Monday, December 31, 2012

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Tuba Skinny From New Orleans en San Cristobal Chiapas


It took some looking but I found them in Chiapas in Mexico...San Cristobal

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Walgreens Surveillance Video of Mobile Alabama Tornado Havoc

Historic high school damaged by tornado

Tornado Aftermath in Mobile, Alabama

Tornado Aftermath at Murphy High School In Mobile, AL


This is where I went to high school in Mobile Alabama. I graduated in 1958. It was hard hit by a tornado on Christmas Day 2012.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Rattatouille en charge chez le café de la Galerie Lafayette!! :-)


I like the 6th floor cafeteria at the Galleries Lafayette Department store in Paris very much. Not so much after finding this video.
I went looking for a good video of the cafeteria on Youtube and this was all I found.
This area is where the ice cream is doled out. Seems mice are everywhere.
Merry Christmas Day to all.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Pronouncing 'Treme'


Really good info on New Orleans and their way of speaking.

Shaye Cohn In The Beginning Before Tuba Skinny



That is Shaye Cohn in the picture above. She plays 4 instruments. Mostly a real hot cornet with the band tuba skinny. But she was in Mucca Pazza in 2006 on accordion.
And in 2005  played in a band called Dead Man Street Orchestra. See below.
Dead Man Street Orchestra in 2005. Shaye and this band rode freight trains.
http://us.myspace.com/streetorchestra

Link below is to a good interview with Shaye and somethings about what she eats and what she does not eat.
http://www.offbeat.com/2010/01/01/shaye-cohn-hits-the-spot/

Click on the name Shaye Cohn in the Labels Box below to read much more about Shaye Cohn.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Mucca Pazza @ Empty Bottle, Chicago 06/02/07


I had to look for this but I found it. That is Shaye Cohn on accordion in Chicago 2007.
As much as I have always liked Mucca Pazza I think Shaye is making much better music
these days with Tuba Skinny in New Orleans.

Lily Of The Valley - New Orleans Naughties with Shaye Cohn On Piano In Japan

Tuba Skinny with Shaye Cohn playing Piano - "Blue and Lonesome" - Spott...

Tuba Skinny on Frenchmen Street in New Orleans


The great Shaye Cohn and Erika Lewis and Tuba Skinny doing Crow Jane.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Very Clear Live Web Cams From Venice Italy

These are very clear live web cams from Venice Italy.
Life without automobiles.
http://www.earthtv.com/en/camera-destination/venice-italy

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Tuba Skinny in Mexico December 2012


After looking and looking I finally found a video on Youtube of them in Mexico.
Just made a few days ago. Hooray!

Axel Kustner Blues Man From Germany


I met Axel in 1978. He is a blues critic and writer and photographer from Germany. I have other posts on this blog about him. Click on the picture above to enlarge it. Good link below to good blues material and info on Axel Kustner. Click on the name Axel Kustner in the Labels box below to find other posts on here about him. He is also a record producer.
http://sundayblues.org/archives/tag/axel-kustner

That is Big Joe Williams in the picture above. Click on it to enlarge it. That picture was taken in Crawford, Mississippi.
Axel took that picture in Sept. 1978. See my posts on Axel and Big Joe and going to Muscle Shoals to record by clicking on the Label Axel Kustner.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Friday, December 14, 2012

"I'm Ray Barboni from Miami"


This is a  scene from the movie GET SHORTY. The movie is a black comedy. John Travolta is in it. He plays Chili Palmer. The movie is made from a book of the same name by Elmore Leonard.
   Look at the post above this one for the movie trailer. As you can see from the movie trailer this is a comedy.
For those who have seen the movie they will understand the scene.
But for those who have not seen the movie taken out of context the scene doesnt make much sense.
Ray Barboni has come from Miami looking for Leo Devoe, Chili Palmer and also money that is owed to him.
Harry Zimm is a movie director who owes money to loan sharks.
Chili Palmer is the collector for the loan sharks.
Chili Palmer played by John Travolta has tried to teach Harry Zimm to say "Look at me" in a menacing way.
But when Harry Zimm tries that line on a tired Ray Barboni(a real tough guy)all hell breaks loose.
That is what is funny about this scene.  Saying the wrong words to a tired Ray Barboni from Miami.

The above is a  scene with Ray Barboni(Bones) from Miami. And the movie director Harry Zimm.
The actor playing Ray Barboni is now on TV doing commericials for XFinity(Comcast).

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Walter Hopps (2005)



Walter Hopps on art.




Speech given at the Santa Monica Museum of Art.



Walter Hopps died on March 20, 2005 at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.



Hopps was one of the original owners of the Ferus Gallery which was the first gallery to show Warhol's Soup Cans in 1962 and during the same year he organized what is generally regarded as the first Pop exhibition in a museum, New Painting of Common Objects, at the Pasadena Art Museum (now the Norton Simon Museum). The following year he organized the first U.S. retrospective of Marcel Duchamp at the same museum.



Marcel Duchamp - In His Own Words (Part 2)

Marcel Duchamp - In His Own Words (Part 3)

Marcel Duchamp - In His Own Words (Part 1)


The other parts of this are available on Youtube.

Monday, December 10, 2012

The Cool School: LA Look

The Cool School - Official Trailer

The Cool School: a 5 Minute Clip

Jacques(Jack)Morgan One Cool Dude



Click on the above picture of Jacques(Jack Morgan) to enlarge it.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=jacques-r-morgan&pid=161368670#fbLoggedOut

What I have to say about Jack I posted on the comments section in the link above
and also in the link down below. I liked the guy. So did so many other people. In a cut throat business like used books he was something special. We had lots of characters in the used books and records game and Jack was one of the best. He stood out. You could not miss that pony tail. And he was always in a hurry.
In a way he personifies the best of the used book dealer trade. I did not go to his store often but I saw him at every used book sale in the D.C. area for over 30 years. He will be missed. And if you read the comments you will see many other people say the same thing.

