We're back, with more digital photos than I can shake a stick at. It was a full two weeks, in England, Czech Republic, Austria, and Hungary. Four different currencies, with four different values! What fun! 
You will ask me how it was. I don't know that I can easily distill two weeks of Europe into a few paragraphs. I am still digesting what is important to mention and what isn't. There was good and bad, ups and downs, very helpful people and those who were baptized in bad vinegar. If I had to mention two highlights, it would be the drive to Scotland on our third full day in England and the last day in Budapest, where we walked into the city across the Chain Bridge and then walked back. It was also very interesting to travel by Eurotrain from Prague ( Praha, as the natives say) to Vienna, and then to Budapest. Let me say this: Ginny's planning went off like clockwork. Everything she did fell together beautifully. There is always the unexpected, and those were the areas that were a little difficult to deal with, which had me wondering several times whether I really belonged there. But her planning and attention to detail was impeccable!
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The Dance of the Headless Chicken! That's what this feels like! Four days till departure day and I'm working two of them! As they say, the devil is in the details. It would be so great to just walk out the door, drive to the airport, get on the plane, and not have to be concerned about things at home. The mail, the paper, the grass, the cats, the milk ( freeze it or it will go bad), the suitcases ( each taking one, a new purchase), all necessary documentation, insurance...I am trying to make the time to make a list, but if I make it up and put it down somewhere, I will lose it and not find it for two months! And I am trying to do all this while my ADD is in fine shape. I visualize taking everything I have to do, throwing it up in the air to let it land randomly, and then try to find the various pieces to pick up and handle. I know Ginny is feeling major pressure right now, since she has so much which must be done before she leaves, many of the tasks very complicated, and time-consuming, including finding places for us to stay in Eastern Europe. Right now it looks like we will be staying in a pup tent in a vacant lot (do they have those?) in Budapest. I know it will work out, but I live in fear of ther moment when, in the plane over the Atlantic, we will say, "Oh, my! We forgot the ______! Civilization is doomed!""
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So, what are we doing? Well, Ginny has done a fantastic job getting this together. In a two-week period we are doing Manchester, England; Budapest; Vienna; and Prague. We have ordered a phrase book which will help us with all those languages in which we are not fluent, which for me includes all languages which are not English! I even have trouble with heavily-accented English! Ginny has college German to help her, and she has retained enough fluency to get her through several situations she has encountered in the past.
I guess I'm going to have to point a lot.
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Okay, so what happened with Australia? It seems that the travel agency, which arranges trips for professonal people, of which my wife is one, did not have enough people commit to the Australia trip staring on August 24. Sooooo, they cancelled that one and put one together for September 30. There may be many people who can simply take plans from one month and move them to another. We are not one of those couples. Our dates were set in stone for almost a year, and simply were not changeable. So we can't go there. However, my wife, a resourceful person if ever there was one, is already checking out alternate trips, not as far away, not as expensive, but still one which we can use to celebrate our 35th anniversary. Sorry, Aussies! It would have been fun!
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*Sigh* Bummer. No trip to Australia and New Zealand. Ginny got a voice mail yesterday from the agency that they cancelled the trip. Of course, they said " But you can go to...." No, we can't. When you are locked into dates and have taken nine months to plan things, you cannot just turn around and say," Oh, okay, we'll go ( wherever.)" I guess we'll do something to celebrate our 35th anniversary, but it won't be the big event we planned. We missed many other anniversary celebrations because of events or family situations over which we had no control, and this was going to be for us. Oh, well....I'm upset because we planned so hard for this, and now, due to circumstances completely beyond our control, we can't go. I'll get over it, though.
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Oookay, So I'm not going so far as to say that I have mastered my new photo editing program, but I did manage to upload and change my profile pic. Of course the whole thing could self-destruct in 30 seconds, so we'll see.
He is 3:
Now, I know there are other wonderful grandsons in the world, but this guy rates number one in my book. He is just so full of himself and so happy to be who he is. He is very intense; not hyper. Mind like a steel trap. He just started a limited daycare. One day and I think everybody wanted his autograph. He is a shining star to Ginny and me. That said, a day with Evan is a very exhausting experience. He wants to know it all NOW! Happy birthday, Evan!
