A Nice Couple of Gents...
The
Pour House out on Maybank Highway offers fine music and better lighting and sound than most venues.
The
Two Man Gentlemen Band appeared there on a Wednesday and drew a nice crowd of dancin' followers.
They kind of remind me of the
Smothers Brothers but at 10x the speed and pace. Yikes.
I had seen them twice before at the
Tin Roof and the lighting there always was a challenge.
Was able to get some shots but nothing like I did mid-week at the
PoHo.
The opener for their 1920's Jazz and Ragtime sound was perfect.
Ukulele Noodle McDoodle.He performed solo without the V-Tones and had the crowd warmed up and ready for the two gents from New York.
So we have two guys onstage, introduced by a single uke player.
Certainly not a Big Band Sound but the
Swing Dancers worked up a sweat!
We seem to bump into each other at various music spots around town.
This sound was a natural magnet for them!
And they were rewarded when the Two Man Band invited some to come up onstage and dance to their final encore number.
Swinging! Perfect Gentlemen.
(As usual, click on the photo twice for more details. These are right out of the camera - no manipulation - so see how the Canon S90 works in club lighting.) Thanks for coming by. Come again.
Labels: 1920's Swing, Bunny Meat, Lindy Hop, NYC, Two Man Gentlemen Band, William Howard Taft
Swine Flu Jitters
This photo I snapped in New York - in Little Italy - came to mind a few nights ago.
David Letterman mentioned that Swine Flu was the subject for his
Top 10 List.
Actually, it was a listing of ten dumb ways to avoid catching this year's disease.
Included was
"Shop very carefully at Piggly Wiggly."
Also suggested was
"Spray your bacon with Lysol."
The cute little piggies have fallen into disfavor.
Well, they never were cuddly but remember the hardships imposed on The Three Little Pigs by that wolf at the door.
And it wasn't exactly a great day for the piggy who
"cried wee, wee, wee all the way home.
Speaking of animals, I would assume people are thinking less kindly toward the Stock Market "bullish" symbol that stands on Wall street in NYC.
That's a HUGE reminder of financial hardships.
I'm more comfortable with my animal friend - he's in law enforcement - up in Canada.
And, we both like hats.
Labels: 3 Little Pigs, Canadian Mountie, David Letterman, Little Italy, NYC, Piggly Wiggley, Swine Flu, This little piggie, Wee, wee all the way home
A New Logo Has Popped Up...
"Blogger Event" was on a hand-written sign taped to the door so I climbed the stairs to a room over 39 Rue de Jean restaurant to learn about Charleston parks.
I'm a native and a blogger and was invited to come hear details on a new group that hopes to upgrade more than 120 parks and green spaces. They are starting in the City of Charleston and eventually, plan to encompass the entire area.
Mainly, we were told, parks are ignored or taken for granted until someone makes something happen. Central Park in NYC is a good example of citizen involvement that rescued a landmark park that had been sadly neglected.
I grew up a few blocks from where we were meeting and was amazed there were more than 100 parks in Charleston. It was explained that for every well known Hampton park or Colonial Lake, there are tiny pockets of greenery tucked into almost every neighborhood.
The CPC said that people can participate on many levels, even actual "digging in the dirt."
Since I enjoy - and blog about - live music concerts, maybe this movement will develop new venues for outdoor events. I'm glad I was invited.
Check out details on the new website at
www.charlestonparksconservancy.org.
Labels: 39 Rue de Jean, Central Park, Charleston Parks Conservancy, Colonial Lake, CPC, Hampton park, NYC
The City That Never Sleeps...
It's been a while since I was in New York so my buddy and I flew up on Friday of the long Memorial Day weekend to take in a few shows and visit the Statue of Liberty which recently re-opened to the public.
No one is allowed inside the statue itself now but you step ashore on the island and can go to an outdoor platform high up on the pedestal. Before 9/11 you could go up to the "crown" but the last time people were permitted to climb a ladder from there up to the torch was 1916.
The ferry that takes you to Liberty Island continues on to Ellis Island so we also were able to see where more than 11,000,000 immigrants - men, women and children - were processed when they first arrived in America.
About a third stayed in the New York area but the rest fanned out in all directions. A chart showed the destinations of 950,000 newcomers during a one year period and I noted that 2 went to Florida and only 1 went to South Carolina. To Beaufort.
With all the discussion going on about immigration, it was a timely visit to the restored facility that was the 1920s welcome mat to America. Actually, about 2% were refused admittance for a variety of reasons and had to turn around and go back. What a crushing disappointment that had to be after coming all that way.
There was a haze over Manhattan as we sailed through the harbor on a bright and sunny day. It was Fleet Week - as part of the Memorial Day weekend - so Navy destroyers cut through the waves and helicopters clattered and hovered in formation overhead.
Sunday in the park meant going to Central Park after several hours of delightful wandering through the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was a perfect day for a drink at The Boathouse, strolling Strawberry Fields across from John Lennon's Dakota and joining the frisbee throwing crowd in the Sheep Meadow.
My last visit to The City was almost 2 years ago, a week before Christmas, and Central Park was buried under mounds of snow so a visit to the adjacent Guggenheim was as close as we got.
We did see two Broadway shows - The Odd Couple and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - and found a Blues club in West Village that plays 7 nights a week. Two great acts that have played here are due in New York in mid-July. We visited a pizzeria that dated from 1905 and yes, there is a distinctive taste to New York-style pizza. We stole forks from Tavern On The Green but there was a compelling reason that involved a lunch in Chinatown and chopstick envy. I'll display pictures of that and much, much more in a later NYC post.
Labels: Ellis Island, Fleet Week, John Lennon, NYC, Sheep's Meadow, statue of liberty, The Dakota
The Pour House out on Maybank Highway offers fine music and better lighting and sound than most venues.
So we have two guys onstage, introduced by a single uke player. 
