Coyote's Canyon Journal

"Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth." -- Walt Whitman, Song of the Open Road

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Location: Canyon State of Mind, United States

I enjoy writing. I don't actually make a living with my English degree, so I keep a blog for fun. The blog is first draft, and as a former editor I apologize for any weird errors that may be present. I do not apologize for writing about things that matter to me. Thanks for reading.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Grateful Dead T-Shirts

I was just perusing a friend's posts, and noticed she was listening to "Shakedown Street," a very groov-a-licious Grateful Dead tune. I started thinking about all my old T-Shirts (may they rest in peace, where ever they are) that I had collected at concerts over the years. Back in the mid-eighties, you could buy the most insane tie-dyes in the parking lot, with black block-print-whatever designs.

I think I had a Bill the Cat/Calvin & Hobbs t-shirt, for sure.

One of my dear, dear favorites was an orange, yellow, and red number with a "Where the Wild Things Are" tableau including a dancing bear among the beasts. *sigh* I loved that shirt.

I had another tie-dye that was just beautiful, but I don't know where that ever went. My younger sister may have stolen it.

My favorite Dead shirt, though, was a plain white tee with a black Eye of Ra. In the middle of the eye was the "steal your face" red and blue with the lightning bolt. That was it! That was THE coolest shirt, hands down. I have no idea where it went.

Those were the days...Dead shows. Man.

I was at a show at Laguna Seca Race Track in Monterey in about 85 or 86, I can't remember exactly. Anyway Los Lobos and David Lindley and El-Rayo X were also on the bill. It was an amazing three days, for sure. So my boyfriend and I were way way way out of it, sitting at the very very back, tip-top of the hill where the stage area was. We were just sitting and rapping, watching the show and mayhem below when an old guy on a dirt bike comes up right beside us. He's wearing a white button-down and khakis, and he has crazy salt-and-pepper hair. In about three seconds I knew exactly who it was, even though I was, uh....well, anyway, it was Bill Graham. The man. Himself.

I ended up getting what became one of my favorite fashion items at that show: A hat from Tibet. I loved this hat. I wore it ALL THE TIME, all through college. I found it at my mom's, moth-eaten and crumbling, a couple of years ago. It was so badly damaged I had to throw it away. It was a tragedy. *sigh*

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Canoing.



We went back to Mammoth Cave National Park on Friday and canoed. The Green River was perfectly calm for getting back into it since I hadn't paddled in a long time. I can't wait to go again...perhaps on a river with a little more spunk.

Bourbon Festival


Contrary to Hunter S. Thompson lore regarding Kentucky and its number one liquid commodity, the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown was neither depraved or degenerate. Granted, Wild Turkey distillery was representing, no doubt...but an up-and-comer might have any future awards locked up:

Pappy Van Winkle. Aged 15 years. Perfect over ice. Nothing else to say...wait..."Just add cigar" might work.

Look--I'm not a big Bourbon drinker. Jim Beam and I had a horrible falling out around 1997 and I walked away and never looked back. In fact, I prided myself on my disdain and restraint when it came to anything made with corn mash. The mere thought of even smelling an open Bourbon bottle could send shivers down my spine and bring goose bumps to my arms. Never mind the gag reflex that also sort of reared in the back of my throat. ACK!

Then came Knob Creek. My sister-in-law gave us a bottle as a house-warming gift. It is an upscale Bourbon distilled by Jim Beam. I could drink it with a coke, and that was nice, because the drink itself was smooth enough.

So when the Bourbon Festival came around, we all decided to go and we had a great time. The gift booth/craft area also included these mini-mock-ups of the distilleries themselves as a T-shirt/shot glass selling area. Then there were rows and rows of fest food vendors, everything from BBQ and giant onion blossoms to funnel cakes and corn dogs.

So where was the actual Bourbon?

