Chip Roy Protest

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Usually, when travelling, we'd write about the music, the art, the scenes, and the fun times we're having. Texas this year is not so much fun. 

We arrived in the US on the day Don the Con (the Commander and Thief from Mara-Lardo) was inaugurated (crowned in his imagination) — January 20. Every day since has been a barrage of WTF executive orders (edicts if he were king) that defy decency, common sense, and legality. So while we try to have some fun we are constantly aware that the house is on fire and most don't seem to be reacting. But some do, like our friends in Blanco who we first met on our Galapagos cruise (2019).

We were in San Antonio yesterday to attend a protest at the office of Rep. Chip Roy (Congressional District 21, Republican of course). This small protest was organized by our activist friends from Blanco and the Blanco County Democrats. We were in the city early to enjoy a visit to the SAMA (San Antonio Musem of Art) and lunch at the Tre Trattoria at the musem. We arrived at the protest just before 2:00pm on a cold and windy afternoon.

We met our Blanco friends who had made their signs for the protest. Wendy is the one in the pictures carrying the folded triangle vetrans flag, the vetrans cap and the sign "My Dad fought Nazis - Stop Elon"; Tammy, her partner, carries the sign "F*Elon and the FElon". There were lots of good home made signs including one that quoted extensively from Gov (Illinois) Pritzker (see below). Kate and I are carrying printed signs provided by the organizer — we took one home and proudly display it in the window of our rental in Austin. I especially liked the sign "Make Orwell Fiction Again" and the red "MAGA" hat that reads "Make that Asshole Go Away".

Chip Roy's office is inside the building where we were protesting. Many of the protestors went to his office to register their objections. Of course he wasn't there, he'd be in D.C. voting to increase the debt ceiling, slash social services, and cut taxes on the rich. We stayed outside in the wind and cold — it was only just above freezing. As Canadians we were prepared for the cold with gloves, mitts, scarves and warm clothing. Kate gave out extra mitts, Reg gave his woolen scarf to a fellow protester dressed only in a suit.

We were a small protest group — there were some young folk, and even another Canadian couple. We don't get to vote but we certainly are affected by what happens down here — e.g., the tariff wars No. 47 imagines will be a hardship for everyone — we need to protest and have every right to do so. Cars passing by were sometimes supportive (honking, waving, giving a thumbs up). One kind young woman saw our protest and returned with hot coffee to warm us. Most of the passing cars did not respond at all and I only saw one guy (in a pickup of course) roll by with his window down cursing us and giving us the finger. On balance, I think people were supportive. They'll be even more supportive when the "shit hits their fan" as is sure to happen.

At 3:00pm we all agreed to pack it in; enough of the protest. Some of us, including the Blanco gang, retired to a nearby Chuy's restaurant to warm up, talk about the current chaos, have some margarita's and noshes, and share a few chuckles. The young waitress was a treat and sympathetic to our cause. We enjoyed our margarita's and some apps. Several of us at our end of the table ordered "large" margaritas (the waitress encouraged us to order a $1 tequila bump added as it's "happy hour"; we all agreed). When she came around later to encourage those who had order regular sized margaritas to order another she pointedly said that we at the other end of the table who had ordered large ones (with a bump) were OK (i.e., we didn't have to order another drink). One of our small group picked up the tab, we all contributed to a healthy tip.

Conversations on the chaos and our woes centered around how the recent election had broken up families. The waitress tells us that she, her mom, and grandmother vote for the "right party" (which didn't get in) but the grandfather votes Republican — so they refused to take him to the polls to vote!

In all it was an interesting day ... but, remember the curse: "May you live in interesting times".

See also: 

• the full text of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker's ‘State of the State' address (posted Feb 19, 2025).

James McMurtry

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Wednesday was my birthday (once again we're in Austin). We had a pretty quiet day as the weather was not cooperating but that evening we were lucky to see James McMurtry solo at his residency at the Continental Club Gallery on South Congress. Amazing show, as always. 

