That Old Time Rock 'n Roll??

This must be seen to be believed. It is apparently what happens when a Russian Army choral group encounters American rock 'n roll. Do not leave before the end. That's where it really gets funny.

Be sure to read the short explanatory article before you scroll down to the music video.

http://www.tothepointnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3114&Itemid=76

What Were They Thinkin' ???

Sometimes a good idea just blossoms out of control. I think it’s like the Peter Principle in business, according to which a person “is promoted to his/her highest level of incompetence.” I think that’s what happened in the concept described in a recent news article.

Royal Caribbean plans to launch a new cruise ship next year. It will carry 5,400 passengers and will be the world’s largest cruise ship. It will cost more than $1 billion to complete.

The ship is called Project Genesis and that in itself frightens me. In one of its seven “neighborhoods,” Genesis will recreate New York City’s Central Park in an area the size of a football field. There will be trees, grass, walkways, boutiques, concerts, bars, and restaurants, cradled in verdant, lush foliage.

Well, friends, the population on this ship will be greater than the Arkansas town where my mother used to live. Genesis sounds spookily like the main character in a re-make of Kevin Costner’s Waterworld. In the movie version, they’d be planting vegetable and maybe grazing cattle in that park area. You know -- -- to save mankind.

Please tell me why you’d want to get on a cruise ship to be surrounded by trees and shops. Isn’t that what staying home is for? Wouldn’t you want to see the ocean?

And, since you asked, I wonder what provisions they’re making to prevent Central Park crime. The Genesis Police Force? New Yorkers don’t dare walk in Central Park after dark. How quickly will this re-make be smeared with graffiti and intimidated by street gangs lurking in their lush foliage? Nothing good can come of this.

One parting thought based on the many times I’ve seen all three versions of Titanic: I wonder how many lifeboats there will be.

A Day Off in Brugges, Belgium

All of the photos above are of the ancient city of Brugges, Belgium – known as the Venice of Belgium You see Mike in front of a beautiful arch and another of him by a canal and bridge. The other two are simply lovely images of the city which dates back to the ninth century. By the way, the bag Mike’s holding in the archway photo contained some of terrific goodies he brought me – Belgian chocolate and Belgian lace.

The trip to Brugges was their tourist day after having played three concerts in three different countries in three days. The James Burton Band is plenty hard-working. In Brugges, as they did with their time off in Paris, the group walked almost everywhere. And everywhere they saw people walking or riding bikes.

In Paris, bicycles were readily available as rentals. When you were through with the rented bike, you parked it in a designated bike rack where, at night, trucks drove by and retrieved them. In Belgium, the local government made white bicycles available for use with no fee. You’d see a white bike, ride it to your destination, leave it, and someone else would come along and ride it to their destination.

These exercise-friendly countries reduce the consumption of extremely expensive gasoline as well as reduce the poundage of their citizens. Mike never saw a seriously overweight person. And, despite the many wonderful meals he enjoyed while in Europe, he came home one pound lighter than when he left. I think I’ll go take a walk.

Return of the Rock Stars

Mike returned Tuesday evening from his three-country, European tour with the James Burton Band. That’s Mike and guitar legend James Burton above standing under the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Mike hasn’t run out of trip stories yet, and I hope he doesn’t for a good while.

They played in Paris; Mol, Belgium and Eindhoven, Holland to wildly enthusiastic crowds. In Mike’s words, “They were just goin’ nuts.” James is amazingly popular in the area and, as Mike learned, a truly nice, compassionate guy.

A couple of tour stories. First, Rob (of Rob and the Rage – the band Mike plays with here) got a standing ovation from the Paris audience on his terrific rendition of Jerry Lee Lewis’ Whole Lot of Shaking Goin’ On. Hooray, Rob. Here’s a one-minute clip of Rob. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDsrafk-LFw

Then in Holland, an autograph table was set up after the performance and all the guys were seated there and signing away. Mike forgot something on stage, and started across the concert room to retrieve whatever it was. As he was crossing the room an older man approached him carrying a piece of paper which Mike presumed he was needed to autograph. But, no. The wonderful fan indicated that he wanted to clean Mike’s shoes. Feeling a tad embarrassed – no fan had ever shined his shoes before – Mike just stood there. When the fan was satisfied with his work, he arose beaming at his accomplishment and, with both sincerity and a sly Elvis innueno, proclaimed to Mike “thank you very dutch.” And that became one of the key phrases of the trip.

The Burton Band above – (from left) James Burton, granddaughter Taylor Burton, Mike, Rob Haynes (standing above), Burton’s son Jeff Burton, drummer Terry Moxley, and James’ grandson Skylar Burton. Both the grandkids are learning guitar, and James lets them play on the last two songs. A real family affair.

