Total Eclipse

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There was a total eclipse of the sun today, Monday April 8, and Kate and I tried to take advantage of it.

There was a partial eclipse a few years ago (2017) that we remember and we both have vague memories of similar partial eclipse's from our early childhod years. Kate had read quite a bit about this event and the importance of seeing the totality — it goes completely dark like night-time and you can actually see the stars (if it is clear of course). The position of the moon for this eclipse was such that it would cover the sun exactly right — not too big, not too small. Here in St. Marys they were to see 99% coverage where it would be more like a twilight — not completely dark. So we made plans to go to Niagara Region with friends, Erich and Lisa, who live in Burlington. We stayed overnight with them on Sunday and drove together for the day.

In Burlington they would be closer to the totality but still at the edge. Niagara Region (Niagara on the Lake, Niagara Falls, Buffalo, etc.) would be right in the totality and we wanted that experience. It turns out that Burlington is about an hour from the Niagara Region (an hour going there and much, much longer returning). We might have instead drove directly from here; if we had that would be about a two and a half hour drive. But, we were worried that there might be a big traffic snarl getting there. There was a "state of emergency" declared for the region in anticipation of a large turnout — I recall forecasts that a million people would be there! Staying overnight with friends nearby seemed like a better plan.

Our friends, Lisa and Erich, have a lovely home with a view of the Hamilton Harbor and the steel plants on the other side. Overnight the view is sometimes a bit like Dante's Inferno with flames and steam lighting the sky. Monday morning arrived with a heavy cloud cover. Many of our friends in SW Ontario had a similar morning experience. It did not bode well for any of us.

Erich is an old friend of mine — we were both computer science students at Western and lived together for several years in what Mike called "The Horbinger Home". We had lost touch but we re-connected just before the pandemic. There's a gang of us from those many years ago who share stories over a video conference call every couple of weeks. Erich is a jolly likeable guy, always joking — it would be hard not to like him. Erich and Lisa are quite social and kind to have us to their home for this and other events. We do enjoy our time together.

We had made reservations to see the eclipse at "Between the Lines Winery" starting at 2:00 and had lunch at a nearby restaurant "Bricks and Barley" in Virgil recommended by the winery. Both are a very short distance from Niagara on the Lake (a quaint Victorian contrast to the hub-bub, casinos, and carnival atmosphere of Niagara Falls). We had looked at staying in Niagara Falls, we had been there last year for my birthday, but the prices had sky rocketed knowing that there were many who wanted to be part of the event.

Getting to Niagara was no problem at all but the skies remained overcast. We arrived well before the restaurant opened, spent some time exploring an antique shop in Virgil and had a drive through Niagara on the Lake before returning for our lunch. You could see in Niagara on the Lake that there were a lot of visitors there for the eclipse. The parks were busy, people were getting set up to catch the eclipse, and there wasn't a parking space to be found. Clearly, not everyone was in Niagara Falls. The restaurant was busy for a Monday. It's a nice sports bar with too many TV's to distract you. But the service was good, the food was ample and we enjoyed our lunch together. If nothing else, we could visit with each other.

At the winery the set-up wasn’t as nice as we had been expecting but we got chairs and a table (the last ones – the other option was picnic table which would have been icing on the icing or camping out on the ground as many others were). But it was cloudy, overcast, a bit windy and quite cool. Fortunately it wasn't raining; although it looked like it might! We didn’t have enough clothes (at least Kate was cold the whole time). And then there was nothing to see. The only saving grace was that it did get very dark and that was really interesting. If you are near a total eclipse, I would highly recommend seeking totality. However, although dark as night, the clouds prevented us seeing any stars or the eclipse itself. It was a bit odd to be in the middle of this darkness (at around 3:20 for a few minutes) with what looked like a sunrise peeking out all around in every direction at the far distance.

The winery provided some tastings that we shared. Lisa doesn't drink, she was our designate driver. But we didn't drink that much anyways. Any of us could have driven home. We joked a lot about "The Rapture" and on the way home I noted a sign some zealot had posted: "Rapture - Almost Home. Jesus is coming back soon". Who ever posted that I bet they were disappointed God didn't take them home; I know I am. A friend Carol, in response to a Facebook posting on the subject, tells me:

"[At] breakfast the morning after the eclipse one of the servers commented that they had Jehovah Witness relatives who were planning for the rapture that was sure to happen during the eclipse. Jim asked her if she spoken to them yet that morning."

