I sometimes get angry and can’t hold back when I listen to people (including friends) talking about what is and what is not racism. This was brought home last Friday while having drinks with a group of good friends. Somehow the conversation got around to the recent reporting of Australian basketball player Alice Kunek donning ‘black face’ to attend a dress up party. All of the people in our group went to her defense. ‘She made a mistake’, It’s just a bit of fun’, it doesn’t mean anything’, Australia is not racist,’ ‘why is black facing a problem’ and so on. I could have held my tongue as these are my friends and why indeed should I feel so sad about those comments. Why is it up to me to point out how truly obscene black facing is. Maybe I am being too sensitive? I just couldn’t let those conversations go.

I have always been a big fan of blues music. As such I have read extensively about the evolution of ‘the blues’ and in doing so you then realise how much slavery is sung about in the early forms of the genre. This then lead me onto reading extensively about the obscenity of the slave markets, the Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights Movement. Black facing has a direct link to Jim Crow. I have visited the National Civil Rights Museum at Memphis, Tennessee on four occasions and it always makes me sad. By the way the museum is next door to the Lorraine motel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr was assassinated. So why should I get offended (when I am not black) whilst I am listening/involved with those sort of conversations? Why have I replied to emails that have been sent to me that contain racist jokes or comments and told the sender ‘to not send me that crap’.  I think it is because I have always been of the opinion that if something is just plain wrong then I need to say so irrespective of who I may be speaking too.

Here is an article that was written by Blair L. M. Kelley an associate professor at North Carolina State University:

It’s Halloween again and, evidently, it’s the season for people around the world to put on blackface.

Blackface first made the news this holiday season when a former Dancing with the Stars participant darkened her skin to “honor” her favorite actor from Orange is the New Black. News recently broke of a group of Italian fashion executives including designer Alessandro Dell’Acqua donning blackface, complete with jet-black skin, and distended whitened mouths and white gloves at a “Disco Africa” party.

And let’s not forget the Florida man who blackened up to portray a mortally wounded Trayvon Martin. Perhaps folks need a refresher course on why blackface is not a great idea for their next costume party.

Blackface minstrelsy first became nationally popular in the late 1820s when white male performers portrayed African-American characters using burnt cork to blacken their skin. Wearing tattered clothes, the performances mocked black behavior, playing racial stereotypes for laughs. Although Jim Crow was probably born in the folklore of the enslaved in the Georgia Sea Islands, one of the most famous minstrel performers, a white man named Thomas “Daddy” Rice brought the character to the stage for the first time. Rice said that on a trip through the South he met a runaway slave, who performed a signature song and dance called jump Jim Crow. Rice’s performances, with skin blackened and drawn on distended blood red lips surrounded by white paint, were said to be just Rice’s attempt to depict the realities of black life.

Jim Crow grew to be minstrelsy’s most famous character, in the hands of Rice and other performers Jim Crow was depicted as a runaway: “the wheeling stranger” and “traveling intruder.” The gag in Jim Crow performances was that Crow would show up and disturb white passengers in otherwise peaceful first class rail cars, hotels, restaurants, and steamships. Jim Crow performances served as an object lesson about the dangers of free black people, so much so that the segregated spaces first created in northern states in the 1850s were popularly called Jim Crow cars.  Jim Crow became synonymous with white desires to keep black people out of white, middle-class spaces.

Minstrel shows became hugely popular in the 1840s exposing white audiences in the North with their first exposure to any depiction of black life. They would often feature a broad cast of characters; from Zip Coon, the educated free black man who pronounced everything incorrectly, to Mammy, a fat, black faithful slave who was really just obviously played by a man in a dress. Black children were depicted as unkempt and ill raised pickaninnies. The running joke about pickaninnies was that they were disposable; they were easily killed because of their stupidity and the lack of parental supervision.

