one of the South’s last, great old-time dancers. (Presented in part by Dust-To-Digital.)

Smoke & Ears – Joe York’s film short about a Jackson, Mississippi, institution – the pig ear sandwiches at The Big Apple Inn. (Presented in part by Scott Barretta.)

Hill Country Blues Picnic – Enjoy a sampling of Kenny Brown’s now-legendary Hill Country Blues Picnic, filmed in Potts Camp, Mississippi, and featuring several North Mississippi blues favorites.

Selections from Music in the Hall: Volume I – Encore presentation of a new concert film compilation from Oxford, Mississippi, featuring Shannon McNally, Cary Hudson, South Memphis String Band, Kenny Brown, Amy LaVere, Jimbo Mathus’s Mosquitoville and more.

Hard Times – A film by Damien Blaylock and Roger Stolle in which Big George Brock tells his fascinating “Mississippi blues gone North” story through archival photos, live blues performances and contemporary interviews; filmed partly in Clarksdale. Filmmaker Q&A after.

Blues: Mississippi’s Gift to the World – Clarksdale premiere of these wonderful film shorts courtesy of the B.B. King Museum in Indianola, Mississippi.

Falsifyn’ – Greg Sabatino’s rollicking boogie-woogie piano film – shot at Clarksdale’s Ground Zero Blues Club and starring Jerry Lee Lewis, Pinetop Perkins, Marcia Ball and Henry Gray. Introduction/Q&A by the filmmaker.

The Best That Never Was – Jonathan Hock’s stirring story of Philadelphia, Mississippi’s football prodigy Marcus Dupree. Using archival footage and contemporary interviews, The Best That Never Was tells a spine-tingling tale of triumph, failure and redemption. (Recently part of ESPN’s acclaimed “30 For 30” series.) Filmmaker introduction – plus a very special Q&A after featuring Best’s Director of Photography Alastair Christopher and the football star himself – Marcus Dupree.

Saturday also included a tour of "movie" Clarksdale narrated by local historian and author Robert Birdsong:

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

Tom, as he was known then, moved to Clarksdale when he was 3. His maternal grandfather Walter Dakin, the family patriarch, became the rector of St. George's Episcopal Church for sixteen years. Clarksdale provided the tapestry of stories, characters and settings for some of Williams's most memorable plays. The wide green landscapes of the Delta that surround Clarksdale are described by Big Daddy in Cat as "the richest land this side of the Valley Nile". He spent many nights in this house, the rectory of the church:

Rectory is on the Right

Tom wasn't very athletic and to add to his misery his parent dressed him all in white with a blazer and short pants. This led to a memorable 'butt whuppin' he suffered in the yard of this house by the town bully who went on to become the sheriff:

Butt whoppin home...

Robert Birdsong reminded us however that the pen is mightier than the sword as Tennessee used him as the model for 'Brick' in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - a redneck, alcoholic, wife beater with homosexual tenancies.

Finally the tour took us by the Grange Cemetery and this remarkable statue on a grave:

The Angel From Summer & Smoke

Saturday afternoon we took in The Scissormen, the subject of the film, Big Shoes: Walking and Talking the Blues, played an acoustic set at Cat Head. The guitar player, Ted Drozdowski, and his wife were staying at the Shack up INN. He and I spent a lovely sunny morning outside his shack just talkin' and hangin out.

Ted Drozdowski

He and his henchman, drummer Rob Hulsman, played several songs for an appreciative group at the Cat Head Shop. Ted brought out a one stringed guitar and got some pretty cool sounds out of it.

Ted and Rob Hulsman - The Scissormen

Every day of the festival included local restaurants who joined in and played films on their in house video screens that included everything from "The Shawshank Redemption" to "Field of Dreams" and of course "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". My favorite was "Watermelon Slim live at the Ground Zero Blues Club" that was played Saturday night at the Blueberry Cafe followed by a performance by Slim himself:

Owner of The Bluesberry Cafe and Friend

Slim brought the house down with his performance of "And When I die.." which he did with just his harmonica and doing a 'stomp' throughout. Here he is playing slide guitar:

Watermelon Slim - Highway 61

Sunday included some encores of films shown previously and more films at the restaurants. At the end of the 3 days we hated for it to be over! We left Clarksdale with many newly formed friendships and a desire to return soon. The organizers of the film festival intend for it to be an annual event and hopefully grow. If you enjoy film and blues music you really MUST come here next year for the second festival! Tel em' Blue Honey told you about it!