One thing that stands out about his Washington Post obituary is how is it that a used book dealer got such a large obituary in The Washington Post. It was a very large photo and an obit almost half a page.
It is nice to see The Post do something like that for a local "character".

Jack just died. He was a cool guy. You can tell by the comments from his friends in the links above and below.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/jacques-morgan-opinionated-bookstore-owner-dies-at-62/2012/12/08/2d890c62-3ef9-11e2-bca3-aadc9b7e29c5_story.html

Friday, December 7, 2012

JJ Johnson & Kai Winding: The Shrike (aka Conversation)

Bob Dylan Freewheelin' Jigsaw Puzzle


Click on the picture to enlarge it.

I saw this in the music section of a local Barnes and Noble Bookstore. I found it distressing and depressing.
I know all kinds of crap like coffee mugs and t shirts and other junk are sold at bobdylan.com

But a Jigsaw Puzzle?
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/toys-games-rediscover-jigsaw-puzzles-bob-dylan-the-free-wheelin/25315340

I don't see any Woody Guthrie jigsaw puzzle for sale on there.

1954 Cotton Bowl: Dicky Maegle - Tommy Lewis Tackle Play

AT&T Cotton Bowl Greatest Moments: (A) The Bench Tackle of 1954

Honeymoon - Anacapri, Italy (Chapter 55)

Capri, Italy. Lara Noack talks on video about the wonderful experience o...

Bikini Beach in Sicily..... Taormina and Giardini Naxos Beach


This is one of my favorite videos of Taormina. They go to Giardini Naxos Beach. They have lunch and on the way back up the mountain their scooter has a flat and they have to climb all the way back up. The female goes up like a mountain goat but the guy is really huffing and puffing.
At Giardini Naxos Beach in 2007 we had a very good time. I saw hawkers selling watches and CDs and DVS and sunglasses. Also an Asian woman came by offering massages.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Greek Islands part two "HYDRA & AEGINA"


I really like this one for the tourists dealing with a local dealer on Hydra.

Greek Islands part one "HYDRA"

HELLAS... ''HYDRA'' ISLAND INTO ARGOSARONIC GOLF

Poros, Hydra and Aegina


I made this journey in August of 1964. And Hydra was the place I went swimming
in the Aegean sea.

Chet Baker Quartet 1954 ~ Line For Lyons

The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Blue Rondo A La Turke

PAUL DESMOND-I Get a Kick Out of You

Desmond Blue.... Paul Desmond

Dave Brubeck Quartet - Jazz Pour Tous in Belgium With Paul Desmond

Paul Desmond Take Ten (Full Album)

Dave Brubeck - Take Five ( Original Video)

Take 5 Brubeck And Paul Desmond

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Big Think Interview With Robert Stone

General Jesse Reno And Major Marcus Reno

Jesse L. Reno.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_L._Reno


Major Marcus Reno
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Reno

Books That Shaped America

I saw a local tv program last night about an exhibit at The Library Of Congress called  Books That Shaped America. It was a long interesting explanation of why some books are on the list and why books are not. Here is a list of the books.
http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/books-that-shaped-america/Pages/SlObjectList.aspx

Click on the link above and then click on the HTML version for best viewing.

 Or just click on the link below to go directly to the HTML version.
http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/books-that-shaped-america/Pages/objectlist.aspx

Monday, December 3, 2012

Bob Dylan - Biography - part 1


Click on the video to go to youtube to watch the other parts 2 thru 6.

Ennio Morricone - Greatest Hits

Friday, November 30, 2012

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

The Case Of The Missing Turkeys At The Washington Plaza Hotel

Click on the picture above to enlarge it.

This is a story about some missing turkeys at The Washington Plaza Hotel back in the day.
This happened sometime around 1988 or so.

The hotel used to give a Christmas party for all the employees with free food and drink. And that included alcoholic beverages. There was always a jolly good time with music and dancing. But some of the help drank too much and would argue over who was going to dance with who. Sometimes this would lead to fights.
Plus the management became worried about liability of those driving home intoxicated. I know one engineer was drunk enough to get a DUI on his way home to Virginia.

So the Christmas parties were cancelled and word went out that all employees would receive a free turkey for Christmas instead.


These were frozen turkeys to be kept in a freezer across from the Security Office located by the employee entrance and exit.  
 The Security Officers were to hand out the turkeys and get the person to sign for them or in some cases sign for the person receiving the turkey. So far so good.
Except.    Lo and Behold we ran out of turkeys before everyone received one.
Turns out some of the Security Officers were giving them out to their friends outside the hotel and
maybe to friendly cab drivers who stopped by.
Maybe some took more than one turkey. Who knows?
It was quite an embarassment to the management and to the Director of Security. But more turkeys must have been acquired and the incident was soon forgotten.


\

Victor/Victoria -- (Movie Clip) Gay Paree


Well worth watching on Youtube. Robert Preston singing Gay Paree from the movie
Victor/Victoria.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Tuba Skinny in New Orleans 4.7.12



True New Orleans.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Paula Broadwell And General Petraeus First They Were Embedded Together Then They Went ALL IN



ALL IN
The Education Of General David Petraeus
Well I should say so.

You can't make this stuff up.
http://www.amazon.com/All-In-Education-General-Petraeus/dp/1594203180

Now another General becomes implicated in this soap opera scandal.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/twists-petraeus-case-another-general-accused-inappropriate-emails-162656131.html

One lesson from this so far is don't let a General anywhere near a computer keyboard.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Jazz Funeral of Percy Humphrey, New Orleans July 1995

EUREKA BRASS BAND


This is the Eureka Brass Band around 1950.  The video above this one is for the funeral of the leader of the Eureka Brass Band Percy Humphrey.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_brass_band
The video below about the movie The Cincinnati Kid has the Eureka Brass Band playing a Jazz Funeral in the
opening credit sequence.

The Cincinnati Kid Full Movie






This is a link to info on Jazz Funerals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_funeral
You can watch the full movie via the link below. My friend Jack Newell and I worked as extras in this film in Jan. 1965 when it was being filmed in New Orleans.
Click on the label The Cincinnati Kid in the Labels box below for more posts I have written about this.

