Herman Matthews at the Bootlegger, and other stuff

Jessica Marciel got up and sang prior to Herman and the cats coming on. That was way cool Lady can really belt 'em out, besides being such a totally nice person. It was great to hang with her and Andy.

It was kinda slow, sad to say. These cats are so worth hearing. I didn't get a lot of shots, the lighting is so bad in this place. Three of the guys ('bone, keys, and bass) are completely in the dark.

Herman said he'd be coming to the Monday night Santa Fe gig. how much you wanna bet he sits in? I'd take that bet.
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SATURDAY OBAMA RALLY IN HENDERSON

Clint sang the National Anthem. Very cool. I'd gotten up early and took my grandson Keenan to see a bit of history.

A few shots from the event.

Below, I handed Keenan my new camera and asked him to shoot Barack's entrance while I shot video with my old camera (uncompressed AVI clip of his entrance here, it should run in QuickTime). I just held the Fuji up over my head and hoped I'd get something usable. Keenan nailed the stills. Kid is so smart and adept.

A few of my shots below:

It was a crush of people. The security -- by virtue of its utter necessity -- was kinda creepy. There were snipers on every rooftop all around, SWAT cats milling around everywhere. When Barack was shaking hands along the fence after his talk, the Secret Service cats bulled through the crowd yelling at everyone to "get back!" Like there was any place to go, we were all crammed in together shoulder to shoulder. Barack passed by about five feet away from where I was standing.

Funny; as we were walking in at about 7:30 a.m., I had my old camera in movie mode, holding it up over my head, and this young Henderson cop in full Code Brown Security Mode rushed me, yanked my arm, and grabbed my camera, shouting "Stop!!! you can't take pictures in the security area!!!" Like I would know that -- there were no admonitory signs anywhere. He then pulled me rudely aside and made me purge all my shots while he watched.

Whatever. I understand.

I'll be glad when this is all over after Tuesday. Y'all get out and vote if you've not already done so. These people work for you. Make sure you have your say.

CODA

Standing next to us was this family of immigrants from Ethiopia.

Their t-shirt slogans say "Yes, We Can!" in their native tongue.

NOV 3rd UPDATE: Bill Champlin on Showcase Minnesota

Bill Champlin on Showcase Minnesota


Cool.

See y'all at The Palms tonight. Let The Healing Begin.