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Well, boys and girls, today we drive to Delaware; the state, not the county. That's funny only if you live in Pennsylvania, and um...frankly, it's not too funny then, either. Anyhow, Charlie ((Chuck)(I'll never get used to to calling him that)) MCCuen is getting married to his Dotti, and Roger Griffith is performing the service, and then the Starfires are playng for the reception, and then, I get to do balloon animals for all the children ( of all ages) at the reception. Wow! I get to do all kinds of cool things today! We are playing in formal wear, and we ought to be having a ball! Our rehearsals have been the usual hoot'n'holler sessions that we have learned our rehearsals are going to be (we just have too much fun being together and playing music, even if we make mistakes, and we do; at least I do), and I guess we are as ready as we are going to get. And we are taking the camera, so I ought to have some photos to post here in the next day or so. I generally leave Ginny in charge of the camera. She just has a knack for taking really great photos. Of course, most of her really great photos are of ME, so that's half the battle right there. So, as one of my former co-workers used to say," I must be off! There's no other possible explanation!"
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Well, I just got back from a week in San Francisco and I took my camera. Where are the photos, you ask? Ain't none. I just didn't see anything I wanted to take a photo of. This is nothing against San Francisco, which is a cool city, with its own vibe and some very special people. It's just that any photo I might have wanted to take might have violated someone's privacy or self -image, or...you know, people can be funny about that kind of thing. I was at a conference, which was picketed by people I can best describe as " chidren of hate." I went to a church service, which was picketed by people I can best describe as "children of hate," probably some of the same people, although I can't say that for sure. These were not residents of San Francisco, but individuals who had come to San Francisco for the sole purpose of spreading their message of intolerance and destruction of all who do not think as they do. It is really something to hear a person pray openly and loudly for your death, that God would open the earth and swallow you up.
On a brighter note, I did get to enjoy one of my favorite indulgences - bear claws. No animals were harmed during the enjoyment of this item. If you get to San Francisco, hunt up Tart to Tart, and get a bear claw. Luv 'em!
BTW, I am deep into a book which I highly recommend. Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas. A fascinating book about Paul " Bono" Hewitt, vocalist of U2. I really don't want to put it down. Now, yeah, the language is a bit salty, as Bono will do, but the conversations which Bono and Michka have on a wide range of topics is a great read. Thanks, Christa, for the recommendation!
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Well, I TRIED to put a whole bunch of photos up with narrative, but somehow Xanga wiped them all out without a trace, and I couldn't undo. I think the program smirked at me. Okay, let's try a couple! These were taken at the 50s Rockfest at the Oneida Casino April 11-16. What a blast!
Me with Joe Bennett and the Sparkletones, artists who had the big hit, "Black Slacks," back in the 50s. I know you've heard it.."B-b-b-b-b-b-b..Black Slacks...." Starting from left, it's Joe Bennett, me, Jimmy Denton, Howard " Sparky" Childress, Wayne Arthur. We are all of an age, within about five years of each other. What a super bunch of guys, and can they rock!! I am proud to call them my friends, and Ginny and I had a wonderful sharing time over a meal with Joe and Howard. It is so great when someone you have looked forward to meeting turns out to be as nice as, and even, nicer than you hoped they would be. A class act, either on or off stage.
BTW, if you see this shot on the Rockabilly Hall of Fame website, you will see that the "Starfires" logo on my shirt has been carefully expunged. Oh, well.......we didn't play, and I was the only member of my band there...so...okay.
Ginny and me with the legendary New Orleans performer, Clarence" Frogman" Henry. Clarence is 68 and severely crippled with arthritis, but did a wonderful show with his band, including his big hit," Ain't Got No Home." If you don't know that song, you need to correct that. He is a delight,a warm, gentle person with great stage presence.
How about a photo without me in it? Okay, here are two legends: Hank Thompson, the famous country and western singer, and Roc LaRue, rockabilly star. Hank is 81, and a little slow getting around, but a wonderful performer. Roc is an old-time rockabilly performer who is just getting re-discovered by the legions of neo-rockabilly fans.
