Official notification, code yellow

My research informed me that this is a "Swamp Sunflower," and also a binomial nomenclature name that would choke a goat. We always called 'em Black-Eyed Susans. There's also a spring flower we also called a Black-Eyed Susan. As kids, the scientific identification was not important. That is until you got to Miss Buchanan's biology class. Then it became a matter of survival if you wanted to avoid an F.

Click on the flower for Corndancer dot-com.

The pleasant days of early fall are on us here in LA (Lower Arkansas). Waking up to temperatures in the fifties has forced us to haul-out long sleeved shirts wrinkled after a long summer in a crowded closet. By noon it’s time to change to short sleeved shirts.

We take a look at the wood pile still depleted from the last throes of winter. The season is right before changing. There are things to do — one of which is to take a look at the Photo of the Week Page at Corndancer dot-com where this epistle started. See some more flowers and read observations on seasonal changes. We’ll wait here while you look.

Here in LA, we have a litany of seasonal wild flowers which are predictable reminders of our seasons. Late September and October are good months for a lot of yellow flowers that are announcing the arrival of fall. In a few weeks, we will experience the first frost. By then, most of the flowers which grace our roadways will have started to fold their tents, wilt, and disappear into the brown camouflage of dropped leaves.

See more flower pictures in our Weekly Grist Gallery

This flower's neighbor has already "gone to seed." The bloom you see won't be far behind.The blossom is probably not much more than a half-inch across. It has already dropped a couple of petals. As nature takes her course, we will see the progeny of this flower next year, "Lord willing and the creek don't rise."

See more flower pictures in our Weekly Grist Gallery

This critter is taking advantage of a food source which will dissapear in a few weeks. When the flowers return, so will she. Unlike honeybees, these varmints can have a nasty temper and the means to make you regret your meet up.

These flowers are creeping onto a gravel road right of way. You can see the results of a few stray bits of gravel inflicting some damage. Whoever thought about flowers being tough? These are.

Looking squarely into the sun on a muddy gravel road during a rain. Not an unusual set of circumstances in LA (Lower Arkansas).

 Mother Nature’s flowers serve as a colorful calendar and a reminder that the hand of a Higher Power at the helm. The calendar does not ring or ding. It doesn’t send an email. You don’t have to buy it. You don’t have to tack it to the wall. You don’t have to flip the pages.  This calendar carries no commercial message and it is on full automatic operation. All you have to do is look.

Click on the flowers for more pictures

SEE MORE FLOWERS
in our Weekly Grist Gallery

See a few more flowers and some shots in a late summer thunderstorm that blew into Lincoln County just as I was leaving. It was a short-lived gully washer and a welcome relief. Click and go.

Thanks for dropping by,

Joe Dempsey
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind

http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html

Blues for a cause, a helping hand

Blues legend and guitar virtuoso Jimmy Thackery was the Saturday headliner for the second annual Blues for a Cause Blues Benefit and Music Festival in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

Blues fans were regaled with seven, count-em — seven blues bands for two, count-em — two days of their preferred music at the second annual Blues for a Cause, A Helping Hand Blues Benefit and Music Festival.

See Reba Russell and four other blues concert pictures.

Second is true, annual may be a slight misnomer in this case since the organization’s first event was in March of this year. An opportunity to partner with Smoke on the Water, a barbeque event, came up, so the organizers, Joe and Tracey Powell, and Sandra Sallings made the move.

Get the background on Blues for a Cause and see four additional concert pictures on the Photo of the Week page at Corndancer dot com. We’ll wait here while you look.

Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers, the Saturday night headliners did not disappoint their fans and probably made a few new ones to boot. They came on the stage and cranked out everything from dirt-under-the -finger-nails blues to a closing Jimi Hendrix rendition of the National Anthem which brought the audience to their feet. What few smokers that are still surviving hefted their Bics as Thackery and his sidemen did the deed.

See more concert pictures in our Weekly Grist Gallery.

Amy Lee and the Second Line from Oklahoma City were the opening act for Friday night. Bass player Matt Kemp is in the background.

Adam Varnell, vocalist and harmonica player for The Saints of Yesterday, the opening act for Saturday festivities. The band composed 12 new songs first heard at Blues for a Cause.

See 33 concert pictures in our Weekly Grist Gallery.

Josh Roberts, lead guitarist for the Reba Russell band. Josh has been playing studio recording dates and concerts since his teens. One friend who used him in a recording session said his mother had to bring him to the session because he was too young to drive. Now in his northern twenties, he continues to get even better. I have photographed him before at the Memphis Blues Society Battle of the Bands and the Blues Music Awards.

Billy Jones Bluez. The Little Rock native performs nation wide. He has a quiet demeanor which disappears when his performance starts. Then he transmogrifies into an animated music machine. A great musician and a gifted performer. And a nice guy.

