The weekend.

Denise and I slept in Saturday, relaxing, and then headed up to Waco to eat dinner with some friends and attend a concert at the local community college. One of my buddies from school, Glenn Kueck, found out about the concert and got us tickets a while back. $20 a seat.

I found out last week that Glenn wanted us to show up at his house in Waco a bit early so he and his wife Becky could feed us. He and I have known each other for something like a decade, but our ladies have never met, so it was a cool idea.

We got there at about 6:30, enjoyed some wine and conversation, and then dinner was served. It turned out, Glenn had produced a wonderful "Tex-Mex" concoction, with two different kinds of baked beans and guacamole on the side, and some home-made Sangria to wash it all down with.

Glenn said that he'd picked up the recipe for the dish from and old girlfriend. He said something like "At least, when you get out of a crappy relationship, you should get a decent recipe." Denise sported a wry smile, looked at me and said something like "You're not getting the recipe for the Lasagna." I said something like "Aw, man. Maybe the Shepherd's Pie?"

It was all wonderful, and it was great to finally meet his wife and introduce them to Denise. In the end, Glenn and his wife got into their snazzy little black Chrysler Crossfire and drove off toward the MCC campus and the Bosque River Stage (pronounced Boskee), with us following in my little Solara. They led us in a fun, twisty, circuitous rout through the back streets of Waco. It was fun, but probably not as much fun for me as it was for them in that little sports car. One of these days!

As it turned out, our seats were excellent, right down in the middle. It's a cool little concert venue. We got there just as the lead-up band began their set, and just as the smudge pots started to send clouds of citronella wafting through the air.



Carolyn Wonderland's bio is an interesting read. An Austin based singer, She's made good headway in the last decade towards a first rate career in the music business.



Based on what we saw Saturday night, she should go far. Check out this video I found on YouTube. She plays the hell outta that little guitar, and the trumpet, and a full sized electric guitar too.



She gave a great performance, playing a range of tunes for about 45 minutes. Then the lights went up and the roadies came out to do the old switcharoo. I took that opportunity to get myself a beer and Denise the makings of a Shandy.



Shortly, the main attraction came out from the side of the stage and began a great, relaxed set of guitar music. This little stop on Waco is the first performance in a tour that will take Larry Carlton's Jazz trio to Japan, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, France and the Netherlands. How cool is that? It all started in friggin' Waco, at a little spot on the Bosque river.



The feel of the evening was very casual, like we'd all shown up in someones back yard to listen to Carlton jam and reminisce about his varied career. Here's the feel, and the kind of guitar work we heard that night.



Carlton's bio is also fascinating. In the moments between tunes, he spoke about how he'd had a wide and varied career, how he'd recently turned 61, and that he'd just finished a set of six or eight gigs with Steely Dan, reprising their collaboration on albums like The Royal Scam and Aja.

After a great, quiet solo that begin the concert, he introduced the other members of his jazz trio. He said he'd known his bass player for something like 27 years, then introduced his 27 year old son Travis. The drummer, Gene Coy, had been found in LA, where Travis lives. Carlton mentioned that he lives on a ranch outside Nashville. The three make amazing music together. It was a joy to get a chance to listen.

After the concert, the four of us talked about what a great concert it was, and how much better it would have been if some of the folks in the audience would have had better manners. Yea, it was another one of those nights. While Carlton played that first quiet number, two guys in the back decided to just go ahead with what they were talking about. I swear, it's like they think they're at home, sitting in front of their TV. Later on there were a few other guys to our right holding court while the rest of us tried to listen to the music. I was wishin' I had a paint ball gun again.

Anyway, after the show ended, the four of us hugged, shook hands and parted ways. It was a great time, and I hope we can get together in the near future and do it all again.

Sunday morning, Denise went off to work and I headed up to Gatesville to pick up my buddies and head to Dallas. Once we got there, Dave went off to haggle with a guy about gun stocks, while I steadily made my way around the show.



Eventually i found my knife blade guy, and picked up this little number. It should be a fun project.

Eventually, I wound my way around to the guys who were sellin' safes by the front wall. I've checked out their products a hundred times, but never had the money to spend on what I wanted. Now I do, so I signed a contract to have them build me a nice vault for my toys. Click on their site and check out the "Fat Boy". It should hold 50 long guns, and there'll be hooks for eight or ten pistols on the door. So, room for all my toys, and spare room for a few more. Cool eh?

I wandered around for hours, waitin' for Waters to work his way through the show. While I did, I fondled all sorts of interesting guns and knives. There were LOTS of temptations, but eventually one proved more of a draw than the others.



I'd been looking for a good conceal/carry pistol for a long time, and had decided some time back that I wanted a small 1911 type pistol. I had my sights on a particular Kimber, but they didn't have any of them at this show. I saw two or three of these little babies (above). I compared prices and sampled the feel of this one over and over. Finally, after saying no to a last temptation, I went over and bit the bullet. Here are the specs. I can't wait to shoot it. Maybe this week some time. There's a range down near Florence. I can zip over there after class (no San Saba this week).

Oh, and that last temptation? Check it out.



Can you imagine the fun that could be had with that thing? They wanted $450 for it, but they said the mag wobbled and occasionally worked it's way out of the gun with repeated firing. I was VERY tempted, but I decided to go for the pistol instead. Maybe next time. There's another show in November.

Anyway, It was a long day. It was a long, good weekend. Hope you enjoyed the read. Cheers.