Of the many tunes that we enjoyed that night I was struck when he played "Peter Pan", from "It Had to Happen" (1997). It includes the chorus:

I keep my distance, as best I can
living out my time here in Never Never land
I can't grow up 'cause I'm too old now
I guess I really did it this time mom

That line "I can't grow up 'cause I'm to old now" pretty much captures me and my birthday. This YouTube video (2023) of James performing "Peter Pan" at this club captures the event pretty well; even down to the stage patter. We have pictures of the show, we don't record videos.

We have seen James several times over the years on our visits to Austin (you can search this blog if you're interested). One of our very early experiences would have been at La Zona Rosa (1994) when he was working on "Where'd You Hide the Body" (1995). He has a regular residency at the Continental Club when he's not on the road touring (recently he's been touring with BettySoo). One night he's solo upstairs and another night he plays downstairs with his band. We much prefer the solo show. He started the show with "Red Dress". He's performed that in a red dress while touring with BettySoo as a protest against the repressive drag queen laws in Tennessee (see Bijou Theatre, Knoxville 2023).

There were lots of his hits that night, "Choctaw Bingo" of course. Most we recognize right away although I had to go home to look up where the Peter Pan story comes from. There's another new tune, "Pinocchio in Vegas", that I was expecting but didn't hear that night. Overall I was struck by the melancholy of the music, especially in "Copper Canteen", from "Complicated Game" (2015). The opening lines may get a laugh in Texas:

Honey, don't you be yelling at me when I'm cleaning my gun
I'll wash the blood off the tailgate when deer season's done

But the story is not funny at all. Peter Pan is a story of a young person's relationship, this one is about a long standing relationship and the boundaries and compromises that make it work.

See also our blog, Complicated Game, Waterloo Records (2015), a record release performance we saw on another visit to Austin.

I'm not a musician (Kate plays a bit of guitar) but I've always been impressed by James' guitar work. He can make a single acoustic guitar sound like a full orchestra. Some novelties I see in his guitar work: he often uses two capos (one to tune the bass strings differently); he often tunes down the bass strings; he plays with a 6 string, 12 string and 8 string acoustic guitars! I don't think I've ever seen an 8 string guitar before. He plays with some force and part of the set includes a break so we can go to the bar while he retunes the instruments. He's amazing and a real treat to see.

We met a couple our age at the door from Cinncinnati and shared a front row couch with them for the show. We four were the first in the door at 8pm on a cold winter night. They were on their way to a vacation in Hawaii and had stopped in Austin for a couple of days. They were staying just across the street in the Austin Motel ("So close, yet so far out on South Congress") and had been to some of our favorite haunts — e.g., Guero's and the Magnolia Cafe both down the street a bit. They were really surprised to find that James was playing across the street and pleased to see him in this solo environment. They had seen him before touring with his band. I think it will have been a night to remember for them, it certainly was for us!

Letter From a Friend

Yesterday we wrote a letter to the Austin Chronicle (a local Austin entertainment weekly). It was posted online last night and reads:

Letter From a Friend

RECEIVED Mon., Feb. 10, 2025

Dear Editor,

We are two retired Canadians who love Austin and have been regular visitors since 1990. We love Texas and we love Texans. We are writing this letter in response to the actions taken by your president in the three weeks we’ve been here (a trip planned a year ago — most of our friends and family who had planned trips to the U.S. this year are going elsewhere or not traveling). We have witnessed your president (47) do incredible damage to your Constitution, to the economy and to the world at large. For example, whether or not you support foreign aid (of note — it accounts for less than 1% of the U.S. budget), its sudden withdrawal means many deaths, perhaps millions. But that is just one of many damaging and unconstitutional acts 47 and his co-president, Musk, have perpetrated. Personally, we are deeply offended by the chaos they have unleashed. And let us assure you, Canadians do not want to become the 51st state and will not respond kindly to a hostile takeover via a tariff war — a war that benefits no one.

