Sunny & Brennen

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Tuesday is often a slow night, but not in Austin. We caught Brennen Leigh and Sunny Sweeney at an 8:00 acoustic show at the Saxon Pub -- we biked over, it's a short ride from our vacation stay. It was basically a song swap with Sophia Johnson (who we had seen with Whitney Rose) playing along. This was probably the best show we've seen so far with an appreciative audience who listened to the music ... far too often bars are loud and noisy as patron shout at one another over top of the progressively louder music which attempts to drown out them out.

They sang some very funny songs like one about being a "trophy" wife, wanting to be a old lady driving a really big car real slow. And classics like "Honky Tonk Angels".

What made the event extra special was a guest appearance by Ray Benson who started off with a finger pickin' blues number by Mississippi John Hurt. He then brought the house down when he played his favorite song: Guy Clark's Dublin Blues. I've know about Ray Benson but had him pegged as a silky toned swing artist. He really opened my eyes to another side which I really liked and will need to explore.

We talked with Sophia, she's a Brit and has only been in the country a year or so, nevertheless she has a tattoo of Texas on her arm. We asked about her playing with Whitney Rose, she said sure and there's her husband over there who drums for Whitney who we had seen in Gruene over the weekend, and by the way did you see Whitney here tonight? And my band is playing at the Whitehorse later this wee. Small world here in Austin.

Brennen and Sunny gig around town and we already have plans to see them again. I wonder who we'll bump into there?

Whitney Rose

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Thursday night found us at the early show at the Continental Club where Whitney Rose performed songs from her two albums, some covers and some new tunes.

I didn't know about this artist before this trip to Austin and was very impressed with what I saw. She sings true country with classic melodies and an incredible delivery. She has a powerful voice with a great range. Her version of "Stand by Your Man" was a real stand out. You might fit her in the Ameripolitan genre or just classic country.

I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that Whitney is Canadian -- PEI and Toronto only lately in Austin. In some ways she reminds me of another Canadian, Lindi Oretga, who has a similar style.

The band she's performing with are all excellent players as well but I didn't catch their names. But no, it's not those guys from the Mavericks who perform on her second album "Heartbreaker of the Year".

This is a performer to watch out for. She's going places and should do well.

Joe Ely

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Kate and I got to see Joe Ely with Joel Guzman at Strange Brew here in Austin. Some great tunes that can move you to tears in a great venue where people actually listen to the music.

We'll be there again for more concerts.

Jan den Boer

Our dear friend and cousin Jan den Boer passed away recently. Jan was Kate's first cousin and a life long chum. Kate and I have collected some of our photos into an album which should be shared -- see below.

The obituary, which ran in the Toronto Star and the Portage Daily Graphic (Portage la Prairie was Jan's childhood home) reads:

JANICE MARGARET den BOER (nee RITCHIE) In loving memory of Jan den Boer who passed away peacefully at McNally House Hospice in Grimsby on Saturday, January 9, 2016. Jan was born in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, but spent most of her adult years in Ontario where in addition to years of working in marketing, she enjoyed cooking, golf, fashion and shopping. She was the beloved daughter of the late Elmo and Dorothy ("Dot") Ritchie and loved sister of Jack Ritchie of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Jan will be greatly missed by her family: nieces, nephews, great-nieces and nephews, cousins and her many, many friends. She will be forever remembered for her kindness, generosity, ready smile and sense of humour, as well as the strength and bravery with which she faced her illness. A special thanks to the staff and volunteers of McNally House Hospice for their ongoing support and compassionate care and to other medical staff who provided exceptional care. Donations in Jan's memory may be made to McNally House Hospice.  A private celebration of Jan's life will be held at a later date.

Melbourne Street Art

Kate and I visited Melbourne (Victoria, Australia) for 5 weeks in November and December of 2015. There's lots of street art that caught my eye -- I include some posters. I am not keen on tagging. These are mostly straight up with little editing -- some tuning, some perspective control, some cropping, some stitching, etc. Of the many artists' works I really can't say who is responsible for what. Only that I found these interesting.

Here's an album of street art.

Melbourne, Victoria

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We spent a month in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Kate was working with colleagues at La Trobe -- I was there to carry her luggage. There's a small downtown La Trobe campus near the Queen Victoria Markets and we stayed at the City Tempo apartments (a glass and steel high rise unit) just across the street. It was very convenient for Kate's work. We had planned a trip to Roatan (and Caribbean island, part of Honduras) but the trip to Australia was too good to pass up. We had been to Melbourne many times before but never for a long stay like this.

The nearby Queen Victoria Market is quite interesting -- there's a green market, fresh fish and meats, deli's, dry goods and much much more. We developed a taste for fresh mangos found at the market. While we were visiting there were several special events at the market including late openings on Wednesdays. And, as the picture shows, they were ramping up for the Christmas season. The market isn't open every day, but when it is, it's well worth a visit. There were, of course, nearby super markets (eg. Coles and Woolworths are two big Australian chains).

