International Jazz Day and National Tap Dance Day

When I first saw that today is International Jazz Day my first thought was it would be a good excuse to play a Tuba Skinny video.  But wait, since when did I need an excuse to play Tuba Skinny videos?

There are some famous jazz musicians and some not so famous that I could pull out of the youtube hat.  When I think of jazz I think of a definition of Jazz I read once:  Improvisational Music. It means to improvise with what you got.  I think Harpo Marx, below, in the movie A DAY AT THE RACES and his fellow musicians do a great illustration of  improvised music.  And they threw in some tap dancing too, which  today is  also National Tap Dance Day.  You're on Harpo!






Also, it is National Missing Children day.

Adam's Birthday Dinner

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM!

Prehistoric Tuba Skinny Blues?

I think this is an older Tuba Skinny video.  There are some heads I don't recognize and some mission.  This may have been when they were starting out.

370 Marietta Pictures

I was sitting in a doctors' waiting room yesterday playing with my ipad.  Wi-fi  in the waiting room is the way to go.  I visited my flickr pictures I have posted.  My my, I have over 4000 pictures posted so far.

I keep telling myself that Quantity overshadows Quality.

I have one set that has 370 pictures of Marietta.  While sitting in the waiting room I found it relaxing to look at.

If you want to see my 370 Marietta pictures, click on the link below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chicken-fat/sets/72157631500627060/



Note, when you go to this site flickr says they are sorry they don't allow frames, whatever that means.
On the second line it says "Please Click Here".  Do it!

May the 21st

On this date, May the 21st Lewis and  Clark started their expedition to see just what Thomas Jefferson bought from France for the United states - just almost every thing west of the Mississippi River, that's all.  The huge purchase he made was against the law, rules, and regulations of whatever.  Anyway you look at it, it was illegal to purchase some thing as big as the Louisiana Territory without Congress's approval, but he did just the same. .  But, in the long run it was the most awarding and wisest  purchase the United States ever made.



Today is National Memo Day and also National Waiters and Waitresses Day.

Waitresses and waiters, take a memo.  Here are some tips on how to increase your income based on a study I read in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

Waiters increased their tips when they made direct eye contact with the person paying the bill.

The tip percentage goes up when you make body contact  with the customer and also make a kind comment.

The tip almost doubles when opposite sex are involved.  For instance if the transaction involves a waitress and a man.  Or a woman and a waiter.

The tips go off the charts when body contact is made between opposite sexes.  For instance, if the  waitress pats the back  of the man she believes to be paying the bill or "accidentally" brush her boobs against him while leaning over.  This is very calculating and could quickly so sour, for instance, if the waitress miscalculated  the man paying the bill and it is actually his wife who is paying, and she noticed the back patting and boob rubbing.  She smiles and looks at the waitress and says, "give me the bill, I'm paying"., and chuckles.

Larry Miller

I received an email from Larry's wife Milly Miller.  Here is a portion of it:

Thank you for re-posting Larry’s fund raising letter so frequently. I wanted to let you know that we have been blessed to receive the maximum matching amount of $10,000. This gives us $20,000 with the matching funds and we believe it should be enough to pay for his prescription drugs as long as my insurance is as good as it is now. That’s a big question with the state of our current health care issues but we have reason to rejoice right now and thank everyone for their help.  PS: he is doing AWESOME. All of his bronchoscopy’s have shown, no infection, no rejection. That is the best you can get. His blood work continues to be very good also. Can’t wait to see everyone again, minus the oxygen tanks.

This has been posted many times. Everyday when I had a new post this one slides down more out of view. When it slides off the page it is time to repost. Hi!

Have you ever faced a life-threatening illness for which there is no treatment or cure?
Have you ever become overwhelmed by the costs of your illness?
Have you ever had to rely on your family and friends to make a life-saving difference on your behalf?

Larry faced these conditions all at once. Larry was diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis, Emphysema, and Pulmonary Hypertension. There are no treatments for these diseases and there was no hope for him without a lung transplant.

Larry was evaluated and approved for a bi-lateral lung transplant at Emory University Hospital in April.