Joe/Dot

The Shack Up Inn - Clarksdale Mississippi

2011-02-03T20:15:00.004-06:00

(Click on any Photo to Enlarge)

Would you shack up with this Guy?!

We did for 3 nights. That's Guy Malvezzi in the picture - loves to talk. He gave up the thrill packed day to day life of an owner of a chain of furniture stores to retire to the life of a carefree B&B (Bed and Beer) owner. Guy and his partner, Bill Talbot, run the most unique hotel you will ever stay at! The Shack Up Inn calls itself the first B&B in Mississippi. Located on Rt. 49 just outside of Clarksdale and about a mile from the Crossroads where Highway 61 and Rt 49 Intersect this one of a kind Hotel is on the grounds of the old Hopson Plantation.

The Commissary for the Hopson Plantation

The Red Headed Irish Girl and I went to Clarksdale for their first film festival (more on that in the next post). Several of the locals recommended the Shack Up Inn as the place to stay. We went there to stay for 1 night and stayed for 3 - we just couldn't leave. This place is a collage that hits you differently depending on where you look and how the sun shines and what your mood is - it's a picture that you can sleep in! The owners have made this place a work of art as much as a hotel and it is beautiful to look at and inspiring and relaxing to stay in. The Shack Up and Cotton Gin Inn consists of rooms in the old cotton gin that are called the 'Bin' rooms because they are rooms made from closing off the old cotton gin bins.

The Cotton Gins

The Hopson plantation was the first place in the US to plant and harvest cotton entirely by machine. This cotton gin was a partnership between them and International Harvester that made the old labor intensive method of cottom farming obsolete and help set in motion the great migrations of Afro-Americans from the south to northern industrial cities looking for work......and they took the Blues with them.
The shacks are refurbished "shotgun" shacks that look dilapidated beyond belief from the outside but inside have been fitted out with comfortable and modern conveniences but retains the feel of an old cabin - as done by a movie set director. Some even have pianos in them if you feel like breaking out in song. Everyone we met while staying there was extremely friendly and it was a very diverse crowd: some guitar players from Nashville, a harmonica player from Arkansas, a baker from Jackson, a whole bunch of duck hunters and possibly a couple there for some "sneak" time.

The Shacks

The place even has its own stage where music takes place during the many festivals in Clarksdale and apparently whenever they might feel like it. Called the "Juke Joint Chapel" it really is an incredible 3d collage that you can walk around in and listen to music on the sound system (Blues of course!) or just meditate with a beer in one of the church pews. The chapel is an ongoing labor of love not to be missed - and they DO serve beer.

The Juke Joint Chapel

The Chapel Bar & Stage

If you don't need a fancy LCD TV (they have tv;s just not ones that take up all of your attention), or sleep in a room that looks like any other motel you have ever been in then this place is for you! They even have guitars in the lobby that you can borrow and take back to your room or sit on the porch for a little woodshedding - I highly recommend the Harmony! Like they say on their FAQ page "The Ritz we ain't" but if you are looking for relaxing get-a-way you cannot beat this place with a stick!

If you go be sure to say HEY to lovely Marc - and tell her Joe/Dot sent you.

Marc

For more infromation or to make reservations go to the web site for the Shack Up Inn: http://www.shackupinn.com/

Me & The Stick at The Lobby

Check back soon for the Film Festival, Blues Trail, and, of course, The Crossroads Entries (We DID find THE crossroads!) all coming within the week on Travels With Blue Honey

Starship Pegasus

2011-01-23T13:42:00.002-06:00

The Starship Pegasus

Off of I-35 south of Dallas on Kinfolk Lane just outside Italy, Texas you will see this starship put down by the entrance to the freeway. Once a restaurant and game room with designs on be a hotel entertainment complex it sits quietly while the new owners try to restore it and get it open as a restaurant again. This is just down the road from Monolithic Domes and was built as a restaurant in 2005 by the dome builder for the previous owner.