Our apartment was convenient, but sparse and very small. There was a tiny balcony we could sit on with good views of the city to the west but we both agreed we could never live in a high rise like that. Our home in St Marys is more to our liking. Cities are fine to visit but we like our life in a small town.

Melbourne Central (the large mall, the metro stop) was a short few blocks away. The historic circle tram line was just down the street. Getting around in Melbourne's CBD is pretty easy -- there's lots of trams and they're all free within the CBD and not very expensive beyond the city. I understood that there was to be an experiment to try a month where the entire CBD would be car-free and pedestrian friendly. Access to the transit system was with a tap card that you'd recharge when needed. The beauty of the system was that you could go far out of the city by train on the same card.

The Shopping Arcades and Alley's are an interesting feature of the CBD. Fun to explore, loaded with shops and restaurants, connecting the various malls.

Federation Square and the Flinders Train Station on the Yarra River are essentials. There's often events on Federation Square. There's also the ACMI (Australia Center for Moving Images) and The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia to explore. Across the river on St Kilda Rd there's the large NGV (National Gallery of Victoria) which we explored. Across the road is the Shrine of Remembrance and the Royal Botanic Gardens.

We didn't take our bikes with us on this trip (airlines hit you pretty hard for an extra bag). Instead we rented city-bikes and/or road the trams. The city bikes are clunky but convenient and good enough for us. We made it down to St Kilda beach and biked along the shore of Port Phillip Bay but it was too early in the season for swimming. One evening we went out the pier at St Kilda beach to see the "Fairy Penguins" that hide out in the break wall. A rookery has been established there and is fenced off to keep tourists from bothering the birds.

There was a "Noodle Market" one day on the riverbank near Federation Square. We checked it out but could not find any vendor who actually sold noodles! Really! We ended up at the Noodle Kingdom, a Chinese restaurant on Swanston St in Chinatown, to have a dinner with fresh pulled noodles. Later we took some of our Melbourne colleagues there.

I explored the Docklands and beyond to the Bolte Bridge -- you can get there on the Circle Tram line. Melbourne has a modern container port on the Yarra further. The docklands are where the old port used to be -- from the days when ships were loaded and unloaded by stevedores. It's now a pretty posh area of city with some very trendy, modern apartments.

Flagstaff Gardens is a public park just down the street from us. We were lucky to be there when the Jacaranda trees bloomed. Our friends at La Trobe played in a netball league in the park (it's a uniquely Australian game a bit like basketball except there's no travelling with the ball).

RMIT is another university in Melbourne just around the corner from us. We went a punk exhibit at a gallery at RMIT and learned a bit of history of the movement in Germany and Australia.

The State Library of Victoria was nearby and well worth a visit. There's an exhibit of Ned Nelly (famous outlaw of the late 1855-1880) -- his armor and his death mask. And there's a gallery to explore as well. The domed reading room is very impressive.

Outside the city took a train to visit with Kate's colleague Pete in Geelong.  We rented a car and took in the Yarra Valley wineries, Kokoda Memorial Walk (a challenging 1,000 Steps hike through the forest), we rode the Puffing Billy Train and had lunch on it. Our friend Anne-Marie took us out to the McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park on an overnight trip to see the Fairy Penguins when they return at dusk to their rookery on Phillip Island. We  explored wineries on the Mornington Peninsula with David and Angela. Another time we rented a car and explored wineries on the Bellarine Peninsula. We stayed overnight near Queenscliffe on the Bellarine where the ferry runs across to Sorrento on the other side. We were there for the lighting of a huge Christmas tree on nearby Point Lonsdale. We joined a local Beefsteak and Burgundy wine club for a dinner at Diggers Rest (we used the train system which is integrated with the Melbourne tram system). "Diggers" are miners, this was a "rest" stop on the way to the Gold Fields during the gold Victoria Gold Rush of 1851-60. It's famous for the first manned flight, by Houdini no less, in Australia!

Of course we explored the along the Yarra river in the city. The Casino was all decked out for Christmas. One day I took a ferry from the Southbank out to Williamstown. There's a lovely little beach there and the day I visited people were in the water. There's also a lovely botanic gardens to explore. You can get there as easily on the metro system.

I spent a day at the Melbourne Museum (a short tram ride from our place), Kate and I explored the Heide Museum of Modern Art (a much longer tram ride out into the country).

Here's a photo album if you'd care to see some of our adventures.

Mornington Peninsula Wine Tour

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Mornington Peninsula is a wine region south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. We've toured several times over the years and this year was no exception. Our friends Angela and David took us out for a drive one day to share lunch, sample some wines and see some of the sights.