The photo was taken on their “tourist” day in ancient Brugges, Belgium known as the Venice of Belgium due to its many canals and water taxis. Brugges was a medieval settlement that has endured and evolved. Mike said that the architecture is amazing, dating back to the ninth century, and with most of the historic buildings being constructed between 1200 – 1600 A.D. That’s so hard to comprehend in this country where we consider a 100-year-old house as ancient and a safety risk.

The promoters/hosts for the tour – in particular Peter Verbruggen – managed the important logistical minutia and were gracious, generous hosts. We hope to be able to reciprocate to Peter when he visits Memphis.


Here are two of the several tour videos currently on youtube. Mike stands on the far right side of the stage. Look for him playing his 1963 Fender P-bass.

Here’s five-minutes of Polk Salad Annie in Holland - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J56QHboNTDA

Check out Susie Q in a clip that's just over two minutes.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC2Vdg8V6Es

Countdown

Things you notice when your husband’s away:
Decorative pillows on the sofa stay in place;
The toothpaste tube isn’t squeezed in the middle;
Tabletops are uncluttered;
You watch one tv show at a time instead of three;
No one gives you laughter a dozen times a day,
And that
You can’t fall asleep without the comfort of hearing him snore.

Mike returns today (yippee!) from the European tour with guitar legend James Burton. Stay tuned for more on that.

The Chinaberry Tree -- An Early "Lucy"?

The photo above has little to do with the story I’m going to tell you – except for the cast of characters. That’s baby me and my cousin Grace in the photo. It far predates this story, but I don’t have one from the summer in question and, besides, this one’s cute.

Somewhere around the time I was 10 or so, my mother and her sister had a grand idea for the summer. I would go visit Aunt Mary, Uncle Bill and Grace for a week or two, then Grace would come to spend an equal amount of time with mother and me. For a long time, I thought they were giving us nice vacations. When I became a mother, I understood that they were getting vacations, too. From us.

I should point out immediately that Grace suggested the telling of this story, so I’m not getting in trouble with my cousin.

It was the typical country mouse, city mouse story. Grace and her parents lived in the country outside either Jackson or Vicksburg, MS. I forget which. Grace knew everything about her environment. She knew that vegetables didn’t come in cans at the grocery, and she knew what to do with them when they were picked. She knew about critters and trees and had even shot her dad’s gun.

Mother and I lived in Memphis. I knew how to take the right bus to get downtown and how to make transfers to get back, when to cross the street when a sleazy man was ahead, and I knew the way to all the fun stores at Poplar Plaza.

I was amazed at all the things Grace could do and wowed with all the “outdoors.” There was just so much of it. I was an apartment kid who was never far from sidewalks and busy streets. I did a fair job of learning to shell peas, but then Grace offered another diversion. “Let’s go sit in the Chinaberry tree.” I could understand “under” it. I was having trouble with “in” it.

We got to the tree in her front yard, and she scampered up into the branches without hesitation or thought. I remained quite still and embarrassed to admit that I didn’t know how to climb a tree. She slipped down from the tree as quickly as she went up and tried to give me instruction. Put your hand here. Put your foot there. I was a klutz, but she had an idea. She fetched a board from somewhere, leaned it up against the tree at an easy angle and explained that if I held on to the low limb, I could pretty much walk up into the tree. It worked. I don’t think I got any higher than the low limb, but Grace joined me in the tree and we sat there for a while. Then I think she just got tired of my stupidity. She jumped down from the tree and walked away saying, “get down by yourself.”

I sort of tried, but I was a city scairdy cat. Finally Uncle Bill came out (do you think I might have been whining?) and lifted me from the tree. Safe at last on solid ground.

But the game wasn’t over. Grace came to Memphis. We walked up to Poplar Plaza one day for one of my favorite activities – shopping. Not that I ever had any money to spend, but I really enjoyed looking at all the goodies and thinking about which ones I’d buy if I could. We went into one of the nicer stores that I enjoyed and, after checking out the main floor, headed for the upstairs.

We got to the escalator, and Grace balked. She’d never seen or been on an escalator. Oh my. I talked her through it as patiently as she coached me into the tree. And then, success. She mastered it, and we were upstairs with more pretty things to look at.

I don’t know what possessed me but after a while, I slipped away from Grace and took the escalator downstairs. She’d only made one trip UP an escalator and had never gone down one. I stood at the bottom of the down escalator and waited for her to notice that I was gone and start looking for me. She did and stood there fearfully unsure about how to make that first step onto the moving stairs. I watched, then walked off calling over my shoulder, “pretend it’s a Chinaberry tree.”

postscript

For the sake of drama, that should be the end of the story. But my mother wasn’t there to rescue her as Uncle Bill had rescued me. So I relented and helped her get down. It wasn’t so much that I was being altruistic; I knew I’d get in trouble if I left her there.

And with that making us even, we’ve not pulled any dirty tricks on each other since. At least that’s the way I remember it.

