I'm sorry I've been a bit out of touch. Mark hadn't been able to sleep at all due to swallowing and breathing difficulties and that's been a major problem for both of us. He's doing better now. He's still fondly reminiscing about the morphine they were giving him at the hospital. The pretty park outside our window? Seems he'd been enjoying watching animals made of grass play there. They were as big as dinosaurs.
We did go out for a bit of a visit to the beautiful India Gate and also we hit Connaught Place on a quest for a florist. The nurses (sisters) who took care of Mark wear a lavender uniform, so I wanted to get a floral arrangement for their nursing station in colors of pink and purple. The place we found made it up right there, but it was even more of a mission to get it into the hospital. I was taken to the security director (under the hospital, by the mortuary) to get his approval to take them to the nursing director. This is all about preventing in the hospital the incessant tipping that goes on outside of it. The nursing director put the flowers at the nursing station herself, so all's well.
Today we did nothing more than make a foray out into the market near the hotel. It has modern coffee shops where you can get a nice cappuccino at a much better price than what they sell them for at the hotel. Unfortunately you also have to run the slumdog gauntlet. So both ways I was surrounded by tiny child beggars saying to me in perfect English, "You're beautiful! I love you!"
Mr. C at India Gate.
Sister Jismy Joy in uniform at the nursing station.
Gladiolus (my hometown specialty, actually), roses, and orchids.
These pics were taken at the tiny flower shop.
The sweet boys that worked there and Mr. C through the window
More pics of India Gate after the jump:
A boy born for the spotlight.
Wail on, Skydog!
And the closeup:
We're now at six years of Wednesday pics.
I love all you Duane people.
Sorry, last hospital pic. We're back at the hotel and heading off to India Gate for a look-see.
Mr. Frankenstein's a little sensitive about the new neck bolts.
New room, new view. Kinda.
UPDATE:
We didn't get far, about half way around the block. We did see a mysterious Hindu symbol there, though.
Also, the Indian Army is now posted at the hotel to thwart terrorism. They all seem a little distracted, however. Too many looong, hilarious cellphone orders from HQ, I guess:
I guess now we gotta put our pants in the plastic tray along with the shoes:
A Nigerian man who said he was an agent for al-Qaida tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane Friday as it was preparing to land in Detroit, but travelers who smelled smoke and heard what sounded like firecrackers rushed to subdue him, the passengers and federal officials said.Flight 253 with 278 passengers and 11 crew members aboard was about 20 minutes from the airport when passengers heard popping noises, witnesses said. At least one person climbed over others and jumped on the man. Shortly afterward, the suspect was taken to the front of the plane with his pants cut off and his legs burned, a passenger said. Law enforcement officials said the burns indicated the explosive was strapped to his legs.
One more like this and we fly naked.
Christmas Day, Apollo Hospital, New Delhi, India.
Our brightest wishes to all of you for a wonderful, happy Christmas.
Mr. Cracker is doing pretty well, he's just experiencing the sorrow of not being able to hock up loogies. You never know how much you'll miss something until you temporarily can't do it. So enjoy the simple things in life, folks!
Would you believe there's only one other American here? That's too bad as it's good treatment and a great option for the underinsured who don't feel like being a donor patient for their local hospital's wealth transplant program.
The hospital temple, seen from my smoking spot.
Our room looks out over a park.
It's really lovely.
Front entryway, or "main porch."
The pretty young woman in charge of foreign patients.
Christmas tree in central walkway. Gotta get that star on right.
Mr. Cracker, or as he is known around here, "Mr. Mark," went into surgery an hour ago. I'm relaxing in our room with the WiFi and my new pink Dell.
An administrator came in earlier and wanted to shoot the breeze with us regarding a wide raft of topics, including Obama (I canceled Mr. Mark out, as always) the avalanche of money coming to those getting in the ground floor of the carbon neutral business (cha-ching), and the birds roosting in the hospital skylight (they shouldn't be there).
We really haven't been able to find an adequate homestay, so I think we'll be coming home early, and then Mr. Cracker will return here to India by himself at the end of January or early February to take his radiation pill. We've got another week to see if our housing situation turns around, but if not, home we'll come.
UPDATE:
Out of surgery after 6 hours and A-OK. He'll be in recovery for a couple of hours then be brought back to our room for a good rest.
UPDATE II:
Mr. Mark is back in his bed, awake and OK. He says he's not stoned, but he doesn't feel any pain. I went to take a pic of him and our camera battery pack is dead. Under the Division of Labor Law, this is his thing to fix, but I'm afraid it'll have to wait until he's more mobile. I did get him to fix the phone though. :)
UPDATE III:
He says that in the recovery room the doctors came in and showed him his bloody removed thyroid and said, "You're a lot lighter now." I'm not really sure that actually happened.
What is true is that he has a lot of pretty and sweet-natured Indian nurses bringing him coconut water to sip and in general taking very good care of him.
