Dixieland Rock - Elvis Presley

At last I have managed to find a reliable Artexer to refurbish my kitchen and dining room ceilings, so find myself once again 'confined to barracks'. Good luck then that while uploading yesterday's photos I also sorted a few from the next leg of the same trip across the USA with my youngest daughter Lisa.

With fond memories of Memphis whirling around our heads we took the Greyhound south through Mississippi, into Louisiana and to the legendary city of

Well down in New Orleans at the Golden Goose
I grabbed a green-eyed dolly that was on the loose
Well I dig that music, that she said me too
I said pretty baby come on and let's do
The Dixieland rock
Well the Dixieland rock
Let your hair down Sugar, shake it free
And do the Dixieland rock with me

With much to do here we took a trip to their own version of the Everglades where ALLIGATORS, from large to small, were the main attraction. However, most of our time was spent in the French Quarter and almost exclusively on Bourbon Street.

 With the blue light shining on her swinging hips
She got the drummer so nervous that he lost his sticks
The cornet player hit a note that's flat
The tromboner hit him while the poor cat sat

 The Dixieland rock
Well the Dixieland rock
Let your hair down Sugar, shake it free
And do the Dixieland rock with me

 I was all pooped out and when the clock struck four
But she said no daddy can't leave the floor
She wore a clinging dress that fit so tight
She couldn't sit down so we danced all night
The Dixieland rock
Well the Dixieland rock
Let your hair down Sugar, shake it free
And do the Dixieland rock with me
Let your hair dance Sugar, shake it free
And do the Dixieland rock with me

The only city in the whole of the US where it is 'legal' to drink alcohol openly in the street (hence hobos everywhere else with 'brown paper bags') we indulged in the 2 most famous and sort after tipples 'Hurricane' and ' Hand Grenade', with the sign saying "no one has ever drunk 8 and lived to tell the tale". The advice was not to stray into the back-streets, but the sense of well-being here was fantastic along with much revelry and jazz and blues issuing from every doorway - FANTASTIC!

 

Without doubt the most interesting character we met there was THE CHICKEN MAN who Wiki will describe much more eloquently than I.

Fred Staten, who was born in the mid-thirties, reinvented himself as "Prince Keeyama," a genuine Voodoo Man who later claimed to be the last voodoo nightclub entertainer in the world. Known to everyone as "Chicken Man," Keeyama called his act a religious ritual, an act he had performed since childhood.

Not many people took Chicken Man seriously as a voodooist, he was more generally thought of as a "showman" and "geek." When interviewed, Keeyama claimed to be a native of Port-au-Prince, Haiti and that his brother was the Haitian Prime Minister, and that they were both raised by Papa Doc Duvalier, although Keeyama had no accent at all. He also boasted of his natural-born power to paralyse a body just by touch. But of all his accomplishments, Chicken Man was the most proud of the audience reaction to his shows during which it was not uncommon for a lady to shriek and faint as he bit the heads off of chickens. As years went on, Prince Keeyama was often found wandering the French Quarter in his voodoo attire selling (in our case 'giving') voodoo dolls and gris-gris bags to passers-by. He once had a shop called "Chicken Man's House of Voodoo" located on Bourbon Street. Fred Staten died in December of 1998.

Our own experience of this fascinating guy was to discover 'very quickly' he was no bum and had no desire to relieve us of our money, telling us about his life and powers being his only want. Having been brought up on the Blues from a very early age, I was determined to find out more about the magic power and good-luck charm known as John the Conqueror Root which features in many Blues and most famously in the McKinley Morganfield (Muddy Waters) composition

Hoochie Coochie Man

 I got the black cat bone and I got a mojo tooth
I got the John the Conqueror Root, gonna mess with you
I'm gonna make you girls lead me by my hand
And then the world gonna know I'm a Hoochie Coochie Man

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The 'Prince' advised us that the harvest had been very poor that year but would do his best to obtain some for us and that we should meet back at that spot later in the day. Before that however, he asked each of us if we had a 'silver coin' (suggesting a 1/2$) and took from his big leather bag 2 Voodoo Dolls. Blessing each coin, he tucked them into the bodice of the dolls and handed one to each of us. "These will protect you, bring good luck and help to make your dreams come true" he said before disappearing into the crowd. Two photos from later in the trip certainly seemed to substantiate his claims as

LISA had always wished to be the proverbial 'Kid in a Sweet Shop', and me, enough just to spend one day as

 

ALICE COOPER!

The ceilings are not completed so looks like another day alongside the jetty, so will at least get the final part of the USA trip done - Google Willing????