Minstrelsy desensitized Americans to horrors of chattel slavery. These performances were object lessons about the harmlessness of southern slavery. By encouraging audiences to laugh, they showed bondage as an appropriate answer for the lazy, ignorant slave. Why worry about the abolition of slavery when black life looked so fun, silly, and carefree? Even the violence of enslavement just became part of the joke.

These erroneous portrayals of black life were seen by thousands of Americans in the decades before the Civil War. Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln attended and enjoyed minstrel shows. President Lincoln had the Union band play Dixie at Lee’s surrender; the comic dialogues in Huckleberry Finn are reminiscent of minstrel performances.  Minstrelsy became America’s first national popular culture.

Minstrelsy lived on long after the Civil War, with African-American performers donning blackface to perform as minstrels on stage. In horrifying irony, white audiences would reject black performers not wearing blackface as not appearing to be black enough. The preeminent African-American vaudeville performer Bert Williams donned blackface for his stage performances.  Audiences refused to allow him to perform without blackening up.

Blackface was used to push products from cigarettes to pancakes while minstrel songs were turned into sheet music, sold and sung around the world. Classic American songs such as “Jimmy Crack Corn,” “Camptown Races” and “Someone’s in the Kitchen with Dinah” all began as minstrel songs. Children’s rhymes and games also are drawn from our minstrel past. “Eeny Meeny, Miny, Moe,” initially commanded that the listener to “catch a ni**er by his toe.” “Do Your Ears Hang Low” was originally the 1829 song entitled “Zip Coon.” The story of the children’s book Ten Little Monkeys was first published as Ten Little Ni**er Boys where each boy was killed as the story progressed.

Blackface became a mainstay of stage and later film performance in the twentieth century. Most often blackface was used as a comic device that played on the stereotypes of black laziness, ignorance, or crass behavior for laughs. Sometimes blackface was used simply to portray black characters. The 1915 film, Birth of a Nation, the first feature film to be shown in the White House, used blackface to portray Reconstruction era black legislators as incompetent and to paint all black men as threatening to rape white women.  The first talking picture, 1927’s The Jazz Singer starred Al Jolson, one of the most famous American performers of his day, in blackface. Even America’s sweetheart, Shirley Temple, donned blackface in 1935 film The Littlest Rebel. While none of the black actors in The Littlest Rebel film wore blackface, they performed in a style first created on the minstrel stage one hundred years earlier.

The history of blackface minstrelsy isn’t talked about regularly today, but its cultural residue is all around us. It’s painful to note that as one of the most unflinching portraits of American slavery hits the screens in 12 Years a Slave, people still continue to blacken up for laughs. Until we actively remember the ugliness of this history, people will continue to blacken their faces without recognizing the horror hidden beneath the paint.

So I hope this helps where I am coming from. I don’t want to put my friends ‘off-side’ they are too important to me but I will never let what I perceive to be racist actions ignored.

To finish let me pose this question to you. When Eugene ‘Hideaway’ Bridges is next at the club what do you think his reaction would be if I started a conversation with him by saying ‘well we here think that black facing is not offensive and it is just a little bit of harmless fun!

Looking like  great weather for a long day of music and conviviality.
Real nice way to start the day with Fiona Boyes easing us in with some mighty fine finger pickin’ blues.
Like the song ‘walkin around money’ . The preacher has arrived from his gig. Fiona just sang a love song to New Orleans.
Got the shuttle bus from the resort and for some reason we did a tour of Moana and picked up no one!

At the Bridge listening to 1920 not bad. They have run out of wine glasses so Wendy is drinking her Chardonney out of a pot.

In the Echuca club which was up until very recently a men’s only club. Listening to Safari Motel
Over to the Echuca Hotel for George McFloyd and was happy to see Peter Howell on bass. We had a good rap with Stringybark McDowell. Place is packed in the courtyard and it takes a long time to get a beer. Snuck into the front bar where Geoff Achison is doing a solo acoustic set.
Back over to the Bridge for Loius King and the Liars Club. Gotta love a bit of rock a billy

Down to the Harvest Bar for White Lightning. Burgers on offer in the attached cafe. Asked if they could cut Wendy’s preferred   burger into quarters and do you believe they would not do it? Not sure if it was too hard to do or some other reason. Anway I complained a couple of times with no success. Third time I cracked it and went off at the burger chefs and then walked out. Next thing I know is someone with authority came and apologised and took our burger order.