To our American friends — we know you are tired. We know you have just been through a grueling election. We know you have been constantly fighting disinformation spread by 47 and his cronies. We know that 47 has caused irreparable rifts in families. But you have to fight back. And you have to fight soon — before it is too late. The damage done by his actions so far have affected mostly people outside the U.S. or federal employees, but soon everyone will be worse off except the very rich. WAKE UP! This is not a battle between left and right. It is a battle for your country and democracy.

This new world order unleashed on January 20 cannot be our future.

Kate Graham & Reg Quinton
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At the urging of our Blanco friends we have sent versions of this letter to several local papers. 

This morning (February 12) we read about a recent executive order imposing sanction on the International Criminal Court. Will it never end? The 47th believes he and his cronies are above all laws — state, federal and international.

We sometimes feel like we've taken a 6 week ocean cruise and every day we're hit by hurricane weather. Is there no safe harbor?

50501 Protest, Austin

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Kate's notes on the protest today here in Austin with my minor additions:

Well, something finally seems to be happening down here. We went to the "5051 Protest" (50 states, 50 protests, 1 day). It started at 11am and was supposed to continue until 4pm but we left at 1 (had to use the washroom and then we got some lunch at the nearby Texas Chili Parlor Bar while we were at it). I love a good protest and usually they feel like they might matter. But this one made me sad – even though I am glad to see it happening and we will try to support any other ways of fighting back that happen while we are here or back home. Unfortunately, we can’t stop buying American until we get home. 

A woman at the protest asked Reg if he was from Pflugerville (a north suburb of Austin) and he said no, Canada. She started in on how we should not let Canada be bullied by Trump and we should stop buying American goods – I said people were doing that. She felt terrible that the US was acting like that toward their good friend Canada, and toward Mexico too. Like many we meet she apologized for the sad state of affairs here and asked if she could move to Canada. Not the first, nor the last, to ask for asylum in our home.

But the problem is that Trump is doing his evil works so fast and so crazily that it seems impossible to fight back (see "Shock Doctrine", 2007 by Namoi Klein). While everyone is still reeling from the tariff wars, he starts talking about the US taking over Gaza and people who live there can find “nice new homes” in other countries. Just one dire thing after another.

Even though everything Trump says won’t come to pass, some of it will. Today at the protest, a trans person told the crowd that she had had her passport taken away from her. Another speaker said her parents couldn’t come to the protest because they were afraid of being picked up and deported. Just so many sad and desperate stories.

There were many interesting and meaningful signs (see the photo album above). But the one sign pretty much captured it – it read: “Too much for one sign”. One sign said “People can’t be illegal” – a good point. Here’s a good and relevant song from the first round with Trump ("Who's Going to Build Your Wall?" 2007 by Tom Russell). I think there have already been protests over immigrant raids – we should find out and support them. 

Here's a funny story. When we arrived, we perched on the ledge beside a guy probably in his 30s. Reg noticed he was wearing a pistol and asked him why he brought a gun. He said, well, if counter-protesters came, they would probably be armed and he wanted to be able to defend himself. (I didn’t bother trying to tell him about the people in the crowd who might bet hurt/killed in the crossfire). He said but if the gun made us feel uncomfortable, he could cover it – and he pulled his t-shirt down over the gun. He told us that you can do open carry or hidden carry in Texas – both are legal (which we knew). In fact, he said, you could even take a gun into the capital if you wanted (we were protesting on the steps of the capital building) – I somehow doubted that – I recalled being searched when we went on a tour there years ago. And there were plenty of armed officers at the protest to protect the capitol. Reg told him that we were from Canada and weren’t used people bringing guns. Then the really funny part. I was carrying a lawn chair in a bag in case there was nowhere to sit and he glanced at it. So I told him what it was. He said, "You’ll probably have to turn that in – they’re collecting objects like that over there." We laughed at the irony that they would take away my lawn chair (which they didn’t) but the gun was just fine. He said, "Ya, that’s Texas."

Anyway, it is good to see people fighting back and hopefully it will make a difference. But it does seem a bit bleak right now.