Thankfully we poor sinners were not taken by the rapture. As the darkness started to lift, the clouds parted a little and we saw a sliver of the sun and that was it. Kate was so disappointed. It didn’t help that friends in St. Marys, Burlington and elsewhere were writing to tell us how great it had been (“amazing” – Kate doesn't want to ever want to hear that word again). Apparently, the clouds had parted and it had cleared everywhere but in Niagara. Damn! Many friends we had convinced to take the event seriously and all who got to see it were impressed. Peter and Colleen have some great pictures of the totality that they caught near Cornwall a little later that day.

At that point, Kate is pretty disappointed but still okay. At this point we should have pulled into a bar, commiserated and maybe got drunk – something to make ourselves feel better but instead we headed back to Burlington in hopes of avoiding the traffice. Traffic wasn’t bad when we left but it got worse and worse until it was going very slow. When we left the winery, the mapping program told us it was 52 minutes to home. An hour later we were still 52 minutes from home and approaching the Burlington Skyway (a very long bridge) and Kate had to go to the bathroom. We did not want to chance being stuck on the bridge so we took one of the last possible exits and found a washroom at the local Walmart. We all went in to pee (except Lisa). The boys really had to go too but they weren’t as worried because they knew they could always go by the side of the road – we had already seen one car stopped for a kid to pee.

Well, it took about 45 minutes to get back on the road and then quite some time to get home. We had a pasta dinner together and Kate went to bed early. There are some end of the day photos of Dante's Inferno across the bay. I stayed up with Erich and Lisa to watch "The Bee Keeper" (2024) — a Bruce Willis styled action adventure starring Jason Statham. IMDB describes it as "One man's brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as "Beekeepers."" I collect cameras, Erich collects movies.

Anyways, Kate is determined to see a total eclipse and disappointed that we missed out on this one. As they don't happen very often she suggests we might go to Spain  where there's one coming up in August of 2027. Others comment that "The rain in Spain falls mainly on eclipse days".

63 Monroe/NFG

 

We have a bit of history with the band 63 Monroe (also known first as "NFG" and briefly as "First Date") starting back in the 1979/1980. Their 1980 EP, "63 Monroe/NFG", has been re-released on vinyl (also digital on Bandcamp) on Tony Lima's "Yeah Right!" label and we are peripherally involved. Band credits for the EP are:

• Steven R. Stunning (lead throat)
• Markii Burnaway (guitar)
• Bob Gliddon & Mark Deroux (bass)
• Peter Lamber (drums)

Back in the day I was into shooting band photos and they were an outrageous bunch who played 3 chord hard, hard, rock and roll (i.e., Punk) at the infamous Blue Boot/Cedar Lounge and around town. Their shows were crazy, fun and wild! Kate and I really liked them, still do, and even went to see them on our wedding night after the reception. And, icing on that, we had them play at our 25th Wedding Anniversary. We had them a number of times to our home in London back in the 1980's where we'd drink home made beer and play Trivial Pursuits. We still have some contact with some of the guys, Facebook is great for that.

Anyways, back to the EP. We had met some of the guys in the band, they knew I was taking photos, and they asked if they could use some of our work. We said sure and some of those photos appeared as contact strips on the back of the original EP. I wasn't involved in the artwork — the cover was great, the back was very amateurish. Most of my photos of various local bands from back then have been shared with various people, here in my blog, and in many Facebook postings. But, with this re-release, my 15 minutes of fame continues.

Tony Lima, formerly of Call the Office (a noted venue in London), got hold of me in January of 2022. He and Scott Bentley (the voice of NFG/63 Monroe) told me they were looking to re-release the EP on Tony's "Yeah Right!" record label and asked if I still had the photos that were used back in 1980 and if I had any others. The plan was to redo the back cover with better sized photos. Conversations went back and forth with us waving any rights to the photos and rescanning a bunch at higher resolution in late 2022. I hadn't heard much on this project in 2023 and was totally surprised when the project was finished and product was announced this month. I wasn't involved with the artwork but I'm pleased with the results. Doubly pleased as I got a photo credit this time!