On May 14th Larry received the call from Emory saying they had lungs for him. His transplant was performed on the 15th with excellent results. Due to the generosity of the donor’s family, he received a very healthy set of young lungs (to use the surgeon’s words). Larry is recovering exceedingly well and was released to go home on the 31st of May. He is gaining strength each day by following his drug regimen very carefully and by following a vigorous program of Pulmonary Rehabilitation. 

His recovery is great news, but with it comes enormous annual costs for post-transplant treatments and medications. I have known Larry and been his friend since the 5th grade (1953) so I offered to head up his fundraising committee. We are working to help Larry raise money to cover some of these costs. Fortunately, Larry qualified for a matched account in the Georgia Transplant Foundation’s (GTF) Fundraising Program, GTF will match every dollar we raise up to a maximum of $10,000, and then they will hold the money and administer the distribution for Larry’s medication expenses.

We need Your Support to reach the $10,000 Goal! Please consider making a donation to help us raise the funds Larry will need to buy post-transplant medications which will support the maintenance of his transplant.

How to Donate:
Checks/money orders should be made payable to Georgia Transplant Foundation with Larry’s name in the memo section of your check. Please mail checks/money orders to Georgia Transplant Foundation, Attention: Transplant Fundraising Program, 500 Sugar Mill Road, Suite 107-A, Atlanta GA 30350. An envelope is enclosed for your convenience. Thank you for supporting this life-saving campaign.

The Georgia Transplant Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides financial, educational, and emotional assistance to Georgia’s transplant community, is assisting us in our fundraising efforts. If you have questions or want further verification, please see the Georgia Transplant Foundation website at www.gatransplant.org or email TFP@gatransplant.org.

If you have already made a donation, please accept our thanks.

Sincerely,
Paul Roper
Committee Chairman

Notes for May the 19th, 2013

I am OUTRAGED that it is raining outside!  I am FURIOUS the U.S. Weather Bureau allowed this to happen, which is under Obama's watch.

I am thinking about changing the name of my blog to either OUTRAGED or FURIOUS.   Maybe I can get more Republican viewers with a name they can relate to.  It must be hard on their blood pressure system to be furious and outraged at Obama's every move for the past four plus years.  Their poor blood vessels may pop.

I went to a local convenience store yesterday to buy a Sunday paper.  In the parking space next to where I parked I saw a bunch of big cigars on the pavement.   I counted them.  there were 8.  None of the 8 had been lit, but each on one end had been tasted, and maybe chewed some.  Was the guy  (I would think it was probably a male) going through nicotine withdrawal?  I think he could have sucked his thumb which might be stained  with just what he was craving.

Another interesting fact I heard on TV this morning.  On this morning's CBS  Sunday Morning News Show  they had a segment about paint and furniture designed to be relaxing.  A company did research and found that pink is very relaxing and studies have shown that even the most violent criminals relax and are pussy cats when kept in a pink walled cell.  An educational institution, I didn't catch the name, has painted the locker room of the visiting football opponents in pink.  Is that ethical?  Good sportsmanship?

Asheville Eatery - 12 Bones

Outside the Biltmore property we ate at three places.  The first two were not spectacular and even had some faults we could go into an angry rage talking about, which we won't.

However, on the last day we went to 12 Bones Smokehouse and were impressed..  Last year when we were in Asheville we took a tour bus to learn more about the city and its history.   In the Art District the driver/guide pointed out 12 Bones BBQ and said Obama has been there and went on to say if you want to go, go early because when they give out of meat every day they close.

The food was very good.  We both had pulled pork sandwiches with two sides.  Read the name of the sides and the sauces carefully, especially if you have a any thing against jalapeno peppers.

The place was unbelievable crowded for the approaching mid-afternoon, considering it was after lunch time and well before dinner.  Seat-wise it was crowded when we walked in and but we went straight to the counter and ordered and they had our plates to us instantly.  But, after we sat down a thrust of people came in and were in a line out the door in a matters of seconds after we started eating.  That happens to us a lot, like a crowd of people follows us and gets in line behind us.  Maybe I should take their pictures and compare the pictures to see if they are the same people that were behind us in restaurants in Cobb County or somewhere.

I couldn't help myself.  before we left I asked the apparent owner/manager/or the person in charge did Obama come there one time?  He lit up and said he did, in fact he came on two different trips to Asheville.  He took showed me a picture of he and his staff surrounding the President the First Lady, all smiling (last picture below).

