Bishop Street and The Kessler

I went to one of my very favorite stores located in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas the other day: Bishop Street Market. I always find something unique at Bishop that can be a great gift or just a splurge for myself. About 12 years ago I briefly worked in the neighborhood for an adult literacy and GED school that is still in the area. The school now only offers high school diploma tracks broken into 1/2 day sessions. The students were always wonderful, but back then the pay lacked greatly for the work involved. I still have a friend that works at the school.

Bishop Street Market was one of my favorite places to go at lunchtime. I try to stop by once or twice a year now to say hello to the owners if I am in the area. Bishop Street Market is not the only place I like to go in the neighborhood. I also like to see what kind of eclectic, artsy stores are new, as well as occasionally visit favorite restaurant haunts such as La Calle Doce, The Charco Broiler, Gonzalez, Tejano, Gloria's, and Norma's Cafe. I was excited to see a pub called Quinn's operating in a defunct Long John Silver's location. Many more of my favorites are in or near this east Oak Cliff neighborhood.

Another reason I went to Oak Cliff was to see the resurrection in progress of an old theatre once owned by Gene Autry, the Singing Cowboy. It is called The Kessler and is in the final stages of being remodeled to showcase live music and performing arts. I was impressed and can't wait for this venue to open in 2010. For lots of good info and links about The Kessler, go to the Facebook link!

I went to the open house last Sunday afternoon to check out the new place and was very excited. I can't wait to see some live music in the coming months at this now-being-revamped historical location. I happened to see a 15-year-old musician who played the violin, guitar, and mandolin and sang, too, named Ruby Jane from Austin perform for the open house crowd. Unbelievable. Check out her website here. She plays with Willie sometimes.

--Ruby Jane at The Kessler on Dec. 27, 2009 (sorry for the grainy pic--I'm no photographer)

--The Kessler, a work in progress

Oh, and there are now lots of murals in the neighborhood that celebrate the area!

The season has turned around . . . and the December curse is over!

So I thought I would celebrate with a few pics:

Hope we do well in the playoffs . . . 

Paris Snow

Notre Dame de Paris

Near Pompidou Centre (a familiar fountain from those who used French in Action)

Near Les Halles

--From some travel sites brought to my attention by Peter Krynicki of Plainsboro, NJ

Ashley Butler's Story

The following was sent by Rhett Butler, Dallas/Denton-based guitarist concerning his brother Ashley and his struggle with cancer. If you order a CD or set, I promise you won't be sorry . . . 

Dear Friends,

Many of you have followed my brother Ashley's story with dedication and compassion. We have received thousands of emails of encouragement and prayers. I have always been moved by the good will from this mailing list.  Thank you.

Since November of 2004, I have been sending out emails updating my brother's struggle with sarcoma (soft tissue cancer).  These emails have been an outlet for me during times of intense stress. Ashley has had 4 major surgeries during that time and I bet that you have come to expect to receive an email once every 15 months with "Please Pray for Ashley" in the subject line. 

As I mentioned a few emails ago, his doctor at MD Anderson released Ashley saying that there was nothing more that they would do for him. This also happened in 1982 when Texas Children's Hospital told my parents the same thing. This response to Ashley's condition is just as unacceptable today as it was 28 years ago. 

Ashley's oncologist, who took him on back then and who has been with him ever since, Dr. Jordan Wilbur was also unwilling to accept this prognosis. In a matter of days he found a great surgeon at UCSF who would attempt the surgery to remove the tumor from his lung. The surgery was a success but Ashley's struggle is far from finished.

This Saturday, Ashley will be traveling to Tel Aviv, Israel to meet with Dr. Shimon Slavin. Dr. Slavin is the world's most renowned stem cell and immunotherapy expert. He is the guru on the subject. In 2007 Dr. Slavin opened a clinic that uses the most advanced and experimental treatments for cancer that are available. Most of these are not available in the US because the FDA (and big PHARMA) have not approved them. An example of these new treatments is using donor white blood cells to attack the cancer. You can learn more about it here: http://thefutureofthings.com/articles/1012/smart-bombing-cancer.html

Your first thought may be, like mine was while researching this stuff, is insurance going to pay for this?  The answer is no.  We expect to pay around $100,000 for his treatment.

In order to do my part, I have created, "The Kid from Kilkenny" Box Set - Collector's Edition. This set includes the 5 CDs of original music that I have produced while Ashley has been fighting this cancer (The Kid from Kilkenny, Live at Houston Northwest, In this World, Spend It All and The Atlantis Assignment). In addition, the collection includes a 20 page booklet chronicling how his condition has influenced my music and life during the past 5 years.