We digitized the 1980 EP many years ago and have it framed and on the wall. I really don't like playing or listening to vinyl but Tony was kind enough to give me two copies which I picked up at "Speed City Records". With vinyl, you have the artwork. One copy I've passed on to our friends Sam & Albie, the other I'll save for another day. Micheal Todd, who owns the record store, and I had a bit of a chat when I picked up the EP. The original EP from 1980 is pretty rare, if you can find one, it runs about $150. I asked if the reissue made the original no longer collectable. When I pruned my LP collection back in 2022 he was keen to get hold of the original which I still have, but I said no. Some things you hold onto.

Here's a link to the EP artwork -- the original from 1980 and the reissue of 2024.

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There was a bit of back and forth on Facebook over writing credits when the release was announced. Some of it went like this:

Rob Gliddon: So the NFG EP called 63 Monroe, comes out again without crediting any of the songwriters. It was a problem back then and it's still an issue. Simon Lewis wrote 'At The Boot', 'Cyanide' and 'Hijack Victim', I wrote two songs and Mark wrote one. I'm sure the writers of 'Teenage Kicks' might want their credit. More than enough time was available to do things properly, it was just ignored.

Reg Quinton: Rob Gliddon so I am to understand that you wrote "Give 'em up" and "Goodbye Guyana" while Markii Burnaway wrote "After"? "Teenage Kicks" is, of course, The Undertones. They're all great tunes, iconic even. Ps. I was pleased to get a photo credit.

Markii Burnaway: I wrote Give em up.. I am pretty sure Bob wrote Goodbye Guyana .100% convinced the Undertones were behind the creation of Teenage Kicks

Rob Gliddon: Reg Quinton I wrote 'After' and 'Goodbye Guyana' as a response to Simon Lewis's 'Cyanide' Simon wrote the bulk of NFG's original setlist. Later this year I will be releasing a full set of live tracks from the original NFG line-up with Simon. It comes from a Monday night gig at The Boot. It will disprove the idea that the original line-up couldn't play. It rocks like granite.

There's been a muddled history to the bands. It all reminds me of an Austin Lounge Lizards song, "Would You Like To Start A Band". The history is similar. But putting aside some of the bad memories, it was a lot of fun!

Austin '24

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Some reflections on our travels and holiday in Austin, Texas over the winter of 2024. This blog entry is more about travelling, our long stay and coping and less about any grand adventures.

We booked six weeks (January 24 - March 6) in a three bedroom two bath house in the Zilker neighborhood of South Austin. Our land lords, Carole and Kenny, rent four long stay properties under the title "Under the Texan Sun". We stayed at their "Hill House" in 2018 (a two bedroom, one bath home) then here at "La Casa" in 2019, 2020 and again this year 2024. They are good people to rent from, we're happy with the place and have made a reservation to come again for the same period in 2025. The larger house gives us more space for ourselves, our cats and our visitors — this year Gord and Leslie came for a week. There were other guests we had invited; some who had hoped to come but timing didn't work out for them.

We have been coming to Austin for long stay winter holidays since 2013 and we've been visitors to the city since 1990. For these long stays, for several years we stayed at "Casita del Sol" (this blog Austin Feb, 2013) in Bouldin but when they stopped taking pets we found a place in Travis Heights (this blog Austin Nov, 2016). Both are in nearby neighborhoods of South Austin. We weren't that keen on that last place so we've been staying with Under the Texan Sun ever since. We've been bringing our pets with us every year. It makes finding a place a bit of a challenge; that's one reason we're pleased to rent with Under the Texan Sun. 

The gap from 2020 to 2024 is largely due to the Covid Pandemic. We left in March of 2020 just as the pandemic was declared and recognized by both Canada and the US. We considered going to Austin in 2023 after we came down with Covid in January and, with Carole's help, had even found a nearby rental. Unfortunately our car problems got in the way and we couldn't go. At that time, January of 2023, we reserved "La Casa" for 2024 — you really need to book a year in advance.

