Standing out in the crowd

Thursday, after watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report, I motorcycled to the Sunset Concert at Shryock, featuring an out-of-town blues band, Wayne Baker Brooks, hoping to meet the Beer Philosopher, not knowing what he looks like (unless he has a BP tattooed on his face like his logo), but I figured I'd know him by the beer he drank.

Man, it was a large crowd... I found a spot to stand on the side with 12 ounces of Sam Adams in my travel coffee mug and looked around: Over there is Tom, the blogger . . . and there is Kathy Live-it-Up, a centered woman, dancing with a hula hoop; and walking in the crowd, guitarist Ivas John and his girlfriend checking out the competition . . . Hey, there's my able friend "Angry Chair Man" in his wheelchair, doing laps around the crowd, smiling slightly when he sees me, despite despising his ex-girlfriend for dumping him. Standing near, another local blues semi-legend Jim Skinner, blindly accepting Stella's offer of a seat on the bench. . . . And just when I thought it was time to leave . . . up steps Big Larry to the stage, performing one of his signature tunes with the headline act, complete with trademark(?) yodelly riffs. It was time to dance . . . and snap a photo. That's Corrina (the Tomato Fertility Goddess) with her face toward the camera. She was gonna dance her way across the U.S. once . . . to be on the Ellen DeGeneris show.

Big Larry only sang one song. You may already know that Larry has been undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. There have been a couple of musical benefits for him. One at Hangar 9, organized by Robbie Stokes, and one at Von Jakob winery recently. Although he only sang one song last night, "Big Larry and the Down Home Blues Band" will be performing at Von Jakob again July 15. I'll try to video the show.

Until then (July 16), this blog will be silent (except for a tweak or two) -- unless Mayor Cole announces his intentions for the next mayoral campaign, or blogger Barack Obama sends me a congratulatory message (like the one he sent to Stephen Colbert earlier this month) for speaking to the Camp CEO group in favor of net neutrality when they visit the art gallery on July 11 as part of their camp experience.

(More on Obama and bloggers and net neutrality at Carbondale 2 Cyberdale).