A Look Back at Cotton Carnival

As I was saying . . . while I was growing up, there was no Memphis in May. The big celebration in the spring was Cotton Carnival.

Initiated in 1931, local businessmen gathered to develop an event to publicize the economic heart of Memphis and the region – cotton. Although the farming of cotton has diminished and the local economy has diversified, Memphis is the largest spot cotton market in the world with nearly half of the U.S. cotton crop going through Memphis.

Carnival kicked off with the riverfront arrival of the royal court on a huge glittery barge. It was grandly decorated and twinkly lights completed the fairy tale setting for the Carnival King and Queen and their court. As the barge docked with its extravagantly attired passengers, fireworks exploded over the river. Thousands lined the harbor’s riverbanks, and I’m sure all the little girls were as enthralled as I was with the glorious spectacle.

Oh, I haven’t explained “royalty.” Similar to the secret societies/krewes of Mardi Gras, Carnival was – and is – THE time of year for Memphis krewes. Linking to our sister city of Memphis, Egypt, many of them carry names such as Osiris, Memphi, RaMet and Sphinx. Each krewe has its own royalty – dukes, duchesses, pages, and the like. Then the Carnival King and Queen are secretly selected from the krewes. There are also princesses who come from the krewes.

The King is always a successful businessman. The beautiful Queen is college-age, probably attended private schools and, at the appropriate time, will be a debutante. If you scroll through the list of past Kings and Queens, you’ll note multiple appearances of certain family names. You see the current King and Queen pictured here. All of the krewes have parties during Carnival, and the King and Queen make appearances at all of them.

But there were other festivities for the non-krewe folks. The parade down Main Street was great fun and naturally featured floats bearing royalty. There was a real carnival midway with rides, games, sideshow and food down on Front Street where bales of cotton were stacked in front of cotton businesses.

Among the other activities was the Children’s Ball where little girls could pretend to be as glamorous and regal as the sleek, bejeweled women enthroned on the barge and on parade floats. I went to the ball a couple of times in elementary school and have a few micro-memories of the arrival of the King and Queen and the awkwardness of being a kid trying to act properly in a fancy dress. Yes, that other photo is mini-me in my first long dress.

Cotton Carnival also featured the Maid of Cotton contest sponsored by the National Cotton Council, Memphis Cotton Carnival and the Cotton Exchanges of Memphis, New York and New Orleans. The winner and her alternates became goodwill ambassadors for the cotton industry and undertook a five-month national tour – complete with their all-cotton wardrobes.

But then there came polyester. That, and needed societal changes, caused Cotton Carnival to take on new shapes. The pageant was finally discontinued in 1993.

The Memphis in May International Festival evolved and now generates a $40 million financial benefit to the city.

Carnival Memphis is another descendent of the old Cotton Carnival. There are still the krewes, royalty and parties. The focus of these events, however, is fundraising for local children’s charities, a very important goal.

During many of the Cotton Carnival years, there co-existed a parallel festival, the Cotton Makers Jubilee. Perceiving Cotton Carnival as white-only, business leaders in the African-American community developed the separate carnival complete with royalty and parades. It merged with Carnival Memphis in 1982 and is now known as the krewe Kemet Jubilee.

Celebrated primarily in June, some of the upcoming events for Carnival Memphis include:
Crown & Sceptre Ball – coronation of the King & Queen and formal presentation of Carnival royalty
Business & Industry luncheon
Children’s 5k run/walk
Princess Ball
Carnival Fashion Extravaganza

Whether you want to attend a fancy-dress ball or wear your favorite jeans to the Blues Festival, it appears that Memphis in spring has something for everyone.

Memphis in May

It’s Memphis in May! I know that you know it’s May. I also know that you know I write from the Memphis area. But, folks, it’s Memphis in May!

Officially, it’s called Memphis in May International Festival. The celebration features three major events plus a host of others. I’m not exactly sure when the Cotton Carnival that I grew up with morphed into this “broader” celebration. I’ve been gone a very long time, you know. I have my theories, and we’ll talk about that in my next post.

The first major event was last weekend – The Beale Street Music Festival. As with all the three major events, the many stages of the music fest were scattered across Tom Lee Park which I wrote about some time ago. (http://plunkchronicles.blogspot.com/2007/11/tom-lee-park.html)

Featured artists included Aretha Franklin (originally from Memphis), Jerry Lee Lewis (with whom Mike toured and who lives in the area), Santana, Fergie, Sheryl Crowe and Michael McDonald (another Tennessean).

Hundreds of teams are already setting up tonight at the park for this weekend’s event which kicks off tomorrow, the 15th. This has gotta be a favorite. It’s the world’s largest (pork) barbecue cook-off. You see, in the South we barbecue pig. Those silly folks in Texas cook cows, but they don’t know what they’re doing.

