August 23rd Today we headed down to Chelsea and Pier 54 on the Hudson River where the Blues and BBQ festival was being held. We met up with Joey, john's friend and rhythm guitar player and his girlfriend Rene on the subway and later with Ricky, John's friend from work. We didn't want to get there too early and melt in the heat, which was s till intense so we missed Eden Brent, the first act. The crowd was huge and boy it was HOT, weather wise and music wise! As we arrived a huge ocean liner was passing by! We caught about 40 minutes of the Homemade Jamz Band, one of the hottest new acts on the blues scene. Three siblings from the Perry family make up the band, Unbelievably Ryan (Gtr and vocals) is only 17, Kyle (bass, vocals) 15 and Taya on drums is only 10! She was only 7 when they started playing together!
Eddy `the Chief' Clearwater was next on stage. Eddy is a veteran of the Chicago blues scene and is known for his flamboyant stage act. Now that he's well in his 70's the performance is more laid back but still exciting.
Next up was Texas blues singer Diunna Greenleaf and Blue Mercy. I had heard a live concert last year on the radio so i knew she could deliver. She is a dynamic performer and even the downpour that occurred halfway through the set, prompting everyone to get their umbrellas out, couldn't dampen the spirit of this great performer. While I was taking photos a girl who I vaguely recognised came up and asked me was I Tess? It turned out that she was from the Barossa and listens to my programme sometimes! Later while chatting to Diunna after her set I also met someone who knew Paul Hay. Paul is a boogie woogie piano player based in Adelaide but he goes on the annual Rhythm and Blues Cruise so meets a lot of people that way.
Last to hit the stage was Michael `Iron man' Burks. Burks showed that he's not called `Iron man' for nothing! He has a powerful voice and great guitar tone. He rounded off the evening nicely and although rain threatened it stayed fine for his set! We were feeling hungry on the way home so stopped off for pizza and arrived home at 11.30.
August 24th The weather has settled down with Hurricane Bill well to the North now. As usual Monday is the day we do the shopping and chores so that took up most of the day. Later we took a walk by the bay. There were lots of fishing boats going out as the water conditions were calm. The big news today is that Michael Jackson's death has been declared a homicide. It seems that Jackson's doctor Conrad Murray administered three sedatives before the lethal dose of Propofol. Murray found Jackson was not breathing and administered CPR at 11am but did not make the 911 call until 12.21. Other calls were made in the intervening time so questions are being asked why the 911 call took so long and why the drug Propofol was administered when normally it is only given in a hospital situation where the patient can be closely monitored.
August 25th John was back at work today and came home tired so for once we had a quiet evening watching some TV shows we like. Obama announced today that the government deficit now stands at 9 trillion! The mind boggles as to how this can ever be repaid! I'm sure this will be used by opponents of the universal health plan who will claim that America can't afford it. However if it is done correctly it need not cost the government much more than it spends now. The US is ranked no. 37 in quality of health care while spending more than any other country, 17% of national income. 20,000 people die each year because of a lack of health coverage.Clearly some services are overpriced so this has to be looked at..
August 26th
Today the death of Senator Ted Kennedy, the only surviving brother of the Kennedy family dominated the news. Kennedy has been called the greatest United States senator of our time. Tributes are pouring in from everywhere and from both side sof politics. Kennedy will be remembered for being a champion for the poor and the disadvantaged. President Obama, who just happens to be holidaying at Martha's Vineyard (not too far from Hyannis, home of Ted Kennedy) said of the Senator `For his family he was a guardian, for America he was the defender of a dream'. Kennedy's political skills enabled him to reach across the political divide and make deals with Republicans when necessary, to get legislation passed in the Senate. He initiated more than 300 bills which came into law covering many areas of social justice and of course he was an advocate for universal health care.
August 27th Tonight was the last of the Summer concerts at Coney Island and it featured the disco queen Donna Summer. Although I'm a fan of disco I was never particularly a fan of hers but we decided to go for a while and see what she sounded like these days. We got there and found a massive crowd, estimated to be about 50,000. I hadn't realised just how popular she was and still is over here. She has won 5 Grammys and had 4 no.1 hits within 13 months! She's now 60 and has broadened her repertoire to include some contemporary R & B and ballads but it was the old disco hits that the audience came to hear! Summer performed many of them including `Last dance' `Bad girls' `On the radio' `I love music' and 'McCarther's Park. Each tune was accompanied by a different lightshow and there was a live band with dancers. As we got there late we couldn't take any close up pics but for the record Donna was wearing a bright red gown!
August 28th Hurricane Bill has been and gone but now Hurricane Danny is on the way and a wet week-end is being predicted. This doesn't matter too much to us since I'm not too well and have to rest andf take my medicine. That means I've been watching lots of TV. There's plenty of coverage of Ted Kennedy and his legacy. The state funeral will be held tomorrow in Boston. We watched an interesting documentary on the Kennedy family. John was telling me that he shook the hand of Senator Robert Kennedy when he campaigned in Brooklyn! Watching the clips of the Kennedy's out among the crowds it seems that they took a big risk in order to connect with the people. These days they would be much more security conscious. The other big news story is one of those larger than life scandals. Jaycee Dugard who was abducted at age 11 has now resurfaced 18 years later! Her captor, a known sex offender and his wife kept her captive in a backyard shed on their remote porperty in California and she has 2 daughters who have never been to school or had any medical attention.
August 29th The effects of Hurricane Danny are being felt so once again the beaches are closed. We spent the morning watching the funeral of Ted Kennedy which lasted for nearly 3 hours! Obama gave an excellent eulogy. Having worked with Kennedy in the Senate he knew how effective he was in gaining support when needed. Kennedy's 2 sons' Edward and Patrick also gave moving tributes to their father.
The weather cleared later and we took a walk but I was still not feeling too good so we returned and watched Rocky. I hadn't seen Rocky for years. I can understand why it was so popular. Everyone loves to see the underdog succeed and I tought the love scenes were very touching showing the softer side of the tough guy!
August 30th
The hurricane turned out to be much weaker than predicted so everyone was back at the beach today making the most of what could be the end of Summer. Tuesday is the first day of The Fall' and students return to school tomorrow so there won't be so many opportunities to visit the beach for most people. In the afternoon we went down to Brighton beach where they had their annual jubilee happening. It was fun to wander round for a while and check out the stalls. There was food. music and other entertainment and it drew a big crowd.
Later we returned home and watched a great movie `The Express' about the life of footballer Ernie Davis. Davis was the 1st African American to win the coveted Heisman trophy for college football but trragically, on the brink of a career in the NFL he contracted leukemia and died at the age of 23. The movie was set against the background of the civil rights campaign and race riots following Davis's parallel struggle and also had a great soundtrack!
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