We've finished all the things we needed to do and are on track for surgery tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for their good wishes.
Pics from today:
Luxuriant garden courtyards like this abound here.
And they're cared for by people who use the most primitive of tools.
The streets themselves are swept with these homemade brooms.
The street in front of the hotel lacks the same thing that most streets here do: lanes. It's a bumpercar free-for-all.
We spent all day today at Apollo Hospital getting lots and lots of tests. I'm avoiding taking pictures of people, but watching the parade of beautiful clothes worn by the ladies was wonderful. We also met with the surgeon. He and his family had just got back from a very nice trip themselves. To Florida. He had a picture of him and his kids in a swamp buggy in the 'Glades as his screensaver.
Some pics from today's adventure:
Please to not be aborting the girl child.
Is there nothing Mr. Popeil can't devise?!
At Blood Collection. Whenever the number on the deli sign changed, it played "Fuer Elise."
Birds enjoying their roost inside the hospital's central skylight.
We made it to India safely and are currently ensconced in the airy porcine heights that suit us. We love this hotel and it was worth having our life flash before our eyes the hundred different times that occurred on the drive over to get here. I've driven in Boston with all my passengers screaming and finally the shoe was on the other foot.
Here's our view. More pics later:
View of the mosque from our window, Crowne Plaza, New Delhi.
Bonjour! Paris done for this leg of the trip, heading off to London now. I hope everybody's having a wonderful Christmastime.
By the Pantheon, where Bon Scott is buried.
Down by the Seine. A bird wrote something that could be very important.
Alas, it is illegible.
A really pretty church, paid for entirely by Fighting Irish alum.
Here they are immortalized in sculpture.
A large metal structure, seldom photographed.
Mr. Cracker in the Luxembourg Gardens, where we bypassed everything picturesque in favor of photographing the quaint trash receptacle.
That would be because she is ever so quietly turning into soap:
Authorities are investigating why the body of an 88-year-old woman lay in her bed for up to eight months even though caretakers visited the house daily.Sheriff's deputies say the corpse of Blanche Matilda Roth was found in her home Tuesday after a call to 911. The house is in Wilmington on the Atlantic coast.
New Hanover County Deputy Charles Smith said Roth likely died in May.
Smith would not specify if the daily caretakers were family members but said they were not nurses.
Failure to report a death is a felony in North Carolina.
Smith said the residence was very well kept. He said police hadn't received any calls requesting welfare checks on Roth.
Officials are awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
I've often heard it's hard to get good help.
Off to India tomorrow. We'll be staying a couple of days first though in Paris. Then a 15 minute flight to a half-day layover in London, where we'll be sure to drink a cup of tea if for no other reason than fatigue. I've been watching a lot of Bollywood movies to get me used to all the singing and dancing crowds I'm going to be encountering over the course of this coming month in New Delhi.
I'll have Wi-Fi and will be posting pics. Maybe some of guys with sitars. Wail on, Ravi!
Duane in between songs looking for something or other. What could it be?
Wail on, Skydog!
Miss Egan will now be presenting a lesson on mealtime etiquette :
A 53-year-old Dunnellon woman has been arrested after allegedly hitting a man in the head with a raw steak.According to a Marion County Sheriff's Office report, the man told deputies that Elsie Egan repeatedly hit him with the uncooked meat and slapped his face after he refused a piece of sliced bread. The man said he wanted a bread roll.
Egan denied hitting the man with the steak but did admit to slapping him, saying she did it "so that he could learn."
The man told deputies that Egan was his live-in girlfriend. He declined medical assistance.
Egan is charged with abuse of a disabled adult. According to online records, she has been released on $2,500 bond and is scheduled to appear in court in January. It's unclear if she has an attorney.
When might it be acceptable to ask for substitutions?
A. When you're at Burger King.
B. When you're strong and able-bodied enough to repel blows.
C. When there's not a Gorgon in charge of food distribution
D. All of the above.
Only the best will do for Aretha. Even her bouffant is a diva.
Wail on, Skydog!
Many, many thanks to Mike for his thoughtfulness in capturing and sending us a pic to enjoy.
Also, looks like there's even more reason to go to Macon:
When Kirk and Kirsten West decided to move out of their Vineville Avenue home in 2003, the notion of turning it into a museum certainly wasn’t on their radar.Sure, thousands of visitors from places as far away as Germany, Italy, Japan and Australia had knocked on their door during the decade they had lived there, trying to get a glimpse of what was known as The Big House, where members of the Allman Brothers Band lived in the early 1970s.
It was only after Kirk West — the band’s road manager — was meeting with an interested buyer for the property one night when the man suggested that West start a nonprofit foundation and turn The Big House into a museum.
This weekend, that seed of an idea finally becomes a reality, four decades after the band’s founding.
After five years of fundraising and two years of renovations, the museum is scheduled to open its doors on a limited basis for the rest of the year before a formal grand opening in early 2010.
