Happy Easter

[gstark]

And as Good Friday 2011 dawns, I'm simply going to wish everyone a safe and pleasant Easter.

I'm heading off to New Orleans today, taking a big ole jet airliner to San Francisco and then New Orleans, then taking a short-ish road trip on Highway 61 to Memphis, then back to New Orleans (Yes, Highway 61 Revisited) for Jazzfest!

LA, Toronto, and Seattle are also in my sights on this trip. I'll still be here, watching from the safety of my hotel rooms, but think of me while I'm enjoying a Cafe Au Lait at Cafe Du Monde, or watching Ron Carter showing me how a bass should be played in the jazz tent at the fairgrounds.

Take care, all y'all; I'm back on May 15.

[the foto fanatic]

Wow! Have fun!

[gstark]

No!

I refuse to!

I'm going to continue being a grumpy old man!



Thanks, Trevor.

[fozzie]

Hi Gary,

And the same to you.

Do you need someone to carry your bags

[gstark]

Bags?

What bags?

Oh shit. I suppose I'd better go and start packing.

[Raskill]

Travel safe Gary.

Our paths might cross in New Orleans. I'll be the loud drunk Australian being tasered in Bourbon street on night of the 8th of May. If you see me, save my camera!!!!!

[gstark]

Travel safe Gary.

Our paths might cross in New Orleans. I'll be the loud drunk Australian being tasered in Bourbon street on night of the 8th of May. If you see me, save my camera!!!!!

Thanks, Allan,

You enjoy your trip, and be safe as well.

And especially enjoy your road trip!

I leave NO on May 4 I think; I'm expecting to be in Seattle on May 8.

By all means, have fun on Bourbon St, but do take some time to visit Royal St (next street up) and Frenchmans. And Jackson Square. You will not be disappointed.

[ATJ]

Enjoy, Gary... and Alan, too.

You've got a good time for it with the way the exchange rate is going.

[colin_12]

Well if you are not going to have fun Garry then you had better just be good instead.

Safe Easter and traveling to all.

[gstark]

You've got a good time for it with the way the exchange rate is going.

Unless you do your changeover at the airport, at one of the Travelex counters. The going rate when I left was US$0.98.

I'm now in San Francisco, waiting for my New Orleans flight. Flight out of Sydney was good; all on time, and the gourmet delights astounded me.

Especially the midnight snack, which consisted of a breadroll containing some green stuff - which I think was lettuce - and some other stuff, which I suspect may have been some form of processed meat, but whatever texture and flavour that it may have possessed must have been repossessed; it certainly eluded me.

[surenj]

whatever texture and flavour that it may have possessed must have been repossessed

I am convinced that they have genetically modified them to grow already processed....

Have a great trip!!

[ATJ]

Unless you do your changeover at the airport, at one of the Travelex counters. The going rate when I left was US$0.98.

People that do that deserve what they get. An ATM is the way to go.

[aim54x]

Stop being grumpy and have fun Gary!

[gstark]

New Orleans has survived my midnight arrival. It's now 2 am - it took me that long to get to the hotel from the airport, because the shuttle driver wanted full load. That meant an almost one hour wait.

Time to do a couple of housekeeping tasks, and then off to Cafe Du Monde.

[Raskill]

Gary, curious as to hear if you had any jet lag effects?

[gstark]

What's jetlag?

Seriously, I rarely suffer from it. I generally try to grab some sleep on my flights, and then try to move into a local sleep pattern ASAP. Went to bed here around 3:30am Easter Saturday (after coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde) and am up at 9am.

For me, I may sometimes feel tired early evening on the first night upon my return, but otherwise, I generally seem to not be afflicted with this.

And there were lots of very drunk young females on the street at 3am here. So sad ...

[Chaase]

watching Ron Carter showing me how a bass should be played

I hate you! Between Carter & Brown (RIP) they a my 2 fav bassists.

[gstark]

watching Ron Carter showing me how a bass should be played

I hate you! Between Carter & Brown (RIP) they a my 2 fav bassists.

Amongst mine too.

And Mingus.

Don't despair though; Carter is coming out to Oz in June, with the trio he's playing with next weekend at Jazzfest.

I'm now in Vicksburg MS. Passed through a little town called Port Gibson. As I was running slightly late (wanted to be in Vicksburg by around 5; got here around 11) I didn't have time to stop, but I may make it my overnight stop on the way back to N'Awlins. driving through, I saw at least three old style, deep south mansions ... you know the types: big columns, large porticos. Straight out of Gone With The Wind. It'll be a great place for an evening wander.

[Raskill]

And there were lots of very drunk young females on the street at 3am here. So sad ...

Yes.... sad....... Which EXACT streets exactly?

[radar]

Keep having fun Gary. Those beignets tend to keep the grumps at bay

Have fun in Hogtown when you get to the great white north.

[the foto fanatic]

Gary is missing Frasier Crane-ium - back-to-back episodes of his favorite show all weekend.

But if I had my druthers I'd pick N'Awlins too!

[gstark]

Gary is missing Frasier Crane-ium - back-to-back episodes of his favorite show all weekend.

Damn!

But if I had my druthers I'd pick N'Awlins too!

I'm now in Memphis; it's a wet Monday morning. Wandered onto Beale St last night for dinner. At 11pm. Pulled BBQ pork sandwich.

With live blues.

Today, I have a choice; there's several museums of interest, ranging from the sublme (Stax, Sun Studio, Gibson Guitar Factory) to the ridiculous - Graceland.

There's a hotel outside Graceland that's a part of the complex (it seems) named ... Heartbreak Hotel. Further down the road - Elvis Presley Blvd - you'll find a bar called Blue Suede.

[ATJ]

There's a hotel outside Graceland that's a part of the complex (it seems) named ... Heartbreak Hotel.

And although it's always crowded, you can still find some room.

[gstark]

There's a hotel outside Graceland that's a part of the complex (it seems) named ... Heartbreak Hotel.

And although it's always crowded, you can still find some room.

Indeed you can.

Today was a day of contrasts ...

I started at Graceland, with every intent of doing the tour. But I just couldn't bring myself to do it; it's really not my type of scene, being the home of someone who became famous.

Instead, I went to see some things that were more in line with who I am and what my core beliefs are.

Sun Studios: Where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ike Turner, and so many others all started recording.

And the Stax Museum. Anyone who understands the soul music of the '60s, the Memphis sound, will know why this is such an historic place. Otis, Aretha, Wilson Picket, James Brown, Arthur Connely, Isaac Hayes, Ike and Tina Turner, Booker T, Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, Rufus and Carla Thomas ...

Many of you know that I pretend to be a musician, and I truly felt that this may well be where my musical heart lies; I found this to be a very emotional experience. Absolutely worth the time to come to Memphis; if I came here and did and saw nothing else, I would be immensely satisfied.

But yesterday I spent time on Beale St. Two and a bit blocks full of blues clubs.

I also visited the Gibson guitar factory. Well, almost. This is just a block away from Beale St, but where I was expecting an historic factory, I found a relatively modern building, beautiful polished wood floors, and the smell of wood permeating the place.

But a modern building, with a shop and no soul.

I didn't do the factory tour. Here, in the heart of where much of my music was born, new is simply not on my agenda.

Finally, after dinner, I had to drive through some major weather; it's tornado season, and while most storms don't drop tornadoes, the rain is very intense, and driving down I240 at 50 mph, being passed by people in their pick-up trucks, in conditions where you can barely see beyond the front of your car ... it's really heart-in-mouth stuff.

11:30pm Monday here ..... Hope you're all keeping well.

[surenj]

Looks like you've had different sort of traffic over there!