Farewell To The Photog

—The Obscure Penguin— Some of the best experiences (and a couple of the worst) I’ve had working in news, have been the time spent with news photographers, or videographers.  In the old days a reporter and photographer would go off to do a story together, a duo with separate functions, but working to achieve the […]

Bicentennial (Part 5, Home)

—The Obscure Penguin— I experienced a brief moment of terror as I suspected Rodney and I were going to be arrested for hitchhiking inside the Luling city limits.  The Highway Patrol had pulled up behind the Ford Pinto driven by a woman who had asked us if we needed a ride as we sat with […]

Bicentennial (Part 4, The Road)

—The Obscure Penguin— On Independence Day, 1976, I woke up to the smell of piss under a sprawling oak. I was in a city park in Gonzales, where the first shots were fired in 1836 in the Texas Revolution.  A rock dug into my shoulder and a root poked into my back.  I wondered how […]

Bicentennial (Part 3, The Concert)

—The Obscure Penguin— The band was funky.  Funky country.  A bit like Little Feat.  In later years I thought maybe it was Delbert McClinton, but I never found evidence he was there that day.  Rodney and I found a small depression of dirt not far from the stage and staked our claim.  It was hot […]

Bicentennial (Part 2, Austin Chic)

—The Obscure Penguin— On July 3rd, 1976 about 8 in the morning Rodney and I were hoofing it in Austin, heading south on Lamar. The mechanic had told us the street would eventually branch and we were to take the Guadalupe side all the way to 29th and turn right. Oat Willie’s was there and […]

Bicentennial (Part 1, Thumbs Out)

—The Obscure Penguin— This July 4th will be the 41st anniversary of my journey to see the Willie Nelson 4th of July picnic in Gonzales, Texas, 1976.  I’ve always appreciated the fact I was “on the road,” like Jack Kerouac, on the nation’s bicentennial, the birthday of the Declaration of Independence, and the day began […]