loss of a son and the first day of jazz fest...

The delay in this post was caused by the event itself, or should I say the sunburn that I acquired at the fest on Friday. I'm sporting the reverse raccoon. For those that aren't aware of this phenomenon, the "reverse raccoon" is caused when one wears sunglasses for untold hours in the sun causing the area covered by the sunglasses to remain white while the rest of the face, in my case, gathers the bright hue of a freshly boiled crawfish.

Prior to heading to the fest, I met my son Robert at the bus station. He is leaving Louisiana. I believe that he thinks that everything will be different, but I'm not holding up hope that this will be an easy move in any way. He's staying in Baton Rouge for a week with his mother, then off to Kentucky. My hopes and prayers are with him, but I'll withhold my comments until they are warranted.

I arrived at the jazz fest promptly at 11AM on Friday Morning. Ja, C, and R were to meet me there, but I knew they would be late as there of course were two women involved. Needless to say, I did secure a great peice of real estate about 15 yards from the barracade at the Acura Stage to enjoy the music.

As luck would have it, I brought no blanket, so I swiftly removed my shirt and used this to sit on.
Dillard University Jazz Ensemble was the first on, and they were about halfway through their set when I arrived to my spot. Just as I got comfortable, a woman that was none other than the illegitimate offspring of Myrna Minkoff and Ignatius Jacques Reilly. I remember thinking I would have loved to have a camera or camcorder to video her dance antics. It was marvelous.
Since I had no bowl, the result of going to see Wilco the night before with my friend Je and letting him convince me that I needed to tose my bowl before entering the theater, I was quite interested in finding someone with some sort of smoking utensil. There was a group of people next to me with 14:20 on their flag. My inquisitive mind required me to ask one of the inhabitants of that real estate named Bill what "14:20" meant, since I was very aware of what 4:20 was. He informed me that the person that made the flag had infact made a mistake, not knowing the meaning of 4:20. I guess this now meant 4:20 to the 10th power...laf...
Bill pulled a bat out, and we smoked a bit of the ole main stay.
J, C, and R showed up during the Boogie Kings show. They brought chairs, a blanket and towel, and an ice chest. Promptly they headed off to get beer and food. They were only gone for about 30 minutes, and when they returned I requested a bowl from Ja. The biggest problem is that the herbal remedy that I brought was almost too strong to smoke...laf...
We enjoyed the day, the highlights were Black Crowes and Steve Winwood. Both were fabulous. Steve Winwood being a jam band for the most part turning a number of 3 minute songs into 30 minute jam sessions.

It was a wonderful day, but it wasn't over yet...

Je was down from Baton Rouge for the day, and he wasn't ready to head back to his hotel by any means. We decided to head to Checkpoint Charlies, and though I was a bit bleary eyed, I agreed and we walked out and caught the Esplanade bus to Rampart.
We waked to Checkpoints from Rampart, and to our surprise, there was a band playing. Lisa someone...didn't get her last name, but I enjoyed the music, and had the opportunity to speak to her between sets.

It wasn't long before Je left to meet his wifey at Cafe Du Monde, and about 15 mintues later, I succumbed to the wear and tear of the day and began making my way through the Quarter to the Streetcar. Along the way, I ran into Scott and Christi, a couple that I met years ago when I was still quite active in Internet pornographer. I hung with them at the Jimini for about half hour then headed to Canal Street, stopping along the way to pick up some Taco Bell.
I arrived home before 10PM, exhausted and sleepy, I didn't realize until Saturday morning that I was burnt to a crisp.

For now, I'm suffering from sunburn and enjoying the day...