"I eat up at the Logan"

Just back from a weekend at the Logan Pub. Logan is near St Arnaud, Victoria. In Logan, apart from the pub, there is.... nothing! 

So why go there? A friend of mine, Jim (pictured below) has this strange hobby where he likes to play music through a thumping big sound system, and he needs to find places remote enough to crank it up... so Logan Pub is perfect. The Pub is also famous in its own right, being quirky enough to win the Best Aussie Pub award at least once.

So we go there and set up two stacks of speakers, powered by a bank of three to five 1000W amps.

 

The weekend was actually a Bike Show, and we went up to provide music. Quite a range of bikers turned up, so there were nice sleek modern German numbers...

 

 ..to marvellous British machines from the past.

This triumph was pretty much all original, and looked and sounded great.

Some dude started playing honky tonk jazz on the piano in the pub, but I never did get his name...

Among the 'shop-bought' machines was this home made chopper, with a Yamaha engine, very minimalist.

Of course, you have to have a bunch of Harley's at a bike event, so there was a good range.

This is what they think of car drivers...

A lot of the riders brought their swags with them for overnight.

There's a lot more drinking room outside the Pub than in.

This Harley was one monster of a bike, huge, heavy and powerful.

Here's the Logan Pub, where the meals are worthy of a song:

"I eat up at the Logan

the meals are really big,

you don't get any health food,

Just Bacon, Pork and Pig"

Very Australian.

Jim and I, during our 12 hour marathon of playing lots of LOUD music for the crowd.

The bikers set up their swags wherever they parked their bikes.

This Harley was ridden by a biker lady called 'Crackers', whose standard response to things was to calmly take a penny bunger from her pocket, light it up from her fag, and toss it at you.

This Easy Rider mural was set up behind the stack of amps, and although it looked pretty cool in the daylight, at night it was lit by ultra violet lights, and turned very trippy.

I was trialling a new camera, with a 36X zoom. This is it at the widest angle...

 ..and from the same spot at it's greatest zoom. I really should have used a tripod, but didn't bring one.

Here's the mural at night.

All in all a great weekend. Everyone behaved and had a ball. I recommend dropping in at the Logan next time you're anywhere near, it's quite an experience.

Tangled up in Blue

What is it about blues music? Is it the unabashed masculinity of the slow beats, or the honesty of the words that shine a light on pain and loss, or maybe its the power of the bass and the singer's voice stripping life back to the basics?


For many I've spoken to, hearing songs flavoured with grief, regret, acceptance and a touch of hope is a relief from the sugary bubble-gum pop on the airwaves. Blues lyrics are written from experience, and tell of a life lived, as opposed to the fantasy world of pop divas.


For men, hearing the truths that they have lived through being voiced by other men is liberating. The feeling that we have a voice, and can be heard among all the overly sweet offerings of manufactured plastic pop strikes deep into our spirit.


Some people have told me that listening to blues music isn't wise, as I'm subject to depression and when it hits, it hits hard. All I know is, blues songs tell a story that is familiar to me, stories that I can own. I don't feel dragged down, I feel found, understood and accepted.


And yes, I'm speaking from a guy's point of view, knowing full well that blues is not gender specific, and women can claim their fair share of wonderful blues numbers, many of which I also enjoy. The voices of Etta James, Deborah Coleman, Erja Lyytinen, Eve Monsees, Geeshie Wiley, Irma Thomas, Jessie Hemphill and Joanna Connor are also voices of honesty and strength. 

Yet men need to hear from other men. Men need to hear straight truth, and need to know that they are not alone in troubles. 


So bring on the blues, they can actually lift your spirits :)

Pass the Post

I've been posting all my blogs here on "Point & Shoot", whether they be about aspects of photography, previews of my classical music radio show, or whatever is fizzling through my brain at the time. And now it's time to give my followers of classical music a dedicated blog!

Each week I will be posting news and previews of "Roll Over Beethoven" on www.classical991.blogspot.com with write-ups of the composers being featured, and a heads-up on the Goon Show of the week.

You will be able to check out beforehand what will be happening on my Thursday evening radio show, and tune in to hear it from 9 pm to midnight only on Yarra Valley FM 99.1


The blog will also allow you to leave comments, click a 'quick tick' box, and even share it on your facebook page or twitter it to your friends.

Thanks too to my readers who encourage and support me in bringing some great classical music and news to them. Keep the comments coming and let me know what you are thinking.