Another thing I like is the hand written signs and quaint posters hanging all over the place.  No franchise restaurant would dare decorate with cluttered home made signs all over the place.

Below, The President and First Lady with the staff

OBAMA ATE HERE

Asheville, NC, Music

One have been kind a patient.  Just one more Asheville blog after this one, I promise.   Hold on.

Biltmore's Blacksmith, Doc W. Cudd, Jr.

The video recorded Blacksmith Doc Cudd making a metal artsy leaf for a key ring.  We didn't know it at the time but that same key ring leaf would soon be Anna's, after it cooled off, and paid for it, of course.

He is one of two of the only blacksmith musicians in the U.S. He said there were three, but they buried the 3rd one recently.

Also, if you are interested in his music presented here, and want to listen to more, search for him on Youtube.

SUNDAY FUNNIES!! WONDER WART HOG MEETS THE MOB, Part 3

by Gilbert Shelton

Biltmore's Farmville

When George Vanderbilt and Fred Omsted started their huge landscaping project Fred told George he needed to bring in plenty of cattle for the fertilizer .  Did George say, "Are you bullshitting me?"  He may have thought it.  Plenty of cattle were brought in.  It makes financial good sense to put those cattle to work, therefore, the birth of Biltmore Dairy came about which became a popular milk of the area.  Then they decided to feed all the guests they plan to have regularly they should grow their own vegetables and sell the leftovers in the open produce market.  And the same with beef and pork.  One thing led to another.  An enterprise was born.

Now, they grow a huge amount of different experimental crops, byl taking crop out of its native area and transplant them there, for example, our docent pointed out a huge field of Canola flowers, which are not natives of western North Carolina.

They also had their own brick factory and in time developed their own winery.

The Winery 

The below pictures were taken in a building named  THE BILTMORE LEGENCY.  There are posters, pictures, and artifacts to show the Vanderbilts doing their thing.  In the front room an arrow signs send you to the right and you walk around the inside of the building counter-clock wise.  I freely took pictures.  At the end of the tour the last thing I focused on was a sign saying no photography allowed.  Oops! 

They had all kinds of farm equipment that changed themselves into antiques.

This Doc Cudd, the official blacksmith of the enterprise. He told us he is 4th generation of blacksmiths.  He said blacksmiths have in his family for over 400 years.  I would say that doesn't make sense, because I think between 30 and 40 years is about a generation, but then after thinking it over, he didn't say all those blacksmiths were direct decedents   

He is an artist in his own right.  I have some videos of him giving a demonstration and also playing a tune with his anvil, which I am working on, and should be ready tomorrow.

Bumble Bee by Tuba Skinny, New Orleans Street Band

Cha cha!

Stuff in the Biltmore Mansion''s Yard

A bus tour of 24 people was included in our package.  A few of these pictures were taken with the group but more importantly, it showed us how to get to the photogenic ponds and pastoral  types of scenes.

Most of the flora pictures were taken in their gardens and green house, which is just a few hundred feet away from the house.

To give credit where credit is due.  The designer of the house was Richard Morris Hunt.

The docent who said he has the best job in the world because he gets to listen to himself talk.  Below, he is telling us that row of bricks is part of sophisticated dam/water purification system that was ingeniously designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, which was probably his largest project.  He also designed Central Park in Manhattan, NYC.

Below:  Two rivers merge on the property.  Below is the French Broad River.  One of my Hunter ancestors had a tavern on the French Broad River in the early 1800s.  Of course that distant cousin is on my father's side.  On my mother's side, there was Killian family kin living on what would become the Biltmore Estate.  The Killian kin might have been a regular at Hunter's Tavern, no knowing their genes would meet over 200 years later. 

Below - I got a little too close to these geese and of them hissed at me like a snake.  It spoke in an International language.  I didn't have to pull out my duck translator book - it clearly told me to BACK OFF! 

Below - the Biltmore House as seen from the Lagoon. 

There were something like 26 movies filmed on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate.  PRIVATE EYES with Don Knotts; LAST OF THE MOHICANS,;BEING THERE with Peter Sellers to name a few.