We are at the Harvest Hotel for Geoff Achison and the Soul Diggers. Intersecting concept where you have a very big pub restaurant with diners and  a bday celebabration and they have no idea who is playing. Then you have the music punters who wanna listen to the music standing around the perimeter. As the non music people left the punters swooped on the vacant seats like a Williamstown seagull after  dropped chip.
Someone Tell Me Something That I Don’t Know – this song rocks
What an incredible version of Robert Johnson’s Walking Blues it just went off to a different hemisphere

I have been looking forward to this weekend’s Echuca Winter Bliues Festival. We are planning to hit the road at 11. The trip gives us a good opportunity to give our new Hyundai i30 a run in. Unfortunately Wendy can’t drive her new car as she has not yet recovered from her car accident in early June. Terry and Phoebe are making the trip with us and in fact Terry is our chauffeur. I will of course be in charge of the travelling music. Let’s hope I can remember what Cara showed me last night about plugging in the iPod into the sound system!

It will be good to get away and listen to some awesome live music. It has been a very upsetting 9 days since we learned of the Williamstown RSL development/closure. Way Out West however can feel very proud of our reputation for bringing the best oh music out west. We have this last week had overtures from seven different venues offering us a home.

We are an hour into the road trip and the weather is not the best. Terry said the car is running well and I have the iPod playing the tunes.
We plan to stop at Tooborac for lunch and a craft beer. Terry and Phoebe are now officially beer snobs.

We arrived at the pub a 2nd ordered a Gunslinger American style pale ale. Next door to the pub is a little pie shop $7 for a amber beef pie which seemed a bit pricy but they were very big and tasty. Marshall and Jenny have just arrived.
We are back on the road around 1:15. The rain is now very heavy and it does no look like letting up.
We booked in to accommodation at 2:45, the next shuttle bus back into Echuca is at 3:45

At the Americana listening to Jimi Hocking with 19 WOW members. Gotta love voodoo child on the mandolin!
Gotta love happy hour 5 o’clock
Jimi finished up with a very enthusiastic ‘Most People I Know’

Had a good chat with Hugo T Armstrong stayed tuned,  we threw around a few artists names and one of them is one of my favourite New Orleans musican/singer and songwriter and we both would love to see him in Oz.

Now on stage is the incredible Sydney keyboard virtuoso Lachy Doley not only a great musician but he has a very soulful voice.

We did a bad thing. Thought we would no a New Orleans thing and take Wendy’s wine with us. Problem is no to go cups here. I smuggled out her glass of wine

Walked around to the Gypsy Bar for some Shane Pacey Trio and a kebab. Boy the weather has turned  bit nasty but it’s not stopping Shane ripping it up. Caught up with Big Lee

Three metre walk for Jesse and Blues Mountain. Man these guys can play. Oh yeah we ‘went down to the cross roads.’

It’s just after 8 and too cold to be outside. We have hit the front bar of the Shamrock. Listening to the Piano Wizard

Brocko and Geoff in the house caught some of Benny Walker and now the Three Kings rockin the house

Day Forty Eight – Heading Home

Last day in the U.S. of A. We still have one ‘must do’ thing and that is to ride the famous San Francisco cable car. We have booked a shuttle bus to take us to the airport at 1P.M. so we have time this morning to ride the car.