And look for Jack and me over on the sidewalk at 3:33 in the video. We are the only two white people there. MGM was very good about paying all the people who appeared in that opening credit sequence.
They fed us meals three times a day during the filming. The opening credit sequence with the band playing after the funeral and marching was filmed on a Sunday morning. They had given us a breakfast of coffee and pastries. Doughnuts and maybe more. Then while they filmed that scene over and over many in the crowd  and those dancing enjoyed some adult beverages. So each take got better and better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUvHOhLg9ig&feature=related

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

The Cocktail Waitress By James M. Cain



I just finished reading this book. It was written many years ago and Cain has been dead for many years but someone found this old manuscript and published it.

It is clearly not as good as his early novels like The Postman Aways Rings Twice and Mildred Pierce and Double Indemnity but being by James M. Cain it is worth reading.

James M. Cain like Patricia Highsmith often tells his stories from the point of view of the bad guy or the bad girl. In this case it is not clear whether the girl is good or bad.
I suppose the novel Crime And Punishment is like that also.

I was interested in this book also because it is set in Hyattsville, Maryland. He mentions a few real places like Prince Georges Plaza and a nightclub called The Wigwam.

Above is a nice picture of The Wigwam when it was a bar and restaurant. Looks like sometime
in the 1950s or 1960s.

 Click on the picture to enlarge it. It was on Route 301 in Waldorf, Maryland. Later it became a bakery and just recently it was demolished.

Cain lived the last  years of his life in Hyattsville Maryland.  He admitted it was a mistake to leave California which was the inspiration for his best work.

This book has a very unusual ending which I will not give away.
But it ends with the reader knowing something the character in the book does not know.
Something that will happen in the future. I have never read another novel with such an unusual twist at the
ending.

Read more about the book and James M. Cain here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/long-lost-james-m-cain-novel-published/2012/09/27/dd1046c4-074e-11e2-858a-5311df86ab04_story.html

Monday, November 5, 2012

Tuba Skinny - Broken Hearted Blues


This is tuba skinny. They are my favorite band.  They play traditional New Orleans music and old blues
songs. See more in the posts below this one.
http://tubaskinny.blogspot.com/

Tuba Skinny - "Six Feet Down" - "Live at the Hive" 6-24-2011



Eddie Hunter told me that he saw tuba skinny on Treme on HBO. I looked it up. The band plays this song.
Six Feet Down. And Broken Hearted Blues.
http://www.nola.com/treme-hbo/index.ssf/2012/11/treme_explained_promised_land.html

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara - 1


Go to youtube to watch full screen. The other 10 lessons are also available
on youtube.
Robert S. McNamara. The S. stood for Strange. He was certainly that. In
this documentary he quotes T.S. Eliot. A Defense Department Secretary
quoting T.S. Eliot  is as strange as it gets.

"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."    T.S. Eliot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_McNamara


 
   

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Two Eugenes I Once Knew Eugene Walter And Eugene J Martin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Walter

Above is the entry on Eugene Walter. I met him in Rome in the summer of 1964. My mother was a friend of Annie Lou White who was Eugene's English and French teacher at Murphly High School in Mobile, Alabama.
   When I was going to Europe in the summer of 1964 she gave me Eugene's address in Rome. She must have written him a letter telling him I might stop by to see him because he welcomed me and gave me a good tip on a cheap nearby hotel.
   I was lucky that he was in Rome and at home and not too busy.
The apartment building he lived in at number 18 Corso Emmanuel in Rome was also home to Leontyne Price. He had gotten her the apartment under his to use when she came to Rome to record for RCA Victor.

When I knocked on his door on the top floor I had passed her apartment on the way up. She was originally from Laurel, Mississippi. Eugene and I were from nearby Mobile, Alabama. Still at the tender young age of
24 I was amazed how Southerners get around.

I knocked on Eugene's door. He answered and led me through a room filled with fake trees from some opera set.

He was very friendly and we had a chat and he showed me his terrace where he grew his garden.
  I went off to my hotel and later in the week he took me to dinner in the apartment of Linda Christian.
Some man was staying there. She was not a home. But there were stacks and stacks of her autobiography or biography in the apartment.

I drank so much wine I had to sleep there that night. Eugene took off.
I dropped by to see Eugene before I headed off to Greece at the end of the week.
He gave my a copy of the Transatlantic Review of which he was an editor.
He also told me to read Henry Miller's Colossus of Maroussi which he said was the best travel book in English about Greece.

I mentioned to him that Hamilton Basso described the relationships in the South of the USA where everyone seems to be related as a bundle of fish hooks. Eugene was not impressed with Hamilton Basso.

I was very lucky to meet Eugene Walter when he was still young.

Annie Lou White was keeping Eugene's book collection for him while he was in Europe. She showed some of them to me. I remember he had some William Faulkner first editions.  The first I had ever seen.

Mobile is justly proud of Eugene Walter. In years to come he will be remembered right up there with Madam Octavia Walton Levert.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_J._Martin

Eugene Martin I knew in Washington D.C. I think Bill Mckenzie introduced me to him. Eugene Martin a
very quiet nice man. I published one of his drawings in the magazine we were doing back in 1967,1968,1969.
It is nice to find on Youtube that he went on to bigger and better things.

In the videos below you will find out more on Eugene Martin and Eugene Walter.
The picture of Eugene Martin sitting on a bench in Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. is what he
looked like in 1969 and when I knew him. Dupont Circle was two blocks from where we lived.
It is also about 4 blocks from  The Phillips Art Museum. And the same distance to the location of The Washington Gallery of Modern Art where Walter Hopps was director in 1967 before moving on in 1970 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art as Director.
Click on the labels below for more info on these people.


Artist Eugene J. Martin's 1993 art exhibit in Asheville N.C.

Artist Eugene J. Martin's 1992 Art Exhibit in the Horace Williams House,...