Sidebar: In 2021 Texas experienced a massive winter storm where the power was out for many days throughout the state. It was cold and people in the hundreds died on the street and in their homes — Governor Abbott blamed it on wind energy (when it was fact gas wells that froze), Senator Ted Cruz (R Tex) fled to warmer weather in Mexico. In the Austin American-Statesman I read of a woman who had died in her home during that storm and power outage when her catheter froze! In 2023 a similar ice storm hit the same areas with similar power problems. 

We are glad we were not in Austin for either of those events! I understand they still haven't integrated their power system with the rest of the country/continent to help mitigate these disasters.  However, the weather we had this year was marvelous. We even got to see the blue bonnets in bloom.

We take our car, our bikes/ebikes and our three cats on these Texas holidays. Originally it was our two cats Piscine and Richard Parker travelling in a Honda Civic, then a Hyundai Elantra, and staying at "Casita del Sol" in Bouldin. In the years that followed, with the three cats we now have, we bought a larger car (Honda CRV), in late 2018 for our subsequent trips. The Honda CRV is much bigger with enough room for all of us and our gear. Mind you, of the three cats, only Piscine, who has been with us on every trip, is comfortable with the ride. Radar and Little Moe are not happy travellers. They hunker down in the car and are clearly not having any fun. When there, they don't venture outside, unlike Piscine. There's a long cat story there which I will come to in a bit.

The drive to Austin is pretty much 25 hours driving time on the road (it's 2,500km and you can average 100km/hr on the US Interstate Highway system). That requires some overnight stops along the way. Usually we do it over three days with two nights lodging; we have done it in two days with only one overnight stay but that's awfully hard on the drivers and the cats. On our way down this year, with Reg doing all the driving, we took an extra day with overnight stays in Cincinnati, Memphis and Dallas. On the way back, Kate did a bit of driving, and we stayed in Little Rock and Indianapolis as we have often done before. We stay at the La Quinta chain because they are "pet friendly"; these days pet friendly seems to cost a lot more than it used to!

One of the reasons we like Austin in the winter is the fine weather and the bike trails. We've always brought our bikes and have enjoyed exploring Austin around Town Lake and the various river trails. Often we have taken our bikes to San Antonio and biked to the old missions along the river. In years past we've done a lot of biking, even for just getting around on the streets to various parts of the city. This year, with Kate's ankle injury, we brought a pair of ebikes that we had bought last summer before her surgery. We ended up using Uber a lot and not biking as much as we had hoped.

Bringing these ebikes was a bit of a struggle on a couple of fronts. First, the goose neck bike rack we were using for our pedal bikes wouldn't work. We had to get a tray for them to sit in and an adapter to fit the trailer hitch. Second, ebikes are not at all tolerant of wet weather. There are sensitive electrical components that you do not want to get wet. The bikes are very expensive and need to be protected from the elements. On the way down I had the bikes wrapped with a waterproof cover but that didn't work very well at all. We ended up stopping for duct tape and rope to better secure the cover which the wind wanted to tear apart. 

On the way back I figured out a better solution — the bikes were first shrink wrapped individually, then shrink wrapped again on the rack, then covered with waterproof cover and all of that tied down with ropes. On the way there the roads were wet, snow and cold was an issue. We had torrential rain in Arkansas and East Texas (I read about 6" of rain in one day!). But the bikes survived. On the way back, when the bikes were better protected, we had fine weather and never saw any wet days. We did get to use our bikes a few times — some short rides in the neighborhood, once along Town Lake, another day in San Antonio and some exploring of the Walnut Creek bike trail. As Kate improves we hope to be able to use the ebikes more.

There are a couple of interesting stories around our arrival in Austin. The first, as promised, is about the cats. The second is about the features of our rental.

As mentioned the cats are not happy travellers and we may not take all of them ever again on these long stay holidays. Piscine is a reasonable traveller and although she cries a lot in the car in the morning she soon settles down. Radar and Little Moe are almost catatonic in the car. They do not like getting into the car, in fact they have to be man handled to get them in, and once in they just lay frozen in place hoping that nothing more happens. On our arrival the cats were pretty freaked out. Little Moe especially spent a lot of time pacing around the house and crying loudly. Kate was concerned that he might not be peeing as he should (Richard Parker had died of urinary stones and behaved similarly). We ended up taking him to a nearby Emergency Veterinary Clinic. He did not want to go and he did not want to be there. He was impossible to handle and was climbing the walls to get away. He would not calm down, could not be examing and had to be sedated. In the course of doing all that I got a nasty cat bite and ended up in a nearby Emergency Clinic where I was prescribed an anti-biotic. All of that ended up costing nearly $400 for me and over $1,000 for the cat. And there was nothing wrong with the cat other than the stress from travelling and being manhandled into La Quinta hotel rooms! On the way back, on the first day, Little Moe threw up in the car and Piscine pissed on Kate's pillows. Sigh.... I should say that after a few days in Austin they were comfortable around the house and had forgiven us. But clearly travel with cats is challenging.