We have been told by locals that the best way to get on one on the cable cars is to avoid the two end stops. Every one that visits San Francisco will include a trip on the cable. In fact they are really just tourist rides as the locals do not use them at all. In peak holiday times there can be a two hour wait to catch a ride. They have an interesting way of loading on the people. At each of the end stops the cables are not loaded to capacity. One third of the seats and standing room available is left open for further stops down the line. We lined up at the next stop from the end. Unfortunately a number of cable cars just continued on and didn’t stop and those that did only picked up four people. We only had to wait about 20 minutes and we were off and running. The driver of the cable car works damn hard pulling and pushing the controls. The brakes themselves are wooden and are replaced every three days. You can smell the breaks burning when they are applied. Kate really wanted to stand on the outside running rail but she was not able to on the trip down to the waterfront. She was pretty disappointed. When we alighted at the end of the line the cable cars going back uptown where virtually empty, we decided to pay for another trip and go back the same way, after we did some last minute shopping. Last minute shopping meant me buying another two (much needed) t-shirts!

Kate and Wendy did indeed get to stand on the running rail on the way back uptown. The driver applies the brakes all the way down the steep hills, I would hate to wonder what speed we would get to if the brakes failed. On the way up the hills the cables strain to pull the car up. We were told a few days earlier that horses used to pull the cars up the hills but so many just dropped dead that they had to come up with a better solution.

Well we have completed all we had to do and we were picked up by our shuttle bus driver. Kate lost control of one of her suitcases down the hill as she walked toward the van. Now you may recall way back on our first taxi drive in New York on how scary it was. No way you could beat a New York taxi driver for crazy driving? Wrong we have an even crazier shuttle driver via Mexico City. He was good at telling us how bad other drivers were as he weaved his way in and out of traffic at break neck speed (in the middle of the city.) Once on the freeway he really put the foot down, Kate very quickly buckled up her seat belt nice at tight as he braked and she nearly end up front. We got to the airport in record time.

We had a short trip from San Francisco to Los Angles and then a five hour layover. That gave me enough time to get some blogging out of the way. The trip back to Melbourne was uneventful. We were so glad that we did not have to go via Sydney as we are all dog tired. It is so pleasing to see that we are only 20 minutes from landing in Melbourne (due in at 7:30 A.M.) However this trip had one more little surprise in store for us. An announcement came over that although we were so close to Melbourne that you could smell the Sherrin that we had to turn back to Sydney. The low cloud in Melbourne was stopping us from landing and we did not have enough fuel on board and for safety reasons had to go back to Sydney for more fuel. There were a lot of very unhappy people onboard but nothing could be done. We sat on the tarmac in Sydney for an hour (not allowed to leave the plane.) We finally made it is to Melbourne at 10:30.

So ends our seven week trip. New York, Orlando, Miami, New Orleans, Memphis and San Francisco. We all had a lot of fun and it was good to spend time with the girls showing them around New Orleans and Memphis and to visit cities that I had not seen before.

Day Forty Seven – Haight Ashbury

At last I have some money in my account. Let’s spend.

We are back on the bus at 11 o’clock for the ‘trip’ to Haight Ashbury. Bright blue skies and it feels a little warmer (but not t-shirt weather)
Today’s tour takes us down through very beautiful and vast San Francisco gardens. I did not realise how big the gardens where and if we had enough time we would have got off at one of the stops and explore the area by foot. Once through the gardens we headed down to the Pacific Ocean beach area which again had some stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge. We have been lucky on these last two days as very often the bridge is shrouded in fog. Man is was blowing down here as we alighted for a photo opportunity. Cold, yes sir. I heard a Scottish tourist remark that she was cold and that’s saying something coming from there.

We then headed back though the gardens for out next stop. Haight Ashbury. Forever in the history books as the home of the 60’s hippies and of course the Grateful Dead. All those old hippies of the 60’s are no longer here but there are a new breed of street people in the area. The shops have been gentrified but you can still see some evidence of this magical bygone era. Kate wanted a McDonald’s fix. As we approached the entrance I saw a new bred hippie with a couple of dollars in his hand. He told me he was 75 cents short for a hamburger. What the heck I had a pocket full of quarters which would very soon be of no use to me. He was oh so grateful when I gave him my loose change. Kate went an ordered her meal and I watched as my new hippie friend ordered his burger. Bugger me if he didn’t come back to me and offer back the quarters he did not need!

