New Orleans Musicians Village
Since it is the 2 year anniversary of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, this community project is getting some publicity. New Orleans native musicians Harry Connick Jr and Branford Marsalis, in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity, have created a musicians village in the 9th Ward of New Orleans. The brightly colored neighborhood will feature 70 single family homes targeted toward providing homes for the areas displaced musicians and follows the typical Habitat qualifications for home ownership. The focus of the community is on those “who have defined the city’s culture and the sounds that have shaped the musical vernacular of the world.”
Can I Just Make Toast?
I bought a new toaster, and I am very intrigued by the box. Since this $20 toaster is part of the “Inspire Collection,” there are inspirational words printed in the background on the box. They say, Inspired, Passion, Savory, Joy. Just to make sure they don’t leave out their Spanish-speaking customers, the other side of the box says, Inspiracion, Pasion, Sabor, Alegria.
I haven’t read the instruction manual yet, but I thought you put bread in and push the button down to make toast. I do not expect to be inspired by the bread or the toast. I do not approach sliced bread with passion, nor the toast that results from it. Bread and toast are not savory. And finally, while my toaster will probably toast Pop-Tarts for the kids more than anything else, and that will fill them with joy, regular whole wheat toast does not fill me with joy.
Peter the Football Player
Grace’s New Haircut
Challenges of Travel
Yesterday I took a business trip to Asheville for a photo shoot and catalog meeting. I should have known it was going to be a challenge when I arrived at the Enterprise rental car office and they did not have cars. Who would ever expect a car rental office to actually have cars available to pick up when you need them. I had an 8:00 reservation, but didn’t get there until 8:30. They offered me a pickup truck, which I refused. A car was not available until nearly 9:15. And it was a Ford Fusion. What a piece of junk car! To compensate me for waiting, they gave me half a tank of gas free.
I was finally on my way and needed to do something about my music options. Usually I try to get a car with an auxiliary jack to plug in my ipod, but most cars don’t have them. Once I got a car with XM radio, which was not bad. All my car had was a CD player. I still have plenty of CDs, but I never think to travel with them. I figured I could stop at a big box store and get a couple of CDs. Easier said than done.
I did not stop at Target in Burlington, which was the first one I saw. Usually, these are just stores you see along the road, and sometimes you see them as you are passing the exit. I got off the highway at the big mall in Winston Salem, figuring there would be something. There wasn’t. I also had trouble getting back to the interstate. A sign out of the parking lot pointed straight to I-40. I came to a traffic light and there was no sign to 40. I continued straight since that was the last direction I was given. This led me straight to a dead end. I turned around and turned onto the main road, and easily found my way back to the highway.
Attempt number two was even better. As I continued to drive along looking for a place to stop for CDs, I now needed to get gas too. I pulled off at the next exit where I saw a Wal-Mart, and pulled into a gas station. The pumps weren’t working. The station had no power. I drove over to Wal-Mart and there was a woman out front telling everyone that the store was closed because they didn’t have power. She told me that half the county was out. Not a good day in Davie County.
Back on the highway, continuing on in silence. My distaste for commercial radio is so strong these days that I would rather listen to nothing. I was also in a part of that state that is hard to find a public radio station.
I reached Statesville, across the county line and more than half the trip, found a gas station with power and a Wal-Mart with power. I picked a couple CDs (Traveling Wilburys and Jimmy Buffett). And was nearly on my way. One more challenge was ahead of me before I could continue on my journey. I walked out of the store into nearly 100 degree heat on black asphalt. I needed to find a white Ford in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
6:21
No matter what time I go to sleep, I always wake up at 6:21am. I may fall back asleep, but I always find myself looking at the clock at this time every morning.
Traveling Wilburys
I just got the new Traveling Wilburys Collection. I contains the 2 albums, some unreleased tracks and a DVD. This late 80s, early 90s supergroup featured George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne (of ELO).
I put the CD on, and the music drilled right into my brain. It has been years since I’ve heard these songs, as I only have it on a copied cassette, but it was so familiar. It was almost like listening to the Beatles again. This is great music that is just as relevant as it was nearly 20 years ago. Glad it can find a new audience.
The site has Traveling Wilbury podcasts. I’m anxious to listen to them to see how an old band experiences the world of new media.
Kid-Run Business or Just an Excuse to Stay Up Late
The kids came up with their own business tonight, but I don’t think it was coincidental that they also went to sleep very late. Summer is winding down, and school starts on Monday. They are going to have to start going to sleep earlier so they can wake up earlier. This should only be a bit of a shock, not a great shock.
Instead of reading, Peter was drawing pictures. They decided that they could go into business and sell the pictures. Grace is the manager of the business. She decides if Peter’s pictures are good enough to sell. They were ready to stop after four pictures, but after doing one more, Peter proclaimed that since they created five pictures, they were a business.
“Dad, would you like to buy a picture? They are only $2. We take change, cash and checks. But no credit cards.”
As if it needs more hype
Last night was the premiere of the latest Disney marketing machine, High School Musical 2. Checking Technorati, there are over 37,000 posts about it.
Since I still don’t have my tv (and my cable wasn’t working when I hooked up a tv I borrowed from Meg), I needed to find a place for Grace to watch it. Peter was spending the night with a friend (who invited him over to watch this premiere). My friend Katie invited us over to watch it on their 55″ tv. Grace was very excited to watch her favorite show on a tv bigger than she is.
Terry Anderson Live
Yesterday I went to an outdoor concert in Raleigh and saw Terry Anderson and the OAK Team. Terry took pictures of the crowd and that’s me with the sunglasses.
Back in the day, he was the leader of a band called the Woods that I saw quite a few times in the area, including a couple performances backing up Bo Diddley.