It’s a drippy grey Sunday morning and I’m looking over my photos, I love doing this — it’s like hunting, but with cameras not guns. So goldarned much going on everywhere I go in the world. It’s just a matter of seeing it.

When I first took acid (1964), I could see flowers breathing; it wasn’t an hallucination. Flowers do breathe, we just usually don’t see it. So I’m looking around in this absolutely interesting inspiring fascinating world. (You’ll have to pardon me if I’m not incapacitated by all the evil, greed, and shitty politics afoot.)

I wish I could do a decent layout of my trips upon return. My HTML skills are not up to doing it right now, so will just keep throwing photos out in this limited format. “I’m Jimmy Reed” playing now. You Got me Dizzy. Cup of espresso sweetened with agave nectar, whole wheat toast with marmalade, vapor by Volcano, stylin’…

I’m going to throw a bunch of photos out from the last 3 days, not necessarily in order:

Rivers in NorCal low right now. Gimme some rain!

Last week I was driving home around midnight through San Rafael. Checked out 4th Street Tavern, no one there, then into Fairfax, went in through Peri’s swinging wooden doors, . No kidding, just like a western movie. This rockabilly trio, The Continentals, was playing — really good.. Two other people at the bar. One woman in 40s, the other maybe 60. And me, audience of 3.

Years ago, I was in northern Massachusetts on a press check, driving a rental car on a rainy night. I got some fish and chips and saw a bar on a corner that said “Live Music.” $3 cover charge. Maybe 20 people in audience, and an absolute kick-ass little rock ‘n roll band. One guy had a bad complexion — not darling boys like the Beatles, but they were musicians in a groove. Channeling the Stones, raw and pure.

I treasure these unanticipated moments of good music. Little bands. Obscure bars. No stress. Oh yeah, there was that night at a bar in Victoria, the sun hadn’t even gone down…

I just ran across Baby, What You Want Me To Do? when I was looking for.Etta doing a remarkable version of Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody” I heard on the radio last week. Both Etta and Dylan fans, check this out. Graphics could be better, but its great to read the lyrics. What a poet! What a singer!

On the radio now: Found Love by Jimmy Reed

Went into SF yesterday, first stop the Apple store at the foot of Stockton Street. Big decision to make: the 11″ or 13″ MacAir and finally settled on the 11. Going to lighten my travel load all around. The Panasonic Lumix G1 has cut the weight considerably (from a Canon 20D) if I want to take a  serious camera along. I’m going to Hong Kong in early November to oversee printing of the Tiny Homes book and will take a few weeks to explore Borneo or some place yet to be determined. (One possibility is surfing on an island off the coast of China.)

I missed Dr. John, but heard the Blind Boys of Alabama, then Ray Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys. Totally wonderful. The Blind Boys have still got the power, after 60 years. There must have been 5000 people in the glade. “Take the high road to the valley (3 times) if you want to meet the promised land.” Toward the end they said they’d just done their first country gospel album, and did a gorgeous 3-part harmony rendering of a white gospel song. By the end everyone was dancing, punching the air.

Ralph Stanley, 84, stood there all alone and sang:

“O, Death

O, Death

Won’t you spare me over til another year…”

Then did a bunch of songs with the bluegrass boys and are they good!

I felt a tap on my shoulder, turned, and a guy passed me a joint. I usually think of weed partaken of at rock and roll and blues events, but the air was redolent with bluegrass smoke yesterday.

At 7:30 last night I went to The Riptide bar, a hip, warm neighborhood bar with good Feng Shui on Taraval out by the beach and heard CB Brand, a great little country band from LA playing classic country songs.  A great day of music.

Read More …