Amoeba records is just a few doors from Maccas and I headed there while Kaye ate. It is the biggest record store in the land and I was overwhelmed with what was on offer. I told you early about the Van Morrison album I found at 101 Records. Well here I found another two Van the Man favourites I have been searching for, the 1971 release ‘Tupelo Honey and 1972’s ‘Saint Dominic’s Preview.’ Both had out of print stickers on them.
Wendy and I also cut loose in a Doc Martin shoe store. My new Doc’s are a sight to behold and maybe the most outlandish boots I have ever had. Just you wait and see.

Back on the bus at 3:30 and an early dinner in China town. There is some serious packing to do as tomorrow we leave for home.

Day Forty Six – Hop On, Hop Off

I am up real early. I have to check my Travel Card balance. I got locked out of the account weeks ago due to too many log in tries. Now my account is sitting at $28 even though I transferred money from my Bank account a few weeks back. I have no money and the vagrancy laws are pretty tough here.

I did have enough for a coffee as I waited for the girls to get ready (see the recurring theme here)?

We walked around to Union Square to purchase a two day pass for the Hop On, Hop Off tourist buses. There are four tours included. No time limit and it is a perfect way to see this very hilly and beautiful city. Each route affords many predetermined stops so when you want to get off to explore a district you can. The tour starts across the road from the expensive and historical St Francis Hotel. The only hotel left in San Francisco where you can have all your change washed for you. The ladies of a century ago wore long white silk gloves and the last thing you wanted was to have your gloves dirtied by small change.

We went thought the district known as the ‘Tenderloin.’ During prohibition there were many speakeasies down this way. The law may have banned alcohol but the people sure did not. The local cops on this beat where of course on the payroll and because they had more money in their pockets they were able to afford a much better cut of meat for their dinner than the cops on other beats who had to settle for hamburger!

We passed City Hall, a very impressive building whose dome is taller than Washington’s. The dome is bedecked in gold leaf and sparkles in the morning sun. Our very informative and funny tour guide told us to note that there was no bird poop on the dome. He said there are two caretakers that live 24/7 in the domes roof and they are named, Grace and Kelly (a pair of Peregrine Falcons.) Also of interest is that the building is not attached to the ground. After the damage of the 1989 earthquake the building (an entire block) was lifted off the ground by four enormous cranes. The building now sits on rollers and can move four feet either way when the next big shake occurs.

We passed an exclusive male- only club by the name of the Bohemian Club. Every U.S. President has been a member of this club. If Hilary Clinton makes the White House then there will be some sort of a problem to resolve. We headed past the Dragon Gates of Chinatown (near our hotel.) They are the only authentic Chines Gates in the U.S. and feature a jade tiles on the roof.

We finished up back at Fisherman’s wharf and explored the rest of the attractions and shops. We got a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge when we joined the bus tour again. If you are up to it you can walk the bridge which borders the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay. The bridge is designed to sway up to 27 feet left and right during an earthquake.

Our tour today also takes us across the famous bridge. It is hold on to your hat time as the wind up on the bridge is howling (and cold). We are heading to the beautiful bay hamlet of Sausalito. Stunning views of San Francisco and very expensive property. Lovely shops and restaurants. Robin Williams lived and died in his home just a few miles from here.

We had a late lunch of fish and chips and were back on the bus by 3 o’clock.

Our tour guide told us that there are 10 distinct micro climates in the Bay area that I can believe. On the way back into San Francisco we listened to Scott McKenzie’s iconic hippie era hit and Otis Readings ‘Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.’ Very appropriate although we reminded that no smoking was the rule on the bus, even medical marijuana!

We caught up with Ann, Jeanette and Mike (WOW regulars) for drinks on Nob Hill at the exclusive hotel Top of the Mark. Unfortunately for me this meant another trek up another very steep hill. It was worth it though as the Bar is located on the 18^th floor and the panoramic views of San Francisco are breath taking.