Marie Vinouze interviews Washington D.C. gallerist Jane Haslem about art...

Eugene Walter-"Cholesterol"

Eugene Walter-1921-1998

On the Record: Eugene Walter

EUGENE WALTER: Last of the Bohemians

The Happy Table of Eugene Walter

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Eugene Martin, Frank Gehry, George Ohr - A Great Concept



I knew Eugene Martin in Washington D.C. back  in 1968/69. He was a nice quiet fellow. There is much more about Eugene Martin on Youtube.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Best New Orleans street musician I've seen


Almost 2 million people have viewed this on youtube.
Click on the video to go to youtube and see it full screen.
See below posts for more good tuba skinny videos.

Tuba Skinny - Jail Bird Love Song



This video was done on Martha's Vineyard.

Tuba Skinny - I Can't Spend His Dollar Like I Spend His Dime

Tuba Skinny - I'm Going Back Home

Tuba Skinny - Hear Me Talking To Ya

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Tuba Skinny in New Orleans And As For Me I Was Born Too Soon



We all know people who think they were born too late. I am beginning to think I
was born too soon.
When we lived in New Orleans in 1965 and 1966 there were no street bands like
Tuba Sknny playing in and around the French Quarter.
I first went to New Orleans in 1955 and was in an out of there off and on through
1980. Never did I ever see any street bands like Tuba Skinny and the others that
can now be found on the streets and the clubs in and around the French Quarter
and on Youtube.

Apparently they all appeared in the years after Hurricane Katrina.
Tuba Skinny was formed in 2009 and I have been following them on Youtube
ever since.  They have now been together 3 years. They play in and around New
Orleans in the winter months. In the summer they take off for Europe Jazz Festivals
and then return to play summer gigs in New England and in and around New York City.
Then they return to New Orleans in the Fall each year.

In 1965 and 1966 and on up into the 1980s the older traditional jazz musicians
were dying off or were already dead in New Orleans.
Now out of nowhere there have appeared young white musicians not just playing
traditional New Orleans jazz and blues but playing it exceedlingly well.
A miracle has happened. The torch has been passed to people like the singer for Tuba Skinny
Erika Lewis and the leader and cornet player of Tuba Skinny Shaye Cohn.

Click on the  label tuba skinny in the label box below for more of my posts about them and also
more of their youtube videos.

There is a new birth of jazz going on in New Orleans. It is being played by young muscians. I think
I was born too soon. But I am glad I lived long enough to see and hear it.
Read all about them in the link below.
http://tubaskinny.blogspot.com/

Monday, October 22, 2012

Parc Monceau, Paris, France


This person makes the best videos all over Paris. He has tons of them on YouTube.
Look on youtube for many more by him. Just click on his name above the video.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

The Cocktail Waitress And A Good Interview With The Late Author James M. Cain


Click on the above picture to enalrge it.
More on James M. Cain and his book Cocktail Waitress.
Good interview with Cain in the link below.
http://www.pulpserenade.com/2011/09/james-m-cain-discusses-cocktail.html

And click on the label James M.Cain in the Labels box below to see my other posts
on James M. Cain and his writing.







Tuesday, October 16, 2012

James M. Cain And The Cocktail Waitress

New Book by Cain. Click to enlarge the photo.

James M. Cain. Click to enlarge.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/long-lost-james-m-cain-novel-published/2012/09/27/dd1046c4-074e-11e2-858a-5311df86ab04_story.html

Link above is to a good article on Cain.


Still from Double Indemnity. Fred McMurray is the sap. The patsy. The fool lusting after Barbara Stanwyck.
Click on the photo to enlarge it.

It was a real revelation reading Cain for the first time. When I picked up THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE and read the first sentence I could not put it down until I finished the book.
Cain knew how to grab you and not let you go.

He made a big mistake moving back to Maryland and Hyattsville, Maryland. Nobody is interested in fiction set in Hyattsville, Maryland no matter how good it is.

LA sells and Hollywood really sells.  There is not much there there in Hyattsville. Who cares what a waitress in Hyattsville does or does not do? Nobody that's who.

Cain wrote for the movies and his books read just like a movie. They are that direct and visual. The dialogue is as realistic as you can get. He was fascinated with the way people really speak. Working class people talking street talk.

People reading Cain for the first time don't know what to make of his style. Is he a first rate fiction writer or is he a pulp fiction writer or is he both?

What he is is very entertaining. A master of his craft. Just like Patricia Highsmith, and Raymond Chandler, and Hammett.

I wanted to go visit him in Hyattsville back in 1968 and 1969 and never got around to it. But from what I have learned of him and his life at that time it might have been a bad time to try to visit him with his health failing and his wife dying.
I suspect he was a quiet man who did not want to be bothered. He was a real writer. He lived his life on paper. And even though he thought his life was not interesting his books sure were.

I have other posts on the blog about James M. Cain. Check them out. Click on the label James M.Cain in the Labels box below.




Friday, October 12, 2012

The Veiled Nun At The Corcoran Gallery Of Art Washington D.C.

http://collection.corcoran.org/collection/work/veiled-nun

This is my favorite piece of art at the Corcoran in D.C. Click on the picture to enlarge it. And then read about it in the link above. But to get the full effect it needs to be seen in person. You can see through the marble veil to see her marble face.  I always pay her a visit when I go to the Corcoran.

The Corcoran is hurting for money and they may have to sell the building and/or the Collection.
The biggest problem is they are charging 10 dollars admission in a city that is full of free museums.

Back in the 1960s and 1970s there was no admission fee.

The adjacent Corcoran Art School is doing fine. One suggestion that sounded good to me is save the old historic beautiful building by turning the whole building into the Art School. Mark Power made that suggestion. He wrote an article for the Washington Post about that.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Hapuna Beach Where Have All The Hippies Gone?


This is where Jerry slept on the beach for three weeks back in 1970. See my post below this one for the
full story. Hippies camped out here back then. Looks like they are all gone.
Click on the video to go to YouTube and watch full screen.