Blues for a Cause, A Helping Hand Blues Benefit and Music Festival organizes and presents blues concerts to benefit persons suffering from catastrophic illnesses and have no insurance. All proceeds past expenses to for that purpose alone. Management and staff are volunteers as are all event workers. Nice folks. Great cause. Fine music.

Click on Tullie Brae for more concert pictues

See 33 blues concert pictures in our Weekly Grist gallery

See more of Jimmy Thackery, Reba Russell, Tullie Brae, Billy Jones Bluez, The Joe Pitts Band, The Saints of Yesterday, and Amy Lee and the Second Line shot on stage and from the amphitheater floor during the two day concert. See this blues concert from angles you don’t expect to see, with close ups and cool shots you’ll like. Click and see.

Thanks for dropping by,

Joe Dempsey
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind

http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html

Save the Saenger

Originally posted in September 2011

The 87-year-old Saenger Theater in Pine Bluff, Arkansas needs attention and needs it fast. Fortunately, a group of local supporters have organized and are raising money to stabilize and save the structure for eventual renovation to its former glory.

The long suffering Saenger Theater in Pine Bluff, Arkansas is enjoying renewed attention just in the nick of time. Little Rock video producer Chris Cranford got wind of the aging structure’s plight and put a video together detailing the predicament of the ailing edifice. It worked. The video touched more than a few nerves and stirred up substantial interest in rescuing the building from sure and certain disaster in the absence of attention. Now, more than 1,650 people are signed on to the “Save our Saenger” Facebook page and the Pine Bluff area is dotted with billboards soliciting support.

August 3, 2014 update

The city now owns the Saenger and is taking steps to stabilize it to slow down the forces of nature and age.

Click on the picture for old building pix.

See the Saenger’s neighbors

Before we go too much further, may we suggest that you take a look at the Photo of the Week page at Corndancer dot-com where this story started.

You’ll see some of the theaters neighboring structures including the venerable old “Post Office Lunchery.” You’ll also get a few opinions on old buildings versus the newer ones. We’ll wait here until you return.

The theater was more than a venue for movies. Vaudeville acts performed there along with other entertainment. It had a classic theater organ which would rumble the foundation. Thousands of attendees got their first taste of film entertainment in the grand old structure. It was the destination for countless “first dates,” and no-doubt was the site of at least hundreds of first stolen kisses.

See more pictures of the Saenger, the Community Theater, and other historic Pine Bluff buildings in our Weekly Grist Gallery.

This bad boy under the Saenger flag pole has been on the job since November of 1924. Wonder what’s on his mind?

Though the theater has been dark for decades, say the word “Saenger” around Pine Bluff and you’ll probably trigger a recitation of recalled memories. I can remember my jaw dropping and roar of the crowd when Hawkeye and Trapper John dropped the shower curtain on Hot-Lips Houlihan and crew.

The arches above the windows on the front of the theater are in good condition and still show the attention to detail that is the hallmark of Saenger Theaters.

 The details you see on the outside of the Saenger give you an idea of the former opulence inside. It was spacious with cathedral class ceilings and well appointed with all of the nooks and crannies reminiscent of an era when tiny little details and ornate decor were the order of the day. If the Saenger supporters have their way, we may yet see this opulence again.

See more pictures of the Saenger, the Community Theater, and other historic Pine Bluff buildings in our Weekly Grist Gallery.

You gotta love the “Pointy” doors at the former home of the Harlow Sanders Cotton Company in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

Just a couple of blocks away is the building which last housed the Harlow Sanders Cotton Company. I’m not sure what it was before it was the cotton company, but no doubt will hear from someone and can add that information when it comes in. The building has three “pointy” doors (for lack of a better word), this one is on the side, the other two are on the front.

This has to be the fanciest back door in town. The building was last used commercially by the Henry Marx Company of Pine Bluff, the building owner. It now is home to a downtown church.

 You don’t find many windows like the ones you see in the upper floor of the Henry Marx Company building at West 5th Avenue and Main Street in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.The designer apparently wanted to achieve a unique look which probably gave a window maker fits as compared to a garden variety window with only two panes. Fits or not, the designer and the window maker were successful. Now there’s that little bit of art in our downtown. Just look up to see it.

The windows have a unique design. Wonder why the one on the right side of the sign is different? What were they thinking? Did the window maker pull a fast one?

Click on the doors for more pictues

SEE MORE pictures including

the Saenger, the Community Theater, and several other historic structures in downtown Pine Bluff, including the old Post Office Lunchery, in our Weekly Grist Gallery.

You’ll see some close up details most folks overlook. There are 31 new pictures of old stuff, some with lingering opportunities. Click and see.

Thanks for dropping by,

Joe Dempsey
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind

http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html