We all decided to have dinner at an Italian Restaurant (in Little Italy) which was cool and then walked a short distance to a dive bar (the Saloon.) It is hard to find some blues music in this town and Mr. Google said this bar was the best for the blues. Well it wasn’t. The bar made some of the dives in New Orleans look classy. It certainly didn’t have the good vibes of New Orleans bars. We stayed for a short time then said our goodbyes and headed home.

Day Forty Five – Alcatraz

Up at 9:30 for a coffee and donut across the road at Starbucks while the girls get ready for our first full day in San Francisco.

Today we are going to Alcatraz. Kate has her map app up and running and told me that it is only a half hour walk to the ferry terminal! Maybe that is true on a flat wicket but this is San Francisco and no way is it a 30 minute walk. Against my better judgement I have been talked into walking. The temperature is somewhat cooler than New Orleans and Memphis. Around the 15 degrees Celsius. Windy, wow, you know what it can be like in Collins Street when you get that cold gale blowing, well San Fran is a lot like that (all over). Believe it or not there are many bike riders around this city. Up- hill you are up on your peddles, puffing like an old steam train, the next minute you are flying downhill like Cadel Evans. I am sure the girls were trying to kill me. Thirty minute walk my arse, even a mountain goat would have protested.

We finally made the wharf. Luckily we had booked our tickets for the tour on-line as a sign reads that all tours for the day had been sold. There is already a long queue waiting to board the ferry for the eleven o’clock tour. One of the tour people saw my cane and insisted that we sit down and that we will be ushered into the front of the line once boarding commences. I feel a little embarrassed with the excellent service but Kate is rather pleased with the special treatment.

We got to sit right up front of the ferry on the top deck, it was cold but sure gave us a great view of ‘the rock’ as we approached. The view of San Francisco is not shabby either.

‘Break the rules and you go to prison, break the prison rules and you go to Alcatraz.’

Once we landed we were greeted by a Ranger who gave us a brief history of Alcatraz and then told us that there is no time limit to the tour. Ferries come every half hour and you can take your time. I must say it is one of the best tours I have ever been on. You stroll around the island and slowly make your way to the top of the rock where the main cell house is located. The tour features audio and it is a fascinating insight into this hell on water. I can’t imagine how cold it would have been here in winter. The girls went crazy in the gift shop. The island is alive with nesting birds and at this time of the year. We spent well over two hours looking around before heading back.

Back at the wharf and it is only a five minute walk to the famous Pier 39 where there are many clothing stores and of course the famous restaurants serving the freshest of seafood. We found a cool shop selling terrific tote bags and I just had to have one. Kate then located Club Tattoo where she had some stretching done to her ear lobes and I had a new ear ring put in. Not many fathers would have their daughter pay for a new ear ring.
Alongside the pier there are hundreds of sea lions lazing on man- made wooden structures. A sight (and smell to behold). The sea lions used to live on seal rock but moved after the 1989 earthquake. They are now a huge tourist attraction.
Hunger was calling and we opted for the Pier Market restaurant. Crab cakes and then of course a serve of the world renown clam chowder. Delicious.

Being a glutton for punishment I said I was up for the walk back to our hotel. Even though I again nearly expired we found a great record shop (101 Music) on our way back. A record shop stacked to the rafters with all sorts of goodies. Kate had never seen so many cassette tapes in one place. The guy running the business looked and sounded like an old hippie from the 60’s. I struck gold. I have been trying to get a C.D. copy of Van Morrison’s 1970 release ‘His Band and Street Choir’ for a while now. I have the album on L.P. I believe that Van ‘the man’ was at his productive best in the first few years of the 70’s. Well I found it and it only cost $4.99 U.S.

All in all a great day in San Francisco. By the way I have been told by a local that under no circumstances do you call the bay- city Frisco. It is an automatic $25 fine!

