JULY 4TH BIKE RIDE

A friend and I cruised the bike paths of Ashland, Oregon on the fourth of July.

ROSEBURG REGGAE

A friend from Eugene called me and reminded me about a free reggae show in Roseburg, Oregon. I'd just seen this band in Mendocino the other day, and they were really good. Also, there's an incredible disc golf course in Roseburg called Whistler's Bend, right on the Umpqua River, so I decided to head up in the afternoon and play some disc golf and then go see this band...something I hadn't done, since, well, Saturday (see previous post below). The show featured Sly Dunbar on drums and Robbie Shakespeare on bass, in addition to some heavy hitter session musicians famous in the Jamaican reggae scene. Sly and Robbie are responsible for the creation of the reggae sound as we know it today. They've played on over 200,000 tracks, and were around in the heyday of Jamaican reggae with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.

The show was part of the weekly free concert in the park series in Roseburg, right on the Umpqua River, and the majority of the audience had no idea who they were seeing. Just a bunch of rednecks out for a good time, they sat on the grass most of the show until the musicians, and myself, shouted at them to get up and dance. The camera angle/focus I used was to capture Sly Dunbar on drums, as there was no other vantage point from the front of the stage where he was visible.

TRIFECTA

Just got back from the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival yesterday. Most of my family was at a wedding in Wisconsin this past weekend, but I wasn't able to attend due to not knowing when my magazine deadline would be officially over. It was Friday afternoon and some friends said they were travelling down to Mendocino County in their '71 VW bus, and had room for one passenger. I packed all my stuff, and remembered their was supposed to be a disc golf course at a brewery near where the show was, so I grabbed my favorite discs just in case. When I got there I asked someone where the Anderson Valley Brewing Company was, and it was right across the street! So there I was, drinking organic microbrew, playing disc golf, and listening to Jamaicans play reggae music across the street. Truly a divine moment.

RED BUBBLE ONLINE STORE

Yesterday a friend, who used to live here in Ashland but recently moved to the Bay Area, turned me onto a site called RedBubble. It's an online store where you can sell your art, and they do all the shipping, printing, billing, etc. A t-shirt that sells on their site gets me a twenty percent commission, which isn't much on a twenty-dollar item, but it's all about volume. I just created my storefront site this evening, and linked to it from my website, and I'm curious to see who, if anyone, wants to buy my art on a t-shirt. I made iron-on transfer t-shirts for Christmas presents this year, on organic cotton tees (something I wish RedBubble offered), and they came out great. I really like how my art looks on a t-shirt more than a print or a card. Plus, people advertise your work for you just by walking around.

ASHLAND ARTISAN GALLERY

This morning I went to Robert Paulmenn's figure drawing session at his studio here in Ashland, Oregon. I haven't been in awhile (see some of my earlier posts for drawings done in these sessions), and I'd heard he was leaving town, but it seemed like business as usual once I sat down.

I'd run into Robert the other day at the sneak-preview opening of Ashland Artisan Gallery's newest project, a combination studio/gallery/workshop. The space is in the Provost Building located at 357 East Main Street, a three story, historic building. At the moment the building looks in need of some work, in terms of lighting and interior remodeling, but the sheer size of the space is inspiring. I would have liked to have taken video of the upstairs studio spaces, which are very nice and well lit, but my battery died taking this video in the basement.

I'm toying with the idea of renting space in the upstairs, but just this morning I was talking with Robert and learned that his studio space will soon be up for rent. It's about twice the price of the space in the Provost Building, but it's been the spot for a weekly figure drawing session for years. It seems that the regulars don't want to discontinue if and when Robert leaves town, and with the income they generate ($10 per person per session), it would almost pay for itself if it remained open for the Monday morning sessions.

Then there's the fact that the studio space in the Provost Building wouldn't be private, but would be in a cubicle-type environment in a big, open floorplan. Robert's studio is totally private, with its own locking door, which would mean more secure storage of artwork and supplies.

Neither space will be available until early next spring, and there's no guarantee I'd even get Robert's space before someone else, but it's good to be aware of the possibilites.

GO PHILLIES

I watched the election results at my friend's house, who is black. There were about 30 or 40 people there, with only a handful of white people. It was very wild and exciting. We drank Dom Perignon and Moet Chandon, and I ate so much food I thought I would burst. I wish we could kick the incumbents out today, right now. This country's ready for change, but we still have to put up with two more months of the terrorists who are occupying our government, and I'm fearful of what they'll attempt to pass through legislation before Jan. 9.

But, their time is at an end.

For 20 of the past 28 years we've had Bush in power; as the VP with Reagan and then on his own, Bush was the controlling influence of the entire 1980s. Isn't it weird that the last time the Phillies won a World Series was in an election year (1980) that started a whole new precedent (of fear and hatred), and now they won in an election year that has started a whole new precedent of hope? Maybe we'll actually be able to walk through Independence Hall again someday....

QUINN DEVEAUX

Quinn is from the Bay Area and is currently on a West Coast tour. The last time I saw him, which was the first time I met him, was about a year and a half ago, and he was about to embark on an East Coast tour. I asked him how it went and he said it went very well, and that he went even further east, to London and Scotland.

Quinn says his influences include Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters. He's got a great voice, and his hollow body guitar sound really picked up well with my cheap little point-and-shoot camera.

This video was taken during Quinn's last minute booking at Liquid Assets wine bar in Ashland, Oregon. It was a Monday night, and since there were no Shakespeare plays that night, it was a rather slow night for businesses in the area. There were about ten people there to see him play, mostly friends, although there were a couple of randoms who ended up buying his CD (which I did as well, it's called Lions on Lakes). I'm looking at the CD now, and there's no website listed on it, even though I heard him tell some people there was. I was going to link to it from this post. If I find out what it is, I'll come back and update this.

Last night Quinn was supposed to play another club in town, but when I got there to see him, it turned out the place had been triple-booked. So, Quinn and I and several friends sat and had drinks and watched the other bands play. I left early, right as Quinn was setting up on stage to play, and I felt bad for ditching him, but he had quite a crowd at that point. I'll have to ask him how it went when I play disc golf with him later this afternoon.