Me and rockabilly star Glen Glenn. This is a funny man, and we had a lot of fun with his stage name. Betcha can't guess what his middle name is; it begins with a G and has an N at the end and an LE in the middle. Glen also did an excellent job.
Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater, from Chicago, with Pete Curry and Danny Amis from Los Straitjackets. They were using a new drummer, Jimmy Lester having left the band. Ginny and I are getting together with Eddy and his wife, Renee, when we are in Chicago in June.
This photo appears several different places on the Internet, but since it's my photo, I figured I might as well put it here. Ginny took this one, which is why it's a good one. From left: Me, Bob Timmers of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame (www.rockabillyhall.com, and Slim Jim Phantom, drummer for the Stray Cats. As noted below, I had the unbelievable thrill of playing onstage with these two guys for two nights at the Casino Lounge. No photos of that, since cameras aren't allowed anywhere near the Casino.
Okayyyy. This is one of these embarrassing "gotcha-with-your-eyes-closed" shots. I have a mild form of Tourette's Syndrome which causes me to blink more often than most people. Usually I tell the photographer to count three before they take the photo, but this I forgot. However, this is a great pic of Mr. Ike Turner (yes, THAT Ike Turner) and his singer, whose name I believe is Audrey. And, I know, she looks a lot like You-Know-Who, but she is her own person and a fine singer. What is really cool about this shot, is that Ike and his band had performed the night before, yet, here he was, the next day, hanging out with us and enjoying the music of some of the other acts. I know some of the festival attendees were not into what he was doing, (One reviewer called his music "inappropriate." 'Scuse me!! Can you say " Ain't got a clue," boys and girls?) but Ginny and I enjoyed it a lot.
Here is a classy gentleman: Art Adams, long-time rockabilly star. I had the pleasure of backing Art up when he performed at the Casino Lounge. His bio said he was born " in the 30s," which makes him at least in his late 60s, yet he is a dynamic performer on stage. It was really fun to get to know Art and perform with him.
The great Narvel Felts, hitting the high note on "My Prayer." You can see I was pretty close to him, and I got a new appreciation of him as a performer. I didn't get a photo with him, but I did buy his album, "Narvelized," and get a chance to chat with him a little bit. A very talented, humble man, who is very appreciative of his fans.
Wanda Jackson, whom you could kind of call " The Queen of Rock and Roll." She and her band put on a fine show. She, of course, did " Let's Have A Party, and I like her version more than Elvis's, whom she dated, by the way. The song contains the immortal line, " Everybody come and taste the possum Papa shot." I didn't meet her, but I did see her from across the room, greeting fans and signing autographs. Almost all the performers made themselves available after their performance, to greet fans and sign autographs, whether they bought an album or not.
Here's one that didn't:
Jerry Lee Lewis. Yeah, okay, he's a great singer; yeah, okay, he originated a style of piano playing that has been imitated but never duplicated, but the man is an OLD 69, who has ruined his health and his reputation by running around loose for decades. He was a day late performing, the reasons for which ranged from " bad flying weather in Nashville" to " too wasted to play." He did well, but others did better. Here's one that didn't:
I have edited this, because the original was a bit too harsh. Link passed away at 76 November 6 in Copenhagen. He was who he was, and we all felt his influence.
Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray: a pioneer in rock and roll and rockabilly circles. Link had the distinction of blowing out two Fender Twin Reverb amplifiers and severely injuring a third. They had only four backstage, and he was not the last act on the program. Link was kind of a bad boy. He was the only performer all week who used an obscenity onstage, and he was WAAAAYYYY too loud ( amps and guitars cranked to 10!). Heavy metal has nothing on this guy in terms of sheer volume.
Okay, I think that does it, of the photos that I thought it would be good to post. It was a great experience, and I was ready to go do it again the following week. BTW, the Weavers were not there, being as some of them have passed on, and it would not have been their style of music anyway, but the title seemed to fit!
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