Trombone Shorty @ The Bluebird in Denver 12/29/11

,It's been awhile since I've been out here on the blog.  One of my "goals" for 2012 is to get back on track with my writing and of course, my photography work, too.

2011 was a year of lots of live tunage for me...Yay!  I LOVE live music.  I had the pleasure of catching national acts, regional acts and homegrown acts as well.  I was lucky enough to hang out with my brothers, (and sister) as they took the stage(s) to share their talent with the masses.  Throughout the year, I caught Rock N Roll, Metal, New Age, Jazz, Blues, Celtic, Classical, Old World and Everything in between.

In deference to a colleague, I plan to refrain from blogging about shows that I an attending as a photographer first and fan second.  For the following, I was Absolutely there as a fan & such, didn't have a rig with me, so not so much in the way of pix.

OK, now we're ready to roll...

  This time out, Bobby & I saw a Great sold out show at the Bluebird Theater in Denver.  Bluebird Theater Denver  Dr. McCoy was supposed to attend, but was sadly a sicko..I mean a sickie, arrg was not healthy.  Thursday, December 29 and it was time to Par Tay!

  Even though I could use one word to sum up the show, and it would be Fanstical!!!, I'll do my best imitation of one what knows how ta tolk gud. 
  The Fox Street Allstars opened the show with a bang.  Fox Street Allstars are a local Denver area band and really show the crowd a good time.  While I heard influences such as Derek Trucks and some good ol' down home Suthern styles, and even a touch o the Blue Brothers thrown in.  The band definitely was in their element and was having a good time. 

Fox Street All Stars

  The Fox Street boys got the house jumping and in a great groove.  Bobby & I were already smiling a bopping a bit, just seconds into their first song.  We all know that opening acts sometimes, (often), get a bum rap and in worse cases, fans and concert goers can be down right rude.  This was definitely different & with good cause.  These guys know how to have a good time and know how to share that with the audience.
  The Band played the better part of an hour and were entertaining the entire time.  I'll keep my eyes open for a chance to see them again and perhaps in a more "headlining" capacity.  For now, if you get the chance, check out Fox Street All Stars.  You WILL have fun!  If you don't well, then you ain't tryin'! Fox Street Allstars

  Now, on to the night's headliner; Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue.  Can you say, "Boo-Ya"! This show was Off The Hook!
  Let's put this out there right now.  Trombone Shorty is one Talented young man!  He plays trombone, (uh, duh...), trumpet, (Extremely Well), sings, (Very Well), and even plays the drums.  In between all of that, he dances, works hard & plays hard.

Trombone Shorty

  I was lucky enough to see Trombone Shorty & boys a couple years ago in Telluride, CO with my boys Marc & Hans.  I was impressed with the energy back then and Very impressed with the price...it was a "free in the park" show.  I was So impressed that I knew if I ever got the chance to see him/them again, I'd have to go for it and even pay.  Well, lemme tell ya what...it was WELL worth the price of admission!
  The band hit the stage a bit after 10.  They Rocked & Rolled, Jazzed & Bluesed, Funked & Souled their way through about a 2 hour set and had the crowd on it's feet, (well, we woulda stood up for it even if there Had been seats), for the entire time.  I can honestly say that I haven't had quite that much fun at a show in a long time. 

Trombone Shorty

  When it comes to "shakin' my groove thang", I'm afraid I am terminally Caucasian.  These guys are so fun & awesome that yes, even I was dancing around a bit, (OK, head bobbin' and toe tappin anyway).  Trombone Shorty was channeling the great Jazz and Funk players and at any given time throughout the show, you got the feeling you were partying with the likes of James Brown, Cab Calloway, Lenny Kravitz, George Clinton & P Funk, ("bow wow wow, yippy yo yippy yay..." and any number of cool cats, even had a touch of Louie Armstrong.  Of course, it's all wrapped up in a you man from NOLA.  Trombone Shorty and the band have two recent full length discs out and they played much of both of them.  For Me, the biggest highlight, (there were several), was one of my favorite songs and one of my new theme songs.  This one is "Right to Complain".  Do yourself a Huge favor and check it out on YouTube or better yet, Buy The Disc!  Without swiping the entire lyrics, it's goes a bit like this "...now you say you want change, if you won't change yourself, you got no right to complain."  Hmm, Imagine That.  If you ain't gonna make a change, then you shouldn't oughta be shootin your mouth off.  What a concept. 