Some Of Jerry's Good Stories About Hapuna Beach Hawaii 1970


Jerry likes to talk. He likes to tell stories and often he talks endlessly. But some of his stories are good.
He doesn't write them down and he doesn't use a computer. He just likes to talk. He weighs about 450 pounds. He is a good natured fellow with a sweet disposition.

He likes to tell stories of when he was young and on the road.

He traveled over much of the USA and Mexico with his parents on their vacations when he was growing up.
He has been to India three times and he likes to go often to Virginia Beach. But when he was younger he traveled with friends to the west coast and Alaska and then on by himself to Hawaii.

When he left Alaska it was getting cold. Real cold. Winter was coming in fast. He decided to fly to Hawaii while he still had the money to do so. He flew to Seattle and got a ticket to the Big Island. They stopped in Honolulu long enough to have the plane cleaned and then headed out to the Big Island. There were only about 5 people onboard. The flight attendents had plenty of time to talk to the passengers. One of them told him to rent a car in Hilo and drive around to the other side of the island to a place called Hapuna Beach. This was back around 1970 and hippies still were allowed to live on the beach there at that time.

So Jerry took her advice. He rented a car and drove around the island arriving at Hapuna Beach late at night.
He went down to the beach and went to sleep. When he woke up a young woman was standing over him. She said you must have arrived last night. Come on over to our camp and have some breakfast.
So began Jerry's 3 weeks on Hapuna Beach. He lived there on the beach and never had to spend any money.  
   There was a college professor there from some midwestern US school. He was sort of a philosopher who had dropped out, tuned in, and turned on. He would not tell anyone his name. He said, "Call me H". That  was what he was called by everyone. Just "H".

He worked part time killing sharks to earn enough money to live the rest of the year without working.

One day Jerry decided to write a letter to one of his brothers telling him where he was and what he was doing.  Jerry was sitting at a picnic table writing this letter when one of the hippie types came up to him and asked him what he was doing. Jerry told him. The guy said I dont think you should tell anybody about this place. They must find it on their on.  He didn't want anymore people showing up. He wanted to keep the place a secret.

I have looked at photos and videos of Hapuna beach. It is indeed one of the most beautiful beaches in the USA.   I don't think it has changed much. It is still a state park and has been kept undeveloped.

Hotels near that area are very expensive. But Jerry was lucky. He hit it at just the right time. He lived there 3 weeks rent free living on the beach. I wonder if H is still there. I doubt it.
Even some of the old Hawaii Five O episodes from around that time of 1969/1970 show hippies living on the beaches. I think there are still hippies living in remote areas inland today.

When Jerry had just enough money to fly to LA he left and headed home to Virginia. He hitch hiked all the way across country. Leaving LA he was picked up by a van full of hippies. It was dark and he could not see the people in the back of the van. They were real friendly and one of the girls in the back came forward to offer him food. She said "Here have something to eat".
And Jerry said one other thing about her. He said she was totally nude. She did not have on a stitch of clothes.

That was what life was like back in the 1960s and early 1970s. It all ended around 1975 when the Vietnam war ended. The country had been driven nuts from 1965 to 1975 by the Vietnam War and the draft. As soon as the war ended and the draft ended everything changed and all the protests stopped. The 1960s were finally over. It was the draft that caused all the protests. Now we have a war entering the 11th year. And no protests against it.  The Pentagon has learned they dont need to draft people anymore. So not a protest in sight here in Washington D.C.

More Jerry stories to follow. Stay tuned.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Some More Stories From A Former Hotel Detective Or House Dick As They Used To Be Known






Click on the picture above to enlarge them.
The link below is to some good info on Hotel Detectives.
http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/behind-closed-doors

I was lucky enough to be a Hotel Detective at one of the very best hotels in Washington, D.C. It is the Shoreham Hotel. It has been a landmark in Washington, D.C. since it was built in 1929. It was an upper class hotel back then with riding stables and a full service garage and service station in the underground parking garage. Rudy Vallee came down from New York for the grand opening in 1929.

Later Bob Hope used Suite B120 every time he came to Washington D.C. as his home away from home.
The New York Yankees used to stay there when they came to town to play the Washington Senators. But that was before my time.

By the time I went to work at The Shoreham it had become a convention hotel. Back in the old days there was no need for a security force. I was told back in the old days there was only one House Detective(or House Dick) and he was an old friend of the owner. The hotel orignally was also an apartment hotel and even when I went to work there in 1977 there were still a handful of permanent residents.

     #1: Someone was breaking in the pinball machines in the Game Room and stealing all the money.
This was in 1977 before the advent of more modern electronic games.
I decided to catch whoever it was. We had been patrolling the area but it was located in a remote room at the end of a remote corridor.
One night I went in a saw that a machine had been broken into. I walked back toward the Lobby and came to a Men's Room at the end of that corridor. I went in and saw no one. But my wife had told me that Columbo (the TV detective played by the actor Peter Falk) always got down on his hands and knees to look for things and get a better view. So I knelt down and looked under the stalls. I saw several stacks of quarters and the bottom of two legs. Someone was stacking up the quarters and counting them.
So I said to the person come out. It was a teenager.  He admitted breaking in the machines. I found out he was staying in the hotel with his parents. So went up to their room and I explained the situation to them.
I did write a report but I dont think we bothered to call the police. His parents said they would make sure it would not happen again.

#2. When I came to work one day at the Shoreham the boss showem me a box of what looked like costume jewelery and asked me if I knew anything about it. I told him no.
  One of the guys from the night before had left it in his desk thinking it was cotume jewelry. It had been turned in by the Chipnese Banquet waiter named Chang. Chang told him if there was a reward he wanted it.
It had been left at a party the night before.
   Later that evening I got a call from a man from Philadelphia, Pa.  He said his wife had lost some jewelry and was worth ten thousand dollars. He wanted us to send it to him. I told him no he would have to come and get it and prove it was his and sign for it.   He said he would come down on the train the next day.