The second arrival story is perhaps comically/stupidly funny. We've been to this rental before but haven't been back in years and on arrival this time we noted that there didn't seem to be a microwave; or at least there wasn't one on the counter where we expected it. We are firm believers that, on a long stay like this, if there's something you need that isn't there, go and get it. And we need a microwave, so when we went to stock up on essentials at Costco (reminder: they want cash or their credit card and our debit card doesn't work with them) we ended up buying a nice one with plans to leave it behind — the expense is rather minor when you consider what you are paying overall for the long stay. We had set it up, and used it a couple of times, when making coffee one morning, I looked up from the stove to see that there's a built in microwave there over the stove with a stove exhaust fan in it. Oh for dumb! We ended up donating the one we had just bought to one of the local groups that help out with the homeless. We might have taken it back to Costco but we had no desire to pack it back up and go stand in the return lines. 

This blog has wandered far too long so I'm going to close it here. There are other stories to tell, but I have other duties that call on me today.

Charles B. Dunham

Photo by Kate, 2001. Dinner at Auberge Du Petit Prince

Our friend and erstwhile UWO Computer Science colleague Charles B. Dunham passed away yesterday, March 18 2024, in Palliative Care at Victoria hospital, London. Charles was 86 years old and had been in care at Maple View Terrace for several years now. He died peacefully, but we kept expecting him to awaken and say, "You're wrong! And do you want to know why?". Yes Charles, we'll miss your blunt corrections and gentle humor.

Charles is survived by a brother Gordon (BC) and a sister Alison (FL) and by long time friends Anne, Mike, David and more.

Charles was a professor of mine back in the 1970's when I was earning my Computer Science degrees. He was one of the very early members of the newly formed department. We formed a friendship over his love of photography and the outdoors. His published work in the discipline was always way over my head! But then Charles was not a great communicator.

In his later years I was declared, with David and Mike, as his Power of Attorney for Personal Care. We all helped with his transition to assisted living at Maple View Terrace where he lived out his final ten years. These last few weeks have been demanding. Charles had a major event in February that had him hospitalized while we were on holidays in Texas. There were several long distance phone calls with staff at Victoria Hospital as care decisions had to be made before and after surgery. On our return I was able to visit with Charles several times, met with support staff at MVT, followup care was debated (for the February event), and Palliative Care support was arranged but soon after Charles was readmitted in dire need. His POA instructions were clear as to the care he wanted in his final days and I've done my best to honor his wishes.

He died peacefully last night. His dear friends Anne and Mike were able to visit in the early evening to say their good byes. I had spent some time with him in the afternoon but he was gone when I returned after their visit. I'm glad his suffering is over.

I want to acknowledge the kind and caring support of staff at MVT where Charles lived and Victoria Hospital where he died. They helped Charles, and me, during these difficult days. Anne, Mike and David have been true friends to Charles, their support made mine all the easier.

See also obituary posting at the A. Millard George Funeral Home, London (April 2).

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Maggie's Wake

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This afternoon, Sunday March 17 (St Patrick's day) we went to the matinee Album Release of "Maggie's Wake" on the Auburn stage at the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario. It was a general admission ticket with a sold out house so we arrived early in hopes of getting good seats to enjoy the show. We ended up in the front row next the Lindsay's mom. I took a lot of pictures, as I often do, and have whittled them down to a few that are definitely worth sharing.

Maggie's Wake is a Irish/Celtic band with fiddles, tin whistles, piano, accordian, guitar, bass, and drums. The music is largely words by Tara Dunphy (vocals, fiddle and tin whistle) with many tunes by Lindsay Schindler (vocals and fiddle). The band is rounded out by Stephan Szczesniak on percussion, Andrew Kosty on bass, Dean Harrison on piano and accordian, and Kenneth Palmer on guitar. All of these are mature, experienced players who have done their 10,000 hours.