We spent an enjoyable hour with the current owner as he explained his hopes for getting it reopened. It's a terrific one of a kind building and we wish him all the luck in the world as this is the kind of building ontheroad lives for!

Aliens from the Pegasus

Originally the Pegasus included these statues in front of it but as the building was abandoned and left to languish beside the road the statues were vandalized. Currently they are stored on the grounds at Monolithic Domes awaiting their return to Pegasus and their homeland.

Big Stick and I rub the Alien's Belly. Fun in many dimensions!

Monolithic Domes

2011-01-22T13:38:00.003-06:00

There are 2 main types of Domes in common use in the US. The Geodesic Dome and the Monolithic Dome. Geodesics are the sectional homes popularized in the writings of Buckminster Fuller. To quote Wikipedia on Geodesics; "A geodesic dome is a spherical or partial-spherical shell structure or lattice shell based on a network of great circles (geodesics) lying on the surface of a sphere. The geodesics intersect to formtriangular elements that have local triangular rigidity and also distribute the stress across the entire structure. When completed to form a complete sphere, it is known as a geodesic sphere. The term "dome" refers to an enclosed structure and should not be confused with non-enclosed geodesic structures such as geodesic climbers found on playgrounds". They can be made of wood or other material and bolted together in sections to form an ultra strong structure.

Karma Dome in Construction

Rounded dome homes survive extremes of weather like hurricanes and other storms better than flat walled boxed structures. They tend to be more efficient to heat and cool (though geodesics like the one above must be carefully shingled or sealed at the many edges). Monolithic domes (I am using the Monolithic term here to describe any formed or poured dome) are usually one formed over a mold and thus one piece - this avoids many edges of the geodesic.

We drove north from Livingston a few weeks ago to Italy Texas, the home of Monolithic Domes. Bruco, the Centipede, is very visible from the freeway between Austin and Dallas.

Bruco the Centipede

Bruco is actually the "factory" where monolithic makes the forms that are inflated and then covered in concrete to make their domes.

We spent the afternoon walking the grounds and looking at the several type of domes they had on the grounds:

This was the main office and had 3 large interior sections several smaller ones.

The main office complex with the rental office dome in the far background:

Chaca Casa

This is Chaca Casa the main home on the grounds next to the office it is the home of the founder of Monolithic Domes Institute, David South.

Living room of Chaca Casa

Chaca Casa is 2 connected domes with about 2400 sq ft of living space. The photo above shows the living room of the main dome with 6 foot windows overlooking a patio and small pond. The kitchen is to the leftt with a connected pantry and office. There is a bedroom to the far left.

The patio. Entrance to the patio is through the foyer between the domes.

Exterior of Living room.

Main Dome Bedroom

The garage at Chaca Casa

The garage was a small dome in front of the porch between the 2 domes. The door to the garage slides horizontally to open and close.

Tri-Dome

This dome was on the grounds but was a privately owned dome and not available for tours. To my way of thinking this is the perfect set-up: A main dome for living/kitchen area, a bedrooms dome for sleeping, and a workshop/studio dome for projects.

Apartments

In addition to the dome factory, offices and training facilities the Monolithic people rent out these small dome as cheap apartments - less than $500 a month including utilities. They have a waiting list.

Back of the Apartments

In addition to the regular apartments there are duplexes.

Pre Fab

They also sell pre-fab cabins ready to be put on a truck and set down anywhere from a mountain top to the seashore. They are not anchored and can be moved at any time.

Cabin Interior

Add some doors and windows, plug it into a power source, and you have viable shelter anywhere.

After seeing these first hand we are still considering domes of some kind for when we settle down and quit wondering. If you see Bruco the Centipede driving south form Dallas be sure to stop in and broaden your horizons!

