George Fletcher
I was going through some photos of a shoot I did with Bourbon Renewal at Congress Park in Saratoga Springs. I forgot I had some great portraits of each member of the band. Here’s George Fletcher looking larger than life. He’s also in The Tequila Mockingbirds with Pete Pashoukos.
Hornell, New York
Wait a minute! They forgot to put my name on the sign!
We decided to take a small detour and drive through the city where I was born, Hornell, New York. Okay, I understand Bill Pullman is an actor and has been in a ton of movies including one of my favorite movies, Lost Highway. But still. I think it would look better with my name! Maybe I should make a movie.
Lost Highway was even directed by one of my favorite directors, David Lynch. Bill was also in an older low budget film I really enjoyed called Brain Dead. It starts off with a great quote by the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi from his famous Butterfly Dream: “Am I a man dreaming I am a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming I am a man.” For me, that pretty much set the tone for the film.
Road Trip Day 1
After we left my mother’s place, we still had a few errands to take care of before we got on the road. One of them was to stop by the Wild Birds Unlimited store just outside Saratoga Springs across from the Wilton Mall. We had to say goodbye to Lois and Nancy. Lois was there, but unfortunately Nancy wasn’t. She was probably working on her blog, The Zen Birdfeeder! This is the place where I got all my birdfeeders from.
The 4th anniversary celebration of their store is coming on Saturday August 18th. There will be two optics seminars, one by Lois and the other by Nancy and also Beth Bidwell of the Wildlife Institute of Eastern New York will be there with a variety of animals. Check out the pictures I took last year of her birds of prey demonstration!
We didn’t get out of Saratoga Springs until late in the afternoon. This didn’t leave very much time for driving since we usually don’t drive at night. You just miss too much scenery when it’s dark out. We ended up driving about 250 miles to Painted Post, New York. Here we found an Econo Lodge and settled in for the evening.
Farmer’s Daughter’s Ice Cream
On the way back from Winney’s Farm, we stopped off at the Farmer’s Daughters’ Ice Cream shop. Its the best way to cool off after spending a couple of hours under the hot sun. Located just outside Saratoga Springs on Route 29.
Picking Blueberries At Winney’s Farm
After saying goodbye to Bockes, we spent the night at my mother’s place. The next day we wanted to relax and do something other than packing! It was about this time last year that we went to Winney’s Farm, so we decided to go there.
We spent a couple of hours out there in the warm sun. We ended up getting a little over 10 pounds of blueberries for just about $17! Later that night, my mother made some delicious homemade blueberry sauce which we poured over some Stewart’s Vanilla Bean ice cream. Tasty!
In Congress Park With Bourbon Renewal
Last Sunday, I spent a couple of hours with Bourbon Renewal at Congress Park in Saratoga Springs, New York. Clockwise from top left: Per “Bacco” Bergquist (bass), Dennis Cotton (drums), George Fletcher (guitar/vocals), and Peter Pashoukos (guitar/vocals).
C’mon Leonard!!!
With the sound of a gun shot, the 800 meter walk started at the Special Olympics New York Summer Games. After the first lap around the track, a leader started to pull away from the pack. People started to gather around the edge of the track to cheer him on. “C’mon Leonard! You can do it! C’mon!” I positioned myself at the start of the last turn so I could get some photos as he came towards me. As he got closer I could hear him talking out loud, telling himself “C’mon Leonard! C’mon Leonard!!!” His words were filled with a passion many could never understand. Each step he took, he lengthened his lead. He was a winner in more ways than one. I will never forget Leonard or the lesson he taught me.
Rob Do
This photo was taken last weekend at the Caroline Street Arts and Blues Festival in Saratoga Springs. Here’s Rob Do just relaxing listening to some good music. He just got done playing some tunes on his harmonica with Bourbon Renewal at Saratoga City Tavern. During the summer, you might find him playing with Pete and George for a song or two at Doc’s on Blues Monday. Definitely check it out.
Caroline Street Arts and Blues Festival
Yesterday was the Caroline Street Arts and Blues Festival in Saratoga Springs, New York. A number of different blues musicians performed throughout the afternoon at various venues on Caroline Street. We spent most of the event at the Saratoga City Tavern listening to Bourbon Renewal play. They played two sets. Their first was just the band. Their second they were joined by another guitarist and a trombone player. Pretty cool. In between their sets, we sampled some of the chili from the different bars and restaurants that were competing in the chili cook off. It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