We were sent over to a ball diamond that had been fenced off and guarded by grown-ups and security folks. We had to pay a nominal fee to get into the concentration camp...er, ball diamond area where the Bourbon was being poured. As state troopers wandered the grounds and people sat on the grass and drank, a line formed at a tent over by first base. It was the pouring tent. I chose two better brands to taste: Bulleit and Pappy Van Winkle. I took the Bulleit neat, and the Pappy over ice. :::Shudder:::

I did shudder. Make no mistake. But the Pappy Van Winkle over ice was simply delightful, and in fact it is made in such small batches that some bottles sell for $50...and some sell for $100.

As my husband looked around at the drinking area, with its fences, security, and general locked-up feeling, he commented that it would be easy enough to get people into a concentration camp: offer them bourbon, play loud rock music, and have a bunch of greasy food, beer, and TV. He thought that that might be enough to get people to comply. Scary thought...scary in that it may be true.

After we tasted the liquor we left the drinking area and went to the stage to hear the Kentucky Headhunters, who totally rocked out. It was a good show. Their drummer is freaking amazing. Their rhythm guitar player was channeling Jerry G. with his black tee and crazy hair.

After a night of eating BBQ, savoring the mother's milk of Kentucky, and listening to some home-grown Kentuckians play the theme to "Davy Crockett" as a rockabilly tune, we drove home on back roads and gravel roads, eying the farms in the moonlight.

The real secret to enjoying the Bourbon fest? Moderation. If I had gone liquor crazy like my one night stand with Jim Beam in 1997, I would have had a terrible time. Two shots shared with my husband, and a third left unfinished--offered to the gods--was the only way to go.

Viggo Mortensen Gets Nude

ARTICLE: Viggo Mortensen gets nude for 'Eastern Promises' fight scene (The Virginian-Pilot - HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com)

Whew. I don't think that I have anything else to say about this.

Then I read in the article that he started a publishing company, he's a poet, he speaks Spanish, French, and Danish fluently, and he wouldn't be an actor except that it helps him do the things he REALLY wants to do with his life.

Which is hotter? His mind or his body? I don't know...

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

That Chris Rose!

As not read by Oprah - NOLA.com

This is unbelievable. Oprah wants Chris on her show, but she won't talk about his book. Unreal. If she had read it she'd be talking about it, by golly.

I read it over a year ago on one of our month-long visits to the Big Uneasy. I laughed. I cried. I laughed some more.

It's called "1 Dead in Attic." Simon & Schuster just picked it up and I couldn't be happier for Chris because this is a great book. It's a collection of stories about That Damn Storm and its aftermath. As I was reading it, I was stunned that it hadn't been picked up by a big publishing house, actually. Now it has.

And now, Oprah wants his soul to make good TV--but no book plug, under any circumstances.

I bought an "O" magazine for the first time ever last month. After reading Chris' Oprah story, I feel creeped out for having done so.

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Did you know...

Trademark Official Gazette

Did you know that A&E Networks is planning a new program called "Paranormal State?" That Jimmy Buffet's sprawling "Margaritaville" empire will soon include bottled beer and package alcohol? That the City of New Orleans is planning on making key chains, cuff links and glassware using their famous water meter cover design?

Well, if you're totally bored and feel like browsing through a 1,794 page pdf file, you too could find out all this stuff. It's the Trademark Official Gazette for the week of August 28, 2007. You wouldn't believe the stuff/phrases/words that people trademark. This process costs $275 at a minimum.

Some of the words/phrases are really pedestrian, like "Peggy Daven" of Palm Beach, Florida. She'll be making jewelry and leather goods. Then there's "I am god's favorite," for key chains and jewelry. That's right...you may no longer create a key chain that says "I am god's favorite" without threat of legal action. "FabUlust" is a pharmacutical for inducing, well, you know...

And Greg Norman, the golfer? He's getting into the beef, veal, lamb, and pork business, "prepared frozen and packaged entrees."

I can't stop looking. It's not boring, but it could be relaxing enough to cure insomnia. I'll remember this page next time I can't sleep.