Corpus Christi

2011-01-12T19:49:00.002-06:00

Rent a Carrier at Corpus Chirsti Beach

The second week of December we went to Corpus Christi to enjoy the beach and visit with my sisters oldest Emily Trumpower, her husband Brad and their son Liam. We spent a couple of days revisiting Port Aransas and Corpus Christi Beach. We were at Port Aransas a few years back when my son graduated from Air Force boot camp. It's a very pleasant town removed from the mainland that still has a small town feel to it. You can drive on the beach here in the off season just like Daytona used to let you do.

D - Jeep Surfin'

There is a county campground on the beach and you can camp out or pull your RV right up to the beach and wake up to the surf. A cheap beach house! Back at Corpus Christi Beach it was 85F and sunny but I was in B&W frame of mind when I looked at the beach.

The Morning Beach

I was seeing everything in a harsh contrast of lines and angles:

Beach Hotel

But then it was off to see Emily and her family.

It was Emily's Birthday on Wed. and Brads on Fri. We visited with them and took them out to dinner for their birthdays to a Mexican Restaurant that they both liked...complete with a Mariachi band! Then we got to babysit Liam while they went out for a few adult beverages. Dorothy loved being "Auntie" to a baby and Liam was about as cute as they come!

A little bit of early Christmas for us!

Tree Statues of Galveston

2011-01-11T15:17:00.005-06:00

Angel

On September 13, 2008 Hurricane Ike made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane near Galvseston Texas. Ike had category 5 hurricane storm surge and winds that extended 120 miles from the center of the storm. Hurricane Ike covered most of the Island in a tidal surge. This tidal surge of salty water led to the deaths of many of the trees on the island as the water saturated their roots. Because of Ike Galveston lost much of its beautiful tree canopy.

Like the best of Americans everywhere the citizens of Galveston refused to allow a disaster to hold them down. They have commissioned sculpture artists to turn the now dead tree trunks into works of art. They have done so at their own expense as government funds were available to cut down the dead trees but not to transform them. Whimsical sculptures have replaced the majestic oaks that once lined many neighborhood streets and shaded homes. Tucked into gardens and nestled in side yards the sculptures are there for the public to enjoy.

The Crane

We heard about these sculptures from another couple we met on the cruise we took from Galveston; Jamie & Pat Edwards. They made some phone calls for us and got some addresses for us to drive to and find the sculptures. What we thought would be an hour side trip turned into an all afternoon walk through the neighborhoods admiring the homes and sculptures. Many of the owners came out and talked to us about their statues and the names they had given to them. My favorite was "Tina":

Tina

Modeled after Tina Turner - who better to survive Hurricane Ike? Second favorite for me was this huge statue of a dog looking out over the iron fence down the street:

Dog

And of course Dorothy's favorite was the Tinman and Toto - which I used for the December Postcard. This is D comforting her friend the Tinman:

Tinman & Toto

To read more about of these remarkable statues go to:

http://www.galveston.com/treesculptures/

The Geisha

Squirrel

Owl & Post

Big Stick & the Aliens

2011-01-06T10:53:00.005-06:00

This is the latest Photo of Big Stick. While traveling in the wilds of central Texas we happened upon this small group of Aliens (Texas is polluted with Aliens!). At first they weren't very friendly but after Big Stick disciplined the one by my shoulder they recognized him as their ultimate master! If you aren't familiar with Big Stick then read the Big Stick page on this blog for the story of how the Big Stick became Big Stick.

Austin Texas

2010-12-27T12:30:00.004-06:00

Let me first say that Texas is very odd....and very big....and very - different. There is incredible opulence in the housing tracts around the big cities. Starter castles here are BIGGER than any place else. Then you move to large ranches. And down the road from your large ranch is a shack that people live in that Appalachians wouldn't keep their pigeons in.

But they got a sense of humor:

I've seen people living in semi trailers parked on a lot like in Jamaica - though not usually with 30 people living in it - and double-wides on a lot with an old sharecroppers cottage falling down on it. Come to think of it there are a lot of old falling down buildings everywhere here - but they turn them into roadhouses (that specialize in either BBQ or Catfish), restaurants, flea markets, or bars. Outside of which there is usually a VERY BIG pickup truck or SUV.