I told the night security who had received it from Chang and put it in the desk of the boss what had happened.  He said why did I tell the man we had it. He said he could use that money. He was an active duty Marine by the way.
I left it at that. I must have also told the boss what was going on with this found property.
The next day I learned the man had come down and given a large reward to the Marine who claimed he found it. And the Marine gave nothing to Chang. Well Chang got wind of what had happened and complained to the Boss and the Hotel Manager.   After everything came out Chang got some money and the Marine was fired.


More stories to follow soon. Stay tuned.




I worked in hotels before the advent of security cameras. We did not have any. And even if we did there are simply too many places where cameras could not be used. We had to patrol the whole propery.
Mostly what we did at the Shoreham was do whatever we were asked to do by management. We had a bunch of old retired military and retired cops working there. Sometimes they hired young guys who went on to become full time cops.

  At Washington Plaza they hired a quite a few retired old guys from the Old Soldiers Home. The official name is The Soldiers and Airmen Home in Washington D.C.
It was built before the Civil War. The money for it came from a fine General Winfield Scott(old Fuss and Feathers)imposed on the defeated Mexicans after the war with Mexico. The fined them 150,000 dollars. The money was used to build the Old Soldiers Home in Washington D.C.
   I visited that place several times. It is a real interesting place. Read about it below.
http://www.defense.gov/specials/heroes/history1.html




Thursday, October 4, 2012

Why Did The Dentist Slip And Fall On The Marble Floor In The Hallway Of The Shoreham Hotel?

Click on the picture to enlarge it. That is the lobby of the Shoreham Hotel in Washington D.C.
In the picture above note the white marble columns. Also note the marble floors. The incident described below took place in the hallway seen at the far right in back of the picture above.
http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/WashingtonDCShoreham.aspx

Another one of the first reports I took as a Security Officer at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington D.C. back in 1977 was about a man who had slipped and fallen and hurt himself on the marble floor in the hallway.

We had a convention of about 10,000 dentists at the hotel. The place was packed and I got a call that a man had fallen and hurt himself. I went to take the report. The man was still lying on the marble floor next to a marble column. He told me he had slipped on the wet floor. I could see that water had dripped down the marble column and collected on the almost white marble floor making the water almost invisible and hard to see..

The man was a dentist and he had fallen and injured his wrist and arm. He was with his wife and another man. I asked if he wanted me to call an ambulance. He said no as I recall and that his wife and friend who was his lawyer would drive him to the hospital.

I later found out he was hurt badly enough that he could not work as a dentist. I don't know how much money he got from the hotel's insurance company but I bet it was quite a bit.

Watch out for wet floors.

Who Took The Seifrizii Palm Tree From The Lobby Of The Shoreham Hotel?



The first report I took as a Security Officer at the Shoreham Hotel back in 1977 was on a report of a stolen palm tree. It was by the man who worked for the company that supplied the indoor palm trees to the hotel.
He called to say he was missing a palm tree. I went to the Lobby to meet him. I asked him what kind of palm tree it was. He replied that it was a "Seifrizii Palm Tree". I asked him how to spell that name and took the report. Later we got a call from Housekeeping that a maid had found a palm tree in one of the rooms
upstairs. I went up and got the small plam tree and brought it back down to the Lobby.
Some happy and drunken guest had taken it upstairs and put it in the room of one of his friends.


"Bamboo Palm: It is a multi-trunk plant which is ideally suited for wide spaces in your house or office. It can grow to about 8 - 10 feet tall and 5 - 7 feet wide, making it an ideal plant to use as a partition or a screen in your interior designing plans. It is ideally suited for indoor use, as the plant thrives in shade conditions. Scientific name 'Chamaedorea seifrizii', the bamboo palm needs a little looking after, as it might get infested with pests like spider mites because of its dense leafy characteristics. It is one of the most sought after palm tree because of its dense green appearance."

.Bamboo Palm Tree - Chamaedorea seifrizii




"The Large Bamboo Palm (Chamaedorea seifrizii) originates from Southeast Asia, but can now be found abundantly throughout Central America. The Bamboo Palm goes by many other common names such as Bamboo Palm, Reed Palm, Clustered Parlor Palm, and Cane Palm. It has a deep green color to the stalk and thin to thick-feathery leaves. With the proper amount of water the Bamboo Palm can grow rapidly to an average height of 10 to 15 feet. There are many species belonging to the Chamaedorea family but by far the Chamaedorea seifrizii is the most seen. When situated in the right environment the Bamboo Palm can flourish and bring good luck and fortune to your home or office."







Tuesday, October 2, 2012

A Tribute to Mort Sahl



http://mortsahl.com/

Mort Sahl's LP albums were very important to me when I was in college. Later I collected every one of the LP records shown in the video above.
I also saw him in one of his college appearances back in 1971. He was always funny. And I learned a great deal from him.
He was a real Iconoclast.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Iconoclasts: Sean Penn and Jon Krakauer Part 1



Go to YouTube to find Part 2.

Into The Wild - Theatrical Trailer


I just re read the book this movie is based on. 

Read the book then see the movie. 

Then go to Youtube and look at all the related videos. There is one with an interview with his father. One with an interview done with his mother. Both done at the site of their son's death at the old school bus out in the wilderness of Alaska.

   Chris is a hero to many and considered a fool by many. He went into the wilderness unprepared and
unwilling to listen to older wiser heads who could have taught him.

Chris McCandless reminds me a great deal of Jim Morrison. Both grew up in the wilderness of the Washington, D.C. suburbs. Chris in Annandale, Va. and Jim Morrison in Alexandria, Va. Both had hard driving highly successful fathers. Morrison's father was a Navy Admiral. Chris's father was a NASA scientist.  Both had "Daddy Issues". And extended that to society issues.
Both Chris and Jim chose a path that led to self destruction.
They never had a chance to grow up.
I saw Morrison and the Doors at the Alexandria Rollerrink  back in 1967 or 1968 on The Doors first tour.
He was on the cusp of fame and it would destroy him.