Trombone Shorty

  There were other highlights as well, such as the "Back it Up" segment where the band took turns, well, backin' it up NOLA style.  The boys have some dancing talent as well and Big D was down right Funny!  As Shorty put it, Big D was backin' it up like a dump truck.  Excellent!
  The final "segment" of the show was a chance for Shorty to show his skills on yet another instrument as he moved to the drums.  As impressive as that was, it was way cool that the entire rest of the band moved "over 1" and played other instruments.  Everyone in the band is multi talented.  Oh Yeah, I nearly forgot, yet another highlight was the fact that the singers in Both acts actually...wait for it...SANG!  No Cookie Monster vocals here!.

  Trombone Shorty

  Bobby put things into perspective on the way home, so long as he keeps his head in the game, he'll be around for a Long time.  The Kid's got talent AND he knows how to get & keep a Great band with him as well.

  Here's my hope for Your 2012.  I hope you get a chance to head out, experience some Great live music and you will Support Live Music whenever you can.  That means, National, International, Regional and Yes, Even LOCAL Music.  It's Good for the Soul!

  Bring it on 2012, let's DO This Thing!

Peace,
Joey

1 year (or so) in the life of Cabo & Rio Paisano

One year, (plus a little), in the life of Cabo & Rio Paisano

                It’s been a bit over a year since we found Dad’s family at Casa de Paisano.  Time has been flying by.  For us, it seems pert near like 7 years.

Since we don’t have thumbs, (you know, to hold a pen or type, or give you a thumbs up, even), we had to dictate this to Dad.  By the way, this is Cabo talking right now, (you know, First, as it should be).  We should have reported in before now, but you know how it goes when you’re Uber  popular.  So much to do, so little time, Oh, Look!  A Squirrel! 

                Anyway, it’s been a very busy year.  Much too soon, our boy Marc went home to Germany, but not before we got a quick chance to meet his Momma Heike, Sis Jana & Pop Frank.  They are Great folks, just like Marc!    We absolutely Loved all the time we spent hanging out with everyone.  In fact, when the Wilkens family was in town, Dad had a little get together & invited people over to visit us.  We Love people, Especially when they're here to see us.  You know, folks Say they're here to visit Dad, but we know better.

                Even though it seemed like a long time to us, it was only about a month or so and then we were watching Marc packing up his things.  Because it was the first time this happened, we were confused, and figured Dad would make everything alright.  We didn’t much like it when Hans & Dad took Marc for that last trip with all his stuff.  I mean, they all left, just like normal and then only Dad & Hans came back.  We looked for Marc and were sad, but then, Oh Look, another Squirrel! 

Not long after we lost Marc, Hans & Dad took off on the motorcycles for what seemed to us as For Ever.  Dad's daughter, Ashlee and her critter, Chloe hung out with us for almost 3 weeks, that was  OK, but we were SO excited when we heard the bikes in the driveway, we were bouncing off the walls and couldn’t wait for hugs from the guys.  Unfortunately, we only had another day together and then we lost Hans, too.  We tried to tell Dad to stop going to that airport place because it kept stealing our boys.

OK, OK, Ok, now it’s MY turn!!!!!  Rio here, now!  I’m SOOOOOOO Excited to talk now!  Like Cabo sez, we’ve been Really Busy and have done lots of traveling because of Dad’s work with EF Foundation for Foreign Study.  We’ve been All over the state of Colorado.  Every time we get a chance to go in the Vue, we Love it!  I REALLY love sticking my head out the window and getting all those cool new smells!    We love hanging out with Dad & the road trips are really cool, because we get to spend time together and he always takes us for walks in great new places.  Dad says we’re Great road dogs.  We Are, of course, because, as he says, Road Dogs Rule!

                I’ve got some favorite things and those are walks with Dad & Cabo, visits from & to some of our favorite buddies, like Jesse & Aunt Sunny, Shay & Uncle Bobby and Schroeder & Uncle Eric & Aunt Ames.  Of course, we Love Dad’s family and all the other folks that get to come by and visit us.  Everyone who comes to our house is family and not too long ago we got to finally meet Gramma & Aunt Ruby.  They are So awesome.  They gave us lots of luvin’ while Dad was at work & Gramma even made me a new stuffed bunny, Yay!  I LOVE to swing and toss my bunny around and Oh!  Look!  A Squirrel!

                Maybe one of my bestest, most favoritest things is just hanging out with Dad & Cabo.  I love to relax and lay my head on Cabo, like a pillow.  

Dad laffs because he says it’s because my head is so heavy, on account I got rocks in there, but  really it’s because Cabo & I are family and, and, and I luv her, she’s my Momma and I’m SO glad Dad decided to bring us both home.  It would have been really hard to not see her.