The price is $45.  CLICK HERE.

Every penny is going to help pay for Ashley's medical expenses. The box sets will ship late this month.

If you already have all of the CDs and would like to make a contribution - CLICK HERE. 

OR you can stop by the website and pick up an individual CD that you don't have - CLICK HERE.

I have hired a publicity firm and in the next few weeks we are going to start a publicity campaign to promote the box set. I will be performing concerts at churches and other appropriate venues to tell Ashley's story. My goal is to sell 2,000 box sets. If you are a member of a church that you think would be interested in hosting this type of concert, please let me know.

Ashley has to have his chance to live and to keep this cancer from returning. Thank you for helping us to make sure that he gets it.

Rhett Butler


To visit the Rhett Butler Group Reverbnation.com page - CLICK HERE.
To visit Billy McLaughlin and Rhett Butler's Reverbnation.com page - CLICK HERE.
You can sample music and sign up to be on the email list for updates on Reverbnation.com.
My previous posting concerning Rhett Butler is here. 

Etc. . . .

--Julie Powell's latest book

Julie Powell (Julie and Julia) has a new book and a new website: click here

Read this story about some found stolen art masterpieces: click here

And isn't this a beautifully decorated Christmas tree? One of my friend's . . . . (click to enlarge)

Thursday Thunks

Thursday Thunks is a great blog meme. All the details can be found here. Here is my contribution for this Thursday, December 3rd!

1. Sometimes when you are sitting around doing nothing, a thought randomly pops into your head. How many measuring cups do you own?


Three single ones (2 plastic and 1 glass) and 1 set of nesting plastic ones.


2. What is your favorite ice cream topping?


Chocolate syrup.


3. Egg nog - is it digestible?


Only in small doses.


4. Were you one of the insane humans who went to a store last Friday? 


No, I have not done that in years. I went Saturday morning at 9 at it was nice and not crowded. 


5. There are 12 months in a year, anywhere from 28 - 31 days in a month, depending on the year, of course. Each day holds a special meaning for someone, some days hold a special meaning for everybody. Do you have a 2010 calendar yet?


I have already bought 2 and am thinking about ordering a color and a black and white from Eric at Paris Daily Photo. I mean, look at this beautiful photo from his Dec 2 post:

6. Kids are funny sometimes and say the darndest things, but it's ok because they are kids and they are so adorable. A two year old is cute when they say a swear word. Admit it, they are. What was your favorite nursery rhyme growing up? Hey - if you don't have a favorite, just work with me here and pick the first one that fell off the wall and broke like an egg or came out of the sky like a cow who just jumped over the moon.


I always liked the old lady who lived in a shoe. Who thinks of those things? And I like the one that begins with "One, two, buckle my shoe . . ." But I don't have a shoe fetish.


7. Most of us have some type of machine that people like to call 'vehicles'. Some are blue, some are yellow, some are red. Some have trunks, some have beds and some even can't decide if they are a car or a truck. We put gas in them, check the oil and drive them all over the place and stop them in places called parking spots. Picture in your mind the machine you currently own and if you own more than one, picture the one you last drove - when was the last time you had a new tire on it? 

When I changed the tire a couple of months ago on a hot summer day in North Texas. Thank goodness the tire went flat in my garage and I wasn't directly in the sun. Well, I guess I really got a NEW tire on it after I drove it to NTB! The spare was put back in its place.

8. For those of us on Facebook, do you wish to share your Facebook identity with us?

Facebook link is here . . . 

9. Santa's coming! Where's the best place to hide presents? Any clever little tricks for keeping those nosey people from ruining the surprise?

At work in a locked drawer or cabinet.

10. Have you heard that the world is going to end in 2012? Some people think that the world isn't actually going to go BOOM! and be no more, they think that the "end of the world" is actually going to be a worldwide takeover by a certain country and/or religion, which all has to do with the current president of the USA. Do you agree? 

No. Oh, brother. After millions of years, why now? 

11. Butterly, butterfly fluttering through the air, please don't land on my freshly washed hair. What brand of shampoo did you use this morning? (and for those of you who still stink.. think of yesterday morning... and if that still doesn't apply to you - go get your stinky butt in the shower!)

Redken. I just went to the salon the day before yesterday.

Wordless Wednesday--Planet of the Apes