Memphis Tennessee - Chuck Berry

Well, if you thought yesterday was quiet then maybe we should have stayed at home today. Looking south across the back-water and towards the sea-front clouds were already gathering,

while passing Ferry Bridge it looked even gloomier over Portland where what looked every bit like Funnel Cumulus Cloud was hanging low over New Ground.

A walk along Barleycrates Lane out to the West Cliff produced just a single Common Whitethroat and c4 WHEATEAR

while Reap Lane could add no more than c6 YELLOW WAGTAILs. Good job then that Secret was on hand to offer up a cup of coffee and a few 'tales of the sea'! A few may not quite be the correct description, as a full 3 hours later and a couple of heavy down-pours I caught the bus home. The short day did have its benefits as if you are going to drop out of society there is much to do before taking the final plunge. For weeks now I have been committing many hundreds of Compact (Music) Discs to the i-Pod, and likewise scanning 'thousands' of photographs which are slowly taking up residence on the external hard-drive! We all have them, but it brings a realisation as to just how often we flick through these dust gathering albums, not very often me thinks?

It is a God-send for any man to have a daughter, but a dream come true if that girl decides to go travelling with her dad which was just my luck back in the late 90's. As I flicked open yet another book early evening, I found myself back in TORONTO, Canada where my youngest offspring Lisa and I had arrived after 2 days in Montreal at the start of what was to be a trans-USA tour. 

 From there we progressed to the giant Amusement Arcade that is the town of NIAGARA FALLS

and onward to NIAGARA and HORSESHOE FALLS themselves. Buffalo was only an overnight break before a visit to

the Big Apple plus LIBERTY and Ellis Islands.

The view south to LOWER MANHATTAN, before the Twin Towers were destroyed, followed by stops at Washington DC, North and South Carolina then back up to Knoxville and Nashville Tennessee. A very early morning departure from the latter had us in conversation with a man and wife along with their two sons Jason (16) and Justin (14) while waiting for the Greyhound. The 2 boys took the short journey with us to Memphis, enjoying some great conversation on the way. On arrival we bade them farewell, only to be told that their dad had given them money to show us around the city, what came next was totally unexpected! Taken to their home by taxi we were given breakfast before Jason disappear round the back and soon returned driving

Long distance in formation, give me Memphis Tennessee
Help me find the party trying to get in touch with me
She could not leave her number, but I know who placed the call
'Cause my uncle took the message and he wrote it on the wall

this FORD MUSTANG and started the tour by driving us over the MISSISSIPPI BRIDGE (in the background just a half a mile away) into Arkansas, a State we had no intention of visiting.

Help me, information, get in touch with my Marie
She's the only one who'd phone me here from Memphis Tennessee
Her home is on the south side, high up on a ridge
Just a half a mile from the Mississippi Bridge

Back to Beale Street and Sun Studios where we were treated to some original recordings by Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and The King himself before popping into Elvis's favoured diner for a slice of his much loved Banana Pie.

 On to the RUM BOOGIE CAFE for some midday Blues, including legendary blues harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite,

Help me, information, more than that I cannot add
Only that I miss her and all the fun we had
But we were pulled apart because her mom did not agree
And tore apart our happy home in Memphis Tennessee

before arrival at GRACELANDS and Elvis Presley Airport including his collection of aircraft. Leaving our signatures on the wall along with 1,000,000 others we quickly headed back to town to witness one of the most famous daily ceremonies Memphis has to offer. At the world famous Peabody Hotel, there are a flock of Mallard which have the freedom of the place until 18:00 precisely when the Bell Hop summons the elevator from above. Without coaxing the Ducks enter the lift and are transported to the roof and the Duck Palace which is there roost, and the humans return to street level. Perhaps needless to say much of our conversation was about music, and during our farewells at the Greyhound Station I was handed a scroll of paper from the lads saying "knowing your love of Jimi this will be better in your home than in ours", then quickly departed. 

Opening it on the coach we discovered that it was a charcoal rubbing of Jimi Hendrix's original grave, which I lovingly frame on our return to England - again there were tears before bedtime!

Last time I saw Marie she's waving me good-bye
With hurry home drops on her cheek that trickled from her eye
Marie is only six years old, information please
Try to put me through to her in Memphis Tennessee

Toad - Cream

Just look over there, our 100th 'Follower' - WELCOME    →

Candidate for the quietest day of the year, even walking though the rain yesterday was more profitable than today. With the wind now firmly in the north west and still a very good chance of more rain to come, the cemetery was devoid of wildlife save for this

 GREY SQUIRREL

which also disappeared at my approach. The walk from Pulpit Rock  along the East Cliff and onward to the Bird Observatory saw only Wheatear, Pied Wagtail and Rock Pipit entered in the log while a little light relief

 

was found when the Warden produced this Amphibian with warts like a TOAD and jumping like a FROG, I for one could not make head nor tail of it?  An early return to Weymouth which now seems deathly quiet after all the excitement of the last few weeks

where the Sand Sculpture Arena seems to be taking an extraordinary amount of time to be completed.