Day Forty Four – San Francisco

We are up at 6:30 for a flight to San Francisco leaving at 9:30. On the way to the airport we are hit by a very heavy thunder storm. Our taxi driver is talking on his phone and saying to the person on the other end, ‘it’s hard to see anything!’ The last time I caught a flight out of Memphis we also got hit by a storm that shut down the airport for 3 hours. We are not flying direct to Memphis and we have to go via Dallas. Our connection time for Dallas is a very short time after we arrive so any delay will be a problem. Kate wants to know why they would fly a plane in this weather, good question and we are about to find out. As it turns out we left Memphis on time.

The flight was as they say ‘a little bumpy.’ We had to complete three big loops outside of Dallas due to the back log of planes waiting to land due to the storms. We finally got the o.k. to land in Dallas and it was more than ‘a little bumpy.’ We were on the ground just as our connecting flight was due to take off. The pilot told us a few minutes before that he thought most connecting flight would also be delayed. When we were able to ask an American airlines attendant she told us that our connecting flight has already loaded and she doubted we would make it. Bummer, not only that the airport is so big that we needed to get the Sky Train just to get to the correct terminal. To our surprise the plane was still sitting on the ground and we were the last of four passengers to board. Whew, now we can take-off. No we had to sit on the tarmac for another hour due to the back log.
Uneventful flight into San Francisco. The girls had to check their carry on luggage for the flight. We were worried that those smaller bags might have been delayed. No need to worry about that as none of our bags have arrived. Wendy completed the paper-work for lost baggage. Kate is worried that she may never see her make-up again.

We got a cab to China Town where our hotel was located (the Astoria.) We booked there due to it’s close proximity to Union Square and because everything else was so expensive. I have since learned that San Francisco has become the most expensive U.S. city to live in having just surpassed New York.
We finally arrived at the hotel after battling huge traffic jams. The hotel is very plain looking (to say the least) and when we finally got to our room there was a very audible groan from the girls. Five star it ain’t nor any number in between of one. The T.V. is so old that it does not have a remote and Kate does not know how to turn it on. We have a desk (as advertised) but no chair. Wendy said we should go somewhere else but why bother. The sheets are clean and the bathroom is o.k. The good thing about the lost baggage is that you are able to track its where about online. We have found out that our bags should arrive on the next flight and that around four hours after that they will be delivered to our hotel.

We are all pretty spent not only from today but also the last six weeks is catching up. Time to go out and have a quick look at San Francisco and get something to eat. Although our hotel is pretty s0-so we are just one road crossing from some very exclusive shops.
We found a diner (Loris) and I ordered a New York steak sandwich. The food was pretty ordinary to say the least. The bill came and they had already added on an 18% gratuity and also noted that we could leave a tip. Now I know from past experience that the norm is to add an 18% gratuity if you are in a party of six or more (not three.) Some places hear the foreign accent and see how far they can con the tourist. Wendy crossed out the 18% tip. She will have to wait to see her statement I guess.

Rob Rowe

Day Forty Three – Ribs

After yesterdays huge day and night I struggled to get out of bed this morning. The girls have decided to head to the Wolf Chase Mall which is a 45 minute drive from downtown. Not for me and I am going to lounge around. Not only are they going shopping for more ‘stuff’ they also have to buy another suitcase to get said ‘stuff’ back home.

I had lunch at De Javu (correct spelling). They specialise in New Orleans soul food. See I am missing it already. The Chef moved up from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and this is the second very successful restaurant that he has established in Memphis.
I just wandered around a bit and watched some T.V. until the girls came back laden with ‘stuff’ and the new suit case. We cannot possibly leave Memphis without having some of it’s world famous barbeque (read ribs.) The most famous of the restaurants serving ribs in downtown Memphis is Rendezvous, just around the corner from our hotel. I was not sure that Kate would try this finger licking pork delicacy. To my surprise she shared a half rack of ribs with Wendy and woofed them down like an good southern belle.

Early night for us as tomorrow we fly to our final destination, San Francisco.