 Annandale is a bedroom suburb where there is "no there there" as Gertrude Stein said of another place in America. Oakland, Ca. I believe it was.

  If I had grown up in Annandale, Va. I would have wanted to get out of there also. There is no town there. I can understand Chris's longing for solitude and a wilderness devoid of endless suburban homes that all look alike. A suburban desert with nothing but fast food joints and K Marts and middle middle middle class people. Sadly much of America is now like this. WalMart has killed off most all of the small towns in America. 

INTO THE WILD would be a good book for English teachers to teach to high school seniors and also college English profs to have their students read to discuss.
Was Chris a fool or a really brave young man or both?
Was he simply too smart and too headstrong for his own good?
How can young men grow up in a suburban wilderness and not want to get out and explore the world and try to find something that is "real" and not fake.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Friday, September 28, 2012

Renoir Painting Auction Now On Hold

Click on the above painting by Renoir to enlarge it.
Latest in the ongoing saga of who owns this painting in the links below.
http://news.yahoo.com/auction-7-renoir-cancelled-may-stolen-baltimore-museum-021510318.html

It may belong to the insurance company that insured it back in the 1950's and paid out $2,500 on the theft.



Harper's Ferry West Virginia Flea Market where the painting was found.
And you can read in the link below that business is booming at that Flea Market now.
http://dailymail.com/News/201209270298

Click on the link below for some real insight into the late paintings of Renoir.
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-3445_162-6754664.html

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Listen to AMERICAN ROUTES

Listen online to this terrific radio show out of New Orleans, La.
You can view the full playlist as well.
If you have never listened to this weekly radio show from New Orleans here is your chance to
hear the best in real American Music. Check it out. Nick Spitzer knows more about American roots music
than anyone I know.
Just click on the link below to go to American Routes website and listen on your computer to 2 hours of the best in the history of recorded American music.
http://americanroutes.wwno.org/

Monday, September 24, 2012

The Gleaners



Click on the picture to enlarge it.
I was reminded the other day that we had a copy of this painting on the walls of the
houses we grew up in back in the 1940s and 1950s.
Since we lived in the South I guess it fit right in. But this painting is French.
If you read the information about this painting in the link below you will
find it had an interesting history.
Also mentioned in the link is the fact that
The painting can be seen hanging on the wall of Sheriff Andy Taylor's house in many episodes of the original Andy Griffith Show.
Small world.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gleaners

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Monarch Of The Glen


Click on the picture to enlarge it.
  I learned about this painting from someone this morning who told us he bought a copy of it at a nearby Goodwill store. The artist was Sir Edwin Lanseer.  See the wikipedia entry on him and this painting by clicking on the link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_of_the_Glen_(painting)

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Monday, September 17, 2012

Tuba Skinny -"Hear me talkin " -" Live at the Hive" 6-24-2011


The link below really says it all.
http://ivan-makingmusic.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/tuba-skinny-what-band.html

The Last Supper

Click on the picture to enlarge it.
The painting is 29 feet by 15 feet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_(Leonardo_da_Vinci)
I know someone who is over in Milan Italy right now looking at this painting. You have to make reservations months in advance and when you get in to see it you are only allowed to stay inside for 15 minutes.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Tuba Skinny - "Gimmie Some" 8/5/12 Rhinebeck Farmers' Market

Tuba Skinny - "See See Rider" 8/5/12 Rhinebeck Farmers' Market


The link below explains the origins of the title C.C. Rider or See See Rider. Also Easy Rider.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/See_See_Rider

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Raid (2003) Elokuva/Movie - Now with English subtitles!


This is the RAID movie from Finland with English subtitles. It is the sequel to the tv series of the same name from Finland. You can sometimes find that series for sale with English subtitles on Ebay.
If this doesn't start with English subtitles turn on closed caption.

You are in for a real treat.

Too bad we dont have film makers in the USA anymore that can make a film as good as this one. It has a good bit of dry Finnish humor and gritty Mickey Spillane type violence.

I have some more posts on this blog about Finland and RAID. Look for them over on the list on the right.
Also double click on the video to go to YouTube and then click to watch it full screen.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Baby Doll (1956) - Playtime


This is one of the funniest scenes from this crazy movie. Baby Doll by Tennessee Williams.
Someone in the comments on this on Youtube calls it a "Screwball Gothic".   Make that A Screwball Southern Gothic. Click on the link below for full information on this movie.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048973/

Honey

Baby Doll (1956) Trailer


Interesting that the above trailer got the dates wrong on her age. She is 19 and the deal is about when she turns 20. I just watched the film yesterday on TCM. It is a much better film that I had realized.
 It is really one of the best films about Mississippi that I have ever seen. It may seem over the top but there really were people like that in Mississippi back in those days. This is a little known and less appreciated film by Williams and director Elia Kazan. It was banned in Boston as I recall.
Carroll Baker was nominated for an Oscar for her performance as Baby Doll.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048973/

Panic In the Streets -1950 (Elia Kazan) FULL MOVIE


A good movie directed by Elia Kazan  Jack Palance in his first big role.
Set in New Orleans and filmed entirely there.
I got a chance to go see and meet Jack Palance just before he died. He came to Washington D.C. to speak about his WW2 experience at the opeing of the WW2 memorial. He along with many other vets did this. Ernest Borgnine was supposed to come also but did not show up. About 300 or so people filled a tent on the Mall to hear and see Jack Palance.
  Afterwards he did sign autographs for a long line of people. I did not want to wait in the long line so I went up fast and spoke to him as they were lining up. I told him how much I liked Panic In The Streets and he smiled.
I also told him I really liked the ending of the film. And he nodded and smiled again.
This is a terrific film with great black and white footage of New Orleans in 1949/1950. It was released in 1950. But it must have been shot in 1949.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042832/

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Monday, September 3, 2012

Memphis Minnie - Black Rat Swing


When I went to Muscle Shoals Alabama in 1978 around Labor Day with Big Joe Williams and George Cummings there was another guy who came along with us. He was a German Blues critic,photographer, and record producer.. His name was Axel Kustner. He told me about Memphis Minnie. I had never heard of her. I knew I had a lot of learning to do about the history of blues in America. And it was not lost on me that it was a young German who told me about her. Turns out young people in Germany and France and Japan and all over Europe and the Far East know more about the history of American music than our own people do. Some Americans know the history of great American blues and jazz but most do not. That is a great shame. But with the help of YouTube I think everyone is learning about this great music now.
See the post below this one for Big Joe Williams version of this song.
The link below is to something by Birney Imes about Crawford and Axel Kustner.
http://www.cdispatch.com/opinions/article.asp?aid=10069
Click on the Label below on the name Birney Imes to see and read two more of my posts about him and his two photography books JUKE JOINTS and THE WHISPERING PINES.