                That’s about it for now, but both Cabo & I wanted to say Thanks to our friends at 4 Paws and all the other cool animal rescue places around.  If it wasn’t for the great work all y’all do, kids like me & Cabo wouldn’t be here and we wouldn’t have gotten the chance to be a part on this awesome Paisano familia.

                So, here’s a paw High Five, (ok, 4 and a haf) and a great big Hoooooowldy to all our friends and family.  If we didn’t mention you it’s not because we don’t care, it’s because we are blessed with so many awesome humans in our lives.

                Big wet slobbery kisses from Cabo & Rio!                                              

OK, Joey here, those two are pretty demanding sometimes, like “Dad, write this down, NOW!”, but really, I don’t mind.  These girls have made my life so much better and have helped ease the pain of not having my boys around.    She’s in a perpetual wagging state and then I look into the face of Rio with her mischievous eyes and ever straight up ears and then she gently places her favorite toy in my lap.  I know I’m blessed to have found these two & can’t imagine my life without them.  When I travel away, it’s these two I miss the most.

                Bless All who work with animals & give of their hearts as much as the animals do.  Remember, dogs are the only “people” who truly love you no matter what your mood or how bad or good your day was.  Give them a chance & Please, Never, Never, Ever abandon them.

Our Best to You,

Joey, Cabo & Rio Paisano

Joey's Vocabreativitism

Here's a list of words that have mostly been made up by Joey.  The others have been "liberated" from other sources.

1.  Eclectisism - The ability OR curse of being interested in many, many different hobbies, musical genres and various other activities.

2.  RAQ - Random Ass Question - A question that seemingly comes out of nowhere.

3.  RAT - Random Ass Thought - Similar to a RAQ, only it's not a question, but a thought that seemingly appears out of nowhere.

4.  Corprafied - The act of having one's soul sucked from them while trying to be a loyal subject of the corporate world.  I.E. - "You know, that Joey guy was pretty cool when he was working for himself, but then he went to work for that corporation and now everyone is supposed to call him Joseph.  He's been corprafied"

5.  Sleevetalker - Members of the secret service and other "special" security guards.  "The President was surrounded by sleevetalkers and other people who were tasked with keeping him safe".

6.  Randomness - the way in which the most odd and "random" things happen.  Sometimes it's an event, sometimes it's a thought.  "When Joey looks around, he sees things that other folks tend to take for granted.  

7.  Coolness - the epitomy of "great"

8.  Dr.  DMMT - Doctor of Mental Manipulation Theory - taking the art of BS to a higher, professional level.

9.  Vocabreativitism - The idea of  creating one's own vocabulary.

Randomness

I plan to try to make some headway on this particular blog as things come up.  It may be something I see, it may be something I hear, it may even be something I make up, but I gaurandamtee, it WILL be Random!

6/1/11:
While I was traveling on Highway 50 on my way to Montrose, I found a beach area called "Bay of Chickens", apparently, it's just like Bay of Pigs, only without the scary Cuban stuff...

6/2/11 -
While in Montrose, I came across a Honda Civic painted in a camouflage paint scheme.  Apparently, the military is concerned about fuel economy while on maneuvers.

As we get closer to Father's Day here in the US, a word to Dad's everywhere.  Please, Do Not let your spouse of the Mother of your children talk you into "unique" names.  It will just lead to trouble down the road.  Case in point, I ran into a young lady named Desire.  Really??  You named your kid "Desire"?  She's a short step away from becoming an "Adult Entertainer" or other some such occupation.  Same goes for "Bambi", "Peaches" and/or "Jade".

6/4/11 - I've been riding my motorcycles to work quite a bit lately, so that I can try to save some money on gas.  I just happened to look down at the trip meter that read 66.6.  Sure seems like an omen.  Sometimes work IS a road to hell, sometimes, not so much.

6/8/11 -
After I returned from my trip to the "Uppity" Wally World, where you can see ALL manner of Freaks, I hear and then see a lady walking down my street with a vacuum pulling along behind her.  That was Odd, but of course, it gets better...as she's walking by, she shouts out; "Hey, you wanna buy some jewelry for your wife?'  Of Course!  I would LOVE to buy from you!  LOL!  Oh, Crap!  I forgot, I don't have a wife...Drat!

Paisano European Tour 2010 - Final Chapter

This is the "Final Chapter" of this long and winding road that we've dubbed the Paisano European Tour 2010.  It's been my pleasure to recount the tale and relive the adventure. 