“At times, I’ve tried to be practical about it, but seeing it come to fruition ...” said Kirsten West, her voice trailing off as she broke into a wide grin. “It’s a tribute to the band, but equally it’s a tribute to the fans who believed that we could do it.”
Kirsten West, the foundation’s managing director, said that to date, The Big House Foundation has taken in about $2.5 million in donations from all over the United States.
In addition, the museum also has received donated materials to refurbish the house and many hours of volunteer labor to renovate it.
“Probably 60 percent (of the renovation) has been donated labor and materials,” said Greg Potter, president of the Georgia Allman Brothers Band Association, who also has donated his own time to help get the house in shape. “We had a roofer come in from New York, donated all the materials and put the roof in, and all it cost us was a week’s worth of hotel rooms.”
Being there
In the early 1970s, when the band was getting its start in Macon, bassist Berry Oakley’s wife, Linda — whom everyone called “Big Linda” — was searching for a more permanent home and happened upon the Tudor-styled house at 2321 Vineville Ave. by way of a newspaper ad.
Though the house was more expensive than the Oakleys would have liked, Big Linda fell in love with the place, and they moved in with Duane Allman and his family.
The house became the band’s unofficial headquarters, a place to hang out, to party and to play music.
During a recent visit, E.J. Devokaitis, the museum’s co-curator, pointed to a window in what used to be the living room.
“That’s where (former guitarist) Dickey Betts wrote ‘Blue Sky,’’’ he said. “The line in the song, ‘Good old Sunday morning, bells are ringing everywhere,’ that was from that church across the street. It’s still there.”
There are dozens of little nuggets like that as a visitor moves through each room of the house.
That living room now serves as home for various posters, gold records and a huge Steve Penley portrait of Duane. The other side of the front of the house — the rooms where the band often practiced — is home to various photos and awards the band won.
An interior room contains a wide range of memorabilia, including instruments from several band members — Oakley’s Hummingbird acoustic guitar, Gregg Allman’s Hammond B-3 electric organ, a prototype for Duane’s signature Gibson guitar, a drum kit from Butch Trucks — as well as cases full of handwritten song lyrics, concert tickets, contracts, checks and more. In one corner, there’s a life-size portrait of the band during a rehearsal for 1971’s famed “Fillmore East” concert.
In an interior hallway, there’s an exhibit for the band Gov’t Mule, which also had its origins at The Big House and whose members Warren Haynes and the late Allen Woody were later guitarist and bassist, respectively, for the Allman Brothers Band.
On the second floor, where the bedrooms were located, the bedroom of Candace Oakley — Berry’s sister — is a display room for more artwork. Big Linda is redecorating what was Duane’s bedroom to show what it looked like when the band lived in the house.
One of the most interesting rooms on that floor is a tiny room that Duane used as a nursery for his daughter, Galadrielle. The room has been soundproofed and will serve a place where fans can listen to Allman Brothers Band music. In addition, the room will eventually be equipped with a video camera so that fans can share their own memories of the band, Kirk West said. Those recollections will be compiled and become part of the museum’s permanent collection.
The house’s top floor, which served as a recreation room for the band, will be used for educational purposes and meetings, Kirsten West said. Some of the band members want to volunteer their time in the future to teach music to young children, she said. The room also can be rented out for corporate meetings.
Tiny bit of memorabilia
To the casual observer, it seems like a lot of memorabilia is being packed into the house. Devokaitis said that what’s being displayed, however, represents perhaps 10 percent of the museum’s entire collection. And that doesn’t even include other memorabilia that fans and relatives of band members have loaned to the museum to display — each with its own story.
One of the most interesting items is an amplifier owned by Ron Blair, the bassist for the band Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Blair’s sister Jan used to be married to Gregg Allman, who gave Blair an amp that belonged to Duane.
“It’s a piece of equipment that’s been used by two bands that are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” Devokaitis said.
The house also contains original stained-glass windows donated by Forsyth artist Celia Henigman, which go with the house’s original stained-glass windows.
On the outside of the house, there’s a koi pond, a catering kitchen and a small pavilion that can be used for live music.
Kirk West said the museum will be open weekends for the rest of 2009, including this Saturday and Sunday. Kirsten West said the museum also is available for rent — she said two weddings and a rehearsal dinner have already been booked there.
The Wests say they are expecting a good opening crowd, including an invitation-only party for major donors.
Opening weekend also coincides with the Fly South music festival Saturday, which is headlined by Allman Brothers Band guitarist Derek Trucks and his band.
But for die-hard fans such as Potter, the highlight of the weekend will be the finished museum itself.
“It’s going to be great,” said Potter, who has been a fan of the band since 1971. “The band has helped so many people through their problems. Their music uplifts you. (With the museum), you can see what it means to you. It’s amazing.”
Duane backstage with a David Lynch character. Or J. Geils.
Wail on, Skydog!
Repost.