Big Joe Williams- Black Rat Blues -Live- (Vinyl LP)


Click on the name Big Joe Williams in the Labels box below for 14 more posts about him and his hometown of Crawford, Mississippi.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Tuba Skinny - "True Love" 8/5/12 Rhinebeck Farmers' Market

Tuba Skinny - "Farewell to Storyville" 8/5/12 Rhinebeck Farmers' Market


Here is a link to some real good information on Storyville. Long gone from New Orleans but not forgotten.
See movie Pretty Baby for a good movie about the closing down and farewell to Storyville.
This link is about Al Rose and his book on Storyville.
http://joeb-tallyho.blogspot.com/search/label/Al%20Rose

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Memphis Minnie-Frisco Town-1929

James Wiggins ~ Frisco Bound



Compare this with the Tuba Skinny version called Frisco Bound. Scroll down to find it.
Here are the lyrics to the song originally titled Frisco Town by Memphis Minnie. She wrote it.

Frisco Town by Memphis Minnie
That old 'Frisco train makes a mile a minute

That old 'Frisco train makes a mile a minute

Well, in that old coach, I'm gonna sit right in it

I'm on my way, to 'Frisco town



You can toot your whistle, you can ring your bell

You can toot your whistle, you can ring your bell

But I know you been wanting it by the way you smell

I'm on my way to 'Frisco town



There's a boa constrictor and a lemon stick

There's a boa constrictor and a lemon stick

I don't mind being with you but my mama's sick

I'm on my way to 'Frisco town



I would tell you what's the matter, but I done got scared

I would tell you what's the matter, but I done got scared

You got to wait now, until we go to bed

I'm on my way to 'Frisco town



If you was sick, I wouldn't worry you

If you was sick, I wouldn't worry you

I wouldn't want you to do something that you couldn't do

I'm on my way to 'Frisco town



Well, if you want it, you can get it, and I ain't mad

Well, if you want it, you can get it, and I ain't mad

If you tell me this is something that you ain't never had

I'm on my way to 'Frisco town



Look-a here, you get mad everytime I call your name

Look-a here, you get mad everytime I call your name

I ain't never told you that you couldn't get that thing

I'm on my way to 'Frisco town



I woke up this morning about half past five

I woke up this morning about half past five

My baby turned over, cried just like a child

I'm on my way to 'Frisco town



I got something to tell you, I don't want to make you mad

I got something to tell you, I don't want to make you mad

I got something for you, make you feel glad

I'm on my way to 'Frisco town



Look-a here, look-a here, what you want me to do

Look-a here, look-a here, what you want me to do

Give you my jelly when die for you

I'm on my way to 'Frisco town



I got something to tell you, gonna break your heart

I got something to tell you, gonna break your heart

We been together so far, we gotta get apart

I'm on my way to 'Frisco town





Monday, August 20, 2012

Today is the 50th Anniversary Of The Happiest Day Of My Life



Today is the 50th anniversary of the happiest day of my life. August 20, 1962 was the day I got released from active duty in the USAF. My Air National Guard unit had been activated on Oct. 1st 1961 due to the Berlin Crisis. I had to spend what would have been my senior year in college stuck in Meridian, Ms. at a tiny Air Guard Base. I have written two other posts about this. I will include links to them.
http://joeb-tallyho.blogspot.com/2010/08/happiest-day-of-my-life-august-20th.html
   I just remember how happy I was that morning of August 20th 1962 when I woke up knowing I would be getting out of the military and returning to civilian life. I took my trumpet up on top of a small mountain outside Meridian and played my horn as the sun came up.
Later that day we drank Yucca Flats made by Tommy Harvey. Here is the link to how he made that wonderful mixture.
http://joeb-tallyho.blogspot.com/search?q=yucca+flats

And the link below is to a post I wrote about Steve Forbert and his father Sam Forbert who was the commanding officer of my Air Force unit. 
http://joeb-tallyho.blogspot.com/search?q=steve+forbert

Here is the only bright spot I remember from the whole year of active duty.
http://joeb-tallyho.blogspot.com/search/label/153rd%20Tac%20Recon%20Squadron

Friday, August 17, 2012

Tuba Skinny - "Jailhouse Blues" 8/5/12 Rhinebeck Farmers' Market


This band just keeps getting better and better.

Tuba Skinny - "Throw Your Black Hand Down" 8/5/12 Rhinebeck Farmers' Market

Tuba Skinny - "Frisco Bound" 8/5/12 Rhinebeck Farmers' Market



Most recent Tuba Skinny videos link below.
http://www.youtube.com/user/digitalalexa?feature=watch

I looked up the origin of this song. It was written by Memphis Minnie. She called it Frisco Town.

Tuba Skinny - "Frisco Bound" 8/5/12 - Wild Hive


This song was written by Memphis Minnie. She called it Frisco Town.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Aristotle Contemplating A Bust of Homer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle_Contemplating_a_Bust_of_Homer

When Aristotle Onassis was looking to buy the former house of Buster Keeton in LA Paul Desmond the famous jazz saxophone player with the Dave Brubeck Quartet quipped, "That is Aristotle Contemplating the House of Buster".

Many more examples of Paul Desmond's wit in the link below.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f33/very-dry-wit-paul-desmond-87508/