We have followed Tara for years — we are big fans of the Rizdales (an Americana/Country band with her husband Tom) and her other projects. Lindsay we know through her work with Rant Maggie Rant, a local/Stratford Irish/Celtic band that has recently run it's course. The Maggie's Wake band name is a play on Rant Maggie Rant — there's the notion of following in a boat's wake, there's also the notion of a funeral wake.

We had the CD well in advance of this release as we were early supporters via Kickstarter. I had listened to it a bit but the live performance really helped to deepen my appreciation. Tara songs, the stories, sometimes brought me tears (e.g., Maid of Fortune). Lindsay's reels and tunes had us wanting to get up to dance (Kate has a history with Irish dance from her childhood). I was particularly impressed by the percussion by Stephan — he's no ordinary drummer! I wonder if Ken Palmer, of Dixie Flyers fame, is any relation to Kenneth Palmer the guitarist here? While it was mostly acoustic guitar there was an electric guitar tune on the album that really impressed me. All of the music is worth a listen. They did a few tunes in celebration of St Patrick's day, e.g., a medley of South Australia, Tell Me Ma and Whiskey in the Jar.

I talked briefly to Tara and Tom during the set break. They were both aware of our travels and happy to see us back. I talked a bit with Tara about our Austin experiences; they are fans of the music scene there but have not been back since 2019. The album has a song about going to New Orleans, Louisiana, I know they've been going there lately. We've been once, in 2018, it is another music city worth visiting.

To top off the show they also had 3 young girls from the Sarnia Celtic Dance school who came out to dance! There was an "after the show" gathering/celebration at the Richmond Hotel that we missed.

Nikon F Sold

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Today I've shipped off my 1967 chrome Nikon F Photomic FTN to a buyer in St John's. The photo album tells a little about the story of how I came to this camera. This is to fill in a bit more of the story. For those not familiar with the Canadian dollar $1US is $1.35CA at this writing.

The camera was purchased off Ebay from a US seller in an auction back in July of 2023 for $127US + $62.42US (shipping) + duties on arrival. You can do the math there ... that's about $250CA. When it arrived it was clear that it would require a Clean, Lube and Adjust (CLA) service — the foam bumpers for the mirror had head rotted and were crumbling. I thought about replaceing the foam myself but ended up sending the camera to a repair service through the local camera shop (Carman's in Stratford). It's difficult to find anyone locally who can service these old cameras. That CLA was an additional $130 + $60 (shipping again) so, all in, I'm at well over $400 invested. I've sold the camera for $300 + $30 shipping so this hasn't been an exercise to make money. ... lol!

From the serial number I understand this camera was made sometime in 1967. It is quite serviceable and I have run through a couple of rolls of film. See this example of local scenes shot with this camera. The CLA technician reported, via Carman's, that:

I just got an email this morning with your estimate! The price will be $130.50 plus taxes. That will be for replacing the mirror foam, Replace prism head resting foam pad, clean mirror, clean focusing screen, complete internal/external cleaning, lubrication and minor adjustments. Prism meter when working is accurate, however sometimes meter needle fails to move and unrepairable.

So why have I sold the camera? It works well and is a treat to use if only a little awkward. However, I have a Nikon F2 Photomic in black and several lenses purchased after the Nikon F. In November I found a deal I could not refuse (in Canada with the Camera Trading Company) and bought a second Nikon F Photomic FTN, an Apollo version from 1969 in black, for just over $300. Clearly, I don't need both. Actually I don't need any of these film cameras. Here's a post about my "Senseless Collection".

The 1967 Nikon F I've sold came to me with a 50mm/F1.4 lens, the second came with a 50mm/F2. I much prefer the faster lens and have swapped the two. Both are Nikkor non-AI lenses of the era and both seem to be working well. My Nikon lens collection now includes a 28mm/F3.5, 135mm/F2.8, 80-200mm/F4.5, and a 35-105/F3.5-4.5 zoom. Again, that's all part of the senseless collecting of old Nikon gear. Sometimes, I think I've become a lot like the old man in this Fred Eaglesmith song, "Small Motors"; the fellow who treasures puttering around with this old gear.

