Austin

We're with the band!
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Oh Boy Austin, Austin Texas!!  Home of the SRV statue (very nice) and some of the coolest rockingest venues on earth.  In fact the live music events runs to around  20 (Twenty!!) pages of the local newspaper...almost as hot as Gosport.

We get tickets to go to famous Antones, about 2/3 the size of the Pompey wedgewood rooms to see a brit of all people James Hunter who is really very very good indeed.  The walls of the club lined with posters advertising shows here by BB King, Muddy Waters, buddy guy, Howling Wolf photos of Stevie Ray playing with Albert Collins just amazing stuff for any blues fan.

James Hunter
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The climate here is pretty good, a steady 84 degrees.................at night!!  During the day it doesn't drop below 100 During the day we wander the city checking out the wonderfull architecture modern steel multi storey stuff nestling up to the beautiful capitol building. In the legislative chamber there is a huge painting of the final stages of the Battle of the Alamo, I hang around pointing out that more Brits than Texans died there until I'm escorted out under armed guard.

Me and SRV
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At night we soak up the live music that is literally everywhere, in bars, on patios, in restaurants, in gardens, parks, city squares, rock, jazz, blues, folk C&W whatever you desire, it's a great great place,

I can live however from now on if I never hear another Stevie Ray Vaughn copyist/tribute.  He's everywhere here and no matter how good these guys are, (and believe me you have to be very very good here.....and they are) it just gets a little boring after a bit.

Being that we're dirty stop outs here we recover watching  American TV.  Morning shows here are the same as we have witnessed in just about every country we have visited and had TV access,  A couple of orange faced neon teethed twits blathering on about celebrity diets.  Advertising is entertaining though, there is a big push on to take out landline telephones. An ad shows a lady pulling up in a car on one of those trad "goes off to the horizon"  roads.  It's lined as far as the eye can see with telegraph poles.  She starts a huge chainsaw and saws down the first, which topples the next and so on into the distance. Across the botom of the screen it reads "Do not attempt".

At the capital
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Fuel prices are a huge issue here and the US motor industry is fighting back.  Dodge offer a fuel price garauntee, in short they'll subsidise the fuel costs for your gas guzzler, because "no one should tell you what to drive, because you're  an American" (and you have your head stuffed up your Ass!!) Way to save the planet dudes!!

There's a great ad for viagra that closes with a warning to seek medical help if you have an erection that lasts more than 4 days.!!.........4 days!!???

What kind of medical help? send me 6 hookers in nurses uniforms? What do you do with the bloody thing for 4 days?  I haven't forgotten, but you'd need to go to work right or shopping............"are you going to pay for that canoe sir?"