Originally, I had planned to chronicle the last couple of days and tell you all about the amazing lack of consideration and customer service shown by various arilines, specifically in the area of luggage handling, (NOT Luftansa), however I've decided to "get over it" and realize that's Not how I wanted to end this trip.


Ultimately, what REALLY mattered about this trip was the amazing quality time I got to spend with family.  I was lucky enough to celebrate Momma Paisano's 80th birthday, (admittedly 8 months late).  There were SO many high points to this trip that I would end up spending another several days talking about it.  The reality is
the time spent with Momma was wonderful.  Being able to see Switzerland and meet Eva & Mike.  The time spent with Marc, Heike, Jana & Frank as well as more of the family there in Germany. The time spent with Hanso, Line, Morten, Ronja, Kristen, Maja and the rest of the Norwegian family. That All added up to a phenomenally exceptional adventure. 


We couldn't have asked for a better time and amazing wealth of history, nature and the most important point of all, FAMILY.  As you might have guessed by now, I place a pretty high value on family.  Even though my blood family is relatively small, it's my extended family that makes me proud to be who I am. Sure, I talk, (alot), about feeling like I'm a dork, but in reality, I know I can do anything I put my mind to and with the help of this family, it WILL be possible.  I hope one day to welcome a wonderful woman into my life and children of my own as well.  In the meantime, I am Very proud to call all of You my family and for me, it's Not just a comment, it IS from the heart.

Deutsch: Momma und ich möchte Ihnen für Ihre Gastfreundschaft, Freundschaft danken und vor allem zur Herstellung von uns das Gefühl, wie eine Familie.  Sie alle haben immer eine offene Einladung, hier zu Besuch in Colorado, wann immer Sie wollen. Die Familie ist immer willkommen!

Norske: Momma og jeg vil takke deg for din gjestfrihet, vennskap og mest av alt for å gjøre oss føler at familien.  Dere alle alltid har en åpen invitasjon til å besøke her i Colorado, når du vil. Familien er alltid velkommen!

I AM blessed for All of my family, all over the world.  As each year goes by, I get to meet and interact with ever more people, see and experience more sights, sounds and yes, "experiences", too.  With that, we'll call this blog session over.

Bless You and may your life Always be as good as you deserve.

Joey

Paisano European Tour 2010 - Day 22

Day 22 is September 28

Today is a our last full day in Norway and we're out to make it a good one.  As you might have guessed, I was up coughing again at 12:30 and down stairs until about 4:30.  I was up a bit after 8am, finished up my medicine and then we were off.

The adventure today was a trip to Hans and Ronja's school.  It was nice to see  the halls of a high school outside of the US.  While we weren't able to get an "official" tour of the school, Hans did a good job of showing us the highlights.  It was also nice to be able to wonder around a bit without going through all of the security issues as we have to here, especially in Colorado.  Momma and I had a chance to sit in on a biology class that was kind of fun although we did miss most of the lecture since it was, (understandably) in Norske.  I So should have studied both Norwegian and German for this trip.  ;)   Just before the class started, I got nice surprise and had a chance to meet up with Thomas again.  Thomas is a schoolmate of Hans Olav's who was also in Colorado for the year that my boys were here.

After we finished up at school Morten took Momma & I to "The Castle".  As we got there, a bus tour was just finishing up, so we went in for that last of that.  I thought maybe that was the tour, but I should have trusted my friend Morten Much more.  He, Of Course, Hooked Us Up.  What we got instead of the normal "touristy" variety was a great personalized tour.  Our tour was very interesting and full of great information.  The furniture was beautiful and very intricately designed.  There is great amounts of history here and much of the building is from the 1100's.  Of course, there were many additions over the years and a very interesting mix of old and a little less old. 

 Some of my favorite things about the tour were the excellent historical stories which included the story of the "happy virgins" and the "mad" or sad virgins.  The story says that the happy ones look pretty (and happy), because they were clean & fresh, (and therefore became part of the "chosen").  From looking at the statues, the unhappy ones were pretty ugly...).  The guide said the statues actually represented a scene from a cupboard found in Florence, Italy.

At the castle, there is also a burial chamber off the chapel area that stores the wooden coffins of the "master of the castle" and his 3 wives, (no not at all at the same time).  They had many, many kids and unfortunately, as the years wore on, the estate and castle, (and wealth), seemed to dwindle.  On the grounds, outside the walls of the castle is oldest pyramid in Scandinavia.  It's a rather unexpected sight but really very cool.  Right here is a perfect place on the grounds for echo, echo, echos.... great stuff.

