Travels with Howie

Veterans Day, Nov 11, 2014   11:30 pm cst and a chilly 58 degrees.

Neil has been wanting to go to this museum for a long time and whenever we went , we found it was closed.  We have been calling it the Freddy Fender museum even tho the sign clearly states that it is about historic San Benito.  I gotta tell you that I was lukewarm about the whole thing but I found it most interesting once we finally got to go in.

 Freddy Fender, born Baldemar Huerta, was a nationally known  Grammy winning
Texas born country music star of the 70's 80's and 90's.  He  quit school when he was 16, joined the military but was discharged (dishonorable?) for alcohoism, played music all over the south and spent over 2 years in prison for having Marijuana cigs in his pocket at a gig where was playing in Louisiana

After prison he came back to San Benito, his hometown where he recorded for The Rio Grande Music Co. which later became Ideal Records.  This was a local operation so he not only recorded, he helped press the records....

 and he even was seen from time to time opening up in the mornings and sweeping the sidewalk.
This pic is the equipment they used.
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It was just about in this part of the museum that my camera died. but  Mr Rey Avila, our guide

continued  telling me about the rest of the museum and the  interesting beginnings of conjunto music.   Never heard  of it?   Go here:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-j0ETieSAs

and tell me if this music doesn't  make you tap your toes a little.

Conjunto or Tex Mex music was born here in San Benito by a accordion player by the name of Marcisco Martinez who didn't like to use the left side of the accordion so he played the melody and a bajo sexto, a Mexican 12 string guitar,  played the rhythm.  Conjunto music always has these two instruments.  The music's origins are in the polkas and waltzes  from up north where the German and Czech influences were strong.

Apropos of nothing, I just want to throw in this little bit of information that I learned the other day:, Tejas is not Mexican for Texas.  The name Texas comes from the Hasini word tejas, meaning friends.

So the dead camera requires that I either give up the blog or get a new camera, right?

Here is my best picture from the first day of shooting with my new Canon T3i.

 He is a cool little spider called a spiny orb spider.  He's good for the garden and he doesn't like to come into the house.  I like that  the markings sort of look like a scary face.  Maybe it is for his protection because he is a very little spider and maybe the scary face will ward off some predators..

Did you thank a veteran today.....Veterans day.... for helping to protect our sorry butts?  It's not too late you know.
These guys were at the Veterans Day ceremonies at the Marine museum in Harlingen