Now that I am a Texan I feel I should get a saddle and a big hat. Maybe develop a drawl - y'all. To further my education in being a Texan it seemed wise to visit the Capitol - Austin. Austin's motto is

(I kid you not) : Keep Austin Weird . That alone was enough to make me go there. The problem was Austin is the only place I have been in Texas that seems normal. It's the rest of Texas that appears to be caught in a warp world somewhere.

That said we were impossibly lucky in being able to visit the lovely and talented Evelyn Burns and her equally lovely and talented husband Bob and their 4 cats.

They graciously showed us around and saw to it that we got to as many of the highlights of Austin that we could. Bob is an executive chef and made certain that we had some mighty fine eats too. We took in the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar and saw some of the terrific art talent in Texas all displayed together and on sale for Christmas. The Red Headed Irish Girl and I cleverly snuck around and acquired Christmas Gifts for each other and family. Each day during the Bazaar musicians with Austin connections played several sets. Different acts performed throughout the day. We were lucky and got to see Sahara Smith:

perform in a small and intimate setting. We bought her Cd afterwards and she autographed it for us.

She writes grown up lyrics and sings in a style reminiscent of Joni Mitchell but yet all her own. She is highly recommended!

Notable among the many artists were:

Richards Kunkel:

Richard produces sculptures cast from molds he finds or makes. Everything he had in his booth was based on a Beatles song or lyric. They were all amazing. Find more of him at:

Wild Flower Pottery Studios.

Also notable were:

Texas Montage Series from Carl & Elisabeth Crum. They are photographers and film makers who had some wonderful photo montage's for sale of the Austin area. They were cut out and collage together to appear 3 dimensional. Though I didn't get to meet Carl, Elisabeth spent several minutes talking with us about their work and encouraging the on theroadphoto trip. Check out the montages if you are looking for some really unique wall hangings.

Bungled Jungle from Pat Landreth & Suzanne Montano. There is really no way to describe these things. Sculptures from a "paper mache - like process" of strange beasts that have never existed in nature. They are wonderfully imaginative mobiles, statues, and various other kinds of sculptures. Scary and funny they remind of some of the best 60's cartoons come alive!

The next day we made a trip to pay our respects to the Stevie Ray Vaughn Statue by the river (though they call it a Lake - WTF?):

That's him casting his giant shadow all over Austin and the music world. How much of sin is it that he isn't in the R&R Hall of Fame? Aside from my belief that you cannot institutionalize anarchy (which is what R&R is) I will never even consider setting foot in that place until they have admitted SRV. Course he won't be able to play at the 'jam' maybe that why they don't consider him. The R&R HOF is a sick joke.

Later Evelyn took us to Muller's BBQ for what Bob considers the best BBQ he has tasted. This was the place that SRV and his brother Jimmy shot the poster for 'Family Style' at and they have a copy of the poster framed and mounted to the wall next to the largest collection of business cards I have ever seen. Yes I added the ontheroadphoto card to it!

Lower right hand corner of the bulletin board 3d up from the bottom. Wishin I had taken the photo of the Vaughn brothers. Texas BBQ is not like the BBQ I am used to where the sauce is the key. Texas BBQ is cooked for a long period in a smoke house and covered in spices and whatever (the rub) and the meat is the thing. Sauce don't matter. With that in mind this WAS the best BBQ I have ever tasted. The meat was incredible and unbelievably tender and tasty. You mustn't miss this if you ever get to the Austin area!

Adhering to the "Keep Austin Weird" mantra the people of Congress Ave. appear to be locked into a state of mind. Where else would you find a cowboy riding a Bunny Rabbit:

Or a costume shop with a 12 foot tall statue of a Zebra dressed as Carmen Miranda:

Or a taco stand as a shrine to Maria:

And of course the Austin Motel celebrating....a finger? or a ...well...the obvious?

I'm pretty sure I smelled the distinct aroma of Herb on the streets...or maybe they don't really need it.

Austin is a place to come back to.