I found the visiting Sail Training Vessel NEXT WAVE of interest

and delighted to see youngsters climbing the rigging, while

this plaque in the quayside is something I had not seen before.

It was also of note that the Old Harbour Master's Office is up for sale, which would likely make a fine private dwelling.

All else today was this smart looking WHEATEAR that visited my garden this afternoon the first ever to do so by my reckoning.

This common species has been spotted here before but only once and that was on the roadway outside of the property.

Common, but always nice to see - here's hoping for a little more action tomorrow!

It's Over - Roy Orbison

I could have fielded 100 bands rather than Coldplay to close the Paralympic Games, so good job I wasn't running the show as those lads, along with the ParaOrchestra, played their hearts out. The element of 'flame' was also a poignant one as the 2 words, GREAT BRITAIN, reverberated around the world as my own experiences, meeting dozens of people from foreign lands during these last few weeks, also endorse. They LOVE our eccentricity!

Coldplay are, multi-instrumentalist and lead vocalist Chris Martin, drummer Will Champion, Guy Berryman bassist and not in picture lead guitarist Jonny Buckland.

Chris Martin again,

and now Portland resident and sailing Gold Medallist HELENA LUCAS.

For me this has shown what a 'formidable force' GB really is, and likely left Rio De Janeiro with a rather large headache.

On a morning when rain seemed inevitable, this young HERRING GULL was first on the scene, which at first was thought to be injured but on closer inspection proved to be OK. In town, most of the Olympic paraphernalia has already been removed while an early visit to Ferry Bridge almost didn't get off the ground as the bus stop was thronged by about 50 school children, but the arrival of a double-decker soon has us all on our way.

Across the road, in something of a strange place for it to be, stood this Blackdown Shepherd's Hut which stimulated ideas for my future life, but a little small I fancy?

Like the bunting and flagpoles in town, this may also be the last we see of HMS BULWARK which along with all the other services has kept us all safe during this fantastic time for PORTLAND and Weymouth.

A carbon copy of yesterday's findings as far as bird-life goes, so just a couple of shots of the rapidly changing plumages of TURNSTONEs there. Almost full WINTER.

INTERMEDIATE and

almost full SUMMER.

Blaring sirens, flashing lights, Police motorcycle outriders and flashy BMW had to herald the arrival of someone important, but enough about ME!

Does anyone recognise the Gadgie in the Beema? Having met up with the Secret Lemonade Drinker for a walk from Sweethill to the Bill, the dark clouds were gathering and by the time we reached Helen's Field we were a little damp. Seeking shelter in the new Tractor Shed we finally arrived at the Observatory like a couple of drowned Rats. A cup of coffee soon puts most things to right

and then there before us was our old mate KRIS DUTHERIDGE from Barnsley, Yorkshire. He reminded me that the last time we had met was on the occasion of me finding this

GREAT REED WARBLER, © Martin Cade, in May 2002 (where did that decade go?) and just to put the icing on the cake, before we left for home, a party of

c8 BALEARIC SHEARWATERs (archive) passed out to sea, a 'first' sighting for Secret.

I have to admit to getting great joy from the Stat Counter knowing that all you LOVELY PEOPLE are tuning in to these Daily Reports, so what a feeling to see the total steam past the ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND mark this morning!

I WILL TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASK EACH OF YOU TO PASS THE LINK ON TO ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO HELP IN THE PURSUIT OF THE NEXT MILESTONE.

THANK YOU!

Your Log Size of 200,500 has 100,148 entries.

	Num	Perc.	Country Name
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	7573	7.56%	United States
	1332	1.33%	Canada
	1137	1.14%	Australia
	1053	1.05%	Germany
	986	0.98%	France
	961	0.96%	Estonia
	921	0.92%	Netherlands
	916	0.91%	Japan
	766	0.76%	Italy
	694	0.69%	India
	672	0.67%	New Zealand
	644	0.64%	Spain
	619	0.62%	Philippines
	525	0.52%	Taiwan
	489	0.49%	Brazil
	447	0.45%	Korea, Republic Of
	400	0.40%	Sweden
	374	0.37%	Poland
	355	0.35%	Thailand