I am absolutely forced to make this aside. If it weren’t for Tennesseans, there would be no Texas. There’s Davy Crockett – a Tennessee boy -- hero of the Alamo. And their first governor was even a Tennessean. They just can’t get it right without us. I didn’t mean to go there.

At any rate, Al Roker of The Today Show frequently broadcasts live from the barbecue cook-off. It’s a fantastic event with subcategories such as pork sides and ribs. I’m hungry thinking about it. Oh yeah, not only are supreme bragging rights at stake. There is also prize money totaling $90,000. I told you it was big.

The final event of the month is the Sunset Symphony attended by thousands who bring picnic goodies and settle along the banks of the Mighty Mississippi for a wonderful evening of music – this year featuring The Four Tops. There will also be an air show with World War II vintage planes and a finale with fireworks over the river. Very moving.

I haven’t yet mentioned that part of the “international” in the festival’s title pertains to the recognition each year of an honored country to promote economic partnerships and international understanding. In a piece of that aspect, the Memphis in May folks invite a well known, regionally-based artist to create a painting honoring the designated country. The painting is then converted to posters and other collateral materials.

The photo with this post is the painting created about 10 years ago by our long-time friend John Robinette. The honored country was Morocco. When we first met John, he was a singer with a band (Jimmy Day & The Knights) that Mike played with. John was a great singer and was in art school at the time -- same school former President Jimmy Carter's daughter attended, Memphis Academy of Art.

We hung out with John and his wife and tried to get him to sell us, cheap, one of his paintings because we knew he was going to be famous one day and we wouldn’t be able to afford him. And it came to pass. We do, however, have one of his originals and two of his prints, and they add to our lives. I wish he had a website so I could give it to you. Let me know if you want to know more about his work.

Memphis in May is just waiting for you to drop in. For more info, check the web site at http://memphisinmay.org/.

Thomas Boggs

Thomas Boggs, 63, passed away this week. One of the obituaries rightly stated that he cast a giant shadow in Memphis.

Boggs’ first career as a musician included playing with The Box Tops and Flash and the Board of Directors. The Box Tops are best remembered for hits such as The Letter, Cry Like a Baby (late 60s) and I Shall Be Released. In his second career as a restaurateur, he developed the local landmark Huey’s and expanded the concept into seven locations. The Chronicles wrote about Boggs and Hueys at http://plunkchronicles.blogspot.com/2008/03/lifes-necessities-food-music.html.

Our prayers are with his family and friends.

First Monday

Mike and I drove a bit south of here on Sunday and enjoyed some North Mississippi history – and shopping. We went to Ripley, MS and visited First Monday.

Situated on 50 acres just south of Ripley, First Monday began in 1893 at the courthouse square as “trade day” when local farmers came to town once a month to trade their produce, mules, huntin’ dogs and so forth. There wasn’t much cash floating around, but a person could make a good deal if he had the right goods to trade.

As years moved on, the crowds became too much for the business district so it was relocated to a more expansive location. When the time came that most folks had day jobs, the timing was changed so that First Monday actually took place the weekend before the first Monday of each month.

Admission is free and parking is just $1.50 for the day. There are approximately 1,100 vendor spaces. The variety of items for sale has expanded making the event a giant flea market. It is the largest of its kind in the state and one of the oldest in the nation.

As Mike and I wandered the gravel paths, we saw farm implements, guns, new oak furniture, iron skillets and “dinner bells,” puppies, chickens, ducks, geese, llamas, tires, trees and shrubs, and just about anything else you can imagine. Several booths sold cd’s. At one minute, you’d hear raunchy Delta blues, and a few steps later you’d pick up the rhythms of way-back country tunes.

Naturally, there was a good measure of burgers and carnival food. Not even that was pricey. We had to come home with something, so we bought a jar of Amish, sugarless peach preserves.

There’s even a First Monday music festival in October that we might have to check out.

The two-story house you see in the photo above is a former plantation home on the grounds that is now the site of the Tippah County Heritage Society. It’s said by some to have been the home of William Faulkner’s grandfather.

In 1999, at the suggestion of U.S. Senator Thad Cochran, First Monday was documented by the University of Mississippi's Center for the Study of Southern Culture for inclusion in a Library of Congress bicentennial project know as “Local Legacies.”

Tippah County has a few other interesting factoids. For starters, both Mike’s mother and mine were born there, although I don’t think they’ve put up historical markers yet. President Bill Clinton’s grandmother was born there, and his great-grandfather, Simpson (Dick) Green Ayers, is buried there. Simpson also happens to be Mike’s great-great-great-grandfather. Mike and the former President are about the same age, so the generation difference in relation to their common ancestor is . . . well, complicated. The relationship is explained in a previous post at
http://plunkchronicles.blogspot.com/2007/09/genealogy-surprise.html