Howdy everybody!
Thank you all for writing to me saying how much you've missed the posts and catching up with us. I'll try to catch ya'll up while I show you a few photos of the
Portland Waterfront Blues Festival this year. Our main objective was to see
Dr. John,
Rebirth Brass Band, and
Buckwheat Zydeco. The first pic is from Buckwheat Zydeco, and the remaining first few are of Dr. John. His music is cajun, creole, funk, jazz, sultry heat of the new orleans bayou...it gets me EVERYTIME. I sincerely think everyone should have a listen, have a beer,
have a CD, and have a dance.
It was three days (for us) of sun and music and much needed relaxation. We have been up against quite a bit lately as you may have noticed by the slacking in bloggeroos....I just completed Tax Audits from Oregon and the Federal IRS. The reason being, I trusted a tax preparer who claimed she was certified to prepare taxes. Additionally, she passed herself off as a tax lawyer, which she indeed once was. She is now disbarred and has a civil lawsuit against her. She came as a recommendation from me from friends who were also duped. All of her clients have had to go through the audit process. Unfortunately, my tax auditors have changed names, changed jobs, changed titles and so on, and so I've had to deal with this process for a year. It's been on my mind...for an entire year. But now, it's gone gone gone. An adjustment had to be made, but I'm not bitter for it as I see it as taxes that should have been paid. The amounts owed were not so significant that we need to consider more than some adjustment to our current budget, so for that, we're grateful.
This is
Keith Frank and the Soleil Zydeco Band. We hadn't heard them before, but we were impressed. Zydeco is definitly music of New Orleans. It's accordian and washboard sounds send me back in my mind to Jazz Fests I've gone to, and the city itself. There's zydeco dance too that you can do to it that's similar in some respects to some swing. Jordan and I took a lesson one time, with hopes of more. I think we'd try again to find some lessons if we were planning a trip.
In the meantime...Jordan's car decided to overheat while trying to drive home from work. The radiator is broken and a heap of other things are wrong with the car. Since we've already put more than $600.00 in the car this year, and we were looking at another $2000.00, we decided it was time to find another car. After a ton of research on Jordan's part, and another ton of test drives on both our parts, we decided on the 2005 Thunderbird classic. It's a two seater, convertible with about as much luggage space to hold my lipstick, but it drives like an absolute dream and damn is it ever FAST!!! Then Jordan made me get out of the car and leave it on the lot. After a bunch more research and me having to wake from my dreams of a thunderbird, HE decided on a 2003 Honda Hybrid Civic. The best emissions and fuel efficiency out there seem to be the Toyota Prius, but we couldn't afford the additional 10K on the price tag. It's rumored that in a few years, the Prius will be able to do 100 miles to the gallon of fuel. At that time, we may reconsider, but right now, we're really having to watch our dollars, so the next best thing was this Honda. Better yet, it's a certified used car, so we get more of a warranty than buying out of the papers.
A zydeco band we fell for after our one and only dance lesson was Buckwheat Zydeco and it was great that they were in town for this blues festival so we could listen to them live and feel their energy. THIS is a LIVELY band.
Okay, onto Rebirth Brass Band! These guys are a FANTASTIC funky brass band. I LOVE thier energy. Its pure, raw and moving. The band itself is engaging and gets everyone shouting "RE-BIRTH!" or they shout at the crowd about where the party's at and the crowd yells "RIGHT HERE" I've seen this band a bunch of times at the Maple Leaf in New Orleans, and Hanxta is 'in' with this group and create's their tee-shirts. I'd go as far to say that he's good friends with them. He and Gabby were behind stage while Michelle Medler was waiting to come on. You may recall, the Medlers played in the band at our wedding, she was the sax player, her husband, the trombone player. Rebirth has gotten Michelle onstage a couple of times now so far and it was completely kick-ass that I got to see her perform at the waterfront with this awesome band. Great Job MICHELLE! You looked hot! You sounded hot! I'm so proud to know you and so proud of you! ;)
Well, I suppose that's about it for now. I can tell you that I'm worried about my grandfather, and that he's been ill with a bad back. He's laid up pretty good with a slipped disc in his spine after trying to do some heavy lifting. It's really painful for him to get around at all and surgery isn't possible at this point with his health. Additionally, I have a cousin that I grew up with in Maryland who's been diagnosed with cancer and she's going in for surgery at the end of this month and they'll do additional tests to make sure everything has been removed. My thoughts and prayers continue for their strength through thier ordeals and if any of ya'll would take a moment to send some positive energy their way, I'd sure appreciate it.