Finally, a comment on film and shooting. Film is hard to find and expensive, it's hard to find a processor for the film and that again is expensive, and it takes a while for the processing so you have to wait, and, at the end of the day, what you have are digital scans. Oh yeah, and sometimes they screw up and your film jams their machine or is terribly scratched or you've screwed up otherwise! Nevertheless, here we are playing with old technologies and reliving an experience we could ill afford back in the day. In the next few days I'm buying a new cell phone which will probably take better pictures that far exceed any from the cameras I've had to date. Such is progress.

See also Nikon F only film group on Facebook for like minded folk.

BMI Songwriters Showcase

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On our last night in Austin (Monday) we went to the BMI Songwriters Showcase at the Saxon Pub. BMI is, of course, the publishing and music rights management company for song writers. They will have offices in places like Music Row (Nashville), Tin Pan Alley (New York) and LA where there's a music scene. They set up an office here in Austin sometime around 2020 (after we were last here) and have hosted a monthly series, the first Monday of the month, from 6:00-7:30pm. It's a free show sponsored by BMI, there are no tickets required and they don't pass a tip jar. We arrive early and get good seats to enjoy the show. There are similar BMI Showcases in other cities. We are excited to see this showcase; it's not surprising that we've not been before as they started up during the pandemic. We would have missed the February event, damn!

BMI is hosting six singer songwriters tonight in two sets of three. Over the four years of this series they will have showcased several hundred songwriters. There is that much talent in Texas! Tonight each gets to perform two or three of their songs and while there is some chatting/introductions between songs they clip along pretty quickly in the one hour and a half allocated for the showcase. Each of the artists is signed to BMI and all of them have music published for which they receive royalty cheques; most also have records of their own.

The show runs as a song swap, or music in the round, with Owen Temple, Tina Wilkins, and her husband Walt Wilkins up first followed by Bri Bagwell, Mike McClure and Courtney Patton. Mike McClure had his partner Chrislyn Lawrence come up to sing a duet with him. We were impressed by all of them; this is the kind of music we look for. Songs that tell stories, some country, some maudlin but all excellent. No bass and drums, just a guitar to complement the song. When we return to Austin we need to mark first Monday's as something well worth attending. 

Unfortunately my portable sound recorder was packed away, we are leaving for home the next morning, so I didn't captured the music of that night ... much to my regret. Kate took a couple of short videos which are in the photo album. They give you a good sense of the quality of the music. It was all excellent. DanViewtube wasn't there. It would have been a great show for him to record but perhaps BMI is exercising their publishing rights. 

All too soon the show was over. The BMI hosts and the musicians did their bows and thanked the audience for attending. We thanked some of the musicians for the great show and talked briefly with Walt Wilkins on the way out. We compared restaurants and eateries around town. He recommended the "Shoal Creek Saloon" (where we've been many times) and "Fonda San Miguel" as the best in town; oddly we had just been reading about that one. I guess next time we're here we'll give it a go. It's within our stompin' grounds — just off of Burnet near Sue Patrick and the Little Longhorn Saloon.

There are other regular Monday night events in town, notably Bob Schneider's "Lonelyland" follows this show at 8:00 and then there's Monday Night Superclub, over at the El Mercado, which has Gabe Rhodes as a guest tonight. "Happyland" with Kimmie, Gabe and Louis Rhodes has been a regular Monday event and we've been to a couple already. We bump into our newly acquired friend, newly sober and a Saxon regular, "John", who tells us he was torn between this event and the Superclub but this is such a special event he had to be here. At the end of the show he tells us his friends at the Superclub have been texting him that it's a really great show there as well and he's dashing away to catch the last of it. 

We also make friends with another fellow in the audience, J.D. Graham, who is touring the area. He's a singer/songwriter as well and had done a gig with Courtney at the Redbird in New Braunfels (a listening we had not heard of but need to investigate). We're following him on Facebook, he's interesting too.

On this trip we've become Saxon Pub regulars. We've seen a lot of really great shows here with very few disappointments (there was an impossible Ameripolitan event with no seating). Tonight was one of the best.