Our next stop was a quick trip to Hans & Ronja's condo and then we head off for a tour of the cannon/gun turret/fort on the coast.  This gun was orginally installed on a small German battleship.  That ship was partically destroyed so the German WWII war machine decided to install them in a 5 story battlement which was meant to defend this area of Norway from Allied Forces.  The World War 2 history here is very interesting and when we are able to step back, you can see the very machine like precision of the German war effort.  The facility was built by POW labor and is really a model of efficiency.  Luckily, this gun was never fired in anger.  Thankfully, this installation came on line later in the war.  Had it been eariler, the outcome could have been different.

Again, Momma was a trooper and made her way through the building just like she'd been climbing around in things like this for years.  In fact, she even demonstrated how the soldiers would have loaded the shells.  She's so awesome.  Of course, I also got a Huge chuckle out of the interaction between Hans and Ronja (and Morten, too).  In one area, Ronja was trying to blow through the communication tube to no avail.  Hanso, being the big brother, had to show off and made the whistle blow loud and clear.  It Could be the fact that our son is full of hot air.  ;)  I Really like the photo I was able to grab before the tour.  I think it shows two young adults that have grow to respect one another and will help each other through trials & tribulations through the rest of their lives.  THAT's Great stuff!

After we finished up with the canon tour, we 5 head off to Line's Mom's house.  Liv was a wonderful host(ess) and dinner was excellent.  Momma and I got to hang out with Liv and Kyrre as well as Line, Kristen and Maja.  Of course, Morten, Ronja & Hans were also there.  The house and location were perfect for a great view of the water and a really awesome moon rise.  We topped off the great dinner with fantastic desserts.

Tonight is our last night in Norway.  It hard to believe we are at the end of our time here.  Everyone here has not only shown us amazing generosity, but Momma and I have both felt like a true part of the family.  For that we say Thank You, Thank You , Thank YOU.





Takk, hver og alle for innbydende oss inn i deres hjem og liv. Vi vil alltid sette pris på vår tid sammen

Paisano European Tour 2010 - Day 21

Day 21 is September 27

Well, it's 12:30 am and I'm up coughing again.  I'm still trying to get over this crud and so I head downstairs to the cough and banish myself until about 5am.  I got some sleep until about 9am.  By the time I drag myself back downstairs, it was breakfast time with Morten and Momma.

Today, our first adventure is a trip to Kristin and Maja's school.  Line and Morten worked with the school and Maja's teacher to allow us to visit.  While we were visiting the school we got to spend time in Maja's class.  It was really fun for me and Momma too.  The kids were great, very polite, had some great questions for us and even though they were pretty shy, really were a lot of fun.  I think it was a learning experience for all of us.
 
 After we finished up answering all the great questions, we got a chance to hang out with an older class as well.  In this class we spent some time on geography.  It was great to spend time with the older kids and especially for them to get a feel for how far the US is away from Norway.  It also gave them a great example of how similar we are, even if we're half way across the world.

After we finished with our classroom activities, Momma, Morten and I spent some time outside during the recess time and were treated to a nice little performance from Kristin, Maja and some friends.  It was fun for me to see how much kids here in Norway remind me of kids back home in Colorado.  We got a few more pictures at the school and after a great day with the kids we were off to the store to pick up more medicine to try to get rid of my crud.



Dinner tonight was Great!  We had moose and roe deer meat.  Here's a thought.  If we woulda had more moose would it have been meese meat or mooses meat???  This was Really great stuff!  I, of course had never had either.  It was really outstanding!  This great meal was topped off with a wonderful bottle of Spanish red gifted from Hans.  He brought it back from his, (and the family's) trip to Spain.  Yahoo!  Great, great stuff!








After the dinner, Hans and Ronja were hanging out and we all went to Raustein Farm to checkout the sunset.  It was beautiful.  I always enjoy both sunset and sunrise, but in reality, sunset is easier for me to deal with.  You know, it's later and I'm not still trying to get my Much needed beauty rest. :)  We were able to get a few pretty cool sunset pictures and even one with some gray haired dork.

 


We all enjoyed a nice coffee and dessert with the family and got ready to call it a night.  On our way home, Morten decided to drive the '56 Chevy and well, Morten's a nice guy, so he kindly let me drive...Yay!

After we got back home, we call it a night, I head upstairs and try to get healthy(er).

Good Night All!  It's SO hard to believe that this trip is nearly over.