Rob Rowe

Day Forty Two – Graceland/Sun Studios/Blues Awards

Apologies first, I am a week behind with the blog and I am at this very moment sitting at San Francisco airport writing madly to finish the recording of our adventures.

Kate informed me this morning (Weds 13/5 local ) that my Facebook page has been hacked. She is replying to all the friend requests supposedly sent by me with the details. Why would anyone want to hack me? Have I become famous, do I have an unknown enemy. News for Mr/Mrs. Hacker, if you assume my identity you can also take over my debt which after this 7 week trip has grown somewhat.

Anyway back to Day forty-two.  We caught a cab to Graceland and did the tourist thing. This is my third visit and I was not going to go on the tour. However since my last visit the experience has been upgraded. Last time I was here you were given an audio tour headphone set to walk you through Elvis’s home. This time not only did you get the headphones you also got an IPAD which made the tour interactive. It sure made the tour a lot more interesting, not that it was not interesting last time around. There are a lot of old people lining up for the shuttle over to Graceland. Surely I am not that old looking. Many of the ‘fans’ have on I love Elvis tshirts. One old rocker has a tattoo of Elvis on his arm. There are a lot of poms making the pilgrimage All in all it was once again a lot of fun and I think the girls enjoyed it.

We got the cab driver to drop us off at Sun Studios. Again this is my third visit but what the heck. For my non music friends, Sun Studios is the legendary spot where Elvis first recorded. Before that though the likes of B.B.King, Howlin’ Wolf and many other blues legends cut discs here. Also Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins raised a little hell in this studio. We went on the tour to have a look at some of the memorabilia and then we went down to the studio itself. This is not just a museum as the studio is still used today. Young rock artists that want to get that authentic 50’s sound still record here. The tour guide was funny and informative (wish I could remember his name.) As the tour was about to finish I told him that this was my third visit. He then said (I promise this is true) ‘I thought you looked very knowledgable!’ He added that I should hang around until all the tourists left and he would show us around the actual recording booth. This is not part of any tour and it was very exciting for me to look out on the recoding studio floor, from the very spot that Sam Phillips recorded the above mentioned legends.

We walked back to the hotel for a rest and then showered and got ready for the Blues Awards. This night is the most important awards night for blues recording artists. It was once called the W.C.Handy Awards and it is the equivalent of the Grammys. Way Out West are members of the Memphis Blues Foundation and so we are allowed to attend the night. The party started at 5:30 with drinks and live music in the foyer of the convention centre. I thought I recognised the voice of the solo acoustic performer on stage when we arrived. I was right as it was Austin ‘Walkin Cane,’ who I saw perform a few years back at the Broadbeach Blues Festival. There are over 1500 people who attend the awards night. It is a very long night and goes to after midnight. Some of the artists who performed where: Charlie Musslewhite, Kenny Wayne Shephard, Keb Mo, Eric Bibb, John Hammond, Elvin Bishop and many other great performers. I spoke to my New Orleans friend, the great saxophonist Jimmy Carpenter who has been nominated for best instrumental (saxophone) performer of the year. We also caught up with Brian Wise and his touring party. I also ran into Watermelon Slim in the foyer and he remembered his WOW gig.

Many of the current blues hall of fame artists graced the stage for a round of applause. How is this Way Out West punters, on stage were Charlie Musslewhite, John Hammond and Big Jay McNeely and all of those legends have performed on our humble stage. You can also throw in Joe Louis Walker as another Blues Hall of Fame recipient who has been Way Out West. You can check out all this years winners at blues.org
Each year at these awards, time is put away to remember those that have passed in the last 12 months. This year we have lost among many others: Johnny Winter, Lynwood Slim, Big Chief Bo Dollis, Cosimo Matassa, Percy Sledge, Bobby Womack, Jack Bruce, Ben E. King and Robert Wolfman Belfour. We left the awards night at around 11 o’clock and walked back to the hotel.

Now that is what I call a big day.

Rob Rowe