Damprock's Eclectic Jungle

I'm sharing a few photos taken at the Chautauqua Hills Blues Fest. in Sedan, KS.  This small festival is a hidden jewell in southern Kansas.  Well organized, produced, and staged on a grassy, tree lined field, the festival featured a great line-up at affordable ticket prices.  

 

Driving less than two hours from Tulsa, I arrived along with Robbie Mack, Candice & Debbie at noon in Sedan, Kansas. 

 

One of the acts that I wanted to hear was Trampled Under Foot, who won the International Blues Challenge [IBC] in Memphis earlier this year.  Although I was in Memphis for the event, I was not available to hear TUF, while attending the annual event sponsored by the Blues.org.  Little Joe McLerran & the Big Three Trio were also in the semi-finals, along with 160 bands from around the world.  During that three day event I tracked the event through photos at http://www.littlejoeblues.com/MemphisIBC2008a.htm

 

Returning early to Tulsa that evening we missed the evening performance of Moreland & Arbuckle and The Insomniacs.   Returning to Ron and Kelly's home in Tulsa, Little Joe McLerran & the Big Three Trio continued the party into the night with steaks and an abundance of liquid refreshments. 
 

It was a good day. 

 

-Visit the official website for the Chautauqua Hills festival - http://www.cqbluesfest.com/ 
-The website for the annual Interntional Blues Festival in Memphis - http://www.blues.org

-Little Joe McLerran's official website: www.littlejoeblues.com

 

 

 

The Denver Botanic Gardens is transformed this holiday season

 

 

into a winter wonderland at the 19th Annual Blossoms of Light.

Sept. 25, 2007 - A mid-day drive through the San Isabel National Forest in Custer County, Colorado - South of Canon City, CO. to preview fall color. This south-central Colorado location off Rt 165, provide a glimps of the coming fall colors, which are a few days away from their peak color.
 

A visit to the Bishop Castle in Custer County Colorado certainly falls into the catagory of eclectic.  Jim Bishop began his dream of building a castle in the San Isabel National Park back in 1968. He continues his labor today - one stone at a time, along with additional iron walkways that circumvent the structure. 

 

On this Tuesday afternoon in September, Jim was busy with an assortment of chores, jumping from one task to another.    At 63 years old, you can only wonder at the tenasity required of Jim Bishop to accomplish what he has achieved.    He told me that the land was purchased when he was fifteen years old.  Over the years, there have been various problems with the govermental agencies that threaten to halt the construction, yet he persevered. 

 

Exploring the grounds, it was amazing to see what he has accomplished, yet overwhelming to see the amount of unfinished work left to complete. It is easy to examine the structure and marvel at the endless stream of ideas that have driven his creation.  It appears to the casual observer to be a dauntless and colossal task without end. 

 

Some might call Jim Bishop eccentric and they might be correct, however if it weren't for his perservance, his monument to a labor of love would be nothing more than a pile of rocks and iron.   Although the 'castle' remains inhabitable, it remains a towering monument to a dream - built with his own hands. 

 

Bishops Castle is located near Beulah, Colorado, built on a mountainside overlooking Rt. 165 south of Canon City.

 

Grasslands once covered 40 percent of the United States, but much of that expanse has been lost to the plow. The tallgrass prairies of the central Midwest, in which some species grew 10 feet tall, have been reduced by 99 percent. The National Wildlife Federation is working to focus public attention on the nation's beleaguered grassland ecosystems. This year, the U.S. Forest Service will consider revisions to management of national grasslands under its jurisdiction. If you would like to keep abreast of this and similar actions affecting national grasslands, contact: National Wildlife Federation Rocky Mountain Natural Resources Center, 2260 Baseline Road, Suite 100, Boulder, Colorado 80302.

Photos taken May 17, 2007 - Centennial Airport, Denver, CO

One of nine remaining Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress - - - an American four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed for the US Army Air Corps (USAAC). Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 planes, the Boeing entry outperformed both the other competitors and more than met the Air Corps' expectations. Although Boeing lost the contract due to the prototype's crash, the Air Corps was so impressed with Boeing's design that they ordered 13 B-17s. The B-17 Flying Fortress went on to enter full-scale production and was considered the first truly mass-produced large aircraft, eventually evolving through numerous design advancements, from B-17A to G.

The B-17 was primarily employed in the daylight precision strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial and civilian targets. The United States Eighth Air Force based in England and the Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy complemented the RAF Bomber Command's nighttime area bombing in Operation Pointblank, to help secure air superiority over the cities, factories and battlefields of Western Europe in preparation for Operation Overlord.  The B-17 also participated, to a lesser extent, in the War in the Pacific.

 

First flight: July 28, 1935 (prototype)	Cruising speed: 150 mph
Classification: Bomber	Range (max): 3,750 miles
Gross Weight: 65,000 pounds	Ceiling: 35,600
Top speed: 287 mph	Accommodation: 2 pilots, bombardier, radio-operator, 5 gunners

 

A visit to the New Belgium Brewery in Ft Collins, CO.  Their expanded, new $26M facility -- the third largest micro brewer in the US.

Walk around Kendrick Lake Park on July 1st.   Jefferson County Colorado

Little Joe McLerran in Memphis at the Blues Joint on Beale St. in 2006.   His new CD, Live At Last Vol. 1, will be released Oct. 2007.   Yours truly will be playing drums.  Also, I provided the art work for the cd.