Postcard From Nicaragua

The classic 20-gig iPod I've had since 2004 finally passed away after many hours of service, just before I left for the airport for my flight to Nicaragua 10 days ago. I typically travel with it and a JBL OnTour setup that provides me with a soundtrack wherever I am. Nonetheless, I was neither musically nor aesthetically deprived.

For evidence of the latter, see the photo below of the grand staircase in the 19th-century home of generous and gifted friends in Granada, one of the oldest cities in the Americas, where I slept in an antique, mosquito-netted four-poster bed, soothed by the sound of tropical rains and wakened by the bells of the cathedral next door.



On a side trip to the surf destination San Juan del Sur, a friend was kind enough to lend me a horse. There is a reason that riding through a jungle and cantering along an otherwise inaccessible beach is the stuff of fantasy. My steed was white, and named Pablo Picasso, so I couldn't get the Jonathan Richman song of the same name out of my head. I also sang "Caballito Blanco" to Pablo, which I learned as a child in Chile.

Thus, when it came time to go clubbing, I was prepared for Latino men whose stares I could not resist. My Spanish held up well enough for me to crack jokes, decline invitations, and read mash notes from the smitten. I also had the new-to-me experience of being piloted around a dance floor by a smiling fellow whose eyes were at an awkward level that made staring both impossible and unnecessary. But we were dancing to a 9-piece band playing the Nicaraguan classic "Pobre de Maria," a tragic story of a poor campesina in the big city, so I didn't mind.

I managed to refrain from the Internet most of the time, but of course it found me:


And now, the Apple Store awaits.

Blues Traveling

So it was off to Memphis and Mississippi last week for some bbq, some blues and some friends. I had a great time and saw a whole lot in a short period of time. Even got patches of sun while I was down there! Here are a few highlights:

This is Elmore James' grave, in Ebenezer, MS. He first learned how to amplify his guitar in nearby Canton, MS and went on to make some of the best slide guitar recordings I've ever heard. It doesn't get better than "Wild About You, Woman" and "Dust My Broom."

The best soul food in Jackson, MS, or so we were told. Some scrumptious fried chicken, yams, cornbread and turnip greens.

This is a guitar made by and belonging to Clarksdale, MS bluesman Super Chikan. I want one!

Here I am on Mississippi John Hurt's porch in Avalon, MS. "Avalon's my hometown, always on my mind. Pretty womens in Avalon want me there all the time," he sang.

Here's a blues mural, with a closeup of Eddie Cusic, who played some of the best live Delta blues I've ever heard and told us some amazing stories about the old days. Cusic taught Little Milton how to play and how to be a bluesman.
DJ "Sunshine" Sonny Payne has hosted The King Biscuit Flower Hour for over 15,000 shows from Helena, AR.

Here I am at Memphis' venerable bar/ex-brothel Ernestine & Hazel's examining a jukebox that may or may not still be functional.

Can't wait to go back!